Showing posts with label class. Show all posts
Showing posts with label class. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Witchcraft Wednesdays: The Archwitch

Photo by Ferdinand Studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-a-costume-reading-a-book-3922111/
Photo by Ferdinand Studio

 Working on a new project. It should be pretty obvious, but I will wait for the full announcement. Among some of the features of this new project is the notion of "Advanced Classes." You have already seen these kinds of classes before. They are the Bard (PHB), Thief-Acrobat, the Archdruid (UA), and the Wizards of High Sorcery from the Dragonlance Adventures book. 

Mine, however, are all occult-based. I have already been play-testing a couple of them, some for a while, but today's is brand new. Based quite honestly on a dream I had Monday night/Tuesday morning. Though, the idea of the class has been running around my head for many years now.

Presently, I have four of these Advanced Classes worked out. Three for Witches and one for Magic-users.  I am toying around with about three-four others for other Advanced-era Classes/Sub-classes. 

ARCHWITCH

Advanced Class for Witches

The Archwitch is the culmination of a witch's arcane and spiritual mastery. Unlike common witches who deepen their craft through occult rites, the Archwitch transcends the circle, walking the border between witchcraft and wizardry. She gains insight into the deepest mysteries of magic and the cosmos, weaving both witch spells and high arcana into her grimoire. Figures such as Iggwilv, The Simbul, and Sagarassi exemplify this path. While many label them as mere magic-users, their roots lie firmly in the traditions of the witch.

Only those witches who have proven themselves through trial, wisdom, and power may take on the mantle of the Archwitch. This path is rare, and most witches never reach such heights.

Requirements

To become an Archwitch, a character must:

  • Be a Witch of at least 7th level.
  • Have an Intelligence of 17 or higher.
  • Complete a Great Working, an act of magical significance witnessed by their Patron or coven. Examples include banishing a demon lord, opening or sealing a planar gate, the construction of a powerful magic item or new spell or ritual, or binding a major spirit.
  • Be acknowledged as an Archwitch by their Patron or a gathering of at least three witches of 7th level or higher.

Restrictions

The character ceases to gain new Occult Powers granted to witches at levels 7, 13, and 19. These are replaced by Archwitch abilities.

Spellcasting

The Archwitch retains her full Witch spellcasting progression.

In addition, starting at Archwitch level 7, the Archwitch may select one Magic-User spell per spell level, beginning with 5th level magic-user spells and advancing with her own level. These are treated as bonus spells known, castable once per day each, and are cast using her own spells cast per day.

At level 11, the Archwitch gains the ability to cast one 9th-level Magic-User spell per day, chosen from a written copy in her Book of Shadows or from a scroll. This simulates her mastery of the highest arcane knowledge.

Note: There will be spell advancement tables for magic-user spells 1 through 9.

Archwitch Abilities

Mastery of the Veil (gained at level 7): Once per day, the Archwitch may combine two spells of 4th level or lower into a single casting. The casting time is doubled and both material components must be used. The effects occur simultaneously but must be directed at the same target or area.

Arcane Communion (gained at level 9): Once per week, the Archwitch may enter a trance to commune directly with her Patron or a cosmic force, gaining insight similar to the Commune spell. Additionally, she becomes immune to confusion and feeblemind effects.

Unbound by Circles (gained at level 11): The Archwitch may cast a 9th-level Magic-User spell once per day, provided she has access to the spell in a written form. This spell does not count against her daily limit of learned Magic-User spells. This ability reflects her transcendence of mortal limitations and entry into the ranks of true arcane legends.

Role and Influence

The Archwitch is no longer bound to any single coven, though she may lead one. Her word carries power in the witching world. She is often sought for advice, feared by enemies, and respected by peers. Her Patron may grant visions or quests of great import. In some traditions, the appearance of an Archwitch heralds the turning of an age.

Only a handful of witches per century achieve this status. Their names are remembered in spellbooks and whispered in ritual.

Experience Progression and Saving Throws

The Archwitch continues to use the Witch's experience table, attack matrix, and saving throws.

Multi-Class and Dual-Class Use

The Archwitch path is only open to single-classed Witches. Dual-classed characters must complete all level requirements before entry. Elves and other multi-classed races may not become Archwitches unless the campaign permits exceptions.

Optional Rule – Ritual Ascension: At the DM's discretion, the transition to Archwitch may require an in-game ritual, quest, or magical confrontation. This may include astral travel, defeating a rival Archwitch, or recovering a lost grimoire.


Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Witchcraft Wednesday: The Left Hand Path - The Diabolic & Demonic Witchcraft Traditions

 Tonight is Walpurgis Night. Witches fly to their sabbats on the Brocken to drink, dance, and make pacts with the devils and demons. It is a night of evil revelries and will not end until the cock crows at the first light of dawn. 

Sounds like a party! 

Sounds like the perfect day to release my long-awaited The Left Hand Path - The Diabolic & Demonic Witchcraft Traditions.

The Left Hand Path - The Diabolic & Demonic Witchcraft Traditions

The Left Hand Path - The Diabolic & Demonic Witchcraft Traditions

Evil!

