I Wish I Could Publish The Lichway

Every time I think about this classic adventure, I can't help but daydream about how cool it would be to publish it as a standalone B/X module.

I'm not sure who owns the rights. It's possible that they were owned by the author, the late Albie Fiore and became part of his estate. Or they might be owned by Games Workshop/White Dwarf where Albie worked. Either way, if anyone reading this has any ideas about how the rights might be acquired, or permission gained to publish it, I'd love to hear from them.

I'd be very happy to publish it as a free PDF and an at cost print product. It's just something that shouldn't be left in old copies of White Dwarf.

Geomorph Template

Using arcane knowledge gleaned from the long lost Games Workshop Dungeon Mapping Sheets, I've created a handy geomorph template with a double line grid. I've left the entry/exit points as single lines so they are easy to spot. I'll draw my previous three geomorphs on these and see how they look.

GW Dungeon Mapping Sheets Found

I'm delighted to report that someone (thank you Red Orc) has found a sheet of the elusive mapping paper and sent me a scan. As a couple of people suggested the paper is printed with two grids (the second being offset by about 1mm). This means the small gaps between grid lines are ideal for shading in a walls.

I've printed a couple of sheets of the paper out and will try drawing a map on them tomorrow. The main squares are around 3mm which is quite small. I think if I were to print a pad of these sheets I'd want them to be double-sided with a different sized grid on the reverse side.

If anyone would like a copy of the full-size scan, send me an email (oubliettemagazineATyahoo.co.uk) and I'll be happy to send it to you.

Games Workshop Dungeon Mapping Paper 1982

Back in the 1980s I dismissed this product as just graph paper and never bothered picking up a pad. I seem to recall it was printed with extra lines that could be used to create thick walls in maps. The image of the cover (below) is the only visual trace I can find of the product on the web.

Does anyone have a better photo of the product, or even better a scan/photo of one of the sheets? I've been thinking of printing a similar type of paper and would love to get a better understanding of the dimensions/line weights/colour they used.

Fancy Being the next CEO at Games Workshop?

Games Workshop have dispatched headhunters to find a new CEO to replace Mark Wells, who's been at the helm for the past 5 years.

I haven't had a call from them yet, but I still thought I'd do some prep so I can hit the ground running.  My  masterplan for "moving the business forward", as MBA types like to say, is to take GW's £11.1m profit from last year, and use it to buy the Dungeons & Dragons name and back catalogue.  After that I will begin a major roll-out of B/X and AD&D rules and adventures, whilst at the same time cutting most of the current Warhammer lines.  If, no, when this strategy succeeds, I shall begin a programme of recasting classic Citadel miniatures from the 80's.  In keeping with the spirit of the company, I will keep GW's strict restricted toilet break policy for staff (oops sorry I mean colleagues) though.

Games Workshop vs 3D Printing

Games Workshop are having a bit of a Space Sulk.  They've got stuck into a guy because he sculpted some figures which were similar in 'style' to their own ranges, and then put them up as a digital files for fellow 3D printer owners to download and er ... print.  Further details can be found on Wired.com.

I've talked about 3D printers before, and although the technology still isn't quite ready for the consumer market, there is even less doubt that it is going to happen in the next 2-3 years.  It might have been a lot early than that, but it now seems likely that consumer models will ship with an intergrated scanner unit which will be able to photocopy objects.  Basically, you will be able to put a Space Marine (sorry "Future Soldier") into the machine, press copy and print out a few hundred of them.

You can see why Games Workshop are worried, but it's ludicrous going after a fan who has uploaded a similar, but original design in the 'style' of one of their figures.  The reality is, as soon as their customers get access to a 3D photocopier which can produce half-decent, cheap copies of their models, the Comany's current business model is finished.  They might mitigate the damage by getting into the market themselves, where they could at least sell digital copies of their models.

From my point of view, I don't want to print out loads of Games Workshop figures, or rip-off recent figures from Reaper, Otherworld, et al.   However, I do have plenty of old out of production Asgard, Ral Partha and Grenadier minis which I would just love to able to make copies of.

Are Gaming Companies Nice Places to Work?

I've read with interest the RPG industry related blog posts this week at Howling Tower and Hill Cantons.

They got me thinking, are Gaming companies nice places to work?

My only experiences in the games industry are limited to a couple of stints of work experience at Games Workshop's Design Studio in the late 1980s.  That was a time of immense change in the organisation, and employee morale was pretty low (one of my friends also ran one of their stores around that time and often recalls how dreadfully the retail staff were treated too).  I'll have to write up my experiences there sometime as I got to work in a lot of different departments there.

Incidentally, if anyone is looking for a job as a photographer, Games Workshop are recruiting:

White Dwarf Photographer Vacancy

The following text from the ad makes me think it's still not the nicest place to work:

"If the way you behave and the attitudes you display fit with Games Workshop's ideals, it is highly likely you will be successful, well rewarded and happy. However, it is only fair to say that people who don't fit with our culture, or who play at fitting, will be unhappy and consequently unsuccessful."

Right that's enough on Games Workshop for a while - I don't want to sound bitter.

BBC Online Warhammer News Feature

This article (found on the BBC website this morning) caught my eye. It concerns Games Workshop and Warhammer 40K. The comments make interesting reading. There's no denying that the Warhammer fans enjoy their games, but I can't help thinking that if they sat down with an experienced GM for a couple of hours they'd get bags more enjoyment playing an RPG.

Aghast at Radagast

One of my players has a magic-user with a raven as a familiar.  We play with miniatures, and although I've got several wizard figures, I thought it would be cool to try and find one with a raven.  A few minutes on the internet turned up Radagast from Games Workshop's LOTR range.  If you'd asked me to guess the price of this single 28mm metal figure, I would have said £4, maybe £5.  The actual price is a shocking £7.70 or if you're in the US, that'll be $12.25 please.

I checked a couple of other places for prices of metal figures and, imported Reaper ones are £3.50 or £4.10 each, for most adventurers, and Otherworld Miniatures charge £10/£11 for 3 human-sized figures.  I then turned to ebay, and snagged a part-painted Games Workshop Radagast for £1.47 + postage.

Although I'm not a fan of Games Workshop, I might buy some figures and scenery pieces from them, but they seriously need to sort out their prices.

Looters Return Stuff to Games Workshop

For the benefit of overseas readers, we had some bad riots and looting in England last week.  On Monday, I was away from home, but thankfully not anywhere near any of the trouble hotspots.  During the afternoon, I walked past a branch of Games Workshop which was closed and  I instantly reasoned that it was one of there infamous one-man shops which closes so that  the poor guy running it can go to the toilet.  As I peered through the windows to see what they had on display, I joked to my wife, "I bet the looters give Games Workshop stores a wide berth".


Today one of my friends sent me this which made me laugh out loud.  I've talked about Games Workshop before and said that I would write a follow-up piece after visiting a store.  This has proved difficult as I've not managed to find one open during normal retail hours.