Fantasy Fridays: Fantasy Wargaming

 Returning to this series, I aimed to explore games that would provide insight into how Satan, demons, and the devil were perceived in the Middle Ages. Here is the first of those. 

Fantasy Wargaming

Edited by Bruce Galloway (1981, 1982). 220 pages.

Every gamer of a certain age has owned this game at least once, and some of us have owned it multiple times. It claims to be "The Highest Level of All." I am surprised that the cover, with the summoned devil about ready to grab that old wizard, didn't hamper sales. 

I have seen a few different versions of this book. A letter-sized hardcover, a digest-sized book, and I swear a softcover version. It was a regular feature of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club, and I suspect that is how it got into so many hands. 

The book is quite lengthy and contains numerous historical details. No shock. It was written by a bunch of gamers from Cambridge University and edited into a (allegedly) comprehensive whole. I would describe the book as having more than one voice to be honest. There are parts that want to be an RPG or at least a coverage of RPGs (Wargames in the parlance of the book) and another voice that seems to disdain them. More on that. 

The book is certainly more of an artifact of the 1970s rather than the 1980s. And 1970s College Elite at that. It is a book and style I typically subscribe to the "Second Generation" of gamers. These are the guys, typically college age, who picked up RPGs while on college campuses. They were not the First Generation (Gary and the folks around him), but they had similar backgrounds. For the record, I see myself more of the Third Generation, or Gen 2.5. I was in middle school and learned from people who had learned from the Second Generation. 

There is a lot to unpack here. Not just in terms of the game itself but the history of the game.  I would not be able to provide a thorough review of it for this particular post.  I am not even sure I want to try.  For starters, there is a notable disdain for RPGs in this book, particularly for D&D.  I would call it a Fantasy Heartbreaker, but it never lets you get close enough to it to break your heart.  Don't get me wrong; there is a lot here. Some of it is even good. I normally (or plan to, anyway) conclude these posts in this series with a recommendation on whether the game is a good fantasy game and whether it would be a suitable substitute for D&D at your table. The answer to both is very much a no. 

So why go through the exercise of it?

There are some tidbits here that I like.  While most modern players would balk at some of the ideas here- hell, some of it raised an eyebrow or two in the 1980s- there is a certain in situ charm about it. As described Fantasy Wargaming is 11th Century role-playing as viewed through the eyes of people in the 11th Century (and filtered through Cambridge students of the 20th Century). 

In particular, there are comprehensive lists of fantasy arms and armor, often surpassing what you find in most games. The glossary on arms and armor (starting on p. 54) is rather great. 

But for me, the best parts come from the sections on star/birth sign, social class, magic and monsters. 

Star/Birth Sign

I am NOT a proponent of Astrology. But, I do see how/why it is important to Medieval characters and to witches in particular. This game provides some background and makes mechanical changes to the characters.

Social Class

Scattered throughout the book, it also informs and affects everything.

Magic

Likewise, scattered everywhere, there is some really great stuff here that I could mine for ideas. How much of it is practical at the game table? That I don't know. But it is fun to read. It has a mana system, which is always attractive but also always cumbersome. 

Here is what the book says on the subject of Wise Women (p. 28):

Cunning Man/ Wise Woman. By far the most common user of magic in either the Dark or Middle Ages. The Cunning Man or Wise Woman is a solitary, rural magician, usually situated permanently in a single village or area. He/ she is part of the community, and usually accepted until something unfortunate and inexplicable happens which can be fastened upon him/ her. The Mage specializes in appropriate kinds of spell: the curing of people and domestic animals, the bringing of disease and death as retribution, and certain kinds of detection (especially thief, lost things, etc.). He/she uses immediately available materials for enchantment, and the basic incantatory preparations for spells. Mainly "White" magic.

And Witches (p 28):

Witch. Member of a Devil-worshipping coven, in which magical skills are taught both by other members and by demons themselves. Witchcraft is an eclectic, powerful type of magic, drawing on as many traditions as the varied membership of the covens allows. The Witch is most effective in magic involving people, and compulsion-Curing, Disease and Death, and Absolute Command being the greatest specialities. Witches may be found in the highest and lowest walks of society, in court, city and countryside alike. Other Mages may join covens and become Witches., without losing their own spell specializations. The Witch is almost always a secretive figure. his/ her magical skills either being hidden or practiced in solitude. The Witch is automatically damned, and all his/her magic Black.

I'll have to see where my Larina falls.

Monsters

There are many great ones here, mostly from Medieval Bestiaries. Some who have never made it to the pages of a Monster Manual. This includes the names of some demons and angels. 

I think one of the reasons I keep coming back to this book is not the game value or even the editorial comments but rather for the depth of some of the information. 

The reviews for Fantasy Wargaming were never great, some even going as far as calling it "the worst RPG ever made" which is a little harsh in my mind. It is not good, but it is not the worst. A proposed sequel to cover the classic and ancient world never happened and Bruce Galloway himself passed in 1984. In fact of the five main authors, only one is still with us. 

Larina Nichols for Fantasy Wargaming

I can't not do a witch for this. That's crazy talk.

The game does cover witches and witchcraft:

Few questions in anthropology have raised as much controversy as the nature of witchcraft. There are three quite separate views of the witch-the peasant magician, the pagan, and the devil worshipper. Fantasy Wargaming accepts all three as valid. Witches clearly exercised magic. and not just Supernatural powers by appeal Equally, the theory of a surviving pre-Christian Celtic fertility cult bas some force. Some ritual elements, notably the sacred dance and orgy, appear at the very beginning of the period, before diabolism bad really taken root. There are echoes of Bacchic revels, and of Diana's Wild Hunt.
Some medieval witches strenuously asserted their worship of a "different" god. Yet equally, the evidence for devil worship among medieval covens is overwhelming. (FW p. 24)

Yeah, I can work with that. The game is set roughly in the 1000s AD. Yeah, I can do that as well. I would lean in on the Larina living in Wales concept I have. Her mother is Welsh, her father a minor Saxon nobleman.

