Showing posts with label Reaper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reaper. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Typically of Forsaken Areas: Hill Giants

The various true giants are iconic monsters of Dungeons and Dragons, most having been in the game since those original three booklets way back in 1974. The G, or Giant, series of modules (1978) were some of the most popular adventures ever published for 1st edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.

The 2nd edition AD&D designers decided that giants needed a significant boost in order to justify their fearsome reputation, as well as to provide readily available monsters for higher level characters, since demons had been removed from the game. So the true giants were all given additional HD to make them tougher for 2nd edition. This power boost was preserved in the 3e revision.

Back in 2002 Daniel R. Collins wrote a persuasive analysis that suggested 3e giants had too many HD for their type and size, at least when compared to other 3e monsters. I would further argue that, in 3e, where all monsters get ability scores and can readily take character classes, the additional HD are unnecessary and actually limiting. A standard 3e fire giant, for example, has 15 HD and a level adjustment of +4, making it very nearly an epic character right out of the gate. I say better to scale the base HD back to more reasonable levels and thus give DMs and players more opportunities to add classes and templates to these monsters.

Dan did a very nice 1st edition conversion of the true giants for 3e. I built on this work, updating the monsters to 3.5e and adding advanced versions that were comparable to the 3e Monster Manual versions, for those DM who wanted to have their cake and eat it, too.

5e increased the size of all the true giants, moving the hill giant from Large to Huge size. I understand the impulse to make giants really “giant” and it’s not without precedent: the old Cook/Marsh Expert set also boosted the size of giants compared the AD&D versions. But that said, I prefer to keep the giants smaller—if only because my miniatures are all based as Large creatures. Below is a smaller version of the 5e hill giant.

These two hill giant miniatures were an option to the Reaper Bones 4 Kickstarter. Both of these figures were sculpted by Bobby Jackson and consist of the Hill Giant Lowland Warrior and the Hill Giant Lowland Chief. These were a lot of fun to paint.

The following text is Open Game Content.

Hill Giant

This creature appears to be a gigantic, primitive human dressed in rough hides and furs. Its filthy, warty skin is deeply tanned and its shaggy hair is pitch black.

Reckless Brutes of Incredible Strength but Little Wit. Hill giants are never truly accepted into society, yet they do well on its edges and frontiers, forging a strong and profitable existence. Despite their rugged appearance and great size, their basically humanoid shape makes it easy for them to relate with more civilized folk.

Boulder Throwers. Hill giants prefer to fight from high, rocky outcroppings, where they can pelt opponents with rocks and boulders while limiting the risk to themselves.

Towering Bullies. Hill giants love to make overrun attacks against smaller creatures when they first join battle. Thereafter, they stand fast and swing away with their massive clubs.

Skin color among hill giants ranges from light tan to deep ruddy brown. Their hair is brown or black, with eyes the same color. Hill giants wear layers of crudely prepared hides with the fur left on. They seldom wash or repair their garments, preferring to simply add more hides as their old ones wear out.

Adults are about 10-1/2 feet tall and weigh about 1,100 pounds. Hill giants can live to be 200 years old.

3.5e

Hill Giant CR 5

Often CE Large giant

Init -1; Senses low-light vision; Listen +2, Spot +3

Languages Giant

Defense

AC 16, touch 8, flat-footed 16
(-1 size, -1 Dex, +5 natural, +3 hide)

hp 68 (8 HD)

Fort +10, Ref +1, Will +2

Offense

Spd 30 ft in hide armor (6 squares); base speed 40 ft.

Melee* greatclub +10/+5 (2d8+11)
or 2 slams +10 (1d4+7)

Ranged rock +5 (2d6+6)

Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft

Special Attacks rock throwing (40 ft increment)

*1-point Power Attack

Statistics

Str 23, Dex 8, Con 19, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 7

Base Atk +6; Grp +16

SQ rock catching

Feats Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack

Skills Climb +6, Jump +6, Listen +2, Spot +3

Ecology

Environment temperate hills

Organization solitary, gang (2-5), band (6-9 plus 35% noncombatants), hunting/raiding party (6-9 plus 2-4 dire wolves), or tribe (20-24 plus 1-6 hill giant brutes plus 35% noncombatants plus 12-30 dire wolves, 2-4 ogres, and 12-22 orcs)

Treasure standard

Advancement by character class; Favored Class barbarian

Level Adjustment +4

Special Abilities

Rock Throwing (Ex) Adult hill giants are accomplished rock throwers and receive a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls when throwing rocks. A hill giant can hurl rocks weighing 40 to 50 pounds each (Small objects) up to five range increments of 40 feet.

