The Other Side blog

Monday, April 13, 2026

Monstrous Mondays: The Crimson Cougar

My latest obsession is my Jackson, IL campaign for NIGHT SHIFT^®. I have been doing a lot of research, and many creatures keep coming up, but none more fun than the giant cats of the area where I grew up.

Opinions vary. Are there cougars in the middle of the state of Illinois? Large bobcats? Panthers? Well, there is a "Panther Creek" conservation area nearby, but no actual panthers. But were there? Well, in Jackson, there certainly was. Maybe there still is.

The Crimson Cougar

Every school has a mascot. Some have teeth.

In Jackson, Illinois, the teams of Jackson Public High are the Crimson Cougars. The name is on jackets, painted across gym walls, and shouted from the bleachers every fall. Officially, it is a solid school mascot. Strong animal. Local color. Nothing more.

Ask around long enough, and the older stories surface.

Long before the school took the name, farmers and hunters spoke of a great red cat seen along fence rows, creek beds, and field edges at dusk. Some said it was a cougar caught in strange light. Others swore it was too large, too lean, and too quiet to be natural. A few claimed it appeared before storms, accidents, sudden deaths, and other runs of bad luck. When Holmwood Hall on MacAlister campus burned down in the 1940s, some students claimed to have seen it roaming around. It was seen prior to the great train crash of the 1860s that killed dozens. And when the Cholera epidemic killed scores, it was seen roaming outside the city limits.

The stories never matched in every detail. They agreed on one point. Seeing it meant something.

Years passed. Then the town did what small towns often do. It took something feared and turned it into a symbol. It painted the monster on helmets and pennants. It gave it school colors and a grin.

Some people in Jackson still say it is out there, waiting to foretell another disaster.

CRIMSON COUGAR (AD&D 1st)

Frequency: Very rare/Unique
No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: 4
Move: 18
Hit Dice: 7+2
% in Lair: 0%* (no lair has been found)
Treasure Type: Nil
No. of Attacks: 3
Damage/Attack: 1-4/1-4/2-6
Special Attacks: Surprise, pounce, fear gaze
Special Defenses: Hit only by silver or magical weapons at night or in darkness
Magic Resistance: Standard
Intelligence: Low to Semi-
Alignment: Neutral
Size: L
Psionic Ability: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
Level/X.P. Value: VI / 825 + 10 per hit point

Crimson Cougar (NIGHT SHIFT)

No. Appearing: 1
DV: 4
Move: 45 ft.
Vitality Dice: 7
Special: 3 attacks (2 claws and bite), move silently, silver or magical weapons to hit, cause fear.
XP Value: 1,400

Crimson Cougar is a large, mountain-lion-like creature with fur in a dark reddish, even blood-like, color. Some people think it is only an illusion formed by the sunset, but others have claimed to have seen it at night. The eyes are said to be gold, although scared eyewitnesses claim they glow red.

This being is extremely quiet and catches other creatures off guard on a roll of 1-4 on a d6 when found in forests, cornfields, creeks, or at twilight. If Crimson Cougar attacks by jumping out of hiding, it gains a +2 bonus to hit with both claw attacks in the first round. If both claw attacks hit one target, the being can bite the creature for 2-6 points of damage.

When looking at the creature in the eye within 30 feet, a creature must make a saving throw vs spells or flee for 1-4 rounds. If retreat is possible, creatures with at least 5 Hit Dice get +2 to their saving throw, as they find it harder to be intimidated by an unnatural creature such as the Crimson Cougar. A successful save grants immunity to this cougar's gaze attack for 24 hours.

If it is twilight, storm-dark, or nighttime, only silver or magic weapons will hurt this being; however, normal weapons may harm it in full daylight, although they offer little relief to someone under attack by the being's claw strikes.

Although the creature is known to be fearsome, it is not normally malevolent to humans. It does not hunt them for pleasure and does not kill livestock without cause. The crimson cougar usually appears where the ancient boundaries have been violated, where blood is about to be spilled, or when the land has become angry. It can be an omen, a protective spirit, a ghost, or any supernatural animal.

Despite many hunts over the last two centuries, no lair of the Crimson Cougar has even been discovered. No cubs or mated pairs have ever been seen, leading many to speculate that there is only one Crimson Cougar, if it is a living creature, or a manifestation of the land.

Night Shift^® is a registered trademark of Elf Lair, LLC.

