Scaring the Dickens out of Your Players: Ghosts of Albion

On this day in 1843 Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, also known more simply as A Christmas Carol.

The story of Scrooge, Tiny Tim and the Ghosts is now a timeless Christmas classic retold in prose, stage, film (the 1951 version with Alistair Sim is my personal favorite), even animation and various parodies, homage and pastiches.

Such is the timelessness of this tale that it is perfect fodder for a Christmas themed episode. Even it is good enough for Doctor Who it is good enough for us right. Given that is a quintessential English tale of Ghosts in the early Victorian age then it is perfect for Ghosts of Albion.

Jacob Marley
Motivation: To walk the Earth for his sin of greed, warn Scrooge of his fate.
Creature Type: Restless Spectre
Life Points: 30
Drama Points: 1

Attributes
Str: (2)
Dex: (2)
Con: (2)
Int: 4
Per: 3
Will: 4

Ability Scores
Muscle: (10) Combat: (0) Brains: 16
Qualities and Drawbacks: Attractiveness -1, Cursed, Ghost, Telekinesis, Unique Kill

Manoeuvers
Name Score Damage Notes
Deflect 19 - Magic defence action
Telekinesis 17 varies Effectiveness Str 5

Jacob Marley is the former business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge. He had died seven years before on Christmas Eve and is now confined to Earth to pay for his sins of greed and not helping his fellow man. He wears the shackles of his sins in form of heavy chains attached to ledger books, money boxes and heavy keys.

Marley cannot be killed or dispatched by normal means. He is similar to a Poltergeist, but even the means to remove those troublesome spirits are not effective on him. Marley consequently will not attack, nor even reveal himself to others but Scrooge. Though anyone with Magic or Innate Magic will be able to see him and interact with him.


Zeitgeist

Zeitgeist is a German word meaning the Spirit of the Times, used to describe the general feeling or atmosphere of a particular period in time. In the Ghosts of Albion game Zeitgeist is quite literal. Each time can manifest as a spirit or ghost. This is not a ghost of someone that has passed as most spirits, but more of a collective consciousness given magical form. A Zeitgeist can have any power, quality or drawback that a ghost may have. Since they are more of reflection of a particular time a Zeitgeist also can't be destroyed, though many exist only under very specific conditions.


Ghost of Christmas Past
Creature Type: Zeitgeist
Life Points: NA
Drama Points: 5

Attributes
Str: -
Dex: -
Con: -
Int: 5
Per: 6
Will: 5

Ability Scores
Muscle: NA Combat: NA Brains: 18

Qualities and Drawbacks: Archaic, Ghost, Manifest, Telekinesis, Unique Kill

The Ghost of Christmas Past appears to be both young and old at the same time. His hair is long and white, but his face is smooth. He speaks in a somewhat archaic manner.

This spirit shows their charge their memories of the past. A bitter old man like Scrooge is shown times when he was young and denied love from his abusive father and the loss of his sister. There are wonderful scenes in the 1951 movie with Scrooge and Marley that typify what this spirit does.

Ghost of Christmas Present
Quote: Come! You have never beheld the likes of me!
Creature Type: Zeitgeist
Life Points: NA
Drama Points: 5

Attributes
Str: (4)
Dex: (2)
Con: (5)
Int: 5
Per: 6
Will: 5


Ability Scores
Muscle: NA Combat: NA Brains: 20

Qualities and Drawbacks: Ghost, Manifest, Telekinesis, Unique Kill

This spirit is the most living of the lot. He appears as large man wearing green robes. His image invokes comparisons to Father Christmas or even the Pagan Green Man or Winter King. Though his appearance can vary greatly from year to year. He tells Scrooge that he has over 800 brothers, implying that he will no longer exist after midnight on Christmas and next year there will be a new Ghost of Christmas.

His task is to show Scrooge what he is missing and what his own greed has wroght.

The Ghost of Christmas Present has two horrible companions with him. They represent the greatest sources of suffering in the world. A boy, Ignorance and a girl Want. The spirit warns Scrooge to beware them both but especially of the girl.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
Creature Type: Zeitgeist
Life Points: NA
Drama Points: 5

Attributes
Str: -
Dex: -
Con: -
Int: 4
Per: 4
Will: 7

Ability Scores
Muscle: NA Combat: NA Brains: 14

Qualities and Drawbacks: Chill of the Grave, Ghost, Manifest, Telekinesis, Unique Kill

This spectre is more horrifying than all the others. He is a grim Death-like figure shrouded in a robe and hood that never speaks but shows Scrooge visions of his future; the death of Tiny Tim, his own lonely death and callousness in which people view his passing.

Using the Ghosts in Your Story

Dickens used A Christmas Carol not only to pay some bills, but to address some serious social issues. The same set up can be used as a special Christmas episode in your on going game. The set up may seem a bit clichd now a 164 years later, but they still work. The trick is not adding the Ghosts to your game, but figuring out the proper character or plot hook.

Keep in mind that as Directors you are not likely to get the same change of heart Scrooge had out of your characters, so instead focus on using the Ghosts to tell an important tale or show the characters a brief glimpse into their (possible) future.

A good example for a modern Cinematic game would be a demon hunter who is dedicated only to her mission ignoring family, friends and loved ones, in a sense becoming like the monsters she hunts. The Ghosts then in order show her what her life has been like in the past before her calling, what her friends and family are doing without her around, and then her grim and dark future. Too easy? Yeah, the future is likely to dark and grim regardless, but this where the twist comes in. Our demon hunter is still alive, but everyone she loves is either dead or lost to her. She finds that she is becoming less human (metaphorically speaking) and have more in common than the monsters she kills. Maybe she breaks into nest of vampires and they have set up a small Christmas tree and are giving each other presents. Sure the presents might be live kittens, but it is the thought that counts.

The purpose is to show our chosen demon hunter that without family, friends and even love, none of what she does matters. You can kill a 1,000 monsters, there is another 10,000 right behind him. Loved ones are often all you really have.

Merry Christmas!

Cu Sìth

“I will summon a guardian for you while I investigate this matter further.” Bodicea had said. She put two of her long fingers to her mouth and let a whistle of the likes I scarcely believed she was capable of. At her side a large dog with white fur and one white ear and one red ear materialized. The dog, who was the size of a small horse, jumped around her as if he were a playful puppy. She nuzzled him and spoke to him in Gaelic.

She looked up to me and the dog focused all his attention on us, standing between us and his beloved mistress.

“This is Bogle. He was given to me by the Lady of the Spring. So loyal he followed into death. He will be loyal to you as well in my absence.” The ghostly queen said.

William cleared his throat, “Nice doggie, I see.”

“No.” Bodicea said back, “He is not.”
- From the Journal of Tamara Swift

The Celts were well known for their love of dogs. But the Cù Sìth or “Fairy Hound” has a special place in Celtic lore. Often described as a large hound that is either all green or all white with red ears. They have been alternately seen as bad omens, a horrible stealer of children or a fierce and loyal protector the Cù Sìth (“coo shee”) features in many tales.

One such tale deals with Queen Bodicea herself.

The Queen, when young and alive, went to a sacred well to mourn the death of her infant son. While there she discovered a bag and inside was a half-drowned puppy. She rescued the puppy, who was all white save for one red ear. She named him “Bogel” The dog grew to be as large as a small pony and became a fierce protector of her and her two daughters. When Bogel died at a ripe old age, she was given the gift a puppy from a local farmer. The puppy was one of the many offspring Bogel had fathered but was the exact image of his sire. This dog, also named Bogel, went on to serve his mistress such as the one before until Bodicea herself had died.
- Source: Marion Zimmer Bradley’s “Ravens of Avalon”

Other tales feature the Cu Sìth as a spectral hound, one that forebodes doom like the Barghest, though those hounds are more often black in color and their malevolence is more universal than that of the Cu Sìth. Also the Cu Sìth is more commonly associated with the Faerie and sometimes valiant, but tragic, warriors and the Barghest is more closely associated with witchcraft.

The Cu Sìth can be found most often near or around fairy mounds. A good sign that a mound is in fact a faerie mound is the proximity of a Cu Sìth to it.

Cu Sìth can also interbreed with other dogs which will typically produce one Cu Sìth per liter; sometimes more, sometimes less. Odd are the ways of the faerie folk.

Cu Sìth pups are rarely if ever tamed. If one wishes to remain with a non-faerie then it is of their own choosing.

Cù Sìth
Ghosts of Albion, Unisystem

Creature Type: Faerie Animal
Life Points: 30
Drama Points: 1

Attributes
Str: 4
Dex: 4
Con: 3
Int: 2
Per: 4
Will: 3

Ability Scores
Muscle: 14, Combat: 14, Brains: 6
Special Abilities: +15 to Brains Score for smell and hearing sensing, Blink, Faerie, Hard to Kill, Lesser Sensing, Iron Vulnerability

Manoeuvres
Name Score Damage Notes
Bite +14 11 Slash/stab
Deflect +9 - Magic defence action; deflects spell 45˚

Cù Sìth
Savage Worlds (Rippers / Gaslight)

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d8
Skills: Fighting d8, Notice d8, Stealth d6, Survival d4, Tracking d10
Pace: 8; Parry: 5, Toughness: 9
Special Abilities:
• Fleet Footed: Cu Sìth have a d10 running die.
• Go for the Throat: If a Cu Sìth gets a raise on its attack roll, it strikes its opponent’s least armoured location.
• Weakness (Cold Iron): Faerie take +4 damage from cold iron weapons.

