Quick one today. Lots going on at the day job to keep me busy!
I had not noticed it, but with the moving around of my various cloud accounts, I had killed my Downloads Page.
Well I spent some time on it yesterday and now I have it working with Google Drive. And because I am never satisfied with just a link, there are Grid View and List View windows to see all the files.
I figure since I spent so much time on the code for this I should add a few things.
So I included the PDF previews of all my witch books on DriveThruRPG. There are few files that Eden studios have given me permission to host/share and I figured, what the hell, there are a few of my AD&D 2nd Ed "Netbooks" there. You can find my original "Complete Netbook of Witches & Warlocks" as well as the AD&D 2nd Ed Priest Kit, the Sun Priest here.
The Sun Priest shares DNA with the witch as one of the classes I created back in my earliest days of gaming. The Healer and Necromance complete the quad. One day I really should finish up that healer class.
I also included the free "Basic" and "S&W" witch character sheets here and a copy of the AD&D Tournament scorecard I have used in the past.
I will be adding to this as I can. If there are enough files then I'll start a nested folder structure, but right now there are only 30 odd files here.
One thing I *will* add are the Google Sheets of the witch spells I have made. This help people figure out which witch book they want to buy and if anyone needs an OGC spell they now know where to look.
Let me know if there is anything you would like to see added to this.
One of the things we must keep in mind when reading any Celtic myth or story is that the ones we have now were handed down to us from oral traditions and then recorded by Irish Christian monks. While I am sure they did their best to preserve what they could they undoubtedly recorded them from the point of view of a Christian. Even the later King Cycle of Irish myths included Christian themes.
What does that mean to us, or more to the point, me and One Man's God? Often it is not easy to tell if a "demon" from a Celtic Myth is a demon in their own world view OR a demon from the Christian world view. Don't claim they all have to be Christian, we don't know and the experts are also split. But that honestly should not matter to us. I don't care if they are a "Celtic demon" or "Christian demon," are they a "Monster Manual Demon?"
Thankfully we have some candidates. But first let's go back to our primary source, the AD&D Deities & Demigods.
I mentioned in my Part 1 that there are not a lot of great candidates for demons in the text of the D&DG. I even disagree with the idea that Arawn is Lawful Evil. After rereading the First Branch of the Mabinogi I see the Lawful, but not the Evil. Lawful Neutral is a better fit really. His abode, Annwn, is described as beautiful, unchanging, and without pain or suffering. Hardly the MO of an evil god.
There are creatures though that could be described as demons.
Air Demon
I did a write-up a bit ago about the Swan Maidens and the Children of Lir. In the tale Aoifé, step-mother of the Children of Lir, turned the children into swans. As punishment, she was changed into a Demon of the Air. We know from the tale that demons of the air are immortal.
Air DemonDemon Boar
The importance of the wild boar and the boar hunt in Celtic myth and even life can't be understated. The Welsh prince Twrch Trwyth was transformed into a boar. Diarmuid the Irish warrior and member of the Fianna goes on a boar hunt but is killed by the Great Boar of Ben Bulben who had been his transformed half-brother. There are plenty of other examples of boars as monsters in Irish my including one with Cú Chulainn about a giant boar with tusks of gold and a hide as thick as armor.
Demon BoarThe demon boar is a demonic spirit that inhabits the body of a boar and creates a true monster.
The boar grows large and fierce. Its tusks become gold and razor-sharp. Its hooves become iron and cause flames to erupt as it runs. Its natural hide is thick as armor. It is immune to all but magical weapons.
The Demon Boar is intelligent enough to plan and scheme. Some can even speak. Its normal tactic is to encounter a group of hunters and use its Cause Fear to scatter them into smaller groups. It then will pick off the hunters one by one. It relishes in the death and fear it causes. It lives only to kill great heroes.
Only great weapons such as the Gáe Bulg of Cú Chulainn or the Claíomh Solais of Nuada Airgeadlámh have any chance of bringing this fiend down.
