Beermat Castles

The Geomorphic Beermat Kickstarter is now in the final 33 hours. Today I want to show another possible use for the mats as very quick, modular castle tiles.

The example below is simple castle that was put together using just 5 beermats (without the extension for the drawbridge it would have been 4). As the pieces are still drawn as geomorphs you can make a castle as big as you like. I've left the central area clear, but in use I'd probably draw a central keep on its own card that could simply placed on the map.

12 Tile Beermat Map

Today I wanted to show how my Geomorphic Beermats may be used to create a larger map. I've stuck to the standard 8 entry/exit point layout, but with the addition of half and quarter tiles for edges and corners (I think Dyson used a similar layout last week and I it was really effective).

The map is based on an adventure idea I've been thinking about for a while. It is essentially a large underground necropolis, with the added bonus of a tribe of Goblins tunneling into it from the south-east.

The Kickstarter for the Beermats is entering its final 48 hours soon. If you still haven't taken a look here's the link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1730454032/geomorphic-beermats

When I write it up I may do a new version of the map but I think I'll keep most of the elements presented here.

Below I've included the rough pencil version of the map that I drew out and about earlier in the week, and also the beermat (12 beermats used) components cut ready.

The Flayed King Print Copy

Tim Shorts of Gothridge Manor/GM Games put out The Flayed King as a free PDF to support the Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day a while back. Tim also kindly offered to post free copies to anyone that asked for one. I think he ended up capping it at 100 copies, but sending out that many all over the world is still beyond generous.

I swapped him a copy of Oubliette Issue 9 for one, which arrived today. I've had quick flip through it at lunchtime and think it is a smashing little adventure. It's got a very neat (liftable) idea at its core. Add to that good structure and layout, and some excellent artwork by Jim Magnusson and you're on to a winner.

Here's my copy of The Flayed King with similar-sized copy of my own. I hope we get some more zines/adventures produced at this size by other publishers - they look great and are cheaper to post out.

Lava Geomorph #1

I've finished a lava themed geomorph for the next Inkwell Ideas Geomorph Map Contest.

I thought it would be fitting to draw it on one of my new Beermats (currently on Kickstarter). I've retouched it a little after scanning, and quickly added the colour using an airbrush tool. It's as yet untitled, but the idea I was going for was slave traders meeting at a bridge over the lava filled chasm to do business. The second image shows a photo of the tile before any retouching.

Geomorphic Beermats on Kickstarter!

I've had such a great response to my earlier Geomorphic Beermats post, that I thought what the hell and have decided to launch a very short Kickstarter to fund a bigger print-run of them.

The project is live now and may be found here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1730454032/geomorphic-beermats

It only runs for 6 days and finishes on Sunday 2nd May at 10pm. It needs to be short as I want my next planned campaign to be up and running before the end of May so I can promote it at the UK Games Expo.

If you have bought, or are considering buying some of the existing Beermat stock from the Squarehex site, you will notice that the prices on the Kickstarter are lower, thanks to the volume discount for a bigger print-run. If the campaign is successful, I will issue partial refunds to anyone buying through Squarehex in advance, thus ensuring that they pay the same total price as the Kickstarter backers.

Please help spread the word. I'm off now to drink my last bottle of Hobgoblin!

Geomorphic Beermats

My current appetite for new printing projects continues. This week I'm unleashing a limited print-run of Geomorphic Beermats.

They are real beermats, that I've had printed with grids to make them also great as gaming aids. One side is printed with a 10x10 9mm grid, that is perfect for drawing dungeon geomorphs on. The other side has a 3x3 29mm grid, that is ideal for use with miniatures.

The beermats have a 3mm white border. Once trimmed they can be place next to each other for seamless maps and battlemats. The beermats may also be cut up to make floorplans. The picture of a floorplan at the bottom of the page shows what you can do with just 12 beermats.

There are only a limited quantity of these available as this is really just a test. If they are popular then I'll consider doing more.

Links to the different pack sizes are here:

Pack of 12 £2.00
Pack of 24 £3.90
Pack of 48 £7.50
Pack of 125 £18.00

Oubliette 9 Sales Update

This is just a quick sales update.

The PDF sales were very strong for the first couple of days. Then they slowed down pretty much as one would expect, but encouragingly, not before earning a Popular Copper Pick badge. The launch price is good for another 7 days so if you want a copy get one sooner rather than later.

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/147660/OUBLIETTE-Issue-9

Print sales are also good, and I'm now just into my second box of 250 copies. The lion's share of the first box has gone to Mythoard, but that a good thing, as it's a great way to get lots of copies to people across the pond.

If you want a print copy the details are here.

The best news is that if I add all the above sales to the higher than usual sales of back issues I'm experiencing, Oubliette 9 has already passed it's break even point. That means I can roll the initial cash investment forward, and put it into a similar-sized print-run for Issue 10.