Rock Catching (Ex) A hill giant can catch Small, Medium, or Large rocks (or projectiles of similar shape). Once per round, a hill giant that would normally be hit by a rock can make a Reflex save to catch it as a free action. The DC is 15 for a Small rock, 20 for a Medium one, and 25 for a Large one. (If the projectile provides a magical bonus on attack rolls, the DC increases by that amount.) The hill giant must be ready for and aware of the attack in order to make a rock catching attempt.

Hill Giants as Characters

Hill giant characters possess the following racial traits.

  • +12 Strength, -2 Dexterity, +8 Constitution, -4 Intelligence, -4 Charisma.
  • Large size. -1 penalty to Armor Class, -1 penalty on attack rolls, -4 penalty on Hide checks, +4 bonus on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits double those of Medium characters.
  • Space/Reach: 10 feet/10 feet.
  • A hill giant’s base land speed is 40 feet.
  • Low-light vision.
  • Racial Hit Dice: A hill giant begins with eight levels of giant, which provide 8d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +6, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +6, Ref +2, and Will +2.
  • Racial Skills: A hill giant's giant levels give it skill points equal to 11 x (2 + Int modifier). Its class skills are Climb, Jump, Listen, and Spot.
  • Racial Feats: A hill giant's giant levels give it three feats.
  • +5 natural armor bonus.
  • Natural Weapons: 2 slams (1d4).
  • Special Attacks (see above): Rock throwing.
  • Special Qualities (see above): Rock catching.
  • Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A hill giant is automatically proficient with simple weapons, martial weapons, light and medium armor, and shields.
  • Automatic Languages: Giant. Bonus Languages: Common, Draconic, Elven, Goblin, Orc.
  • Favored Class: Barbarian.
  • Level adjustment: +4.

Advanced Hill Giants

Hill Giant Brute CR 7

Hill giant warrior 4

CE Large giant

Init -1; Senses low-light vision; Listen +2, Spot +3

Languages Giant

Defense

AC 16, touch 8, flat-footed 16

hp 102 (12 HD)

Fort +13, Ref +2, Will +3

Offense

Spd 30 ft (6 squares)

Melee* greatclub +14/+9 (2d8+16)

Ranged rock +9 (2d6+7)

Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft

Special Atk rock throwing (40 ft increment)

*3-point Power Attack

Statistics

Str 24, Dex 8, Con 19, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 7

Feats Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Sunder, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (greatclub)

Skills Climb +9, Jump +9, Listen +2, Spot +3

Base Atk +10; Grp +21

SQ rock catching

Possessions hide armor, greatclub

5e

Hill Giant
Large giant, chaotic evil
Armor Class 14 (natural)
Hit Points 95 (10d10 + 40)
Speed 30 ft.
StrDexConIntWisCha
21 (+5)8 (-1)19 (+4)5 (-3)9 (-1)6 (-2)
Skills Perception +2
Senses passive Perception 12
Languages Giant
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Actions
Multiattack. The giant makes two greatclub attacks.
Greatclub. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (3d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage.

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.

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Thursday, December 28, 2023

Everest Ascended

A little over six years ago I received my rewards for the Reaper Bones III Kickstarter, including the enormous Ma’al Drakar the Dragon Tyrant. That Kickstarter had a bumper crop of great models, including several Gargantuan and Colossal figures that honestly broke me. I worked away on the smaller miniatures, but Ma’al Drakar and the rest of the titanic models languished in my basement as my painting backlog grew and grew.

Finally, last March I got myself an airbrush in one last, desperate attempt to break through the logjam. And the airbrush really did the trick—I’m still very much a beginner, but for priming and putting down base coats on large miniatures it really can’t be beat and has allowed me to put a massive dent in that logjam. (Just in time for the haul from the Reaper Bones 6 Kickstarter to land!)

Armed with the airbrush I was able to complete Ma’al Drakar over the course of several weeks. Because the work was intermittent I couldn’t say how many total hours that represented, but it was a significant time investment. This was easily the largest model I’ve ever worked on, though it probably wasn’t the most technically challenging—that honor probably goes to Shub-Niggurath and all those infernal goat eyes.