“Live ... Deliciously.”

There are creatures out there, beyond reality, beyond understanding. 

Mortal kind fear them. Clerics of law and light preach against them. Holy warriors fight against them.

Witches and warlocks seek them out for power over all!

Inside, you will find the witches and warlocks of the Left Hand Path.

  • Four witchcraft Traditions
  • Three warlock Lodges.
  • Evil options for other classes.
  • 400 witch and warlock spells. Including 40 witchcraft Rituals.
  • 55+ warlock invocations.
  • 130 demonic monsters, including Dæmons, Demons, Devils, Eodemons, Lilim, and Yaoguai.
  • New magic Items.

Fully compatible with other witch books from The Other Side.

--

At 188 pages, this is my largest witch tradition book. 

It is also, as far as I can tell, the most complete collection of demons, devils, and other creatures from the lower planes for any "Basic-era" book.

There is a print version on the way. I have no end of troubles with Affinity Pro. Basically if I could have done something wrong in my set up, I did. Hope to get it sorted out today.

Until then, Happy Walpurgis Night and Joyous Beltane! 

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

New Releases Tuesday: The Witch Finder Class

 Walpurgis Week continues.  I have a new release for fans of the Old-School Essentials game (and any Basic Era game).

I mean, someone has to keep all these witches in line.

The Witch Finder Class

The Witch Finder Class

I have been tinkering with this one for a while now. Finally came together for me while working on my most recent witch book (spoiler, out tomorrow).

From the DriveThruRPG page:

“We are the fire. We are the silence. We are the last prayer between damnation and the soul.”

- Creed of the Order of Saint Ossian.

In a world where magic and witches are real and pose a threat to law, light, and good, there will be Witch Finders.

Inside, you will find:

- The Witch Finder Half-Class for Old-School Essentials (compatible with other Basic-era games).
- New spells for witch finders (and for clerics if you choose).
- New magic items, including the infamous Malleus Maleficarum.
- Two Witch Finder Orders, The Orders of St. Ossian and St. Werper. United in purpose but divided by methods. 

Requires Old-School Essentials Core Rules.

--

Classic Classes

I am calling this series "Classic Classes," though some are not "classic" per se, save for how long they have been languishing on my "to be completed" lists. I do not have a projected timeline for them all yet, but I plan on completing the Healer, the Sun-Priest (I just need to give it a new name), and a few more. For now, the plan is only to complete my own unfinished work. 

What is a Half-Class?

The Witch Finder is a "Half-Class" that is it is designed to be used along with another class that is the character's primary class. A quick look at the various Witch Finders and Witch Hunters shows they began as something else and continued that.  Cotton Mather (Salem Witch Trials) was a "cleric" first and foremost. Mathew Hopkins (England) was mostly a charlatan ("thief") and even in modern times Robin Sena, aka Witch Hunter Robin, was also a witch herself. 

So by this logic, I created a "Half-Class" for the Witch Finder. This also helps me preserve some of the flavor of my old 3.x era Witch Finder Prestige Class. 

Will future Classic Classes be Half-Classes? No idea yet, but it will be fun to find out.

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

New Releases Tuesday: The Swan Maiden Class

 I have a new release for fans of the Old-School Essentials game (and any Basic Era game).

The Swan Maiden Class

The Swan Maiden Class

Whether you are a fan of Poul Anderson's "Three Hearts and Three Lions," or old Welsh myth and tales of the Gwragedd Annwn, or the Swanmay from AD&D, this is the class for you.

From the DriveThruRPG page.

The swan maiden has appeared in the pages of literature and tales of legend. Many of which were the foundational tales of the Fantasy RPG hobby.  In this new supplement, you can now play as a member of this shapeshifting sorority of protectors of the natural world.

Inside, you will find:

- The Swan Maiden Class for Old-School Essentials (compatible with other Basic-era games).
- New spells for the swan maiden (and for rangers and druids if you choose).
- New magic items, including their fabled Cloak of Feathers.
- Alternate swan maidens including the Gwragedd Annwn, Crane Wives, and the evil Strix.

Requires Old-School Essentials Core Rules.

One and Two-page spreads are offered.

Classic Classes

This class came about while I was going through all of the material I was bequeathed from my late friend and former DM R. Michael Grenda. He had so much unfinished work here that it reminded me of my own oft-mentioned unfinished classes I have. So, I resolved to finish them up this year. This is the first.

I am calling this series "Classic Classes," though some are not "classic" per se, save for how long they have been languishing on my "to be completed" lists. I do not have a projected timeline for them all yet, but I plan on completing the Healer, the Sun-Priest (I just need to give it a new name), and a few more. For now, the plan is only to complete my own unfinished work. Grenda had his reasons for not wanting his published, and I have to respect that. However, some, like the Swan Maiden here, will get pushed up the line because of material of his I have read. 

Though there is a "Classic" in another sense. I have been going through and rereading all the Appendix N works and many of the "Further Reading" mentioned in the D&D Basic book from Tom Moldvay. So, my opinions on what those classes will do will be informed by those readings.

