#RPGaDAY 2020: Day 11 Stack

Well. Last night's derecho here in the mid-west left me without power for a while, so I did not get a chance to write today's post ahead of time.

Today is Day 11 and the word is Stack.

This is a pretty easy one.  I typically have two stacks I am working on.

My TBR, to Be Read, Pile, and my Research Stack.

I mentioned my research stack yesterday.  I am going through a lot of books and some older D&D material to research my High Witchcraft Tradition.

My current TBR includes a lot of philosophy. I am currently working through "The Modern Intellectual Tradition: From Descartes to Derrida" by Prof. Lawerence Cahoone.  I am likely to continue this path with "The Philosophy of Science" and the "Great Scientific Ideas that Changed the World" or I might take a break from this and go with this "Early Middle Ages" book.  Or I might reread Robert A. Heinlein's "Friday."

Hard call. Depends on how drained I am after Cahoone's book. While I read philosophy of science in grad school, I have not read any philosophy proper, unless you count John Dewey or Paulo Freire, since I was an undergrad.  

Normally when I start a new project, like the High Witchcraft book, I find a book that supplements it well.  I have not done that this time. I hope my writing doesn't suffer for it.

#RPGaDAY 2020: Day 10 Want

When it comes to RPGs I really don't have a lot of "Wants."

I have been successful in my career so many daily needs of home, food, and health are all covered.  
I certainly don't *need* any books or games. I have enough here to last me the rest of my life and then some.

Though I do think back to a time when a combination of my low income, lack of access and lack of choice produced some Wants in my RPG life.  

The biggest examples of these are my various witch books.  

I have often said that the main drive behind everything I write and publish is a reflection of the wants I had of growing up in the 80s. 
I write the books I wanted to buy back then, but couldn't.  Sometimes that couldn't was because I could not afford it or didn't have access to a good Local Game Store. But most often it was because the books I wanted didn't even exist. 

So really nearly all my "wants" are in the form of "I want to write this book." or "I want to run this game."
And there are a lot of those.

I am currently working on two separate projects (well...more than two, but these are the two I am talking about today).  I have alluded to them both in passing, but I guess today is a good day to make them official.

First, and since today is Monstrous Monday it is good to mention it, is my book on monsters.

The Basic Bestiary: Monsters from the Other Side is my homage to the Fiend Folio and the source of many of those monsters, The Fiend Factory from White Dwarf magazine. 

This book takes monsters that have appeared in my various witch books and monsters that have been featured on Monstrous Mondays.  So very much like the Fiend Folio.  I have even retained the alliteration of the original monster books.  Like the Fiend Folio I am including some new, never before seen monsters as well.  Also like the Fiend Folio/Fiend Factory relationship not all the Monstrous Mondays monsters will go into this book. I am going to leave some of the sillier or snarkier monsters out.

It was the original Monster Manual that got me into D&D all the way back in the 70s.  This also stands as my homage to that.

Presently the book is 220+ with 300+ monsters and no art yet.  So far on par with the original monster books.  The final art for the cover is not yet set and there will be a soft-cover version for fans of "Basic-era" D&D and a hard-cover for fans of "Advanced-era" D&D. While I love the Fuseli art, it predates my beloved Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood art by about 80 years.  But, given the source material, it is quite apropos.  Though I might look for something that works better as a full cover. I am just loathed to not use this somehow.  Unless I can find something from say, Hieronymus Bosch. but he is even further outside my Pre-Raphaelite time period.

Second I have what I have been calling my "Last Witch Book."

The High Secret Order: The High Witchcraft Tradition is going to be the culmination of everything I have written about the witch to date.

Every witch book under the Basic-era Games banner I have written was designed to capture a particular Zeitgeist of playing.  Daughters of Darkness captured the witch as an evil temptress vibe.  The Children of the Gods: The Classical Witch captured that Fall/Winter of 1979 when I was heavy into mythology and picked up the Monster Manual for the first time and my experimentations with the Holmes Basic book.  The Basic Witch: The Pumpkin Spice Witch was not going for any particular time save for the fun of Halloween.  The Craft of the Wise: The Pagan Witch was made to capture the time playing Moldvay/Cook & Marsh B/X D&D game and my times discovering both Norse and Celtic myth as an alternative to Greek myths.

As the last Basic-era Witch book this book covers the time of me moving away from Basic-era D&D towards Advanced D&D. Though it is less about a "time" and more about a "process."  I can go with the process of moving from Holmes Basic (and their promise of a witch class) to AD&D.  I can go with the Greyhawk supplement for OD&D as the first real springboard towards what would become AD&D. Or I can go with my own process of moving from B/X Basic to AD&D and a time when we all mixed all the above freely and without concern that we were "doing it right."

