Witchcraft Wednesdays: ShadowDark and Old-School Essentials

 Yesterday, I discussed mixing two of my current favorites from the Old-School RPG world into one gaming experience. Today, I want to discuss some specifics. Since it is Witchcraft Wednesday, I am going to talk about remixing the Old-School Essentials and ShadowDark Witches.  I am sure you can do the same with the other classes as well. 

Overlap

I mentioned yesterday there was already quite a bit of overlap between the two systems. Since today I want to focus on one class, the Witch, I am going to see where these two systems have some commonalities. 

Basics. Both systems have a witch class. Both provide an old-school gaming experience to levels 10 (SD) and 14 (OSE), so what many consider the "prime" adventuring levels.  

Both systems are built on a "Basic-era" aesthetic, and there is a lot of common ground on things like spells and monsters. 

Class-wise, Level 1 in one game is about equal to Level 1 in the other, and so on. Spellcasters get the added benefit of repeat casting in ShadowDark. Armor classes and hit points work the same ways. All characters have the same basic six abilities ranging from 3 to 18. The bonuses are different, but not enough to make it matter really. 

Humans are largely the same. Demi-humans like elves, dwarves, and halflings lose some of the things that make them special when moving from OSE to SD, i.e., loss of infravision/nightvision.

What are the differences though?

Differences

There are, in fact, a few differences between these two games that make all the differences in the world to their fanbases. I am not going to detail them all here, I am just interested in the rules that affect my interpretations of the witch classes.

Old-School Essentials

The OSE Witch is very much like my other OSR witches. She needs quite a bit of XP per level, more than the wizard at first, and she gains some powers (Occult Powers) over various levels. More than the Cleric or Magic-User, but less than the Druid. One of her powers is gaining a familiar at level 1.

ShadowDark

These witches use the same XP advancement as everyone else. She gets Talents just like the other characters do, but these are molded closer to the Occult Powers of other witches. Additionally, she gains a Patron and a Patron Boon.

Yesterday I proposed that gaining the additional powers of a class from SD in OSE would require an extra expenditure of XP. 

Since I would use OSE style leveling and XP budgets, adding the SD XP requirements is manageable. It could, in fact, be what the repeated casting and Talents would need if I were to recreate the witch XP.

Witch Level	To Next Level (OSE)	To Next Level (SD)	Total
1	2,600	10	2,610
2	5,200	20	5,220
3	10,400	30	10,430
4	20,800	40	20,840
5	40,000	50	40,050
6	80,000	60	80,060
7	160,000	70	160,070
8	320,000	80	320,080
9	440,000	90	440,090
10	560,000	100	560,100
11	680,000	110	680,110
12	800,000	120	800,120
13	920,000	130	920,130
14	NA	NA	NA

As you can see, the addition of ShadowDark XPs are barely an issue. The cells in light blue are where OSE continues after SD.

Now, OSE is a cumulative XP. So to get to level 3 you have to have all the XP from level 2 and then the extra. SD XP thresholds restart at 0 for each level.  So technically, to express SD XP levels in the same terms of OSE I would need to go with 10, 30, 60, 100, 150, 210, 280, 360, 450xp, and so on. But since I am only adding the SD material that is missing from OSE I don't think I need to do that.

Yes, the XP budgets of each game are different. An orc in OSE is not worth the same in terms of XP as one in SD, though they do represent the same sort of challenge and potential reward (i.e., Treasure and progress toward the next level). I am going to hand-wave these differences. Want math? Take my Introduction to Statistics course. 

Repeated casting for an OSE witch is a big deal. I would need to rework some spell failure ideas. Additionally, I would also say that by their very nature, a Ritual Spell can never be cast repeatedly. Spellcasting rolls in this combined system are a must. 

If it becomes too much I would add in a "repeated castings" roll like I did with Ghosts of Albion. 

Which Witch?

One of the things I always try to do with my witch books is give the buyer unique options. The Old-School Essentials witch is a "Pagan" witch while the Shadow Dark witch is very much a "Pact with a strange powerful creature" witch. But I can find overlap.

Pagans honored many gods. One could even argue that is essentially the core definition of pagan. But what sort of Pagan would choose the Patrons of ShadowDark? Well, game-wise, there is nothing stopping you from mixing as you see fit, but I'll try to make some sort of sense out of these.

The Patrons of ShadowDark have Pagan and real-world analogues, but not all. Varnavas, for example, was created especially for ShadowDark. Despite what the Christian church claimed, Pagans did not worship demons and devils. 

Larina Nix, the Pagan Witch

I am going to use my always-reliable test witch Larina. I have her stats for OSE, but I still need to share them here.  I wish I had shared them already since it would make this comparison a bit better, but in truth, these stats are about 90% the same as her Pure OSE stats. I also have her ShadowDark stats. 

