Zatannurday: Gen Con Zatanna

For the post Gen Con weekend here are some cosplay pics of Zatanna at Gen Con over the years.

Quintessential D&D (Half-baked ideas)

So building off of my "Half-Baked Adventure" a couple of days of ago I have decided that I want to choose good dungeon crawl 1-shots from each system.

So here is what I have at the moment.

Basic:
AD&D 1^st Ed:
AD&D 2^nd Ed:
AD&D 3^rd Ed:
D&D 4^th Ed:

Not much.
Basic might be the easiest.  B1 In Search of the Unknown is my go to adventure of choice and totally sandbox.  I can fit it to anything really. Plus it is simple enough to get through in a session or two.
AD&D 1 I am aiming at 4-7 level ranges, so that is not so bad either.  Ghost Tower of Inverness might be good.
AD&D 2 would be above "name level", so above 10th level to 14th or so.  Something from the Forgotten Realms might be good.
D&D3 would need to be above that but not yet 20th.  The 3.5 update to Tomb of Horrors fits here.
D&D4 would be above 20th level. The 4e update to Tomb would also work here.

Using the updates might sound cheesy, but I want it to be an epic adventure and I want it to tour the history of the game.

Still planning!

What is the Secret Fire?

I have seen a lot of posts on the Secret Fire (formerly Legends and Labyrinths) RPG.

I saw the ads, and my first thought was "oh another Fantasy Heartbreaker".
But I have seen a lot more recently and I'll admit I am curious.  The character sheet looks cool, but a part of me still thinks "fantasy heartbreaker", but I am willing to have a look.

BUT....since I blew past my RPG budget for August. And September...and October at Gen Con, I am not going to pick it up just yet.

Anyone pick it up yet? Play it?

I don't need another game, or even another game to distract me.  But there it is. Out there. Taunting me.

Tome of Horrors Complete

I know I said I was done getting RPG products for a while. But I had to pick up the new Tome of Horrors Complete, Pathfinder version.

I have all the Tome of Horrors. 1, 1 revised, 2 and 3.

But this one is just freaking awesome.  All the monsters, updated for Pathfinder, in order.
Very, very awesome.

So awesome in fact I want to get the S&W version too and I don't even play that game.

Gen Con 2011 - Recap, D&D games

Every year I look forward to playing D&D at Gen Con.  Whether it is with friends, my kids or at the RPGA room. To me it is what Gen Con is about.  Of course I got that chance.  But...not all D&D is created equal.

Legend of Drizzt - D&D Board Game
Thursday I played the D&D Board Game The Legend of Drizzt.  I signed up for this because I wanted to get a better feel for the game and I thought it would be a fun game to get my wife to play with us.
Well our "GM" (and to be fair the game does not need one, but they had people playing that role to show us how to play) was so busy doing other things that she never could really focus her attention on us.  We didn't get started till 30 minutes after the start time and the pieces were never really set up for us.  Like D&D4 characters get daily, utility and at-will powers.  We had played Ravenloft before so we knew to expect that.  We got our power cards, but it was never explained what they were or how they should be used, or even that we were not to use all the ones we were given.  Later we discovered that many of the powers for our characters were left in the box including a trap disabling power that could have saved two of the characters.
The GM was very unclear on the rules and went back and forth on what constituted a "tile", and was rarely available to answer our questions leaving my wife and I and the other player going through the rules on our own.
All in all, a very disappointing experience.  If WotC was trying to sell me a game didn't quite do it.  I wanted to pick up Wrath of Ashardalon, but now I want to wait till I play some more Ravenloft first.

D&D 4 - Living Divine
Ok this game ran much better. The DM knew her rules, had a great grasp on the concepts and introduced a new interesting concept.
However.  I have some issues with the adventure and the Living Divine play-ability.
First, the concept of Living Divine is pretty cool.  I like the idea and I like what they are trying to do.  It just was not a good idea for a con game where we can't invest in the character and enjoy in their divine growth.
Secondly, and most importantly, I didn't like the adventure itself.  Basically the point of the entire adventure was to kill a bunch of scared villagers so we take a baby from her parents to give to a demon.
I'll give my son credit, he didn't want to do any killing.  He was more than happy to attack the demon, but killing people that were basically afraid of us was not something he was cool with it.
My issue with it was simply we had no effect on the outcome or overall plot.  We had no real chance of killing the demon or altering the effect of what will happen with the baby.  Honestly in that situation my character would have taken the baby to raise, but that wasn't really an option.  The DM was passionate about her creation to be sure, but we had only a small part in her world.

For me, I like run games at Cons where the players feel like they are the most important people in the world.  They are the ones between the innocent and the darkness AND I want to be sure when we are playing I know my rules upside down, backwards and forwards and if the players have a question then I need to be able to answer it.  I am not just representing the game I am running, but myself and the company I am running for. I want people to leave my table saying they will buy that game or tell me they are going to play my games next year.

Sorry WotC, I am a HUGE fan, but I can't say that about these games.

Special Mention.  LEGO - Heroica
We also played a demo game of LEGO Heroica.  This experience was everything the others were not.  The guy demoing the games took the time to explain everything to us including all the rules our goals and how we needed to do everything.  He lots of other tables, but he didn't leave till we told him we were good.  He also came back many times to check in on us.  The game we played was sold out...so we bought 3 others.  That's how much fun we had.

Quick post: OSR games

Quick one while I get the garbage outside.

List of OSR/Retro-clone Games.
http://blog.retroroleplaying.com/2011/08/long-list-of-old-school-games-and.html

Some are even new to me, but guess that should not be a surprise really.  Been so busy the last month or three.

Half Baked Adventure idea

So while driving home from Gen Con I had this idea about running a multi-adventure mini series using all editions of D&D.  The plot hook is that the Great Librarian has died and the walls between realities have weakened (which one causes which? have to play to find out!) the character need to collect the Three Great Books and return them to Library or all reality is lost!

