The Witch Appendix N

I have used many books in researching this class and all of it's related topics. Here are some of those books that I have found most helpful. I have used these books to get more at the witch of myth and history, rather than the modern witch of today.

Keep in mind that these books have nothing to do with RPGs, they are books of belief. Witchcraft is a real religion and people take their religious beliefs seriously and personally.


These books have been helpful for a variety of reasons. If for nothing else to get me to think about witches differently than other game authors have.

Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology by Russell Hope Robbins 
This book has been long out of print, and I got mine at a used book store, but it is the indespensible work on witches, the witch craze and demonology. The book takes a very pro-witch point of view as it frankly discusses the murder of women, children and even men in the name of god. Not to be missed, this book has been THE source for most of my writings. Several editions are out there, mine is the 1959 edition. I have seen them on Ebay as well.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0517362457/

The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
It would be unfair to compare this book to the work above it, because this book is very good. More a modern spin, it still deals with a variety of topics that are of interest to the witch or occult scholar. I used this book a lot when writing Eldritch Witchery. This book also has the advantage of being much newer and still available. All around a good mix of topics, witch myth is mixed in with modern Wicca, making difficult for the unlearned to know what is what. But for those who know a bosom from a common broom, then you will enjoy this book. If you have your own Bosom, then you might even find this book a little simple, but I found things there I did not know about, so I enjoyed it!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/081603849X/

The Witch Book: The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-paganism by Raymond Buckland
Another encyclopedia  This one though covers less but goes deeper on it's topics.  I like Buckland's writing style more than some of the others listed here.  Gave me a lot of insight on various witch traditions.
http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Book-Encyclopedia-Witchcraft-Neo-paganism/dp/1578591147/

Encyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft by Raven Grimassi
Another encyclopedia of all things witchy. This one focuses on more modern practices, has a very large list of contacts, email and websites. Some overlap with Guiley's book. If you are interested in the nature of the religion of witches today, then this is your book. Or at least it is a good place to start.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567182577/

Covencraft : Witchcraft for Three or More by Amber K
A nice a well written book for witches and lay-people (cowans) to understand what a coven is and does. This is not a primer to witches, witchcraft or wicca, this book assumes you know what you need to know and works on what you may not know. It is concise and intelligent and a good read, even for non-witches. Maybe especially for non-witches, so that others can finally learn what witches do. From Llewellyn Publications.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567180183/

Witchcraft, Sorcery and Superstition by Jules Michelet, A. R. Allinson (Translator)
A good book that deals with the wicth craze of the middle ages. Discussion range from early "faerie stories" to pagan religions, to the church sanctioned murder of thousands. Sometime muddled, the book has a few rare gems. Plus it delves into the socilogy of fear, why these people did what they did. Gets as far as the Salem witch trials. Very little to do with modern witchcraft.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0806516860/


Cassell Dictionary of Witchcraft by David Pickering
Another in a series of encyclopedia/dictionaries about witchcraft. A very good beginners guide.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0304350982/

Witches by Erica Jong
More of a coffee table book than an indepth treatsie on witches or witchcraft. Heavy on the feminist side, but not man-bashing (it is an Eric "Fear of Flying" Jong book) it is visually stunning. An oversized book, so if you look for it in the library you might have to check the oversized selves. My local library cut out some of the more risque pages. So I bought my own copy.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0810981572/

The Modern Witch's Spellbook, Book II by Sarah Lyddon Morrison
I read this, along with Book I, years ago, towards the first drafts of my witch class. It has spells that can supposedly really cast. Never tried. But it is a good insight on how some witches view or can view magic. A picture of me reading this over the top of my glasses (Thomas Dolby style, there THAT's long ago it was!) made my High School newspaper!.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0806510153/

Man and His Symbols by Carl Gustav Jung
I alway's liked Jung. His psychoanalytic theory always sat better with me than Freud's. This book deals with many of the archetypes we deal thing at an uncounscious level, the witch is one of many type of female, or anima, archetypes. Jung is one of the greatest thinkers of the modern era, and this is one of his masterpieces (along with Synchronicity).
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0440351839/

Drawing Down the Moon : Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshipers, and Other Pagans in America Today by Margot Adler
This is the book on modern pagan practices. Since it deals with a real world religion i only used it as inspiration to the Witches Netbook I wrote. But if you want to know what is going on in the world of paganism today, then this is your first stop. It is very telling for the foresightedness of this book when you consider that it was first published in 1979!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/014019536X/

To Ride a Silver Broomstick : New Generation Witchcraft by Silver Ravenwolf
Similar in nature to Adler's book above, this book deal with modern wicca and witchcraft. Ravenwolf is very much a witchcraft supporter and her point of view shows through in this book, for good and ill. A good place to start and then return to when you know a little more.  Generally speaking I am not a huge fan of Silver Ravenwolf, but at the same time I am not really her target audience, so my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt.
She has similar fare in her other books, To Stir a Magick Cauldron and To Light a Sacred Flame.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/087542791X/

The Penguin Book of Witches & Warlocks : Tales of Black Magic, Old & New editied by Marvin Kaye

I have enjoyed the anthologies of Marvin Kaye for years. Ghosts, Vampires, Demons & Devils, and now witches. I found this in the library and had to get a copy from Ebay. It is a collection of short stories about witches, warlocks and witchcraft. The quality varies, but gems are true gems.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140149910/

I will post more soon.

Happy Thanksgiving

To all my American readers, Happy Thanksgiving!

And to the rest of the world, Happy Thursday!

White Dwarf Wednesday #40

Around Issue 40 is where I really began to get into White Dwarf.  At this point, I was the only one in my gaming circle reading it regularly and I felt it gave me an edge on those "just reading Dragon".  Of course I had not experienced Imagine yet (though this issue had a big ad for Issue #1)  and it would still be a couple more years before I got my hands on Dungeoneer mag.