Her Patron from ShadowDark is Nicnevin, the Witch Queen of Faerie from Scottish Folklore. This works well as far as I am concerned. When she hits the 7th level, she gains the additional Patron talent, so she gets Baba Yaga.

Pagan works well for her, and she certainly fits, concept-wise, into the Craft of the Wise Tradition. 

Larina Nix

Class: Witch (Pagan Tradition)
Level: 13
Species: Human

Title: Witch Queen
Alignment: Lawful (Lawful Neutral) 
Patron(s): Nicnevin & Baba Yaga
Background: Arcane Library*

Ability Scores
STR: 9
INT: 17
WIS: 17
DEX: 11
CON: 11
CHA: 18

Saving Throws
D: 8
W: 10
P: 9
B: 12
S: 11
Wisdom Mod: +2

HP: 28
AAC: 14
THAC0: 16

Init: +0
Languages: Common, Elven, Giant, Goblin

Weapon: Broom staff, dagger
Gear: Crawler kit, 1 week of rations, 1 week of tea, cat treats (to supplement Cotton Ball's hunting), Book of Shadows, athamé.
Magic items: Bracers of Defense +1, Broom of Flying, Cloak of Night, Cingulum +3, Hat of Focus-Spellslinger 

Occult Powers
Level 1: Familiar
Level 3: Herbal Healing
Level 7: Of the Land
Level 13: Visage of Another

Talents
Human: +2 to Charisma
1st level: Additional Tier 1 Spell
3rd level: +1 to Occult Spellcasting rolls
5th level: Patron Favor, +1 to any die roll once per rest
7th level: Additional Patron
9th level: Learn additional Tier 4 Spell
11th level: Learn additional Tier 5 Spell
13th level: +1 to Occult Spellcasting rolls

Patron Boons: Learn 1 Tier 1 Wizard Spell, Learn 1 Additional Occult Spell

Spells
Level/Tier 1 (5+1): Call Spirits of the Land, Charm Person, Color Spray, Feel my Pain, Glamour, Cake and Tea Ritual (Ritual)
Level/Tier 2 (4): Bless, Fascinate, Inscribe Tattoo I, Pins and Needles
Level/Tier 3 (4+1): Bestow Curse, Call Lightning, Fly, Hold Person, Scry
Level/Tier 4 (3+1): Cure Serious Wounds, Instant Karma, Witch's Cradle, Drawing Down the Moon (Ritual) 
Level/Tier 5 (2+1): Cry for the Nightbird, Flood of Tears, Ward of Magic
Level/Tier 6 (2): Eye Bite, Brew Storms (Ritual)

Level/Tier 1 (Wizard): Burning Hands

I am not 100% sure how the Background "Arcane Library" works for a pagan witch. Likely, she has a store of shared knowledge. Something to play with, to be sure. Where both books have the same spell I opted for that one. I'll assume she is an odd case and is literate. 

There are no Level 11 and Level 13 Talents. So I just rerolled on other tables. 

For Spells, I would go mainly with OSE spells and choose SD spells as her bonus spells from her Talents. Seems a good plan. 

This is rough and hardly perfect, but it gives me many ideas of what I can do with future games. It appeals to me with all the extra details I can now generate for her. 

The other character classes would be easier. However, I know I would need to tweak thieves a bit to work well with both systems since their skills are handled differently.

For Old-School Essentials

• The Craft of the Wise: The Pagan Witch Tradition (Craft of the Wise and Daughters of Aradia) 
• Monster Mash (Gothic Witch)
• Monster Mash II (Faerie Witch)

For ShadowDark

• The Witch - Book of Shadows

Plays Well With Others: ShadowDark and Old-School Essentials

I have been thinking a lot about the two darlings of the Old-School RPG world: Old-School Essentials and ShadowDark. Both are great games. Both feature outstanding layout and design. Both attempt to (and succeed) capture that old-school, circa 1981, gaming feel. They come at it from different directions; one could almost say opposite directions to arrive at the same or at least a similar point. 

So it is no surprise then that I think both games can be used to enhance the other in terms of your gameplay experience. I want to talk about that today and how both games give us something more than their historical ancestor, B/X D&D.

My table copies

There is quite a lot of significant overlap for both games. There is a focus on a limited number of classes and level caps. OSE sticks with the 14th level of B/X and ShadowDark goes for 10 levels of play. Both games then focus much more on the dungeon crawling aspect of the D&D universe of games, even to the point of adventurers in ShadowDark being called "crawlers."

I have spent years playing B/X-era D&D, both when it was new and within the last few years. For the last 17 or so years, I have recorded my "Basic-era" experiences here on this blog. There is something evocative of Basic (both B/X and BECMI) that keeps people coming back for more.  These two games are just the latest examples of this.

Both provide a similar experience. But what do they offer above and beyond books I have owned for 40+ years?

