In Chris's opinion, the very best vices are dirt bikes, rock music, and gaming, while the very best medicine is fatherhood. If he could just learn to balance them all, he'd live forever. He's much more creative than intelligent, often wakes up belligerent, and ponders many things insignificant. Lastly, in an effort to transform his well-fed body, P90X, Roller Blades, and Food are all laughing at him. And the pain continues.
It amazes me how diverse and different people really are. I had a lot of preconceived notions about the potential finalists going into this contest, only to be reminded that variety really is the spice of life.
These finalists all had similar scores, but had several contenders biting at their heels. We had to have a cutoff somewhere, so at 26 total entries, we narrowed it down to the RPG blogs with the top 5 scores.
READERS! Now is the time to tell us which is your favorite and why! All five of the finalists had very similar scores, so your opinions will definitely help! Please comment below with your reason… it could be anything… This is a shotgun showdown, which means you need to get your comments in today! The winner will be announced on Wednesday, just two days from now… Help your favorite of the finalists take away the grand prize package… We could say it’s like voting…
One of the above five finalists will take away a prize package worth over $250.
Our RPG Site of the Year contest is going strong, with 26 diverse and awesome gaming blogs taking part. Our finalists will be posted on Monday, and the judges will take one last look at them to pick their favorite.
Readers – please feel free to leave comments! Give us your opinions of the finalists. Tell us which is your favorite, and why. It just might sway the judges…
Where Tourq Stevens shows you some 3D Terrain from his favorite terrain company. This particular download is going away in a couple of days, and its price has been slashed by 50%!
I don’t usually actively promote products (well, sometimes), but when I got the word that E-Z Terrain: Cliffs and Mountains was going to be discontinued, I had to gobble it up. This is one that I’ve wanted to pick up for awhile, but just never did. Well, I did, just now. What a fantastic set! And it looks pretty easy to put together, too. I’ve always been a fan of Fat Dragon Games Terrain, and I’m sad I didn’t pick this download up earlier. As I understand it, this particular download will be discontinued at the end of the weekend. No worries! That leaves almost three whole days to pick it up. Also, the cool part is that the price has been slashed by 50%, now priced at $5.99. I always get these downloads when the prices are so cheap. How can you not?
Real quick, if you purchase E-Z Terrain: Cliffs and Mountains from this link, you’ll be supporting Stuffer Shack (which we appreciate). If you visit our site from time to time, you’ll know I’m not putting this post up to make a couple of bucks; I do it because we are 3D Terrain fanatics! So, check out the pics, and get your download before it’s too late!
Highly detailed rock and river tiles
Ten types of stackable cliff models
Rock bridge (variable length)
‘Hot-swappable’ climbing walls
‘Hot-swappable’ cliff ledges
‘Hot-swappable’ cave openings
Exclusive E-Z KEY modular design
Both 1″ gridded and non-grid surfaces
‘Hot-swappable’ cliff tops (grass or rock surfaces)
In addition to the prize pool shown further down the page, I think it would be cool if we included the following two 3D Terrain set pieces: The Portal and the Tower Ruins.
THE PRIZES
All total prizes now bring this prize package to at least $250 worth, including five downloads from our sponsor, DriveThruRPG. Check it out…
Stuffer Shack is also throwing in a DriveThruRPG Gift Certificate.
There it is. That’s the prize package in its entirety. If you want a shot at it, as well as our RPG Site of the Year contest title, submit your site for free! Submissions for the contest close first thing this Monday.
Looking for a little inspiration for your game? How about sssssnakes? It seems that snakes have been a part of every culture across the globe, most notably for their role in religeon and mythology, astronomy, cryptography, music, and film. It only makes sense that the subject of snakes can have an impact on your game.
In the second week of May (9th – 15th), we’ll have a series of game inspiring, snake-themed articles. A snake fighting style, snake trap, monster, and others will be posted as the week progresses. So, put on your boots, step lightly, and learn a thing or three about about these 150 million year-old animals. Then come back May 9th for some good old fashioned snake fun.