Let's get into Issue 40, April 1983. First off I consider this one of the more iconic covers of WD.  These odd aliens screamed SciFi/Fantasy Book Club to me, but I was 100% cool with that.  Still am.  I have no idea who these guys are, but my next SciFi game will have them as a race.  The cover artist is listed as "Emmanuel".

Ian Livingstone's Editorial discusses a very good question.  Why are Fantasy and Sci-Fi lumped together?  This is a question that a younger, 12-year-old, Otherworlds Card-carrying self would have asked. Ian mentions he prefers SciFi films over fantasy, but fantasy games over Sci-fi ones.  That fitted me to a tee. I loved Star Trek, Star Wars, and Doctor Who (83 was a HUGE year for me and the good Doctor) and I played AD&D far more than Traveller or Star Frontiers.

Dave Morris is up first with Zen and the Art of Gaming for RuneQuest.  It is some setting material for a feudal Japan-like country for RuneQuest.  Anything Japanese was all the rage in time period 82  to 85 or so. I recall reading this and thinking how cool it would be to try this out in AD&D, but never got around to it.

Alan E. Paul has an article on large scale massive battles for D&D, "Dungeon Master General".   It is three pages long and I never read it back in the day.  I never did massive battles till about 1987 and even then we used the "BattleSystem" rules.  These rules seem easy to use, but still more complicated than I like.  I would be a terrible Wargamer.

Critical Mass reviews some interesting books.  First we have everyone knows about, White Gold Wielder by Stephen Donaldson. I am one of those people that put down the Thomas Covenant book after the rape scene.  I saw no point to reading the rest.  Only occasionally I regret that, but reading this review sets me more at easy.  I am a fan of Lovecraft and of Moorcock so I like dark fantasy.  That rape scene frankly left a bad taste in my mouth for the entire series.   There is another book, Chekhov's Journey which is sci-fi but not about the Star Trek character.  No this book is really best described as an early cyberpunk book.  I will check it out based on that alone.  They also cover Robert Lynn Asprin's Myth Directions, which I loved and they didn't.

Open Box is up with some more classics from TSR.  Jim Bambra reviews C1, C2, S2, and I1.  Giving them 8/10, 8/10. 8/10 and 5/10 respectively.  He says that I1, Dwellers of the Forbidden City is rather mundane, though his own scores on the module should really put it more in the 6/10 or 7/10 region.  Phil Masters reviews Steve Jackson Game's classic Illuminati.  He praises the skill needed and the tone of the game. He says in the same breathe that the game "lacks elegance" and "Should do well in America".  I will try not to take that personally. ;)  It gets 7/10.  We also get reviews for Starstone: A Mediaeval FRP Campaign by Northern Sages (9/10) and Soloquest 2: Scorpion Hall for RuneQuest by Chaosium (8/10).   I am completely unfamiliar with those two.

Letters covers some Traveller, D&D and RuneQuest issues.  No fighting this time.  Some light critism on the Moria article a few issues back.

Marcus Rowland is back with an AD&D adventure for 1st to 3rd level characters, The Eagle Hunt. At 6-pages it is one of the larger of the adventures that WD has published to date.

RuneRites deals with Trading as a skill in RuneQuest.

Andy Slack has a new Explorer class scout ship for Traveller.

Fiend Factory is up and Phil Masters has more Inhuman Gods.  We get the gods of the Firenewts, Flymen, Flinds (sorta) and Frogfolk. Also mentioned are Dire Raiders and Dire Corbies.

In what was always pure gold for me back then was Microview.  This time we have a BASIC program for RuneQuest. Despite the fact I never played RuneQuest I typed this up.  I made some tweaks to it and then would later write my own AD&D program for characters.

Treasure Chest is looking more and more "professional"  The layout is sharp and clean and the magic items are also really good.  The items are, Arrow of the Inner Planes, Druid's Flask, Cloth of the Wind Horse, Shaft of the Spider, Wand of Locking, and Wizard's Wand.  I never used any of these to my knowledge.

We end with the Classifieds and some ads.

While there is nothing in this issue that stands out as stellar to me, the whole issue has the feel of more professionalism than previous issues.  For me this is when White Dwarf came into it's own.  The next 50-60 issues were great times.

This is the story of how we died.

When Gary and Dave sat down and designed Dungeons & Dragons they certainly had one thing in mind.  That it should be a social game.  It should be a time when friends got together and talked and had a good time.  Then after the game they could talk about the game they had or share in other games.  The cirlces were small back then in the Dawn Age; everyone knew everyone or were at least separated only by a person or two.

My degree of separation between me and Gygax is 1. The cousin of my regular DM ran us through an OD&D game one summer in 87.  He (whose name was also Gary) had played some games with Gary Gygax back in the day.   He told us we were playing "just like Gary did".   Outside of some email communication with Gary Gygax in the late 90s and meeting him once at what would be his last Gen Con, that is the closest I ever got.  

I am a member of what I like to call the Second Generation of Gamers.  I began in 1979 but did not really get into it until 1980-81.  I didn't learn at the feet of Masters.  I learned mostly on my own and with other kids who had done the same.  We may have known someone that knew someone that had gamed with Gygax or Arneson, but none of us had.

For argument sake I call the First Generation those that were the Masters or learned directly from them.  The first gen gets fuzzy when dealing with people that learned from people that learned from the Masters.  These are not static categories in my mind.

Presently I am commenting of one of James' latest posts on learning to DM/GM from the pre-made modules.  (for the record I give James the benefit of the doubt of being First Gen even if he is the same age as me, started about the same time and is by his own admission more of my Second Generation ).   He dislikes   (maybe too strong of a word) the older modules as DM/GM tools.  I love them.

