Why Hex Based?

I grew up gaming, and hex based games like Melee and BattleTech always had a special appeal. In more recent years, well, going back to 2012 now, I have been absolutely hooked on the mobile game UniWar, and when my brother passed, Takenoko helped me grieve.

It is my hope that this site will help introduce new players to the wide world of hex based gaming.

Tabletop RPG for Kids

You want to introduce your kids to the amazing worlds of adventure found in tabletop RPGs, but let’s be real, not all content is age appropriate for children.

Blame the bards…

But fear not, brave adults! If it’s a tabletop RPG for kids that you’re looking for, we’ve got you covered.

Tabletop RPGs for Kids (and kids at heart):

No Thank You, Evil!

This fantastic little tabletopper is a perfect introduction to RPGs for kids, from character generation, right on up to adventuring. Not only is it kid friendly, the game allows for flexibility in how deep a dive you want to take in the rules, allowing for more complexity with older kids.No Thank You, Evil!

No Thank You, Evil! Tabletop RPG for Kids

So, let your kids’ imagination run wild! They’ll have a blast, and so will you.

Game comes with 3 campaigns, and limited character sheets and tokens. Your creative hat solves the first, and the links below may help with the others.

No Thank You, Evil! printable character sheets

3D printable game tokens for No Thank You, Evil!

No Thank You, Evil! printable story building deck

Magical Kitties Save the Day

Your kiddos will play as kitties in the family friendly RPG.

All the cats have humans, and all the humans have problems. It’s the magical kitties’ job to solve their humans’ problems, which opens up worlds of creativity for your kids.

Bullying, loneliness, dog ate their homework, Magical Kitties to the rescue!

Tabletop RPG for kids: Magical Kitties Save the Day

Magical Kitties are Kid Friendly in this RPG

[…]More to come[…]

See also this list from the r/RPGs subreddit

Eschalon: Book 1 Hive Queen

This is a follow up to my first Eschalon post.

I’ve made fairly good progress since.

I’ve travelled to Bordertown, found Lilith, defeated the Hive Queen, and got chased right off the map section by my very first encounter on the way to Blackwater…

Eschalon screen capture showing low hit points after challenging encounter

I ran and still took a beating…

Bordertown is up near the keep where you take the letter after almost accidentally poisoning the sick guy in the hut (if you play, you’ll see). View the sign so you can add it to your quick travel list. There is a lot of walking to be done as you work through the two map zones to the south, as camping near Bordertown is your best bet for healing.

The blacksmith and ranged weapons instructor can help defeat the baddies that spawn while sleeping. You use them to farm, as the bad guys drop loot sacks, but save each time before you camp, because they can be killed, and you don’t want to lose either.

Hive Drones (wasps) are the main enemy for these map zones, though there are some Fungal Slimes as well. This is also where you find the grubs for the dude in the mortuary cellar.

Wasps are tough and do a lot of damage. One on one they’re not to bad, but more than one at a time can be dicey. If you flee between map zones, stick to one side of the path, so you can reenter from the other after healing up and get a ranged attack in before they close on you again.

The Hive Queen is a beast in close combat. I used environmental factors to take her out (not giving details), but you should be able to hit and run with ranged attacks.

For those with the short bladed weapons skill, her stinger can be used as a weapon (w/ poison).

All in all, I am really enjoying this RPG. Its simplicity is what makes it a great game.

Eschalon: Book 1 – This is not a Walthrough

The other day I decided to boot up Steam and look for an old school RPG. It’s been a while, and I was in the mood.

Finding one was easy.

The hard part is Steam itself. You see, at some point in the past, they let someone sign up with my email address, so I never quite know my username. They went with something like “awesomegamer484” or some nonsense, so I’m stuck with it.

In any case, had to do the lost password thing, which if you’ve never done it from the app, is like punching yourself in the face. They use Google Captcha, which doesn’t work right from an app, you end selecting all the squares with motorcycles for about seven hours until they won’t let you try anymore.