Obviously, I wanted to paint this model up as Tiamat so I looked at lots of Dungeons & Dragons reference art, particularly from Tyranny of Dragons. I assembled the model using poster-tack for priming and base coating, then disassembled everything to more easily work on individual components. The wings and the heads were probably the only components that benefited from this approach: everything else probably could have been permanently assembled right from jump.

I primed the model using Army Painter Uniform Gray from a spray can and then applied a zenithal undercoat. Knowing what I know now, I probably would have skipped the primer and just moved right to the undercoat, but old habits die hard.

At this point I assembled the main body, limbs, tail, and neck sections with superglue. In general, the pieces fit well with relatively few gaps and although the model was made with the original Bones material, I didn't notice a lot of sagging or drooping and I think this is because Julie Guthrie did an excellent job sculpting a balanced, well-supported piece. I used some Vallejo plastic putty for the gaps but was not very happy with the results.

I then put down a base coat of Reaper MSP Red Brick on the body, limbs, wings, and tail, followed by washes of Army Painter Strong Tone. The Red Brick had an alarmingly purplish look when first laid down, but this dissipated after I added highlights of Deep Red and then further highlights of Blood Red. I then blocked out the claws and tail spines with brown, highlighted with yellows and gray.

I then worked on the scales of the necks and heads with a base coat, wash, and then highlights. The washes really helped knock down the brightness of the chromatic colors and helped tie the different pieces together.

I did the eyes and teeth and then attached all the remaining pieces with superglue. The cleanup steps probably took as much time as all the rest of the painting, as there were lots of little details and adjustments to add.

All-in-all, it’s a pretty impressive piece to see in person if only because of the size, but Julie Guthrie really outdid herself with this design. I only wish I had used a much lighter tone on the wings: a leathery, tannish base would have made a better contrast and would have allowed the addition of some veining.

I am fairly pleased with the number of models I was able to complete in 2024. I mostly cleared everything in the priority pile, and even allowed myself to pick up a few new additions for the queue.

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Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Griffon and Wyvern

Griffons and wyverns, classic heraldic monsters, have been staples of Dungeons & Dragons from the very beginning, being first mentioned together in Chainmail (1971), where they are treated like Rocs. Both of these Reaper Bones miniatures, sculpted by Julie Guthrie, were part of the core set of the Bones 4 Kickstarter. Even though I didn’t have a pressing need for either miniature, they looked so darned good they both steadily rose to the top of my priority pile.

In OD&D (1974), griffons are described as 

the most prized of steeds, for they are swift, loyal, and fierce. However, they are fond of horse flesh above all other foods, so the two creatures cannot be mixed …. In their wild state Griffons will attack anyone nearby with little provocation, particularly if their lair is nearby.

(I had forgotten that bit about griffons and horses.) The AD&D 1e Monster Manual (1977) repeats the same information, and includes additional details on capturing and training young griffons. “Fledglings sell for 5,000 gold pieces, eggs for 2,000, on the open market.” The MM also mentions that grey elves use griffons as guards and mounts, while storm giants “dwelling on cloud islands or mountain peaks” may have 1-4 griffons.

The 1e Dungeon Master’s Guide has an entire section on “Flying Mounts” which largely seems written to throw cold water on the whole idea of PCs getting their own griffon mounts, emphasizing their “nasty and bad-tempered” natures: “Imagine the confusing tumult of giant wings, the rush of air, the sudden changes in altitude, and you will realize why an inexperienced rider absolutely cannot handle a flying mount.” That actually sounds like a really fun session to me!

The Julie Guthrie griffon is a fantastically dynamic figure that looks like it could spring off its base and soar into the air. It reminds me very strongly of an old John D. Batten illustration of “Jack With His Invisible Coat,” from English Fairy Tales (1902). The illustration shows two fierce griffons guarding the winding road to a giant’s castle.

To prepare for this miniature I looked at lots of references for golden eagles. I skipped priming and went straight to the airbrush for a zenithal undercoat of Reaper Pure Black and Pure White.

I continue to experiment with using the Army Painter Quickshade line, particularly with figures that have lots of fine detail, such as eagle feathers.  It took multiple rounds of Quickshade layers followed by dry brushing to get this griffon where I wanted it.

Wyverns are described in OD&D as

relatives of Dragons, but they are smaller and have but two legs. A Wyvern hasn’t the fearsome breath of a true Dragon, but they are equipped with a poisonous sting in their tail and poison enough to use it repeatedly.

Similar information is contained in the 1e MM. I had it in my head that wyvern poison was one of the more potent in the game, but I don’t see in the 1e MM where wyvern poison is any more virulent than medusa, giant spider, or purple worm poison. Wyvern poison is certainly one of the worst in 3e, doing 2d6 Con intial damage and 2d6 Con secondary damage.

