The Lessons of Icons of Paragon City

I had this whole series typed up before I made the first post. This section keeps changing as the evaluation shifts. I decided to go ahead and post this so we can move on even though I know this is not the final state of what we have learned from this first session.

The Story of Icons of Paragon City

The run was originally intended to be six sessions with two one off sessions using different characters in the same setting and using the same rules provided by the game master. I missed one of the regular sessions so that was shortened to five. The first one off session was Halloween weekend and saw the players taking on the role of Universal Movie Monster clones funded by an unhappy Council. The other one off we played Worms: Armageddon as not many showed up as it was Thanksgiving weekend, but it was going to see the players as Walmart employees in Paragon City reliving Black Friday in a Groundhog's Day scenario. I guess I like horror themed one off games.

The Origin of Icons of Paragon City

I am a member of some forums where some of us would get together on Saturday nights and play games sometimes. More often than not the game we played was Cards Against Humanity. The game is fun, but you can only cycle through the same cards so many times before the charm begins to wear thin. Roleplaying games and an interest in trying them had been brought up a couple of times, but no one had a real go at running a game for the group as far as I know.

Actually, It's About Ethics in Game Journalism

The gaming community has been in what might be seen as the precursory rumblings to the gaming equivalent of a Civil War. The debate has to do with opinions concerning gaming and have made practically everybody touching the subjects involved look bad in the process. Gamergate is at the center of these debates as of right now. I do not mean to suggest those that support Gamergate are better or worse than anybody else, but elements from all sides have done wrong over the course of the past few months and the topic of Gamergate is featured heavily in those discussions right now.

Blog Fail November 2014

I have yet again not worked to maintain my blog. Sure, there are some articles sitting in folders waiting to be published, but I have not taken the time to upload them. There are two articles right now ready to be added to the Lurker Series along with a few others I should probably look over as some time has passed since writing them. I truthfully do not know what I will be sharing or not in the future. It looks like the Lurker Series may never be added to in the future due to drama of my own creation.

Da Besterest Pony!

This is a continuation of the Lurker series. In this series I take topics I have liberated from oppression and did not totally steal from other bloggers. Today we look at...

"Which My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic pony is the best pony, and why."

Out of the topics covered so far in this series, this is the one I feel the most confident about my answer. That answer is simple. The red one. The reason why is because red ones go faster. You can not argue with science.

I have little experience with My Little Pony. My roommate's grandkids watch it. I have caught a couple of episodes as I like to know what forms of entertainment the kids are exposed to. I might have attempted to convince one of the kids that every time someone says "Thank You" a pony gets its cutie mark. No, she did not buy into my lies. I have watched enough of the show to know it is one of the better children's cartoons. I do not watch a lot of television myself so this show becomes part of what I do not watch. If I had to watch children's programming twenty four hours a day then I could accept My Little Pony as part of the rotation.

I understand there are adults that enjoy this program. I take no issue with this. The writing is snappy with a bit of wit thrown in. Yes, it is children's programing, but so is most of television if we remove theme and look simply at the level of writing and story involved. Most media produced for mass consumption has a target audience with a second grade or lower reading level. I do enjoy reading people bash a children's program for not meeting a higher standard the reviewer does not hold to most other television programs.

I have yet to see anybody come to direct harm as a result of themselves or someone around them being a fan of My Little Pony. I enjoy many hobbies where others have attempted to make me feel small due to their own misunderstandings. Part of the reason for this blog is because I am used to hiding my hobbies from others. Nobody should feel ashamed for liking something somebody else does not as long as no harm comes from their participation in that hobby.
 

I am not a fan of My Little Pony. I am not a pegasister, nor a bronie, nor whatever label fans are applying to themselves today. I know what pegasi and unicorns are because the words exist outside of My Little Pony. My knowledge of that world is limited. Apparently it consists of friendship and magic. I do know the kids like the show. From what little I saw I deem it safe for their viewing. 

I do have friends that like the program. These are good people, some of whom I love dearly. I am not going to belittle or scorn them simply for enjoying something I myself do not take part in. I have a couple of friends I have even seen positive changes in their attitudes or behavior since they discovered My Little Pony. Who am I to take that from them?

http://wylfden.deviantart.com/art/My-litte-Lobo-369281468

After some reflection I would like to change my answer. My answer is you. You are the best pony. You have the power to embrace others with the magic of your friendship. Please, be the best friend you can. Friendship is the magic that happens when we work together. Friendship is greater than the some of its parts. The world could use some more ponies.

Assimilation of a Subculture

It might not seem like it to a reader of my blog or to some of my acquaintances I have met through gaming, but I become tongue tied when it comes to the topic of gaming with people I do not already know also partake in a related aspect of the various gaming hobbies. Gaming was something I was raised to be ashamed of. It does not help when a very vocal minority actively seeks to prove every bad thing that has ever been said about games and the people that play them. Like any other group of people, it is those furthest removed from reality that grab the most attention from outsiders.

My first brush with Dungeons & Dragons was secretive. I knew beyond any doubt as a young lad that Dungeons & Dragons was not only wrong, but downright evil. Still, it had a certain appeal to it. I would sell off parts of my school lunch to other kids for pocket change. I saved the money for a few months and bought the Rules Cyclopedia from another kid. I read and reread that book over and over and over again and again and again over a period of years. I knew every rule inside and out by virtue of pure repetition.

I had to hide the book from my family. It became akin to a sacred tome I had to protect. This was not easy as I was searched semi-regularly and under different circumstances. I would return home from school some days to find I had to clean my room because it was torn apart in a search. That book was the one thing that could have possibly ever been found in these searches, and I was damned if I was going to allow that to happen.

When one spends more than a decade feeling like an outsider and keeping something a secret, it becomes difficult to share that secret with others not already in on the secret. It's a little embarrassing actually how things come flooding out when you feel you can talk about the secret. I can gush over various games for hours when I find a fellow gamer. My natural reaction around people I do not already know game is still to clam up and keep games to myself.

I grew up to play a few different types of games. I have played some console games although console gaming is one of the gaming hobbies I am less familiar with. I own a few hundred video games for the personal computer. I play a few different miniature games. Some of the earliest posts on this blog were for a Facebook game. I like Magic the Gathering, but do not have the income to keep up with the game and support my other hobbies. My current favourite card game is Sentinels of the Multiverse. Board games are awesome. There are more types of board games than I can keep up with let alone individual board games. I have written my own MUD once upon a time. Role playing is awesome and something I am almost always up for.

The social stigmas are much different about gaming of all sorts than they were when I was growing up. For one thing, there are more gamers than people that do not game. Whether it be card games, board games, role playing games, party games, video games, or what have you, people are downright hungry for both interactive media and the social interaction available through gaming. There is also a greater diversity in the ethnic background and the sex of people that game now compared to my youth. Increased diversity in the gaming audience leads to increased diversity in game developers as well. Increased diversity in game developers means increased diversity in gaming experiences available to the consumer which feeds into increasing the diversity of the audience again.