Snakes are not lizards.
Most have only one functional lung.
Their eyelids are permanently closed (their transparent eyelids).
Their length ranges from 4 inches to 28 feet.
A fossil was recently discovered measuring 49 feet!
There is a standing offer of $50,000 for a live, healthy snake over 30 feet long by the New York Zoological Society. No attempt to claim this reward has ever been made.
Got an RPG website/blog that you’d like to enter into our free contest? Well then, go ahead!
We opened for submissions one week ago, and there’s only one week remaining. After that, the judging starts, and no more sites will be admitted. Entry is free, the requirements are easy to meet, and all blogs are on equal ground from the start. So when I say that we’re looking for websites, what I really mean is yours!
And…
what do you think about adding to the prize pool currently worth around $225??? I’m thinking something along the lines of, say, some cool 3D terrain set pieces, perhaps similar to the following:
We’ll have more info in a couple of days. So stick around!
For information, eligibility requirements, and a breakdown of the grand prize package (worth $225+) go here.
Below is our running list of sites for the contest. Hit the above link to read the rules, and then submit your site for free! Submission acceptance ends on Monday, April 25.
Every month (since we opened), we’ve had our “Site of the Month” feature. It’s where we showcase a great RPG blog, regardless of whether it’s established or brand new. What’s important is that the blog simply offers great fan-created RPG content. There’s no science behind which blog ends up being the Site of the Month; it’s just a matter of which articles caught our attention. It’s completely random and arbitrary; sometimes we stumble across an amazing article, and sometimes a reader has pointed us there.
Well, Stuffer Shack has been up for a year, so we’re going to have an RPG Site of the Year contest! With PRIZES ($225+ worth)! We’ve always had the Site of the Month feature, and always will, so RPG Site of the Year just seems appropriate. Also, we’ll never have more than one category – RPG Site of the Year is it.
This year, the judging will be done by the Stuffer Shack Crew. Sites that belong to individual Crew Members are ineligible.
SITES THAT ARE ELIGIBLE
Must have a strong focus in Table-Top RPGs
Must have been online for at least three months
Must be independent, non-corporate, fan-based gaming blogs
WHAT THE JUDGING IS BASED ON
The usefulness of the blog’s content
How well-written the articles are
The variety of the articles
Site layout and feel
Regular posting
Entertainment
Creativity
HOW TO ENTER
It’s free!
All previous Sites of the Month are automatically entered.
Anyone with a gaming blog may submit their site. It helps if you include a specific, favorite article for us to read.
If you have a favorite gaming blog that you visit often, ask the owner to submit for the contest. Remember, it’s free!
April 11 (Monday): Submissions start today, and will be posted as time permits during the next two weeks.
April 25 (Monday): Submission entry ends. Round 1 of the judging will begin, lasting one week.
May 2 (Monday): The finalists will be posted. Round 2 of the judging will begin, and readers are encouraged to leave comments about why we should pick their favorite of the finalists. This may or may not sway the judges, but it won’t hurt to try!
May 4 (Wednesday): The winner will be announced!
Call it a Shotgun Showdown, because I’m sure the readers and the judges will be working like mad as we approach the end.
THE PRIZES (worth $225+)
For a free contest, I think this is a pretty good Prize Package. Also, I have to give a big thank you to our sponsor, DriveThruRPG, for their support. The grand prize includes:
So… the Shack has been online for about a year, but this is our first time participating in the RPG Carnival – mostly because we’re slow, but partly because the topic of RPG Cartography really got our attention. So, we just had to contribute. Oh yeah, the Carnival’s host for this topic is also our Site of the Month! Make sure you stop by A Character for Every Game, and check them out.
