Class Struggles: Castles & Crusades Classes

It has been a while since I have done a Class Struggles post.  Normally with these I like to take a deep dive into a single expression of a class and talk about it in it's various forms in the various editions and offshoots of D&D.

Today though I want to instead look at the unique, or mostly unique, classes offerings from Castles & Crusades and other SIEGE Engine games.  My point of view though will remain the same; how to use these classes in your Fantasy RPG/D&D.

First up is the Knight.  The knight comes to us from the Castles & Crusades Player's Handbook. So in this respect, it is a "core" class.  It is best to compare the Knight to the Cavalier. In fact if one were to look at the list of classes in the C&C PHB and compare that to AD&D1 PHB/UA or OSRIC the Knight stands out as being something of a unique class.  Like the UA cavalier the knight is a mounted, armored fighter type. They both follow codes of conduct and belong to various orders.  In most ways the knight appears exactly like the romance knights of King Arthur's Round Table with their code of chivalry and courtly romance.  Thankfully though the knight is a little bit more than that.
In Castles & Crusades there is the concept of Prime Abilities. Each class has one and they do about what you would imagine if you never read the rules.  For the Knight the prime ability is Charisma.  Not physical prowess, but charisma. This is the same for Paladins who are now taking more of the role of Holy Warrior.  The 5th Edition D&D Paladin is still closer to the C&C Paladin, but the C&C Knight is in many ways closest to the D&D4 Warlord. Both have leadership abilities and both appear to be more militarily trained fighters.

At this point, I must apologize for my selections of classes.  They are going to be based on the ones I know and the books I have.   I also mightnot focus on every class in the books I do have.

The Codex Celtarum is one of my favorite C&C books. I love the idea of playing in a Celtic universe and there is just so much fun stuff in this.  This book comes with a new class, The Woodwose, and a variation of a class, The Wolf Charmer. Both of these classes have a distinct Celtic flair to them.  The woodwose is a wildman of the woods and somewhere between a ranger and a barbarian in terms of role. Looking at their prime abilities, the Barbarian is Constitution, the Ranger is Strength and the Woodwose is Dexterity.  The wolf charmer is described as a pied piper of sorts for wolves.  They can be rogues or rangers and they gain some wolf charming abilities in favor of some the abilities they would have gotten for their own class.  A ranger-wolf charmer, in fact, resembles the concept of the Beastmaster I discussed in a Class Struggles a few months back.  In 3rd edition, we might have done this a Prestige Class.

It's sister product or cousin product, is the Codex Nordica.  Personally, I think both books should be used together for a greater effect to both. Yes their "worlds" are very different, but their interaction in our world is very linked.   This book offers us the Seiðkona, or sorceress.  Other books might call her a witch.  Indeed I used a lot of the same myths about the  Seiðkona, Vísendakona and Volur in my own witch books right down to using a distaff in place of a staff.  The Seiðkona uses Intelligence as her primeary ability and casts the same spells and magic as the Wizard does.  If she had used Charisma, I would naturally compare her to the Sorcerer of D&D3.   Though given her role, Intelligence (or maybe even Wisdom) is the proper choice here.  This is a class that is very much part of the mythology of the world she is in. She loses some of the things that make her special if she you dropped her into Greyhawk or the Realms.  There is also the Völva, which the clerical counterpart to the Seiðkona.  This class also serves the role of a priestess and uses a distaff.  As expected her primary ability is Wisdom.  Her gift is divination and prophecy.  So by means of a rough comparison, she is more similar to the Oracle class in Pathfinder.

Moving on to more C&C specific "worlds" we can first turn to the Tainted Lands. Now to be fair, I was pretty hard on this product when it came out.  I still find faults with it, but I am softening my approach some more.  I just ignore the "Psychic" and "Supernatural" attributes. The nice thing about this setting is it is easily back-adaptable to ad some darkness to your games.  The Tainted Lands also gives us four new classes.  The Witch Hunter (which I have converted to Wisdom), The Metals Master (which I honestly don't use), The Portal Keeper (I use Intelligence instead) and the Vampire (Strength).  Of these, I use the Witch Hunter the most.

The Haunted Highlands are next and have some classes that fit into the same horror or darkness tinged mode.  This includes the Players Guide, the Castle Keeper's Guide and the Black Libram of Naratus.  Now these books hit me right in my home.  Dark, scary, Celtic themed play?  Sign me up!  I will work on getting a full review out for the Haunted Highlands soon.  Case on point, the classes are a revised Assassin, a revised Monk, the Conjurer (Charisma based), the Necromancer (an Inteligence sub-class of the Wizard and which is also detailed at length in the Black Libram of Naratus), and the Witch (Wisdom based)! I could go on and on about the witch here, but it is a very approapriate adaptation of the concept for this setting.  Again. There is so much here to go through that I will have to devote a blog post or two about it.  But I would easily play one of these witches or necromancers.

To wrap-up my collection of Castles & Crusades specific books (and I know there are more out there) I want to look into the Castles & Crusades Players Guide to Aihrde.   What I really like about this book are some "race" specific classes. There is the Heisen Fodt (Dwarves), the Oraalau (High Elves), Ieragon (Eldritch Goblin), Hugrin dun (Gnome), and Felon Noch (Halfling). Essentially these are the racial classes closest to the Basic/Exper D&D expressions of the Race as Class classes.  Here though they have a strong cultural context and they really work.   I would add these to not only my Castles & Crusades game, but any OSR game or even D&D5.

Stretching now just a bit I want to talk about a few of the classes found in Amazing Adventures.  While AA is a Pulp or even modern RPG, there are some classes that would work well with just the tiniest of modifications.  Some of this is detailed in the books, but I want to share my opinions on the matter.  The Arcanist is basically a Wizard or Cleric.  The Gadgeteer though would make for an excellent Magical Artificer.  Use the rules here and in the Book of Powers to create your own artificer.  The Mentalist would add a psionic or psychic character to your game.  The  Socialite can be dropped in almost as-is for a Royal Courtier.   Now if we add in the Amazing Adventures Companion we get a whole new slate of character class options.   The Acrobat, the Archer, the Duelist, the Feral, the Pirate and the Soldier can all be used with only modifications to anything that involves firearms.  Depending on your game you could even add in the Gunslinger.
If you check out the Troll Lord's online shop you can also find the Demon Hunter class for AA, but easily compatible with C&C.

There are similar choices in Victorious, but I am not done reading that one yet.

All in all, nearly 30 classes you can add to your Castles & Crusades games.

I think the Troll Lords need to come out with a "Class Codex" now!