Irish Ways and Irish Laws
I love Celtic myth and history. It is all just so fantastic and fascinates me a in way that Greek and Norse myths never did, though the Norse myths come close.
Since I mentioned the book Irish Witchcraft & Demonology I should link out to the write-up I did on Ireland's most notorious witch, Alice Kyteler.
One of my favorite bits of Irish and Celtic mythology for a game is Brian Young's Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum. Brian has a Ph.D. in Bythronic languages and has been a gamer even longer. He is exactly the sort of person I'd want to write a book like this. Sure, you don't need a Ph.D. to write game materials, but it sure helps!
And finally here is one I just found today, but it has been up for a bit. FilmRise has the entire 1987, 6-part BBC Studios documentary, The Celts, on YouTube. This fantastic documentary educated many on the history and archeology of the Celts as well as introducing the world to the music of Enya.
Go n-éirí an bóthar leat!
Today is an interesting monster from German folklore. The Drude is a type of malevolent nocturnal spirit. Depending on who is doing the classification it could be a spirit, an elf, a kobold, a demon, a hag, or even a witch. Like many creatures of folklore, they do not conform to the notions of RPG creatures.
The question is what sort of thing a Drude (pl. Druden) is. Even when one considers it a kobold, there is a lot of debate about what THAT is as well.
But I think I have an interesting idea.
Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 1d2 (1d4)
Alignment: Chaotic [Chaotic Evil]
Movement: 90' (30') [9"]
Armor Class: 7 [12]
Hit Dice: 3d8* (14 hp)
Small: 3d6* (11 hp)
Attacks: dagger or witch spell
Damage: 1d4-1
Special: daylight sensitivity, infravision, witch magic.
Save: Witch 3
Morale: 6 (8)
Treasure Hoard Class: None
XP: 50 (OSE) 65 (LL)
Kobolds can be found in the underground caverns of nearly any climate or environment. Their ability to adapt and even thrive in areas where other creatures would perish is one of their greatest strengths is a world that only recognizes strength.
When a kobold group moves into an area near a hag the hag's corrupting influence will cause a Drude to be born among the Kobolds. A drude, plural druden, is a type of kobold but is usually smarter and has the ability to use magic. Often called "kobold witches" these creatures will seek out the hag, or hags, that caused them to spawn in an attempt to serve them. The hag will often teach the kobold their magic instead of killing and eating them. No one is exactly sure why this happens, save that it might grant the hags a bit of attention and even veneration they crave.
A drude can cast spells as a 3rd level witch and may advance to as high as the 7th level. They are treated as if they are either part of the Faerie or Malefic Traditions. A drude typically favors spells that create fire or cause fire damage. A drude will typically take a hag as their patron, usually the hag that is local to them. The hag teaches the drude witchcraft and magic and in return, the kobold tribe serves the hag or hags.
In combat, the drude, despite their eldritch powers, are still weak in a battle. They will avoid combat when they can and would rather strike an opponent from a distance. A drude among a group of kobolds will raise their overall morale by 2 since the combination of both magic and normal kobold strike tactics mesh well.
Druden are vulnerable to sunlight. They attack at -2 in any form of bright sunlight or at -1 for reduced sunlight or a Continual Light spell. They have infravision to 90'.
The offspring of a drude and a kobold will be a drude.
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Klash-Nak is a kobold witch of the 4th level. Her patron is an Annis hag she calls "Mother Nightmare."
I have never seen "Hawk the Slayer."
Not even once. That is until today.
Hawk the Slayer
Well, it has Jack Palance chewing up scenes like he always does. A funky post-disco soundtrack that is so 1980 it makes me want to find a pair of roller skates. But it also features the recently late William Morgan Sheppard as Ranulf. Patricia "Magenta" Quinn as a sorceress. And Christopher Benjamin (Jago from Doctor Who). So certainly an interesting cast.
The "Adventuring Party" is made up of Hawk (a fighter or ranger), Ranulf an old fighter, Gort (a giant), Crow (an elf), Baldin (a dwarf), even a sorceress. I have to admit they are kind of fun.
