The End of the World

[Mo]

When I started writing Fantastic Worlds one of the ideas I wanted to incorporate into the book was more interactive scenery. The games will be taking place on far flung worlds in strange alien environments so incorporating rules for terrain features that become part of the story was natural. The rules will include ideas for Spongy Moss for leaping across the board, weird alien plants that will teleport you to different locations and crystal formations that reflect ray gun shots to name a few.

So when I started planning my Historicon game I wanted to do a board that would really become part of the game. Thus the 'World's End' board was started.

Our heroes all travel to a dying planet, each with their own objectives but all working under the constraint that the planet is decaying rapidly beneath their feet. Below is the start of the board. The high pieces are land, the low are rivers of lava.



Next we started adding terrain bits. A rock bridge among others...



Some spray paint was added to eat away at the foam a little to give it a craggy look. The bottom three yellow circles are islands in the lava that during the game will float down the lava, or sink entirely. The top circle is a rock formation that will jut up out of nowhere if the card is played.



Tonights work was gooping the board. A mixture of sawdust and white glue to give the board stability and add more texture. The two yellow circles denote board areas that will fall away during the game, including the rock bridge.



So, next week comes molding the lava and painting the board. I'll update this as soon as I have something to show.

Marc

[KeyanSark]

Fantastic table!!!  

[Argonor]

Very neat, indeed  

[StevenK]

Super idea ! (I'll have to steal...uhm..be inspired by that idea)
The table so far looks extremely cool.
Can't wait to see the rest .

[PeteMurray]

Looks awesome, Marc! I am very carefully noting where the yellow circles are, though...

[Mo]

Looks awesome, Marc! I am very carefully noting where the yellow circles are, though...

I'm counting on everyone being so excited about the cool board or so inebriated by the plentiful drinks at the con that they will forget all about the yellow circles.

 ::

You planning to play my game Pete?

Marc

[Prof.Witchheimer]

love that, very nice table, Mo, i will have to get Grimm to make a similar one for me  ::

[Captain Gamma]

I can't wait to see this finished. Its going to look great!!!!!!!  :love:

Well done that man!

[loki]

Which size is board?

A lot of great ideas - I would like to play it  

Chaotic terrain is a good excuse for losing a game or snake eyes  ::

[ChukTuttle]

Hey Marc, is that table you and Jerry are working on?  I was supposed to come over and help this week, but my sister, whom I haven't seen in a decade came into town and I tripped in my garage, put my hand out to catch myself, and almost had nail go completely through my hand.  The nail was in the wall where the builders missed the stud.  It hit the bone, pushed my hand sideways and poked the skin on the other side up about 1/4 inch.  Hurt like a mother and I had to get a tetanus booster to boot.  It didn't do any tissue or bone damage and has healed very quickly.  My doctor was impressed with how quickly it's healing and thought it was "amazing."  It's just my Wolverine healing factor I guess.  I'll try to pop by soon!

[Mo]

Hey Marc, is that table you and Jerry are working on?  I was supposed to come over and help this week, but my sister, whom I haven't seen in a decade came into town and I tripped in my garage, put my hand out to catch myself, and almost had nail go completely through my hand.  The nail was in the wall where the builders missed the stud.  It hit the bone, pushed my hand sideways and poked the skin on the other side up about 1/4 inch.  Hurt like a mother and I had to get a tetanus booster to boot.  It didn't do any tissue or bone damage and has healed very quickly.  My doctor was impressed with how quickly it's healing and thought it was "amazing."  It's just my Wolverine healing factor I guess.  I'll try to pop by soon!

We should start a thread on world's best excuses for not helping make terrain! Be sure to bring a doctor's note next week, Chuck!

(Seriously...OUCH!!!)

Marc

[ChukTuttle]

Well, today, my 3-year-old daughter has to go to a birthday party at 2.

On a side note, I have a small statue of Buddha that would be 25-30 feet tall to scale with the models.

[Mo]

The next step was to put down caulk for the lava. The first time we did it, the caulk was old and didn't set, so we had to scrape it up and do it again. After that everything was spray painted black and we called in Kim Allman to paint lava for us...



I decided I liked the black rock in contrast to the lava, so instead of changing the color we highlighted the rocks with a mix of black and bleached bone...



This is the board nearly complete. I am thrilled with how the black rock and lava contrast each other. we're going in this weekend to add some lava glow on the rocks and some other small finishing touches.



To see the completed board, you're going to have to come to Historicon!

Marc

[Operator5]

Like I said before on The Speakeasy forum!                  


That is beautiful!

[Grimm]

Cooool  

Do you give the lava a coating of brilliant varnish ?