Yesterday I featured Mina Murray Harker, the hero of the Dracula novel. The archetypical victim though belongs to her friend Lucy Westenra. I have compared Lucy and Mina a few times. Showing where Mina is the "Modern Woman," Lucy is the "Old World Woman." She does a lot to make herself more attractive to Dracula. She is looking for a man to define her life, she is a member of the "idle rich," she has bouts of sleep-walking, her innocence, and more. Where Mina is proactive, Lucy is largely reactive.
It is hard really not to feel bad for her.
After she is turned by Dracula all of that gets inverted. The sweet, coquettish girl becomes the dangerous "bloofer lady" that preys on children.
My favorite portrayal of her comes from Sadie Frost in 1992's Bram Stoker's Dracula, but I also rather liked how Jan Francis looked as the vampire Lucy (or rather "Mina" in this version) in 1979's Dracula, though she looks nothing like the "bloofer lady." Though the most accurate physical portrayal was by Katie McGrath in the short run NBC series Dracula.
Dracula, and Lucy for that matter, drains Constitution, not "Levels," which is as it should be for "Dracula." There was no way Lucy could survive three attacks of draining 2 levels when she is always described as frail and weak before Dracula even shows up. Not only that the children Lucy later preys one are certainly 2nd level, they are barely 0 level.
Longtime readers here will know of my love of Mina Murray Harker, the true hero of the Dracula novel. I have talked about her here a few times, but in short, she is the one that puts all the pieces together, she is the one that has the forethought to transcribe everyone's notes. She is the one that really has the tools to go hunting for Dracula. She is also the prototype of the "Final Girl" a trope that will only grow for the next 120+ years.
One thing I have never cared for though was the whole reincarnated lover of Dracula. Mina is interesting enough without needing to add anything else to her character. That being said, I did not mind Alan Moore making her into a vampire. But that is not what I am going with her. This is Mina from the book and most of the movies.
Harker is the first character we meet in the novel Dracula. You would think this would make him the most important character, but that role will be discussed tomorrow. Harker is a means to end, both to the novel Dracula and the character Dracula. He provides the Victorian England point of view of the story.
He is not a particularly useful character, either in the novels or many of the movies. Though he gets more limelight in the 1979 John Badham, Frank Langella staring Dracula and in the 1992 Bram Stoker's Dracula from Francis Ford Coppola. I do remember at the time really ripping into Keanu Reeves' portrayal, but looking back over others and re-reading the book, Harker is kinda weak.
One of the more interesting characters in the Dracula novel and movies is "zoophagous maniac" R. M. Renfield. He is one of Dracula's first victims, though we never see the attack, we know that he is under Dracula's thrall.
We first meet Renfield in Dr. Seward's sanitorium where we learn he is very excitable and very strong. His defining features are his diet of bugs (though he hopes for a cat) and his deference to his "Master."
Given all of this, I thought with the new NIGHT SHIFT Night Companion going out to backers today, I'd give Renfield a try as a Ghoul.
A few things here. First I think this works great as Renfield. He works great as a Survivor, especially with his sneak attacks and his ability to escape. He also works great as a Ghoul. His bug-eating is covered well by his "Feed", a new rule feature in the Night Companion for Supernatural characters.
Additionally, his alignment is listed as "Dark" another new feature of the Night Companion. He is evil, but not irredeemable. Though in truth he never gets the chance.
In many ways, it was Van Helsing who was my true gateway to D&D.
While I will wax poetically about the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, it was really Hammer Horror that fueled my desire for adventure games. And while Christopher Lee's Dracula was the unchallenged star of many of the films of my youth it was Peter Cushing's portrayal of "doctor, professor, and meta-physician" Abraham Van Helsing that was the obvious model my first character took.
