The Houri for Basic D&D

A few posts back I mentioned the Houri class as a follow-up to the posts at Dangerous Brian. 

http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/12/houri-class.html
http://dangerousbrian.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-osric-class-houri-part-i.html
http://dangerousbrian.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-character-class-houri-part-ii.html

The class is an update of the Houri class from White Dwarf #13 by Brian Asbury back in June of 1979.
In my discussion I felt that the class had certain qualities to it that would work as a race as well as a class. Well since I have been experimenting with Basic D&D of late I thought I would give this a try. 


Since this based on the work of others it is NOT released as part of the OGL. 
 
The Houri Class

The Houri is the offspring of a human or elf and a nymph. Nymphs are known for their unearthly beauty and lascivious natures so the offspring of a chance liaison with an attractive human or elven male is not only expected, but often the way of things. Most of these children are nymphs themselves and continue their lives with their mothers. Every so often though, a child is born that is not wholly nymph. She is not wholly mortal either, but finds a way to live in the world of mortals. Such a creature is known as a Houri.

The typical houri appears as a very attractive female human with elven features, or as an elf with something human about her. Many will claim to be "half-elfs" to avoid any confusion about their racial make up. The houri knows a bit of magic, not as much as a full magic-user or elf and she knows a bit of thief skills, but the main power of the houri comes from her powers of seduction. The Houri has a natural Charm Person like ability that is modified by her own preternatural Charisma.

(*Whitewitch by Tommie Lejis, http://www.elfwood.com/~tommie)

Minimum Ability Scores: Cha 15, Dex 10, Int 10

Hit Dice Type: d4 (maximum level 11)

Alignment: Any

Experience Bonus: Dex and Cha both 15+

Armour/Shield Permitted: Leather Armour and Small shield (which often features in certain erotic dances) only.

Weapons Permitted: Dagger, Concealed Pin, Flaming Oil, Scimitar (again, all used in certain performances)

Level	Title	XP Required	Hit dice (d4)	Special		1	2	3	4	5	6
1	Novice	0	1	Seduction		1	-	-	-	-	-
2	Flirt	1,200	2	Thief 1		2	-	-	-	-	-
3	Charmer	2,400	3			3	1	-	-	-	-
4	Allurer	4,800	4	Thief 2		3	2	-	-	-	-
5	Temptress	9,600	5			4	3	1	-	-	-
6	Enchantress	20,000	6	Thief 3		5	3	2	-	-	-
7	Vixen	40,000	7			5	4	3	1	-	-
8	Courtesan	80,000	8	Thief 4		6	5	3	2	-	-
9	Seductress	160,000	9			6	5	4	3	1	-
10	Houri	260,000	10	Thief 5		6	6	5	3	2	-
11	Nymph	360,000	11			7	6	5	4	3	1

 

HOURI SAVING THROWS
Level	1-4	5-8	9-10	11
Death Ray or Poison	12	10	8	6
Magic Wands	13	11	9	6
Paralysis or Turn to Stone	13	11	9	5
Dragon Breath	15	12	9	7
Rods, Staffs and Spells	15	12	9	6

 

CHARACTER HIT ROLLS (on 1d20)
Level	Target's Armor Class
Houri	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	0	-1	-2	-3	-4	-5	-6	-7	-8	-9
1-4	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	20	20	20	20	21	22	23	24
5-8	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	20	20	20	20	21	22
9-10	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	20	20	20	20
11	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	20	20

Special Abilities


Seduction: the Houri may attempt to seduce a single humanoid of the opposite sex or aligned sexual orientation as per the Charm Person spell. The seduction may only focus on one person and their saving throw is penalized by -1 for every level of the Houri. So for example a 6^th level houri would impose a -6 to the target's saving throw vs Spells. The seduction is not a spell, but rather a natural spell like ability of the houri.



Thief: At 2^nd level and every other level after the houri can use thieves' skills as a thief half her level. The skills are mundane and still require the proper tools.



Spells: The houri may cast spells as per a Magic-user or Elf. Her spells though are more limited in nature and are listed here. Houri record their spells in a spell-book as do magic-users. Note: A houri may also use cantrips if the Game Master allows them. Houri gain bonus cantrips based on her Charisma score rather than intelligence.


As a Monster

Houri
Armor Class: 9
Hit dice: 1*
Move: 120' (40')
Attacks: 1 Weapon
Damage: By Weapon (typically 1d4)
No. Appearing: 1 / 1-2
Save As: Elf 1
Morale: 10
Treasure: Same as Nymph
Intelligence: 10
Alignment: Neutral
XP Value: 10

Monster Type: Demihuman (race)
The Houri are the offspring of a nymph and a human or elf.  There are fey creatures, but the more mortal ones choose to join the worlds of humans and elves.
A Houri can cast Charm Person any number of times a day, but can only have one charmed "thrall" at a time.

Houri that are closer to their elven parent are sometime indistinguishable from other elves.  Houri's are often found with Gypsy Elves whether their lineage includes elf or not.

2nd Edition lives on!

The 2nd Edition of the World's Largest Fantasy Role-playing game is often the World's Most Forgotten Fantasy Role-Playing game.
While 1st Ed AD&D continues to get all sorts of gushy love and the border skirmishes between 3rd and 4th are still going on, 2nd Ed often gets forgotten.

But not by these guys.

