Teela Silvermoon, Faerie Witch

While working on my Faerie Witch post (and truthfully working on some ideas for "War of the Witch Queens") I went back to my archives.

One of my favorite witch books is from the Mayfair Games "Role Aids" book Witches.

I thought it might be fun to try to "update" one of the sample NPC to my Basic Witch book.  For this I want to choose "Teela Silvermoon" since she is also a Faerie Tradition witch.

The first issue off the bat is that my Witch book is for Basic-era games and it assumes that all witches are human.  There is an "Advanced" appendix to allow demi-human races so I am going to have to go with that.

Now I have used Teela before in my games. Not often, but enough to have at least some more backstory.  In my games she is mostly the same save that she is also in love with a human ranger that patrols her woods.  She loves him, but is sad because she knows that she will out-live him.
I also have a druid circle nearby that she interacts with.

Like all elven witches Teela believes that witchcraft was created by the elves. She has no tolerance for those who despoil her woods and less so for the ones that use magic to do it.

As with other builds I swapped her Intelligence and Charisma.

Teela Silvermoon
Elf Female, Chaotic Neutral
13th level Witch, Faerie Tradition

Strength: 11
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 13
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 15

BG:Vidaniel by Smilika

Saves
Death Ray or Poison:  9/7
Magic wand or devices: 10
Paralysis, Polymorph or Turn to Stone: 9
Dragon Breath: 12
Rods, Staffs and Spells: 11

To hit AC 0: 16 (15 with dagger)
Hit Points: 30
AC: 10

Occult Powers
Familiar:  Hawk ("Farseer") (Improved vision)
7th level:  Speak to Plants and Animals
13th level: Fey Shape

Spells 
Cantrips: Alarm Ward, Chill, Daze, Detect Curse, Object Reading
First: Analgesia, Cause Fear, Sleep, Silver Tongue
Second: Broca's Curse of Babel, Enthrall, Invisibility, Phantasmal Spirit, Mind Obscure
Third: Aphasia, Locate Thief, Lethe's Curse
Fourth: Charm Monster, Polymorph, Spiritual Dagger
Fifth: Dream, Greater Command
Sixth: Mislead, Moonbow
Seventh:  Widdershins Dance

Items
Cloak and Boots of Elvenkind, Dagger +1,

Looks good to me! Can't wait to bring her back into my games.

League of Extraordinary Ladies: The Huntress

Have not done one of these in a while.  So to celebrate the Kickstarter for Leagues of Gothic Horror: Shapeshifters & Vampires, here is a hunter...or rather a Huntress!
Plus I was reading through some of my Ubiquity books this morning and thought it would be nice to do this again.

The Huntress

Health: 8
Style: 2

Primary Attributes
Body 4
Dexterity 5
Strength 3
Charisma 3
Intelligence 5
Willpower 4

Secondary Attributes
Size: 0
Move: 8
Perception: 9
Initiative: 10
Defense: 9
Stun: 4

Skills (levels only)
Archery 6
Athletics 7
Drive 2
Firearms 6 (hand-held crossbow)
Investigation 6
Larceny 6
Linguistics 4 (English, Italian, French, Spanish)
Medicine 3

Melee 6

Performance 1

Ride 2

Stealth 7

Streetwise 7

Talents

Attractive
Danger Sense
Headstrong
Well Connected

Resources
Ally 3 (the Bat-Man)
Contacts (the Justice League) 3
Contacts (Criminal) 5
Wealth 5

Flaws
Obsession (prevent crime, hunt criminals)

This is Helena Bertinelli, not Wayne.  I have nothing against that version of the character, this is just Miss Bertinelli.  I set her Larceny, Streetwise, Contacts and Wealth accordingly.

Again with these I am not sweating the points. I want them to feel like their comic book counterparts.

New Big Dragon B/X Screen Sheets

So a while back I backed the Classic Edition GM's Screen from New Big Dragon and +Richard LeBlanc.

Well, the files went out this week and they look great.  If the physical product is this cool (and it should be) then this was a great project to back.

As an added bonus (well to me because I forgot about it) were files for character sheets.
They also look fantastic.  Since I have been printing out sheets for various versions of D&D for my summer games I thought I should give these a go too.

The sheets look great if you ask me.  I love the class-specific ones and there is even a generic one.

Really looking forward to this one in the mail.

Koliada, The Winter Witch for D&D 5

Back in June of 2009 D&D 4th edition was still on the shelves and Dungeon #162 was available for download.  Inside was an Epic level adventure by Stephen Radney-MacFarland called "Winter of the Witch". It featured the machinations of the so-called Winter Witch, the minor Archfey Koliada and her plans to freeze the world.    From the adventure:

"In this epic adventure, the Winter Witch—a legendary archfey—has launched a campaign to send eternal winter cascading over large portions of the world. After a summons to Winterhaven, the characters find a land locked in ice, and an old ally in need of aid. A trek to find a artifact known as the Sun’s Sliver ensues, the only force potent enough to defeat the Winter Witch and banish her from the mortal world once more. An adventure for 22nd-level PCs."

While not totally an original plot, it was still fun, well executed and had a lot things going for it.  But mostly it had Koliada who grabbed my attention from the start.  It also started me thinking about witches of winter.  In particular, why are there so many. Louhi, Elsa and the Snow Queen), Jadis, all the Jadwiga winter witches from Pathfinder and so on.  Notably almost all of these are also royalty, if not outright queens.

This also got me thinking about the War of the Witch Queens campaign I want to do next.  So good job +Stephen Radney-MacFarland! Your character from 7 years ago has inspired me quite a lot.

Recently I have been thinking about D&D 4e conversions.  Both to 5e and to BECMI specifically.  5e, because it is the D&D of the day now and D&D 5 makes a lot of allusions to past versions.  For example the Prince of Frost, Koliada's father/brother/lover/patron appears both in the Dungeon #162 adventure and as a potential Warlock patron in D&D5.

For D&D 4 to 5 conversions (and I'll talk about BECMI ones later)  I opt not to use a 1 to 1 correspondence.  Instead, I convert on a 2/3's basis;  Take the D&D4 character and times it's level by 2/3rds.   WotC still has her stats up, she is a 26th level solo skirmisher.  A lot about her though says Warlock, in particular a fey-pact Warlock Hexblade from the 4e era.

Conversion in this case is going to be more concept driven than finding correspondences with powers.  In fact for a 26th level warlock she is missing a number of spells and powers.  To be fair, the adventure never says that is what she is; just my translation.

So in 5e terms what is she?  Well. I think I made a solid case for her to be a warlock. Her powers come from her patron, the Prince of Frost (Fey Patron). She has a magical sword she can summon (Pact of the Blade) and she has a number of ice based powers.  Now she could use some more oomph, she is the main antagonist afterall, so I buffed her up with some feats.  Let's have a look.
26th level in D&D4 translates, roughly to 17.3333 level, or 17th level in D&D5. She also has some really high ability scores too. I am scaling those back a bit as well.