The Guthrie wyvern, like the griffon, has a very dynamic pose, its head cocked at the end of its sinuous, snaky neck. I primarily relied on the illustration in the 5e Monster Manual (2014) for a reference, which has a wyvern with a muted, pale red coloration. After putting down a zenithal undercoat I then put a base coat of Reaper Yellowed Bone. I then used several layers of Army Painter Quickshade to add a red tone to the figure. Overall, I was happy that I was able to approximate the colors in the illustration from the 5e MM without slipping into a hot pink.

Wyverns and Griffons in the Great Dungeon

Both of these monsters are not uncommon in the wild interior of the North. Wyverns and griffons both nest in the Majestic Mountains, and can be found in the cloud islands that periodically drift over the region. Wyverns are also found in the deepest, trackless forests of the North.

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Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Father Dagon

“With only a slight churning to mark its rise to the surface, the thing slid into view above the dark waters. Vast, Polyphemus-like, and loathsome, it darted like a stupendous monster of nightmares to the monolith, about which it flung its gigantic scaly arms, the while it bowed its hideous head and gave vent to certain measured sounds. I think I went mad then.” —H.P. Lovecraft, “Dagon.”

The Dagon model was one of the last rewards unlocked as part of the Reaper Bones 3: The Search for Mr. Bones Kickstarter, and one of several very large figures produced as part of that campaign. Like the Shub-Nigurrath, it’s another Kevin Williams sculpt of a Cthulhu monstrosity.

Dagon has a special place in the Great Dungeon of the North, even though Delvemount is many leagues from the Lythian Sea. Rumors claim that one or more gates in the deeper levels lead to an Abyssal layer of dark ocean, filled with sea monsters. I’ve previously written about the Dagonites, his horrid servitors. One of my sample Inhabited Idols is a Gargantuan statue of Dagon. And I’ve provided some details of Dagon as a Demonic Patron.

Like one of the ancient Deep Ones, this Dagon model lay for many a long year in the dark of my basement, dreaming and awaiting its time. I took a good run at this in the early summer, right before I tackled the Shub-Niggurath model. 

I started by assembling the entire model, though I did not attach Dagon to the terrain. There were some significant gaps with the limbs that I filled using Green Stuff. I then primed Dagon with the Army Painter’s Uniform Gray out of a rattlecan, but this model would have definitely benefited from a zenithal undercoat.

I put down a base coat of Reaper MSP Sapphire Blue, then gave it a wash of Army Painter Dark Quickwash. I drybrushed the figure with more Sapphire Blue, then added highlights with Reaper MSP Clear Green, and then another layer of highlights with MSP Clear Yellow. One of the things I liked about using the yellow on the model is it brightened everything up and looked a bit like filtered sunlight playing on underwater surfaces.

I then set the model aside for a few months as I was unsure how to tackle the terrain, which consists of two stone idols in a sandy substrate. I wasn’t quite sure how to paint up a sand texture—many modelers use actual sand or textured material when working on sand terrain, and I didn’t want to go there. I also had partially embraced object source lighting (OSL) with Dagon, and really wasn’t sure how to extend this technique to the terrain section.

After a few months experimenting with other techniques I returned to Dagon’s terrain. I started by putting down a base coat of white, then colored the sand sections with Army Painter Light Tone, and the stone statues with Army Painter Dark Tone. The Quickshades gave both the sand and stone a diffused, mottled appearance which to my mind worked well with the underwater theme. I then highlighted both surfaces with more Clear Yellow, which helped tie the terrain with Dagon. Although it’s not really an OSL technique, I really liked the contrast of the golden sand with the dark blues and green of Dagon.

I then glued Dagon to the terrain. I made a glaze out of 2 parts Pure White to 3 parts Matte Medium and 3 parts water, and used this filter to lighten up Dagon’s teeth, claws, and tentacles. I also lightened up the many spots along the demon’s three tails. 

To create a glowing eye effect I painted the large eyes white, then put down a line of Clear Green around the outermost rim of the eyes. I then made a ring of Clear Yellow just inside the green. I then made a glaze out of pale, pale yellow and began running this around the outside of the eyes, gradually adding more yellow to the eye and the surrounding flesh. A few layers of the glaze helped blur the three colors together and created the appearance of a glow.

