Showing posts with label Sinéad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sinéad. Show all posts

Friday, August 8, 2025

Fantasy Fridays Review: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting Revised

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting Revised
We are in the AD&D 2nd ed era for sure now, and today I am planning on finally tackling the boxed set that launched a 1000 campaigns or more. The AD&D 2nd Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting Revised.  I purchased mine relatively recently to be honest. Well. More recent than 1993. This is the second Forgotten Realms Campaign setting boxed set. The first, of course, was the famous "Gray box" for AD&D 1st Edition.  It was an instant classic, but I think many of my readers will agree that it was AD&D 2nd Edition where the Realms really grew in popularity. Even me, stuck in my lonely little corner of Ravenloft knew how important the Realms was. Forget that, all you had to do was be online in the early 90s when the Internet was still a wild and untamed place to know of the Realms' popularity. 

I will be honest. Of all the Realms products out there, this one feels like the hardest to review properly. But I will carry on. 

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting Revised

1993. by Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb, and Don Bingle. Art Clyde Caldwell (book covers), Fred Fields (box cover), Interior art by  George Barr, Dennis Beauvais, Tim Conrad, James Crabtree, Eric Hotz, Robin Raab, Uttam, and Valerie Valusek.

NOTE: For this review I am considering both my original* boxed set and the PDFs** from DriveThruRPG.

Ok, there is a note on my note. First, I got my boxed set in a game auction. So I know for a fact there is extra material in my box. I have a second set of maps that look different from the other set. I am not entirely sure which set belongs. This is the problem when buying collections, going to auctions, and inheriting other collections. There is a lot more in this box. SO, I bought the PDFs for this review. I figure I might as well (I didn't have them) AND the PDF version has a different cover. Now I had that boxed set for a bit, but it was beat to all hell. I didn't know which one came first. So I kept the best looking box and best books. Likely, that is why I have extra stuff. 

I learned that the "gold" cover box that had the same art as the 1st Edition set was the first, and the one I have was the second printing/version. Either way, the interior contents are the same.

Except mine that is. Mine is special. ;)

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting Revised

Ok, all that aside, let's jump into this bit of D&D history. The box set has three soft-cover books that I'll take in turn.

A Grand Tour of the Realms
A Grand Tour of the Realms

This 128-page softcover book is the player-facing book for this set.

I think the biggest surprise for me was that this is where (at least for me) the Relams absorbed the campaign settings of Kara-Tur (previously part of Greyhawk at least in practice), Maztica, and Zakhara. Now of all these Zakhara was the most interesting to me and I flirted with buying the campaign setting a few times in the early 90s. But I was still an undergrad and there was always another Ravenloft book. Each setting gets a little overview here.

Likewise, the various peoples of the Realms are mentioned. Humans predominate, but dragons, dwaves, elves, goblins, gnomes, and more also get a mention here. The standard D&D species/races are here. Indeed, here is where many learned of these races for the first time in conjunction with AD&D 2nd edition rules. 

Up next, the standard classes are covered here. It's 2nd edition now, so Bards are not relegated to the back of the book. I would argue that is was 2nd Ed Realms where Bards got their proper due. 

Our next large section is all about Faerûn. This is the continent that people think of as synonymous with "the Forgotten Realms." The larger sections of the continent are covered briefly here. This is helpful for me since I never really know what people mean when they say "The North" for example. The map following this is even better. The large poster maps are great, but unwieldly to be honest. 

Some print is given over to the months and years, which I love. In the two Realms campaigns going on here in my house (my "Into the Forgotten Realms" and my oldest kid's "It's Always Sunny in Waterdeep") I have gotten fairly used to thinking of times in Dale Reckoning.  The current year for this set is 1368 DR.

Languages are next. It is really fun to see the Dethek writing here after seeing it the Baldur's Gate 3 video game. 

Up next are more detailed descriptions of various locales. The Dales and the Elven Courts, Cormyr, Sembia, The Moonsea, The Vast, The Dragon Coast, The Western Heartlands (including the Sword Coast), Waterdeep, and beyond (Evermeet, Moonshaes, etc.). Each gets a few pages to discuss important sites and people. There are adventure seeds galore.

There is a lot here, but not a lot of details on any one thing. This is actually good in my mind. It gives me room to work (I know... remarkably naïve on my part), but it did give some ideas for the next adventure I am going to run. 

The back cover has a list of the Forgotten Realms Adventure Backlist with prices up to that point. Still impressive by 1993, to be honest. I know I am missing a lot of these, but my Forgotten Realms buying is limited (on purpose) to what I can find via my local game auctions or Half-Price Books or other used sources.

Running the Realms
Running the Realms

This is our DM's book. It's 64 pages and features one of my favorite Clyde Caldwell pieces ever. I have a signed print in my game room. An aside. There is something about the size of the TSR-era 64 page books. Hits my nostalgia for the BX books.

Here we get a good and proper introduction to the Realms. The voices of Jeff Grubb and Ed Greenwood ring out loud here in their respective introductions. And we learn this is the 3rd Age of the Realms. 

We start the book proper with a Campaigns for New Players. I am neither a new player nor unfamiliar with the Realms, but I found this to be a good read with some great advice. Some of this reads very similar to the 1st Edition Gray box. This falls under the "if it's not broke, don't fix it" rule. 

Wild Magic and Dead Magic zones are discussed. I am not sure how much I would have used these back then, but I am going to make an effort to use them more now. 

