Wisconsin Ducks

Dante’s Game will most likely be taking the summer off of workshop projects.  It’s too nice outside to be stuck in the basement working on gaming stuff!

Check back from time to time for other gaming related articles or posts, but the Workbench section will be on hiatus for at least the next two months.

Have a great summer. Get out and do something fun!

-Dante

I’ve been moving my game and gaming group toward a more tactile-driven game whereby the players have things that they can use for more in-depth interaction within the game.  This all started a few years back when my friend Peter Lee and I were talking about using various tokens and other types of markers for the players to use for cashing in favors, or to keep track of their coinage. We started looking at the GameMastery card and I was instantly hooked.

The artwork on the cards is nice and colorful and each card has a stock background depending on what the item is, armor, weapons, potions, scrolls, or other “common” type items.  Each item “type” also has a little identifying icon which makes it easy to group or categorize your cards. On the back of each card is a brief description of the item’s characteristics and a “notes field” for writing down any special properties that the GM wishes to assign to the item.

The cards cover a wide variety of items, magical or otherwise, so if you’re looking for a brazier, a ring, potion bottle, scroll, or something as common as a grappling hook, the GameMastery item cards have you covered.

I bought a couple of 2″ three-ringed binders and a large pack of nine-pocket card protector sheets and started to assemble what would become my library of item cards.  I divided the cards into three categories: Magic Items, Common Items, and Weapons & Armor.  Now whenever somebody in the adventuring group finds an item in a dungeon or other adventure, I can pull out an item card, stick it in a penny sleeve, and make note of any special properties the item has.  The players love the cards because they’re able to more easily keep track of what they’re carrying with them.

The GM loves the cards because he can easily see which items can be pick-pocketed from an inattentive adventurer easily.  >;-}P~

-Dante

Simply click on the Workbench link to see this article (and the first two parts as well), or, click HERE to go directly to the article.

As I always suggest to my guests, grab something cold to drink, pull up a chair to the Workbench, and step into my world…in miniature.

Simply click on the Workbench link to see this article (and the first two parts as well), or, click HERE to go directly to the article.

As I always suggest to my guests, grab something cold to drink, pull up a chair to the Workbench, and step into my world…in miniature.

Simply click on the Workbench link to see the article, and as I usually do suggest to my guests, grab something cold to drink, pull up a chair to the Workbench, and step into my world…in miniature.

Dante: James, good to speak with you. How are things?

James: Could be better.  The Detroit job market depends mostly on the automotive industry and the Big Three are very near to bankruptcy.  As a Quality Engineer for the industry, I have had to rethink my skill set.  One of my hobbies was CG (Computer Generated) art, and that is where GrimmWorks comes in.  I am now hoping to take my hobby into the next phase: making money and hopefully, a new career.

Dante: You’ve been pretty productive lately with your 3D renderings. Why don’t you tell me a little bit about some of your latest pieces?

James: I generally like Fantasy, and this is the subject matter that I tend to have the inspiration for.  Right now, I am focusing on portraits of characters.  Some are inspired by past gaming experience or just from personalities of people I know.

Dante: Tell me a little more about “character portraits” if you will.

James: Portraits of characters, or “avatar images,” are a graphical representation of your favorite RPG character or online personae.  It is my interpretation of what your idealized character would look like for placing on your website or desk-top printing at home, to show off your developed, imaginative creation. For instance, if I were to create an avatar for Dante, it would be a Latin archetype with a roguish flare for the dramatic.  For Darkoath Dave, a friend and gamer, the character would be a drunk dwarvish warrior type with a devilish side.

Dante: What kind of programs are you using to achieve the kinds of effects and renderings showcased in your gallery?

James: I have Poser, Bryce, Carrara and Photoshop as of right now.  I also draw upon Ray Dream Designer and Anim8or for basic items and meshes.

Dante: Some of this stuff is amazing. Just like things you’d see in some of the hottest 3D adventure or fantasy computer games. Are you doing any work for hire or are you available for freelance work?

James: I can’t take all the credit for what you see.  Poser has loads of content to use for creating a character.  The idea is to take the existing content and mix and match to give a new character idea or composition.  I also bring in some of my own objects, simple ones for now, but I hope to keep moving towards complex objects and textures.

Dante: So this sounds like a mash-up of original creations and commercially available content–models, textures, backgrounds, and other elements?

James: In regards to content, they are broken down into various types for use in your scene, or for “dressing” the character.  There are basic body meshes, skin textures, hair choices, clothing, props and lighting.  These basic items can further be modified by “morphs.”  For instance, a popular, commercially available body mesh call Michael can be morphed into a slim elven archer with pointed ears or a muscle-bound barbarian warrior.  Applied skin textures can include beard stubble, tattoos, or even scars and wounds.  Eye color can be matched to hair color or nail color.  Morphs also include extremes, like Nosferatu, Gargoyles, Frankenstein’s Monster, or Goblinoid types.
My own content, for now, is mainly objects such as weapons and jewelry.  They are created, textured, and saved as files for import into Poser to interface with the character.  So for instance, if your character wishes skull inspired earrings, I can create the item, import it into Poser, and attach it to the character.

Dante: What’s next for you and this really great art?

James: What’s next…good question.  I have a vision to make GrimmWorks a freelance graphics website and business.  Like all struggling artists, I focus more on the art and improving my skills then on the business model.  The future holds many paths, choosing the right one is the challenge.

Dante: How can folks contact you if they’re interested in hiring you for projects?

James: Right now I have an email through your website at Purgatorio.com, grimmwysh@purgatorio.com or if you visit renderosity.com and look up Grimmwysh you can see and comment my art.

Dante: Thank you, James. It was great speaking with you as always. Best of luck to you with your venture.

You can get in touch with James Blach via his email address: grimmwysh@purgatorio.com or through his gallery at http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/browse.php?username=grimmwysh

Grab something cold to drink, pull up a chair to the Workbench, and step into my world…in miniature.

In what can only be called a classic online blunder, rumors started yesterday that Dungeons & Dragons co-founder Dave Arneson lost his battle with cancer.  A quick search online turned up much confusion and disagreement as to whether or not Dave gave up the ghost as of the time the initial reports hit the InterTubes.

It is known that he was in hospital and was gravely ill.  The “official word” from him family (according to http://grognardia.blogspot.com/) is that Dave passed away peacefully late last night.

Dave, I know you’d appreciate this, so this one’s for you…

The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I’m not dead.
The Dead Collector: ‘Ere, he says he’s not dead.
Large Man with Dead Body: Yes he is.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I’m not.
The Dead Collector: He isn’t.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, he will be soon, he’s very ill.

The forum is still under construction and once completed will be reserved for the guys currently in my monthly gaming group.  Still, if you’re a WordPress user and you’re looking for a full-blown message forum for your blog, I highly recommend installing this plugin.

By the way, to save yourself a lot of time and headache, go directly to the plugin creator’s web site and get version 2.2.  Don’t use the one that WordPress has online–it’s an older version that will not work with WordPress 2.7 (be warned!).

I created several new albums in the Gallery section.  (Contrary to what the developer of this wonderful WordPress gallery plugin says, I think he has it backwards–A gallery is where collections (albums, if you will) are displayed–not the other way around.)  ;-}~

At any rate, have a look and feel free to comment.  The link is up top just underneath the header/banner.  I’ll be fleshing out details (titles, captions, etc. etc. etc.) over the next several days.  This is a lot of work!