With some of the music and scenes, there is a solid spaghetti western feel to this.
Jack Palance must have had the time of his life with this. Overacting. Running around like a Ren Faire Darth Vader. The dynamic between Hawk, Voltan, and Eliane is not entirely unlike that of Sergei, Strahd, and Tatyana.
The movie is fun, if predictable. But not exactly a classic really. Sorry, Tim.
Though I can see why everyone wanted a sequel, but I think it works best as D&D inspiration. The characters would make fun NPCs for anyone familiar with the movie.
Gaming Content
Elfin Mind Stone and Mind Sword - this sword has the ability to detect the thoughts and actions of anyone the wielder is fighting against. This translates to a +4 to hit and a +3 to AC and even allows the wielder to fight in conditions that would otherwise blind them. It can cast light once per day. The wielder of the mind sword can summon the sword to hand at will.
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Tim Knight of Hero Press and Pun Isaac of Halls of the Nephilim along with myself are getting together at the Facebook Group I'd Rather Be Killing Monsters to discuss these movies. Follow along with the hashtag #IdRatherBeWatchingMonsters that is if I can get my co-admins to agree this is the best hashtag for this!
I am really enjoying HeroForge.
Maybe, too much really. I have nearly a hundred characters I have made and I have bought a few as well that I love.
So really it was only a matter of time before I made my own HeroForge Zatanna.
I also used the lighting effects on her. It works out well in the screenshots, but I still trying to find the proper "magic" for the printed minis. For example here is another mistress of magic, The Simbul holding silver flame.
And here is how it looks printed.
Not bad, but I can certainly tweak it a bit more.
Z would be a welcome addition to my growing group of magical people.
And while I was working on this we are NOW getting reports that an HBO Max series or movie for Zatanna is on the way!
Looks like we could be getting Batgirl, Batwoman, and more Shazam! This could be great!
"A fine website, but even more than that...THANKS FOR THE GREAT PARODY OF THE DARK DUNGEONS TRASH! Best wishes."
Gary Gygax circa 1999
Back in 1994, I moved to Chicago to work on my Ph.D. and be closer to my then-girlfriend (spoiler, I married her in 1995). I was working at the College of Education at the time as their tech-monkey. I told them I knew how to write code. I did/do, but it was all Pascal, Fortran, and some C and VisualBasic. What they wanted was HTML though they really didn't know it at the time. I built their student databases and worked on their nascent website.
My very first website, made in 1995, was The Chicago Campus Crusade for Cthulhu. I had all my Call of Cthulhu materials online and it was a parody site. This was quickly followed by my Gateway2000 PC site (yes I was a huge fan of Gateway computers). I had built them both in Notepad, a tool I still use today to edit all my HTML.
The earliest captures were 1998, but by then I had been on for 2-3 years. I was using the "noarchive" tag and "Frame breaker" scripts a lot back then because there was a real concern for webpage theft and spaghetti publishers. I thought that would help. What they do was keep my site from being archived by bots.
This kept me from finding the very first versions of my sites, though I still have all the HTML code backed up. I did notice that when I went back for my second Ph.D. my student account was reactivated and there are some captures from around then as well.
In any case, the knowledge I gained from those sites was poured into my newest site, The Other Side.
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| So dark. Very Internet. Much frames. |
I named it after an old newspaper column I wrote for my school newspaper in High School and then my first year of undergrad. Plus it sounded mystical and new agey.
I am not 100% sure of the exact day it went live. I know it was between March 10th and the 12th because that was my wife's birthday. Also, I was in a Cognition of Memory course at the time when I jotted down my first ideas for it in my notebook. So that was Spring term 96.
The site changed over the years. I added more and more material and soon it was the home of my first Netbook of Witches and Warlocks, published in 1999. I had moved from my campus site to RPGHost for the longest time. From there I was also on Xoom, NBCi, Tripod, and then PlanetADnD.