Then you go to the website, and it works fine, and you do punch yourself in the face.

So, logged in as embarrassingusername484, I checked out a couple of free RPGs.

Moonring is the first I tried. It’s a lot like the Ultima series (Gen X knows what I’m talking about) which is what I was originally looking for, but after playing for a while, I decided to try Eschalon: Book 1.

Nice! I was looking for simple, turn-based role-playing that wouldn’t overload me with seizure inducing animation and flashing spell effects. I enjoy character building, and this is that.

Eschalon: Book 1

Wait, giants? I have a lot of leveling up to do…

I’m currently on my second character, as I didn’t know what I didn’t know when making my first, and made some mistakes.

First, the skills. I did not know how important picking locks would be. You can bash by holding shift and attacking doors and chests, but you’ll break weapons. Lock picks aren’t cheap, and they can break too, but I prefer lock picks to endless bashing with a cheap stone axe.

Cartography was another. Auto-mapping requires cartography, and it helps in the sprawling dungeons.

Mercantile helps a bit with buying and selling, but I’m not 100% sure if I’d pick it again. The difference when buying and selling is pretty small. Maybe it adds up a lot with higher skill levels.

I went with Heavy Armor skill, but light might have been a better choice to start, because it’s more available.

I also went with Elemental Magic, but at lvl 3, I still can’t afford a scroll to learn a spell (I’m close, but I bought armor first).

A couple of tips:

Don’t buy armor you don’t have the skill for.

A PDF of the manual will be in your install folder. It’s worth a look, but wish it was more detailed.

You can take torches off the wall in dungeons, but save that until you’ve cleared the dungeon. Leaving them in place they won’t burn out, and they give you lit up areas to lure monsters into where you can put your torch away freeing up a hand to use a shield or bow.

I’m still working on the Amulet and Mithril Bar quests. I’m up to the walking dead in the crypt, and don’t have a plan for them yet other than get stronger, and hopefully get some magic.

The noximanders in the wine cellar (mithril bar) were a pain because I didn’t leave enough torches in place and had to lure them (one at a time) through a bunch of dark hallways to find light. You definitely want to use ranged weapons if you can. Their bite can cause poison, which will wreck your day.

You won’t be able to complete the dungeons in a single try, so be prepared to make progress, save, camp, restock, explore above ground for XP, level up, and keep chipping away.

Eschalon: Book 1 is free to play, and fun. It’s exactly what I was looking for.

Book 2 is $5.99 and Book 3 is $9.99. There is also a Book 1 Demo that is free, but with the full game also free, might as well grab the full version.

Enjoy!

Follow up: Both the mithril bar and amulet quests complete!

I had one remaining noximander for the mithril bar quest, but after that it was looting and leveling, and buying scrolls.

Once I had Gravedigger’s Flame (for light) and Flame Dart (for accurate ranged attack), I took on the walking dead.

I took two passes at it, because even though I beat them on try one, the last one diseased me, which made regenerating HP and mana really slow. There are a bunch of slimes after, so slow regen is not ideal.

On the second go I made sure the right-hand dead guy was away from the door before opening, and let loose with flame darts.

When it got near, I retreated around the room, firing shots when I had space. The second entered the room early, so I had to keep them both at a distance. Because the room is lit, I could switch to my bow when drained of mana. It took a while, and they got a few hits in, but I was largely unscathed (and no disease!).

The fungal slimes (NW) were a pain in the neck, but I lured them out one at a time to the lit room where I could dim my torch and fight. They have range too, so it was a drawn out affair.

Suffice to say, Air Shield was the first scroll I bought upon coming out the other side.

Once the slimes were dead, the loot was pretty good.

After looting, SW is all that’s left. Skip the first switch until you’ve looted further along (got that from a walkthrough that uses N, S, E, and W for NW, SE, NE, and SW (as if that’s at all helpful).

In any case, first quest and side quest down.

