Showing posts with label CnC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CnC. Show all posts

Monday, September 19, 2016

Monstrous Mondays: Woodwose for Castles & Crusades

A couple of things came together for me this week.  First off I have been going through all my Castles & Crusades material.  My son is getting ready for the game he runs with his group so I have been cleaning my game room, reorganizing my shelves and reading a lot of C&C.

I have been wanting to do something cool with C&C for a very long time.  So I am torn as to whether I am going to use it for my "Second Campaign" or "War of the Witch Queens".  I have a lot of good in-universe reasons to use this for the Second Campaign, but there is SO much of what is native to C&C that make me really want to use it for War of the Witch Queens.
In particular, books like the Haunted Highlands and Codex Celtarum are just full of ideas.

Today I wanted to update a monster I did a while back that was also recently updated on the newbiedm.com blog; the Woodwose.

You can see my version for Basic Era games here:
http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2015/03/woodwose-for-basic-era-games.html

Newbie DM's version, based on a 2nd Edition version I knew nothing about here:
https://newbiedm.com/2016/09/12/monster-conversion-woodwose/

Here is a new version for Castles & Crusades.

Note: this is different that the Woodwose class found in the Codex Celtarum.

Woodwose
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 5–30
SIZE: Small
HD: 2 (d4)
MOVE: 20 ft.,
AC: 13
ATTACKS: Weapon
SPECIAL: Spell–Like Abilities,  Twilight Vision,  takes 2x damage from cold iron
SAVES: M
INT: Average
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
TYPE: Fey
TREASURE: 1
XP: 45+1

The Woodwose, or "the Wild-Man of the Wood" is faerie creature related to the brownie and buckwan. These creatures typically look like small, old men completely covered in hair. Their hair can vary from brown, to light yellow to even green.  These creatures stand about 4' to 4 1/2' tall though some have been reported as small at 2' and others as tall 7' tall.   They have a language, a very early form of Sylvan, that they use among themselves but they can speak elven when talking to others.

As their name would suggest the woodwose are a wild, barely civilized race. Much of their time is spent in raiding the homes of other faerie creatures stealing food, treasures, and their women.  Woodwose that live close to human settlements have also been known to attack an outlying farm or prey on a lone traveler.   They are only brave in packs and rarely venture out of their burrows alone.  Despite their size a woodwose will attack any creature up to and including, ogre-sized, if they have the numbers.  Woodwose fear and avoid elves.

For every 6 woodwose encountered 1 will be a shaman capable of casting spells as a 2nd level druid.  For every 12 one of those 2 shamans will be 3rd level.  At 24 woodwose, a small community, there will be a shaman with the powers and spells as a 4th level druid.
In any case all woodwose are capable of casting the druid spell Shillelagh on their club once per day.  They are also capable of casting Pass Without a Trace at will as many times as they need.
Woodwose will be wary of adventurers unless they can outnumber them 2-3 to 1.

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Review: Beneath the Dome

Beneath the Dome is an adventure for the Castles & Crusades game by none other than James M. Ward.  The current versions out in game stores and OneBookShelf are a combination of four smaller adventures.  It is really like a small campaign or a longer adventure in four parts.

Each section challenges characters of progressively higher levels (1-5, 4-7, 10th and above) and deals with the invasion of a race of giant humanoids, the Amdromodon.   Aside: While the new monsters here are interesting enough, I couldn't help but think it might be cooler if instead, I replaced them with Slaadi from the old Fiend Folio.  But that was only a thought.

The adventures are interesting and I love the whole "invasion" and corruption vibe.  It made it feel a little different than your typical adventure dealing with outer planar creatures.   A little fleshing out with some other adventures the Castle Keeper could really make a nice campaign with this.  The only thing really missing is a very high level adventure where the PCs go to the plane of the Amdromodons.

There is a lot going on in this adventure(s) and it is a lot of fun really. In addition to the new monsters there are also some new spells.

The book itself is 36 pages.

Now.  I hate to be "that guy" but today I am going to be.
If your book needs so much editing that *I* notice it then you have some issues.  There is more going on here than the odd typo or comma splice. Some sections are so awkward in their phrasing and the way they were written it really made it difficult to read.  I know these complaints have been leveled against Troll Lords before and I have for the most part ignored them.  But this book for whatever reason seemed to be really bad.  Now the PDF might be updated, I don't know.  But the physical copy I have needs a lot of help.


Disclaimer: Links are affiliate links, this module was purchased as part of a Kickstarter add-on package.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Reviews: Castles & Crusades Adventures

My son is doing some gaming with his own group, so he has been spending a lot of time working on his own stuff.  So I have been reading a lot of Castles & Crusades.

I have to admit, and this is not really an admission since you all know this, but I love this game.
For me, it really hits a nice blend of 1st, 3rd and yes even 5th Edition.  Plus there is lot of material that I have not even been through yet.  The more I read it the more I REALLY want to use this for my War of the Witch Queens  adventures.

But before I do that I want to look at some of these adventures on their own merits.
Review Disclaimer:  I purchased these adventures as part of a Kickstarter add-on some time ago.



