Found Items: Last RPG Purchases for 2011

OK. The post title is a little misleading, as I plan on making several purchases from RPGNow later today. But I wanted to share with you my final FLGS RPG purchases for 2011.

First of all, my final die purchase of the year.
I wish I knew the manufacturer; this one was pulled from a bin of random crystal d20s. Marked down to 85¢ it grabbed my attention because, upon close examination, there was a hint of red at each of the corners of the die. It's not apparent in the photo, but oddly the photo shows sparkles which are not apparent to the naked eye. The other oddity on this die? I have been unable to roll over an 11 on it. The majority of the rolls are in single digits. I suppose this is the one that I have to use for players' Search/Perception rolls. [Cue evil laughter]

Now for the minis.
I happened upon these tucked away on a side counter in a bin marked "Toys: 50¢." In among several handfuls of random promotional lapel pins were some random plastic miniatures. They were quite unusual-looking and, at first, I didn't recognize them. But I thought: "Hey, 50¢ miniatures. How can I pass THAT up? I'll figure out what to do with them later!" I emptied the bin.

As I suspected, a quick search of the 'net told me these were Dreamblade minis. A slightly longer search suggests these are all from the base set. Anyhow, I picked up two of the minis on the left: something called a "dreamstuff entity." I thought they'd make great oozes, until I turned it around and saw the face peering out of the middle of the mass, like a melted juvenile Abzorbaloff. But now I have two of them. They only had one of the "runetagged brawler," but he'll make a good golem or construct.

Then there was this one: a "loyal scragglemaw" -- there were four of them. They are now mine. This one was a puzzler; I had absolutely NO idea what to do with them. Then, after I got home, I tossed the bag of minis on my desk and started surfing the OSR blogs and came across a reference to a monster I'd long wanted to investigate for my own campaign(s). Another search of the internet revealed that the critter had already been statted for 3.5 Edition. Lo and behold! I had the book! I pulled my copy of Dave Arneson's Blackmoor off the shelf. When I opened up to the critter in question, my jaw dropped and my eyes bugged out. I had just purchased the mini!

It's a thoul. Yes, the infamous thoul. The description was uncanny, but the picture was the kicker. Here's what the book says:

Thouls are a magically created crossbreed of hobgoblin, ghoul, and troll created more than a millennium ago by insane hobgoblin necromancers seeking the key to eternal life.
The thouls of today look much like their ancestors did: they have rope-like, stone-gray to jet-black hair, usually worn in long locks. Their skin is hairless and colored deep green or red, with yellow or white eyes that lack visible pupils. They stand over six feet high and weigh more than 180 pounds.*

Now: opinions anyone?

Now I just need to work on unbasing all these critters from the obnoxious Dreamblade bases and putting them on nice, standard bases. I also need to work on getting these critters into a game session.

All in all, a happy end to the year. Happy New Year, everyone!

*Legal stuff: the text and the picture are not my work and are reproduced from Dave Arenson's Blackmoor copyright 2004 by Zeitgeist Games. Use here are not intended to assume ownership of or otherwise violate the copyright owner's rights in any fashion or manner.