Order Out Of Chaos

I've never really been a big fan of Chaos as a faction in GW.  It's always rubbed me the wrong way, kind of like the high school jocks that I knew all too well.  I love the armor but not the hunched  I'm befouling myself for the foul gods look that the minis had.  I wish GW could go back and revisit some of the old art from 3rd ed. because they had some great looking chaos warriors

I do like the Norse and everything Viking and would prefer to do a completely Norse army that is not affiliated with Chaos at all, but still not quite a completely historical Viking army.  I know there are various miniatures companies that carry generic barbarian armies like Redbox Minis, Black Tree Design and Mirliton to name a few.  I'm not really sure what I'm looking for but I will know when I see it.  I guess a cross between Frank Frazetta's "Death Dealer" and the Vikings in The Pathfinder.  If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

Crom! A Conan Skirmish Game

Eli over at I See Lead People gave me a heads up on this and I wanted to bring it to your attention Crom! is a Conan Skirmish game that Doug over at Matakishi's Tea House, and he's aptly named it Crom!  It looks very promising and I know I look forward to trying it out!

Also there are a few fellow bloggers who are also involved in coming up with rules variations.  Eli over at I See Lead People and Space Jacker over at Tiny Solitary Soldiers are putting forward some interesting ideas that can be used for the game.

So head on over and check it out, I think this is going to be a very promising game!

G.I. Joe In 15mm

Chris over at The Basement Gaming Bunker came up with a great idea, G.I. Joe in 15mm! I've got a bunch of Earthforce Marines from Rebel Minis, so I'm going to repaint them to look like Cobra Vipers. But what other minis could I use to represent other forces?

What figures would best represent the Crimson Guard?

Maybe Rebel minis Earthforce Magistrates?

Tomax and Xamot could lead them into battle, using Rebel's Gun Clerics! I probably could get a Destro and Baroness out of this pack.

Earthforce Home Guard would make decent regular Cobra troops or even Joes.

Post Apoc. Gangers and Bikers become Dreadnoks!

Various figures would fit in with the GI Joe characters; such as civillian contractors, gang task force, modern spy or post apoc survivalists.

Rebel Minis has a huge selection and would be perfect for running a G.I. Joe base wargame!

Mordheim In A D&D Setting

I absolutely love the skirmish wargame Mordheim. It's one of the most inventive games that Games Workshop has put out. One of it's biggest weaknesses is the setting. I'm not overly fond of the Warhammer Fantasy world, it just doesn't work for me. There are way too many people worshiping Chaos and becoming mutants, and everyone has oversized weapons and armor. But the rules themselves are pretty good.

I'd like to run a game in a more D&D setting and I think I might use Highport in Greyhawk based on the A series modules. I think it would be perfect, a once great city overrun with orcs, goblins, gnolls, hobgoblins, etc. And the adventurers must explore the depths of the ruins to extract the hostages and recover lost treasure. I think it would be a great game with very little conversion, I just need to start making scenery and amassing models. I suppose I could make up my own setting as well, it would be fun either way.

If anyone has any better setting ideas in Greyhawk, Mystara or Faerun I'm all ears.

Mapping Your Game Setting

Do you rely heavily on maps for your setting? Do you pour over every detail in the cities and boundaries of your world? Or do you let it flow through game play?

I've tried to map my Tunnels & Trolls setting, Imajapoor and have found that it doesn't work. Now I'll be the first to admit that Imajapoor is a more humorous setting, and is not to be taken seriously like Greyhawk or Faerun. So maybe the most detailed route isn't the right way to go. It's always interesting to see what hashes out in a game session. Besides, I'm a big Terry Pratchett fan so I'll just take an idea from the man himself...

What are your thoughts?

Bravestarr - Idea for a Traveller setting

Reaper Mini

Just think, a wild frontier planet with unlimited potential for fame, glory and adventure! Basically an old west setting in space. Filled with bandits, outlaws, gold diggers, mutants, cyborg horses and jawa like natives. I think a lot of great ideas could be used from the Bravestarr series!

Wizard of Ryxys

This is an idea I've had for a "Dying Earth" campaign.



Wizards of Ryxys are shrouded in mystery. A child who has a natural inclination for magick may undergo training in the Crystal Halls of Ryxys (originally a crystal asteroid that had crashed and then later was discovered this was actually a space craft). Once the training is complete, the magic user is given the robes of Ryxys (they believe the Wizards must be covered head to toe to preserve their magical energies, if their body is exposed they'll lose mana), and set upon the world to search for artifacts of Ryxys that can shed light on the magic contained within the craft.

I'm using regular rules for Magic Users (except they can use weapons) in The Swords & Wizardry Core Book, but maybe I'll come up with some newer spells.

Witchfinder - Another way to look at the Cleric class

"'I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you . . .. I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!'" -The Crucible by Arthur Miller

Not everyone in a fantasy setting trust in Magick. In some cultures it can be a dark evil thing that is best left alone! You could find yourself becoming the slave of some creature of the beyond that you sought yourself to enslave. Spells can go wrong and who will pay the consequences. Mankind was not meant to dabble in forces that are beyond our comprehension and control.



