Bearwoodman in Frostgrave: An Incomplete History

[Grumpy Gnome]

Loving it! 👍

[Pattus Magnus]

I love what you put together for that scenario! The sled and the cauldron turned out brilliantly. Very cool using the heads and partial bodies to make the scenery pieces work.

[Bearwoodman]

Grumpy Gnome: I am glad you are enjoying the thread.  There is still a few more Frostgrave posts to come before I catch up with the present day (at which point progress and updates will slow right down!).

Pattus Magnus: Thank you! At first I thought using that jar as the cauldron would be amusing if rather silly but in the end I think it was turned out grim and sinister enough.  It is a shame I don't know how to embed video on the forum as the flickering light from within the cauldron added a nice bit of animation to the table (we tried it with the room lights off and curtains closed and the effect was pretty cool, although it was not very practical as we couldn't properly see the miniatures, dice, rules etc!).

[Bearwoodman]

The Fountain of the Olfactomancers

Build Something Competition 2021

The next significant Frostrave-related thing I did was to take part in the 2021 Build Something Competition (BSC) on this very forum.  The theme was "Difficult Terrain" which inspired to me to make a fountain and pool covered with treacherous ice suitable for use as scenery in games of Frostgrave (and in the process invent a new minor school of magic).
 
I am not going to go through it all again (some of you will have seen it first time round in any event) but I would say that I found participating in the BSC fun and inspiring and I would encourage anyone with time to have a go next time it is run.  I have entered twice now and both times I have been involved there was lot of support from forum members and it was great to watch the other entrants' pieces take shape.  Here is the link if you are interested:     
https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=130683.0

[Spinal Tap]

Just feel the need to comment again for no good reason beyond saying this is still brilliant.

[jon_1066]

Some great terrain and figures.  The mice are from Mice and Mystics - a pretty good RPG style board game.

[Bearwoodman]

Spinal Tap: Thanks, I appreciate that.  I was pleased with how it turned out and I suspect I will never make anything as good again.  Oh well!

jon_1066:  Thank you - My friend has that Mice and Mystics game (not just the miniatures), I will have to try to persuade him to play it with us.

[Bearwoodman]

Thaw of the Lich Lord

Scenario Nine: The Bone Wheel

The next scenario required a magical contraption constructed of leather and bone from which six bodies were to be suspended and which would slowly rotate around a central axle.  Each dangling body was to have a jewelled bag dangling from their neck. I consulted my bits box and quickly realised that I was not going to be able to make something that looked as though it was literally made out of human bones.  Instead I figured that a more traditional wooded construction would be acceptable provided it was decorated with bone motifs (I am sure we would forgive the wizards that made it back from their encounter with the Bone Wheel from embellishing their story a little for dramatic effect).  I therefore set to work with lolly sticks, cocktail sticks and string, plus a few other bits and pieces.


I did not have any hanging figures to be used for the bodies so, inspired by the Bone Wheel made by LAF poster jp1885 (who sculpted sacks dangling from the apparatus to simulate the bodies) I decided to make my own victims trussed up mummy style.  I made them out of milliput and used some thin strips of masking tape to simulate bandages. I added a hook made from part of a paperclip so each figure could be hung from the Bone Wheel and detached once they had been rescued and added a milliput bag hung by string round the neck of each suspended body.  Each bag features a sparkly “jewel” donated by my daughter from a craft set.


The game was fun and the rotating wheel injected an element of Chaos. 


Ursus's warband prepares to approach the Bone Wheel.


Jack Zapp leads his followers towards the grisly machine.


The Witch's Apprentice attempts to direct the fire from the Ranger and the Markswoman despite the magical fog.


Brenda the Infantrywoman tries to drag a victim to safety...

...but is felled by a musket ball in the back.


A fierce fight develops beneath the creaking arms of the Wheel.


The Witch's Apprentice is attacked by a Wraith.


At one point a slimy green Major Demon appeared.




As usual the Boys had the best of it suffering only one casualty, but all the warbands retrieved at least one treasure and all the Bone Wheel’s victims were eventually rescued.

[Pattus Magnus]

Wow! That is another very cool scratch built piece of scenery, I can imagine how it set the mood for that scenario. Inspiring work!

[syrinx0]

What a great looking centerpiece for that encounter!

[Grumpy Gnome]

Genius mate! That Bone Wheel looks brilliant. 👏🏻

[snitcythedog]

Very nice solution. 

[Bloggard]

fantastic crafting

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Excellent work on that Bone Wheel, love it (and the cockle jar)!   

[Doug ex-em4]

I’m about to get back into Frostgrave after a break of 5 years (unfortunately, it’ll have to be solo but it’s better than nowt) and this topic has been an inspiration. I love the way you’ve improvised special items for the scenarios and got some great results. I echo the Mad Lord about the Bone Wheel, for example and I’m on fire to make a construct myself.

Well done and thanks.

Doug