DMSGuild Witch Project: The Witch

Going to look at some more D&D 5 Witch classes today. These are all just called "The Witch." Since that was also the name of my first witch book back in 2012 I thought I should check them out.  As it turns out I have one for each primary spellcasting ability, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. 

For these DMSGuild classes, I am going to still follow my own rules and guidelines to make sure I am giving these a fair review.

The Witch by Jeroen Boogaard

This pdf is 8 (6 pages content, 1 cover, 1 page of spells) pages at $0.50, so right under my ¢10 per page guideline.  The pdf is full color but light on art. Mind you, that is not a big deal here since the art it does have is used to good effect. 

Presented here is a full 20 level spellcasting class similar in feel to the Pathfinder witch, including minor (five of these) and major hexes (also five of these).  They get a full 9 levels of spell casting slots and Intelligence is their spellcasting ability.   These witches also get an herbalism ability.  Their subtypes are known as "Covens" so that is a good thing.  There are the covens of the dragon, the ancestor, and of the wild.  Each coven gets some special abilities and additional spells.

There is a spell list on the last page, but no new spells.  There are some minor typos, but nothing that impedes the understanding of the text.

The Witch by Dave Rich

This PDF is 15 pages (1 cover, 10 pages content, 3 pages of Appendicies, 1 legal). No art.  The pice is $3.00 PWYW.  So twice my ¢10 per page guideline. 

This one presents the witch class with four archetypes and a sorcerous origin.  We get a full 20 levels of the witch class. Spellcasting is based on Wisdom, and the witch gets a full 9 levels of spellcasting.  This class has a limit on the total number of spells known.  For example, the witch has a full 22 spell slots from 1st to 9th level, but only knows 17 spells.  you can choose to forget a spell of lower level when a higher one is available.  Witches gain familiars here and have a number of unique powers.

The Archetypes of the witch are called Entropic Spirals here. There are the Spiral of Life, Spiral of Fate, Spiral of Bewitching, and Spiral of Glamour. There is a list of spells, with an expansion to cover Xanathar's Guide.   

Appendix A covers a sorcerous origin for witches. Appendix B details the author's thoughts on the creation of this class; namely Terry Pratchett's Discworld and Mage: The Ascension. 

Some neat ideas and I like the sorcerous origin.

Class: The Witch by Calum Brough

This PDF is 11 pages (1 cover, 1 table,  2 pages of spell list).  I don't recall if I paid $1.02 for this or $1.27. Either way right around my ten cents per page.  There is no art. 

This class is designed to be an arcane variant or compliment to the Druid.  A full 20 levels (as expected) with spellcasting to the 9th level of spells.  This class is a Charisma-based spell caster. There are some witch powers here, some are copied over from the druid.

The Archetypes for this witch are the Maiden, Mother, and Crone.  Each archetype has some nice powers to go along with it.  There are no new spells.

Each of these comes close to the idea of the witch, but not the ideal witch. 

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973)

After watching the "Werewolf Vs. the Vampire Woman" I remembered an old flick from the 70s called "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973)."  The werewolf reminded a bit of this flick so I thought I'd dig it up. I had not seen it in years.  

The movie feels like a "Hardy Boys" episode to be honest. Maybe it is how it is filmed.  The acting is not great.  At least Kerwin Mathews ("Robert") is good, but the kid Richie, played by Scott Sealey, isn't.  He has not been in anything else.  George Gaynes makes a cameo as a psychiatrist but is still a decade away from his role in Police Academy.

The movie is a bit slow really.  The only interesting thing about it is some of the werewolf bits (the extended forefinger was very memorable) and the hippie commune.  Now I had memories of these groups. They are obviously Christian of some sort, but they also have some odd things about them, belief in reincarnation and five-pointed stars (not exactly a pentagram, though that is what they call it) on their cross.  I distinctly recall them being more pagan than they are here.  It was the 70s and all sorts of freaky weird shit happened then.  Bob Homel, looking like a hippie John Goodman, delivers a memorable performance as Brother Christopher is what was going to be one of his last roles.   Actually, Brother Christopher is my favorite character. 

The werewolf transformations are pretty good for 1973, we are still a decade away from the genre-defining "American Werewolf in London."

Oh, and since it was the 70s cars explode the second they go off the road.

So the father is bit by a werewolf and now is one.  The only one that knows is the kid. 

What follows is fairly typical werewolf mayhem.

This one makes the connection between werewolf and Satanism more explicit. The scene where the hippies create a circle and Robert can't enter is an interesting one. I am not sure if it is interesting because it keeps the werewolf out or because of the combination of Christian and New Age beliefs.  

The movie is not exactly as I remember it, but it was better than I had hoped for.

Watched: 35
New: 24

NIGHT SHIFT and Old-School Content

Werewolves are easy enough, it's the group of Christian Pagans that has me the most intrigued.  I'd likely give Druids the same chance to turn lycanthropes like Clerics do undead.  Though I would make them a little more effective than Brother Christopher was.

Maybe include a sect of Theosophists that are Christopagan. 

So it's nearly 50 years later, Brother Christopher has passed, but he trained an elite force of Christo-pagan-hippies that travel the remote areas of the West Coast to the Rockies protecting the unwary from monsters like werewolves and sasquatches.  They seem like a group of burnouts, but really they are an effective group.  

Richie though has passed the curse on...

Monstrous Monday: Hyrrokkin Hag

Here is one I have been playing around with for a while now.  I am converting her from my d20 3.5 stats, so I hope it works out. 

Here is a monster that combines two great tastes that go great together, Norse Mythology and Werewolves.  Plus after watching some werewolf movies last night (and one tonight) it would be fun. 

