100 Days of Halloween: Advancing with Class: The Witch

Been spending some time with various Pathfinder supplements. Tonight I want to look over the Knotty Works book Advancing the Class.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Advancing with Class: The Witch

PDF. 27 pages. 1 cover, title page, back cover, 1 ad, 2 pages of ogl. 22 pages of content.

This book has a bunch of new material for the Pathfinder 1st Ed. Witch class.

There are five new Patron themes (with patron spells listed); Arcane Patron, Courtly Fey Patron, Nature Fey Patron, Summer Patron, and Whimsy Patron.

There are 54 new hexes in four categories along with the general, major and grand hexes.

The 17 new feats are interesting since I do like to play with the idea that witches are almost a different type of human.  So there are lot of "blood" nature feats.

The witch Archetypes give you different roleplaying ideas, with some mechanical advantages. We have the Eldritch Witch, Fey Touched Witch, Harrowed Harlequin, Madness Matriarch, Mystic Astrologer, Occult Scholar, and Shadow Mistress. 

There are also three NPC witches using them material above.

There are certainly some great ideas here and some archetypes I'd love to try out.   

The layout is ok. The font is very readable, but the blue boarder seems unnecessary.  The art is a bit of a mixed bag.  But for just under $3.50 it's a good deal.

Monstrous Mondays: The D&D 3rd Edition Monster Manual

It is the year 2000. We don't have flying cars, but I have a brand new baby, and Wizards of the Coast, the brand new owners of Dungeons &  Dragons are putting out their new 3rd Edition material.  The Monster Manual was the last of the three core rule books.

For today I am going to consider the 3.0 and the 3.5 versions of the Monster Manuals.  I am also considering the Print and PDF versions from DriveThruRPG.

Monster Manual 3rd Edition

3.0 220 pages. 3.5 324 pages. 425 monsters.

More so than the AD&D 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendiums or Manual this book felt like the Monster Manual of old.

It was the start of the new millennium (almost) and we all survived Y2K.  I had been moving away from D&D for some time by this point and this was the edition that brought me back.  I do sometimes still get the urge to play 3.x and this book is one of those reasons.

The art budget for D&D (no more "Advanced") was heavily increased. Art that would have been chosen for cover art for products in the 1990s now joins several more just like for interior art. Every monster in illustrated in full color now and the book itself is a work of art.

Inside are all the favorites and many new ones to boot.  Demons and Devils are back AS Demons and Devils, although they also retain their bowdlerized names of Tanar'ri and Baatezu respectively. This works out to Wizards of the Coast's advantage since now those names can be considered Product Identity under the newly formed OGL. Sure other publishers can, and do (and boy do they!), talk about demons, but Tanar'i are off-limits.

What is special about this book, and 3.x in general, is now monsters are built using the same rules as characters. They have the same abilities, a great wyrm blue dragon has a strength of 39, and built like characters are with the same skills and the new feat system.  So that same ancient blue dragon can have a fly-by attack feat.  I can't say everything is perfect, but it is certainly better than the catch as catch can abilities of AD&D where a Will-O-the-wisp can has ridiculous stats. 

The implication is here is that some monsters could even be characters. For a crazy example take the Skum (p.229). It has 2d8+2 HD. At the bottom of the stat block is a "Level Adjustment" of +3. Skum start out at 3rd level but still 0 XP. Once they gain enough to get to 4th level they can advance. Usually, there is a preferred class listed, but almost everything can advance as a fighter. 

Creatures also get a different hit die based on their type. Faeries get a d6 while undead gets a d12. Type is very important here. 

There are also templates which is a great idea. Have a 14th-level fighter who is changed into a vampire? Well in older forms of D&D he would have gone down to the HD of a vampire.  In 3.x he is now 14th level (yeah level drain is gone, more or less) and you add vampire abilities on top. It was something hinted at with Ravenloft, now it is part of the rules.

I mentioned the art, it is great though there are some changes between the 3.0 and 3.5 versions.

In fact, there are some monsters not illustrated in the 3.0 version that do get illustrations in the 3.5.

It is really a great resource.  My one complaint is that the one monster per page layout is gone.  This does conserve space and makes the book smaller, I just had gotten used to the format with 2nd Ed.  4th Ed would bring it back.

I have very fond memories of this book. My oldest son as a small child would spend hours flipping through it, just like I had done with the original Monster Manual. 