I am most likely to publish these for the Old-School Essentials RPG. I like the rule set, and the levels 1-14 are a nice sweet spot. But I leave myself open to whatever system works the best. 

Most of these classes will be classes I was working on at the same time I first developed my witch class. Some might even have some cross-over, but for the most part they will be non-witch classes.

I could not find the option to list this when I set up the title, so I'll state it here. 

This product has no AI art, and no AI/LLM was used to generate text. 

Why would I need AI to generate more text? I have hundreds of notebooks and files filled with notes. The last thing I need is a new way to generate MORE.

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

New Release: The Witch - Book of Shadows for ShadowDark

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

The Witch - Book of Shadows

The Witch Book of Shadows for ShadowDark

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

The Witch Book of Shadows

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

Included here is the Witch Class.

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

Compatible with ShadowDark and other ShadowDark products.

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

--

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

The Witch Print on Demand

The Witch Print on Demand

The Witch Print on Demand

The Witch Print on Demand

The Witch Print on Demand

The Witch Print on Demand

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

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

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Daddy rolled a 1: Witches

 Over on his YouTube Channel, Daddy Rolled a 1, Martin R. Thomas has put up a pretty comprehensive overview of all the various Witch classes.

So, of course, you know it has my attention.

It is great overview.

Nothing new to anyone who reads this blog regularly, and I think I have covered more, but still a great overview.

It's Halloween after all and more witch discussion is always welcome!





Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Monster Mash Classes as Old-School Essentials Advanced Classes

 Monster Mash is now out in both PDF and Print on Demand, and I am very, very happy with it.

Work is going on for Monster Mash II: A Green and Pleasant Land now. Classes are built, just need some edits. I also bought a bunch of art from Dean Spencer so his art will fill the book for a single artistic vision.

But one thing people have asked me is, "Can I use Monster Mash" with the OSE-Advanced Rules?

Monster Mash and OSE-Advanced

While my intent was always to stick with OSE-Classic, there is nothing stopping you from using OSE-Advanced rules.  In fact, here are my guidelines.

For this, I am going to use the races and classes from OSE-Advanced. If there is another race or class (say from one of Carcass Crawlers or other sources) you can use the closest analog. 

Races

OSE, for the moment still uses the out-moded "Races." I fully expect that will change but until I am using it as a "rules term" only.  

Note: ANY Game Master can over-rule these level limits as they see fit.

In every case these different races retain any abilities from 1st level on. 

Awakened Golem 

Requirements: 13 or greater in STR and CON, 10 or greater in WIS
Ability Modifiers: +1 to STR and CON, -2 to CHA

Acrobat: NA
Assassin: 10th (must have a DEX score greater than 13
Barbarian: 14th
Bard: NA
Cleric: NA
Druid: NA (and I would add they are so far removed to nature they can never be druids)
Fighter: 14th
Illusionist: NA
Knight: NA
Magic-User: NA* (special cases could arise)
Paladin: NA
Ranger: NA
Thief: 14th
Gothic Witch: NA
Profane Necromancer: 10th (similar special cases)

Catflok

Requirements: 12 or greater in DEX
Ability Modifiers: +1 to STR and CON, -2 to CHA

Acrobat: 10th
Assassin: 10th
Barbarian: 9th
Bard: 7th
Cleric: 8th
Druid: 9th
Fighter: 10th
Illusionist: 7th
Knight: NA
Magic-User: 7th
Paladin: NA
Ranger: 8th
Thief: 10th
Gothic Witch: 9th
Profane Necromancer: 7th

Ghost

Requirements: None
Ability Modifiers: STR, DEX, and CON are effectively 0

Ghosts can be anything but are limited to 10th level.

Hagling

Requirements: 12 or greater in WIS
Ability Modifiers: +1 to WIS

Acrobat: NA
Assassin: NA
Barbarian: 8th
Bard: NA
Cleric: 10th
Druid: 10th
Fighter: 10th
Illusionist: 10th
Knight: NA
Magic-User: 11th
Paladin: NA
Ranger: NA
Thief: 10th
Gothic Witch: 13th
Profane Necromancer: 13th

Hobgoblin

Requirements: None
Ability Modifiers: +1 to CON

Acrobat: NA
Assassin: 8th
Barbarian: 10th
Bard: NA
Cleric: 5th
Druid: 6th
Fighter: 10th
Illusionist: NA
Knight: NA
Magic-User: NA
Paladin: NA
Ranger: 5th
Thief: 10th
Gothic Witch: 4th
Profane Necromancer: 4th

Lycanthrope, Wererat

Requirements: 11 or greater on DEX and CON
Ability Modifiers: +1 to DEX

Acrobat: 8th
Assassin: 8th
Barbarian: 5th
Bard: 5th
Cleric: 4th
Druid: 4th
Fighter: 6th
Illusionist: NA
Knight: NA
Magic-User: NA
Paladin: NA
Ranger: NA
Thief: 8th
Gothic Witch: NA
Profane Necromancer: NA

Lycanthrope, Werewolf

Requirements: 11 or greater on STR and CON
Ability Modifiers: +1 to STR

Acrobat: NA
Assassin: 8th
Barbarian: 10th
Bard: 5th
Cleric: 4th
Druid: 4th
Fighter: 10th
Illusionist: NA
Knight: NA
Magic-User: NA
Paladin: NA
Ranger: NA
Thief: 8th
Gothic Witch: NA
Profane Necromancer: NA

Revenant

Requirements: None
Ability Modifiers: +1 to STR, DEX, and CON

Revenants can be anything but are limited to 9th level.