Such things might not matter to you, or they might. I just want to capture that time/feeling and make it solid just for a little bit. My gift to that young teen in the middle of the mid-west who could not get his hands on the books he wanted. Let alone books with witches and demons in it in the 80s in an extremely White-Christian small town.  My book is the book form of the Santana song "Hold On" which consequently is from the same time period.

Again. Like Basic Bestiary above the art is not 100% final. I like Daniel Gardner's painting, but again he is outside of myPre-Raphaelite time period. The "compatible with" designation is not on yet since I am not 100% sure which game I want to make this compatible with.  I have a few choices, but the idea is to capture the proper feel of the time and I need to look to a clone ruleset that does the time in mind well.  Just like Children of the Gods was my time with Holmes, Blueholme Rules was a perfect fit. Basic Bestiary will go with Labyrinth Lord. 

So far my research into my last witch book is moving ahead, but not a lot of writing yet.

I keep saying "last witch book" because there are other things I want to do. I'd love to write some 5e material and I even have a good idea for a 5e series.

I have a Blue Rose book coming out soon which I am pretty happy with and I have had a desire to write some more for BESM4 after picking it up earlier this summer.

So there is a lot I want to do.

#RPGaDAY 2020: Day 9 Light

Hmm. Light. Light has not been on my mind very much lately.

Shadow has.

Often when talking about light one also brings up dark as in the opposite of, or the absence of, light.  If you pay any attention to what is going on in the world of D&D publishing now there has been a strong push to change, or alter, the nature of certain "dark" races like Drow and Orcs.  I am not going to get into that today, nor do I even find the topic particularly interesting.  Want "good" Drow? Ok. Fine have them. Want good orcs? Sure! They existed in 2nd Ed, nothing new here. My Desert Orcs have been portrayed as "good" since I came up with them.

But if an "evil" race or species can be good, then a "good" race can also be evil.  I pretty much play elves as xenophobic assholes who really don't give two-shits about humans and frankly are just hoping they all kill themselves off.  Are they evil? No, but they are not "good" either.

But extremes are dull. They are cartoon versions of the people I want to represent.  Give me nuance. Give me flaws AND strengths.  Good and Evil. Light and Dark.  

Give me Shadows.

I got to thinking back in June when I was doing my BECMI work I picked a copy of the Shadow Elves guide for the BECMI system.   The Shadow Elves of Mystara are more interesting than Drow.  They are little more nuanced than the Drow are, and this was back in the late 80s.

While reading this I could not help but think of the Shadar-kai from newer D&D. The Shadar-kai from 3rd and 5th Edition D&D are a type of elf/fey, but they were more human-like in D&D 4 where they got the largest treatment.  

There is also the Shadow Fey from Kobold Press which are also interesting.

Between all these treatments there is something I am sure I can use. 

#RPGaDAY 2020: Day 8 Shade

I was going to do something today on Shadow Elves and the Shadar-kai, but I am going to hold off on that since my son pointed out some more 5e material on them. 

So lets go with another favorite Shade of mine.  Djinn in the Shade.

Djinn is a a very talented artist who loves to draw her D&D characters and others.  
I featured her as a Featured Artist a while back (and I really need to do more of those).   But she is just so much fun I was looking for any excuse to talk about her again.

You can find her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, but the best place is her Pateron site where she has a lot of art. 

Now a lot of it ranges to the adult to the very adult end of the spectrum, but all of it is so much fun.

I am particularly pleased with all the art she has done for me over the last year or more, including a lot of my iconic witch Larina. 

In fact she rather loves my little witch and has included here in this AWESOME comic where all her patrons of her Pateron site submitted their D&D characters to a pirate cruise, battle, and party afterward.

The battle itself is a little too risque even for my blog! But here are some pieces of it.

To see all the rest you will have to become a patron. Want to join here D&D parties like these? Then absolutely become a patron.

You can find her at:

• Pateron: https://www.patreon.com/djinnintheshade/posts
• DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/djinninthebox
• Twitter (sometimes NSFW): https://twitter.com/Djinninthebox
• Instagram (Main): https://www.instagram.com/djinninthebox/
• Instagram (sorta NSWF): https://www.instagram.com/djinnintheshade/
• Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/djinninthebox
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djinninthebox-407996516407917

#RPGaDAY 2020: Day 7 Couple

I could go a number of places with this one, but I think I know what, or more to point, who I want to talk about.