Cù Sìth
Victoriana 2nd Edition

Rank: 2 (Generalist)
Physical competence: 6
Mental competence: 9
Health: 5 (10)
Signature Skills: Athletics +3, Conceal +5, Hide & Sneak +4, Perception +5,

Traits: Faerie, Night Vision
Armour: 1 (thick fur)
Combat Abilities: Bite (2 dice)
Damage: Bite (3d)

Dirty Nellie for Victoriana

Ghosts of Albion takes place in 1839.  Rippers, Cthulhu by Gaslight, Masque of the Red Death and most other Victorian Age games typically take place in or around 1880s-1890s.  That leaves a huge swath of time that is Victorian but often covered by any game.   Except of course for Victoriana.

Victoriana is a game I want to hate but can't.  First, it is full of really cool Victorian goodness.  It is made (presently) by the cool guys over at Cubicle 7, the same guys that give Star Blazer and Doctor Who.  The second edition has been gone over by Andrew Peregrine (who also worked on Angel).  I like the "black die" mechanic they add to what could have been just another dice pool game.    There are some things in it I'd never try with Ghosts of Albion, but it all seems to work great in Victoriana.  The C7 guys describe it as "Victorian-age Shadow Run" and that is pretty dead on.  Most everyone knows about magic.  There are dwarves, gnomes, halflings, "eldren" (elves, but don't call them that), ogres, and beastmen.  So if my work on Ghosts of Albion is more "Hammer Horror" than Victoriana is more "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", something it shares with "Rippers", though I put Rippers closer to the movie "Van Helsing" or at least what we all wanted the movie to be, not what it really was.

I have played it a few times now, and try to get in a game at Gen Con with either Andrew or one of the other guys at C7 (I think I sat in a game with Marc once), and it is always a great time.  In fact outside of running my own games, or the nightly Catan games in the hotel room, it is my only Gen Con "tradition".
But of course they are the "competition" with Ghosts of Albion, so I have to hate them. ;) (ok not really).

Dirty Nellie, Street Faerie
So one of my favorite NPCs/Guest Stars is Little Dirty Nel, the Street Faerie prostitute.  I have detailed her early years with Ghosts of Albion, and her later years with Rippers.  I should also detail what she is doing during the middle Victorian period with Victoriana.  Like before, this is not a strict conversion, it is more of

Dirty Nel in Victoriana, 1867
Nel in this reality is still a Street Faerie dollymop, but she is doing a little bit better for herself.  In the Victoriana world the existence of magic is widely known, so Nel is often able to offer her trade as herself, complete with her peppered moth wings visible.  For stats, I put Street Faerie between Eldren and Halflings.  She looks like a small Eldren woman, with of course wings.  Like Eldren, Street Faeries are prone to a mental illness or two.  I kept her addictions and faerie arrogance in place since they would work fine in this world.
Like her Rippers and Ghosts of Albion universe counter-parts, Nel is a wealth of information about the occult and criminal worlds.  She is doing a bit better for herself money wise and her reputation is growing.

Dirty Nellie
Social Class: Lower
Race: Street Faerie
Nationality: British
Age/Gender: ??/Female
Build: Slim
Hair/Eyes: Black/Piercing Blue
Vocation: Prostitute
Personality: Loner, almost cynical
Social ethics: lower-class anarchist

Characteristics
Strength: 0 Presence: 3
Dexterity: 3 Wits: 3
Fortitude: 3 Resolve: 4

Imitative: 9 Movement: 8
Health: 5 Mana: 2+4 = 6

Racial Abilities
Innate Magic (Petty Magic)*

Skills
Art 6
Athletics 5
Bull 8
Charm 10
Conceal 6
Concentration 2
Dance 2
Dodge 4
Etiquette 4
Fisticuffs 4
General Knowledge 6
Hide & Sneak 6
Improvised Weapon (melee) 4
Perception 10
Streetwise 12

Conversation 4
Pick Pockets 6
Slight of Hand 4

Enchanting 5

Talents, Privileges & Assets
Beautiful, Glib, Ear of the Street, Street Informant, Bolt-Hole, Income (Lower class, prostitution)

Complications
Bad Reputation, Bon Viant, Criminal, Lecherous, Faerie Arrogance

Spells
Befuddle, Cloak of Shadows, Glamour (like “Liken Shape” but can change to human shapes), Instant Beauty

Unisystem 2d6

Eden's Unisystem, both Classic and Cinematic use a single 1d10 roll to determine all their random probabilities. It has the advantage of being simple and easy to do. But some games, a lot of games actually, roll dice instead of a die. Good examples that are close to Unisystem in terms of scope are BESM 3.0 and the Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space which both use a 2d6 resolution.
So the question has come up what is the effect of using a 2d6 instead of a 1d10 roll. These are being discussed over on the Eden boards, http://edenstudiosdiscussionboards.yuku.com/topic/2772 and RPG.net http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=489038

Well for starters anytime you involve more dice, the probability curve is going to change. With a 1d10 the chances of getting a roll of 1 is the same as getting a roll of 9 or 7 or 3 or any other number. It's always 1 out of 10 (10%, or p=0.1).

When you add more dice than the number of potential rolls increases as due to the potential outcomes.

A 1d10 has 10 potential rolls and 10 potential outcomes.

A 2d6 has 36 potential rolls, but only 11 potential outcomes (2 to 12). Why the difference? Well a roll of 1 on one die and a roll of 6 on the other is 7 as is a roll of 2 and 4, and 2 and 5. So. This means some numbers will occur more often. This is obvious to anyone who has ever played any RPG really (unless the only thing you have played is Amber).

This also mean some outcomes are more likely to occur (high p) and others are less likely (low p), unlike a 1d10s flat outcomes.

This relationship is much closer to the way reality is modeled. We call this the Normal Curve. Now a 2d6 is not quite Normal, but it is much closer than the 1d10. Even better is the 3d4.

A quick look at Table 1 shows the 3 die types, their outcomes, the number of outcomes, their probability (p) and cumulative probability (cum p). I have also included the basic measures of central tendencies; mean, median and mode.

At first glance on the average, the 2d6 grants 1.5 points per roll (averaged out of course), and the 3d4 up to a 7.5 mean. There is also the nagging problem of both rolls cap out at 12 (not 10) and have no 1 rolls.

There is also a higher probability of rolling greater than a 9 in each case. I included 7 as well since you almost always add an attribute + a skill in many rolls. This results in far more success than the flat system. So how do we get the curve we want with the outcomes we need?

But This One Goes to 11
Simple, we subtract from the result. For the 2d6 we minus 1 (1 to 11 outcomes) and for the 3d4 we minus 2 (1 to 10 outcomes). So the 3d4-2 gives us the same range of outcomes, the same mean and median (flat distribution have no mode), but edges the probability down for success. The 2d6-1 gives us an extra point (an 11) and the averages are only .5 higher with comparable probable successes.

NOTE: I just noticed that these graphs are off by -1. The numbers are good, but I must have chosen the wrong range when making the graphs.

Now the question remains, why do it?

This brings a slightly grittier feel to your games. Successes now are less about blind luck and more about your skill. The outcomes are shot to the middle now (like reality) with fewer dramatic failures and successes. Want it even grittier? Take off another 1 from the rolls in every case to actually have a 0 outcome.
On the Eden Boards, we started calling these alternate dice methods "The Chicago Way" due to the number of Unisystem players we have here in the Chicago area.

Though I should point out while I really like the alternate dice methods, I still only use a d10 in my con games.

But I have also been playing the new Doctor Who game with a d12.

Outlaw Press uses Stolen Art and Content

Normally I try not get involved in issues online that are not directly involved with myself.  Past events aside, I just really don't have the passion or realy the time anymore.

 

But this is something that I can't ignore.

 

Outlaw Press, inc., run by James Shipman, has been using art he has stolen from the web. He claims he bought it from an "art broker" but too many people have since come out to claim they have never been paid. So his claims are likely another lie on his part.

 

The list of art verified stolen is staggering.

 

You can see a PDF listing it all here: http://stardust-publications.com/outlaw-press/OutlawPressCoversComparisonList.pdf

 

It is 30 pages of stolen art!


Now taking my word for it is not, and should not be, enough. So here is a stack of links of other discussing the issue, supporting the artists and otherwise providing evidence.

 

The RPG.Net thread that found the evidence, http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=483885

 

TrollBridge discussion forum, http://trollbridge.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1163&page=1

 

EN World’s post on the subject, http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/269217-outlaw-press-stolen-artwork-accusations.html

 

Dragonsfoot. This one is interesting since it deals with Shipman and Outlaw Press stealing Mazes & Minotaurs a few months back, http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=31923

 

Concept Art forum, interesting because these are the artists themselves, http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=176392

 

A list of supporting Blog posts.

