Grýla, The Christmas Witch for NIGHT SHIFT

 We watched the newest Christmas movie, "Red One," the other night. It is silly but fun. It had Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, and J. K. Simmons as Santa. But the surprise was Kiernan Shipka, as Grýla, The Christmas Witch. 

When she played Sabrina, Kiernan Shipka encountered Grýla before, so seeing her take on the mythological witch was fun. I have also encountered Grýla here before. And given that I already did Santa, I thought Grýla for NIGHT SHIFT would be fun, too.

Thorsteinn1996, CC BY-SA 4.0

Grýla
8th level Witch

Strength: 17 (+2)
Agility: 13 (+1)
Constitution: 16 (+2) S
Intelligence: 14 (+1)
Wits: 18 (+3) P
Persona: 9 (+0) 

HP: 51
Alignment: Dark
AC: 2
Attack: +1

Fate Points: 1d8

Check Bonus (P/S/T): +4/+3/+1
Melee bonus: +2 Ranged bonus: +1
Saves: +4 against spells and magical effects

Witch Abilities

Arcana, Supernatural Senses, Spells, Arcane Powers,

Arcane Powers
Immunity to Cold, Charm Person, Shapeshifting

Spells

First Level (4): Chill Ray, Detect Magic, Mystical Senses, Sleep
Second Level (3): Find Traps, Knock, Suggestion
Third Level (3): Animal Summoning 2, Blinding Speed, Curse
Fourth Level (2): Befuddlement, Metamorphosis

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Witchcraft Wednesdays: ShadowDark and Old-School Essentials

 Yesterday, I discussed mixing two of my current favorites from the Old-School RPG world into one gaming experience. Today, I want to discuss some specifics. Since it is Witchcraft Wednesday, I am going to talk about remixing the Old-School Essentials and ShadowDark Witches.  I am sure you can do the same with the other classes as well. 

Overlap

I mentioned yesterday there was already quite a bit of overlap between the two systems. Since today I want to focus on one class, the Witch, I am going to see where these two systems have some commonalities. 

Basics. Both systems have a witch class. Both provide an old-school gaming experience to levels 10 (SD) and 14 (OSE), so what many consider the "prime" adventuring levels.  

Both systems are built on a "Basic-era" aesthetic, and there is a lot of common ground on things like spells and monsters. 

Class-wise, Level 1 in one game is about equal to Level 1 in the other, and so on. Spellcasters get the added benefit of repeat casting in ShadowDark. Armor classes and hit points work the same ways. All characters have the same basic six abilities ranging from 3 to 18. The bonuses are different, but not enough to make it matter really. 

Humans are largely the same. Demi-humans like elves, dwarves, and halflings lose some of the things that make them special when moving from OSE to SD, i.e., loss of infravision/nightvision.

What are the differences though?

Differences

There are, in fact, a few differences between these two games that make all the differences in the world to their fanbases. I am not going to detail them all here, I am just interested in the rules that affect my interpretations of the witch classes.

Old-School Essentials

The OSE Witch is very much like my other OSR witches. She needs quite a bit of XP per level, more than the wizard at first, and she gains some powers (Occult Powers) over various levels. More than the Cleric or Magic-User, but less than the Druid. One of her powers is gaining a familiar at level 1.

ShadowDark

These witches use the same XP advancement as everyone else. She gets Talents just like the other characters do, but these are molded closer to the Occult Powers of other witches. Additionally, she gains a Patron and a Patron Boon.

Yesterday I proposed that gaining the additional powers of a class from SD in OSE would require an extra expenditure of XP. 

Since I would use OSE style leveling and XP budgets, adding the SD XP requirements is manageable. It could, in fact, be what the repeated casting and Talents would need if I were to recreate the witch XP.

Witch Level	To Next Level (OSE)	To Next Level (SD)	Total
1	2,600	10	2,610
2	5,200	20	5,220
3	10,400	30	10,430
4	20,800	40	20,840
5	40,000	50	40,050
6	80,000	60	80,060
7	160,000	70	160,070
8	320,000	80	320,080
9	440,000	90	440,090
10	560,000	100	560,100
11	680,000	110	680,110
12	800,000	120	800,120
13	920,000	130	920,130
14	NA	NA	NA

As you can see, the addition of ShadowDark XPs are barely an issue. The cells in light blue are where OSE continues after SD.

Now, OSE is a cumulative XP. So to get to level 3 you have to have all the XP from level 2 and then the extra. SD XP thresholds restart at 0 for each level.  So technically, to express SD XP levels in the same terms of OSE I would need to go with 10, 30, 60, 100, 150, 210, 280, 360, 450xp, and so on. But since I am only adding the SD material that is missing from OSE I don't think I need to do that.

Yes, the XP budgets of each game are different. An orc in OSE is not worth the same in terms of XP as one in SD, though they do represent the same sort of challenge and potential reward (i.e., Treasure and progress toward the next level). I am going to hand-wave these differences. Want math? Take my Introduction to Statistics course. 

Repeated casting for an OSE witch is a big deal. I would need to rework some spell failure ideas. Additionally, I would also say that by their very nature, a Ritual Spell can never be cast repeatedly. Spellcasting rolls in this combined system are a must. 

If it becomes too much I would add in a "repeated castings" roll like I did with Ghosts of Albion. 

Which Witch?

One of the things I always try to do with my witch books is give the buyer unique options. The Old-School Essentials witch is a "Pagan" witch while the Shadow Dark witch is very much a "Pact with a strange powerful creature" witch. But I can find overlap.

Pagans honored many gods. One could even argue that is essentially the core definition of pagan. But what sort of Pagan would choose the Patrons of ShadowDark? Well, game-wise, there is nothing stopping you from mixing as you see fit, but I'll try to make some sort of sense out of these.

