Here there Be Dragons: Turquoise Dragon

Here is one of the first dragons that Liam came up with.

I am releasing the following text as Open under the Open Gaming License.
Turquoise Dragon is copyright 2011, Liam Brannan

Turquoise Dragon
Armor Class: 0 [19]
Hit Dice: 10d8+5** (50 hp)
No. of Attacks: Claw (x2), Bite
Damage: 1d6 / 1d6 / 5d6
Special: Breath weapons, special
Movement: 90' (30') / Fly 180' (60').
No. Appearing: 1 or mated pair (2)
Saves As: Fighter 10
Morale: 9
Treasure: As a Blue Dragon
Alignment: Neutral
XP: 3,500

Turquoise dragons are a very old breed of dragon and many are no longer seen these days. Due to their coloration they are often confused at a distance with blue dragons. Though the turquoise dragon is not evil and sometimes found in the company of a gold dragon, whom they consider friends.

Turquoise dragons coloration begins as a pale green as a wrymling, deepening in blues till it's ancient adulthood. They have long serpent like bodies with great fan like wings. Their tails are spiked and they have overly large incisors. The female turquoise dragon fangs can produce poison when she protecting her young. The poison causes weakness and sleep (failed save). Unless magical means are used the victim suffers a burning fever that last a number of days equal to 20 minus their CON score. The females have smaller teeth.

The breath weapon of the turquoise dragon is a bright spark they “cough” up. The spark flies forward towards their target and on contact explodes. The damage of blast is similar to that of a fireball at 10d6 points of damage, save vs Breath Weapon for half. The spark may travel up to 90' in a straight line.

They find their homes on great plains and other area where plant life and plant eating herd animals are plenty. They will sometimes swoop down on cattle and carry one off to eat. Turquoise are not malicious, merely hungry. If they know certain cattle belong to humans or demi-humans then they will leave that cattle alone.

Despite this farmers enjoy having a turquoise dragon around since the scare away other predators and the action of their wings flapping is rumored to cause storms.

Turquoise Dragons may cast the following levels of Wizard (Magic-user) spells, 5 (1st level), 4 (2nd level) and 4 (3rd level).

Witch Guardian for Cinematic Unisystem

Witch Guardian

Witch-Knight by ~greyorm on deviantART

The Witch Guardian is a concept I have had for a number of years. When I worked on my d20 book of witches I contacted Greyorm (who did the art above) to see if I could use his Witch Knight in my book which was a similar concept. His is more knight and mine is more armed and armored protector, but the ideas mesh well.

I later updated it from 3.0 to 3.5/Pathfinder and 4e.

Here it is for Cinematic Unisystem using the Ghosts of Albion rules (though Buffy would work too).


Witch Guardian
7-Point Quality
Prerequisite: 1 level of Magic/Sorcerery, must belong to a coven or magical group

Witch Guardians are those witches that protect the faithful not just through magic, but also by the sword.  All witch guardians must train for their new role within the coven.  In traditional coven this also means the witch guardian stands outside the circle.  She is still a member, but can no longer take the roles of the Maiden or High Priestess.
For her devotion and training the witch guardian gets the following boons.

• Contacts (Supernatural) +1 - the witch guardian gains an additional level of supernatural contacts as she is now a person of interest in the supernatural world.
• Fast Reaction Time - the combat reflexes are heightened
• Hard to Kill (4) - witch guardians are protected by their training and magic
• Natural Toughness - the witch guardian learns how to cloak herself in mystical armor
• Nerves of Steel - witch guardians are expected to go up against the things that the coven can't handle on their own.

She also gains the following disadvantages.

• Adversary (1) - the enemies of the coven are the personal enemies of the witch guardian.
• Honorable +1 - the personal honor of the witch guardian increases by one level.
• Obligation (Total) - most witch guardians have at least 1 level of obligation to their coven or faith, the dedication to their cause makes this obligation absolute.
• Tradition Bound - the witch guardian is bound to the traditions of the coven more so than other witches.  So many eschew modern convinces in favor of magical ones.

In addition the witch guardian may choose a supernatural quality (reserved for demons, vampires, faeries or ghosts) when she has the points to do so and with permission from the Director.

Witch guardians typically take on a new name when they join the guard.

Special Note: A witch guardian can not also already have the Guardian of the Watchtowers quality.  A character can be a Witch Guardian and then choose to be a Guardian of the Watchtower later. But they can't be a Guardian of the Watchtower then become a witch guardian.