• http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2009/11/rpg-net-discussions-pirates-and-witches.html
• http://unclebear.com/?p=4344 Uncle Bear’s blog
• http://rpg.brouhaha.us/?p=1998&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamingBrouhahaRpg+%28Gaming+Brouhaha+%C2%BB+RPG%29
• http://theomnipotenteye.blogspot.com/2009/11/latest-bad-news.html
• http://dungeonmastering101.blogspot.com/2009/11/looks-like-i-bought-book-with-stolen.html

This is staggering. I am not sure what James Shipman thinks he is doing here? But this is unconscionable. The RPG community is small, the profits to be had are even smaller. Many of us do this for the love of the game, not for money. Then to have someone steal material so he can profit. Well it is certainly against every reason why I am in this business.

If you read this post, please re-post this posting or post your own somewhere else to let everyone know.

 

Dracula for Doctor Who

A quick one to try out my new toy Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space.
These stats might be a tad high since I quickly converted my Ghosts of Albion version.

Dracula


Awareness 4
Coordination 6
Ingenuity 4
Presence 7
Resolve 5
Strength 9

Skills

Athletics 6
Convince 5
Craft 1
Fighting 6
Knowledge 4
Marksman 3
Medicine 1
Science 3
Subterfuge 5
Survival 7
Technology 1
Transport 2

Traits
Alien (Great Vampire), Animal Friendship (Control), Fast Healing, Hypnosis, Keen Senses, Quick Reflexes, Psychic, Telepathy, Tough
Adversary (lots), Code of Conduct, Weakness (blood dependency, holy items (psychic block), sunlight)

The Time Lords destroyed the Great Vampires, but it is known that some escaped. One such vampire escaped to Earth and became the progenitor of all the Earthly vampires.

Several centuries later this vampire turned a Wallachian warlord named Vlad Tepes into the vampire now known as Dracula.

Stop! Hammer Time

Sorry had to do that.

I just picked up "To the Devil... a Daughter", the last Hammer Studios film produced and their first "occult" based one (unless you count "The Satanic Rites of Dracula"), rahter than their staples of Gothic Horror or even the odd "devil worshipping cult" films.  The film itslef is not very good either as a Hammer film or even as an occult thriller.  It would be forgetable really had it not been for the rather scandalous scenes of full frontal nudity from then underage Nastassja Kinski.  Though it does have some things going for it.  For one it was nice to see a Hammer film outside of the "Hammer Hamlets" and take place is urbane, even swinging, London.  Chritopher Lee is still great, if under-used here.  And this film does capture a zeitgiest of 70s occult revival very well.  Sure it is not as good as Rosemary's Baby or the Exorcist, but it is still a far cry better than the Omen.  I guess Satan really loved the 70s. It certainly does explain some things. 

I am not going to go too deep into Hammer film theory or analysis other than they are good fun.  I have not seen all of them and a few I have not seen in maybe 20+ years but they have always had a profound effect on the games I write.   Ghosts of Albion in particular is overflowing with my love for Hammer, as are most of my adventures.   My vampires are not modern mopey emos.  They are blood thirsty killers in the sauve exterior of Christopher Lee. 


Even in Eldritch Witchery I have tried t tap into that same vibe of Hammer Horror.  Even though most of their moveis were made in the late 50s and 60's, there is something very 70's about them to me.  Maybe that is when I watched most of them (then and the early 80's).  In this respect I would have to say that my view of Mal Havoc (previous blog post) was greatly affected by Christopher Lee's Dracula.

Hammer, I am glad to say, is on their way back, http://www.hammerfilms.com/.  While I am sure some of the old magic is gone I will hold my judgement till I see some of their newer movies.  In the mean time I have several hours of "Dracula" to keep me busy for sometime to come.

Here is old Dracula, very much inspired by "Dracula A.D. 1972".  You can see the full Mutants and Masterminds stats and background here: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=421189 or here: http://www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=18364&p=274952

Count Dracula

PL: 18 (270 pp)

Born: 1431, turned 1476

Str: 26 (+8) Dex: 21 (+5) Con: NA (-) Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 15 (+2) Chr: 25 (+7)

SKILLS: Acrobatics 6 (+11), Bluff 10 (+17), Climb 4 (+12), Concentration 4 (+6), Diplomacy 10 (+17), Disguise 5 (+12), Drive 2 (+7), Escape Artist 6 (+11), Gather Info 6 (+13), Handle Animal 6 (+13), Intimidate 12 (+19), Investigate 6 (+9), Arcane Lore 8 (+11), History 8 (+11), Tactics 8 (+11), Theology and Philosophy 6 (+9), Streetwise 8 (+11), Medicine 2 (+4), Notice 8 (+10), Ride 4 (+9), Search 8 (+11), Sense Motive 8 (+10), Sleight of Hand (+5), Stealth 4 (+9), Survival 8 (+10), Swim (+8)

FEATS: Animal Empathy, Assessment, Contacts, Fascinate (1), Fearless, Fearsome Presence (1), Inspire (1), Leadership, Minions (4), Accurate Attack, All-out Attack, Attack Focus (Melee) (5), Blind-Fight, Critical Strike, Elusive Target, Improved Critical (1), Improved Grapple, Power Attack, Rage (1), Uncanny Dodge

POWERS:
Animal Control (8), Drain Constitution (blood Drain) (1), Immunity (Fortitude Effects) (30), Insubstantial (mist) (2), Protection (7), Regeneration (blood drain based) (5), Shapeshift (Wolf, Bat) (2), Mind Control (visual dependent) (5), Weather Control (obscure, wind and fog) (3), Super-senses (Acute) (2), Super-movement (wall crawling) (1)

COMBAT: Melee 20 [Unarmed +8 (Bruise)] Ranged 15 [Unarmed +8 (Bruise)] Defense 25 (25 flatfooted) Init +5

SAVES: Toughness 7 (7 flat-footed) Fortitude 0 Reflex 10 Will 10

DRAWBACKS:
Weakness -Blood Dependence [Freq DC 10] [Sev DC 5]
Weakness -Holy Items [Freq DC 10] [Sev DC 10]
Weakness -Sunlight [Freq DC 5] [Sev DC 5]* Dracula can move about during the daylight hours, but he can not use his powers. (Gave him this as opposed to Power Loss).
Weakness -Garlic, Mirrors [Freq DC 5] [Sev DC 5]

Breakdown: Abilities 43 + Skills 42 (165 ranks) + Feats 27 + Powers 96 + Combat 60 + Saves 13 – Drawbacks -11 = 270

Mal Havoc: I was waiting for this?

So back in the day I gleefully stole pretty much anything for my games. It was the 80's and we were all doing it. But one thing I remember fairly well was from The World's Greatest Superfriends. The episode was "The Lord of Middle-Earth" and the villain of the week was this Anton Le Vey, vampire looking wizard called "Mal Havoc" (or maybe just Malhavoc). I was psyched about this episode because at the time I was sucking up anything related to Tolkien, or rather more to the point, anything related to the Hobbit having seen the old cartoon on TV recently (well back in 77 or 78).

Well......that is not what I got.

I got trolls, and something like a Drider and a dragon. Which was all fine, but even then I recalled the episode was weak. But I did like the character of Mal Havoc (and I guess I am not the only one). So I began to use him in my D&D games. Though I admit I messed with the character a little. He was still a wizard, but I turned him into a real diabolic one. Not that he was fiendishly clever (he was) but diabolic in the sense that he worshipped Beelzebub. Did I mention it was the 80's?  Oh. and he was also a vampire.  So Mal Havoc became a "hellspawned vampire of the court of Beelzebub" and a semi-reoccuring bad guy in my games.  When I later went on to develop "The Dragon and the Phoenix" for the Buffy game I was running I knew I wanted one of my old D&D bad guys.  Mal Havoc was a serious contender, ultimately he lost out to Yoln (another baddie) since I didn't want to confuse my game with anything Malhavoc Press was doing at the time.

Watching it now I am struck by how bad these things really were (and I own several Superfriends DVD collections) and yet how much potential could have been here.  I can attest that Mal Havoc can be one serious bad ass.  Ok so he smacks around Superman, but that is fine Supes always had a problem with magic.  But he also does the same to Wonder Woman and Batman.  Aquaman doesn't even try.  He also a serious evil vibe going on.  He enslaved a race of trolls (ok more like gnomes really) and has some inhuman or subhuman lackeys working for him.  His "ultimate power" can even kill all the trolls in "middle earth". That serious shit right there.

Given my love (yes, it remains) for the old Super Friends I decided to give Mal the "Bruce Timm" treatment.  I updated the character look to seem more of physical threat, think Glenn Danzig only taller and with a goatee.  He is a wizard still or maybe one of the very, very few cases where I would use the term "Warlock" in a modern game, and look fiendish (and might even worship some devilish or demonic lord), but his deal is he is a vampire crime lord.  "Crime" in he is not interested in crime for money, it's just the things he does keeps him on the wrong side of the law; ie murder, kidnapping, theft, not your typical saturday cartoon fare.  Though in the original SF he had enslaved trolls to mine diamonds, so slavery, forced labor and diamond smuggling is also possible.  He has group of followers, his "Coven"  (not "Camarila" to stay true to the 70's/80's vibe) and of course lackeys and conscripted labor (ie slaves).  Maybe a tad mature for games with kids, but a perfect foe for a group of adult gamers looking to rid the world of evil.

