Character Creation Challenge: Morgan Highstar

Ah. Now, here was a character. Mogan Highstar was more than Grenda's favorite character, he was in a sense his self-insert. His way of experiencing the world of Dungeons & Dragons as himself. He was more than his version of my Johan. He was Johan, Larina, and "Retsam" all rolled into one for him. 

Finn Danis may have been the first "Starmaster" and eventual head of the school of Riddle Masters, but everything Finn learned, he learned first from Morgan.

Morgan Highstar was born CY 637. He was the first Riddlemaster. His first student, Finn, did not join his school until 659 when finn was only 8. 

Morgan was an accomplished card player and a firm supporter of the Cosmic Balance (in the Michael Moorcock sense). Going over the sheets I have here, he had been a worshiper of  Uller (more examples of our blending of Greek and Norse myths), but when he began his Riddlemaster training, he converted to the worship Xan Yae. 

Riddlemasters, as I have mentioned off and on, were psychic characters who masked their psychic powers by disguising them as magic. They were influenced by "The Chronicles of the Deryni" by Katherine Kurtz and a lot of B-Grade movies about psychic phenomena. They were a cloistered sect that (retconned) had existed for centuries. Morgan was the first Riddlemaster.

Like Finn, I am happy to make Morgan a Psychic, though I will eventually need to post more about Riddlemasters. 

Morgan Highstar 

Class: Psychic
Level: 14
Species: Human
Alignment: Neutral
Background: Scholar

Abilities
Strength: 18 (+3) N
Agility: 17 (+2) 
Toughness: 16 (+2) 
Intelligence: 18 (+3) N
Wits: 16 (+2) 
Persona: 18 (+3) A

Fate Points: 1d10
Defense Value: 1
Vitality: 95
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +6/+4/+2
Melee Bonus: +4 (base) 
Ranged Bonus: +4 (base)
Saves: +5 vs Persona (Psychic)

Background
Additional languages.

Psychic Abilities
Psychic powers: 5, Supernatural attacks, Supernatural power: Astral Projection

Psychic Powers
Bio-feedback
Body Control
Empathy
Telepathy
Temporal Sense

Heroic/Divine Touchstones 
1st Level: +1 to melee attacks
3rd Level: Psychic power: Pyrokinesis
5th Level: Level 1 of Renegade (use of stealth skills)
7th Level: Level 2 of Renegade (increased stealth skills)
9th Level: +1/+5% to all attacks, saves, checks and skills
11th Level: Spell resistance 20%
13th Level: Character ceases to age

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Balance

Gear
Sword ("Balancer")

Again, while I am very happy replicating any D&D class in Wasted Lands, Riddlemasters, by their very nature, are a little more difficult. Should I do a "Riddlemaster" class for Wasted Lands/NIGHT SHIFT/13 Parsecs? Well...there is a desire, but I am not sure how practical it would be.  The classes were not very practical for D&D to be honest! I would need to distill them to their essence and build them up from that.

Something other than "how crazy can we get with this?"

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

Character Creation Challenge: Yoln Serpeus

 Every so often, there is a character who jumps off of the pages of their character sheet, and they take on a life of their own. They go beyond mere numbers, and listings and references to page numbers. They become a real character. Yoln Serpeus was one such character.

He began life as one of the main antagonists in our Great War/War of the Dragons. He was the head of Hell's Armies and a vassal to Mephistopheles. This was the campaign we were running then ended our worlds and a new combined world (which I would later equate with Mystoerth) was formed in the ashes. 

Honestly, I can still see it now. Yoln, clad in all jet back plate, riding his giant ware chariot being drawn by three dragons.  He had already killed many characters, including Morgan "Raven" Ebonflame and Johan Werper III. Though one of the survivors was Larina. (CY 813-818).

Yoln was defeated and he was pulled into the Hells, with Raven in tow it was believed. My other character, Nigel Blade, seeing his daughter pulled into Hell, vowed to follow him and kill him himself. 