Hag, Hyrrokkin
Large Fey (Hag)
Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 1 (1)

Alignment: Chaotic [Chaotic Evil]
Movement: 120' (40') [12"]

  Wolf form: 180' (60') [18"]
Armor Class: 3 [16]
Hit Dice: 8d8+24** (64 hp)
Attacks: 2 claws or bite or spells
Damage: 1d8+4 x2 or 1d8+2 or by spell
Special: Witch spells (7th level), werewolf shape, damaged by silver
Size: Large
Save: Witch 8
Morale: 10

Treasure Hoard Class: VII (but no silver)
XP: 1,750

The Hyrrokkin Hags are believed to be the offspring of the great Jotun witch Hyrrokkin.  They can be identified by their pale skin, yellow eyes, and yellow hair.  They stand close to 9 ft. tall and are extremely strong (Strength 20).  They are known to keep wargs and dire wolves as servants and pets. Like their legendary mother, they will ride a warg the size of a war-horse.

Hyrrokkin Hags are fiercely territorial and will not suffer anyone to be in their self-proclaimed territories, especially other hags. While theoretically, they could form coveys with other hags, their hatred of them precludes this.  

They can transform into a large wolf or wolf hybrid as per a werewolf.  In this form, they can even transmit lycanthropy which gives them the sobriquet of "Mother of Werewolves."  Anyone with lycanthropy that sees a Hyrrokkin Hag must make a save vs. spells or be charmed as per the spell.

They can cast spells as per witch of the 7th level, but they have no occult powers.  If their spells are insufficient they can also attack with powerful claws or a bite.  This can be done in any form. They may only cast spells in Hag form.

These hags are damaged by silver, not by cold iron as their cousins.  Also, no treasure horde of a Hyrrokkin Hag will have silver.  One clue that a Hyrrokkin Hag has attacked a group is if all their treasure is gone save for their silver.

DMSGuild Witch Project: Vesper Burjoski's Witches

This week I am going back to looking at pure Witch classes.  Today I am grabbing two PDFs from Vesper Burjoski.  One of a class and one of the additional subclasses.   

For these DMSGuild classes, I am going to still follow my own rules and guidelines to make sure I am giving these a fair review.

The Witch: 5e Class

This is the base witch class.  The PDF sells for $2.00 and has 24 pages (1 cover, 23 pages of content) so well over my 10 cents per page guideline.  This PDF also looks nice, making good use of layout and art. 

This witch is a charism based caster with wisdom as the ability to cover other abilities.  She also has a lot of nice background information. This witch casts similar to a warlock but is limited to the 5th level.  This makes her similar to the Hedge Witches I have reviewed in the past.   This witch also has magical tattoos called kennings that provide powers.   I'll give it to this witch class, it has a lot of really cool features.

The archetypes are known as Coven-Keepers, Mediums, and Transmaurge. Each has some neat features including some additional spells.  Coven-Keepers draw on their covens which can include other spell casters.  Mediums speak with ancestral or fey spirits. It might work well, thematically, with some warlock multiclassing.  The Transaurge alters and changes animals around them.  A really cool idea to be honest.

Speaking of multiclassing there is even a section on multiclassing this witch. 

Next up are the Kennings, or the tattoos with power. Mechanically they work a bit like Occult Powers,  Hexes, or Invocations.  The kennings have a solid witchy feel to them. 

There are no new spells (but not really needed) and five NPC witches.

All in all you get a lot for your $2.00.  

The Witch: 3 New Subclasses

This PDF provides three new witch subclasses. This is 11 pages with a PWYW suggestion of $1.00, so again right at that 10 cents a page.  The subclasses are, The Wortwitch (which the author also calls a Hedge witch), the Fatalist, and the Rambler.  The DMSGuild page does a great job of detailing the various sub-classes. 

Like his previous witch book, this one has a lot of flavor to it.   There are also more Kennings in this pdf as well.  

Both PDFs together come in at $3.00 and over 30 pages. 

The author has other pdfs on DMSGuild too. I might need to check them out.

October Horror Movie Challenge: Patty Shepard Night

I have this disc with a bunch of movies on it. The first one The Witches Mountain I started and stopped a couple of times. I noticed the other movie on the disc, The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman, also featured Patty Shepard in it. So let's make it a movie marathon.  I might have asked for too much in one night!

The Witches Mountain (1972)

Ok. I can certainly be excused for falling asleep during this one. I had to rewind it to rewatch it a bit and I still had no idea what was going on.  I looked it up, turns out, nope. The movie just doesn't make any sense.

This movie starts with a scene of a woman, a little girl, a dead cat, a snake, and a gasoline fire. That in of itself makes no sense but it has nothing to do with the rest of the movie.  

In the next scene a photographer, Mario (John Caffari), breaks up with his girlfriend by canceling his vacation and taking the next job his publisher gives him.  Was the girlfriend the same woman in the first scene? I thought so, but now I am not sure.  The photographer goes to the Pyrenees mountains to take pictures.  He takes some of a woman undressing (Delia played by Patty Shepard) and decides to talk to her.  Sure. Why not. It's 1973 Italy. They decide to travel together, stay at an inn (with the creepiest innkeeper played by the ubiquitous Víctor Israel, who had been in a ton of Spanish horror films) and they hear about a witch's coven in the mountains.  

They find the witches of course and they induct Delia into their coven.  Oh, there is a little more than that, but not by much. In the end, Delia runs off a cliff.

The original title was El monte de las brujas. It was advertised in some of the other reviews I read as a "lost classic of Italian horror" or as an "occult thriller", well it had a solid 70s vibe to it, but that is about it. 

The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman (1971)

Also known as "La noche de Walpurgis" or "the night of Walpurgis." 

This one opens with a bit more promise. Two doctors are performing an autopsy on a supposed werewolf and mocking the "stupid superstitions" the whole time.  They remove the silver bullets and the full moon comes out.  The man (none other than Paul Naschy himself) gets up off the table, turns into a werewolf. He kills the doctors and the first woman he sees.

Next, we switch over to Elvira (Gaby Fuchs) and Genevieve (Barbara Capell) driving through the countryside. They are looking for the tomb of Countess Wandessa (Patty Shepard), a Medieval witch, a murderess, and a suspected Vampire.  Instead, they find Waldemar Daninsky (our werewolf Naschy).

We encounter his sister Elizabeth (Yelena Samarina) who seems really weird. Elvira takes an interest in Waldemar after initially not wanting to stay.  But Genevieve wants to leave after being attacked by Elizabeth. 