Back when I was working The Craft of the Wise: The Pagan Witch Tradition I wanted to go back through my years of notes, not just on witches and witchcraft or even my notes on playing a B/X-style game, but on who were the Pagans I was trying to represent.  So I took a two-pronged approach.

Lars and Siân from HeroForge

First. I looked to the rules I was going to be using.  In this case, it was the Old School Essentials from Necrotic Gnome, in particular, the Advanced Fantasy: Genre Rules. That was the feel I was going with.  

I wanted to create some characters to mimic the feel of a "pagan world."  At the same time I was organizing my other RPG books and was thumbing through the game Keltia and it's companion game Yggdrasill.  Both really captured the feel I wanted in a "Pagan World" game.   So I took two character concepts from here, one from each game, and looked to translate them into OSE, Rules As Written.

What character types fit this notion of both Celtic and Norse/Scandinavian Paganism?

Simple. The Druid and the Bard.  Both classes have their roots in Pagan Europe and might even be two of the most "pagan" classes out there save for the Barbarian. 

Since my iconic witch Larina is often used to test my new witch classes once they are written, I wanted these two other characters to be my tests for the materials I was still writing.  I like to keep my variables to a minimum when playtesting, so starting with established classes is always my first choice.  If Larina is my witch, then these are the parents of the witch.  Who they were now was easy.

Introducing Lars & Siân

Since I was playtesting a Pagan game I used our world circa 350-500AD.  Lars is a Bard from Denmark. He was a member of a raiding party heading towards the British Isles.  I choose to ignore the Romans there for this since it worked out better for me.  The ship that Lars was on was beset by terrible storms (same sort that would bedevil King James over a 1000 years later) and his ship, and all the raiders were lost.  
He washed ashore in Wales (they had gone through the English Channel.  I never said they were good or even smart raiders) and was encountered by the locals where they nursed him back to health.  They recognized that he was a bard (or a skald in his own language) and thought it would be ill-advised to harm him.  He was given over to the protection of Siân, a druidess.  If this sounds familiar then I essentially ripped off the story of Amergin Glúingel and his journey to Ireland. Though Lars was not a Milesian.
There was some initial mistrust, but soon they fell in love and consummated their relationship on Beltane night.  Some 38 weeks later, Larina was born.

It amused me to use these characters, ones really brand new to me, to be the parents of a character I know so well. 

Lars

Lars, son of Nichols 
Lawful Male Human Bard, 12th level

Str: 13
Int: 17
Wis: 16
Dex: 14
Con: 13
Cha: 18

HP: 42
AC: 5 (leather armor, ring of protection)

Spells
First: Detect Danger, Predict Weather, Speak with Animals
Second: Cure Light Wounds, Obscuring Mists, Produce Flame
Third: Hold Animal, Protection from Poison, Water Breathing
Fourth: Cure Serious Wounds, Summon Animals

Lars, despite his name, is not based on Lars Ulrich. If anything he based on a combination of Donovan and Van Morrison. 

Siân

Siân nic Stefon 
Neutral Female Human Druid, 12th level

Str: 10
Int: 16
Wis: 18
Dex: 12
Con: 12
Cha: 17

HP: 38
AC: 5 (leather armor, ring of protection)

Spells
First: Animal Friendship, Entangle, Faerie Fire, Predict Weather, Speak to Animals
Second: Barkskin, Create Water, Cure Light Wounds, Obscuring Mists, Slow Poison
Third: Call Lightning, Hold Animal, Protection from Poison, Tree Shape, Water Breathing
Fourth: Cure Serious Wounds, Dispel Magic, Protection from Fire & Lightning, Temperature Control
Fifth: Commune with Nature, Control Weather, Transmute Rock to Mud, Wall of Thorns

I once said "I don't explore dungeons, I explore characters" and I had a great time exploring these two.

It's like reading the Superman stories that take place on Krypton before the planet explodes. Here I explored the Pagan world before Christianity took over (appealing) AND two characters that shaped one of my most important characters. 

I loved using HeroForge to make these as well.  Lars has Larina's face and hair color. Siân has the same body and staff as my first version print of Larina so many years ago.  This pleases me to no end.  Siân's face is that of a half-elf with human ears since I consider her to have a bit of sidhe blood in her, but that is true of all the Welsh I think. 

I might have to get these. They are two of my new favorite characters. Plus I am so pleased with how the different versions of Larina turned out I am going to have to get her mom and dad!

For those that are curious, yes, I am working on a Digest sized version of Craft of the Wise. Out very soon I hope!

