machai-umno

I have been sorely lacking in my posts as of late… It’s not because of a lack of things to do. I have been working on many CAD models and making molds for the 15mm scale Crusader. Casting up a Leviathan to convert to a fixed posed model. Busy, busy, busy….                I still have Three Leviathan Crusaders and one Mortis left. If you want one, it may be a good time to pick one up; I will likely be discontinuing the fully poseable Leviathans for a more static pose version. If I continue to produce the fully poseable version, it will likely see a price increase for that option. Here is a sneak peak of the upcoming 32mm Stormtroopers for the Eisenkern faction. You can find the Kriegsmarine drop trooper in an earlier post. Enjoy! Here is a Wehrmacht storm trooper with the Kriegsmarine legs. And just for a bit of fun….

Purple Duck Goings On... - Legendary Shields is being edited. - Purple Mountain - Level 1  is going through playtesting. - JL Coburn has sent over the first of the new Lands of the GOW entries. - Michael Scotta has art orders for Purple Mountain , The Rook and Monsters Unleashed V.3 - Stefen and Axel are working on Horrors of the GOW - Part 2 - David is working on Legendary Weapons: Unusual and Exotic - Tom is working on the Rook and a Skill Project . I'm back to work at my day job so for a little while, until I get into the rhythm of work, it will be primarily my job to co-ordinate between people, get things ordered that need ordering, paying freelancers and doing layout. This weekend, I plan to do some writing. It might be some scribbling on Purple Mountain - Level 2 or  Otyughnomicon 3 or  Horrors of the GOW - Part 2  or I might even dig up 4saken . Plus I need to begin layout on that secret thing I'm not telling Stefen about until it is awesome and ready to go...

Today I spent some time adding more material to the Grand OGL Wiki. When I finished that I wrote up 15 specific magical armors and sent them over to Headless Hydra Games for publication. I have contributed to their 15 Specific Weapons lines so it seem like a natural fit to send them Axel's way instead of publishing them myself. Scorpion Knight Stefen is going through the process of proofing and tearing apart Purple Mountain - Level 1 this week. Which is good because I'm hoping that it could be out very early September. This weekend, my group is getting together for a playtest of the dungeon to check its in and outs. It looks like it will be a full group of five players, so I will not need to run a DNPC which is great because I think that interferes with playtesting. Stefen was working on some archetypes for the second issue of Horrors of the GOW which should come out in October. JL Coburn has come on board to write more of the Lands of the GOW 1-pagers which is excellent bec...

For the second issue of Horrors of the GOW . Stefen and I are looking at doing something more low-magic, high investigation for a feel. Here is one of the archetypes that Stefen has written. Feel free to tear it apart, that is always part of the process. Clergyman (Cleric) Class Skills:  Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (nobility) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis). Skill Ranks per Level:  4 + Int modifier Weapon and Armor Proficiencies:  The clergyman is proficient with all simple weapons but not with armor or shields. Divine Focus (Su):  The clergyman begins play with a holy symbol that lends him great resources of inner will and divine power during times of strife. Once per day he may use the object to cast any one divine spell he can cast without using a spell slot. As long as he bears the holy symbol he gains a +2 morale bonus to saves against fear and a +2 mora...

I have nothing interesting to say today. Purple Mountain - Level 1 is in editing. I've received a couple of entries for our pregen contest but most importantly I read Stuart Robertson's article on GM Merit Badges . If you haven't read this today you really should take the time to do so. I sent my players the link and two have responded: Patrick has said I would qualify for: Death, Dice, Drama, and Tactics. Thomas has said I would qualify for: By-The-Book, Dice, Map I'm pleased with those assessments as well as can use them as a guide post for things I can work on. I have not rated myself, because I think the valuation of my players toward my style is more important.