So given that, it looks like that stating him up in Muntants and Masterminds is a must!
My M&M is a bit rusty, but here it goes.

MAL HAVOC
PL: 13 (200 pp)

Str: 22 +6
Dex: 18 +4
Con: NA NA
Int: 16 +3
Wis: 15 +2
Chr: 22 +6

SKILLS: Acrobatics 2 (+6), Bluff 4 (+10), Climb 2 (+8), Concentration 4 (+6), Diplomacy 4 (+10), Disguise (+6), Drive (+4), Escape Artist 4 (+8), Gather Info 4 (+10), Handle Animal 2 (+8), Intimidate 7 (+13), Investigate 3 (+6), Arcane Lore 10 (+13), History 2 (+5), Tactics 4 (+7), Theology and Philosophy 2 (+5), Medicine 2 (+4), Notice 4 (+6), Ride 4 (+8), Search 2 (+5), Sense Motive 2 (+4), Sleight of Hand (+4), Stealth 2 (+6), Survival 4 (+6), Swim (+6)

FEATS: Assessment, Fascinate (1), Fearless, Fearsome Presence (1), Leadership, Minions (2), Blind-Fight, Improved Critical (1), Power Attack, Rage (1)

POWERS:
2 Supersenses
5 Mind Control
1 Drain Constitution (blood Drain)
2 Hellfire Control
30 Immunity (Fortitude Effects)
2 Insubstantial (mist)
7 Protection
5 Regeneration (blood drain based)
1 Shapeshift (Giant Bat)
5 Magic
   5 Mystic Blast ("Hellbolts")
   1 Trasform (humans to trolls)
   5 Teleport
   5 Drain Powers

COMBAT: Melee 13 [Unarmed +6 (Bruise)] Ranged 13 [Unarmed +6 (Bruise)] Defense 23 (16 flatfooted) Init +4

SAVES: Toughness 7 (7 flat-footed) Fortitude 0 Reflex 9 Will 10

DRAWBACKS:
Weakness -Blood Dependence [Freq DC 10] [Sev DC 5]
Weakness -Holy Items [Freq DC 10] [Sev DC 15]
Weakness -Sunlight [Freq DC 5] [Sev DC 5]

Witch Hunter Robin for BESM

Earlier I did Robin for the Witch Girls Adventures RPG, which you can see here, http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2009/08/witch-hunter-robin-for-witch-girls.html

Now here she is in another fave of mine, Big Eyes, Small Mouth



It is Robin Sena, the titular character of the awesome anime series Witch Hunter Robin for BESM. Sadly BESM is out of print and Guardians of Order out of business.   I had hope that Arthaus would continue the game, but no chance.  I liked BESM, it had a lot going for it.  I should post something about BESM and GoO sometime.  Until here is our twisted little firestarter.

Robin Sena

Race: Witch

Occupation:Witch Hunter / Witch
Age: 15 (in 2002)
Gender: F
Height:5'1"
Weight: 105#
Eyes: Green
Hair: Auburn

Mother:Maria, dead
Father:Toudou, dead.
Grandfather(maternal): Juliano Collegrie, priest and high ranking officer of Solomon HQ.
Allies: Amon, Nagira, hunters from STN-J
Enemies:Rogue witches, rival hunters

Body: 4 Mind: 6 Soul: 8

Health Points: 70
Energy Points: 70
Shock Value: 14

Combat Value: 6
Defense Value: 4

Skills
Computers 1x2 = 2
Artisan 1x2 = 2
Driving 2x2 = 4
Police Sciences 3x2 = 6
Unique Character Skill 5x2 = 10 (Occultism)
Urban Tracking 1x3 = 3 Attributes
Appearance 2x1 = 2
Damn Healthy! 1x1 = 1
Organizational Ties 1x3 = 3 (Great Power, Solomon, STN-J)
Dynamic Sorcery 4x2 = 8
    One Discipline (Pyrokinesis)
Magic 4x4 = 16 (40 magic points left)

Defects 
Awkward 1x-1 = -1
Marked 1x-1 = -1
Nemesis 2x-1 = -2
Sensory Impairment 1x-1 = -1 (Vision when using magic)
Skeleton in the Closet 1x-1 = -1

Uh...ok, wtf?

Dear Fringe Christian Right,

Thank you for the comedy. 



What is with these weird Christian groups and their use of the word "occultic"?  Isn't "occult" fine by itself?

Of course there is an "occultic" "Dungeons & Dragons game set", which currently has no characters, no rules, just one long out of print supplement (Manual of the Planes) and a supplement for another game entirely (ok, it is The Arcanum, which does have a cool red pentagram n the cover).

Originally posted here: http://www.theescapist.com/blog/tiki-view_blog_post.php?blogId=5&postId=95
And it's YouTube page is here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKRV6Mpm6cw

Old School Horde, part 2!

Fellow blogger Eric over at Toyriffic, http://toyriffic.blogspot.com/ has posted a bit about my new toys here.  I thought that was cool.  You can read it at http://toyriffic.blogspot.com/2009/12/silly-geeks-toys-are-for-kids.html

Check it out and all the other cool posts he has!

Toyriffic: Silly Geeks, Toys are for Kids!

Toyriffic: Silly Geeks, Toys are for Kids!

Old School Horde!

So I spent Thanksgiving with my family and look at what my younger brother dug up for my kids.  A set of a bunch of the old Dungeons & Dragons toy figure monsters!  A couple of these were mine (the Ogre, neo-otyguh and Kalak, who is missing, and maybe one of the others), some were my other brother's (the Bullywugs and orcs I am sure) and some are my youngest brother's (Tiamat).  Of course my son LOVED them.

You can see all I have left of Kalek is his spellbook.  Maybe I'll put that in my witch figure display in my game room.  I really like the ogre and the hook horror.  That hook horror looks like he walked out of my Fiend Folio and I still prefer this look to the "revised" one we get in D&D 3.x.

Of course what my son is most psyched about is the Tiamat figure.  She does not have her wings anymore, but he quickly said "she is the god of dragons, she can fly without wings if she wanted to".  Plus he has been coveting my aspect of Tiamat D&D mini for a very long time.  So this is a nice little prize for him.

While I doubt I'll use these in any of our games, my "Dragon Riders" campaign with my son using D&D 3.x is so off the wall gonzo now that they certainly would not seem out of place. Certainly the Skeleton Warriors could pass for say skeleton Cloud Giants. The Chimera, while goofy looking, is probably more to scale than the D&D mini one.

Of course while my oldest son got these, my youngest had to make do with a bag full of Generation 1 Transformers.  My inner geek self is still smiling. 
And no.  Nothing is for sale. Sorry. ;)

Every Angel is Terrifying

Every Angel is Terrifying: The Secret and True Origin of the Slayer and Watchers

Note: This is a repost of something I did on the Eden Buffy boards a while back.  I have been working on collecting all my notes from my three-season run of "Willow & Tara: The Series" for the Buffy/Angel/Ghost of Albion RPG and thought I might share this.  I am not a fan of Buffy anymore for a number of reasons, but I do like this write-up.

I was never satisfied with the version of the Watcher's and Slayer's origins given in the show. Plus the demon connection and overt rape metaphor never sat well with me. So I decided it must be part of a propaganda agenda of the demons. Here then, is the true history of the Slayer and the Watchers. This version also makes Buffy more compatible with WitchCraft and Armageddon. It also allows multiple Slayers (or not) without worrying about what happened in the show.  It also addresses (a little) a shortcomings of the show; where are all the angels?

Something to bide me over till I can get something new up.

Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angels' hierarchies?
and even if one of them pressed me suddenly against his heart:
I would be consumed in that overwhelming existence.
For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror, which we are still just able to endure,
and we are so awed because it serenely disdains to annihilate us.
Every angel is terrifying.
- Rainer Maria Rilke*

The Council of Watchers of today bares little resemblance to powerful organization it once was, most due to machinations of the Great Beast Belial, but that is getting to the middle of the story first, let’s start at the beginning, which is in this case The Beginning.

Everyone knows of the War in Heaven. Lucifer rebels and the Angels are cast out. There was also a second war, and the Watchers and Slayers start here.

After Lucifer fell Man and Woman were created. Adam and Lilith. Lilith, either by her own designs or that of Lucifer also rebels and goes out to spawn demons with the Djinn. Adam gets a new helpmate, Eve, and they are fruitful and multiply. Seeing the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve populating the Earth God sends Angels down to protect them and watch over them. These Angels are known as the Grigori, or “the Watchers”, and their leaders are Azazel and Samyaza. The Watchers though looked upon the Daughters of Eve and lusted after them. They taught them the secrets of divination, of the moon and of witchcraft. They also took them to their beds and begat upon them progeny known as the Nephilim. They were giants of their age, and most are monstrosities; Goliath may have been one of their number. The Nephilim war with both the demons and with other humans. Humans war with the demons and Nephilim. Demons kill everything in their path. All the while, Lucifer and his fallen angels laugh.