The Patrons of ShadowDark have Pagan and real-world analogues, but not all. Varnavas, for example, was created especially for ShadowDark. Despite what the Christian church claimed, Pagans did not worship demons and devils. 

Larina Nix, the Pagan Witch

I am going to use my always-reliable test witch Larina. I have her stats for OSE, but I still need to share them here.  I wish I had shared them already since it would make this comparison a bit better, but in truth, these stats are about 90% the same as her Pure OSE stats. I also have her ShadowDark stats. 

Her Patron from ShadowDark is Nicnevin, the Witch Queen of Faerie from Scottish Folklore. This works well as far as I am concerned. When she hits the 7th level, she gains the additional Patron talent, so she gets Baba Yaga.

Pagan works well for her, and she certainly fits, concept-wise, into the Craft of the Wise Tradition. 

Larina Nix

Class: Witch (Pagan Tradition)
Level: 13
Species: Human

Title: Witch Queen
Alignment: Lawful (Lawful Neutral) 
Patron(s): Nicnevin & Baba Yaga
Background: Arcane Library*

Ability Scores
STR: 9
INT: 17
WIS: 17
DEX: 11
CON: 11
CHA: 18

Saving Throws
D: 8
W: 10
P: 9
B: 12
S: 11
Wisdom Mod: +2

HP: 28
AAC: 14
THAC0: 16

Init: +0
Languages: Common, Elven, Giant, Goblin

Weapon: Broom staff, dagger
Gear: Crawler kit, 1 week of rations, 1 week of tea, cat treats (to supplement Cotton Ball's hunting), Book of Shadows, athamé.
Magic items: Bracers of Defense +1, Broom of Flying, Cloak of Night, Cingulum +3, Hat of Focus-Spellslinger 

Occult Powers
Level 1: Familiar
Level 3: Herbal Healing
Level 7: Of the Land
Level 13: Visage of Another

Talents
Human: +2 to Charisma
1st level: Additional Tier 1 Spell
3rd level: +1 to Occult Spellcasting rolls
5th level: Patron Favor, +1 to any die roll once per rest
7th level: Additional Patron
9th level: Learn additional Tier 4 Spell
11th level: Learn additional Tier 5 Spell
13th level: +1 to Occult Spellcasting rolls

Patron Boons: Learn 1 Tier 1 Wizard Spell, Learn 1 Additional Occult Spell

Spells
Level/Tier 1 (5+1): Call Spirits of the Land, Charm Person, Color Spray, Feel my Pain, Glamour, Cake and Tea Ritual (Ritual)
Level/Tier 2 (4): Bless, Fascinate, Inscribe Tattoo I, Pins and Needles
Level/Tier 3 (4+1): Bestow Curse, Call Lightning, Fly, Hold Person, Scry
Level/Tier 4 (3+1): Cure Serious Wounds, Instant Karma, Witch's Cradle, Drawing Down the Moon (Ritual) 
Level/Tier 5 (2+1): Cry for the Nightbird, Flood of Tears, Ward of Magic
Level/Tier 6 (2): Eye Bite, Brew Storms (Ritual)

Level/Tier 1 (Wizard): Burning Hands

I am not 100% sure how the Background "Arcane Library" works for a pagan witch. Likely, she has a store of shared knowledge. Something to play with, to be sure. Where both books have the same spell I opted for that one. I'll assume she is an odd case and is literate. 

There are no Level 11 and Level 13 Talents. So I just rerolled on other tables. 

For Spells, I would go mainly with OSE spells and choose SD spells as her bonus spells from her Talents. Seems a good plan. 

This is rough and hardly perfect, but it gives me many ideas of what I can do with future games. It appeals to me with all the extra details I can now generate for her. 

The other character classes would be easier. However, I know I would need to tweak thieves a bit to work well with both systems since their skills are handled differently.

For Old-School Essentials

• The Craft of the Wise: The Pagan Witch Tradition (Craft of the Wise and Daughters of Aradia) 
• Monster Mash (Gothic Witch)
• Monster Mash II (Faerie Witch)

For ShadowDark

• The Witch - Book of Shadows

Larina Nix, The Witch for ShadowDark on Witchcraft Wednesday

 So, I suppose it goes without saying that when I made a witch class for the ShadowDarkRPG, I was going to try out my own witch to see how it worked. I mean, this character is my litmus test for anything witch-like.

Like many of my other books Larina is featured in the book, but no stats. Also, like many of the books, she is featured on the cover, only this time, the art I chose already existed.  Javier Charro is the artist, and his work has been sitting on my hard drive for a while, waiting for the right project.  I mean, it is rather perfect, to be honest.  Since I have given you all the stats for Esme and Amaranth, I figured Larina should also be featured.

Larina Nix

Who is this "Larina?" Is she the same one I use in D&D or is she different? Well, yes and no.

My conceit here is that the original AD&D Larina, with brown eyes (thankyouverymuchVanMorrison) died while battling a vampire. And by dead, I mean dead-DEAD. Witches in my games do not have access to Raise Dead or Resurrection, AND they can't have those spells cast on them. So when a witch dies, she is dead. BUT she can be reincarnated.  The original Larina died, but she was reincarnated. She next appears as a precocious 6-year-old witch in my AD&D 2nd Ed Complete Netbook of Witches and Warlocks" and as an adult witch in my 3rd Edition games (same character), she also appears as a witch in my WitchCraft/Buffy games. They all share some similar memories and at age 25 they can contact their other selves. There is a multi-verse of Larinas out there now, one for every game I ever play.

This Larina is high-level (for ShadowDark), and she works with Esme and Amaranth. 