The Elusive Threaded Bicycle Pump

When I was a kid, every bicycle pump screwed onto the valve stem. The pump hose had a threaded end that you would twist on, pump and be done.

Sometime in the late ’70s or early ’80s (I think) someone came up with these lever style pumps, where you push the nozzle onto the valve stem and crank the lever over. This was a “convenience” apparently, except they suck.

Applying pressure to push the nozzle onto the stem while also applying lateral pressure to push the lever over is a pain, and the rubber inside the nozzle wears out from gripping the threaded metal of the stem (of course it does) and the plastic part that is meant to push in the little doohickey that opens the valve is plastic, and also wears out. And if it’s one of those bend in the middle ones you pump with your foot, the whole thing would simply break into pieces.

The screw on type, threaded pumps of my childhood never had any of those issues.

Over the course of years I have periodically searched for “screw on bike pump,” “threaded bicycle pump,” “pump for threaded valve,” etc. Unfortunately, the bicycle pump industry has been entirely unaware of my search and pain point. For years I searched. Years!

My riding mower developed a bit of a thorn-hole in the left front tire, and even after taking it into the tire center, the left front still goes flat with frequency, so when my floor pump with the crank over lever finally stopped working at all, I redoubled my search, desperate to find the elusive threaded bicycle pump.

I tried all my searches again, “screw on,” “twist on,” “threaded,” “goes onto a Schrader valve in a sort of round and round twisty motion,” to no avail.

Then one day, I picked up the phone and called Lezyne, a pump manufacturer with great reviews and ratings, one I’d seen many times during the course of my years long search, one I had previously been scouring in a manual hunt for the thing that had eluded the search engines, and I asked the person who answered the phone, “Do you have ANY pumps that will thread onto a Schrader valve stem?”

There was a very confused pause on the other end, and then he said something that stunned me.

“All of them.”

“What? Not a single product description on your entire website says as much. Were you aware?”

“Uh…”

Long story short I’d found a bike pump with a twist on nozzle, one with threads, threaded, the thing I had been searching for! I immediately ordered a Lezyne Sport Bike Pump in yellow (look at that yellow!). Lezyne was out, so I got it off Amazon, and let me just say, this pump is awesome!

Lezyne Threaded Bicycle Pump

Threaded Nozzle Bicycle Pump

The nozzle is a little cumbersome at first, and if you twist in the wrong spot you can take the red part off by accident (it’s made to fit every manner of valve from Schrader to Presta to blow-up doll), but it freaking threads on! I live on a small farm, so tractors, trailers, mowers, cars, bikes, everything rolls around on air-filled tires with threaded stems. I use it constantly. This pump has delivered.

Maybe you just have a bike. Well, it’ll work for you too. The 3.5″ diameter analog pressure gauge is huge and easy to read, and the pump can handle up to 220psi or 15bar, which is a lot. Road and track cyclists will be pleased. And there’s a handy pressure release button if you go too far. The base is wide enough to provide stability, even on gravel or mud. Mountain bikers, that’s you.

And, did you catch the length of that hose? It’s more than double the length of any hose on any bicycle pump I’ve ever owned.

Because here’s the thing, this pump is better than those of my childhood. It’s high end, that’s for sure, and more than you’ll pay at a big box store, but the quality is there to justify it. This is the best pump I’ve ever owned, bar none. It’s worth the price.

W!cked Saints Game Studio

Yesterday, while looking for a game company I couldn’t remember the name of, I stumbled upon a KOBI5 piece titled “Black and women-owned gaming company in Medford makes history with new venture funds.” I was on KOBI’s 5 on 5 a few years ago, so the headline immediately jumped out as local.

Intrigued, I went to take a look. First, I read their “about” page, and about their team. First impression, positive:

We use behavioral technology to create interactive media that is wickedly fun and actively good.

Like get out and use the broken pieces of this world to build a better one—good.

You can probably tell from the quote that W!cked Saints has a clear voice. They know who they are and what they’re doing, and they’re proud of it.