PurpleWorm.org is a site dedicated to 2nd Edition AD&D.  Full of content.
http://www.purpleworm.org/content/

THAC0 Forever! Is a AD&D 2nd ed centric Blog.
http://add2e.blogspot.com/

Planet AD&D (where I used to be a contributor) is going on 12+ years of providing D&D material for readers.  It was primarily a 2nd Ed site, but now it caters to many flavors of D&D.
http://www.padnd.com/

I used to work on Planet AD&D and there is still some content there that belonged on my original The Other Side website.

I have talked about my experiences with 2nd Ed in the past, but today just reflect on what was good about this, the most dismissed of all the Editions.

Red Sonja

I was thinking after yesterday's post on Red Sonja and what system to run her in. While certainly nearly any flavor of D&D would be fine, I also think there is another very good choice. Army of Darkness. The comics have a vibe about them that has always reminded me of the Evil Dead movies. Not so much the humor, but the darkness.
Red Sonja, the comic, is now published by Dynamite, which also gives us the Army of Darkness Comic and the Army of Darkness/Xena crossovers. Given I have down all of that for Army already, then it make even more sense.

Of course given the source material it also makes sense to stat Sonja up using OD&D.  My favorite OD&D like product is Spellcraft and Swordplay by Jason Vey and using his Hyborian Age Supplement.

Red Sonja of Hyrkania (Army of Darkness)
Very Experienced Hero

Life Points 76
Drama Points 20

Attributes
Strength 6
Dexterity 5
Constitution 6
Intelligence 4
Perception 4
Willpower 5

Qualities
Promised One (Choosen of Scáthach)
Acute Senses Vision 1
Attractiveness +3
Hard to Kill 6
Fast Reaction Time
Natural Toughness (+4 to Armor)
Nerves of Steel
Resistance (cold) (she grew up on the Steppes)
Situational Awareness

Drawbacks
Adversary (lots)
Honorable (Minimal)
Humorless
Love, Tragic (various significant others and offspring)
Mental Problems (Mild Cruelty)

Skills
Acrobatics 7
Art 0
Crime 3
Doctor 2
Driving/Riding 4
Getting Medieval 9
Influence 2
Knowledge 4
Kung Fu 5
Languages 4 (varies on which comic)
Notice 5
Occultism 2
Science 0
Sports 1
Wild Card

Combat
Maneuver Bonus Base Damage Notes
Sword 14 35 Slash/stab
Punch 14 12 Bash
Dodge 14 Defense action
Parry 14 Defense action

Red Sonja of Hyrkania (Spellcraft & Swordplay)

Warrior (Fighting Woman): 8th Level
"Every great fantasy swordsman, from Robert E. Howard's barbarian hero to Tolkien's great returned King are warriors." - Spellcraft & Swordplay, p. 11

Strength: 18
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 17
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 11
Charisma: 18

Attacks: 7+5 (7 attacks per round, +5 to any one attack)
Hit Points: 56
Alignment: Neutral (Unaligned)
AC: 5
Sword: 1d6+3

According to Jason's rules the Hyrkanians are a horse culture. They also take a -2 to save vs any sort of mind-affecting magic, including illusions. (Save vs. Wisdom)

+2 to Con-based Saves


Red Sonja vs Red Sonja vs Red Sonya
The Red Sonja in the comics now is not the same as the Red Sonja of a few years ago.  In the current comics the woman calling herself Red Sonja is actually the reincarnation of the first Red Sonja.  The Wikipedia article gives a rough overview, but it also mentions another "Sonja". Red Sonya of Rogatino was not "the she devil with a sword" we all know and love, but rather a "gun-slinging warrior woman of Polish-Ukrainian origin" from the 16th Century.

What they had in common was coming from the same general area (Hyrkania/Ukraine), of course red hair and the temper to match.

Given the change in the comics one is tempted (and I often am) to say this is another reincarnation of the first Red Sonja (which of course is backwards since Sonya came before Sonja).  Works for me.

Given that, who is to say when the next time Red Sonja is reincarnated, and what system.

ETA: A pic of Red Sonya originally posted by Mikeyboy over at Red Sonja: She Devil with a Sword.

Amazons and She-Devils

I posted a couple of new posts to two blogs I contribute too.

Red Sonja: She Devil with a Sword and Amazon Princess.

Should come up with some stats for both, just have to figure a good system to do it in.
Sonja works well in nearly any system, Wonder Woman is a bit trickier.

All I want for Christmas is....

I don't know.

Last year it was easy, I wanted Doctor Who adventures in Time and Space.  This year though the must have boxed set, the D&D Starter Set, came out back in September, so I already have one.
There is nothing new for Pathfinder I want and I am not playing any other games at the moment.

I suppose the Ravenloaft Board game would be sweet to have, seeing how I didn't get it for Halloween (don't you get presents on Halloween? I do!).  Gamma World also looks fun.

What do you want Santa to bring you this year?

Red Sonja: She Devil with a Sword: J. Scott Campbell Sonja

Red Sonja: She Devil with a Sword: J. Scott Campbell Sonja: "J. Scott Campbell has been mentioned in this blog before, and with good reason. He does a heck of a job on Sonja. You can also visit hi..."

Blogging about Blog stuff

So I have some end-of-term things to finish today and some start-of-term things too so no real time for the post I wanted to make (on the new 4e Monster Vault).

I did however add this new LinkWithin gadget to my blog so if you are reading something here their might be a post that is similar, or as it says below "You might also like".  No idea if it will be any good or not, but I have liked seeing it and have used it on sites like Hero Press and Grantbridge Street.
I'll watch the stats and you all can also let me know.