The Fantastic Adventure
This is a short adventure, 16 pages, for 4 to 8 characters of 1st to 3rd level. Actually, it is three very short adventures in a general area.  One flows to the next easily and can be run in a couple of sessions. The starting adventure revolves around finding a missing gem and this leads to the PCs saving a deranged golem.  There is also a host of really weird and interesting NPCs that could, if needed, be used as characters.  I know that C&C typically takes its cues from AD&D1, but this adventure felt like something right out of D&D Basic to me.  I mean that in the best way possible; I love D&D Basic.  This would make for a good first adventure to anyone new to C&C, but familiar with other FRPGs.
I often gush at the nostalgia fuel that Castles & Crusades often is for me, but this adventure really does capture a lot of the fun of playing in the late 70s and early 80s. Particularly the early 80s.  It is set in their larger, and somewhat more dangerous, World of Aihrde and can lead up to their other adventures.  Or it can stand alone for a couple nights of rolling dice and having fun.

I1 Into the Unknown: Vakhund
26 pages, for 4-6 characters levels 1 to 2.
Vakhund, Into the Unkown is a short adventure that builds up to some epic events in the later I series from Troll Lords for Castles & Crusades.  It starts out simple enough really. The party has been hired as guards for a caravan. Soon the wealthy merchant is dead and his daughter kidnapped.
Vakhund is interesting since for an adventure that has it's DNA in a game known as "Dungeons & Dragons" there are neither dragons nor dungeons (for the most part) in this adventure.  Typically for low level adventures there is a dungeon to explore. In this one the PCs are thrown right to a plot and it is rather interesting to be honest.

I2 Under Dark & Mistry Ground: Dzeebagd
34 pages, for 4-8 characters levels 2 to 4.
Following up on the events of I1 Vakhund the party finds the missing girl but uncovers a larger plot involving many local factions.  The conceit of the adventure is the party will be drawn in, but as far things go this is not a bad one.
This one is a bit longer than the last adventure and a bit more involved with all the factions.  This adventure can stand alone, but it works best as part of the I trilogy.  Interaction with the NPCs is really what makes this adventure so the game master should read up on all of them and their motivations ahead of time.

I3 Dogs of War: Felsentheim
22 pages, for 4-8 characters levels 3 to 5.
Felsentheim is the epic conclusion to the I series of adventures.   As with the last adventure the GM should be knowledgeable on all the NPCs and factions in this adventure.  Again it can be played on it's own, but works best as the conclusion to the I series.  While the adventure is shorter there is quite a lot of combat in this one.

All together these three books are greater than their parts and make for an interesting set of adventures.

Interestingly enough the entire time I was reading these I kept thinking how well they would work with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.  Not that there is anything here that screams AS&SH to me, but just a feeling that it would work well.  I'll have to try it someday.

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Review: The Wicked Cauldron

Troll Lords has been putting out some quality products since the 3.x/d20 boom days.  This includes not only their own "house" system, Castles and Crusades but also some 3.x material back in the day.
Well now they are dipping their toes into 5th edition and I could not more pleased.

This past Gen Con I picked up their 5th edition version of their adventure A3 The Wicked Cauldron. I already had the C&C version and I wanted to see how they compared.  Especially since D&D 5 really has a lot of ideas that C&C started with.


The Castles & Crusades version is 24 pages and designed for 3-5 characters of 3rd to 4th level.
The Dungeons & Dragons 5e version is 40 pages (larger font) and for 3-5 characters of 3rd to 5th level.

I am reviewing the print and pdf versions.

The premise is a fairly simple one.  There is a ruined ziggurat in the Barren Woods that is the home to many foul things. It also has a long and evil history and currently is home to one of the fabled Witch Queens.  The PCs must investigate and stop her.

The adventure itself is particularly original, but that doesn't make it less fun.  There is a good balance of overland and dungeon exploring, plenty of new monsters to fight, a threat of an ancient evil.  Given that this module is coded "A3" should give you an indication it is part of a larger series, and it is.  It can be played as part of Troll Lords "A" series that began with "Assault on Blacktooth Ridge" and "Slag Heap" and continues in other Airhde products and adventures.  But it can also be played as a stand-alone adventure.
The adventure is very reminiscent of the old Basic adventures of the early 80s, especially B2 and B4.  In fact, it is almost a perfect mix of these two classic adventures.  So in the nostalgia department, it gets a perfect score from me.

My biggest issue with the PDFs and the Print versions are the maps are fairly small.  I can redo them on my own and larger, but having something I can print out or read easier would be nice.

The 5th edition conversion is good and really, C&C is so close to D&D5 as to almost make the conversion unnecessary, but still I did enjoy looking through both to find the subtle differences.  The most interesting changes were to the Witch Queen herself.

The Witch Queen, Neb–Eprethat, is the central figure in this adventure and stopping her is the main goal.  In the C&C version, she is a Lawful Evil 5th level human cleric/wizard.  In the D&D 5 version, she is a Chaotic Evil 6th level human cleric.   In both cases, she could be better served as a witch.

