The big star of this Halloween season is The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
Anyone expecting the old ABC Sabrina the Teenage Witch is going to be in for a surprise. This is an honest-to-Satan hit and sometimes creepy as hell. The cast is amazing with stand out performances by Kiernan Brenna Shipka as Sabrina Spellman, Lucy Davis ("Etta Candy" from WW) as Hilda Spellman, Miranda Otto (Éowyn) as Zelda Spellman and the true, true treat Michelle Gomez as Mary Wardwell / Madam Satan. We also get Richard Coyle as Father Faustus Blackwood who is better known (by me anyway) as Jeff from Coupling and the originator of the Giggle Loop.
You can read more about the show over at Tim Knight's fantastic blog, Hero Press.
Going into this show with the Melissa Joan Hart series and the classic comic in mind I thought she would make a perfect Swords & Wizardry White Witch. But...well I won't spoil the show for you, but Sabrina as a White Witch...well it doesn't really fit.
This is, however, a great chance for me to bring up a topic. How can I use a Basic Witch with a Swords & Wizardry Witch?
Say my player, let's call her Kiernan (she's a cousin on her mother's side) REALLY wants to play a Diabolic Witch from my Witch book, but I am running a Swords & Wizardry White Box game.
The answer is simple, use all the rules and tables from the White Box and the Witch for Swords & Wizardry White Box, but grab the Diabolic tradition from the Basic book. I have made all the of Experience tables the same and the witches all get Occult Powers at the same levels. I will also grab some spells from both books to flesh her out more. Now Kiernan is happy playing the character she wants and I am running the same I want.
Halloween is Sabrina's 16th birthday. She has not had formal witch training but has had extensive training by her aunts at home. We see cast glamour, remove curse (or dispel magic) and maybe Vanquish. But I am going to say she is still pretty low level. 1 or 2 tops.
2nd level Human Female Witch,
Malefic Witch Tradition (using White Witch rules)
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 15 (+1)
Constitution: 13
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 17 (+2)
HP: 8
Alignment: Neutral (Good Tendencies)
AC: 9 [10]
Saves Base: 14
Occult Powers
Familiar: Salem (Cat)
Spells
Cantrips: (5) Arcane Mark, Black Flame, Call Bats, Toads, or Spiders, Ghost Sounds, Summon a Witch (Ritual)
First: (2) Glamour (from Basic Witch), Mind Obscure (as a Ritual)
So mixing these works well. I had to fudge a bit to get the Mind Obscure spell. But I figure that was a ritual she learned from her aunts to protect herself.
Happy Halloween!
You can also check out Justin Isaac's version of Sabrina for Dark Places and Demogorgons on his site, https://punverse.blogspot.com/2018/10/chilling-adventures-of-sabrina.html
And my Unisystem version for modern times and an older Sabrina at Sabrina, the Middle-Aged Witch.
Thanks again to Tim Knight at Hero Press for sharing the word.
Thanks for the kind words - and linking - but it was you and Justin that did all the heavy lifting.
ReplyDeleteWill you be doing Sabrina for the Cinematic Unisystem? I'd love to see how you stack her up against a young Willow - and then see how she develops as the show (hopefully) runs and runs.
This is an excellent write-up Tim. Though I don't really play Cinematic Unisystem anymore, I'm with Mr. Knight, it would be cool to see Sabrina stats for that game too.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff, Tim!
ReplyDeleteAnd a great time for TV witches, indeed! (Don't forget American Horror Story: Apocalypse!) Sabrina's definitely at the top of this growing heap, IMHO. I just hope we don't have to wait til the apocalypse for Season 2 of Sabrina!
(I also hope this affection for witches holds out for a while so there's a market for the novel I'm finishing up!)
(Oh, and Coyle is best known on our household as John Strange, from the far-too-short-lived British series, Strange. Check it out if you can find it!)
I've been meaning to ask if you'd checked out Sabrina yet. I have it cued up on Netflix, but had to get through Daredevil first. Now that I have your thoughts, I'm REALLY looking forward to watching it.
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