RPG Cartography – A touch of 3D
For me, one of the biggest reasons I game is that I’m a creative person, and gaming is a great creative outlet. There are several creative processes that make up role-playing games:
Creating a character
Playing a role
Writing an adventure
Telling a story
RPG art
Desiging encounters
Desiging worlds
And designing maps
Tower of Power
I enjoy all of that, but there one’s part that I really love: desiging and building maps.
I’ve drawn maps for dungeons, castles, houses, superhero bases, lairs, towns, villages, continents, spaceships, and even galaxies. I even drew up a entire world map on a 6 x 10 foot canvas (that took a while). However, I didn’t really start enjoying it until I started running D&D 4e. This game’s set-up for combat encounters just begs for the dynamic map.
I started out small, with a simple 3D warehouse loft, and my players thought it was the coolest thing. From there, I just went crazy, proceeding to make all kinds of 3D maps. The most time I’ve spent on one of these 3D maps was 20 hours. I don’t know if that makes me dedicated, or addicted, but I’ve simply enjoyed it all. Nowadays I’m playing instead of running, and I’ve gotten to experience 3D maps made by the talented John Lewis (the pictures in this post are by the two of us).
It’s a whole new level of fun.
Horned Hold
I started making 3D battle maps right about the time that I started to come down off my high from D&D 4E. These maps certainly prolonged my enjoyment of that game for quite a while, and we’re looking for ways to bring these maps into other games. We’ve primarily used 3D battle maps for tactical combat games (like D&D 4E and Star Wars Saga), but there’s no reason they can’t be done for more abstract games (like FATE).
When you pull out your map for your players, they are generally looking at it as an area where they fight the bad guys (what are the boundaries, and where are the enemies?). However, when you pull out a 3D battle map, your players instantly lean forward in their seats, start salivating, and then start checking out the cool terrain, and then start developing strategies for the encounter. The game gets a little more dynamic, a little more cool, and a whole lot more fun.
How do I get started?
There are several ways to integrate a 3D battle map into your game. You can go the cheap route (using painted toilet paper rolls and shoeboxes), you can purchase professional 3D map materials (like Fat Dragon Games and Hirst Arts), or you get down to your local craft store (foamboard is a godsend). I’ve taken all three roads, and they have all produced fantastic results (hey, the painted toilet paper rolls and shoebox made the best medusa crypt ever!).
I’ve heard a lot of people say that they could never put together a 3D battle map. Well, it’s a lot easier than it looks. All you have to do is start small. Just add a few things here and there and you’ll pick it up pretty quickly. Also, don’t think that you need some big set-up for it to be awesome – when it comes to 3D battle maps, a little goes a long way.
So, there’s not much else to say, other than just dooz it!
Be sure to check other blogs and their take on RPG Cartography!
Hi, my name is Chris Stevens, and I’m a gaming blogaholic.
My vice of choice is a blog that offers useful ideas and content, one that helps me with my games. Well, A Character for Every Game does just that. I mean, it’s all in the name!
Not only does Dyson Logos provide characters, but he also provides a huge selection of maps. Stick around via his RSS and you’ll soon see other regular, useful content. Really, A Character for Every Game is a blog that I categorize as “very useful.” Can you ask for anything more?
Here are some words that I stole from Dyson’s About page:
“When you have a collection of 200+ RPGs, sooner or later you find yourself with the urge to make 200+ characters. A Character for Every Game started off as a collection of the characters I create during this project. The goal is to create two characters for each game I own. One “standard” starting character, and one “sufficiently advanced” character to see what an experienced character would look like.
The blog has also become the repository for all my other RPG pursuits – house rules, commentary on games we are playing, and currently the home to my home-brew game, Adventures in the New Kingdoms.”
And then he had this to say:
“Tourq… as for the site of the month, you kick ass, thanks.”
It amazes me how diverse and different people really are. I had a lot of preconceived notions about the potential finalists going into this contest, only to be reminded that variety really is the spice of life.