Shade

Requirements: 12 or greater on CHA
Ability Modifiers: None

Shades can be anything but are limited to 10th level.

Shadow Elf

Requirements: 15 or greater on DEX
Ability Modifiers: +1 to DEX

Acrobat: 10th
Assassin: 10th
Barbarian: NA
Bard: 10th
Cleric: 5th
Druid: 5th
Fighter: 10th
Illusionist: 9th
Knight: 10th
Magic-User: 8th
Paladin: NA
Ranger: NA
Thief: 10th
Gothic Witch: 10th
Profane Necromancer: 10th

Vampire

Requirements: 13 or greater on STR and CHA
Ability Modifiers: +1 to STR

Vampires can be anything, but combined with a class they are limited to 12th level.

Classes

Monster Mash also includes two "human" Classes, the Gothic Witch and the Profane Necromancer.  The Gothic witch follows the same format of my other witch classes. The Profane Necromancer is essentially a Necromancer with various evil Cleric abilities added in.

Here are some suggestions.

Gothic Witch

Drow: 10th
Duergar: 7th
Dwarf: NA* (Dwarf witches are known as Xothia and use other witch rules.)
Elf: NA* (Elf witches are known as Kuruni and use other witch rules.)
Gnome: NA* (Gnome witches are known as Good Walkers and use other witch rules.)
Half-Elf: 14th (Half-elves can choose a variety of witches.)
Halfling: NA* (Halfling witches are known as Herb Women and use other witch rules.)
Half-Orc: 10th* (Half-orc witches are also known as Bogglebos.)
Human: 14th
Svirfneblin: NA (Svirfneblin would likely be a type of Xothia.)

Profane Necromancer

Drow: 9th
Duergar: 7th
Dwarf: NA
Elf: 8th
Gnome: NA
Half-Elf: 9th
Halfling: NA
Half-Orc: NA
Human: 13th
Svirfneblin: NA

A note about the Profane Necromancer. 

There are so many Necromancer classes for Basic-era rule and OSR rulesets. Even OSE has its own Necromancer. Mine is an homage to the Death Master of the late Len Lakofka. But use whichever one you like the best, and feel free to use some or all of my spells with it. 

Again, individual GMs can make adjustments as they see fit.

Monday, January 23, 2023

Monstrous Monday: Monster Mash

We have all seen the new proposed OGL. Honestly it looks like publishing under the OGL 1.0a  will soon be over, at least how it has been.  So, what am I do to with three separate monster-related projects?

Simple. I combine what I can and try to get something ready to go.

Here are the efforts of that.

Monster Mash

Monster Mash

Here, there be Monsters!

For years brave adventures have been going into dark dungeons and fighting monsters. Now the monsters are fighting back.

Monster Mash is an Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy compatible game supplement that allows you to take on the role not of a stalwart hero but as one of the monsters.

This book features 13 horror-based classes.

The Awakened Golem, Cat Folk, Ghosts, Haglings, Hobgoblins, Revenants, Shadow Elves, Shades, Werewolves, Wererats, Vampires, Profane Necromancers, and the Gothic Witch.

New spells for Haglings, Profane Necromancers, Shadow Elves, and Gothic Witches.
New occult powers ritual spells for Gothic Witches.

Fully compatible with Old-School Essentials and other Basic-Era games.
Fully compatible with other witch books from The Other Side.

Requires Old-School Essentials Core Rules.

--

I put in a lot of the art I was going to use for this, Monstrous Maleficarum and the Basic Bestiaries.  I had wanted to get this out for Halloween (naturally) but I had a lot going on.

Now I would LOVE to get a couple more of these out. I have nearly everything I need; I just have to put everything together. 

Will this be my last publication for OSE? I certainly hope not.

Friday, September 16, 2022

100 Days of Halloween: Tarot Magic

Tarot Magic
Digging deep tonight with one going all the way back to the d20 days. Everything about it just fills me with early 2000s nostalgia. Is it the lens flare on the logo? Is it the repeated use of the Morpheus font (which I STILL like)? I don't know. But whatever it is this one has been sitting on my hard drive for nearly 15 years or more (20 if you count the softcover I used to have) waiting for me to review it.

Tarot Magic

PDF. 90 pages, color cover, black & white interior art.

This book had been published originally back in 2002-2003 by Mystic Eye Games for the d20 OGL and STL. Yes we are going all the way back to the d20 System Trademark License here.