Koliada, The Winter Witch
Warlock 17, Eladrin Female, CE
Background: Noble

Strength 16 (+3)
Dexterity 20 (+5)
Constitution 19 (+4)
Intelligence 17 (+3)
Wisdom 15 (+2)*
Charisma 20 (+5)*

Proficiency Bonus: +6
Proficient skills: Arcana, History, Intimidation, Persuasion
Saves: Wisdom, Charisma

AC: 24 (studded leather +4, Ring of Protection +3)
HP: 165 (HD d8)
Speed: 30'

Sword of Blackice, "Rimefang" +11, 2d8

Fey Patron Warlock, Pact of the Blade
Patron: Prince of Frost

Feats: Elemental Adept (cold), Magic Initiate (Sorcerer), Keen Mind, Spell Sniper

Powers: Fey Presence, Misty Step, Beguiling Defenses, Dark Delirium

Invocations: Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Sight, One with the Shadows, Thirsting Blade, Sign of Ill Omen, Lifedrinker, Witch Sight

Spells Known
Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Chill Touch, Blade Ward, Mage Hand, Ray of Frost (MI), True Strike (MI), Ice Bolt (SS)
1st level: Faerie Fire, Sleep, Fog Cloud (MI)
2nd level: Calm Emotion, Phantasmal Force
3rd level: Blink, Fear
4th level: Dominate Beast, Greater Invisibility
5th level (current casting): Dominate Person, Hold Monster, Scrying, Seeming
6th level: Conjure Fey
7th level: Finger of Death
8th level: Power Word Stun
9th level: Power Word Kill

Languages: Common, Sylvan, Draconic, Primodial, Abyssal

All in all, a nice build.

I am ignoring her Unique Kill quality about only being killed via a bolt of sunlight from the artifact Sun's Sliver. 

Have to try her out now against my players!

The Iconic Witches of D&D

No game this past weekend. I wasn't feeling great and my son was at a birthday party.

I was thinking about Friday's post on the witches of Rahasia and of Ravenloft and it occurs to me that D&D lacks in iconic witches.  There are great examples of Vampires, Liches, Wizards, Priests, Paladins, Rangers, enough Thieves to fill a guild, even Bards.

The witches in Rahasia are one thing, but the ones in Ravenloft don't even have proper names really.

Pathfinder does a good job with their iconics.  Feiya is a proper witch, but even the sorceress Seoni is often referred to as a witch.  Not to mention all the witches to be found in Irrisen like Queen Elvanna.

The witches three. Larina, Feiya and Seoni

I have my iconic, Larina.  But she appears mostly in my Pathfinder books.

Who do we have for D&D?

Well for starters and maybe the most iconic is Iggwilv, the Witch-Queen. We also have Elena the Fair, Witch Queen of Summer. Also, while not as a well know or even explicitly a witch is Skyla.

There is also one witch that both D&D and Pathfinder share, Baba Yaga.

There was also Koliada, the Winter Witch. a Level 26 Solo Skirmisher from the 4th ed era adventure "Winter of the Witch". But there is not a lot out there about her.  Interestingly Pathfinder also has a lot Winter and Cold related witches.

Dungeon Crawl Classics gives us Lady Kyleth, The Witch Queen.

Personally I'd love to see more.  There might be more, I just haven't found them all yet.

Rahasia, Ravenloft and Witches

While reading the new Curse of Strahd book I could not help but notice that Rahasia was listed as inspirational material.  This prompted me to go back and look over my well worn copy.

Like Ravenloft Rahasia was written by the Hickmans. It began life as a two-parter for the RPGA, Rahasia and Black Opal Eye.

Between this and the new Curse of Strahd book it got me thinking about thinking about how witches are portrayed in the Hickman's adventures.

The Ravenloft "Bavorian" Witches are fairly stereotypical to be honest.  While that is fine in the confines of the gothic horror tropes, there is always room for improvement.

In Rahasia, the "Witch Sisters" are much more powerful when the are together and have access to the Black Opal Eye.   This includes taking over the bodies of others and communicating with their black panthers.

I still can't help but think they might be more interesting as one of my Basic Era Witches.

Karelena, Solorena & Trilena
Human Female Witches
Faerie Tradition

Level: 1 (5 when together using the magic of the Black Opal Eye)
AC: 9
HP: 5 (11), 4 (10), 6 (13)
Move: 120' (40')
Attacks: 1 (athamé)
Damage: 1d4
Save As: W1 (W5)
Morale: 6 (12)
Alignment: Chaotic

Familiar: Black panther for each

Each knows the following cantrips:
Chill, Close, Dancing Lights, Irritate and Spark

By themselves the witches can cast the following spells:
Karelena, 2 of the following: Command, Magic Circle Against Good, Sleep
Solorena, 1 of the following: Charm Person, Pop Corn, Sleep
Trilena,  1 of the following: Light, Spirit Dart, Magic Circle Against Good,

When encountered together they can cast an additional spell above and any two of the following each.  Hold Person, Knock, Levitate, Mind Obscure, Spell Missile

Together they can also cast:
Level 1 Ritual: Consecration Ritual
Level 2 Ritual: Calling the Quarters
Level 3 Ritual: Imbue Witch Ball

This makes them a little bit more of a threat.

Sisters of the Aquarian Order: The Geminian Prophecy

The Sisters of the Aquarian Order believe in reincarnation.  They have seen the same souls over and over again throughout their long history.  While the memories of former Sisters live on in the Gestalt, the "souls" are reborn again and again.

Such is the case with Kimbra III and Kelleigh III.  Not only reborn but reborn as twins again.
Unlike most Sisters, Kimbra III and Kelleigh III were left for the Order after showing signs of power at a very early age.  They already had advanced telepathy between themselves, they are Anamchara and showed knowledge of the Order that many Initiates did not even have.

Tragedy struck the young twins when they were separated in a conflict between the Star Knights and the Void Knights.  Kelleigh III was believed to have been killed, though her sister knew better.

Kimbra III now serves as a "cultural liaison" to the Star Knights.  Here she provides them details she has learned about the Void Knights in her studies.

Kelleigh III is still alive, but now a member of the Capricorn Sisterhood. Here she also works as a cultural liaison to the Void Knights.   Only Kimbra knows her sister is alive via their Anamchara link.  The Aquarian Order suspects she might be alive and is watching Kimbra closely for any signs of heresy.

In truth both sisters work toward the same goal, the discovery of the return of the Old Ones.

Kimbra III
5th level Aquarian Sister

Strength: 11
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 16
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 16

Hit Points:  16
AC: 7
Base to hit: +2
Saving throw: 11

Powers
Empathy, Telepathy (Anamchara: Kelleigh III)

Rituals 
First: (2) Far Sight, Read Languages
Second: (2) Agony, Hold Person

Eqipment
robes, baton


Kelleigh III
5th level Capricorn Sister
(Note: to Aquarian Sisters she is an Omega Level Heretic)

Strength: 11
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 16
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 16

Hit Points:  17
AC: 7
Base to hit: +2
Saving throw: 11

Powers
Empathy, Telepathy (Anamchara: Kimbra III)

Rituals
First: (2) Cause Fear, Drowsy
Second: (2) Detect Thoughts, Phantasmal Force

Eqipment
robes, baton

The Geminian Prophecy
The Geminian Prophecy is so old that most Sisters don't even know about it. It is not in any database, but only recorded in ancient preserved scrolls.  So old in fact that there are no Heresies surrounding it.  The prophecy states that twins will be born into their powers early in life.  They will represent two sides of the same duality and they will either unite it or destroy it.

Skylla: Compleat Spell Caster

The Compleat Spellcaster

Recently +Eric Fabiaschi over at Swords & Stitchery did a retro-review of the old Bard Games "The Compleat Spellcaster".   A book I have enjoyed for a number of years. A book that I will freely admit got me interested in doing my own witch class back in the day.  I played a witch using these rules rather briefly, but soon switched over to my own version.   Eric points out that the book is rich in ideas and magic.  What I personally liked were the spells and the variety of demons.  I still use Astorath, Shax and empusa demons.  

Eric did a fine review, so no need for me to go over the same ground.  Instead I want to see what sort of witch I can make with it.

In this book witches are a sub-class of the druid. Likewise necromancers and mystics are subclasses of the cleric.  I rather like this to be honest, I like that wisdom is the primary stat for the witch.

