Gamey stuff

I’ve been drawing and painting (in watercolour) for the past 2 weeks for the new edition of the Warhammer Fantasy RPG. I only played WHFRP once or twice when I was a young man in Chilliwack, but I am certainly amazed how different the world of Warhammer is from the world(s) of D&D. Warhammer is a lot more gritty and detailed, and is based on Europe in the dark ages. One of the artist’s guidelines I got read “roll it in shit, dip it in muck.” That’s pretty cool and having pulled out my old edition of the game that Jamie gave me a couple years back and I never really opened, it makes me want to try it out. Maybe someone will run it at a game day or convention in the near future.

Speaking of conventions, The Thickets just got asked to play V-Con, but the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival is (as usual) the same weekend (Oct 7-9). So I’m trying to sort that out.

This week I also got my contributor copies for some really awesome D&D books – the Black Company Campaign Setting based on the series of novels by Glen Cook, the Advanced Bestiary which is a book full of templates that you can apply to other monsters to make new, weird, scary monsters that your players will never have experienced before, and Egyptian Adventures: Hamunaptra which is a pretty cool setting boxed set that is getting some good reviews. Actually all of those books got good reviews and I will probably use bits from each of them in current or upcoming campaigns.

Speaking of upcoming campaigns, I had the second session of character generation for my “Venger” animated D&D campaign. Let me tell you about the characters, may I?

Marlo’s character doesn’t have a name yet (come on, Mar-Mar!) but she is a Chinese-Canadian hippie with a younger brother. She’s got a pet ferret she takes with her everywhere and in the realm of Dungeons and Dragons she becomes a druid with a magic staff.

Graeme’s character, Jesse, is an all-around popular jock whose deadly desire is to be the most popular – a hero to be loved and worshipped by all. He’s also phobic of bees and is allergic to their venom. In the realm he’s a rogue with magic bolas.

Geoff’s character, Joshua, is a bit of a hick who takes a long bus ride from the farm to get to school. One time he got kicked by Helga the cow and his broken leg didn’t heal properly, leaving him with a limp. Josh’s deadly desire is to be a great dancer, which he knows is impossible because of his limp. In the realm, he becomes a ranger with a magic whip-dagger.

Chris’ character, Sam is a Max Fischer-like extracurricular drama nerd who founded the archery club. Despite being weaker and younger than his sister (Marlo’s character), he’s very protective of her. In the realm he becomes a bard with a magic lute.

Norm’s character, Billy, is the youngest of the group. He’s got a chip on his shoulder and he likes to be called “Radimus.” In the realm he becomes a barbarian with a magic greatsword.

David’s character – no name or background yet. He becomes a sorcerer with a magic amulet.