Review: Amazing Adventures Book of Powers

The Amazing Adventures Book of Powers for the Amazing Adventures RPG is really, really interesting book.  Interesting in that it opens up the Amazing Adventures game, and thus Castles & Crusades and Victorious RPGs into new and interesting realms of play.   It does in a sense to Castles and Crusades what the BESM d20 rules did (or could have done) to d20 rules.

Let's start with the basics and then move into specifics.

The Book of Powers (BoP) is a slim book, 48 pages. The covers are full color, the interior is black & white.  The list price is $14.99 but as of this writing, the PDF is on sale for $10.99.
We get right away to my first gripe about the book.  The cover.  I love Peter Bradley's work and this cover is gorgeous.  However, it is not really "pulp" to me at all.  Sure if this were a modern supers game (which in fact you can use this book to turn AA into) this would be a great cover, but acrobatic girl with green hair, in skin tight lycra/spandex outfit with plunging cleavage isn't my idea of the 1930s.  Sorry.  I mention only because I fear that people might not grab it.
Moving on.
The premise of this book is pretty cool.  Take AA's Gadgeteer class and turn gadgets into powers.  These powers can be used along side gadgets and other powers to make some truly heroic characters.  I did a few quick and dirty character creations this morning and I am pleased so far with what I was able to do.

Expanding on this idea Vey also presents a "Sorcerer" class, a magical power wielder that could fit in right next to the Arcanist class in AA OR even the Wizard in C&C.   For my next character I want to create an AA style sorcerer for a Castles & Crusades game to see how well it works.

Expanding on these powers even further we are given rules on how to make Vampire, Demon and Angel characters.  Now this is a REALLY cool option.  I don't often pull this card, but today I will.
Jason knows his shit here.  We worked together on WitchCraft, All Flesh Must Be Eaten and of course the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG.  Jason is above and beyond qualified to give us these rules. And these rules are really fun.  So much so that one idea I had for a supers game I want to now convert over to an AA game with powers, sorcerers, vampires, angels and demons.  It's actually quite silly how well it work for me.

The book also has a host of new character options including a modified skill check system.  I *believe* is the same as the one in Victorious.  Though I am not 100% sure.  It's a nice simple system.  Though reading it I realize I almost never do skill checks in C&C/AA; just ability checks.
There is also a new advantage system or perks for each class.  Totally optional, but allows for greater customization.  Not enough here? They are similar enough to feats to allow importing from other d20 games.  Add these to Castles & Crusades and you basically have D&D5.

Speaking of which there is also a section on "Amazing Crusades!" with guidelines on how to get Amazing Adventures Peanut Butter into your Castles & Crusades Chocolate.  I would also add that you can add the sweet, sweet creamy caramel of Victorious to this.

I was going to like this book anyway since it does a lot of the things I tend to do in my games anyway.  It also has a lot of things I love adding to my games.  So how do I give an unbiased opinion?

Well, I will say this.  If you love Amazing Adventures, then you should check this out.
If you want some more flexibility with powers and even races in Castles & Crusades, you check this out.
If you want more Steam Punk gadgety goodness of Victorious then definitely buy this.

I highly recommend this.

Disclaimer 1:  I received of a copy of this book in the mail as thanks for being a playtester.  No review was ever mentioned, promised or implied.
Disclaimer 2: I was a playtester for this book.
Disclaimer 3: I am good friends with the author, Jason Vey, and we have worked on many RPG projects together over the last 16-17 years. 
Disclaimer 4: All links are affiliate links.  Your clicks support my book habit.

Monstrous Mondays: Woodwose for Castles & Crusades

A couple of things came together for me this week.  First off I have been going through all my Castles & Crusades material.  My son is getting ready for the game he runs with his group so I have been cleaning my game room, reorganizing my shelves and reading a lot of C&C.

I have been wanting to do something cool with C&C for a very long time.  So I am torn as to whether I am going to use it for my "Second Campaign" or "War of the Witch Queens".  I have a lot of good in-universe reasons to use this for the Second Campaign, but there is SO much of what is native to C&C that make me really want to use it for War of the Witch Queens.
In particular, books like the Haunted Highlands and Codex Celtarum are just full of ideas.

Today I wanted to update a monster I did a while back that was also recently updated on the newbiedm.com blog; the Woodwose.

You can see my version for Basic Era games here:

http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2015/03/woodwose-for-basic-era-games.html

Newbie DM's version, based on a 2nd Edition version I knew nothing about here:

https://newbiedm.com/2016/09/12/monster-conversion-woodwose/

Here is a new version for Castles & Crusades.

Note: this is different that the Woodwose class found in the Codex Celtarum.

Woodwose
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 5–30
SIZE: Small
HD: 2 (d4)
MOVE: 20 ft.,
AC: 13
ATTACKS: Weapon
SPECIAL: Spell–Like Abilities,  Twilight Vision,  takes 2x damage from cold iron
SAVES: M
INT: Average
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
TYPE: Fey
TREASURE: 1
XP: 45+1

The Woodwose, or "the Wild-Man of the Wood" is faerie creature related to the brownie and buckwan. These creatures typically look like small, old men completely covered in hair. Their hair can vary from brown, to light yellow to even green.  These creatures stand about 4' to 4 1/2' tall though some have been reported as small at 2' and others as tall 7' tall.   They have a language, a very early form of Sylvan, that they use among themselves but they can speak elven when talking to others.

As their name would suggest the woodwose are a wild, barely civilized race. Much of their time is spent in raiding the homes of other faerie creatures stealing food, treasures, and their women.  Woodwose that live close to human settlements have also been known to attack an outlying farm or prey on a lone traveler.   They are only brave in packs and rarely venture out of their burrows alone.  Despite their size a woodwose will attack any creature up to and including, ogre-sized, if they have the numbers.  Woodwose fear and avoid elves.

For every 6 woodwose encountered 1 will be a shaman capable of casting spells as a 2nd level druid.  For every 12 one of those 2 shamans will be 3rd level.  At 24 woodwose, a small community, there will be a shaman with the powers and spells as a 4th level druid.
In any case all woodwose are capable of casting the druid spell Shillelagh on their club once per day.  They are also capable of casting Pass Without a Trace at will as many times as they need.
Woodwose will be wary of adventurers unless they can outnumber them 2-3 to 1.

Review: Beneath the Dome

Beneath the Dome is an adventure for the Castles & Crusades game by none other than James M. Ward.  The current versions out in game stores and OneBookShelf are a combination of four smaller adventures.  It is really like a small campaign or a longer adventure in four parts.