I'm a fan of 60's and 70's horror movies, especially the ones involving witchcraft. A couple in particular that really stand out are Witchfinder General and Mark Of The Devil. These movies are great fodder for role playing games!

You could play a cleric character as a religious zealot, who serves a deity trying to cleanse the world of magick and sorcery. Purging sorcery in the all cleansing flames of righteousness.

You could also be a character who's family was killed by practitioners of black magick. Sacrificed by some dark god or evil demon. Now they will meet justice at the end of your blade!

Or you could be a sort of enforcer used by the guild of Wizards to root out those who haven't paid their dues. Wizards can be every bit as vindictive as the mundane world can be. Especially if there's money involved!

Just a few random ideas to make a campaign interesting!

Keep rockin' & Role Playing!

I Hate Tourists! (Dungeon Delving from the monster's perspective)

"Those sun dwelling above world scum think they're so high and mighty. They come down to our homes rob, cheat, and murder all in the name of some righteous cause like rescuing fair damsels, recovering a stolen magic item or adventure. Feh, I say! I hate above world tourists!" - Feh The Troll

Let's face it, adventurers are nothing more than tourists with delusions of grandeur. They camp out, leave a mess, harass the locals, and head back home with lot's of loot.

Ken St. Andre of Tunnels & Trolls fame wrote a game called "Monsters Monsters" that basically turned the tables and made the monsters the good guys, and the tunnel raiders the bad guys. This game has been long out of print, and if you are lucky enough to find it you'll pay through the nose for it. But there's no reason why you couldn't run a game of D&D in the same way.



You could have an orc warband defending their cave warrens from "stinkin' 'oomans" who came to murder them in their home. Sort of an orcish homeland security.

Or how about a lovesick dragon who was so smitten with a fair damsel, that he just had to fly off with her to his lair. And now a company of adventurers are coming to steal her back.

How about spirits of the dead who are just minding their own business haunting their own tombs when some burglars break in to steal their grave offerings!

This would give the players something to think about next time they try to rob some poor innocent goblins of their ill gotten gains!

What was your first RPG poll?

I'm interested in seeing what everyone's first RPG was. Please click on the poll to the right --------->

Was it D&D, the father of all RPG's?


Was it Traveller, one of the earliest Sci-Fi games?


Personally I was introduced into RPGs by playing a game of Chill! An awesome Horror RPG (my first character was killed and eaten by a werewolf in the first game).


Or was it Pendragon, Tunnels & Trolls, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Robotech, Doctor Who, Gamma World, Talislanta.....etc.

Let me know and post a little about your experience!

The Black Lands of Sab'bath map

This is a quick map I did for the Black Lands of Sab'bath.

1. Tomb of the Iron Man-God (based on Matt Finch's Tomb of the Iron God)
2. Sabra River
3. City State of the Lord of This World (The ruler of the City State is a benevolent warlord Iomoti)
4. Dionian Forrest
5. Spiral Tower of the Mad Sorcerers (who stare Into The Void in The Hole In the Sky)
6. Snow Blind Mountains (home of the Dwarf clan, Clan Frost Bear)
7. Keep of the Neon Knights (who are the first defense against the War Pigs)
8. War Pig Wastes (this area used to be rich with settlements, but now is a sundered realm populated with Orcs)

Feral Elves in The Black Lands of Sab'bath

The elves of Sab'bath, known as the Dionians, are a devolved offshoot of the high elves of far away lands. Straying from their ancestors, they've forgotten all of the magick and technology that was part of day to day lives of the Eldar. Now crude and wretched they to be the savage blood thirsty race that the high elves accuse humans of being. Preferring to remain inside their spider haunted forests, Dionians rarely leave their sylvan fortress. Although few Dionians leave the forests to see the world outside.

The Dionians are smaller than the high elves (around 4.5 feet), with long hair and facial hair, and animal like claws. They tend to use primitive weapons like bow and arrow, flint tipped spears, stone axes, blow guns and some metal weapons left over from their ancestors the high elves.

Living in the forests, they tend to be expert hunters, trackers, and ambushers. If only they could reign in their savagry...

Role Playing Ideas: DC Comics' Warlord

I've always been intrigued by Mike Grell's series The Warlord, and with all of these RPG ideas floating around there I thought I would throw Warlord as an RPG world.





If you are a fan of Planet stories like Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom or Pellucidar series, Leigh Brackett's Skaith series, Alan Burt Akers "Dray Prescot" series, or John Norman's Gor series; you'll enjoy The Warlord! It's definitely a Swords and Sorcery series told in comic book form. And there's plenty of fodder for role playing ideas!



The main character Travis Morgan, was a vietnam veteran fighter pilot who flies through a hole in the Earth's crust and finds himself in the underground realm of Skartaris. Where he encounters beautiful scantily clad women, evil sorcerers and monsters galore!

I'll try do do some stats for D&D in the months to come.