I would not resolve that arc until 2001-2003 when Yoln became the primary big bad for my Buffy campaign, The Dragon and the Phoenix, as the "Hand of Leviathan." Nigel did not kill him, but Buffy did in "No Other Troy." Though I will admit, I forgot his last name and misremembered it as "Shadowreaper." But Yoln would use Worluk's nom de guerre.

Back in 1988, Grenda and I revisited Yoln in his earliest days as a human Paladin just prior to his fall in an adventure, "Where Evil Seeks," we were writing to submit to Dungeon Magazine. I have three different versions of that adventure here now. I might dust it off some day.  Anyway, in that "human" Yoln is only 13th level. That seems more reasonable.

It is not an exaggeration that Yoln and the hunt for Yoln from 1987 to 2003 had a HUGE impact on what would become NIGHT SHIFT. So it only makes sense that I should do his stats for Wasted Lands, the "D&D of NIGHT SHIFT."

I am going to cheat here and give Yoln a heroic touchstone at every level instead of every other level. It's a bit much (every other level is a bit much), but he has earned them.

This Yoln is only slight human now. He is becoming an infernal creature and will soon lead Hell's armies. 

Yes. That is Yoln in 'City of Heroes.'

Yoln Serpeus

Class: Divine Infernal Warrior (from NIGHT SHIFT)
Level: 13
Species: Human (Infernal)
Alignment: Dark Evil
Background: Cult

Abilities
Strength: 18 (+3) A
Agility: 18 (+3) 
Toughness: 17 (0) N
Intelligence: 19 (+3)  
Wits: 17 (+2) N
Persona: 17 (+2) 

Fate Points: 1d10
Defense Value: -1
Vitality: 64
Degeneracy: 33
Corruption: 7

Corruption Effects: His eyes glow, his body is decayed, and he must live inside his armor. Can't enter holy lands or buildings. 

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +6/+4/+2
Melee Bonus: +5 (base), +3 (STR)
Ranged Bonus: +5 (base)
Saves: +5 to all Wits and Persona Saves

Infernal Warrior Abilities
Sixth Sense, Cause Injury and Illness, Supernatural Attacks, Protection from Good, Command Undead (level 8), Spot Hidden (1-3 on d4).

Infernal Abilities
Takes x2 damage from Chosen Ones and Celestials. 
Arcane Powers: Beguile, Domination, Enhanced Senses, Incubus, Shadow Walking, 

Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: Psychic Ability: ESP
2nd Level:+1 to melee attacks
3rd Level: Psychic Ability: Bio-feedback
4th Level: Unique Mode of Attack: Soul Sever (Persona)
5th Level: Favored Weapon, Sword
4th Level: +1 to hit with Soul Sever attack
7th Level: Extra Attack
8th Level: Favored Enemy: Chosen Ones
9th Level: Special Attack
10th Level: Smite
11th Level: Great Attack (Toughness added to Soul Sever)
12th Level: Great Smite
13th Level: Spell Resistance 20%

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Death

Gear
Longsword ("Pillager"), Full plate armor.

He is a monster. I mean, yeah, all these characters are charmingly Munchkin, but Yoln here is just plain scary. 

Yoln in the Wasted Lands

This is the starting point for Yoln, my D&D stand-in. This is the Yoln I stated above and one that Grenda and I created. Yoln belongs in the Wasted Lands, but he won't stay there for long.

Yoln in NIGHT SHIFT

In truth, Yoln is my first-ever NIGHT SHIFT Big Bad. Yeah, I ran him under the Buffy/Unisystem rules, but that game informed and shaped me to a point where NIGHT SHIFT became an inevitability.  Maybe one day I'll rerun "The Dragon and the Phoenix" as a NIGHT SHIFT adventure, but it has been 20+ years now.