Part 1 where the characters are summoned and tested would be played using Basic/Original D&D.
Part 2 where the characters find the first Great Book would be played using AD&D 1st ed.
Part 3 the characters must seek out the second Great Book and would be run using AD&D 2nd ed.
Part 4 a new threat is found, but the characters also gain the support of a mysterious cabal of Wizards located in their rain soaked tower on the Coast.  They must find the third great Book and is played with D&D 3rd ed.
Part 5 the characters, now powerful indeed must return the books to the Library, but the dangers would be great.  This would be played with D&D 4th ed.

I would like to use the basic archetypes for this, a cleric, a thief (maybe a halfling here), a fighter, a wizard and an elf fighter/magic-user and feature something that highlights the benefits of each rule-set.

Could be great fun for a Gen Con based game where everyone plays every night.  Maybe even with the right crowd each person could rotate GM duties and pass their characters around.

Like I said.  Only a half-baked thought at the moment.

EDITED TO ADD: My son says that in each part the characters need to fight one of the five chromatic dragons.  So a white first and ending with a huge, ancient red.

RPGNow/DriveThruRPG and Operation Backpack

I want to interrupt my Gen Con posting for something a little more charitable.

RPG Now / DriveThruRPG are hosting another charity even to help Operation Backpack.
Operation Backpack provides school supplies for needy children.
Getting a quality education cannot be understated.  But one thing that we shouldn't forget is how much kids actually need in way of school supplies.  Paper, pencils, rulers, calculators.  It all adds up really fast.

I am very happy that DriveThruRPG / RPGNow are participating in this, and I am very happy I can let you know about it.

Here is a link to the collection of eBooks they are selling.  Proceeds go to Operation Backpack.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=93486&affiliate_id=10748

Please join me in helping them out.

Gen Con 2011 Haul

I picked up:

OSRIC hardcover from the OSR booth.  Figured I should support the cause and I didn't have an OSRIC book anymore.

Call of Cthulhu 30th Anniversary Ed

DC Adventures Heroes and Villains

A bunch of the old Mayfair Role-Aids "Demons" books.  Four books and two boxed sets for 15 bucks. All still in their shrink wrap.
It's for 2nd Ed AD&D, but there are a lot of stats on the sheet (including ability scores) that all they are missing are skills and feats for 3.x.

And the Mage Knight Apocalypse Dragon to stand in for Tiamat when the Dragon Slayers battle her in the final battle of their campaign.
I spent more on this than I should have and more than my wife wanted me to, but I figure it is for the kids' last D&D 3 game so it should be worth it.

Shown here with Aspect of Tiamat and Orcus.  AoT takes up 3x3 squares, Orcus 4x4.  The Apocalypse Dragon, or in our game it will be the full manifestation of Tiamat, takes up 7x7.
It will be brutal.

The swag bag this year had magic cards, some True Dungeon tokens and a coupon for the Gen Con d6.  Though out of 4 bags we only got one coupon.

Game reviews later.

Gen Con 2011 Last Day

Well another Gen Con is over.

Got to play some games, buys some games and see some people I have not seen in a year.

I did not get to play any Victoriana, but I did have some Cubicle 7 people in my Ghosts of Albion game so that was good.

Dinosauria went great!  Much better than I thought it might.  The game came in at just a little over 3 and a quarter hours, so not too bad really.
Obsession went really well with the "revised" version and I had what might be the best Byron player ever.

I have had a request to run Blight again, so I'll see about that.

I have been itching to do something with a train or even the Orient Express itself.  Just have to find the right story.

More later.  Have not even unpacked yet.

Zatannurday: Paul Dini

Tomorrow is Paul Dini's birthday and no discussion of Zatanna can occur unless someone brings up Paul Dini.  Paul Dini loves Zatanna.
How much?
Well I personally can't recall a single Zatanna episode of Batman the Animated Series, Justice League or Batman the Brave and the Bold that he did not write.

He has been the writer for the Zatanna comic since it's debut . Oh and his wife, real life stage magician Misty Lee, is a dead ringer for Zatanna.

One thing though is certain; Paul Dini loves his magic girls.
His own creation is "Jingle Belle" the teen-age daughter of Santa Claus.
He wrote the famous Evil-Lyn episode of Masters of the Universe, The Witch and the Warrior.

So happy birthday Paul Dini!

Gen Con 2011, Day 1 Over

Day One of Gen Con is done.

Ghosts of Albion: Obsession ran great!
Quote of the night from Byron "Does it burn like fire or burn like syphilis?"

We played "The Legend of Drizzt" yesterday, but the woman running the game was a bit of a flake so we had to kind of muddle forward on our own. Oh and she didn't get us started till a half hour after we were supposed to.

Today is Dinosauria.
More on that later!

Gen Con 2011

We are here at Gen Con 2011.

So far there seems to be a LOT more people here this time.

Ready to run some games!
If anyone in OSR land is running an old school game then I'd love to join ya.

I am going to be running my boys through S4.

Best thing I have heard so far: A little girl, not more than 5 was with her family walking to "Will Call" where she proudly exclaimed "I am a real gamer now!"

Dinosauria! Characters: Lady Valerie Beaumont

Another character for Dinosauria.  The immortal Lady Beaumont.
Valerie has the distinction of being the first character ever created for Obsession.  Looking forward to seeing how she gets played in the new game.

Lady Valerie Beaumont

Life Points 47
Drama Points 10

Attributes
Strength 3
Dexterity 5
Constitution 4
Intelligence 6
Perception 4
Willpower 5

Gender Female
Height 5’7”
Weight 130 lb
Hair Auburn
Eyes Light-Green
Actions, 2 mental, 2 physical

Qualities
Age 2
Attractiveness +3
Fast Reaction Time
Hard to Kill 3
Immortal
Magic 2
Nerves of Steel
Occult Library (Impressive)
Resources, Gentry
Status

Drawbacks
Adversary: (Various) +4 (from Age)
Love: Tragic +4
Minority: Woman +2
Secret (immortal)

Skills
Armed Mayhem: 5
Art 1
Athletics: 2
Crime: 2
Drive/Ride: 2
Engineering:
Fisticuffs: 2
Influence: 4
Knowledge: 5
Languages: 5 (English, French, Latin, Greek, Algonquin)
Marksmanship: 1
Notice: 4
Occultism: 4
Physician: 1
Science: 1
Wild Card (American History) 6 (she remembers most of it)

Combat
Manoeuvre Bonus Base Damage Notes
Sword +10 12 Slash/stab
Parry (sword) +10 — Defence action

Punch +7 6 Bash
Dodge +10 — Defence action
Grapple +9 — Resisted by Dodge

Magic +11 — By Spell

Defensive Magics Bonus = Willpower+Occultism+Magic+Mod
- Deflect (0) +11 Deflects spells 45º

Known History:
Widow from Lord Charles Beaumont who died some 5 years previous, she has spent the last year becomming familiar with society again. Her husband was a known traveler and adventurer who had a nose for the strange and unusual, and some even say that this may have rubbed off on her.

