The Details:

Our Horse Minis and Mini Counters are by far our most popular gaming accessories.  So (for this week), when you buy some, I’ll give you more!

First, if you buy 8 or 10 Horse Minis, I’ll throw in 2 more for free.  What fantasy adventurer (or cowboy) doesn’t ride a horse?  Tactics change and become more dynamic, since you now take up a 2×2 square and gain increased speed.  Your players will play it cool at first, but will soon be fighting over which horse they want for the characters (trust me).

Second, if you order The Original Adventurer’s Bundle (10 Horses, Mini Counters 1-10, and 10 Bloodied Markers), I’ll upgrade it to the Deluxe version for free (you’ll get 2 extra Horse Minis, and Mini counters 1-20 instead of 1-10).

You know what?  I think I’ll sweeten the deal.  If you choose either of these two options, I’ll throw in a random Exotic Mount for free!

This sale will end on Sunday, June 23rd…

Click for source.

As in all things, Gregor gave in to her will, and began teaching her about imports and exports, hoping that she would soon grow bored and move onto other things, as she had done after spending a summer determined to learn how to use a warbow. He was partly correct, but not in the way he had hoped. She grew bored with figures and mules, and started to wonder how her father made as much money as he clearly did from such ventures, when the profit margin was low, and the risk factor high. She began asking the wrong kinds of questions, and angered Gregor with her curiosity. The the right questions started; finding out just who her father dealt with, and how the profit on his illegal activities could be increased.

By this point she was in too deep and Gregor saw no other option but to bring her fully into his business dealings. For two years, she was happy with her life, enjoying the thrill of it all, without ever thinking about who the family was hurting to make its money. She started coming up with schemes of her own, and Gregor encouraged this; her freshness meant paths to riches that he had blinkered himself to through years of treading the same path. On more than one occasion, she joined in on overland trips to ensure no problems prevented coin from finding its way into the Vespera coffers. Until of course, it did go wrong.

She knew how important this was, and how much money it would make. More than that though, just how many enemies her father would make if he failed to deliver what he had already taken payment for. She wasn’t ready though. Her warbow was barely a help, and her lack of experience in leading men meant that the guards scattered as soon as they knew what was going on. Lellandra had no choice but to do the same, or die. She fled her city and became “Red”, took a job with a conjurer that was set to travel the continent. Her father wouldn’t think to search for her in the company of a Wizard, but she hoped he thought of her as dead in the ashes of his caravan. Although she was his beloved daughter, in matters of business, he was ruthless beyond measure.

She had seen the anger in him, and heard tales of business dealings gone sour, and his former partners’ bodies being found after unimaginable horror was visited upon their physical form. She was far from sure he would not do the same with her for letting him down, and so chose not to risk encountering him. IN her time away from her home, she devoted many hours of practice to the warbow, hoping to never again be let down in a fight because of her confidence outweighing her experience. She Also picked up a thing or two about magic, and wields what she calls the “Heart’s Fire” to a deadly degree. She has yet to learn total control however, and risks herself – both mind and body – whenever she uses her gift. The more destructive force she unleashes, the greater her chance of harm.

Only two years ago she moved back to the city, but kept away from the high born and business districts. Gravitating instead towards the waterfront docks and taverns, it didn’t take her long to fall in with the Shadow cartels. She has the criminal credentials to lead a crew of her own, but prefers to stay working with others, in the hope that this will keep her away from her Father’s attention. So far it has worked, but who knows what fall out to expect if the two should ever cross paths again.

Using Red in your game.

• Like the last few, she is a part of the Lucius crew. The closest in fact to a second in command, as she has a lot more experience than most, and being born to the city, knows how it works.
• It is possible for player characters to be hired by either Red or her father to pull off a job, and the conflict of interests could easily spark a plot line all of its own.
• And of course, they could just be hired by the father with the express mission of hunting down his daughter after rumours start to fly about her return to the city. This would bring the players either against a formidable enemy in the shape of Red, and even more so in the form of the crew, and the Cartel as a whole.

I started Stuffer Shack a few years ago because I wasn’t gaming at the time, and I had a bunch of ideas floating around my head for adventures, characters, and so on.  I named my main categories “Steal this Adventure,” Steal this Enemy,” (etc.) with the intention of providing tons of ideas for gamers to use in their games.   I came up with the site’s name from SHADOWRUN… a stuffer shack is a street-corner convenience store, a place where you go to get stuff, a place where you can go to steal stuff…

Well, as anyone with a new toy might do, I took off with the site to see what it could do.  I started experimenting.  I wanted lots of posts, lots of comments, lots of subscribers, and lots of everything.  Tons of plugins, categories, and events later, we have a site that has gotten away from me a little.  I’ve been trying to do too much with it, and I feel as though I’ve betrayed the site’s originally intended purpose.  Sure, things change, but the changes have been unsettling for me for too long.

So, I’ve made a couple of decisions.  One, I’m shaving a few things from the Shack.  There are some things that just take up too much space here – are too distracting.  I’ll just call it some Spring cleaning.  Posts from the Shack will be more focused on gaming resources.  For instance, for the past few months, Shortymonster has been posting ideas to steal, and Benoit has started up Mini Map Monday.  This is the type of content that Stuffer Shack was built on, and this is what I want to continue.