Witches, or Wise Women, in this game, get special treatment. In general, women characters have it rough in Fantasy Wargaming to reflect the 11th Century times the game is set. Wise Women and Witches though can break out of this bleakness just a little. 

Larina might appear to be a Wise Woman, but she is a Witch. Of course, this means a pact with the Devil. I'll have to see how character creation works out. Though the section on religion mentions that there are some still holdover of Anglo-Saxons that follow the old Norse Gods. Could Larina be worshipping a version of Freya? I can make that work. MAYBE she worships some version of Helga or Mutter Natur from my Black Forest Mythos. Likely some Faery (p. 36) magic mixed in. Larina is very much a witch from the Margaret Murray mold. She likely pulls in a lot of different ideas. Of course to the authorities she is nothing more than a debased Satanist.

For this, I will refer to David Trimboli's breakdown of character creation. 

Larina, Daughter of Lars
Female Welsh Witch

Star Sign: Scorpio ♏︎

Ability Scores (adjusted for Star Sign)
Physique: 9
Agility: 12
Endurance: 10

Intelligence: 18
Faith: 15

Charisma: 16 14 (Scorpio)
Greed: 12 10 (Female -2)
Selfishness: 13 11 (Female -3, Scorpio +1)
Lust: 15 12 (Female -3)
Bravery: 12 10 (Female)

Social Class: 10 7 (Female -3)

Height: 5'3"  Weight: 110lbs
Current Agility: 12

Literate: Yes
Speaks: Welsh, Anglo-English, German (Low)
Chance to Speak Language: 60%

Leadership: 9

Mana: 5

Birthrank: Firstborn Daughter
Father's Social Position: Land Reeve (13)

Misc. Traits/Bogeys: 3 Heretic, Bisexual, Gift of Tongues. 

Spells

Flight: Mana 3 (Controlling: ♓︎/♐︎ Diminishing: ♍︎/♑︎)
Night Vision: Mana 2 (Controlling: ♋︎/♌︎ Diminishing: ♓︎/♒︎ )
Evil Eye: Mana 2 (Controlling: ♏︎/♋︎ Diminishing: ♐︎/♌︎)

Yeah it sucks to be a woman in the 11th Century in this game. No wonder she looks to witchcraft. But that is the type of character I would play. Load up the disadvantages! I'll still prevail. I am not going to get all bent out of shape about this. Those are the rules in the game, and since I am exploring the game, so be it. Plus, the raison d'être of this character will be to fight against the power of the Church, the Patriarchy, and well... I guess most of Europe at this point. 

I also rolled for traits/bogeys for her. She is a heretic, bisexual, and has the gift of tongues. I think that means she must be some sort of Satanic witch for sure. Also, given that she is very intelligent, has the gift of languages, and is bi, I am going to avoid calling her a Cunning Linguist. Damn. I did it anyway.

Characters start out at 16 here. Damn, I half tempted to lift this whole character and make her part of Moria's background instead! Personally, I'd rather start her at 19, have her living on her own and do that whole "mysterious witch of the woods" concept. 

Maybe in my "grand cosmology" this represents Larina as a Satanic witch. Sounds like something an edgy 16-year-old would do. "Mom! It's not a phase! I am dedicated to my Dark Lord Lucifer!" "That's nice, sweetie. Make sure you clean your room and finish your homework." "Ugh. Mom, you don't understand!"

She is a Scorpio. I wanted to keep that. But Scorpio, according to the rules, is the worst for a magic-using class. Well. I never bought into astrology anyway, so that is fine with me.

I like this character, but to be honest, there isn't a lot I can, or will, do with her. Nor can I recommend the game save as an interesting curiosity. Though I DO highly recommend Mike Monaco's "The Highest Level of All." It is a book dedicated to Fantasy Wargaming and does a better job than I ever will. 

So she has had a ton of disadvantages thrown at her from the word go. She is super bright, can read, knows languages, and is a bit lusty. No wonder she is going to rebel. I love her already.

Links

• Wikipedia Page
• Huge review by Mystic Mongol (originally at Something Awful Forums)
• David Trimboli's Site
• Character Creation
• G.L. Dearman's Site
• About
• Comparing Fantasy Wargaming with D&D
• Handouts including Character Sheets
• Magic
• Witches
• Mike Monaco's site
• Fantasy Wargaming tagged posts
• The Highest Level of All, his book about FW

More Forgotten Realms: Introducing Moria Zami

 I have been out of town for a few days; it was my Father-in-law's 90th birthday. But right before we left, my oldest son and I were talking about our AD&D 2nd Ed Forgotten Realms game that he is running for me. He is having fun, but what he REALLY wants is to play. And AD&D 1st Ed at that. Yeah, he got a taste at Gary Con, and now he really wants to play AD&D more. Plus, we are both a little fed up with Wizards of the Coast, especially with their recent antics. 

Since we are both huge fans of Baldur's Gate 3, we wanted to add in some things from the video game. We have more connection to that than, say, Drizzt or Elminster. Trouble is, BG3 takes place in DR 1492, and we want our 1st ed game to take place in DR 1357, a year before the Time of Troubles. While in my 2nd ed game, I have a minor connection with Arnell Hallowleaf, but I also wanted something for this game. We are assuming that while my characters are exploring the Sword Coast, his characters will be exploring the Sea of Fallen Stars. This opens up a lot to us. But there are more than 130 years between our games and the events in BG3. So, there are not a lot of characters that are around for both times. Even Jaheira would only be about 10 years old at this point. Maybe they can rescue her and her family at some point. Set her on her path to become a Harper.