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| Whoa, easy there Darklord. |
Around 2003 or so I kept getting hacked and my sie taken down. My host asked me to take it down for a bit because of all the DoS attacks he was getting. So for a while, all that remained were some mirrors of the site that I rarely updated.
The site was revived in 2007 on this blog.
I still use the same background, though in a much-lightened fashion. Some of the material written for that old site has also come back here.
Sadly many of my then contemporaries are gone. PlanetADnD is no more. BlueTroll has been gone a long time. All the old hosting services are long gone. I see that ADnDDownloads is still up after a fashion. Mimir, the Planescape site, is still going and looks the same as it did back in the 1990s, though I don't think it has been updated in 10 years and many links are broken.
While I miss some of the "wild west" days of finding the perfect, or the perfectly odd, netbook, things are better now. DriveThruRPG gives me legal means to complete my collection and DMGsguild covers my need for fan-created material. And that is just the tip of the iceberg as it were.
Do I have it in me to go another 25? Well...I'll be in my mid to late 70s then, so no idea. But I am going to keep having fun with this as long as I can.
Thanks for being with me this long!
I will admit it. I kinda take GaryCon for granted. It's a fun con and it usually happens around my kid's spring breaks and it is only about an hour-long drive. We can go there, play some games and sleep in our own beds afterward.
Well, leave it to this pandemic to let me know what got once it is gone!
This year I, along with the rest of Elf Lair Games, will be running some NIGHT SHIFT games for Ethereal Gary Con XIII.
This year I am running NIGHT SHIFT: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars along with Elf Lair Games founder Jason Vey and Derek Stoelting (one of our long-time collaborators from our Eden Studios days).
Registration for badges is ongoing, event registration has begun for some badge holders and will open up next week.
Here are the games we are running.
You are the SPECTOR DETECTORS! The hottest ghost hunting channel on FaceTube! Or at least you will be, one day. Right now you are busy checking out every reported haunted house in the tri-county area. Your team knows that the ghosts are fake, with a little bit of technological know-how and some good-sounding esoterica. You hope your next assignment, the historic Willow Crest Manor, will be your ticket to internet fame, glory, and plenty of advertising impressions.
Let’s Get Detecting!
This introductory NIGHT SHIFT game is run by RPG co-designer Tim Brannan.
Event Number 1026
Saturday at 2:00 PM (Central Time)
Hosts Timothy S. Brannan (1749)
Room 04 - Fate of the Norns Room
Duration 3 hours
I wish I could play them all, to be honest. It has been YEARS since Derek, Jason and I have thrown dice together at a Con.
NIGHT SHIFT should appeal to fans of old-school games and modern supernatural/paranormal fiction fans. Essentially if you like the work we all have done of previous games (Buffy, AFMBE, Ghosts, AA, and more) then you should enjoy this.
I'll post when the games are ready for registration.
I am considering doing the A to Z Blogging Challenge again this year. It's been a couple of years since I have done it. I was feeling I was alienating my regular readers with it in favor of people just coming through from the Challenge.
So this year I wanted to do something that any and all readers would enjoy. This year I am doing Monsters.
The idea here is to give me some external motivation to get my two monster books done.
For new readers, there will monsters which are always fun. Since many come from the tales of fantasy, myth, and folklore maybe there will be something they can use for their own writing or just enjoyment. For my regular readers, new monsters with stats. I am also looking for all sorts of feedback on not just the monsters, but the stat blocks as well.
The one I have been using on my Monstrous Mondays has been working well for me, but I am sure I can tweak it some more.
The monsters for April A to Z will likely favor the Basic Bestiary I, covering all sorts of witchcraft-related monsters with plenty of fae and undead, but I am not ruling out some demons for Basic Bestiary II.
Both books will come in softcover (Basic red) and hardcover (orange spine) versions. So they will work with whatever version of the game you are playing. The interiors are the same with stat blocks designed to work with both the "Basic" and "Advanced" versions of the game.
