I have a Youtube Channel!

 I've taken up painting my terrain, as well as using combat "Zones". I've posted many of my paint jobs on The Tabletop Crafter's Guild page on Facebook. Some folks put forward the idea of my starting a youtube channel for painting. The job market isn't panning out so why not?

Here's the first few videos!

6x6 Swamp Tiles Are Now Downloadable at DrivethruRPG

Yup, I been busy doin' tha art thang. Find the HERE.

I've also been looking into a way to coat my tiles to make them work with wet erase markers. The only advice online that I could find was to cover the tiles with a sheet of poster frame plastic. That's great, but not portable. It would be great if I could pre-draw any features on my tiles and transport them to the game.

Here's what I have done so far:

Lamination - Ordinarily would work, however the side lips of the lamination would interfere with the tiles abilities to butt up against each other.

Modge Podge Glossy Acrylic Sealer Spray - I put three coats on a tile but the ink still bled through to the paper underneath. It might work if I added more coats, but I don't want to spend $10 per can and have it only treat 6 tiles. I have a lot of these things. Plus a knowledgeable friend advised me that Acrylics can yellow the work, wear off, and don't age well.

PVA Glue (Elmer's) - I honestly thought this would work and it almost did. The problem is that PVA glue is water-soluble, even after it has dried. As soon as I used a wet rag to erase the ink, the glue became liquid again and things went bad.

Polyurethane Spray (Glossy) - My knowledgeable friend suggested this and it is also about $10 per spray can. You can get it from Home Depot. It will take longer to cure but can likely do the job in two coats. We'll see.

And speaking of Home Depot, they have this little "Start your own fairy garden" miniatures for $2 a miniature.  There was a great, to-scale Water Well that I picked up. everything else wasn't much use to me. Not a bad find.

6x6 Forest Tiles Are Now Downloadable at DrivethruRPG!

So I have been working on some more Terrain Tile sets for use with RPG miniatures. Partly because many of the Paizo Flip Mats are no longer available, partly because it's improving my Photoshop skills, and mostly because I can.

The tiles are 6" x 6", with or without grid lines and can be downloaded HERE. It's Pay What You Want, of course.

Sci Fi Companion Ship/ Vehicle Sheets

There was a request on the Pinnacle Boards for one. Truth to tell, I haven't had much to show off or talk about recently so this makes for a good post. Here they are.

The Danger of Stuff Pt. 2 - Losing My Way

Yeah...so...

I have become too wrapped up in stuff. I've been making maps, tiles, and painting figures. I've been collecting, even after I swore I wouldn't fall into that trap. Worst of all, I had brainwashed myself into thinking that maps and minis were just the way you played RPGs.

What I haven't been doing is gaming. I'm so caught up in prepping for eventualities when I start running games that I haven't been running games. Honestly I was so glad to have my artistic drive back that I was willing to drown myself in it.

And I was deluding myself into thinking that I could make a supplemental income with my maps on DrivethruRPG. I'm not knocking DrivethruRPG, I love their services, but when my Forest Tiles were going for $.50 they received maybe a purchase a month. Since they went "pay what you want" they have been downloaded over 50 times this month with only a couple of people tossing me some coin. I'm flattered that people like my stuff, but it is obvious that this is not a source of revenue I should depend on.

So I had to do some soul searching this weekend.

I remembered playing WEG's D6 Star Wars back in college. I had no minis, no maps, and there were epic adventures to be had. My players weren't thinking tactically about body positions, they were think tactically about supporting each other and completing the mission.

That said, I still get players that prefer minis and maps. And if I can't get them to switch over, I will have to adapt. But what I need to stop doing is making maps in a vacuum, and painting minis that I may never use.

What I should focus on is creating some One Sheet adventures, and any extras that I make (such as NPC cards, map designs, figure flats) should go towards that specifically.

So...time to prep things I will actually use, and get back to sharing stuff for free because I can.

Cavern Tiles Have Gone Live!

Yup, they have finally gone live. Note to self- DrivethruRPG gate holders don't work on weekends.

RPG Loot Crates - A Cool Idea I Will Never Buy

Who loves presents? Who doesn't?

That is essentially what a loot crate, dungeon crate, rpg crate, any of the new crates or blocks that are rocking the current geek fad are. It's a monthly subscription to a monthly Christmas, and like all Christmases, the gifts may not be quite what you desired.