Each section challenges characters of progressively higher levels (1-5, 4-7, 10th and above) and deals with the invasion of a race of giant humanoids, the Amdromodon.   Aside: While the new monsters here are interesting enough, I couldn't help but think it might be cooler if instead, I replaced them with Slaadi from the old Fiend Folio.  But that was only a thought.

The adventures are interesting and I love the whole "invasion" and corruption vibe.  It made it feel a little different than your typical adventure dealing with outer planar creatures.   A little fleshing out with some other adventures the Castle Keeper could really make a nice campaign with this.  The only thing really missing is a very high level adventure where the PCs go to the plane of the Amdromodons.

There is a lot going on in this adventure(s) and it is a lot of fun really. In addition to the new monsters there are also some new spells.

The book itself is 36 pages.

Now.  I hate to be "that guy" but today I am going to be.
If your book needs so much editing that *I* notice it then you have some issues.  There is more going on here than the odd typo or comma splice. Some sections are so awkward in their phrasing and the way they were written it really made it difficult to read.  I know these complaints have been leveled against Troll Lords before and I have for the most part ignored them.  But this book for whatever reason seemed to be really bad.  Now the PDF might be updated, I don't know.  But the physical copy I have needs a lot of help.

Disclaimer: Links are affiliate links, this module was purchased as part of a Kickstarter add-on package.

Hugo & Jake watch Dark Dungeons!

Hugo and Jake of "Bible Reloaded" take on "Dark Dungeons!"



"That senior warned us about playing RPGs!"

I could not help but think of this, https://www.fecundity.com/darkdung/

"Oh my god. They killed Blackleaf!"
"You Bastards!"

Reviews: Castles & Crusades Adventures

My son is doing some gaming with his own group, so he has been spending a lot of time working on his own stuff.  So I have been reading a lot of Castles & Crusades.

I have to admit, and this is not really an admission since you all know this, but I love this game.
For me, it really hits a nice blend of 1st, 3rd and yes even 5th Edition.  Plus there is lot of material that I have not even been through yet.  The more I read it the more I REALLY want to use this for my War of the Witch Queens  adventures.

But before I do that I want to look at some of these adventures on their own merits.
Review Disclaimer:  I purchased these adventures as part of a Kickstarter add-on some time ago.

The Fantastic Adventure
This is a short adventure, 16 pages, for 4 to 8 characters of 1st to 3rd level. Actually, it is three very short adventures in a general area.  One flows to the next easily and can be run in a couple of sessions. The starting adventure revolves around finding a missing gem and this leads to the PCs saving a deranged golem.  There is also a host of really weird and interesting NPCs that could, if needed, be used as characters.  I know that C&C typically takes its cues from AD&D1, but this adventure felt like something right out of D&D Basic to me.  I mean that in the best way possible; I love D&D Basic.  This would make for a good first adventure to anyone new to C&C, but familiar with other FRPGs.
I often gush at the nostalgia fuel that Castles & Crusades often is for me, but this adventure really does capture a lot of the fun of playing in the late 70s and early 80s. Particularly the early 80s.  It is set in their larger, and somewhat more dangerous, World of Aihrde and can lead up to their other adventures.  Or it can stand alone for a couple nights of rolling dice and having fun.

I1 Into the Unknown: Vakhund
26 pages, for 4-6 characters levels 1 to 2.
Vakhund, Into the Unkown is a short adventure that builds up to some epic events in the later I series from Troll Lords for Castles & Crusades.  It starts out simple enough really. The party has been hired as guards for a caravan. Soon the wealthy merchant is dead and his daughter kidnapped.
Vakhund is interesting since for an adventure that has it's DNA in a game known as "Dungeons & Dragons" there are neither dragons nor dungeons (for the most part) in this adventure.  Typically for low level adventures there is a dungeon to explore. In this one the PCs are thrown right to a plot and it is rather interesting to be honest.

I2 Under Dark & Mistry Ground: Dzeebagd
34 pages, for 4-8 characters levels 2 to 4.
Following up on the events of I1 Vakhund the party finds the missing girl but uncovers a larger plot involving many local factions.  The conceit of the adventure is the party will be drawn in, but as far things go this is not a bad one.
This one is a bit longer than the last adventure and a bit more involved with all the factions.  This adventure can stand alone, but it works best as part of the I trilogy.  Interaction with the NPCs is really what makes this adventure so the game master should read up on all of them and their motivations ahead of time.

I3 Dogs of War: Felsentheim
22 pages, for 4-8 characters levels 3 to 5.
Felsentheim is the epic conclusion to the I series of adventures.   As with the last adventure the GM should be knowledgeable on all the NPCs and factions in this adventure.  Again it can be played on it's own, but works best as the conclusion to the I series.  While the adventure is shorter there is quite a lot of combat in this one.

All together these three books are greater than their parts and make for an interesting set of adventures.

Interestingly enough the entire time I was reading these I kept thinking how well they would work with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.  Not that there is anything here that screams AS&SH to me, but just a feeling that it would work well.  I'll have to try it someday.

Reviews: Back into the Blue

Today I want to look at two products for the Alpha Blue line by Kort'thalis Publishing and +Venger Satanis; Girls Gone Rogue and Universal Exploits.

Full Disclosure: I received both of these PDFs in trade for a fair review. Fuller Disclosure: I had already bought Girls Gone Rogue and had it in my review queue anyway. Full Frontal Disclaimer: These products sit behind an Adult verification wall on OneBookShelf. By clicking, you are giving tacit, if not implicit, consent to see such things.  Don't whine if you see something you don't like.  These are not for the easily offended.

Ok. So Alpha Blue is Venger's infamous "brothel in Space" source book that also includes a brief system for play.  I reviewed Alpha Blue a while back and I really enjoyed it.  I opted at the time to use this book along with some other Old-School inspired Sci-Fi books including White Star. Keep in mind that Alpha Blue nor these books are overtly compatible with any of those other games, but Venger's system is simple enough and these books are written in such a way that they are easily adapted for use.

Girls Gone Rogue 
Girls Gone Rogue (GGR hereafter) is an 80-page supplement for Alpha Blue.  The book expands on the options and tables found in Alpha Blue. There are additional character options and lots of tables but really sets this book apart, and makes it a must have for AB fans, are the adventures.
If you are a fan of Venger's style of mixing and matching various pop cultural references then these adventures are a real treat. In particular, the mixing of Galaxina and Ilsa She Devil of the S.S. is quite fun really.  Venger obviously grew up on a steady late night Cinemax. Actually, that explains a lot of GGR to be honest.
This one is a bit harder to judge in terms of a game book.  I will say that if you enjoy Alpha Blue, then this is a good buy and will be very useful.  If you don't like Alpha Blue then GGR will be more of the same really.  Though there are a some that would enjoy the adventure seeds for use with other games.

