If you enjoyed the previous adventures in this series, like I have, then you know what to expect here.
If you love the old-school style modules but want something that is just "a little more" then I highly recommend these.
One day my plan is to run these all with some flavor of B/X since the adventures top out at 14th level. Though the adventures are very much in the 1st Ed D&D vein and not really "Basic", it's what I want to do with them.
Maybe when the Advanced books for Old-School Essentials come in I'll revisit this idea.
Another monster I have been playing around with for a while. This one goes all the way back to my AD&D years, though under a different name. I have always liked the idea that Lichdom is never an assured thing for evil wizards and a lot can go wrong. Here is one of those times.
Dybbuk Medium Undead (Incorporeal) Frequency: Very Rare Number Appearing: 1 (1) Alignment: Chaotic (Chaotic Evil) Movement: 180' (60') [18"] Armor Class: 4 [15] Hit Dice: 12d8+36*** (90 hp) Attacks: 1 touch or by spells Damage: 1d6+3 cold damage, or by spell (see below) Special: Ethereal, incorporeal, harmed only by magic, possession, animate dead, undead Size: Medium Save: Magic-user 12 Morale: 10 Treasure Hoard Class: Special (dybbuk box) XP: 3,500 (B/X, OSE) 3,600 (LL)
The process of becoming a lich is filled with peril and risk. Thankfully, for the forces of good, few learn the secret and fewer still meet with success. While most of the failed attempts to become a lich end with the permanent death of many evil mages, sometimes the process fails, the body is destroyed but the evil spirit lives on. These failed attempts at lichdom as known as a Dybbuk.
The dybbuk is the disembodied spirit of an evil magic-user who attempted to become a lich but whose body was destroyed before the final process was complete. The spirit remains tied to the mortal realms, unable to complete its transformation to a lich or move on to whatever plane it was due to move on too in the afterlife. The creature is evil and has a hatred for all living things.
A dybbuk is an incorporeal creature inhabiting the ethereal plane. It is invisible and can only be hit by magical weapons that can attack ethereal creatures. The creature will appear like a spectre and can be mistaken for one. When it chooses to attack a creature it will reenter the material world and become visible to all.
The most feared attack of the dybbuk is its ability to possess others. They will seek out magic-users and their pride demands that they seek out only the ones of the highest levels to possess. The victim must make a saving throw vs. spells (Lawful victims have a +1 to saves, Chaotic victims have a -1 to saves) or become possessed by the dybbuk. If possessed the victim gets another save every 24 hours. However, there is a progressive -1 each day to the save. Additionally, the victim will lose 1 point of constitution each day. When they reach 0 they are dead and cannot be resurrected as the dybbuk has destroyed their body and soul. If a victim makes the save the dybbuk cannot make another attempt for 24 hours.
Once in the body of a magic-user, the dybbuk will use any spells their host body knows. Typically they will attack anyone and everyone nearby, such is their hate for all living things. Those that can see ethereal creatures will see the dybbuk “riding” on the back of the possessed victim. A dybbuk also has the ability to animate 3d6 HD worth of skeletons and/or zombies. The bodies must be readily available, but a dybbuk will make sure plenty are on hand near it’s lair. These undead creatures follow the orders of the dybbuk til they are destroyed.
The dybbuk can be turned by a cleric as if it were a lich. Once in a victim though only an Exocism, Holy Word, Cleanse or similar spells will be effective in driving the evil spirit out. When the dybbuk is forced out it will spend the next 24 hours in its Dybbuk Box, or where its soul now resides. To fully destroy a dybbuk this housing for their soul must be destroyed.
I have gone on record with my love for the newest generation of D&D Players. They are passionate about the game they play and they LOVE their characters. I know that can sometimes feel a bit odd to the old-school crowd, but I don't care. They have passion and energy and it is them that will carry role-playing into the future for the next generations, not us.
Among all these "New School" players one of my favorites is Ginny Di. I'll provide some links below.
