Thursday, July 28, 2011

GenCon 2011 Schedule - Stalk DeadOrcs!

Greetings, Kids!

GenCon 2011 is almost here, so I thought I would get my schedule put up for those of you that might want to come find me to hang out, play a game of something, or what have you.

I'm fixed for the various events specified below, but I'm pretty flexible otherwise. Here's what it looks like so far:

Wednesday:

4:00am to 2:00pm (or so) - Traveling from Topeka to Indianapolis
2:00pm (or so) to 6:00pm - Hotel check in, pick up Will-Call stuff
6:00pm to Pelor Knows When - Drunken D&D

Thursday:

2:00pm to 4:00pm - Monster Design Seminar

Friday:

6:00pm to 7:00pm - WotC Freelancer Seminar

Saturday:

4:00pm to 6:00pm - Dungeon Master's Roundtable Panel

Sunday:

Open, but checking out in the morning, leaving Indianapolis by 11:00am.


That's pretty much what I have as far as confirmed events. As you can see, my schedule is pretty open. I'm really looking forward to meeting lots of folks that I've met on Twitter and in the Blogging community. Come find me, say "Hi!" and let's play a game, perhaps!

See you there!

Until next time...

Game excellently with one another.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

So This Thing About The Skulls...

Greetings!

As GenCon approaches, and all eyes turn towards Indianapolis, I thought it might be fun to share with you one of the things I'd be doing to celebrate my return (it's been 7 years!).

As many of you know, I work with a lot of Hirst Arts stuff. I cast blocks, build terrain, that sort of thing. In the process of doing regular casts, I get a lot of extra bits for which I don't find an immediate use. Some of those bits are skulls - two specific types, actually.  I get a humanoid skull piece from Mold #70, and a dragon type skull piece from Mold #80.  These skulls are useful for adding accents to terrain, but I don't usually need them. However, I do save them (NEVER throw out a good cast block, you might always find a use for it!).  

That said, over the last few years, I've gathered several extra skulls of both types. I decided that for GenCon this year, I would paint a bunch of them and give them away as little gifts. I particularly wanted to show my appreciation to folks that I know on Twitter and elsewhere for their ongoing support of this little RPG blog I run. For the curious, I've thrown together a few photos of how the skulls came together. Enjoy!


Painting in process. I used an acrylic model paint. I find that acrylic works better on a porous surface and is also self sealing. When dry, the paint isn't "tacky" and also provides a protective surface for the block.






Second coat. One of the drawbacks of acrylic is that it is sometimes thinner than an equal volume of enamel. A second coat usually fixes that. Because the skulls were pretty small, I had to first paint the tops and sides, then once dry, devise a way to paint the bottoms. The solution was to use some Crayola Modeling Magic. I pressed a layer into the plastic lid the paints came in. Then I made little indentations to fit the skulls. The Modeling Magic material dried, resulting in a little rack to dry the skulls in.


Here, all the skulls are dried and are awaiting to be stored away. I chose a bunch of different colors. I do wish I'd had more dragon skulls, but apparently, I haven't used that mold as much as the other one. Instant RARE item!


Here's what you should be looking for if you meet me at GenCon. This little box is one of those paperboard boxes you can find at any craft store. I simply painted it to look like a treasure chest!


THERE BE SKULLS HERE!!

So...come meet me at GenCon, and while supplies last, get a hold of a skull painted by yours truly. Use your skull as a token, a good luck charm, or even an item of jewelry!

Hope to see you there!

Until next time...

Game excellently with one another.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Still Here!

I'm probably breaking a major blogging rule here, but I wanted to let all my loyal readers know that I AM STILL HERE.

Summer is usually a slow time for the blog, as my free time (particularly at home) is filled with all sorts of activities that pull me away from the computer.  However, I am working on some exciting things, and I wanted to let everyone know what was going on with your favorite Dead Orc.

WORK PROCEEDS APACE for my ongoing project over at This Is My Game. As you might be aware, I'm working on a project to re-skin the original Star Frontiers rules into a 4e rule set. The bulk of the rules are complete, so right now, I'm working my way through the various equipment lists.  I'm trying to get these done in discreet chunks. Once the project is complete (at least where I feel comfortable), I'll probably enlist Thad's help to get it all into one volume that you can download free from the site. Keep checking the "Skin My Game" section of the site for updates!

HOLY CRAP GEN-CON IS ALMOST HERE!  That's right, kids. Yours truly, my lovely wife Anna (@FELTit on the Twitter), my youngest, and my niece are all headed up to Indy in a couple of weeks to enjoy 4 days of awesome gaming and related activities. If you're heading to the convention, look me up! I'll be Tweeting my location from time to time. There's plenty of free time built into my schedule, so come find me. If I have any left, you'll get a little tiny skull!

SECRET PROJECT!!  I'm excited to be working on a for . The is complete, so I just need to get past the and hope for a win. We shall see!

YES, I'M STILL GAMING! My Dead Orcs Society game group has been pretty faithful this summer about being able to meet our usual Once A Month. In addition, I'm getting to play my DDI Assassin character (Martin Blank) about every couple of weeks, so I'm getting to experience both sides of the game (which is great for perspective). I'm trying to figure out a way to get my "smaller group" game going again. One of the members is going to have a baby soon, so I imagine that their gaming time will be at a premium. I want to get this group going again, because I think they'll be a lot of fun.

Next week, I hope to have my official "Pre Gen-Con post" so that you folks will know what I'll be up to at the convention.

Until next time...

Game excellently with one another.