There is no D&D5 witch class (yet) and I am not ready to publically reveal my C&C witch class.  But I can give her a try in my Basic-era Witch.  Though given that she supposedly worships and honors the "Horned One" she could be a D&D5 Warlock too.  In fact a warlock (as per D&D5) makes a lot of sense.


Neb–Eprethat - Witch Queen 
Chaotic Human Witch (Malefic Tradition), 6th level
The Witch stats

Strength: 11 Death Ray, Poison 11
Dexterity: 14 Magic Wands 12
Constitution: 12 Paralysis, Polymorph or Turn to Stone 11
Intelligence: 16 Dragon Breath 14
Wisdom: 14 Rods, Staffs, Spells 13
Charisma: 18

Hit Points: 20
Alignment: Chaotic
AC: 1
Dagger +4, Multiattack (allows 2 attacks per round)
To hit AC0: 18

Occult Powers
Familiar: Toad (multiple familiars)

Spells
Cantrips (7): Alarm Ward, Daze, Detect Curse, Object Reading, Open, Spark, Warm
First (3+2): Bewitch I, Cause Fear, Command, Minor Fighting Prowess, Sleep
Second (2+2): Biting Blade, Enthrall, Evil Eye, Hold Person,
Third (2+2): Bestow Curse, Continual Fire, Fly, Ghost Ward


She joins the ranks of the other Witch Queens that I have been gathering.

Can't wait to run this under my War of the Witch Queens campaign.

Friday, January 29, 2016

Kickstart Your Weekend: Family and Familiars

A couple of Kickstarters today.

First is a really cool one,  I really love Castles & Crusades, but I also really love D&D 5e.
So it is really cool to see the Troll Lords bring out a product for 5e that was also one of my favorite Troll Lords books.

5th Edition: Familiars, Monstrous Companions, Steeds & More is part of their new 5e line.  It is an update of their Castles & Crusades Book of Familiars.   Though I have on very good authority that this book is more than a conversion, it's a complete rewrite of the book.



It looks really cool and will be a nice addition to my 5e library.


This next KickStarter I know very, very little about except that it is a widow wanting to bring her late-husband's game to the market.

The game is EVERYVERSE RPG and it is a multi-genre RPG.


You can also read more about it on their blog at, http://rpg.parizekdevelopmentllc.com/

Both are worthy of your attention.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Oh! What a Lovely War

Picked up a new book from Troll Lords over the weekend to add to my Castles & Crusades collections. The Book of Familiars is a great book and one I have reviewed in the past.

Makes me wish I had a regular C&C game going.  I added it to a bunch of my other "witch" themed books.

Collecting all my books, games and adventures for the War of the Witch Queens and I am working out a time and a place to set it.  With the release of Dark Albion it occurs to me again that Medieval England would be the best place to start.    I was digging through some of the material I had written for the WitchCraft RPG many years ago under the project title "WitchCraft: The Burning Times" and found just a treasure trove of notes and ideas. But mostly it was essential in putting down a good time for all this.

I am going to opt for the early 17th Century.  While I certainly would have loved to have had Queen Elizabeth in the mix, King James is a better choice.

King James, 1567 - 1625
Gunpowder Plot, 1605
Death of John Dee, 1608  (though I could also stick in Ella Dee)
Pendle witches, 1612
and for reference, Salem, MA Witch Trails, 1693

Though with the inclusion of Baba Yaga and Lamia (Keats and Waterhouse can't be wrong) I will have to expand it to the rest of the world.

It is looking more and more like I am going to have to go with Castles & Crusades for War of the Witch Queens and not Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea like I originally wanted.

Friday, November 6, 2015

Friday Night Videos: Guest VJ Jason Vey

Tonight we have a special guest VJ Jason Vey!

He is here to share songs that influenced him or motivated him while working on Brimstone & The Borderhounds RPG.

Jason and I have known each other for years. We worked on Buffy together, playtested each other games and respected each other enough to say when a bit of game design was total shit.

I was a playtester on this in the early days but I really can't say anything about it other than I am REALLY excited it is coming out.  So without further rambling on from me, here is Jason.


--

Greetings, night stalkers, vampires and Weepers! I’m definitely NOT Kasey Kasem. I’m Jason Vey(sem) and I’ll be your guest veejay for this week’s edition of Friday Night Videos on the Other Side.

Tonight I’m going to talk about the music of Brimstone and the Borderhounds – my RPG that’s currently in Kickstarter through Troll Lord Games. I’d like to share a few little ditties that are inspirational or otherwise appropriate to this particular game which falls solidly in the urban fantasy genre. But before we do that, here’s a quick primer from the Kickstarter itself:

Forget everything you know about the afterlife. Good guys don’t always go to Heaven and bad guys don’t always end up in Hell. The multiverse is one giant amalgam of giant corporations that humans know as afterlives. Heaven. Hell. Valhalla. The Happy Hunting Grounds. Some might look prettier than others, but in the end they’re all at war for the greatest commodity in the multiverse…Human souls.