As it turns out, I have wanted to explore some of the past of the Cambion, Mizora. She is a rather entertaining character in her own right and deserves some further development. She is the servant of Zariel, but the trouble is there was no Zariel in AD&D 1st ed. Well, we are already ret-conning some details, and truthfully, I was never a fan of Tiamat as the ruler of Avernus. I might use Bel, the former ruler. I'll check Descent into Avernus for ideas later on.  But for now, I need to figure out who Mizora is, and more to the point, who is she in AD&D 1st Ed.

In BG3/5e she is a sorcerer, but this is AD&D, so I am going to make her a magic-user. I am also going to say she spent a lot of time in Avernus prior to BG3, so this is the time before that. 

I am not sure how long cambions live. I do think her mother was human, maybe even a witch. Now that would be fun.

---

A few hours later...

Ok, change of plans, sort of.

I AM sticking with Mizora, but not the Mizora he (and everyone) else knows. I am going with Mizora as a teenager. She knows there is something different about her, but she doesn't yet know what.

Moria Zami ("I am Mizora") is just a 16-year-old witch caught in the same pirate raid on the Sea of Fallen Stars that grabbed the characters. She is going to stay with them for a while. Until something bad happens. This also gives me the chance to try out some new things for my Left Hand Path book and something new I am starting later this summer.

Moria Zami
Witch 1st Level (Diabolic Tradition)
Lawful Neutral

S: 14            
I: 14             
W: 12           
D: 15           
C: 16           
Ch: 20

Paralyzation/Poison: 13
Petrification/Polymorph: 13
Rod, Staff, Wand: 14
Breath Weapon: 16
Spells: 15

HP: 5 (d4)
AC: 10
Weapon: Dagger

Occult Powers
Familiar: Dog "Mephisto Fleas"

Spells
First Level: Back Fire, Fey Sight, Sleep

So far, she is a good girl, but that is going to change.

Kickstart Your Weekend: More Witches! More Adventures!

 These people want to keep making a liar out of me.

Both of these have already funded and blown past their funding goals. 

Sickest Witch RPG - Core Rulebook

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/justinsirois/sickest-witch-core-rulebook-rpg?ref=theotherside

Ok this one looks like a lot of fun really. Love the concept, love the art. I am going to have to grab this one.

Sword of the Wyrm’s Bane & Vigilante Subway + 32 FREE PDFS

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/marktaormino/sword-of-the-wyrms-bane-and-vigilante-subway-32-free-pdfs?ref=theotherside

Mad genius Mark Taormino is back with more Maximum Mayhem! This one looks like fun and it comes with 32 free PDFs. That's a crazy deal.

Yeah...take my money.

Witchcraft Wednesday: The Left Hand Path

 It's been a bit since I last did this. So, let's get it going. I have a NEW Witch book coming out!

What can I say about this one?

Well, I think this will be my last "Basic-era" witch book. Yeah, I have said that before. 

You can see on the cover that the "banner" is for "Basic-Era Compatible," so not specifically Labyrinth Lord, Blueholme, Old-School Essentials, or ShadowDark. But rather a Basic system that can support them all (most of all) including a BECMI game I have been playing off and on for a bit.

All my witch books have a ruleset focus, as well as what I call a playstyle focus. This one is for all Basic rules, and the playstyle is how I was playing in 1985-86.  A time when the games I ran still had a bit of Basic & Expert in them, but I using AD&D.  This one is written from a point of view that we got that B/X Companion rules we had been promised. In the 1980s I wasn't playing BECMI yet.

I am also writing this from the perspective of the two major outbreaks of the Satanic Panic. The First was obviously the Witch Craze in Europe from the 15th century to the 18th. Witches in this book engage in activities that people believed witches did back then. I am also using notions from the 20th century Satanic Panic. D&D and Witches have always had a lot in common. 

And this one is huge. Here is a breakdown of the monsters and spells.

One of the reasons this has so many monsters in it is the notion that where there are witches, there are demons and devils. Additionally, I have many demons that I've posted here on The Other Side; this was an opportunity to collect them. Yes, I still want to complete my Basic Bestiaries; I just lack enough artwork.

As far as demons and devils go, I'll say I have the Usual Suspects here and lots of my own.

"The Usual Suspects" Demon Line-up JE Shields art

I am certainly going to be talking about this one a bit over the next month.

My target release date in Walpurgis Night, April 30, which is five weeks from right now. Yikes!

All the writing is done. I am in heavy edit mode now.

I am on "pink" pages now

Did I mention that this thing is huge? No idea on total page count yet. That will change a lot between now and then, but this is crazy. 

I really hope you enjoy this one. I have had a blast working on it. 

Fantasy Fridays: Hyperborea 3rd Edition

 Welcome to my first proper Fantasy Fridays. For this first one I want to feature one of my favorite fantasy RPGs. It is Jeffrey Talanian's Hyperborea RPG, now in its 3rd Edition.

I keep coming back to this game time and time again for good reason, it is just a fantastic game.

This game has the feel of first Edition AD&D in a "Dying Earth" style setting. It is part Jack Vance's Dying Earth, but a greater part of Clark Ashton Smith's "Zothique." The world is old, cold, and dying.

The first edition was a boxed set of three books, and the second edition was a single massive tome. The third edition is now two separate books.

I have all three and have reviewed them all.  I'll throw some links below to the reviews and other characters, here is the the latest, the third edition, which sits nicely on my shelves with my AD&D books.

HYPERBOREA Player's Manual

PDF and Hardcover. 324 pages. Color cover, black & white art with full color art pages.

For my review, I am going to be considering the hardcover from the Kickstarter and the PDFs from DriveThruRPG.

The book starts with the credits, acknowledgments, and dedication to John Eric Holmes, the author/editor of the "Holmes" Basic edition. 

Chapter 1: Introduction this covers what this game is and what RPGs in general are. This is important and worth a read since it sets the stage for what sort of sub-genre this game covers, "swords, sorcery, and weird science-fantasy."  The classics of Swords and Sorcery are covered here briefly and how they add to the feeling of this game. This is pure Howard, Lovecraft, and Smith.