I featured her last week as the start of my Tasha's Week of Everything. She did a cosplay of Tasha, sponsored by Wizards of the Coast. It was a fun video and I enjoyed seeing all the work she put into the costume.
This week she is back with another great video. Here is her Twitter post for it.
pictured: a dyed-hair woke millennial snowflake feeeemale here to put her girly SJW hands all over your tabletop games 😌 pic.twitter.com/fv9ACwbG1o
— Ginny Di 📆 #Natural2021 calendar (@itsginnydi) December 2, 2020
And the video itself.
I know what you are thinking and to quote the Ninth Doctor, "I bet you are fussing and moaning right now, typical."
But really, how is this any different than what we all used to do anyway? Roll 3d6 in order and deal with it. Ginny is not so much against "Old School" as she thinks. Maybe against the "Middle School" of character optimization (positive spin) or Min-Maxing (negative spin).
It is also great advice. Characters should never be perfect. Flaws, quirks, and shortcomings make for far more interesting characters. Stan Lee knew this well. Peter Parker was a neurotic teen struggling to make ends meet. Doctor Strange was an arrogant prick before and even after his accident. Tony Stark was an arrogant prick alcoholic. I have/had a cleric who is afraid of the dark, a warlock who is colorblind, a dwarven thief that was kicked out of his clan, loves opera, and hates ale (one did not cause the others).
One of the things the New School D&D players do and do well is to think about their characters and try to build a good group dynamic. This is mocked in Old School circles as "back story" but that is a rather naïve or limiting way of looking at it. It is simply a different way of having fun with the same game.
Here is another video where she talks about 50 Character Builder Questions to ask of your character. Now in a game like D&D where characters can grow and change a lot based on what happens around them then I say it is ok to answer "I don't know yet" or even change answers later.
She does these before each session (not all of them of course) and I think that is a good way of doing things. I have been looking at her list and thought I might use some of them for my 31-day character challenge in January.
Aisling
An aisling is a poetic dream or vision and an Irish name for girls. It is also the name of Ginny's elf warlock/druid character. And she is also such a great character! Here are some videos about her character.
Count me among those that have grown to love Aisling as well. She is such a great character and sounds like she is a lot of fun despite no because of her various flaws.
Since I feel that Ginny's advice is actually in line with Old School character creation ethos I wanted to try to recreate Aisling for old school/OSR D&D. Since she is a warlock/druid "witchdaughter" it makes sense to me that she is a type of witch. Her Fey patron, Ùir, the Woman of the Soil, would make her a good Faerie Witch, but given her multiclassing into a druid and other factors, I see her as a Green Witch. All apologies to Ginny for borrowing Aisling here.
Dragonlance is back in the news (and not for great reasons) now and it got me thinking about the original trilogy. I thought maybe in this Covid time I would return to Krynn and see how well my memory of it holds up.
There is an old saying, "The Golden Age of Sci-Fi/Fantasy is 14." That rings truest for me here since I was 15 when Dragons of Autumn Twilight was released in November 1984. I devoured these books back then. I had been on a steady diet of Tolkien and Moorcock and others that I thought of as "near-D&D", since these books actually had real D&D terms and spells in them they had to be better, right. RIGHT?
Well...even then I could still "hear dice being rolled in the background" as it were.
I'll be blunt. The books are not great and a lot of my fondness for them has more to do with the time in which I read them and nostalgia. This was never brought into sharper focus than when I tried to reread them about 12 years ago. The icing on the cake was the terrible direct to video movie of Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight.
I like Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. They are very good people. I like their adventures. Ravenloft by Tracy is one of my all-time favorites. The Legends Trilogy is good as far as my memory goes. So I am rereading this again with a more open frame of mind.
Instead of complaining about these stories for what they are not, I am going to enjoy them for what they are. I am not sure if I'll post much about them here. Covid-19 is doing a number on the Universities and I have never been busier, so my free time to read is limited to a couple of minutes over lunch. But if something comes up then yeah, I'll share.