It doesn’t matter much where you end up when you die; your lot in life is one of slave labor in one of these afterlives, doing whatever you might have done best (or didn’t know you were best at) in life. That could be constructing buildings or architecture. It could also be mopping up in a strip club. In Hell these human souls are called Weepers. Some win their freedom and earn a meager living in the dregs of society. Others try to escape, either to join terrorist groups known as Kittens, or to get out to another afterlife or even back to Earth. When that happens, crack teams of bounty hunters called Borderhounds are sent out to the Wastelands to bring them back in. The best of these teams is known as XiBalba and is led by Brimstone, the half-demon son of Hell’s Grand Architect.

Using the acclaimed and easy-to-learn SIEGE engine mechanic, the Brimstone and the Borderhounds RPG lets you play as Brimstone and his allies, as a new team of Borderhounds hunting down escaped Weepers and battling corporate espionage from other afterlives (or engaging in a little of your own), or play as a psychic, mystic, occult investigator or Earth-bound hero, battling supernatural incursions from the other worlds as our planet becomes a battleground in the greatest corporate war the multiverse has ever seen. Wield Helltech weapons, call upon Forza Infernis (the powers of Hell) or draw forth alien magic and psychic energies. The sky (or the Pit, as it may be) is the limit when you play in the world of Brimstone and the Borderhounds!

So there you have it, kids. Brimstone and the Borderhounds is an urban fantasy game using the same rules that power Castles & Crusades and Amazing Adventures. If Buffy-meets-Cyberpunk-in-Hell sounds cool, then B&B is just for you!

Now let’s take a look these happy little numbers that were inspirational or are otherwise appropriate for this game.

1. The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
A classic of heavy metal by one of the most important bands in the genre, this nightmarish story about a guy hunted through the woods by the devil himself is uniquely suited to a game about, well, souls escaping from Hell!





2. The Road to Hell - Bruce Dickinson
This may be cheating, since it’s by the lead singer of Iron Maiden and sounds a bit Maiden-ish, but it’s a relentless, driving tune that’s perfect background music for chasing down those Weepers or battling incursions from the other Afterlife Realms!



3. Seasons in the Abyss - Slayer
Sensing a theme, here? What did you expect? It’s a game set in or revolving around the theme of HELL! This is a classic of dark thrash metal from 1990. Its minor key and chilling, dark vocals are a great mood setter for a campaign revolving around those first discovering how the multiverse works.



4. All Nightmare Long - Metallica
Kind of a new record, and sure, Metallica has probably had better tunes, but this one is a worthy entry into their oeuvre. The video is as chilling as the lyrics and like Road to Hell, it’s relentless and driving and would be great for that climactic battle against whatever enemy your GM cooks up.



5. Faster - Within Temptation
Led by singer Sharon den Adel, Dutch metal masters Within Temptation are one of the more underrated symphonic rock bands out there today. This song is actually a single from their album The Unforgiving, which would completely unto itself act as a great soundtrack for a B&B campaign. It’s also tied to a comic book limited series, which you should totally check out as it dovetails neatly with the themes in Borderhounds.



6. Welcome to my Nightmare - Alice Cooper
Seriously, need you ask? What game about hell and monsters is complete without a song about the gradual degradation of sanity and the horrors of the madhouse? Nobody has ever captured the mood of horror and nightmares in music like Alice Cooper, and likely no one ever will. Here’s a creepy live clip of that one.



7. Holy Wars - The Punishment Due – Megadeth
The connections here are several. Thematically, this is about terrorism in the Middle East…and the Marvel Comics’ character The Punisher. Strange pairing, but there it is. The idea of “holy wars,” however, is a great fit for a game about corporate espionage between Heaven and Hell, and the driving, never-quit force of it is another excellent soundtrack for action and adventure, while the comic connections are obvious.


There you have it: seven songs to get you in the mood for Brimstone and the Borderhounds, Kickstarting now! Check it out—back if you like, and spread the word!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676918054/brimstone-and-the-borderhounds-rpg

Kickstart Your Weekend: Brimstone & The Borderhounds RPG

I don't know much about the Brimstone & The Borderhounds comic, except it looks like "Dog the Bounty Hunter" meets "Hellraiser".  I could be wrong.  But even if I am it sounds like a cool game.

Troll Lords also thinks so with their new Brimstone & The Borderhounds RPG.



It is being written by Jason Vey (of Amazing Adventures, Band of Zombies, Broken Gods, and contributing author to the Defending Earth the Unit Sourcebook for the Doctor Who RPG, and contributor to Buffy) and uses the SEIGE Engine found in Amazing Adventures and Castles & Crusades.

Already I see a lot of use for this game.

I have a little side game going on (well on hold for a moment) called "The Daughters of Death" that was using D&D4.  With this it looks like I could easily move it over to Castles & Crusades.

Since I already have some Castles & Crusades plans in the mix for my game after my D&D 5 one.

In anycase this looks like a lot of fun.

Troll Lords has a great track record with Kickstarter so backing this one should be a no brainer.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Demon Hunter Class for AA (and C&C)


Just in time for Halloween (but I just found it now) Jason Vey has put out a new Demon Hunter class for his SIEGE Engine Amazing Adventures RPG.

http://bit.ly/aafreeclass

While designed for the Pulp-era adventures of Amazing Adventures this class also would work fantastic with Castles and Crusades.