Professor Abraham Van Helsing 5th level Theosophist/5th level Sage (Human) Archetype: Vampire Hunter
Strength: 11 (0)
Dexterity: 13 (+1)
Constitution: 13 (+1)
Intelligence: 18 (+3) P
Wisdom: 18 (+3) S
Charisma: 15 (+1) S
HP: 45
Alignment: Lawful Good
AC: 8 Attack: +2
Fate Points: 1d10
Check Bonus (P/S/T): +5/+3/+2
Melee bonus: +0 Ranged bonus: +1
Saves: +3 (+6 total) to Spells and magical effects, +3 to all saves
Powers
See dead people, Turn Undead, Summon the Dead, Channel the Dead, Protection from the Dead, Sage abilities, Survivor skills, Lore, Read Languages, Suggestion
Spells First Level: Bless, Detect Evil Second Level: Find Traps, Knock
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Van Helsing, MD, D.Ph., D.Litt., etc., combines the powers of a sage and a theosophist. The sage is easy to see, but the theosophist is a little different. His powers are not those of a "necromancer" but rather own that studies the undead and wants to fight them.
The balance of powers each class gives is important to give the character the right feel. The Sage gives him his languages and survivor skills. The theosophist gives him some undead fighting ability. Though you never see him casting spells, save for rituals that would help him fight Dracula.
Been working a lot on NIGHT SHIFT lately so I see everything through this lens. So when one of my friends on Facebook posted this idea, you know I had to run with it.
Not too far-fetched, as the images of Santa and Father Christmas come to us from the legends of Odin wandering the land in disguise, giving gifts to children.
So for NIGHT SHIFT imagine this. It is December 13, but it is also Friday the 13th (the next time this happens is December 2024). A group of kids are back from college and getting ready for Christmas. They all get together and talk about how they all nearly died at Camp Crystal Lake one summer. The memories and the date summon Jason Voorhees to start killing again.
I imagine a sad and angry Santa Claus (I mean if Jason is real, why not Santa).
"I knew those children Freya!" he tells Mrs. Claus. "Billy. Susie. Ann. They were on the Nice List most of the time. They were all good kids!"
Mrs. Claus watched him for a moment, she then reached into her dress and pulls out a large iron key on a silver chain. Santa stands, takes the offered key. He goes and unlocks a cabinet. Inside is a large golden spear. "Ah, Gungnir old friend. It is time again." He removes his jolly red coat to reveal his muscled frame donned in fine mail.
Mrs. Claus hands him his shield saying "Remind him who you were, GrÃmnir. Who you are."
He walks out of his workshop in the driving snow (in slow motion no less) as two ravens fly into the scene to fly in front of him.
Santa Claus 20th Level Chosen One Supernatural
Strength: 20 (+4) s Dexterity: 17 (+2) Constitution: 14 (+1) Intelligence: 16 (+2) Wisdom: 18 (+3) P Charisma: 20 (+4) s
HP: 110 (20d8+20) AC: 2 Fate Points: 1d10
Check Bonus (P/S/T): +8/+6/+4 Melee bonus: +10 Ranged bonus: +6 Saves: +6 to all
For a game I would have the PCs being hunted by Jason and the only one that can save them is Santa. That is of course if they can remind him that he had once been Odin.
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Joe and Becky were running for their lives.
The monster in the hockey mask had killed Gary and it was now after them. Becky was hurt and limping. Joe was trying to hold her up while they ran. Both were terrified. Joe was looking behind and he no longer saw the monster and he didn't notice the limb and he tripped, bringing him and Becky down. They looked up and saw the monster. The monster raised his machete to bring down on the teens. Joe heard a scream that he thought was Becky's, but he soon realized it was his own. Instead of the sound of metal on flesh, the sound was metal on metal.
Joe looked up and to his complete astonishment, he saw.
"Santa?" Joe asked, surprised.
"Ho. Ho. Ho." Santa said, but there was no mirth in it. His spear held back the machete. "Now, foul draugr. Not these children." Santa knocked the undead slasher back with his spear. "Not during MY season!"
It is the first of the month, so that means a new character. I went through the effort of creating a new character for Man, Myth & Magic. Well, I say "new" because it is a new character for this game, but it is someone I have used a lot in the past.
The Game: Man, Myth & Magic
I spent the day reviewingMan, Myth & Magic and it was rather fun. But not a game I am likely to play. So in these cases I use the game to help inform characters that I might be using in other games. In this case I am doing the human, still living version of a character that has so far only appeared in my games as a ghost.