They do find the tomb, but Elvira doesn't want to open the coffin. Genevieve cuts herself and gets her blood on the corpse of the countess (of course).  Elvira is attacked by a zombie/revenant in the church and this doesn't seem to raise much of an alarm.  Night comes and the Countess rises and starts preying on Genevieve. She is killed and the countess turns her attention to Elvira. 

Waldemar keeps doing his werewolfing, but keeping away from Elvira while he does it. 

Patty Shepard is really channeling Barbara Steele in this as the vampire Duchess.  This was the point.

The movie has it's climactic battle between the werewolf and vampire. With both dying in the end and Elvira walking out into the sunrise with her otherwise useless boyfriend from the second scene. 

This one was a fun romp and really woke me back up from the earlier snooze fest.

Glad I started early, I also found this one.

Crypt of the Living Dead (1973)

Also known as Hannah, Queen of the Vampires and La tumba de la isla maldita.  The set up of this movie sounded so much like the setup of the Palace of the Vampire Queen that I HAD to check it out. 

This one has Andrew Prine (Chris) a couple of years after his bit in Simon King of Witches.  So a Witch King vs. a Vampire Queen.  I can do something with that!  

Chris is here on the island to retrieve the body of his father.  In the process, he manages to set Hannah free. The natives begin to tell tales of how this island used to be known as Vampire Island it will be again.  Hannah tries to spread terror, but she is a rather slow-moving vampire to be honest. She has a helper who appears to be some sort of primitive man; I decided he was some sort of half-turned werewolf.  She is also getting help from Peter (Mark Damon), Chris' father's friend and brother to Mary (Patty Shepard).  

Hannah is played by Teresa Gimpera, though she has no lines.  Between Pine, Damon and Shepard there is an impressive list of movies and TV shows.  Soon after this Mark Damon would go on to become one of the biggest producers in Hollywood.  So the cast is no lacking.  

Sadly the story is slow and Hannah the Vampire never really lives up to her reputation.

Watched: 34
New: 24

NIGHT SHIFT Content

I love the idea of a coven of witches meeting on a mountain top. Maybe to combine the first two movies here, cause they are going to blur anyway, the witches meet over the tomb of their founding coven member, a witch who had been suspected of vampirism.  They are threatened, and this how the PCs learn of them, from the outside by a small pack of werewolves.  To add in elements of the third movie I would set it all on a remote island. Maybe in the Aegean sea.

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Search Continues

Last year I talked about this movie I have been trying to find.  This movie is about witches and the occult; satanism in particular.  It was on TV on Halloween night. It had to be between 1977 and 1982, I know a huge time frame. I think it was a made for TV movie. The movie had a girl with psychic powers or witchcraft; they were often synonymous in the late 70s.  There is a scene near the end of the movie of a girl (not sure if it is the same one) lying on an altar.  Either she about to be sacrificed OR this is supposed to give her powers.  All I can remember was there a long progression of cultists going up a circular staircase up in a tower and each one put a drop of blood on the girl's forehead.  That is the clearest thing I remember.

This past summer I reached to various horror groups on Facebook to help me out.  These are the movies they suggested.

Mortuary (1981, 1983)
This movie was released in 1983, but everything about it screams late 70s. The copyright date on the movie itself is 1981.  It stars a young Bill Paxton as the son of a mortician. He is love with Christie (Mary Beth McDonough) but she is in love with Greg (David Wallace). 

There are some murders, and a bit with Christie's mom (Lynda Day George, who is only 17 years older than McDonough) being part of a weird séance to contact Christie's dad (which is why I think it was offered to me).  Other than that it is kind of a slow slasher flick that was done better in films like "Fade to Black".  

But it was new to me so, that is something and it does hit that sweet spot of horror films in terms of timing. 

Most of the actors here are normally TV actors, so there was a pretty good chance this one was going to be it.  Sadly not the case.

Viewed: New
The movie I was looking for?: No

Crowhaven Farm (1970)
On the surface Crowhaven Farm should have everything I want. Made for TV. Satanism. Salem Witchcraft. The release date is a bit older than I would have thought. It even has John Carradine in it. Though he is woefully underused here. 

The movie does have a nice creepy feel to it and it even starts out with a creepy kid causing a death, so that is always a plus. It is though fairly typical of the 70s made for TV fare.

There is some 70s interpreted witchcraft ideas, which is always fun. Crowhaven is like "Salem-lite" with more Satanic elements.  So yeah, exactly the sort of thing I enjoy.

Maggie and Ben, our childless couple that inherits Crowhaven, also "inherit" a new child, in the form of Jenifer (Cindy Eilbacher, later to star in Beverly Hills Cop), when her aunt Mercy dies.  Jennifer is also the child (teen really) that causes the death of Maggie's uncle.   Jennifer as it turns out knows all the secrets of Crowhaven and wastes no time getting all creepy with Ben and causing more deaths.  Turns out that Mercy and Jennifer were condemned for witchcraft back in 1692 and Meg was the cause. They are all replaying again in the 1970s. 

Viewed: New
The movie I was looking for?: No

Satan's Wife (1979)

Also known as "The Ring of Darkness."

Gotta love the Occult 70's.  This bit of cinematic trash fits the time frame and has many scenes of occult rituals that are close to my memory, but I doubt this one was ever on American TV.  Too much occultism and nudity. Plus the star of the movie, Lara Wendel, playing the possessed/demonic daughter Daria spends some time in movie topless and nude and she was 14 at the time.  I have not found details on if the movie was banned or not, the 1970s were different and so was Italy.   This is also not the first such scandalous movie involving Lara Wendel. She had other movies in Germany and Italy from when she was 12 as well.  There is a story here and likely not a happy one.  She retired from acting in 1993 and is 65 now. 

The plot should work, women make a deal with Satan, but later they back out so he goes after their daughters. I was unclear whether or not the children were also supposed to be Satan's kids or not.  But it doesn't. Not even close really.  I have heard that is had to be recut and re-edited because it was too much like The Exorcist. So, I guess that could explain it.   

Plenty of ripping off of Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby.  There is a final fight between Daria (who has to do it full frontal) and her mother Carlotta (played by Anne Heywood) and then the movie just ends.