The class is much more "Buffy" than it is "Solomon Kane" but you could do either with it.  Mostly though it reminds me of John Gregory, the Spook, from the "Last Apprentice" book series.

It compares well to the Paladin really, except it doesn't have healing, spells or a special mount. It does have supernatural senses and a special weapon.

Just another reminder that I need to play more Castles & Crusades.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Assembling the troops...

I'll get back to gods in a bit, but I am assembling all the pieces I need for the War of the Witch Queens.


Some OSR monster books, some rules, a bunch of different adventures. Yes that is a 4e book in the mix too.

Still working out details and having a lot of fun.  If I decide to go to a maximum of 13th level then I am sticking with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.  If I think it will go higher than that, all the way to 20th level then I want to use Castles & Crusades.

Friday, September 11, 2015

Kickstart Your Weekend: C&C Classic Monsters

I love Castles & Crusades. I love monster books.  This is like the Milky Way Dark of sweet spots for me.


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676918054/castles-and-crusades-classic-monsters/

I am not sure how this one escaped my notice. There is only a little more than a week left.

I reviewed the 1st printing a while back and really enjoyed it. If this one makes it to a full color version it will be a treat.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Dark Albion meets Mythic Éire

The talk around the ole' Other Side water cooler is still Dark Albion.  No surprises really.

I love the idea of playing in England/Albion. Especially with some dark magic thrown in for good measure.  If I can tie it in with my War of the Witch Queens idea so much the better.


So I was looking over all my Castles & Crusades stuff over the weekend.  Lamenting that I don't get to play it as often as I would like.  I dearly love Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, it has such a cool vibe to it. But I also enjoy Castles & Crusades.   Rumor has it that C&C began as a campaign on Earth. Aihrde is phonetically the same as Erde which is German for Earth.  That being said I also have a couple of adventures I consider to be "must haves" for my next games, Night of the Spirits and A Druid's Lament.
Another strong selling point for C&C is the Codex Celtarum.
I reviewed it a while back and it is still one of my favorite gaming books ever.  There is so much I could use here. Plus the ties with the Faerie world is a must-have in my mind.

Which brings me in a round about way to what are these Witch Queens warring about anyway?  At first I thought maybe it was for control.  But could it be more?  I am hesitant to detail it too much.  I still have a current D&D5 game I need to finish.  Plus I want to keep it a little loose for now. Maybe even a bit "story gamey".  Yes I am that much of jerk to take one of Pundits products and make it into a story game centerpiece.   Well...not really. It's still OSR.

Éire is a idea I have been playing around with since forever I feel. A mythic Ireland, a land of adventure.  The Celtic themed games I usually enjoy tend to skew a bit to the older and colder themes found in AS&SH.

Regardless of which way it goes I do know that there will be an Ã‰ire to go with Albion and I am going to have a great time doing it.


Friday, August 14, 2015

Kickstart Your Weekend - Castles & Crusades Mythos

I LOVE Castles & Crusades.  Really.  I love the game, the Troll Lord guys are great, and their books are all works of art.

I also love how C&C plays.  It really feels like AD&D 3rd edition to me. (NOT D&D 3e, but AD&D).

One of my favorite things about AD&D was using real world myths in my games.  Gods, Demi-Gods and Heroes, Deities & Demigods, countless other books from other publishers...these were my go to books back in the day.

So I am really happy to see that this one is funded and doing well.


http://bit.ly/mythosks
Not one, but three new book from Brian N. Young who brought us the Codex Celtarum and the Codex Nordica.   This time we have books for German, Slavic and Classical Greek myths.  Sure to be excellent.

Friday, August 7, 2015

Kickstart Your Weekend: Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.'s Marmoreal Tomb

This was one of the big ones I was reading about at Gen Con last week.

Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.'s Marmoreal Tomb Campaign Starter
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1709227718/ernest-gary-gygax-jrs-marmoreal-tomb-campaign-star


Though it doesn't really need my support at this point, it is full of Original Old School street cred and even newer OSR Old School cred.

Frankly I like the idea that it will have addons to work with D&D 5 and White Star.

Personally I am looking forward to the Modern Horror and Castles & Crusades conversions too.

In any case this looks like a lot of fun.

Monday, August 3, 2015

Gen Con Haul

The BEST thing about taking my wife and kids with me to Gen Con other than having their company and dedicated gaming time is that I pretty much get to buy what I want under the guise of "it's for the family gaming nights!"  Well. It also happens to be true.

So here is this year's haul.



This is a cheat since I had already backed the Kickstarter.  But I got my book, dice and Martian princess figure.


Got these half-off because a Beyond the Supernatural game I was in was cancled.


My BIG buys.  Notice a theme?  Occult Adventures looks fun. Victoriana 3rd Edition is one I have been wanting for a while.  But the big win?  CHILL 3.0!!  OMG people this is such a cool book.



Mayfair D&D.  All of this for about 10 bucks.


Still loving Castles & Crusades.


AND an autographed print from Jacob Blackmon of my iconic witch Larina for "Strange Brew".

And last, but not least...although I didn't buy it at Gen Con, it came in the mail today.