Chapter 2: Character Generation covers character creation. This chapter is brief covering of what you can do with the five chapters.  This also has a listing of the common "facts" known to every character. There is a section on leveling up. 

Chapter 3: Statistics or the "rolling up characters" chapter. The six recognizable methods are presented here. The most common of course is Method III; roll 4d6 drop the lowest.  We also have the same six attributes we have always had.

Each class has a "Fighting Ability" (FA) and a "Casting Ability" (CA) which relates to attacks. So yes, even magicians can get a little better in combat as they go up in level.  It's a great little shorthand and works great.  So a 4th level Fighter has a fighting ability of 4. A 4th level magician still only has a fighting ability of 1 and a cleric 3 and thief 3.  Subclasses can and do vary.

AC is descending (like old school games), BUT with the Fighting Ability stat it could be converted to an ascending AC easily.

Chapter 4: Classes We still have our Basic Four; Fighter, Magician, Cleric, and Thief.  Each also gets a number of subclasses.  Fighters get Barbarian, Berserker, Cataphract, Huntsman, Paladin, Ranger, and Warlock.  The Magician has Cryomancer, Illusionist, Necromancer, Pyromancer, and Witch. The Cleric has the Druid, Monk, Priest, Runegraver, and Shaman.  Finally, the Thief has the Assassin, Bard, Legerdemainist, Purloiner, and Scout.  

Each subclass is very much like its parent classes with some changes.  The classes look pretty well balanced.

Chapter 5: Background This covers all the things about the character that "happened" before they were characters.

Races are dealt with first. They include Amazons, Atlanteans, Esquimaux, Hyperboreans, Ixians, Kelts, Kimmerians, Lemurians, Picts, and Vikings along with the catch-all "Common" race of man.  No elves or dwarves here. Physique is also covered. 

Alignment is a simpler affair of Lawful Good, Lawful Evil, Chaotic Good, Chaotic Evil, and Neutral.

Along with race, there are various languages the characters can learn/know.  There are also gods here, an interesting mix of Greek, Lovecraftian, Norse, and Smith gods. 

There are background skills and weapon skills. Though I misread "charcoaler" as "chocolatier," and now I want a character with this background. 

Chapter 6: Equipment Or the "let's go shopping" chapter.  If you missed the "to hit modifiers vs. armor types/AC" in AD&D then I have a treat for you. Weapons here are more detailed than they were in previous editions of HYPERBOREA; or at least more detailed than my memory of the older editions.  Just checked, this one is much more detailed. 

Chapter 7: Sorcery This is our spell chapter but it also covers alchemy. Spells are split up by character class. Spells are limit to 6th level since classes are all limited to 12 levels. Spell descriptions are all alphabetical. This covers about 75 pages.  

Chapter 8: Adventure. This chapter improves over the previous editions. It covers all sorts of adventure topics like hirelings and henchmen, climbing, doors, nonstandard actions, time and movement.

Chapter 9: Combat. All sorts of combat topics are covered. Critical hits, unarmed combat, mounted combat and more. Damage and madness are also covered. The madness section is small and not really designed to mimic the real world. 

Appendix A: Name Generator. Pretty useful, really, to get the right feel of the game. Afterall "Bob the Barbarian" isn't going to cut it here. 

Appendix B: Lordship and Strongholds. What each class and subclass gains as a Lord or Lady of their chosen strongholds.  There is a great section on creating strongholds as well.

Appendix C: Cooperative Gaming. This covers how well to play in a group.

Appendix D: OGL Statement. This is our OGL statement.

These appendices (with the exception of D) are all new. 

There is also a great index.

So I will admit I was unsure about backing the 3rd Edition of HYPERBOREA.  I have the 1st and 2nd Editions and they have served me well over the last few years.  This edition brings enough new material to the table that it really is the definitive version of the game. 

The leatherette covers are really nice and I am happy I waited for it. Since the Player's and Ref's books are now separate, I could, if I wanted, pick up another Player's book.

The art is great. There are some reused pieces and still plenty of new ones. It uses the art well and helps set the tone of the game.

HYPERBOREA Referee's Manual

PDF and Hardcover. 308 pages. Color cover, black & white art with full-color art pages.

Chapter 10: Introduction Again, this is our introduction this time for the Game Master or Referee's point of view. What the Referee does for the game and more. 

Chapter 11: Refereeing This get's into the Game Mastering process in detail. This covers grant experience for the characters and setting up the campaign. 

Chapter 12: Bestiary Our monster section and truthfully one of my favorites. The expected ones are here, but there are also plenty of new ones.  This covers roughly 130 pages.  There are interesting new takes on some classic "D&D" monsters, plus many new ones like a bunch of new "lesser" and "sublunary" demons. The format is most similar to Basic or Labyrinth Lord, and it is full of the usual suspects with some Lovecraftian Horrors, and even remnants of alien and bygone ages. "Demons" are here, but no devils. 

Chapter 13: Treasure Covers treasure types and magical treasure. Among the magic items are things like Radium Pistols and other sc-fi artifacts. Very pulpy. It also includes some rules on scribing spell and protection scrolls. There is even a small section on Alchemy in Hyperborea. Very useful to have really.

Chapter 14: Gazetteer.  The lands are a pastiche of Howard, Vance, Lovecraft, and Smith.  If these names mean anything to you, then you know or have an idea, of what you are going to get here.  This section has been greatly expanded from the previous editions. Included here are the gods again and a little more on religion.  Basically, you get the idea that gods are either something you swear by (or to) or get sacrificed to by crazy cultists.  So yeah, you know I am a fan.

Appendix A: Weather in Hyperborea. Likely more important here than, say, other game worlds. Weather in Hyperborea is dangerous. 

Appendix B: Hazards of Hyperborea. There are horrible things waiting for you in Hyperborea and they are not all monsters or the weather. 