Skylla, 7th Level Witch
Chaotic Evil

Strength: 9
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 14
Charisma: 13

Breath Weapon: 13
Poison & Death: 7
Petrify: 10
Wands: 11
Spells: 12

Hit Points:  25
AC: 4 (Ring of Protection AC 4)
Familiar: Imp (looks like a small dragon)

Spells
1st level: Detect Magic, Disguise, Eldritch Fire, Hex, Object Reading, Summon Familiar
2nd level: Circle of Darkness, Frost, Levitate, Youth
3rd level: Dispell Magic, E.S.P., Locate Object
4th level: Invisibility, Thunderbolt


There are a lot of great spells for the witch.  There some powers that the witch gains including some alchemy and gathering followers.  I think this is good version of Skylla, though the lack of 8th and 9th level spells reduces the overall power of the class.

In the end I will repeat what Eric said, "...the Complete Spell Caster has a lot to offer if a DM thinks outside the usual boxes."

Class Struggles: The 5e Witch Project

Been playing a lot of D&D 5 of late and it has been a real blast.
It really has a lot going for it and feels like a D&D Greatest Hits.   But what it is lacking is a real witch class.

Well...I am not getting ready to write one to be honest.  I have plenty on my plate, but that doesn't mean I can't try to make something witch-like.

So something I have done with pretty much every other version of D&D I have played, most recently with 4e.  That was fun, but ultimately...well we know how that all turned out.

With 5e it has been a bit of different story.  For this experiment, I took five character concepts I have been playing around with for different things and thought this might be fun.

So in each case I built a by-the-book character of each of the main magic-using classes (and one extra, but I will get to that), cleric, druid, sorcerer, warlock, and wizard.  I used a variety of the backgrounds, feats, skill choices, and spells to create witch-like characters.

So far I have finished the warlock, the cleric, and druid.  I am working on the wizard and the sorcerer next.  I also built a paladin using the Oath of the Ancients, to build a witch-knight like character.

I am particularily fond of the Acolyte and Sage backgrounds for the characters.  I typically give Acolyte to the Arcane characters and Sage to the Divine, but not always.  It helps give them some background that I think would make them fell more "witchy".

Magic Initiate and Ritual Caster are also good feats to choose.  Typically something different than they already are.  My Warlock for example has Ritual Caster (Wizard) and Magic Initiate (Cleric).

Lastly are the spells.  There are a lot of great witch-like spells in the new PHB, much more so than say 4e had.  But there is still room for improvement.   There are plenty of spells in my Basic Witch book that could be converted and even improved under 5e. "Bewitch" is one of the first examples that comes to mind.

Pretty much everything else I can cover in role-playing.  The Cleric and Druid were tested out last week while my son ran Hoard of the Dragon Queen (or "Hoard of the Demon Dragon" as he was running it).  The Warlock has been coming in off and on while I have been running.

The real test for me will be the wizard and sorcerer.  For 4e the Wizard made the best "witch" for the concept I wanted to play and the Sorcerer did the same for 3e.   Interestingly enough the Cleric was the best 2e witch and the Druid the best 1e one.  Again...at least for concepts I was doing at the time.

Again, I am not ready to write a 5e witch class, nor am I even convinced I need to, but the experiments will continue.

Mythic Russia

There are tons and tons of great mythic stories in the world.  One of the ones I have always found to be interesting, though I know very little about them, are the Russian myths and fairy tales.  In particular Baba Yaga and Koschei the Immortal.  I found these pictures online from Amok Amokov.
https://www.instagram.com/amokrus/
https://www.facebook.com/amokanet

These pictures really capture what I think the Russian fairy tales should look like, or at least how they should be in my world.

Baba Yaga

Vasilisa the Beautiful

Vasilisa the Wise

Koschei the Immortal

Ilya Muromets

Alyonushka and Ivanushka

Elena the Fair

I certainly like this version of Elena the Fair, certainly worthy of the title Queen of Summer.

Grimalkin, The Witch-Assassin

Gimalkin is the assassin of the Malkin witch-clan and is the best one they have ever had.
She is tall, thin but muscled and covered in leather straps and daggers.
In addition to being a powerful witch she is a peerless assassin and always chooses to make her own weapons.
Her weapon of choice is a razor sharp pair of scissors that she uses to snip off the thumbs of her victims.  While she is deadly and cruel, she also has a sense of honor. She will not fight against people much weaker than herself and she never, ever lies.

You can read more about her here:
http://thespooksapprentice.wikia.com/wiki/Grimalkin

Grimalkin the Witch-Assassin
Female Human Assassin 4/Rogue (Rake) 1/Witch (bone-witch) 5
LE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +11

---

Defense

---

AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 53 (5d8+5d6)
Fort +2, Ref +8, Will +6; +2 vs. poison
Defensive Abilities uncanny dodge

---

Offense

---

Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +4 (1d4+3/19-20) and
   dagger +0 (1d4+1/19-20) (x13)
Special Attacks bravado's blade, death attack (DC 18), hexes (coven, disguise, healing), sneak attack +3d6, true death (DC 19)
Witch Spells Prepared (CL 5th; concentration +11):
3rd—arcane sight, bestow curse (DC 17)
2nd—alter self, darkness, hold person (DC 16)
1st—cause fear (DC 15), charm person (DC 15), command (DC 15), infernal healing
0 (at will)—daze (DC 14), mending, message, read magic

---

Statistics

---

Str 16, Dex 17, Con 11, Int 18, Wis 12, Cha 9
Base Atk +5; CMB +8; CMD 21
Feats Acrobatic, Agile Maneuvers, Alertness, Blind-Fight, Endurance, Quick Draw
Traits focused mind, killer
Skills Acrobatics +13, Bluff +3, Craft (weapons) +15, Diplomacy +3, Disguise +7, Escape Artist +12, Fly +5, Heal +5, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (arcana) +17, Knowledge (planes) +14, Knowledge (religion) +10, Perception +11, Sense Motive +9, Stealth +14, Survival +7, Swim +7, Use Magic Device +10
Languages Abyssal, Common, Daemonic, Dark Folk, Infernal
SQ hidden weapons, patron spells (bone magic), poison use
Other Gear leather armor, dagger x 13

---

Special Abilities

---

Agile Maneuvers Use DEX instead of STR for CMB
Arcane Familiar Nearby You gain the Alertness feat while your familiar is within arm's reach.
Blind-Fight Re-roll misses because of concealment, other benefits.
Bravado's Blade (Ex) On sneak attack, forgo damage dice for free Intimidate with +5 bonus/dice reduced.
Coven (Ex) Count as a hag to form covens, and aid another can increase coven witch's CL.
Death Attack (DC 18) (Ex) You can kill or paralyze for 1d6+4 rds with a prepared sneak attack.
Deliver Touch Spells Through Familiar (Su) Your familiar can deliver touch spells for you.
Disguise (5 hours/day) (Su) Can change own appearance, as disguise self but with longer duration.
Empathic Link with Familiar (Su) You have an empathic link with your Arcane Familiar.
Endurance +4 to a variety of fort saves, skill and ability checks. Sleep in L/M armor with no fatigue.
Focused Mind +2 to Concentration checks
Healing (2d8+5) (Su) Use cure moderate wounds once per day/person.
Hidden Weapons +4 (Ex) You gain +4 to Sleight of Hand checks made to hide weapons on your person.
Killer Add weapon's critical modifier to its critical bonus damage.
Poison Use You do not risk poisoning yourself accidentally while poisoning a weapon.
Quick Draw Draw weapon as a free action (or move if hidden weapon). Throw at full rate of attacks.
Share Spells with Familiar Can cast spells with a target of "You" on the familiar with a range of touch.
Sneak Attack +3d6 +3d6 damage if you flank your target or your target is flat-footed.
Speak With Familiar (Ex) You can communicate verbally with your familiar.
True Death (DC 19) (Su) Casting Raise Dead on a victim of your death attack requires a successful DC 19 caster level check.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex) Retain Dex bonus to AC when flat-footed.