Of Carcass Crawlers and Sting Bats

One of the strengths of both games is improved organization. I can create an OSE or ShadowDark character in a matter of minutes, regardless of the level. BX is nearly as fast, but there is still some flipping involved. I knocked together an AD&D 1st Ed last night (from this writing), and it took me a lot longer.

Both games embrace a superior layout. Everything I need is on facing pages. 

But content-wise, both games offer me the same thing that I already have. This is no shock, really; both games are drawing from the same roots. Somewhat different expressions of the same roots, but certainly, they both aim to provide the same or similar experiences. 

As a by-product of their simplified design philosophy, some entries, like monsters and spells, are pretty much identical in terms of what is needed. There are some significant differences (saving throws), but I'll get to that. 

What is new?

Old-School Essentials

Old-School Essentials is B/X D&D brought into the modern age.

Much like Labyrinth Lord before it, OSE offers an "Advanced" option that decouples race and class and provides a lot more classes. Class construction in OSE is also rather easy since the classes themselves have been streamlined. The Carcass Crawler zine also provides many new classes, options, and spells, among other things. 

The Advanced option means that there is a world of already published material that is compatible with it. Yes, this is true for nearly all the OSR titles, but conversion here is a bit easier.

There is also a granularity and detail to the classes and by extension the monsters because of these rules. 

Spells and Monster stat blocks are reduced to their bare essentials. Now, I prefer a more verbose presentation myself, but I can't argue they work.

ShadowDark

ShadowDark comes from the other end of the spectrum. Modern D&D, and D&D 5 in particular, stripped down to the barest (one could even say Basic) essentials to create a game that feels like Old-School D&D.

As such, it has a lot of ideas and concepts pulled from modern games, or reactions to modern games. One thing, in particular, is the notion that no race/species has infravision/darkvision. A reaction from D&D 5e where it seems everyone can see in the dark but humans. There is that and the rather innovative notion that torch time is equal to 1 hour in real time. That's a nice way to add some tension to the game. Yes, I know this is not the first game to do this, but it is still fun.

ShadowDark uses simpler XP systems and adopts modern D&D's idea that all classes use the same XP chart. It balances this by giving spellcasters the ability to keep casting spells until a spell fails. Again, this is not the first to do this (I did something similar in Ghosts of Albion ages ago), but it is still fun and welcomed here. 

Other innovations/additions include the carousing tables (lots of fun) and class talents.

ShadowDark has enough going on that 10 levels feels full.

Still though, there are things about both games I don't like or more to the point don't fit my overall style of play. Thankfully I have an idea.

The Reese's Peanut Butter Cup 

There is so much overlap in the games, so why not make it complete? Merge the two.

How would I do it?

Start with the base game of OSE or OSE Advanced Options. Then use a lot of the ShadowDark trappings including the 1 hour time on light sources.  I might still let demi-humans have infravision/darkvision but limit it some. I mean really, it doesn't make sense for a subterranean species not to have it. 

I would use ShadowDark's distance and movements of Close, Near, and Far for most things unless a distinction needs to be made. 

I'd use ShadowDark's checks BUT I would adapt 5e Saving throws to OSE and drop the OSE/BX style saves. This still gives me the same functionality of Saving Throws in a language that works with ShadowDark. This would mean ShadowDark style DCs for checks. Maybe steal another page from 5e and say the DC of a spell save is 8+the level of the caster? Saves then improve by +1 per level. I would need to play with it. 

For characters. I want a lot of classes and OSE does specialized classes well. I would also allow the classes to take ShadowDark-style talents. Maybe by adding the ShadowDark XP values to each of the classes' level XP cost.

I might adopt ShadowDark's gear mechanic. It is simple and elegant. I would also use ShadowDark's stat mods, though honestly, it is a toss-up between those and OSE's.

Since I would split class and race/ancestry, I would let ancestries in this game take the ancestry boons from ShadowDark. Just like I would allow classes to take a class talent. Just have the OSE class take the one that is closest from ShadowDark; ie. Rangers and Paladins take Fighter ones. I would also also allow a Paladin to take a Cleric one. 

I have not decided yet on which spellcasting system I would use. I am leaning more towards ShadowDark. I would not have said that six months ago.  If I do then the spell failure, mishaps, and penance rules would have to be used as well. 

I would use the ShadowDark carousing tables and the extensive encounter tables ShadowDark has to offer. 

Now, after all of this, you might ask, "Well, why not just play ShadowDark?" Because I still enjoy the OSE system and OSE-Advanced in particular. I like saving throws, I like more robust character classes. I like OSE Monsters. 

I would put the level limit at 14, like OSE and B/X, because I still enjoy that.

Fighters would need to get better as they level up like in ShadowDark. Thieves would have OSE style thief skills, but maybe some bonus or convert the percentile rolls to a d20 and allow for Advantage or Disadvantage rolls. 