Level Titles, Part 2

Thanks for all the comments on yesterday's post on level titles.
The opinion seems to be that many like them and even use them, but only when they have utility and don't conflict with the character concept; the Necromancer title for Magic-Users the oft cited example.

Most of the level titles seem to work well enough.  The thief ones are generic enough, the fighter seems fine (with maybe the Swashbuckler being the odd one out).  Te cleric ones follow a general logical progression, maybe move bishop up one to replace "Lama" and make the old Bishop into "Abbot".

Oddly enough it seem Magic-Users are the ones that have the most problems.
Most likely it is due to the fact that many of the level title names don't seem to have ranks implied like the Cleric and Fighters do.  It is also due to that the names represent different types of magic-using types in other games and in later versions of D&D itself.  A Necromancer is a particular type of Magic-User, as is an Enchanter, Sorcerer and Witch.

This is also something that is easily fixed.

Have a quick look at my Gnomes for Basic D&D. For this I wanted something different than Gnomes as Illusionists and especially Gnomes as "Tinker Gnomes".  I went back to the research on gnomes when they were earth spirits used by alchemists and other arcane types.  So for me Gnomes did magic via alchemy.  I used a variation of the Degree Titles for Rosicrucians and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn for them.

Using this as a guide this can give us new level titles for Magic-Users that would work regardless the type of magic they are doing.

Level	Title
1	Initiate
2	Apprentice
3	Neophyte
4	Adeptus Minor
5	Adeptus Major
6	Adeptus Exemptus
7	Magician
8	Magister
9	Magus
10	Mage 10th level

I opted for "Mage" instead of "Wizard" since these are "Magic Users" and the Mage is the highest level of a magic-user.  A Wizard would be a specific type of Mage then.  To alter this for say AD&D/OSRIC then add "Adeptus Superior" to level 7 and shift the rest up (Wizards were "name" level at 10th, not 9th).

I am releasing this under the OGL and it is 100% Open Content.  Please use in your publications as you see fit.  For your Section 15 you can identify this as "Level Titles for Magic Using Classes" Copyright 2010 Timothy S. Brannan.

It is based on one of my previous publications, "Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks" Copyright 2003 Timothy S. Brannan and the Netbook of Witches Team.

I am going to put up a full OGL deceleration on my blog later.
ETA: Here it is.  OGL

To the OSR People: Level Titles?

Quick one today, directed mostly at the members of the OSR.

Do you like level titles?  Do you use them in your games?
Why or why not?

Recycled Adventures

So it is well known that I love the old D&D adventures from the early 80's.  I think they are well done and a lot of fun to play.  I have been playing them with my kids but I have not been able to fit in all the ones I have wanted into our 3.x game.

But I have lots of games.

So here are some of the recycled adventures I have done using other systems and the classic adventures.

Ash vs The Keep on the Borderlands
System: Army of Darkness and Dungeons & Zombies
Module: B2 Keep on the Borderlands

The character get sent back in time to the Keep and need to clean out the Caves of Chaos with a shotgun.

I designed this as a way to play-test Dungeons & Zombies under the Cinematic Unisystem Rules.

Never got to play it all, but the bits I did were a blast.  Characters I created for the game were Xena and Gabrielle (seemed appropriate) and used a version of Indiana Jones I found online.

One day I should run this at a convention.  I think it will be a blast.

The Ghost Tower of Inverness, Illinois
Systems: Doctor Who and Angel.
Module: C2 The Ghost Tower of Inverness

From the intro:
"No one has ever asked why there is a lighthouse between Palatine and Inverness, Illinois.  The closest large body of water is Lake Michigan, over 20 miles away. But it has always been there, quiet.

Till the day the Time Beacon went crazy."

The Ghost Tower of Inverness, IL was an adventure that I had converted for my playtest of Doctor Who.  Outside my town there is a water tower that is painted like a light house.  I thought it would be cool if it were a real lighthouse, but not for ships at sea, but ships in the time stream.  On top was a beacon to warn passer-bys "warning, primitive culture ahead!" Well one day the time beacon goes nuts and start pulling in people from out of their times (an excuse to convert a bunch of Unisystem characters from Ghosts and Angel).  The characters have to go through the tower and shut down the beacon.  Each level of the tower is a different time stream, so I had dinos, Victorian, post-apocalyptic and all sorts of terrible things.  At the top was the control center and the time beacon.  So I converted the original Ghost Tower module and replace the Soul Gem with the Time Beacon.  Part Doctor Who, part Angel, part Ghosts of Albion, part D&D and a dash of Primeval and Torchwood.  It was going to be the first adventure in a new campaign, but I never got it going.  Too bad, really.

Why does Inverness need a light house?

Ghosts of Albion: Ravenloft
System: Ghosts of Albion
Module: I6 Ravenloft

Ravenloft might be my favorite classic module ever.  Ghosts of Albion is of course my game.  It was natural to me to bring them together.  Ravenloft has that great Gothic feel.  Ghosts of Albion deals with all sorts of magical weirdness, and while it is hard for us today to really understand this, to the Victorians the world was a wild and scary unknown.  Unknown lands were meant to be explored and conquered.  What can be more unknown than Barovia?  Who is to say it is not on the map somewhere in 1840?  Plus you might have noticed that  Ghosts of Albion movies and books all have one word titles, "Legacy", "Astray", "Witchery" and my adventures have followed suit, "Obsession", "Blight", and "Synchronicity".  So "Ghosts of Albion: Ravenloft" also works.
The idea is simple.  The characters are travelling by rail to the east.  Their train suffers some malfunction, and I start the Ravenloft adventure by the book.  I include the mists and Madame Eva and everything.  And that map of Castle Ravenloft is still one of the coolest maps ever made.  One day I'll build a 1" = 5' miniature of it for play.  That would be very awesome.
For this I have bits I am using from the Ravenloft world, WitchCraft RPG and the Expedition to Castle Ravenloft module for 3.x.