Familiar (Bone Witch)
Grimalkin uses bones as her familiar. In particular the thumb bones of other powerful people, witches or creatures.  Right now she has in her possession the head the of Fiend, she can use that as a familiar as well.

Willow & Tara: Castle Falkenstein

It's been a while since I visited my two favorite witches.  I thought they were mostly retired by now, trying to live a quiet life.    Well I was wrong!

Long time reader and friend Ronnie Bradley shared his Castle Falkenstein stats with me.  I really like what he has done here.  Ronnie was also responsible for the Kult stats from a few years ago.  Willow from Boston and Tara having a Fey background actually ties in nicely to things I have done too.

So thank you Ronnie! Here are his stats.

Willow & Tara for Castle Falkenstein

The world of the Victorian age of New Europa is a world of steampunk technology, Faerie, Magick and derring do. It is of course our own Europe of the Victorian era with a few obvious changes but the nations remain the same. How do Willow and Tara fit into this world? Here is my take on it.
Given that so much of the action takes place in New Europa and the sheer weight of history and intrigue in that area I am going to have Willow and Tara emigrating to London. Willow will be a Consulting Detective (very similar to Madame Vastra in Doctor Who) who specializes in dealing with the occult and mystical crimes with her partner and lover Tara, who is the heiress to a great estate and fortune in England thanks to her Fey lineage.

The character sheets along with a small biography for the two characters are presented below. I have added the Health Points for those who wish to use the standard combat system from the main rulebook rather than the revised one from Comme Il Faut.
Whilst the overwhelming amount of information is held by the core rulebook, some of the skills and tomes come from Comme Il faut and a few tomes from The Book of Sigils. It would be useful to have these 3 books at least (and Sixguns & Sorcery is always a good one as well).

Willow and Tara flanking the Slayer of Victorian Age, Tara LaGrange by mqken.

Willow Rosenberg
Willow was born in Boston, Massachusetts and showed herself to be an adept and able student at school, excelling in the sciences and engineering. Many believed that she would become a great mathematician and perhaps solve the great scientific mysteries of the day. However as she entered College (still a great rarity for a woman of that age) she found herself becoming interested in the mystical and how magick could be manipulated.
For Willow magick became an equation to be cracked, a formula to be stripped down and re-assimilated. Using her keen mind she was able to strip spells down to their core components and re-assemble them as she wished. In the course of her studies into the mystical arts she became friends with and eventually lover to Tara Maclay, a sorceress whose power was only matched by her beauty. Willow soon learned that there was a price to pay for her tinkering and began to realise that magick was part of the natural lifeblood of the world and that damaging and tinkering with its power unchecked could cause grave repercussions.
Unwittingly letting loose a daemon from the Unseelie Court into the college, she was able to stop it with Tara’s help. Her actions however had her thrown out of the college to the shame of her family, who could not accept Willow’s new found interests, both academic and romantic and disowned her. With nowhere to go she was heartened by Tara’s offer to come with her to her ancestral home in England, where they could live in comfort as she continued her studies. There Willow has learned to harness her intellect and keen perception in providing services for those needing help against dark magickal forces.
In the 10 years since their move to England Willow has gained a reputation in London as someone to go to when the crime is mystical or supernatural in nature and her business is a thriving one. Tara remains her partner both in business and in love and together they have defeated many attacks on British soil by nefarious  Wizards and sorcerous orders and the Unseelie Court. Willow is by nature loyal to her friends and especially to Tara although she can at times be quick tempered and whilst Tara is by nature passive Willow is more certainly more aggressive.

STATS
Willow Rosenberg, 32 yr old Sorceress (Consulting Detective) Health Points: 7

Skills:
Athletics (GD/♣)
Charisma (GR/♥)
Comeliness (EXC/♥)
Connections (GR/♠)
Courage (GR/♥)
Education (EXT/♦)
Exchequer (GD/♠)
Invention (EXT/♦)
Fencing (GD/♣)
Marksmanship (GD/♣)
Motoring (GD/♣)
Natural Sciences (GR/♦)
Perception (EXC/♦)
Performance (PR/♥)
Riding (PR/♣)
Sorcery (AST/♦)
Tinkering (EXC/♦)

Equipment: 22 Derringer, Rapier, Notebook, magnifying glass. Willow also has an extensive library of criminology and a small  lab in the basement of the London mansion that is their base of operations. Money is almost no object so assume any day to day items needed can be provided for.

Tara Maclay
Tara was born the daughter of a wealthy woman who met and married her father, a lay preacher, whilst on holiday in Boston and chose to stay there with him. Their eldest, a son, followed his father into the ministry whilst the younger, Tara, grew up as a gentlewoman.
Tara’s mother however had kept back one thing from her husband, her Fey ancestry. Not only was she Fey, she was in fact Tuatha De Danu, one of the rarest of all the Fey races and the most powerful. Her husband, whilst a good man in most respects, saw the Fey in strict black and white and saw them all as demons and tempters to be thwarted. As such, she did not share her life energy with either of her children, ensuring they were born mortal so as not to raise suspicion. Although she did not pass on her secrets of magick to her son, who she quickly realised was her husband in younger form, she did teach what she knew to her daughter, especially with regards to the delicate nature of balance and the need for the Second Compact. Tara showed a remarkable ability with magick. Whilst not powerful she showed an effortless ability to cast spells seeming to easily and safely grasp the thaumaturgical energy from the ether and give it form.
Sadly, her mother’s presence was soon discovered by the Unseelie and in her determination to save her children, she sacrificed herself to protect them. Her father and brother, grief stricken, declared all fey to be the enemy of the family and went on a moral crusade to rid all of them, Seelie and Unseelie, from the town. They were eventually stopped by Tara, using spells of defence and confusion to keep them from killing a family of fey who had resided in the area for decades. In doing so she accepted and embraced her fey heritage and was renounced by her family as a demon.
Tara moved away, eventually becoming a part of a small coven dedicated to protecting the people of Boston from the forces of darkness. Whilst at a meeting with the head of her coven who taught at the local college, she struck up a friendship with a young woman who was interested in learning about magick. The young woman, Willow, soon won Tara’s heart and their relationship grew stronger. She saw in Willow incredible power but a recklessness in her determination to wield and understand the forces around her. It was this recklessness that led to the opening of a portal and the near destruction of the college.
Tara aided Willow in defeating the demon that appeared but when the Coven asked her to choose between them and her new friend, she chose Willow. At that point fate intervened and she was visited by a man who turned out to be her maternal Grandfather. She learned of her lineage and of their ancestral home. Although she was not Fey she was still the eldest of the lineage as her brother had refused to acknowledge the line. She was given the title of Lady Tara Maclay of Constance Manor, a
stately home on the outskirts of London, along with the deed to the house. The grandfather died soon after, but not before giving his blessing to her love and wishing them well.
In the 10 years since their move to London, Tara has graced high society and her initial shyness has been replaced by a quiet confidence. She aids Willow in her Detective work whilst often entertaining dignitaries from around the world and from the Fey realms. She is often seen as a neutral ambassador and her clear headedness is often used for diplomatic work for the Fey in high society.

STATS
Tara Maclay, 32 year old Sorceress (Noblewoman) Health Points: 7

SKILLS
Charisma (GR/♥)
Comeliness (EXC/♥)
Connections (GD/♠)
Courage (GR/♥)
Education (GD/♦)
Exchequer (EXC/♠)
Fencing (GD/♣)
Fisticuffs (PR/♣)
Marksmanship (GD/♣)
Motoring (GD/♣)
Perception (EXT/♦)
Performance (GR/♥)
Physician (GR/♦)
Riding (GR/♣)
Social Graces (EXC/♠)
Sorcery (AST/♦)
Tinkering (PR/♦)
Equipment: 22 Derringer, rapier. Assume any other equipment needed is either already owned or can easily be acquired given
the wealth available.