Yoln in Thirteen Parsecs

Yoln was killed once by Morgan. He was killed again by Buffy. Could he still be around somewhere out near the Solar Frontier? Never say never I guess! Could his lifeless appearing armor be out there, floating in space, waiting on some happless ship passing by to bring it into their cargo hold? What happens when an ancient hell knight awakens and attack a crew armed with plasma rifles? I don't know.

Interestingly enough. While digging through my archives on this guy I found his Buffy/The Dragon and the Phoenix stats!

Yoln, The Pillager, The Pit Fiend, The Hand of Leviathan, The Shadowreaper

Yoln: So Slayer. You brought an army to defeat me? (another swing)
Buffy: No. (a parry. Then, wielding the spear with both hands, she swings and knocks Yoln back.) I brought two.
The army of demons continues running while a legion of angels flies up and over them to join in the attack.

Character Type: Human/Demon Big Bad

Attributes
Strength 9
Dexterity 8
Constitution 10
Intelligence 4
Perception 4
Willpower 12 

Ability Scores: Muscle 14, Combat 17, Brains 13
Life Points: 64
Drama Points: 10

Qualities: Fast Reaction Time, Hard to Kill 6, Honorable (Rigid), Nerves of Steel
Drawbacks: Adversary (just about everyone) 6, 

Combat Maneuvers

Name	Score	Damage	Notes
Dodge	17	-	Defense action
Grapple	19	-	Resisted by Dodge
Kick	16	14	Bash
Punch	17	13	Bash
Big Ass Sword	19	31	Stab/slash; two-handed

Damn. He was even a beast here.

Thank you, Grenda, for developing such a memorable character with me. Gods, this was a lot of fun to do this one. I'm listening to RUSH, Krokus, BÖC, and Ronnie James Dio in your memory tonight.

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

Character Creation Challenge: Finn Danis

 This is the first Monday of the new year and the first day back to work for many. So it is good that I am starting off the week with this character. 

Finn Danis was a Cheysuli Starmaster.

Ok, that is a sentence I need to parse out a bit. 

Back in 1986 both Grenda and I were heavy into making our own classes. I have detailed that tera here plenty of times with my Witch class. This era also produced my Healer, Necromancer, and Sun Priest classes.

Grenda created the Riddlemaster, Shadowmaster, Beastmaster, and finally the Starmaster classes. I will detail these classes this month as they come up more and more. But suffice to say they were extremely overpowered. This was be design, and they had the XP requirements to match. 

I posted my own Riddlemaster last year. The Starmaster class was essentailly a proto-prestige class similar to the original Bard or Acrobat classes. A potential Starmaster had to advance as Riddlemaster, then a Shadowmaster and then a Beastmaster. Never reaching level 10 (The Black of Mastery; levels had colors) in any. Then you progress as a Starmaster.

Finn was the head of the School of Riddlery in Grenda's game. He was his test character for for all his Riddlemaster classes. He was, in pretty much every aspect, his "Larina."

The notion here was all the Riddlemaster classes were Psionic. Their powers were psionic/psychic based. We decided that the powerful Wizard's Guilds and Priestly Orders had worked together to make psionic powers illegal in our realms. So the Riddlemasters (also called "Adepts") had to disguise their powers to look like magic. They could take wizard spells, had thief skills, turn undead, and had great combat. Did I mention they were overpowered? 

Finn was also a Cheysuli, from Jennifer Roberson's Chronicles of the Cheysuli. He was a tall dark-skinned, shape-shifting warrior who could also become a large panther. Since Finn was 6'7" we figure he turned into a giant panther.  I was not into Roberson's books as much as Grenda was. But I liked Finn. 

Think of Dean Henry Fogg from The Magicians, but instead of being played by Rick Worthy, he is played by Tony Todd. 

The biggest problem with Finn is how do I represent him in other games?

On the surface he is a Psychic, with enough heroic touchstones to give him some other abilities. But even with a heroic touchstone per level I am not sure I could replicate him well enough.