Monsters Unleashed V.2 [PFRPG] $1.50 Publisher:  Purple Duck Games by Sean Holland   [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 08/21/2011 21:03:39 Monsters Unleashed, Volume 2, is more monsters rescued from obscurity by the fine people at Purple Duck Games. If you need some interesting monsters at a bargain price, take a look. Monsters Unleashed, Vol 2 is a 16-page PDF (12-pages if you remove the OGL pages) for the Pathfinder RPG written by Mark Gedak and Stefen Styrsky and published by Purple Duck Games. This is part of Purple Duck Games’ Monsters Unleashed Subscription. The layout is a traditional book design, primarily two-column and easy enough to read. The monsters follow standard Pathfinder template. The art is black and white with each creature having its own illustration. A sheet of creature tokens is included on the last page. The Challenge Ratings of the monsters unleashed here range from three to 22 (!) mostly good direct combat creatures, including the Fenris Wo...

I have 5 Leviathan Crusaders and 1 Leviathan Mortis on hand. I also have available as accessories: 1 Scythe, 1 Sword, 1 Right hand Vulkan, 1 Left Hand Vulkan, 1 Right hand Mauler, 1 Left Hand Mauler. Just wanted to say thank you to all my customers, the feedback has been great and I hope you all enjoy your kits. All the best! Mark-

Hot Potato School  Conjuration (creation);  Level  bard2, druid2, wizard2 Casting Time  1 standard action Components  V, S, M (sulfur match) Range  short (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Effect  one explosive tuber Save  special (see below);  Spell Resistance  none Upon casting this spell, you call into existence a flaming, explosive tuber that you can immediately throw at another living creature within range as a ranged touch attack (if he misses the tuber explodes as described below). The target of the tuber may make a Reflex save to catch the tuber and take 1d4 points of fire damage. If the save fails the target drops the tuber and it explodes for 5d4 points of fire damage within a 15 ft. radius.  A character who has caught the tuber must, on their standard action, throw the tuber to another creature within range that has not touch the tuber. If he fails to hit a target, there are no targets left, or he doesn't throw it, then ...

Today is the first year anniversary of Purple Duck Games. I would like to take this opportunity to thank: - all of our customers for their support. - all of the artists we have worked with this year - all the writers - all the other publishers that have helped us No shilling today. It is a day to celebrate what has been accomplished.

Me, Marc and Jens got back from GDC Europe yesterday so thought I should write a small summary of the trip. First of, some thoughts on the lecture: My talk was scheduled the first day and was the first time I have ever had this type of lecture so I was quite nervous. This meant I had a bit of trouble relaxing and enjoying the other talks before mine. Also, the night before I had had the final practice round for the lecture, making my dreams that night filled with nothing but fragmented sentences from my script, which of course tainted the next day too. My head contained little but the lecture. My first plan had been to learn the entire lecture and not use any notes, but during practice I always managed to miss something and felt having some kind of notes was more secure. As the lecture slides was pretty much void of text and the actual images often not very descriptive to what I said, I had to keep everything in my head. In the end, I am happy I made the decision of having notes as I...

Pugwampi Legendary Races: Rakshasa is now out for sale. Currently it is available at Rpgnow and hopefully it will get unstuck from the pipe at Paizo. It looks like Monsters Unleashed V.2 could be out before the weekend. This issue will have clay warriors, quickgrass, knollman, corpse orgies and Fenris Wolf. For my evil thought of the day, I draw your attention to the pugwampi to the right. So my idea, certain to make it into level 2 or 3 of Purple Mountain is for a new magic item called a pugwampi's foot . Similar to a rabbit's foot except it exudes an aura of unluck. So that 10 ft. wide pit filled with spikes, it doesn't look that bad to jump over. <Player attempts> oh, sorry, you need to roll that check twice and take the lower roll. Mhahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

I pulled BFVI. The reason is that the game relies on having multiple people online in order to get the full experience of the game.  For the first few weeks, this worked, and worked really well.  But as sales tailed off, and fewer people were buying and playing the game, it just didn't seem fair for new players to spend their hard-earned $1 and show up to an empty wasteland. I'm not sure if I'm the only person in history to pull their game, but I figured I wasn't going to make any more money from it, and it was more important to preserve what little reputation I have.  Or at least not generate a new reputation as a scammer. I have the framework in place for a new game, but no motivation.  Maybe that will pick up soon, but I'm just taking it easy for a while (my Team Fortress 2 bug has flared up again, which isn't helping any!)