Appendix C: Waterborne Expeditions. Covers waterborne adventures and combat. 

Appendix D: Warfare and Siege. Your characters have built their strongholds. Now someone wants to know it down.  Here are the rules.

Appendix E: OGL Statement. The OGL statement for this book.

Since the 2nd edition, nearly every aspect of this game has been expanded, some sections more than others, but it is a great upgrade.

The art throughout is very evocative of the setting. Mighty thewed barbarians, shining knights, elderly and eldritch wizards. 

Larina Nix for Hyperborea 3rd Edition

A dedicated witch class? Yes please! That means I want to try out Larina here. Now I have tried other witch characters with the Hyperborea rules, but to build my iconic witch is something of a full test for me and a game. 

Larina Nix

Female Kelt Witch 12th level

Alignment: Neutral (Lawful)

ST 9 [+0 +0 2:6 4%]
DX 12 [+0 +0 3:6 4%]
CN 12 [+0 +0 75% 2:6 4%]
IN 18 [+3 95%, Bonus Spells 1, 2, 3, 4]
WS 18 [+2]
CH 18 [+3 12 +1]

Age: 30s
AC: 1 (Cloak of Darkness, Bracers of Defense)
HD: d4
hp: 27
FA: 5
CA: 12
#Attacks: 1/1
Damage: 1d4+3 (dagger+3), 1d6 (staff)
SV: 11 (+2 Transformation, +2 Sorcery)
ML: 12

Abilities
Alchemy, Brew Decoction, Familiar, Read Magic, Scroll Use, Scroll Writing, Sorcery, Dance of Beguilement, Effigy, Henchmen, Broom Enchantment, Ladyship, Witch's Apprentice

Spells
First level (5+1): Charm Person, Detect Magic, Mending, Shocking Grasp, Sleep, Write Spell (Charm Person in ring)
Second level (5+1): Bless, Extrasensory Perception, Hold Person, Identity, Ray of Enfeeblement, Shatter, (Ungovernable Hideous Laughter in ring)
Third level (4+1): Dispel Magic, Phantasm, Tongues, Witch Fire, Wind Wall, (Starlight in ring)
Fourth level (4+1): Gylph of Warding, Moonlight, Mirror Mirror, Sorcerer Eye, (Transfer Wounds in ring)
Fifth level (3): Anti-magic Shell, Control Winds, Shadow Conjuration

Sixth level (2): Control Weather, See

Languages: Common, Keltic (Goidelic), Hellenic (Greek), Old Norse, Speak with the Dead, Speak with Nature Spirits
Size: M (Height: 5'4", 125 lbs)
Move: 40
Saving Throw Modifiers: Transformation +2, Sorcery +2
Secondary Skill: Scribe
God: Lunaqqua

Flying Cat ("Cotton Ball"): AL N; SZ S; MV 10 (Fly 80); DX 15; AC 7; HD 1/4 (hp 5); #AT 3/1 (claw, claw, bite); D 1/1/1; SV 17; ML 5; XP 11

Normal Gear
Clothing, daggers (2), backpack, woolen blanket, chalk, ink and quill, polished steel mirror, incendiary oil, parchment (4), soft leather pouch (2), small sack (2), tinderbox, torches (2), wineskin (wine), writing stick, iron rations (one week), spellbook (contains all prepared spells), 5 gp, 15 sp, gems (100gp)

Magic Items
Bracers of Defense, Ring of Spell Storing (4 spells), Ring of Telekinesis (100 lbs), Wand of Magic Missiles, Wand of Lightning Bolts, Bonded Broom, Cloak of Shadows, Gem of Brightness, Horn of Blasting (Thor), Copper Skull Necklace 

I like this version. So who is this Larina? This is Larina at the End of Time. She has all the memories of her past lives and often gets lost in them. Not really remembering who, or when, she is. She lives alone in her witch's cottage with her, yet unnamed apprentice. This is not the Witch-Queen Larina, this is something lesser and far older.

She would make for a great NPC for the next time I run this game.

Who Should Play This Game?

Anyone that enjoyed First Edition AD&D but liked the level limits of B/X D&D. Humans abound here, so if you like playing anything other than a human, you might not have as much fun. Also, the world is bleak and dying. This is not a time of heroes to make for a better day; better days are past. This is a time to survive against brutal odds and in the face of an uncaring universe. 

Also, play this if you loved the works of Jack Vance, H.P. Lovecraft, and especially Clark Ashton Smith. 

There is also a pretty good online community for this game, so support and advice are often a click or two away.

This is one of the games that I play the least but want to play the most. I love everything about it. It combines so many of my favorite things in one game that I am hard pressed to think of something I would have done differently.  Well...maybe go to level 14 so I could map it onto my Basic-era games plans a bit better.  

Links

• NorthWind Adventures Page (Home of Hyperborea)
• DriveThruRPG page
• Discord
• Facebook
• Xitter
• Instagram
• Reviews
• Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, 1st Edition
• Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, 2nd Edition
• HYPERBOREA 3rd Edition Player's Manual
• HYPERBOREA 3rd Edition Referee's Manual
• Other Products
• Plays Well With Others
• 2nd Edition
• BASSH, Basic Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
• Characters
• Miriam, The Witch-Queen of Yithorium
• Red Sonja
• Skylla
• Tanith, 2nd Edition
• Tanith, 3rd Edition
• Xaltana

"New" Projects

 I have had a burst of creativity over the last couple of months, and my desire to get things off my WIP plate has been strong.

You all may have noticed with the publications coming from me recently:

• The Swan Maiden Class (OSE)
• Volume #2 of Monstrous Maleficarum - Return of the Orcs (5e)
• Volume #3 of Monstrous Maleficarum - Nymphs, Daughters of the Gods (5e)

I have more of those series to come out. Plus I also want to get back to my Myths & Monsters series for 1e to cover more gods.