SPELLS
Given that Castle Falkenstein doesn’t have a traditional spell list but rather certain spells in certain tomes I list below the tomes that Tara’s mother, over the years, has managed to copy out of. This makes the Maclay tome one of the most complete tomes of magick ever assembled and would mean instant death from several orders if they knew the couple had access to spells and rituals known only to specific sorcerous orders. As such the tome is held in a secret part of the library, hidden from all so as to keep the Manor and the couple safe.
A note on casting. The corebook states that if more than one person casts then only the Sorcery skill from the primary caster is subtracted from the Thaumaturgical energy cost. That is fair enough but not really in line with Willow and Tara and how they cast when together so for them subtract their total score from the TER (which yes makes them incredibly powerful). A Joker will still wildfire a spell but they should be able to mitigate the results.

The following tomes all appear in the core rulebook with the exception of those marked * which appear in Comme Il faut and those marked ^ which are found in The Book Of Sigils.

Manuscriptum Mentallis
Ritual Writing Of Psychic Binding
Megron’s Realm Of Dreaming
Realm Of The Unknown Mind
Osman’s Tome Of Physical Movement
Scrolls Of Dimensional Movement
Manuscript Of paranormal Divination
Manuscript Of Elemental Shaping
Burton’s On The raised Forces Of Nature
Primal Forces Raised*
Realm Of The Senses*
Zwinge’s Practicum^
The Didi Papyrus^
The Book Of Glass^
The Riddler’s Guide^

Ultimately this is just one possible interpretation of how the couple could exist inside the great world that is Falkenstein. Obviously change and augment what you feel needs changing but I think as they sit they would be interesting characters and fun to play and powerful in themselves without being completely unstoppable.

--

Ronnie, I don't think I could have done any better myself!  Thanks so much.

League of Extraordinary Ladies: Raven

It's draft clean up week!  I have a bunch of drafts and half started posts.  So time to get them out of my queue.

I have posted some of these pics last month, but I have a few left over.
If you can, please stop by Michael Dooney's Deviant Art page for more.
http://michaeldooney.deviantart.com/gallery/33431300

Perfect for Mysteries of the Hollow Earth or Leagues of Adventure.

Raven

The young woman known as Raven is bit of mystery to other members of the League.  Lady Zatanna does not trust her.  Her command of magic is not as great as Zatanna's, but what she does know she commands with brutal efficiency.

Raven guards her secrets well.  While she does wish to aid in the fight against evil she has more at stake than the others.  For she is the daughter of the Devil himself.

Health 9
Style 5

Primary Attributes
Body 3
Dexterity 4
Strength 2
Charisma 4
Intelligence 4
Willpower 6

Secondary Attributes
Size 0
Move 7
Perception 10
Initiative 8
Defense 7
Stun 4

Skills (levels only)
Academics, Religion 3
Animal Handling 2
Archery 1
Athletics 2
Con 2
Drive 2
Firearms 1
Investigation 5
Larceny 2
Linguistics 6 (English, Italian, Latin, Greek, Egyptian, Enochian)
Medicine 2

Melee 2

Performance 6

Ride 2

Stealth 4

Streetwise 4

Sorcery (half-demon) 9 

Talents
Attractive
Danger Sense
Headstrong
Magical Aptitude (half-demon)
Psychic Ability (ESP, precognition, TK/Umbrakinesis)

Well Connected

Resources
Ally 3 (Teen titans)
Contacts (the Justice League) 2
Contacts (Supernatural) 3

Flaws
Mental (emotionally flat)
Obsession (protect the world from her father)
Weirdness Magnet

Class Struggles & PWWO: The Blood Witch

Yesterday I reviewed the newest book from +Johua De Santo New Class Options.  One of the classes in the book, the Blood Witch, struck me as familiar.  I remembered I had seen an earlier version of it in Dungeon Crawl #3.  Today I want to go into a bit more detail about this class.

Class Struggles

The class is an old archetype of a blood mage or a blood witch going all the way back to ... well forever really.  Right up into the Enlightenment people believed that there were magical properties to blood.   This is why "witches" signed contracts with the devil in their own blood.

There have been other blood witches in the past. Notablly the Blood Witch Prestige class from Relics & Rituals and from Mongoose's Ultimate Prestige Classes vol. 1. Both books have the same class.  Blood Witches used whatever spells they gained from their previous spell casting class.

The Blood Witch in New Class Options is a bit similar. It uses magic-user spells.  This is perfectly fine really, but some new spells would add some more flavor.

I was looking forward to this class the most and I still think it works well, but I have some issues with it.  Let's start at the top.

The Blood Witch uses Constitution as her main stat.  Very, very appropriate.
She needs a Con of 13 or higher. Again appropriate.  Constitution scores above 16 also grant an additional +1 to hit points.  Nice. She is going to need that.

Then we get to the next bit, quoting from the text.

Shattered Soul: Every day the Blood Witch has a 60% chance of losing herself in the song of magic. If this occurs the Witch  will be able to cast 1 level above her level, however, she cannot know what is real or delusion.

Ok. A neat bit a of flavor.  But 60% every day? That seems a bit high and then she can cast as a level higher?  Well sometimes that helps.  But who makes this roll the GM or the player?  Personally I would have it at 25% myself.  Or tie it to the phases of the moon or time of day.   THEN also a 25% where she can cast as a level lower.  I GET what is trying to be done here, but I would need to play it over a few sessions to see.

Here is the part I am not crazy about.  The Blood Witch needs to roll against her Constitution in order to cast spells.  So the high her Con score, the less of chance she has of success.  Again, from the text.

The first is that the Blood Witch must roll her constitution score + the spell level or higher in order to cast her spells. If the Blood Witch fails her spell roll the spell is swept away in the song of the magic and will not return to her for a day. The second is that for every spell cast the Blood Witch must sacrifice 1 + spell level of her health in order for the spell to be effective. If the Blood Witch refuses to make the sacrifice the spell and 1d4 other spells will be swept away in the song of magic for a two day period.

Ok. So mechanically I get what Johua is trying to do here. I also spoke with him. It is to limit the amount of spells a witch can use. Since a witch can use theoretically ANY spell once she gets to the right level.   In some ways her spell casting is more similar to the witch in +Jonathan Becker's The Complete B/X Adventurer than it is to anything else.
So a witch with a 16 Constitution could only cast spells up to 4th level, unless of course a 20 allways means a success.

I think what might work better here is limit the number of spells known.  The blood witch might be able to cast this she completely out of blood (not advised) but maybe she only knows X per level.  Like the 3rd Edition Sorcerer.  This would impose a limiting factor.
Then give her a bonus to her roll equal to her level.

So our Blood Witch with 16 Con and 5th level would need a 15 or better to cast a 4th level spell (16 + 4 -5 =15).   That seems to work well.

The experience levels for Blood Witch seem a bit high, granted this class has the potential for a lot of power.  I'd still like to play one sometime just to be sure.

Somethings you see in the the myths and stories of blood magic is sacrifice (which is covered here as personal sacrifice) and proxies.  So could this blood witch use an animal sacrifice for some spells?  I think where appropriate yes.  Proxies could be things like the animal but also proxies for blood itself, like purified water (possibly for healing spells if you use one of the witch spell lists) or even wine (blood of the vine).  Personally I would allow such proxies for some of the more benign or even mundane spells.

The Blood Witch is any interesting type of character and something that could add a air of different to a game. A Blood Witch doesn't have to be an evil character, but it not likely she is going to be trusted by a party and certainly looked down on by other casters especially proper wizards.