The founders are not your typical video game company founders, and not only in the ways pointed out in the headline above. Jessica Murrey and Alicia Clifton have both spent time working in the non-profit space, and more specifically in conflict resolution with Search for Common Ground.

Conflict resolution, social change, empowering young people, making the world a better place, these are themes throughout – and it’s a game company. They are attempting to achieve big things through video games, and that’s a fascinating spin. While other companies are figuring out ways to harvest more and more of your data, here is a company trying to weave behavioral psychology into their games to improve the world around us.

I love that!

“Sure, but rainbows and butterflies don’t make fun games,” the cynic in you might say, but tell the cynic to pipe down for a minute.

W!cked’s CTO, Daphne Larose, is someone who definitely knows how to make games. I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of Pokémon Go!, but I think it’s safe to say that it achieved some modest popularity… Yep, Daphne came over from Niantic to lead the tech team.

Their flagship game, World Reborn, is still in development, so no reviews on that front, but I can say I dig the artwork on the site, like a lot. There is a Discord and members apparently get access to help play test, so check it out.

I mainly just wanted to give them a shout out. I don’t know if they’re still local to me or not, but what they are doing is worth highlighting.

Kudos on your aspirations, W!cked, I hope everything goes well for you!

Hive Game

Hive GameHive Game

Hive is an absolute blast! This two-player game is all about strategic thinking, tactical moves, and outwitting your opponent.

One thing I love about Hive is the unique movement rules for each piece. Each insect has its own way of moving, which creates endless possibilities for how you can use them to your advantage. The Queen Bee, for example, can only move one space at a time, but she’s the most important piece on the board. The Grasshopper can jump over other pieces to reach its destination, while the Spider can move three spaces around the perimeter.

Movement:

Queen Bee – One space in any direction

Beetle – One space in any direction, including onto a nearby tile. Cannot move between two taller stacks

Spider – Three spaces around the circumference of the play area

Grasshopper – Jumps over one or more pieces in a straight line in the direction of one of its hex sides (not corners)

Soldier Ant – As many spaces as the player chooses around the perimeter of the play area

Mosquito – Acquires the movement/skill of an adjacent tile

Pillbug – Moves and uncovered adjacent tile to an open adjacent space. Cannot break the hive in so doing.

Ladybug – Climbs atop an adjacent piece, moves atop another piece and climbs down to an open space.

The game ends when either queen bee is surrounded on all six sides, with the surrounded player losing.

Hive is easy to learn and play, but not so easy to master. You can pick up the basics in  a few minutes, but the game has enough depth to keep you engaged for much longer. Each game play is different, you never know where it’ll take you, which keeps the game exciting and fresh.

Overall, if you’re a fan of strategy games, or if you just love a good challenge, I highly recommend giving Hive a try. It’s a game that’s sure to provide hours of entertainment for players of all ages and skill levels.

The only down side is that it’s not something you can break out with the family. It’s a two-player game, so perfect for couples.

New Publishing Industry Gig

For those that don’t know me personally, I’ve been in Internet marketing since 1997. You wouldn’t know it looking around this blog (because, come on man!), but I have.

In late ’97, my then girlfriend called me from a job interview at a dot com startup and asked if I wanted to come down and talk to them. I had shot myself in the hand with a nail gun at work the day before, so of course I said “Yes.”

I had a website at the time, which was enough to get me hired. My job was to learn SEO, and can I just say, the late ’90s were a fantastic time to get into SEO. Infoseek, Webcrawler, Alta Vista, Excite, G.O.D., Inktomi, early Google, it was a helluva time!

After six months on the job, the company stopped making payroll. Eventually we all walked out, and eleven of us started a new company where we failed to make payroll for three years.

During that time, I got good at SEO.

I became Google Forum moderator at SearchEngineForums.com, ran a site called the Spider Knowledgebase, shared all my early experiments with IP specific content delivery (later iterations were called “cloaking,” but that’s not on me), and essentially lived in a world of server logs and search algorithms.

