On Saturday the 20th of September, I had the honor of contributing to the festivities at a book release party. The book? ‘Black Orb’ by Graham Barey, AKA @wizardsartwork.
It’s 80 pages of awesome art and surprisingly-deep text. The first and last thirds of the book are two tales of the eponymous BLACK ORB – one in a sword & sorcery setting, the other in present-day. Graham has created a narrative that explores concepts of destiny, self-worth, depression, persistence, and technological addiction, all filtered through the lens of fantasy. Heavy topics, like: “Is violence or murder ever justified?” “What makes a thing or a person evil?” “Have the internet and connected technology improved our lives or made them worse?” It’s all incredibly-relevant stuff that I, too, find myself contemplating pretty often. Graham frequently reverses names and text throughout the book as a way of hiding “Easter eggs” and obscuring the more personal passages, thus forcing the reader to spend a little extra time and effort to elicit the real depth of the tome.
The center third of the book features loads of creatures, concepts, hooks, and scenario content for Troika!, a science-fantasy roleplaying game published by the Melsonian Arts Council (although it could be easily used for just about any RPG you prefer). Really smart stuff.
It’s published by Apocalypse Confidential, and the quality of the printing is excellent. It’s an impressive, large-format book with an attractive hardcover. You can purchase a copy from Graham by clicking here, or by clicking the image above.
The Tower of S’boj
Graham asked me if I’d be able to come up with a small wargames scenario and run the game at the event – I was all too happy to contribute. We decided the scenario would take place after Shemagig and Udikne depart from their encampment but before they find their way to the Black Orb. Here’s the story hook I wrote for the scenario:
In the 23rd Age of the Black Orb – Between the Events of the Trail Camp and Reaching the Orb.
Shemagig, the Uncouth Warrior:
We are on our way to the Black Orb. Udikne and I are approaching a small village. The streets are busy – residents, vagrants, and shadier folks bustle to and fro. But these folks are visibly distraught. They are distracted. Their thoughts are far from their bodies and from their present. Small, shadowy black circles – immaterial, a manifestation of total absence of light – hover just above each of their heads. A darkness rests over these people and this place.
At the center of this darkness – at its thickest and most suffocating density – stands a solemn stone tower. A strong and evil presence radiates from the structure.
But now a vision comes to me: I witness in my mind’s eye the visage of a terrible warlock! And its name – although I do not know this being, I know its name to be S’boj Evets, Lord of H’cet. Above S’boj’s head also floats a small Black Orb, however this one appears to be tangible – it is highly reflective and emanates the impression of heaviness, in spite of its refusal to obey the law of gravity. A perfectly spherical shard of the Black Orb we seek to destroy.
S’boj must be killed, and his damning influence over the people of the village be lifted.
We must reach the tower before pressing on to find the Black Orb. For even if the Black Orb itself is destroyed, might not the spherical shard remain?
Graham made a few changes to the text, and did the layout and illustrations for the scenario sheet as well. I wrote up some rules and stat blocks and voilà, we had it planned. It’s labeled as a WFB2 scenario but it’s probably somewhere between 2e and 3e. Ideally, it’s for two players and a GM. Anyway, it’s best to play it loose and focus on creating a good experience for the players.
Here’s a link to the sheet – you can also click the image below to snag a PDF.
(Note that the sheet is missing a few rules – please add the following if you decide to play!)
The Black Sword of High Doom – Shemagig’s sword has a chance of turning those who serve the Black Orb. On a successful hit roll of “6,” roll a D6 again. If the score is a “6” and the target has not been slain, the target has shaken free of the influence of the Black Orb and will now fight alongside Shemagig.
S’boj missing spell details –
– Confound Foe (8 Magic Points, Battlefield)
The spell may be cast as soon as the wizard suffers damage (or is killed) and so is an exception to the normal spell casting and magic phase procedure. If the wizard is killed, the spell must be cast immediately if it is to be effective. The spell may even be cast during the enemy’s turn. Its effects are to negate all damage caused during that turn so far, just as if it didn’t really happen… Because it didn’t. This spell does not alter the results of close combat, routs, push-backs etc.
The Main Characters
Behold!
Shemagig and Udikne are two of the main characters in the book. Udikne was converted from the 1985 miniature “Theodor/Kharn the Mighty” (tab labeled “BARBARIAN”), who also showed up in both volumes of Realm of Chaos as a follower of Khorne and Tzeentch. Udikne’s snake head is a 3-D printed part, while his flail is made of paper clip, jewelry chain and green stuff. Shemagig was converted from a 1987 Citadel miniature: “Hackslash” from the F3 Barbarians range (tab labeled “BERSERKER”). I clipped off his axe and topknot and added a shield, sculpted a strap, and smooshed on some hair to better match the illustrations. I could have added more hair and lengthened it but I’m happy enough with how it came out! I’d post better images but this is the only picture I took of the miniatures before I presented them to Graham as a gift.
Peasants Galore!
I wanted no fewer than thirty peasants on the table. I ended up with close to forty. Around ten were loaned to me by my good friend Hank (who also loaned all the terrain for the game – thanks, Hank!). Most all of the rest I painted up specifically in preparation for this scenario. I’ve had a block of thirty peasants prepped, primed, and ready for paint for a long time now (we all have projects waiting, don’t we?) as part of a planned Medieval Genestealer army. The majority of them are Old Glory miniatures, which in my humble opinion, do not deserve the bad reputation they seem to have. They’re a little bit crude, sure, but their simple details make them a quick and pleasurable painting project.
The children miniatures are a mix of Black Tree and unknown manufacture. Some of them were already painted when I got them so I simply repainted their bases. The man with the head bandage, pegleg and amputated arm was also already painted but was in need of some touchups. I had fun converting a “Genesheep” and adding some Genestealer arms/claws to a few of the humans as well. The bizarre warlock in the front center is actually a Tony Ackland sculpt. Many people with whom I’ve spoken are totally unaware that he sculpted miniatures – he did, and his work is terrific!
The Game!
The game went very well. My friends Tyler and Sean played the roles of Shemagig and Udikne. The two tried to be sneaky in approaching the tower but were quickly spotted by a guard, who immediately shouted for backup. The other guards came running, and some of the peasants sheepishly meandered over to see what was happening. Two guards were felled quite quickly by Shemagig and Udikne, and this initially scared the townsfolk away. An additional round of fighting saw the peasants gain courage and grow angry with the outsiders, so they began to mob up. As the horde engaged Shemagig, Udikne squashed a few stragglers with his flail and made a beeline for the tower. S’boj cast a VORTEX OF BLACK MATTER, which sadly bounced around the table doing nothing more than swallowing up a building, some trees and an outhouse. The tower guards fired at Shemagig, but missed repeatedly. Their arrows struck the children instead, much to S’boj’s anger.
When Udikne reached the tower, S’boj descended and met him at the entrance. The two exchanged blows while the archers attempted to fire at Udikne, but the archers continued to miss the mark and ended up hitting S’boj more often than not. Udikne believed victory to be his when he used his FLAIL SMASH ability on S’boj, but S’boj was resurrected by the magic left in his staff! A couple rounds later and a second FLAIL SMASH finally dispatched S’boj once and for all.
So that’s it!
Thanks for reading and I’ll try to post again sooner rather than later.