I still have more games and more adventures.  I'd like to try some other pairing in the future.

I talk to dead people, part 2

Looks like we are getting an official D&D4e Necromancer after all.

Heroes of Shadow will include a Necromancer Wizard option.
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Product.aspx?x=dnd_products_dndacc_280880000
That will be in March.

To give us something in the meantime, Dragon has some new feats from Vecna for the cleric side of things.
http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4pr/20101206

Sounds cool to me!

I talk to dead people

Necromancers are one of those classes that just seem to never die.  No pun intended.

Nothing really says un-repentant evil quite like raising armies of undead.  As a DM I love pitting Necromancers against my players and as a player I love fighting these guys.  I can have mixed morality about killing orcs and goblins and quasi-human-like creatures every so often.  But undead are fair game. In fact killing is the right thing to do.
I guess it is really no surprise that I gravitate to horror games.  Killing human like creatures can be one step away from mass murderer, but killing hordes of zombies? That is the sign of a kick-ass hero!

So obviously some one has to be pulling the strings of this rotting undead Pinocchio's.  And that guy is the Necromancer.

In my world the baddes ass Necromancer is Magnus.  He started out life as a Druid till he learned from him father that he was not really his son, nor even 100% human.  He delved into demonology, devil-worship and everything my then twisted teenage brain could come up with.  Of course he turned to Necromancy to find a way to cheat death.

I am bringing Magnus back in my 4e game.  The Revenant rules are a good fit, but there is no 4e Necromancer. I have notes on a 4e "Death Pact Warlock" that might work well enough.

3.x had, at the last time I looked, at least 3 different kinds of Necromancer classes, 3 of them were from WotC themselves.  There is the old Death Master class from Dragon for 1st ed and then updated to 3.0e.  The Crypt Lord from the aptly named Necromancer Games (I miss those guys).
White Dwarf gave us two for 1st ed, the Necromancer (which needed to sacrifice humans for his magic at higher levels) and the Black Priest which in the artwork was sacrificing a nude woman in a way that made the Eldricth Wizardry cover look positively tame (one day I need to do a White Dwarf retrospective).

Presently for the retro-clones we have another post from Dangerous Brian, The Necromancer for OSRIC, Part 1 and Part 2.  We also have the Necromancer for Basic Fantasy RPG.

I'd love to put together a Necromancer/Death-Pact Warlock for 4e, it is a class/role that I think it is seriously lacking in.  Just need to find the time to do it.

Edited to add: Part 3.

Gypsy Elves for Basic Era Games

Another in my series of posts for Basic era (late 70's to early 80's) games.
This one expands on my sub-race of elves known as Gypsy Elves.

The Gypsy Elf

"Thousands of years ago the elves were a unified race.  The elven people stood strong and diverse.
Then the War came and the Elves were Sundered. The elves were divided by the war.
But some chose not to fight, some took in their brothers and sisters from all sides.
These elves were cursed by the Great God of the Elves to wander the lands till the day when all elves stood as one people again.  The other elves took pity on them, calling them, in their own tongues The Wanderers.  But not the Wanderers themselves.  They knew a powerful secret.

They knew they were Free."
- From the Songs of the Ranagwithe

by Nichole Grubb

The Gypsy Elf, or as the call themselves "The Free Elves" (Ranagwithe in their own language) , wander the world, in and out of the land of faerie, searching for their lost home.  They will find it only on the day when all the elves are reunited as a race.  Until then they wander.

Like their human counterparts, Gypsy Elves travel all over the known world. However, unlike the Human Gypsies, Gypsy Elves are much more gregarious and less xenophobic. The origins of the Gypsy Elves date back to what has become to be known as the Sundering of the Elves. When the Dark elves broke free from the light elves they split into several races.

There were elves that remained outside of the conflict. One group was a band of light elves that protected both the dark and light elves from each other. When the gods split the elves apart, the gypsy elves were left without a home to call their own. Since they never harmed another elf before they were not forced into the dark underground. Ever since then the Gypsy Elves have wandered from place to place looking for a home. While Gypsy elves tend to be neutral to all other races, they are always treated as “good” to other elves. There are several universal elven customs that apply only to Gypsy Elves.

1. No Gypsy Elf may harm another Elf. Even Dark and Light elves.
2. No other elf, Dark or Light, may harm a Gypsy Elf.
3. No Elven community may refuse lodging to a band of Gypsy Elves. The Gypsy then must agree to be on their way soon after.

At any point in time other elven species may be found in a group of Gypsy Elves, as they may freely travel as long as they abide by the Gypsy Elves rules and lifestyle. These “Free Wanderers” can make up to 10% of the tribe’s population.

As long as the other elves do not fight amongst themselves or the other Gypsy Elves they may remain with the tribe as long as they like. Also any Gypsy Elf is invited to remain in any Elf community, but few rarely do.

Gypsy Elves are on friendly terms with humans. They find Human Gypsies to be too xenophobic for their tastes, but they will travel with them for mutual benefit.