#RPGaDAY 2020: Day 6 Forest

“A witch ought never to be frightened in the darkest forest, Granny Weatherwax had once told her, because she should be sure in her soul that the most terrifying thing in the forest was her.”

― Terry Pratchett, Wintersmith

From the primeval forests of our genetic race-memories to Sherwood to Mirkwood, to forest-covered moons in a galaxy far, far away.  The Forest has long been the boundary between what is civilized and safe to what is uncivilized, untamed, wild, and most definitely, not safe. 

The "Goblin" Forrest of Haven

The forested area outside of West Haven in the Haven Valley is an old-growth forest of ancient date.  The expanse westward left this forested area surprising untouched.  Located north-west of West Haven the forest has always had a reputation of being haunted by all sorts of unsavory creatures. 

In the mid to late 1600s when the Haven Valley was first settled, the local parish in what would become East Haven decried the forest, claiming it was the abode of Satan himself and set to burn it down.  A tree, that was by all claims to be healthy and sturdy, fell and killed three of the parishioners include the town's Calvinist priest.  Several other "bizarre" accidents and people began to claim that the forest was inhabited by goblins and other foul creatures.  It was here it earned the name "The Goblin Wood" or "The Goblin Forest."

Even when the Industrial Revolution hit in the 1800s and trees for miles around were fed to the Gods of the Furnace and Industry, the Goblin Wood remained untouched.  

Now in the 21st Century, the Goblin Wood remains but there is still an air of mystery and danger about it.  While the general population doesn't believe in goblins, ghosts or even witches anymore there are still plenty of strange occurrences.  

The local USGS office claims the area is rich in naturally occurring magnetic ore.  They claim that the particular features of both the forest and the Haven Valley, in general, disrupt cell phone coverage and GPS signals.  One surveyor even claimed he could see the laser he was using for measuring "bend," though no amount of ore outside one as massive as a black hole could do that.  People walking into the wood with cell phones or GPS devices will find themselves going in circles rather than a straight line.

While scientists, meteorologists, and geologists have all come up with interesting theories about why the Haven Forest is the way it is, the people of West and East Haven know the truth.  And staying out of the forest at night is the one thing both communities can agree on.

If you don't think I have witches guarding all my forests and wild areas in my games you have not been paying attention.

#RPGaDAY 2020: Day 5 Tribute

This is not the Greatest RPG in the World.  This is just a Tribute.

I have gone on record many, many times on how I feel that CJ Carella's WitchCraft is one of the, if not the, greatest RPGs I have ever played.  Yes. Even better than D&D.

I have also gone on record stating that my Ghosts of Albion game is really nothing more than an extended love letter to WitchCraft in Victorian prose.

Really, I would love to see an update to WitchCraft from Eden, but I am not holding my breath for it.

Another tribute is NIGHT SHIFT.

Night Shift is a tribute to the types of games Jason and I have been fond of playing over the years we have known each other.  So there are tributes here to Old-school D&D, to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to Chill, to Call of Cthulhu and of course to WitchCraft. 

As much as I love Ghosts of Albion and Night Shift they can't take the place that WitchCraft has in my heart.  There are some things that both games can do better than WitchCraft, I did have the advantage of playing many games to add to my experiences, but still, WitchCraft remains.

Maybe one day some designer will write their tribute to Ghosts of Albion or to Night Shift!

And since we are talking tributes.

Which is, of course, a tribute to this, 

#RPGaDAY 2020: Day 4 Vision

"I was raised by witches boy, I see with more than eyes and you know that."

- Frigga to Thor in 2013, Avengers Endgame

Call me biased, but I have always liked the idea that witches see things that other character types don't.  Not just in terms of "infravision" or "dark vision" but in just "other vision."

A couple of house rules that I always use are witches can see ghosts, spirits, and other sorts of magical creatures that are typically invisible to others.  They can see magical auras which they can tell something about the person they are looking at.  Most importantly they can recognize other witches on sight.

Mechanically it really doesn't add much to D&D.  I argue the kinds of ghosts and things the witch can see are harmless to everyone.  But if you can see them, then they can see you.  So they are not always harmless to the witch herself.

In Ghosts of Albion, this type of vision is known as "Lesser Sensing" and it is something all magical creatures, including magicians and witches, have.   

Witches and Warlocks in NIGHT SHIFT do this as part of their class.

I have extended it to my fantasy games where it is just called "The Sight."

In D&D3-5 or Pathfinder1-2, it could easily be a Feat.  For my Basic-era witches an Occult Power.