I admit, I want in. I want to get some blind rpg stuff delivered to me so I can geek out with my new toys. However I just can't bring myself to make the investment. And Here's Why:

• It's all D&D. Well that's a blanket statement, but more or less true. And if I were running a company that targeted RPG players, I would also set my sights on the 300lb Gorilla that is D&D as well. The problem is that I game everywhere on the mythical timeline, and fantasy isn't my favorite. Some crate makers have admitted they do other settings, but very rarely. Therefore I have no reason to buy a year subscription.
• Wrong game systems. As mentioned above, they target D&D heavily, but I use Savage Worlds as my go to. And there are hundreds of other systems that people enjoy that are being ignored. Even the modules and magazines that accompany these crates are for specific systems (such as some edition of D&D).
• Vynil figures. Some people love them, I don't. I am very picky about why I collect, mainly because my ex-wife was a hoarder. If it's on my shelf, it better do more than look pretty. 
• How many dice do you need? This gets included a lot because every gamer needs at least one set of dice, right? But I am afraid that this cheap, useful go to item is going to be in every crate and I purged myself of the great die bucket long ago. 

That said, I believe there are some good ideas that can be made better here.

• Truly personalized crates. Have you ever thought of making one yourself to give to a special gamer in your life? Suddenly this can be an awesome birthday/Christmas/ anniversary gift and you can tailor it to the person's preferred gaming. What is more, you know you are getting what the crate is worth and - no buttons, no ads, and no stupid frakking inflatable crowns!
• I am considering a digital loot idea. Imagine a bundled download for purchase from Drivethrurpg that includes a map, paper figures, a one sheet adventure, and a map. I have no idea how I would pull that all off monthly but it would be catered to Savage Worlds, no subscription, and significantly cheaper since I am just creating virtual assets.

Anyway that's my brain hemmorage for today. I am currently awaiting approval for my Cavern Tiles to go live on Drivethrurpg. They can connect to the "Pay what you want" Sewer Tiles I have already uploaded and will cost $1.99. That's a 50 tile set, btw.

Sewer Tiles In Action.

Edit: There is some weirdness going on with my pic attachments. This is the second time I have uploaded them as they keep breaking.

Also Edit: The tiles are fixed, as well as some new ones added. Located here on Drivethrurpg "Pay What You Want".

I printed mine up and glued them to chip board. It's sturdy and they come in 6x6 packs, which is nice. The one down side is that they do add weight as the stack gets thicker.

Although I did notice another mistake. I will have to correct that later as my weekend seems booked.

Freebies - Sewer Tiles Fixed!

And here's the new link.

Freebies! - New Sewer Tiles

Edit: Fixed

I was going through my wife's craft stuff and I came across a cheap little matte cutter she had. It was perfect for cutting down all of the chip board leftovers I have from some failed 8x10 tile experiments.

So to kick off my DIY tiles, I started with sewers...again. Well at least these are with my new map style and I think they look pretty sharp. I never bought Paizo's Game Mastery Tiles for the sewer adventures in Pathfinder Society. I'm not a fan over their tile sets (though their maps are fabulous). My problem is that they are 5x8 and my OCD hates odd numbers as well as tiles that can't be turned sideways to be reused in a grid. They are also a bit on the thin side which makes keeping them butted up against each other a pain.

So I have adopted 6x6 as my official tile set size, and I have more tiles planned as time goes on (such as sci-fi!). As for rooms, they can break the 6x6 rule depending on what they are.

I've had a super hard time trying to build re-useable tiles due to Pathfinder Society. It would be impossible to recreate any of their maps with a generic tileset. But my mental issues wouldn't let me get away from trying and failing to make them for PFS. I have to distance myself as much as possible for the idea and move on with my crafting. That said, my sewer tiles are compatible with PFS and can loosely replace their designs. Mine aren't exact to what they have, but it keeps the general gist of things.

Anyway, you can find my sewer tiles in the free downloads section, or right here in the ticketyboo!