To finish I sealed the model with Testor’s Dullcote. I didn’t really have a gaming base big enough to suit this model, so decided to leave Dagon as is.

Williams did a great job sculpting this model: Dagon neatly combines the features of a frog, eel, octopus, and anglerfish into a sleek, sinuous form that looks like it could be swimming through water. I felt very vexed at several points while painting this model, and more than once figured I had wrecked the job beyond recovery. So it was very satisfying to stick with it and end up with a miniature I am pretty happy with. Ad astra per aspera.

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Wednesday, November 8, 2023

The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young

Ever Their praises, and abundance to the Black Goat of the Woods. Iä! Shub-Niggurath! Iä! Shub-Niggurath! The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young!

—H.P. Lovecraft, “The Whisperer in Darkness” (1930)

This enormous Shub-Niggurath miniature, sculpted by Kevin Williams, was an add-on to the Reaper Miniatures Bones 3 Kickstarter from back in 2015. Around the same time I also pledged the Delta Green: The Roleplaying Game as well as the Sandy Peterson’s Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder Kickstarters, which demonstrates how deeply the Mythos was occupying my mind eight or so years ago. Yet despite my best (or perhaps worst?) intentions I still have yet to run a real Cthulhu campaign for any system. I have previously written about the Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath, and even painted up a couple different models of those lesser monsters, but it took me a long time to finally try to tackle their foul mother.

Rob Kuntz and Dr. J. Eric Holmes might have been the first to write up Shub-Niggurath for fantasy roleplaying games. “The Lovecraftian Mythos in Dungeons and Dragons” appeared in The Dragon 12 (February 1978). Their description of her is certainly vivid:

[This] fountain of uncleanliness is a huge grey pool, 100 feet across, in the caverns beneath Mount Voormithadreth, constantly bubbling and putting forth mouths, limbs, pseudopods and whole creatures. 1-10 small monsters are created from the pool per melee round and go crawling, flopping and flying away up to the surface. Some fall back into the pool which then grows mouths and devours them. … Thus the god is the source of all the foul and unclean creatures of the earth. The growing little monsters usually ignore strangers, but they will attack on Shub-Niggurath’s command.

Similar language is included in the first printing of the AD&D Deities and Demigods book, which also includes this sanity-destroying Erol Otus illustration of Shub-Niggurath. In the lonely wilderlands of my own Great Dungeon of the North campaign, certain foul madmen are said to venerate this abomination. Her dark young stalk the most desolate places of the farthest North, and one of the deepest levels of the Great Dungeon is said to consist of living caverns out of nightmare, a vile place corrupted with the fecundity of Shub-Niggurath.

I struggled to formulate a plan of attack for the Shub-Niggurath model, which is large and complex with many different parts. I was torn between assembling everything first and then painting, or painting everything first and then assembling. In the end I compromised: I used poster tack to put the model together long enough to prime and lay down a base coat, then I disassembled the pieces to work on the small, hard-to-reach features. Even with lots of poster tack it was tricky to keep the various legs, tentacles, and whatnot hanging together: the process was a bit like working an abhorrent Jenga puzzle.

I primed the model using Army Painter Uniform Gray out of a rattlecan, then used my airbrush to put down a base coat of Army Painter Barbarian Flesh. If I were to do this over again, I probably would have skipped the gray primer and used zenithal priming instead. Although the airbrush saved a lot of time, the Barbarian Flesh didn’t provide great coverage and looked very orange; in retrospect a more pallid tone like Reaper MSP Fair Skin might have worked much better as a base coat. A bolder and more interesting choice might have been to use Reaper Ghoul Skin, which would have both suitably grotesque as well as thematically appropriate.

In any case, I then disassembled the model and began working on the smaller details on the individual components. Between eyes, mouths, teeth, horns, tumors, lacerations, and suppurations, the model has loads of gross detail that I steadily picked off. 

Once I had blocked out these smaller details, I reassembled everything with superglue. There were a few nasty gaps that I tried to fill using Vallejo Plastic Putty, which is a product I have admittedly never had much luck with. In retrospect I wish I had gone with Green Stuff, which requires more work but gives me better results, particularly with larger gaps.

I then began shading the model using a variety of Army Painter Quickshade washes followed by several rounds of drybrush highlighting. I then started on cleanup and lining, which took a long time to complete. I spent a lot of time watching videos on painting eyes, since these are one of the most prominent features of the model. I was nearly done and feeling fairly satisfied with how all the eyes were turning out when I realized, to my horror, that goats have very, very weird eyes with horizontal slits for pupils—and I had painted all the eyes with round pupils. Although I tried to convince myself that round pupils were fine, just fine, in the end I broke down and went back to try and add horizontal slits. The result was a little disappointing—just five minutes with some reference art earlier in the project would have saved a lot of headaches.