Vetula by Jennifer Taylor When a rakshasa tortures and kills a sentient humanoid, the dead creature’s spirit sometimes reanimates as a vetala, a vampire-like being bent on the destruction of life. After a grisly and painful death, the vetala’s spirit continues on, spurred by anger at its undeserved fate. The vetala can not stand direct sunlight. During the day it haunts underground tombs and catacombs to wait for the night. However, a vetala possessing the body of a dead humanoid can move about in daylight while inhabiting the corpse. These vetala are often thought to be zombies, but an observant person can recognize their true nature if they notice the creature’s backwards hands. Unlike ghosts a vetala is not bound to a specific site, though the creature does tend to haunt a area until it runs out of victims. (Legendary Races: Rakshasa coming soon...).

Legendary Races: Rakshasa by Stefen Styrsky First up, we now exist at the Paizo.com store as well as at Rpgnow. I believe I will be setting things up at Lulu.com as well so whatever your Rpg Shopping venue you will be able to find us. So far I only have the Legendary Treasure series up for sale on Paizo but I will be uploading the rest over the next several days. Secondly, a book that Stefen has been working on for a while is finally done. All the art is in and the layout is finished. Heck, it even has a fancy purple minimalist cover. I expect it will be released tomorrow and I don't want to spoil the surprise so I'm not going to mention its name right now.

All customers for batch one through three have been shipped. I hope to close out batch four customers in the coming week, along with all orders that came in after the preorders. Thank you all, for your patients!

I just saw this little horror game gem called "Hide" . It is a very simple game with very simple graphics. Basically the game is all about finding five signs scattered across a map while avoiding being found. I think it is a great example in how not showing something properly makes the imagination go wild. The extremely sparse (yet workable) graphics and the atmospheric soundscape forces you to immerse your self and imagine your worse fear. The game only takes a few minutes to play, so I suggest you all give it a go. And do not forget those headphones!

Just wanted to inform everybody that I will be holding a lecture and be part of a panel at GDC Europe next week. The lecture is called "Evoking Emotions and Achieving Success by Breaking All the Rules" and will be about some of the design in Amnesia and also touch upon a lot of subjects discussed in this blog. The panel has the name "Beyond Fun: Perspectives on Video Games as Expressive Experiences" , which will include 4 other swell guys and gals. In it I will have a lil rant called "Games or Toys". Both of these will take place on Monday and be one after another. Hopefully I can put something or link to video after the convention is over. Will anybody here be attending?

Legendary Races: Rakshasa Stefen turned in revisions to Legendary Races: Rakshasa  today. We need some art to come in and then it is off to layout for this product. I'm expecting it to be a bit bigger than the other two Legendary Races. - Needs: Art, Layout, Double Checks, Triple Checks Monsters Unleashed: Volume 2 & 3 Text is done for these. I'm waiting on the art from Michael Scotta. I'm very pleased to have him on this project and am willing to wait for what he comes up with. - Needs: Art, Layout, Double Checks, Triple Checks Purple Mountain - Level 1 I'm 60% done writing the encounters for level one of the Purple Mountain. I am hopeful that this will be released before the end of August. The dungeon map is done by Kristian Richards of Crooked Staff Publishing. How much art do I need within the module. I'm expecting it to be about 20-30 pages. - Immediate needs - Finish writing Legendary Armor and Shields  - in the hands of a freelancer. Legendary Weapons III...

Mystical Creatures Mystical creatures are creature born or empowered with the powers of a sorcerer. Arcane magic flows through their veins and Creating a Mystical Creature "Mystical creatures" is an inherited or acquired template that can be applied to any creature with a Cha score of 6 or more. A mystical creature uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here. CR: As base creature +1 Type:  If the creature's type is animal or vermin, it changes to magical beast. Do not recalculate HD, BAB and saves. Armor Class: Natural armor improves by +2. Defenses:  Gains resistance 5 to one energy type; DR 5/magic (if HD 11 or less) or 10/magic (if HD 12 or more). Special Attacks:  A mystical creature gains the following:   Bloodline:  Each mystical creature has a source of magic in its heritage that grants additional skills and bloodline powers. The mystical creature must select one sorcerer bloodline and gain the class skill, bloodlin...