Lady Beaumont will be making her first appearance in a beautiful blue dress, that is at the height of fashion with a delicate white/pearl colored shawl. Her evening hat is the same color of her dress, with just a bit of mesh weave along the front.

She does carry a small cane to help her walk, she seems to lean on it more for support than actually needing it to walk.

Lady Beaumont is just over five feet tall and she has the most alluring green eyes.

Secret History:
Lady Beaumont was born in 1569 and is immortal.
She was a young English girl that made her way to the new world in the year 1585.  She came to the new world and settled in the Roanoke Colony where she lived for a couple of years.  Then something happened.  She was caring for the young Virginia Dare and then woke up several days later and several miles from home.  When she had managed to return to the colony, everyone was gone.  She also discovered that she was immortal and was certain that the two were somehow linked.
Valerie spent the next few years roaming the new world.  She learned magic from some of the few true witches in Salem and more from the Indigenous Americans.

She has since returned to England but now considers herself an American.

She is acquainted with the Protectors of Albion and has worked with Walter Edwards before.  She is also very good friends with the American Statesmen Benjamin Franklin and considers him a dear friend.  All of these people do know her secret.

She has a ring on her right little finger that manages a glamour that "ages" her.  A gift from a former lover. Currently, she appears to be in her mid-40s.  Without the glamour, she appears as she did when she discovered her immortality a young woman of 18.  Her mind though is as someone approaching 300.
She walks with a cane, but that is a mere affectation.  The cane houses a sword of fae steel (very rare indeed as the faerie are loathed to work steel).  She is quite adept at its use (having practiced for centuries) and in her hands, it becomes a deadly, formidable weapon.

Valerie is given more freedoms in Victorian society than would normally be due to a woman.  She has status, money and is widowed, all which contribute to her status, and she is an American so society often looks the other way for her.

Monster Mash Blogathon: The Screaming Skull

The 50's Monster Mash at Forgotten Classics of Yesteryear.
http://forgottenclassicsofyesteryear.blogspot.com/

You have to love any movie where the producers take the time to warn you away from their film at the beginning and guarantee you a free coffin if you happen to die of fright while watching the movie.  It is the kind of kitchy thing I associate with the 50s; horror before what would be the heyday of Hammer films.

The Screaming Skull is one such movie.  Though I can imagine the fine print on that "guarantee" does not cover dying of boredom.

I watching this film because a.) I was doing research on Screaming Skulls and b.) I had it on DVD with a collection of other Horror films.  Turns out the DVDs I have won't play in my computer so I ended up watching it on You Tube.  I guess the copyright has lapsed.

Newly married couple Eric (John Hudson) and Jenni (Peggy Weber) have come home to Eric's house.  Well it is not really his house. It is his late wife's.  Seems she had all the money and then died when she slipped and hit her head.    There are not a lot characters in this drama (which might actually make a descent high school play); the reverend and his wife and the creepy gardener Mickey.
Jenni almost immediately begins to fret when she discovers a painting of Eric's first wife.
There are many scenes of walking.  Walking to the pond. Walking to the house. Walking all over the place.
We finally get to something when Jenni discovers an old human skull.  She freaks out and tosses it out the window.  Later no one can find the skull and we learn that Jenni spent time in an asylum for hearing voices.
The skull pops up again and Jenni screams. We hear other screaming too, but Eric is quick to point out the peacocks outside.  Eric blames the somewhat mentally challenged gardener on all of this, Jenni thinks she is going crazy.  They decide to burn the painting and when it is reduced to ash there is the skull again.  Jenni screams and Eric claims he can't see it.  After she faints Eric hides the skull back in the pond.  Case closed right? Eric is trying to drive her crazy.  Well now the skull is after Eric, it flies up and attacks him, he runs, it manifests as a ghost and he throws a chair at it.  He tries to strangle Jenni, but in the end he drowned in the pool where he had been hiding the skull.  Leaving us to wonder was it a ghost or did Eric snap as well.
In the end we see the gardener talking to the skull telling it everyone is gone and everything will be fine now.

Again, I watched this for the Forgotten Classics blog, but this doesn't really qualify as a classic.  It was not bad, it just wasn't good or interesting enough.  Yes the central mystery of the skull was interesting on paper but the I am not sure the movie did such a great job of selling it to me. We should be able to watch Jenni's descent into madness more.  Eric's duplicity and Mickey's...well he was creepy in a way, but he only really just took up space. Coming back to Eric, the problem is we suspect him right away.  His first rich wife is dead and now his new rich wife might be going crazy.  The only mystery here is why can't the rest of the cast see it?

Of course there is not much here to connect to the myths of the screaming skulls unless you tie it in with the house more.  Marion, Eric's first wife and owner of the house, is like a screaming skull in that she wants everyone out of the house, but if she is in fact a ghost her desire is to murder Eric.

I would like to say more about this film, but there really isn't much to say.  Delete the scenes of people walking and tighten up other fluff you might an hour long movie.   I think a remake has the potential to be very scary.  Husband trying to drive his new wife crazy so he can get her money too and a potential real ghost in the mix, has the elements of a suspenseful movie, this one just isn't.  It's not good enough to give it a strong review and it is not bad enough to make fun of.  The acting is not bad and this group of actors went on to do other things. I suppose I should point out that Alex Nicol was both Mickey and the Director, but even that is not really enough.  Unlike some of the other choices for today it is not a classic either in a good sense or a bad one.

In the end you might have more fun with the MST3k version, but it was fun to watch this film for the the Blogathon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Screaming_Skull
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052169/

Gen Con Countdown

Going to Gen Con!  YEAAHHH!
I so need this vacation.