Friday, April 10, 2026

Tales from Jackson, IL: Shadows of the Night (Denise & Candy)

We are going back to Jackson, IL, and 1985 to see how the characters are doing.

Game Play notes: I will be using the Heroic Touchstones introduced in Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age and further defined in Thirteen Parsecs. I am leaning on a touchstone every three levels, but I might change that to every other level. Have not decided yet.

So far, the game has:

A psychic
A theosophist who sees dead people
A survivor
An inventor

Yeah. Kind of a motley crew, to be honest, but perfect for this game. Everyone is still first level except for the survivor, who is 2nd. No "Chosen One" though. No game last weekend, so this is from the weekend before Easter.

The NPCs: Duchess & Candella

One of the joys of these NPCs for this game is bringing in NPC the Players (but not always the characters) recognize. Both my oldest and I use Duchess and Candella a lot. They are great fun and always in trouble, either getting in or out of it. So when the players yell out, "What are they doing here?" you know you did something right. He is using them in his 5e D&D-meets-Pokémon game where they are both members of Team Rocket.

Denise & Candy

In the NIGHT WORLD of Jackson, IL, everyone's favorite party girl thieves are Denise "Duchess" Carver and Candace "Candy" Mercer. They are a couple of party girls who are too loud, too promiscuous, drink too much, smoke too much, and skip classes far more than they attend them.

And I absolutely love them.

They walk down the halls with unmistakable swagger. They act like they invented the idea of Best Friends Forever and are working to improve that idea every day. They are good girls, and their loyalty to each other is fierce and complete.

They met in the principal's office the first week of Jr. High. They were in trouble for different reasons, and they instantly bonded and have rarely been apart since. They can't remember what they were in trouble for that day, but they remember what the other one was wearing and what they laughed at. When they get irritated at each other, one will say, "I should have left you in Principal Butler's Office!" and the other will invariably reply, "Yeah, but then your life would be boring!"

The thing about Denise and Candy is that they are a lot smarter and a lot more aware than anyone gives them credit for. Candy's ("Don") dad owns one of the bars downtown, and she helps every chance she gets, her tips all going back to her dad (she really isn't old enough to work there legally), and all their money goes to helping her mom, who is really sick. In fact, Candy has gotten so good at managing her mom's medical issues that she can act as the group's medic in a pinch.

Denise has had it pretty rough, too. Her mom, Jean, is living with her stepdad/mom's boyfriend, Brian. Her dad, Tom, has been gone a while. Brian is not a nice person, and Denise has become one of those people who are sensitive to others' pain and always knows exactly where all the exits are. In 1985, Denise works as a waitress at "Sal's Pizza." The owner and manager, Salvatore, aka Sal, threatens to fire her all the time, and she threatens to quit all the time, but neither happens.

I have already figured out that by the 1986-87 school year, Denise had moved out and was living in a trailer east of town. Candy is always there. This will give the cast somewhere to go when they need patched up since Candy is going to grow into the local "shady medic". Candy, who is always full of laughs and fun, has NO bedside manner. Her idea of cleaning a wound is with Southern Comfort, which also works as a painkiller and a needle sterilizer; if it doesn't make her patient better, it makes her better.

They serve the role of always getting into trouble, but also the ones the characters can go to when they are in trouble, because they don't ask questions and usually have solutions.

There is one other issue.

Both Candy and Denise heard the Bells. Neither the characters nor the girls have any idea why. They don't seem to be supernatural in any sort of way. Just two normal girls with some crappy pasts and hopefully a brighter future. Are they central to the mystery? Maybe. I kinda want to wait and see how the players work it out. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that there are so many worlds with these two. Like the Eternal Champion, but a lot more fun, with more alcohol, more Aqua-Net, and very inappropriate humor.

Candy and Denise, likely not going to class.

Candace "Candy" Mercer
2nd Level Survivor, Human (?)

Base Abilities
Strength: 12 (0)
Agility: 17 (+2) P
Toughness: 15 (+1)
Intelligence: 15 (+1)
Wits: 13 (+1) s
Persona: 14 (+1) s

Vit: 6 (2d4+2)
DV: 8
Fate Points: 1d6

Check Bonus (P/S/T): +2/+1/+0
Melee bonus: +0 Ranged bonus: +2

Languages: English, Spanish
Skills: Security Alarms (Disable) (Agl), First Aid (Wits)

Saves: +2 Death Saves and area effects.