Plays Well With Others

The best thing about the Blood Witch is that fits a great niche in any gaming group or campaign. It also works with a number of great OSR books.  Obviously the blood witch will work mechanically with 99% of all the OSR and old-school books out there, the real question is will it work thematically.  For example, the blood witch would work fantastic with Lamentations of the Flame Princess, but thematically it might be a bit redundant since all magic-users are assumed to have some sort of dark(-ish) pact.

I already mentioned The Complete B/X Adventurer. The witch class as presented in that book works as a great base for the Blood Witch.  Combine the two classes into one works rather nicely.  The B/X Witch has spells up to 10th level which is nice, but the New Class Options Witch only goes to 7.

I mentioned that the Blood Witch is really missing some really cool spells. The Vivimancer from +Gavin Norman's Theorems & Thaumaturgy and Complete Vivimancer offer some really nice choices.   I created  a few for both my witch and the vivimancer here.  In particular I would suggest Blood Augury, Feel My Pain, Share My Pain, Stay Death's Hand, and of course Hell Hath No Fury because every witch needs that spell.

A while back I made some suggestions about witch spells for the vivimancer and vivimancer spells for the with.  The nice thing is the blood witch is perfect cross section of both classes and can use all these spells.

The blood witch also works great with +Jeff Talanian's Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.  The style and type of magic used by the blood witch would be very much in tune with AS&SH.  Sacrificing blood for magical effects...yeah very much in tune.  There are also plenty of great witch spells in that book as well.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention my own book, The Witch: A sourcebook for Basic Edition fantasy games.  I am going to have to play a Blood Witch sometime, but I also think I want to try her out as Blood Witch "Tradition" using my own rules and see how well they work together.  Maybe twins...same level but one is a DeSanto Blood Witch while the other is a Brannan one.  Interesting idea really.

If you are in the mind to some conversions, there is a great set of blood magic rules and spells in +Owen Stephens' magnum opus Deep Magic for Pathfinder.  The blood magic system in that book could work nicely for a blood witch as well as a blood mage.

Again this passes the most basic test for a class for me.  Can I think of a character for it and would I play it.

Kimbra & Kelleigh

Kimbra and Kelleigh are twin sisters with magic deep in their blood.  They often have said to each other that it is because they have shared blood that their ties to each other and magic was so strong.
Though in their darker moments they felt their connection to magic and to blood came from the moment they were born. Kelleigh was first.  Right after her birth their mother died. Kimbra was born when the midwife noticed that there was still someone in the lifeless body.  To this day Kelleigh has had a great connection to blood and Kimbra to death.  Kelleigh acts as the older sister.  The sisters only trust each other.

Luis-Salas

These are two characters I have had for a while now.  They began as modern characters for a WitchCraft RPG game and then morphed in a life-span development project I never quite finished.
Yes, the names are based on Kim and Kelley Deal. But also an homage to Kim Harrison and Kelley Armstrong, two of my favorite authors in the modern supernatural genre.

Kelleigh 
5th level Blood Witch, Female
Neutral

Strength: 11
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 16
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 16

Hit Points:  24
AC: 9
Saves: 12,  +2 vs. Magic
To Hit: +1  / THAC0: 19

Spells:
Kimbra can cast the follow spell levels.  Will choose spells based on the official list.
First: all
Second: 4
Third: 6
Fourth: 3
Fifth: 6
Sixth*: 1


Kimbra
5th level Witch, Blood Witch Tradition, Female
Neutral

Strength: 11
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 16
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 16

Hit Points:  16
AC: 7

Occult Powers
Familiar: Blood Spirit of her dead mother (treat as a ghost, neutrally aligned)

Spells 
Cantrips: (5) Analyze Fertility, Detect Poison, Inflict Minor Wounds, Object Reading, Warm
First: (2+2) Bad Luck, Bewitch I, Cause Fear, Tattoo
Second: (2+2) Agony, ESP, Fever, Hold Person
Third: (1+1)  Bestow Curse, Lifeblood

I like these two. I like that they are twins and really mostly the same but have classes that are different takes on the same thing.

I would not make these two part of the Witches' Nest.  I feel their back story is too tragic and their personalities are not one to take advantage of others.   Though they will have a place in my new WIP "West Haven", mentioned briefly here.

When I try this class out more I will let you all know.

League of Extraordinary Ladies: Red Sonja

Another great character that made the conversion to a great Steampunk title is Red Sonja.   Dynamite's latest Red Sonja comic, Legenderry Red Sonja takes the She-Devil With a Sword and transports her to Victorian times.
I am not caught up, but so far it is a fun read.

Red Sonja

Archetype: Warrior
Motivation:

Health: 6
Style: 2

Primary Attributes
Body 3
Dexterity 5
Strength 3
Charisma 2
Intelligence 3
Willpower 3

Secondary Attributes
Size: 0
Move: 8
Perception: 6
Initiative: 8
Defense: 8
Stun: 3

Skills (levels only)
Athletics 6
Brawl 6
Firearms 2
Intimidation 2
Investigation 5
Medicine 3
Melee 7
- Sword 8
Ride 5
Stealth 4
Survival 5

Talents
Alertness
Attractive
Danger Sense
Keen Senses

Resources
Contacts (the Justice League) 3

Flaws
Obsession (to defeat any man in battle)

League of Extraordinary Ladies: Wonder Woman Wednesday

It's Wednesday so that means Wonder Woman!
I have to admit when I first read Mysteries of the Hollow Earth I wanted to try out an Amazonian character.  Specifically a Themysciran style Amazon.

Wonder Woman here is going to be ridiculously powerful.  Maybe even to the point of breaking the system, but she is worth it. I am largely basing this on the Amazonia version of Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman

Archetype: Warrior
Motivation: Justice

Health: 20
Style: 2

Primary Attributes
Body 12
Dexterity 10
Strength 12
Charisma 8
Intelligence 6
Willpower 8

Secondary Attributes
Size: 0
Move: 22
Perception: 14
Initiative:  16
Defense: 22
Stun: 12

Skills (levels only)
Archery 15
Athletics 10
Brawl 12
Investigation 5
Medicine 4
Melee 12
 - Sword
 - Lasso
Stealth 7
Streetwise 4
Survival 4
Warfare 6

Talents
Agile
Attractive
Danger Sense
Keen Senses
Strong

Resources
Contacts (the Justice League) 5

Flaws
Obsession (justice)

League of Extraordinary Ladies: Hawkgirl

One of the great thing about Mysteries of the Hollow Earth are the Hawkmen of the Hollow Earth. Hawkmen have a nice long history in Sci-Fi. From the Hawkmen in Flash Gordon to the Thanigarians of DC Comics.

Shiera Saunders was a student of archeology when she discovered her true calling.  While investigating a tomb in Egypt she discovered the tomb of Egyptian Princess Chay-Ara.  Shiera learned that she was the reincarnation of Chay-Ara and she needed to find the reincarnation of her soul-mate Khufu, now taking the form of Carter Hall.  Shiera now looks for her lost love and helps others as the flying Hawkgirl.

Hawkgirl

Health: 5
Style: 2

Primary Attributes
Body 3
Dexterity 5
Strength 3
Charisma 3
Intelligence 3
Willpower 2

Secondary Attributes
Size: 0
Move: 8
Perception: 5*
Initiative: 8
Defense: 8
Stun: 3

Skills (levels only)
Academics, Archeology 5
Archery 5
Athletics 6
Brawl 6
Investigation 5
Medicine 3
Melee 7
- Mace
Stealth 7
Streetwise 6

Talents
Attractive
Danger Sense
Keen Senses

Resources
Contacts (the Justice League) 3

Flaws
Obsession (find her soul mate)

League of Extraordinary Ladies: Cat Women

Some more Ubiquity stats today.  Keeping in line with my posts for Batgirl and Zatanna, these women represent a league in 1887 for use with for Leagues of Adventure or Space: 1889.