Recently there have been many articles such as "The End of Gamers" or "'Gamers' don't have to be your audience. 'Gamers' are over." I think such titles state the reverse of what is happening in an attempt to draw attention. Many of the articles I have read have either tried to embrace a minority by declaring no one outside of that minority a gamer, or tried to distance themselves from a minority by declaring that they are not part of gamer culture even though they partake in gaming and enjoy the history while sharing aspects extracted from games socially.

The label of gamer may come to lose all meaning, but it is only because we are approaching a point where it would be easier to have a term for people that do not play games of some sort than to have a tag for people that do. To quote Syndrome from the Invincibles, "And when everyone's super, (evil chuckle) no one will be." We live in a time when there are gamers raised by gamers that are raising gamers.

Gamers, like many people that were once considered outsiders, are now part of the mainstream. There are some gamers that are desperately attempting to hold on to their outlier status. They typical methods for accomplishing this include driving other people away, defining what is not a real game, or burying themselves in some niche within the various gaming hobbies. If somebody enjoys a different type of game or even game experience within the same games as them then they might declare that person to not be a real gamer. The further away the type of gaming moves from their niche, the easier it is for them to label somebody as anything but a gamer. The less like them a person is, the greater the chance that person is to be a 'Fake Gamer'.

Gamer culture will still continue. The history of games will still be there. We will continue to build on that culture as we move forward. There are more people included within the game culture bubble now. Hopefully, as more people pick up games we will continue to see a wider array of games for us to experience. Gaming as a whole is no longer a niche subculture. Yes, there are many types of games that still are, but they bleed into Western culture even if many people are not aware of the nooks and crannies where those games live.

I view gaming and those that partake in gaming in a generally positive light. I have seen a lot of good come from gaming. This is not to say that people that play games are better people than those that do not. Gaming provides a platform of common interest that I have seen many people utilize to build communities and to help others. There are many charitable events held every year that are tied directly to gaming in one form or another. This is not to suggest that negativity is not present. It very much is. It is thankfully a minority of gamers, but it is a very vocal and brazen minority.

I would like to apologize to anyone I ever made uncomfortable or caused them to feel unwelcome when it comes to gaming of any sort. I personally am still adjusting to the current times when society at large considers it okay to enjoy gaming. I am so accustomed to living in the corner that I am hesitant to venture further into the room where the rest of the gamers are mingling and helping to introduce others to gaming. The corner might be cramped, but I know this corner. The corner is safe. The rest of the room, or people coming into my corner brings the unknown. Fear travels hand in hand with the unknown. This fear is a silly thing. I am working on conquering that fear, but I am not there yet.

I have no dog in this fight

I present to the humble reader part three of the Lurker series of blog posts. Each of these blog posts will discuss one topic presented here. This particular post will talk about...

"Which would win in a dogfight: a Viper Mk.VII from Battlestar Galactica, or an SA-23E Starfury from Babylon 5."

This topic required a bit of research on my part. While I have watched both shows, I do not keep up with the name of things in most fictional settings.

[*|=======================================================|*]

 || Statistic       | Viper Mk VII |   SA-23E Starfury    ||

[*|=================+==============+===================== |*]

 || Height          |     9.7 feet |            14.5 feet ||

 ||                 |   3.0 meters |           4.4 meters ||

 |+-----------------+--------------+----------------------+|

 || Length          |    32.3 feet |            35.1 feet ||

 ||                 |   9.8 meters |          10.7 meters ||

 |+-----------------+--------------+----------------------+|

 || Width           |    18.4 feet |              61 feet ||

 ||                 |   5.6 meters |          18.6 meters ||

 |+-----------------+--------------+----------------------+|

 || Tonnage         |         WtFK*|       48 metric tons ||

 |+-----------------+--------------+----------------------+|

 || Crew            |      1 Pilot |              1 Pilot ||

 |+-----------------+--------------+----------------------+|

 || Acceleration    |           9G |                  10G ||

 |+-----------------+--------------+----------------------+|

 || Rotation Speed  |        WtFK* |            180 < 1sec||

 |+-----------------+--------------+----------------------+|

 || Escape Velocity |    3 minutes |                Crash ||

 |+-----------------+--------------+----------------------+|

 || Duration:       |        WtFK* |     2 hours standard ||

 ||                 |              | 20 minutes full burn ||

[*|=======================================================|*]

*Who the Frak Knows? (WtFK)

I could not find dependable tonnage for the Mk VII. Tonnage for the SA-23E is anywhere between 15 and 48 metric tons. There was more than one source that stated 48mt.

The previous SA-23s topped out at 8Gs. The SA-23E/H/Psi top out at 10Gs. All variants of the SA-23 restrict speed to 2G outside of combat to save fuel. The Viper MKVII tops out at 9Gs, but the computer restricts this to 7Gs to prevent pilot blackout. The Viper MkVII operates at 1G when not in combat to preserve fuel. Rotation of the Viper MkII is 180 degrees in 0.35 seconds. It can be assumed the MkVII has close to the same rotation speed. Sources seem to conflict on whether this would be slightly more or slightly less than the MkII. The SA-23E has three aft thrusters while the Viper MkVII only has three. Aside from the number of engines the Viper MkVII seems to be built with more redundant systems than the SA-23E Starfury. The Viper MkVII uses a cold engine system for changing orientation. It is unclear if this is a gas or something else entirely, but it does mean only the aft engines burn the primary fuel source as they are the only hot engines.

Armament

The Viper MkVII has three forward facing kinetic energy weapons. They make use of 30mm rounds and can carry 1000 shots each. These are probably belt fed. It also has two hard points, one on the underside of each wing, that can hold one missile, pod, or extra ammunition each. The design is such that attached weapons would fire in the same direction the bow is facing. The maximum effective range of it's main weapons is 1,200 meters in an atmosphere and 9,600 meters in space.

The SA-23E Starfury's armament is centered around four forward facing 40mm cannons with an additional two forward facing 30mm cannons. For defense it comes equipped with a cutting laser and aft grappling claw which may be used in combat, but its primary function is to tow other vehicles. The SA-23E also includes eight hard points for additional weapon systems or ammo capacity. The maximum effective range of the 40mm cannons is 160,000 km in space.

From unreliable sources it appears the SA-23E Starfury has the thicker hull and the engines can take more direct damage. The SA-23E Starfury has 4.2 centimeters of re-enforced armour. I am unable to find specifications on the armour of the Viper MkVII

Extras

The Viper MkVII has a sophisticated electrical system even with the modifactions to protect them from wireless transmissions. It's radar can pick up targets at a range of 644 km in an atmosphere and 64,400 km in space. The system can identify and track up to 72 targets simultaneously. The electronics can detect active radar sweeps that include the ship. The radar can map terrain as well. The MkVII also uses a laser system to get further details of terrain when flying at low altitude.

