Lord of the Forge

Slagovir returns to our pages with another idol for the gods of old.  This time it's Svarog, the Slavic deity of fire and blacksmithing.  

Handout Help

Check out this video from the appropriately named Eldritch Tabletop.  On the surface, it's a look at his system for creating "Call of Cthulhu" tabletop handouts using Canva, ChatGPT, and AI generated art.  The rundown of how to use the template system in Canva for creating documents from faux newspaper articles to letters is worth a look by itself, but he also touches on some of the issues with AI use.

Personally, I think generated text and art is an incredibly valuable tool for individuals.  I've previously raved about the imagery from Midjourney.  With the proper prompts you can quickly generate some impressive artwork for all sorts of handouts.  What I'm definitely not crazy about is the massive proliferation of AI generated slop.  There was a time, and it wasn't that long ago, that you could ask a search engine for "cthulhu idol" images and see the latest sculpts posted to the internet.  Now?  Those works are buried under a tidal wave of AI images.

It's an issue that hits close to home for me, since it's become increasingly difficult to find work I want to feature here on Propnomicon.  Things were just about perfect right before COVID hit.  Now the rising tide of visual noise and the intentional de-optimization of Google makes actually discovering new things an order of magnitude more difficult. 

Unicorn Horn

I love fantasy specimens, and this unicorn horn from Burned Raven Tales is right up my ally.  The subtle pearlescent finish is perfect.

 

Celtic LARP Spear

Sander Propworx returns to our pages with another one of their amazing foam LARP weapons.  This time it's a full-sized Celtic-themed spear.

 

 

A Light Shining in Darkness

Fallout: New Vegas is the greatest video game of all time thanks, in no small part, to the incredible worldbuilding.  That includes the detailed backstory for Joshua Graham, a one-time monster seeking redemption for his evil deeds.  His character arc is deeply dependent on being Mormon.  That extends to his signature weapon "A Light Shining in Darkness".  

"l1b3rtypr1m3" brings us his recreation of the gun, a custom .45 M1911 featuring snakeskin grips and engraved with the biblical passage John 1:5 ("The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it") in Greek.

 

 

Little Devil

Spooky Jack returns to our pages with this creepy little horned fetal skull.

 

Waterdeep Receipt

Stormageadon's girlfriend tasked him with creating handouts for her Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

It’s difficult to figure out what exactly the visual style of a city like Waterdeep would be. I know fantasy tends to live in the 16th century or so, but I figure mass printing is already out and about so I based most of my work off of 19th century invoices. Please let me know if you think this fits the vibe of Waterdeep or how I can improve the next handouts. 

The longest part of the project was just getting fonts to look right. Next up is a few leaflets for some kind of opera and some posters for a sea maiden’s festival. 

It was about five hours of meticulous work on Photoshop, and then printing it in high fidelity on handmade paper. 

He's on-target with his design process.  Faerun, and Waterdeep in particular, has canonically had printing press technology since the setting was first published.   At the same time, you can still find professional scribes copying tomes by hand.  That's the legacy of a world shaped by the need to give gamemasters a place where they could set any kind of adventure.

The only thing I'm not crazy about is the deckled edge.  That's the hallmark of hand-laid, uncut paper, an artisan product.  Good for correspondence, but not the best fit for a pre-printed receipt.  

 

 

Great Cthulhu

Incredible depiction of Cthulhu and his minions from artist Vague Sadan.  Click through to see a complete gallery of pictures highlighting the amazing level of detail.

 

 

Dagon

This WIP look at an intriguing idol of Dagon comes to us from artist Jason Pfeifer.

 

 

 

Mummified Fairy Specimens

Umbratheca returns to our pages with this collection of mummified fairy specimens.  I really like their sculpting on these.  Most of the mounted fairies for sale these days are repurposed novelty toy skeletons.  Nothing wrong with that, but they look like...repurposed novelty toy skeletons.

 

The Wendigo

We've featured Wendigo masks before, but the latest from Francesco Sanseverino is easily one of the creepiest.  There's just so much wrong here, from the antlers jutting out from the eye sockets to the exposed rictus.

 

 

Daedric Dagger

This excellent recreation of the daedric dagger from Skyrim comes to us from Metal Made Crafts.  3D printed in resin and then hand painted.

 

 

Tools of the Trade

I just love this kind of stuff.  Slooth849 brings us a collection of props from their tabletop Dungeons and Dragons game.  The only thing I'm not crazy about is the futuristic grenade, which apparently is used by an artificer character.  

 

Not So Lucky Leprechaun

Caleb Volek of Outcast Props returns to our pages with this preserved leprechaun head.  Just the thing for that special someone on St. Patrick's Day.

 

Skull of the Third Eye

Another impressive piece from sculptor Ebrahel Lurci.  The skull adorned with the third eye is available in a variety of finishes.

 

Cthulhu in Ivory

This faux ivory Cthulhu idol comes to us from the talented Alberto Camargo.

 

Fallout: New Vegas Rose of Sharon Cassidy Necklace

Chris of "l1b3rtypr1m3" is a huge fan of the Fallout franchise, in particular Fallout: New Vegas.  Over the years he's amassed what's probably the largest collection of props based on the games, many of them crafted by his own hand.  His latest piece is one of those wonderfully obscure video game items I love- the necklace worn by "Whiskey" Rose of Sharon Cassidy.