Universal Exploits
Universal Exploits is a 110 page book for Alpha Blue. UE tackles the universe beyond the space station Alpha Blue.  Like Girls Gone Rogue it is an expansion, but it also setting material.  The universe is a big and dangerous place.  Well, dangerous in the same universe that has a space brothel/space station orgy happening.  Or maybe that is just a result of some the horrors going on around them.  There are also some short adventures/scenarios you can use. Again, these are presented system-neutral/system-lite so they can be used for just about anything.
In truth this reads a bit like a collection of Traveller articles, that is if Traveller went really gonzo.  Or, chances are, like many used to run Traveller anyway.
The real treat comes in the form of the special Alpha Blue Character sheets.  Honestly every game should have great looking Character sheets and these are among my favorites.

So. Who should buy these books?
Well it's pretty simple. If you have Alpha Blue or like playing it then these are "must buys".
If you play some other Sci-Fi game and want to add a little "Sleaze" to your "Scum and Villainy" then these are must buys only behind Alpha Blue itself.
If you like lots of pop-culture references, especially ones that are more R or even NC rated, then this is also for you.  But if that is the case you already know this.

Who should avoid this?
Well normally when reviewing a product I stay away from these sorts of discussions.  But in this case, I will say those who are easily offended should not bother.
More to the point with me though is don't go into these books expecting to find a lot of material you can use for other, non-sci-fi, games.  Can I use it with say a Modern game? Sure, but there are a lot of conversions I'd have to do.  Not game mechanics, but style.

Both books are a lot of fun and I am certain I can still find a lot to use here even in my PG and PG-13 rated games.

I do want to mention the cover art.  Both are fantastic and really, really shows what you can do when you put your heart and soul into your games.

Now. If you are like me reading through all of this and referencing back to Alpha Blue and some of Venger's other products you might be wondering "when is Venger going to focus his eldritch eye on 'Heavy Metal'?".

Well while reviewing this Venger sent me a link to his newest Kickstarter.

Trinity of Awesome!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1575519826/trinity-of-awesome

Looks like a lot of fun.  If it goes the way that Universal Exploits did it will grow into 5-6 adventures.

Monstrous Mondays: 5E Monster Books

I LOVE Monster books. Always have.  One of the first, if not THE first, book I ever saw for an RPG was the AD&D Monster Manual.  My love for these books has never waned.

So of course, I am going to grab the new Monster books for 5e!

I am rather pleased with both of these, but Tome of Beasts from Kobold Press edges out in terms of things I want to use.  There are just a lot of really great monsters in this book.
Including some I will use in my current Come Endless Darkness game and some for the War of the Witch Queens.

They have their own version of Camazotz which I am dying to use.

I have not compared these stats to the ones I worked up a while back,  But I think I will use these new ones since the players did not kill Camazotz the first time.

There is also a new Witch Queen featured in the book.

She is based, somewhat, and named after the Scottish witch Nicnevin.   I will have to do a conversion of her sometime soon.  Having someone that is the "Daughter of Scáthach" is just too cool to ignore really.

I am not ready for a review of these just yet. But stay tuned.

Don't forget to include the hashtag #MonsterMonday on Twitter or #MonsterMonday on Google+ when you post your own monsters!

Special thanks go out to +Justin Isaac for letting me know about this book and that it featured Camazotz.

Book Sizes

Kind of a late post today.

I was Lulu looking to fill some of the gaps in my OSR/Old-School collection and noticed  a pretty even split between the 6"x9" (or OD&D) and 8.5"x11" (Basic & Advanced) form factors.

In general which size of books do you all prefer?

Endless Darkness: The Road So Far

I have been talking online with a lot of people who are doing the same thing I am; running the Classic Modules from 1st Edition using the new D&D 5 rules.  So I thought I would post a summary and talk about where I am going next.

The Background
The characters all belong to a group known as the Order of the Platinum Dragon.  They are mostly made up of the children of the DragonSlayers (my 3.x game).  They began their adventure like so many others....or so they thought.

Here are the adventures in chronological order (links take you to the blog post where I talk about their game).

T1 Village of Hommlet (forgotten by the characters, played as a flashback)
B1 Into the Unknown
B2 Keep on the Borderlands
L1 The Secret of Bone Hill
X2 Castle Amber
I6 Ravenloft
C2 Ghost Tower of Inverness
A1-5 Slave Lords
C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan
G123, G4 Against the Giants  (where we are now)

Then we do:
D12, 3 Descent into the Depths of the Earth, Vault of the Drow
Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits
(Q2) Queen of Lies
CM2 Death's Ride
H4 Throne of Bloodstone

The adventure began in The Inn of the Welcome Wench (T1). Here they discover the main plot of the "Cult of Chaos", but a battle with Lareth the Beautiful and Bargel left their memories wiped and two of their party missing (the Warlock Croulie and the Pyromancer Cynder).  The remaining party delved into the Castle Quasqueton (B1) and it's dungeons where they discover one of the Chaos Stones.  This leads to a vision/memory of a long ago battle.  They travel to the nearby Keep (B2) where they take on some hirelings, Uno, Duo, Tres, Quatro and their leader Cinco ("played" by Danny Treo) to investigate the Caves of Chaos.  Here they discover a temple dedicated to ancient demon god and more on the Cult of Chaos.

They then traveled to the monastery on Bone Hill (L1) and a group of missing wizards. Again there is a rumor of the Cult of Chaos, but also the involvement of several "Hyena Men".
Following the trail of the Hyena Men, the party is sucked up in a mysterious fog, here they find themselves in a strange land (actually the past) and a strange Castle (X2). More knowledge is gained about the Dawn War and for the first time they hear the phrase "Beware the Endless Darkness".  Here they meet up with the "wizard" (actually a warlock) Skylla.  They travel the mists for a while till they come upon the Villiage of Barovia and the terrifying Castle Ravenloft (I6).   They stop Strahd and his plans to blot out the sun, but not before Skylla is taken away by an army of ghosts.

They meet up with another party and tackle the famed Ghost Tower of Inverness (C2).  They recover the Soul Gem and hear the phrase "Beware the Endless Darkness" again.