Larina Nix

Ancestry: Human
Class: Witch 10th level (Witch Queen)
XP: 114
Alignment: Lawful 
Deity/Patron: Niceven and Baba Yaga
Background: Arcane Library
Familiar: Flying Cat ("Cotton Ball")

Str: 9
Dex: 11
Con: 11
Int: 17
Wis: 17
Cha: 18

Weapon: Broom staff, dagger
Gear: Crawler kit, 1 week of rations, 1 week of tea, cat treats (to supplement Cotton Ball's hunting), Book of Shadows, athamé.
Magic items: Bracers of Defense +1, Broom of Flying, Cloak of Night, Cingulum +3, Hat of Focus-Spellslinger 

HP: 36
AC: 15

Languages: Common, Elven, Diabolic, Celestial

Talents
Human: +2 to Charisma
1st level: Additional Tier 1 Spell
3rd level: + 1 to Occult Spellcasting rolls
5th level: Patron Favor, +1 to any die roll once per rest
7th level: Additional Patron
9th level: Learn additional Tier 5 Spell

Patron Boons: Learn 1 Tier 1 Wizard Spell, Learn 1 Additional Occult Spell

Spells
Tier 1 (4+1): Charm Person, Feel my Pain, Glamour, Häxen Talons, Mage Hand
Tier 2 (3): Call Lightning, Light as a Feather-Stiff as a Board, Blink (Ritual)
Tier 3 (3): Bestow Curse, Coven's Calling, Danse Macabre
Tier 4 (2+1): Ball Lightning, Fear, Witch's Cradle 
Tier 5 (2+1): Cry for the Nightbird, Phantasmagoria, Ward of Magic

Tier 1 Wizard: Burning Hands

One of ShadowDark's greatest features is its ability to generate characters quickly. I have about five or six different ShadowDark versions of Larina on my desk; each one was made to test something different. 

It is interesting (to me at least) that while I often picture her as wearing a cloak and hood, like on the cover of The Witch, the art I am using here has her in a witch's hat.

Yeah, I would play this version of her, but I am discovering that 10 levels feel a little limiting to me. Granted, those are the prime adventuring levels, but I have been pouring over characters from my past and remember how much really high-level play we used to do back then. 

I certainly have some to explore with this game.

The Fearless Five vs Bargle: Basic Characters for ShadowDark

 My foray into the ShadowDark RPG did not begin or end with The Witch. Last week, I was chatting online with someone about my idea for a time travel adventure called "The Keep Killing Aleena," where the premise is a bunch of high-level adventurers go back in time to try to save her life, and the results of that interference. It is not an adventure I have ever finished since few ideas in it have never jelled right for me. BUT in my research I did uncover the 3.5 Edition adventure from Dungeon Magazine #150 (2007, Paizo era) called "Kill Bargle" from Pathfinder's own Jason Bulmahn.  The idea has stuck with me for years. It would make for a great convention game. It is a low-level dungeon crawl where you need to, well, what it says on the tin, Kill Bargle.

When I ran T1 Village of Hommlet, I included Aleena, Morgan Ironwolf, Rufus, Burne, and yes, Bargle. I did their stats in 4e Essentials, but ended up running it in 5e. In that adventure, Bargle still kills Aleena and gets away. 

I could not help but think revenge would be nice and maybe someone gathered everyone up to go get him.  

Enter the Fearless Five!

Given the "Women in Refrigerators" treatment of Aleena, I thought it might be fun to grab all the "Basic-era" heroines and send them on a quest to kill Bargle. 

Premise: Skylla, wanting something from Bargle's trove of magic (likely his spellbooks) decides that the only way to kill get it is to assemble a group of adventures who have a personal grudge against him. Knowing they will never follow her, or do what she asks, she gets the one person she knows they will follow. It's just too bad that person, Aleena, is dead.

So Skylla gets Aleena resurrected (she still has contacts in the cult underworld). She gets Morgan Ironwolf to find her, and then she gathers the Sorceress, Duchess, and Candella together to go after Bargle. Five heroines to kill one villain. Easy peasy.

While I could run an adventure like this in nearly any system, it seems fitting to me to run it with ShadowDark.

Aleena

Ancestry: Human
Class: Cleric, 2nd level
XP: 20 
Alignment: Lawful
Deity/Patron: Madeera
Background: Noble

Str: 11
Dex: 14
Con: 10
Int: 10
Wis: 16
Cha: 16

HP: 9
AC: 15

Weapon: Mace
Gear: Chainmail, holy symbol, backpack, torches, 1 week of rations, wolf'sbane

Languages: Common, Elvish

Talents
Human: +1 to melee attacks
1st level: +1 to Cleric spellcasting checks

Spells
Tier 1 (3): Cure wounds, Light, Shield of faith

Aleena is a cleric. She was brought back to life by Skylla's intervention but has no memory of the time between then and when Bargle killed her. 

She feels Bargle is a threat to all that is good and lawful and he must be stopped.

Morgan Ironwolf

Ancestry: Human
Class: Fighter, level 3
XP: 34
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity/Patron: None
Background: Soldier

Str: 16
Dex: 13
Con: 14
Int: 7
Wis: 9
Cha: 8

HP: 21
AC: 14

Weapon: Longsword
Gear: Chainmail, bow and arrows, quiver, 5 silver arrows, 50' rope, 10' pole, 6 torches, 1 week rations, 1 qt wine, large sack

Languages: Common, Goblin

Talents
Human: +2 to Strength
1st level: +2 to Constitution
3rd level: +1 to melee and ranged attacks

Morgan thinks of Aleena as a little sister who needs protecting; as such, she blames herself for Aleena getting killed. She would go after Bargle for free just to have the pleasure of killing him herself. 