There is a great timeline from -2637 DR to 1368 DR. I am still in 1357 DR in my games.

After this, some News of Realms covering recent local events follows. It reads like a set of newspaper articles. 

There is a section on the Secret Power Groups. The Harpers, the Cult of the Dragon, and the like. I have learned to use these sparingly. The Cult of the Dragon can be huge and my players would want to hunt it down and take them out for good. And the Harpers can swoop in and steal all the glory. Now other groups like the Red Wizards and Zhentarim are still great to use. Likewise, there is a roster of Select NPCs. The usual suspects are here. Again, this is a season to use sparingly. BUT it is nice to have these here. It is also nice to have a picture and pronunciation guide for some of these names. Because seriously Ed? What the hell?

There is a section on Gods that is good, but will see expanded in the next few years. Gods are ever changing bunch in the realms. The names stay roughly the same, but powers and portfolios can vary. It is always fun to read these starting with Ed's Down to Earth Divinity from Dragon Magazine. 

There is some "player" information here, but I feel the idea here is that DM will parse that out as they feel necessary. 

The back cover has Forgotten Realms novels published to date.

The Fogotten Realms novels are like cheeseburgers. Some are great and really fill you up. Others are the fast food variety; great when that is what you want and often cheap and easy to get. Others are sliders. They seemed like a good idea at the time, but when you are done you are questioning your choices. Now I have not read a lot of these to be fair, and really I should not judge; I read all the Ravenloft novels.

Shadowdale
Shadowdale

This 96-page softcover book is part location guide, part base of operations, and part adventure. 

Reading through this now I am reminded of how important the Dalelands used to be in the Forgotten Realms. It was *the* place to adventure back then. Back then I wasn't sure if it was from the novels or that's where Elminster had set up shop. I think now it must have been largely due to this book. I could be wrong, it's hard to judge cultural phenomena (and that is what is was in online D&D discourse) 30+ years later.

But, I am not here to judge this on past or perceived merits of the past. I am looking at the text in front of me. 

This book is broken up into sections detailing the history of Shadowdale and the lands including the farm lands around it (aside: growing up in the Midwest I don't think enough people understand how important farms were/are and how much land they can take up. Thankfully most of the AD&D guys are of the same background as I am.)

We also delve into the Village of Shadowdale, places of interest, and the temples. These include, respectively, Elminster's Tower (which should be a tourist location by now) and the Temple of Mystra.

About half this book is given over to the adventure "Beneath the Twisted Tower." Which was briefly profiled in places of interest. It is an adventure for parties of 1st to 3rd level and set after the Time of Troubles. The tone shifts here and I wonder if this was the contribution of Don Bingle.  To continue my BX D&D association, this would be the Caves of Chaos to Shadowdale's Keep on the Borderlands.

This book has the most "new" information to me. There is a huge underground cave system here with a lot of potential. The best part is that it gives new players a solid taste of what is in the realms. It's like a charcuterie board of Realms favorites, served in easy-to-eat sizes. The areas of Wild and Dead magics are also clearly marked, so that is fun. I gotta remember to use those more when the time is right.

Another Aside: I need to look into how and why Wild and Dead magic began here. Was it a side-effect of the Time of Troubles or did it happen before? I thought it was a side effect, but maybe I am wrong.

The adventure looks fun, but reading it is not playing it. If my party gets to the Dales I might give it a try. The one thing I don't lack is low-level adventures in the Realms. 

The book ends with a comprehensive Index of all three books. It is easy then to see what entries get coverage in which books, sometimes multiple coverage. 

Other Materials

Forgotten Realms Box Contents

Forgotten Realms Box Contents

I mentioned before that my boxed set seems to have materials from other sets and I have not identified which is which. 

There are the four large poster maps of Faerûn (I have two different sets), and the clear hex maps to place over them. This was a great idea. While I loved the maps from the D&D Basic and Expert sets, they always looked like they were drawn to fit the hexes. These are maps and the hexes come later. 

There are full color card-stock inserts of various symbols, sigils, and signs from the Realms which is great to show players what they are looking at.

And much to my pleasure AD&D 2nd Ed Monstrous Compendium inserts. My Forgotten Realms MC binder is getting quite full now.

Forgotten Realms Monstrous Compendium

DriveThruRPG PDFs

The PDF/Zip file from DriveThruRPG has all three books plus the Monstrous Compendium pages in one large, 312 pages, file.

The text is sharp and the tables of contents are hyperlinked. The index in not. The images are bit dark, but not so much so that they are hard to make out. I should note that some of the images are also dark in my boxed set, so that could just be how they came out in the color to black-and-white conversions.

I did print out the Monstrous Compendium pages so I could keep the originals in the box set intact and for better alphabetical sorting.

The zip file contains JPGs of all the inserts, including the acetate hex map overlays (why??), front and back of all the cards (which is good, now I don't have to cut up the ones in my boxes), the maps, and the poster that came with it. Wait a minute! My boxed set doesn't have the poster!!

Conclusion

This set is not exactly what I imagined it would be. Well, let me clarify that. This set is not what 1993 me thought it would be. It is actually better.

This box is bigger than the 1st Edition Realms boxed set. Plus the white background and 1990s trade dress make it a lot easier to read than the 1st Edition one. 