All are based on Michael Dooney's 1887 art.  His Deviant Art page is at:
http://michaeldooney.deviantart.com/gallery/33431300

Black Cat
Felicia Hardy is a notorious burglar known for her flamboyant costume and her penchant for jewels has made her well known to police.  Due to the number of accidents that seem fall on any who pursue her she has been given the nickname "Black Cat".
Despite all her heart is usually in the right place.

Motivation: Escape/Revenge
Health: 7
Style: 2

Primary Attributes
Body 3
Dexterity 6
Strength 3
Charisma 3
Intelligence 4
Willpower 4

Secondary Attributes
Size: 0
Move: 9
Perception*: 8
Initiative: 10
Defense: 9
Stun: 3

*Due some magical trinkets she can see as well in the dark as a cat.

Skills (levels only)
Academics, Criminology 2
Archery 2
Athletics 7
Brawl 4
Con 5
Drive 2
Firearms 6
Investigation 4
Larceny 8
Linguistics 3 (English, Latin, French)
Medicine 2
Melee 6
Performance 5
Ride 2
Spying 4
Stealth 7
Streetwise 6

Talents
Agile
Attractive
Blind Fight
Danger Sense
Headstrong
Keen Sense
Lucky

Resources
Ally 3 (The Spider-man)
Contacts (Criminal) 5

Flaws
Obsession (protect Spider-man)



Catwoman (Selina Kyle)
Selina Kyle comes from the opposite end of the social spectrum than her rival Black Cat.  Selina has clawed her way to the top of social circles despite of her humble beginnings.   Selina has amassed a collection of the who's who of nobility and well to do.  All the better for the Catwoman to relieve them of their priceless treasures.

Motivation: Greed/Duty

Health: 8
Style: 2

Primary Attributes
Body 4
Dexterity 6
Strength 3
Charisma 4
Intelligence 4
Willpower 4

Secondary Attributes
Size: 0
Move: 9
Perception: 8
Initiative: 10
Defense: 10
Stun: 4

Skills (levels only)
Archery 2
Animal Handling 6 (specifically cats of all types)
Athletics 8
Brawl 6
Con 5
Connoisseur (Jewelry) 5
Drive 2
Firearms 4
Intimidation 3
Investigation 2
Larceny 8
Linguistics 2 (English, French)
Medicine 3
Melee 6
- whip 7
Performance 5
Ride 2
Spying 3
Stealth 7
Streetwise 7

Talents
Agile
Animal Affinity
Attractive
Bold Attack
Headstrong
Quick Reflexes
Well Connected

Resources
Ally 3 (The Bat-man)
Contacts (Criminal) 5

Flaws
Obsession (steal cat-themed items of great value)

The Refrigerator for Hollow Earth Expedition/Ubiquity

Taking a a quick break from reviews on Ubiquity books till next week when we head to space.  Today I want to try my hand at another NPC, this one a Mad Scientist.

A while back I introduced you all to Dr. Andreas Gelé, aka The Refrigerator. He is a socially stunted misanthrope with mommy issues and the intellect to act out in the worst ways possible.
I thought I might stat him up for Ubiquity and Hollow Earth Expedition in particular. He seems particularly well suited for this game.  Here is some background.

This guy came, literally, out of a nightmare.  Around 1982 or so (I was 12) I was hit with a double shot of women being frozen alive, the movies were "In Like Flint" and "Kiss the Girls and Make them Die".  It really bugged the hell out of me and gave me nightmares for a long time.  Still kind of bugs me.  Of course later I learned there is a whole creepy fetish thing related to this.  I think my issue is far more basic.  I hate being cold and think being frozen is quite possibly the worst thing ever.  Then recently I found a cover from the pulp magazine "Horror Stories" from 1937.

The cover is by John Newton Howett and typical pulp tradition it was reused for the first issue of Startling Mystery. That picture deserves a villain.  I have not found the issue yet so I can't say if there is a story that goes with that cover. But I have enough of my own nightmare fuel.

History of The Refrigerator
Dr. Andreas Gelé was born to wealth and privilege but never to love.  His father was a was a rich industrialist who made his money on the work of others and his mother was a noted and beautiful stage actress.  From his father he gained his intellect and from his mother he learned lessons in cruelty.

As his mother aged she became more and more cruel.  In his mind's eye he saw her as beautiful. This was reinforced by all the pictures of her on the wall of their estates where she was young, beautiful and happy. Frozen in time.  Gelé began to work on a process to forever keep the beautiful women young.  He was drawn to beautiful women, and his prestige later as a doctor and his wealth made that easy.  But he never could talk to or relate to them having grown up socially stunted.  So Gelé embarked on a plan so he could have his desires met.
His first experiments in cryonoics were failures. Animals would not return to life when frozen and even when he perfected the process they still had damage.  Finally through a combination of fluids and gases at super cooled temperatures.  He tested it first on his hated father. He died soon after he was free of the ice, but Gelé expected that since the old man's heart was now weak.  He froze his mother next. He was overjoyed that the ice preserved her remaining beauty.
All his research though has left his fortunes depleted so he robs banks to keep himself funded for more research and to keep his "beauties" on ice.

Dr. Andreas Gelé

Archetype: Scientist
Motivation: Power (Preserve Beauty, he seeks power over something he can't control.)

Style: 2 Health: 5

Primary Attributes
Body: 3
Dexterity: 3
Strength: 2
Charisma: 1
Intelligence: 5
Willpower: 3

Secondary Attributes
Size: 0
Move: 5
Perception: 8
Initiative: 8
Defense: 6 (3 + 3)
Stun: 3

Skills (base + level)
Science: Engineering 5 7 12 (6)
Science: Cryonics 5 8 13 (6)* Not in any of the books.

Medicine 5 7 12 (6)

Firearms 3 4 7 (3)

Talents
Skill Mastery Science

Resources
Weapon 1 (Freeze gun: +1 bonus to stun opponent)
Refuge 1 (Secret laboratory: +2 Skill bonus when inside)

Flaw
Mental, Obsession: Obsessed with preserving beauty in young women.**

(**  There might be issues with setting his Flaw so close to his Motivation, but I would play his Motivation to build better freezing machines and steal more money.  His Flaw causes him to seek out attractive women even when he could be caught easier.)

Weapons
Freeze gun 4 N 0 8 N (4) N
Punch 0 N 0 0 N (0) N

Freeze Gun
Special weapon
Can do lethal on non-lethal damage.

Still playing around with the stating of characters.  But I am getting the hang of it.

The Witches of the Witches' Nest

I get a lot of spam from people telling me about "real magic" and people that can cast spells for me.

Since I have been working on a group of evil/non-good witches I figured make the best of the resources handed to me. These characters have pretty much begged themselves into existence.

The names come from these posts:

• http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2014/06/i-get-best-spam.html
• http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2013/11/spamming-hyperborea.html
• Plus some other unpublished spam that I get fairly frequently

And the idea of the Witches' Nest from this post:

• http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2015/06/more-content-theft-they-stole-my-content.html

They are going to be part of my "War of the Witch Queens" adventure path/campagin.

• http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2015/06/witch-adventures.html
• http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2015/06/saga-of-witch-queen.html

I haven't quite decided on the rule system, so here is a stab at using most of them.

Now I am generally very fond of all the other "OSR" witches, so I would like to present each one below in the most positive light possible. Designing the characters to take advantage of each of the class features in turn.
In each case their prime ability for being a witch or spellcasting is indicated with an asterisk*.

The Witches' Nest

The Witches' Nest, or more simply, The Nest, is a collection evil witches that operate outside of normal lawful society.
They are not above a little thieving of arcane literature, but mostly they will pass off others ideas as their own.  They are con artists, but each one it a powerful witch it their own right.  Their leader is a self-styled "doctor" Logan Zabaza.  Ozigididon is his second in command and in charge of "spiritual" aspects of their cult.    Each witch comes from a different tradition, but all serve the same goals and patron; they are all followers of Mammon.
A typical ruse will be to offer the party help, say magical or healing, to determine what they have and then steal anything that they can.  The prefer magical books over magic items, and magical items over gold. They will still steal gold if that is all that the party has.