The Sight

Using the Sight requires a moment of concentration but then the witch can See.  She can see magical auras that will give her some basic information on what she is looking at.

She can See:

- magical effects such as active spells, charms, curses or compulsions on a person

- magical lines of force (ley lines)

- whether or not a person is a spell-caster* (she can always detect another witch)

- undead

With more concentration (1 round) she can See:

- Invisible creatures

- alignment 

- polymorphed, shape-changed or lycanthropes

The subject of the witch's Sight knows they are being Seen. They get an uncomfortable feeling and know it is coming from the witch, even if they do not know what it means.

That's the rough version, it would need to be tweaked for the respective games.  For example it would work with D&D 5's perception skill. 

#RPGaDAY 2020: Day 3 Thread

Over the weekend two game-related thoughts kept going through my head.  Frist Gen Con and how we were all missing it and the adventures I was going to run for my family and the theme of Thread.

Since D&D 5 had come out I have been running my family through the "Gygaxian Classics." while we technically started with B1 In Search of the Unknown with AD&D 1st ed, we quickly moved to D&D 5.  From here we did B2 Keep on the Borderlands and moved through the Great Greyhawk Campaign.  We have been calling the group The Order of the Platinum Dragon. 

Our order of games has been:

T1 Village of Hommlet (forgotten by the characters, played as a flashback after I6)

B1 In Search of the Unknown (Gen Con Game)

B2 Keep on the Borderlands

L1 The Secret of Bone Hill  (Gen Con Game)

X2 Castle Amber

I6 Ravenloft (Gen Con Game)

C2 Ghost Tower of Inverness

A1-5 Slave Lords

C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan

G123, G4 Against the Giants  (Gen Con Game)

D12, 3 Descent into the Depths of the Earth, Vault of the Drow

Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits (Gen Con Game)

I wanted my family to have the "Classic D&D Experience) with this.  Communities are often defined by the stories they share. These are the stories we all share.  How did you defeat Strahd? Did you shout 'Bree Yark'? What did you do in the Hill Giant's dining room?   Did you survive the Demonweb?

One of the things I have been doing differently than the original narrative is thread everything together with a massive conspiracy.  Someone, or something, killed all the Gods of the Sun.  

The characters (and the players) have come to the conclusion that this something is the Elder Elemental Eye.  But they don't know who or what that is.

They have learned that Eclavdra betrayed her Goddess, Lolth, and has incited a civil war within the city of Erelhei-Cinlu.  The followers of Lolth vs the followers of the Elder Elemental Eye.

What they don't know yet is who has been manipulating these threads.  Behind the scenes, the Demon Lord Graz'zt has been scheming.  In my world Graz'zt has always coveted the Drow. He wants their devotion and is jealous of the iron hold Lolth has on them.  So he has been stirring her up into more and more desperate attacks on the Prime Material.  He is using Eclavdra and her devotion to the EEE to get to Lolth.  Eclavdra thinks Graz'zt can free the EEE from his prison in the Temple of Elemental Evil.  To this end Elcavdra has been using what is left of the EEE former followers, or rather their descendants, the Giants.  Titans and Primordials followed the EEE back in the Dawn War.  Graz'zt thinks he can control the EEE once he has the worship of the Drow.

What Elcavdra doesn't know is Graz'zt has no intention of releasing the EEE from the Temple of Elemental Evil, save as far as he wants that power too.  Graz'zt is not a demon at all, but rather a devil sent by Asmodeus to infiltrate the demon hierarchy and discover the source of pure evil for Asmodeus.  Graz'zt has gone too deep into the cold though and now he thinks like a demon lord. Asmodeus suspects this of course.  Both of these powerful evil creatures will betray each other on the first chance.

Graz'zt has long suspected that the Temple of Elemental Evil is the key.  Centuries ago he sent the Demon Lady Zuggtmoy into the Temple. He discovered she was essentially absorbed by the power of the EEE. Now her cults worship it. 

What none of the evil lords and ladies know though is that the EEE is really Tharizdûn. He is manipulating Graz'zt and Asmodeus to free him.  He tried with Graz'zt before and Graz'zt sent in Zuggtmoy.  Tharizdûn quickly overwhelmed, overpowered, and destroyed Zuggtmoy's form and spirit.  This gave Tharizdûn enough power though to put his final plans into action.  He needs the Temple of Elemental Evil open. Only Lolth has the keys to unlock the Temple.

And in my next adventure with the family, Graz'zt is going to get them.

That was supposed to happen this last weekend, but Gen Con shut down due to Covid-19 we did not get to do this.