Many of the differences in terms of rules come from the shift from AD&D 1 to AD&D 2. For example Barbarians and Cavaliers are gone, Bards, Specialty Wizards and Priests are in. Speaking of which, it was in the Realms where the Priests of specific gods really shone and took full advantage of the new AD&D 2nd rules. When I get to the Faith's & Avatar series I am going to focus on this. Likewise we see in-world application of the Specialty Wizards in the Red Wizards of Thay. Yes, the Known World of Mystara also did this in the 1980s with the Schools of Magic in Glantri, but that was adding on to the rules; this was the existing rules being made manifest in the world. 

Honestly. This is one of the reasons why I associate AD&D 2nd Edition and Realms so closely with each other. The world informed the rules, the rules shaped the world.

Updates on Sinéad in the Realms

In my Realms game I have been using my character Sinéad to help view the Realms as someone learning about the world the same way I was.  One of the other reasons from the delay in getting to this product is that Sinéad and Co. have not yet caught up!

3D print and Character sheets of Sinéad
Primed 3D print and Character sheets of Sinéad

Well, for starters, Sinéad is a proper single-class Bard now. It was really 2nd Edition I had in mind for her since Bards were now a regular class. Also, I imagined she was some sort of wild-magic user, which is something I'll also explore.

Her partner in crime, Nida (who is important for some Ravenloft stuff later on) is still with her. These were my two main characters in this and my thoughts were always of 2nd Edition for them. Over the years, Sinéad has gone from a witch to a wild magic user.

What about the others?

Other 1st Edition Characters

Ok, so there some things I need to consider.

First off is Jaromir. He is a barbarian and those don't exist anymore in 2nd Ed. Well, unless I pull out the Complete Fighters Book.  Rhiannon (and I realize I am breaking my own rules here, this is my THIRD Rhiannon.) is a Dragon #114 witch.  While I could convert her to use the Witch kit in Complete Wizards Book. I might hold her off till I cover Spellbound. In fact that is a good idea.  Ok. Rhiannon and Jaromir have returned home to Rashemen. 

Argyle was a Dwarf from Mystara who got trapped here in Faerûn. He is a dwarf with no clan, family or a home. So...maybe he finds some dwarves to live with. I don't know. I am going to assume he is retired now.  I know that Druid and Ranger couple Asabalom and Maryah, eventually come to call a wetlands area their home where they protect it. I was hoping to get some more gaming in with them as NPCs so I could figure out what they were all about. I have an adventure they appear in later on to help the PCs, I just wanted to figure out how they got there. Lastly there was the young elf turned werewolf Arnell Hallowleaf. I know where he is going, but I'm not sure how he'll get there.

So for now, my main NPCs for my "Into the Forgotten Realms" are Sinéad and Nida, that is if the Players can get to the Dalelands for me to use them again. 

To say there is an entire world to explore here is cliché, but it is also the truth. My collection of Realms products is small, comparatively speaking, but it is still larger than I can ever hope to use in my lifetime. 

Monday, March 10, 2025

Monstrous Mondays: FOR1 Draconomicon

FOR1 Draconomicon
For today's Monstrous Monday I want to get back into exploring the Forgotten Realms. I was exploring the early AD&D 2nd edition books when I last left off.  Next on my list is one of the classic books for the Realms; so classic that we will get 3rd, 4th, and sort of a 5th edition versions of it.  I am talking about the Draconomicon. 

FOR1 Draconomicon

1990. by Nigel Findley, et al. Softcover, 128 pages. B&W art with magenta and some full color pages. 

For this review I am considering my original softcover book and the PDF from DriveThruRPG.

Obviously named after the Necronomicon and the more in-universe Demonomicon. I grabbed this one fairly late in my gaming life to be honest. I knew about it, of course, but I never bothered to grab it until my oldest began an interest in D&D at a very young age. He had a copy of the Draconomicon for 3rd Edition that he had carried with him everywhere (he was 5). It was so beat up and abused I thought it might be nice to get him the AD&D 2nd ed one as well, so I grabbed it at the local Games Plus Games Auction a few years ago.  He loved that one too, but took better care of it!

So I suppose, this book really isn't part of *my* collection. 

In any case this book feels more like the "Complete Handbooks" and "Dungeon Master Guides" books than it does an Forgotten Realms one. Thus the "FOR" code vs. the "FR" one. And yes, while there is a lot of Realms specific lore here, it reminds me enough of the old "Ecology of..." article from Dragon to be portable to any other world, save for maybe Krynn. That world has some very specific dragon lore already.

Chapter 1: Reference

This covers some history of how dragons first came into the world. There is an interesting piece on dragon evolution from the early Eodraco to "modern" dragons. Love the supposedly "extinct" line of dragons, perfect for an enterprising DM to come up with their own. We also see the return of the taxonomic nomenclature for dragons from the the 1st Ed. Monster Manual. 

The various "main" dragon species are described in detail, including a "racial preference" table common to the time. 

There are even Draconic Gods other than Bahamut and Tiamat listed. Note Bahamut and Tiamat are not listed here, but Zorquan is. I like the notion that dragons also worship "human" gods, they just appear draconic to them. This honestly makes a lot of sense and helped pave the way for Dragonborn in my mind. 

And to come full circle there is even some information on human who worship dragons. We will see more of this in future books.

Chapter 2: Geography

As expected, this covers the area where the dragons are found, listed by dragon type. Only slightly expands on what has been seen already in the AD&D 2nd Ed Monstrous Compendium/Manual.