Also, I have been trying to finish a large project that has been taking all my time. No announcement yet, I want to see if I can hit my self-imposed deadline, but this one is pretty big.

So, posting will be a little sparse while I try to finish these all up.

OH! And if you are going to Gary Con, stop by the Elf Lair Games booth to say hi. 

Witchcraft Wednesday: The Witches of Scotland Tartan

 This came across my feed today. A new tartan pattern has been unveiled to memorialize those who suffered due to The Witchcraft Act 1563 to 1736 in Scotland. 

It looks like anyone can wear it, but you can only make things out of the pattern with the permission of the Witches of Scotland. 

I am currently reading "The History of Witchcraft" by Delores E. Wren, and I am reminded anew of the horrors people are willing to commit in the name of their religion. So seeing something like this and the group asking for an official apology is a good start.

Not sure if I'll get any art of witches wearing this, but that would be fun.

Links

• Witches of Scotland, https://www.witchesofscotland.com/
• Instagram page
• The Scottish Register of Tartans, https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=14651
• See the New Tartan Pattern Created to Honor Women Accused of Witchcraft in Scotland Between 1563 and 1736, Smithsonian magazine. 

Witchcraft Wednesday: More Witches on TV

 This past week, I finished a couple of newer witch-related TV shows. One was because we watched it all, and the other was because I just couldn't finish it. Both were based on popular books.

A Discovery of Witches

This was the treatment of Deborah Harkness's books. I read book 1 and book 2 some time back and had issues with them, enough that I avoided the series until now. But my wife wanted to watch it, and who am I to say no? 

Well. I am happy to report that the series was much better than the books. A lot of what annoyed me about the books was lessened or done differently when it hit the small screen. Diana Bishop was much more assertive in this, and any issues she had with being uncertain about the world of "creatures" were just that: uncertainty about a world she had chosen not to participate in not because she deflected to Matthew all the time. She even showed off some power which was nice. 

The casting was good, really, with Alex Kingston as a constant favorite. Matthew Goode performed well as the vampire Matthew Clairmont, making him much more interesting than he was on the page. Teresa Palmer was good as the witch Diana, though often I felt the script worked against the part she was trying to play. There were moments when the Diana I wanted to see came out. But maybe my expectations were out of line. Swedish actress Malin Buska was Finnish witch Satu Järvinen, who got a much larger role in television. Honestly, I wanted a lot more of her. Even Emily gets better treatment here, even though she still dies in the end of Season 2/Book 2. But it was not an empty, off stage death like it was in the books.

They made a little more sense of the time travel aspects, which is good, cause the book made zero sense. Still the rules of Diana's Time-Walking are a bit fuzzy.

I can't judge how well the story in Season 3 stuck to the events in Book 3, but it was much better than expected series. It also was nice to watch a series with a proper beginning, middle, and end. 

It was produced by Doctor Who's Bad Wolf Studio, which also gave us the televised version of "His Dark Materials" (for more great witch moments). Netflix described it as "Outlander meets Twilight," and that is fair. 

All in all, it was enjoyable and redeemed the books in my mind. I mean, I am not going back to re-read them, but the bad after-taste is gone.

Mayfair Witches

I really, really, REALLY wanted to enjoy this one. The AMC version of "Interview with a Vampire" has been great even with, or maybe because of, the changes. And I loved Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches books. Well...the first two anyway. And I adore Alexandra Daddario, who I still hope will get to play Zatanna one day soon.

But this show is a train wreck. Ok, the casting is great really. Harry Hamlin is brilliant as Cortland Mayfair, Beth Grant gave us a Carlotta Mayfair you both want to hate and understand at the same time. 

But there are just so many places where this show doesn't fall short; it falls right on its face.

Lasher is just annoying. Not the evil pervasive influence in the lives of the Mayfairs, but more like a stalker boyfriend or that ghost Beverly Crusher was having sex with in Star Trek: The Next Generation. 

And where the hell is Michael Curry? Some other characters are missing or seem to be merged with others. For example, Ciprien Grieve seems to be a combination between Aaron Lightner and Michael Curry. 

There is also a fair share of "idiot plot" here, the characters, who should be smarter than this, doing stupid things. 

I am not sure how far I am in this one, but I am ready to bail. I mean it has been 25+ years since I read these books, maybe my opinion of them could be less favorable now, but the series is just not great. 

Netflix still has a few more witch series I can check out, maybe one of the European ones I should check out.

Honorable (??) mention, Tidelands

Ok. I am slightly embarrassed to admit this one. 

Described as "beautiful garbage" by IMDB it is really an excuse to watch attractive Australian people run around without any clothes on. It deals with a group of people known as "Tidelanders" who are the offspring of sirens. They have a drug smuggling operation to fund their Queen's (Elsa Pataky) search for an ancient Sumerian (sure why not) clay horn that summons sirens (their mothers) and maybe destroys all the men in world? or Humans? Not clear. There is a rogue Tidelander, Cal aka Caliope (Charlotte Best), who spent 10 years in jail for a murder her human mother set her up for. She is really a powerful Tidelander and her brother (full human) sells all the drugs. 

Cal takes a lot of showers, a lot of baths, has sex with a lot of people and learns that the Queen wants her dead. 

The series ends on a cliffhanger and that was from 2018. Though given the lifespan of Tidelanders Season 2 could take place 10 from now. 

Why mention it? Well, it came up on my suggested watching and I was done with Mayfair Witches. My wife and binged watched the whole thing just to see how bad it would be. Spoiler it was bad. But like I said beautiful garbage. 

Maybe I should go back to watching questionable and dubious documentaries on Tubi.

Use in NIGHT SHIFT

I think I have done witches in NIGHT SHIFT, but the idea of Tidelanders, or more specifically the offspring of sirens or mermaids, has not been done by me.