The actions of the Angels angers God who casts them into Abyss and sends a flood to destroy the wickedness of mankind. But before this happens the Watcher Shamsiel (in some versions it is Samyaza) goes to the one human woman who was never corrupted by Original Sin, the one who never ate from the Tree of Knowledge, Lilith. Shamsiel asked Lilith for one thing, an offspring. Someone that can fight the demons and the Nephilim while protecting the humans. Lilith laughed, but consented, after all she was giving birth to countless demons, what was one more. She gave birth though not to a monstrous son, but a perfect daughter. She named her Naamah and sent her to live with Shamsiel. Shamsiel in turn gave her to the human woman he had sleeping with and her husband. He instructed them to take on his role as Watcher, for this child would be the slayer of demons and the other spawn of darkness. Shamsiel went to his final battle never to return.

Naamah, daughter of Lilith, protector of Malkuth, grew strong, though she was never loved by her foster parents. They taught her the same lessons the Watchers had taught them, combat, the secrets of the occult, the arts of war and witchcraft. While the demons recognized her as kin she hung on to her angelic heritage. She fought them and the Watchers stood by her in the fight. Some even say that she stowed away on Noah’s Ark, knowing that that evil would find a way to survive. Some texts even still list her as Noah’s wife or sometimes his daughter. Even later when she died, she died fighting. One of her many daughters took up the fight and she too became known as the Slayer. In those days when the demons ran free over the Earth there were many Slayers and many Watchers. The original Grigori had spanned the Earth, and so had their progeny. It seemed that the battle was going well for humanity. Till Lucifer and his left-hand devil Belial took an interest in the Slayer. They had already begun a propaganda war against her. She was the spawn of demons they said, she was the patroness of whores. Indeed, the powers of the Slayer were related to her gender and even to her sexual maturity, so some of the ignorant believed this and forced the Slayer out. Some even began to feel she brought trouble with her. The pogrom against the Slayer had begun.

Even the Watchers, having spanned globe and taking up their cause with the Pagan faiths, were not immune. Here they meshed their beliefs with their own. They believed that they and their books were what were really holding back the darkness. They created their world headquarters on the mystical islands and listed in their charter the charge given to them by God, rendered in the local tongue.

Óir thug sé ordú da aingil i do thaobh:
tú a chosaint i do shlite go léir:

Iompróidh siad thú lena lámha sula mbuailfí
do chos in aghaidh chloiche.

Satlóidh tú ar an leon is ar an nathair:
gheobhaidh tú de chosa sa leon óg is a dragan.

That was not even the start for Belial and the Watchers. The Great Deceiver Belial tricked Lilith into revealing her offspring’s true nature. Knowing this Belial then worked on the Watchers. “Why should she be in charge?” he whispered in their ears. “Why would men of good faith follow the dictates of a demon-spawned female child?” It took him years, but soon he broke down their resolve, their myths and soon under the guise of “the good for all” he had them change their own histories. Gone was the story of Naamah and her sisters. Gone was the relationship between Watcher and Slayer as one of equals. And most tragic, gone was the link between the Slayer and the Divine. Instead only the demonic remained and Slayer but a tool, oft times a disposable one.

But Lilith had her own revenge. If they were to treat her blood so poorly, then she called back her own power only allowing one girl per generation to be born. She infused her other children, the Vampires, with desire to find this girl and hunt her down. Like brother and sister they were then, equal in their strength and parallel in their purpose. Soon the Slayer only became know as a killer of vampires and the Watchers, feeding on their own lies, degraded and rotted from within.

Thus it remained till the dawn of the 3rd Millennium.

Sisters of Paradox

Sisters of Paradox

Note: This one is for my friend Robert Black. He was one of the ones that got me into Charmed, Hex and renewed my love for Doctor Who. He is also an unabashed Willow and Tara fan and fellow Kitten. Bob is now a successful novelist and I proudly own an autographed copy of his first book Liberty Girl. Paradox Willow was his idea originally and I am gleefully stealing her for this. Paradox Phoebe is my own, but I am sure he would have developed it too. 

Faction Paradox

The Doctor Who novels and audio plays featuring the 8th Doctor introduced a new enemy to the Doctors rogues gallery, Faction Paradox. This voodoo cult/criminal organization delights in causing temporal paradoxes, including replacing people with their alternates or who they could have been born as. A person and their alternatives are entirely different people, they can look different and act different but are not evil twins. Genetically they are siblings. For this reason, I call them Paradox Siblings.

Using Paradox Siblings in Your Game

Paradox Siblings, even if you never use Faction Paradox, can bring an interesting twist to a game. They are not evil twins or alternate-universe versions of the character. They are this universes version, different at the moment of conception. They are different yes, but not alternates (say from The Wish or Centennial Charmed). Thus the paradox.

They can be used to cause confusion, erase someone from history, or even supplant someone with nefarious means. Think of the ultimate version of The Manchurian Candidate or the situation Spock faced in Yesteryear from the Star Trek Animated Series. This is especially useful when you need a character replaced for a brief period of time (say due to the absence of a player) or removing someone when killing them outright will not serve the purpose (as with Willow and Phoebe in Semi-Charmed Life). Paradox siblings are also useful if someone needed something that only a particular genetic code or family line good provide. Cant get the hero to give up her blood and she has no living relatives? No problem, yank one out of time and you are good to go.

Ok, so you have you nice new Paradox sibling, what do you do with her? You can go one of two ways. First, everyone but the Paradox Sibling remembers things are they were (are) and can go about their business, the Paradox Sibling remembers something completely different and is the confused one. This the method used by Robert Black in his Sisters of Paradox. The other characters except for the original sibling have vague memories that are the same as the Paradox Sibling. This can be their clue as to what is going on. Directors could apply a Perception Test (maybe Perception + Willpower) to determine what is going on. Characters with Eidetic or Photographic Memory would have two complete and conflicting set of memories. Directors might have them go into some sort of psychogenic fugue state for dramatic purposes.

Another possibility (and I think the more fun one!) is to have the Paradox Sibling replace the original sibling/character and everyone thinks they are the normal one (with altered memories) and the original one is the one that is the outsider. In Semi-Charmed Life it was Tara that finally discovered the difference when Paradox Willow was revealed to be straight.

Paradox Willow and Paradox Phoebe
Canon note: Screw canon. These characters all came from my alternate 8th Season (Season 1 of Willow and Tara the Series: Season of the Witch) adventure Semi-Charmed Life which is as you can guess a Charmed-crossover.

Synopsis: DHoffryn goes to Kira the Seer to gain knowledge on how to become the next Source. Kira tells him the only way to do it is to neutralize the Charmed Ones. Adding to his complications Willow and Tara are visiting San Francisco and are looking forward to meeting the Charmed Ones (Leo and Tara know each other). Knowing he cant out right kill them, he manipulates time to remove one of the Charmed Ones and one of the anamchara witches from history. With the girls connections to their powers lost DHoffryn claims his prize.

First off, why Willow and Phoebe? Easy, both have something in common other than being witches. Both were originally played by different actresses in their respective shows pilots. Willow was originally played by Riff Regan and Phoebe by Lori Rom. For their Paradox versions I have used these actresses and removed their spellcasting ability. That was the key in breaking the characters powers. Willow and Tara are stronger together than separate unless of course Willow doesnt have magic or love for Tara. The Charmed Ones are much more powerful together, and in Something Wicca this Way Comes it is Phoebe that discovers their magical heritage. Remove those elements and we have some seriously de-powered witches. In the Charmed universe rules if Phoebe had been killed, then Paradox Phoebe could have claimed her powers (again in Centennial Charmed Paige did something similar), which would not have removed the problem only displaced it and pissed off the Charmed Ones in the process (a mistake the former Source had made, only once). So for a temporal demon like DHoffryn, removing someone from a time stream and replacing them with a Paradox Sibling is easy, wellmuch easier than killing them.

Paradox Willow

This is the Original Willow. Thats right, this is the Willow (the girl with brown curly hair) that happened first, but the world was changed to allow the other Willow (the one with straight red hair and likes girls) to exist. So in a way the Willow we all know is really Paradox Willow. But for the sake of argument lets continue calling this girl Paradox Willow.

Use Willow's stats from Season 5. Drop the magic completely, Paradox Willow has no magical ability. Increase her Art and Computers and give her the Artist Quality. Paradox Willow is a very fine hacker but an even better Jazz singer. She plays and sings in Ozs band and dated Jonathan before he was killed by Cordelia the Vampire. She looks a lot like her mother's sister Esther. Paradox Willow is played by Riff Regan.