I love my home-brew adventures as much as the next guy/gal loves his/her own.  Though there is one thing that was never discussed back then that is fairly evident now.  Running or playing those old adventures has given us all shared community.  My readers/players or you and your player or people I run into at Cons more than likely did not play at my game table back in 83.  But we can all talk about heading to the Cave of Chaos or the Barrier Peaks. We can all share stories of how we died in the Tomb of Horrors or the Forgotten Temples or Cities or even Realms.  Is has been those shared experiences that have helped shape the culture of the game we all play.  

It is an extension of the social circle that guys named Gary or Dave probably never thought of.

We can all share common stories thanks to these old modules. Share what we did, how we did it.  How the characters achieved greatness and how they died.  When I mention the Owlbear in the cave at the Caves of Chaos in B2 I could get dozens of stories from you all.  I can ask did  anyone ever shout "Bree Yark!" at the goblins?  I can ask did you ever defeat Strahd.

When I was at Gen Con this past August I ran my boys through Module B1 using a mix (of course!) of D&D Basic and AD&D rules.  We played for about 4 hours each night.  I would say only about 2.5 hours were actual play time.  The other 1.5 was devoted to people walking by to tell my kids how much fun they were going to have and how awesome the adventure was.  I didn't mind. Quite the opposite in fact, I loved it.  They loved it.  They had the feeling they were about to experience something special, something that others had gone through when they were kids.  I even joked with them in the adventure  that the place had looked like it had seen hundreds of people go through the corridors over the last 30 years.

One day, maybe very soon, they will be at Gen Con or Gary Con or something else and they will say "You know I almost died in the Caves of Chaos" and someone, of same age between 100 and 10 will say "yeah! Me too!".

Adventures Dark & Deep Kickstarter

Adventures Dark & Deep is a new RPG that attempts to take the World's First and Biggest Fantasy RPG back to its early days. It takes the bones of the 1st edition game and imagines what it would have been like if Gary Gygax had stayed with TSR and released the 2nd edition of the game.

You can read more about it here:
http://greyhawkgrognard.blogspot.com/2012/11/adventures-dark-and-deep-players-manual.html and here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/623939691/adventures-dark-and-deep-players-manual

You can see some of this in Joseph Bloch's other products  that are part of the Adventures Dark & Deep line.
A Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore
Darker Paths 1: The Necromancer
Darker Paths 2: The Witch

I had mentioned a while back that 2nd Ed might be the next wave of the OSR.  Looks like we are finally seeing some of that.

Go to the Kickstarter page and watch the video.  Joe looks like what a I always thought Mordenkainen looked like, so that is worth a pledge from me for that alone!

The levels are good and well priced in my mind.
Good art and professional editing is not cheap. So I am thinking his goal is reasonable.

I don't need another retro-clone, near-clone or even alternate-reality clone (that is what I consider this and Spellcraft and Swrodplay).  BUT I do like to support my fellow gamers.

So I putting in for a hard cover edition.

Return to the Dungeon!

So last month I picked up the newest version of the classic Dungeon! broad game.  Now like many of the gamers my age I also had one of the earlier versions of Dungeon.  The one I had is not depicted below.

How does the new one measure up?

Well quite well to be honest.  The older character "classes" of Elf, Hero, Super Hero and Wizard are now gone.  Replaced with Rogue, Cleric, Fighter and Wizard.

The rules really have not changed.  So any house rules or mods you did back then will still work today.

The board really has changed much.  It is smaller than the "1st Edition" or "3rd Edition" versions depicted above.  This puts it closer to the overall feel of the "2nd Edition" version (that I originally owned, but don't have anymore) with the "RIP" cards.

So in this version you don't lay the cards on the map, you instead keep them in a stack and when a room is empty you put a little RIP marker on it.

In the older versions you could use your D&D minis on them.  The newer board is slightly smaller so it makes using the D&D minis harder.   There are no plastic pawns or small monochrome plastic minis, this version has heavy card stock.

It's not any closer to D&D than it ever was. The board is the same. The rules are the same and we still had a blast.

If you never played Dungeon! then you can still play it now.  If you have a younger child in your family or extended family then this is a great game.  And maybe just maybe it is also a good introduction to D&D.

Another Review for the Witch!

Stelios over at d20 Dark Ages has a very good review up for my latest book The Witch!

http://d20darkages.blogspot.com/2012/11/review-witch-by-timothy-brannan_16.html

He gives it 4.5 out of 5 stars, so that is great!

He did mention that a bibliography would have been nice and I agree.  Part of my "d20 upbringing" was being very active on the old OGL and OGF email lists and there was much discussion on whether or not a bib could be part of an OGL product.  Well eventually I think it came down on the said of yes it was ok, but I err on the side of caution when it comes to these things.

That all being said I think I will post a quasi-annotated bibliography.  I'll just need to put it all together.

So thank you Stelios!  I am very please you liked my book.

I talked to the publisher today and the files for the print version have been sent in so we should know once the proofs come back.

Zatannurday: For the Cosplayers!

Not sure how tuned in to geek/nerd subculture you all are.
I consider myself fairly knowledgeble and yet something still pops up that I either didn't know about or leaves me scratching my head.

This one though just irritates me.
Here are some links, you can read them.  Long story short comic book illustrator Tony Harris doesn't like cosplayers.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/comic-book-illustrator-tony-harris-hates-women-co
http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/post/35644420254/tonyharris
and one from Other Side favorite Strikes Twice, http://strikes-twice.deviantart.com/#/d5l04ol

I am not going to have this conversation. Again.  If there is someone in fandom and you don't like them or think they don't belong there then the trouble might be with you, and not them.

Today has been declared as Cosplay Appreciation Day!
http://sourcefednews.com/nerd-porn-google-tvs-and-sexist-geeks/

So I am going to celebrate the cosplayer today.
Thank you. To all the cosplayers out there that take the time, the money and the interest to share our fandom. Whether you are dressing up as a comic book character, game character or someone from a movie you have helped improve the total social standing of geeks and nerds (of which I am a proud member) everywhere.