I'f you want to come by and say hi, here are the games I am running.  I like to get to the table early to set up.

RPG1120388 Obsession (Revised) Thu @ 7:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm D :: 8 Cost: $4

RPG1120389 Dinosauria! Fri @ 1:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm D :: 6 Cost: $4

RPG1120390 Dinosauria! Fri @ 7:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm C :: 3 Cost: $4

Dinosauria! is completely new with new characters designed to get people up and going fast.  The 1:00 pm will be "kid friendly" and the 7:00pm one will be more older kids and adults.

Obsession is revised version of the adventure I ran last year.  If you played last year then this one is not very different except for some details and the starting of the adventure.

I am also running S4 with my boys in our hotel Saturday night.

Zatannurday: Secret Seven

Zatanna is one of the characters of the Secret Seven.
What is cool is she gets to share some page time with another one of my faves, Raven.

But what is going on with Zee's outfit??
Preview of Flashpoint: Secret Seven

Thanks to DC Women Kicking Ass.
This is not from the reboot but rather the alternate timekine/world of Flashpoint, so maybe we will be spared this one again.  I mean I know that Zee is no prude, but this looks like she was shopping over at Marvel. ;)

And I don't have the vaguest idea what this one is about.

This one though, one of the covers is kinda cool.

Zee has this whole Fairuza Balk thing going on.

Ghosts of Albion at Cyphan Con

I am at the Cyphan Con here in Chicago (ok, at Rosemont).


I am in the Gatwick Room of the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Rosemont.

• Friday 7/29, 1:00 to 5:00 for Ghosts of Ablion: Obsession
• Saturday 7/30, Noon to 4:00 for Ghosts of Albion: Dinosauria!

Gaming info here: http://www.cyphan.com/cyphan/GAMING.html

Come by and see me!

If you tell me you saw it on my blog then I'll give you something special.  No idea what that will be to be honest, but I'll find something!!

Dinosauria! Characters: Walter Edwards

Players of "Obsession" will see a familiar face here.

Chief Constable Walter Edwards
Life Points 43
Drama Points 20

Attributes
Strength 3 (+1 Peeler)
Dexterity 3
Constitution 3
Intelligence 2
Perception 3
Willpower 2

Qualities
Acute Sense (Vision) (2)
Contacts (supernatural)
Hard to Kill 3 (3)
Peeler (5)
Nerves of Steel (3)
Situational Awareness (2)

Drawbacks
Obligation (Important) (Peeler)
Recurring Nightmares (1)

Skills
Armed Mayhem 4 (+1 Peeler)
Art 0
Athletics 4
Crime 3 (+1 Peeler)
Driving/Riding 1 (+1 Peeler)
Engineering 0
Fisticuffs 4
Influence 2
Knowledge 3
Languages 1 (English)
Marksmanship 2
Notice 5
Occultism 2
Physician 1
Science 2
Wild Card 0

Useful Information
Observation: 1d10 +8
Initiative: +4
Armor: 0
Fear:
Actions: 1 Mental /1 Physical

Combat
Manoeuvre Bonus Base Damage Notes
Dodge +6 — Defence
Grapple +8 — Resisted by Dodge
Punch +7 6 Bash
Pistol, small +6 9 Bullet
Truncheon +7 9 Bash

Chief Constable Walter Edwards is no stranger to the occult nature of his city. While he was a regular Peeler he saw something that very humans ever witnessed. He saw a large man trying to rough up a working girl. Edwards, believing he was stopping a potential beating of a dolly-mop rushed in, truncheon ready. What he saw when he got there was not to be believed. The “man” was over 7ft tall and had horns growing from his head and had fire for eyes. The creature laughed a horrible, inhuman laugh, and it ran and jumped over a 12ft. wall. The papers were soon calling the creature the “Spring Heeled Jack”, but you know he was something like the Devil.
He met up with others then, some who had similar stories, other who seemed as strange as the creature, but he learned of a new world that day.
Edwards was given a gift, a special pair of glasses that allow him to see the supernatural world. Ghosts, lines of power, faerie creatures and worse walked the streets of London.
Edwards has starred into the Abyss and it starred back at him. Though unlike so many others he had the courage to take the next step, and the next and the next. Monsters or humans, he represents law and order in this city and law and order he will have!

Heartbreak & Heroines: Dead

I got this email a couple of days ago to let me know that the game Heartbreak & Heroines was no longer going to be funded, and presumably not made.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/caoimhe/heartbreak-and-heroines-rpg

I talked about this game in this post, and I mentioned then I was excited about it.
Almost immediately the controversy started.
There were many posts and threads on RPG.Net including a number of banings, one of which was the author.
Then even more controversy started.  
I wont get into the details, but here are some links.
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?584800-H-amp-H-System-Notes-and-Development
http://errantgame.blogspot.com/2011/07/well-this-is-disturbing.html
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?585252-Recent-Off-Board-Allegations

I don't pretend to know what happened really. The allegations are ugly.

The only thing I do know for certain is now this game is not going to be funded. That likely means it won't get made.

This is a shame really.

There seemed to be some very interesting game design elements and I liked the idea of a game.
This game, and other games that try to do something different like Blue Rose, are needed in this biz.
If anything the various RPG.Net threads, and the speed in which it made it's goal in donation, demonstrate that a game like this is needed and desired by many.

Hopefully someone else will pick up the challenge.

More procrastination

I KNEW rereading the Gord the Rogue books would come in handy one day.
That and all the hours I spent editing the D&D related Wikipedia articles.

Tim took the Hardest Gary Gygax Quiz in the World and got 100%!


You are a Gary Gygax Dungeon Master. You are a world expert on Gary Gygax. My guess is you are either a former TSR employee or an extremely obsessive fan. You can be proud of your in-depth knowledge - few are so expert in any subject! Also, I would like to be in your D&D group.


Paladin Code: You completed this quiz without using Google.

Here there Be Dragons: Aži Dahāka

We have the first monster we want to show off for Liam's book "Here There Be Dragons". This one has roots in ancient myths, and also something we have wanted to use for a while.

