Flint Get's a New Mini

Ever since his introduction in Hymns of a Vagabond Game 2, my now 5th Level 1st Ed AD&D Fighter Akelius Flint has gone through a handful of minis. From his humble beginnings, to the inexperienced warrior on the run, Flint has seen many changes in his life as a D&D character, and now there has been one more.

To begin, he shaved off his beard to make him harder to identify. Secondly, he got a farely major equipment upgrade.

When he left his home village of Carthen he had Leather Armour, and a small shield. Now chain mail -though damaged- adorns his person, and a medium shield that was wielded by a close friend and ally who fell in combat protects his left side.

Given Flint's impoverished state, I doubt that I will be seeing any equipment upgrades soon, so I imagine I will stick with this figure for sometime!

Flint's mini comes from Splintered Light Miniatures, and I think it is part of their historic line.... I don't actually recall so have a look. The shield is from a different historic set by the same company, and his cloak I added with Green stuff.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

The Tale of the Druid of King's Forest

When the party in Jade's Arachnophobia campaign agreed to join John on his quest to become a Greenwood Ranger, they really had know idea where they were going, or what was in store for them. All they knew was John had gone into the forest to hunt, and had return claiming he had a vision telling him to go East.

They had camped at a fork in the road that night, with one path curving East and the other continuing due South towards Darfield, their goal. It was only briefly debated, but the party agreed they would help their friend. So turning towards the rising sun the next day, the party began their journey.

Not even John knew that his quest was the answer to a desperate prayer, and help couldn't arrive too soon.

John's Quest was to help the Druid of King's of Forest. For years she alone had guarded the woods where the fallen colossus from eons passed lay to rest, and where dozen of the ancient standing stones (the Waystones) stood silent; their protective magics having faded over the years. It was an easy life, until a powerful wizard arrived from across the sea far to the South. Using his magics and wealth, he started a mine and gathered the gems and precious stones that rained from the colossus as it fell to earth from its towering altitude.

The Druid of King's Forest thought she had struck a balance; the wizard's miners could dig into the earth and gather stones from the many river beds without disturbing the remains of the slumbering giant; but the greed of the Wizard grew too deep. Using knowledge known in his homeland, he planned to destroy the Waystones, believing them to be full of countless precious stones.

Such sacrilege could not be allowed.

The Druid, being but one dwarf, knew she could not take on the wizard by herself, so she had planned to overrun the camp with hundreds of wolves - killing as many people as she could, hoping that would collapse the camp. It was desperate and dark way to handle the issue, though deep inside she dreaded the alternative. She could awaken the sleeping Colossus, and ask it to activate the Waystones, protecting the area from the Wizard... But it would cost her life.

When John and the party arrived they were the first to even listen to her cries for help in a long time, and she discussed the two possibilities with the group. But when she told them of awakening the Waystones, she left out how she would have to sacrifice herself instead focusing on the other dangers, the fact that the Cave's leading to the Colossus' head were overrun with spiders; thinking this would scare them off from that plan. However, having fought spiders before, the group was undeterred and into the caves they went.

Needless to say since John completed his quest, they defeated the spiders and the Druid of King's forest made the ultimate sacrifice, awakening the colossus and activating the Waystone. The Wizard was stopped.... Though I am sure he will want to get even with those who foiled his plan.

John will never forget the Druid of King's Forest and what she did for her Faith, and the Colossi; the Forgotten Gods of the Forest. I am sure he will say a prayer for her each night before he lays to rest.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

From Man to Treant: John the Greenwood Ranger

It took a total of 14 games but Elijah's character John the Greewood Ranger, finally fulfilled his destiny. After attaining level four, and completing a grueling quest where they saved the the ancient and holy standing stones in the King's Forest from destruction; the Gods granted him a gift, and made him into the tree person he had always wanted to be.

Since John, liked to plant apple seeds, the gods granted that he become an apple tree himself, and during the summer and fall, the players will be able to pick those apples from him. Elijah is very excited about his new form, though we have unfortunately only had a single game using him as such.

The first encounter with the party after his two days alone in prayer and metamorphosis, was a blur of questions. They asked everything from, how exactly he goes to the bathroom? Does he need to eat? can they eat the apples? Etc, etc.