Willow Rosenberg

Character Type: Mundane Human White Hat (with lots of experience)
Life Points: 30
Drama Points: 5

Attributes
Strength 2
Dexterity 2
Constitution 3
Intelligence 6
Perception 3
Willpower 5

Qualities
Artist (Singer and Keyboards)
Nerd

Drawbacks
Adversary (Assorted, Vampire Cordy and wicked Witch Amy in particular) (4)
Love-Tragic (Jonathan)
Minority (Jewish)

Skills
Acrobatics 3
Art 5
Computers 7
Crime 1
Doctor 2
Driving 0
Kung Fu 3
Getting Medieval 1
Gun Fu 0
Knowledge 6
Languages 4
Mr. Fix-It 4
Notice 4
Influence 2
Occultism 4
Science 6
Sports 0
Wild Card 0

Combat
Maneuver Bonus Base Damage Notes
Dodge 5 None Defensive Move
Punch 4 4
Stake 3 4

Paradox Phoebe
This is a true Paradox. Phoebe was never supposed to be born in the first place. All of Patty's doctors told her she would never have children again. In fact she was having marriage troubles with Victor (played James Read) and he was not really around enough to conceive another child (he did of course; make-up sex maybe after one of their fights). How was this change brought about? In this case the change came with not replacing Phoebe but replacing her father at the right moment. A Paradox Victor was created (played by Tony Denison) to conceive Paradox Phoebe. This Phoebe had no magic from her mother (thus paving the way for Pru, Piper and Paige to be the Charmed Ones, except Pru was killed before Paige was found).

Paradox Phoebe was then not a witch and was more dedicated to her career in New York. She is more financially secure and mature and thus consider herself to be the serious sister (a role Pru played in the normal continuity). She frequently distanced herself from her mother and sisters, preferring to live with her father. She even went as far as to use her fathers name instead of her mothers like her other sisters. Phoebe Bennett is now a successful writer for a fashion magazine. She continued the martial arts training she had in high school, but only to stay in shape.

Paradox Phoebe is played by Lori Rom and her father Paradox Victor is played by Tony Denison. (as opposed to Allysa Milano and James Read)

Phoebe Bennett

Character Type: Mundane Human
Life Points: 30
Drama Points: 5

Attributes
Strength 2
Dexterity 4
Constitution 3
Intelligence 3
Perception 3
Willpower 2

Qualities
Attractiveness +2
Resources 5

Drawbacks
Addiction (Mild) Smoking
Covetous (Mild) Greed

Skills
Acrobatics 3
Art 1
Computers 1
Crime 0
Doctor 0
Driving 2
Getting Medieval 0
Gun Fu 0
Influence 4
Knowledge 2
Kung Fu 4
Languages 0
Mr. Fix-It 0
Notice 2
Occultism 0
Science 1
Sports 0
Wild Card (Fashion) 4

Combat
Maneuver Bonus Base Damage Notes
Dodge 9 None Defensive Move
Punch 8 4

RPG Net Discussions; Pirates and Witches

So there are two threads I am currently actively following on RPG.Net.


Normally I don’t air the dirty laundry on other sites, but the issues of these two discussions need a wider audience.

The first is something that I think more people need to know about.

Outlaw Press, known for selling Tunnels and Trolls products, has been stealing art and publishing material they do not own.

It is worth reading for a few reasons. One, to know if anything you have done might be there (though I think all the artists have been identified). Two, as a cautionary tale, if you steal someone else's work you will get caught.

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=483885 but also discussed in my T&T centric places, http://trollbridge.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1163

The other is a discussion on Princess Lucinda Nightbane from Witch Girls Adventures.

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=484151

That one has to be read to be believed. But I do find it a tad hypocritical that people playing games about their characters killing things and taking their stuff can get so bent out of shape when it is a little girl doing the exact same things.

The Selfish Succubus

I picked up a copy of "Instant Antagonist: The Selfish Succubus" last week. Instant Antagonists is a new product line from Flames Rising. Now full disclaimer here, I know Matt McElroy and I am a fan of his site and his work. IF you are a horror gamer you really can't help but be a fan really. Horror news, gaming news, interviews and now products like IA.

What is IA? Well it is actually a very cool idea. They spend a few pages to fully develop a character to use in any system. This is quite a good idea really. Most often you get character stats, but not much in the way of background or story. The IA aims to change that. So how do they do? Well I have the first one here.
Lily Sinclaire is a succubus. Not in the metaphorical sense, but a really honest-to-the-devil succubus and for whatever reason she is out of Hell and here to have a good time. In "Instant Antagonist: The Selfish Succubus" we are introduced to Lily, also known as Lilis, through some fiction and a description. She is beautiful, looks and sounds exotic and has a prehensile tail. Yeah a tail. She has to cut it off every night, but otherwise it is a tail. In what might be a preview of how future Instant Antagonists might be like, we are given descriptions of how she looks, about how smart she might be. WE are also given insight to what they might be like, powerwise, through their systemless system of Mind, Body and Spirit. Things like "she thinks quickly on her feet", or "she knows a lot about ancient history". I found this to be a very effective way to describe the character. So I have an idea of what she might be like in say Tri-Stat or Unisystem, stats wise.
Multiple origins are given for her to help place her in your favorite system better. Or even as rumors about her. Despite the fact that the book is all fluff, there is no waste.
And finally there are story hooks, ways you can pull her into your game. Either as the titular antagonist or as someone the characters are likely to interact with. Though given how detailed Lily is, she likely to be elevated to the level of "Guest Star" and not "Monster of the Week". So all the plot hooks can be used one way or the other.
I think that the idea behind Instant Antagonists is a great one. Often times it is too easy to come up with stats and forget the character they are supposed to represent. Lily is the opposite. By presenting her as a character, sans stats, you are forced to think of her as a character, with background and motivations, first and not a collection of numbers.
So what would Lily look like. Mind you here is the other plus of this. I can make as powerful or as weak as I need her to be. Given this background I see Lily as a fringe player in the supernatural world. Yes she is evil, and yes she will need to be stopped sometime, but her introduction will be one of a succubus, freed from Hell making her way in the world. Like a demonic Mary Tyler Moore.
So let's build a Lily Sinclaire using Ghosts of Albion/Angel. Using the Mind-Body-Spirit guide in the book lets convert her to some stats. Her Mind says she knows a lot about ancient history, can manipulate others, has a lot of occult contacts. Ok, so To me that says a better than average Intelligence, say 3 or maybe 4, but maybe a higher Willpower and Perception. I would give her a higher level in some skills and maybe keep her Intelligence at 3. Body says she is very attractive, so Appearance 3, a good dexterity 3, but maybe only a 2 in strength. She has a high tolerance for drugs and alcohol (party girl) so a 4 in Constitution. Her Spirit supports a higher Willpower and even some obsessions or mental problems. She is a succubus, so she gets some demonic powers too. So where does that leave us? I fill in the rest with my own guesses and what I need her to do.

Name: Lily Sinclaire

Motivation: To get what she wants
Creature Type: Succubus (demon)
Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Constitution 4, Intelligence 3, Perception 4, Willpower 4
Life Points: 37
Drama Points: 15
Qualities and Drawbacks: Addictions (Sex 2), Adversaries (anyone that knows her true nature), Attractive 2, Contacts (Supernatural 3), Covetous (lecherous 2), Emotional Problems (Cruel 3, Arrogance 2), Hard to Kill 1, Immortal, Innate Magic, Regeneration, Resources (Well off), Secrets (3, many), Supernatural Form (1, has a tail)
Skills: Armed Mayhem 1, Art 2, Athletics 3, Crime 3, Driving/Riding 1, Engineering 1, Fisticuffs 2, Influence 4, Knowledge 5, Languages 4 (English, Latin, Sumerian, Greek), Marksmanship 0, Notice 4, Occultism 4, Physician 1, Science 1.
Maneuvers

Name Score Damage Notes
Dodge +5 Defense action
Grapple +7 Resisted by Dodge
Punch +5 4 Bash


We can also do her up for Witch Girls Adventures using the same guidelines, though I am going to have to guess about her magic and what powers succubi have in this world.

Lily Sinclair, Succubus
Rank: 3
Body: d6 Mind: d6 Senses: d8
Will: d8 Social: d8 Magic: d6
Life Points: 12 Reflex: 9
Resist Magic: 9 Zap Points: 12
Skills: Athletics +2, Basics +2, Dancing +4, Fighting +1, Hear +1, Leader +3, Look +2, Magic Etiquette +2, Mundane Etiquette +3, Mysticism +2, Mythology +4, Streetwise +3
Abilities: Beautiful, Mysterious
Heritage: Demon
Spells: Lily does not know any spells save those magics all Succubi can use.

Looking forward to more.

The City Built around a Tarrasque!

There is a really interesting thread about a (D&D) city built around a tarrasque.
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=261519 and
http://waelfwulf.wordpress.com/

For those that don't know, in D&D the tarrasque is an immortal killing machine related to the dragons.  It's immune to magic and all sorts of things that make it so it just can't be killed.  It's a DM's way of ridding the world of unneeded PCs really.

But this concept is so cool that I feel the need to adopt it.  It would make sense to me, since I have never used the tarrasque in any of my games even when it first appeared in the MM2 for 1st Edition.  Though I have used the Piasa bird, a similar creature from my neck of the woods.

The idea behind this city is they have captured and immobilized it. Now they are feeding off of it's meat and blood which regenerates all the time. There is a corrupting power to this, plus the moral corruption of keeping a live beast chained up while you continously hack bits of it off.  Something we saw in the Torchwood episode Meat.