Survivor Skills
Improved Defense: -1
Open Locks: 25%
Bypass Traps: 20% (+10%)
Sleight of Hand: 20%*
Move Silently: 30%
Hide in Shadows: 20%
Climb: 80% *
Perception 45%

Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'5"

Archetype: The Trouble Maker
Quote: "Don't make it weird, babe." (rigth before she completely makes it weird)
Quirks: Is shockingly good at first aid. Will say something completely inappropriate and laugh it off (she knows what she is doing).
Theme song: "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" - Cyndi Lauper

Candy is the "loud one" of the pair. If she gets quiet then she is serious. Despite her trouble-maker reputation and party girl attitude, Candy is a lot smarter than she lets on.

Candy also flirts shamelessly with everyone. During gym class she shouted out to Valention ("Val") "hey let me see your big bat!" which got the class laughing. Val, being Val, held up the baseball bat she was using, which made her and Denise laugh even more. "It's a good thing he is good looking, she told Denise."

Denise "Duchess" Carver
2nd Level Survivor, Human (?)

Base Abilities
Strength: 11 (0)
Agility: 16 (+2) P
Toughness: 18 (+3)
Intelligence: 12 (0)
Wits: 15 (+1) s
Persona: 15 (+1) s

Vit: 10 (2d4+6)
DV: 8
Fate Points: 1d6

Check Bonus (P/S/T): +2/+1/+0
Melee bonus: +0 Ranged bonus: +2

Languages: English
Skills: Notice (Wits)

Saves: +2 Death Saves and area effects.

Survivor Skills
Improved Defense: -1
Open Locks: 20% *
Bypass Traps: 20%
Sleight of Hand: 25% *
Move Silently: 35% *
Hide in Shadows: 25% *
Climb: 60% *
Perception 55% * (+5%)

Hair: Brunette
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'7"

Archetype: The Party Girl
Quote: "Underachiever and proud of it!"
Quirks: Denise always counts the exits whenever she walks into a room. She knows where all the sharp objects are and she knows who is on edge.
Theme song: "I Will Survive" - Gloria Gaynor (She has a soft spot for Disco)

Denise is the "quiet one." If she raises her voice, watch out, she is either very pissed or very scared. She usually reacts to fear by getting angry. Living her own life in a constant state of awareness has made her sensitive to others' emotional states. Candy has learned that if Denise ever grabs her hand, then Candy needs to get them both out of whatever situation they are in and fast.

Denise also has a ferret named "Bandit" who likes to bite Brian, her mom's new boyfriend. Named after "Smokey & the Bandit," a movie she used to watch with her dad, Tom, all the time.

I took a page from AD&D 2nd Ed, and adjusted their Survivor skills but kept the point totals. Candy is better at climbing walls and disabling traps aka alarm systems (when it is slow at the bar she reads the alarm system manual). Denise is better at perception and hiding in shadows.

Still not 100% sure why they heard the Bell, but they did and now the PCs have to deal with them too.

Soundtrack, now with Candy and Denise's songs.

Like I said before, I like the idea of these NPCs surviving and being better versions of themselves. Candy becomes an ER nurse because she can handle the pressure, and she scares most doctors. Denise becomes a social worker because she knows that sometimes a troubled kid just needs someone to show up. Denise brings Candy a ridiculously expensive coffee at work (she is often at the hospital) with what can only be described as an obscene amount of sugar. They laugh way too loudly and scowl at anyone who might suggest they should, you know, get back to work.

And they are both really, really good at what they do. That is, if they can survive till graduation.

Candy and Denise, still laughing together

Every Friday night, they still get together. Only now they can both afford better drinks, and they talk about their jobs, people who annoy them, ex-husbands (1 for Candy, 2 for Denise), and sometimes, when the night gets late, they talk about the time when they were just kids and fighting monsters. Ok, they will agree they didn't do a lot of fighting, mostly a lot of running.

Night Shift^® is a registered trademark of Elf Lair, LLC.

Thursday, April 9, 2026

NIGHT SHIFT: Return to Valhalla, Alaska

Currently, I have three NIGHT SHIFT games going, though some are inactive. All are decade and location-based.

Which way do you go? More to the point, where is this sign???

1. Jackson, IL: Teen supernatural set in 1985-86. Most everyone is a normal human. This is my newest one and the one I have been talking about a lot.

2. West Haven: Featured in the NIGHT SHIFT Core and recently expanded on for the "Fantasy" version, but the Modern one takes a lot of cues. Set in the "present day." The West Haven of NIGHT SHIFT is in New Hampshire.