Chapter 3: Dragon Psychology

A little more detail here, and this feels like the old Ecology of articles more. It discusses what motivates dragons, including their hoarding behaviors, and how to deal with such a long-lived creature. 

Chapter 4: Role-Playing Dragons

This chapter flows, concept-wise, from the previous. That is, how do dragons become (or be) "Dragons." How do they deal other species, how do they learn to fly, talk, do magic, what do they eat. All of these are discussed. There is even some discussion on how to raise a dragon. 

Need to know how long a dragon needs to incubate an egg? That information is here as well. Interestingly enough it mentions that chromatic dragons can interbreed. More on that later.

This chapter is good for an DM that uses dragons in their game and either wants to them be more fleshed out as a character or wants them to be a greater threat in combat. 

Chapter 5: Dragon Hall of Fame

Here we get some unique dragons. Bahamut and Tiamat seem "demoted" here to just special unique dragons. Others mentioned are Lareth, Aurus, Nexus, and Lux to name a few, I recognize. 

Chapter 6: New Dragon Species

We have some tables on dragon interbreeding. This section also has Monstrous Compendium style sheets for you to use. They are not numbered, so I wonder if the idea was you cut them out for use? No chance of that today! I'll just print mine from the PDF. These include the Mercury Dragon (with all of page 65's text on the back side!), Dracohydra, Steel Dragon, and Yellow Dragon. 

Dragons for my Monstrous Compendium

Chapter 7: Magic

Spells and magic items. I like the idea that some of these spells are so rare that only dragons know them. 

Chapter 8: Hunter's Guide

I mean, the game is called "Dungeons AND Dragons" so hunting dragons will come up. This chapter has some good advice and role-playing tips for both sides of the DM's Screen. 

Chapter 9: Miscellaneous Information

It covers everything else not touched on in the previous chapters, including details on the in-world Draconomicon itself. There is a bit on dragons and Spelljamming too. 

Adventures

The last 30 or so pages gives us three mini-adventures. 

Dragons should be awe-inspiring, or at least terror-inspiring, in the *D&D game and this book moves us a little closer to that. 

For a book about dragons, it is great. I would have eaten this one up back in 1990, but I would have chaffed under Bahamut (and Tiamat) getting such ill-treatment.  As a Forogtten Realms book tit dosen't push my understanding of the Realms any further save for the fact that there are colleges of scholars who spend a lot of time talking about dragons, but little time actually near dragons! (maybe they are smarter!)

It does help build a world where this is some mystery. What about that extinct line of dragons? Where are they? What were they? Can I learn new spells from dragons? What treasures do they hoard?

Great way to start adventuring in the world.

Catching up with Sinéad

Since I am using my character Sinéad as my discovery point of view of the Forgotten Realms, I think it is time I check in with her and her band of adventurers. When we last left them they had run into some trouble in Waterdeep ("Ill Met in Waterdeep" a year ago!). Since then they have been wandering the lands. With this book, my son and I decided that they see a yellow dragon flying overhead, ala, Ash Ketchum and his Ho-oh Pokémon. We thought that was funny given my son's love of dragons and Pokémon growing up. 

The party consists of Sinéad, the thief Nida, the barbarian Jaromir, Rhiannon the witch (not Grenda's Rhiannon), Arnell the cleric, and Argyle the dwarf fighter. Right now I am still using their 1st Edition AD&D sheets, but I will need to update them soon. There are no real barbarians in AD&D 2nd ed, so I think when I do update, Rhiannon and Jaromir will have moved on. Too bad really, I kinda liked Rhiannon. I will have them show up again when Sinéad and company get to Rashemen. We decided that while Nida and Rhiannon get along well, Sinéad and Arnell do not. Well. Sinéad want to know everything about elves from Arnell, but he is uncomfortable talking to a worshiper of Sehanine Moonbow. I am playing him as having a crisis of faith at this point; his faith vs his attraction to Rhiannon. 

Not sure who is making the cut to AD&D 2nd Edition yet, but I better figure it out soon.

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

#RPGaDAY2024 Marvelous Miniature

 This one is rather easy. I am completely in love with the miniatures from HeroForge.

HeroForge Minis
These all sit on my desk.

I was an early backer, and backed it again for their color print process. Since then I hove picked up quite a few. What can I say, I love them.

Me and Johan

Here is my "mini-me" and my alter ego Johan.

Larina

I have a few Larinas. A printed one and few I did on our home printer.

Sinéad, Karlach and Shadowheart

Some to commemorate my best Baldur's Gate 3 run, Sinéad, Karlach and Shadowheart.

Duchess & Candella

The mini standees of Duchess & Candella. I wanted to try it out.

Willow & Tara

And Willow & Tara. Because of course I did.

Not to mention all the screen shots I have used over the years.

Likely not long before I get an itch and want to make another one.


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I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August. 

#RPGaDay2024

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

#RPGaDay2024 Compelling Characters

What makes for a Compelling character? What makes one for me and say not for you?

I'll talk about an NPC on the 22nd, so today I'll feature PCs.  As it turns out, I also just got some new art for a couple of my PCs Sinéad and Larina from artist Mondhut.

Sinéad
Sinéad Moonshadow

Larina
Larina Nix

I should think that these two don't really need introductions at this point. But briefly, Larina is my witch character I stat up in every game I play to see if I can make a witch in that game.  Sinéad is a sorcerer/bard that I am currently using in my exploration of the Forgotten Realms. Sinéad was also the character I used when I did my "perfect" run of Baldur's Gate.