You can learn more about the Greenwood Ranger Character Kit on our article all about that. It is a great twist for an Ranger class, and easily modified to more recent edition of D&D.

Knowing John well, the group was very happy for him. This was something he had been working towards for years and he finally did it! Even through the bark on his face, his pride beams through. However this change isn't without it's negatives; most common folk would look at John and see nothing but a monster, which will certainly cause problems in the future. Thankfully he hasn't had to deal with that issue yet, but it will certainly be coming up in the small village of Warrem that they are heading towards.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

5 Things to Consider When Mapping a Medieval Town

The Cartographer Magic Card from the Odyssey Set

I have read on social media many times that Map Making is becoming a dying art in D&D. Apparently Dungeon Masters simply aren't taking the time to prepare them anymore. Whether that is due to a lack of artistic talent, the sheer volume of available pre-made maps, or if it is even true; I am not sure. But at JADE we all make and use maps for our D&D Games. We don't map out everything, but occasionally something comes up where having a map is beneficial.

You see, mapping an area can help you design it in greater detail, and the map itself (with some important details and notes removed) can serve as useful as a guide for your players. So of course it is important to make sure that your town feels like the medieval setting D&D takes place in.

My Wife and I recently returned from a 3 week vacation in the UK where we traveled to dozen of medieval towns, and here are five things I learned about settlements from the middle ages from the various museums, tours, and leisurely walks around those ancient places.

Photo from pingallery on Deviant Art

Town Squares Aren't Always Square

While of course there are a few major cities where the town squares are actually a square (such as the beautiful Prague up above) but this is not the case in every town. While German settlements often have proper town squares, many small English and Scottish towns feature more of a circle or an indistinct blob that served the same purpose as a square. These openings are often built around important public buildings such churches, inns, taverns, government buildings, etc. There was also often a fountain, or some sort of fixture in the center that was paid for by the town's people, or donated by a wealthy citizen.

These circles serve as meeting places and common areas, however they are often not in the centre of town as usually depicted. A lot of the blobish town squares in Scotland were at the edge of the village: near one of its entrances. These areas served as a sort of foyer for the rest of the town. In some place we went to, there were even several squares, each with their own fountain and significance. It all depends on the size and layout of your settlement.

The Town of Falkland, Scotland

City Streets Don't Make any Sense

If like most of JADE's readership you are from North America you will be used to roads and towns laid out on a logical grid system. You have "X" number of streets going roughly North/South that intersect with "Y" number of streets going East/West, giving you a logical grid layout for your roads and town. Sure the topography of the area may require some minor changes to the grid, but over all that crisscross of roads makes up the area. This is not the case in the the UK and much of Western Europe.

The picture above is of the town of Falkland in Scotland. Now this is a modern image of course taken from Google Maps, but it does show you just how crazy and seemingly random an old town like this is. Notice that there is a central road that the town is built around, and many of the houses are off of the main streets on very tiny side roads, that in some cases you would not be able to fit more then one person along.

Towns of this era were largely designed with pedestrians in mind. So there are a few major roads for larger traffic such as horses and carts, but most of the town is comprised of side streets built off of these sections, with more paths added as needed. So keep your villages designs tightly packed around one or two major roads and they will start to feel like a medieval town.

The Cliff Side Market MTG Card from the Planechase Set

Town Markets Are More Complicated Then You Think

Villages and Cities operated under different rules of conduct when it came to the sale of goods. If you lived in a city such as York in England in the middle ages, then to go shopping you would need go to several different streets to fulfill your list. This is because each street was devoted to the sale of one type of good. Butcher Street for meats, Copperpan Street for copperware, Baker street for your baked goods, etc. While certainly there were other shops around the area, (and in fact many cities had bazaar like markets) delegating each type of vendor to a street meant it was easier for towns to tally and tax incoming goods. It also promoted competition among vendors keeping prices fair.

If you were in a small town however, while you would have a handful of travelling and small local vendors handling the daily needs, most trade would be done through household bartering. In fact we learned in the UK that your town could only have a weekly market if you were granted permission by royal decree. So if you want something from a small town you would have to go straight to the source.