Gypsy Elves, like their Elf cousins, produce fine art, in particular music and dance. Many have excelled in woodcarving and sell these pieces of art in communities they pass through. What these elves cannot make, they buy. In this respect they are very good terms with humans.

Gypsy Elves are careful never to take more from the land or their hosts then they absolutely need. It has been said that there will be no evidence of a gypsy elf camp 24 hours after they leave.

Gypsy Elf  (Ranagwithe)
Armor Class: 6
Hit dice: 1*
Move: 120' (40')
 - Caravan: 90' (30')
Attacks: 1 Weapon
Damage: By Weapon
No. Appearing: 2-8 (2d4) / 5-40 (5d8)
Save As: Elf 1
Morale: 12 or see below
Treasure: Same as Elf
Intelligence: 12
Alignment: Neutral
XP Value: 5

Monster Type:  Demihuman (race)
Gypsy Elves are typically found traveling in caravans across the world.  Any given caravan will have 5 to 40 members with an a advance scouting troop of 2 to 8 members.  Each caravan has a "Caravan Master" who will be a 5th level or greater elf and a "leader", typically an Elf Seeress (known as a "Kuruni") of 6th level or higher.  Most gypsy elves will be armed with a short sword (75%) or a cross-bow (25%).  All will have daggers as well.

There will also be a variety of random faerie creature travelling with the gypsy elves.  These creatures do not fight if the caravan is attacked, but will flee.

Each Gypsy Elf will know a 1st level elf spell, the Kuruni will know spells as a 6th level elf.  The Caravan Master and the Kuruni will typically have magic items appropriate for a fighter and a wizard respectively of their level.

Moral will be 12 unless their Caravan Master or Kuruni is dead, then it will be 9. If both are killed it will drop to 6.

Like elves, gypsy elves are immune to the touch of a ghoul.


Section 15 Copyright Notice

Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

System Reference Document Copyright 2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Bruce R. Cordell, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks is Copyright© 2003, Timothy S. Brannan and the Netbook of Witches Team.

Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game Copyright © 2006-2008. Chris Gonnerman.

Labyrinth LordTM. Copyright © 2007, Daniel Proctor. Author Daniel Proctor.

"Gypsy Elve for Basic era FRPGs" Copyright ©2010, Timothy S. Brannan

Can't Sleep...Gotta Make characters...

So. I should be sleeping, or working, or working on something academic related.
But I am not.

No. I am playing around with the new D&D4 character builder.

It is everything the old character builder had and more.  The interface is clunky in places and sometimes slow, but all in all it is a great tool for anyone playing any type of D&D4.

My biggest complaint so far? I can't use my own images for characters.
There are some bugs, but nothing that I can't work around really.

The Houri class

I have mentioned in the past that I am a fan of the "Bad Girl" trope.  I get the appeal.

Well the fine folk over at Dangerous Brian have revised the Houri class from White Dwarf,
http://dangerousbrian.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-osric-class-houri-part-i.html
http://dangerousbrian.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-character-class-houri-part-ii.html

It is an interesting take and a class that I think has it has a place in some games.  Obviously other think so as well.  We have a group very similar in Sisters of Rapture and the infamous Book of Erotic Fantasy (now from White Wolf).  From Mongoose we have Nymphology and The Quintessential Temptress.  Yes, I have actually purchased all of these.

But the question I have is, is there enough for the Houri to actually do in a game about killing things and taking their stuff?

I can see the houri as a particular type of thief or even magic-user, but not enough to have them as their class.

Though to be fair, I did have a group of assassins called "The Red Assassins" that used guile, seduction and charm to get their jobs done.  The great thing about them is that no one know who they were exactly.  The Red Assassins came from all walks of life and every profession (not just the oldest one), it made them effective and invisible.

Now what might be interesting is expand of the Arabic and Islamic myths of the Houri and make them some sort of Jann/Human or Nymph/Human crossbreed.  Maybe then Houri is a race that has certain powers at different levels.  Hmm.  An interesting idea.  Maybe it can be more like a nymph-like race that is suitable for characters. One thing that must be part of the race is their large, doe-like or gazelle-like eyes.  Though there is a certain squik factor of creating a race for the sole purpose of sex.  Though I suppose that Star Trek did give us the Deltans and Betazoids, each with strong sexual themes to their cultures.

If we further expand on the race/class idea a logical next step would be to try this for Basic era D&D.  Maybe I'll try that sometime.

DriveThruRPG Blog Support - Holidays

So since I am a member of the DriveThruRPG blog support program I get to pass on the savings to you my faithful readers.



Here are this month's list of products:

Weird War II Player's Guide [Pinnacle Entertainment]
Adventurer's Guide to Cthonia [Alea Publishing]
ArcheTech Special Report: An Assortment of Armor [Cracked Mirror Publishing]
Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusade [Third Eye Games]
Martial Cultures: the Daikort Pack [Chaotic Shiney Productions]
Legend of the Five Rings (4th Edition) [AEG]
Dungeon Dwellers (Rev. 2nd Edition) [Empty Room Studios]
Fuzzy Heroes (2nd Edition) [Inner City Games]
Ave Molech (2nd Edition) [Morbidgames]
Book of Alignment (OGL/Pathfinder) [Emerald Press]

Your coupon code for 20% off is Holiday2010BPCX.

I have a coupon for a free product as well, need to figure out what to do with it first I think.

Vampire Translation Guide

No not how to translate a Sparkler into something more like Christopher Lee's Dracula, but how to translate between the two different versions of White Wolf's signature vampire RPGs Vampire the Masquerade and Vampire the Requiem.