Leaving the Ghost Tower they hear rumors once again of the Hyena-Men (Gnolls and Gnoles) and a slaving operation. They have long suspected, but now get confirmation that Gnolls are servants of a Demon Lord (keep in mind my players don't have the wealth of history of D&D we all do). They also find out that the slaves are all being transported elsewhere by human agents.  They discover the Cult of Chaos is also behind this operation and the Drow, long forgotten, are also involved.  
The Order manages to destroy the slaver operation and even convince an Earth Dragon and Red Dragon to reawaken the dormant volcano to destroy the island.  Before leaving the island with rescued slaves the Earth Dragon (an actual dragon) tells them to "beware the coming darkness".

Returning the slaves to the Duchy of Urnst they see the Sun go completely black.

The sun is out and there is a council of the greatest mages (ie their characters from the 3.x game) in Greyhawk.  The plan is worked out to relight Moradin's Forge.  It's light and life giving heat will keep everyone alive till the sun can be put right.  In the meantime the world is besieged by monsters and undead.   The Council of Greyhawk scrys for any remaining sun-related magic items.  Even the Sunsword from Ravenloft is out. The party is sent to a jungle (C1) because an artifact is found there that is related to the sun.    The "artifact" is the dying Mystarian Sun God (Immortal) Ixion, whom the characters knew better as "Cinco".  He and his four brothers were all gods of the sun, they were killed by vampire god Camazotz.   Cinco/Ixion gives the character his heart, Camazotz was not able to get it in time, to use to relight Moradin's Forge.

With the world now on life-support, the Council sends groups of adventures all over the world to find out what is going on.  The Order of the Platinum Dragon is sent to investigate raids made by some giants...

They know they are fighting against the clock.  Moradin's Forge is a powerful artifact that the gods used to create life, but once it is lit any one can use it. Undead are swarming all over. New monsters and monstrosities are everywhere and the Priests of the Sun gods are powerless.

Chaos, it seems, is winning.

What happens next is now up to my players and their characters.

In Search of... the Holmes Witch

Very recently this image popped up again. This time on Tumblr.

Which started a conversation on the existence, or lack thereof, of the Holmes Witch.
The witch, as speculated then, would have been a sub-class of the Magic-User.
But where did this come from?

Well research into the original Holmes manuscript over at Zenopus Archives, gives some backing to long-held idea that the witch was something added later on in editing.

Gygax himself weighs in on this here, again thanks to Zenopus Archives.
"That mention slipped by me, and all I can assume was that either Eric was planning to force such a class upon me, or else someone editing the work thought it a good joke to play. I never had a PC class of that sort in mind for the game." (Enworld forum post archived at greyhawkonline)

In truth there never really was a "Holmes Witch".  There are "Holmesian-like Witches" to be sure (I classify my own witch class as more "Moldvay"), but nothing he ever wrote himself.

Other discussions
- Recent Google+ discussion that prompted this post
- An older OD&D Boards Discussion
- Um, I was promised Witches?
- Holmes Rules: The Witch

Semi-Related
- Tom Moldvay on Witches

Review: The Wicked Cauldron

Troll Lords has been putting out some quality products since the 3.x/d20 boom days.  This includes not only their own "house" system, Castles and Crusades but also some 3.x material back in the day.
Well now they are dipping their toes into 5th edition and I could not more pleased.

This past Gen Con I picked up their 5th edition version of their adventure A3 The Wicked Cauldron. I already had the C&C version and I wanted to see how they compared.  Especially since D&D 5 really has a lot of ideas that C&C started with.

The Castles & Crusades version is 24 pages and designed for 3-5 characters of 3rd to 4th level.
The Dungeons & Dragons 5e version is 40 pages (larger font) and for 3-5 characters of 3rd to 5th level.

I am reviewing the print and pdf versions.

The premise is a fairly simple one.  There is a ruined ziggurat in the Barren Woods that is the home to many foul things. It also has a long and evil history and currently is home to one of the fabled Witch Queens.  The PCs must investigate and stop her.

The adventure itself is particularly original, but that doesn't make it less fun.  There is a good balance of overland and dungeon exploring, plenty of new monsters to fight, a threat of an ancient evil.  Given that this module is coded "A3" should give you an indication it is part of a larger series, and it is.  It can be played as part of Troll Lords "A" series that began with "Assault on Blacktooth Ridge" and "Slag Heap" and continues in other Airhde products and adventures.  But it can also be played as a stand-alone adventure.
The adventure is very reminiscent of the old Basic adventures of the early 80s, especially B2 and B4.  In fact, it is almost a perfect mix of these two classic adventures.  So in the nostalgia department, it gets a perfect score from me.

My biggest issue with the PDFs and the Print versions are the maps are fairly small.  I can redo them on my own and larger, but having something I can print out or read easier would be nice.

The 5th edition conversion is good and really, C&C is so close to D&D5 as to almost make the conversion unnecessary, but still I did enjoy looking through both to find the subtle differences.  The most interesting changes were to the Witch Queen herself.

The Witch Queen, Neb–Eprethat, is the central figure in this adventure and stopping her is the main goal.  In the C&C version, she is a Lawful Evil 5th level human cleric/wizard.  In the D&D 5 version, she is a Chaotic Evil 6th level human cleric.   In both cases, she could be better served as a witch.

There is no D&D5 witch class (yet) and I am not ready to publically reveal my C&C witch class.  But I can give her a try in my Basic-era Witch.  Though given that she supposedly worships and honors the "Horned One" she could be a D&D5 Warlock too.  In fact a warlock (as per D&D5) makes a lot of sense.

Neb–Eprethat - Witch Queen 
Chaotic Human Witch (Malefic Tradition), 6th level
The Witch stats

Strength:	11		Death Ray, Poison	11
Dexterity:	14		Magic Wands	12
Constitution:	12		Paralysis, Polymorph or Turn to Stone	11
Intelligence:	16		Dragon Breath	14
Wisdom:	14		Rods, Staffs, Spells	13
Charisma:	18

Hit Points: 20
Alignment: Chaotic
AC: 1
Dagger +4, Multiattack (allows 2 attacks per round)
To hit AC0: 18

Occult Powers
Familiar: Toad (multiple familiars)

Spells
Cantrips (7): Alarm Ward, Daze, Detect Curse, Object Reading, Open, Spark, Warm
First (3+2): Bewitch I, Cause Fear, Command, Minor Fighting Prowess, Sleep
Second (2+2): Biting Blade, Enthrall, Evil Eye, Hold Person,
Third (2+2): Bestow Curse, Continual Fire, Fly, Ghost Ward


She joins the ranks of the other Witch Queens that I have been gathering.