Viewed: New
The movie I was looking for?: One scene was so very close but in the end. No

Watched: 32
New: 21

NIGHT SHIFT Content.

With Crowhaven, first I love the name, great name for a farm where witches once lived but it is also a great little spooky film with some reincarnation.  In my games witches can't be raised from the dead, only reincarnated.  So reincarnation often becomes a theme in my games.  

All three movies have satanic cults in common, so maybe an old school 70s occult style cult is needed again. 

October Horror Movie Challenge: Frankenstein Night

Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)

I talked about this movie back in 2015 when I watched War of the Gargantuas. I mentioned then I need to see this movie. Finally got around to it.  

The premise is cool. In 1945 Nazi doctors find the heart of Frankenstein's Monster.  The SS comes and takes the heart and sends it to Japan. They are about ready to study it when the atomic bomb is dropped.

Fast forward 20 years and there are strange things going on. Stranger than the radiation sickness still affecting people.  An odd boy is running through the streets eating dogs and other animals.   The boy seems to be impervious to pain and can heal.  After a bit of back and forth with capturing the child he is discovered not only to be European, but Frankenstein's monster regenerated whole from just the heart.  
Ok, that is cool enough on its own.  Also, the boy is growing bigger all the time.

The movie soon becomes a standard Toho Kaiju movie with giant Frankenstein battling Baragon. Oh yeah, Baragon is in this too, because Japan is just overrun with monsters. This gives us the English title, Frankenstein vs. Baragon.

Lady Frankenstein (1971)

Some more Italian fare tonight.  This one was a total stab in the dark. I wanted another Frankenstein film and this one meets all my other criteria in a movie, especially since I have been on an Italian horror kick this year.  So let's see how it is. It is described as Hammer Films meets Italian Giallo horror.

This is a surprisingly forward-thinking movie for 1971.  Tania Frankenstein wants to be treated as an equal Doctor and Surgeon in her father's eyes.  Sadly though the movie is about as predictable as you think.  The Hammer parts come in with sketchy looking assistants to get the body parts, a monster on the loose, an angry mob,  and lots of death.  The Italian Giallo parts are random nudity and the monster always seeming to catch people having sex.

Tania manages to up her father one by creating a creature that is both strong and intelligent. So both monsters have to fight it out. 

The angry mob comes to burn down the castle (Hammer) while Tania Frankenstein and her monster have sex while it burns (Giallo).  Well. That is not something you see in every Frankenstein movie that is for sure.

Watched: 29
New: 18

NIGHT SHIFT content

Frankenstein's story is a fantastic one and one that we can go back too time and again.  I think if I ever were to use the Frankenstein story in a game it would have to borrow elements from "Young Frankenstein" and the bits on Frankenstein from Supernatural.  The current heir of the family name has found his ancestor's old notes and has begun his own experiments.   Meanwhile the original creature, still "alive" is out there and is drawn to this new Frankenstein to destroy him and his works. 

OR better yet make this Dr. Frankenstein a young woman to honor Frankenstein's original author Mary Shelly.  Yeah. "Lady Frankenstein Conquers the World."

DMSGuild Witch Project: Near Witches and Witch-related

A bit of a different batch today.  These PDFs came up in my searches and suggested products, so I thought I should check them out.  Most of these are not Witches in the sense I have been using the term, but close enough.  Since this past week has all been about other classes as witches I thought I'd end the week with these.

Again, I am going to try to stick to my own rules and guidelines for these reviews. 

The Witch Born (Half Hag)

Ok, this one caught my eye because it uses the same art as my "The Witch for Basic-era Games" and it offers up a new race; something I have not done a lot of myself. 
The PDF is 3 pages (1 cover, 2 pages of content) and is PWYW with a suggestion of $0.50. 
The layout is nice and the internal artwork also good.  The pdf presents a playable race, a sort of half-hag known as a Witch-born.  The material is good and the race seems playable.  Only a couple of nitpicks. The race is often described as cursed, but there is little in the way of mechanics behind that. All the traits seem positive and there seems little reason not to play this over a normal human.  There is the fact that hags hate them, but hags hate everyone.   It's hard to complain about 50 cents, but something to make them stick out a bit might have been nice. 

Class: The Witch Doctor

NOTE: Between my review and today this PDF changed it's name to The Shaman.

This one is a 9 page PDF (7 pages content) with a PWYW price suggested at $1.00.  So right there near the 10 cents per page guideline I am looking at.  My issue with this one is it conflates "Witch Doctor" and "Voodoo" together. Granted, so has Hollywood and western culture for years. In the 7 pages, the class is presented with three different "Occult Practices." The class seems playable, but if this is to replace the various tribal shamans or tribal priests I would have gone a different direction myself. 

The layout is good, but the color background will drain your ink. The art is good. The pieces I recognize are from the DMSGuild collection, the ones I don't do not have a credit attached. 

I would like to see a Voodoo-like class done right someday. 

The Witch Knight

Witch-knight is one of my favorite concepts for witches. An armored knight that is sworn to protect and defend witch covens.  I have done it many times as Cowans, Witch Guardians, and Wardens.  But this one is a witch knight proper.

This PDF is 14 pages (13 pages content) and is PWYW with a suggestion of $5.00.  A bit more than my 10 cents per page guide, but lets see what is inside.  The art and layout is great. It looks like a 5e book. The art and layout are all given proper credit, so that is a mark above many titles in the DMSGuild.  

The Witch Knight is a full martial class of 20 levels with some limited spell-casting ability.  The powers the witch-knight gets look good on the surface. It feels like a good playable class. The sub-classes of the Witch Knight are known as Disciplines and there are five of them.  The Spellblade and the Eldritch Guardian are my two favorites and fit best with my own concepts of a Witch Knight.

There is a spell list and even a section on brand new spells.  So that is a nice bonus.

All in all the class looks like a lot of fun, but I am left wondering (and not just for this one but for my own and others like it) what does this class do that an Eldritch Knight can't already do?  The obvious answers are in the powers, but couldn't this just be a way to role-play an Eldritch Knight?  However you decide to do it, this PDF has some great ideas. 

