Dice Making is Hard!

 About a month ago I wandered by a garage sale and, on impulse, went to have a look.  I came home with a waffle-maker and 2 big jugs of epoxy, complete with alcohol dye and silicone molds.  I got everything for 10 bucks and I was thinking...

...DICE!...  (also: WAFFLES!)

So I ordered some molds from Wish.com (I know... rookie mistake) and waited a few weeks for them to arrive.  They came in the mail a week ago and I was so excited to start.

But I learned that making dice is HARD.

First of all, epoxy is just about the most awful medium to work with.  What you don't see in those Youtube videos is how STICKY the stuff is.  It's a nightmare - you can't imagine.  If you give this a shot, lay out newspapers, and then lay out MORE newspapers.  Don't even think about doing this without gloves.

The little cheap individual molds I bought have these tops that are extremely hard to maneuver into place - I actually put them on UPSIDE DOWN on my first batch of dice.

Don't worry, I made every other mistake, too :).

• Air pockets? Check.
• Sticky because I mixed them unevenly? Check.
• Made too much and had a crazy amount of extra sticky slop to deal with? Check.

Well, here's the end result for batch #1.  I've got a 2nd batch curing right now... I think they'll go better.  I put the lids on right way around at least!

Playtesters Wanted

 If you heard the Retrospective/Prospective episode released today,  you'll have heard me mention this project I'm working on. It's called 'Pendulum'.

Pendulum is a creative writing tool or world-building assistant.  It can be used alone or with several people.  You go through a list of prompts and record some ideas.  When you're done, you've got a 500+ year history for a society/kingdom/settlement/whatever.

I'm looking for playtesters... well, beta testers really, since it isn't a game, per se. If interested, let me know and I'll send you a draft copy of the full tool (takes about 3 hours to complete all together) or the express version (90 minutes to finish).  Neither tool needs to be done in one sitting and is easily broken up into shorter sessions.  Just let me know which you'd like.  I'll credit all beta-testers in the finished copy (though I'm afraid I cannot offer payment, other than a free finished copy of the tool when it's ready).

Want to volunteer?

Email me at taleofthemanticore@gmail.com and let me know.

(Be sure to tell me which version you'd like to try and how your name should appear in the credits.)

Shownotes for Episode 76

Theme                                     Evan King - Enchiridion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8NkG3bhIxU

Welcome                                 148 Barovian Castle https://tabletopaudio.com/

Previously On                          Scott Buckley - Legionnaire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwW0vFUCzEM

Part 1 (Ring the Gong)            Evan king – Guardians https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyiF0YctsA8

Pre-Combat                              Darren Curtis – The Black Blade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yibcl97h5hk

Combat Rounds 1a                   Anton Shilo – Niflheimr Viking Music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RIaOeoNYVI

Combat Round 1b                     Scott Buckley – Goliath https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYTJ8hDj_Hc

Combat Round 3                      Makai Symphony – Epic Orchestral Battle Music/Dragon Slayer

Combat Round 5                      Evan King - Enchiridion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8NkG3bhIxU

Combat Round 7                      Anton Shilo – Niflheimr Viking Music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RIaOeoNYVI

Some  FX:                                https://www.zapsplat.com

More Brilliant Art from Roland!

 He needs no introduction: the mace says it all!  Fantastic work, Roland - he looks just like I imagined.

"Dedtay... minah..."

Am I Hearing Double?

 A number of people emailed, messaged or DM'ed over the past couple of days to point out a glitch in episode 75, letting me know that the audio repeats.  I truly appreciate it when folks let me know of issues, audio or otherwise; it's not so uncommon that something slips through the net and I publish a mistake.  But in this case the repetition is on purpose.  I was experimenting with some parallel story telling.  The first pass through the Necropolis is from Umura's POV.  The second is from Harl's.  Some of the sound effects and the music are the same, as are key phrases, so it's really not a surprise that it came across as an error.  Experiment failed maybe?

On a barely related note: here's another trick I use now and then to kick me in the writer pants.  I google an image and try to sketch it in words.  I did this with Reydell's sanctuary and with the interior waterfall in the Agojen.  I trotted out this technique once again in episode 75 to describe the onyx body-preparation station, mostly because I didn't really know what a block of onyx would actually look like! 

Shownotes for Episode 75

Theme                                     Evan King - Enchiridion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8NkG3bhIxU

Welcome                                  148 Barovian Castle https://tabletopaudio.com/

Previously On                          Scott Buckley - Legionnaire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwW0vFUCzEM

Part 2 (Ghosts Appear)            Darren Curtis – The Black Blade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yibcl97h5hk

Part 2 (Tiny Stars)                   Darren Curtis – Soul’s Departure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGCyDuF9lcc

Dramatis (x2)                          RPG SOUNDS “Realization”

Some  FX:                                https://www.zapsplat.com

Let's Build a Tower

 Saw some cool dice towers online and thought, "I'd like to build something like that." But, I didn't really want to make a dice tower... so... just a tower then!

I started with a can of tomatoes (I ate the tomatoes) and then some foam I found in my condo's recycling room.  Cut them into bricks and glued them on (1).  I left spaces for the windows and door.  I also cut both ends off the can.  Not really necessary to do both sides, in the end.

Next, I did a modpodge/black paint sealing coat (2).  The roof was done on carboard with eggcarton bricks (3).  Forgot where I heard this would work well, but it really does.  From now on, I collect egg cartons.  Easier than foam core and looks at least as good if not better.

After, I coloured everything grey and then did some bricks a different colour (4).  Brown, dark grey, etc.  A light drybrush with beige came after.

The next step is the blackwash and gluing on the popsickle stick door and trapdoor (5).

Finally, I attached the roof and gave everything a light modpodge coat to give it a satin gloss (6).  You could leave it matt, but this looks better and it adds more glue, which is always good.

I'm happy with the result overall (7).  If I did it again, I'd make the bricks smaller, the arrowslits smaller, and the crenellations taller.  The way it is, the scale is a bit wonky.  Still, it's not terrible by any stretch.  

If you've got some basic craft supplies, I'd encourage anyone to give this a go.  It's fun and free.