The Sorceress

Ancestry: Human
Class: Wizard 3rd level
XP: 35
Alignment: Lawful
Deity/Patron: Ord
Background: Wizard's Apprentice

Str: 10
Dex: 14
Con: 12
Int: 18
Wis: 10
Cha: 13

HP: 10
AC: 13

Weapon: Staff
Gear: 6 torches, 1 week rations, large sack, spellbook, bag of spell components

Languages: Common, Elvish

Talents
Human: +2 to Intelligence
1st level: Advantage on one Spell: Magic Missile
3rd level: Advantage on one Spell: Burning Hands

Spells
Tier 1 (4): Magic missile, Mage armor, Light, Burning hands
Tier 2 (2): Detect thoughts, Invisible

The Sorceress knows the group is getting played by Skylla. She is friends with Morgan and wants to make sure everyone comes out of this alive. The chance to rummage through Bargle's collection of magic is an added bonus. 

Duchess

Ancestry: Human
Class: Thief, 5th level 
XP: 55
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity/Patron: None
Background: Thieves Guild

Str: 11
Dex: 16
Con: 18
Int: 12
Wis: 15
Cha: 15

HP: 17
AC: 14

Weapon: Longsword
Gear: Leather armor, short bow and arrows, quiver, thieves tools, 50' rope, 10' pole, 6 torches, 1 week rations, 5 qts wine, large sack

Languages: Common, Dwarvish

Talents
Human: +2 Charisma
1st level: +1 to melee and ranged attacks
3rd level: +2 to dexterity
5th level: +1 (+2 total) to melee and ranged attacks

And her partner in crime:

Candella

Ancestry: Human
Class: Thief, 5th level
XP: 56
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity/Patron: None
Background: Urchin

Str: 12
Dex: 17
Con: 15
Int: 15
Wis: 13
Cha: 14

HP: 14
AC: 14

Weapon: Short sword
Gear: Leather armor, short bow and arrows, quiver, thieves tools, 25' rope, 7 torches, 1 week rations, 3 qts wine, large sack

Languages: Common, Goblin

Talents
Human: +2 to Dexterity
1st level: +2 to Strength
3rd level: +1 to melee and ranged attacks
5th level: Backstab +1 dice of damage

Duchess and Candella were hired by Bargle to retrieve an item for him. He meant for them to get killed, but they ended up in jail instead. Worse, he never paid them for the item. They are in it for the money and revenge—but mostly for the money.

Skylla

Ancestry: Human
Class: Witch, 6th level
XP: 64
Alignment: Chaotic
Deity/Patron: Baba Yaga
Background: Cultist

Str: 9
Dex: 11
Con: 10
Int: 12
Wis: 11
Cha: 15

HP: 16
AC: 11

Weapon: Staff
Gear: 3 torches, 1-week rations, large sack, bag of spell components

Languages: Common, Diabolic

Familiars: Raven, Owl (+1 to Wisdom checks)

Talents
Human: +1 to occult spellcasting checks
1st level: +2 to Charisma
3rd level: one additional witch spell (T2)
5th level: additional familiar (special)

Patron Boon: Learn 1 Tier 1 Wizard Spell: Magic Missile 

Spells
Tier 1 (3): Charm person, Disguise self, Mage hand, 
Tier 2 (3): Call lightning, Light as feather-stiff as a board, Turn Undead (Ritual)
Tier 3 (2): Hag's Illusion (Baba Yaga), Bestow curse

Our "sixth" member of the Fearless Five is the mastermind behind all of this. Well...sort of, she is discovered rather quickly, but her intuition that these women would all do this to get back at Bargle is spot on. Have to figure out who gets the best magical loot between her and The Sorceress. 

--

I love the idea of a distaff "Usual Suspects" or "Reservoir Dogs." I really want to run this sometime. I would love to see how a witch (Skylla) and a wizard (The Sorceress) work together in an adventuring party run by someone other than me. 

And more to the point, I just want to see Bargle get curb-stomped by a bunch of women.

The Witch for ShadowDark - Amaranth Lilis

 Yesterday, I talked about my "Can I play it as a witch" character, Esme Valethorne for my Witch Book of Shadows supplement for ShadowDark. Today, I want to share my "played as a witch with no preconceived notions" character, Amaranth Lilis. And since she was "new" I made her a tiefling. 

I say "new" in quotes because she was/is a character I have had in mind for a bit now; she was just never given form. Like Esme, she also had a Baldur's Gate 3 counterpart, but unlike Esme, she, so far, only lives on paper in ShadowDark.

Amaranth Lilis

So, who is she? "Amaranth" comes from the Nightwish song and because her skin is the same color as the flower of the same name. "Lilis" is not just a nod to Lilith, her "mother" and Patron, but also to Sophia Lillis who played Doric, the tiefling druid in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

Outside of that...I knew nothing about her. In my mind, she was in this demonic pact, but it wasn't so much a pact as it was a, well, family obligation.  The rest I just ran with.

Amaranth Lilis

Ancestry: Tiefling
Class: Witch 4th level (Apprentice)
XP: 20 (need 50 for 5th level)
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity/Patron: Lilith
Background: Born with a Caul (sensitive to certain occult workings)
Familiar: Raven ("Lucifer")

Str: 8
Dex: 11
Con: 12
Int: 17
Wis: 15
Cha: 10

HP: 10
AC: 11

Languages: Common, Diabolic

Talents
+1 to Spellcasting checks (tiefling)
1st level: +2 to Charisma
3rd level: Patron Favor, +1 to any die roll once per rest

Patron Boon: Learn 1 extra Tier 1 wizard Spell: Burning Hands

Spells
Tier 1 (3): Feel my Pain, Glamour, Häxen Talons
Tier 2 (2): Light as a Feather-Stiff as a Board, Scorching Ray

The one thing I wanted to do most with Amaranth is have her be a "Good Witch."  She is essentially a "good girl" with some minor demonic tendencies. I modeled her behavior a lot on "Anita" from Keith Roberts' book of the same name. 

