Khorne

Minas Tirith looks amazing! I love how they combined minifigure scale and microscale. The throne room looks simply gorgeous. Even though the price range might theoretically be really good (price/parts) as some have pointed it, it's still a lot of money for me to spend at once. But this might be one of the first sets almost convincing me to do so.

Thanks for your input and POV, @NOD. I understand your gripes, so let me take some time to address them. I tried subdividing my post per point you raised for ease of reading. First of all, BOBS:TOO was never meant to be a full replacement for the regular BOBS game and all of its mechanics, as has been said a few times. It is merely meant as a light-weight exploration of the BOBS setting in a different time and focused on the "Old World" - an expansion to BOBS, a filler that fits the lull as we wait for Era III. 1. "Competitions" All of the mechanics that work behind the scenes of BOBS are very time consuming to set up and maintain properly and takes a lot of people to let it function smoothly. This is a handicap we tried to tackle to set up something simpler. Hence why we tried a different approach for Tales of Old, which is more narratively driven, instead of via economic game systems and incentives. Somewhat in between BOBS and Guilds of Historica. The Challenges are narrative prompts to get you going and build something accordingly. Personally, I don't see them as competitions per se. More like kickstarts to get me building, so I don't share the sentiment that "everyone else lost". To lower the workload for admins, we decided to let the community vote for what they think is their favorite build. As said in the guidelines: "you can vote based on the build itself, the story, or whatever." So, on paper it's not necessarily the 'best' or 'biggest' build that "wins". BUT, I agree with your point that in reality this might perhaps always end up being the case. Thus, perhaps the way a build is judged is something we should take a look at for the future, with a separate scoring for the build and the accompanying story. Also, digital builds are very much welcome. This is also stated in of the general rules topics. No one is prohibited from building digitally. I even made a digital build myself. I don't share your skills in making it come alive as much, however, so mine is just a minifig deprived house . 2. Build times / lack of other incentives The "short" build time of ca. 30 days is a decision we made to keep a forward momentum going and deliver new incentives to build en lieu of the old EGS. However, I can understand this comes across as short. This is also something we can take a fresh look at. Plus, perhaps it might help to set some secondary general challenges without any time limit, with maybe some tied to specific Faction characteristics. Some examples, top of mind: Show the profession of your character Build an important moment from your character's life [COR] Show your allegiance to the King / Claimant [OL-Afar] Show how you trade with the natives of Afar ... Again: something to look into as we move forward. HOWEVER, as I said at the beginning of the post: "we're aiming for a lightweight experience, with only a small amount of administration required", so I want to be clear we're not looking on adding anything nearly as complex as EGS or other complex systems that require tracking rankings or whatever. 3. City building (and Freebuilds) While it hasn't been explicitly stated, everyone is free to found, build and expand their own city in the Faction they chose. But, once again: there will be no system tracking the income of said city or an underlying trade mechanic. It'd be more like in Guilds of Historica, where a builder creates their own city more for storytelling and MOC'ing purposes than a means to garner in-game currency. It is certainly not prohibited to create your own settlement if you want to! Same goes for Freebuilds: not forbidden to do so. I even did two small freebuilds myself. You do raise a point that perhaps this is something that ought to be communicated more explicitly. On the other hand, I think the lack of posting of Freebuilds also has to do with lower activity in building RPG's in general. 4. In summary BOBS:TOO will never have any complex mechanics, as it was not intended to have those We'll take a second look at the voting We can look into the 30 days build time for the main Challenges We can look into a small series of general (Faction) Challenges without time constraints You are free to create your own city and build in it Freebuilds, independent of any Challenges, are very much welcome Digital builds are also welcome, and have in fact always been welcome from the start That is true and it has never been the intention to bar anyone from participating. Everybody is welcome to do so. I appreciate your feedback and if anyone else wants to share their views, please do. Merry Christmas and happy holidays, @NOD and everybody else in the community!

I second the thumbs up emoji. I very much wanted the figures and found the castle itself okay-ish, but I couldn't justify myself spending €120 for figures and a glorified parts pack. The €90 price for Sinterklaas and Christmas made the expenditure a lot more bearable in my mind . Felt more like the "right" price for what I got, whereas €120 felt too expensive for all in all a very basic castle. I don't have much pro or contra the castle. It's an okay built and the brickbuilt horses are interesting. In the end, it was more about the figs and parts than the build itself anyway (for me).

I'll allow myself three votes, going to the following builds (in no particular order): @Professor Thaum, because I love the camel and just the overall build @evancelt; the characters are lovely + a behemoth build, on which I follow what Dutch said above @Ross Fisher; unique building type with the shape and roof and a fun read Honorable mentions from my part to @Ayrlego for the beautiful build with gorgeous architecture and vegetation. I was pondering on giving myself a fourth vote, but didn't want to break my self-imposed rule. Also kudos to @Dutch Thriceman for his build. A lot of details on a relatively small footprint. Overall I liked everyone's entries and stories. I'm happy with the participation and hopefully we can make it even bigger.

That's a neat angle; the idea of Elves living in the snow is kind of unique. Would be cool to see some architecture as well for example, to see how the Elves have adapted their typical architecture style to the cold.

Excellent MOC with beautiful architecture all around and plenty of cool details. It has that classic Ayrlego touch to it. Glad to see you building again!