One thing that never sat well with me, and many others, is that after this epic adventure of Giants and Drow and going to the Abyss the end antagonist is Lolth and her Spider-ship?  It seems a little anti-climatic. 

Instead of that my last layer of the Lolth Demonweb will be Skein of the Death Mother.  

The spider-ship will still be used in my ill-defined Q2 adventure, likely piloted by Eclavdra to invade the surface world, but starting with the houses still loyal to Lolth in Erelhei-Cinlu.

I am going to pull all these threads, and more, together with the grand finale, The Temple of Elemental Evil. 

Then I am looking forward to running my War of the Witch Queens.

#RPGaDAY 2020: Day 2 Change

Change, they tell us, is good. 

It is good in life and in games.  I feel in order to be good at running or playing any RPG you need to change your style of playing every so often and the best way to do this is to change your games.

It is no secret I really enjoy D&D.  But it is also not the only game I play, not by any stretch.

Mark Twain once said "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."  The same can be said of "travelling" to other worlds.   

Want to make your D&D games scarier? Play Call of Cthulhu.  Want to give it more of a historical feel? Play Pendragon. Want to give your games a more magical feel? Play Ars Magica or it's half-sister Mage.  Occult conspiracies? Play WitchCraft and Conspiracy X. 

I honestly get confused when people tell me they only play D&D. Or even, just one version of D&D. 

That's like only ever reading one book your entire life (and yes I know those people too).

My interests in RPGs are horror, magic, Celtic-myths and legends, and Victorian-era gaming.  I bring these into my games when and where I can.  Ok, so Victorian era not so much in D&D, but there are ideas I like to bring over. 

My games are better because I have had these other experiences.  My game writing is better because I have had these other experiences.

So maybe when you need to improve your own games, try changing it out for a little bit. 

#RPGaDAY 2020: Day 1 Beginning

It is August.  Where did the Summer go? Plus I should be at Gen Con now getting my kids to breakfast for a day of gaming. 

It is an August tradition for David F. Chapman of AUTOCRATIK to host the month-long #RPGaDAY. 

Like last year, this year we are given one-word prompts for our reflections.

Here are this year's prompts.

1. Beginning
2. Change
3. Thread   
4. Vision
5. Tribute
6. Forest
7. Couple
8. Shade
9. Light
10. Want
11. Stack
12. Message
13. Rest
14. Banner
15. Frame
16. Dramatic
17. Comfort   
18. Meet
19. Tower
20. Investigate    
21. Push    
22. Rare
23. Edge
24. Humour
25. Lever
26. Strange
27. Favor
28. Close
29. Ride
30. Portal
31. Experience

Some jumped right out at me with ideas.  Others might take a me a bit more to come up with a good idea.

So let's go with today's word Beginning.

I have told the story here of my beginning in D&D and RPG many times. So no need to go over that.

Instead, I want to talk about the beginning of my blogging.

Back in 2007 I had no real intention of starting a blog, let alone one based around old-school games.  My website, The Other Side, was dead and I was working on my 2nd Ph.D. and working full time.

I started the blog after reading online about some old-school games and thought it might be fun to try. 

There were not a lot of blogs in the old-school scene yet. I started in 2007 but did not get going till 2008.  Grognardia didn't get started till about a year after I did, but built up more steam.  Most of the blogs from then, like Grognardia, are gone. Tenkar's started soon after Grognardia and is still around and has become the hub of the Old-School and OSR movements. 

I did not really plan to get into the OSR even as it was rising up around me.  I just wanted a place I could talk about D&D one day, WitchCraft the next, maybe talk about some horror movies or comics and then go on a little about Mage or other World of Darkness books.

Well...that was over 4331 posts and 13 years ago.

Since then I have spilled a lot of words here. I would like to think this writing has made my games better or at least my own books better. Will I be doing this for the next 13 years? No idea. But it has been a great ride so far!

Make sure you check out all the #RPGaDAY posts at https://twitter.com/autocratik.

#RPGaDAY2019: Last

Today's topic is Last.

Here we are at the Last.  The last post of the 2019 #RPGaDay.  What have we all shared and learned?

It has been a real treat to interact with so many people here on my blog and online.

I found a lot of great new people on Instagram and Twitter and that has been great.
I discovered a couple of new games that I hope to get to try out someday.

My personal goal was do all of these.  Last year I was going through some health issues that prevented me from getting last year's done (nothing major and it is taken care of now), same with the October Horror Movie Challenge.

I am of the frame of mind that the ending of one thing is the start of something new.  I am a big believer of “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

So with that I close the door on #RPGaDAY2019 and look forward to the October Horror Movie Challenge and #RPGaDAY for 2020.