The MkVII has two hydraulic systems. The secondary serves as a backup to the primary, but the fighter can lose both and still operate with little noticeable difference.

I did not locate exact specs on the radar system for the SA-23E Starfury. I would guess it would be at least 160,000 km in space. If not then the maximum effective range of its guns are inconsequential.

Conclusion

Now that we have a little information we can make an informed decision. Okay, not exactly an informed decision, but we are not exactly picking a winner out of a hat. I would narrate a scenario, but this blog post is long enough as it is and I do not want to stretch it out into two parts. I think we all know who the winner here is.

Finish them Shrike-B Class under the command of the Royal Manticoran Navy!

Fifth edition preconceptions

This is second post in the Lurking series. This post's topic is...

"What s/he (Nymie the Pooh) thinks about the upcoming 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, and which edition is its favorite. (Note: Pathfinder is also an acceptable edition.)"

I have been through a few renditions of the beta rules. I have also looked through the free starter pdf available from Wizards of the Coast. I have not played the game. I will be joining in a 5e game next week.

I like what I read. I have not looked at the rules in depth nor have I any practical experience. The concepts I am reading sound great. I can not really speak to fifth beyond that.

As for versions, the edition I played the most was Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition. I played so that much DMing AD&D 2e reached the point where it was the easiest game I ever ran. There was a time friends would invite me over to play. After arriving I would find out that not only was I DMing, but they had already made new characters I had never seen at a level they wanted to play in a setting of their choosing. My familiarity with the system was at a level where I could get the information from them then start on a fresh cigarette. The game would be up and running before I was done with the first cigarette. I quit smoking 16 Sep 2002 so that gives you an idea of the time frame I am talking about here. Yes, I forget my own birth date. No, I do not forget the day I quit smoking.

Alternity is my favourite edition. It's my article, deal with it. Alternity was my bag for a couple of years. There were way too many skills in that game, and there were fiddly bits, but overall I liked it. For those not acquainted with Alternity, it was a science fantasy game written by Bill Slavicsek and Richard Baker. The publisher was Wizards of the Coast but they were still placing the TSR logo on products at that time. There were other noteworthy names that contributed to Alternity, but this is a post about D&D editions, not Alternity itself. I believe Alternity is important not only because it is a decent game, but also because it bridges the gap that was created late in the lifespan of AD&D 2e while preparing some of the ideas to come in third. Many contributors to Alternity were also contributors to third edition.

Third edition is my favourite edition if Alternity is not permitted by the made up rules I may or may not hold myself to. If WotC had not made the rule set available for everybody to sell content for, third would still fall where it does form me. Third was a good transition from previous editions. In spite of the vast amount of time I spent with AD&D 2e I can see it was a hot mess. I had a lot of familiarity with the system and even I do not remember today how exactly THAC0 works. I know I could figure it out and pick it up again, but there is no need. THAC0 however is just one example, and probably the most obvious one, of why third wins me over when compared to previous editions.

I have not played much Pathfinder. Most of the local Pathfinder players I know are playing Pathfinder Society. The concept seems neat, but I like the idea of the party being able to tell whatever story they want. The idea that a character I have been leveling in one game can be slotted into a game somewhere else and taken around the country like that is a novel one. I can't help but wonder though what kind of impact my character has on the world when those decisions are out of the hands of anybody sitting at the same table I am at. How is this different from a video game where the quest hubs are at set locations? One of the local GMs runs the same packet four times a week as he goes to different locations. I admire him as he is a super nice guy and I do not think my frayed sanity would continue to hold if I attempted to do the same.

Fourth edition is the version I have played the least discounting Pathfinder. I have spent more time with the latest version of Gamma World which was based on the same rules as fourth edition than I have playing real fourth edition D&D. I do not think it is a bad game. It has it's problems such as the time combat encounters require once a few levels in. Like many, it does not give me a D&D vibe. It reminded me quite a bit of games like Warhammer Quest and Descent. Many say it reminds them of video games. I guess I can see that. My friends used to refer to Warhammer Quest as Diablo the Board Game. I think it was mostly how time was handled in relation to powers. Warhammer Quest also had actions that could be used once per turn, once per encounter, or once per dungeon instead of day. The time spent in combat once monsters started to become hit point sponges was the main reason I did not seek out games specifically to play fourth edition.

Since Pathfinder was permitted, I am going to expand on that concept a smidge. True20 is a reworked version of third. I give the edge to third here, but if you like third edition it might be worth your time to take a gander at True20. I like all three versions of Mutants & Masterminds. I was on a small team that got approval to use the license in an Norse mythology themed supplement. About a week after we got the okay to use the license Green Ronin announced second edition would be released at that year's Gen Con two or three months after the announcement. There was a lot of back and forth amongst us as we tried to figure out how we wanted to handle it. The group fizzled as we were not looking forward to redoing the work we had already done, and would not know what would need reworked for a few months. Second edition was very strong however with a very active community. Third edition is the furthest removed from traditional D&D, but still an amazingly versatile system. I highly recommend it if you enjoy d20 systems and want to try your hand at a super hero game. It really is a great choice. If you can find it, there was a fantasy supplement for second that is fabulous. I think both second and third editions of M&M are better than D&D third, but they build upon D&D and would not exist without D&D.

Those are my general impressions on some of the editions preceded by a short blurb of me talking out of my elbow about fifth edition. I think it is the best edition by Wizards of the Coast since third. It has the potential to be the best edition from the little I have seen. Whether it topples third or Alternity for me remains to be seen. If you would like to try fifth edition then you could do much worse than to read this article about getting started by Scott Martin over at Gnome Stew.

I wish Wizards of the Coast luck and I hope their product line remains both profitable and manageable.

Ha ha! She said Peter!

This is a follow up to a post I made here. I shall address the first topic raised there.

"Nymie the Pooh's thoughts on Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor, and what that means for the series vis-a-vis its return to the "cranky old man" doctor of the 1960s versus the "pretty boy eye candy" of recent years."

Like many between the ages of [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] that grew up in the United States, my first exposure to Doctor Who was on PBS. Doctor Who was featured back to back with Red Dwarf on Saturday evenings. I did not watch many episodes, but the those I did catch on my 13" black and white screen made up some of the most entertaining television of my childhood. Both shows were fun, goofy, rip-roaring yarns and fit well together. Sometimes a different actor was called Doctor, but even without an explanation at the tender age of [REDACTED] it was still a fun story so I was not overly concerned with why the Doctor changed or who was portraying him.