So far Basic Bestiary has over 330 monsters with 156 of them complete. The others are various points.
Basic Bestiary II has over 500 demons, devils, and related monsters.
I am also going with my own compatibility logos on these since they really have gone beyond one system or the other. They are still largely "Basic" in nature, but as you can see from my Monstrous Mondays stat blocks they have a little bit of everything in the OGC. I am going to use this month to experiment.
You can see others doing their theme reveal over at the A to Z Blog until March 20.
Fans of Red Sonja all know Frank's work from the mid to late 70s. In truth, he defined the character nearly as much as Robert E. Howard, Roy Thomas, and Barry Windsor-Smith.
He certainly left his mark on her enduring legacy.
He was also known for Ghita of Alizarr and "Lann" in Heavy Metal magazine. He was an early cosplayer, taking on the role of "the Wizard." He would then judge Red Sonja look-a-like contests. Wendy Pini’s Sonja would be with him at many of these conventions and shows and predated the modern cosplay scene by decades.
Red Sonja
I have done stats for Red Sonja in the past for all sorts of systems:
Feels like a good time to update her to Old-School Essentials, Advanced Fantasy.
Strength: 15
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 11
Dexterity: 17
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 18
Saves
D:3 W:5 P:4 B:5 S:5
CS: 99%
HG: 56%
MS: 50%
Weapons
Sword +2, Great Axe, dagger
Strength: 13
Intelligence: 18
Wisdom: 14
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 15
Alignment: Neutral (neutral good)
Saves (+3, Robe of Protection)
D:5 W:6 P:5 B:8 S:5
Spells
First level: Detect Magic, Magic Missle, Read Magic, Shield
Second level: Detect Evil, Levitate, Locate Object, Wizard Lock
Third level: Fire Ball, Fly, Protection from Evil 10', Protection from Normal Missiles
Fourth level: Confusion, Dimension Door, Curse, Wizard Eye
Fifth level: Contact Higher Plane, Telekinesis, Teleport
Sixth level: Anti-Magic Shell, Disintegrate, Projected Image
Thorne is Red Sonja's wizard patron. He provides her with magical arms and armor. He is rather over-fond of attractive women.
I have been digging through some old documents this past week. Some old Ravenloft ones (the new Ravenloft book has me excited), some stuff on Irish myths (it is March after all), and even some of my old Color Computer files (I have...my reasons). One thing that came up a few times was an adventure I had written for Ravenloft back in 88 or 89 that featured a group of Swanmays and their betrayal and the hands of a drow assassin.
While the adventure itself would need some serious reworking to make it ready for primetime, I did do a lot of research on Swanmaidens, Swan women, and other similar creatures.
I figured an update was in order.
Frequency: Rare
Number Appearing: 1d4 (1d6)
Alignment: Lawful [Neutral Good]
Movement: 120' (40') [12"]
Fly (in swan form): 180' (60') [18"]
Swim: 150' (50') [15"]
Armor Class: 7 [12]
Hit Dice: 2d8* (9 hp)
Gwragedd Annwn, 3rd level: 3d8* (14 hp)
Gwragedd Annwn, 4th level: 4d8* (18 hp)
Gwragedd Annwn, 5th level: 5d8* (23 hp)
Gwragedd Annwn, 6th level: 6d8* (27 hp)
Gwragedd Annwn, 7th level: 7d8* (32 hp)
Gwragedd Annwn, 8th level: 8d8* (36 hp)
Gwragedd Annwn, 9th level: 9d8* (41 hp)
Gwragedd Annwn, 10th level: 10d8* (45 hp)
Gwragedd Annwn, 11th level: 11d8* (50 hp)
Gwragedd Annwn, 12th level: 12d8* (54 hp)
Gwragedd Annwn, 13th level: 13d8* (59 hp)
Gwragedd Annwn, 14th level: 14d8* (63 hp)
Attacks: claw, claw, bite
Damage: 1d6+4 x2, 1d8+4
Special: Shape change, magic required to hit, Swan Song
Size: Medium
Save: Fighter 2-14
Morale: 10 (12)
Treasure Hoard Class: VI (U)
XP: 25 (OSE) 29 (LL)
3rd level: 50 (OSE) 65 (LL)
4th level: 125 (OSE) 135 (LL)
5th level: 300 (OSE) 350 (LL)
6th level: 500 (OSE) 570 (LL)
7th level: 850 (OSE) 790 (LL)
8th level: 1,200 (OSE) 1,060 (LL)
9th level: 1,600 (OSE) 1,700 (LL)
10th level: 1,600 (OSE) 1,700 (LL)
11th level: 1,900 (OSE) 2,000 (LL)
12th level: 1,900 (OSE) 2,000 (LL)
13th level: 2,300 (OSE) 2,450 (LL)
14th level: 2,300 (OSE) 2,450 (LL)
The Gwragedd Annwn, also known as Swan Maidens, are humanoid maidens capable of turning into a swan. They only have this power while they remain unmarried. In this state, they are also considered to be creatures of the Fey.
