Hasta La Gadget!

John Baichtal of MAKE Magazine shared a hidden gem in Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons & Dragons website. It turns out writer and illustrator Jason Thompson has been making comic strips of epic proportions for the D&D website. The strips take the form of huge maps based on D&D modules, i.e. booklets that outline preset adventures. Jason annotates the maps with the humorous experiences of a theoretical band of adventurers.

Jason’s drawings are relatively simple, but it’s his writing that makes the maps shine, from mild jokes about traps – “Assassin sticks hand into demon’s mouth to get gem, loses two ring slots” – to terrible player choices – “Leaving the Dining Room, party is attacked by 8 Gargoyle Statues… Shugenja returns to entryway to get his sandals, and is attacked by 4 Dragon Statues” – and even breaks the fourth wall at times – “Cleric of Pholtus and Cleric of Trithereon get in long loud argument about appropriate coverage in women’s armor.”  

I’m sure the people who’ve played through or are playing through these adventures will find his annotations even more hilarious. Plus, just look at how out of control the strips can get!

I’d share all of them here, but as you can see that would be doing a great disservice to Jason’s work. I highly recommend that you check out all of them on the Dungeons & Dragons website. Look for the ones with “Walkthrough Map” in the title, except for the latest strip, Ravenloft. If you like Jason’s work check out his other creations, King of RPGs, Manga: The Complete Guide and much, much more.

[via MAKE via Laughing Squid]

Most guys just get flowers, maybe some chocolates, get down on one knee, and pop the question. On the other hand, building a giant Transformers replica tops everything else that you can do. One man in China did just that.

Outdoing all other men, he constructed this 26-foot-tall model of Optimus Prime. It took him about 10 months to build it, all in the hopes that his girlfriend would say “yes.” This machine took 400 drawings, 40,000 rivets and nearly $10,000 worth of stainless steel and iron. There’s no way she could say no after this right?

Well, the news story doesn’t say what her answer was, but I’m guessing the answer was yes based on this image. This is how you get the girl and a cool statue at the same time.

She must be some catch for a guy to go through all this trouble. More than meets the eye.

[via Chris Buckley via Gizmodo]

Here’s one of the latest offerings from one of our favorite geeky jewelers, Paul Michael Bierker. It’s a ring that looks just like Wonder Woman’s tiara. It has five custom cut rubies and can be made from sterling silver, gold, palladium or platinum alloy.

But don’t even think about using it as a tiny boomerang. The cheapest version of the ring costs $595 (USD); the most expensive version is a godlike $12,550. Fly your invisible browser to Paul’s Etsy shop to order the ring.

[via Fashionably Geek]

One of the most significant controversies of recent years has been the NSA’s mass surveillance of individuals via telecommunications and internet data monitoring. And while the ‘bots which are watching us are not much more than bits of data coursing through CPUs and electronic storage devices, it’s sometimes easier to imagine a physical manifestation of such unseen evils.

What we have here is just that. Technabob friend and artist Metin Seven designed this satirical, physical version of one of the NSA’s all-knowing, all-seeing spybots, rendering it in 3D. And if you really want one, you can have it 3D printed over at Shapeways. A 4-inch-high full color sandstone print will set you back about $25(USD), though it’ll be rough, not shiny like the rendering above. It’s also available in a variety of other materials, including steel and brass.

Just be careful when you order one, you never know who might be monitoring your purchases.

There are thousands of sites that makers can use to sell their costumes, including major ones such as eBay, Etsy and deviantART. But if you want a site that’s focused solely on costumes, check out CosTrader. It’s a new website for people looking to buy or sell costumes, whether brand new or used.

CosTrader allows sellers to put up any number of items to sell at no charge. The site then takes a 3% cut when an item is sold. You need to create an account to buy or sell from the site. It’s a minor inconvenience but I guess it’s to ensure that both buyers and sellers can easily contact and identify each other.

Put on your browser and head to CosTrader to see what’s on display, which is admittedly not much because the site is still young. A market lives and dies by its offerings, so hopefully it attracts quality costume makers.

[via Bleeding Cool]