PS> I had an experiment idea about gluing plastic sheets from cut up sheet protectors onto my tiles to make them wet/dry erase. I tried white glue spread thin, regular blopped white glue, and a clear colored glue stick. Neither white glue held the plastic on, and even warped the cardstock that was already mounted to the chipboard. The gluestick did the best job, but it did have problems holding onto the sheet in places and it slightly discolored the printed art.

I've tried contac paper but I can't get the permanent stuff, and wet erase markers want to bead up on it and don't make a crisp line. Ah well, back to the laboratory!

More On Painting

I have been practicing my technique before my expected Chronoscope figures start arriving. I revisited a model I had painted earlier - the Rock Golem - because I felt it was too dark and and didn't have much variation in tone. I added some highlights to it to make it pop more.

Also working on a few models I have had in the queue, like this Skeletal Champion...

And finally, I swapped the last of my paint pots into the 15 ml dropper bottles (I bought a pack of 50 from Amazon; 15 ml, 30 ml). In the process I discovered something interesting: the bulk of my paints are Privateer Press and a full pot of theirs doesn't fit into a 15 ml bottle. I should have gotten more of the 30 ml (I mistakenly only ordered a 12 pack). But my one bottle of Citadel paint fit just fine. It never occurred to me that I was getting significantly less paint from Citadel.

Since those are the only two brands my FLGS carries, I think I will just keep going with the privateer paints.

New Map - Canyon Maze

I have a new map for sale on Drivethrurpg.com: The Canyon Maze.

It's a 24x30 inch standard size map you put together from 9 8x10 tiles. It comes in grid and non-grid.

I'm not a big fan of site advertising so this blog doesn't generate any income for me except in advertising my own work. Every little bit helps and I will keep up with new freebies sooner or later.

Thanks for visiting my site,

Chad B Jones

Regarding Maps Without Doors

I have been struggling with artistic overload recently so my next couple of posts will be specifically about maps and tiles respectively.

So.... maps, (the pre-designed ones by Paizo and WotC).

Dungeon maps have a reuse-ability problem... sort of. If it's a map that you have used before, the players will know where the doors are, the layout, and if it is printed on the map then they will know the secret passages. There is also the problem that (even if it is a new map) you have to cover up undiscovered areas with paper or your players will see all of the routes and doorways.

Well I have an idea about that.

What if you had maps that showed blank rooms but NO DOORS. Like this...

Will the players know which path to take? Not without doorways linking rooms. Now how about you place door standees as the players discover them? And you place (or draw) room decor as the enter? Instant Fog of War without having to deal with a mess of tiles or cover sheets. And because you can place doors in different locations each time you play, you effectively change the map, keeping your players guessing. And you don't have to use all of the rooms either.

I would say that 3 different maps would give you hundreds of dungeon crawl combinations.

You don't have to wait for me to make maps for you. If you are hand drawing maps based on your favorite rpg's designs, try leaving out the doors until the players find them.

Painting Minis - Paint Hack

Paint containers, for the most part, suck. They get gummed up around the rim, fail to seal properly, and dry out. They also make it hard to get a small measure of paint out to mix.

There's a paint company that has the right idea by putting the paints in dropper bottles. However my FLGS doesn't carry them. It only carries Warhammer and P3 paints. But where there is a will...

I purchased these off of Amazon: a twelve pack of 1 oz dropper bottles. Most of the bottles come in 50 packs, but I didn't think I needed more than twelve. I was wrong on two fronts. I have more than 12 colors of paint and 1 oz is too large a bottle. Paints apparently come in .5 oz or 15ml bottles. I went back on Amazon and order a 50 pack of 15ml bottles. I am sure I will need them as time goes on.

Another thing I noticed was that the bottle openings were very tiny (before adding the dropper). I would need some kind of funnel to get my paint in there. Enter the drug-store medicine syringe (without needle).

I pulled out the plunger and filled the paint into the back of the syringe carefully. Then used the plunger to force the remaining paint through. You'll want to wash the syringe immediately after this to avoid the paint drying inside.

And... Oovah! Easily cleaned and easy to measure paint bottles!

There is some paint wasted in the transfer, but I figure the paint it will save me in mixing and not crusting the cap will make up the difference.


PS> Sorry for not keeping on the posts. My family is becoming the guardian of my 18 year old step-niece who has severe autism. She takes up a lot of our free time. Drama, drama, drama!

Even more FREE STUFF! A Fillable NPC Card PDF!