It would all take some tinkering to get it all right, but everything is in front of me. 

Of course, I would need to play a witch in this "Best of Both Worlds" game to be sure.

Larina Nix, The Witch for ShadowDark on Witchcraft Wednesday

 So, I suppose it goes without saying that when I made a witch class for the ShadowDarkRPG, I was going to try out my own witch to see how it worked. I mean, this character is my litmus test for anything witch-like.

Like many of my other books Larina is featured in the book, but no stats. Also, like many of the books, she is featured on the cover, only this time, the art I chose already existed.  Javier Charro is the artist, and his work has been sitting on my hard drive for a while, waiting for the right project.  I mean, it is rather perfect, to be honest.  Since I have given you all the stats for Esme and Amaranth, I figured Larina should also be featured.

Larina Nix

Who is this "Larina?" Is she the same one I use in D&D or is she different? Well, yes and no.

My conceit here is that the original AD&D Larina, with brown eyes (thankyouverymuchVanMorrison) died while battling a vampire. And by dead, I mean dead-DEAD. Witches in my games do not have access to Raise Dead or Resurrection, AND they can't have those spells cast on them. So when a witch dies, she is dead. BUT she can be reincarnated.  The original Larina died, but she was reincarnated. She next appears as a precocious 6-year-old witch in my AD&D 2nd Ed Complete Netbook of Witches and Warlocks" and as an adult witch in my 3rd Edition games (same character), she also appears as a witch in my WitchCraft/Buffy games. They all share some similar memories and at age 25 they can contact their other selves. There is a multi-verse of Larinas out there now, one for every game I ever play.

This Larina is high-level (for ShadowDark), and she works with Esme and Amaranth. 

Larina Nix

Ancestry: Human
Class: Witch 10th level (Witch Queen)
XP: 114
Alignment: Lawful 
Deity/Patron: Niceven and Baba Yaga
Background: Arcane Library
Familiar: Flying Cat ("Cotton Ball")

Str: 9
Dex: 11
Con: 11
Int: 17
Wis: 17
Cha: 18

Weapon: Broom staff, dagger
Gear: Crawler kit, 1 week of rations, 1 week of tea, cat treats (to supplement Cotton Ball's hunting), Book of Shadows, athamé.
Magic items: Bracers of Defense +1, Broom of Flying, Cloak of Night, Cingulum +3, Hat of Focus-Spellslinger 

HP: 36
AC: 15

Languages: Common, Elven, Diabolic, Celestial

Talents
Human: +2 to Charisma
1st level: Additional Tier 1 Spell
3rd level: + 1 to Occult Spellcasting rolls
5th level: Patron Favor, +1 to any die roll once per rest
7th level: Additional Patron
9th level: Learn additional Tier 5 Spell

Patron Boons: Learn 1 Tier 1 Wizard Spell, Learn 1 Additional Occult Spell

Spells
Tier 1 (4+1): Charm Person, Feel my Pain, Glamour, Häxen Talons, Mage Hand
Tier 2 (3): Call Lightning, Light as a Feather-Stiff as a Board, Blink (Ritual)
Tier 3 (3): Bestow Curse, Coven's Calling, Danse Macabre
Tier 4 (2+1): Ball Lightning, Fear, Witch's Cradle 
Tier 5 (2+1): Cry for the Nightbird, Phantasmagoria, Ward of Magic

Tier 1 Wizard: Burning Hands

One of ShadowDark's greatest features is its ability to generate characters quickly. I have about five or six different ShadowDark versions of Larina on my desk; each one was made to test something different. 

It is interesting (to me at least) that while I often picture her as wearing a cloak and hood, like on the cover of The Witch, the art I am using here has her in a witch's hat.

Yeah, I would play this version of her, but I am discovering that 10 levels feel a little limiting to me. Granted, those are the prime adventuring levels, but I have been pouring over characters from my past and remember how much really high-level play we used to do back then. 

I certainly have some to explore with this game.

The Fearless Five vs Bargle: Basic Characters for ShadowDark

 My foray into the ShadowDark RPG did not begin or end with The Witch. Last week, I was chatting online with someone about my idea for a time travel adventure called "The Keep Killing Aleena," where the premise is a bunch of high-level adventurers go back in time to try to save her life, and the results of that interference. It is not an adventure I have ever finished since few ideas in it have never jelled right for me. BUT in my research I did uncover the 3.5 Edition adventure from Dungeon Magazine #150 (2007, Paizo era) called "Kill Bargle" from Pathfinder's own Jason Bulmahn.  The idea has stuck with me for years. It would make for a great convention game. It is a low-level dungeon crawl where you need to, well, what it says on the tin, Kill Bargle.