I’m sorry to say it, but I will be deleting a lot of images, images that I didn’t ask for permission to use.  Simply citing an artist isn’t enough.  So, the site won’t be as colorful as it has been, but then again, content is king.

The Store…

Our store started up shortly after we launched, and I’ve been very happy about it.  Does it make me rich?  No, but it does pay for the site, pay for my movie tickets, buy me some gaming books, and even pay off a few bills.  Really (and this is the truth), the store helps me share some of the gaming accessories (the really cool gaming accessories) that we use at our gaming table.  In truth, I’ve given away a lot of the stuff in our store, as well as shared the profits with various column and guest writers over the past couple of years.  I like reading comments and emails from gamers saying that our Horse Minis or Mini Counters are awesome and have really added to their game – and that’s half of why I do it – it’s just not purely a money thing, but a fun thing.

Can i has cheeseplayer?

This may or may not be the ideal way to announce this, but since this is a post about the state of the Shack, now is as good a time as any.  Very soon, we’ll be coming out with a new product.  Monster Tokens!  Why?  Because monster tokens are cool… and cheap!  This has been a long time in the making, and I’m pretty excited now that it’s almost here.  Right now, I’m fine-tuning the process of making them (the right supplies, the right pricing, the right colors and shading, the right stickers, the right storage cases, and so on…).

We’ll be using Kickstarter…

The whole project is basically already done.  So why Kickstart this?  It’s simple. Miniatures can get expensive.

Our tokens will be made on black discs, will feature original art, and will be as cheap as possible.  In order for them to be as cheap as possible for gamers, I need to buy all of the supplies in bulk to get the lowest rate.  We don’t have to use Kickstarter, but if the tokens are to be as affordable as I want them to be, I’ll need to buy the supplies in bulk – and crowd-sourcing will help with that.

Our Sister Site…

So, earlier I was talking about how Stuffer Shack has become overloaded with different topics and goals, and that I was scaling that back.  Well, I still want all of those extra topics and goals, so I and about ten other bloggers have started a new site.  The Gamer Effect!  I’m really, really happy with how it has started out, and I look forward to seeing how far it goes.  Basically, it’s a catch-all blog about gaming and geek stuff.

At present, here is our team:

• Greywulf
• Michael Hammes
• Brian Liberge
• T.W. Wombat
• Jonathan Baldwin
• Benoit
• Anonymous Charlie
• The She DM
• Scott Fairly
• Shane
• and myself

We might be changing the header image in the future, but that’s pretty much the only change you’ll see, ever.  What I like about this new site is that we have A TON of great writers opining on a variety of gaming and geek stuff.  The site will stay clean, bright, and professional, and will hopefully be a place that gamers and geeks will visit for some fun and informative reading.   Check it out…

And that is the state of the Shack…

Thanks for reading!

In his home country, summoning a Daemon to do a job is normal. People who can do so well are highly prized, but almost half the population have the ability to bring forth smaller denizens of the other realm to work for them. What is key though, is that they are not bound into servitude. Instead a deal is struck, and they are paid for their labours in a matter agreed upon by both parties. Sentient Daemons are afforded all the rights of other sentient creatures, first amongst those is that they shall not be bound into slavery of any kind. They walk freely amongst the cities, and some of the more powerful beings even attain office in government. But, having such a powerful creature bound to your every whim, would make a man powerful indeed.

Click for source

Drona began summoning daemons when he was but a child, and quickly revealed an aptitude for the craft. He was given all the schooling required and in his early twenties was already regarded as one the most highly gifted Daemonologists the college had produced in living memory. He continued to push the limits of his craft, but quickly realized that those whom he sought to bring into his world were too powerful to be contained, or too clever to be bargained with.

As a man of fierce pride, he was often frustrated by these impositions on his talent, so he began to devise ways of containing such beings in a manner that would allow him to stay in control. In deep caverns in the desert that surrounded the cities of his homeland, he created wards and controls that would bind such creatures to his will, turning them into instruments and tools, removing from them the freedom to act as they saw fit. For several years he worked secretly and with each success, saw to push further the boundaries of what was thought possible by the rest of his order.

It was his pride that was his undoing though, and in the end an entire city would pay for his sins. He never saw the cracks in his defenses, believing himself to be the superior to any Daemon that he could summon. Adramalech Daemon-prince of swords was something that no Daemonologist had encountered before though. In human terms, he would be a God to the Daemons, taken from a realm separate even to that of the Daemons that had been summoned in the past. How Drona stumbled upon it is a question for another time, but one which haunts him still. The Prince quickly shook free the bindings that had held other Daemons, and walked the sands towards the light of the city. Drona did what he could, but almost every life was taken before Adramalech was brought to his knees. The most powerful of Daemons that Drona had so far summoned were all brought to bear on the being, and eventually it was weakened enough to be banished.