The Character: Queen Boudica
Fans of the Ghosts of Albion RPG will recognize this name. Boudica is the Queen of the Iceni Celts living in western Briton at the time of the Roman occupation. So the time period is really perfect. I set this at 61 CE. If I am going to play a game in Roman Briton then I want to join the Queen as she burns down Londinium.
Boudica, or Boadicea, was a central figure in the Ghosts of Albion animations on the BBC and in the books by Christopher Golden and Amber Benson. She became one of my personal favorite characters in the RPG as well. While she is great fun as a ghost, getting the chance to play her as a still living and breathing human is too much of a temptation to pass up.
I am going to include a scan of the sheet with page numbers appended to it. This was one of the bigger (but by no means unique) issues with this game. You have to flip all over the place to get the information you need to create a character, let alone to play.
Note: Windows updated and now can't find my scanner. So here is an image from my phone.
In Ghosts of Albion lore, Boadicea had some magic. She was in the middle of casting a spell when she was murdered in fact.
For Boudica here I did not include any spells, though I could have. I didn't find any that fit well with the concept of her in this game. Plus she is technically not a spell caster here.
In any case, she is a fascinating character and I could stat her up in several systems and not grow tired of her.
For this build, I went with the Soulknife Rogue from Tasha's and the Dhampir from Van Richten's. Yes. I had something in mind already.
The Character: BloodRayne
One of the best ways for me to test out a character in a new system is to take a character I already know well. If I am going to test out the Dhampir rules in D&D then I am going to need a dhampir I know well, and that means Rayne.
I have done stats for Rayne, the titular character of the BloodRayne video game series (and movie series from Uwe Boll), for both Unisystem and Superbabes. She does have a D&D 5e connection with Laura "Jester" Bailey voicing the character in the video games long before she rose to geek fame in Critical Role.
Rebuilding Rayne with the new features in both Tasha's and Van Richten's was actually rather easy. I had a concept in mind and the rules allowed me to re-create her with no issues. Mind you this is a "D&D Rayne" not the BloodRayne from the video games. Despite the grief D&D 5 gets for being "superheroic" I could not emulate all her moves or powers. I suppose I could have gone with a little bit of warlock and in particular a Hexblade (and I still might). But I wanted something that would fit in well enough with a D&D party.
Zee is obviously very powerful in DC Comics, or to quote Felix Faust, "You're the only one here that's really a threat." Bear in mind the others in the room were John Constantine, Etrigan the Demon, Deadman, and Batman.
How would she fare in Night Shift? For starters, I am going to shift her prime from Wisdom (for witches) to Intelligence. In fact, I borrow a rule from my co-author's, Jason Vey, other game Amazing Adventures, and allow my witches to take whichever mental stat they need for their Primary/Spellcasting.
In the comics, we Zee practicing, sometimes with flashcards even, how to say words backward. It takes her practice to learn and do. That is more aligned with the old-school D&D magic-user really than a witch and that means Intelligence.
Today's character comes to you all via the Night Companion rules and a challenge from my friend Greg to rebuild his Ghosts of Albion playtest character using the NIGHT SHIFT rules.
The Game: NIGHT SHIFT, Night Companion Rules
The Night Companion has a number of alternate rules for character creations including a point-buy system and new character types. I figure I will show off the Immortal rules here and how they work with NIGHT SHIFT RAW. I am also using the point-buy rules to "check my math."
The Character: Valerie Beaumont, the Immortal
Lady Valerie Beaumont has "haunted" my games for years. She was a playtest character created for Ghosts of Albion by my friend Greg Littlejohn. We have run games for each other off and on over the last 20+ years. He is a great person to give a test game to and tell him "to break it." There was an alternate combat system that almost went into to Ghosts but did not thanks to him!
Valerie was also later used when we were playtesting the first round of Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space. Little known fact. A lot of the Ghosts of Albion playtesters were also playtesters for Doctor Who.
Saves: +3 Death Saves and area effects. +5 to saves vs. spells and magical effects. She gains an additional +5 to all saving throws against magic, poison, disease, and death-based attacks due to her immortality.