When I ran T1 Village of Hommlet, I included Aleena, Morgan Ironwolf, Rufus, Burne, and yes, Bargle. I did their stats in 4e Essentials, but ended up running it in 5e. In that adventure, Bargle still kills Aleena and gets away. 

I could not help but think revenge would be nice and maybe someone gathered everyone up to go get him.  

Enter the Fearless Five!

Given the "Women in Refrigerators" treatment of Aleena, I thought it might be fun to grab all the "Basic-era" heroines and send them on a quest to kill Bargle. 

Premise: Skylla, wanting something from Bargle's trove of magic (likely his spellbooks) decides that the only way to kill get it is to assemble a group of adventures who have a personal grudge against him. Knowing they will never follow her, or do what she asks, she gets the one person she knows they will follow. It's just too bad that person, Aleena, is dead.

So Skylla gets Aleena resurrected (she still has contacts in the cult underworld). She gets Morgan Ironwolf to find her, and then she gathers the Sorceress, Duchess, and Candella together to go after Bargle. Five heroines to kill one villain. Easy peasy.

While I could run an adventure like this in nearly any system, it seems fitting to me to run it with ShadowDark.

Aleena

Ancestry: Human
Class: Cleric, 2nd level
XP: 20 
Alignment: Lawful
Deity/Patron: Madeera
Background: Noble

Str: 11
Dex: 14
Con: 10
Int: 10
Wis: 16
Cha: 16

HP: 9
AC: 15

Weapon: Mace
Gear: Chainmail, holy symbol, backpack, torches, 1 week of rations, wolf'sbane

Languages: Common, Elvish

Talents
Human: +1 to melee attacks
1st level: +1 to Cleric spellcasting checks

Spells
Tier 1 (3): Cure wounds, Light, Shield of faith

Aleena is a cleric. She was brought back to life by Skylla's intervention but has no memory of the time between then and when Bargle killed her. 

She feels Bargle is a threat to all that is good and lawful and he must be stopped.

Morgan Ironwolf

Ancestry: Human
Class: Fighter, level 3
XP: 34
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity/Patron: None
Background: Soldier

Str: 16
Dex: 13
Con: 14
Int: 7
Wis: 9
Cha: 8

HP: 21
AC: 14

Weapon: Longsword
Gear: Chainmail, bow and arrows, quiver, 5 silver arrows, 50' rope, 10' pole, 6 torches, 1 week rations, 1 qt wine, large sack

Languages: Common, Goblin

Talents
Human: +2 to Strength
1st level: +2 to Constitution
3rd level: +1 to melee and ranged attacks

Morgan thinks of Aleena as a little sister who needs protecting; as such, she blames herself for Aleena getting killed. She would go after Bargle for free just to have the pleasure of killing him herself. 

The Sorceress

Ancestry: Human
Class: Wizard 3rd level
XP: 35
Alignment: Lawful
Deity/Patron: Ord
Background: Wizard's Apprentice

Str: 10
Dex: 14
Con: 12
Int: 18
Wis: 10
Cha: 13

HP: 10
AC: 13

Weapon: Staff
Gear: 6 torches, 1 week rations, large sack, spellbook, bag of spell components

Languages: Common, Elvish

Talents
Human: +2 to Intelligence
1st level: Advantage on one Spell: Magic Missile
3rd level: Advantage on one Spell: Burning Hands

Spells
Tier 1 (4): Magic missile, Mage armor, Light, Burning hands
Tier 2 (2): Detect thoughts, Invisible

The Sorceress knows the group is getting played by Skylla. She is friends with Morgan and wants to make sure everyone comes out of this alive. The chance to rummage through Bargle's collection of magic is an added bonus. 

Duchess

Ancestry: Human
Class: Thief, 5th level 
XP: 55
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity/Patron: None
Background: Thieves Guild

Str: 11
Dex: 16
Con: 18
Int: 12
Wis: 15
Cha: 15

HP: 17
AC: 14

Weapon: Longsword
Gear: Leather armor, short bow and arrows, quiver, thieves tools, 50' rope, 10' pole, 6 torches, 1 week rations, 5 qts wine, large sack

Languages: Common, Dwarvish

Talents
Human: +2 Charisma
1st level: +1 to melee and ranged attacks
3rd level: +2 to dexterity
5th level: +1 (+2 total) to melee and ranged attacks

And her partner in crime:

Candella

Ancestry: Human
Class: Thief, 5th level
XP: 56
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity/Patron: None
Background: Urchin

Str: 12
Dex: 17
Con: 15
Int: 15
Wis: 13
Cha: 14

HP: 14
AC: 14

Weapon: Short sword
Gear: Leather armor, short bow and arrows, quiver, thieves tools, 25' rope, 7 torches, 1 week rations, 3 qts wine, large sack

Languages: Common, Goblin

Talents
Human: +2 to Dexterity
1st level: +2 to Strength
3rd level: +1 to melee and ranged attacks
5th level: Backstab +1 dice of damage

Duchess and Candella were hired by Bargle to retrieve an item for him. He meant for them to get killed, but they ended up in jail instead. Worse, he never paid them for the item. They are in it for the money and revenge—but mostly for the money.