Kickstart Your Weekend: C&C and Weird War II

A couple of fun Kickstarters today.

Castles & Crusades Roads to Adventure

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ckg/castles-and-crusades-roads-to-adventure?ref=theotherside

The Troll Lords always put out a quality Kickstarter.  While I don't need a new printing of the Player's Handbook, a collection of all the spells has me intrigued. The Player's Archive also sounds fantastic.  So yeah there is a lot going for this Kickstarter.  You can customize your pledges in many ways. So say you only want the Spellbook and Archive? You can do that. Want all three? Yup. Want one book and some of the great add-ons? You can do that too.  Now that they have hit the stretch goals of the Spellbook in hardcover this is a no-brainer for me.

Castles & Crusades is still one of my favorite alternatives to D&D.  

Speaking of D&D, modern designers are doing a lot with the current version.

Nazi Dracula Must Die! Campaign Setting for DnD 5E

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nazidracula/nazi-dracula-must-die-campaign-setting-for-dnd-5e?ref=theotherside

It's occult World War II!  Sure we have seen this particular Alt-History a lot in the RPG world, but this one has something cool about it.  Plus it is for D&D 5th Edition so there is that.

Frankly, I might get it as an addition to my D&D games.  It just looks like a lot of fun!

Besides any time I can fireball a bunch of Nazis is great.

October Horror Movie Challenge: Night of the Devils (1972) and Vamps (2017)

I swear with all the Italian horror Giallo movies from the 70s I have seen I should be able to speak Italian. 

Night of the Devils (1972)
A man stumbles and faints in the countryside.
Next, see him hooked up to a bunch of machines in a hospital setting. We assume the images we see of torture and murder are all going on in his mind.  The doctor working on him makes the claim that the patient has no memory of his previous days and no ID.

A woman claiming to know him shows up, but this only sends him into a panic. We later see in flashback what happened.  

Nicola (the man) crashes his car while avoiding hitting a woman (Sdenka, from above) but when he looks she is nowhere to be seen.  We see some locals burying a body (later we learn it was the old man's brother). They are acting like the person needed to be killed. Nicola finds the home of the locals along with Sdenka (played by the lovely Agostina Belli) and they reluctantly take him in for the night. The locals are very rustic, Sdenka even mentions she has never seen a television. 

We soon discover that the family is under a witch's curse. They will become undead after they die.  Said witch is later seen running in the dark and digs up the idol from the dead brother's grave. 

The movie is actually fairly good. Tension is built, there is a lot of mystery with this creepy family. The vampire decay is also pretty cool for 1972.  

Like "Black Sabbath" this movie is based on the Tolstoy novella, The Family of the Vourdalak. Doing a little reading led me to my next film.

Vamps (2017)
Also, known as "Ghouls," but more importantly, "Vurdalaki"

The copy I had access too (Amazon Prime) was originally in Russian and then dubbed and subtitled.  It looked slick but I kept feeling that the voice actors were not doing their characters justice really.

This one deals with the Moyori, or a race of half-human/half-vampires and the six clans of vampires. So a little of Dracula meets Vampire the Masquerade or Vampire Dark Ages. 

Like the original, this one has vampires coming back from the dead to haunt their own families and draw them out for feeding.

Our story focuses around Milena (played by Aglaya Shilovskaya) she is target of affection by both our hero Andrey (Konstantin Kryukov who looks like a young Lindsey Buckingham) and our Vampire Lord who needs her Moyori blood to become a day walking vampire. 

The movie's biggest issue though is the pacing. It is just so slow in places. But it is a good looking movie all the same. 

Watched: 27
New: 17

NIGHT SHIFT content

I did the Vourdalak, or rather, Wurdalak a while back as a vampire that is formed under a witch's curse. I made stats for both OSR games and Ghosts of Albion.  So one for NIGHT SHIFT is certainly in order.

Vourdalak

The Vourdalak or Wurdalak is created by a family curse.  Typically one laid down by a powerful witch on an entire line. When a member dies they will return as a vourdalak to feed on members of their own family.  Sometimes a vourdalak will also spontaneously arise when a member of the family disgraces their family name or when a member (typically a daughter) goes against the wishes of a recently deceased member (such as her father or uncle).

Vourdalak, Master

No. Appearing: 1

AC: 2

Move: 40ft.

Hit Dice: 9

Special: 4 attacks (claw, bite, 2 weapon), vampire abilities (Feed on Blood, Immune to Normal Damage, Mind Control, Regenerate, Repulsed by Holy Items, Spawn, Strong and Fast), Vampire Vulnerabilities (Stake Throw the Heart, Holy Water, Cannot Polymorph)

XP VALUE: 1,400

This is usually the one cursed by the witch and the one that will turn all the other family members.

Vourdalak, Spawn

No. Appearing: 1-6

AC: 6

Move: 30ft.

Hit Dice: 5

Special: 2 attacks (claws, bite), Cannot mind control. Cannot Polymorph. Cannot create new vampires.

XP VALUE: 200 

These are the other family members. Unlike the Vampire Spawn, these creatures are Strong and Fast.

No Vourdalak can polymorph into animals.

 

Supernatural: Charlie Bradbury for NIGHT SHIFT

It's Thursday and that means Supernatural day (well it is also Star Trek Discovery day, but that will wait till Fridays).  

I thought another NIGHT SHIFT character write-up was in order, and one with some solid geek cred. Charlie Bradbury played by geek icon Felicia Day.

Charlie Bradbury
(supernaturalwiki | supernatural.fandom)

Charlie, real name Celeste Middleton, was a techie and hacker turned Hunter and "Woman of Letters." She met up with Sam and Dean during the Leviathan outbreaks (Season 7, "The Girl with the Dungeons & Dragons Tattoo") where she quickly proves her worth to the hunter's cause. She is smart, quirky, so steeped in Geek culture, and really quite a delight.  We also learn that she is one of the very few in the world that can't be copied by the Leviathans (her and Bruce Springsteen).  She becomes a hunter, but really shines when becomes an honorary Woman of Letters. Well...I guess a real one since there were no more Men of Letters in the US save for Sam and Dean.

