Did you know you can fill your miniature void by building your own D&D figs out of the old Mage Knight series? Our latest home-brew installment shows you all the simple steps and tricks.

It will be nearly 9 painful months between D&D Miniature sets from Wizards of the Coast when Lords of Madness releases at Gen Con in August 2010 (previous set, Savage Encounters, was November 2009).

Ben is an avid miniature collector and was losing his mind. Luckily, a crafty co-worker had a brilliant idea to rescue and convert Mage Knight miniatures from the eBay scrapheap.

We’ve made a two-part video series on our YouTube channel to show you the way: a general overview where Ben chats about the gang’s latest home-brew venture and a video montage featuring a step-by-step guide.

Getting an abundance of Mage Knight miniatures requires a sort of search-and-rescue approach on eBay. Now Ben has had good and bad experiences buying large assortments. Your best plan: buy a 400-count-lot first ($75-ish) to establish a base selection and then go the singles route to round out what you need. Grunhir’s Game Emporium is a great choice (amazing packing, fair prices, awesome service).

So, here are down and dirty steps to mini bliss:

1. Acquire your Mage Knight miniatures (usually on eBay)
2. Remove the original, ugly, oversized click bases
3. Select and paint new D20 bases
4. Glue on the mini to the new base
5. Flock the new base
6. Spray on a Matte seal.
7. Touch-up the old legion markings (yellow, red, blue) with a Sharpie.

The bestest news of all – Mage Knight had a huge run by WizKids (nearly 3,000 miniatures flew off the assembly line during their reign). Ben nearly fainted on this discovery.

Your new mins will also complement your existing choices well. It’s much more fun to have six semi-different Orcs than six of the exact same. See Ben’s Azer Raider and Skeleton examples.

Even better, the exciting new Dark Sun campaign is nearly upon us and Mage Knight has some killer options for this desert setting. And lots of fun choices is what it’s all about in your miniatures collection.

Now don’t get Ben wrong, he absolutely loves WotC’s miniatures but he just had to do something to fill the gap. He is counting the seconds till the next release and is praying the Wizards’ minis series will continue on for many moons.

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Every battle-forged game group has their unique spin on our beloved game of Dungeons and Dragons. Whether it’s a couple classic carryovers from previous editions, a learned online tip, or simply an original thought, all these combined tweaks will truly help make the game your own.

And BensRPGPile.com is no different. We’ve played together for quite some time now and consequently are dreaming up new ways to keep things fun and entertaining.

With that said, here are Ben’s Top 10 D&D House Rules to play by:

1. Fumble P1: Roll a 1 & your turn is immediately done (even if actions remain).
2. Fumble P2: Roll a 1 & your next attack ain’t no fun (-2 attack on next turn).

3. Fumble P3: Roll a 1 & you’ve won…a shot (but it’s the drinker’s alcohol of choice).
4. Corpse Country: Two dead bodies in a square becomes difficult terrain.

5. Torch Throw:  We roll certain dice to determine the distance of a tossed object.
6. Enemy Targeting: Roll the corresponding die for the 1st target & go clockwise.

7. Saving Grace: If you forget, you can only roll a save anytime before your next turn.
8. Rule Review: DM makes immediate call. Twitter or WotC forum confirms for future.

9. Achievements: Good & bad game play gets you Encounters-like rewards.
10. Go Team: We all contribute to our game and to BensRPGPile.com anytime we can.

All our little game idiosyncrasies are constantly evolving and we encourage you to do the same. Take it from Ben: Don’t get stuck in your ways. Avoid the mundane and always try new things. Keep reading the myriad of amazing D&D blogs. Listen to podcasts. Stay connected on Twitter. And be sure to tell us what house rules you guys use?

This surreal D&D community will welcome you with open arms – just remember to hug back.

Yes, it’s corny…we know but D&D spider swarm headlines don’t exactly roll off the tongue. Ben relishes a good spider swarm and this week seemed like a great opportunity to look at some of the many eight-legged miniature choices.

Coincidentally, the Pile gang just built a fancy spider lair as part of its Comicon Dungeon Delve. Our spider queen is quite the fertile bitch so we needed to fill the cave’s nooks and crannies with wide variety of venomous villains.