It was requested, and now it is delivered. Very special thanks goes out to Savage Matt Leonard for diddly-doing the dealy-boops with the PDF editing. We had to make some compromises but in the end I think we came up with something cool.

As always, it's best to print on cardstock. Just trim and fold the cards in half (front and back). Glue the halves together and you got yourself an NPC card.

These cards are 3x5 so they won't fit into a card sleeve. But the increased size allows you to fit in all of those character details you don't want to look up. If it doesn't fit, then shame on you for power gaming :).

Click the pic to get the schtick.

FREE STUFF! My Eye of Kilquato Tools!

I've gotten word back from Jodi Black at Pinnacle. I am clear to release a PDF that contains all of my tools used for the Eye of Kilquato. Well, all except for my Status Tokens.

Get the file right here.

Edit: I update the file. They are supposed to be crocodile Cultists, I guess.

Post Game Report: The Eye of Kilquato

I ran the Eye of Kilquato last night for my game group. This is the second time ever that they have played a Savage Worlds game and the first time I got to use many of my new tools.

So first up, I downloaded The Eye of Kilquato as well as the Map and the Paper minis from the Pinnacle website.

My tools involved:

• a redraw of the map (Pinnacle's version was hard on my eyes)
• NPC Cards
• Vehicle Cards for the Boats
• Status Effect Tokens (I made my own but there are sheets available from the Pinnacle Website)
• Taking the trifold figures and making bi-fold pawns
• Tent cards for character sheets

So how did the tools work out?

• Map - It was fine but only used in the last parts of the game. The rest was all accomplished with Theater of the Mind.
• NPC Cards - They helped a lot, but added to the cluttered mess of my GM station. 

• Vehicle Cards - These barely saw use since the combat was less about sinking each others boats than picking off whoever was on deck.
• Status Effect Tokens - Wow, these were a hit! They helped keep track of Shaken, Wounds, who was taking an Aim action, etc. 

• Pawns - This was the chief source of the mess at my GM station. There are a lot of figures for this game, and you will likely use less than half of them. I should have kept them sorted from each other to make pulling them out and locating the right ones easier.

• Tent Card Character Sheets - This also went over like gangbusters! The character portraits not only helped them get into character (Kator was awesome), but the portraits on the outside of the tents got the players treating each other as their characters.

Issues that I had with the adventure:

• It's supposed to have crocodiles but the Pinnacle tri-folds say alligators
• Spoilerz!: There are two eyes of Kilquato, but while the first one doesn't match the description at all, it is also considered a real one. I'm guessing this is in case the adventure runs long at a Con, it gives you an early ending spot as an option. It should be explained for anyone who is new to running con games.

But despite these little quibbles, everyone had a lot of fun. My next outing will involve them picking a setting and having a Session 0 (aka group character creation).

DrivethruRPG's Deal of the Day 7/21/2016

Tomorrow my Street Map will be DrivethruRPG's Deal of the day. The price will drop from $5 to $2 for a limited time.

And who couldn't uses a 24x30, 1" square-gridded street map?

Does It Have To Look Realistic?

I was using my google-fu, looking for some tileable textures to use in maps (I'm working on the junkyard for Waylaid on Wayland) when I came across this artist who goes by the name of Mr. Cirwos. Student Site Here.

It had never occurred to me to use anything but realistic textures in my maps, but I have to say I am smitten with the charm of doing something more cartoonish. When dealing in miniature, details can get lost and some may even become confusing. But with a cel-shaded approach the map details are easily visible. Plus it has that Saturday-morning cartoon feel to the adventures which frankly I don't mind at all.

Have a look for yourself. Do you think you could enjoy a game on a map that was cartoony? I'm guessing that anyone who has played all of their games on Wet-erase maps might not have an issue with it.

A Starchild of the 80's

My teen years were filled with 80's shlock sci-fi and New Wave/ Mod music. To this day I still prefer the original Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers with Gil Gerard (both technically Disco Sci-Fi) . I can't imagine Cyberpunk without that Chrome and Neon sheen (except for Ghost in the Shell).

Well now I've found music to help me get back into that 80's Sci-Fi groove. They call themselves New Retro Wave, and if you need some music for your Cyberpunk, or Undercover Florida Narcotics Division game then this is it.