• Lady Kyleth, from Saga of the Witch Queen
• Feiya, Pathfinder Iconic Witch
• Maleficent for Basic Games
• Nuala, from Ravager of Time
• Elvyra, Queen of Witches from Quest of the Ancients
• Koliada, The Winter Witch
• Iggwilv, The Witch Queen of Perrenland

Can't wait to run this under my War of the Witch Queens campaign.

Kickstart Your Weekend: GURPS

I don't talk much about GURPS here. It's a fine system and there is a ton you can do with it, I guess I just like their supplements better than the actual game.

But this might change my mind.

Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game, Powered by GURPS

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/847271320/dungeon-fantasy-roleplaying-game-powered-by-gurps

While there is nothing 100% new here (from what I can tell) it is put together in a new way to appeal to the D&D crowd.  And appealing it is!

There is certainly a lot to like with this.  If you are a big fan of D&D and never played GURPS before then I suggest you look into this.  If you are GURPS fan then this is also a no-brainer.

But what if you are like me? I played GURPS 2nd and 3rd Editions and would consider myself more of a lapsed GURPS player?  Well, I still think it is good.

I wonder if we could see GURPS Pathfinder in the future?

Review: Maximum Mayhem Dungeons #2 and #3

+Mark Taormino is like some sort of mad genius.  I love his Maximum Mayhem Dungeons and each one "delivers the goods" in terms of hitting that nostalgia feel.  I reviewed his first offering, The Hanging Coffins of the Vampire Queen, a while back.   Today I want to look at the other two.

The Secret Machines of the Star Spawn

Let's play a game of what if.  What if the Expedition to the Barrier Peaks had been written in the 80s instead of the 70s?  What if there were influences of Star Wars, Buck Rogers, 50s sci-fi movies and just a little dash of 70s Blaxplotation?  You might get something like The Secret Machines of the Star Spawn, but it would not be as good as the module Mark Taormino wrote.
The module follows a similar flow of the other Maximum Mayhem Dungeons; something weird is happening, there are rumors, a long history of strangeness and a thin excuse to go adventuring.
What they PCs will uncover is...well I don't want to spoil it.  It's no shock that this adventure will feature a downed starship and some lasers.  But it doesn't end there.
In truth there is a lot to really, really like about this adventure.  In a different setting the monsters would be scary ass deadly and really, really awesome.  Also there is so many references to pop culture, especially sci-fi and 80s pop culture, that it would be pointless to address them all. The rock band KILL was one of my favorites.
Designed for OSRIC, I played bits and pieces of this using D&D5. Though it would work just as well with AD&D1, Castles & Crusades or any other OGL based clone game.
The one issue I have with it (and very minor)  is that players that didn't grow up in the 70s and 80s would not get all the jokes.   I ran Hanging Coffins for my kids and they loved it, but some of the jokes fell flat on them here. No surprise they have no context for them.  I thought they were hilarious to be honest.  Loved the Pinball Wizard!
If I were to run this again I would either merge it with a little bit of Expedition to the Barrier Peaks and run a huge Star Spawn mega-adventure.  Or I'd run it as is with some disposable characters and guys the grew up in the 80s too.

Villains of the Undercity

Here is another what-if game.  What if the Keep on the Borderlands was destroyed and then humans came in and built a new keep on top of the ruins.  Let's also say the caves of Chaos have been cleared, but not all the monsters were killed.  Where did they go? What did they do?  Now invite the Slave Lords from the A series over.  You would get Villains of the Undercity!
This adventure is an ode and homage to the great dungeon crawls of the day.
While this adventure fits the gonzo style of the other Maximum Mayhem Dungeons this one can also be played straight.  Well...sorta.  There is a crazy Halfling Illusionist Assassin, but that is for the players to figure out.
With this one anyone that has ever been inside a classic dungeon will find something to love.  There are lots of deadly traps, monsters and puzzles to figure out. Of course plenty of treasure too.
This adventure is also the one that I can see fitting into a larger campaign, even with adventures from other publishers.  I was mentally placing it in Greyhawk or even Dolmvay.
Just really a lot of fun.

RPGaDAY2016: Day 31

What is the best piece of advice you were ever given for your game of choice?

I am not sure who told me this, but I remember is was early into high school.
At the time I was learning to game it was more important for us to have fun than it was was to play by the rules.  Then I went through a period where I only played by the letter of the rules. I used weapon speeds and every little encumbrance rule I knew of.   If it was not in the books, or our specially sanctioned set of house rules, then we didn't do it.

I was talking with a friend (or maybe it was the older brother of another friend) and I was told this.

Don't memorize rules. You can't memorize them all anyway.  Focus on the basics and having fun. Everything else can be looked up.

Turned out to be good advice. It's also the same advice I give.

I tend to make the rules an abstraction.  Like in most newer editions of D&D it's "roll a d20 vs. a specified number. If the number is not specified use 10, 15 or 20."  In Unisystem it's "roll a d10, add skills and abilities and see how much higher than 9 it is."  Everything else will flow from that.

We are here to have fun, not defend a dissertation that someone else wrote.

http://www.brigadecon.org/rpgaday2016/

RPGaDAY2016: Day 30

Describe the ideal game room if your budget were unlimited.

I am not sure about *The* ideal game room, but for *my* ideal game room I am already pretty damn close.

Here are a few posts about it.
http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2016/08/pop-culture-league-challenge-shelfie.html
http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2013/02/game-room-walls-meme.html
http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2015/08/rpg-day-2015-day-22.html
http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2013/08/where-do-you-create.html

I need plenty of light, easy access to my books, a good table with chairs and lots and lots of pencils.

Right now I could get a better table. Nothing wrong with the one I have, I think a "gamer table" would be nice.  I just have not found one yet that I like enough to buy.



http://www.brigadecon.org/rpgaday2016/

Tarot Witch of the Black Rose for Villains & Vigilantes

We have two great comic-related Kickstarters going on right now, one just getting going and the other about to end.
We have the update to the classic super-hero RPG Villains & Vigilantes from +Jeff Dee and Jack Herman, The Mighty Protectors RPG. It is doing great and still a few more weeks.
Also, we have issue #100 of Jim Balent's and +HOlly Golightly's comic Tarot Witch of the Black Rose.

So to celebrate both I thought some V&V stats for Tarot might be in order.  I have not played V&V in years, so I am a little rusty on character creation.

Notice:  Neither of these Kickstarters or their respective properties have anything to do with each other or their respective creators. Except of course that I am a fan and wish them all the best of luck!