Immortal Powers Unique Kill: Virginia Dare (See Below) Immortals regenerate 1d8 hit points every minute. +3 to Intelligence
Survivor Skills Open Locks: 115% Bypass Traps: 110% Sleight of Hand: 120% Move Silently: 120% Hide in Shadows: 110%
Immortal Arcana Innate Magic: Suggestion (x3 per day) Enhanced Senses
Valerie was born in 1569 and is immortal. She was a young English girl that made her way to the new world in the year 1585. She came to the new world and settled in the Roanoke Colony where she lived for a couple of years. Then something happened. She was caring for the young Virginia Dare and then woke up several days later and several miles from home. When she had managed to return to the colony, everyone was gone. She also discovered that she was immortal and was certain that the two were somehow linked.
Valerie spent the next few years roaming the new world. She learned magic from some of the few true witches in Salem and more from the indigenous Native Americans.
She has a ring on her right little finger that manages a glamour that "ages" her. A gift from a former lover. Currently, she appears to be in her mid-40s. Without the glamour, she appears as she did when she discovered her immortality, a young woman of 18. Her mind though is as someone just over 450.
Shadow Steel Sword
She also carries a long thin blade made of "shadow steel" a rare form of steel that the Fae can use. It can attack any supernatural creature, even ones that are incorporeal or shifted out of phase.
Virginia Dare
When Valerie was brought to the American colonies her primary employment was with the Dare family to act as a caretaker to the newborn Virginia Dare. When Valerie was separated from the colony all the other people living in the Roanoke Colony were gone, including Virginia Dare. For years and even centuries, people claimed to have seen Dare, now grown into young adulthood and called the White Doe. Many believed the sitings of Dare were nothing more than a myth.
That is, everyone except for Valerie.
At some point around 1622 Valerie encountered Virginia living with the Powhatan in the forests of Virginia. At first, Valerie was elated to find Virginia, but this soon turned when Virginia blamed Valerie for the disappearance of the colony. The two fought and discovered quickly that they could harm, even likely kill, each other. Likely they would have if they had not been interrupted by British forces. Over the next few centuries they would encounter each other and it would lead to fighting.
Both Valerie and Virginia are immortals. The only thing that can kill them is each other.
Looking forward to doing some more with these two.
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I have her start as a Survivor. She was displaced from her colony and spent many years wandering the unknown wilds of the North American continent. Eventually, she picked up knowledge here and there about various occult matters in including some magic.
I like this since it really shows off how flexible the multi-classing system for NIGHT SHIFT can be.
Yesterday I reviewed the 3rd Edition of the Bunnies & Burrows RPG. So given my desire to stick with cute and fluffy bunnies, I thought a character was in order.
The Game: Bunnie & Burrows
I detailed this game yesterday, so no need to go into a lot of details here and now.
The Character: Simon
Simon is a dwarf Jersey Wooley rabbit. He is a good bunny and a bit of a rascal.
Let's take a quick break from Ravenloft to talk about something that will send many DM's screaming for the hills in horror.
Character backstories
Now, most old-school players will argue that 1st level characters don't need a backstory. That would be fine and all, but I remember playing in the 80s. I have lost count of how many "disgraced princes," "lost royalty," or "tragic orphans" I ran into in games. I get it, it was fantasy and a way to play out various ideas, concepts, whatever. D&D was cheaper than therapy. I get it. I do. And it is fine you don't want to do them now.
But don't pretend it didn't happen.
I have no issues with backstories. In most of the RPGs I play a backstory is an excuse for the GM (me) to torture your character some more. Have the Love quality/drawback in the Buffy RPG? Yeah. Might want to rethink that one. But I don't always have to do that.
Our two primary modern examples of "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Joesph Campbell are Luke Skywalker and Harry Potter. By all accounts, they are 1st level characters. Luke is a farm kid. Harry is an abused 11-year-old. BOTH have great backstories. "Yer a wizard Harry!" "My name is Luke." "Yer a Jedi Luke!" But, yes, both are tragic backstories. Take Campbell's own example of the Monomyth, Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is already the King when the story starts. That's a backstory no one would accept!
Let's just say that there is going to be some sort of backstory. How should you do it?
Well once again let's turn to Ginny Di.
She might be new at D&D but her enthusiasm is greater and more infectious than a room full of Grogs blogging about it. Your humble author included.
