Demonboard Doors!

Time for some Demonboard upgrades!

I've been promising a tutorial for doors since the first issue and here it finally is. First lets meet our tools for the day.

Today we'll be using our old friend the basic modelling clay in the silver package. Available at the dollar store. Air dries over night, And at only $2 is a pretty good deal.

How fancy should my Demonboard be?

Just another quick morning post.
More adventures in the Sword and Sorcery land of Kartharka are on the way!
Work on the campaign continues and I hope to get a few more of the campaign update articles up later today (fingers crossed!)
Work also continues on my own game, the roughs are in place, the plots are laid out, the enemies are, so so worked out (it would be quicker if I had already finished the veteran issue as their is a lot of stuff in there on the campaign side of things).
At the moment I have enough that I could wing it if neccessary but should have plenty of time to get everything together for next week.
If I had to calculate xp and treasure I'd be alot farther behind though....
I find myself a little torn when working on scenarios because:

1. I want them to be runnable by anyone with simple at hand materials, with only a few moments notice
2. But I also want them to be awesome, I've got a great pile of blocks, toys, and parts to pull from as well as lots of paints and brushes and a leaning towards such things so I want to do them up in high style!

I think in the end I'm going to end up actually running something that's in between, publishing the version that is most easily run by anyone in the books, and going back after and really prettying up the scenario set pieces for publishing on the website.

I don't want people to get the wrong idea that Lair is about gorgeous and lavish 3d dungeons, quite the opposite, the attitude we actually play with is more like pour out the toybox grab whatever works and get on with the scenario so the players can have fun.

I would suggest this for beginning players of Lair:

First just mark out the grid on some bristol board, do the same on for the card walls, don't bother with painting them just tape them together and get on with the game.

If you find yourself using it alot then think about upgrading to the painted version, It takes a bit more time but looks great.

Then as time goes by start making your demonblocks in batches, maybe 10 at a time. Use them for pillars, furniture, steps, and other features.

As you add more demon blocks to your collection you can start using them for walls as well, I used all card walls for a while and began swapping out more card walls for demonblocks as my collection grew. I love the look of the walls more than the blocks to be honest but the blocks do stay in place better so I bow to my players in that aspect.

More on the campaign and additional rules later today.
~Ripley

First Game Successful Part 1

The first official campaign for Lair of Sword and Sorcery has begun.
In put to the test the first tenets of the Lair philosophy, quick, easy, no prep.
My real life workplace had a lot of excitement this week and I also ended up working late on game night, whoops.
So when playtime came I had nothing prepped at all.
No problem!
People showed up late.
No problem!
Even with me flipping back and forth through the combat issue,
(page numbers, and tables of contents are now a feature from issue three up, you're welcome)
we still had characters ready in 10 minutes.
I simply started them on the Road to Stroh Branoch and had them encounter the miners from the example scenario.
No problem.
Instead of trying to get sacks of gold out they threw their miners at the bandits to kill them all before they could make off with the sacks, whoops, I did not expect that. I expected them to be a bit more careful with their miners and their heroes.
 They also set up a defensive wall of miners around the sacks to keep the bandits from getting to them. Whoops again. My bandits are having a real hard time getting at the sacks. I should start to rethink my strategy of avoiding the miners to drag sacks and just start attacking.
One player then set up a tangle of ropes at one of the entrances to the sack room using their rope and some spikes (and a sota roll of 7)
Huzzah, they're setting traps. Dammit they're setting traps.
Some my bandits are now having to fight through this thing to get at the sacks.
by the end of the scenario all the bandits were dead having looted only two sacks, leaving 28 sacks for the heroes to give to the miners for their reward.
The heroes have not suffered a single wound from the bandits though one has lost a few endurance from fighting.
Then they decided to turn on the last remaining miner to kill him and take all the loot for themselves. "Because there's no alignment in this game".
They manage to kill him but one of the heroes actually has to make a death roll in the fight, and fails!
Luckily once the scenario is over the recover roll leaves him only "severely injured".
In their now weakened state they decide to return to the miners camp near the road and return their ore for the reward, 28 gold pieces, a fortune in the winterlands!
I groan inwardly but have to admit they earned it with some clever strategy on the board.
During this first scenario we found alot of things about Lair which I will post some articles on during the week with some of the material going into the books.
But the night was not over!
This mighty encounter took only about and hour so they continued on to Stroh-Branoch
Read more about this one crazy night in part 2.

Photography Begins on Combat Issue!

Issue 2, "The Combat Issue", has just finished final editing and design. Now we head into photography, hopefully topping the quality of the photos in issue 1. Sorry about that one guys I'm still learning over here.
This is the big one, this issue where you actually get some Rules!
You've all been reading about the tone of the game, the design principles behind it and how it's different. With this issue Lair is going to back up all those claims.
My own "Campaign" is ramping up and will running shortly after the Combat issue comes out.
You'll be hearing all about how it goes as it'll be the testing grounds for the first group of Published Scenarios.
Thanks for Listening and everyone prepare for Combat!
~Ripley

Demon Board Upgrade! (continued)

I promised an update on the clay blocks...

The dollar store clay worked out great.
It's called "Natural Modeling Clay"
Features are "dries naturally".

I honestly thought there would be some difference between these and the salt dough blocks but other than having to let the clay dry out a bit before working it the experience was the same.

If the clay is too wet it will deform when you pull it out of the mold, but just leave it out to dry for a bit, reworking it occasionally, and it's just fine.

You seem to get about 15 blocks out of a package so about 2 packages would be equivalent to a batch of salt dough. At $1.25 per package they are a great deal.

So if you're just getting started and don't know if you will bother playing the game for long, use the salt dough blocks or just card walls.

If you've stuck with your salt dough blocks for over a year and find that they are getting too soggy or misshapen from storage than go ahead and upgrade.

I decided to hold off painting until after the holidays (just too much going on, running a business, wife and kinds plus 4 birthdays all in one months is a little much) But I should find a bit of time to have everything up and ready for the new game, and if not I'll just use the card walls, I've got plenty.

Also busy finishing off issue 2.
The combat rules are all written up in a real format as opposed to my usual bullet points in my notebook.

Now moving on to the included skirmish game to help teach the combat system.

I am also possibly going to include the first Scenario in the issue (or Lair as I call them) It all depends on how much room I have left after my usual rambling.

~Ripley

Demonboard upgrade!

I am currently upgrading my Demonboard. My Salt dough blocks have served me well for a couple of years now but I'm now getting around to making a new set out of modelling clay. I found a good source for natural clay at my local dollar store  and was able to get enough to complete a set for 5 dollars. I'll post more pics after the weekend of the upgraded blocks as well as some tips for working with natural clay.
This is all to prepare for my group of heroes starting their new game.
I'm excited to start the group off in the new time period of Kartharka, The previous game took place 40 years before the current time period in the tumultuous time of troubles. A band of heroes struck off to make their fortunes but ended up changing the face of the Winterlands forever.It was a heady year for the Winterlands with rumors of strange beasts being dragged back from the wilds, the gods returning to the mountains and sorcery flowing through the town of Stroh-branock like water.
But after their brief time in the sun they ventured forth on their greatest challenge of all...never to return.
Look to future issues of Lair to follow their mighty exploits!
Before I upgrade my board here's a few more pics of what it looks like now.
All of the details how to make a demon board in a single day (or weekend if you like it fancy!) are in issue 1 of lair "The Demonboard Issue"