Tarot, Witch of the Black Rose

Identity: Tarot, Witch of the Black Rose
Name: Rowan

Side: Good
Sex: Female
Age: Late 20s/Early 30s

Height: 5'9"
Weight: 135 lbs 

Training: Coven Witch, Swordmaiden

Level: 13
Experience: 100,000 xp

Strength: 13
Endurance: 15
Agility: 35
Intelligence: 18
Charisma: 30

React. Mod.: 5

Basic Hits: 3

Agility Mod: 0

Hit Mod. (1.2) (1.8) (3.4) (1.3)=9.5472

Hit Points: 29
Power: 81

Healing Rate: 1.2
Accuracy Modfier: +6
Damage Modifier: +5
Detect Hidden: 14%
Detect Danger: 18%
Reaction from Good: +5
Reaction from Evil: -5

Movement rate: 63

Powers:
Skills: Swordsmanship, Witchcraft

Power: Precognition
- Tarot Reading/Tarot Magic - Can use tarot cards as divination devices.

Power: Magick (Spell casting)
- Dazzle
- Eye bite (Blast, does not require hands)
- Flight
- Magickal Senses
- Teleport
- Telekinesis

Magic Items
- Magic Armor (resistance to magical attacks,  enhanced agility)
- Magic Sword, Sword of the Black Rose (heightened attack, magical attack)

Legal status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record.
Security clearance: 0

Other Tarot Character Builds
Hair: Red
Eyes: Green
Group Affiliation: The Black Rose Coven
Base of Operation: Witches' Hollow, Salem, MA

Notes: I have posted about Tarot before.  She has some magic, some skills and combat ability.  She has a winged cat familiar named Pooka as well as a two lovers, Skeleton Man (Jon Webb) and Boo Cat (a werecat).  She does some really cool comic things, but then ends up loosing her clothes while sledding due to some faeries (ok to be fair the whole vacationing lot, Jon, Mother and Raven, did too).

All in all not a bad fit.  I like her at 13th level which lines up nicely with her other builds.  Tarot really amounts to what is a Witch Guardian in my games.  A little magic, some combat ability, and a desire to protect others.  Everything else aside that is what Tarot (the character) is all about; protecting others.
Kinda makes her perfect for a game called "Mighty Protectors".

• Mutants and Masterminds, 2^nd Edition
• Mutants and Masterminds, 3^rd Edition
• True20
• Cinematic Unisystem
• Superbabes

Other Characters for Villains & Vigilantes

• Willow & Tara
• Justice
• Zatanna

RPGaDAY2016: Day 29

If you could host a game anywhere on Earth, where would that be?

Hmm. I think I answered this one, a little bit, on Day 27 with "a haunted* house".

But I suppose a "haunted*" castle would be more fun. Or even just a real castle we could explore first and then game.  It would have to be a weekend thing. Or a week.

I think that would be a blast.


*"haunted" because I don't actually believe in ghosts.

RPGaDAY2016: Day 28

What film or novel would you be most surprised that a friend had not seen or read?

I have to admit I am always very surprised when someone in RPG circles tells me they have never read J.R.R. Tolkien.

To me it is so integral to what I consider my own RPG experience.

Now I am not surprised when I hear people have not read H.P. Lovecraft.  I find that more people talk about his works than have actually read them.

For movies.  I am in shock when I hear that someone has never seen Star Wars.  That is also so central to my own RPG upbringing.

http://www.brigadecon.org/rpgaday2016/

RPGaDAY2016: Day 27

Describe the most unusual circumstance or location in which you have gamed.

Ok.
Anyone remember the old TV show, the Newlywed Game?  One of the standard questions was "strangest place you have ever made 'whoopie'?" which was conservative America talk for having sex.  

Yeah.  That's what this question reminds me of.

I don't know really.  We use to play on the school bus in Jr. High and High School, but honestly that doesn't seem so odd.

I always wanted to run a horror themed game in a "haunted" house. That would be fun I think.

http://www.brigadecon.org/rpgaday2016/

Kickstart Your Weekend: Huge Kickstarter Round up.

Lots to share today! So let's get into it.

Prince Valiant® Storytelling Game by Greg Stafford
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1861515217/prince-valiant-storytelling-game-by-greg-stafford

The comic gets updated in a new game from Greg Stafford.  I remember reading this as a kid and it could make for a great game.  Just a couple of hours left!

Tarot Witch of the Black Rose: Issue#100 Extended Edition
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jimbalent/tarot-witch-of-the-black-rose-issue100-extended-ed/

I make no apologies of my enjoyment of Tarot and Jim and Holly have put together a cool package here.  It's issue 100 and Tarot and Skeleton Man are getting married.  I am sure things are going to ger crazy before the official handfasting.

Battle of the Bands: The Deluxe Edition Card Game
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/150522358/battle-of-the-bands-the-deluxe-edition-card-game

I do enjoy a crazy card game and this one had me at Elvis impersonator.

Worldographer: Hexographer 2 - Easy Map/World Creator
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inkwellideas/worldographer-hexographer-2-easy-map-world-creator

I also love mapping software.

Invisible Sun
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/montecookgames/invisible-sun/

Monte Cook's massive new RPG. Or RPG as art or lifestyle.  I am not sure what it is to be honest.  But I am sure you all have $200 to find out?  Well so far a lot of others have so there is obviously a market for this.

Last, but not at all least.

Villains and Vigilantes™ 3.0: The Mighty Protectors™ RPG
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jeffdee/villains-and-vigilantestm-30-the-mighty-protectors

Jeff Dee has the rights to Villains and Vigilantes back and now is working on the 3.0 version of one of the world's first super-hero games.  It looks like it will be a lot of fun!

Go out there and bring your credit card! ;)

RPGaDAY2016: Day 26

What hobbies go well with RPGs?

Which ones go well?
Well reading obviously, but it is hard to consider that one a hobby. Kinda like saying breathing and eating are hobbies in my mind.

Collecting RPGs is one that gets tied up in playing RPGs a lot.  Long ago I knew I would never, ever be able to collect every game I wanted so I have just focused on a few things I have wanted for my collection.

Curious to read what others say on this.


http://www.brigadecon.org/rpgaday2016/

RPGaDAY2016: Day 25

In your opinion, what do you need for a satisfying character?

All I need is a good concept I want to explore.

In particular when creating a character I might have some archetype or even some stereotype I want to explore.

Currently, the character I am working on is an NPC for various project. She is a witch (of course, but so are my projects), but comes from an ancient line of witches.  Something like the Mayfair witches from Anne Rice, but a lot less incest.

Tanith Winters is a member of the ancient Winters family of witches.  She might be the powerful one yet, no one is sure.  But I plan to find out.
Like all of the Winters witches Tanith is pale, with white hair and favors darker clothing.