I can say this, I am three chapters in and I am enjoying what I am reading. There is heart here and that is something some other books seem to lack.
We have a few new releases for fans of NIGHT SHIFT: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars.
A Faustian Dilemma is a new "Night Trip" from my co-author Jason Vey. It is a new scenario for NIGHT SHIFT and also includes a new Night World, City of the Twilight Queen, a base setting that will serve as a common basis for adventures moving forward, but which can also easily be removed for those who wish to run in their own worlds.
One of the things I always felt AD&D was lacking in was good representations of the forces of Good. I mean we have thousands of demons, devils, daemons, demodands, and everything in-between, but we didn't get anything like an angel until the Monster Manual II and then only three types.
Now the in-game reason is clear, these are not meant to be fought because the assumption is all parties tend towards good. There may have been an outside influence as well. Gary may not have wanted to encroach on his own beliefs here and there was always the nod to pressure from the outside.
With the publication of 3rd Edition and additionally Pathfinder this changed a bit. Now Devas, Planetars, and Solars are classified as angels. But that still leaves open all the different types such as thrones, cherubim, malakim, seraphim, and not to mention the Archangels.
So ignoring all that lore and history, I am still making up my own! Here is one that made appearances in my Buffy RPG games and adapted from my earlier WitchCraft RPG games and had root in my AD&D 2nd ed games.
Angel, Lunar
Large Celestial (Angelic)
Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 1 or 2d6 Alignment: Lawful [Lawful Good]
Movement:180' (60') [18"] Fly: 240' (80') [24"]
Armor Class: 0 [19]
Hit Dice: 13d8+52* (124 hp)
Attacks: 2 by weapon type +5 (STR bonus +3, magic bonus +2)
Damage: 1d10+3 x2
Special: Magic required to hit (+2), 80% magic resistance, spell-like abilities
Size: Large
Save: Monster 13
Morale: 12 Treasure Hoard Class: None
XP: 5,150 (OSE), 5,300 (LL)
Lunars are tall angels with pale skin and wings, golden hair bright eyes. They are the most "human" looking of angels since their duty is to guard human realms. They are the angels who live closest to humans compared to other angelic types. They are typically armed with large glowing swords that they use to perform their primary function, the protection of mortals from demonic forces. Where Planetars deal with evil in general, the Lunars focus on demonic forces and chaotic (evil) monsters and mortals.
These servants of good are always of Lawful (Good) alignment. They will most often be encountered alone (75%) or as part of a hunting party (25%) of 2d6 (7) members. If encountered alone they will be scouting for potential demonic threats, a hunting party has discovered such a threat and have been sent by a Lawful (Good) deity or solar to deal with them.
Lunars have the following Spell-like abilities that they can cast as a Lawful Cleric of 10th level (Wisdom 21). At will: Become Astral or Ethereal, Cure Light Wounds, Know Alignment, Light, Protection from Evil, Remove Fear. 3x per day: Bless, Commune, Continual Light, Cure Serious Wounds, Hold Person, Neutralize Poison, Remove Curse. 1x per day: Dispel Evil, Protection from Evil 10' Radius. Additionally, a lunar may "Turn" undead as a cleric of the 13th level. Demons and chaotic (evil) creatures are affected as if they had a Cause Fear spell cast on them by the lunar. Chaotic (evil) humanoids are allowed a saving throw vs. spells at -4 to avoid these effects. Creatures or characters that are immune to normal fear gain a +2 to their rolls to save. Creatures immune to magical fear sill must make a saving throw, but at +4 to their rolls. Lawful (good) creatures are not affected by this aura of fear. The swords of Lunars are considered to be Lawful intelligent swords, +2. They only function in the hands of a lunar (or it is assumed, a solar of Lawful alignment). Lunars prefer not to kill mortals if they can help it, but will do so if the greater good requires it.