Her raven, Lucifer, is a joke, but it is also a nod to a familiar another character of mine had years and years ago.

I am pretty happy with how she turned out and want to see more of her adventures. Her low(er) Wisdom lets me get her into trouble, and her background, "Born with a Caul," is a great excuse to make those misadventures be based on something "she sensed" or "she felt." Lots of fun potential there. 

I have a lot more characters I could do for The Witch - Book of Shadows, but I think you are getting the idea here. 

 

The Witch for ShadowDark - Esme Valethorne

My new The Witch - Book of Shadows for ShadowDark features a couple of new iconic characters/NPCs: Larina Nix, Amaranth Lilis, and Esme Valethorne. They are not just NPCs or names in the book; they were my playtest characters for the witch rules. 

Now, all of you know Larina, so there is little need to post her first. But I do want to talk about Amaranth and Esme. Since Esme was the first, I will go with her.

Esme Valethorne

Esme is a wizard, but I played her like a witch to first see if it could be done. Very much like I did with Marissia (magic-user), Luna (cleric), and Cara (illusionist) back in the earliest days of my D&D days and when I was first working on my witch class. 

Esme was first brought to life, not in ShadowDark but in Blue Rose. I was playing in a Blue Rose RPG over the summer and Esme was one of my NPCs. She was originally designed to be a foil for the PCs, a local magical expert, but over time I began to invest more into the character. That game ended and I ported her over to ShadowDark and ran her as a wizard learning about witchcraft. 

And of course. I also tried her out in Baldur's Gate 3, also as a wizard. I will likely give her a go in AD&D 1st Edition now, too.

I initially based her appearance and personality on Stacy London, but she (as characters often do) grew away from that.  

Esme is a "by the book" ShadowDark character. 

Esme Valethorne

Ancestry: Human
Class: Wizard 5th level (Warden)
XP: 30 (need 60 for 6th level)
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity: Ord
Background: Acolyte

Str: 8
Dex: 11
Con: 12
Int: 17
Wis: 15
Cha: 10

Languages: Common, Sylvan

Talents: +2 to Int stat, +1 to wizard spellcasting rolls. Additional wizard spell, Tier 1 (Charm Person) 
3rd level: Advantage on Spell (Charm Person)
5th level: Additional wizard spell, Tier 3 (Lightning Bolt)

Spells
Tier 1 (4+1): Burning Hands, Charm Person, Detect Magic, Light, Magic Missile
Tier 2 (2): Hold Person, Misty Step
Tier 3 (1+1): Dispel Magic, Lightning Bolt

I like this character. And I had a lot of fun playing her in Blue Rose and ShadowDark. But she wasn't "witchy" enough for me. There is a LOT you can do with ShadowDark, but in the end I did decide I wanted a proper witch.

Still. I am not done with Esme just yet. 

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

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.

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.

Larina Nichols, Agent of A.R.T.E.M.I.S. for DC Heroes (Kickstart Your Weekend)

 A special Kickstart Your Weekend this week. Last week, I mentioned a new DC Heroes Kickstarter on the way. Well, it launched on Monday, and it has already blown through all its stretch goals, and now they are making new ones. 

So, this Kickstarter doesn't really need my help. 

But anyone who spends any time here at all knows about my deep love for all things DC Comics. So they might not need my help, but I am giving it anyway!  And what better way to do it than to dust off some characters! Well. Not so much dust off, as in recreate. I will get my old V&V character up soon, but I have been thinking a lot about my occult investigative agency A.R.T.E.M.I.S. and how it might exist in other game settings. So you know what I am going to do here. 

For this one, I pulled out my Batman Role-Playing Game, which is DC Heroes 1.5 or something like that. I have (or had, I think I loaned it out) the 1st Ed boxed set, and I was trying to decide if I want the 1st or 2nd ed boxed set from the Kickstarter. I think I am going with 2nd Ed.  I had 3rd Ed for a while, but I know I sold that at my local game auction.

So who is this Larina? 

The game is dated from 1989, back when Bat-Mania was at its height. So I am making this a 19-year old Larina (1989). The obvious comparisons are her Chill stats (still need to post them) and my recent R.I.P. Horror Role-playing project. This Larina is a little different from her R.I.P. counterpart though they are about the same age (19 vs 22). Is that a Crisis On Infinite Earths potential adventure I hear? 

For DC Heroes, new heroes always start out with 450 APs. I bump it up to 500 because I like a little more power. This is magic rich world, so my magic characters need a boost.

Larina Nix AKA Nix the Witch

Dexterity:	2	Strength:	1	Body:	2
Intelligence:	6	Will:	5	Mind:	4
Influence:	3	Aura:	5	Spirit:	7

Initiative: 11
Hero Points: 50

Current Body: 2
Current Mind: 4
Current Spirit: 7

Alter Ego: Larina Nichols
Occupation: Student/Research Librarian, Gotham University
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Stephani Nichols (Mother), Lars Nichols (Father)
Group Affiliations: A.R.T.E.M.I.S.
Base of Operations: Gotham City
Motivation: Responsibility of Power
Wealth: 5
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 124 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red

Skills
Artist (Music) 2 [13]
Charisma 2 [32]
Medicine 2 [17]
Occultist 9 [101]

Powers
Flight (Broom) 5 [25]
Force Shield [10]
Magic Blast [20]

Advantages
Area Knowledge (Gotham) [20], Attractive [15]. Connection (Occult Underworld) [10], Gadget/Artifact (Broom) [25], Luck [15], Scholar [10]

Drawbacks
Arch Enemy (Mordru) [15], Secret Identity [10]

Equipment
Broom (Body 1, Fly 5 [10]) [25] (can fly at about 50 mph)

--

Ok, so who is this?