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=86202&affiliate_id=10748

I came late to the Vampire party.  I was playing a lot of AD&D 2nd Ed and really getting burned out (plus I was in Grad school).  Vampire seemed to me to be a pretender to the throne of Gygax.

I did pick up a copy sometime around 1999 and thought it was very cool and would be great for adding to my games; which at that point were a winding down, nearly dead AD&D and one of my new-found love, WitchCraft RPG.  I did pick up Vampire the Requiem when it came out and noticed right away how much it was like Unisystem.   I like the rules of nWoD much better than that of oWoD, but the fluff of oWoD can't be beat really.  So a document like this is a perfect thing for me really.

I seriously doubt I'll ever use it.  I just don't play any of the WoD/White Wolf games anymore.  But I am glad that this is out.

Plus I love how the cover combines elements of both games into something new, yet familiar looking.

You can read my review of it here.

So...Have you ever killed a God?

As you know I am gearing up for my Dragon Slayer's campaign end game.  One of the goals of the Dragon Slayers has always been to kill Tiamat on her own plane.

This could have some fairly epic effects.

If this were the last game then no big deal, but we are moving to 4e after this and will using the "kids" of the characters  that are retiring.  I have already decided that the kids can have a magic item each given their famous and powerful parents.  But what of Tiamat?  And the idea of the 4e modules is to kill Orcus and maybe even others.

Will she still be "dead"?  What does that mean to all the evil dragons?
While talking with Jason Vey today he says that in his world that unless every worshiper is dead then the god can't die.  I like that idea myself.  But what does that mean the Dragon Slayers did?

Tiamat is at least a bit easier.  She can have a daughter, Takhisis who will become the new Dragon Queen in time.  Didn't Marduk kill Tiamat once too?

Orcus is also not a big deal.  He is a demon, demons can be replaced.  Plus I could put my own demon lord or put Vecna in as God of the Undead (though he doesn't seem like a good fit to me).

What if I continue my plan to have Orcus as nothing more than a blunt tool and have Asmodeus as the Big Bad?  What if the characters kill him?

So what have you all done?
Have you killed a God before?  What happened afterwards?

100+ Followers!

So over the Thanksgiving weekend I hit 100 followers!  And in the time since I started this post I hit 101!

I have some discount codes for Drivethru I'll be posting soon for everyone in my follow list,  my way of saying thanks.

Getting back in to it

Ok, sorry for the long delay.  Holidays, work, school.  You know the drill.

I am going to start my end game for the "Dragon Slayers" game.  Here is how it is going to go.

The Dragon Slayers are in Glantri now having just solved the mystery of the Palace of the Silver Princess (module B3).
I was going to have them go on to S4 and WG4, but instead I think it will go like this.

First I am going to have to go to the "Forbidden City" (module I1) since I worked on the Wikipedia article a lot.  Then move on to the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (module S4) one of my favorite adventures.  Here they will need to get the copy of Iggwilv's Demonomicon.  Then naturally move on to WG4, the Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun and then finally ending in Death's Ride (module CM2) then moving on to Tiamat's lair for the big "boss battle".  Though I am going to have to up the challenges in all the modules since the characters are now between 14th and 17th level.

What I am thinking of doing is expanding S4 and WG4 into one larger supermodule.  There is so much information out there on S4 and it is a module I have owned since 1983, so I am very familiar with it.  Plus there is a lot of cool things in S4 that play well into the overall arc.  We need a copy of the Demonomicon and the Wonderous Lanthorn would be cool to have as would the Prison of Zagig (great place for Tiamat after the Dragon Slayers destroy her physical body).

Something to look forward to.

Up next, Lost Caves, Hidden Temples and Death's Ride

So I am starting up my end game for the Dragon Slayers.

I think their next to the last adventure will be the old D&D Companion Adventure Death's Ride.  I remember going through this one when I was younger and I think it will be a perfect fit for this group.

It will help build up some of the action for the next campaign and it is a good cap for this campaign.

I am going to do S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth first, and maybe squeak in WG4 The Lost Temple of Tharizdun.  There is a blue dragon in S4 that just might become Korbundar in CM2.

Now the question I have for you all.

Does anyone know if CM2 had been updated to 3.x rules at all?  I have a ton of RTF/DOC files of modules that people updated back in the early days of 3.0.  I have them for a lot of modules, but what I don't have is one for CM2.

Anyone know if something like this is out there?

Ingrid Pitt, First Lady of Hammer Horror, dead at 73

Just saw this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11823418

Having gone on a Hammer bender here just recently I saw a lot of Ingrid Pitt movies.

Of course she did more than Hammer films, but that is what she will be best remembered for.

You can see her filmography here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrid_Pitt and here, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0685839/.

Her website, http://www.pittofhorror.com/

She will be missed.

Return to the Palace of the Silver Princess, Session 3, Finale

Well we finished the adventure.

I changed it a bit and actually had the character fight Arik of the Hundred Eyes who was in reality not so much of a god, but a really, really powerful fiendish beholder.  Set him at 20 HD and let the group of characters, 6 of them, 10th to 14th level, deal with him.

In the end it was pretty awesome really.  Lots of fun.  Everyone got a chance to level up and I forgot how much book-keeping 3.x is.

Now need to figure out what to do for the next adventure before they take on Tiamat.