BTW we are not 100% set on what version of the game system we want to use.  I opted for Basic tonight since I have been in a Basic mood.  Liam wants 3.5.

I am releasing the following text as Open under the Open Gaming License.
Aži Dahāka, the Demon Dragon is copyright 2011, Liam Brannan

Aži Dahāka
Armor Class: -5 [24]
Hit Dice: 22d8+21** (120 hp)
No. of Attacks: 3 bites or Breath Weapon or Claws
Damage: 3d6 / 3d6 / 3d6
Special: Claw Attack, Breath weapons, Poison
Movement: 60 ft. / Fly 120 ft.
No. Appearing: 1 (Unique)
Saves As: Fighter 24
Morale: 11
Treasure: Fx3
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 10,000

Aži Dahāka is believed to be the offspring of the Mother of All Dragons and the Prince of Demons. Certainly his heritage is evident in his form. He has three dragon heads, each of red, blue and black dragons. He has a long black, serpent like body with two tails and four wings.

Aži Dahāka is a unique creature and has been worshiped as a god in the past. He has divine parentage but is wholly a mortal beast and can be slain, though with difficulty.

Aži Dahāka is not the smartest of dragon- or even demon-kind, he is however a very clever combatant and knows how to take advantage of many situations. If he is out numbered he will attempt to reduce the opposition with his breath weapons.

Bite: The primary attack of Aži Dahāka is his massive bite. He may attack with all three heads per round on separate targets. On a roll of a natural 20 Aži Dahāka bites the victim whole and swallows.
Aži Dahāka has a second set of teeth in his throat that can automatically do 1d8 points of damage per round unless the victim is freed.

The bite of Aži Dahāka also includes a very deadly poison. Each successful hit that causes at least 1 point of damage will require the victim to make a saving through vs. Poison.

Breath Weapons: Aži Dahāka as appropriate has a breath weapon for each head. Though the chaotic nature of his birth has gifted the black head emits an electrical blast, the blue head breathes fire and the red one spits acid. Each head will do 2d10 (2-20) hitpoints of damage per attack. Aži Dahāka may attack with two heads simultaneously per round.

Claw Attack: Aži Dahāka can rear up on his hind legs to make a claw based attack. This is the only attack he can make in that round. He can rise up and attack with both claws. The attacks do 1d10 points of damage each and can hit creatures normally immune to normal attacks, i.e. requiring magic to hit.

Aži Dahāka is a strong fighter, but knows the value of retreat if the combat is going against him. If forced to retreat, he can alter his skin color like that of a octopus and blend into the background. This gives him 95% invisibility. Since this is a natural effect, See Invisible or Detect Magic will not locate him.

Diana Warrior Princess (aka getting sidetracked)

Ok. So. I am supposed to be doing some research.  I have Ghosts of Albion games to run.  Need to come up with stats for the first batch of dragons my son has written for his book and then there is my Witch book that needs to be completed.

So of course I am distracted by a game.

This game is very distracting cause I have not quite figured out what to do with it.

So in lieu of real work and postings, here is a review.

Diana: Warrior Princess

Diana: Warrior Princess is a game that is so out there it is hard to quantify it.
Lets start with the easy part first, the game system. The game is very cinematic and focuses largely on characters can do that is cool, amazing or fun. So no stats for cooking here, unless of course one of your characters is a notorious Iron Chef (which would totally work with this game).

Now the premise. Take our world, but go many thousand of years in the future. Now make a TV show of our times, but give it the same historical accuracy (and sense of over the top cinema and fun) as Xena: Warrior Princess. That is D: WP, except you are playing in that world and it is all real to you. So tons of characters make appearances that we know of today. England is a land ruled by Queens Victoria and Elizabeth II with the undead Thatcher in control. Just tons of over the top things like that. Adding stuff is easy. There might be this new Robber-Baron from the USA that uses technology to suck the lives out of people into his magical book that keeps a representation of their face. This dreaded artifact of the ancient 21st century was known as "The Facebook"! Just like that. Hard to say what being Googled will mean!

Don't take this game too seriously and you will have a lot of fun.
If you are the type though that looks for internal consistency in your worlds and retcon is a dirty word, then maybe don't get this.

But everyone will have a really fun time.
4 out of 5 stars

DriveThru RPG Xmas in July

DriveThruRPG is doing their Christmas in July sale again.
Ton of products at 25% off.

Stop by and have a look.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/

More Dinosauria Characters

Lady Fionna
Faerie Lady
Drama Points 10
Life Points 38

Attributes
Strength 3
Dexterity 4
Constitution 4
Intelligence 5
Perception 4
Willpower 5

Qualities
Age (+100 years) (2)
Attractiveness +4 (Court Faerie)
Artist (Court Faerie)
Contact (Supernatural—Seelie Court) 2 (Court Faerie)
Court Faerie (Unseelie Court)
Glamour (Court Faerie)
Innate Magic (Court Faerie)
Regeneration (4 Life Points per hour) (Court Faerie)
Resources (Gentry)
Mesmerise (Hear Me) (Court Faerie)
Seeming (Court Faerie)

Drawbacks
Adversary (Seelie Court) 1 (Age)
Archaic (Primitive) (Court Faerie)
Mental Problems (Deranged Faerie Arrogance) (Court Faerie)
Mental Problems (Severe Intolerance) (Court Faerie)
Mental Problem (Severe Obsession—Defend her territory) (2)
Minority (Woman) (2)
Natural Barrier (Cannot enter a church or church yard) (3)
Obligation (Total—Unseelie Court) (Court Faerie)
Vulnerability (Minor—Iron) (Court Faerie)

Skills
Armed Mayhem 6
Art 2 (+1 Artist)
Athletics 3
Crime 0
Driving/Riding 2
Engineering 0
Fisticuffs 3
Influence 3
Knowledge 4
Languages 3 (English, Faerie, Latin)
Marksmanship 3
Notice 1
Occultism 4 (+2 Court Faerie)
Physician 0
Science 0
Wild Card 0

Useful Information
Observation: 1d10 +5
Initiative: +4
Armor: +1 (Glamoured Armor)
Fear: +5
Actions: 2 Mental /1 Physical