Now it has been updated in a 2016 re-upload by Samurai Sheepdog.  I still have my original PDF on a backup drive so I can compare them. The cover is the same, but a bit brighter and the Samurai Sheepdog logo and website is there.  Also, all mention of Mystic Eye Games is gone. The back cover is missing as well. But the PDF is also clearer to read and generally of better quality.

I will note that this book is filed under the D&D 3.5 category, but it is really D&D 3.0.  I don't think it makes much practical difference to be honest.

The book is divided into five major sections.

Chapter 1: Tarot Reading in the Game

This cover the basics of card layout and meaning and how they can be used in a game situation. In most cases, the book advises the GM to control what the deck will be saying to fit the narrative/structure of the game.  The most value here are the card meanings, though that information is also widely available elsewhere.

Chapter 2: Tarot Mage Class and Prestige Class

Now, this is fun.  Presents the Tarot Mage class that can be used as a regular class or as a prestige class.  Honestly, I like the option.  I think it works well as a Prestige Class with someone starting as a wizard, sorcerer, witch, or even a thief with some arcane ability.  Example NPCs of both a Tarot Mage and a Wizard/Tarot Mage are given.

Chapter 3: Tarot Mage Spells

This is a meaty chapter and kudos for coming up with all these spells. There are 38 pages worth of spells. Not a lot of art means a lot of text. 

The spells are all "Arcane" so they are also listed by their school.

Chapter 4: Magic Items

These come in three major types; cards, materials to make cards,  and items related to what are on the tarot cards. 

Chapter 5: Foul Locales

Ok. This one is odd. Chapters 1 to 4 all proper headers with large fonts.  This one starts at the bottom of a column when the magic items end.  The only thing connecting it to the book is the fact that members of the family living in this locale are all Tarot Mages.

In any case it is an interesting book and one I tried many times to use back in the 3.x days.  It is high on concept but the usability of the core class was limited compared to the Wizard/Sorcerer.  The prestige class was much more useful. 

Still it was rather fun.


The Other Side - 100 Days of Halloween


Thursday, September 15, 2022

100 Days of Halloween: Beyond the Mundane

Beyond the Mundane
This one is not a witch book, per see, but rather for all sorts of spell-casters for Pathfinder. I grabbed it for this and also because it uses the same Dean Spencer cover I did for my Winter Witch book. I thought it might be fun to use them together. 

As always, to stay objective I will be following my rules for these reviews.  

Beyond the Mundane

PDF. 30 pages. Title page, 1-page OGL.  Color cover and interior art. 

This book has archetypes for all the spellcasting classes for Pathfinder.

Among the ones I like the most are the Choreographer (Bard), Blood-Spiller (Bloodrager), Primal Growler (Cleric), Lunar Touched (Druid), Agent of the Green (Hunter), and Cupbearer (Witch).

There are a lot here and each one does ad something interesting to their base class. It is really good and if you play Pathfinder and want to try something new then grab this.

There is also a new race, the Shadiir, who are naturally magic, so a good race choice for any and all of these archetypes.

I did not see anything I could use with my witches or my Winter Witch in particular, but it was fun all the same. 

 

The Other Side - 100 Days of Halloween


Thursday, September 8, 2022

100 Days of Halloween: Legendary Villains: Wicked Witches

Legendary Villains: Wicked Witches
A little more Pathfinder tonight. This one promises some wicked witches. Let's see if it delivers. 

As always, to stay objective I will be following my rules for these reviews.  

Legendary Villains: Wicked Witches

PDF. 36 pages. 1 title page, 1 table of contents, 1 page OGL. Color cover and interior art.

I went into this expecting some NPCs, and I got that, but this is also more here. 

There are three new archetypes presented here, the consort of fiends, the curio collector, and the shadow sister.

All are presented as being evil, which is great fun really. I do love an evil witch.  All of these are quite fun too, but it is the consort of fiends and shadow sister that have the most of my attention.

Each archetype has appropriate powers to call on. The Consort of Fiends for example has powers and fluff thatmake it feel like a 5e Warlock.  The Shadow Sister works with any of the various Shadow prestige classes we have had since the early 3e days.

Speaking of which there is also a prestige class offered here, the Hag Matron, which makes the connection between witches and hags stronger. The witch in question actually transforms into a hag as she gets stronger. This reminds me a bit of the old Van Richten's Guide to Witches from the AD&D 2nd Ed Ravenloft days.  This would certainly fit in well with that.  Also different sorts of hags have different powers.

We also get a bunch of Patron Oaths, which are different ways at looking at the patrons. 

There are new witch hexes, new magic items, and a lot of "lesser" familiars.

All in all a very fine addition to the trove of witch related material available for Pathfinder. The focus on evil witchcraft is a great bonus here.

 

The Other Side - 100 Days of Halloween


Saturday, August 13, 2022

100 Days of Halloween: The Genius Guide to the Talented Witch

The Genius Guide to the Talented Witch
Rogue Genius Games does a LOT of great stuff. Their "Talented" line for various classes was always something I wanted to look into, but since I haven't been playing Pathfinder all that much so I never bought any of them.  But of course, I had to buy the Talented Witch.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews, moreover, many of the people involved with these products are people I have worked with in the past. So I am going to try be extra careful in how I review these.