Fast forward a century. Well, to a new century at least. There had been times in my life leading up to this new series where I did not own a television. The reasons varied from not having money at one point to never thinking about it. I did not miss television once it was out of my life for more than a couple of months. Television was replaced with little available free time. I would listen to audio books and talk radio when I could however as that was a form of entertainment I could enjoy while up and about doing other things. I bought a new television and a cable subscription in 2004. This was more for other people in my life to keep them occupied so they would stay out of my hair than for viewing myself while I took advantage of the amazing internet speeds.

I did not watch the new Doctor Who when the series relaunched. I actually started listening to the Big Finish audio dramas before watching the new series. The first time I saw Eccleston's Doctor was as part of a marathon on the SciFi channel. I binge watched Eccleston. I liked him, but a lot of that story line is a blur now. I also turned to Netflix to consume older content while I continued to listen to the Big Finish audio dramas. I watched everything Netflix had available at the time. I did not view the movie with Paul McGann until after I had already fallen in love with him in audio format.

Eccleston was a good Doctor. He was presented in such a way to fit in with other popular television of that time however. I feel Eccleston himself was great, but some of the writing felt a bit like it was conceived for a different audience than the program [REDACTED] year old me used to watch. He did not start as the Doctor for me, but he grew into the role as the writers let his character become the Doctor.

Tennant was a refreshing change. He was permitted to start as the Doctor. Tennant did a wonderful job of combining various aspects of previous Doctors while injecting a bit of himself into the role. I do not know how much of this was the actor himself and how much to attribute to the writers. That is because actor and writers meshed so seamlessly together to form this Doctor.

I like every Doctor to this point. When I am comparing Doctors it is from the angle of different degrees of positivity where none of them drop into the negative for me. I like Matt Smith's Doctor, but not to the same level as the other post Time War Doctors. It's a bit difficult for me to put my finger on exactly why. Maybe it is that he lacked a bit of that same child like enthusiasm as the previous two Doctors. It was still there, but not anywhere near the level of Eccleston and Tennant. I like many of his mannerisms. He had good body language for the role and the way he used his hands is something worth highlighting. I think it might come down to writing. Most of my personal complaints with the seasons he was featured include timing and the pace of the story lines. I like the Matt Smith Doctor, but I do not always care for the writing during his time.

Let's go back and look at some of the Doctors from before the third War in Heaven.

The first Doctor was William Hartnell. I do not think I got to see any of his footage when I was younger. My experience with him is catching some of his episodes more recently in my life or through other actors portraying the character in audio format. Hartnell's Doctor was a charlatan. Human's were beneath him, but he both needed and liked them. He did not consider Humans as lesser beings, but he did treat them as such at times.

Troughton was silly. He was a bit foppish and came across strongly as a presenter of children's programing. [REDACTED] year old me thought he was an idiot and I found it a little demeaning that any adult would think a kid would want this over the other Doctor's. I have enjoyed Troughton in a couple of other things. His depiction of the Doctor was perfect for what he was hired to present. There were times the idiot facade would slip away as the writing would permit. The script was mostly new ways to have the Doctor be an idiot however. I tend to think of this time as the Doctor's toddler phase.

Pertwee was a Doctor unto himself. If there was ever a Doctor to have an action figure made of him or her then it should be Pertwee. His figure would come with Kung Fu grip action to boot. I liked him when I was [REDACTED]. He was the James Bond of the Doctor Who franchise. It was during Pertwee's time that we started to see story development extend outside of a single arc.

Almost everybody that currently watches the show has heard of Tom Baker, Doctor #4, even if they have never seen any episode he was in. I believe Tom Baker may have been in the most episodes of any of the younger Doctors. He is also one of the few to have been on television outside of the United Kingdom prior to the resurgence from the relaunch of the series. A search on Netflix or other services for previous Doctor Who content will produce mostly Tom Baker content. I have not checked in a while, but Netflix used to have more Tom Baker available than all of the younger Doctors combined. He is easily the most accessible.

There is a whole paragraph dedicated to me avoiding the discussion of Tom Baker's place as Doctor Who. You're welcome.

Peter David was the Doctor many consider to be the first serious Doctor. He had fun, and other Doctors had serious moments. Up to this point Pertwee was the most serious Doctor, but he was also an action hero where the times of all the other Doctors focused more on comedy or drama. Peter David's Doctor was a bit of a petulant teenager at times. He was an adult, and wanted to be treated like an adult, but treated everyone like kids even when he was acting like a kid. Especially when he was acting like a child. He was quite moody. He was also the first Doctor which had a companion die as a result of his actions. Much of Peter David's TV time had an undercurrent that involved growing up.

Peter David and the following younger Doctors have all performed in a lot of audio dramas for Big Finish. Tom Baker joined Big Finish a few years ago, but it was after the others have been there for a number of years. I mention this because Peter David's Doctor is an adult in the audio dramas. Even when interacting with the same actors performing the same roles he feels much older. A lot of this is the writing. Peter David's Doctor was growing up before our eyes on television. Now we get to experience him as an adult.

Most of my time with the next three Doctors has been in audio format. I believe all three might have more content produced in audio dramas than what was made for television. Their television appearances are also harder to acquire than the audio dramas or the television episodes of other Doctors. My opinion is very much influenced by this.

With Colin Baker it feels like the producers and writers wanted to return the show to the time of Tom Baker. Colin Baker himself has stated he came into the role wanting to wear black and was hopeful to continue taking the show to more serious places by following the path laid out during Peter David's time. He was handed a technicolour dreamcoat and asked to play the role of a clown instead. He had serious moments, and the actor tried to apply some levity where he could. The story around him was permitted to be serious, but the Doctor was not. He was that bright happy spot in the middle of all the darkness. It was not allowed to touch him. Colin Baker got to play a darker Doctor in the audio dramas. He still has that brightness to him even in that darkness while being allowed to play a Doctor that is just as realistic as any other.

Sylvester McCoy is a bit like Pertwee to me in that he stands alone as his own Doctor. Yes, each Doctor has been their own individual, but McCoy was one where you do not really see the influence of the previous or later Doctors often. McCoy is the Batman of Doctors. He portrays himself as a doddering fool when he thinks he can, but he always has a plan. He normally has plans within plans so his plans can plan. McCoy's Doctor has a very bad habit of not sharing those plans with his companions. Sometimes this is intentional, and other times it is not. It's almost like he can not resist making overly complicated plans then not sharing them as it might spoil the surprise.

Paul McGann is the eighth Doctor. He is also the oldest Doctor Big Finish has access to. Most know McGann's Doctor from only two things. The first was the movie that was made for television where he wore the most terrible||| amazing wig ever. The other is much more recent, the short Night of the Doctor made to preview the Day of the Doctor special. Viewers got a taste of what those that consume the audio dramas are accustomed to.