Combat
Manoeuvre Bonus Base Damage Notes
Rapier +10 12 Slash/stab (Faerie steel)
Dodge +10 — Defence
Grapple +10 — Resisted by dodge

Deflect +12 — Deflects spells 45º
Lesser Sensing +8 — Active magical perception
Mending +12 — Healing or repair
Mesmerise (Hear Me) +8 — Resisted by Willpower (doubled)


Xian “Jane”
House Girl / Tong Assassin
Drama Points 20
Life Points 36

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

Qualities
Athlete
Attractiveness +2
Charisma 1
Contact (Supernatural) 2
Hard to Kill 2
Nerves of Steel

Drawbacks
Honourable (Serious) (2)
Minority (Chinese Woman) (2)
Secret (Former Tong Assassin) (3)

Skills
Armed Mayhem 5
Art 1
Athletics 4 (+2 Athlete)
Crime 1
Driving/Riding 0
Engineering 0
Fisticuffs 5
Influence 0
Knowledge 2
Languages 2 (Chinese, English)
Marksmanship 0
Notice 3
Occultism 2
Physician 1
Science 0
Wild Card (Housekeeping) 1

Useful Information
Observation: 1d10 +7
Initiative: +4
Armor: +1 (leather waistcoat worn under clothes)
Fear:
Actions: 1 Mental /1 Physical

Combat
Manoeuvre Bonus Base Damage Notes
Sword +8 6 Slash/Stab
Dodge +8 — Defence
Grapple +6 — Resisted by dodge
Punch (kung-fu) +4 4 Bash
Kick +6 6
- Flying Spin +5 8
- Roundhouse +6 6

If there is an odder pair found on the streets of Victorian London, then this chronicler does not know about them. Lady Fiona Seelis comes from old, old money though most do not know how old. Her guise is that of a wealthy widow whose family owns many lands in Wales and north of London. She has a bit of an accent that she claims she got due living in France for a number of years after her husband’s death. No one seems to recall ever meeting her husband, but after a few moments with the lovely Lady they know they must have met the poor devil before his untimely death. Accident it was, at least that is what you heard someone say.

Lady Fiona though has never been married, indeed she is no human either. She is in fact a lesser noble of the Unseelie Court. Her Mistress, Queen Mab herself, has sent Fiona into exile to study the humans. She is supposed to report back on them in a number of years.

The girl known only as “Jane” (Xian in her own country) is a young girl from China. At first she was like any number of the thousands of immigrants to England’s shores till the night she tried to kill Lady Fiona. To be fair Lady Fiona had been stalking the streets of London looking trouble of her own. Her Faerie nature driving her to defend her territory from intruding monsters, not out of altruism or care for the humans, but because this territory was hers.

Jane had secrets of her own. She was a young Tong assassin in training. Her job was supposed to be a simple one of killing a rival. But the rival gang learned of this and kill all in Jane’s group. All, including Jane were suspected dead. Her Tong never search for her since she was only a girl. Fiona saved her that night and the two now hunt the streets of London together.

Neither woman is what you call “good”, they are very apt at playing the roles they have created for themselves. Fiona will appear as the rich widow with more money than sense and Jane will play the role of the quiet maid servant of the east. Fiona, due to her wealth, beauty and more than a little faerie magic is given unprecedented access to places where no other woman is allowed. Jane is constantly near her and Fiona will claim that Jane must always be there to attend to her. In reality Jane is on constant vigil for Lady Fiona’s enemies and she carries her mistress and her own swords.

Fiona has been invited to the New Year’s Eve party in thanks for her generous financial contributions over the years.

Turning off Anonymous Posts for a while

I am turning off anonymous comments for a bit.

I have too much spam and too many people wanting to use my blog as a place to snipe at others from behind a veil.

I do not like to or want to delete comments. But I also don't have much of a choice here.

Zatannurday: Ryan Sook

To followup on last weeks Justice League Dark, here are some Zatanna images by artist Ryan Sook.
You can find his website here, http://www.ryansook.com/

Dinosauria! Characters

I have been promising to get some characters up for Dinosauria.  Here is the first.  John is not just the first one to be posted but he was the first character to be created for Dinosauria proper.  He is actually the idea of my good friend Steven Todd and this character is actually registered with the Screen Writers Guild in Hollywood since he was to appear in one of the movies Steven worked on.  So it is a really treat that I am getting to work on him here and use him in my adventure.

John Mulgrew
Frmr. U.S. Marshall
Drama Points: 10
Life Points: 47

Attributes (20)
Strength: 3
Dexterity: 5
Constitution: 4
Intelligence: 3
Perception: 3
Willpower: 2

Qualities (20)
Acute Sense (Vision) (2)
Hard to Kill 3 (3)
Ex-Soldier (5) (Ex-Marshall)
Nerves of Steel (3)
Renown/Reputation (Known/Good) (3)
Resources Moderate (2)
Special: Magical Sight (2)

Drawbacks (up to 10)
Addiction (minor, smoking, drinking) (1)
Honourable (1)
Mental Problems (Severe Obsession – Avenge Dead Family) (2)
Obligation (1)
Recurring Nightmares (1)
Secret (deals with supernatural) (2)

Skills (25) (+8 from Drawbacks)
Armed Mayhem 4
Art 1
Athletics 2
Crime 2
Drive / Ride 3
Engineering 0
Fisticuffs 4
Influence 1
Knowledge 2
Languages 1
Marksmanship 5
Notice 5
Occultism 2
Physician
Science 1
Wild Card

Useful Information
Observation: 1d10 +8
Initiative: +5
Armor: +1 (leather duster)
Fear: +5
Actions: 1 Mental /2 Physical

Combat
Name Bonus Damage Notes
Punch +9 6 Bash
Rifle +10 20 Bullet
Pistols +10 12 Bullet* John has two Colts, one with regular rounds, the other with his special gold rounds. Once empty a Pistol needs 1 round to reload.

John Mulgrew is a former U.S. Marshall. Back in the days when was a Marshall he and his family lived in the new state of Texas where his job was to make sure that the local population was “controlled”. This meant he hunted down American Indians that had broken the law.

