Ugh late nights and sickness.

So I've been sick pretty much all week. Not just run of the mill sick either, I'm talking bed ridden, medicine chugging, sleeping all day sick.

Nothing sucks more than using sick time when you're actually sick.

Anyway, having spent most of the week between the sheets I didn't even begin preparing this weeks Goblin Adventures until today (yesterday at this point?). While kinda crammed together, I'm pretty positive it will be a success.

This new game takes place in Korr, the same game world as our other games with a decidedly different angle. The players all play as goblins or hobgoblins. In this case, belonging to the Borgheb clan. (goblinoids work a little differently in the world of Korr than in traditional Pathfinder or D&D) The Borgheb were a clan renowned for their abilities as scouts and explorers. Here is a small excerpt from the introduction...

Two generations ago a group of your ancestors were exploring unknown tunnels far from home. During their expedition they fled from a massive cave-in, only to find themselves trapped inside a surface cave.

Making the best of their situation, the Borgheb set up camp, working in shifts to dig out the rubble. Days turned into weeks and weeks into years. Eventually the prospects of returning home were forgotten, the Borgheb had turned into what every true goblin loathes – Gerbelgaar – surface dwellers.

In addition to adding a bit of history, having the players start as members of the same clan eliminates any need to explain how they know each other and gives them common goals.

The goal of this game is simple, the goblins warren comes under attack by a party of low level adventurers! After defeating the hapless heroes, the clan will inevitably have to move before more humans show up looking for their friends. It falls on the players shoulders to seek out and empty a nearby kobold lair, creating a new and more secluded home for their people.

Within this campaign I hope to send the goblin party on a variety of crazy and hair-brained adventures culminating in the discovery and liberation of the mythical 'Goblin King'. I look forward to watching the players solve new problems that come with the greenskin territory such as "How do I sell loot if I cant go into town?" and "How do I make reasonable trades when the counting system of my race is limited to 'one, a couple, some, a bunch, a whole bunch and all of em?'"

After the game we're going to see if we can't get in a quick match of Paranoia as well.

Microboxing!

As I said in my last post, I was working on a small project which was just completed a few minutes ago. You see, I display my painted mini's in shadowboxes hung in various locations throughout our house. Some are purpose made while others are re-used letter trays from the days of the printing press. I was bothered that I couldn't display the 'Tomb of Spells' box that my wife bought for me but it was just too large. Staring at one of the trays I suddenly had an idea: display my figures with a miniature box!

Still have a few to paint.

The process is simple, just photo the box, cut it up in your favorite image editor and re-assemble! Here's a look at the micro box up against his big brother.

The outer boxes.

The open boxes, including insert! ( I yellowed it to make it look old)

All together it was a pretty fun little project. I was going to go ahead and post the layouts for download but to be honest, I worry a bit about the legality of distributing something like that.

Something Old, Something New.

Unfortunately my Paranoia plans for last weekend fell through. It was a little too-late notice for most folks. But not to worry, I've got an RPG double header coming up this weekend with a game of Pathfinder (Goblin PC party!) and our first test run of Paranoia.

Finding ourselves with some free time, my better half and I sat down for an evening of crafting, painting and watching a bunch on Star Trek. In addition to painting a slew of goblins and hobgoblins for the upcoming adventure, I made it a point to paint up some of the figures from Grenadier Models "5004:Tomb of Spells." I've gone ahead and taken a few pictures with them next to more modern figures to give you an idea of how things in the miniatures world have changed since 1980.

A classic Grenadier Mind Flayer against a relatively modern model from Reaper Miniatures.

A classic Grenadier skeleton warrior next to a similar monster from the Kings of War line. (An excellent source of inexpensive bulk figures!)

A modern monstrous spider from Reaper mini's (in the vermin pack i think...) and the 1980 Grenadier version - the thing is heavy!

In addition to painting, I have also started working on a special little project for displaying my classic minis. I hope to finish it tomorrow with pictures included!

8 Hardness/90 HP/35 Break DC my ass!

Well, in non gaming good news we just had our 28 year old heater replaced and central air installed! In non gaming bad news we discovered that part of our chimney is collapsed and it will be very expensive to replace. In the words of my elderly friend Jeff, "weak-nessss!"

You can't spell 'slaughter' without 'laughter'!

Money pit issues aside. I am still hoping to run my first game of PARANOIA this weekend. If you've never heard of it [click here] to learn a bit about it. To add to the fun I've decided to use a text to speech program on a laptop for the voice of Friend Computer. I've also created plenty of handy-dandy handouts for use in the game because lets face it: Everyone LOVES handouts!

Paranoia is a tabletop rpg which takes place in a futuristic city(?) deep below the earth known as Alpha Complex. The entire place is run by a maniacal and totalitarian benevolent and super-friendly entity known only as 'The Computer.' When trouble brews in Alpha Complex the Computer calls upon the players who are known as 'Troubleshooters.' Hapless, ill-equipped and most of all expendable; Troubleshooters have one primary function: to find the source of the trouble and shoot it.

While the premise seems simple, it quickly becomes a complicated and bloody mess. You see, Alpha Complex is infested with all manner of enemies who have their own agendas (typically trying to avoid or even destroy the Computer and it's systems). These enemies include secret societies, genetic mutants and worst of all - the dreaded commies. It is the responsibility of a Troubleshooter team to weed out and eliminate these threats and to secure the dominance of the ever vigilant Computer.

In a perfect world, crack teams of players would descend upon treasonous citizens, secret society members and super-powered mutants with extreme prejudice, using lasers and plasma guns to transform them into little more than clouds of fine red mist. Unfortunately for the players, Alpha Complex is not a perfect world. In addition to being a Troubleshooter, just about every player also happens to be a member of a secret society, a mutant, a double agent or (in most cases) all of the above!

Friends, enemies, passers-by: Every one of em is a stinkin commie!

The constant drive for promotion fame and wealth drives most Troubleshooters to backstab each other through whatever means possible. Be it through accusations of treason, unfortunate 'accidents' or flat out murder! Paranoia is a game where every player shares the same goal: complete the mission and be the last one alive to claim the spoils!

I look forward to giving this game a shot as a change of pace from the regular fantasy settings we play. Don't get me wrong here, traditional sword and sorcery is still my bread and butter, but a game like Paranoia can be an excellent dessert.