Completed Zatanna by ~Strawberry-Photo on deviantART


Zatanna by ~Lola-Gainsborough on deviantART


Lady Z by ~Lola-Gainsborough on deviantART


Zatanna by ~Riddle1 on deviantART


My Zatanna Zatara Cosplay by *MissLola-art on deviantART


Zatanna Zatara by *MissLola-art on deviantART


Steampunk Zatanna by ~sphingosine on deviantART


Steampunk Zatanna Cosplay by Sphingosine by ~SNTP on deviantART


Zatanna Cosplay 5 by ~Refugeewolf on deviantART


Zatanna Zatara (YJ) by ~TrineMeincke on deviantART


Zatanna Zatara - Otakon 2012 by ~mariegreycosplay on deviantART


Zatanna Zatara - Otakon 2012 by ~mariegreycosplay on deviantART


Zatanna Zatara teaser 2 by *ParLitphotography on deviantART


Zatanna Zatara Is Here To Stay by ~AmeZaRain on deviantART


Zatanna Zatara Cosplay by *MissLola-art on deviantART


Zatanna Zatara Cosplay by *MissLola-art on deviantART


annataZ by ~Cujo-Escariot on deviantART

They all look fantastic!

Bathory for M&M3

As many of you all know I am huge fan of the Erzsébet Báthory story/mthyos.  Well, fan is an od word for a woman that mostly likely killed hundreds of young girls.  But you know what I mean.

Anyway there is a new product out now adding her to the Mutants & Masterminds 3rd Edition game and you all also know what a fan I am of that!

Bathory - AoV Solo (M&M3e) from Xion Studios is now out.

Here is my review:
--
Vampires have an odd role to play in a supers game, something this book recognizes.
This takes one of the most iconic vampires in myth and one of the most notorious real-life killer and adds her to the Mutants & Masterminds 3.0 game.
The author gives us an  interesting back story that should be familiar to most anyone with an interest in vampires.  There is a new, more up-to-date backstory of her activities from 2001 and on.

The crunch part, her stats and powers are good and they look "right" to me.
There is also a template for a Bathory-lineage vampire, which is a good one to use in a game.  Her PL is only 9, which makes her a good threat against normal humans or PL5 young supers.

Her PL is 12. That puts her at the same level I would expect.

I am not 100% sold on her being in a Goth Metal Band myself, but it certainly looks like it works here.

6 pages: cover art, condensed OGL statement and a lot of stuff to use in your game.  You are getting a lot for your buck here.
--

So yeah I am going to give this one a go.   I have stated up Elizabeth many times including Mutants & Masterminds 2nd ed, so if I use her again I might stick with my own backstory.  I DO like the idea of a vampire fronted goth band.  Maybe I will save that for another vampire.

For your enjoyment here are the stats for Erzsébet Báthory other games.  Mine are a little higher, but that is ok.

• Introduction
• Classic Unisystem (WitchCraft)
• Mutants and Masterminds (2nd Edition)
• Chill
• Witch Girls Adventures

Witch Traditions

With print copy of the Witch on the way and the ebook/print version of Eldritch Witchery also coming along I thought I'd spend some time talking about Witch Traditions.

What is a Tradition for the Witch class?

Historically Tradition is like a style or even a denomination of Witchcraft.  In my books Traditions are styles of witchcraft too, but it is also a bit more.

On the roleplaying side a Tradition helps define what sort of witch they are.  Their background, how they learned to be a witch and how they get their Powers and Spells. It also help define what their familiar is like.  For example a witch might roll and get "Toad", but for a Faerie witch this toad could be a nature spirit, for a Maleficia it is a small demon.  In both cases it just happens to look and act like a toad.
On the crunch side it tells you what sort Occult Powers you gain

Each book has a different set of Traditions so if you do get them both then there is something new in each one (there are more difference than just this, but this is what I am talking about today).  The Traditions are roughly set up the same way and have particulars according to their supported rules, but translation is easy.

Halfling Herb Woman - Daniel Brannan

The Witch
Aquarian
Classical
Faerie
Family
Maleficia
Eclectic

Demi-humans
Xothia (Dwarf)
Kuruni (Elf)
Good Walker (Gnome)
Bogglebos (Half-orc, orc, goblinoid)
Herb Woman (Halfling)

Eldritch Witchery
Witches (Traditions)
Craft of the Wise
Tradition of the Magna Mater (Great Mother)
Demonic
Faerie
Gypsy

Warlocks (Lodges)
Goetic Scholar
Hermetic Brother
Scholar of the Scholomance
Secret Masters of the Invisible College

There are even new Traditions in the upcoming Player's Companion for the Adventurer Conqueror King System.  I had some input on how the new ACKS Witch works (not a lot but some) and some of it was based on some of my earlier work.  Bottom line for you. The ACKS witch is very compatible with the witch from "The Witch" and "Eldritch Witchery".  There are also Shaman and Warlock classes in ACK-PC that would mix in great with any game that has a witch in it.

ACKS though is based on 14 levels, Eldritch Witchery on 20 levels and The Witch on the classic B/X 36 levels.  So you will need to move the powers across the levels some.

The ACKS-PC witch gains special powers by Tradition at 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th level.
The Witch gets occult powers at 1st, 7th, 13th, 19th, 26th and 31st levels.
In Eldritch Witchery the witch gains her Occult powers at 1st, 7th, 13th and 19th level.
For my witches the 1st level power is a familiar.  The Witch and EW can be played just as easily with 14 or 20 levels. Well...13 and 20 actually works better in my mind (make the 21st level witch the Queen of Witches).

I am not going to mention the traditions in the ACKS Player's Companion.  I will wait till it comes out.  Sufice it to say there are two that are roughly the same (and this gives a base to compare) and the others that are new.  All of them are given the ACKS-world twist.
Charles Myers, a contibutor to the ACKS Witch class has even put up some new Traditions on his own blog.