After a particularly long a bloody battle, John came home to find his wife and two children killed. Not just murdered, but ripped apart. Insane with grief he ran off to find out who did this. He was discharged from the Marshalls, but he didn’t care he only wanted to find who killed his family. He was convinced it was an Indian and had tracked the culprit to the Dakotas.

One night he made his camp near a cross roads only to be awoken by a strange man dressed as a gentleman cooking a foul smelling diner over his campfire. John raised his gun to the man, but the man only asked John to give him his gun. John, without thinking, handed it him. The man unloaded John’s revolver, a .44 Colt Dragoon, and reloaded it with cartridges made of pure gold. He loaded in six and handed John a seventh. He then told John that he knew what he was hunting and this gun will give him the ability to kill it. If he didn’t want the gun, just leave on the ground, but if he took it up then he only had seven shots to kill seven monsters and then John’s soul would be his.

John woke up the next morning with no sight that the man had been there, but his gun was still loaded with the gold bullets. Tucking it deep in his saddle bag, John rode on.

John had followed a trail of destruction all the way to the Dakotas. There he found an Indian. The two men tried to kill each other till they were stopped by a beast with long claws and blood stained white fur. It stood as a man, but thin and nearly 9 feet tall. The creature attacked them both. The Indian seemed to be using some sort of magic to attack the creature which harmed it, even while John’s shots from his normal gun were ignored. John recalled the gun with the gold bullets and he shot the creature which killed it instantly.

John and Indian, who he learned was named Husun, tended their wounds. Husun told John that the creature was a Wendigo and it had killed everyone in his camp. It was also the creature that had killed John’s family and all the families between here and Texas. He told John his gun was an evil thing, but now that he had used it he could not be rid of it.

John and Husun, whom the locals called “Blackfoot”, traveled together for a while investigating the paranormal. John tends to drink a little too much, but it is the only way he can sleep at night without the nightmares of the Wendigo killing his family.

John and Husun have come to England as Guests of the wealthy Lord Dyus Paton. Lord Paton has been unable to attend tonight’s diner at the Crystal Palace due to illness, but has sent along John and Husun in his stead, knowing the august crowd would enjoy seeing a real live American Cowboy and Indian.

Heartbreak & Heroines

Today I stumbled on this new RPG on Google+ and was lead to it's page over at Kickstarter.  It has me very intrigued.

The game is called Heartbreak & Heroines and you can find it's Kickstarter page here, http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/caoimhe/heartbreak-and-heroines-rpg

Now my first reaction to this game was one of excitement.  This sounds like a great game and it fills a needed place in the RPG community.    My later reaction, after reading some of the other hype about this game, was we couldn't get this game fast enough.

Here is something about the game from the site.

Heartbreak & Heroines is a fantasy roleplaying game about adventurous women who go and have awesome adventures -- saving the world, falling in love, building community, defeating evil. It's a game about relationships and romance, about fairy tales and feminism.

You play a fantasy heroine (or hero, if you prefer) whose heart has been broken. She's experienced some loss so great that she's taken up her sword, her tome, her staff, or her wand and walked away from her place in society -- by becoming one of its defenders, fighting back the darkness that endangers everyone.

Heartbreak & Heroines is first and foremost a fantasy adventure game. It's not preachy and it isn't a textbook about feminism, but it's written from a feminist point of view. It challenges some of our assumptions about the role of gender in gaming but at the heart of H&H, it's about being a heroine (or hero) and finding your way to happiness in a dangerous world. I hope to produce something that Dwayne (McDuffie) would have enjoyed reading.

And the art looks good too. Here is a sample of the cover.

I have to admit it reminded me of this:

The author, Caoimhe Ora Snow, is unknown to me, but she has a blog or two or three, and a couple of threads over at RPG.Net one of system notes and another that is a FAQ.  This of course has lead to the predictable thread denouncing the game (a game none of the posters have read mind you) on RPG.Net as well.   Though the one thing, the one fact really, that stands out is this game made it's goal and then some in 48 hours.  I have known some Kickstarter games that can't do the same in 48 DAYS.

The system is the same as found in Wandering Monster High School, which is here, http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/wandering-monster-high-school  and may just a little related thematically to another game the author has done, Awesome Women Kicking Ass, http://boldpueblo.com/downloads/awka/awesome-women-kicking-ass-1.0.pdf

It is also beginning to make some noise on the various blogs.  But it should not surprise anyone that these are generally more positive.
http://nitessine.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/delicious-flamewars-heartbreak-and-heroines/
http://errantgame.blogspot.com/2011/07/heartbreak-heroines.html
http://borderhouseblog.com/?p=5800
http://gomakemeasandwich.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/from-the-mailbag-heartbreak-heroines-win-mtg-wtf/
http://gmskarka.com/2011/07/19/inclusion-in-rpgs/

I think the idea is an interesting one and I am glad to throw some support behind it.

These Dwarves...

Look freaking awesome.

I am glad they don't look like D&D dwarves or Rankin/Bass dwarves or even the ones I pictured in my head when I read the Hobbit the first time.

I am so looking forward to this movie and I have every faith in Peter Jackson's vision.

Alas, Borders

I have waxed on about Borders and it's previous incarnation Waldenbooks before.
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/04/o-is-for-otherworlds-club.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/09/reflecting-on-d-sometimes-you-cant-go.html

Sad to report that Borders is now facing it's final doom.

I will miss Borders, even if I rarely if even buy gaming material there anymore.

The trouble I think is the same reason why you don't see that many old-school record stores anymore.  The digital media revolution came and Borders did not change fast enough.  Yes there was also that revolving door of CEOs, and I have heard others complain about how the quality of the stores just went down hill.

I feel bad for the employees; this is a hard time to be out of work.  I still feel bad for the company too, they seemed to have been doomed really since the start of the 2000s.  And I also can't help but feel a tinge of guilt.  Sure there was nothing *I* could have done.  But I did choose to buy from Amazon and my FLGS instead, though my involvement one way or the otehr would not have helped Borders.  It will help my FLGS though.

I hate to see this happen all the same.

Pipes of the Susurrus: Sleeping not yet dead...