Plus it is the type fantastical, out of this world crazieness that I love to have in my games.  Cities built on the corpses of dead gods; Elven nations of thousands living in the trees and a city built around a Tarrasque.

Eldritch Witchery, Back to Basics

I am returning to work on Eldritch Witchery, my guide to witches and warlocks for the Spellcraft & Swordplay RPG. The idea is simple really; make a witch class for the game. But I want to do this class justice and not just do a retread of the material I have written for other games.


So I am going back to school.

I have been rereading old Dragon and White Dwarf magazines from the 70s to the early 80s to get a proper feel for the game as it was then. What were people talking about and doing in their games. I have also been going over my basic assumptions. Why is a witch needed if we already have Clerics and Wizards? What niche does a witch fill in a Sword and Sorcerery game? For this I am indebted to Jason Vey who has been giving me a crash course in all things Pulp related. Conan (whom I never really read and now understand I know next to nothing about), the works of Robert Howard and how they relate to Lovecraft. Plus I have been thinking a lot about my own influences for D&D. Clark Ashton Smith is a big one for me. I have been rereading all my old D&D books and notes. My first witch character was made in October of 1986, I wrote my first set of rules (20 pages) around her.

What has this done for me?

Well I have a pretty good idea what I want to do and how I want to do it and it is different than say my d20 version of the witch, or even the magic I wrote about in Ghosts of Albion. What does a witch do in the world of Spellcraft & Swordplay. Well the witch is more connected to the primal nature of magic. I hesitate to say “beyond good and evil” but maybe before good and evil. She is like nature. I also want to incorporate a lot of what is old folklore and fairy tales about witches. So these are defiantly more Baba Yaga than Sabrina.

What do Witches Do?

In any game you need to figure out where a character’s niche will be. What is it that the character will do, what can she do and what will she bring to the adventuring party. Where does she fit in this world organically. I also want keep in mind the classical or stereotypical powers of the witch; casting spells, making potions, the evil eye, curses, charms, turning people into animals, flying on brooms, consulting with familiar spirits. The witch then for me needs to provide that air of mystery in a world already full of magic and magical-using characters. She needs to have something special about her, I want the other characters in the group to say, “We need her, she is a witch!”

Hopefully players will say the same thing.

Next time, more on the occult powers of the witch class.

Blackmoor, no more for 4e?

I have blogged about Blackmoor in the past and was very excited to have picked up the 4e version of the Blackmoor book.

Well I have learned from Mystara expert Havard that there may not be any more Blackmoor for 4e.
http://blackmoormystara.blogspot.com/  and http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2009/11/blackmoor-news.html for the Grognardia viewpoint.

This is a disapointment, but not a suprise really.  I guess this leaves me to do my own thing in my world.  I am planning on keeping the Docrae race (off shoot of halflings) and keeping the unique classes to give the area a very different feel, the Wokan(i) in particular.   It will be interesting to see where CMP goes from here, but I am likely to go backwards with my Blackmoor and hit the orignal books again and build up my Shangri-La like area somewhere north of the Black Ice where even Dragons dare not fly.

Google Wave

I am now on Google Wave!  Not yet sure what I will do with it but there are plenty of things I can do with my day job for it and I have heard of plenty of RPG applications.

I'll keep you all posted.  Maybe I'll run some Ghosts of Albion games on it.

Wonder Woman and the Curriculum of Gender

One of the more interesting books I have been reading is "Wonder Woman: The Complete History" by Les Daniels (2000) and a related documentary "Wonder Woman: A Subversive Dream" (2009, Warner Brothers). I am struck by the parallels between the creation of this comic book character and some of our discussions on gender and public curriculum. Some of these parallels were in fact intentional by the comic's creator William Moulton Marston, a Harvard psychologist.

Background

In 1940 Prof. Marston wrote a pop-ed piece in Family Circle called "Don't Laugh at the Comics" in which he stated that the comic books of the time, read predominantly by pre-adolescent boys and then later service men, were a source of great educational material. He made the claim in this article and in a follow piece two years later that the comics were a great morality tale in which one could educate the masses in "good moral behavior". As mentioned before William Marston was a Harvard psychologist who, among other things, wrote articles on child care, education and even invents the lie-detector (and early proto-type). While most other creators and comic book writers were barely high school educated; not that this matters, but it is a stark contrast. Marston was a critic of comics, till he began to read them. He then decided that he needed to create a comic that conveyed the stories of myth and Greeco-Roman culture as well educate readers on this as well his other ideals (detailed in a bit). In an oft-quoted tale Marston told his wife Elizabeth (also an educated, liberated woman) what he was planning to do, she paused and said, "fine. But make her a woman." This of course was part of Marston's larger plan, to teach people that women were the superior gender and that the world would be a better place if they were in charge. In his 1943 follow-up in The American Scholar Marston points out that he planned Wonder Woman as something for younger girls to look up too as well. That girls "didn't even want to be girls as long at the female archetype lacks strength and power…"
In December of 1941 Wonder Woman, previously called Suprema, appeared on the stands in All-Star Comics #8. She appeared again a month later and by June of 192 she had her own headlining title (Wonder Woman #1), a time line unheard of in those days. Despite a brief reboot, the series has never been out of publication. Unlike her co-heroes Superman and Batman, Wonder Woman was a Goddess. Marston wanted to be very clear that his hero is not an alien or a man driven by revenge but a superior Goddess. He states throughout "Complete History" that the Goddess choice was intentional to equate the woman of the 20^th Century as Goddesses. Still he has Diana/Wonder Woman, go through the classical Hero's Journey. She earns her place in this tale because she is better than the others.
Wonder Woman is also of princess of the Amazons, which were the archetypes of female warriors and "those on the outside". The amazons were self-reliant, peaceful, though could be warriors when needed, and all skilled at fighting. Yet despite the fact that Wonder Woman is faster, stronger and more skilled at battle, her mission (and Marston's) is one of love and peace.
 Curriculum of Non-Violence and Love

What was Marston's plan, his hidden curriculum? As it turns out his curriculum is not so hidden, at least in his mind. Marston had been DC Comics (then called Detective Comics) Educational consultant. He took his knowledge of how people read comics and his own feminist viewpoints (some of which may seem a bit skewed by today's standards, ie women are not equal to men, they are superior to men). He was very open about what he had planned on doing. Present a character that can be admired by both boys and girls, give her a strong background in the classics, show that she has traditional feminine qualities (beauty, compassion, empathy) but is as strong and wise as any of the Gods and Goddess in her own background. Wonder Woman cared. Her first mission was one of returning wounded pilot, Steve Trevor, home and to help improve diplomatic ties between Paradise Island and "The World of Man". In Wonder Woman comics produced today a common theme is that the sign Wonder Woman has failed is not whether the "bad guy" gets away (like Superman and Batman) but whether or not she can promote peace and stop war.

He based Wonder Woman's qualities on his own research that lead to his creation of the systolic blood pressure based lie detector. Amazons and Wonder Woman were superior in their peaceful environment due their steadiness. Unlike Superman with his massive strength, flight, heat vision, freezing breath and an array of powers, or Batman and his billions of dollars and high-tech gadgets, Wonder Woman is known for two items, her magic lasso that compels people to tell the truth and her silver bracelets which can deflect any weapon (but most often bullets). These are no accidents or mere comic book constructions, they hold key significance to the psychology of Marston and his creation. The parallels between the lasso and Marston's own early "lie-detector" should be obvious; truth is more powerful than a lie. Wonder Woman's bracelets are a reminder of a time when the Amazons were held in bondage and how they never would again, referencing myth but also the post-suffrage movements of women and their expanded role in the work-place of WWII. The bracelets also represent protection, in a sense it is Marston saying my heroine not only doesn't need weapons, but yours are useless on her too. There is the tie to female-archetype as well, bracelets that stop bullets, earrings that allow her communicate with anyone including animals and a girdle that boosts her own already prodigious strength. The fact that is research assistant Olive Byrne (his other "wife" in a three-person polyamorous relationship with him and his wife Elizabeth) often wore large metal bracelets on each wrist should not be ignored.

Marston even said that all boys and men, not just ones reading Wonder Woman, would willingly follow an alluring woman stronger than themselves. Marston believed that he was luring them towards a more peaceful and non-violent way of life.

Hidden Curriculum to Global Curriculum

In 1972 a feminist of a different type, Gloria Steinem put Wonder Woman on the cover of Ms. Magazine. In that 30 years other comic book heroes had come, gone or been radically changed, partially due to the Comics Authority Code, but Wonder Woman was still recognizable as the archetype, or even icon, she had started out to be. In 2009 I just finished working on a new course called "Culture, Gender, and Power Differences in Conflict", which many of Marston's own curriculum for Wonder Woman is part of the objectives for this course. Understanding how men and women approach conflict differently, how are minorities oppressed in subtle ways that either side may not be aware of. Between these two points we have decades of pop culture references that have influenced and been influenced by Marston's creation. Even saying "Wonder Woman" invokes not just an image of a 6 foot tall Amazon in red, white and blue, but is synonymous with "powerful woman".