Her recent video is overtly about one topic, but she actually makes two very good points here that pretty much everyone should agree with.
So her two major points are:
Backstories don't need to be tragic or even dark
Leave it open enough for your DM to work it into the campaign
That's solid advice. One I would like to hope that most Old-Schoolers follow already.
My oldest son has already instituted a "maximum" limit on what a backstory in his games are. Right now I think it is a page, but he has talked about a paragraph. Me? I don't care, make as long as you like just keep it in reason.
Ginny points out that characters, and this is true for every version of the game, are not normal people. A level 1 character is still better than a 0 level Normal Human. They have more hp, are better at fighting or even have magic. Even in Van Righten's Guide to Ravenloft, the Survivors are slightly better than normal humans. Luke already was Force-sensitive, Harry could still do some minor magic and talk to snakes.
Also, no normal person is going to live a life to go out adventuring. So find those reasons. Even if that reason is "I just want a pile of treasure."
Taking Ginny's Advice
At the end of the video, she asks us two questions.
Have you ever had a character with a happy backstory? What kind of problems do you run into when writing character backstories?
These are good questions to ask.
Happy Backstory?
Yes. My wizard Phygora, like his namesake and idol Phygor, came from a well to do, happy prosperous family in Glantri. He was well-liked, no issues with school, loves, or friends. Just one day he decided, like Phygor before, him to travel the world to learn all the magic he could. While this could have been tragic, it was symbolic of my own desires to learn all sorts of things.
I have had fighters and thieves that have "only it for the money" or as the kids say "the lolz."
Backstory Problems?
Sadly I do find the tragic backstory easier to write. Larina's family died in their apothecary shop while she was away studying. Though I recently brought her mother and father back. Johan's twin brother was killed by ghouls, then he died to become another's character's back story. I have the usual suspects of orphans, outcasts and other murder hobos. They far outweigh the happy stories.
Over the years though I have been looking at other ways to generate characters and backstories.
It occurred to me years (ok. decades) ago when sitting in my History of Psychology course. We were going over Freud's theories of self and were contrasting them with later theorists. Now I have always preferred Jung over Freud. I guess I am just Jung at heart! (sorry. That joke is mandated by my university, if I don't use it they take away my degrees.)
I am planning to expand on this, but I came to see many of my characters as representations of various Freudian and Jungian concepts.
The easiest one to show is Larina, she is a manifestation of my Jungian Anima/Shadow Self. Phygora is my Freudian Super-Ego, Johan is my Ego and my assassin character represents my Id.
I have always been curious if others have done this.
Is it really June 1st?? Spent my Memorial Day weekend the same way I always do; grilling a bunch of food and spending all my time helping my wife in her garden. So far we have 61 tomato plants in, 3 tomatillos, 74 peppers ranging from sweet to "Satan's Kiss," untold numbers of onions, potatoes, celery, squash and I have no idea what else. Sadly we ended up losing all of our okra plants due to a late-season frost.
But today is a new month and that means a new character. Although today's character is not new, per se, it is new since this is the first time I have presented this character before she became a Vampire.
The Game: Swords & Wizardry Boxed Set
I got my Swords & Wizardry Boxed set in the mail over the weekend from the Kickstarter. It is a great-looking set and I want to spend some more time with it. Getting a set of dice inside was a nice touch. The books are top-notch really. Though I fear that my old-school itch is now being scratched by Old-School Essentials. Still, my oldest saw my set and admired it so maybe he will do some running with it.
There is a lot to like about it.
The Character: Darlessa
Long-time readers know of my love for the various "Vampire Queen" adventures out there and my own history with them. Darlessa is one of the Vampire Queens I most often use. She has a nice personal history with me and my characters and she is 100% OGC so others can use her too.
I am going to be using her in another project very soon, so I thought it might be nice to talk about her today before she became a Vampire. Since I have this new rule system here that mimics the oldest RPG in our hobby, I thought it might be nice to go back and see her as a human witch. Right before her humiliating betrayal and her seeking out her demonic patron to turn her into a vampire.