Finn Danis

Class: Psychic / Scholar
Level: 20
Species: Cheysuli
Alignment: Light Neutral
Background: Cheysuli

Abilities
Strength: 19 (+3) 
Agility: 19 (+3) 
Toughness: 13 (+1) 
Intelligence: 15 (+1) N
Wits: 16 (+2) A
Persona: 19 (+3) N

Fate Points: 1d12
Defense Value: 1
Vitality: 140
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +8/+6/+2
Melee Bonus: +4 (base) +1 (touchstone) 
Ranged Bonus: +4 (base)
Psychic Attack: +7
Saves: +7 vs Persona (Psychic), +1 to all (touchstone)

Background
Shapeshift to a large panther. Speak with Animals.

Psychic Abilities
Psychic powers: 5, Supernatural attacks, Supernatural power: Astral Projection

Psychic Powers
Bio-feedback
Psychokinesis
ESP
Telepathy
Temporal Sense

Sage Abilities
Languages: 15, Lore 95%, Mesmerize others, suggestion, Renegade Skills: 3rd level, Spells 3/2/1

Stealth Skills
Open Locks: 30%
Bypass Traps: 25%
Sleight of Hand: 35%
Sneak: 30%

Spells
First level: Arcane Dart, Light, Mystical Senses, Command
Second level: Lesser Renewal, Unlock
Third level: Concussive Blast

Heroic/Divine Touchstones 
1st Level: Glamour
3rd Level: +1 to melee combat
5th Level: First Level Spell: Command
7th Level: Divine Smite
9th Level: +1 to all checks, attacks, and saves
11th Level: Immunity to Undead Attacks
13th Level: Character ceases to age
15th Level: Persistent Luck
17th Level: Down but not out
19th Level: Overwhelming Aura

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Natural Order

Gear
Sword (Mistweaver)

Ok. There is no way I can do Finn justice and stay within the rules as written for Wasted Lands. Or pretty much any other game really. For amusement sake I started a D&D 4e version of him, but even that was unsatisfying.

No. Finn is really too much for any game and he is even stretching AD&D to point of ridiculousness. 

But, that was the point. He was an experiment who just happened to also be a great character. 

There is a question here though.

Does anyone want to see the Riddlemaster classes? Is there any interest out there for these über-powered classes?

Mind you, I LOVED playing my Riddlemasters. Maybe as much as I did my witches. But I am sure they are a lot more niche than my witches are. 

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

This Old Dragon: Issue #115

I think I have enough time left in this year to do another one of these. My box of old Dragons, though, is getting a little lighter these days. Today's issue takes us all the way back to November of 1986. My old High School DM had just been medically discharged from the Air Force due to arthritis, something that would plague him to the point that the last time I saw him, he was using a cane. I was a Senior in High School working on College applications and trying to get in as many AP math courses as I could. "Amanda" by Boston from their highly successful "Third Stage" album was the biggest song on the radio, which for me at the time was WYMG. "Crocodile Dundee" had dominated the screens for the last two month making Paul Hogan a household name, and on game store shelves and gaming tables all over was Issue #115 of This Old Dragon.

Our cover art is one of my time favorites from Den Beauvais. It might not get as much nostalgia as his chess ones, but this one is every bit as good. 

Letters is dominated by kudos for the Role of Computers feature and a demand for more AD&D computer games and aids. 

Roger Moore is now our new editor-in-chief of Dragon, taking on the role about a week prior. We were only vaguely aware at the time, or *I* was only vaguely aware, that there had been a huge shake-up at TSR.  Moore lets us know, maybe even reassuring us, that there are more great things coming, like supporting the Masters and Immortals sets for D&D and the newer AD&D books. 

Forum covers the big issues of the day. Namely was the cover of issue #114 considered softcore pornography and what is all this talk about 2nd Edition! I own all the 1st edition books and I don't replace them all now. 

Our featured topic this month is Thieves. In fact, this might be one of the first of the official "Special Attractions" or theme issues. I never associated these with Roger Moore's tenure, but it could be the case.