 

The Pustulant Grimoire

Professional bookbinder Mille Cuirs returns to our pages with his icky "Le Grimoire Pustulant".

 

The Year of the Snake

Yesterday was the lunar new year, officially ushering in the year of the snake.  Jason McKittrick has just the thing to mark the occasion, his talisman of Yig, Lord of Serpents.

Idol of Baphomet

Morok Art Studio returns to our pages with their Giger-inspired Baphomet statue.  It's a great sculpt, and the rust/gunmetal finish looks awesome.

 

 

Amulet of the Nerevar

For years, Valara Atran has been re-creating some of the most obscure props from the Elder Scrolls series.  Her latest is this amulet bearing the Moon and Star sigil of the Nerevar from Morrowind.

 

 

Carved Agate Cthulhu

Allie Evers was kind enough to send over this wonderful Cthulhu idol sculpted from a solid block of moss agate.  It was commissioned from Skullis.com, which normally specializes in carved crystal skulls.

 

 

Fallout Consumables

Ammnra Creations brings us this tutorial on creating a variety of consumable items from the Fallout video game series.  The best part is right at the start, where he demonstrates how to use drinking party IV bags to recreate RadAway, blood packs, and irradiated blood.  After that he crafts a stimpak, Jet inhaler, and fusion core.  Spoiler alert: that section basically consists of "I 3D printed the parts and put them together".

That's become an increasing common theme in propmaking.  Don't get me wrong, there's certainly nothing wrong with that approach.  The results are absolutely authentic since they're adapted from the actual game models.  That said, I'm a devotee of the ol' skool "bash found parts together" method of prop creation.  3D printing seems to remove the creativity from that process and turn it into an exercise in kit assembly.  Your mileage may vary, obviously.

 

Ritual Dagger

Spanish artist Creadores a sueldo brings us this creepy ritual dagger.  Made from foam and LARP-safe.

 

 

I, Robot

Beastcraft Props produces characters for professional haunted houses.  They've made some amazing animatronics, but most of their work, understandably, is various flavors of undead and monsters.  Their latest is something different- an interactive robot.  I love the craftsmanship and theming on this.

 

 

Tome of the Dragonborn

Another fantastic bit of tomecraft from Alex Libris.  This time it's a Skyrim-themed journal featuring an embossment of the sigil of the dragonborn, hand tooled leather cover, and custom brass hardware.

 

 

Great Cthulhu

George Tsougkouzidis is one of the most talented Mythos-inspired sculptors around.  His latest is this Cthulhu idol he calls The Great Terror.

 

 

Vampire Skull

The talented Spooky Jack returns to our pages with this be-fanged vampire skull specimen.

 

 

Cthulhu in Onyx

Al Landron of Landron Artifacts brings us his Cthulhu R'lyeh fragment in a chipped onyx finish.  I've collected a number of his pieces over the years and can personally vouch for the quality of his work.

 

 

I'm not sure about the wisdom of channeling Cthulhu to get answers from a spirit board.  I have a feeling the responses will be more about immanentizing his return than actually being helpful.  That said, the gifted Maarten Verhoeven returns to our pages with this wonderful Cthulhu planchette.  

 

Fallout NCR Ranger

Larry Hastings of Vulture Productions brings us this excellent NCR Ranger costume from Fallout: New Vegas.  The LAPD riot armor is a kit he just happens to have for sale.

As an aside, I've continued my long history of getting hooked on Bethesda games over the holiday break.  After taking two years (!) to finish Skyrim I dove into Fallout 4 just after Christmas.  While the main story is terrible, it's really hitting my exploration and crafting buttons.

 

Tsanta Sideshow Gaff

A tsanta is a traditional trophy of the Jivaro people of South America, made from the heads of slain enemies.  At least, that's how things were before contact with Europeans.  After that, the foreign demand for the unusual oddities turned their production from a matter of ritualized vendetta killings to commercial gain.  Eventually, the tribe figured out that using animal heads to create fake versions was far more lucrative, and safer, than the old way of doing things.  Which lead to the Europeans of the 18th and 19th centuries making their own copies of the Jivaro fake versions to meet demand.

It's a funny old world, ain't it?

This example of a traditional sideshow-style shrunken head gaff comes to us from Albino Alligator. 

 

 

And My Axe! And Hammer! And Shield! And Tome! And More!

This impressive collection of dwarven arms, armor, and tomecraft, comes to us from Charuzo CosFam.  Technically, I think these may be "dwarfen" props, since the Warhammer version of the race is rather particular about their identity.  If you click through, be sure to browse around for more Warhammer cosplay goodness.

 

Vrykolakas Trophy

Jared Ruch of Grizzle Macabre brings us this mounted, mummified vrykolakas heart.  If you're raising your eyebrows and saying "What the hell is that?", you're not alone.  It's apparently a Greek vampire-like creature that dines on the livers of the living.

 

 

Wizard's Workbench

We kick off the new year with this cool tableaux of a wizard's workbench from McCormick Wands.