My "Death Wand" from Magical Miscellany.  The newest endeavour by my friend Kim Pauley.
http://www.kimberlypauley.com/etsy-creations/




It is a real work of art!  I am going to need to stat this up!

Friday, July 24, 2015

Kickstart Your Weekend: Round-up Edition

Nothing special to share with you today, just some repeats that I really enjoy and a couple of new ones with familiar names.  Getting ready for Gen Con.

Reaper Miniatures Bones 3: The Search for Mr. Bones!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1513061270/reaper-miniatures-bones-3-the-search-for-mr-bones
Man I wish I could paint minis.  But I am really, really terrible at it.  I can't see the detail and my hand shakes too much thanks to all the caffeine I drink.  Still this looks awesome.

Leagues of Gothic Horror
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1588759266/leagues-of-gothic-horror
I mentioned this one before, but it looks really, really fun.   I am really looking forward to it.

Castles & Crusades Mythos
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676918054/castles-and-crusades-mythos
Not one, but three new book from Brian N. Young who brought us the Codex Celtarum and the Codex Nordica.   This time we have books for German, Slavic and Classical Greek myths.  Sure to be excellent.

Star Trek: Axanar
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/star-trek-axanar#/story
I LOVE Star Trek and this to me is "real" Star Trek.  It just looks so good. There is so much love, care and attention put into this I can't wait to see it.   Plus pledging for the blu-ray is still cheaper than a night out at the movies with the kids.


Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Castles & Crusades: I can't quit you...

My Castles & Crusades Castle Keeper Guide came in the mail yesterday.


With lots of swag that I don't remember being offered. The dice box is nice and it has C&C dice in it.
Love the "Epic Level Play" book too.  Some good ideas I might port over to D&D5.


I just have so much cool stuff for this game. It is a shame I don't get to play it more than I do.

Maybe after Gen Con I can work on that.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

The Amazing Adventures Companion

The Amazing Adventures Companion is now out. If you enjoy the Amazing Adventures game (and I do) then this is great news.   The book is 162 pages with covers and OGL statement.  Beyond that it is packed with all sorts great things.

Book One covers Astounding Action Heroes, or ways to improve your characters or make them closer to your vision.  Abilities above 18 are covered and even how to get them there.
Each class is also presented and tips on how to play "other classes" with them.  For example The Gadgeteer can be refocused into a street-level, Pulp Age Superhero.  Think Batman in his early days.  OR take the Gadgeteer and make his gadgets into potions and you have The Alchemist.   The Gumshoe can give you an Ace Reporter (something I have really wanted) or the Consulting Detective.  Play that aging Sherlock Holmes if you like.  No new rules are needed for these since the rules are largely flexible enough.  But....if you really want new characters then you are covered here as well.  The Companion introduces The Acrobat, The Archer, The Duelist, The Gunslinger, The Pirate and The Soldier.  What they do should be fairly self-explanatory.
The next section is one I was really looking forward to reading.  This discusses porting over the classes in AA over to a Fantasy game like Castles & Crusades.  While there is nothing shocking here it is a good set of guidelines.  With the new classes, say like the Alchemist, Archer and Gunslinger it is nice to have so guidelines.
Next we have AA multiclassing, which is a port of the C&C "Class and a half".
We dive into equipment next which includes an expanded firearm list and how to use "classical" armor in an AA game.

Book Two covers Advanced Action Heroes.  New rules for your Pulp Character. This includes some new generic class abilities. My new favorites are Occult Library and Wild Talent.

Book Three is Mysteries of Magic, Mentalism and Gadgets.  It's like it was written just for me!
More information is given on Magic and Sanity; with caveats of what sort of game are wanting to run.  A game where magic is dark can include Sanity and then some spells are removed, others added. We get a few pages of new spells, some tips on adapting C&C spells and then some revised Spell Lists.
For Mentalists we get some new Psionic Powers. For Gadgeteers we get some new gadgets and powers.

Book Four is Astonishing Stories. This covers some basic and advanced rules including contested rolls, Fate points,  "Movie Physics",  and various issues regarding damage and healing.  It's kind of a catch-all chapter, but the overall theme is making your game more cinematic when you want to.

Book Five is Spinning Strange Tales.  While it does feature a kickass Snake-headed monk get ready for some kung-fu fighting there is more to this chapter than that.   This chapter covers different types of games you can play with AA and what alterations are needed.  Most times this is about which classes to include and what equipment to use or not.  My favorite might be the "Science Fantasy" section.  I mean really, what is more "Pulp Adventures" than Edgar Rice Burroughs?  Seriously. Reading this section suddenly I want to give up all my current games and play a Barsoom game using AA/C&C.
Of course I have to mention the section on "Tales of Swords and Sorcery".  The author, Jason Vey, has honestly forgotten more about Conan and Robert E. Howard than I'll ever know.  He makes some great points about using AA to emulate a Conan style game.  Ok. Conan on Mars. That's what I want to play now.

Book Six is our Rouges Gallery. NPCs and Groups. This includes the historical (Harry Houdini) the semi-historical (Robert Locksley) and the comics.