Lots to choose from including:

• Giant Spider (from Reaper’s Legendary Encounters)
• Huge Spider (from WotC War of the Dragon Queen)
• Widow Spider (from the Mage Knight series)
• Deathjump Spider (from WotC Dungeons of Dread)
• Spider of Lolth (from WotC Underdark)
• Large Monstrous Spider (from WotC Dragoneye)
• Phaseweb Spider (from WotC Demonweb)
• Blade Spider (from WotC Desert of Desolation)
• Swarm of Spiders (from WotC Underdark)
• Demonweb Swarm (from WotC Desert of Desolation)

The handy webbing can be nabbed at any Walgreens or craft store. Ben suggests you lightly brush it with some dark gray Games Workshop paint to give it a musty feel though. The strands are also great for wrapping victims

For added lair effects, be sure to make and space out some columns and fill the floors with lots of broken pieces and rocks. Ya see it’s the little things that help raise that hair on your arms when the DM yells, “Spiders!”

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When BensRPGPile.com was approached to do an event at this year’s Phoenix Comicon, it was our chance to create a D&D module from its absolute start to its convention finish. Here now is a brief summary of our amazing, five-month experience.

The sixty-minute dungeon delve was played by 16 different groups of four (64 players in all) over two-day period. Four of the groups were unable to avoid the rushing lava and died (TPK) before completing their quest.

Congratulations to Team Inevitable Doom. They scored an amazing 861 points. They played a masterful game. Our runner-up was Team F’ing G’s with a score of 821. Click here for the complete standings.

We’ve written a hefty summary of Lava and a Cup of Java here. The detailed recap includes all the components that made up the event, all the nifty download links and the commentary on all the TLC that went into each component of the game.

Also, be sure to watch the wrap-up video on our YouTube channel which contains a 3-D terrain game board walkthrough and a Comicon musical photo montage.

We met so many amazing people with big hearts who share our passion for gaming. It was an honor and a privilege to game with each and every one of you. Thanks again for letting BensRPGPile.com roll through your lives at this year’s Phoenix Comicon.

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A good dungeon needs many obstacles, known and unknown, to spice up the RPG experience. This time Ben went with an oldie but a goodie – the ominous terrain cave-in. This classic creation is yet another golden opportunity to make your three-dimensional game board come alive.

Ben utilized the Fieldstone molds (# 70, 75, and 701) to craft the core base of this piece. He then cast some smaller Woodland Scenic boulders to accent the crumbled walls. Finally, a Skullcrafts Oregon Beach Sand flock and a Games Workshop paint scheme round out the job.

The keys to building this terrain boils down to two sets of steady hands and of course, lots of glue – four types to be exact. Ben and Rob (the voice of Magnum & Red Dawn on our weekly podcast) then did a dry assembly run on the piece including some helpful reminder photos.

The slickery paint scheme included:

• First mix 2 drops of Games Workshop Codex Gray with 1 drop Chaos Black.
• Now dry brush that darker gray combo onto the piece.
• Then apply a lighter dry brush of just Codex Gray.
• Then paint a lighter brush of Citadel Delvan Mud wash (for that dirty feel).

So whether it’s a sudden dungeon cave-in, an unfortunate sprung trap, or a simply portion of a ruined room, damaged terrain needs a permanent place in your own D&D pile.

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A trained killer always wants to see the face of its future victim. Any and all details are critical – anything to speed up the hunt.

Ben knows this allure well. So much so he created NPC tracker cards for his campaign. Now upstart Paizo, has sweetened the pot with a super handy face deck series including: the Friends and Foes deck and an Enemies deck. They’re a perfect complement to your game accessory hoard.

The decks offer a slew of NPC options. Everything from a grumpy Duergar to a fc_fireb.jpgraging fireball.  Of course, there’s always a couple hokey, cartoony ones in the pile but Ben still applauds the effort.

Ben still favors his custom campaign cards but these babies work great in a sudden NPC pinch. Just pull a name off Chris Perkin’s kick-ass list and grab a corresponding face from the deck – and presto!

At $10.99, these decks are very affordable. And new twists and ideas are on the way. Ben is especially giddy about the upcoming Plot Twist Cards.

Ben is a big Paizo fan simply because they constantly look for new ways to immerse the player into the game. Who doesn’t love their maps and item cards? Remember, it’s the subtle touches that raise a typical game above the bar.

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Great game shirts are a part of everyone’s own RPG Pile…so much so that Ben wanted to get jiggy and add another fantasy apparel option to the mix with an official website T-shirt.