• Razor Hag Tradition
• Kindred Witch Tradition (similar to my Family witch in many ways)
• Winter Witch Tradition (this one might be am favorite)
• Tempestarii Witch Tradition

I have not tried to convert these yet, but my rough eyeballing of them tells me they should work fine.

If you picked up Joesph Bloch's wonderful Adventures Dark and Deep Witch or Jonathan Becker's Witch from the Complete B/X Adventurer then you can also use this with them and visa versa by implementing the Tradition idea.

Joesph Bloch's presents a deliciously evil witch I really want to run under B/X rules.  I would probably call her a Malevolent Witch (Malefic was already taken).  This witch is limited to 13th level so she is a good fir with ACKS-PC.  Or use this witch in place of my Malefic one.  Joe makes a lot of great points in his book on how to play an evil witch.

Jonathan Becker's witch is harder to fit in, though I do love how it works.  In this case choose one or the other witch and then take the things you like from the other books.

Daniel Proctor put together a "Diabolic Witch" for OSRIC that would also port over nicely.

One thing that ALL the books have that will thrill the witch player is spells.  Lots and lots of spells

These are not the only Traditions you can use (but it is a lot!).  You are certainly free to make up your own.

Amazing Adventures!

I picked up Amazing Adventures at this past Gen Con and I have been having some fun with it.

Despite my fondness of Victorian and Modern games I am not a big "Pulp" gamer.  I am however a new(ish) big fan of Castles and Crusades.

I have had this idea of mixing the games for some time now.  AA has a lot of features I like.  For example I like the idea of some mad science in my "D&D" like worlds.  I like the AA sorcerers as well since they save the effort of coming up with a lot of new magic types (which I enjoy, but is time consuming).

I also like that one of "my" favorite house rules is now part of the game.  Instead of the 12/18 split for primes for CBs AA has a flat CB of 15 with bonuses (and this gives it more of a cinematic feel in my mind).

This gives me the feel of a more pulpy-cinematic style C&C game.  I mean that is how I played it in the 80s anyway, fresh out of Raiders of the Lost Ark!

Has anyone else picked this up?
Are you using it, mixing it with C&C or any other game?

Links
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/106153/Amazing-Adventures%21?affiliate_id=10748
http://www.trolllord.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=211

More WotC Reprints and New Material

So you might have seen all of this in the blogs already.  If not here are some links.

• http://greyhawkgrognard.blogspot.com/2012/11/wotc-to-publish-new-ad-material.html
• http://aventurasroleras.blogspot.com/2012/11/wizard-sigue-con-suplementos-old-school.html
• http://5stonegames.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-revolution-is-over-we-won-lets-play.html

Here are the links to the WotC pages for the upcoming products,

• Unearthed Arcana, http://wizards.com/dnd/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/1Eunearthedarcana
• Hardcover A-series, http://wizards.com/DnD/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/a-series
• Hardcover S-series, http://wizards.com/DnD/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/s-series

This is awesome of course.     The A-series even comes with an all new A0 introduction adventure.

My thoughts on these.

Unearthed Arcana. For me nothing draws a cleaner line between the "Generation 1" old-schoolers and the "Generation 2" old-schoolers than their opinions on Unearthed Arcana. Generation 1 hates it. Generation 2 loves it.

I loved Unearthed Arcana.  Not just because it gave me new classes and spells but it meant that this wonderful game I had been playing will continue to grow.  So yeah I loved the goofy Barbarian and Cavalier. I didn't care that the Paladin I had been playing all this time now suddenly was changed, I thought it was great.

I like how this new version looks.  I will agree though with the Generation 1 old-schoolers on one point.  The original UA had terrible binding.  This one can only be an improvement and I understand that it includes all the errata.

The A Series is an odd one for me.   I never sought out to collect it, never really considered it much back in the day except when going through it and my new Assassin character was killed.  It is also the one I am looking forward to the most.  For starters it will be perfect for my kids new AD&D game.  Secondly and the most important is it will include the first new AD&D adventure to be published by WotC since they took over TSR.  They are supporting an edition other the current version.  I don't care how jaded you are this is a big deal.  Yes, of course it is about making money. It is ALWAYS about making money, but they are doing it in a way that supports old-school gaming.

The S Series was one of my favorite series of modules.  I have many copies of the original adventures and even some I have for all 4 editions of D&D/AD&D.  I even have the softcover "Super  module" they released years ago. I went and had it bound into a hard cover. So while I am happy about this one, I am less excited about getting it.   I bet I still will though.  My kids have already gone though half of the S modules though.

Again I will say if you are  an "OSR" publisher I would be getting your A game ready.  We seem to be in an odd lame-duck period between 4e and 5e.  Maybe WotC (who has nothing else so far on their calendar) is going to fill this with 1e products.

White Dwarf #39

White Dwarf #39 is another watershed issue for the series and for me in particular.  Now typically I remember this as Issue 40 and always think of Issue 40 on as the time I began to get WD regularly.  Up to this point my exposure to White Dwarf was either via photocopy or reading it through friends.  
So this is going to be well covered ground for me.  Maybe not easily remembered ground, but I have certainly been here before.  This will continue till around the 60s or 70s.

Ok let's get going.  What does March 1983 give us?  Well we have the new White Dwarf logo for starters.  This will be with us for the entire run of White Dwarf, well at least the entire run I plan on doing here (issue 100 or so).

The editorial is about all these changes and some coming up for 1983 including a new comic.  Frankly I have been happy with the fact that there haven't been any comics in WD.  We will see.

Up first is Fiend Factory with more non-human Deities.  We get the gods of the Aarakocra,  Bodachs (from WD 17), Bullywugs,   Crabmen, Desert Raiders, and Dire Corbies. Not a bad collection really.

