Mail Call: Melissa Belladonna Mini

A quick one while I work on dinner. It is still Tuesday, right?

One of the things I do love about the new crop of D&D players is how much they love their characters and the lengths some will go to show that love.  I have shared my enjoyment of Ginny Di and her Aisling, so today, I want to introduce you to Melissa Belladonna. Well, more to the point, her 25mm version.

Yeah, I can get a Tiefling mini cheaper locally, but that is not the point. The point is this is something fun.

You can get yours from Only-Games.co and they also allow you to set up your own store front and sell your own minis if you like.  I thought about it, but I really don't have the skills to make minis.

Though a little Larina to go along with Melissa would be fun.

Mail Call: HYPERBOREA

Another Old-school mail call this week and this one is quite timely. I finally got my Hyperborea leatherette Players and Referee's Guides.

If you have been here for any amount of time you know of my love for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, now just called HYPERBOREA.

This new set, 3rd Edition, does not disappoint.

As you can see it comes with the HYPERBOREA Player's Manual, the Referee's Guide, the Atlas of Hyperborea, dice, and a matching dice bag.

Now I have all three editions of this game. I don't need all three, but I can't find myself parting with any of them.

AS&SH and to a degree HYPERBOREA was where I started my ideas for the War of the Witch Queens, but I have moved it on to Old-School Essentials now. I would still LOVE to do something with HYPERBOREA, something special really. 

HYPERBOREA is firmly in the AD&D rules camp of the OSR clones, though it does only go to level 12. 

Part of me wants to run the Dark Wizard Games modules from Mark Taormino. There is some overlap in themes to be sure. I just wonder if some of the Eldritch Weirdness of HYPERBOREA would be lost in the Gonzo weirdness found in the Dark Wizard adventures.

I have talked before about how great these would be for B/X or OSE, but maybe this is where I need to go. 

Another option is this.

Now, this would work and The Lost City and Castle Amber both have solid Clark Ashton Smith vibes. Into the Borderlands and Expedition to the Barrier Peaks also fit the tone of HYPERBOREA well. Same with Isle of Dread which is very sandboxey.  The Temple of Elemental Evil is the odd one out unless I do a little massaging. 

Level wise I think it all might work.  Into the Borderlands covers levels 1-3. Isle of Dread covers 3-7. Barrier Peaks covers 8-12. The Lost City 1-3 (though I argue more like 2-4), Castle Amber 3-6, and Temple of Elemental Evil 1-8 (or more). I can already see how I could do this, to be honest. The trouble is I have run most of these with my kids already.

Still might be fun as an intellectual experiment. 

Mail Call: Old-School Essentials Classic and Advanced

Been on an Old-School Essentials bender now for a while. It has pretty much taken over as my OSR game of choice. So I was quite pleased when my OSE boxed sets came in the mail this past week.

They are quite great.

Let's take a look at that Old-School Essentials Product Catalogue 2023. Cause I have to admit that hit me right in the nostalgia.

It reminds of the old "Gateway to Adventure" ones we got in the various Basic Sets and it is the size of the old Kenner Star Wars ones.

It is reasonable to ask why did I get this when a.) I have a bunch of OSE material already and b.) It is really the same game I bought 40 years ago?

Well, I am running my War of the Witch Queens game and my oldest is running his own OSE/BX game now in addition to his 5e games.

These will get a lot of use.

Mail Call: D&D in Miniature

Oh good another Mail Call Tuesday!  They say great things come in small packages, so let's see what these small packages have for me today?

Up first I finally decided to do myself in Mini form from HeroForge.  So here is DM Tim in 25 mm scale. Complete with a laptop, a stack of books, and my always-present giant ass mug of coffee.  The only detail missing is the pencil behind my right ear.

I didn't care for their sneakers options so I am wearing my Gen X-mandated Doc Martens with yellow laces. 

Might need to use this as "The Editor" in my Weirdly World News games.

I also grabbed my next to last 21st Century miniature reprint of the AD&D 1st Edition hardcovers.  And this one is from the personal collection of Heidi Gygax.

Now I am just a Dungeoneers Survival Guide away from completing my set of the mini AD&D hardcover books.  Though I doubt it will have the pedigree of my Dragonlance book.

Mail Call: Call of Cthulhu Classic Edition

Drive-by today. I backed the Call of Cthulhu Kickstarter a while back and received my books in the mail a few days ago.

I am rather pleased with what I got to be honest.

The box is thick and sturdy.

There is enough material here for a life-time of play.

It also works nicely with my leather Anniversary edition from a couple years back.  

The dice that came with the boxed set even match my leather edition.

This works out well for me.  My son is all about Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition. He has a ton of material for that. I get all the pre-6th edition material.  Sure they are still largely compatible, but it makes for a nice cut.  Plus this is the edition I like to play Cthulhu by Gaslight with.

Mail Call: Night Shift, More Witch Queens and Rat Baby!

Quick one today.  Yesterday's mail brought me some wonderful gifts.

Up first are the new books for the NIGHT SHIFT RPG.  The Night Companion and a new "Night Trip" A Faustian Dilemma.   These are both the babies of my co-author Jason Vey.  You can now get both at the Elf Lair Games store.

I do have a new "Nigth World" in Night Companion.  My "Weirdly World News" where you get to play tabloid reporters try to get that ever-elusive story that proves the supernatural is real, and hope there is a good paycheck in it. 

This book also introduces the world the everyone's favorite cryptid, Rat Baby.

 Kickstarter backers will be getting their books now. I knew I was on the end of the list for my copies.

I also got a new Witch Queen adventure in the mail again from Carlos A.S. Lising and casl Entertainment.

As you can see, this one also features Iggwilv as the titular Witch.

I am going to give this one a review and hope it is as fun as The Witch-Queen's Lament was.  I think I am going to restructure my War of the Witch Queens adventures just a bit. 

Mail Call: Victorian, Tasha and League of Malevolence

It's a month since Christmas, so I can buy things for myself again.  And this is what the mail has given me this week.

Vis Imperium Victoriana is a Victorian RPG using the same rules as Pendragon Chivalry and Sorcery Essence (thanks for the corrections!).  So you know I am excited for that!

Enoch's Wake is from Richard Ruane. Game designer, co worker at my day job, and all around great guy.  Can't wait to get into that as well.  I am totally planning on stealing ideas from this for my BlackStar game.

I got a League of Malevolence figures which include my favorites Skylla and Kelek.

They look pretty good and compare well to my HeroForge ones I had made a while back.

I also treated myself to a signed photo from Ginny Di as Tasha.

That one is either going to be part of my D&D5 DM's Screen or be part of my Tasha/Iggwilv/Zybilna character folder.  Either way I am happy to have it!

Happy...uh...January to me!!