All in all if you are a fan of Amazing Adventures or the Pulp Era in general then this is a must buy!

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Troll Lord Games Sale, Part 2

Here is part two of some of my favorite Troll Lord Games products.
I know. I am gushing, but I really enjoy this game and wish I played it more often.

Castles & Crusades Black Libram of Naratus
Obviously I grabbed this one since it deals with darker magic and was part of the Haunted Highlands campaign (which I also enjoy).  There is also the cover which is a call back to the infamous Eldritch Wizardry of OD&D.
The first part covers necromancers and necromancer spells. This includes a way for normal spell casters to gain a level of Necromancer. A nice little add on for any CK really.
There is also a great spellbook in here called the "Grimoire of the Witch Queen" that makes the whole book worth it to me all by itself!
That's the first half of the book. Later we get into Ritual/Sacrificial magic, magic items and some new monsters.  Given the types of games I run and the magic I like to have this is a "Must Have" book for me. The book is a tight 38 pages.  Covers, title/ogl page, so 35 pages of solid content.

Castles & Crusades Book Of Familiars
I love playing magic using classes. I also love having familiars.  Nothing it more iconic that a witch and her cat or a wizard with his owl. Or a necromancer and a floating skull!
This book covers the basics; what is a familiar? How is it different than an animal companion?  What does it do for a wizard?
We move into a number of familiar "abilities" that a caster can use.  Now these look an awful lot like feats from 3.x. That is no shock, this book began as a d20 supplement and this is the new C&C version.  That is fine, they have been reworked and it works well here.  Don't think of them as feats really. Familiars also get a few special abilities themselves.  A lot of these are true special abilities and set the familiar off from the rest of animal kind.
We get a list of "standard" familiars and the benefits they grant. We also get "Greater" and "Supreme" Familiars.  Pretty much anything can now be a familiar.
If we wanted to just talk about basic familiars we could stop here.  But we don't.  Next chapter deals with the familiars Assassins can get. This is followed by a chapter on Barbarian familiars and special mounts.  This is includes an awesome bit on Totem Spirits. Buy it for the wizards, keep it for the barbarians! (and we are only 1/4 of the way through!) This is followed by chapters for Bards, Clerics, Druids, Fighters, Monks, Paladins and Knights, Rangers, Rogues, and finally special ones for Wizards.
We get 12 pages of new animals and 25 pages of new monsters.
We get 2 pages of new spells and 4 of new magic items.  All in all 210 pages. Pretty nice really.

Castles & Crusades Night of the Spirits
I LOVE Halloween themed adventures.  This one comes from Brian Young who also gave us Codex Nordica and Codex Celtarum.  The adventure takes place in the Codex Celtarum version of the world over three days of Samhain, or Halloween to you heathens.
The veils between the worlds are thin and there is every chance that fae lords and lady or even th Lord of the Dead himself will make an appearance.
Personally I am a little jealous of this one.  It features the machinations of a Dark Druid. I ran something similar myself many years before. I am jealous because this one just oozes style and creepy atmosphere.  The adventure is not long.  It could be played in a couple of sessions or a longish one on Halloween night. Start at 6:00 or so and you can be hitting the end of Act 3 at Midnight.
Honestly. There is so much I love about this adventure I kinda want to blame Brian Young for hiring clairvoyants to get exactly what I wanted out of my head and on to print.
It is that good and I hate him forever for it.
(not really...but maybe a little bit)

Castles & Crusades The Goblins of Mount Shadow
Another Celtic/Fey themed adventure for characters 1st to 5th level.  This time they have to deal with the rise of the Grey King (who I really, really want to call Jareth).  The book is 26 pages with the artwork you come to expect from Troll Lords.  Also written by Brian Young this adventure feels like someone should be playing uilleann pipes in the background.  I love that C&C can effortless emulate old-school D&D, but these adventures take to someplace new...or rather someplace old. Someplace that is a little darker.
This adventure is simple enough (as it should be) but it also might be more difficult in terms of the challenges faced.  Granted life in Celtic, even pseudo-Celtic, times was supposed to be harsh.  I would say have the characters start at 2nd level instead.

Castles & Crusades A Druid's Lament
A nice little adventure that can be played in a single session.  While not specifically tied to the Celtic world of Codex Celtarum, it does work well with it.  It is an introduction adventure so there are many of the tropes of that, but that is fine. It works here.
If you have an afternoon and couple of bucks then this is a great choice.

Castles & Crusades The Giants Wrath
Another Celtic-themed adventure featuring some classic Irish and Welsh monsters and situations.  Giants used to populate the lands but now men do.  Some of those giants are not happy about it.
This adventure is 26 pages and can be played in a couple of sessions.  Be warned though, it is a tough one given that there are a large number of giants to fight.  Characters should be strong and the party should include a fair number of fighters and rangers.  A wizard would help too.
This adventure also makes for a good bridge (somewhat literally) between the normal fantasy of C&C to the Celtic-fueled darker fantasy of the Codex Celtarum.
Also a good way to introduce the lands of faerie to new players.