1st (4): Burning Hands, Cause Fear, Minor Curse, Read Languages 2nd (4): Agony, Bewitch II, Enthrall, Rite of Remote Seeing 3rd (3): Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Danse Macabre, Toad Mind 4th (3): Arcane Eye, Bewitch IV, Phantom Lacerations 5th (2): Death Curse, Greater Command 6th (2): Death Blade 7th (1): Wave of Mutilation
Magic Items
Bracers of defense, ring of protection, ring spell storing.
Background
Darlessa always fancied herself as a Queen, which of course is impossible because she is from Glantri. She might have been an upstart Princess if fate had been kinder to her, but instead, the only magic she learned was witchcraft, a "lesser" form of magic to the Glantri ruling class. Rejected by those she considered her peers and laughed at by those she considered underlings it was no surprise that she turned to evil. She married a minor noble and soon had him murdered. She moved up in social status by marrying one of the lesser Princes. She could not kill him as easily so she had him locked away due to madness, which she of course caused. She was always vying for more and more power, a better position in the social hierarchy. While she felt she was in control of her situation and had everyone else figured out in truth all the nobility saw through her ruse and were just toying with her. When discovered this and was laughed out of court she sought out her demon to turn her into a vampire.
That is the sad tale of Darlessa. One of jealousy, anger, and hubris. What happens to her next? Tune in tomorrow and see!
I am posting this at the end of the month instead of the first (new month, new character) since April will be full of monsters. But in a way, today's character is a monster in his own right.
Last month I posted the stats for Twill Topknot and before that Sarana, the first main NPCs of my War of the Witch Queens campaign. While I have plenty more NPCs to figure out and stat up, there is one that I do need to do and figure out how he did it. That NPC is Kelek the Cruel.
I have talked about good (evil) old Kelek in the past and I think stating him out is a good idea. He has his origins in Basic/Expert D&D, Quest for the Heartstone and The Shady Dragon Inn, so Basic-era is the obvious choice. More so since he is my Big Bad for War of the Witch Queens.
One of the things I want to do with this is pick and choose from various RPG/OSR systems. I did Old School Essentials with Twill. While that doesn't mean I can't reuse it, but I would like to see what is out there. I also need to figure out what sort of "magic-user" old Kelek is since I also have that choice.
Much like what I have done with Skylla (with whom he has a history with) I took her Magic-user and tried her out as a witch in various OSR style games. If she is a witch, then what is Kelek?
He is a type of wizard to be sure. He learned his magic, so a warlock or a sorcerer (as defined by D&D 3 to 5) is fun, but not really who he is. I need some class that also has the ability to cast gates, maybe even a way to summon a minor demon or two. But not someone interested in controlling undead. Most importantly I need someone that would be able to kill a Witch Queen.
We know from Kelek's history that he wants some form of immortality or mastery over life and death. To me that says Necromancer. But I am kinda bored with necromancers. I mean I have done necromancers so many times. BUT this group has never gone up against one of my necromancers before. Eric over at Swords & Stitchery also talks about Kelek and even has him becoming a lich. Eric usually has very good ideas, so I am inclined to take this as a vote towards Necromancer.
Spells First level: Read Magic, Sleep, Necrotic Shield, Fear, Hold Portal, Read Languages Second level: Hold Person, Knock, Mirror Image, Wizard Lock, Necrotic Touch, Blight Third level: Fly, Haste, Death Purge, Clairvoyance, Necrotic Blast, Dispel Magic Fourth level: Dimension Door, Polymorph Other, Necrotic Strike, Wizard Eye, Confusion Fifth level: Plane of Death, Magic Jar, Teleport, Life Drain Sixth level: Abyssal Flame, Anti-Magic Shell, Death Spell Seventh level: Astral Spell, Instant Summons Eighth level: Clone, Gate
Scrolls* First level: Chill Touch Second level: Choke, Speak with the Dead Third level: Skull Sight, Unhallow Fourth level: Charm Monster Fifth level: Death Spell Sixth level: Knowledge of Life Seventh level: Summon Demon Eighth level: Symbol (Pain)
Height: 5'11" Weight: 156 lbs Age: 55
*The spells from scrolls are Necromancer spells from Theorems and Thaumaturgy. I am likely to give him other necromancer scrolls from the other necromancers out there.