3. Valhalla, AK: Set in Alaska. Quirky mix of normals and supernaturals. Time...well.

So that is what brings me here today. I have the 80s covered. I have modern times covered. I am thinking of retooling Valhalla, Alaska, to take place in the 1990s. Maybe tap into that X-Files paranoia of the 90s a little more, but I still kinda want it to have humor. Quirky is the word I am looking for here.

So less like Mulder's sister being abducted and more like Colleen Raferty (SNL) being abducted. Thinking Northern Exposure meets Resident Alien. I think, with those two in the DNA, one character needs to be a medical doctor.

What do you all think?

Wednesday, April 8, 2026

Witchcraft Wednesdays: Spellbound (2025)

Last month, I mentioned that I got my copy of Spellbound (2025) in the mail from author Thomas Negovan. It is a treasure trove of commentary and images of all sorts of fantastic vintage paperbacks about witches and witchcraft. From fictional accounts of witches and black magic, to how-to and self-help guides, to the growing fascination with witches and the occult throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

The book is rather fantastic, to be honest, and filled with some great memories.

The book is 7.5" x 10", so a bit smaller than letter size, but it has the feel of a larger "coffee table" book. The photos are fantastic, and it was a joy to see so many I remembered.

The binding is good, and you all know I am a sucker for a book with a ribbon bookmark. The pages are edge-painted purple. This would seem to clash with the red cover, but honestly, it doesn't. It adds to the weird vibe the entire book is going for, and it works well for me.

We begin with a brief prelude about the Bibliomancers concept. It explains that this special hardcover edition is an expansion on the original 2023 softcover edition by Astraleyes (more on who that is later). Thomas Negovan expanded on the original copy to give us the collection of 1960s and 1970s occult ephemera.

The Foreword is by occult book collector Astraleyes, who came up with Bibliomancers and the first edition of this book. The picture of Astraleyes and his books is also a nice stroll down the book aisles of my memories.

The Introduction by Thomas Negovan hits me where I live. "As far back as I can remember, used book stores were my chosen houses of worship." Feels like something I would have said myself. He name-drops Man, Myth & Magic series, and more. Sounds like he was visiting my home library/office/game room.

Negovan goes on to discuss how the growing interest in witches, witchcraft, and the occult got started in the 1960s and 1970s. A time I have called the 70s Occult Revival here in these pages. He ties it a little closer to the 1960s sexual revolution than I have, and he is spot on, really. The role of witchcraft and feminism was always linked, either by its proponents and detractors, in ways that can't really be ignored. See my own Aiséiligh Witchcraft Tradition for how I touched on the same topic. Negovan does an excellent job, in both words and stunning photos, of setting the stage for why witches and witchcraft found such an open welcome in the city and suburban lives of many modern women. Not just witches, but also Wicca and witchcraft as a practice.

All the while mainstream society was pushing against all of this, the market for witches and witchcraft had never been stronger. This book is a testament to that explosive growth.

Negovan goes deeper, naturally, than I have here but covers familiar ground. He is explicit about the four distinct categories emerging from this era. The Wiccan traditions of Gerald Gardner and his adherents, such as Raymond Buckland. The later Alexandrian Tradition (which I often lump together here despite their many and manifest differences), the Sybil Leek/Horoscope boom (which I often call "Left Over Hippie Shit"), and the most dominant, Witchcraft as Aesthetic. Not just wicca guides or other self-help books popular at the time, but being a witch because it was cool. Those were the woman my young brain imprinted on as wonderful, powerful, and sexy. These were all aided by the boom in cheap paperbacks that became ubiquitous in bookstores, grocery stores, and just about everywhere. I am still astonished to this day by how much these treasures in my own collection originally cost compared to what I would later happily pay for them. The spread on pages 24-25, 26-27 is like unlocking a core memory of the first time I ever walked into a college bookstore at age 10. I was overwhelmed. I was ecstatic. It was akin to walking into a holy sanctum. And one thing is very, very clear. Thomas Negovan feels exactly the same way.

Negovan begins to leave the discussion of the zeitgeist behind to focus on the books themselves, plotting a course from the rise of pamphlets at the start of the 20th century onto the rise of Wicca in the early 1950s and on. It was not something that happened overnight, even if the boom of the 1960s and 1970s felt that way. We are treated to several different covers of Gardner's "Witchcraft Today," which fairly depict how society viewed witches and witchcraft at the time of each publication. We move to what I have always considered the tipping point of this phenomenon, Stewart Farrar's 1971 "What Witches Do" and Raymond Buckland's 1970 "Ancient & Modern Witchcraft."