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch

Daughters of Tiamat

I'll take the Sumerian horn seriously for a minute and say that these half-sirens are offspring of the ancient Goddess Tiamat. Back when she was spawning monsters to fight the new Gods, one of her creatures was the Siren. Their role was to seduce and kill Tiamat's enemies. They also worshipped Dagon, but their ancestry is from Tiamat.

Sirens (full or half) gain the following abilities.

Saving Throws: Sirens gain +3 to Toughness Saving throws. This increases by +1 per 3 levels (3, 6, 9, etc.)

Ability Bonus: Sirens gain +1 to Strength and +1 to Toughness. This may raise their abilities above 20.

Sea Adapted: Sirens can breathe air or water with equal ease. Full-blooded sirens adapt quickly, while half-sirens need one round to fully adapt to breathing the new element. Additionally, Sirens can see in darker depths and withstand the pressures of deep-sea life.

Charming Voice: Sirens can charm as per the spell. Once per day per the number of character levels the siren has.

Slow Aging: Sirens age slower than humans to age of about 300 years. Subject to their Feed (below).

The Feed: Sirens must return to the water, particularly the oceans or seas, or they will begin to lose their abilities and age like humans. Abilities are lost at random for each month, whether the half-siren is land-bound or each day, the full-blooded siren is.

Many sirens also believe that they must lure a human to the water to drown. In truth, they are compelled to do so, and they do derive pleasure from the act, but it is not required to keep their powers. 

Year of Fantasy RPGS: Cd8 The Return of the Fearless Five!

 I am still having fun with Jason Vey's Cd8 Fantasy Roleplaying game. I thought I would give it a spin with some more characters. Getting a feeling of what the various power level benchmarks are and so on.  So I thought, let's bring back the Fearless Five and give them a go at it!

Not sure what mission they will be going on next. They got already Bargle. I just 3D printed Kelek on a Warg so maybe they are going after him.

Skylla

Name: Skylla
Species: Human
Attitude: The only thing important is power

Gumption: 3
Moxy: 3
Chutzpah: 1
Childlike Wonder: 7
Cut of My Jib: 5
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 1

Life Points: 26
Armor: 0 None
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Detecting 2, Doctoring 2, Fighting 1, Herbalizing 4, Magicking 6, Mythologizing 2, Performing 1, Running 1, Shooting 1

Benefits/Bugs

Enhanced Senses 1

Prodigy (Magicking) 1 (3pts)

Super stats (Child Like Wonder) 4

Super stats (Cut of my Jib) 4

Psychic 3

- TK, PK, Mind contrtol

Weapons
Staff

Aleena

Name: Aleena
Species: Human
Attitude: Helping others

Gumption: 3
Moxy: 1
Chutzpah: 1
Childlike Wonder: 4
Cut of My Jib: 2
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 1

Life Points: 10
Armor: Heavy
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Doctoring 4, Fighting 1, Magicking 3, Mythologizing 2, Researching 3, Running 1, Shooting 1

Benefits/Bugs

why me? -5

Weapons
Mace

Mogan Ironwolf

Name: Morgan Ironwolf
Species: Human
Attitude: Hitting things

Gumption: 1
Moxy: 1
Chutzpah: 3
Childlike Wonder: 1
Cut of My Jib: 4
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 3

Life Points: 21
Armor: Medium
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Detecting 1, Driving 1, Fighting 6, Running 3, Shooting 3, Sporting 3, Tumbling 1

Benefits/Bugs

Takes A Licking 1

Keeps on Ticking 5

Lucky 3

Weapons
Longsword, Bow

Duchess

Name: Duchess
Species: Human
Attitude: Helping herself

Gumption: 1
Moxy: 2
Chutzpah: 3
Childlike Wonder: 1
Cut of My Jib: 4
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 1

Life Points: 20
Armor: Light
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Detecting 3, Fighting 3, Performing 2, Researching 1, Running 2, Shooting 3, Sporting 1, Tumbling 3

Benefits/Bugs

Lucky

Iron Constitution

You Want to Get Out of Here Real Fast? 4

Stat Increase 4

Weapons
Short Sword, Dagger

Candella

Name: Candella
Species: Human
Attitude: Helping herself and have a good time doing it!

Gumption: 2
Moxy: 2
Chutzpah: 3
Childlike Wonder: 1
Cut of My Jib: 3
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 2

Life Points: 17
Armor: Light
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Detecting 3, Fighting 3, Performing 2, Researching 1, Running 2, Shooting 3, Sporting 1, Tumbling 4

Benefits/Bugs

Lucky

Stat Increase 4

Weapons
Short Sword, Dagger

 OK! These are fun. I did not detail Skylla's or Aleena's spells, really. They have them. If I expand them into a one-shot, then I may. I would totally run a game at a convention with these—some sort of heist where everything goes sideways.

That is not really a bad idea. I already built them all for ShadowDark and now again for Cd8. Well, minus the Sorceress. She was done with Skylla's interference. 

Cd8 does not have "levels" for characters. The game assumptions between this and level/class systems are too different. But for this round, I was working under some assumptions about how many XP to give out to equal a level. So far, my numbers have panned out, but I want to try it with a few more to be sure. 

So far I rather enjoy this game. 

Character Creation Challenge: Rhiannon

Well, here we are at the end of another Character Creation Challenge, and I found a little treat. And I just counted and this will be my 40th character this month. Not too bad really.

Grenda and I shared a love of computers, bad horror and fantasy movies, Dungeons & Dragons, and music. ALL my D&D games had a lot of music associated with them, something my oldest has also picked up. Now, I don't play a lot of music while gaming these days (I get distracted) I used to. So it is no surprise really that we all had characters based on songs or bands (looking at you, "Molley Hachit").  Today's character is no exception.

I have one rule for witch characters in my games. If you play a witch, you are allowed one "Rhiannon." I did mine, this one is Grenda's. 

I know very little about this character. I think she was pre-gen for some game. There are a dozen characters just like her on notebook paper. 

