Saka Light Cavalry

Saka Light Cavalry
Showing posts with label Roleplaying Campaign. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roleplaying Campaign. Show all posts

Wednesday, 14 September 2016

Secret Santa and Project Z

A quick mention that Secret Santa is up again, this is the fifth year it has been run and if you run a blog and want in just click here.

I am running a post apoplectic roleplay campaign with our roleplaying group with a bit of a difference. That being the players actually go through the whole breaking down stage. 

It is set many months after Brexit after a fall out with a Trump lead America. American military bases have been reinforced and tensions are high with some British civilians killed in clashes with US troops as demonstrations become violent. 

Things get worse as several cases of Rabies break out across mainland UK. The government acts quickly to contain the outbreaks and whilst this seems to be helping it's not without controversial acts. 

It's at this point that the players have gotten involved. I wanted fairly cheap miniatures to get the game started so opted for a pack each of Warlord Games Project Z survivors. Each player is playing a version of themselves so it's a bit raw when bad things happen. To reinforce this uncomfortable feeling I am painting up their characters to have something in common with the players themselves. I start with what for me is the easiest, James loves his American Football and has worn his Hines Ward shirt almost to tatters.

I went with urban combat trousers as he used to have a pair of rural ones but I felt that urban would look better with the rest of his get up.

The brush work is anything but perfect but supplies a good enough job for me. He even has a Steeler cap on, perfect for a die hard fan that's about to er.. die.

I struggled a bit with putting the figure together and found them much more fiddly than the Gripping Beast Vikings I have put together previously but I am happy with the result so can't grumble.

Wednesday, 20 May 2015

Armless or Harmless Pack Finally Finished

I originally painted just the one figure from the pack, Gary A gave the figures to me and my son along with a mini mountain of Gripping Beast Vikings. I can't remember the details and I am hoping the supplier will get in touch again so I can post his details if any one want's to get some of these novel figures. I plan to use mine as villages in Saga and roleplaying.

For the most part I have gone for a fairly plain earthy look as it suits my campaign rather well and the not warrior Dark Age villager would have been rather more drab than the wealthier warrior. I really like the poses of these two, the one on the left should be looking at the other whilst that one says "What?"

The only exception to the drab rule is the guy drinking out of a flagon, something makes me think he is the gaffer of the poor bloke on the right, he is lugging a couple of bags of merchandise.

Mr Peter Pointer is rather down on his luck since he bought his clothes and is no stranger to dirty work, but is to a bath and the idea that clothes get washed before they drop off. The fellow having a wizz was painted up during the challenge so has been seen before.

The house in the background is a Loki creation he gave to my son at Christmas and was the perfect background for these shots. The castings were not as crisp as some but much better than the last Gripping Beast figures I cleaned up but have a lot of charm and great facial expressions, hopefully I will have the details so you can get some if you wish.

Thursday, 26 February 2015

Walkers of Rohan

At The World Wargames Show at Castle Donnington last year I picked up a couple of GW plastic Middle Earth figures as I thought they would make good NPC guard types, not realising that they had horse images on the shields.

They cost me just 25p each so would owe me nothing if I did not get round to painting them or if they were never used. They had sat ever after but with so many challenge posts having some form of Middle Earth posting I had the incentive to paint them up. I even have a scenario in mind that they can get used so 50p well spent.

So these will make an appearance at some point in a future roleplaying session before possibly descending to the NPC graveyard. For colours I just followed a few images on line and worked in a bit of my own but overall it's almost a total lift from what I have seen on line. The detail as many of the GW old plastic tend to be, great in parts but soft in others. The scale armour on the left being in the better category and gloves and hair in the not so great. So quite a pleasant diversion from the usual fair for me.

Monday, 3 November 2014

Lady In Blue

I needed another female figure for an encounter in Saturdays game so I painted one up the evening before. This is a very nicely sculptured Blacksword Miniatures figure. DSM-1115 Early Snow Female Wizard sculptured by D Mize and whilst I don't think they are worth the £8 price tag they often come with but I was happy with the £4.50 I paid for her. 

I did not really want the dagger in her hand but did not have the time to find a suitable replacement so went with it. She is another Aise Sedi that enters the plot and joined up with the party after an action packed night as the players stumbled from one bad encounter to the next. Fortunately they were mostly facing orcs rather than Trolorc's or Fades. Their greater experience is starting to count as they mostly protect their own and don't too often get separated and picked on. Well at least when it happens they know to defend and await rescue, that kept two of them alive on the night.

So not a lot of colours used but lots of layers starting with Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue and then mixing in to it ever lighter shades until I was adding Andrea Blue. Each new colour had between two and three helpings each added one at a time so the colour change was reasonably gradual. 

I have a number of ideas that will see this female wizard get a few outings over the coming months, well unless she gets killed which is quite possible around this lot of players. The city they are in has just about fallen to the orc's and worse and it's now all about trying to get out alive. As such it was quite a surprise to see the party head further into the city rather than to the walls.