The book moves on to give some of the wonderful paperback covers, and, where possible, renditions of the original cover art sans titles.

Many of these titles should be familiar to readers of this blog. More are familiar to me from my own collections.

The number of titles published between 1968 and 1972 alone was staggering. All of this while the background noise was Vietnam and Richard Nixon.

And the art. To say I imprinted hard on many of these covers doesn't take a Ph.D. in psychology. I flip through these pages, and I see Marissia looking back at me. I see Rhiannon, Esmé, Aeronwy, and Eria. And in the covers of "What Witches Do" and "Anita," I saw the first glimpses of Larina.

To many readers, this is a glimpse of witchcraft's past. For me? It is a yearbook filled with photos of old girlfriends and lost loves.

Even some of the Witches of Appendix N appear here. As with Fritz Leiber's "Conjure Wife." Indeed, with the aid of this book, I could expand my own "Appendix O."

And it fits so nicely with many of my other witch-related hardcovers.

It is hard for me to tell if this is a book for the casual reader. This book deeply resonates with so many of my own memories; it is difficult for me to detach myself from my "nostalgia gogles" (as my oldest says) or even bits of deeply ingrained memory. How can I objectively review something like this?

Obviously, I can't. Nor even do I want to try.

I am going to say that this book is extraordinary. Thomas Negovan certainly thinks so. The care, attention, and love he put into it are obvious from the first few pages.

Seeing a book like this get made is one of the best reasons for a Kickstarter.

I see he has another Kickstarter for the third volume in this trilogy (this was the second!), Binding the Devil.

While I am sure there might some duplication, I have books in my library that would fit that did not find their way into Spellbound. So yes, this one should give me as much joy. Check out some of his previous 88 Kickstarters; the guy has good taste. You can pledge this new book and add on Spell Bound for another $79.

You can also get your own copy directly from their store. While I think the limited-edition Art Nouveau version is fantastic (and, as an aside, Negovan really seems to know his Art Nouveau), the red cover I have with the model from "How to Become a Sensuous Witch" is the one that really called out to me.

Negovan chose this cover well as one of the best examples of "Witchcraft as Aesthetic". Why? "How to Become a Sensuous Witch" is not a guide on witchcraft, or a lurid witch tale, or even a primer on sex magic. It is a cookbook.

Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Tales of Jackson, IL: Teacher, Teacher

No NIGHT SHIFT game this past weekend, Easter afterall even if we are atheists. So my oldest and I worked on some NPCs and got in a little bit of our Forgotten Realms game.

For Tales of Jackson, IL I thought I should detail a few of the teachers. Not all of them just yet; I want to feel out how much interaction I want with the "adults," but some will have a direct impact. Both these teachers are familiar for different reasons. They also play very different roles.

Ms Valerie Beaumont

Up first is one of my "shared" NPCs. She is an NPC in my games and a PC in my buddy Greg's games. She is his character, and since he works at one of the nearby High Schools (as a football coach and security guard), he has been my go-to for some ideas. It really only seems fitting that Valerie is here. In truth, if there is some weirdness going on in my world, Valerie is there. She can't help herself, really. The last time we saw Val (chronologically), she was in New York during my "Spirit of '76" game. As an immortal, she is always on the move, so now, in the 1980s, she has moved to Jackson, IL, to teach AP History and French and to sponsor the Fencing Club.

And she is here to keep an eye on the characters. She works in the background to help keep the supernatural secret and keep the characters alive.

Valerie Beaumont
5th Level Survivor/10th Level Sage (Immortal)

Base Abilities
Strength: 12 (0)
Agility: 16 (+2)
Toughness: 14 (+1)
Intelligence: 21 (+4) P
Wits: 16 (+2) s
Persona: 16 (+2) s

Vit: 64 (5d4+5 / 10d6+10)
DV: 9
Fate Points: 1d10

Check Bonus (P/S/T): +8/+5/+3
Melee bonus: +6 Ranged bonus: +8

Languages: English, French, Latin, German
Skills: Research (Int), History (Int)

Saves: +3 Death Saves and area effects. +5 to saves vs. spells and magical effects. She gains an additional +5 to all saving throws against magic, poison, disease, and death-based attacks due to her immortality.

