Modesty Studios

 Okay, you were invited to a night of table top gaming. Maybe you know the people well and maybe you don't but it's exciting to be included. The first time playing may be tricky and may even convince you never to play again! Here are a few things to do to help prevent you from totally losing your cool or having a bad time. (No guarantees though!) Remember, the point is to have fun!  What's in Your Control 🎮 In the game, there are elements that are not in your control. The outcome of dice rolls, how other people will behave, and the rules are unknowns. But the following things are under your command:  Your Character: Even if you are using a pre-made character or an assigned character, you control it.  Your morals: Your beliefs are yours. While you can play a character with different morals, you don't have to abandon all that your mama taught you.  Your safety: Your body is in your control. Have a backup plan or a contact if you're done and want to leave early....

- For my first session, I was invited to a legit Table Top Game with my Ren Faire and Board Gaming friends. The GM and I were Catholic and everyone else was Christian.  I had known these people for many years through Church and Ren Faire activities. The married couple in our group hosted our sessions in their home.  - The GM had been working on a modern fantasy novel series. He wanted to run a game with the premise, setting and characters from his novel. At first, I was excited to create my own character set in this world but was surprised to find he had a cast of characters for us to pick from. I ended up picking a teenage girl who was rebelling against her Mormon parents. We were using the d20 Modern system. (The d20 system is the basis for D&D 3.5 edition. d20 modern translates the magic into modern superhero type systems.) Here' were our first characters:  Jessica (My character) - a teenage girl --> Psychic  Kevin - a black, research professor --> Eleme...

 These are games I have played or observed others playing to give context. (This post is a Work in progress, I will likely come back to correct things. Genre - borrowing from movie and book categories to give you a shorthand sense of what the tropes, characters, and stories are like. (i.e. Western, High Fantasy, Space Opera, etc) Setting - A bit more specific than genre, it will include specific things like time period, location, character types, and world premise.  Dice Type - a quick description of what kind of dice and how many might be needed for playing a game. Some systems may have special dice specific to that game while some may have alternatives.   Difficulty - this is from a brand new player perspective but this incorporates how complicated the rules can get as well as how in-depth the lore might be.  Easy - rules are intuitive and there's only low-level world building Average - you can skim rules and kind of learn as you go, the lore is based on tr...

The purpose of this is to be a reference for introducing people who have maybe heard about D&D or Table Top Role Play Games (TTRPG) but just don't know much else about it. It can be a very intimidating world to get into. But I hope to clarify what these games are like, clear up some misconceptions, and a few resources to get you started. I also feel like this is helpful to adults responsible for children to get an idea what the real concerns about appropriateness for certain age groups.  (Side note: I'm working on a TTRPG-like game that can be scaled in difficulty for different age groups.) What is a Table Top Role Playing Game? 🧝 In a nutshell, Table Top Role Playing Games (TTRPG) are a collaborative story telling game that put rules and limitations around the setting, characters, and actions the players can make.  The most apt analogy I have is it's like an improvised play. One person is like the play's busy-body director who is also responsible for the backgroun...

 Never know where these little inspirations come from but I had the sudden urge to 3D print some ball-jointed dolls to turn into my characters. I have resin BJD of some of my characters from My Shining Knight. Unfortunately, none of them really have proper clothes. They're all dressed but not in the costumes I hoped to make. I have a few other dolls too that I was modifying but never finished. I could now but the ship has sailed so to speak.  But I have a collection on Thingiverse full of doll related print files . So I've been having fun scouring for 3D models, combining a few things so I can make the characters from my visual novel.  The Allure I like the look of these dolls, although they also have a haunting quality to them that fashion dolls (like Monster High or Barbie) don't have. They're definitely more anime in appearance which works for a lot of my characters.  When I was collecting, I would purchase from companies with the lower-priced dolls. However, eve...

 So something I worked on a couple years ago was a series of scripts to make YouTube videos. But then I remembered how much I hate editing videos. Instead, I decided to convert the scripts into Blog Posts. Perhaps not as dynamic, but at least the information is getting out there and I can brain-dump some creative ideas I had.  In this blog I intend to post costume design tips, process journals, introductions to different materials and more. I'm going to try to create more in-depth posts about some of the costumes featured on this blog!  Check it out at:  https://modestycostumes.blogspot.com

 I am chipping away at my visual novel, Trouble Brewing. That's been my main focus the past couple months.  Oh and mermaiding.  I'm couch surfing...lol. Not really. I've used the tail at the pool.  I have finished 3D printing and gluing together the chest piece for the Armorer:  And finished the backpacks for my nephews:  But like I said, most of my time is on the visual novel. I've been making new sprites and coding/scripting the darn thing. Finally got through chapter 2 and now it's chapter 3.  Still doing research on Rescue. I don't think I'll make it for Halloween. I think I'll focus on the Armorer this year. Ahem...and my kitsune costume take 2. Making a cosplay of my own character!  I just need to make the tails, ears, belt boot covers, sleeveless jacket and bracers. Really...not a bfd. I have most of what I need for it. I'm also considering doing some costume concept tutorial series here focused on swim-friendly mermaid costumes and kitsune...

 Where'd the time go? Goodness. Well, I've made a little bit of progress on some costumes but my focus the past few weeks has been game making and sewing gifts for my nephews. Broke out my embroidery machine and broke a few needles. Ha ha ha.  Finished up the Helm for the Armorer:  3/4 pieces of the chest piece are printed. (I'll start printing the last piece soon.) I've been collecting pieces for another costume idea.  I still want to work on Rescue eventually too. But it requires some more research.  But most of my projects have ground to a halt because my cat got sick. Had a couple of visits to the ER Vet this past two weeks and several visits to his regular vet. He's now going to be on prescription food for the rest of his life. I'm worn out and haven't been able to focus on any of my hobbies. But I'm taking a vacation first week of Easter to finish up sewing backpacks and little dragons for my nephews since their birthdays are at the end of April. 

It's 2021 and this past year I've started getting the hang of 3D printing. It's fun. It has greatly expanded cosplay potential. So, right now I'm working on a few 3D-printed armors  Armorer The first project I started in November while visiting my parents for Thanksgiving. I got caught up with the Mandalorian and just felt a desire to at least print the Armorer's Helmet.  Well...I did just that! With the helmet printed and painted. I opted to go for the whole costume. I have patterns for some of the leather parts, a shag fleece fabric for the mantle, and patterns for the chest armor. I have yet to print the chest armor, but I expect to do so soon. The hammer prop and the belt do-dads are already printed but not assembled.  Rescue: MCU So the other bit of armor I'm planning to do is Rescue (Iron Woman...in a sense) from Marvel Cinematic Universe. This one is in heavy planning stages. I purchase some 3D files for the armor pieces and resized them to fit my body me...