Using Witch Guardians in Your Game
A witch guardian makes a perfect adversary, ally or foil for many game groups.
As an adversary the witch guardian is protecting a coven of witches that the cast need to get too.  While they may be expecting spells and magical attacks, a sword wielding AND spell using threat is some thing different all together.
As an ally the witch guardian brings the same magical and melee combat expertise, but she is also learned in the occult and connected to the supernatural world in a way other witches are not.

I have used witch guardians in my games over the years and they are some of my favorite characters.  Angelik was an immortal witch guardian protecting the hand of Yoln in The Dragon and the Phoenix.  Brigh and Cerwedden were witch guardians charged with protecting Tara and Willow in Season of the Witch.
I have also used Scáthach in my Ghosts of Albion games.

GM Merit Badges

Strange Magic has a very interesting post about GM styles and icons (he calls them Merit Badges) you can use to ID your GM style.

So here are mine.

 My games can sometimes have disturbing elements.

 I focus on drama and character development

 Characters in my games are destined for greatness, not random death.  Characters not destined for greatness are in someone else's game.

 I am in charge. Rule 0 is always in effect.

 You will need to investigate and solve mysteries.

My games are scary.

 My games will tell a story.  

Cool stuff.

Where are you at?
Here are some of the people I read.

• Quickly, Quietly, Carfully
• Planet Agol
• Dreams in the Lich House

Quintessential D&D (Half-baked ideas), Part 2

So building off of my "Half-Baked Adventure" and my sorta-update here is a plan.

Here is what I have at the moment.

Basic:  B1 In Search of the Unknown
AD&D 1^st Ed: C2 Ghost Tower of Inverness
AD&D 2^nd Ed: RM4 House of Strahd. Total cheat I know, but I'd run it as if it were in Ravenloft.
D&D 3^rd Ed: Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk
D&D 4^th Ed: The updated Tomb of Horrors

So some remakes and updates.  But all with classic roots.
Now to buy a copy of Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk.

Zatannurday: New Looks

So few weeks back I posted Zee's "new" look for the Flashpoint series. It was fairly universal that most people hated it.

Well Zee is getting updated AND retro at the same time in two different incarnations.

For the upcoming nDCU we have the team of Justice League Dark.  The group that deals with threats that frankly scare the crap out of the rest of the league.  Here is some of the art for that.

Sorry, could not find a larger pic.
It has Constantine, which is cool and Enchantress and Madame Xanadu, two characters I have wanted to know more about.  Zee is in the middle looking a little Goth really.  I kinda dig the costume to be honest.
In truth JLD is missing Raven.  But that is fine. I am not a big fan of Dead Man, but I can get over that.
The concept is so neat that I might become a digital subscriber to this one.

Also Zee might be a new member of the Young Justice TV show.  Here is some art for that too.

 I't a bit dark (shading, not tone) I know.

I am looking forward to seeing both versions of Zee this September.

Lack of brain

There were a lot of things I wanted to post over the last week or so, but my brain is mush.

To top everything of I worked 14 hours today to get ready for the Fall term that starts next week.
I am still not done.

So what do I know?

Well DriveThru is celebrating H. P. Lovecraft's birthday with some sales on Lovecraft inspired games.

Not sure if I am going to get to play Pathfinder next week cause of all the work I still have to do.

I did the math the other day and the DragonSlayers don't have enough gear, spells or HP to take on Tiamat yet.  Especially if I play her right.

I have about 12 started, but unfinished posts.  I hope to get some of them out to you all soon.

Spellcraft & Swordplay on DriveThruRPG

My friend Jason Vey has put up his stellar game Spellcraft & Swordplay on DrivethruRPG.

Spellcraft & Swordplay is not a retro-clone.  It is old-school to be sure.
Jason likes to call it a "retro game", I like to think of it more of an alternate reality, divergent evolution sort of game.  It is if OD&D continued on it's path without the "alternate combat system", you know the one where you roll a d20.

Spellcraft & Swordplay only needs two d6s. So you have almost everything you need when you download it and I am sure most people have d6s at home.

I prefer S&S over Swords and Wizardry because I feel S&S captures the feel of OD&D better than SW does. SW has a number of 3rd ed/d20 influences that have filtered in.  Not there is a problem with that, it is still a very fine game.  It I just like S&S more.  Of course I vastly prefer it to LotFP in terms of pure fun and use.

So please.  Go to DriveThruRPG and get yourself a copy of this game.

• Spellcraft & Swordplay Basic Game - a free version for levels 1 to 3.
• Spellcraft & Swrodplay Core Rulebook - the full rules and everything you need minus dice.
• Spellcraft & Swordplay Monstrous Mayhem - the first supplement that expands the rules.