Skylla

Ancestry: Human
Class: Witch, 6th level
XP: 64
Alignment: Chaotic
Deity/Patron: Baba Yaga
Background: Cultist

Str: 9
Dex: 11
Con: 10
Int: 12
Wis: 11
Cha: 15

HP: 16
AC: 11

Weapon: Staff
Gear: 3 torches, 1-week rations, large sack, bag of spell components

Languages: Common, Diabolic

Familiars: Raven, Owl (+1 to Wisdom checks)

Talents
Human: +1 to occult spellcasting checks
1st level: +2 to Charisma
3rd level: one additional witch spell (T2)
5th level: additional familiar (special)

Patron Boon: Learn 1 Tier 1 Wizard Spell: Magic Missile 

Spells
Tier 1 (3): Charm person, Disguise self, Mage hand, 
Tier 2 (3): Call lightning, Light as feather-stiff as a board, Turn Undead (Ritual)
Tier 3 (2): Hag's Illusion (Baba Yaga), Bestow curse

Our "sixth" member of the Fearless Five is the mastermind behind all of this. Well...sort of, she is discovered rather quickly, but her intuition that these women would all do this to get back at Bargle is spot on. Have to figure out who gets the best magical loot between her and The Sorceress. 

--

I love the idea of a distaff "Usual Suspects" or "Reservoir Dogs." I really want to run this sometime. I would love to see how a witch (Skylla) and a wizard (The Sorceress) work together in an adventuring party run by someone other than me. 

And more to the point, I just want to see Bargle get curb-stomped by a bunch of women.

The Witch for ShadowDark - Amaranth Lilis

 Yesterday, I talked about my "Can I play it as a witch" character, Esme Valethorne for my Witch Book of Shadows supplement for ShadowDark. Today, I want to share my "played as a witch with no preconceived notions" character, Amaranth Lilis. And since she was "new" I made her a tiefling. 

I say "new" in quotes because she was/is a character I have had in mind for a bit now; she was just never given form. Like Esme, she also had a Baldur's Gate 3 counterpart, but unlike Esme, she, so far, only lives on paper in ShadowDark.

Amaranth Lilis

So, who is she? "Amaranth" comes from the Nightwish song and because her skin is the same color as the flower of the same name. "Lilis" is not just a nod to Lilith, her "mother" and Patron, but also to Sophia Lillis who played Doric, the tiefling druid in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

Outside of that...I knew nothing about her. In my mind, she was in this demonic pact, but it wasn't so much a pact as it was a, well, family obligation.  The rest I just ran with.

Amaranth Lilis

Ancestry: Tiefling
Class: Witch 4th level (Apprentice)
XP: 20 (need 50 for 5th level)
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity/Patron: Lilith
Background: Born with a Caul (sensitive to certain occult workings)
Familiar: Raven ("Lucifer")

Str: 8
Dex: 11
Con: 12
Int: 17
Wis: 15
Cha: 10

HP: 10
AC: 11

Languages: Common, Diabolic

Talents
+1 to Spellcasting checks (tiefling)
1st level: +2 to Charisma
3rd level: Patron Favor, +1 to any die roll once per rest

Patron Boon: Learn 1 extra Tier 1 wizard Spell: Burning Hands

Spells
Tier 1 (3): Feel my Pain, Glamour, Häxen Talons
Tier 2 (2): Light as a Feather-Stiff as a Board, Scorching Ray

The one thing I wanted to do most with Amaranth is have her be a "Good Witch."  She is essentially a "good girl" with some minor demonic tendencies. I modeled her behavior a lot on "Anita" from Keith Roberts' book of the same name. 

Her raven, Lucifer, is a joke, but it is also a nod to a familiar another character of mine had years and years ago.

I am pretty happy with how she turned out and want to see more of her adventures. Her low(er) Wisdom lets me get her into trouble, and her background, "Born with a Caul," is a great excuse to make those misadventures be based on something "she sensed" or "she felt." Lots of fun potential there. 

I have a lot more characters I could do for The Witch - Book of Shadows, but I think you are getting the idea here. 

 

The Witch for ShadowDark - Esme Valethorne

My new The Witch - Book of Shadows for ShadowDark features a couple of new iconic characters/NPCs: Larina Nix, Amaranth Lilis, and Esme Valethorne. They are not just NPCs or names in the book; they were my playtest characters for the witch rules. 

Now, all of you know Larina, so there is little need to post her first. But I do want to talk about Amaranth and Esme. Since Esme was the first, I will go with her.