This Larina is still young. Honestly, this version would work better as a Teen Titan, which would work well with the 1st Edition boxed set.

I might adjust her wealth down to 4. I also need to remember how to give her some more languages. I also decided against the edgy notion of having her parents dead. Been there, done that, no need to go back. 

I put her in Gotham as a nod to my copy of the Batman RPG and my undying love for the Caped Crusader. In D&D, her alignment is Lawful Neutral, so she would be an agent of Law here. Not civil law, but Universal and Magic Law. This would make her the natural target of the likes of Mordru. Also, Mordru scared the shit out of me when I got one of my first DC comics. I must have been 5 or 6. So yeah, he is a great Arch Enemy for my witch here. While his modern look is likely the better one, I tend to go with his classic crazy-looking wizard look from his first appearance. Plus, I am rereading all of Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion books, so the battle of Law vs Chaos is very much on my mind right now.

I want to get my V&V version of Johan ported over, and I have a few others in mind. I am thinking of something like Justice League Dark but with my band of characters here. I guess that means I will need versions of Dracula and the Refrigerator, too.  I'd love to find a copy of "Blood of Heroes" from Pulsar Games. It was the same system with more magic. If I do, then I need to update her stats. Maybe Larina as a 30-year-old, really powerful witch. 

She has an alter ego, but I have never had a great "Superhero" name for her. Later, she is known as "Witch Queen," but at this point, she is still figuring things out.

I am backing the Kickstarter. Great to see a "new" DC game out there. 

Witchcraft Wednesday: The Witch Book of Shadows for the ShadowDark RPG

 What have I been doing? Well this last Gary Con (back in April) I was talking with my Elf Lair Game co-conspirators about future projects. Of course our plans revolved mostly around the recently released Thirteen Parsecs. But I also began flipping through the "new to me" physical copy of the ShadowDark RPG. I had picked up the Quickstart and the Curse Scroll #1 zine at a previous Gary Con, so it seemed right to grab it then too. Originally my plan was only to use it as a supplement for my Old School Essentials games. But others encouraged me to try it out on it's own merits. 

It finally clicked with me one evening this past summer while making dinner what ShadowDark actually is and not what I thought it was. Granted, it is exactly what the video creator Kelsey Dionne has been saying for two years. So I sat down that night during my writing time and put together an outline. I gave myself one week. Well...that week went on, and on, as I really grew to like this project. So now I am ready to reveal the fruits of those efforts. Or at least reveal that I am revealing it.

Coming soon (next month or so), The Witch Book of Shadows for the ShadowDark RPG!

From the upcoming DriveThruRPG page:

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 A5 size to fit with your current ShadowDark RPG books

Compatible with ShadowDark and other ShadowDark products.

The biggest selling point for this book are all the new spells. Plus every witch takes a patron which opens new and unique spells to them. Add ritual spells and no two witches are ever the same.  There are thirteen new witch patrons as well.

For the monsters, well, many of these came from my recent Horror movie marathon. Going back to the roots of AD&D monsters and then rebuilding them from the ground up, or at least getting a head start from horror movies, gave me plenty of new ideas—so many that a few didn't make the cut and will be featured on a few Monstrous Mondays. 

Right now I am just waiting on the print proofs. Once I have those in hand (expected by Dec 1) then I will figure out what needs to happen next. 

As always, I had a blast working on this one, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did putting it together. 

Special thanks to Kelsey Dionne for not just making such a fun game, but building a great community and a sense of community involvement with this game. That might be her best achievement yet.

Kickstart Your Weekend: 5e Witch Content

 I mentioned before that one of the reasons I have not done a 5e Witch class myself is that I have wanted to have some joy in discovery of something new for D&D. If I make a 5e witch, then I am always comparing it to the new stuff to mine. 

So today there are two witch-related 5e Kickstarters I want to share. They are in their last days of funding, so get on these while you can.

Witchfyre: A Dark Fantasy RPG for 5E+ & Pathfinder

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/witchfyre/witchfyre-a-dark-fantasy-rpg?ref=theotherside

This looks like a lot of fun and has a great Folk Horror vibe. It is for 5e and Pathfinder, so that is really great.  And it comes with minis and a tarot set, so I am very intrigued. While the deluxe cover looks nice, I think I prefer the standard cover.

Any looks great, to bad I will have to wait a year to get it.

The Mystery of Witchhaven: A 5e Solo Adventure

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obviousmimic/the-mystery-of-witchhaven-a-5e-solo-adventure?ref=theotherside

I admit a little trepidation to this one. First, I am generally not a fan of Solo adventures. Nothing against them, I just prefer to play with a group. Secondly I have my own "Witch Haven" but the name is so common I should not be surprised when a variation of it gets used.

But this does look fun and I'd be remiss if I didn't check it out.

ETA: Another one!

Wicked Echoes - Whispers of the Samodiva: A 5E Supplement

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wicked-echoes/wicked-echoes-whispers-of-the-samodiva?ref=theotherside

Folk Horror is pretty hot right now. And this one looks great.  This is more horror than Witch focused, but that is fine by me!

--

Both look great and hopefully ship quickly.

Mail Call and Review: Hexbound: A Witchy Supplement for 5e

 So this one was a bit of a surprise for me this week. I honestly kinda forgot I backed it over two and half years ago. But it came in yesterday and I thought I would share it.

Hexbound: A Witchy Supplement for 5e

There are a lot of reasons why I have never put together a witch class of my own for 5e. One of the biggest is I have wanted to see what others have done with their own ideas. You know, try and recapture that thrill of discovery that I had back in the 1980s and 90s when I'd find a new witch class. 