The Genius Guide to the Talented Witch

PDF ($4.95) and Softcover Print Options, 57 pages. 1 cover, 1 table of contents, 1 credits, 1 OGL, rest content.  Color cover and interior art. 

There is a lot to like about this really. The cover art is from the late Marcum Curlee and features an interesting trio of witches. There is art from Other Side friends Jacob E. Blackmon, Brian Brinlee, and Gary Dupuis.  I really love the art, but that is expected. Hell, even that Morpheus font is like they are flirting with me. 

The talented witch is a little different than the base Witch class in the Pathfinder book. It gets various Edges and Talents at alternate levels. These largely replace all the powers of the witch, including the Hexes.  

Edges are first and there are 40 of these. Edges are a lot like Feats in how they are presented. They include Combat, Cunning, Elemental, Hag, Patron, Spellcasting, and Spellcasting Conduits.  Hag for example can give the Edges of Bite or Claws to do damage. 

Talents are more like magical powers, like Hexes, and also have groupings. There are 140 of these in Blessing, Crafting, Curse, Necromancy, Personal, Spellcasting, and Utility. There are also Major and Grand Talents. Talents that are Hexes are marked with an asterisk.

The idea here is customization. Basically, if you can imagine a witch, you could build it from these options.  There is a dizzying array of choices here. There is even an appendix on familiars here and another on patrons and a compiled witch spell list from various Pathfinder products. 

There is an absolute ton of information here and more than I know what to do with.

The Genius Guide to More Witch Talents
The Genius Guide to More Witch Talents

PDF. ($2.95) 25 pages. 1 cover, 1 table of contents, 1 credits page, 1 OGL page. 

This adds more Edges and Talents to the witch class.

This gives us 5 new edges and 95 new witch Talents. And I thought I had options before. Talents that are Hexes are marked with an asterisk.

This one leans more into the curses which are nice. 

Like the Genius Guide to the Talented Witch, this book provides a lot of options for nearly any sort of witch.  Also, like that book the art here is really good.

I am not exactly sure where or when the Talented idea came about but checking the Rogue Genius Games listings there are lot of these. I am not sure how they change the game, but I do love the ideas here as a designer and player of witch classes. As a player, it would also be fantastic especially if you love character customizations.  As a Game Master, keeping track of all of this would be a bit of a chore I think.

I'd have to print these both out I think to get a real feel for them.  

One thing I didn't like about both books was the huge border around all the text. It makes the book pretty, but it is not as efficient when it comes to displaying the text. 


The Other Side - 100 Days of Halloween


Thursday, August 11, 2022

100 Days of Halloween: Echelon Reference Series: Witch Spells (3pp+PRD)

Echelon Reference Series: Witch Spells (3pp+PRD)
Something a little different today, although I am not moving on from Pathfinder just yet. Today I want to explore the amazing reference that is the Echelon Reference Series from Keith Davies.  There are a bunch of these, but I am going to focus my attention on the witch.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Echelon Reference Series: Witch Spells Compiled (3pp+PRD)

2 PDFs. $33.99. 186 pages (PF) and 544 pages (3PP).

Yes. 730 pages total. This compiled collection covers both spells from various Pathfinder products and the 3rd Party Pathfinder products.  There is no fluff. Very little art.  Here is how each book breaks down.  There is a cover page, and OGL statement of Open Content page, a table of contents, and two pages on what this book is.  For the Pathfinder book there is three pages of OGL. For the 3rd Party book there are seven pages for the OGL. There is a hyperlinked index for both and hyperlinked table of contents.

The rest is solid text of spells.

And by spells. I mean every single witch spell ever published by the date of this book.  The 3rd Party book for example has nearly 30 pages of cantrips, 50 pages of 1st level spells, 60 2nd level spells and so on. 

The spells are given an editorial clean-up so that they all look similar and can flow well. 

What these books lack (and were never trying to cover) is all the fluff or explanatory pieces that might go with the background of a spell.  For example "Air Bubble" mentions a firearm can be loaded within an Air Bubble, but makes no attempt to explain anything more.  This is perfectly within the scope of this product.

The number of spells break down as follows:

Witch 3pp
Cantrips: 123
1st level: 200
2nd level: 251
3rd level: 221
4th level: 188
5th level: 163
6th level: 142
7th level: 131
8th level: 122
9th level: 109
Total 1,650

Witch Prd
Cantrips: 15
1st level: 83
2nd level: 107
3rd level: 88
4th level: 70
5th level: 51
6th level: 39
7th level: 40
8th level: 28
9th level: 22
Total 543

That's insane really. 

He also has these per level and for every spell casting class in Pathfinder.

Echelon Spells

You might ask if you buy this does that get rid of the need to buy other Pathfinder spell books? I say no since there is nothing here but the spells.  Other products often have the spells, explanatory notes, monsters, feats, and items that might go with them.  These books are a fancy SRDs. Highly organized and very useful ones at that.

If you are like me this is a treasure trove.


