Listserv - Going, Gone

It was going to happen sooner or later, I have to admit it was much, much later than I ever would have thought.

I just got this email from Wizards of the Coast regarding the listserv emails.

Hello!

On February 15, 2015, Wizards of the Coast will terminate our LISTSERV
system that manages this (and other) mailing lists. We've watched the usage
of these mailing lists dwindle due to the rise of other communication
platforms, such as forums and social media. Given this decreased usage, we
have made the decision that it was time to turn them off.

Please take these two weeks to back up or archive any emails you wish to
keep. After February 15, 2015, they will no longer be available and these
lists will cease to function.

—Wizards of the Coast

So the communication tool that began with MPGN.com (remember that?) and once was the primary voice of TSR (and later WotC) on the internet is now slipping away to join other relics of the 90s tech like the TSR pages on AOL  and Compuserv.

Frankly I am surprised they were still active, though the MYSTARA-L list was pretty much active the entire time I have been on it. That dates back to the early 90s.

So I don't have a good song to toast the life and death of the Listserv, so the Dropkick Murphys will have to do.   Going out in style.



BTW. Anyone know who the girl is this video?  The one in the screen grab above.

Satanic Panic!

I am fascinated with with the Satanic Panic of the early 80s.  Partially because I lived through it but also as someone who isn't religious I found the whole "panic" to be very confusing.
Here is an article that covers part of it.  D&D makes brief cameo.

A Brief History Of "Satanic Panic" In The 1980s

To get an idea of how serious people took this stuff here are a few other posts I made with links to articles and videos.

http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-to-z-of-witches-o.html,  Turmoil in the Toybox videos.
Here is a direct link to the D&D video (starting around 3:30)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWcH7Vd-N_0

http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2014/03/friday-video-satanism-unmasked-dungeons.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/02/wait-is-it-1982-again-more-anti-d-crap.html

And a few other videos I have watched, but not otherwise shared.


I LOVE that he used my Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of the cover of Dark Dungeons track.  It is too bad that no more of this series was produced.  I also got a kick out some of the picture of old D&D stuff.  He had another series on his older account. https://www.youtube.com/user/Godlesspanther/videos
The first one is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPMtVjg636E (the production values are a bit low).
There is a playlist by another user of all these videos, warning there is a lot of crazy here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPMtVjg636E&list=PL641BF52EF9FA5963

I have to admit my own (at the time) anti-theism influenced my early D&D games.  So lots of undead, demons and (you guessed it) witches.  An immature reaction? Yeah. of course! But I was a teen at the time; by definition, immature.

It has though been fruitful in one respect, I have a ton of material that I wrote back then that I'd love to pull out sometime.

Lindsey Stirling - Dragon Age / Occult Violinist

If your Bard is not as cool as this then you are playing her wrong.



I will admit I am a fan of this little pixie.

Of course with the right tinkering in Ghosts of Albion you take the Occult Poet and make an Occult Violinist.

Kickstart Your Weekend: Adult Wednesday Addams

A while back I sang the praises of Melissa Hunter (+melissahunter)  and her web series Adult Wednesday Addams.

Well the for the longest time it looked like 6 episodes was all we were going to get, but now she is back with an Indiegogo campaign to bring us Season 2.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/adult-wednesday-addams-season-2#home



She is already at her goal, but a few more buck wouldn't hurt.  Plus at the bargain price of only $5 Wednesday promises not to kill you.

If you have not checked out the first 6 videos please do so.  Melissa does a FANTASTIC Wednesday. And it is a lot of fun to see her in new situations like Internet dating, one-night stands, part time jobs and looking for an apartment.  Sounds mundane, but not when it is Gomez and Morticia's youngest daughter.

Zatannurday: Justice League Dark Fanmade Film

I was tooling aroung YouTube this week and found this fun little fan-made movie for Justice League Dark.

I am not a big fan of their Constantine, but Deadman and Zatanna are pretty good.
Check it out.