Lords of the Night by Eric Oppen covers thieves and thieves' guilds. I remember reading this one with great interest back in the day, and was the beginning of my thoughts on the Urban Survival Guide.

Friend of the Other Side Vince Garcia follows up with A Den of Thieves, which also covers guilds and how they exist in relation to each other and their city. It is, like much of Vince's work, very detailed.

Vince follows this up with The Art of Climbing Walls. This expands the thief climb walls skill. nearly 40 years later, we are using a single d20 and a single skill for all thief abilities. Another article, Getting Up in the World by Robin Jenkins also expands on this skill.

Eric Oppen is back with Robin Jenkins in Honor Among Thieves which covers the rules in which thief guilds operate. 

And Vince Garcia is back again with Tools of the (Thieving) Trade which covers, as you guessed, thief tools. 

All said an told about 27 pages of thief information. I ate it up. My main character at the time was Nigel "Death" Blade, a thief and assassin. Larina was still very low level at this point and Johan II was involved in a long prolonged war.

Speaking of holy fighters, James A. Yates is up with an idea that has seen a lot of print in Dragon, but not something that would become commonplace until AD&D 2nd Ed. Hammer of Thor, Spear of Zeus details what weapons clerics of the various Deities & Demigods Legends & Lore Gods can use. 

Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth covers all sorts of snakes in the AD&D game by Ray Hamel and David Hage.

Ed Greenwood is up next with Airs of Ages of Past, which gives us nine magical harps from the Forgotten Realms.

"There's Something on the Floor..." by Reid Beutler features some random tables for determining what is found on, in, and of dungeon floor design. 

Here is a rarity for the time, a non-Greenwood Ecology of article...almost.  The Ecology of the Harpy is split into two articles. The first, Songs of Beauty... comes to us from Barbara E. Curtis. The second, Songs of Death is by Ed Greenwood. Both work well together and I get the impression that the Curtis article was first and Greenwood added his piece afterwards. That's fine, and let's be honest, Elminster *is* the authority on these things in the Realms. The articles are a good read.

Elven Armies and Dwarves-At-Arms by James A. Yates details what sort of troops the demi-humans can muster. I would not run into the need for this one very often, but when I need it, it is nice to have here. You would be excused if your thoughts wander to the Battle of Five Armies. 

More dungeon exploring from Dan Snuffin in Door Number One, Door Number Two, or... You, it dawns on me that modern players would not know what a Monte Hall style play is OR even why we call it Monte Hall. Anyway, this it a bunch of random tables for various dungeon doors. I used to give the Monty Hall Problem in my Intro to Stats course when discussing probability. Really messes with people's heads.

Getting out of the dungeon and into the world of spies we have Stayin' Alive from John J. Terra. This would have been a good bit to have read back when I was investigating the R.I.P. RPG a bit ago. Not for any reason than to give me some more insight on how to play Top Secret. Which is exactly what this article was going for. Later on we also get more Top Secret material in Kevin Marzahl's When Only the Best Will Do. This covers Heckler & Koch weapons. 

The Role of Books by John C. Bunnell reviews newly published sci-fi and fantasy books from the gamer's perspective. This includes some Find Your Fate books, the Lords of the Middle Dark.

Nice ad for DC Heroes 1st Edition. The big DC Heroes Kickstarter just wrapped, so this will all be new again. 

Few more pages down a big full color ad for Traveller: 2300.

TSR Profiles features Roger E. Moore and Bill Larson.

Previews gives us the products coming for the end of 1986. These include a couple of my favorites M3 Twilight Calling by Tom Moldvay and RS1 Red Sonja Unconquered. For the new year of 1987 module H2 Mines of Bloodstone and a new DA2 Temple of the Frog from non other than Dave Arneson and David Ritchie is on the way. 

While the Ares section is a thing of the past now it seems, the back half of the magazine is still devoted to sci-fi and Marvel. 