Magnificent Miscellaneum Vol. 3
These books are a collection of various items for use in C&C by James Michler.  Vol. 3 includes a couple of new artifacts, about a dozen new "White Box" menaces (monsters) and finally (and why I bought it) 3 new druid spells.

Magnificent Miscellaneum Vol. 4
These books are a collection of various items for use in C&C by James Michler.  Vol 4. has to offer five new artifacts/magic items and 10 new White Box style monsters.

Still have more to look at.

Troll Lord Sale

Troll Lord Games, makers of the amazing Castles & Crusades and Amazing Adventures is having a sale this week till Sunday.

I really, really like Castles & Crusades. There is so much going on in that game that I just love.
D&D 3 mechanics, AD&D feel and as streamlined as D&D 5.  Or, rather...D&D 5 is as streamlined as C&C!

This sale is crazy. There are some serious deals here and I am loading up my cart now.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Castles & Crusades Players Handbook 6th Printing
Read my review here.

Castles & Crusades Castle Keepers Guide
Read my review here.

Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure
This is the main monster and treasure book for C&C. Here you will find what I call the "classic" monsters from the great Monster Manual. If you are familiar with 3.x then these are all the monsters from the SRD in C&C's format. There is plenty of new text here though to make this more than just another SRD-derived book. Like all the C&C books the art and layout is great. I have the physical book, the pdf and a printout of the PDF and all read great.

The Castles & Crusades Monster stat block is a nice combination of Basic's simplicity, 1st AD&D's comprehensiveness, and some 3.x style rules. Saves are simple (Physical, Mental or both), AC is ascending and there is a "Challenge Rating" stat and XP all factored in. Honestly it really is a synthesis of the best of D&D. Grabbing a monster from another source and converting on the fly really could not be easier.

This book though is more than just a monster book, all the treasure and magic items (normally found in a Game Master's book) are here. This is a nice feature really. One place to have your encounter information.

Castles & Crusades Classic Monsters The Manual
A fantastic collection of monsters from the original Fiend Folio, Monster Manual 2 and various publications. All revised to be used in in Castles & Crusades. Not a "must have" book, but certainly a "you will really, really want it and kick yourself if you don't get it" book.
It is a fantastic edition to my C&C collection and I am very glad I bought it.

Castles & Crusades Tome of the Unclean
A collection of fiends, demons and devils for C&C (and any SIEGE Engine Game like Amazing Adventures).  At 38 pages it focuses on some of the classics of fantasy RPGs. There are not a lot, but there are enough new creatures and unique devils to make this worth anyone's while.
Personally I would love to use this with Amazing Adventures.  Faustian bargins against a backdrop of 30s pulp noir is just too tempting not to do.
The creatures each get about half a page of stats and description along with art.  Just because you know these creatures from other games don't assume you know them for this one! Actually, go right ahead and assume. That makes the game that much more fun for the Castle Keeper!
If I had a criticism it is I wish the book was larger.  There is enough material out there for a book 4 times this size.

Castles & Crusades Of Gods & Monsters
A collection of gods and monsters from various myths and legends. It immediately reminds you of the of Deities and Demigods, but it is closer in format to the earlier Gods, Demigods and Heroes.

The myths are well represented, though there are a few oddities. The Greek and Roman myths are separate and the demi-human myths could have been left out.

I did like all the new spells for clerics of the various gods. That was a good touch.

Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum
All my C&C games have a Celtic feel to them.
Read my review here.

Castles & Crusades Character Reference Sheets
Sheets specifically designed for Castles & Crusades. Plenty of room for all your equipment, information and spells.
I like that they are a nice combination of both modern functionality (3.x era) and old-school sensibilities (AD&D).  Diving the sheets up by what ability the characters need (Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom) is a nice call back to the old "golden rod" sheets of a bygone age.
Yes you can find sheets on the web for free, but these are worth the price.

Amazing Adventures!
My favorite Pulp-era game.
Read my review here.

Amazing Adventures! Manual of Monsters
I won't lie.  I LOVE Monster books.  They are to this day one of my favorite things to buy for any game.  The Amazing Adventures Manual of Monsters manages to give me monsters I have seen before, but with a whole new take.  I mean a mummy is a mummy right?  Well...your old monster book won't tell you how it reacts when you fire your .38 into it.  But beyond that this book also has a lot of new monsters.  Enough to make it worth while in my opinion.
Also as an added bonus feature is an appendix of monsters from different countries.  So fight that Kelpie on it's native soil.  Or tangle with the machinations of the Greys.
If you play AA then you need this book.

Amazing Adventures Rise of the Red God
GREAT adventure for Amazing Adventures.  Maybe I should have said amazing.
But seriously this adventure has it all. Exotic locations, cults, demons, two fisted/high calibre action.  Even an ancient text to be found.
But more than your lives are stake here. You sanity or even your soul will be lost.

I have had the pleasure of running this under both AA AND Castles & Crusades (converting from Pulp to Fantasy) and both times it worked out great.  So even if you don't play AA (and why aren't you??) then you can run this with some thematic tweaks (and almost NO mechanical ones) with Castles & Crusades.

Part 2 later on today.  I just bought a bunch of stuff myself!