#RPGaDAY2019: Connection

Today's topic is Connection.

While in games this is an easy thing to do, in the online-related world of selling games it is a bit harder.

One of the big reasons I wanted to do this #RPGaDay was the potential of connecting with others.  To see what sort of cool things we are all doing and share it that.  Like my post yesterday I mentioned I enjoy a lot of games. I also enjoy talking to people that make games.  All sorts of games really.

Ultimately I want more people to see my games and me to see other people's games too.

Drop me a note if you discovered me through the #RPGaDAY2019.  I am very curious.

#RPGaDAY2019: Evolve

Today's topic is Evolve.

I think most gamers would agree that their play style will evolve over the years.  How have their games evolved?

I have had the pleasure and the privilege to have run many games over many years. Decades really.

The way I played in the late 70s and early 80s is very different than what I was doing in the late 90s and early 2000s and those are both very different than today.

I think if I had to describe my growth or change (who knows if a change is better until you test it) it is not Evolution but rather Assimilation. 

Even in the very beginning, I was taking ideas from other games and making them part of my own game.

I have talked at length about my love of the RPG Chill.  I have also talked at great length of my love for story and character of Dracula.   I always wanted a vampire like Dracula in my games. But more than just the stats in the Monster Manual or the D&D Expert book.  A real, un-breathing, un-living character to go after the characters. Or, more to the point, the character to go after.

Enter Chill Vampires.

This book and the Vampyre mini-game from TSR gave me something D&D was not. A playable Dracula (and Elizabeth Bathory and Jackson Dela Croix and more) with Dracula's castle.  I worked it in and came up with a 13 HD version of Dracula and a brief adventure stolen from the pages of Marvel Comics version of Dracula.
Then in 1983 the Hickmans did it all several orders of magnitude better with Ravenloft.  So yeah I grabbed that and all vampires in my games became named NPCs.  There was no such thing as a random vampire, lich or spectre in my games after that.

I suppose then it is no surprise I ended up working on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG.

In a way, Ghosts of Albion is that assimilation in reverse. Starting with my then pinnacle of achievements (the Buffy line) and adding in elements from my past (Chill, D&D, and WitchCraft).

Even today I grab what I want from other games and mix as I need.  It is one of the reasons I have a Plays Well With Others feature here.  I have a new one coming up too that is a subset of that.  Can't wait to debut it.

This is also the reason I don't understand the attitude of "One True Wayism"  even if I didn't take material from other games in my playing I would still change over the years, so I know there is no one true way.  I have also worked on too many different games to believe that.

When I hear someone say "I only play D&D." or "I will never try game X." my first thought is "wow, how sad for you."  There are so many great games out there and even if I never play them all (and I couldn't possibly) that does not diminish their worth. Who knows, maybe the next love of my life is out there now sitting on someone's computer waiting to be published.  I might get to play it, but I will certainly adapt it for games.

#RPGaDAY2019: Love

Today's topic is Love.

There are a lot of things I love about RPGs.  I could go on about the games I love, or the social aspects, or the friends I have made over the years.  But today I think I want to talk about one love I have not talked about before.

Gen Con.

I love Gen Con.  I do.  The larger it gets the more I love it.  I started going only recently, the last 12 years, but I love everything about it.

I love the spectacle, I love the dealer's hall, the food trucks, staying in the hotel with my family, playing games all day and all night.

Every year for the last few years we have been staying at the same hotel, the JW Marriot Indy, so showing up there feels like, well, coming home.  My kids love the hotel and we are within walking distance of everything we want.  The Marriot has open gaming till 3:00am in their ballrooms, so it has been our tradition to play a game of D&D 5 for the last 5-6 years every night.

Every year we also try out new places to eat and we LOVE the food trucks. We love the cosplay parade and all the cosplay there.

Of course, there are the games.  I try to get a nice variety in with the kids. We try out new games, play some old ones.  One year I did "The History of D&D" for my family where we played every edition we could get into. Where else can you do that?

This is no slight to other cons, I have had great times there too.  But Gen Con is our love.
I also know that people complain it is "too big", not me.  I love the fact that 70,000 people are there.

It is a great feeling to be in a place where 70k+ people are there all for the same reasons.  It is a wonderful time. 

I know there will be a time when we don't go. My kids are getting older, it is getting more expensive and that drive from Chicago to Indy is the WORST.  But for now, I am going to enjoy Gen Con with my family. 

#RPGaDAY2019: Suspense

Today's topic is Suspense.