An Interstellar Armory by Gus Monter for Star Frontiers Knight Hawks covers new weapons and defenses. 

Gamers' Guide has our small ads. All the usual suspects for 1986 are here. Wargames West, Gamescience and others. 

The Convention Calendar covers November, December, and January. None local to me (either now or then). 

We get four pages of Wormy. Tramp would soon move south to Carbondale and I would be a couple of months behind him. We lived in the same town for 4+ years and I never even knew. A page of Dragonmirth and three pages of SnarfQuest.

Honestly, a pretty good issue and a preview of what we would see in the Roger E. Moore, back half of the 80s, era. More special features and less content for non-TSR games. 

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 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. 

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. 

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.

Pop Yourself! Larina

 I am not a big collector of Funko-Pops. I have a few but not what I consider a lot. But recently I saw they had a Halloween (now over) promotion to get a Funko Pop figure of yourself. Well that is fine and all, but do I really need one of me? A blonde (er now gray) guy with glasses? I am not even sure I can get one with glasses and a goatee. (I just checked, I can). But since one of the choices was a witch, well I knew what I needed to do!  

And since today is what I consider to be Larina's birthday, I thought I would share the Funko Pop I had made of her.

I did a re-paint on her hair, and yo see I messed up her eyebrows a bit. Still, I am happy with the hair. I opted not to repaint the rest of her. I am not really that good to be honest.

Here is the original. 

Obsessive? Yeah maybe. But I always buy something for myself on Halloween. This was what I got for myself this year.

By the way, I did go back and see what a Funko Pop version of me would look like. 

Not bad. Not sure I need it though.

Secret Journey: Walking the Witches' Road

I am finally caught up on the new Disney+ series "Agatha All Along," and frankly, I love it.  Kathryn Hahn and Aubrey Plaza are so great in this, and Aubrey Plaza already has "witch cred" with her books "The Legend of the Christmas Witch" and "The Return of the Christmas Witch." It is a lot fun and I am enjoying watching Agatha Harkness come to life after reading her exploits for so long. 

I have a lot of people asking me how I would implement the "Witches' Road" in my games. Well, obviously, I can't use the Witches' Road as it appears here, Disney being so understanding and forgiving. BUT thankfully, I do have something, and the advantage here is that it shares a genesis with my first witch class.

Upon a Secret Journey

Back in the early 80s I was building a bunch of new classes. I have talked about them here before, but briefly there was the Witch, the Sun Priest, the Healer and the Necromancer. The witch you have seen, the Sun Priest, though has yet to see a lot of text here. You can find the complete AD&D 2nd Edition kit here and on my downloads section. 

There was a notion that the Sun Priest would need to complete a pilgrimage ever so many levels to prove their faith. While it was based on the pilgrimages made by Medieval faithful, the idea here was one of greater spiritual understanding. It was inspired by the Police song "Secret Journey." For me it added a bit more mysticism to the idea. 

Here is what I said back then.  

At 3rd level and every three level thereafter (6, 9, 12,...), the Sun Priest must go on a "secret journey." This journey is one of faith and must be accomplished alone, in secret. It might be nothing more than a dedicated study of church tomes (a journey of understanding), of deep contemplation (a journey of enlightenment), of destroying some foe (a journey of vengeance), or anything else the player and DM agree upon. The journey will last as long as necessary, and during this time, the Sun Priest will receive no experience points, nor can he partake in an ongoing adventure. The journey can be played out, or the priest may simply rejoin the adventures at a later date. The journey must be performed, or the Priest can not advance to the next level.

Again, remember this was for AD&D 2nd Edition. And while it is certainly geared towards a clerical class, there is no reason I can't adopt it, and adapt it, to the Witch.

In fact, I kinda have been doing that now anyway. When I was moving out of 3e over to 4e I was trying to decide if I was going to continue Larina under the new rules. I go my answer when I saw the Feywild get more emphasis. Very long story short, Larina went to the feywild, had a daughter with Fey Lord, but had to leave her behind to complete a quest at the behest of Baba Yaga. When she returned 13 years had passed. This quest was a Secret Journey in all but name.