One day I got an email from some dude, we’ll call him “Kevin,” because his name is Kevin. I did not know him at the time, but in the email he invited me to Los Angeles to talk about a job. In my mind I was like, “We haven’t made payroll in three years. Damn-skippy, I’ll fly to L.A.”

Long story short, I took the job and a modest signing bonus, bought a used car and moved to Playa del Rey, CA.

A whole lot has gone down in the mean time, so I’ll bullet point some of the high and low lights:

  • Built out a 5,000 domain traffic generation and resale system
  • Did some other stuff that was vaguely affiliate marketing related
  • Became an indirect subject of a very negative Salon.com article
  • Joined a startup and built an affiliate program that hit $100,000,000 in revenue by year 2
  • Testified before a federal grand jury
  • Worked on several more affiliate networks
  • Built a successful ecommerce company
  • Bought a warehouse
  • Bought a competitor
  • Got hacked + cheated by a developer + robbed by a supplier, all same year
  • Struggled to recover

I still own the ecommerce business if you ever need a gold pan, but in recent years I also took a job in Corporate Sales Support to help cover bills.

Recently, a friend, we’ll call him “Kevin,” because he’s the same Kevin who emailed me back in 2001 about coming down to L.A., gave me a call and asked if I’d like to get involved with his company, MagCast.

Damn-skippy! I had great coworkers in my side job, but it was pretty low pay, without much opportunity. I gave notice, and started working on MagCast stuff.

It is much more satisfying work. I get to write content like the following page with scary fish:

Screen Grab of Reasons to Start a Magazine Page

11 Reasons to Start a Digital Magazine

BTW, before I posted this pic, I used ‘save for the web’ in Photoshop and then ran it through TinyPNG.com to make it nice and lean. Page load speeds matter, folks. You want to rank, keep your page load times fast.

I’ve also been actively recruiting affiliates, working on SEO (did you know that “digital magazine publishing platform” is “platform voor het publiceren van digitale tijdschriften” in Dutch?), and just generally getting my head back into the startup mindset.

It’s been great!

Don’t get me wrong, MagCast is a ten year old SaaS company, so not a startup by any stretch, but the feel is there of making things happen, being agile, adapting quickly.

As far as a plateforme de publication de magazines digitaux (French) goes, MagCast is, IMO, head and shoulders above the rest.

For one, all the competitors (that I’ve looked at anyway), have a ‘call for pricing’ mentality. Does anyone looking at a SaaS solution really want to call for pricing?

MagCast links to their pricing from every page. It’s up front, and entirely transparent. There are also zero additional fees for volume, bandwidth, etc.

They are also super new-publisher-friendly. Like, they make it really easy, and actively help new publishers get off the ground. Every membership includes 90 days access to live Zoom courses on the business of magazine publishing. These are geared towards launching, growing and monetizing new magazines, and they’re taught by fellow publishers. It’s pretty cool.

Magazine apps are published for iOS and Android in the App Store and Google Play, but they also have a store built exclusively for MagCast publishers that lets readers buy magazine apps that they can access on Apple and Google devices, as well as their computers. In other words, readers can make operating system agnostic magazine purchases.

Anyway, if you are looking for a plattform für die Veröffentlichung von digitalen Magazinen (German, and yes, I need to stop with all the languages), check out MagCast.

If you’re a marketer or content creator in the Internet business opportunity and/or content marketing space, and have a ready list of potential publishers, let’s put together a webinar for your audience. Join our affiliate program.

And if you do none of the above, at least wish me luck on this leg of my journey.

Cheers!

Free NPCs for RPG Campaigns

Easy Roller Dice Co.

NPCs bring a richness to any campaign, but not every Game Guide has the time or energy to bring fully fleshed NPCs to the table every time out, so, as a thank you to all the Game Guides, GMs, DMs, Hosts and other folks who run the worlds we play in, I am going to start offering free NPCs for you to use in your campaigns (not for commercial use, sorry).