I should also point out that because of this book and the Open Gaming License I was able to get my first ever professional RPG writing gig working on Eden Studios' Liber Bestarius.

#RPGaDAY2022 Day 1 - Who would you like to introduce to RPGs?

Hmm. I have already introduced RPGs to so many people. My kids and through them more people. 

I think there are is an untapped market in appealing to other creatives I know; artists, writers, and the like. I think many of them would naturally take to RPGs.

Though it is still many, many years down the road, maybe I can introduce RPGs to my grandkids!

 

100 Days of Halloween: Witch Archetype Sampler

Yesterday I featured a Witch Archetype, the Charmbrewer Witch, and thought it would be fun to look at some more. Tonight's choice has a price no one can argue with. It's free!

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Witch Archetype Sampler

From Knotty Works. PDF. 6 pages; 1 cover, 1 title page, 1 page OGL, 1 back cover. So two pages of content. The price is PWYW with a suggested price of $0. 

This book is essentially an ad for Advancing with Class: The Witch. This is not a bad thing.  I think I'll have a look at that one later.

This free file includes three witch archetypes; Abyssal Bound Witch, the Infernal Bound Witch and the Tribal Witch.  They all do about what they sound like. There are some new powers and suggestions for hexes the witches can take.

Seriously though while these are "easy" archetypes to do (Demon and Devil worshipers) they are still quite good and worth the minimal effort needed to take download them.

#RPGaDay2022

Tomorrow is the first of August and that means #RPGaDAY for 2022!

Started and maintained by Dave Chapman at AUTOCRATIK, this has been a yearly thing for the last nine years.  My first was in 2014. I took 2017 off, and didn't finish 2018s. But I am here for it all in 2022!

Here is the list of post prompts I will be doing all month.  They follow the questions of Who, What When, Where, Why, and How. With bonus questions on Sunday.

As well as text ones for anyone using a screen reader.

#RPGaDAY2022 Prompts:

1 - Who would you like to introduce to RPGs?

2 - What is a great introductory RPG?

3 - When were you first introduced to RPGs?

4 - Where would you host a first game?

5 - Why will they like this game?

6 - How would you get more people playing RPGs?

7 - System Sunday: Describe a cool part of a system that you love.

8 - Who introduced you to RPGs?

9 - What is the 2nd RPG you bought?

10 - When did/will you start Gamemastering?

11 - If you could live in a game setting, where would it be?

12 - Why did you start RPGing?

13 - How would you change the way you started RPGing?

14 - Suggestion Sunday: Roll 1d8+1, and tag that many friends and suggest a new RPG to try.

15 - Who would you like to Gamemaster for you?

16 - What would be your perfect game?

17 - Past, Present, or Future? When is your favorite game set?

18 - Where is your favorite place to play?

19 - Why has your favorite game stayed with you?

20 - How long do your games last?

21 - Setting Sunday: Share an intriguing detail from a game setting you enjoy.

22 - Who is your current character?

23 - What situation are they currently in?

24 - When did you start playing this character?

25 - Where has the character been?

26 - Why does your character do what they do?

27 - How has the character changed?

28 - Style Sunday: Roll 1d8+1, tag that many friends with your favorite RPG cover art.

29 - Who would you like to see take part in #RPGaDAY?

30 - What should #RPGaDAY do for its 10th anniversary next year?

31 - When did you first take part in #RPGaDAY?

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Follow along here and on Twitter.

100 Days of Halloween: The Charmbrewer Witch Archetype (2013)

I have mentioned my love of the Pathfinder system, both the 1st and 2nd editions, and their witch classes. I am obviously not the only one, as there is a lot of great Pathfinder-compatible material for witches. 

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Class Expansions: The Charmbrewer Witch Archetype

This PDF is 5 pages; 1 for the cover and 1 for the OGL. $1.25.

This is a class archetype. This one mixes the witch with a bit of the alchemist. She exchanges some of her hex ability for a connection to a cauldron.  

With this cauldron, she can brew potions and elixirs. She gets two new hexes and 21 elixirs they can brew. These elixirs take the place of hexes and the witch can gain them at various levels.

The concept of a witch using a cauldron is a powerful one and this one is well executed.  

I rather like it to be honest. The price is rather nice as well.

100 Days of Halloween: Strange Magic

I am always hesitant when I review someone else's witch classes. For starters I don't expect anyone else has put the time and frankly the ink (digital and otherwise) that I have done. I know there are others that have obsessed over their own things just a much, but I am not sure there are many that have talked about witches as much as I have.  Vince Garcia comes to mind. Malcolm Harris is another. 