The Other Side - 100 Days of Halloween

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

100 Days of Halloween: Character Options: Witches

Character Options: Witches
Going back to some Pathfinder tonight. I can't help it there is a lot of great Pathfinder content out there. 

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Character Options: Witches

PDF. $1.49. 7 pages. 1 page cover.  ½page OGL. 5½ pages of content.

This PDF gives us what I consider the "usual bag" of options for the Pathfinder Witch class. NOTE that is not a slight on this book or even a bad thing.  It is very, very often exactly what people want.

There are 10 new Patrons with their bonus spells. There are 10 new hexes as well.

There are three (3) new archetypes as well. These include the Devoted Witch (I might call this a Divine Witch or Witch Priestess), Green Witch (largely the same as mine in feel), and the Storyteller Witch which is a lot of fun.  It is closest to my "Good Walker" witch.

So for just under $1.50 you can get all of this. Not at all bad really. If you need some new witch options then this is a good choice.

The Other Side - 100 Days of Halloween


Tuesday, August 9, 2022

100 Days of Halloween: Incantations from the Other Side: Spirit Magic

Incantations from the Other Side: Spirit Magic
We are back to Pathfinder today, but honestly, with a name like this how can I possibly say no? 

Incantations from the Other Side: Spirit Magic

PDF. $9.99. 38 pages. 1-page cover. 1 credits page. 1-page table of contents. 1 page for OGL and index. 34 pages of content. Landscape page orientation (sometimes this cuts off art).

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

This book is divided into four major sections, each with a different author from the cover.  Each covers a different type of magic.

The Spirit World by Scott Gable introduces us to the book and the three types of spirit magic we will cover here. 

Vodou by Scott Gable. This is our first and is familiar by name. It involves working with various spirits, the Loa, many listed later in this section.  There seems to be some campaign setting specifics here. This is not a surprise because in our world Vodou, Vodun, and Voodoo are very location specific. This is mentioned in a sidebar here. 

There are some new spells, but beyond that there is plenty of information on how these spells are supposed to be used.  This section will not replace any of the works of say C.J. Carella on the subject, but it works great for Pathfinder.

The Middle World by Uri Kurlianchik. Covers the magic found in the tales from Russia and the Slavs. This includes a number of "House spirits."  Again we are treated to some familiar names; the Leshy, the Domovoi, but here they are spirits and not fae creatures exactly. Here we also have a few spells associated with the various creatures.

The Arcanum by Clinton Boomer. Lastly we have the Arcanum. This one covers "Starry Patrons" but there is a solid "from beyond the stars" feel to these. You can read these as Lovecraftian horrors, but they seem more aloof and alien even than that. 

This book succeeds in giving us a very different felling magic system that still works with the rules of Pathfinder. Since the publication of this book there have been more book on magic for Pathfinder, so it would be interesting to see how this works with these new works.

The art is full color and quite good.

The Other Side - 100 Days of Halloween


Monday, August 8, 2022

100 Days of Halloween: Witchology 101

Witchology 101
Now for something a little different. Pathfinder is great, but it is not the only 3.x-based game out there not named Dungeons & Dragons.  For a while there I did a lot stuff for D20 Modern and I still like to pick up material for it.  Though today I think a 5e-based Modern might be the way to go.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Witchology 101

PDF. 60 pages, $2.99. 1 page cover, 1 title page, 1 page introduction, 3 pages table of contents. 3 pages Creative Common license, 1 page OGL.  Rest content.

This book is punching way above its weight class, to be honest.   The organization is a bit odd, but nothing I can't navigate. 

We get a Glossary at the start, which I guess works to help people unfamiliar with some of these terms.  An introduction to a Who's Who of magical people and places. This includes the various school of magic as if they were actual schools. Each school gets its Latin motto, its center of studies, and titles. It is a pretty cool idea really.  Spells by school are listed with their appropriate colleges. 

There is a whole implicit setting here that can be used in conjunction with any Modern d20 game that also has magic, say like Urban Arcana. It can also be used with other modern games that are built on a d20 system.  I am not 100% sure, but I bet it would work with Mutants and Masterminds for example.

This is a d20-based rule book so there are some features of that. What am I saying? There are Feats! Quite a few in fact. There are spells, some new, some we have seen before (this is fine).  Also to my pleasure, there are new creatures or some reskinned ones. This is a must I think.

It has a Creative Commons License and the OGL. I am not really sure if you can mix the two.  But that does not detract from my enjoyment of it.

So for just under $3 you get 50 pages of solid content. There is no art to speak of, but that is fine really.

Solid work.


The Other Side - 100 Days of Halloween

Sunday, August 7, 2022

100 Days of Halloween: Witch Feats

Witch Feats
A couple of PDFs tonight. Both giving me some new feats for the Pathfinder 1st Edition Witch.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Witch Feats
from Island Of Bees

PDF. 5 pages, PWYW, suggested $1.00. No cover. No OGL.