The Beautiful York Minster Cathedral

Churches and Cathedrals are Massive Undertakings

I grew up in a small town, that was at least old from a North American perspective. There was an old half of the town, and a newer half of the town. Both built around churches, and in both cases the church was the largest building in that section of town. Now this is surely because the primarily residential community of my old hometown meant you didn't need anything taller then a church steeple would stand. However the height of a building also often denoted its importance in town, and a church was a far more important place then it is often considered today: It would in fact be the pride of the town.

Large cathedrals such as the gorgeous York Minister pictured above, would have taken centuries to complete and required the finest craftsmen. But even a small church would have been a honour for a carpenter to work on, and would largely have been supported and built with community funding and labour. Churches were a big deal, and huge undertakings for a community to bear. So consider having your cathedral not yet finished and everyone in town has worked on it for generations. Or your church and community are unhappy with the quality of their carpenter's work and constantly speak out against him. If the town has a church/temple, then make the town revolve around that building. Make it a character in the town itself, and give it the importance that it deserves.

Gardyloo!

Sanitation is a Serious Problem

Settlements in the South of the UK had the benefit of being conquered by the Romans in this regard. Roman soldiers brought Roman engineers who built complex sewer systems in many of the towns. While these systems were eventually overpowered by the sheer number of people living in England around the 18th-19th century, they did serve as an effective waste management system for much of their use. 

If you lived in Edinburgh however, this was not the case. Scotland was never conquered by Rome and thus never had the benefit of Roman engineering. As such, in Edinburgh we learned of an rather disgusting way of dealing with the human waste that the city of 60,000 would accumulate. At 7am, and 10pm each day it was the job of the youngest member of the household to grab "the bucket", bring it to the window and toss it into the street yelling "Gardyloo!" to warn people below.  If you were passing underneath you would loudly shout "Hold Your Hand!" Which would hopefully get the thrower to stop before they tossed their bucket of shit all over you.

This waste would then run down the angular streets into the artificially constructed Nor Loch... Which also happened to serve as the towns drinking water. Needless to say outbreaks of just about every kind of disease were common.

Sanitation remained a serious issue in the UK well into the 19th century, and the issue of disposing human waste and refining drinking water still plagues much of the world today. So consider if your town has a sewer system, how would they dispose their waste? Is this causing any problems for the town? All of this will add atmosphere to your settlement, the option of some side quests, and the potential to dump a bucket of shit on one of your player characters; Priceless.

I could go on for a while about other oddities I noticed in specific towns, however those five were the most common that I observed in each town I went to. So keep these things in mind the next time you map out your own medieval town, and it will feel all the more real.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

Plague Marine Havocs

Back in the days of 3rd and 4th edition Warhammer 40k, The Chaos Space Marines used to have specific Plague Marine Havocs devoted to them. Since in 3rd ed Plague Marines are forbidden from using Lascannons, Missile Launchers, and Heavy Bolters, Games Workshop released Nurgle based Havoc Squads featuring Plasma Guns and Meltaguns.

This squad of 5 has 4 plasma gunners in it, all with the special Plague Marin Havoc torso that they do not make any more.

So I have a thing for banners in 40k, and my Havoc Squad is no exception. This huge banner is actually from an old Warhammer fantasy Set, and I believe it once belonged to a squad of Chaos Knights. It originally sat on the back of one of my terminators, but given how terribly those were painted I have re-purposed it.

The front of the Torso of these Marines as I mentioned above is one solid pewter piece. It features the arms, the gun and what little you can see of the chest piece. However since most of the mini is resin with only that front piece being pewter, they are a little top heavy and have a tendency to tip if you bump the table.

Back in the day I never had much luck with my Havoc squads, but I am hoping my smaller and soon to be Rhino mounted Havocs will do the trick. The Rhino should help them move in and out of position and a whopping possible 8 shots with Plasma Guns should do the trick.

One of the oddest things about these minis is that all of the pewter torsos I have spoken of have the mark of Nurgle on the shoulder... Right where the shoulder pad goes. So to show that off, on this model I drilled a hole in the shoulder pad revealing the mark underneath.

This one is the only Havoc in the squad who does not have an original head. This head come from Spellcrow, you can find their minis on Ebay and they make fantastic Plague Marine Alternatives. Definitely worth checking out.

And there you have it, those are my Plague Marine Havocs from way back in the day. It is a shame they don't make them any more, but perhaps with the new Nurgle stuff on the way we will see more options coming along.

Written by: Andrew Gregory