She picks up a little magic here and there. Picks up a couple of women, including a faerie princess and notorious witch hunter Dorothy Baum/Gale. 

Sadly Charlie, like pretty much everyone in the Winchesters' life, was killed. She was murdered by the Styne's, the modern descendants of Dr. Frankenstien.  While her death didn't raise the ire that say Tara's or Lexa's did, it did raise concerns because she was such a beloved character. 

Charlie Bradbury

7th level Sage, Human

Strength: 12 (0)
Dexterity: 13 (+1) s
Constitution: 14 (+1)
Intelligence: 18 (+3) P
Wisdom: 17 (+2) s
Charisma: 18 (+3)

HP: 33 (7d6)
AC: 9
Fate Points: 1d8

Check Bonus (P/S/T): +4/+2/+1
Melee bonus: +0 (+1)  Ranged bonus: +0 (+1)
Saves: +3 to spells and magical effect

Special Abilities: Open locks 35%, Bypass traps 30%, Sleight of Hand 40%, Move Silently 40%, Hide in Shadows 30%, Climb 75%, Danger Sense 50%, Perceptive 80%, Mesmerize 70%, Lore 88% (special bouns +15% for computers, +5 for magic)

Skills: Forgery (Dex), Computers (Int) x2, Knowledge (Int), Research (Int)

Languages: English, Elvish, Dothraki, Greek, Latin

Spells
1: Detect Magic, Bane, Sleep
2: Locate Object, Suggestion
3: Remove curse

Notes: Charlie became the adopted younger sister of the Winchesters. While I was never happy with her death, the show treated her well both before and after and there was a strong sense of loss and mourning on the show.  Besides. Dean, at great risk to his own soul, kills every single member of the Styne family in retaliation. 

"Later Bitches!" - Charlie

Charlie Bradbury, Apocalypse World
(supernaturalwiki | supernatural.fandom)

When the Nephilim Jack began to open portals one opened to a world where the Winchesters were never born. This world had been overrun with demons so bad that the Angels came to Earth to eradicate them. And then they kept on going and started killing humans.  A resistance front grew and one of their commanders was Charlie Bradbury.

Charlie, along with alternate version Bobby and others came to the Winchester's world to escape. Charlie became a hunter in this world too.  She was the same person, but only more hardened and serious. 

Charlie Bradbury

3rd level Survivor/4th level Veteran, Human

Strength: 12 (0)
Dexterity: 13 (+1) s
Constitution: 14 (+1)
Intelligence: 18 (+3) P
Wisdom: 17 (+2) s
Charisma: 18 (+3)

HP: 33 (3d4, 4d8)
AC: 9
Fate Points: 1d8

Check Bonus (P/S/T): +4/+2/+!
Melee bonus: +0 (+1)  Ranged bonus: +3 (+4)
Saves: +3 to death attacks & area saves

Special Abilities: Open locks 35%, Bypass traps 30%, Sleight of Hand 40%, Move Silently 40%, Hide in Shadows 30%, Climb 75%, Danger Sense 50%, Perceptive 50%, Read Languages 80%, Tracking 70%, Supernatural Attacks.

Skills: Forgery (Dex), Computers (Int), Knowledge (Int), Research (Int), Survival (Wis)

Languages: English, Greek, Latin

Notes: This Charlie at first wanted to have nothing to do with the other Charlie's life and that included a friendship with Sam and Dean. Time in this world has mellowed her out a little.  She even expressed curiosity about finding her and Charlie's former girl-friend. Charlie broke up with her in this world, but she was killed in Apocalpyse World. 

Charlie spends some time with the witch Rowena as well.  Regular world Charlie was a bit afraid of her, but Apocalpyse World Charlie is not so easily shaken.

Bobby: Rowena and Charlie are road tripping it through the Southwest.
Mary: That's trouble.
Bobby: Ginger trouble -- the worst kind. 
- 13.23 Let the Good Times Roll

Ginger Trouble

So I really have to hand it to Felicia Day.  Over the course of her tenure on Supernatural, she played three different (well four I guess) versions of Charlie and each one felt different. Regular Charlie, Good and Evil Charlies (split by the Wizard of Oz) and Apocalpyse World Charlie. 

In truth, I was not a fan of Felicia Day until I saw her on Supernatural. Then I was like, "oh! so that is what all the fuss is about. I get it now."

Charlie would make a fantastic guest star on Wayward Sisters. The cast pulling her in when they need some magical help, since Rowena is unavailable. I can see Charlie eventually calming down and going more the sage route like her alternate did.  Hell. I think it would be cool if Apoc Charlie came across a stash of journals and notes from her alternate from this world, maybe even taking a page from Star Trek III (because Charlie would have) and figured out a way to store part of her own katra onto the Internet before Styne killed her.

Lots of ways I could go with this character to be honest.

DMSGuild Witch Project: 5e Wizards as Witches

And our last look at D&D 5e Base classes as witches.  Today I will work with Wizards.

Again, I am using these rules/guidelines for my reviews.

School of Witchcraft

This pdf is only two pages (no cover). It is listed as PWYW with a suggested price of $1.00.

It is a pretty straight-forward Arcane Tradition (Wizard sub-class) to add a witchy feel to a wizard. IT does offer a stat block for a witch, which is nice, but some new spells would have been nicer or even a list of spells the witch can access outside of the wizard's list.  The Warlock's Witch Bolt and the divine/Cleric Cure Wounds would have been good choices. 

I had hoped for more.

The Coven Guide to Witchcraft (5e Bundle)

This pdf is 39 pages and is priced at $5.99. So also a bit more than my ¢10 per page rule of thumb.  This one combines four of the author's previous works into one pdf with a witchcraft theme.  As themes, they work and I can see where the author is coming from but there is one rather big issue.

There is no witch class within these pages.  I am sure that the four different crafts could be layered over the top of other classes, say like the druid or wizard, there is no advice on how to do so.  This is a supplement where I don't have the book it is a supplement too. 