Want Suspense?

How's this.  Tune in later today for a big announcement! ;)

#RPGaDAY2019: Idea

Today's topic is Idea.

Ideas come from a lot of different places.  For example, this weekend's big idea came from my desire to do something big.

I am wrapping up my first big D&D 5 campaign, The Order of the Platinum Dragon, which will end in the Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits, but instead of using the "Steampunk" spider ship, I am going with the fan-created adventure Skein Of The Death Mother by John A. Turcotte.

My idea is to do something really special.

I have 5 2ft x 2ft pieces of a shitty particle-board.  I have tubing, I have some LED lights. I have a ton of plastic spiders and a few broken mini-figures. I will get some spider-webs from the Halloween store, some gaming paper, some paint.  I bet there are some maps I can print too.

I am going to build some giant "geomorphs".

The plan is not really to replicate the map above but to get the feel of it.  I am likely to make rooms close to 13, 21 and 26 above, but also do some of the clusters of smaller rooms too.

I have 5  boards, so I figure I can "geomorph" them enough to build something really cool and flexible.

It should not take me too long, unless I get loss in the details, but it should still be fun.

#RPGaDAY2019: Calamity

Today's topic is Calamity.

In many ways, this post is a continuation of my post on Lost.

One of the things all my Lost Lands have in common is they are lost due to some calamity.

Atlantis, Doggerland and East Beleriand were taken back by the sea.  Their secrets hidden by the waves.

For the Suel Empire, it was the Rain of Colorless Fire.  And that makes it interesting.

I think flooding is something we can get.  We see it. Some have experienced it.  I  grew up near the Illinois River Valley.  My wife grew up near the Fox River Valley (it was her backyard).  We have both seen several "once in a lifetime" floods.   Flooding I get. I know what happens, even when it is terrible.

Fire from the sky?  That is some apocalypse-level shit.

I think that is also one of the reasons that attracted me so much to the whole Suel Empire.  Their world was just under a sea, in this case the Sea of Dust, but they were wiped out by fire.  Like Pompei.

A good calamity can add some gravitas to your world.  Plus it helps explain all those lost treasure hordes dragons seem to have.

Rain of Fire 

Level: Witch Ritual 6

Ritual Requirements: Minimum 3 witches, see text

Range: See text

Duration: See text

"It is said that only those that give life know the price of taking a life.  This is why originally only witches were given the power to destroy." 

- From the Journal of Larina Nix

The witches of old had powerful rituals both of creating life and creating death. This ritual is very much the latter.

Three or more witches are needed for the most basic version of this horrible ritual, more witches added the more devastating the effects.  Each witch must know this ritual.

The witches take a prepared focus item, an effigy made from the same materials of their target.  Usually a town or a locale. Each witch contributes a bit of blood (1hp worth) to item's creation since life must be given to take life

Once the ritual has begun the witches make a plea and summons to dark gods of vengeance, destruction, and fire.   The pleas, once heard, will be answered in kind, with vengeance, destruction, and fire.   

The witches then burn the effigy, each providing the flame via magic.  Once that is done the fire rains down on the actual location destroying it and anyone in it.  Victims can run from the location if they make it out of the area, they will be safe, but a save vs. Spells must be made or take 1d6 hp of damage per all the level of the witches involved, or half on a save.

Witches Participating	Minimum Damage	Area Sq. Miles
3	36d6	5
4	48d6	10
5	60d6	25
6	72d6	50
7	84d6	100
8	96d6	250
9	108d6	500
10	120d6	1,000
12	144d6	2,500
13	156d6	5,000

Material Components: The effigy of the place targeted, made with materials from the target. Each witch also uses a rod of ash that she uses to focus her energy on the effigy then they raise their rods to sky to direct the energy out to the target.  Each witch also contributes 1hp worth of blood in the casting.

This ritual is rare and all witches must know the ritual in order to cast it.

I wonder what lies in the Suel Cities of Dust?  Treasures? The Suel people preserved only as ashen shells?  One day I should find out.

Water was running; children were running 
You were running out of time 
Under the mountain, a golden fountain 
Were you praying at the Lares shrine? 

But oh your city lies in dust, my friend 

We found you hiding we found you lying
Choking on the dirt and sand
Your former glories and all the stories
Dragged and washed with eager hands 

But oh your city lies in dust, my friend 

Water was running; children were running
We found you hiding we found you lying 

But oh your city lies in dust, my friend 
Hot and burning in your nostrils
Pouring down your gaping mouth
Your molten bodies blanket of cinders
Caught in the throes 

And your city lies in dust