This is the reason I try to follow my own rules for these reviews.  I want to be fair and I want judge on the product in front of me, not what I think should be in front of me.

This is harder when the witch class in question is designed for my favorite system B/X D&D.  But I also always hope to find something new and exciting.

Strange Magic: Character Classes

Written and art by Stuart Robertson, PDF. 6 pages, $1.  This does not included a front a cover and a back cover so it is 6 pages of content or 8 pages total.

Designed explicitly for B/X D&D and not a clone this book is designed to be printed at home.  The six classes include, Bard, Monk/Assassin, Order of Stellar Reason, Paladin/Anti-Paladin, Reverend Sisterhood, and the Witch.

Each class gets one page. The classes presented here are called "sub-classes" so the Witch is a Cleric sub-class. She would use all the same tables as the cleric does in B/X. She adds her Charisma mod to to her armor class and saving throws (so I would say an aura of protection) and can brew potions.  The other classes are similar and could be fun.

For a buck I was not expecting a lot and that is fine. There are certainly some fun ideas here and I am sure I could use them somewhere.  It certainly fits into the feel of B/X's simplicity and is similar enough to how BECMI handles "sub-classes."

No OGL, but the execution is simple enough to adapt ideas.

100 Days of Halloween: 10 Witch Magic Items (PFRPG)

Moving on from the indie scene and into one of the big players in the RPG world. Pathfinder gave us a great witch class for their 1st Edition game (and 2nd Edition too) and there was plenty of 3rd party support for it. Here is one of many of those products.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

10 Witch Magic Items

What it says on the label. 

PDF. 11 pages, $0.99. Color art throughout.

This PDF is 11 pages, but one is for the cover, one for the title, one for the OGL, and two for ads. This gives us five pages of content.  

Inside are 10 items of various levels of power.

• Opportunistic Hex weapon special ability (inflicts an offensive hex as part of an attack of opportunity, and reminds folks why they fear witches!)
• Amulet of the Witch (Use a hex as a swift action and take your foes by surprise without wasting an action.)
• Boots of the Beldam (When someone looks away you disappear, maintaining your air of the mysterious mistress of the dark arts)
• Circlet of the Crone (Gain or enhance three of the witch's most vile hexes and maintain that sinister reputation that witches possess.)
• Familiar Figurine (Your familiar can become a figurine of wondrous power and become an animal companion for a short time, and show why a familiar is so important to a witch.)
• Habiliment of the Harridan (Inflict a curse upon a creature that fails a save against your spells, adding an additional effect without losing an action.)
• Patron’s Sark (Make it easier to enhance your patron spells with metamagic feats, and show off the value of your patron over other forms of spellcasting)
• Ring of the Virago (Use your spirit to take control of any other creature with the help of your familiar, and remind folks why you have such a sinister reputation.)
• Talon Gloves (Your nails become dangerous weapons, more so if you already possess that hex, giving you a weapon on par with the warrior’s mightiest sword).
• "The Fragment of Witchery" Legacy Item (Let your magic item level up with you, and provide you with a reason why the world around you will suffer a witch to live!)

So it kind of packs a punch really and really keyed to the Pathfinder witch class. I would certainly try to convert any or all of these for use with other witches I have made and I think I can find a place for them in my War of the Witch Queens campaign.

I have to admit I do love seeing Waterhouse's "The Magic Circle" as the cover. I used the same one for the cover of The Witch. 

Introducing the Demon Lord Akelarre!

I was going to wait until this was painted or until I worked up some more stats for him, but the truth is I am just too excited. So here is the newest 3d print fresh off our resin printer!

When painted he will look like this: 

I made him on Hero Forge, downloaded the STL, my youngest printed him out, and with a bit of luck, I'll get my wife to paint him! 

He is based on the various Demon-Goat creatures, mostly featured in the witch sabbat paintings of Francisco Goya.

Akelarre is the Basque word (where Goya is from) for a Witches' Sabbath.  The name of both of these paintings from Goya is "Akelarre."

I wanted a new demon lord, one associated with evil witches. The role in my games in the past has largely been filled by Graz'zt. But I wanted someone I had more creative control over. I also wanted someone that was also like Éliphas Lévi's Baphomet.  He will serve as the witches' "Dark Man" as mentioned in many witchcraft trials. In Europe that was always considered to be the Devil or a at the very least a high-level demon.  Well...here he is!