Immortal Powers
Unique Kill: Virginia Dare (See Below)
Immortals regenerate 1d8 hit points every minute.
+3 to Intelligence

Survivor Skills
Open Locks: 115%
Bypass Traps: 110%
Sleight of Hand: 120%
Move Silently: 120%
Hide in Shadows: 110%

Hair: Red
Eyes: light-green
Height: 5'7"

Spells
1st level: Magic Missle, Glamour, Sleep
2nd level: ESP, Produce Flame, Cause Fear
3rd level: Clairvoyance, Haste, Water Breathing
4th level: Arcane Eye, Phantasmal Killer

Immortal Arcana
Innate Magic: Suggestion (x3 per day)
Enhanced Senses

Archetype: The Immortal Teacher
Quote: "My name is Valerie Regina Beaumont. I was born in the year of our Lord, 1569, I am 415 years old. I am immortal, and I can not die. You, on the other hand, are not so lucky."
Quirks: Talks about the past as if she were there. Students think she is odd, but she was there.
Theme song: "Valleri" - The Monkees (written when Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart met her in the Summer of 1966) and "Valerie" - Steve Winwood (written by Steve Winwood and Will Jennings about her from a few years back).

Valerie was born in 1569 and is immortal. She was a young English girl who made her way to the New World in the year 1585. She came to the New World and settled in the Roanoke Colony, where she lived for a couple of years. Then something happened. She was caring for the young Virginia Dare and then woke up several days later, several miles from home. When she had managed to return to the colony, everyone was gone. She also discovered that she was immortal and was certain that the two were somehow linked.

Valerie spent the next few years roaming the new world. She learned magic from some of the few true witches in Salem and more from the indigenous Native Americans.

She has a ring on her right little finger that manages a glamour that "ages" her. A gift from a former lover. Currently, she appears to be in her mid-40s. Without the glamour, she appears as she did when she discovered her immortality, a young woman of 19. Her mind, though, is like someone just over 400.

Shadow Steel Sword

She also carries a long, thin blade made of "shadow steel," a rare form of steel that the Fae can use. It can attack any supernatural creature, even ones that are incorporeal or shifted out of phase.

Valerie is rather powerful. And I debated on whether to include her at all. But the truth is, she's just too damn fun not to. So how do I keep her out of the spotlight? Easy, Val is at a point in her very, very long life that she loves being a teacher and seeing these kids grow, but it also makes her sad because she knows she will outlive everyone. So she keeps her distance.

Mr. Warren Evans

Mr. Evans is a composite of a couple of teachers I had in High School, but his base began with Ezren, the iconic wizard from Pathfinder. I say "began" because he quickly grew beyond that. By day, Mr. Evans is a well-liked Math and Computer teacher who swears in class and tells kids the best thing they can do is think for themselves and that anyone over 30 is full of shit; him included.

By night, though, he goes to his home office with some computers he has built himself and is the hacker known only as "The Wizard." Here, he runs the BBS "Pathfinders," which tries to expose the truth about the supernatural occurrences in Jackson and beyond. He has hacked the Jackson PHS Football team's scoreboard, leaving, let's say, unflattering messages about the Assistant Principal. He has also hacked the billing systems at MacAlister College, but only to leave a message that they really need to upgrade their security. So he is an "ethical hacker," but his true fight is against the supernatural.

So by day Valerie and Warren are supportive co-workers and maybe even a flirty. But by night, they are on opposite sides of an ancient battle. Valerie wants to keep everything secret to protect herself and the kids. Warren want to expose it all, also to protect the kids. There is no contradiction here, and it makes their conflict more layered than just "alignment."

Mr. Warren "The Wizard" Evans
5th Level Sage/ 5th Level Inventor Human

Base Abilities
Strength: 12 (0)
Agility: 12 (0)
Toughness: 14 (+1)
Intelligence: 18 (+3) P
Wits: 16 (+2) s
Persona: 15 (+1) s

Vit: 21 (5d6)
DV: 9
Fate Points: 1d8

Check Bonus (P/S/T): +3/+2/+1
Melee bonus: +2 Ranged bonus: +2

Languages: English, German, Latin, Russian, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, Cobol, Pascal, Fortran
Skills: Computers (Int), Math (Int), Occult Knowledge (Int)