I sealed the miniature with a couple of coats of Testor Dullcote, and then went back over the eyes and mouths with Vallejo gloss varnish. I would have preferred a somewhat glossier finish for Shub-Niggurath’s flesh, but I still haven’t found a varnish or blend of varnishes that isn’t too glossy. 

Finally, I mounted this miniature on a Reaper Miniatures 160 mm round base, suitable for a Colossal size monster. The figure’s native base was a little too big and I ended up trimming it back with an x-acto knife to fit. 

This model was technically the most difficult and easily the most time-consuming I’ve yet worked on. Though there were many steps I would have done differently if I had to start over, but in general I am fairly happy with how this figure turned out. I don’t know when or if I will ever be able to drop this beast into a game, but it certainly makes for a conversation piece!

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Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Hail Hydra

In “How it Started” I reflected on the slow evolution of my miniature painting over the last ten years. After looking at my early work on the Sandra Garrity hydra, I decided to scrap the old paint job and restart from scratch.

This model was included as an add-on to the very first Reaper Bones Kickstarter from 2012. Like many of the early Bones, the hydra was based on an earlier sculpt that had been cast in metal. The original Bones material was a soft white plastic similar to PVC material: fairly inexpensive, soft, and extremely hydrophobic.

I soaked the model for about a week in full strength Simple Green to break down the heavy layers of paint and lacquer, though I’m not convinced how much good this soaking did—removing most of the original paint required several rounds of vigorous scrubbing with a stiff bristled brush, alternated with dips in a sonic cleaner.

Although the model had shipped disassembled, I must have done too good a job with the glue because I could not separate the model into its constituent parts, which would have made both cleaning and repainting quite a bit easier. Rather than hunt down a solvent to dissolve superglue without melting Bones, I pushed on.

I opted not to prime this model, although I continue to doubt the conventional wisdom that rattlecan primer cannot be used with the original Bones material. I do find that an airbrush—as opposed to my brush work—can provide a sufficiently strong initial layer. So I used that tool to put down a zenithal undercoat with white and black, followed by a base coat of Reaper MSP Peacock Green. (I kept the same basic color scheme scheme in order to provide an apples-to-apples comparison with my earlier work.)

Once again, I found that the airbrush made painting a larger model much easier. The first time out with a brush I was constantly vexed by uneven coats, missed spots, and painting flicking off where I was inadvertently touching pieces with my bare hands. This time I was careful to use gloves and simply needed to handle the model much less because the airbrush provided such thorough coverage.

To the base coat I added a wash of Army Painter Blue Tone and then dry brushed highlights on the scales. I used a brush to base coat the spinal plates, horns, teeth, and talons with Reaper Yellowed Bone, which were then washed with a variety of Army Painter tones. I base coated the hydra maws with Reaper Imperial Purple, then dry-brushed Deep Red followed by Fair Skin.

I did have one late stage mishap with this miniature. To seal the figure, I tried using Tamiya TS-13 Clear Spray Lacquer, which seems to be a popular product within the model building community. I wanted to give the hydra scales an iridescent finish, but the lacquer dried a bit too shiny, giving the model a plastic-y look. I corrected this with my old standby, Testor Dullcote, but feel like the multiple layers of varnish took some of the luster from the Peacock Green scales.

I used a 75 mm round Reaper BaseBoss to base the model, suitable for a Huge figure. I had been unable to successfully base the model my first time out because the figure’s feet don’t have much contact with the surface, which I think is due to a slight warping in the casting. For round two I used a couple of small Irwin One-Handed Mini Bar Clamps to hold down the feet long enough for the Loctite Super Glue gel Control to completely set. The resulting bond seems to be nice and secure.

The redux paint job was a huge improvement over my first attempt: it’s nice to confirm that I have picked up some skills over the years. While I certainly wouldn’t be embarrassed to put this model on the tabletop, I also don’t think this was a fantastic paint job. I’m just not satisfied with either the eyes or the little teeth, which still look a little sloppy to me. I’m not quite sure what I would do differently a third time, but maybe I’ll watch a few more YouTube videos in case this old dog can learn some new tricks. Ars longa, vita brevis.