Return to the Palace of the Silver Princess, Session 3

Heading into Session 3 of "Return to the Palace of the Silver Princess" today.  I am basically running a combined version of the Green and Orange covers, updated to 3.x and increasing the threats to cover levels 10-14.

I am expecting the characters to get through most of the adventure today, we have a few hours.
Should be fun!

Orcus as the Boss? Immortal level D&D? What's my End Game?

I have been thinking about the whole Orcus as the big bad in 4e.  It's cool and it has a lot of fun about it. But there is a big issue I have with it.  Orcus is a brute.  He his not a planner or plotter.  He smashes and destroys.

In my game multiverse Orcus used to be a Primal God.  In 4e I am fine with this being called a Primordial, but now he is a demon.  He is a demon prince and a very, very powerful one, but an over arching plot seems a bit cerebral for him.  I am thinking that maybe Orcus is nothing more than the weapon being used by someone more powerful, but behind the scenes.  But who and for what ends?
I mean Orcus is no dummy, but as a demon he is more concerned with destruction than labyrinthine plots.

Here are some thoughts on some potential players.

Vecna - God of evil knowledge and a lich, but what does Orcus have that Vecna wants?  What could Vecna be using Orcus for?

Asmodeus - The Blood War may be in cold war mode now, but maybe the Arch duke of Hell needs Orcus to get the seed of evil.

Tharizdûn - This one is easiest.  Tharizdûn wants out of his prison.  While everyone thinks Tharizdun is imprisoned either in the Abyss or the Astral, he is in reality imprisoned in the lowest point in Hell.  Asmodeus is still his jailer.  I would make him a bit like Lucifer in Dante's Inferno, chained to very bottom of hell. Asmodeus thinks he is draining power off of Tharizdûn, which is why he is a god-like power now.  Tharizdun is allowing this knowing that he gains a little more control over Asmodeus.  Who is using who?  Well I guess that depends on who wins in the end.

Iggwilv - The Witch Queen wants the Abyss, and Orcus is one of the big things in her way.  I have been dying to use her is some way.

So here is my plan.

Iggwilv and Asmodeus are working together to manipulate Orcus.  He is being propped up as this huge threat so the PCs take him out.  Iggwilv is directing the PCs to do this while also working on Orcus telling him that doing this will make him a god.  The plan is to have the PCs kill Orcus and deliver his wand somewhere it can be destroyed.  The PCs end up in Hell and hand over the Wand to Asmodeus. Asmodeus has told Iggwilv that he wants the extra shard and she can keep the Abyss.  In truth Asmodeus is being manipulated by Thaizdun.  Orcus' Wand and Asmodeus' Rod together will free him.

Yes, this is bit much for a D&D plot, especially a D&D4 one, but I like the idea.   If the PCs play this right they could defeat Orcus, Iggwilv and Asmodeus all in one fell swoop.

The old AD&D adventure H4 Throne of Bloodstone is an influence here since the goal there is to destroy the Wand.  The E1-3 series for D&D4 focuses on Orcus wanting to become a god.  So I will merge them a bit.  The whole Tharizdun bit is a bit recycled from the Gygax "Dance of Demons" book, but that is fine really.

Part of this though also depends on something else.
To defeat Orcus in the E series takes the characters right to 30th level. To then take on Iggwilv, Asmodeus AND Tharizdun then is something else altogether.

So I had yet another idea. What about Immortal Level D&D.  Reading over the Mentzer D&D BECMI set I do see how well Immortal level play can work and that is something Immortals would do, stop the imbalance of Tharizdun coming back into play.   I am just not quite sure how to do that in D&D4 just yet.  I am sure I'll figure it out.  Though I did ask about it on RPG.Net.

Presently I am working on finishing my 3.x campaign.  Since the 4e characters are the kids of the 3.x ones I can start planting some seeds now.  Drop the name Tharizdun and Iggwilv.  Mention Orcus' and Asmodeus' rise to power.  Might need to figure out how Vecna and Raven Queen fit into all of this.  Maybe once Orcus is dead Vecna becomes the new patron of the Undead.  Am I ready to get rid of Orcus once and for all?

Hmm.  Interesting thought.

Update on Jim Ward

Quick one today.
New site with updates on Jim Ward.

http://bailoutthewardenfund.bbnow.org/index.php

The Dragon and the Phoenix: wrap-up

The Dragon and the Phoenix ran for 13 episodes and it was great fun.

We set out to show we could tell a great story and even a better one than the source material and I think we succeeded.
Here are some random things we learned while writing and playing these episodes.

Their first semester living together Willow and Tara arranged their schedules to always be near each other.

They also rearranged classes so they could both come home during the day to watch "Jerry Springer" though they told everyone else it was so they could watch PBS.

Tara's first meal back as a human? Chicago style deep dish pizza. She tried crawfish etouffee but discovered she was in fact still allergic to shellfish.

Tara does not drink at all. She has smoked some pot in the past (mostly highschool) but no longer.

While Willow was in high school she discovered some old journals of Jenny Calendar where she talked about being "outrageously bisexual" with her roommate in college. It made her feel more comfortable about her own questioning sexuality.

Dawn has walked in on Willow and Tara having sex 4 times. Xander has walked in on them 0 times.

Willow can disco. It is not something she is proud of or even talks about, but her father (a HUGE Saturday Night Fever fan) taught Willow how to dance when she was little, she remembers it all to this day.

Willow is ambidextrous, she can write equally well with either hand.

Tara hates ponies. She loves to ride horses but thinks ponies are evil.