There plenty of neat ideas here and 20 some odd new spells as well as recipes and poisons. 

The author has close to 150 titles on DMSGuild, but this one looks like an early attempt. I searched to make sure there wasn't a book of classes that this might be referring too.  

Which is too bad for the size and the price I was hoping for a bit more.

October Horror Movie Challenge: Space Vampires of 1980

Bit of a cheat tonight. But I always want to do a Doctor Who episode.

Doctor Who, State of Decay (1980)

I picked up the Tom Baker Doctor Who, Season 18 Blu-Ray a while back and I wanted to re-watch the episode State of Decay.   It has been a few years since I had seen it, but it was and still is one of my favorite episodes of Doctor Who.

The idea of the race of great Vampires as the ancient enemies of the Time Lords is, in my mind a great addition to the vampire lore.  Something that I even added to my games at the time, though obviously from a more fantasy and horror elements.

The episode is 100% Hammer Horror.  I would not have been surprised to hear that the crew stole items from sets of the various BBC horror films and TV shows, in particular, the late 70s Dracula.  We get everything though here. The "Hammer Hamlet" with the scared villagers, the castle with the evil Lords (and Lady), even the warnings "not to go to the castle".

Of course, watching the special effects 40 years later have not aged well, but it is Doctor Who and you can't expect a lot. 

The great vampire reminds me a bit of the Beast from the 10th Doctor's "The Satan Pit" so that is nice bit of continuity.  The Great Vampires come from the "early times" from "even when Rassilon was young."  Easy to see a connection.

The horror elements are light, but still good for Doctor Who episode.

The behind the scenes features of the Blu-Ray are also great.  I guess at the time it caused quite a stir.

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The Space Vampire (1980)

The year is 2491 and Capt. William "Buck" Rogers is back at Earth from 1987, battling a...well...space vampire.  Ok, so I watched this one when it was new and enjoyed it. But I was 10.  BTW did you know all the episodes of Buck Rogers are free to watch?  The plot is thin really. Buck and Col. Dearing are going on vacation and they stop off at a space station to get Twiki repaired. I do like the idea of a vampire on a space station sadly the vampire here leaves a little to be desired. 

The story borrows heavily from Dracula, with the ship crashing into the station named "Demeter" and one of the passengers is named "Helson" as opposed to "Helsing".

One of the things that bugged about BR:25C is how Col. Dearing went from being a strong character in the pilot movie to such a weak one in later episodes. 

The vampire going after Wilma makes a lot of sense really, even if it is also a little clichéd.  Though it did give Erin Gray a chance to stretch her acting muscles a bit, which is good.

Watching both of these from the same time period is interesting.  BR:25C had better effects, but the story in Doctor Who was better.  I will even go on a limb here and say the acting was better in Who as well.

The real question is not who did the better vampires (Doctor Who) but which sidekick was more annoying, Adric or Twiki?

Watched: 25
New: 15

NIGHT SHIFT and BlackStar Content.

Ever since Doctor Who, Buck Rogers, and Lifeforce I have wanted to do a "Space Vampire."

Even in a later Doctor Who novel they had a vampire couple leave the earth by hitching a ride on a satellite bound for deep space. So I guess it is possible to have any half-crazed idea work.

Not 100% sure how I would do a Space Vampire in NIGHT SHIFT, but I think I owe it to my 10-year-old self to give it a try in BlackStar.

What is "Traveller Envy" and why do I have it?

My memory is hazy, but my second RPG was either Traveller or Chill.  I like to say it was Chill since it gives me Horror RPG cred.  But in truth, I think it was Traveller.  No shame in that, I was a huge Sci-fi fan back then, even if I rarely got to play Sci-Fi games.

Who's Number 2? Sadly I can't recall.

While this month is dedicated to nothing but horror, I have been itching to get back into some sci-fi gaming and I have been reflecting a lot on something I call "Traveller Envy."

Growing up in the middle of Illinois had some advantages.  We were is what has been referred to as the RPG or even D&D pipeline.  We were situated between Chicago/Lake Geneva and Carbondale, IL where Tim Kask's (and my) Alma Mater SIU is.  We were also close enough to the University of Illinois.  It is only within the last couple of decades that I have come to learn how good I had it then.  Meaning, we had access to RPG products that most of the country lacked.  Judges Guild was just on the opposite side of Springfield from me.  Pacesetter was far North of us, but soon Mayfair would move into the Chicago burbs.  I regularly ordered games I could not otherwise find from The Dungeon Hobby shop/Mail Order Hobby Shop in Lake Geneva or Games Plus in Mount Prospect.

I would usually go to the AD&D/D&D material first, but it would not be long before I'd hit the other games, in particular Traveller.

D&D was great and had many worlds. Traveller had the whole universe. Literally.  

What struck me the most was not just all the RPG products Traveller had, but all the board games and other related games that all seemed to live inside the same in-game Universe.   I imagined campaigns (which always looked like a cross between Star Trek and Blake's 7) where you could role-play your characters and then turn around and have massive space battles using one of the many Traveller related board games. 

It was full immersion into a world universe that I just couldn't get with D&D.   Oh sure. I had the Dungeon! board game and I loved (love) it.  But a Dungeon! character is not the same as a D&D character. Even back in those earliest days.

I still love Dungeon!

I thought we might get a little closer in D&D4 with the various Dungeon & Dragon board games. But even they were both too close and too different at the same time.  Also I never really could get into those board games. I picked a couple up to try, but in the end I just ended up cannibalizing them for the minis.  IF and this is a big if, I ever rerun Ravenloft as a campaign I might pull that on in.

This feeling of wanting to expand my universe more with more varieties of games is something I have dubbed "Traveller Envy."

I suppose I could have also called this "Star Fleet Battles Envy" since they do something similar, but that doesn't roll off the tongue as easy.

Now it could be that my Traveller Envy is built on something that doesn't even exist.  The dawn of it was reading over Game Catalogs and maybe seeing stronger connections that were not really there.  I have learned that some of the board games take place in the RPG's "past." Even then if the connection is less than I suspect, it is still strong.