Open Box has a bunch of reviews.  Marcus Rowland gives a mixed set of reviews to the first four D&D Endless Quest books (ranging 4 to 7/10).   Nicholas JR Dougan gives a 7/10 to Flying Buffalo's Citybook 1. He likes the book for ideas  but bemoans the lack of ready to use city.  He particularly likes the adventure ideas.  Both FASA and GDW offer a couple of books each for Traveller. Bob McWilliams gives the FASA books, Rescue on Galetea and the Trail of the Sky Raiders a 6/10 and 8/10 respectively.  Andy Slack gives the more detail to the two GD books, Prison Planet and Night of Conquest/Divine Intervention. He gives them an overall score of 5/10 and 9/10 respectively.

Dave Morris gives us a new bit for Runequest, Runeblades.  There is a lot of really cool swords here and I think we used a number of these.  For us back in 83 playing our goofy hybrid of D&D and AD&D, Runequest was "serious fucking gaming" and anything from Runequest immediately had the air of being cool to us.

An Introduction to Traveller is back and this issue Andy Slack talks about Campaigns.   I liked this article. I had my own ideas about what to do in Traveller and it usually had something more Star Treky in mind.

Marcus L. Rowland gives us something new for White Dwarf and in RPG mags in general, a new adventure for Champions.  Slayground is designed for 3-5 player characters.   The adventure is only 4 pages and I really have nothing to compare it to, but I really like seeing it here.  Love to see more than just normal D&D stuff.

Starbase is up next with Starship Security  for Traveller.  Not bad, I don't think I have ever really read it before.

In a treat we get another adventure.  This time it is one for AD&D.  The Daughters of Danu using the monsters from the Fiend Factory from WD #37 and #38.  Three pages, it is a good little adventure for a side quest.

Letters this month has a couple of letters focusing on the Necromancer debate.

A new feature is Critical Mass covers books in sci-fi and fantasy.  This issue they cover the potential 1982 Hugo winners.  Among my faves covered are Robert A. Heinlein's "Friday" and "2010" by Arthur C. Clarke.

Lew Pulsipher has more information on how to play monsters. Great stuff for the time really, but something I think we all kinda do now.  OR at least I do.

There are some Runequest monsters that can be easily adapted to D&D, which is what I would do at the time.  They are good as they are to be honest.

Treasure Chest has three new NPCs for AD&D including a neat 1/2 caveman, 1/2 frost giant barbarian like guy. Not sure how that guy came about, but he is a neat guy.

We end with a few pages of ads.

We are now in the time period I consider more "my" proper time frame of White Dwarf.  I am really looking forward to the 40s.

LL + MF + The Witch = ????

I 'd still love to do my Adventure Time (Labyrinth Lord + Mutant Future) mashup game sometime.
It would be a blast.

Plus I think I have found the perfect muse in adding my Witch class to the mix (since we have seen a lot of witches in Adventure time already).


Witchcraft by ~EllisSummer on deviantART


How awesome is that!  Maybe it's just me, but I think it is awesome.

Another Review for the Witch

Woo hoo!

David Brawley over at Tower of the Archmage just put up his review of my new book The Witch.
Have a look: http://towerofthearchmage.blogspot.com/2012/11/review-witch.html

He gives it a solid 4 out of 5 on DriveThruRPG as well!
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_reviews_info.php?&reviews_id=82677&products_id=107132

We should be seeing a print copy soon.  But to tide you over don't forget the PDF is still available.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/107132/The-Witch%3A-A-sourcebook-for-Basic-Edition-fantasy-games?affiliate_id=10748

Thanks so much!!

Confession Time: Gamma World

I have a dark confession to make.

I have never played Gamma World.  Not even once.
I have barley even cracked open one of the books.

It hasn't been out of lack of want, more it has never been in the same place I have been for any amount of time.  Also, and this is the biggest deal, I don't own a copy of any of the 7 editions of the game.  Though if I were to play it I would want to play the original first edition (pictured).

Yes I know I have easy access to Mutant Future, it's not exactly the same thing is it.  Very. very close yes, but not the same.

Part of the problem, for me at least, came from the fact that GW was always the 70s view of technology and by the time I had thought about playing it it was the mid 80s.   We knew then (and even when it was written really) that mutations don't happen like that.
Trouble is I let that get in the way of what could have been a great time with a game.

It struck me that the time is right for a Gamma World like game again.  Post-Apoc (with or without Zombies) is fashionable again.  Hunger Games, Revolution and even specials on History Channel are all about what to do during and after The End.

What has has really got me thinking about  shows like the obviously D&D and Gamma World influenced "Adventure Time".  I did a couple of posts on the show a while back featuring the stars Finn the Human and Jake the Dog.

Honestly if I were to ever play a "Gamma World" style game it would most likely be Mutant Future.  1st Edition Gamma World typically goes for a lot of money on eBay whereas Mutant Future can be had for under $25.  But still. Having a copy of this would make for a nice addition to my game collection.  I'll have to keep looking and find one at a good price.  I do enjoy the challenge of finding an out of print game.

Blast from the Past: Sun Priest

I was cruising around the blogs today and I discovered a link to a old Netbook released back in 1998.

Back then the members of the online mailing list ADND-L got together and collaborated on a netbook of new material for the then reigning edition of D&D, AD&D 2nd Ed.  They took their project one step further and had an introduction written by none other than Gary Gygax himself.

The book was called "Unearthed Arcania" (note the spelling).
You can grab a copy here: http://www.saintsilver.com/zayix/new_site/Media/netbooks/Unearthed_Arcania.pdf
or here:
http://gnba.netdemons.com/books/olik/Files/UnearthedArcania11_W97.zip (zipped Word 97  format).

One of the contributors was none other than yours truly.
My contribution was a new Priest "Kit" (read sub-class), the Sun Priest.

The Sun Priest shares some DNA with the Witch.  As I was working on the Witch class I also had plenty of research and material left over.  I also created a Healer class, a Necromancer variant and the Sun Priest.