Welcome aboard! Fun to see an entry for Terra Pontilla. I think it's a Sub Faction with a lot of promise. I was planning on making a small figbarf or little build myself to promote the relatively unknown Sub Faction to future players, so I'm glad this is your entry build. The story is intriguing! I liked how you fleshed out the situation and the character and I'm eager to see where this is going. The build is nice too. I'm always a sucker for redbrick medieval buildings. The integration of the woodwork and the reddish brown decoration is nicely done. I get the frustration with the parcel service. I had the same issue .

Thanks! I tried emulating the rounded shape of a birch tent gypsies and such used and lived in, before they started living in the more well-known wagons. I also like the ruins as they add a little bit extra to the scene and suggest a greater past, now long gone. Thanks, Nod! Glad you liked everything. We'll see where the story goes from here.

Ah yes, the first build for the Knights of Yeldo! Small build with plenty of character. I like the gabled sides and the old knight. I like how you also gave us some more information on how the Knights work with only a paragraph of text. Looking forward to see what else the Knights have in store.

Awesome bridge! The moment I saw the build, I immediately had to think of the Devil's Bridge in Saxony.

As the seasons started to shift and autumn in the Pale was slowly creeping closer to winter with the days growing increasingly darker, wetter and colder, the time was soon coming for Lorenzo to leave Riesmond and return home to the warmer, more pleasant and verdant climes of his ancestral home of Namere. Life, and therefore business, slowed down considerably during winter in the Carolean Pale - winters, which often could be very harsh, so there was no need for him to remain there as the work could be delegated to a local associate. Home is where the heart is, and despite spending most of his adult life in the Pale, Lorenzo's true home was the wild country of merchant princes. The white gravel roads lined with cypresses, the rolling hills and steep climbs, all bathing in a warm sun. He loved the country side, perhaps even more than the palatial estates of his family. Lorenzo was the runt of the Luppino family, but more than that he was also a bastard son born to Enzo Luppino after an extramarital elopement with a countryside girl living on Luppino owned land. Even though his father had always regarded Lorenzo as a trueborn son of his, this was less so the case with his stepmother and half-siblings. To them, Lorenzo was an outsider and as such he was mostly relegated to faraway business, jobs and shady dealings to keep away from the family. Hence the tenure in the Pale. So, when he goes home to Namere, before stepping a foot in the family's palaces in Gonda or Lucchese, little Lupito sets out to find his other family first. The family that cares less about the situation he was born in and that accepts him as one of their own. A task that is not always the easiest, as his mother was a stradiot woman. No one really knew who the stradioti truly were. They weren't native Namereen, they weren't Mardierian, they were just ... stradioti. They were Travelers and lived of the land, never staying too long in one place. That was also were they got their name from: 'strada', referring to the roads they traveled on. They adopted the exonym, but mostly called themselves Dromani, or 'wanderers' in their own tongue. Some claim they were originally Mogholay people who traveled throughout the continent and assimilated with the people they traveled through. Other say they are Varcosian, or perhaps even from the steppes beyond the Pyrite Empire. However, no one knows for sure and as such, they are always surrounded with an air of exoticness and mysticism: a deterrent to some and a lure to others. The stradiots live off the roads in tent camps which can be easily set up or broken down in case of need. While some seek employment as day laborers in vineyards or olive farms, the life of a brigand or thief is more lucrative - especially in a country as chaotic as Namere. Fleet of foot and hand, with great equestrian skill. They are often hired by wealthy merchant families as light cavalrymen in times of war. If you knew where to look, they weren't that hard to find. There were always signs left for others of their people to find kindred bands. Lorenzo knew the signs; he knew where to look. Soon he would be reunited with the clan of his mother and there would be bacchanalian feasts with drink and music. Wild dances that echoed the spinning motions of the dervishes of the far south. A moment to clear the mind and warm the heart, before returning to his father and siblings. ----- A small freebuild, where I tried my hand at an @Ayrlego styled base once more. I knew I had different "homes" in my mind for Lorenzo as I came up with the character, so this was my alternative entry for the first Chapter. I eventually went with the Carolean Pale build because I have more of a story to tell there, but still wanted to build and post this one as well to flesh out the character and the setting of BOBSTOO (and Namere).

A fine fortified manor! The introduction of Mortimer and the Vault Guard is an interesting read. I like how his how isn't just a regular castle, but a big homestead. As the others have pointed out, the roof window is a nice touch and I like the use of the tiles for its sides, instead of bricks. It adds to the thatch style of the roof. Is there also an interior? From the WIP photos I thought you were also planning on adding an interior.

Great character name and a fun build. Like Evan said, the ubiquitous vegetation looks very natural. Some of the figures looks a bit too modern for the setting (the guy with the redcoat torso) IMO, but the green tartan for clan Nash looks really cool. I also like how you did the decoration for the stuffed pig with the leaves.

That's a lot of stuff packed on a relatively small footprint, yet it still feels "airy" enough. Well done; it is definitely up to standard! I like the inclusion of the small green shutters on the side. The bird's nest is a nice touch as well. I also have a bunch of those brown flowers and didn't really know what to do with them, so the usage as a nest here is a good example. Plenty of fun textures and figures throughout. Story was good, too. A nice introduction of what's to come. Don't worry about the English, I'm not a native speaker myself and there are plenty of others of whom English also isn't their mother tongue.

Thanks, NOD! Will you be joining a Faction as well? There aren't any pirates explicitely, but I'm sure some of the Factions (such as the Corsair Taifas) are quite open to acts of piracy.