Before I get too deep into his history and background I want to share this print. 

The mini is depicted as 20 ft tall, so the Akelarre himself would be 15 ft tall. So smaller than say Demogorgon in AD&D 1st ed and about the size of Orcus.

Given the work my wife did on Gog and Magog, I am really looking forward to seeing what she does with this guy.

Now...what will be done first? My wife painting him or me getting his stats done!

100 Days of Halloween: Class Expansions: Witch Hexes [PFRPG]

Pathfinder gave us a really fun witch class. I was very pleased with a lot of the material that came out to support it.

Hexes are to Pathfinder witches as Occult Powers are to my witches and invocations are to D&D warlocks.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Class Expansions: Witch Hexes [PFRPG]

This PDF is four pages, 1 for cover, 1 for OGL statement, 2 for content. Price is $1.00. So 25 cents per page, or 50 cents per page of content.  Still, one buck is still cheap.

Ther are 12 witch Hexes presented here. 

There are some really nice thematic hexes here like Broom-a-mancy (which is not a thing but really works well here) to "Suffer the Slings and Arrows."

They are all quite fun.

Class Expansions: Witch Major Hexes

This PDF is four pages, 1 for cover, 1 for OGL statement, 2 for content. Price is $1.00. So 25 cents per page, or 50 cents per page of content. 

Aside. When judging these prices I should include a minmum and then adjust from there. I could be $1 is the minimum.  

This file includes an appropriate 13 Major Hexes for Pathfinder 1st Edition Witches. They are of a good varieity and many very useful ones.  The various "Vision" Hexes are quite nice in fact.

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I would add these to my arsenal of Pathfinder releated Witch materials.

Mail Call: Dungeons & Dragons The Lost Wave Figures (2022 SDCC Exclusives)

Nice little treat in the mail today.  A while back I had arranged to get some of the new "Lost Wave" Dungeons & Dragons figures produced by NECA and sold exclusively at the 2022 SDCC.  The set included a full version of Skylla and a "new" version of Kelek.  So you know I could not say no.

Well, today they came!

Full unboxing.

No real desire to keep Pulvereye or Valkeer, but I'll put them in with the other D&D toys for my kids to sell to pay for my medical bills in 30 years. 

I am pleased with the Skylla and Kelek figures. 

Kelek also looks good. Wish I had kept my original one from the 80s.

Right now my youngest is 3D printing my Kelek on Warg. But it was not ready at the time of this posting so maybe next time.

100 Days of Halloween: Dice Witchery

And now for something completely different!

A while back I decided I wanted a set of "premium dice."  I have, well, an embarrassing amount of dice. But in my defense, I have collected them from various sets over the last 42+ years, plus getting a set when I go to Gen Con and other cons.  Everyone here in my house has a set of special or premium dice.  Everyone that is but me. Until now.

So I sought some of the dice makers online. There is a whole cottage market of RPG-adjacent makers out there and I think it is all great. One, for obvious, reason caught my eye. I clicked on them for their name but bought the dice for how they looked.

Dice Witchery

I found Dice Witchery on Twitter back in June and saw they had a lot of great designs.  I figured this was a perfect place to get some "witch" dice. I had been looking for something special for my War of the Witch Queens and this looked perfect.  But which set should I get?

Check out all the choices I ended up with a  full set of the Fey Masquerade dice. This includes a d2 (coin), d4, d6, d8, d10, d%, d12, and d20.

Well. They came in the mail just the other day!

Fancy!

The cauldron is a bit larger than the one I had.

Sending along the candy was nice! Lemon IS my favorite flavor.

On to the Dice!

I wanted something blue and purple with gold numbering. These turned out perfect.

The dice are resin and roll nice. They seem pretty sturdy too, but I am not going to test that on a hard floor.  I just love how they came out.

A while back I bought a Tarot Card box to hold various cards in, but it was never quite the right size.  But it is perfect for this.

Yeah. I am pretty happy with these dice and the dice box. 

I can't wait to roll these in my next War of the Witch Queens game!

You can find Dice Witchery here:

• Website, https://dicewitchery.com/
• Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/dicewitchery
• Twitter, https://twitter.com/dicewitchery?lang=en
• Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/dicewitchery/?hl=en
• YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/c/DiceWitchery