I am basing her look a little off of Taylor Momsen, the actress and lead singer of The Pretty Reckless. Yes she was also "Cindy Lou Who" in the live action How the Grinch Stole Christmas movie.

The name is a nod to both the novel "Tanith" by Jack D. Shackleford and the author Tanith Lee.

Lately for characters, I have been putting together Pinterest boards to collect ideas, mostly images, about the character.

Here is Tanith's:

Follow Timothy's board Tanith on Pinterest.

I also have boards for other characters as well.

http://www.brigadecon.org/rpgaday2016/

RPGaDAY2016: Day 24

What is the game you are most likely to give to others as a gift?

It kind of depends on the situation.  If I am trying to introduce someone to our hobby, but I think they need "training wheels" of a sort, then I am most likely to give them Dungeon! because it is easy to learn and does not require a game master.

Though if I think they are ready for the plunge I have a couple of other options.

My go to in most cases is the D&D Basic set of whatever the most current or popular version is.  So over the last few years I have given away copies of the 4th and 5th edition Basic/Beginners Sets and the Pathfinder Basic Box.

I also love to give out copies of Basic Fantasy with a set of dice.
It is cheap and everything is in one book and easy to learn.  Typically anytime I make a big Amazon order, I'll throw a couple of Basic Fantasy books on and always have them on hand.  Sometimes I also throw in a copy of my Witch book.

Maybe what is needed is a nice cheap book that is designed to get people into the game and has everything they need to get going.  Something like "OSR Basic".

Hmm....I wonder how much it would cost to print up just the basic information from the D&D 5 SRD?
But not just rules, something to really bring new players into the fold.

http://www.brigadecon.org/rpgaday2016/

RPGaDAY2016: Day 23

Share one of your best 'Worst Luck' stories.

I mentioned this one a couple years ago for "Most Memorable Character Death" but it also falls under best "Worst Luck" since the poor guy was at the receiving end of some truly diabolic dice rolls.

I have played exactly 1 ninja my entire  gaming life.  His name was Oko-nishi (horrible I know).  My lame attempts at a Japanese sounding name.  In my defense at what I knew was a bad name, I made him a half-orc; because I could then blame his orc parent.  It must have been around 1984-5 as I made him using the Oriental Adventure rules.  My then DM and I had worked up a D&D combat simulator on the Color Computer 2 and we plugged him in with 9 other characters.  He was attacked by a Black Dragon (or Red, cant recall) and killed. The dragon kept attacking him and only him.  We had not worked out all the errors. In the end, he had been reduced to something like -70 hp.  My DM offered to let him be ok, or keep him dead. We enjoyed watching it so much and getting the mental image of this dragon jumping up and down on my dead ninja that I felt it was a waste to say it never happened.

I never played a ninja or a half-orc again.

http://www.brigadecon.org/rpgaday2016/

Monstrous Mondays: Wendigo Matron

A while back I featured a Wendigo as part of my A to Z.  Well, my son has been running some games on his own with a group of his friends and he has been using Wendigoes as well.  This monster is one of his original creations.

Section 15: "Wendigo Matron" Copyright 2016 Liam W. Brannan.

Wendigo Matron
Armor Class:  2 [17]
Hit Dice: 10d8+5* (50 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 claws / 1 bite / breath weapon / spell use
Damage: 1d6 / 1d6 / 1d6+3 / 1d8+5 (cold)
Special: breath weapon, fear, low-light vision (240’), scent, immunity to cold
Movement: 90’/180' (fly)
No. Appearing: 1
Saves As: Witch 10
Morale: 9
Treasure: None
Alignment: Evil (Chaos)
XP: 3,000

A windigo matron is if anything, more evil than the common wendigo.  This creature is te defacto leader of a any band of wendigo and she has powers above and beyond the already formidable powers of these foul creatures.
In addition to the physical attacks, breath weapons, and fear of a normal wendigo, the wendigo matron can also use the following spell-like powers 3 times per day:

Wind Walk
Fly
Invisibility 
Shape change

A common tactic of a wendigo matron is to shape change into a normal human woman and lead victims to the lairs of the wendigo. She will often pose as a rescued victim, or as a someone seeking vengeance against the wendigo that killed her "family".   There may be truth in both guises as the wendigo may in fact, have been her family.
The wendigo matron is also different in her origin.  While humans can become wendigo when confronted with the prospect of starvation and freezing to death, a wendigo matron chooses to become what she now is.
It is believed that there is a dark ritual where prospective wendigo matron cuts out her own heart with a flint dagger.  What is known that a wendigo matron can not be truly destroyed till she is reduced to 0 hp and her heart is burned.  Otherwise, she will rise again when the next snowfall occurs.
Like the lich and his phylactery, the wendigo matron keeps her heart in a safe place.

Don't forget to include the hashtag #MonsterMonday on Twitter or #MonsterMonday on Google+ when you post your own monsters!

RPGaDAY2016: Day 22

What are some random events in your games that keep happening?

We have been going through the "Greyhawk Classics" series of modules and other adventures from about the same time.  There seems to be an inordinate number of wealthy elvish princesses captured in dungeons.  Yeah I know it has a lot to do with the time the books were written (late 70s early 80s) and the audience they were geared too (teenage boys), but it is getting silly enough that even my youngest is like "who is keeping an eye on these girls? not their parents, that's for sure".

Appearing almost as much is the "helpless captive, who is really a thief".  So much so that I have taken to use the same mini for this character in a half-baked idea that it is in fact the same thief that keeps getting captured.  Just need to come up with a name a little bit of a back-story for her.  She has managed to steal quite a bit of loot from the characters already.

I am thinking something like Autolycus the Prince of Thieves, played by Bruce Campbell on Xena. Pure comic relief.

Could be fun really.


http://www.brigadecon.org/rpgaday2016/

RPGaDAY2016: Day 21

What was the funniest misinterpretation of a game rule in your group?

Funniest?  No idea really.

The only rule misinterpretation I recall was back in the days of Basic I saw the wizard XP and thought ok, he needs 2,500 to get to level 2 and then 5,000 to level 3. So I got 2,500xp, went to level 2 and erased the XP and started at 0 to work to level 3.  By the time I was level 3 I had already earned close to 8,000 XP.

Not really fun I know, just kind of youthful misunderstanding.

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RPGaDAY2016: Day 20

What is the most challenging but rewarding system have you learned?

I don't find many systems to be very challenging to be honest.

Back in the day I would have said Chill or Call of Cthulhu just because they were so different than what I have used in the past.



http://www.brigadecon.org/rpgaday2016/