Zatanna is played by Emily Neves.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emily-Neves/110873222449325
https://twitter.com/EmilyNeves

Top 10 Movie Witches

Found this and thought I would share.

The Top 10 Movie Witches.



And of course that lead me to this:

Top 10 TV Witches and Wizards


Not sure if I agree with all these, but they certainly were fun.

Building a 5e Warlock

I have been playing around a little (very little really) with the Warlocks in 5e.  My son has made one and I have two that I started but have not gotten back too.

Though I like what I have played with so far.  The 5e Warlock is a nice mix of the 4e Warlock and even a little bit of the 4e Witch.

Concept wise I can build a number of "witch like" characters and can build a number of other sorts of warlocks and witches.  Again, the class is so nicely set-up that their is no real need for me to build a witch for 5e.

I have a couple more experiments with the 5e warlock to try out, but so far so good.

This video came up in my feeds as something that I would like and you know what, I did.
It is too simple for anyone reading this blog, but still a nice walk through.

Interview / Round table Discussion at Aethercon

Here is a interview / round table discussion I did last month for AetherCon.

We spend a lot of time talking about Strange Brew but we talk for about an hour and half so we hit a lot of topics.



I really should have put a light on. It is kind of hard to see me.

So have a watch! Learn more about Strange Brew.

This is not the greatest song in the world.

This is just a tribute to the greatest song in the world.


We'er off to the witch. We may never never never come home.
But the magic that we feel is worth a lifetime.

Sorry. But Dio (and Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath) are so much a part of my gaming history I figure a Dio Retro Clone would be appropriate.

Friday Video: Satanism Unmasked Dungeons & Dragons

I am obsessed with the 80s Satanic Panic.  Here is another little turd from that time.

Christians talking about how morally deficient and evil D&D is.

)

Why is that these people get their facts so wrong?
Not just the really wrong shit of satanism in a game, but they can't even get the basic facts right.

...Satanism is not part of Witchcraft and visa versa.
...Those are not the words from "Shout at the Devil"
...NecroNOMicon, not Necro"NOME"icon.
...no suicides due to D&D.
...what the hell is a "training 'prim-er'"?
...interviewing prisoners. Always a good source of "credible" information.

I could go on. But what is the point.  Here is a great podcast from "The Thinking Atheist".

)

And this gem, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jrMoVWl5KA

Ok. How about this.

Shield of Faith
(Basic Era/Labyrinth Lord/Basic Fantasy/S&W)
Level: Cleric 1 to 7
Range: 5' in front of the Cleric
Duration: 1 round per level
By means of this spell the cleric focuses their faith into a tangible shield that will protect them from harm from creatures the cleric can consider "Evil".  Typically this is a creature of Chaotic alignment (or Lawful for a Chaotic cleric) and an "outsider" or supernatural creature. This includes (but not limited to) undead, djinn, effrit, demons, devils and any type of spirit. Sometimes even faerie creatures.
The spell reduces the attacks of these creatures at a number of hp per the spell level.  So a 5th level cleric using a 2nd level Shield of Faith would be able reduce 2 points per attack for 5 rounds.
The cleric must present their holy symbol when casting and they cannot attack.
Material Components: The clerics holy symbol.

After Happily Ever After

Writing about witches I read a lot of fairy tales. Trust me, the real ones don't have Disney-style endings.
If you are here you already know that.

But did you know that sometimes it is even worse than that?

The Glass Slipper Confessionals deal with life with Cinderella after her divorce. And presently it is cracking me up.

Here are the first and last episodes just to give you an idea what it is like.






Yeah things are rough for Cindy and Tink. Vodka and pixie dust.

They join other Unreality Shows, BAMF Girls Club and Adult Wednesday Addams.

Watch and enjoy!



Yeah I might need help.

The Power of the Witch & Witchcraft: Myth and Reality

A great little video from England in 1971.

Talks about witches and witchcraft but gets it all confabulated with satanism.  It does feature noted witchcraft experts Alex Sanders and Doreen Valiente.