I have wanted to do something like this for a long, long time.  I have some ideas on how to do it and what to do, but I am nowhere near close to figuring it all out.

"Travelling" with the Witches

My goal would be to use some board games (as many as I can) in my War of the Witch Queens campaign.  While my Come Endless Darkness campaign is multi-versal that is not something the characters know until much, much later.  In War of the Witch Queens, they learn this early on.

So it makes sense to give it a multi-versal, multi-media feel.

None of these board games are even remotely compatible with my old-school D&D game.  They are also largely incompatible with each other.  Only Affliction and Witch Hunt work by covering the same historical event. But I have to give it a try.

In one respect at least Cauldron Bubble and Boil has the advantage of featuring my iconic witch Larina in it as the "Arcanist" witch. 

I have talked Wizard's Quest, Witch's Caldron, and Witchcraft Ritual Kit before.  Not all of them are going to work. Not all of them will even work well, but I think I owe it to that 13-year-old version of me to at least give it a try.

Maybe I could have picked an easier batch.  Again my BlackStar game could work with StarFleet Battles (any version) and even some Cthulhu related games.  But this is where my love is.  Besides, there is no challenge in climbing hills, only mountains. 

Are there games you look at and think "man, I need to try that in my game"? 

DMSGuild Witch Project: 5e Sorcerers as Witches

We have done druids, warlocks so let's now have a look on how D&D 5e Sorcerers can be witches. 

Up first might have the longest title yet.

The Witch - A Sorcerous Origin and Character Background Option for 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons

This PDF is seven pages and is PWYW with a suggested payment of $1.17.  Ok, a bit random, especially since the $1.14 makes a little more historical sense. 

The author knows his sorcerers, so that is reflected here. The pdf has background information for your witch characters as well as some other useful tables. The Sorcerous origin reads like a "Natural" or "Born" witch archetype so often used.  It works well here too.

No new spells, but none were expected to be honest. 

This one packs quite a bit into six or so pages of content.

Call of the Wild - The Witch Class and Archetypes for Harnessing Primal Power (5e)

This one a bit larger at 35 pages. It is also PWYW with a suggestion of $2.99. This falls under my $0.10 per page rule of thumb so we are still good.  This book offers a lot of varied content. 

There are different sorts of animal-folk (beast folk, bear folk, cat folk), a full witch class (not a sorcerer build as I was expecting) complete with hexes and curses. There are also three Witchcraft "Practices", the Herbalist, the Pact Maker, and the Soulsplitter.

There are also new class options for all the D&D5 classes. There is a new Sorcerous Origin, the Hagborn, and three new Warlock Patrons/Matrons including Mother Nature.  

Both the Sorcerer and the Warlock could double as a witch.   

What might be fun for this one is choose one of the new races and make a coven of the Witch, Warlock, and Sorceror types here.  

This book also doesn't have any new spells which is a bit of surprise given how much else it has.  

Archetypes for D&D

This seven-page PWYW PDF covers five new archetypes for some D&D 5e classes.  Of interest to me are the Witch archetype for sorcerers and the Witch Hunter archetype for any martial-type class.

The witch gets some new spells (from other classes) and four new powers. If I were to use this with other witch classes I might call it a Witch-kin or a Witch-blooded.

This one also highlights one of my strong dislikes for DMSGuild.  The art on the cover for this comes from the book Four From Cormyr.  I could be mistaken, but I don't think that is in any of the approved art packs I have downloaded.  Some of the author's other titles also feature art that I know is not part of the approved packs.

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Unholy (1988)

This one came up while I was doing some reading up on The Devil's Nightmare.  On the surface, it has a lot going for it.  I liked the recently passed Ben Cross as an actor. Nicole Fortier (who never really appeared in anything else before or since) makes for a very attractive Demon. And the story sounds like it has some potential. 

The movie opens with a priest confessing before the altar.  While he prays a nude redhead woman shows up.  She caresses him and then rips out his throat.  

Later, a priest, Father Michael (Ben Cross) arrives to administer the last rites to another murder victim. He is warned that she is coming for him.  Three years later Father Michael is attempting to talk down an attempted suicide when he is pulled out a window and falls 17 floors to the ground.  He wakes up in the hospital with hardly a scratch on him.  Hal Holbrook, playing Archbishop Mosely, decides that Micheal is ready to run his own parish, but there is more to it than that. Michael is getting the church where the priest was murdered three years ago.

We learn from Ned Beaty that not one, but two priests were murdered in the church. One other a year before Father Dennis.   We learn a bit more about the case including meeting Millie (Jill Caroll), a girl Father Dennis tried to save from her job in a local "satanic" themed club.

Father Michael starts seeing some strange happenings and even a dog gets sacrificed on the altar. 

The movie starts to drag at the half-way point, never really going anywhere.  In fact, we don't even learn the demon's name, Desiderius (Latin, "ardent desire"), until about 1 and 20mins into the movie. The final battle doesn't get started until an hour and 25 mins in. 

Nicole Fortier makes for a very fetching demon, even if she never has any lines.  

I also find it a little interesting that I never saw this one when it was out.  I mean this was at the prime of my Horror VHS renting time.  But I was also in college so cash was not a luxury item.  

At this time I also had a red-headed girl-friend and I can assure you that their reported demonic powers are an exaggeration.  But only by a little. 

There is a great scene at the very end of what can only be described as Clerical Turning.  It works here. 

Make no mistake. This is not an Oscar-caliber movie and Ben Cross acts circles around everyone else.  But it is a fun little romp.  Ben Cross would right after this star as Barnabas Collins in the NBC mini-series remake of Dark Shadows. I have been meaning to rewatch it someday.

Watched: 23
New: 15

NIGHT SHIFT Content.

Ben Cross' Father Michael makes a great Theosophist/Chosen One multiclass in Night Shift.   I might have an older, now semi-retired, Father Michaels show up in a game one day, playing the role that Trevor Howard as Father Silva played in this movie.  I also just learned that this was the last movie that Trevor Howard was in. 

I am also thinking that a Cinematic Horror New Orleans. This movie, Cat People, maybe even the Interview with a Vampire and The Vampire Lestat among others.