Esme Valethorne

Esme is a wizard, but I played her like a witch to first see if it could be done. Very much like I did with Marissia (magic-user), Luna (cleric), and Cara (illusionist) back in the earliest days of my D&D days and when I was first working on my witch class. 

Esme was first brought to life, not in ShadowDark but in Blue Rose. I was playing in a Blue Rose RPG over the summer and Esme was one of my NPCs. She was originally designed to be a foil for the PCs, a local magical expert, but over time I began to invest more into the character. That game ended and I ported her over to ShadowDark and ran her as a wizard learning about witchcraft. 

And of course. I also tried her out in Baldur's Gate 3, also as a wizard. I will likely give her a go in AD&D 1st Edition now, too.

I initially based her appearance and personality on Stacy London, but she (as characters often do) grew away from that.  

Esme is a "by the book" ShadowDark character. 

Esme Valethorne

Ancestry: Human
Class: Wizard 5th level (Warden)
XP: 30 (need 60 for 6th level)
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity: Ord
Background: Acolyte

Str: 8
Dex: 11
Con: 12
Int: 17
Wis: 15
Cha: 10

Languages: Common, Sylvan

Talents: +2 to Int stat, +1 to wizard spellcasting rolls. Additional wizard spell, Tier 1 (Charm Person) 
3rd level: Advantage on Spell (Charm Person)
5th level: Additional wizard spell, Tier 3 (Lightning Bolt)

Spells
Tier 1 (4+1): Burning Hands, Charm Person, Detect Magic, Light, Magic Missile
Tier 2 (2): Hold Person, Misty Step
Tier 3 (1+1): Dispel Magic, Lightning Bolt

I like this character. And I had a lot of fun playing her in Blue Rose and ShadowDark. But she wasn't "witchy" enough for me. There is a LOT you can do with ShadowDark, but in the end I did decide I wanted a proper witch.

Still. I am not done with Esme just yet. 

New Release: The Witch - Book of Shadows for ShadowDark

 New release Tuesday. Earlier this year, I started a ShadowDark Witch book, and now today it is available to buy.

The Witch - Book of Shadows

https://legacy.drivethrurpg.com/product/502244/The-Witch--Book-of-Shadows

The Witch Book of Shadows

Witches have long been a part of Fantasy, from fairy tales to fiction to RPGs. Now, you can bring the witch class to your ShadowDark games. 

Included here is the Witch Class.

• Six new ancestries
• New occult backgrounds
• Basic, Expert, and Advanced witch talents that grow as you level up.
• Thirteen Witch Patrons, from Baba Yaga to Xthluhu the Horror of the Deep! Each with boons and spells.
• 160+ new occult spells for ShadowDark, including special Patron Spells and Ritual Magic spells.
• 60+ Witch-related monsters for your ShadowDark adventures
• 40 new magic items.
• 124 pages

Compatible with ShadowDark and other ShadowDark products.

Art by Javier Charro, Tamas Baranya, Joe J. Calkins, Luigi Castellani, Dean Spencer, and James Thompson.

--

This is my first big project using Affinity Publisher 2, and I am very pleased with how it turned out. I am sure some improvements could be made in my process, but all in all I am very happy with it.

I bought that cover art from Javier Charro a while back, and I have been dying to use it somewhere. This seemed like a perfect fit for me.

Order your Print on Demand copy now to get it in time for Christmas.

Witchcraft Wednesday: The Witch Book of Shadows for the ShadowDark RPG

 What have I been doing? Well this last Gary Con (back in April) I was talking with my Elf Lair Game co-conspirators about future projects. Of course our plans revolved mostly around the recently released Thirteen Parsecs. But I also began flipping through the "new to me" physical copy of the ShadowDark RPG. I had picked up the Quickstart and the Curse Scroll #1 zine at a previous Gary Con, so it seemed right to grab it then too. Originally my plan was only to use it as a supplement for my Old School Essentials games. But others encouraged me to try it out on it's own merits. 

It finally clicked with me one evening this past summer while making dinner what ShadowDark actually is and not what I thought it was. Granted, it is exactly what the video creator Kelsey Dionne has been saying for two years. So I sat down that night during my writing time and put together an outline. I gave myself one week. Well...that week went on, and on, as I really grew to like this project. So now I am ready to reveal the fruits of those efforts. Or at least reveal that I am revealing it.

Coming soon (next month or so), The Witch Book of Shadows for the ShadowDark RPG!

From the upcoming DriveThruRPG page:

Included here is the Witch Class.

- Six new ancestries
- New occult backgrounds
- Basic, Expert, and Advanced witch talents that grow as you level up.
- Thirteen Witch Patrons, from Baba Yaga to Xthluhu the Horror of the Deep! Each with boons and spells.
- 160+ new occult spells for ShadowDark, including special Patron Spells and Ritual Magic spells.
- 60+ Witch-related monsters for your ShadowDark adventures
- 40 new magic items. 
-124 pages A5 size to fit with your current ShadowDark RPG books

Compatible with ShadowDark and other ShadowDark products.