Paul McGann's Doctor is the gloomy Doctor. He does not see the light at the end of the tunnel. He really is ready to die, and reaches that point before the second Time War actually begins in his timeline. He had lost a few companions, been trapped in another dimension, had companions attempt to assassinate him, been turned into an evil God from Gallifreyan legend, was responsible for mass genocide, and continued to try to be a good man. McGann is the Doctor that can most definitely do wrong with no chance to fix things, yet he keeps trying. If you can not tell from all my gushing, Paul McGann is my favourite Doctor. He's not necessarily my Doctor, but he is the one I rate higher than the others.

There is one Doctor that came neither before the last Great Time War, nor after it ended, but was born as part of it. This of course is John Hurt's Doctor, sometimes referred to as the War Doctor. This Doctor has only appeared as part of the television series and some prose. I have not read any novelization or comic with this character in them. I like this Doctor. I like him a lot actually. I would love to get more of him. I think John Hurt perfectly portrayed that aspect of the Doctor. I do not know how I would care for him in different stories, especially if he happened to find himself outside of the Time War, but he was the right man for that role.

And now we are at Peter Capaldi. As of this post he has appeared in one episode while his eyebrows made a guest appearance in another episode. I like Peter Capaldi in the role. I do not know yet what direction the writers plan to take the Doctor in and that plays a lot into how I feel about a Doctor. The way he talked to the dinosaur brought Troughton and Tom Baker to mind. That moment where he left Clara behind was slightly reminiscent of Hartnell and McCoy at first. The fact it was part of a plan reminds me of McCoy over Hartnell who might have been more interested in self-preservation than saving Clara. None of the Doctors want to kill, but McCoy and McGann's Doctors sometimes view it as a necessary evil.

Capaldi is pulling a bit from everywhere while still working something new into the recipe. I do not know what to expect yet. I can not wait to see where the Doctor goes next nor how he gets there.

I'm a Lurker

One of the friends I have met through online gaming was one of the inspirations for me starting my own blog. She has been receiving solicitations from parties interested in a mutual exchange of advertising. You can read more about it here. She quoted the solicitor a figure she would accept as well as possible topics she felt were appropriate to her blog.

I do not have that kind of money to be spending on advertising for something I do not draw an income from. I also do not have any shame however. I decided to commandeer her suggested topics for my own blog so I do not have to think up more topics myself.

Here is her list of topics I totally did not steal from her and insert my name into.

- Nymie the Pooh's thoughts on Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor, and what that means for the series vis-a-vis its return to the "cranky old man" doctor of the 1960s versus the "pretty boy eye candy" of recent years.
- What s/he thinks about the upcoming 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, and which edition is its favorite. (Note: Pathfinder is also an acceptable edition.)
- Which would win in a dogfight: a Viper Mk.VII from Battlestar Galactica, or an SA-23E Starfury from Babylon 5.
- Which My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic pony is the best pony, and why.

These are some specific topics that are representative of what is covered by her blog. Two broad categories that are subjects on her blog but not touched by that list includes firearms, and the outdoors/wilderness/survival skills and products.

I realized I hit a gold mine on possible topics I could utilize for my own purposes. A blogging god might be capable of compressing all of these topics into a single blog post. Us mere mortals however need all the help we can get for creating new content. Each of these topics will receive its own blog post from me over the days to come. I will update this post with links to each blog post as I upload them.

Articles in the Lurker series
Prelude: This post
Ha ha! She said Peter!: Thoughts on Capaldi as the Doctor
Fifth edition preconceptions: What it says on the tin
I have no dog in this fight: Coming Soon (tm)
Da Besterest Pony!: Coming Soon (tm)
Dakka Dakka: Coming Soon (tm)
Surviving with Disabilities: Coming Soon (tm)

All unreleased blog posts are working titles subject to change.

Through the Breach Preview Part Two

This is the second part of my two part preview of the Through the Breach RPG from Wyrd Miniatures, LLC. Part one may be found here and covers the rules themselves. Part two is my opinions as a reader. Please keep in mind this is a collection of opinions from someone that has poured through the books a couple of times but has yet to play outside of mock scenarios with myself.

The game looks like fun. The duel mechanic is simple, but is added onto as the campaign advances so there is complexity introduced as the players become more familiar with it. I initially did not like how NPCs have static values by default. This works similar to D&D where you might have an NPC take ten, but it happens by default in Through the Breach. The more I playtest scenarios on my own the more I like it however. NPC rank alters the static value. If I need a harder encounter then I can simply increase the static value in increments of one across all values on the NPC. The reverse is true if I need to lower the difficulty. By default most lower tier enemies count as always flipping a five or six, where higher tier enemies are always flipping a nine. This also plays into the idea that the player characters are the masters of their own fates as the Fatemaster never flips for the NPCs except in rare occassions.

I like the concept of how character advancement works in theory. I particularly like that skill selection is based on both what a character did during play along with what direction the player wants the character to focus on. I realize character advancement limits what stories are available to tell and how long a campaign can go if you care about character growth in a mechanical sense. Unless Wyrd releases supplements down the line to change character advancement I doubt we will be hearing about groups playing the same campaign with the same characters once a week that last for a whole year let alone the decades possible with other games without some heavy handed house ruling or creating a lot of advanced pursuits.

I am concerned about store campaigns. There are many sessions where new players are coming in and out and it is not uncommon to discover someone will not be playing a session until after the game is underway. Through the Breach is designed to give each player character its moment in the spotlight. It does so in such a way however to where each sessions is a feature episode for that character. The game may not appeal to a new player that hops in last minute if the focus of that session is built around one of the other player's character. You also run the risk of planning to feature a player character in the next session only to find out fifteen minutes into the game that they are not late as they are not coming that session.

Art from the limited Edition Hannah that came with the Kickstarter

Through the Breach has another hurdle, and to me it is a big one. That hurdle is Deadlands. Deadlands uses the Savage Worlds rules which bills itself as Fast, Furious Fun which it most assuredly is. Deadlands uses a similar setting to Malifaux. It is also capable of a wider range of story styles and campaign length due to not having its character advancement directly tied to and capped by game sessions that focus on individual characters. Players also have a little bit more control over character creation. Finally, while Through the Breach is not a difficult game to play, I feel Deadlands will prove to be simpler to teach to people that have never roleplayed and has fewer rules that feel bolted on.

I do have another negative, but it will probably be a minor one for most people. When reading Through the Breach it feels like they developed the second edition of Malifaux first, then bent that into the shape of an RPG to resell the same set of rules with extras bolted on. Both books for Through the Breach could have been combined into one and require the Malifaus 2e book. NPC stat blocks in the Fatemaster's Almanac almost exactly match the stats from Malifaux 2e with Aspects, Initiative, skills, and static flip based on rank added on. This feeds into the frustration built up behind the game since about a month after the kickstarter ended.

We are family!

