Wednesday 2 December 2015

Castle Ravenloft Flesh Golem & Howling Hag

With just four more Villains to review from the 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons board-game of Castle Ravenloft, here are two of them - the mighty Flesh Golem and the sinister Howling Hag. I wanted to show these side by side to give you a sense of scale for the Flesh Golem, who towers over the 28mm tall Hag.
Strahd's twisted experiments with death created a monster that has a shambling sense of life. The Flesh Golem is a Level 5 Villain and activates at the start of each Villain Phase. His stats are AC14 and 10HP.
The Flesh Golem's tactics are -
If the Flesh Golem is adjacent to a Hero, it attacks an adjacent Hero with a brutal Slam.
If the Flesh Golem is on a Start tile, the active Hero takes 1 damage.
Otherwise, the Flesh Golem moves 1 tile in the direction of the tile's triangle.
A Slam attack gives a +8 bonus to hit and causes 2 damage, as well as placing the Hero 1 tile deeper into the dungeon. If the attack misses it causes 1 damage. 
In the original Castle Ravenloft RPG, there was a Flesh Golem called Adam. He was the dark-lord of Lamordia. Known as Mordenheim's Monster or the Creature, he was an extremely intelligent and nimble dread Flesh Golem, based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Adam was the most successful creation of Dr. Victor Mordenheim in his research into the creation of life, albeit the one that caused him grief unmeasured. Adam reduced the doctor's wife Elise to a vegetative state and apparently murdered their adopted daughter Eva. The two were inextricably bound together: Dr. Mordenheim had Adam's immortality, and in return Adam shared the doctor's anguish. Usually hidden from sight, Adam was believed to spend most of his time on the Isle of Agony, part of the archipelago known as the Finger.
Now, in this board-game, the Flesh Golem has no name and is a creation of the vampire ruler of Barovia, Count Strahd Von Zarovich. For me, however, I shall still call him Adam. 
The Howling Hag is a mortal woman corrupted by the rituals of Count Strahd Von Zarovich. The Howling Hag is a Level 5 Villain and activates at the start of each Villain Phase. Her stats are AC15 and 10HP.
The Howling Hag's tactics are -
If the Hag is within 1 tile of two or more Heroes, she attacks each Hero within 1 tile of her with a horrifying Howl.
If the Hag is on a tile with a Hero, she attacks that Hero with a teleporting Curse.
If the Hag has no path to a Hero, place her on a random Crypt Corner tile. 
Otherwise, the Hag moves 1 tile toward the closest Hero. 
A Howl attack gives a +7 bonus to hit and causes 1 damage, as well as placing the Hero 1 tile away from his or her tile. 
A Curse attack also gives a +7 bonus to hit and also causes 1 damage, as well as placing the Hero 1 tile away from his or her tile. 
Both the Flesh Golem and the Howling hag are mighty fine sculpts and are worthy of their Villain status. They were both a lot of fun to paint.

28 comments:

  1. Nice work I really like that flesh golem, especially all the sutures and stitches, the skin hanging off on the left arm is a great touch!

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    1. Thanks, Simon. I agree about the flesh hanging off the left arm - it is a great touch!

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  2. Lovely work Bryan, that hag figure has real character!

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  3. That's a seriously intimidating model, Bryan, and the Flesh Golem is rather formidable as well ;-)

    I think you've done a terrific job on the Hag, and her teeth look great. Lovely work on the clothes and hair too. Obviously Adam draws the eye though, and I like the way you've been rather restrained in the gore department on his flesh. He is after all not a 'buckets of blood' Golem. As a result you can really appreciate all the sculpt's detail with the stitches etc. Lovely pained expression on his face too. Great posting :-)

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    1. To be fair, Simon, they're both intimidating in their own way. Both are more than capable of dishing out a lot of hurt. Although there are a lot of wounds on the Flesh Golem, none of them are bleeding. This was a conscious decision on my part after reading that he is classed as a type of undead creature. As always, thanks for your kindly comments.

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  4. I like the hag, but the golem is huge! He must be 10 feet tall, at least. Hmm, should be easy enough to escape from by just walking through a [normal-sized] door :-) .

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    1. That's a very good point, Hugh! Sadly, in the game, there are no doors - just open rooms and wide corridors. Adam isn't the only large creature to be found in Castle Ravenloft!

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  5. I love the hag, great pose and facial expression topped off with great paint job! The flesh golem is a cracker!

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    1. I thought so, too. Phil. You ought to know that I love painting gore effects!

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  7. Whilst some of the sculpts from this game have been a little wonky, both of these are brilliant! The detail on the flesh golem is very nice and your painting brings him "alive". And the howling hag is another characterful model. With every post I feel my willpower eroding regarding this game - "None can resist...Strahd". Incidentally, the Ravenloft Mordenheim novel was one of the better ones - although Scholar of Decay is still my favourite (after I, Strahd, of course).

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    1. Much appreciated, Jez. There is nothing wrong with the sculpting of either of these figures and they were a pleasure to paint. I still remember many of the old Ravenloft novels, although "I, Strahd" stands out the most.

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  8. Veeeeery nicely done Bryan. Impressive.


    {{Sadly, in the game, there are no doors - just open rooms and wide corridors.}}

    Wrath of Ashardalon introduces doors ^^

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  9. Thanks, Steve. I guess adding doors to the game was a natural progression.

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  10. Two lovely sculpts Bryan! You've done a superb job on the paintwork Dude! I like your gore restraint too. More zombies please!

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    1. Thanks, Bob. You want more zombies? How about a Zombie Dragon? Coming to you next post, dude!

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    2. Oh yeah baby, now you're talking!

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    3. I kinda figured a few people would want to see him, Andy.

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  11. I suspect sir that you have over stepped the bounds of decency and are showing too much flesh. (well done!)

    Mary Shelly would be so very proud! Good job on the figures mate.

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  12. These are some awesome figures, Bryan. Its a wonder I never saw them before. Great job!

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    1. Cheers, Roger. I'm just glad you did get to see them, as I know how much you'll appreciate the sculpting and painting.

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  13. Bryan, I am in the process of posting a story I wrote about Castle Ravenloft to FanFiction.net. It centers on the Howling Hag, who I've imagined is Ireena Kolyana, the Burgomaster's daughter from the RPG, and the Flesh Golem. This pic of your figures would make a great cover for the story. Would you mind if I used it?

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    1. By all means, Rodney, please do. I'd be delighted if you did. All the best from Bryan.

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  14. I always turn to Vampire any time I want to. I became a Vampire because of how people treat me, this world is a wicked world and not fair to anybody. at the snack of my finger things are made happen. I am now a Powerful Man and no one steps on me without an apology. I turn to Human beings also at any time I want to. and am one of the most dreaded Man in my Town. I became a Vampire through the help of my friend who introduced me into a Vampire Kingdom by giving me their email. if you want to become a Powerful Vampire kindly contact the Vampire Kingdom on their Email: Vampirelord7878@gmail.com

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