What I had not realized until I started this post is that at no point in my histories of these character have they ever met.

Larina has had dealings with all my major characters over the years, being a near immortal witch will do that. Sinéad has interacted with Taryn, Larina's daughter, quite a bit. In fact when Sinéad was trapped in the Feywild she and Taryn met and decided that they must be sisters (both are half-elves). 

But Sinéad and Larina have never actually met.

They are compelling, to me, because I keep finding ways to use them. I also have my Johan character and he is every bit as compelling, but he is 100% a PC, so a lot of what happens to him (all the Johans) is largely due to the game he is in at the time. Larina and Sinéad bonuce a lot now as PCs, NPCs, and GMPCs. 

Check out Mondhut's Instagram if you can.

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I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August. 

#RPGaDay2024




Friday, August 2, 2024

#RPGaDay2024 Most recently played

 Most recent played?

That would have to be my AD&D 2nd Edition one set in the Forgotten Realms with my oldest.  We play a little here and there when he gets off of work (usually around 11:00pm to midnight).

AD&D 2nd Ed

We have not gotten very far. An hour or two here and there, but we have had a blast doing it.

This is the one where I am running my Sinéad as a DMPC. She is a Bard, so she is always just a support character, and she is the DM mouthpiece on Realms lore. It has been great since I remembered how much fun I always had with Bards.

I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August. 

#RPGaDay2024

Thursday, June 20, 2024

Converting D&D 5 to Blue Rose 2nd Edition: Character Exploration

 Ever since the Great OGL Debacle of 2022-2023, I have been looking for something to replace D&D on my table and in my development space. I have not always been successful on either front, but I have found many great contenders, including Castles & Crusades, Pathfinder 2nd Edition, and Wasted Lands. I have another one I wish to add to that list. Blue Rose 2nd Edition.

Blue Rose and Characters

I love Blue Rose. I love the game, the idea, the setting, the mechanics, everything. 

I spent a lot of time reviewing this game when it was released.

The game is an absolute joy, and I hope to continue it for a long time.

Unlike the three games I mentioned above, Blue Rose 2nd Edition's AGE system is not d20-based. It does have some d20 DNA via Blue Rose 1st Edition's True20 system. It is fairly trivial to convert D&D material over to Pathfinder, Castles & Crusades, and Wasted Lands. Blue Rose takes a little more work. However, the scaling is very similar with all of these games.

Blue Rose

The Characters

For this, I will do conversions of my main witch character, Larina, and two of my Forgotten Realms characters. Why these three? I want to play around with how adepts work. Plus, these are the three characters (well, them and Johan) that are most on my mind right now. Sinéad and Nida are part of my 2nd Ed AD&D Forgotten Realms game, so exploring who they are in this Blue Rose/AGE set-up is useful for both Blue Rose and the Forgotten Realms. And Larina, well, she is never far from my mind. 

Plus, it is the Summer Solstice, one of the pagan celebration days, so witches seem appropriate. 

Also, lately, I have been comparing and contrasting Larina and Sinéad. If Larina is my go-to witch, Sinéad is becoming my go-to sorceress or wild magic wielder. Though I am noticing I am playing Sinéad a bit like Larina so I need to find ways to make her (Sinéad) her own character. 

I have already explored a lot of characters for this game. Especially a lot of adepts and how they can feel different from each other. 

I have spent quite a bit of time with this over the years and I really love the characters you can make and play with this game.

Sinéad for Blue Rose
Sinéad
Female Human/Vata'an Adept, Level 5

Accuracy: 5 (Primary) Focus: Bows
Communication: 3 Focuses: Persuasion, Performance, Deception
Constitution: 3 Focus: Swimming
Dexterity: 3 Focus: Artisan
Fighting: 2 
Intelligence: (Primary) 3 Focus: Arcane Lore
Perception: 3 (Primary) 
Strength: 2
Willpower: 2 (Primary)

Speed: 13
Defense: 13
Armor: 3
Penalty: 0

Health: 56
Conviction: 5

Powers, Talents, and Specializations

Starting Talents: Lore (N), Performance (N)

Arcane Talents: Healing (J), Wild Arcane (J)
Skillful Channeling
Arcane Training: Shaping (N)

Specialization: Bard (N)

Arcana

Wild: Fire Shaping, Sense Minds, Visions
Shaping: Psychic Shield, Move Object, Second Sight
Healing: Cure, Sleep

Arms and Armor

Dagger, Melee (Accuracy) 1d6+1
Dagger, Ranged (Accuracy) 1d6 6/12 Minor

Leather (Light Armor)

Persona

Calling: The Moon: Discovery and Learning Secrets
Destiny: Queen of Rods, Curious
Fate: Jaded
Corruption: 0 

Goals: To discover the secrets and source of her magic

Relationships

Taryn (3), "She is my adopted sister. We will do anything for each other."
Larina (2), "She is Taryn's mother. I am not sure what their deal is, but I will respect her."
Nida (2), "I have never had a friend like her, and so unlike everyone I have met before."