These angels also have 80% magic resistance, are immune to the attacks of undead (ghoul paralysis, mummy rot, life level drain) and lycanthropes. They are resistant to fire and add +4 to any saving throw based on cold or death-related attacks. Their eyes reflect paralysis and petrification gaze back on to the monsters using them. If killed their bodies dissolve in a shimmer of silver light and they are reformed in the Silver City in the Heavens.
Lunars do not trouble themselves in the affairs of mortals except where their primary function of destroying demons comes in. A lunar will for example destroy the summoning circles of demonic magic-users and warlocks and destroy their libraries, but will not actually kill the offending mortal. A lunar may be summoned by a lawful cleric if the proper rituals are followed. Though the lunar will not be under any compulsion to appear, it will get their attention. If the need is great (demon incursion into the mortal realms) then such summoning can be foregone and they will respond to an earnest plea.
It's Shopping Saturday (is that a thing?) today and DriveThruRPG is having their big Black Friday / Cyber Monday Sales. There is not really enough time to order and get a Print on Demand book for a gift, you can certainly gift a PDF to someone or gift yourself something.
I am participating so there are a lot of great deals on books from The Other Side.
In particular, the books of my Basic Era Series are on sale.
Hope everyone in the U.S. had a good Thanksgiving. We stayed here at home and had Zoom time with my family. Ate a lot, watched some TV. It was/is nice.
Now our thoughts turn to Christmas and the holiday season and mine turn to the new year.
I have a couple projects I am looking forward to doing this new year but one I thought I'd share now in case anyone wants to join me.
There is a new Social Media challenge, New Year, New Character Challenge. Some people are planning to do this in December, but I am planning it for January.
The idea is to make a new character every day for Januarary. I make a lot of characters here already so this could be fun, but not exactly a challenge is it?
For my part in this Challenge, I think I need to give it my own spin.
Since I am planning to make characters appropriate to this blog, I am going to make characters that could be part of my War of the Witch Queens or even ones to help me define the parameters of my High Witchcraft book. In any case, they will all be new characters, as per the original challenge, but not all will be witches.
I am planning on focusing on old school games, but in truth, it will be games I have here at home. I'd like to focus on games I don't usually do here, but for 31 days I will have some choices.
So for now I am going to gather up my games and figure out what I want to do next, in any case it will be a lot of fun.
Last Thursday was the Supernatural Series Finale. 15 years, the longest-running genre show on American television. A little show that started with two brothers, some 80s mixtapes, and a black 1967 Chevy Impala. Driving the back roads of the US hunting monsters and saving people.
It was every Chill or Call of Cthulhu game I ever played. It is exactly what I would do in NIGHT SHIFT.
It was also the one show that everyone in my family watched. We didn't start in 2005, the pilot freaked my wife out. But we came to it later and binged watched all the past seasons one Christmas break. We all sat together and watched the adventures of Sam, Dean, and eventually Cass, Crowley, and later Jack. It was wonderful really.
Updating Sam
Last week I posted stats for Sam Winchester. I chatted a bit with my co-author Jason Vey and he suggested that I instead make a Sam a "Supernatural" race. This would work well with his background as a "Special Child." In fact, it works much better, given his ill-defined and ever-changing powers. I would drop the level in Psychic and give it back in Veteran or more likely Sage.
This works a lot better and ties in a little better to some other thoughts I had while watching the finale.
That Finale
Ok, Finale Spoilers follow. You have been warned.
In the mean-time here is sister group Neoni covering Wayward Son that appeared in the finale.
The last episode pretty much played out as I expected it would. The Winchesters settling into their new routine. To me, it looks like something that would have gone on every day for months without change. Until they get notice of some kidnappings. They consult their dad's journal (nice call back to the beginning of the series) they find some vampires, make short work of them, but in the process, Dean was mortally wounded. Doesn't matter that they fought demons, monsters, the devil, and even God himself, they are still men and Dean gets impaled on a bit of rebar.
Dean dies and Sam has to move on. He does. Gets married (maybe it's to Eileen, I certainly hope so), has a son (Dean Jr.), he grows old and dies. He reunites with Dean in Heaven.
