Tag Archives: monsters

General

That Obelisk Just Moved! — D&D Monster

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The immense stone obelisk begins to shake, rising up out of the ground on four large tentacles. Eyes blink into existence along the stone’s pitted surface, then focus with a gaze full of rage and arcane power.

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Recently, our subscribers got a look at an altered Atlantean who was siphoning power from an arcane obelisk. In an earlier adventure, the party discovered another monument that bore signs of experimentation. These stone monoliths could be… “important”.

Magic, Unleashed

The immense stone obelisk begins to shake, rising up out of the ground on four large tentacles. Eyes blink into existence along the stone’s pitted surface, then focus with a gaze full of rage and arcane power.

Arcane obelisks are potent magical nodes that anchor and channel arcane energy. Sometimes, the arcane bindings focused within the obelisk unravel, and the obelisk is transformed. An awakened obelisk is such a creature, unleashed magical energy rippling along a massive chunk of carved stone.

Destroying the manifestation of unleashed magic is difficult, since every broken chunk still possesses a fraction of untethered magical essence. These smaller chunks are often less powerful but mutable, spawning a myriad of new forms. Representative of these forms are the large scorpiolisk and smaller, humanoid arkanshard. It’s possible that recombining these smaller subforms could rebuild the obelisk, but only an intricate ritual can rebind the magical threads to restore the obelisk to its original form.

Awakened Obelisk — Dungeons & Dragons Monster

 

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The awakened obelisk is part of a set, so using him with the upcoming scorpiolisk and arkanshard is a good idea. You could also change the lore and have an evil mage going around town, turning monuments into monsters.

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General

Dragon Rep: The Top Tier PR of Dragons

Dragons get good public relations (PR) these days.

It’s easy to forget that dragons used to be the embodiment of evil. They were the Serpent, Satan in the garden of Eden and the Book of Revelation. You know that Vecna guy? Dragons were worse.

These days the public image of dragons is more varied.

I was watching trailers for upcoming movies the other day and was surprised to see how many of them had dragons in them. Some inclusions made sense; the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves trailer has two (a black and a red). House of the Dragon… that’s easy…

Then there was Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Sandman. I’m not so familiar with either franchise, but I didn’t expect to see dragons here. I realized that it was time to get educated, so I picked up The Sandman, Volume 1. I’ll let you know when the dragon appears.

https://youtu.be/83ClbRPRDXU

Even Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has what looks like an Aztec representation of a dragon, seen just briefly on screen.

So, dragons are really popular, but is that just in the circles I hang out in? There’s even a mod for Stray that lets you play as Spyro the Dragon. I think that just points to the fact that dragons intrigue us. Ever since our ancestors first picked up a dinosaur bone, we’ve been fascinated with scaled giants.

The RPG Blog Carnival and Dragon Fire

In July, this fascination came home. We hosted the RPG Blog Carnival with the topic “Here Be Dragons“, and here’s what our friends had to say about our fire-breathing friends:

Kim Frandsen of Beyond the Horizon Games talked about Wyrms of the North, a series of articles that ran in Dragon Magazine from 1996 to 1999. He says (and I agree) that the history — the story — behind each dragon is an important part of what makes them work at the table.

In his second article, Kim introduced Patina, a copper dragon with a grudge. Here’s an excellent campaign idea for your table, based around an intriguing creature. This isn’t a simple “slay the monster, get the gold” adventure idea either, and I love that.

Kim’s third article opened up dragons in a big way. I even consider this article a must-read for Pathfinder 2e and Dungeons & Dragons 5e GMs looking to run a campaign featuring dragons, as it deals with some aspects not covered in the core rules. Dragons are Dangerous, and Kim has done some work to ensure they play that way at the table.

Finally, Gonz at Codex Anathema created a dragon-focused campaign based on three one-shots he ran. The article is written in Spanish, but Google Translate in Chrome will get you there in a jiffy! The players get to meet phoenixes during their adventures, so we’re big fans already. And oh, it gets better from there. Give it a read.

Thank you to everyone who contributed this last month, and to everyone who joined us along the way.

Before we go, I’d love to hear from you. Who is your favorite dragon? What setting are they from and why do you like them? My favorite is Niv-Mizzet from the Magic: the Gathering TCG, because who doesn’t love making things go boom?

Just Out

We just released Camp Karate: Hot-Blooded Dramatic Roleplay, a new little indie RPG. We loved making it and we think you’ll enjoy playing it. Check it out.


Mini Monday, Tips and Tricks

Mini Monday #16: Painting Skeletons and Easy Rust

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It’s Mini Monday, where I share customizing, scratch building, kitbashing, and miniature painting projects for your roleplaying table. This week we’re painting skeletons and rust.

Mini Monday Logo

Walking skeletons are a staple of fantasy, so knowing how to paint them will come in handy, even if you’re only painting a few for your roleplaying sessions. This method is super simple and very effective. If you haven’t already had a look at how I painted Yochlol, be sure to check it out. That tutorial goes into using Flesh Wash, which is the key ingredient in this recipe.

1. Basecoat White Then Flesh Wash

Basecoat your skeletons white, then wash with Flesh Wash, aka Ink Wash: Flesh.

Painting Skeletons 1

2. Dry Brush Off White

For this step, I used a 1:1 mix of white and a brownish flesh tone. You’re looking for whatever looks the most like bone.

Painting Skeletons 2
The guy in the middle isn’t dry brushed, so you can compare the effect.
Painting Skeletons 3
All dry brushed… and done!

To dry brush, dip your brush in the paint, then wipe most of the paint off. Paint this residue over the raised edges of your model by flicking the brush back and forth. It takes a little practice, but the technique is very useful.

And that’s it, those bones are done. Let’s move on to the rust.

3. Paint Rusty Surfaces Orange

‘Nuff said!

Painting Rust 1

You can mix things up and have patches of different shades of orange, if you like. We’ll be adding plenty of visual variety still, so don’t worry too much if you don’t.

4. Sponge on Brown

Using a small bit of sponge and tweezers, sponge brown over the rusty surfaces. Like with dry brushing, you don’t want too much paint on the sponge here. The aim is to get a random pattern of dots.

Painting Rust 2

5. Paint in Metal Edges

Now, here’s the magic part. Paint a metallic colour on the edges of the swords and shields, focusing on raised edges that would see wear in battle.

Painting Rust 3

It’s a smoke and mirrors technique, but the metallic edges sell the rust and suggest that the weapons and shields are actually made of metal… actually.

6. Finishing Up

Lastly, put some Nuln Oil or a black wash over the rusty armaments, paint or base the bases as you wish, and seal off the miniature with two coats of matt varnish.

Painting Rust 4
Done dun dun dun DONE!

I was blown away by how easy and effective these techniques were. I’ve used the rust technique a bunch of times on my Warhammer 40,000 orks already, and painting these bones felt like cheating, it was that easy.