I think I should update it someday for either Basic Era (BFRPG, LL) or Advanced Era (OSRIC, LL-AE) play.

I had mentioned my Sun Priests very, very briefly before.   I think it might be fun to revisit the class with 14+ more years of perspective.

Zatannurday: Hero Clix 2!!

I didn't forget!  I was waiting on this.

A while back I posted some Zatanna Heroclix.
Well now thanks to reader and fellow blogger Justin Isaac look what I got in the mail today!

Wish I could take a clearer picture, but it is the only Zatanna I didn't have!
And here is the "enjoy!" envelope it came in

She looks great with my others.

And with my other witches!

Thanks so much Justin for making my Zatannurday perfect!
Check out his blog (with cool ass supers) at the Halls of the Nephilim, http://punverse.blogspot.com/

Willow and Tara: Call of Cthulhu

I was talking with my good friend Dr. Lloyd from my days on the Kittenboard.  He was interested in my old RPG sessions of The Dragon and the Phoenix.  I updated him and he was thrilled.  He shared with me this idea he has had to run his own "Call of Cthulhu" game with Willow and Tara.
We talked back and forth for a while and this is what he came up with.

He came up with this "Uber" campaign. What is Uber you ask? Uber has it's roots in Xena fandom.
You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uberfic

Well where Xena and Gabriel go, Willow and Tara often follow.  This is some I have used in my games many times. It was a central feature in The Dark Druid, Heaven Bleeds, and This Blessed Plot.

And of course I am not the only the only one who does this.  There is an entire subsection of fandom that is dedicated to this.  You can see some of them on the "Uber Willow & Tara" site "Through the Looking Class".

Below is an "uber" version of Willow & Tara for the Call of Cthulhu RPG.  This one is set in the 1920s.  These would be the prior incarnations of the girls prior to their appearance in the 1980s (birth) to the present day.

The following was all created by Dr. Lloyd & Rebecca Ashling, enjoy!

When Buffy met Lovecraft

 This is a character build out for a BTVS campaign centering on Willow and Tara that is set in the 1920's world of HP Lovecraft.
There are two build outs for these characters.  One is the "Canon" one, where Buffy is the slayer abet 75 years earlier and everything is the same otherwise.  The other is the "Uber" campaign where Buffy is merely far too inquisitive young woman investigating the super natural.

Willow Rosenberg

Investigator Name: Willow Rosenberg Occupation: Student/Witch Colleges, Degrees: Sunnydale Birthplace: Sunnydale, CA Mental Disorders: Insecurity, Monomania, also Homosexuality was treated as one Sex: F Age: 20

STR: 8 DEX: 11 INT: 18 Idea: 90 CON: 11 APP: 14 POW: 22 Luck: 110 SIZ: 8 SAN: 110 EDU: 20 Know: 100 99-Cthulhu Mythos: 74 Damage Bonus: -1D4

---

Accounting 10%	Anthropology 11%	Archaeology 11%
Astronomy 46%	Bargain 5%	Biology 41%
Chemistry 46%	Climb 40%	Conceal 25%
Credit Rating 30%	Cthulhu Mythos 25%	Dodge 22%
Drive Auto 20%	Electrical Repair 30%	Fast Talk 25%
First Aid 40%	Geology 21%	Handgun 20%
Hide 10%	History 50%	Jump 25%
Law 20%	Library Use 60%	Listen 25%
Locksmith 1%	Machine Gun 15%	Martial Arts 1%
Mechanical Repair 20%	Medicine 35%	Natural History 30%
Navigate 10%	Occult 40%	Operate Hvy. Machine 1%
Other Language: Hebrew 36%	Other Language: Latin 36%	Persuade 25%
Pharmacy 26%	Photography 10%	Physics 56%
Psychoanalysis 16%	Psychology 25%	Ride 5%
Rifle 25%	Shotgun 30%	Sneak 30%
Spot Hidden 25%	Submachine Gun 15%	Swim 25%
Throw 25%	Track 10%	Fist/Punch 50%
Head Butt 10%	Kick 25%	Grapple 25%

Willow Rosenberg is a Jewish, Lesbian, Wiccan, and well educated young woman, which in 1920s America *any*of those qualifiers will drawn unwanted attention.  Her father ,Ira, is an investor in the shipping business, and her mother Shelia has a Masters degree in Sociology and is very active in local philanthropic and charitable women’s groups as well as supporting her husband in any business functions. Her father travels a good deal, and her mother is frequently involved in social work. As such this means Willow is almost always left to her own devices.

Her closest friend and companion growing up was the son of the housekeeper, Xander Harris.  They went to school together and while Shelia isn't too happy about their friendship, it makes her feel progressive that her Daughters best friend is a working class child.   Xander's father died of Influenza years before.  In many ways Xander is her "beard" to deflect unwanted questions about marriage.

Willow met Buffy in school in a similar way to "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and worked under the mentor ship of local antiquarian and librarian  Rupert Giles.   She met Tara and fell in love with her as a Freshman in college.  While their closest friends know about their relationship, almost no one outside that circle do and would be hostile if they did.

Having said this, two single women living together for the entirety of their lives itself would not raise any eyebrows even if it led to them both being termed spinsters.
In the uber campaign she and Tara have limited access to magic, and almost all of it is complex ritual magic.  However, because of the emotional, romantic, and spiritual connection between the girls, they are able to work as a Coven of 2.

 This means for the purposes of spells they can combine their POW and Magic points, and loose 50% less sanity from ritual magic when together.

In the "Canon" campaign they have a wider list of spells, and when holding hands use 50% less MP for a spell.