I'm really enjoying the Inner Sea Magic book from Paizo. It seem to me the clear design trend by Paizo is toward Archetypes over Prestige Classes whenever possible. I have been working on Purple Mountain and having other design discussions with Stefen but I thought I should take a break to play a bit with this book. So here is a 1st level sorcerer that could be used as a pregen for Purple Mountain. Zinnaonna Chorster  Female human tattooed sorcerer 1 CG Medium humanoid (human) Deity  Goddess of Cats Homeland  The Plains of Fortune Init  +2; Senses  Perception -1 [Defenses] AC  12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex) hp 7 ( 1d6+1) Fort +1, Ref  +2, Will  +1 [Offense] Speed  30 ft. Melee heavy mace +0 (1d8) Ranged  sling +2 (1d4); 10 bullets Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +4)   4/day - enlarge person , feather fall   At-will - depilatory, detect magic, light, message, ray of frost Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +4...

Most aasimar possess a fixed variety of ability scores to reflect their fiendish heritages, regardless of the actual source of their divine traits. GMs might grant their aasimar NPCs or players variant ability modifiers based on their divine ancestries. At the GM’s choice, such heritages might be determined deliberately or randomly. 1d10       Heritage                Adjustments 1-2          Agathion               +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence: The scions of the beast-aspected agathions demonstrate great strength of body and will, but are not known for their organization and planning. 3-4          Angels                    +2 Constitution, +2 Charisma, -2 Wisdom:   The children of a...

But Stefen and I thought we could update the Rakshasa Maharajah from one of the early adventure paths and include it in Legendary Races: Rakshasa as bonus content (until the official update is out). What do you think, is it too powerful like this? RAKSHASA MAHARAJAH Floating serenely with legs crossed over one another, this exquisitely attired being casually examines the curved, long-handled blade in its hands. The face staring contemplatively ahead bears beautiful human features, but from the creature’s neck emerge several fearsome animal heads, each considering a different direction.   RAKSHASA MAHARAJAH                                CR  18 XP   153,600 LE Medium outsider (native) Init  +11, extra initiative  [+7 Dex, +4 Improved Init] ;  Senses  all-around vision, darkvision 60 ft.,  true seeing ;...

I love cursed items and I love silly items. Forgive me. Fielo's Jar of Pickles Aura  moderate enchantment; CL  10th Slot  none;  Weight  2 lbs. [Description] On the counter of Fielio's bar there is a jar. This large glass container is filled with a brine and succulent dill pickles. The top of the jar is sealed with a metallic lid and inscribed with magical runes. When actively pursued by her drunk patrons with an offer of their manly gifts she tells them that she is saving herself for the man who can open her pickle jar. Designed to discourage male suitors, this jar of pickles cannot be opened by any male creature. However, when a male creature attempts to open the jar they are subjected to a powerful geas  that compels them to search out the opener of all things , an artifact thought to be hidden within the trove of an ancient red dragon. Accompanying this geas is the suggestion  (Will DC 13) to leave immediately and not return without the opener...

This week I'm going to be working on a number of things. I've sketched out the combatants and traps for the first level of Purple Mountain. I sent a couple of archetypes Stefen's way for the Legendary Races: Rakshasa and a working on a couple side projects. Reviews On the Review Front it looks like the owners of Nearly Enough Dice Podcast left a review of The Collected Bard Spell Lists at the Rpgnow sites. Their review is here Content on this Page What do you want to see? Post below or on the facebook or G+ page Other Product Ideas Is there any need for 1st level pregens sourcebook? Pregens for the levels set of the Adventure Paths? If we made such a book, what would you like in it?