The Through the Breach kickstarter finished a few weeks before the announcement of Malifaux 2e. One of the promises with the kickstarter was the inclusion of rules to incorporate the player characters in games of Malifaux. At the time readers supposed this meant 1.5 as there was no mention of 2e before then. That is fine, but the pace 2e went from announced to release and the fact Through the Breach was released a year after the projected release date (okay, eleven months), made many suspect that Through the Breach was not a priority. The ways in which Wyrd communicated what was going on caused them to lose quite a few customers.

I am fine with that part of it. The reason for the history lesson on development of the game is that they do not include rules for running player created characters in Malifaux 2e. This was one of their big selling points. There is one page in the Fatemaster's Almanac dedicated to using the Malifaux 2e rules in Through the Breach for combat. That one page is a mess that feels shoehorned in and states openly not to expect any sort of balance.

Again, I like most of what I read. I think it might take a session or two for the game to get rolling as people learn the rules, but nothing major. Once people are comfortable with it I expect mechanically the game will run quickly. If a gaming group likes to start over with new characters a couple times a year then this will be a great game as written. If not, then the Fatemaster and/or players will need to put in some extra work or accept continued play with limited advancement after twenty or so sessions for a four player party. Shorter campaigns are unlikely to be satisfying either as the player characters will only be part way along to either accepting or denying their destinies.

As far as we know, we're family too!

My favourite feature of Through the Breach is how skill selection and advancement works. One of the negative aspects of many games for me is when a player creates a character (with or without GM assistance) only to discover that they are called on to perform a specific action on a regular basis, but they will never be good or even mediocre at that action because they are limited in advancing that skill even though they are called on to use it in almost every session. With this game the player can switch pursuits for a session or two before switching back to their original pursuit or a new one. If the skill does get used by the character that much there is also the chance it will be one of the skills the Fatemaster offers for advancement regardless of pursuit.

Another thing I love is there exists a wide variety of ways for players to manipulate the fate of their characters. This is primarily handled through manipulating fate flips for duels in various ways. Since the Fatemaster is rarely going to flip a card if ever then the only people that can regularly mess with the duel mechanic are the players themselves. There is no need for a bennie or fate pool of points for dice manipulation which the Fatemaster would have to figure out how to either keep the points flowing or how to convince the players to spend. Players will draw both good and bad cards into their hands. They will want to play the good cards so they can cycle back around to their good cards faster. I like Fate points in FATE itself because of the conditions they are normally awarded under and can be used for more than dice manipulation. Bennies are practically needed at times in Savage Worlds. There are other systems where a similar mechanic is merely a free reroll the GM hands out at a whim. Fate manipulation covers many of the same mechanics as a fate pool, but encourages the players to cheat fate and cycle through their cards through regular play. Twist deck and other means of manipulating fate are much more integral to this system than if a pool of points were used instead.

No discussion of Malifaux would be complete without undead hookers

Anybody that is familiar with D&D, Iron Kingdoms, or Malifaux should be able to pick this up and run with it no problem. It basically replaces the d20 or 2d6 with a d13/deck of cards. Those unfamiliar with Malifaux might take a little more time to become accustomed to concepts like positive or negative flips, replacing a flip with a card from their hand, triggers, and soulstone manipulation if they pick up the appropriate skills or aspects, but it is something players can grow into as some of those may not be available to their characters at the start of the game.

I do not own any of the images used in this post and they have been used without permission. All images are the sole property of Wyrd Miniatures, LLC. I have reviewed Wyrd's guidelines concerning fan sites and believe I am in compliance with their wishes.

Through the Breach Preview Part One

 

A few people have ask me about how Through the Breach is as a game. The truth is I do not know. I have some idea from reading the books a few times, creating a couple dozen characters, and running mock scenarios by myself. I am trying to find a way to get some game sessions in. The people I would usually call on are committed elsewhere for now. I do not want to run the game in my local store because it is not available for retail right now. My local game store is amazing, but I do not want to push a product they can not sell yet. I need to get some time in with the game, but it looks like it might be a few weeks. I definitely need to spend some time playing it as I need to see if it is something I would like to run for ZAPP CON or not.

With the major caveat of me not playing the game out of the way, here is part one of my preview of the game.

The setting is the same as that for the Malifaux miniatures skirmish game. For those unfamiliar with the setting it is Wild Wild West meets Hellboy as written for a dramatic television series. If that is confusing, the next closest example I can think of is Lovecraftian steampunk pulp-western updated for a modern day movie audience.

The players take on the role of Fated. Fated are individuals that are not only aware of their destiny, but have the power to deny or hasten it. The game is written with the assumption that the player characters are new arrivals to Malifaux from Earthside. Malifaux itself is an alternate reality reached through portals from Earth during the time of America's Old West. The largest of these portals is in America's Western frontier. The greatest export from Malifaux is soulstones. Soulstones are used to power magic in both realities, but the supply on Earth is depleted aside from what is held by a few powerful individuals or nations.

Task resolution in the game is called a duel. A duel typically consists of the player adding their character's Aspect and skill to a card flip then comparing the result to a target number provided by the Fatemaster. Aspects are synonymous with Stats in some games and range from -6 to +6 with no starting character able to go below a -3 or above a +3. Human average for all Aspects is 0. Skills range from 0 to 5 ranks with 3 being the maximum attainable during character creation. Player characters also receive Talents (Perks) that let them do a variety of things that are either outside of, or alter, the basic rules.

Flips are done from a communal deck of fifty four cards used by all players known as the Fate Deck. Each player also has a personal Twist Deck which they draw their hand from. Players may play a card from their hand to replace a card they flipped from the Fate Deck. There are skills and Talents which can alter this process. Soulstone use for instance can change things, but require both ranks in a skill, and an expensive consumable object to be at hand in order to do so. Not all player characters will have the ability to use soulstones. There are also positive and negative flips which increase the number of cards flipped, but only the highest or lowest value flipped are used. Suits also come into play sometimes as a target number might have an associated suit (many spells for instance) or triggers may activate which are extra affects that may proc from an action. Suits will not matter much to starting characters unless looking to cast spells, but will likely be added in as the character advances. The Fatemaster will have to pay attention to suits more than the players at the start of a campaign as NPCs are more likely to have triggers that utilize suits.

Character creation is partially a random experience. The player starts by forming a vague concept of the character she wants to play. You then deal out cards to determine both what the character's life was like growing up, and what her destiny is going forward. The first card determines the life the character was born into. This is the most specific of the cards from a story standpoint. It is the one most likely to need changed if it does not play nicely with the concept the player wants. The rest of the cards decide how deep and broad the character's Aspects and skills are. The player picks which values are assigned to each Aspect and skill, but the cards tell you what values are available.

