A few months ago I started a campaign to introduce my cousin's kids (I guess I could just say my once-removed cousin's) to D&D ... or actually Pathfinder (We all say D&D. My habit has even trained my children and these children to call all fantasy RPG's D&D ... it's like Kleenex or Xerox ... but more fun.)
I started the campaign shortly after attending
PaizoCon 2012. I had a great time at PaizoCon and have signed up my oldest son (10) and myself for this year's festivities. In any case I was fortunate enough to "win" lotteries to attend two sessions presented by
Sean Reynolds. One was using foam for terrain making and the other was on casting castle and dungeon bits using
Hirst Arts molds. I highly recommend the Reynolds sessions as a great introduction to both techniques, and recommend Hirst Arts. Hirst makes awesome molds that can be used for specific builds, or for making Dwarven Forge type reusable pieces.
Given my new knowledge, and the fact that I was indoctrinating four new players into the realm of RPGs (7-12 yrs old) as well as my wife, and re-introducing my cousin (we had not played for some 20 years), I thought I would end the Crypt of the Everflame with a bang by making the crypt using Hirst Arts product. The project turned out great for my first time out. You can see more pictures of the tomb
in this Flikr photo set.
The final encounter was delayed a good month while I finished my first project of this type. With Mr. Reynold's kick start introduction, and the directions on the Hirst Arts site I was not just able to use the molds, but also to
sculpt and create a mold of my own for the sarcophagus lid and statue bases, as well as do some minor miniatures sculpting to give Asar his silly hat. (Just when
do warriors that become Skeletal Champions get issued that stupid hat ... I would be all pissy and kill everyone too if I had to wear that abomination.) I used the hatless
D&D: Lord of Madness - Skeleton as the base for Asar. I see of course that paizo is doing an actual skeletal champion in it's
Shattered Star release of miniatures.
In a later blog I will detail the
build process and the
gaming session, as well as what I did to extend the encounter to make the umpteen dozen hours of building somewhat more worth it! With that in mind, I've also devised a reason for them to come back here to use this again.
In any case I strongly recommend trying this out for yourself. It's rewarding, fun, makes for great play, and is not really that expensive or difficult to do.
My how D and D has changed in the last twenty plus years. I loved looking at all these blogs and photos. This is all very fascinating; I esp loved the tapestry in the last tomb. Such a nice touch against all the gray. Thanks for sharing. Your boys and once removed cousins must be having the time of their lives.
ReplyDeleteWow! That's awesome!
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