All Gwragedd Annwn are rangers of a level equal to their HD. They will be equipped accordingly. Instead of cleric and magic-user spells these warriors may choose druid and witch spells respectively. They are fierce enemies of evil and chaos and fight it wherever they can.
They can attack with any weapon of their choosing. Most prefer to use finely crafted swords or longbows.
Employing a feather token they can transform into a large swan. It is believed that once they take a husband, they must give this token to him. Many are loathe to do that.
Many feel they can trace their lineage back to the great king Lir whose children were transformed into swans by their jealous step-mother.
Swan Song: If a Gwragedd Annwn is reduced to 0 hp she can begin a Swan Song. This song is similar in power to the Banshee keening, and will cause all around her, foe and friend, to experience profound sadness and will be unable to take any further action (no saving throw permitted). If she is heard by her sisters they will fly to her in swan shape to return her to their sanctuary. At this point she will either be healed or will die. It is believed that a swan song can only be used once in the life of a Gwragedd Annwn.
What can I say about Roger Corman? Well, to be honest, I am a huge fan. Sure his movies are schlock and represent some worst D-level movies and it is obvious that most of his casting choices were based not on the actress's ability to act but rather their willingness to take off their clothes. But all that aside Corman is praised for his ability to keep a tight production schedule, find people that are willing to work with him again and again, and keep a film under budget and on time.
There are also many, many modern directors that have worked with him and praised his work. Directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, John Sayles, and James Cameron. Ron Howard has been praised Corman's work on many occasions. He has over 400 producer credits and 56 director credits.
Corman is only the EP here, but there are plenty of similarities between this movie and Viking Woman from 1957.
Barbarian Queen (1985)
Barbarian Queen is a fairly typical fantasy fare. A barbarian queen, Amethea (played by the late Lana Clarkson who was killed by Phil Spector) is due to be married to Argan (Frank Zagarino) when her village is attacked by raiders. People are killed and others taken as slaves. Amethea and her friends Estrild (Katt Shea, who is likely the best actress in the bunch), Tiniara (Susana Traverso), and former victim Taramis (Dawn Dunlap) seek to free their people including Amethea's fiance. They meet up with Dariac (Andrea Scriven in her only role), a young girl who lives with the local rebels who enlists the barbarian's aid.
The first part is an excuse for some gory fights and a bunch of topless barbarian women running around or getting captured. I'll the movie credit, it does like to show the barbarian women as being strong and powerful.
Our big bad guy is Arrakur (Arman Chapman), he captures our heroines and threatens them with torture and death.
Argan manages to get his fellow gladiator-slaves to join him. The movie gets to the big fight and then just ends. Must have run out of money.
The movie is not terrible, it is just also not good. It could be the spiritual godmother to Xena: The Warrior Princess. Though that Boris Vallejo movie poster is actually the best part of the movie.
Katt Shea is fun to watch really. She looks like she is having the best time of her life acting in this.