Tara has a set of witchcraft ritual tools. She prefers to cast rituals with her athame when she can. Tara discovered that Willow is also capable of using Tara's ritual tools (not something that is normally done).

The Cast has both memories of Tara and memories of her sister Kara. Generally there is no conflict with these.

Tara's mother was named Megan, her grandmother Deidre. Her father's name was Robert. Tara's middle name in Ann. Her brother would tease her and call her "Annie", to this day she hates the name and will not use it.

Dawn knew she was psychic as early as Episode 1. In the finale she was given a glimpse of her futures as well. One where she was a doctor and another where she becomes a physicist.

Anya and Xander split up after a couple of months. They do not get divorced until some time later. I toyed with the idea of Anya also being pregnant and might still do that.

Buffy begins dating the police officer Tony Foster. In one possible future shown by the Mouth of Leviathan she and Tony are married.

Spike is not seen or heard from again. He is rumored to be "alive" somewhere.

Clem the Demon can do complex mathematical calculations in his head.

Giles had a religious upbringing. While his mother was a duty-bound English Watcher, his father was a Irish Catholic. Giles was brought up in both the Catholic and Angelican churches. No wonder he rebelled.

Luna the Seraphim was one of my D&D characters from back in the day. Her original character sheet says she was rolled up in 1982.

Charmed influences abounded. Rack was a "Charmed" style Warlock and had no soul. He was in fact stealing powers from the magical kids in his thrall. Cordy had become a Whitelighter.

The plane of Leviathan was taken from the Monster Smackdown book, it was augmented based on the old Dragon Magazine adventure "Nogard", the demonic wasteland from Charmed and the last planet in the Heavy Metal movie. Leviathan himself is Leviathan from Armageddon. He is demonic as well as a mad god due to all the demonic "souls" he has been feeding on over the millennia.

We took a break and then went into the next season of episodes, Season of the Witch,  those were not as playtested as much.

I'll post the Season of the Witch reports starting next year I think.  Holidays coming and all.

Of Boxes and Box sets

I want to draw your attention to a new article that is up.

http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/18808.html

It is written by Scott Thorne owner of Castle Perilous Games in Carbondale IL.

I like this article for two reasons.  First the more personal.  I lived in Carbondale for many years.  I loved it.  One thing though I didn't love was I was cut off from my Favorite Local Game Stores.  Sure they had a used book store where I bought a copy of Deities and Demigods with Cthulhu and Elric for 18 bucks, but it was not a Game Store.

Then sometime in the early 90s Castle Perilous opened up.
I was a poor struggling grad student then, but I do believe that that vast bulk of my 2nd Edition AD&D games and nearly all my Ravenloft stuff (all pre WotC) was purchased there.  In fact I still think of them as my Second Favorite (Not So) Local game Store.  Any love that can be thrown at them is great in my book.

Secondly I like this article because it points to a growing trend.  The market shift to the novice gamer.
As gamers we are a dying breed.  I don't mean that quite so literally, but there is truth to that.  In the age where video games and online interactions can simulate the role-playing experience, it is hard to convince someone to buy a set of rules in huge books and tell them follow them and then show them the price tag.

Box sets are a different mentality.  They are, for the most part, cheaper and have everything you need to play. Sheets, books, dice and counters in many respects.  This is where the new Essentials line is pure genius.  Don't market it to the Grognards who won't buy it, don't market it to the 4e fans, who have most of it and probably will buy it anyway, but market it to the causal fans, the non-gamers or the lasped gamer.  And at a $20 entry fee, that is cheaper than a family going to the movies (trust me, WAY cheaper).

Putting it all in the trade dress of the most popular boxed set in D&D history now looks like a no-brainer really (though I still prefer my Moldvay Basic Set).

Hasbro has been marketing family game night for their board games as an economical way to stay home, not spend money and get together as a family.  You don't need to be a market analyst or a sociologist to see why that has win written all over it.  WotC is following suit.

Essentials is like that fake ad for the Wii vs. PS3, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7PhJp3ciRQ  "I am cheap and fun!"  Boxed sets elicit the same response.  Especially if there is a lot of stuff in them.  It doesn't matter that a book is more handy, or a PDF more searchable and portable, a boxed set means there is something for everyone at the table to touch.

I have nothing to back this up, but I think that the Essentials and the new Red Box starter set is going to do really good things for WotC this year and is good for the RPG biz in general.

Jim Ward is ill

To many of us old enough to remember the old guard one name always stood out to me; Drawmij.   Drawmij was a one of the many characters of Gary's home game that became immortalized in the pages of Greyhawk.

The real Drawmij, Jim Ward is not doing as well.

According to this post, and many others in the blog realms, he is ill and the hospital bills (as they do) are rising.
There are a lot of things that you can do to help, the Dragon'sfoot page details some of them, but another would be to buy something from his DriveThruRPG store.  
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=2191&affiliate_id=10748

You can read more here:
http://poleandrope.blogspot.com/2010/11/please-help-jim-ward.html
http://greyhawkgrognard.blogspot.com/2010/11/jim-ward-needs-our-help.html
http://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2010/11/warden-is-declearing-medical-emergency.html

and some more recent updates:
http://poleandrope.blogspot.com/2010/11/update-regarding-jim-ward.html
http://blackmoormystara.blogspot.com/2010/11/james-ward-on-way-to-recovery.html

Jim gave us Metamorphosis Alpha, which in turn gave us Gamma World and even recently spoke to WotC about it all.

Here is hoping that Jim gets better soon.