"I watched as the faerie woman produced a long flute that appeared to be carved from the leg bone of some animal.  At least I hoped it was animal.  She began to play the horrific looking instrument and despite her effort the music, if indeed it could be called that, never rose above the level of a whisper.  The small army of undead soldiers chasing us suddenly stopped and began to sway to her phantasmagorical playing.  She paused briefly and took the flute from her lips.
'Come now.' She said, winded from her playing. 'The dead do not sleep long under the susurrus.'"

- From the Journal of Larina Nix

In many role-playing games that feature vampires, zombies, and other forms of the walking dead, one feature is fairly constant.  The Undead are immune to sleep, charm, and other mind-affecting magic.  In Ghosts of Albion for example the dead do not sleep, in most fantasy RPGs you also can't charm them or use some form of mind-affecting magic to get them to do your bidding unless you are the necromancer that summoned them.

Given that undead are frequently encountered (even outside of horror games) and used as adversaries then it should stand to reason that someone would have found a way around this.  Well in my games it is the fae or maybe the elves in yours.

The following text is released as Open Text under the OGL.  No other part of this post or art is released under the OGL.

Pipes of the Susurrus

Pipes of the Susurrus or Susurrus Pipes appear as a variety of different woodwind instruments.  The most common is that of a flute, but pan pipes are also common enough.  Rumor persists of a greater Pipes of the Susurrus in the form of a set of bagpipes and created by the Queen of the Seelie Court herself.

In all cases, the pipes are made of bone.

In order to use the pipes, the wielder must have the appropriate skill (Perform, Music, Instruments, or what is acceptable in your system) and spend time practicing the unique music that comes from the pipes.
Once done then they may use the pipes to induce a sleep-like state in all undead that can hear the music.  The stupor remains with them for the duration of the playing and for half that time again.  If the undead are attacked then the spell is broken.

Alternately a spellcaster can spend some time with the pipes and use it as a new material component when casting spells that would normally be ineffectual against the undead.  This extends to sleep, charm, and hold spells, but not to ESP or other mind-reading spells.

Pipes of the Susurrus are very rare. The secret of their manufacture are not known to many and the ones that have been made are often destroyed. Intelligent undead (Vampires, Liches, Ghosts) know them on sight and will make all attempts to destroy them.  The undead fears the pipes since they induce not a sleep-like state for them, but a death-like state, and most undead fear death more than mortals do.

Section 15
"Pipes of the Sururrus" Copyright 2011, Timothy S. Brannan

Monster Mash Movie Blogathon

I am joining the ranks of the Monster Movie Blogathon over at Forgotten Classics of Yesteryear.

For my participation I'll be watching the 1958 classic "The Screaming Skull".  It's for research.  I promise.

ENnies Voting

The 2011 ENnies Voting has begun.
http://www.ennie-awards.com/vote/

Please go now and vote for your favorite product or company.

For me I am voting a fairly straight ticket of Dresden Files and D&D like products.

I'd also like to put out a plug for Kurt Wiegel from Game Geeks as a 2012 judge.
He is a huge RPG evangelist and he gets to try out a lot of games.  I think his honesty (and frankly his exposure to all sorts of games) makes him a great potential judge for 2012.

So please. Make your voices heard.

Zatannurday: Justice League Dark

I have not talked about the big DC Reboot coming up in September.
For the most part I am looking forward to it, but I am not happy about loosing Oracle.   But today is Saturday and that means we are talking about Zatanna.

Here is the cover for the new title Justice League Dark.

The title deals with all the DC magical heroes dealing with all things dark and dangerous.  So Zee, John, Madame Xanadu.  I am hoping to see some Raven there too.

Here is JLD #1.

Looks like they are going after Enchantress.  This should be fun.
More information is here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_League_Dark

This might be one of the first comics I buy on a regular basis. Hope it is good.

Mini D&D books

Yesterday some of you asked me about the mini-D&D books I had on my shelves.  They are really cool and I picked them about 10-12 years ago (it was before my kids were born I know that).

They were made by WotC and some Italian game company.
The info I have, from the box, is 21st Century Games, S.r.l. and they are located in Italy.  I cna't find anything about them. Every so often you see them on Ebay and generally not too expensive.

They are small and really hard to read, but I really like them.

The three boxed sets  I own.  There was a Dragonlance one and a Realms one, but I did not get those.  I think my FLGS still has the Realms one.

It is blury, but you can see the sets are complete, minus dice and the "Gateway to Adventure" catalog.

For an idea of scale here are my two Expert Sets.

And the expert books.

Even the backs are detailed.  Even though they were made by (or at least for) WotC, all the info is TSR.

The Greyhawk boxed set is the coolest since the maps are portable.

Here are the books I got.  I have heard there were more, but I have never been able to confirm that.

Compared to their "big brothers".

Anyone else have these?

My collection is now complete!

So what is this I got in the mail today?  A box? Addressed to me?

What could be inside? Let's open it up!

It's an Original Edition Dungeons and Dragons!
What's inside that box?

All the LBBs and supplements.  I already had an Eldritch Wizardry, but this one is much better shape.  Actually all the books are in good shape.  Well the Blackmoor book has some black tape on it, but the LBBs are all in fantastic shape.

I even have the reference sheets.

Looks pretty good with my set of old-school Basic books.

and next to my favorite Original D&D "clone"

and on my shelf!

I am told this is the "5.5" edition.  6th Edition/Printing books in a 5th Edition box.  I am not sure about the other books, but I am not collecting this as a "purist" I have always wanted a copy of this.

I have the PDFs, one of the first set of PDFs I bought when WotC had them fore sale, but holding these books is a really a different thing all together.

Original D&D has the distinction of the only version of D&D I only played once.  Even then it was 1987 and I am sure my point of view was skewed from years of AD&D.  That all being said, OD&D is one of those games that time and experience has only improved to me.  The game is not for beginners really, which is kind of funny.  Reading it gives me better appreciation for the Basic sets of Holmes and Moldvay.

I am not sure if I'll ever play it.  Maybe one day when the kids are older I might pull it out.  I can run the old Wee Warriors Palace of the Vampire Queen "kit" with it.

I can't help but think who was the first owner of this game and where he got it.  I bought it from a private collector who was not the original owner.

So now my collection is complete.  Till I find something else I need to obsess about!