After this the player receives two points to add to their Aspects, records Derived Aspects, selects a Pursuit, purchases equipment, and builds the character's Twist Deck. Derived Aspects include things like Defense (Armor Class), movement speeds, and Wounds. Pursuit is similar to classes in other games, but are about what a character wants to learn and less on what the character already knows. A starting character recieves a talent and starting equipment based on their chosen pursuit. They lose that talent if they change pursuits. Starting characters have very little money so will not be able to afford much outside of what is available to their starting pursuit. The Twist Deck consists of thirteen cards valued ace through king. The Twist Deck is drawn from to make up the player's hand of cards during the game.

Character advancement is closely tied to the story. Remember the cards used to randomize parts of character creation? Working backwards through character creation those same cards also provide a vague destiny for the player character. Destinies serve as story prompts and the Fatemaster is supposed to weave the destinies of the characters into the campaign. A character that either fulfilled or denied part of their destiny ticks off a box on their character sheet at the end of that session. The Fatemaster has the option to present the player with one or more Manifested Powers when a portion of their destiny has been dealt with in game. Manifested Powers are spells with a more rigid structure, but do not require specific skills for their use. The player may select one of the provided Manifested Powers, or increase one Aspect of their choosing by one.

At the end of a session every character receives one experience point and advances their chosen pursuit one step. The character immediately receives a new talent with each step on their chosen pursuit. Unlike the talent specifically tied to the pursuit the character keeps these talents when changing pursuits. Experience points are used purely to increase skills. The Fatemaster selects a few skills after each game the player character may advance. If the player does not care for any of those skills then they may advance a skill associated with their current pursuit instead. Players may swap pursuits at the start of any session.

Due to the nature of how destiny affects the story and character growth, campaigns are intended to run for a number of sessions equal to the number of player characters times five. The Fatemaster can sprinkle in a few more sessions for story reasons, but characters cap out on Aspects and Manifested Powers once they have gone through their five destiny steps. Advanced pursuits help here as they act more as a form of alternate advancement than as full pursuits. A character follows a regular pursuit at the same time as an advanced pursuit. The advanced pursuit only progresses after sessions in which it was a major focus of the story similar to how destiny advances.

The magic section of the book is actually quite thin. The character starts by selecting a Magic Theory. These are schools of thought that give bonuses and penalties. A character may not cast a spell without first following a Magic Theory. A character also requires a grimoure in order to cast magic. The grimoire contains the building blocks of a spell. The player combines those blocks to cast the exact spell they want.

Every spell starts with the Magia. The Magia is the base spell itself. Some Magia can be used straight out of the box. The other component is the Immuto. Many spells require an Immuto where Immuto are purely optional for other spells. The Immuto modifies a base spell in some manner. The Immuto is what determines whether that spell you just cast does fire or ice damage or targets to include exclude from the spell for example. To cast a spell the player adds the character's Aspect and skill then flips a card against a target number as per a normal duel. Unlike most duels there are two target numbers. One assigned by the Fatemaster as normal, and one generated by the difficulty of the spell the player constructed.

That is my understanding of the rules as they relate to players. Fatemasters have a bit more going on. Thankfully, the Fatemaster's Almanac includes a decent amount of stat blocks for NPCs. There is also advice for running games along with plot hooks and story ideas. There are no premade adventures nor fully fleshed out scenarios in print. The Fatemaster's Almanac basically combines a traditional Dungeon Master's Guide with a Monster Manual.

I have decided to split this preview between two parts. Part two is my opinions and thoughts on the game from my understanding of the text. You may find the second part here.

I do not own any of the images used in this post and they have been used without permission. All images are the sole property of Wyrd Miniatures, LLC. I have reviewed Wyrd's guidelines concerning fan sites and believe I am in compliance with their wishes.

Through the Breach Quality Update and Future Purchases

I would like to update some information from my post about product quality from the kickstarter package I received for the Through the Breach RPG. My initial impressions can be found here. The quality is still good. The majority of the update concerns the female multi-part model.

The top of the shoulders on the female models is even with the top of the heads on my other Malifaux models. This includes both metal and plastic models along with the male multi-part model the female multi-part model was packaged with. This height difference is in the legs. Many of the legs have a gap between the bottom of the pants and the shoes that may be trimmed out to compensate for this discrepancy if desired. It will be harder to fix on models wearing jeans. I would first try just below the knee.

Wyrd reported a problem with a previous run on the model being out of scale and these models are supposedly smaller than that run had been, but they are still on the tall side. The difference was such that they were able to get more parts onto the sprue after fixing the old run. The female heads are slightly smaller than the heads on my other Malifaux models. This makes the overall model slightly taller than other models sold by Wyrd Miniatures, but not overwhelmingly so unless shown up close and when level with the models. It is unlikely to distract from games when viewed from above or across a table.

I believe Wyrd might be aware of this issue, but not before they shipped the kickstarter. In the updates it read like the female multi-part model was the last thing to arrive aside from the hardcover book and they started shipping the packages out almost immediately after the models came in. The multi-part male model was available for sale during Gen Con where the female multi-part model was not.

Another quality issue that is likely limited to kickstarters is there were not enough bases packed with the two sprues to place all the models on. The kickstarter packaged the male and female sprues together, but only provided enough bases to accommodate either/or. The sale description on the company's website states the male sprue can make eleven models so I speculate it will only be the kickstarters looking for more bases.

The books have been holding up well so far. A three year old has been playing with one in limited doses and I have been doing things like placing the book page down while open then letting cats walk across them. I am thinking about getting at least The Fated Almanac (Player's Handbook) spiral bound so it can take years of abuse, but it is holding up surprisingly well so far.

In my reading of the books I have not been tripping over any glaring grammatical errors. I do not mean to imply that they do not exist, but in reading both books at least once they seem to have decent proofreading put into them.

The cards I received slide more than I would like in spite of being textured. I still do not think I will sleeve them as they are highly resistant to tears, creases, and stains as far as cards go.

Right now I am looking at additional purchases. On top of the kickstarter contents, I would like to buy some more card decks. I want at least one for each player. I also want each deck to have different backs. The game uses one communal deck and each player makes their own deck of thirteen cards which may be added to later in the campaign. The Fatemaster does not usually draw cards and can use the communal deck so there is no need for an individual deck there. Different backs makes it easier to separate out which card goes where if they happen to get mixed up. I currently have two older Malifaux decks with different backs along with the one from Through the Breach. I will be picking up a minimum of two more decks, but will try to locate four more with different backs which uses the Malifaux suits. Wyrd sells a few different ones I do not own yet, and I can always sleeve cards to mark different decks depending on what I can get locally.

That is it for this quality update and purchase plans. The only other thing I can think to possibly purchase at this point is miniatures. You can make a lot of different player characters from the multi-pose models so I do not feel the need to buy more models except possibly to act as NPCs. I have over a hundred Reaper Bones and hundreds of Games Workshop models I can use for NPCs so I am covered there. I feel Sisters of Sigmar, Goblins, and Skaven models can slide into the setting fairly easy appearance wise or as stand-ins. If you are playing with a group that already owns a variety of factions in Malifaux then you are probably covered for NPCs if the players are willing to show up with their models.