Most characters can be repurposed for different genres, and feel free to alter, embellish, or gender however you like. My goal here is to give you NPCs with some character to them, some personality, minus tropes and stereotypes.

First free NPC is for a fantasy RPG campaign, but you could easily port to sci-fi, etc.

Joris (the Meek) – Most adventures have an inciting incident, something that sets things in motion, well Joris saw it happen. He was a first-hand witness to whatever it was, saw it all as plain as the nose on his face. Unfortunately, Joris doesn’t talk freely.

He’s lived a life of trauma and is a mostly broken man. The events he witnessed had to have been shocking, but Joris doesn’t appear particularly phased, as if he lost the capacity for emotional swings.

A warm meal and a pint or two will get him talking, but not freely, and without expounding. He speaks dryly. Imagine a person who speaks without adverbs. If pushed too hard Joris will withdraw into himself, sad for what he perceives to be the imminent death of the adventurers asking him questions.

If there is any violence, Joris won’t fight back. He’ll take the beating.

Second free NPC for Roleplaying Games

The Bread Lady – The Bread Lady is small and dark. Her hair is cut short, and she wears a blindfold. She blindly walks the streets hawking thin loaves of crunchy bread from a large basket. Her clothes are clean but worn. Her prices are reasonable. She will not haggle.

If the player characters approach, or pass closely, she will make a sour face and tell one of them that they smell of infection, that they must seek a healer before the infection spreads. The Bread Lady is correct. One of the characters has an infection. She’s blind, but her sense of smell is highly sensitive.

Save 10-80% on comics and collectibles at TFAW.com

The Bread Lady doesn’t want or need sympathy, but nor does she have a chip on her shoulder. She navigates the world just fine, but she’s also been blind long enough, that she no longer takes umbrage at sighted people who are clueless or over-curious about how she manages this or that.

Third free RPG NPC

Pack of Feral Children – This pack of children is not literally feral. They are just overly excited with their play. They move through the streets with shouts, screams, laughter and curses. They swing sticks at one another, battling through the dusty streets, fighting imaginary monsters and each other. Passersby dodge aside and curse, as the children are unaware of anything outside of their raucous bubble of play.

The pack of feral children doesn’t interact with the player characters unless the characters confront them in some way. Mostly they’re here for scene dressing, but they could be inclined to clang a player character on the helmet and race away.

Another option would be to let the pack of feral children trip some wild Rube Goldberg reaction that impacts the characters in some way well after the children are out of site. Have fun with it.

What sort of NPCs do you need? Leave a comment and I’ll see what I can do.

Cheers!

The History of BattleTech

Battletech is a popular tabletop and video game franchise that has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions of fans worldwide. The franchise has a rich and storied history that spans over three decades, and its impact on the gaming industry cannot be overstated. In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the history of Battletech, exploring its origins, evolution, and cultural significance.

The original board game was first released in 1984 by publisher FASA Corporation. The game was created by Jordan Weisman and L. Ross Babcock III, two friends who shared a passion for science fiction and gaming. Battletech was inspired by Weisman’s earlier work in the tabletop RPG industry and his love of giant robots, which he saw as a natural fit for a new type of wargame. The result was a fast-paced and action-packed game that blended elements of tabletop RPGs and miniature wargaming into a unique and exciting experience.

Battletech Miniatures

Nicely painted BattleMechs

The game was set in a futuristic universe where giant robots, known as BattleMechs, were used for military purposes. Players took on the role of MechWarriors, the pilots of these giant robots, and engaged in tactical combat against each other. The game was received well by fans and critics, and quickly became one of the most popular tabletop games of the 1980s.
The Chess Store Theme Chess Sets
In the years following its initial release, Battletech continued to expand and evolve. The franchise introduced new BattleMech designs, factions, and technologies, which allowed players to customize and upgrade their robots to fit their own playstyle. The franchise also introduced new game mechanics, such as movement and heat management, that added depth and strategy to the gameplay.