She is AD&D 1st Ee. I do not recognize her god or land, but others I do as his big "rebuild" of all of his lands and gods to divorce them from Greyhawk, Greek and Norse gods. She has "Spell Points" so I am going to say this puts her between the time of 1988 and 1994 or so. Another character in this group is a Dwarven Wayfinder, which was an AD&D 2nd Ed kit, but the character is also an AD&D 1st ed character.

Rhiannon

Class: Witch
Level: 8
Species: Human
Alignment: Evil Twilight
Background: Scholar

Abilities
Strength: 11 (+0) 
Agility: 16 (+2) 
Toughness: 15 (+1) 
Intelligence: 17 (+2) A
Wits: 17 (+2) N
Persona: 14 (+1) N

Fate Points: 1d10
Defense Value: 1
Vitality: 36
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +4/+3/+1
Melee Bonus: +1 (base) 
Ranged Bonus: +1 (base)
Saves: +5 vs spells and magical effects (witch and scholar)

Arcane Abilities
Beguile, Precognition, Shadow Walking

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Magic

Spells
First Level (4): Black Flames, Chill Ray, Mystical Senses, Read Languages
Second Level (3): Eternal Flame, Invisibility, See Invisible
Third Level (3): Clairvoyance, Dark Lightning, Globe of Darkness
Fourth Level (2): Black Tentacles, Kiss of the Succubus

Gear
Bracers of defense, dagger of venom

If my Rhiannon is based on Stevie Nicks (and maybe then Arnell is my Lindsey Buckingham), then this Rhiannon is someone different. 

I have to admit, I kinda want her as a rival to Larina. They had the same spiritual mentor, my original Rhiannon. When she died, this Rhiannon took her mentor's name. 

I like it and unlike my other characters, Larina never really had a proper antagonist, and Grenda LOVED creating antagonists for my characters. I still can't say the name "Kirkroy" without saying "Fucking Kirkroy!" all the time. 

Wow. That is it. 

I still have another 100 or so more characters in his stack here. I might pull some out for a special occasion or if I need a quick NPC.  I also think I am going to come back to Rhiannon here more often. I think it is a good thing to do more with her. It would have been fun to have had some input on her from Grenda himself.

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.

Character Creation Challenge: Briana Highstar

After discovering yesterday's healer, I have to admit I went searching through this large stack of characters looking for a witch. I found one and she was not who I suspected she was going to be. So for this special Witchcraft Wednesday of the Character Creation Challenge, I give you Briana Highstar.

Now that name sticks out. Grenda was very, very careful with his family names. He had (and you have seen here) dynasties of characters. The Addingdales are the prime example. So when he names someone "Highstar" especially at the time when Morgan Highstar was such a prominent character of his, it means something. 

Sadly, there is not much here on Briana Highstar. She is listed as an NPC. She does not show up in our shared timeline, and I have not been able to dig up anything else about her. So, a witch (a class I made) related to his major Riddlemaster (a class he made). There is a story here!

I know she is one of my witches, largely due to the spells. I mean, yeah, he could have been using another witch class and my spells. 1993 is about the time I finished my first big "publication" draft that combined all my notes and handwritten playtest documents. I still have it here, I just printed it out on a "new" type of printer, an inkjet. 

So what can I speculate about Briana Highstar?

Her sheet says that she is a diabolic witch and her patron devil is Mephistopheles. She is Lawful Evil. That's about it.

Given Grenda's frame of mind at the time (2/11/1993) I'll make the following assumptions.

She is the younger half-sister of Morgan Highstar; they share the same father but different mothers.  I'll tear a page from Arthurian legends and have their relationship (at least the antagonism) be the same as Arthur and Morgan le Fey's. The attitude would likely be Briana feels wronged by Morgan and Morgan doesn't even know who she is.

To amp up this antagonism, I'd have Briana look a lot like Morgan; black hair, gray eyes. Hell, she might look a bit like Katie McGrath's Morgana from Merlin. I'll admit it, I am a fan of her's. 

Maybe her motivation is to destroy his School of Riddlemasters. Or maybe she just wants to avenge herself on him. I don't know yet. She is Lawful Evil to his True Neutral, so maybe her plans are more complicated. Maybe "her" plans are not her's but Mephistopheles' instead. Who knows, I would have to put her into play and see what she does.

Briana Highstar

Class: Witch
Level: 8
Species: Human
Alignment: Evil Dark
Background: Cultist

Abilities
Strength: 12 (+0) 
Agility: 16 (+2) 
Toughness: 13 (+1) 
Intelligence: 17 (+2) N
Wits: 17 (+2) A
Persona: 15 (+1) N

Fate Points: 1d10
Defense Value: 1
Vitality: 26
Degeneracy: 32
Corruption: 1 (eyes glow an unnatural way, like a cats)

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +4/+3/+1
Melee Bonus: +1 (base) 
Ranged Bonus: +1 (base)
Saves: +4 vs spells and magical effects

Arcane Abilities
Beguile, Precognition, Shadow Walking

Heroic/Divine Touchstones 
1st Level: Additional 1st level Spell
3rd Level: Favored Weapon, Whip
5th Level: Spirit Guide: Cat Familiar 
7th Level: Magical Recovery

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Domination

Spells
First Level (4+1): Armor of Earth, Black Flames, Chill Ray, Phantom Lights, Read Languages
Second Level (3): Eternal Flame, Invisibility, See Invisible
Third Level (3): Animal Summoning 2, Dark Lightning, Globe of Darkness
Fourth Level (2): Black Tentacles, Kiss of the Succubus

Gear
Whip

Briana has a vendetta against all Riddlemasters. She wants to kill them all, but that is an impossible task, so she will settle on doing as much damage to them as she can. Her Patron, Mephistopheles, is using her to strike a blow to Balance, the force that Riddlemasters represent. 

I will certainly be using Briana more in adventures. Don't worry Grenda, I'll take care of her.

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.