#TheySilencedThem
Let's also talk about the finale and the things unsaid.
The Destiel fans are upset that not only did they not get the closure they wanted, but it also seems some scenes were later edited after filming. I get their complaints. I really, really do. I was in the same place about 20 years ago with Tara. Everything they are complaining about is 100% legitimate.
I do wonder if Covid-19 had not kept Misha Collins out of the filming if things would have been different. Evidence sadly suggests otherwise.
Again, I am left where I was in 2002, I am just going to have to continue the story I want in my NIGHT SHIFT games.
Did Rowena get slighted in the end? No. I don't think so. Yes, there was confirmation that she was bi and then she ended up in Hell. But she wasn't killed for that and let's be honest, Rowena isn't *in* Hell, Rowena is *ruling* Hell. Being in Heaven would have been a punishment to her. She even says if she knew it was going to be this good she would have done it years ago.
No, Rowena in Hell as its Queen gives her character new horizons.
Charlie is easily one of my favorite characters, behind Donna and Jodie, while it is never mentioned (and it could have been) we assume that Jack brought back her and Stevie along with everyone else. While I'd love to see more stories with her I think her best story would be to retire.
My favorite series that never was. Like Charlie, Jack brought the Wayward Sisters back. This we know because Sam gets a call from someone who got his number from Donna. We can assume then that this means Kaia and Claire are also alive. Whether they stay together or not is something to be played out. I know I am not with the same girl I was with at 18 or 19.
Knowing that they are all back though is great for my games, but sadly does nothing for the fandom wanting more.
I will say one of the first things I wanted to do was rewatch the series again from the start. With 327 episodes that would take a little bit; 6.3 years if I watch 1 a week. If I do I should do something with it.
What, you don't know about Wolfenoot, the holiday to celebrate all that is cool about the wolf and dogs? Well get yourself over to Wolfenoot.com to find out more then come back here.
I had come up with a couple of ideas here and there including a "mother of werewolves" and a werewolf/hag cross. But nothing I really liked. Until that is I read about "The She-Wolves of Jülich" and their connection to various witch trials that were going on around Germany in the 1500s. Often witches were burned on the suspicion that they would turn into werewolves. This was not the charge in and of itself, the crimes they were accused of were often the inversion of what good women were supposed to be at the time. They were accused of running wild, killing men and boys, eating babies, and killing livestock. Given the living conditions for most women at the time I would have not have been surprised by an occasional expression of homicidal rage.
There is something though compelling, even pagan, about the idea of shedding not just clothes but social mores and standards and running wild. Something that both Estés and Keesy know too well about.
Margaret Brundage, Weird Tales 1933
Wolf-Witch Medium Humanoid (Lycanthrope)
Frequency: Rare
Number Appearing: 2d6+1 (0) Alignment: Chaotic [Chaotic Neutral]
Movement: 240' (80') [24"] Human: 180' (60') [18"]
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Hit Dice: 3d8+3* (17 hp)
Attacks: by special weapon, claw/claw, or by magic or special
Damage: 1d4 x2, 1d4+1
Special: Silver or Magic required to hit, Witch spells
Size: Medium
Save: Witch 3
Morale: 8 (10) Treasure Hoard Class: XX
XP: 75 (OSE), 100 (LL)
By the light of the full moon, the Wolf-Witches gather. For the three nights of the full moon each month the women of the wolf witch covens gather and partake in a ritual that transforms them into wolves, much like a werewolf. They roam the countryside causing havoc and mayhem wherever they can.
The group requires at least one witch of 2nd level to cast the Summon the Spirit of the Wolf Ritual (qv). The majority of the other witches participating will be lower level (2nd or 1st), if the gathering is large (10 or more) then there will be a 3rd level witch with two 2nd level apprentices. The ritual begins after the sun has set and while the moon is rising. The witches dance around a bonfire and when the ritual is complete they transform into wolves. When the sun rises the next morning they will have transformed back into their normal human forms.
