I photoshopped all encounters and stuff out so the maps are clean. If you get really close you can see some pixelation, but it's really not bad.
What do you think? I'm working on the next level now, although we haven't even started the campaign yet.
In addition, there were some particular beasties at one point that i didn't have the proper minis for, so i made my own. These were done with Crayola Modernmagic, Tacky Glue and wax.
I was planning on just drawing the encounters on my chessex mat, but that looks much better. I was wondering if you could email me, or perhaps post on a website, your scans, as I'm sure there's a bunch of DMs out there that would find them very helpful.
Also could you give any more detail on what you did to make the blue slime and ochre jelly?
Cheers and keep up the great work!
Those look awesome!
I was planning on just drawing the encounters on my chessex mat, but that looks much better. I was wondering if you could email me, or perhaps post on a website, your scans, as I'm sure there's a bunch of DMs out there that would find them very helpful.
Also could you give any more detail on what you did to make the blue slime and ochre jelly?
Cheers and keep up the great work!
I'll see what i can do about bundling them somewhere for download. It's a lot of separate pieces though.
As for the minis:
The Blue Slime is just this Crayola playdough stuff. It came blue out of the container, and i molded into the shape you see, and then painted over it with some blue ink, to give it those darker streaks. Then, i put it on a base scavenged from Dreamblade. It's much tougher than just dry playdough though.
The fun part is pouring Eileen's Tacky Glue all over it, which can be bought in a hardware store, or maybe even Target (i got the Crayola at Target). It's a clear gel that dries clear, strong, and non-sticky. It gives it the wet look. Really, the blue slime took all of fifteen minutes to make, not counting drying time. It's very sturdy too, unlike clay or playdough, but somewhat bendable. The Craylola Modernmagic stuff air dries and becomes spongy. The Tacky glue on the outside creates a thin shell. I've dropped that thing several times on the linoleum and thrown it against the wall and it didn't break or crack. You COULD break it easy enough if you really wanted to, especially if by a disgruntled with a character who just got ate.
I tried something different with the ochre jellies: i melted wax in a pan, and then stirred in Eileen's Tacky Glue. It made this glob of stuff that i slopped on another Dreamblade base (which i had primed black). I added some red and yellow inks to it for an orange color, and then painted over with some inks to highlight a few areas. Let it dry a little, then i poured more Tacky Glue on top for the final shiny effect.
Really, really easy, and the ochres are hard as rocks. The glue/wax combo solidified. But they would be even easier to make with the Modernmagic stuff: it came with three colors: black, glue, white, so adding a few colors to the white and then dribbling it with Tacky glue would have a similar result.
In fact, i will never bother to buy a slime/ooze miniature again, it's so easy to do on your own and looks better over all. If you spent some real time practicing the the Modermagic, you could sculpt some impressive models with features and hands and arms, heads, etc.
A hydra would be cool...
I was planning on just drawing the encounters on my chessex mat, but that looks much better. I was wondering if you could email me, or perhaps post on a website, your scans, as I'm sure there's a bunch of DMs out there that would find them very helpful.
Agreed. I was going to use my Steel Sqwire mat, but the effort you put into the Keep is going to ring with your players more truly than a quick sketch. I feel inspired to follow your shining example on this one.
Awesome work.
TEN DOLLARS, FOR A LUMP OF YELLOW EATING A MAN.
For 0.19, i can get a human, cut him up, and jam his body parts into some play doh.
Yours look really good though. I am impressed, to say the least.
Also, as for making sweet maps for combat, I basically dungeon tile it, but I scanned them in, printed shapes and quantities I wanted, and glue them to foamcore. The foamcore sits on a sheet of felt to prevent sliding. You can assemble just about anything you want from 2x2s, 2x1s, and 1x1s.
Any time I need special bits, I just assemble them from what I've got scanned, print them out, and all done. The initial work is a bit much, but if you've got help or a lot of free time, it's not that bad.
In the future, I'd like to put velcro on the felt, and velcro on the bottom of the foamcore bits for ULTRA NO SLIDE, but that would probably require sewing a LOT of little velcro squares onto felt.
I did something very similar for the slimes:
1) A full size poker chip
2) Bend paperclips over and round so there's a part of it along the base of the chip and the rest make an arch that doesn't completely touch down.
3) Superglue paperclips in a line with a small gap between them.
4) Take a candle of the colour you want - orange for the ochre slime for example - and light. Drip wax over the paperclips.
Makes a pretty damn cool slime