The biggest selling point for this book are all the new spells. Plus every witch takes a patron which opens new and unique spells to them. Add ritual spells and no two witches are ever the same.  There are thirteen new witch patrons as well.

For the monsters, well, many of these came from my recent Horror movie marathon. Going back to the roots of AD&D monsters and then rebuilding them from the ground up, or at least getting a head start from horror movies, gave me plenty of new ideas—so many that a few didn't make the cut and will be featured on a few Monstrous Mondays. 

Right now I am just waiting on the print proofs. Once I have those in hand (expected by Dec 1) then I will figure out what needs to happen next. 

As always, I had a blast working on this one, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did putting it together. 

Special thanks to Kelsey Dionne for not just making such a fun game, but building a great community and a sense of community involvement with this game. That might be her best achievement yet.

Do It (Yourself) in the Dark

 I am continuing my exploration of the Shadowdark RPG.  I grabbed the PDF a while back and have balked on getting the hardcover. Well, after spending so much time with it on my iPad (BTW it works great on an iPad) I decided to grab the hardcover.  While I am waiting on my FLGS to get it back into stock (and I need to go pick it up) I wanted a copy I could use and abuse. 

So I made a spiral bound copy.

This works out really well since the layout of Shadowdark really favors laying it flat.  I also picked up some super cheap dice to go with it.

I got the idea a while back with OSE and it has been a great table copy.

Both games utilize similar layout and design and play quite nicely together. So nice, I might have to do a "Plays Well With Others" post on them.

This fits with my original ideas of what I was going to use Shadowdark for; as a supplement to OSE. I mean yes, it is it's own game, but I have been invested in OSE for a bit now and wanted to keep on going. So I was "Shadowdarking" it, which I now learn might have different connotations to the OSR movement at large. Whatever, they are not in my games.

In my previous post on Shadowdark, I stated, "I have gone from really enjoying it, to being very confused over the hype, to not liking it, to being amused by it, back to enjoying it again." I suppose that merits some details.

When I grabbed the Quick Starts at Gary Con a while back I liked it. Sure there was a witch and it was, ok, but hey it was a start and looked fun. So I played for a bit, not a lot, but a bit. Here I began to get my ideas that it would work better for me as an OSE supplement.

Then the Kickstarter happened, and the game took off. My confusion (then) was due to me not knowing anything about the massive community Kelsey Dionne had worked very hard to build. 

When I got the PDF I honestly didn't care for it. I was still viewing it as an Old-School Game from Old-School roots, and frankly, I was just plain wrong about that. I nearly picked up a copy at Gary Con 2024, but didn't since I was spending money on other things and I knew if I really wanted it my FLGS would have it.

As the summer went on I got very amused at all the Sturm und Drang about it online. I watched and read with amusement all these people lashing out at it getting angry. I knew if they hated it so much that there had to be more to it than my initial read-throughs. Sure enough there was. 

I am back to enjoying it now because now I think I "get it."  This is not an Old-School Game from Old-School roots. It is an Old-School Game from New-School Roots. Though Kelsey Dionne has impressed me with her old-school knowledge and experiences, she cut her publishing teeth on 5e. She brought her experiences back to old-school design principles. 

I am STILL not 100% sure what I am going to do with this game. But I do plan on having some fun.

In the Dark: Shadowdark RPG

 I have been flirting with this game for a while now. I have gone from really enjoying it, to being very confused over the hype, to not liking it, to being amused by it, back to enjoying it again. I guess that is a testament of some sort to be honest. But I think the final extremely positive selling point for this game has been the community around it.

I have been lurking on many of the major Shadowdark fan forums (Discord, Facebook) for the better part of the last year or so. The community is overwhelming positive, and none more so than creator  Kelsey Dionne herself. Seriously, every post of hers seems like it is "wow, that is so cool! I love what people are making for this game." I have to give her a ton of credit for creating a great, vibrant and inviting community. 

Both the old-school and new-school communities can learn a lot from this one.

So while I am very deep into my celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, I am still playing a lot of games. I just wrapped up a great Blue Rose game and I'd love to port over one of the NPCs who really shined at the end. I just need to figure out how I want to do that.

Will I do a witch for this? Yeah, there are some things I'd like to see in this game. Yeah, there is a witch in Cursed Scroll Zine #1, but I can certainly do more than that.

Maybe eventually I'll go back to my plan to mix Shadowdark and OSE-Advanced, they have a good vibe together.  Both are approaching the same sort game style from very different ends of the gaming spectrum, and honestly I think they both have a lot to offer each other. But for now, I'll play some Shadowdark proper and see what I think.