In the 1990s, Battletech made its first foray into the world of video games. The first Battletech video game was released in 1988, and was followed by a number of sequels and spin-offs. These games were well received by fans and helped to further popularize the franchise. The video games expanded on the lore and world of Battletech, and introduced new gameplay mechanics and features that were not possible in the tabletop game.

In the 2000s, Battletech faced a number of challenges. The original publisher, FASA Corporation, was purchased by Microsoft and eventually closed down, which left the franchise in a state of uncertainty. However, in 2007, the rights to Battletech were acquired by publisher Catalyst Game Labs, who breathed new life into the franchise.

Since then, Battletech has continued to thrive. The franchise has seen the release of new tabletop products, such as rulebooks and expansion sets, as well as new video games, such as the popular Battletech PC game released in 2018. The franchise has also inspired a number of spin-off media, including comic books, novels, and animated series, further expanding the Battletech universe and its fan base.

Battletech’s impact on the gaming industry cannot be overstated. The franchise helped to popularize the giant robot genre and influenced countless other games and media. Battletech’s unique blend of tabletop gaming, science fiction, and strategy has created a dedicated and passionate fan base that has continued to support the franchise for over three decades.

Battletech is a franchise with a rich and storied history. From its humble beginnings as a tabletop game, it has grown into a multimedia empire that has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions of fans worldwide. Whether you’re a fan of the tabletop game, the video games, or the larger Battletech universe, there is no denying the cultural significance and lasting impact of this beloved franchise.

xTool D1 Pro, First Try – Gaming Beverage Coaster

My family and I have enjoyed various laser cut projects. From dragons to film projectors to working trebuchets, there are a ton of cool projects on the market. And ever since our first play of Wingspan, we’ve talked about making dice towers, token organizers and other fun things on a laser cutter. This builds on all the organizers we’ve 3dD printed for our collection of board games.

We broke out Above and Below this past Thanksgiving – so organized! 😛

3D printed organizers for the game Above and Below

3D Printed Organizers for Above and Below

So, long story short, when my wife and eldest came to me with the idea of getting a laser cutter and potentially starting a side hustle, I didn’t take a lot of convincing. I may have been the one to suggest we upgrade to the 20w…

Our new xTool D1 Pro arrived this week. I had never used a laser cutter, never touched the software, and only downloaded it that day during breaks from a 12 hour workday (Please, side hustle, take me away from this madness!). I fiddled with the software at lunch and during those same breaks and sometime after 10pm when I got off work, we tried our first project, a hex based gaming coaster!

Hexagonal Drink Coaster for Gaming - Dragons Circling a Ship

Gaming Coaster

I am really pleased with the results! I think I mentioned I’d never done this before. Seriously, you set your drink on that while rolling a D20, right, right?

xTool’s software isn’t crazy intuitive as far as image editing goes, but the cutting/etching part is pretty straightforward. If you have Illustrator, Photoshop, or some other editing software, prep your images there first. This coaster was cut with the pre-sets for Basswood ply. Not sure if that’s what came in the sample pack, but there you go. IWe got a little better detail with slightly less power on future attempts, but those are all cut up from experimenting on both sides of the wood. The Yin Yang Tiger/Dragon is pretty badass. Will maybe update once our wood arrives.

One thing I personally love about xTool Creative Space is that it has a hexagon shape built in. Hexagons are not easy to create out of thin air, so what a relief!

I have more designs in the works, but I burned through the wood that came in the sample pack while testing settings to try to dial in the perfect cut and etch. We have 30 sheets of Baltic Birch plywood on the way from WoodworkersSource.com, and I have some small plum lumber I milled myself off our property, but we really should have ordered wood in advance. Initially I want to develop some cool gaming coaster sets, maybe four and six packs, hopefully followed up by an assemble-it-yourself dice tower design, and then many, many more.

Anyway, what do you all think?