You Will See Light In The Darkness

The Secret Journey for witches (The Witches' Journey maybe) is one a witch must complete at some point in her life before she can receive greater understanding about her magic, her craft and her place in it. For many it is an essential part of their lives as a witch. 

Given this I am tempted to have it related to the steps of the Hero's Journey and include some of the elements of modern witch traditions of a symbolic Life-Death-Rebirth. The Witches' Journey is a symbolic death and rebirth.

In AAA, the "Witches' Road" is taken on by a coven, but a Secret Journey is a solo affair; a witch must complete it on her own. Since it is a symbolic death and rebirth, this is not supposed to be easy. The witch will emerge from this fundamentally changed.

The Witches' Journey (Rough Draft)

It is now a few hours later.

I pulled up a copy of the Hero's Journey, Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, and of course, Jung's Man and his Symbols. I like the idea of witches having to embrace their own shadow-self in their journey of self-realization. I also added in some ideas from my NIGHT SHIFT notes. 

Part 1: The Call to the Journey (Life)

    1. Ordinary World: The witch lives in a mundane environment, feeling a sense of disconnection from nature and the spiritual world, unaware of their inner potential.

    2. Call to Adventure: The witch experiences an awakening—perhaps through a sign, dream, or encounter—that ignites their curiosity about magic and the self.

    3. Refusal of the Call: Doubts and fears surface as the witch grapples with societal expectations, personal insecurities, and the weight of tradition, resisting the call to explore their true nature.

    4. Meeting the Mentor: An experienced witch or wise figure appears, offering guidance, wisdom, and tools to navigate the inner and outer worlds, encouraging exploration of the self.

Part 2: The Descent into the Underworld (Death)

    5. Crossing the Threshold: The witch consciously steps into the realm of magic and the unknown, leaving behind their old life and beginning to confront their inner landscape.

    6. Trials and Allies: The witch faces external challenges and meets allies, but also begins to encounter aspects of their Shadow Self—unacknowledged fears, desires, and insecurities that surface during their journey.

    7. The Abyss: A significant challenge forces the witch to confront their Shadow Self directly, facing their deepest fears, regrets, and repressed emotions. This moment represents a metaphorical death, where the old self must be faced.

    8. Rebirth through Initiation: The witch undergoes a transformative ritual or initiation, symbolizing acceptance of their Shadow Self. They emerge with greater self-awareness and empowerment, integrating both light and shadow aspects of their identity.

Part 3: The Return with Wisdom (Rebirth)

    9. The Road Back: With newfound knowledge and power, the witch begins the journey back to their ordinary world, now equipped with a deeper understanding of their whole self.

    10. Resurrection: The witch faces a final test or confrontation that challenges their integration of the Shadow Self, solidifying their transformation and understanding of the life-death-rebirth cycle.

    11. Return with Wisdom: The witch returns to their community, sharing the wisdom gained from their journey, including insights on the importance of acknowledging and embracing one’s own shadow.

    12. The New Ordinary World: The witch finds a place in their community, living in harmony with both the magical and mundane worlds, embodying a balance of light and shadow, contributing to a holistic understanding of existence.

Last Step: The Eternal Cycle

    13. The Wheel of the Year: The witch embraces the cyclical nature of existence, celebrating seasonal festivals and the ongoing journey of life, death, and rebirth. They recognize that integrating the Shadow Self is an ongoing process, each cycle presenting new opportunities for growth and transformation.

Again, this is a draft, and I need to find some solid game applications for this. I want to add up the horror elements a bit. This journey needs to be a terrifying experience for the witch, but ultimately, a rewarding one where the witch emerges reborn.

I like what I have here, to be honest. 

RPG Blog Carnival

This post is for my October RPG Blog Carnival: Horror and Fantasy.