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Nida for Blue Rose
Nida
Female Human Expert, Level 5

Accuracy: 2 (Primary) Focus: Arcane
Communication: 4 (Primary) Focuses: Deception, Disguise
Constitution: 3 Focus: Swimming
Dexterity: 3 (Primary) 
Fighting: 2 
Intelligence: 4 Focused: Arcane Lore, Shaping
Perception: 4 (Primary) Focus: Empathy
Strength: 1
Willpower: 2 (Primary) Focus: Courage

Speed: 13
Defense: 13
Armor: 3
Penalty: 0

Health: 58
Conviction: 5

Powers, Talents, and Specializations

Starting Talents: Light Armor Training, Pinpoint Attack

Arcane Potential (N), Thievery (N)
Specialization: Shaper (Fire), (N)

Arcana

Fire Shaping

Arms and Armor

Dagger, Melee (Accuracy) 1d6+1
Dagger, Ranged (Accuracy) 1d6 6/12 Minor

Leather (Light Armor)

Persona

Calling: The Sun: Championing the Everyday
Destiny: Eight of Chalices, Daring
Fate: Stubborn
Corruption: 0 

Goals: To find her true path

Relationships

Sinéad (3), "Sinéad is a naive kid with her head in the clouds. And I love her for that. She reminds me of what I was."
Larina (2), "She honestly kind of scares me, but I know she has the answers I seek."

--

Larina Nix for Blue Rose
Larina Nix
Female Human Adept, Level 20

Accuracy: 2 (Primary) Focus: Arcane
Communication: 5 Focuses: Persuasion, Performance +2, Investigation
Constitution: 3 Focuses: Swimming, Stamina
Dexterity: 3 Focused: Artisan +2, Calligraphy +2
Fighting: 2 
Intelligence: (Primary) 5 Focuses: Arcane Lore +2, Research, Sorcerery Lore, Historical Lore, Healing
Perception: 3 (Primary) Focuses: Empathy, Visionary
Strength: 1 Focus: Intimidation
Willpower: 5 (Primary) Focus: Faith

Speed: 11
Defense: 11
Armor: 5
Penalty: 0

Health: 114
Conviction: 11

Powers, Talents, and Specializations

Arcane Talents: Arcane Training (M), Healing (M), Witchcraft (M), Psychic (M)

Linguistics (M), Performance (N), Contacts (J)

Specialization: Seer (M), Shaper (Fire) (M)

Stunts: Skillful Channeling (1), Disrupt Arcana (4), Lasting Aracan
Epic Stunt: Effortless Arcana

Add Willpower to Damage, Familiarity mod -2

Arcana

Fire Shaping
Enhancement, Heart Reading, Light Shaping, Ward, Second Sight
Cure, Sleep, Draw Vitality, Flesh Shaping, Body Control, Psychic Shield
Psychic Weapon, Psychic Contact, Calm, Illusion, Mind Shaping, Mind Reading
Visions, Scrying, Object Reading, Nature Reading

Arms and Armor

Dagger, Melee (Accuracy) 1d6+1
Dagger, Ranged (Accuracy) 1d6 6/12 Minor

Persona

Calling: The Priestess: Oneness with Spirit
Destiny: Queen of Rods, Curious
Fate: Jaded
Corruption: 1

Goals: To become a powerful witch

Relationships

Taryn (3), "My daughter. We lost so much time together in my service to Baba Yaga."
Sinéad (2), "Taryn's adopted 'sister.' I have watched this one from afar and subtly guided her on her path."
Nida (3), "It's...complicated."

--

Ok. Three different approaches to magic (arcana) in Blue Rose. The Wild Talent (Sinéad), the dabbler (Nida), and the Witch Queen (Larina).

Frankly, I am pleased with all three. Larina is scary powerful, and that is what I was aiming for. She has some corruption. I was also going to do Larina's daughter and Sinéad's best friend, Taryn, but I want to work some details on her first. 

I like that this world and this system allow me to bring out different aspects of these characters. 

In some ways I like to think of these as "parallel universe" versions. What these characters could be if the world they lived in was less horrible and had more light.  BUT...I don't even play Blue Rose as all "sunshine and kittens." The bright spots in this world are bright because there is still a lot of darkness out there.  I mean, even (especially) Larina has some corruption because she dabbles in Sorcery, or at least "Forbidden Knowledge." 

These characters compare very, very well to their Wasted Lands counterparts (Larina, Nida, Sinéad). They are not 100% the same, nor should they be, but I can see each (D&D, Blue Rose, Wasted Lands) are an aspect of the other. Given this I really should do Johan for Blue Rose. He would fit in rather nicely, really. 

Saturday, April 13, 2024

#AtoZChallenge2024: L is for Larian Studios

 I have been talking a lot about D&D history this month, but today I want to shift focus for a moment and talk about D&D's present. Honestly, the best Dungeons & Dragons content is not coming from the current owner and publisher, Wizards of the Coast (Hasbro), but from other companies. One in particular is Larian Studios, and the content is Baldur's Gate 3.

Larian Studios

It is not really hyperbole to say that Baldur's Gate 3 is the biggest video game of the last couple of years and might be the best video game I have ever played.  Larian is a smaller independent video game company located in Belgium. They have had a great track record of producing engaging, high-quality games for a small studio. Their big claim to fame prior to BG3 was their Divinity series. In their game Divinity: Original Sin 2, you can see the elements that would later be enhanced and perfected in BG3.  They are notable for their constant and rapid support, their desire to listen to their fans and give them what they want, and their games do not have microtransactions. These are little features in other games. Want some cool armor? Great, just $0.99 on your credit card. Cool sword? $1.99. For Larian, if you want those things, they are in the game for you to find somewhere.

They are a small independent studio producing games that rival, and in many cases surpass, the ones made by larger and more well funded companies.

Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3

Larian Studios shocked me with this. Baldur's Gate 1 was released in 1998, and Baldur's Gate 2 was released in 2000, with updates up to 2016. They had been rumors before of a Baldur's Gate 3, but nothing ever came from it.

Then in 2020 Baldur's Gate 3 went into "Open Beta" with little fan fare and almost no mention in the wider Dungeons & Dragons community.

In August 2023 it got its official release on PC and PlayStation with Mac and Xbox versions close behind.  To say it blew up is putting it rather mildly.

Right now, the game has an aggregate score of 96/100 from all reviews. I has also won pretty much every Game of the Year award for 2023 there is, including sweeping all five of the industry's top Game of the Year Awards. It even won more BAFTA awards while I was writing this post!

Like all the other Baldur's Gate games, this one takes place in the Forgotten Realms, but 120 or so years after the first two events (and a few months after the published book adventure Descent to Avernus). This corresponds to the published Forgotten Realms game books and novels, which had 100 or so years between the 3rd and 4th editions. This game uses some of the same mechanics and feel of Divinity: Original Sin II, and it is heavily influenced by the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition rules.  It feels like a 5th Edition game. The classes, spells, magic, and combat are all from the 5th edition rules.

Want to know how D&D plays but don't have people to play with? This is not a bad substitute.

I am currently on my third play-through with an eye toward's completion. I am half way through Act II. In this one I am running as a "companion run" to my 2nd play through. Same basic outline with similar characters, only swapping who is the main character. 

My first full play-through was with Larina. This was followed by Sinéad. Now, I am mirroring my Sinéad run with Taryn. They were "NPCs" in each other's run.

Larina
Larina

Sinéad
Sinéad

Taryn
Taryn

I have incomplete runs with Kelek, Skylla, Rayne (Bloodrayne), and, of course, my Paladin Johan.

Rayne
Rayne

Kelek and Skylla
Kelek and Skylla on an "evil run."

Larina and Johan
Johan's run with NPC Larina

Johan
Johan

I have been using a combination of hirelings, "Withers" (an in-game guide), and the "Magic Mirror" to turn the various NPCs into previous playable characters. So my Johan run for example has Larina in it, She can't interact like Johan can, but game-play wise she is the same. 

Same with my Taryn/Sinéad runs. In my mind they are the same run, just from each character's point of view. 

This has also allowed me to try out different "romance" options. Karlach for Johan, Gale for Taryn, Shadowheart for Sinéad, and Shadowheart, Halsin, Wyll, Mizora, Sorn and Nym Orlith, (!) all for Larina. She is a lover. She is also a fighter, but mostly a lover.

Bloodrayne *might* go for Astarion. She is based on the video game character Rayne from Bloodrayne, after all. But I have never had my approval rating high enough with him in any run. My Kelek and Skylla runs are all about violence, not romance. Which come to think of it, might be what I need to do for Astarion. 

The game is bloody, violent, very often NC-17 and NSFW, and an absolute ton of fun.

I am just over 350 hours into all my runs and I am STILL finding new material. Both of my kids play it, and they tell me about things they found that I haven't! I even found another hidden door last night in Act II. So yeah, I have in no way exhausted all of this game's options. 

This is the most fun I have had with a video game in a very long time.

Sadly Larian will not be doing Baldur's Gate 4 despite their overwhelming success. They have been super gracious about it online, saying they loved doing BG3, but they want to do new things now. Reading between the lines, it was obvious that Hasbro was asking for a LOT more in licensing fees for the Forgotten Realms world, and Larina didn't want to lay people off to pay for it. So, kudos to Larian Studios.

Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro now has full rights again to all these characters. Back when Baldur's Gate 2 came out Wizards published game material to support it. Now? Nothing for Baldur's Gate 3. I hope they do something; otherwise, they are leaving money on the table. 

Tomorrow is Sunday, so there will be no A to Z post, but I will continue my Sunday Specials. So tomorrow is Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition.

The A to Z of Dungeons & Dragons: Celebrating 50 years of D&D.


Saturday, April 6, 2024

#AtoZChallenge2024: F is for the Forgotten Realms

 This one might feel like a bit of a recycle; I have been talking about the Forgotten Realms all year long so far and will keep at it. But today is different, I think.

My collection of Forgotten Realms books

For people new to D&D and my blog, the Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting, a world filled with people, creatures, gods, and history for use with the Dungeons & Dragons game. It was created as a world to tell stories in by Ed Greenwood. It was first published for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition game system back in 1987. I reviewed that set earlier this year. Now I was playing D&D when this game came out; I was about ready to enter my second decade of playing, so I was not a newbie. But I felt the Forgotten Realms was the "Johnny come lately" of D&D, and I really wanted no part of it. 

That was a mistake on my part.

Well...I mean at the time I going to University, my funds were limited and soon I would be HARDCORE in another campaign setting, Ravenloft. I will talk a bit about the Campaign settings for AD&D tomorrow and about Ravenloft on R day. 

So, going back a few A to Z Challenges (2016), I posted about how I was changing my mind about the Forgotten Realms. It actually began back in the 3rd Edition days, and solidified to me in 4th Ed days. Now, in the later days of 5th Edition, I find myself drawn to it more. And I have REALLY had a great time with it. 

The Realms are wildly popular. There is over 35 years of RPG publications, hundreds of books with many as New York Times best sellers, a few dozen or so video games including the amazing Baldur's Gate 3, comics, an actual play podcast (I am sure there are more), and yes the most recent Dungeons & Dragons movie.