Friday, 25 April 2014

Roleplaying - The Story So Far

Children of the Light
A few months ago I promised to write up a bit of a history of the roleplaying campaign I am running but never quite got round to doing so. Below is a bullet point catch up I did for the players after a month or so's break. It should give you an idea of what happened and I hope to keep events logged here from time to time. The world is a mix of Middle Earth and Wheel of Time and set deep in the fourth age and starts late summer in the north above the Trollshores.

The merchants convoy you were guarding was attacked.
1. You was not aware of the cargo of the ten wagons as all closed up and you was discouraged from getting too close.
2. You felt yourselves separate from the other guards and drovers 
3. When attacked the drovers fought just like the guards and fought well not surrendering and seemed to be all killed (it was dark so you can not be sure)
4. The bandits also fought very well, to the point of being well trained and well disciplined, odd for bandits.

Village of Ragnar and the Cave of Selija.
1. You agree to look for a fugitive of justice who you track down at the cave of Selija. 
2. Orc's (known from fairy tales) inhabit the cave, you fight and kill them freeing the fugitive who goes back to the village with you.
3. Whitecloacks (Children of the Light) enter the village read a proclamation that requires all demi-humans to register at each village or town they pass through or be named Darkfriends.
4. The village elder hides you and you escape north.

Salt Pits.
You stumble across Paco and his family who you help evict Troglodytes from the salt pits.
Paco offers you salt in way of reward, he needs to mine it so come back in a few days

Lords Manor.
1. You come across the local Lords Manor but find the people either doing minor duties as if asleep or lying dead on the floor where they have slumped overcome by hunger or injury.
2. All living are malnourished and close to death. Any attempt to revive them ended with death. One had scrubbed the bristles off her brush and then skin off her fingers cleaning the one spot.
3. You learnt that they were under the spell of Compulsion, an evil spell not used since the Forsaken were defeated and sent to their unearthly prison.
4. Lord of the Manor found dead, scrawled on paper were the words "The Forsaken are coming" over and over
5. A cellar was found and investigated. To one side of this wine cellar a tunnel had been dug to what was a way gate. 
6. Through the way gate it was discovered that Trolorc's (things of nightmares) were travelling and a fight you were lucky to survive broke out.
7. Isabella Sadi used high magic to help save you and fought a Fade that you could not defeat. She told you to make your way south to the town of Mar-Goraff where she would try and make contact with you. Told you to go to the inn called the Three Sails and let the Bar Mistress know you were sent by Istread DaValour.

Return to the Salt Pit.
1. Your trip back south took you through the woods and back to the Salt Pit. Paco took you in for the night, it had started to snow.
2. The snow is coming from the south. Snow normally comes from the North from the frozen sea's but not for two to three months. It never comes from the south at any time.
3. Goblins (more folk from the fables) attack in the night. So many that you were being over run
4. Paco's wife Gwen turns a few heads as the clumsy farmers wife type kills a number of Goblins with throwing knives with blades shaped like leafs. The blades are coated in a nerve poison that kills on drawing blood.
5. She gives herbs to all healing everyone's wounds.
6. She goes into the night only returning in the morning with a couple of minor cuts though you had heard lots of crys (pain, fear and anger) from all quarters at different points. Obviously tired she still seems ready to continue the fight
7. Whilst she is gone Paco struggles with the idea his wife is not quite what he thought. Turns out that she tuned up about five years ago and became Paco's wife after a short courtship. Saiben is Paco's son from his first marriage his wife dying nearly seven years ago after falling ill when a disease had spread through the area. Saiben became ill but got better whilst Paco was fine never getting sick.

Mar-Goraff
1. Met by mounted City guards and escorted to safety.
2. Once in the City lose site of Paco and family
3. Go to the Tavern as instructed.
4. Guards are being killed and their uniforms and weapons taken.
5. Red Haired women are being abducted around the city, the red head barmaid disappears when out collecting vegetables from the market.
6. Another is wrapped in a carpet and being taken to a wagon when two of the party come across them, a fight breaks out but two escape with the girl whilst one of the party is saved from death my Isabella Sedi.
7. One of the drovers from the convoy thought to be dead, is seen in fine clothes and takes a great interest in the south gate. Meets another at a tavern, money passes hands and they part. Drover goes to a guarded Guild House.
8. See Paco's son on way to slave market and buy him taking him back to the Tavern. Found dead hours later, killed by a nerve poison.
9. Snow becomes blizzard like and the city is surrounded by Orc's and other dark creatures.

That's where the players will pick up the game, they have several hooks to follow, all fleshed out and ready to roll so it's really down to them.

A quick note, the Cave of Selija and Salt Pit are both bolt on mini adventures from Tim at Gothridge Manor the first as a free download and the other from his excellent zine The Manor which is well worth getting. Each issue has something you can use is many a roleplaying setting.