DIY Projects & El Cheapo Gaming | They Might Be Gazebos!
I know I posted somewhere on social media about these. Run by you local Dollar Tree store. There you should find some mini Jenga sets. I actually think they call them Tumbling Tower or something like that. But they're just about the right size to use as wall sections as you can see above with my homemade dungeon tiles, some mini's and one of the new Wizkids doors. I picked a couple of these and as I've said before wood is pretty cheap and easy material to work with. Of course, I'm also thinking to paint or not to paint….
Back to School Clearance Sales!
It's that time of year for crafty and cheap gamers to save some money. The stores stocked up on Back to School stuff and now the extra stuff is going on the clearance shelves.
So far, my best haul is more 3×5 graph paper index cards. Because index cards are one the best little things to drag around into gamer bag and having them also be graph paper moves them up into the DM artifact level. As I have time, I'll hit up more stores and see what I can find.
But wait! There's more! With the store taking down their Back to School stuff that means they'll soon be stocking up on their Halloween stuff. Last year, the cool find was damn fine skeletons at Dollar General.
Who knows what cheap horrors we'll find this year. Remember. Shop smart. Shop S-Mart!
As with most of projects, I'm taking it slow. Also, didn't have a chance to grab up some more paint. That's on the to-do list for this weekend. But I had a few minutes so I figured I try a little detailing on one tile and see how it goes. So you may remember this pic.
I decided to do a little more on it. A little outlining and a little shading.
I thought about adding some "coins" or blood spots but that would just distract players. "Is that coin really there? Can I pick it up?" So I left that out. Now, I'm too happy with my meager attempt at shading. On the future ones, I may just do the outline. Oh, well. I got more time to think about it.
The stores are already stocking up on back to school supplies and that means every gamer should be stocking up on all those accessories like paper, pencils, composition books and what have you. Last time I was at the store I picked up a pack of cork tiles for about $5 for four 12x 12 inch tiles. Those of you who remember I did some way back when with some that I had just laying around the house and liked them so I'm making more. And I figured I do them a little bit differently this time around.
I just used a utility knife and metal straight edge to cut out the tiles. Then I did a base coat. I forgot my own previous warning on this. The tiles will soak up a lot of paint. That's why the really cheap stuff is fine. When they absorb all this paint, it helps to slightly strength the tiles too. Don't worry about getting every nook and cranny. The natural surface adds more to the stone-like look. Here's some with a light gray base coat.
On the original ones, I basically drew/painted graph paper on them. This time I wanted them to look less organized and more like a dungeon floor but still keep sort of guide for when I use miniatures. So I made a little guide out of some old poster board.
The painting method was pretty simple. I used the guide to put four dots (one for each corner of the square) then painted it in free hand. Like I said I didn't want them be exact.
The next step is some detail. But damn it I have to run to the store and get some more paint!
So Episode 10 is up! I've decide to cross post it here or you can just go Anchor or subscribe with your favorite ap (if available. Still waiting on Itunes.
Yeah I rant about the Ennies. Congrats to all the OSR stuff that was nominated. And like some others, I'm scratching my head about that whole organized play category. Plus I do more comparisons to gaming and food. Just listen to it. And I announce some plans for future episodes. I'm going to take you on the journey as make my Swords & Wizardry White Box world and campaign.