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Tuesday, July 11, 2023

How it Started

In the mid eighties I had a fairly brief stint painting miniatures for my Dungeons and Dragons games. As I’ve mentioned before, I was first made aware of D&D through an article in Dynamite magazine from 1981 that prominently featured photos of kids playing with painted miniatures. That same year the 1981 JCPenney Christmas catalog had an intriguing spread of D&D paraphernalia, including pictures of the Dungeon! boardgame, Moldvay Basic, the 1e Player’s Handbook with Trampier cover, and the contents of Grenadier’s Dungeoneers and Monsters Action Art boxed sets, including a striking bugbear. These images made me forever associate the game with miniatures.

The game books, however, made clear that miniatures were strictly optional and I spent the first few years happily playing without lead figures. But once I had a chance to buy minis with my own money, I jumped. I first started collecting and painting figures around 84 or 85, a tumultuous time for D&D licensed miniatures: the Grenadier license ended in 1982, then TSR produced their own miniatures in 83 and 84, then Citadel had the license in 85 and 86, before Ral Partha won the license in 87. As such, my small collection of vintage miniatures contains representatives from all four of these lines.

I didn’t do much gaming during college, and so my collecting and painting of miniatures ceased altogether. Even after I resumed running D&D games, everything was theater of the mind until Wizards of the Coast launched their Dungeons and Dragons Miniature Game in 2003. The plastic figures, which came in random packs, were relatively cheap, highly portable, and best of all, pre-painted. I amassed a good collection over the next four or five years. My buying steadily fell off once I had a decent selection, and as prices rose and quality dropped. By the time Wizards discontinued the line in 2011, I was buying hardly anything except singles on the secondary market to fill the holes in my collection.

On August 11, 2012 I pledged the Reaper Miniatures Bones: An Evolution Of Gaming Miniatures Kickstarter. I hadn’t painted miniatures for over 20 years, but I was between D&D games and wanted to pick the hobby back up. I received my pledge in 2013 and the very first miniature I tackled was this Sandra Garrity hydra, and I expressly chose it because it was a nice large sculpt, seemingly a simple starter model. I had to relearn many lessons forgotten over the intervening years but at the time I was fairly happy with the results.

My initial goal, and the one I still strive for, is to produce miniatures for the tabletop that are at least as good as the pre-painted options. I’m not looking to win any Golden Demons, but I do want something respectable that I can use in my games.

That said, I look upon this hydra ten years later with no small amount of cringe. The brushwork is sloppy and heavy, the color scheme boring, and there’s no shading to speak of. And to be fair to myself, the initial line of Reaper Bones were a little rough: many of the casts were blurry, flashy, and marred by mold lines. I also followed the advice that “Reaper Bones don’t need to be primed,” which, in my experience, is a lie. Even with a thorough scrubbing, I find that most base coat colors do not adhere well to the original Bones material, which leads to overpainting. A thin layer of gray primer would have done wonders for this hydra.

I’ve continued to back each and every Kickstarter since, and bought additional unpainted miniatures from WizKids and other companies. This next hydra is from the Reaper Bones 5: Escape from Pizza Dungeon Kickstarter, and the Greek Odyssey Expansion pack. It’s a great sculpt by Julie Guthrie, clearly inspired by Ray Harryhausen’s design from Jason and the Argonauts (1963). It was also cast in the newer Bones Black material, so the details are crisper and sharper. I primed this with Army Painter gray and used the airbrush for the base coat, then spent much of the time with inks and highlighting.

I’m sorely tempted to strip the original hydra and start over, if only to see what I could do now. I’m glad that my skills have improved over the last ten years, but I’m under no illusion that I am anything but a middling painter: Painting the Bones V Hydra by Bird with a Brush shows what a real painter can do with this same model. That said, I’m happy with where I am at: I find painting a soothing, enjoyable pastime that helps clear my head in between other projects. New skills and techniques continually beckon: I want to get better with my airbrush, and I want to try out wet blending.

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Tuesday, July 4, 2023

Huge and Hungry: Purple Worms

“These huge and hungry monsters lurk nearly everywhere just beneath the surface of the land… Purple Worms never check morale and will always attack” —Dungeons and Dragons Book II: Monsters and Treasures (1974).

Purple worms have seemingly been in every single edition of D&D, plus David R. Megarry’s Dungeon! board game (1975). They feature prominently in the underworld tableau on the back cover of the 1e Monster Manual (1977). In the early versions of the game purple worms were one of the apex challenges, found only on the lowest dungeon level matrices: 50 feet long and eight to ten feet in diameter, with 15d8 Hit Dice, a poison sting, and the ability to swallow an ogre whole, they were not to be trifled with. For perspective, Orcus and Demogorgon “only” had 12d12 and 10d20 HD respectively in Eldritch Wizardry (1975).