This one is oddly presented and I had to go back and make sure I had the right file. But once I got into it then yes it is the right PDF.  The cover to the right is not in the file (as a cover) and it jumps right into the content. The art takes up half of every page, so not really 5 pages, but 2.5 pages of content (more like 2). The art is good, very visually striking and I like it (our cover girl here is on page 4 for the Witch Brew), but there is one of what looks like a young girl in a Civil War-era Union uniform with a rat familiar.  It is good and I rather like it, but it looks very out of place, to be honest.

While presented as feats, these are really patron pacts.  So you get these if you take the feat. The text is mostly fluff. The advantage to this is you could use them with Pathfinder 2nd Ed or D&D 5th Ed warlocks too. It's just not what I thought it might be.


Witch Feats
Fantastic Feats Volume XXVII - Witches
from Ennead Games

PDF. 5 pages. $1.25. 1 page for cover, 1 page for Preface/Table of Contents, 1 page for the OGL. 2 pages of content.

This file has seven witch feats presented in the traditional manner for the Pathfinder 1st Edition RPG. There are some interesting ones here too. The Stable Spell gives the witch more control over the damage she can do while Unstable Spell adds some randomness. Aura of Menace should be taken by all witches I think!

Certainly some fun ideas here. 




The Other Side - 100 Days of Halloween

Saturday, August 6, 2022

100 Days of Halloween: Witch Options (PFRPG)

Witch Options
More Pathfinder material tonight.  

Full disclosure, I am friends with the author, Robert W. Thomson. Also, I will be following my rules for this to remain fair.

Witch Options (PFRPG)

PDF. 10 pages, 1 cover, 2.4 pages for OGL. 6.6 pages of content. $2.00

I like Purple Duck Games. They produce a lot of material so it is a good chance there is something out there that you will enjoy.  This book has a lot of different options for the witch class as the title says. 

There is a little bit of everything in this book too.

There are five new hexes. Five new Major hexes and four Grand hexes. Six New Patron Themes. Ten new feats.  I am rather fond of the Triple Moon Tattoo feat to be honest.

Ten new spells, including "Summon Hag."  Four new pieces of equipment.

There is the hagborn template to add to any monster for creatures born to hags.

There is not a lot of any one thing here, but a lot of different things. For $2.00 how could I say no?


The Other Side - 100 Days of Halloween


Friday, August 5, 2022

100 Days of Halloween: Into The Breach: The Witch

Into The Breach: The Witch
Making my way through various Pathfinder books this one caught my eye a while back. 

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Into The Breach: The Witch

PDF. 32 pages. 1 cover, 1 title, 1 credits page, 1 table of contents, 1 OGL, for 27 pages of content.  $5.99.

This book has quite a bit of good content. 

There are new archetypes: Bailiwick Hermit, Bog Builder, Bulwark Theurgist, Dweomer Weaver, Foul Temptress, Gluttonous Crone, Marjara Bound, the Scorned Heart, and Voodoo Crafter.

Each archetype has a number of new associated powers. 

There is a new  Base Class related to the witch, the Sèvitè which is the worshiper of a lost creator god. Essentially this is a Voodoo practitioner in Pathfinder terms.  The interesting thing for me is their ability to Syncretize various gods. Very interesting to be sure. 

There are a couple of very interesting Prestige Classes presented as well. The Heathen and The Scarred Shaman. 

Like all good witch books for Pathfinder, this one has a number of Hexes, Major Hexes, and Grand Hexes.  There are also four new Patrons and quite a few new feats.

I rather like it to be honest. Lots of fun options here. The Voodoo-themed elements are nice and I would love to explore more with the syncretism of the gods. 

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Character Creation Challenge: BX RPG

BX RPG
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?  

Kelek the Cruel from Quest of the Heartstone

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. 

So if it is a necromancer, then which one?

The Basic Fantasy one is nice, but not really powerful enough for what I need.  The necromancer from Adventures Dark & Deep is good. Has a lot of potential but still not exactly what I want. Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea also has a great necromancer, but the spell list is not 100% where I want it. Magical Theorems & Dark Pacts are getting much closer, as is Gavin's Theorems and Thaumaturgy. The one that feels the closest is the one from the BX RPG.

I reviewed the BX RPG a while back and have been wanting to do something more with it. 

If he is my big bad for War of the Witch Queens then I am going to take advantage of BX RPGs 1-20 level spread and make him 15th level.

Kelek the Cruel from HeroForge
Get your own Kelek the Crue from HeroForge

Kelek the Cruel
Male Human (mostly) Necromancer, 15th level, Chaotic Evil

Kelek

Strength: 15
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 13
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 14
Charisma: 7

HD: 9d4 +6 (+9)
hp: 40

AC: 0 (Bracers AC 1, Ring of Protection +!)
Base THAC0: 14

Saving Throws (+1 for magic, +1 ring)
Paralyzation: 8
Petrification: 8
Wands: 9
Breath Weapon: 11
Spells: 8

Weapons
Dagger +1
Staff of Striking
Wand of Cold

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.

Kelek on Warg from HeroForge
Kelek on Warg from HeroForge


The many faces of Kelek the Cruel

Yeah, I have a lot of plans for this guy. 

Now I need to figure out how he killed the Queen of Witches to get us all in the current problems we are in.