Repository of Knowledge from GenCon 05'

[WhimsyTheFae]

Great stuff Rel, thanks.

I am planning on running at least one game in '06 and this thread will be most useful.

 

[Urklore]

Hey Rel,
Do you have instructions on how you made those kewl props for your gaming sessions?

 

[Rel]

Hey Rel,
Do you have instructions on how you made those kewl props for your gaming sessions?

Hey, Urklore. I'm assuming that you've seen the pictures.

The grey ship-thing was made from the Hexagon Construction Set that I mention in the first post of this thread. The other two ships (these are Martian Sky Galleons in the game) were made using some chunks of styrofoam and a styrofoam cutter, which is basically just a hot wire.

I first used some 1 inch grid paper and cut out a template which I pin to the styrofoam. Then I use the cutter to remove everything that doesn't look like a Sky Galleon. After that I use water based brown paint (You can find this stuff at any craft store. I stole mine from my 3 year old daughter.) to paint the whole thing brown. Then I got out a felt tip pen (do a test to make sure the ink you use doesn't melt the styrofoam) and transferred the grid onto the deck of the ship to make movement easier to track.

Then all you need are some cannons. I got these from a friend who had a set of pirate toys he wasn't using. Just check around at toy stores and hobby shops for stuff that can be used in historic miniature games. In a pinch you can always put something together with stuff from Lego sets or whatnot.

If you want to see a few more examples then check out the gallery of pics from the NC Game Day here. At the bottom of that page you should see the zeppelin that I made for Sky Galleons of Venus. And on the second page you can see the Lizard Man Tree Fortress. In the foreground of that one you can barely see the dinosaurs with howda's on their backs.

The zeppelin incidentally was just one of the larger Sky Galleons I had made previously, mounted with a three liter soda bottle wearing a party hat at each end and the whole bit wrapped in tinfoil. The vertical supports are made from pieces of model railroad track.

I'm happy to answer any other questions you've got about any of this stuff.

 

[Henry]

The zeppelin incidentally was just one of the larger Sky Galleons I had made previously, mounted with a three liter soda bottle wearing a party hat at each end and the whole bit wrapped in tinfoil. The vertical supports are made from pieces of model railroad track.

I'm happy to answer any other questions you've got about any of this stuff.

CAVEAT: This also came up at said "Venus" game way back in January, but when making said "2-liter helium balloon", remember to leave the caps off the 2-liters, or your zeppelin balloon compresses slightly in a cold atmosphere. Northerners such as our beloved P-Kitty please take note.

 

[Rel]

CAVEAT: This also came up at said "Venus" game way back in January, but when making said "2-liter helium balloon", remember to leave the caps off the 2-liters, or your zeppelin balloon compresses slightly in a cold atmosphere. Northerners such as our beloved P-Kitty please take note.

Thanks for the reminder, Henry. I'd forgotten about that.