Dr. Logan Zabaza
Male Witch, Malefic Tradition 13th level (The Witch)
Chaotic
Logan Zabaza is the defacto leader of the Nest only because he keeps the others in line with fear and intimidation.  He appears as a middle aged man with long black hair and olive complexion.  He prides himself on his looks and always dresses in the highest fashion for the occasion.  He carries a cane that contains his boline knife. He also uses this cane as his focusing implement.

Abilities
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 16
Charisma: 15*

Hit Points: 30
AC: 6 (talisman of protection)

Occult Powers
Familiar: Raven
7th level:  Evil's Touch
13th level: Devil's Tongue

Spells
Cantrips: Chill, Daze, Detect Curse, Object Reading, Open, Palm
First: Cause Fear, Fey Sight, Ghostly Slashing, Increase Sex Appeal , Sleep
Second: Agony, Blast Shield, Death Armor, Evil Eye
Third: Feral Spirit,Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Tongues
Fourth: Dance Macabre, Intangible Cloak of Shadows, Very goodPhantom Lacerations
Fifth: Death Curse, Dreadful Bloodletting
Sixth: Death Blade, Mass Agony
Seventh:  Wave of Mutilation


High Priestess Ozigididon
Female Witch, Gypsy Tradition, 13th level (Spellcraft & Swordplay: Eldritch Witchery)
Chaotic Evil
Ozigididon was a gypsy priestess until she threw in with Zabaza.  She had been thrown out of her own family due to the darker aspects of magic she prefered and is now making an living as the "spiritual leader" of the Nest.

Abilities
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 15*
Charisma: 11

Hit Points:  35
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
AC: 5 (Ring of Protection +1)

Occult Powers
Familiar: Ancestral Spirit (follower of Mammon)
7th level: Prophesy
13th level: Evil Eye

Spells
First: Bless Growth, Charm Person, Light, Minor Curse, Read Magic, Silver Tongue, Spirit Dart
Second: Augury, Detect Invisible, Discord, Knock, Levitate, Magic Broom
Third: Bestow Curse, Bewitch III, Liar's Curse, Mind Rash, Slow, Wizard Lock
Fourth: Cloudburst, Elemental Armor, Instant Karma, Masque
Fifth: Break Enchantment, Death Curse, Endless Sleep
Coven: Death Blade, Greater Scry

Magic Items
Ring of Protection +1, Dagger +1, Staff of Enchantment


Drodinaka
Female Witch 11th level, Chthonic Tradition (ACKS Players Companion, +Alexander Macris & +Tavis Allison)
Chaotic
Template: Dark Oracle

Drodinaka is a young, attractive woman with long blond hair.  She and Drodu pretend to be sisters since they have similar features.  She often pretends she is an acolyte of some benevolent but unnamed faith.  She often acts as Ozigididon's second in command.

Abilities
Strength: 11
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 15*
Charisma: 12*

Hit Points:  28
AC: 4 (Ring of Protection AC 4)
Attack: 7+

Proficiencies: Seduction, Black Lore of Zahar, Prophecy, Performance (Storytelling)

Powers
1st level: Divine spellcasting
3rd level: Brew Potions
5th level: Magic Aura proficiency, Spell research
7th level: Charm Person (1/day), Scribe scrolls
9th level: Create magic items
11th level: craft magical constructs

Spells
First: Detect Undead, Cause fear, cure light wounds, detect magic, light, protection from good, read languages
Second: Spiritual Weapon, augury, bane, choking grip, enthrall, hold person, sleep
Third: Necromantic potence, Alter self, Bestow curse, cause disease, charm person, ESP, Mirror Image
Fourth: animate dead, clairvoyance, chimerical force, dispel magic, fly, nondetection
Fifth: command person, magic carpet, polymorph other, scry, true seeing

Magic Items
Ring of Protection AC 4, Dagger +1


Drogu Dudu
Female Warlock 9th level (Death Lady) (Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, +Jeff Talanian)
Chaotic Evil
Drogu is a little older than her "sister" Drodinaka, but like her she is attractive and has long blonde hair. She dresses the part of a warrior woman from the north but is in reality a stone cold spellcasting killer.  Drogu is the Nest's muscle.

Race: Hyperborean
Secondary Skill: Hunter

Abilities
Strength: 13*
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 15*
Wisdom: 12**
Charisma: 11

Casting Ability: 9
Fighting Ability: 9+1,  Attacks 3/2

Hit Points:  28
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
AC: 5 (leather armor)

Powers
1st level: Read Magic,
Mastery: Sword
4th level: Mastery: Morning Star
8th level: Mastery: Crossbow
9th level: Stronghold (2 apprentice warlocks)

Spells 
First: Black hand, Chill touch, shocking grasp
Second: Danse Macabre, Forest of bones, scythe of the reaper
Third: Exploding skull, infrared vision

Magic Items
Ring of Protection +1, Leather Armor +3, Sword +1/+3 vs. Paladins


Dr.  Ewan Brave
Male Witch 8th level "Secret Keeper" (Complete B/X Adventurer, +Jonathan Becker)
Chaotic
"Dr. Ewan Brave" is the newest member of the Nest.  He has been responsible for finding new and valuable occult tomes.  He keeps back the most powerful for himself.

Abilities
Strength: 11
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 13
Intelligence: 16*
Wisdom: 13*
Charisma: 11

Hit Points:  24 (d4)
Alignment: Chaotic
AC: 4 (Ring of Protection +1)

Languages: Common, Elven, Dragon

Special Abilities
1st: Book of Shadows, bind wounds (heal 1d4)
6th: Brew Potions

Spells
Maximum Spell Level: 3rd
Number of Spells known: 24
1st Level (6):  Detect Magic, Foretell, Hex, Read Languages, Speak with Animals, Witch Scribe
2nd Level (9): Cause Fear, Disguise, Eldritch Flame, ESP, Familiar Spirit, Hold Person, Levitate, Locate Object, Remove Fear
3rd Level (9):  Bestow Curse, Confusion, Haste, Hoodoo, Object Read, Speak with Dead, Spectral Knowledge, Wizard Lock


Lord Wakaman 
Male Half-orc Witch 7th level/Thief 7th level  (Adventures Dark & Deep, The Witch, +Joseph Bloch) 
Chaotic Evil

"Lord" Wakaman as he is known to most began life living on the streets of the city, a bastard child of an orc thief and an  underage unwed mother.  His cunning and wits kept him alive when other children would have died.

Abilities
Strength: 12
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 16*
Dexterity: 16 (-1 initiative adj.  -2 to AC)
Constitution: 13
Charisma: (12)

Special Abilities (witch class)
Magic bonus
Spell casting
Create Magic Items
Affect Undead
Bell, Book & Candle
Brew Poison
Call Familiar: Crow
Charisma degradation

Special Abilities (thief class)
Back Stab
Pick Pockets: 55%
Open Locks: 62%
Find and Remove Traps: 55%
Move Silently: 55%
Hide in Shadows: 43%
Listening at Doors: 30%
Climb Walls: 99%
Read Languages: 25%
Thieves' Cant

Special Abilities (race)
Infravision 60'
Languages: Common, Orc, Gnome, Elven

HP: 26
AC: 6 (Bracers)

Spells
First: Affect normal fires, charm person or mammal, control face, direct gaze, push, witch shot
Second: Change self, command, fascinate, misfortune, trip
Third: Bestow curse, fear, hand of glory
Fourth: fiery breath, ill luck
Fifth: improved pass without a trace