Still though, exactly the sort of thing I would have been watching in the 70s and 80s when I was gaming and playing wizards, priests and witches.




Another one from around 1998 is Witchcraft: Myth and Reality.




It is a bit more even handed.

Watch these and you will get an idea of the sort feel I wanted in The Witch and Eldritch Witchery.

The Greater Good

I'll admit it. I am a total Harry Potter fanboy.
Loved the books, loved the movies, loved the hype.  JKR can do no wrong in my eyes and I hope she sleeps on a bed made of gold like Smaug (though in truth she supports more charities than most groups of people).

I have read the books a number of times. Have seen all the movies multiple times and I want to throw it out there that if ever a Harry Potter RPG ever gets made then I want my name on the short list of authors.

So anytime there is something new in the Potterverse I am pleased.
The newest new thing is a fan movie called "The Greater Good".

It deals with the end of the friendship and relationship between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald and the lasting effect it had on the Dumbledore family and eventually on a boy named Harry Potter.
This 17 minute film is based around a brief narrative in The Deathly Hollows.

Watch it and make the next magical battle between wizards you have this cool.



Links

• Home page, http://www.thegreatergoodfilm.com/
• Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/harrypottergreatergood

Just Talkin' 'bout My Generation

Gary Greenwald and Phil Philips talk about the evils of toys from the 80s.

Just watch.



Shorter version here:


Holy crap!
I have never seen so many jumps to conclusions in my life.  Followed only by how many words they get wrong.  Or details of the toy lines.  Or anything related to reality.

Can we stop using the word "Occultic"!! "Occult" is all you need.
It's "Eternia" not "Ethernia". "Necomancy" not "Necromology". It's....oh I give up.

I love how neither one of these idiots can tell the difference between reality and cartoons.  Or how "D&D pieces" will scream when burned.

Seriously. You have to watch this. It's insane.

Makes you wonder what they would think of my book!

Don't forget, you can win a copy of my books.  Just two more days!
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2013/11/post-2000.html

BAMF Girls Episode 12

Yeah. I need professional help.
But BAMF Girls 12 is up.


I really should stat them all out for some system.
Maybe for Tacky, Tawdry and Tasteless.

Everyone loves Sparlock

I just discovered JaclynGlenn on YouTube and she discovered Sparlock.


She rips the video too.  Watch her channel, it's great.

"The new witch is adorkable"

If you have not been watching the BAMF Girls Club on Comediva then you are missing out.

The premise is that Buffy, Hermione, Katniss, Michonne, Lisbeth and Bella are all sharing a house in a reality show ala the Real World.

Episode 7 features a familiar witch!
http://www.comediva.com/bamf-girls-club-ep-7



Episode 8 though might have the best line in series.
http://www.comediva.com/bamf-girls-club-ep-8


Lisbeth: "I'll give him a special tattoo, 'I am a sparkling douche-bag.'"

I think the actresses are great.  I have to do a double take any time I see "Hermione" in that Allstate comercial. ;) My boys love the show too.

I'd love to build a game around this idea.  Players take any character from any media and throw them all together in a house and make them try to get along.

Something like Cortex+ would be the serious choice, but I am thinking something more along the lines of QAGS or Macho Women With Guns.

What game system do you all think would work the best?

Anyway.  Watch it. It is funny as hell.

A Reality Show I can like

This looks so funny.



Love the Hermonie and Lisabeth.

Here is Episode 1.

Sherlock Holmes

Been on a huge Sherlock Holmes bender now for a while.  I listened to all the Sir John Gielgud radio plays, have read all of stories in the Holmes cannon, watched all the episodes of Peter Cushing Holmes I can find.  Next up is the Jeremy Brett  Granada TV series, which I have on DVD now.

Should be good!

Professor Elemental for Ghosts of Albion?

Why not.  Though Marquis of Queensbury rules did not exist yet in Ghosts of Albion, but it is hard to find Vicortian-era hip-hop.



How many points should a "Fighting Trousers" Quality be worth anyway?