Hexbound is the first big 5e "Witch" class Kickstarter I have backed.  So how did they deliver?

I got the PDFs and STLs a while back and they looked great, but I have been waiting on the book.

Here is what I was sent.

The level I pledged at was for the  Collector's Edition cover of the Hexbound Hardcover, a set of Hexbound Reference Cards, two pins, four minis and digital files of the book and minis.

The book is really nice. I love the art and in particular the Art Nouveau style cover. Really fits the vibe I want for my witches in 5e. 

The add-ons are nice. I am a sucker for a deck of tarot-like cards for a game. I want to make a witch character for 5e JUST so I can use these cards.

And the minis are also nice. I am not sure I recall what that big one is, but it is in the book.

Hexbound: The Good

REMINDER: I am always sensitive when I am reviewing someone else's witch material. I am not aware of any RPG author who has written as much about witches as I have, so I need to be careful on how critical I could be. 

Like I said, the book is really attractive. The art is really nice I think I need some dice to go with it to fit the aesthetic (that should have been an option really.) The author of the book, Antonio Demico, is also the illustrator. 

What attracted me most to this book was there was not just one "Witch Class" but rather witch subclasses for each class. And there are some really fun ones here. All are considered "Witches" and they just have different ways of expressing their magics. This is the same idea I have witches but going in the opposite direction.  I have one witch class with a lot of options, aka Traditions which can be viewed as "subclasses." I rather like it to be honest and it would be a fun way to build a coven of witches in 5e. Everyone takes a class and then the witch sub classes. Each one has a lot of unique options to help keep the witches very flexible.

The classes and their witch subclasses are: 

• The Intoner for Bards. I kinda love this one.
• The Medium for Clerics. This one is so obvious that I am kicking myself for not doing it myself.
• Circle of the Brew for Druids. Not how I would have gone, but it is certainly clever. 
• The Witchblade for Fighters. File under "Why the hell didn't I think of that." Well, I guess I do have my Witch Knights.
• Way of the Specter for Monks. Interesting, I'd have to play it to really understand it.
• Path of the Coven for Paladins. Cool, different enough from my Green Knight to be fun.
• Coven Conclave for Rangers. Similar to my Huntsman but more powers.
• Duskwalker for Rogues. This one is interesting. I rarely mix rogues/thieves with witches. So I will have to try this one.
• Coven of Spirits for Sorcerer. This one calls on the magic of family spirits. Pretty much exactly my Family Witch.
• Witch Patron for Warlocks. This one is also pretty obvious, and likely one of the more popular ones that will get played. 
• School of Witchcraft for Wizards. Now this one is both obvious and yet still a lot of fun. It also has conceptual roots going all the way back to the earliest editions of D&D. 
• Path of the Witch for Barbarian. This one was added later on. In some ways it reminds me of my Cowan for the Pagan Witch, OR (better yet) this is how you can play Cú Chulainn (with Scáthach as his witch) OR even like the warriors on their dajemma with the Witches of Rashemen.

So yeah, if you have a witch concept then there is likely a subclass here that will fit your needs.

There are some new backgrounds for your new witch. All look great really. 

We also get some new familiars here too including a personal favorite, the Jackalope. 

There are some new spells, but only 10. That seems to be a bit, well, underwhelming to be honest. 

Part II of the book is for GMs.

This includes magic items (again, there should have been more), some wands (some really fun ones too), and some magical hats.

Part III is called "for the table." This discusses how to run and play a game filled with witches. There are adventure hooks, NPCs (lots of those), monsters, and some adventures to run. 

Hexbound: The Not So Good

While the book is great to look at, it is not without some issues.

I am not going to quibble about how long it took us to get this and how it may (or may not) sitll be compatible with D&D 5.5. That stuff happens and this is likely a one man show. They get a pass from me on that.

Some issues are like the cards above. Great idea, but I'd have to try them out to see how well they work in a game. And as you can see two of the cards went to press with their placeholder art and not the art for their NPCs.

The minis are nice, but they are really too small. As you can see above compared to HeroForge minis; one I printed myself and one I bought color printed. 

I have the 3D printer, I can print new ones if I want to get them to 25/28 mm Not everyone has that option. OR I just redo the characters as halflings, dwarfs, gnomes and/or goblins.

There should have really been more spells. I know all to well that page count is all important when it comes to this Kickstarters fulfilments. But spells are important to the witch, and there should have been a lot more. 

Ok, so I do not know much about the creator Antonio Demico, but I think I have been writing about witches for longer than he has been alive. So I can't hold his work up to the same critical lens I would hold my own up too, but really. Ten spells is not even close to enough. Reduce the font size by a point and get at least 13 in there. Respect the source material. 

One last thing. Antonio Demico is a great artist and he certainly knows someone that is great at layout, there really should have been a redesigned witchy character sheet. I mean that cover BEGS to have a character sheet to match. I mean really, I do love that cover. 

Overall I am happy with the book and the cards. The minis are too small really and the pins, while nice, are largely forgettable. I mean I put them on my gamer bag and will I even remember what they were from next Gen Con?

At the end of the day, I am still happy to have another witch class and book for my collection. Since at last count I had, well, all of them.

Larina McAlester, Agent of A.R.T.E.M.I.S. for R.I.P. Horror Role-playing

Yes, her middle name is Stephani and yes, she hates it.

 Yesterday I posted my findings on the R.I.P. RPG, the game that never was. Today I want to figure out if you could actually play a game of R.I.P. with the materials at hand.

Well...no. Not really. But I should qualify that.