I also say mostly human since I consider Kelek to have a bit of orc in his line somewhere. This explains his high strength and constitution, his low charisma, his pointed ears, oddly shaped head in some depictions of him. He can also speak orc and hangs out with Zarak all the time.
Kelek also has a large warg he rides like a horse. In typical D&D cartoon fashion, his name is just Warg.
On Sunday, March 7th, Frank Thorne, the legendary Red Sonja artist, and writer, passed a few hours after his wife Marilyn. He was 90.
Fans of Red Sonja all know Frank's work from the mid to late 70s. In truth, he defined the character nearly as much as Robert E. Howard, Roy Thomas, and Barry Windsor-Smith.
He certainly left his mark on her enduring legacy.
He was also known for Ghita of Alizarr and "Lann" in Heavy Metal magazine. He was an early cosplayer, taking on the role of "the Wizard." He would then judge Red Sonja look-a-like contests. Wendy Pini’s Sonja would be with him at many of these conventions and shows and predated the modern cosplay scene by decades.
Red Sonja
I have done stats for Red Sonja in the past for all sorts of systems:
It's the first of the new month and time to introduce a new character! Although this one is not really a new character.
Back in January, I posted stats for Sarana, my version of Stevie from the adventure Tanglewood Keep in DL15 Mists of Krynn. I had a lot of fun with it to be honest. I am planning to use Tanglewood Keep with Sarana/Stevie in my War of the Witch Queens campaign. I think it would be a lot of fun and it would fit great theme-wise and provide the multiverse hoping I really want to do with the campaign.
The adventure is not a difficult one, nor particularly original, but it is fun.
Though...there is one little issue. The crux of the adventure is to regain a crystal to make a magical travel mirror work again. The characters have to get the crystal and return to Sarana/Stevie's home so they can return to their own world. The questions arise. Why can't Sarana/Stevie get it herself? Failing that why can't her Kender friend Twill Topknot get it for her?
The answer is timing.
The PCs have entered Krynn at two important points in time. First, the PCs have entered Krynn during the events of the Dragons of Autumn Twilight novel and the DL1 Dragons of Despair module. This means that, among other things, there are no gods. No gods also mean no healing magic.
The second point deals with the accident of Twill Topknot and this brings me to my character for this month.
In Tanglewood Keep, Twill is a 3rd level kender thief. He is essentially a Tasselhof stand-in. But I wanted to try something new. In particular, I really wanted to try out Sara Thompson'scombat wheelchair for my Old-School games. This past summer when this was causing a stir I joked "I was going to make one and put a Kender in it!" Well. The idea was actually too good to pass up.
Putting Twill in a wheelchair makes a lot of sense since I need him to NOT to be able to help the characters; the Keep is not easily accessible.
I am currently rereading the Dragonlance saga and the comment has been made that there are no old Kender. They usually die before that due to accidents. This is Twill's tale. He was adventuring when he slipped and fell off a cliff. He was discovered by Sarana who used her witchcraft to heal him the best she could. While she could heal his wounds and kept him from dying, she could not heal everything. With no healing magic from the gods, she did an admirable job.
Thankfully for Twill, Tinker the gnome was able to craft him a "mobility chair" which Twill thinks is the best thing ever. He has a pocket for his maps, cool little baubles, and a place for his hoopak staff.
Since my War of the Witch Queens is a B/X flavored game, I thought that my current favorite Basic-era game Old School Essentials would be great for these stats today.
Twill Topknot Male Kender Bard, 3rd level, Neutral Good
I decided that Twill is better suited in my game as a Bard (I was not doing Bards in a vacuum last month). One of the things I found endearing about Tasslehoff Burrfoot was his rich store of stories he knew and wanted to tell. I enjoyed it more on my recent re-read (and was profoundly irritated with Flint every time he told Tass to be quiet). So a Kender storyteller bard sounds great to me. I'll make an Arcane Bard since there is no divine magic in Krynn at this point. Plus the Arcane Bard for OSE still has some thief skills to use.