Tara Maclay

Investigator Name: Tara Maclay Occupation: Student/Shop girl Colleges, Degrees: Student in California college Birthplace: Birmingham, Ala Mental Disorders: Shy, beleaves she may be evil Sex: F Age: 21

STR: 8 DEX: 12 INT: 15 Idea: 75 CON: 13 APP: 14 POW: 18 Luck: 90 SIZ: 9 SAN: 90 EDU: 19 Know: 95 99-Cthulhu Mythos: 99 Damage Bonus: none

---

Accounting 10%	Anthropology 21%	Archaeology 1%
Astronomy 26%	Bargain 25%	Biology 1%
Chemistry 41%	Climb 40%	Conceal 40%
Credit Rating 15%	Cthulhu Mythos 0%	Dodge 24%
Drive Auto 20%	Electrical Repair 10%	Fast Talk 5%
First Aid 50%	Geology 1%	Handgun 20%
Hide 50%	History 35%	Jump 25%
Law 5%	Library Use 55%	Listen 50%
Locksmith 1%	Machine Gun 15%	Martial Arts 1%
Mechanical Repair 20%	Medicine 5%	Natural History 20%
Navigate 10%	Occult 50%	Operate Hvy. Machine 1%
Persuade 15%	Pharmacy 21%	Photography 10%
Physics 1%	Pilot: Read Latin 55%	Psychoanalysis 1%
Psychology 40%	Ride 5%	Rifle 25%
Shotgun 30%	Sneak 50%	Spot Hidden 60%
Submachine Gun 15%	Swim 25%	Throw 25%
Track 10%	Fist/Punch 50%	Head Butt 10%
Kick 25%	Grapple 25%

Tara Maclay is an independent young woman who is a student as well.  She lives far from her estranged family in Alabama, and lives on meager resources.  She works as a shop girl in a local book store and has a small inheritance from her dead mother that was ostensibly for her Hope chest.  Her stutter is more pronounced in this world, and her knowledge of occult even great that Willow's because of her family traditions.   She formerly was sure she was damned for her Witch tendencies, but has learned from Willow and Buffy that this is not the case.

To help set the structure of the campaign, here is a description of Buffy.


Buffy Summers

Investigator Name: Buffy Summers Occupation: Slayer Colleges, Degrees: Sunnydale HS Birthplace: Los Angeles, CA Mental Disorders: None, but suspected Sex: F&nbspAge: 20

STR: 21 DEX: 21 INT: 13 Idea: 65 CON: 20 APP: 15 POW: 16 Luck: 80 SIZ: 18 SAN: 80 EDU: 12 Know: 60 99-Cthulhu Mythos: 79 Damage Bonus: +1D6

---

Accounting 10%	Anthropology 1%	Archaeology 16%
Astronomy 1%	Bargain 25%	Biology 11%
Chemistry 1%	Climb 65%	Conceal 55%
Credit Rating 35%	Cthulhu Mythos 20%	Dodge 42%
Drive Auto 20%	Electrical Repair 10%	Fast Talk 50%
First Aid 40%	Geology 1%	Handgun 20%
Hide 45%	History 20%	Jump 55%
Law 15%	Library Use 35%	Listen 55%
Locksmith 1%	Machine Gun 15%	Martial Arts 66%
Mechanical Repair 20%	Medicine 10%	Natural History 10%
Navigate 10%	Occult 35%	Operate Hvy. Machine 1%
Persuade 35%	Pharmacy 1%	Photography 10%
Physics 1%	Pilot: Detect Vampires 70%	Psychoanalysis 1%
Psychology 35%	Ride 15%	Rifle 25%
Shotgun 30%	Sneak 50%	Spot Hidden 65%
Submachine Gun 15%	Swim 50%	Throw 65%
Track 60%	Detect Undead 65%	Fist/Punch 50%
Head Butt 10%	Kick 25%	Grapple 25%
Stake 65%	Sword 55%	Axe 55%

Buffy is the daughter of the  well off and often wooed widow Joyce Summers.  Her father was a well off Military officer  but died in the great war.  Her mother took the loss hard, and turned to spiritualism and mediums to deal with the loss.

In the "Uber" campaign Buffy tried to use the numerous magical paraphernalia her mother had to divine her future, and accidentally got a tiny glimpse of the horrors about us.
Her strength,  speed, and fighting skills are all within normal human parameters but are very high.  She was close to her father and he taught her some martial arts he learned in Philippines during the rebellion, and now she is determined to make the best of it.

In the "Canon" campaign the above is still true, but the trigger to her adventuring  was her watcher contacting her as in the show.

The Buffy in both of these worlds is far more fatalistic than the one in the show, she is aware that the cosmic deck is stacked against her and is not optimistic of her having a normal life.   There would be a feeling from her and the other Irregulars that the horrors of the Great War were part of a larger scheme to end the world by unknown forces.

The Freedom of Nonbelief: Carl Sagan Day

Cross posted from The Freedom of Nonbelief: Carl Sagan Day

I don't celebrate on the anniversary of someone's birth or death after they are dead.
I remember their life, I think about how they touched mine, but don't expect long drawn out posts on it from me.

Carl Sagan is different.

For the longest time he was why I was interested in astronomy, math, physics and yes eventually psychology (Broca's Brain is still a favorite of mine).

Today is the anniversary of Carl Sagan's birth.  I don't say birthday, since obviously he not having anymore.

It is also Carl Sagan day.

I talked a lot about him back in April, http://freedomofnonbelief.blogspot.com/2012/04/s-is-for-carl-sagan.html, but honestly though I really can't say enough about the guy.

I have been tempted to re-read "Demon Haunted World", maybe one of the best books on science (as opposed to a science book) I have ever read.

My lament is that he could not have lived longer.  His cogent and critical voice would have been much appreciated in the last couple of years.  I do take solace though  that we still have Neil deGrasse Tyson around.

Evil Red

Evil Red on eBay

.

My  youngest brother is selling some artwork.
Frankly I'd love find a good game for this as a cover.  Some sort of twisted childhood idea where you play ultraviolent kids rampaging through fairy tale land.