The reasoning here is two-fold. First, we needed a team shirt for the Pile crew to wear at this year’s upcoming Phoenix Comicon Lava and a Cup of Java event in May. Second, we’re just a proud bunch of gamers who wanted to stand tall for our office’s traditional Dragon Shirt Fridays. 

Inspiration for the paint splatter effect came from an old Blizzard World of War Craft design. We picked two colors: blue to represent our local Gamers’ Inn shop and black cause every RPG’er loves to wear black.

A great work buddy (hereby known as “Lorenzo”) hooked us up with a killer local print shop. Mix that in with two insanely talented designers (Gabe-age and Reed) and you got yourself a winning clothing formula.

The blue shirt is up for sale in our Café Press store and the black option will soon follow. We’re excited about creating future t-shirts and tchotchkes but the group had to start with what’s closest to the heart.

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OK – he’s not going to lie to you…Ben has been dying to use that Lord of the Rings’ play-on-words headline for some time now. Still, can you ever have enough door variety in your D&D terrain life? With that obvious answer, here’s installment number 2 in this gripping series.

Ben loves to mix up the entry and exit points in his dungeons. Big or small, wide or tall, it simply doesn’t matter. He relishes the game group’s reaction and tactics based on the mere appearance of the barrier in front of them. With that said, here’s our latest batch of door goodness.

We’ve utilized the portcullis from Dwarven Forge (from Wicked Editions Set I) – a must-own). Our homebrewed jail cell doors work great for your typical prison area but could also serve as slick gates.

We crafted an imposing door to serve as our entry way into the second Horned Hold tower inside Thunderspire Labyrinth. A small door served as a special getaway inside the Duerger Trading Post cave.

Ben mustered a broken door for Brugg’s Halfmoon Inn assault. And he even made a partially clawed door in a recent Friday Night Strike Dungeon Delve.

Seem like overkill? Too much? Nah – remember, variety is the spice of life.

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Stop Ben if you’ve heard this classic exchange: “Blast 5 goes like this, right? No, no – that’s a burst. Wait, stop and pass me the PHB.” For some illogical-Spock-like reason, we just get those two darn terms mixed up. Hence, our desire to make some handy home-brewed blast and burst templates.

Of course you can look up the descriptions (pg. 272) but that’s such a game momentum killer. Better to have a few handy templates to place over the game board.

There are a few options out there. Ben snagged some 4th Edition Blast Templates from Dragonfire Lasercrafts but using them felt like a twisted math experiment gone awry. Paizo had some GameMastery Spell Templates for 3.5 but unfortunately they just don’t translate into 4E.

Our latest home brew D&D experiment involved some plexiglass (found in the windows section of any Home Depot) and some fancy line-drawin’. The stickers were a classy touch.

This RPG game group doesn’t need the templates as much as we used to just because of sheer practice. In our minds, we’ve classified a “burst” as a grenade-effect and a “blast” as simply coming out from your body. Still, these templates are great for the new player to learn the ropes.

Sure, they could use some helpful identifying labels and a quick spray (to protect against scratches) but all in all, we’re just trying to open our minds up to bigger and better things. And it’s those incredible possibilities that keeps us going.

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The real enemy of any game table is the dangerous and stealthy Min/Maxing monster – playing a character strictly by the numbers rather than by its quirky traits.

Mike Shea of Sly Flourish shared a great method during Critical Hits podcast at D&D Experience on how to counteract this age-old RPG problem. The idea is to create and distribute trait cards to help nudge the players into putting some real personality behind their characters. Try Daniel Rivera’s template for a spiffy card layout.

Ben’s game group has a couple of “newbies” who unknowingly make near-perfect tactical decisions rather than truly playing the role. Thus, these cards were an instant hit and immediately elevated everyone’s overall game (even the veterans). Be sure to see how it went on a future podcast.

Here are some of our initial favorite home-brewed traits:

• You worship yourself in an attempt to receive a divine rating.
• You are obsessed with origami and leave pieces on slain victims.
• Your OCD makes you cross any threshold 1d3 times.
• You love percentages and answer every question with a bogus calculation.

Ben has even built in minor annoyances for players who ignore their new-found persona while subtly rewarding others for exceptional game play.

Even if your group is filled with longtime gamers, try passing a few cards out just to shake things up a bit. Maybe a trait pops up after a blow to the head or via a drink from a mysterious elixir.

Min/Maxing is for the birds. Feel free to post some of your favorite character traits here for others to peruse.

As a DM, it’s time for you to take a stand.

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