Gaming Content
There is a torture chamber that would be good dungeon dressing. I like the idea of this being a "Queen needing to rescue the Prince" for once.
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Tim Knight of Hero Press and Pun Isaac of Halls of the Nephilim along with myself are getting together at the Facebook Group I'd Rather Be Killing Monsters to discuss these movies. Follow along with the hashtag #IdRatherBeWatchingMonsters that is if I can get my co-admins to agree this is the best hashtag for this!
A SPECIAL Zatannurday today.
Normally I talk about DC's resident backward talking magician in fishnets, but today let's spend some time with her Marvel universe counterpart and talk Wanda, Scarlet Witch, and WandaVision!
Ok, so I am going to TRY to avoid big spoilers for this week's big finale, but I am going to talk about some plot points of episodes 8 and 9. Not huge ones, I hope, well...one is.
Anyway, you have been warned! (OH and a minor Runaways spoiler too.)
So, it is not a huge secret that really I am not (or rather, was not) a huge fan of Wanda and Scarlet Witch. She was fun and all, but when it comes to magic in Marvel I am much more a fan of Dr. Strange.
WandaVision, and Elizabeth Olsen, have changed my mind.
The story is actually a simple one of grief pushing someone to the edge, and then right over the side into a weird alternate reality.
We see Wanda, as wonderfully described by Agatha Harkness/Agnes (played by the WONDERFUL Kathryn Hahn in what is the casting of a lifetime really) as "a baby witch with years of therapy ahead of her" instead join a radicalized group (HYDRA we later learn in the movies) and "Little orphan Wanda got up close and personal with an Infinity Stone that amplified what otherwise would have died on the vine." (Episode 8)
In just under 50 minutes we get the best version of Wanda's origin story ever that also explains her powers. She wields chaos magic and in Agatha's own words,
You have no idea how dangerous you are. You're supposed to be a myth, a being capable of spontaneous creation. Here you are, using it to make breakfast for dinner. Oh, yes, your children, Vision, this whole little life you've made. This is chaos magic, Wanda. That makes you... the Scarlet Witch.
Now that is something. The Scarlet Witch is not her code name, but a title, a "The" as it were. That would make something akin to the Imbolc Mage that I use in my games; a superpowerful witch capable of spontaneous magic. I do love a good prophecy about a superpowerful witch.
Beyond that the series, especially episode 8 was full of great material from Vision's "But what is grief, if not love persevering?" to Wanda's breakdown in the home that Vision bought for them (and pure Emmy-bait for Olsen).
But what I think is best about this whole series is not that it is about superpowerful people. It's about things we can relate to.
We are not watching Wanda because she is the Scarlet Witch, we are watching because she was a little girl, who loved her family, her bother, and learning to speak English by watching bootleg DVDs of American sitcoms. She lost her family, her brother, and the love of her life and despite being powerful there isn't a thing she can actually do about it. In the end that is something that everyone can relate to.
Including Agatha "And I Killed Sparky too" Harkness is just the delicious icing on an already great cake.
And that is not even getting into anything else like fake Pietro (called that one early on too!) or even my FIRST Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau as Photon. OH and another appearance of the Darkhold! The first was in Runaways Season 3.
Not sure if there will be a Season 2 or not, but it sets things up nicely for the next Doctor Strange movie.
It's DriveThruRPG's GM's Day Sales Starting today (well yesterday really).
With prices marked off a much as 40%.
There are plenty of books on sale from The Other Side.
For Basic-era Games
Reviews:
The Children of the Gods: The Classical Witch for Basic Era Games
Reviews:
Reviews:
The Craft of the Wise: The Pagan Witch Tradition
Reviews:
Reviews:
For Swords & Wizardry
The Witch for Swords & Wizardry White Box
The Green Witch for Swords & Wizardry
The Winter Witch for Swords & Wizardry
The Warlock for Swords & Wizardry
There are plenty of other great games and resources on sale as well.