In my mind, Twill lives (platonically, for now) with Sarana. She thinks it is to protect him (he doesn't need it) and he thinks it is to protect her, being from another world (she doesn't need protecting either). So Twill stays with her in her little house in a haunted forest. He tells her stories that she delights in and she makes him tea. He shows her all his wonderful maps of Krynn and talks about dragons (still only a story now) and she tells him about wonderful worlds she has seen.
No wonder she has no real desire to leave Krynn. But don't assume anything untoward! This is Krynn and there is a certain morality in place (that I seemed to have completely missed at 14 when I read it the first time).
Being a good-natured sort, Twill is quite proud of his remarkable "mobility chair." He will gladly show off the pockets it has for his maps, dagger, and that really interesting thing the PC's just dropped and he was keeping safe. There is even a place on the back for his hoopak. He credits Tinker (a tinker gnome, naturally) for building it and Sarana for enchanting it to cover any ground or terrain.
In fact, he will often state that life with his new chair is even better now, though he will admit he misses wiggling his toes.
Thanks to Sarana's magic the chair can travel over any terrain that Twill himself could do save for anything involving swimming or climbing, with that he can levitate. The wheels have permanent Floating Disk spells on them to provide levitation. Since the chair is new he is still learning how to navigate stairs.
One thing I wanted to accomplish with the recent Character Creation Challenge was to create characters that I could use in my War of the Witch Queens campaign AND get ideas for a multiverse of witches.
But that is not the only thing I wanted from it.
I also wanted to see the differences between various Star Trek-like systems in order to find good NPC for my BlackStar and Star Trek: Mercy games.
Reading through all of these (and it has been great!) I am more convinced now that my Star Trek Mercy game needs to be a FASA Trek game while BlackStar can be something else; most likely Star Trek Adventures.
Star Trek: Mercy
As I have mentioned previously Star Trek Mercy will take place aboard a Federation Hospital Ship. Its mission is a bit like Doctors Without Borders; they fly into dangerous situations with the goal of helping. While it is a Federation/Starfleet ship I am going to open up character choices to any and all Star Trek races. So humans, Vulcans, Andorians will be expected, but also Romulans, Klingons, Deltans, even Gorn, and Orions if someone can give me a good reason. These crew will not be members of Starfleet, they still belong to their respective worlds, but I also have to, want to, work within canon.
For this, a few guidelines are needed. No Klingon Starfleet officers. Worf was the first and the Federation and the Klingon Empire are at a period of cooled tensions. They are not allies per see, but they are also not shooting at each other. We know from the TNG episode "The Neutral Zone" that Romulans have not had any relations with the Federation since the Tomed Incident of 2311. There is still a Romulan Ambassador on Earth in 2293. That gives me 18 years' worth of gameplay.
I stated in my first post on this that 2295 would be a good year to set this in. Seems like I was on to something. I can even use the Plasma Plague of 2294 as the first mission of the Mercy. We even get a Stardate for it, 38235.3, though that date can't really work for 2294, it doesn't even work well for The Original Series Stardates. That date gives you Wed Feb 24 2360 for TNG and Tue Oct 28 2279 for TOS. Might need to use the FASA Trek Stardate calculations to make this one work!
Also since this is FASA Trek I can borrow some ideas from The Next Generation Officer's Manual. In particular, the notion that there were a bunch of different uniforms in use. Gives me an excuse to use the ones I want. These would be new here and old by the time the USS Protector and the Mystic-class ships roll out.
I am going to need a new ship design too.
What would also be nice is to work in some Original Series Apocrphya into my game; Saavik being half-Vulcan/half-Romulan, Chekov working for Starfleet Intelligence and a touring Chess Master (loosing to the Betazoids), Scotty as a Professor of Engineering at Starfleet Academy before getting lost near a Dyson Sphere in 2294, Sulu as the Captain of the Excelsior and Harriman as Captain of the Enterprise B. Uhura as Demora Sulu's Godmother. I would also like to find out more about Lt. Elise McKennah, played by Michele Specht in Star Trek Continues.
McCoy becoming an admiral, Spock continuing his role as Federation Ambassador, and Kirk disappearing on the Enterprise B. Though those are not really disputed.
I like this idea since it is also the first Trek game my Star Trek loving wife has mentioned she would like to play.
