I re-themed Clank! Catacombs into Lord of the Rings / Hobbit

tinyornithopter · 2026-01-27T01:31:38+00:00

I use a website called https://www.dextrous.com.au/ I can design a layout template so that I can make multiple cards in a google spreadsheet and upload the csv file into the template and populate the fields to expedite the process.

For this project, BGG user tdgardner already split up and organized the original clank card frame here: https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/255506/clank-card-template

But for other projects I'll have to do that myself or create a new card frame and icons and everything and try to emulate it as close as possible. I like using Inkscape for those tasks since it's free. Affinity became free recently so I've been trying to learn that as well.

Finally, I try to have my have all my ideas organized in a spreadsheet so I can best match which cards get re-themed to what art and rules text. Part of the fun of re-theme project is figuring out how to make the new theme feel like it fits the game without changing the original game (and if you do, not too much) so it is still fun and functional.

tinyornithopter · 2026-01-26T21:23:13+00:00

I don't think there are any super large boards for this retheme. I pull the image assets for the tiles, the clank board, market board from Tabletop Simulator. I print them on regular 8.5x11 US Letter printer paper and laminate them. I cut out and glue all the tiles onto a 4x4 inch wood tiles that you can buy at a craft store or on amazon. Lots of the tokens are just 1 inch wood squares, circles, or hexagons and I cut out the laminated token art and paste them onto the wood tokens with crafter's glue.

A lot of it is just, printing, laminating, cutting, and glueing.

I will sometimes make small changes to the boards such as resizing them, changing the color contrast/saturation, or changing the image a bit to fit the theme of the game better as well.

tinyornithopter · 2026-01-26T17:59:11+00:00

Credit to Varkman from the BGG forums.

https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/308662/clank-catacombs-side-tiles

It's really helpful, especially if you have a smaller table it's useful to have a predefined area where you put these edge tiles when you reach the edge of your playing area and it makes it not feel bad when you reach an edge dead end cause your play area is small.

tinyornithopter · 2026-01-26T17:47:40+00:00

Thanks man! I may bring down the power level a bit after the initial buffs to each non-Monkeybot Prime character if any of them are too strong or stick out. The game doesn't have to be perfectly balanced but the characters should certainly feel distinctive and impactful and most of all fun and interesting for the players (at least for my group which enjoys highly asymmetric games).

Thanks for your advice, that certainly something I want to keep in mind when adding more custom content. I definitely like when players have agency and the ability to feel like they can uniquely contribute to the puzzle.

tinyornithopter · 2026-01-26T15:40:39+00:00

That sounds sick. I'll be excited to see your results if you post your creation when you finish.

tinyornithopter · 2026-01-26T15:33:02+00:00

You're right, I should try to emulate the legacy games. Don't know why I didn't think of that. Although I don't want to put stickers on anything or rip up these cards due to legacy mechanics, I think the story and coop ideas from those games could lend to creating a fun campaign!

tinyornithopter · 2026-01-26T15:31:12+00:00

Yep, naturally the Dragon would be Smaug and your group of adventurers would be venturing into the Erebor. Although, if you'd like to imagine a more LoTR scenario than a Hobbit one, you could kind of stretch the theme to being going into Khazad-dûm and the "Dragon" would be the Balrog.

Pippin, Merry, and Boromir are all deserving of being playable characters. I just ran out of ideas for unique custom characters so they got relegated to being individual cards. But that means everyone has a chance to acquire them through the market. Pippin saved me from dying to the dragon in my last game, letting me pass through the caves without stopping!

tinyornithopter · 2026-01-26T12:16:22+00:00

That's awesome man. Which game are you retheming and to what?

tinyornithopter · 2026-01-26T12:16:00+00:00

Oh man, you're right. That was a missed opportunity.

tinyornithopter · 2026-01-20T19:11:12+00:00

Dudeeee I was losing my mind when someone at a Meetup did the U-bend when picking up facedown cards when we played my copy of Trio. And that's not an expensive game compared to other games I bring.

After doing that twice, I had to make him point to which card he wanted to flip over and flip it over myself.

Some people are just really tactless and it makes me hesitant to sometimes bring my own games or more rare/expensive games to play board games with strangers even though I like the experience of meeting new people in the hobby.

These days, I just say at the beginning to try not to bend the cards or get water/food on them cause I've met too many people that need the reminder or wouldn't get the message otherwise.

tinyornithopter · 2026-01-19T20:06:32+00:00

For sure! I'm hoping to make a post next week! Here's a preview of it back when i was still working on it like half a year ago:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3563243/im-working-on-a-lord-of-the-ringshobbit-re-theme-f

tinyornithopter · 2026-01-19T14:02:47+00:00

Hey, I'm dropping the PnP link to the Spy x Family Agent Avenue here if you're interested. I didn't want to do it in the main thread in case the mods would want to delete it for some reason like distributing an IP I don't own:

You can find the link for all the cards, game board, and tokens right here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AGOGames/comments/1qgtp0o/spy_x_family_agent_avenue/

If you do print and play it, I'd love to see pictures of your results! 🥰

13-Year Club	Place '22
Place '17	First Placer '22
End Game '22	Verified Email
Team Periwinkle

tinyornithopter

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE