Euphoria

Oubliette Issue 3 is out. Hurrah. I'm already doodling(-steady) ideas for Issue 4, and as the magazine is taking a wee summer holiday, I reckon I'll have loads of prelim material to play with before Peter is cracking the whip for art submissions.

Issue 3 On Sale Now!

The third Issue of Oubliette is now available for download at www.rpgnow.com for just $2.00

This month's theme is The Barbarian. We have full rules for running barbarian characters and a 12 page adventure for you to try them out on.  We've also added a new cartoon strip and beefed up our existing two cartoons to full page versions.  

In addition there's Part Two of our Firearm Rules for Labyrinth Lord and all the usual reviews, fiction and great old school illustrations.

So why is Oubliette in Black and White when you clearly love your Mad Colours Marg?

Oubliette is black and white because it means people can print it on their home printers very easily without eating through loads of coloured cartridges. Every issue, I'm trying to up the level of my artwork, and so far, and especially with Oubliette Issue 3 coming out, there is a very clear progression. I'm aiming for Caravaggio, but have rather a way to go. Happily, I should be Damien Hirst-ing it large in another Issue's time.

Don't ask me what that means. It's about 1.30am now and with an early morning tomorrow, I'm kicking myself for not going to bed earlier.

Halfling Proof Fence

The second picture I did, started off as the cover to Issue 1, but once the name Oubliette had been been chosen as the magazine's name, other images came to mind. This became the lead picture for the now infamous Halfling Proof Fence adventure.

Don't kill 'im, let's see if we can knock 'im out!

Having rolled about on the floor laughing at tales of derring-do, of Peter and his brave mates getting horrifically mutilated whilst trying to knock out a Hill Giant, I was inspired to draw this. Soon after, Oubliette was born. Now I'm not saying my picture was some kind of psychological sperm, but sometimes seeing things in 2D can clarify things.

Issue 3 Contents

Issue 3 of Oubliette is due for release next week.

Here's an advance look at the contents:

• The Barbarian - A new character class for Labyrinth Lord
• The Sacred Heart - 12 page Labyrinth Lord adventure
• Monster Club #5 - An encounter to light up your day
• Legend of the Sneaker - Cartoon antics with the true sneaker 
• Firearm Rules for Labyrinth Lord Part 2 - Misfires, monster morale & grenades
• Tales from Hell - The megadungeon's kobolds face a new challenge 
• Reviews 
• Mouse Watch - The mice of Fauxhaven are up to no good again
• The Song of Sithakk - Our serialized story 

A Problem in Miniature

Since returning to gaming last year, I've spent some time tracking down my collection of miniature figures.  Altogether I've managed to locate about 300 25mm scale lead figures, mostly bought in the 80's and early 90's.  Unfortunately, only about 20% of them are painted, and whilst I like using them in games, I don't have the time to really do them justice.  So I've come to the decision that I'm going to sell a portion of my collection and use the proceeds to acquire some alternatives.

Here's a few of my painted figures

And here's some of the unpainted ones

As most of the unpainted figures are long out of production they have already started selling for between £3 and £10 each on ebay.  Which means for every unpainted figure I sell I can buy 2-4 plastic, ready-painted D&D miniatures like these:

Whilst they don't look great up close they're fine on the tabletop and certainly beat the appearance of the bare metal ones.  I may still try some speed painting techniques on a few of my old figures but I think I've come to realize that although collecting figures and painting them is fun, it's just not for me anymore. 

Coming Soon to Your Local Games Store (1994)

Until yesterday I had several van-loads of belongings in storage, mainly due to a house move.  Now I've emptied the unit, I've uncovered several boxes of old gaming materials.  Mostly magazines, but a few other interesting bits and pieces, and hundreds of old miniatures.  

On the top of the first box was a "Special Collector's" Issue 200 of Dragon magazine.  I had a flip through it and was stunned with what I found halfway through.  At the centre of this milestone, and at 170 pages, supersized issue what treat did TSR have for its loyal followers?  A 15 page advertorial and a detachable 28" x 18" full colour AD&D product release schedule for 1994.

It features 100+ products spread across the various campaign settings.  For me it's a perfect example of where marketing went wrong in gaming.  Imagine how great it would have been if they'd included a pull-out game supplement with a fold-out map.  As I go through my gaming boxes I'll add more items that catch my eye.  I'll also include some of the gaming purchases I'd rather forget.

You've Got 10 Rounds 'til the Rope Burns Through...

Click!

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Click!

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Click!

In the first issue of Oubliette I reviewed Faster Monkey Games' Turntracker which I thought was a good product, if a little pricey for what it is.  Last week, for a similar cost, I picked this little device from eBay.  I'm using it as a round counter and have to say it works really well.  Stashed behind a DM's screen, you can just click it every time initiative is rolled.  I guarantee that it has the potential to infuriate players and can really help build tension.

Readers' Wives May - Gobella

We're busy working on Oubliette 3 which will be packed with loads more old school goodness.  I'll put up a full contents list next week.  

I've been thinking about some more things to add to the blog.  I play in two campaigns so I'd quite like to run some session reports on those.  I'm also going to try and include some posts on miniatures and some other gaming items.