Unlike werewolves, wolf-witches are not necessarily evil. They also retain most of their mental faculties so they are able to cast at least one witch spell of 1st level per night. Also unlike werewolves, true wolves will join with the wolf-witches on their midnight, moonlit runs. Wolf-witches also cannot transmit lycanthropy via a bite.
Wolf-witches seek little more than the feeling of freedom being in wolf form gives them, though a little chaos is necessary. They will kill to protect themselves and their coven-pack.
Presented below is the ritual used. I am also experimenting with High and Low rituals for my next book.
New Ritual: Summon the Spirit of the Wolf
Summon the Spirit of the Wolf Level: Witch Ritual (Low): 1 Ritual Requirement: Two or more witches, one of at least 2nd level. Full moon. Duration: From Midnight to Sunrise during the Full Moon Range: All Participants
This ritual is only performed during the three nights of the full moon. The witches gather to cast the ritual but only one witch needs to know the actual spell, the others dance around a bonfire while the highest level witch cast the spell. At midnight all participants will then transform into Wolf-Witches where they will run and hunt until the morning.
At dawn, by the light of the rising sun, the witch will transform back into her normal form. If she is killed then she will remain in wolf form until the sunlight hits her body, thereupon she will transform.
During the "Wolf Moon" or the first full moon of the year (after Yule) there is a chance that anyone watching this secret ritual that they too will be pulled into the magic and become wolves. There is a 5% chance per number of witches present that others will be affected. Those unwilling affected must make a save vs. Spells or be transformed permanently. A Remove Curse will return them to human form, but only if cast before the next full moon (the "Snow Moon").
It is another Follow Friday here and since we are wrapping up Tasha's Week of Everything I thought it might be nice to detail some of the sites on the web and social media that feature Iggwilv, Tasha, and items from her history.
She has even made appearances in Golarion from the Pathfinder wiki. In particular as a former Queen of Irrisen. According to the Golarion timeline, she ruled 4113 AR to 4213 AR (current year 4720 AR).
Here we are. I know last week seemed like the "season finale" but tonight is the big "Series Finale".
Let's do this!
I have talked a bit about Supernatural here. Certainly not as much as my fandom might indicate. Supernatural is the one show that everyone in my family all watches together. My wife and kids all sit down to watch it. Doesn't matter what else we watch or what we do, this is the one show we always watch.
Supernatual then was also the test bd for NIGHT SHIFT.
I have been pretty open about what my personal design goals for NIGHT SHIFT have been. I wanted to be able to play ANY modern supernatural urban-fantasy I know. I want a game where I can create any sort of witch I want and have access to magic, demons, and the like. NIGHT SHIFT does all of this.
So when I was playtesting this with my kids there were two characters that were absolutely perfect. Sam and Dean Winchester.
Dean Winchester 15th level Veteran, Human
Strength: 16 (+2) s Dexterity: 18 (+3) P Constitution: 18 (+3) s Intelligence: 14 (+1) Wisdom: 14 (+1) Charisma: 18 (+3)
Sam has had an interesting arc. He starts out as a veteran at a very young age. Because he also has/had some demon blood in him he was telekinetic for a while, but that only manifests when he drinks demon blood. He is also a Sage and has played that role well in the 15 seasons of the show.
It was also stated a few times that he was Rowena's "student" so a couple levels of Witch might have been appropriate, but I think Sage covers it well. I could also see Sammy with a couple of levels of Survivor, but again, the Sage abilities cover that.
Both brothers have high Charisma. They need to be able to talk their way in and out of situations a lot. Plus they have been on the air for 15 years.
Likewise, Dean could have also had a level or two of Sage, due to his Men of Letters status, but really Veteran covers it all.
Regardless where tonight's LAST episode takes us (and it was looking a little dicey two weeks ago!) I know that if I want to continue the story I have these write-ups and NIGHT SHIFT.