Saves: +4 vs. Spells and magical effects

Survivor Skills
Open Locks: 25%
Bypass Traps: 20%
Sleight of Hand: 30%
Move Silently: 30%
Hide in Shadows: 20%
Read Languages: 80%

Inventor Skills
Ingenuity Points: 2
Science! 75%

Hair: Brown, turning gray
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'10"

Archetype: The Ethical Hacker
Quote: "The system isn't broken. It's working exactly the way cheap people built it."
Quirks: Swears in class, constantly drinking coffee. Complains he is dealing with an administration that thinks the future is chalk.
Theme song: "The Wizard" - Black Sabbath

All of Evans' Inventor points have been put into his two customized Amiga computers. He likes these since he can buy parts for them without setting off any alarms, and they are cheap. Currently, they are several years ahead of what is considered state-of-the-art for the time. He has even replaced the chipsets in them with upgraded Motorola 68000-series RISC chips running overclocked at 20 MHz. He also has a few scrapped TRS-80s that he uses as dummy terminals.

He knows a few spells to deal with the supernatural. He doesn't consider them "magic" but "reality hacks."

Evans is a threat to any character with supernatural powers, like witches, psychics, or immortals. Which is too bad because he is actually a good guy.

The soundtrack for my campaign continues to grow. I will likely have some more teachers to detail in the future.

Night Shift^® is a registered trademark of Elf Lair, LLC.

Monday, April 6, 2026

Monstrous Mondays: Blink Bunny (and Summon Blink Bunny)

It is Easter Monday, or post Ostara if you prefer. So I figure I'll update one of my favorite silly monsters, the "Blink Bunny." I just love the idea of rabbits that pop in and out of reality and teleport everywhere.

Blink Bunny

Frequency: Rare
No. Appearing: 1-4
Armor Class: 7
Move: 18"
Hit Dice: 1-1
% in Lair: 0%
Treasure Type: None
No. of Attacks: 1
Damage/Attack: 1-2
Special Attacks: Nil
Special Defenses: Blink
Magic Resistance: Standard
Intelligence: Low
Alignment: Neutral
Size: S
Psionic Ability: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
Level/X.P. Value: I / 14 + 1 per hit point

Blink bunnies are small faerie rabbits, most often white in color, though grey, brown, and black specimens are also known. They are favored by witches, warlocks, and magic-users as messengers, and are sometimes mistaken for unusual familiars. In truth, they are not familiars, but rather a peculiar sort of minor faerie creature possessed of an innate power of magical transit.

A blink bunny can remember and carry a spoken message of up to twelve words. When sent to a place it has previously visited, it may transport itself there instantly. If the destination is well known to the creature, this transit is exact. If the place is only imperfectly remembered, the Dungeon Master may use the same probabilities of error as given for the teleport spell. A blink bunny can never travel to a place it has not visited before.

These creatures are timid and avoid combat whenever possible. If attacked or threatened, a blink bunny will almost always flee by means of its blink ability. Though not brave, they are clever enough to recognize the intended recipient of a message and to wait until that person is present before delivering it.

Blink bunnies expect food upon arrival, usually greens, roots, berries, or similar fare. A blink bunny treated kindly will often bear a return message, but one that is ignored, mistreated, or left unfed will depart at once.

Blink: Once per round, in lieu of normal movement, a blink bunny may teleport up to 24". This movement is instantaneous and does not require a path free of obstruction, though the destination must be an open space large enough to contain the creature. Blink bunnies do not attack in the same round that they blink.

Summon Blink (Messenger) Bunny

(Conjuration/Summoning)

Level: Magic-user 2, Witch 1
Range: Special
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Special
Casting Time: 3 segments
Area of Effect: One creature
Saving Throw: None

This spell summons a Blink Bunny, a type of faerie creature that looks like a small white rabbit. The rabbit can be given a small message, no more than 12 words, and then sent to someone the caster knows. If the location is well known to the caster, then the teleportation is done without error. If the location is unknown, then the caster uses the same table for the magic-user spell teleport.

If the caster has an object belonging to the place the bunny is to visit or something from the person the bunny needs to communicate the message to, then the teleport is improved by one step of familiarity.

The blink bunny faithfully delivers the message and, if properly received and fed, may carry a reply of up to twelve words back to the caster. It cannot be forced to fight, scout, carry burdens, or perform any tasks other than message delivery. A bunny that is not fed might refuse to the next time the caster uses the spell.

Material Components: A bit of lettuce, a dandelion leaf, and a tuft of rabbit fur.