The city lies there still, haunted by creatures allowed free reign due to the scars left in reality by the battle. And Drona was left a shadow of his former self, mind addled by the fight. He left his home land behind and looked for new shores. When he arrived at the city, he saw few daemons, and those that walked were bound, and of limited power. As he tried to ply his trade he suffered abuse at the hands of the city dwellers who trusted not the power of Daemons. It was a member of the criminal cartel who saw the chance for profit in his gifts.

He was given run of the sewers beneath the halls of the cartel, and put to work. Although far from his prodigious best, he has recovered somewhat and has proven useful indeed in summoning creatures at the will of others to aid in their criminal endeavours. And still he works beneath the city, reclaiming his lost knowledge and testing his mind against others who live in realms not of his own.

In appearance Drona looks considerably older than his 32 years. The battle against Adramalech was hard on his mind and body, and he appears to have aged by at least two decades more than he should have done. He wears the robes of his old order still, but by some strange twist of fate, his skin is not as dark as the others who were born to his desert culture, instead looking more Mediterranean than Arabian.

Using Drona in your game.

• As mentioned before, if Lucius is a part of your game world, then Drona will be a part of his crew. Although they do not get on at all. Lucius does not trust the Daemonologist, and abhors the idea of living creatures bound into slavery. His boss knows Drona’s value though, and has forbidden him to act on his mistrust. Drona knows this well, and constantly pushes Lucius’ buttons.
• As a solo antagonist, Drona could be a main villain to a campaign all on his own. He can summon powerful beings, but may not always be able to control them.
• He is also very knowledgeable indeed about his craft, and if others are using Daemonic means to harass the player characters, his advice is easily sought. Although it may not always be trusted.

The first thing that stands out about Stalland is his height. Not because he is a giant of a man, as so many are who come from the Northlands, but because he is actually closer to the average height of any other city dwelling male. This makes him particularly short by Northlandish standards, but everything else about him is so obvious from that cold and empty region, that none doubt he is from where he claims. The long blond hair and brown beard, often with precious metals and gems wound into them, if he is not expecting a fight, are almost enough to give him away. Add to that the fine hand axe hanging from his belt, and the picture is almost complete. His build makes him look a little shorter, being fairly heavy set, with a barrel chest and a stomach that almost matches, means those close to him can be overheard calling him such nicknames as “half-pint” and “little brother”.

Only those whom he respects get to talk about him like that, and he is quick to respond to anyone else who thinks they have a right to insult him as such. Unlike his relatives to the North, he will not quickly draw steal and seek to insert it into his foes, instead he will disarm with this quick wit. Stalland is a poet and raconteur of the highest order, and in almost every instance can leave his tormentor at a loss for words and the subject of such carefully woven scorn that they will retreat rather than allow themselves to be mocked even more.

Sadly not everyone is so delicate, and it is at this point that his usefulness to the criminal cartels comes into play. In a flash he can throw two small hand axes with unerring accuracy, and swiftly follow them with a charge, his hand axe leading the way. Although he looks a little portly, and his style of living does nothing to help matters, he is still in his prime and fights like a beserker once he closes on his enemies. swinging his axe brutally into them, he also kicks, punches, and bites until they fall before him.

Once the dust has settled, even his closest friends know to give him some room to catch his breathe, and will do nothing but make sure his tankard is full and wait for him to compose himself. Within a few moments, all will be back to normal, and apart from some blood spatters, it is as if nothing has happened. Stalland will continue regaling the crowd with stories of his home land, breaking into fine verse with his melodious voice and making all the serving girls weak at the knees with nothing but a smile.

When there’s work to be done, Stalland uses his silver tongue to great result, holding his own with professional confidence tricksters and talking his way through locked doors and into bedrooms, all so that money can be made. His reluctance to draw a weapon is both a blessing and a curse, depending on the situation. There are times when subtly is required at all costs, but once he has been pushed too far there is little to be done to stop him in his rage. At other times swift and merciless brutality is all that is required, but without the rage taking him, Stalland’s poetic soul can often stay his arm. All that being said, he is still a very useful person to have involved in any criminal enterprise, and his friends within the cartel, and specifically inside his crew, are always happy to defend him, regardless of his faults.

Bringing Stalland into a game.

• If you are already using Lucius, then the job’s been done for me!
• If not, then Stalland is happy to be paid for his work as a bruiser on any job. As a GM, just don’t forget that he is not always to be relied upon.
• In any bar fight, there’s a chance that Stalland could be involved, maybe even the instigator. Fighting against him will be a very hard challenge, as he is an experienced warrior with a beserker’s temper. Once calmed down, he will seem like a different person, but the damage he has done to other patrons, is not something easily ignored.

If you haven’t seen them before, they’re horse miniatures on 2-inch bases, with room for your player character riders.  They’re really cool and useful, and are easily our most popular product.  Horse Minis are $3.99 each, but if you order random packs (or all twelve), you can get discounts of up to 25%.

Not just Horse Minis, but we also have Exotic Mounts for your characters to ride.  Drakes, Griffons, Unicorns, Bison (and others) definitely make a statement when riding (or flying!) into combat!

Check out our Store to see all of the Horse Minis, Exotic Mounts, Monster Minis, and Mini Counters…