Why yes. I am too good for your money.

I am told sometimes that I paint beautiful miniatures. Some people paint better than I do, and some do not. I paint what I feel like painting at the time in a way I want to paint right then. Many times this observation is followed up with a question. The question varies. It is usually asked indirectly. It boils down to the same question in essence however. "Will you paint my models?" My answer is almost always invariably no. The last few exceptions have been for charity or to help raise money for an individual in need.

My easiest to grasp reason for many that ask this question is I have too many projects. This is technically true. I have a metric hellaton of unpainted models I neglect every day. I have yet to see any evidence that these little creatures are going to colour themselves in. I have not given up hope that some day I will be visited by the Miniature Painting Fairy. I will simply have to slog on until she shows up.

The real reason is there is no money in it for me. Many people that ask me to paint their models are thinking of armies, and they want their armies to look really good on the table. They also want each and every model to be something to impress the people they play with. They want this for anywhere from $5-10 a model. There are the occasional few that might go upwards of $30 for a custom model, but they usually expect all the bells and whistles. By comparison, in 2001 I knew miniature painters making $10 a model simply for base coating models with no cleaning, gap filling, primer, or varnish. I at least did a bit of shading along with priming and varnish for that price, but people will not pay $5 now for the same work I did for $10 then.

Even if I were capable of painting every day, I am slow. Let's take model prep for example. For me this includes all aspects of assembly including cleaning of mold lines and filling gaps with epoxy putty. I would charge a bare minimum of $5 for the easiest to clean and assemble models. I simply take forever. Hell, I constantly want to pay somebody to clean and assemble my models for me. Prices may vary. I was cleaning Miss Terious from Wyrd Miniatures the other day and would have charged less for her as the clean up was super simple. For most models I would probably charge ten to fifteen dollars a model. Plastics from some companies such as Privateer Press would cost more because those models are rage inducing when it comes to getting them fully cleaned and I find I have to resculpt or carve details that were partially obliterated or lost entirely during the casting process.

So, lets say ten dollars for prep time. This prices many people out of consideration as most people that ask me are looking at ten dollars tops once the model is completely painted. It's good to see who stays and who goes at this point. Nobody wants mold lines, but many people do not expect to pay to have them removed. My advice here is if you are looking to try your hand at commission painting is to figure this into the cost of the model and not specify to the client that this is for prep work. Just include it into the base cost as there are a lot of people inquiring at the local level that only want an overall figure for the project. Be transparent when asked, but make certain a client wants the details before you bury them in a full break down of the cost.

Then there is the time of painting itself. I can spend as little as an hour painting, or go well into the double digits on a model. My hour paint jobs do not look too bad. Part of my ability to paint quickly is to do extra work during the prep stage to facilitate this so saying an hour is a bit misleading. The process goes a tad faster in batches. The time involved partially depends on the color pallet. Some colors are near impossible for me to paint well quickly. Time depends more on the style of the paint job than the scheme, but scheme does impact the time involved.

Now let's say someone wants the paint job that takes me roughly an hour or maybe even a little bit longer. Let's say maybe $25 with prep time. I'll charge $30 if it is a single model as that takes longer on a per model basis. This is the upper limit of what I have found most people inquiring locally are willing to pay. They normally want something that will impress people or possibly even win small paint competitions if I were to enter the model myself. In other words, they are not going to settle for my one hour paint job even though they were ooing and ahing over it only five minutes before getting a possible price quote.

There are some that will pay that when inquiring locally. My hour plus paint job is adequate and something I could charge some people for locally. I have known a couple other painters in the area that charge similar prices for roughly equivalent paint level. I feel they both provide a good service. I normally point anybody that asks me about commissions to one of them or one of the online services depending on what specifically the person is looking for. They also already have the potential local clients that are familiar with the hobby which would make it hard for somebody new to start up locally unless one of the existing paint services has more work than they can handle which is always possible.

The problem with earning a living wage with miniature painting is educating the clients on what goes into the process. I know at least one of those local painters has taught painting locally. Somebody that comprehends the work put into the project is more likely to understand why the painter charges what they do for custom work. Another issue is the ones with the most knowledge are also the ones with the most time dedicated to painting. If this is current time dedicated to painting, then that person is less likely to be a regular client. Most telling of all however is even with what is potentially the most knowledgeable clients with the least amount of time to paint available locally, neither of those painters takes miniature paint commissions as their primary means of employment.

That still leaves an online painting service. The first thing a client should do when dealing with online painting services is go with someone reputable. This is important locally too, but developing a bad reputation locally can impact someone in other parts of their life outside of just the miniature painting. I have absolutely no reputation online in regards to miniature painting. Smart clients would not use me. I would not use me. There are some great services out there at a variety of skill levels that have been delivering a quality product for years. The uneducated clients might use me, but I run into the same issues I would have locally and add in the extra considerations of shipping and managing a web presence. Both of these is extra work not factored into the price so far. I also do not have the space to run a business that includes shipping out of my home.

There is yet another concern. I can not paint every day. I do not know when I will be able to paint beforehand. I can not guarantee a timeline unless a customer is very flexible and willing to wait and potentially be pleasantly surprised. This is not something a client should have to put up with when dealing with a painting service.

This whole time I talked about cost in time. There is also a cost in materials. It can be pricey depending on what you use to paint. One expense I would likely take on myself that I have not so far is a decent airbrush and compressor and tank with a moisture trap. I do not paint enough large scale models, vehicles, or quantity of models to justify the cost of an air brush right now. I could easily justify the cost if I was painting armies for other people because it can save time if used correctly. It's nice of people to offer to buy me materials for painting their models on the surface. In reality, they are probably paying less than the people that would pay cash directly. Also, if everybody paid in tools and paints then there is no money for rent, food, or taxes. I'm not even sure how I would report payments in paint on my taxes. Would they count as gifts? Speaking of taxes, I would probably want to section off part of my apartment to act as an office for the business and use it for nothing else as that helps with taxes. I would also likely set this area up to film me painting as well as it might augment my income while still being part of the same business. I would restrict the filming to the sectioned off part of my residence for tax purposes as well.

I would consider taking commissions if I wanted to paint models I did not own or would be unlikely to buy. I might also take on a commission to help a friend. I would then charge not to make money, but to cover some of the cost of materials. This is why you will find some reputable painters that charge less than a living wage. They can also afford to be more picky in the work they do take and may have more creative freedom. Miniature painting is not their livelihood. Yes, commissions may pay for pizza night, but it is still a hobby first. I do have a variety of unpainted models that I can paint in whatever style I feel at the time however. I have free reign and can take as little or as much time as I like.

I am sorry to inform you that due to my inability to paint well quickly, deliver a project on a reasonable time table, and the mountain of projects I have already, I am going to have to decline your commission.