Friday, March 8, 2013

The Future of Miniatures

Playing Around with SketchUp, this image is (C) Matt Darnell
New technology is spreading, at it will change humanity forever. Or at least us miniature gamers.

Surely you have heard of 3d printing technology... I firmly believe that with refinement and proliferation, this technology will replace the need for us to shell out our hard earned money to buy somebody else's idea of toys. It'll be like art, or books... you'll buy the examples you like, but you could always write your own if you want, or paint your own picture.

In the future, we'll be making our own miniatures.  Printing them will be as easy as printing a page.

I figured I'd get a head start on the 3d modelling software so I could start making the kind of models I always wanted. Today I took my first steps, learning how to use SketchUp 8 (which is free). The program is very easy to use, but difficult to master. The model I made above doesn't hold up to a 3d printer's needs, but it taught me a lot about the program itself.

Soon I hope to be moving on to models that can match a 3d printer's limitations. The sky's the limit, and I feel it calling.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Homecooked: House Rules for use with Stars Without Number


I've been busy the last couple days hammering out some custom starship rules for the RPG Stars Without Number, (c) Sine Nomine Productions

I love the simplicity of the basic rules, but I wanted the ships to be a bit more tough to kill, and a bit less flighty. Running away from every encounter seemed a bit wrong for a space-faring RPG, so I added some new components, changed some mechanics, and got my game design on!

I'm still testing out the balance of all the new systems, but I tried to temper the really good components with things like high cost or high power/mass requirements. I'd love some other people to run their opinions by me and let me know how it looks!

First off, if you haven't looked at Stars Without Number, you should! The basic rules are free, and the author has a myriad of free supplements to boot!

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/86467/Stars-Without-Number%3A-Free-Edition

Get the rules from the link above. If you want to look at my highly modified house-rules portion pertaining to starship components and starship combat, download my PDF file from the link below:

http://www.filefactory.com/file/29l0phql24g3/n/FP135_Stars_Without_Number_-8_pdf

Let me know what you think! I am particularly looking for opinions on the balance of the new components.

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