It is difficult to measure at level Marston met with success in his original conception of his idea. He certainly created not just a feminist icon, but a feminine one. A lot of what he wanted to see accomplished did in fact happen, though not everything. In the end I am left with two quotes from two very different males about Wonder Woman. When asked about Marston's view of women as superior Playboy founder and former editor and CEO Hugh Heffner said "would the world be better if women were running things? No question about it, absolutely."
When asked about Wonder Woman my 6-year old son said "don't make girls mad, they will kick your butt, best to do what they say."

The Craft: Rochelle Zimmerman

The last Craft Girl.  The very hot Rachel True as the dangerous type Rochelle
Again, for Unisystem, using Ghosts of Albion magic rules and Witch Girls Adventures.

Rochelle Zimmerman (Rachel True)
Quote: I don't know. She doesn't want to be white trash anymore. I told her, You're white honey! Just get over it.

Drama Points 20
Life Points 34

Attributes
Strength: 3
Dexterity: 3
Constitution: 3
Intelligence: 4
Perception: 2
Willpower: 3

Useful Information
Initiative: 1d10 + 3
Perception: 1d10 + 3
Additional Actions: 2
Fear Modifier: 6
Survival: 6

Qualities
Athlete
Attractiveness 2
Magic 2
Guardian of the Watchtowers (Water)

Drawbacks
Addiction (smoking) 1
Minority
Misfit
Teenager

Skills
Acrobatics 2
Art 1
Computers 1
Crime 1
Doctor 1
Driving 1
Getting Medieval 1
Gun Fu
Influence 2
Knowledge 4
Kung Fu 1
Languages 2
Mr. Fix-It
Notice 1
Occultism 3
Science 1
Sports 5 (swimming)
Wild Card

Combat
Maneuver Bonus Base Damage Notes
Punch +3 4 Bash
Dodge +3 Defense action
Grapple +5 Resisted by Dodge
Cast Spell +8 Varies By Spell

Rochelle is the most different of the group, not because she is African-American, but because she is the most normal of the girls. Pretty, athletic (she is on the swim team), and her quest for power was for to be more understanding against the racist members on her swim team. Later though she casts a spell (with Sarahs help) that causes one of the swimmers, Laura, to begin to loose all her hair.

It is Rochelle and Bonnie that leave the group when Nancy turns murderous, and they both approach Sarah in the end to try to reacquaint themselves with her in the end.

Witch Girls Adventures
Clique: Insider

Rochelle (Rachel True)

Body: d6
Mind: d6
Senses: d4
Will: d6
Social: d6
Magic: d6

Life Points: 12
Reflex: 9
Resistance: 9
Zap Points: 17

Traits: Calm, Jock
Heritage: Attuned

Skills: Acrobatics +2, Acting +1, Athletics +5, Basics +2, Computers +1, Fighting +1, Pop Culture +2, Science +1
Casting +3, Magical Etiquette +1, Mysticism +3

Magic:
Elementalism 3
Alteration 2
Conjuration 1
Curse 2
Illusion 3
Offense 1

Age: 16
Gender: Female
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown

If we are going to have Bonnie working at a witch school teaching ethics then it seems only right to have Rochelle there as well as the swim coach. I would imagine that Bonnie and Rochelle would have stayed friends after the end of the movie. An listening to the commentary I think that Rochelle would have come around to point of view that she can’t use magic to curse other people, no matter if the racist stuck-up little bleach blonde deserved it or not.

The Craft: Bonnie Harper

More Craft girls. Up next, former Partier of Five and future Wild Thing Neve Campbel as Bonnie
Again, for Unisystem, using Ghosts of Albion magic rules and Witch Girls Adventures.

Bonnie Harper (Neve Campbell)
Quote: A new wholeness and with it a new balance. Earth, air, water, fire. Maybe it's our fourth.

Drama Points 20
Life Points 29

Attributes
Strength: 1
Dexterity: 2
Constitution: 3
Intelligence: 3
Perception: 2
Willpower: 2

Useful Information
Initiative: 1d10 + 2
Perception: 1d10 + 4
Additional Actions: 2
Fear Modifier: 4
Survival: 6

Qualities
Attractiveness 2
Magic 2
Guardian of the Watchtowers (fire)
Hard to Kill

Drawbacks
Addiction (smoking) 1
Depression
Outcast
Screwed-up Adolescent
Secret (covered in burns)

Skills
Acrobatics 1
Art 2
Computers 1
Crime 1
Doctor 2
Driving 1
Getting Medieval 1
Gun Fu
Influence 1
Knowledge 3
Kung Fu 1
Languages 2
Mr. Fix-It 1
Notice 2
Occultism 3
Science 2
Sports 1
Wild Card

Combat
Maneuver Bonus Base Damage Notes
Punch +3 2 Bash
Dodge +3 Defense action
Grapple +5 Resisted by Dodge
Cast Spell +7 Varies By Spell

Bonnie is the most withdrawn of Nancys group and maybe one of the most knowledgeable. At some point Bonnie was caught in a fire, leaving most her back, and her psyche, all scared. When she gains her power she uses it to heal herself, but like Nancy and Rochelle it goes to her head. Her attractiveness starts at -1 and then goes up to +2.

She was also the first to notice Sarah was a witch and to notice their power. Bonnie is most likely to have turned back to the religion of witchcraft.

Witch Girls Adventures
Clique: Gothique (not as perfect as with Nancy, but it works)

Bonnie (Neve Campbell)

Body: d4
Mind: d6
Senses: d4
Will: d6
Social: d4
Magic: d6

Life Points: 8
Reflex: 7
Resistance: 9
Zap Points: 12

Traits: Gloomy, Meek
Heritage: Oracle

Skills: Acrobatics +1, Acting +1, Basics +2, Computers +1, Fighting +1, Pop Culture +2, Science +2
Casting +3, Magical Etiquette +3, Mysticism +3

Magic:
Elementalism 3
Alteration 2
Conjuration 2
Curse 1
Healing 1
Illusion 3
Offense 1

Age: 16
Gender: Female
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown

What might make an interesting Witch Girls adventure idea is have Bonnie, now older, working at a magic school where she is teaching magical ethics.  She does not cast anymore (except when dramatically needed, and she is able to heal and near death student) and discovering her past could be a episode away from the main story arc for a season.

The Craft: Nancy Downs

Here are the Craft girls.  Everyone's favorite psycho-witch played by a real life pagan, Nancy.
Again, for Unisystem, using Ghosts of Albion magic rules and Witch Girls Adventures.

Nancy Downs (Fairuza Balk)
quote: You know, if I were as pathetic as you are, I would have killed myself *ages* ago. You should get on with it.

Drama Points 20
Life Points 33

Attributes
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 2
Constitution: 3
Intelligence: 3
Perception: 2
Willpower: 3

Useful Information
Initiative: 1d10 + 2
Perception: 1d10 + 4
Additional Actions: 2
Fear Modifier: 6
Survival: 7

Qualities
Attractiveness 2
Guardian of the Watchtowers (air)
Hard to Kill
Occult Library 1 (Minimal)
magic 3 (4)


Drawbacks
Addiction (smoking) 1
Conspicuousness (only goth girl in school with a pierced nose)
Cruelty 2
Depression 1
Delusions 1
Lechery 1
Obsession (be powerful) 1
Outcast
Screwed-up Adolescent
Violence 1


Skills
Acrobatics 1
Art
Computers 1
Crime 3
Doctor 1
Driving 2
Getting Medieval 2
Gun Fu 1
Influence 2
Knowledge 3
Kung Fu 2
Languages 1
Mr. Fix-It 1
Notice 2
Occultism 4
Science 2
Sports 1
Wild Card

Combat
Maneuver Bonus Base Damage Notes
Punch +4 4 Bash
Choke +4 1
Kick +3 6 Bash
Knife +4 3
Dodge +4 Defense action
Grapple +6 Resisted by Dodge
Cast Spell +10
Telekinesis +10


Nancy has always been an outsider. Poor, from the wrong family, living in a trailer with mom and her mom's boyfriend, is everything the young and rich of St. Benedicts is not. If Nancy has a philosophy it is "if you can't gain their respect, go for their fear."
With the arrival of Sarah, Nancy sees her chance at real power. Nancy and the other girls gain true power, but it goes to their heads with Nancy even cursing her mom's boyfriend to death. Of course power corrupts and quicker than you can say been there and done that Nancy and Sarah are at it, and not in a good way.



Witch Girls Adventures
Clique (if we were to use it she would be perfect): Gothique

Nancy Downs (Fairuza Balk)
Body: d4
Mind: d6
Senses: d4
Will: d8
Social: d6
Magic: d6

Life Points: 8
Reflex: 7
Resistance: 9
Zap Points: 12

Traits: Queen Bee, Wicked
Heritage: Evil Eye (not so much, but Fairuza has some killer eyes)

Skills: Acrobatics +1, Acting +1, Basics +1, Computers +1, Fighting +2, Pop Culture +2, Science +2
Casting +3, Mysticism +4

Magic:
Elementalism 4
Alteration 2
Conjuration 2
Curse 1
Illusion 3
Offense 2

Age: 16
Gender: Female
Hair: Black
Eyes: Blue