Make-it Monday: Halloween Costume 2013 pt. 1

It is August, which means that it is high time around our crazy household to start planning our Halloween costumes. Crazy? Absolutely! but the Wife and I take Halloween super seriously, at least in terms of the effort we put into it. We have constructed join costumes every year that we've known each other, and if we don't have a plan by this time of year, I start hearing grumblings from my better half.

The Wife has actually had her costume idea for some time now. A while back she ran across a concept for a feathered cloak... probably from one of the drag queen  reality shows she is obsessed with. She latched onto the idea and decided that she wanted to go as some sort of dark raven queen. Okay Spork, what goes with raven queens?

MEAT HAUNCH!

Well, this weekend I figured it out! On Saturday, the wife and I went to the Bonney Lake Midsummer Renaissance Faire. As we wandered the aisles of shops selling wares of dubious historical accuracy and scoped out the colorful costumes of the fair-goers, I began to envision a costume anchored by a helm or crown with a pair of antlers protruding from the top.

Now please understand, that I'm thinking more Oberon or Cernunnos like this...

than something like this...

Anyway, as is my usual procedure when creating a costume from my imagination (rather than from a movie or other pre-existing creative property) my first stop was to HeroMachine to sketch things out. Here is what I came up with.

Behold! The Woodland King! Thus begins the long march towards Halloween 2013. We purchased some rabbit and coyote pelts at the fair to serve as costume elements, and the Wife has already began pricing fallen deer antlers. Making the hooves will require some sort of shoe-topper combined with fur leggings. Those and the helmet and/or crown will likely be the most challenging parts of this year's build.

I'll keep you posted as the costume progresses. Hopefully by starting early, this year's effort will be less stressful than last year's craziness.

P.S. The Wife and I tried out the axe throwing booth at the fair and both did surprisingly well for first timers! I stuck four axes in a row (clearing the target after the first three) and the Wife stuck three of hers! Moral of the story, don't mess with us when we're carrying axes!

H is for Heraldry

The Coat of Arms for the rocket company, Blue Origin

Harold, the herald had a horn on his helm, hauberk and halberd.

The world of heroes is awash in personal iconography, whether it is the insignia worn by caped crusaders, the rank and unit markings of modern military operations, or the classic heraldry of the knights of old, symbolic representations of identity have been present across cultures and throughout history.

Establishing a system of heraldry for a work of fantasy, whether it is a book or a game, is a good way to add a sense of depth to the world... not to mention, it’s a lot of fun! The crest you develop for a particular character or group of characters can help establish expectations about them without ever having to say it outright. Take the Lannisters from Game of Thrones, their lion crest speaks worlds about their family characteristics. They see themselves as powerful, noble and kings of men, just as the lion is king of beasts. Others, however, may interpret the lion for its power, yes, but also for its pride. Pair that with the direwolf of the Starks, ferocious, loyal to the pack (family) and Martin has immediately established an implicit enmity... dogs vs. cats.

There are a number of handy online tools for learning about or coming up with heraldry for yourself, your heroes, villains or anyone else you so desire.

Internationalheraldry.com goes into great detail about the structure of European coats of arms
heraldicclipart.com offers numerous graphic elements that can be used in the construction of heraldic elements... of course, a Google search for heraldry will do the same.
The Escutcheons of Science is one of my favorite heraldry sites. It lists and displays the personal coat of arms for many of the world’s great scientists and inventors!

But now, to the meat of the matter. If you’re like me, and like to include visualizations of heraldry and other symbols in a game, you might want to have a way to quickly and easily assemble your crests and insignia. One of my favorite tools for doing this is Heromachine, which was my H entry for last year’s A to Z challenge. This online paper-doll creator can easily be adapted to create heraldic symbols as well.



Lemme show you:

H is for Hero Machine!

I know I just posted about the Hero Machine last month, but I honestly think this tool warrants a second post.

In a nutshell (known as the internet) the Hero Machine is a virtual paper-doll interface that allows the user to create custom portraits of superheroes, humanoid monsters, zombies and other fantastic figures. The tool is ideal for creating portraits for characters in a D&D game, and my players have used it to excellent effect for just that.

I first discovered the Hero Machine when it was in version 2.5. While this remains the official release, the alpha test of the new version 3.0 has already far surpassed the capabilities of its predecessor.

Rayne (Hero Machine 2.5)

Rayne (Hero Machine 3)

 The Hero Machine Facebook page summarizes its purpose thusly:

"A UGO.com website, HeroMachine was built to let people bring their imaginations to life, even if they can't draw a straight line."

Hero Machine is ideal for folks who might feel unsure of their artistic skills but who have a character idea just screaming to be realized. It's also perfect for an over-taxed GM like myself who wants to create a whole slew of character portraits with a consistent look and feel.

With that said, I would now like to present to you a sample of character portraits created by my players and me using the Hero Machine.

I Spoke too Soon

oooh! shiny!

Looks like I may have jumped the gun on last week's post about the Hero Machine character portrait maker. They went live with a schmancy new UI yesterday that looks really slick! I encourage those of you who can to check it out. Alas... I must work.