Although I had a pretty decent pre-painted purple worm from the 2006 War of the Dragon Queen set, I grabbed the Goremaw miniature from the Reaper Bones 3: The Search for Mr. Bones Kickstarter back in 2015. I think my plan was to paint this one, like Mashaaf, for my Age of Worms campaign, possibly as a stand-in for an Ulgurstasta. In any case, this miniature became yet another Bones 3 model stuck in my painting logjam.

I finally got around to tackling this figure in April and once again, a Michael Mordor tutorial proved extremely helpful. I primed the model with Army Painter spray-on Uniform Gray, then used Army Painter Alien Purple for the base coat. Due to the sheet size of Goremaw, the airbrush helped make quick work of this step. I then used Army Painter purple tone before painting a yellowed bone color on the horns/teeth/whatever that cover its body. Mordor used more of a pure white on those. I tried his technique of washing the teeth with Army Painter Strong Tone, then wicking away the highlighted areas with a Q-Tip. I didn’t get the same great results he got, in part because my bone color was already stained and the Strong Tone didn’t create a good enough contrast. I would have been better off using a pure white to pull off this technique.

I then did a lot of dry brushing. I initially thought I had done too much but overall I’m satisfied with the results. This was an incredibly fun model to paint: the Bobby Jackson sculpt has a very dynamic, writhing pose and looks like the monster just burst out of the dungeon floor to surprise some poor adventurers. It’s also a suitably large model, heavy in the hand and about 100mm in diameter at the base, suitable for its Gargantuan size.

Purple Worms in the Great Dungeon

Purple worms are only found in the North within the basin of the Great Gobbo River. It is said that the hills of granite and ledge that encircle the basin act as natural barriers to the worms, preventing their expansion into other areas. Along the flood plains and foothills of the Gobbo the worms are a frequent terror, and a mottled variety are found living in the muck at the bottom of Black Lake. The dragon Old Brokehorn has been spooted fighting more than one of these horrors, a terrifying struggle between two titans. Purple worms are said to occasionally tunnel into the deepest levels of the Great Dungeon, and particularly bold adventurers have sought out worm tunnels as a possible new route into the lower halls. Clutches of purple worm eggs are sometimes found with 1d10+10 immature worms.

The following text is Open Game Content.

Purple Worm, Immature

This flailing, wriggling creature appears to be a gigantic earthworm, five feet long and nearly a foot round, its slimy skin colored a purple so dark as to be nearly black.

0e

Immature Purple Worm CL 3 (60 XP)

An immature purple worm has a poisonous sting but cannot swallow whole.

HD 1; AC 4 [15]; Atk 1 bite (1d6), sting (1d4 + poison); Move 4; Save 17; AL N; Special lethal poison (+4 saving throw).

3.5e

Immature Purple Worm CR 1/2

Always N Medium magical beast

Init +0; Senses tremorsense 30 ft.; Listen +2

Defense

AC 16 (+6 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 16

hp 9 (1d10+4)

Fort +2, Ref +2, Will -2

Offense

Spd 10 ft., burrow 10 ft., swim 5 ft.

Melee 1 bite +1 (1d6), 1 sting -4 (1d4 plus poison)

Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Special Attacks poison (DC 11, 1d2 Str/1d4 Str)

Statistics

Str 11, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 1, Wis 6, Cha 6

Base Atk +1; Grp +1

Feats Toughness

Skills Listen +2, Swim +0

Ecology

Environment Underground

Organization hatching (11–20)

Treasure standard

Advancement 2–5 HD (Medium); 6–10 HD (Large); 11–15 HD (Huge)

5e

Immature Purple Worm
Medium monstrosity, unaligned
Armor Class 14 (natural)
Hit Points 22 (4d8 + 4)
Speed 20 ft., burrow 10 ft.
StrDexConIntWisCha
11 (+0)10 (+0)13 (+1)1 (-5)6 (-2)4 (-3)
Saving Throws Con +3, Wis +0
Senses blindsight 15 ft., tremorsense 30 ft., passive Perception 8
Languages —
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)
Actions
Multiattack. The worm makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its stinger.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d6) piercing damage.
Stinger. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (1d4) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw, taking 3 (1d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.

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