I freely admit, I was gearing up for a big push into the Forgotten Realms anyway, but it was Baldur's Gate 3 that really pushed me over. 

Me and the Realms

My regular readers know I have a campaign world that I really love, Mystoerth, which combines aspects of two other published campaign worlds Mystara (published with Basic D&D) and Oerth, the World of Greyhawk (designed for Advanced D&D). These two worlds were smooshed together so my old High School DM and I could have one world. This suited me well for a very long time. 

But there is something to be said about living in a shared world. You can talk to others about adventures in a place, and they have their own stories. It makes the world alive in a way I can't really do with my Mystoerth. 

These blog pages document my attitude shift towards the Realms fairly well. However, they don't really capture how much I disliked them initially, especially in the 1990s. 

I was never a fan of Forgotten Realms. I dismissed it in the 1980s as an "upstart," ignored it in the early 1990s, and actively disliked it in the late 1990s. But it seems my ire was misplaced. Around the time the 3rd Edition Realms book came out, I was beginning to soften my stance. By the 4th Ed era, I considered moving a campaign to the Realms. In the 5th Ed era, I made it official, more or less.

It was my coverage of Ed Greenwood's work in Dragon magazine that changed my mind. 

To this end, I have amassed a small collection of Forgotten Realms books—nothing special, just ones that I have easily come by either at game auctions, Half-Price Books, or, as in the books pictured above, Print on Demand from DriveThruRPG. So, I have been going through them in detail throughout the editions.

The Forgotten Realms to me was always viewed through the eyes of a character, whether that was Elminster or Drizzt or whomever. Likewise, I am going to look into the Realms through the eyes of a new character. So I am opting to also experience the Realms through the eyes of my characters. The one I am starting with is Sinéad. She began as an AD&D 2nd Ed character, moved over to become a very successful Baldur's Gate 3 character, and now she is my "Ego" character for my Realms games.  She even has her own set of dice.

I have some others that I have discussed and there will be more.

So far, this has been nothing short of fantastic. There is not a moment of this new series of posts and these new explorations I do not love. If you are here from the A to Z Blogging Challenge, I recommend coming back to check these out if you want to learn more about the Forgotten Realms. I know a little bit more than you do, so we can all learn together.

Tomorrow is Sunday and normally not a day we post in the A to Z. But I am doing my Sunday Specials again this year and posting about numbers. Tomorrow is AD&D 2nd Edition.

The A to Z of Dungeons & Dragons: Celebrating 50 years of D&D.


This is also my next entry of the month for the RPG Blog Carnival, hosted by Codex Anathema on Favorite Settings.

RPG Blog Carnival


Thursday, April 4, 2024

#AtoZChallenge2024: D is for Dice

Dragon Dice
$3.97 in the 80s. A LOT more now.
One topic spans the years and editions of Dungeons & Dragons and many other Role-Playing Games.

DICE!

One of the features of D&D has been the use of and inclusion of "polyhedral" dice. Each is used for various things in the games, which can sometimes lead to confusion with new players, but a lot of fun for experienced players.

The dice are used for various random numbers.  A typical set includes the following:

  • d4 Four-sided dice
  • d6 Six-sided dice (the most common)
  • d8 Eight-sided dice
  • d10 Ten-sided dice (for percentile roles)
  • d12 Twelve-sided dice
  • d20 Twenty-sided dice (the most popular)

These dice got their start as various Platonic Solids and were originally from a teacher supply store to teach math. I have in turn used them to teach my own kids math and used them in my stats classes to teach probability.

The old Basic sets all used to come with dice, except for the Holmes set. There was such a demand for dice then that TSR had to ship many set with "chits" instead of dice.

Chits in Holmes Basic

Like many gamers I have a lot of dice. Even though they are all just variations of the same 6 dice, I have different sets I like to use for different games and different themes.

Ravenloft Dice

This is the set I use when playing Ravenloft of any other Horror themed D&D-like game. Made up of black and red dice with some Castles & Crusades dice.

D&D Dice

These are my main D&D dice right now.

Ghosts of Albion

My Ghosts of Albion Dice.

Drow Dice

I got a bunch of Drow Dice at Gen Con and have used at Gen Con when running the GDQ series.

Old Dice

Some of my oldest dice. Used these throughout high school.

Witch Dice

Various witch-themed dice.

Halloween dice

Halloween-themed dice!

Old Dice

More old dice to add to my collections.

Holmes dice

Some "Holmes-themed" dice, including some Gary Con ones.

Here are two of my newest sets.

Replica dice

These are replicas of the old "Basic era" dice that shipped with the Cook/Marsh Expert set, and the Mentzer Basic and Expert sets. Yes, I had to use a crayon for these!

More Witch Dice

I got this set at Gary Con, so they are only about two weeks old. I got them at The Bewitched Parlor at Gary Con. The dice bag is from my wife from this past Christmas.  Since I loved themed dice for my characters, the old-school blue set will be for when I play Sinéad, and the purple set will be for Taryn.

Dice have even become a secondary market catering to Gamers. And there are some really nice ones out there.

Places like Dice Witchery, ZucatiCorp with their Holmage DiceThreshold Diceworks, and so, so many more.

Tomorrow, I take a step back to talk Expert Sets to round out my week of some Classic D&D themes. 

The A to Z of Dungeons & Dragons: Celebrating 50 years of D&D.