Without some work, there is not enough published material to play a complete game. On the other hand, I could probably knock together enough details to play a game of R.I.P. in a few sessions. I would have to borrow heavily from other horror games, particularly Chill 2nd ed, GURPS, and Unisystem.  

But I think I have enough here to make a character. So, let's go with my drosophila melanogaster of these sorts of things and see what I can do. 

For this, I am going to create a character first with the Top Secret/S.I. rules, then with the Agent 13 supplement, and finally with the material from the R.I.P. comics. I'll use the core TS/SI rules to form her "base" character, followed by details from Agent 13 and the R.I.P. comics. I'll also borrow the idea from Agent 13 of exceptional characters since the supernatural world of R.I.P. is similar to that of Agent 13.

I don't own the Top Secret rules nor the Agent 13 book, but thankfully I was able to borrow them from a friend.

Larina McAlester, nee Nichols

The first thing I am going to need to do is make some assumptions. I am going to stay in the 1990s for this one, so for that reason, I am going to borrow a lot from my WitchCraft RPG version of her (which, oddly, I have never posted), the DarkMatter version (which feels like the spiritual successor to R.I.P.) and the TimeLord version, just to get the feeling of the era right.  Here she is just out of college, but instead of going to grad school she is recruited by a secret organization, A.R.T.E.M.I.S., to investigate the paranormal.

I am going to say in this version she is still married, but separated from her Irish husband, Eric. She has not changed her name back because the paperwork is too much trouble.

A.R.T.E.M.I.S.

A.R.T.E.M.I.S., or Agency for Research into Transdimensional Events, Magic, and Inexplicable Sightings, is the special investigations group similar to Top Secret's ORION. Or...at least it is supposed to be. I wrote the bulk of what A.R.T.E.M.I.S. is prior to reading any of the Top Secret RPG material because as I was working on the character background I want to be able to port this organization over to NIGHT SHIFT if I wanted.

This group employs people who are "Sensitive" to the dealings of the Supernatural. So very much like her character in Time Lord. They also have funding and governmental backing. So like Chill's SAVE, but more in line with the X-Files.

Given this, I might consider the Supernatural Sensitivity Advantage to be a prerequisite for being a part of this organization. 

Larina McAlester
Agent of A.R.T.E.M.I.S.

Nationality: American
Sex: Female
Race: Caucasian
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 124 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red
DOB: 10/25/1969 (Age 22)

Handiness: Right
Tags: Bites nails, large tatoo of the triple moon goddess (see ref photo #MLS02) on her back between shoulder blades (see ref photo #MLS03). 

Attributes
STRength 38/19/9
REFlex 52/26/13
INTelligence 75/37/18
WILlpower 78/39/19
CONstitution 47/23/11
MOVement 45/22/11
DEXterity 63/31/15

Psychological Profile
Cruelty: Low
Loyalty: High
Sanity: High
Selfishness: Some
Passion: High
Piety: Some/High (Wiccan religion)

Advantages
Sixth Sense (3)
Attractive (1)
Obscure Knowledge (2)
Supernatural Sensitivity (2)

Disadvantages
Addiction, Caffeine (2)
Moral Qualms, Will not Kill (2)
Enemy, Ex-husband (1) 

Skills
Professional Career -
- Fine arts 1 63%
- Musical Instrument (flute) 1 75%
- First Aid 2 80%
- Social Chameleon 1 37%
- Basic Liberal Arts 1 37%
- Anthro/Psychology/Soc 3 85%
- Philo/Religion 2 80%
- Language: Latin 1 75%
- Language: Greek 1 75% (can learn up to 5 more languages)
Research 3 85%

Powers
Mind Reading 4pts
Telekinesis 1

So. Who is this Larina? Well this is an agent who is sent in to assess, but not engage, a situation. She can blend it and knows enough to be able figure out what is going on in a situation. She is still young, a new agent, but learning. Her ability to read minds and her supernatural sensitivity allow her find a supernatural threat among normal humans.

I think for a "real" game of R.I.P., there should be an Advantage, maybe called "Powered," which allows the character to take powers. An 8-point Advantage might grant 10 points in powers and 2 points in a Disadvantage, something like "Haunted." The logic here is that once you dip your toes into the world of the supernatural, then the supernatural also sees you. This is very common in a lot of horror games.

This mechanic would also cover what I think would be a feature in the R.I.P. game; playing something like a Revenant. A dead character is now back to fight the supernatural threats to the mortal world. 

Comparisons to Chill 2nd Edition

Yesterday I made a lot of comparisons of R.I.P. to Chill 2nd Edition. The reasoning is that Chill is also about normal (for the most part) humans fighting the unknown/supernatural and there is a reasonable chance of success. Plus Chill 2nd edition was out at the same time that the proposed R.I.P. RPG was going to be, so the comparisons would have been natural.

I don't have Chill stats up for her here either (note to self, add WichCraft RPG and Chill 2nd ed stats). I do have an old character sheet, but that is not a great comparison since she has had some adventures and is not a starting character like her R.I.P. counterpart. However, there are some comparisons to be made.

Both skill-wise and power-wise, they seem close in respect to their specific game universes. Granted, we don't really know what the characters' power levels were going to be in R.I.P. 

I will say this, though: The character creation was rather fast. Obviously, that has more to do with the Top Secret/S.I. rules than anything else. IF the R.I.P. game followed suit, then it would have this leg up on Chill. Though I can knock together a Chill character quickly these days.

Another good comparison is to the Modern Horror game TSR did produce, Dark•Matter. Again I see similar themes being explored here. Dark•Matter certainly has more gravitas to it. I would like to say it is also better designed, but that isn't really fair since we really have no idea how R.I.P. would have been designed. 

In the end we are just left with a case of thinking of what might have been.

Now to explore A.R.T.E.M.I.S. more.