Here There Be Dragons updates

With The Witch out and EW in the hands of the publisher it is time to move on to other projects.

I want to talk about "Here There Be Dragons" for a bit.  We paused on this last year to give my son time to concentrate on his school work.  Over the summer things were just way too busy and then I needed to finish the Witch.

Be we are back.  One of the things we want to do is come up with a good dragon statblock that covers the Old School feel we wanted but also includes all the information we want to get out about dragons.  I also want to retain as much good information from the SRD as we can.

In the 1st Advanced Era dragons had 8 age categories.  In the 3rd Edition/SRD era there are 12.
The age categories are also significantly different.  In earlier editions of the game the differences were not great.  In the newer versions there is quite a bit of difference between a Wyrmling and a Great Wyrm.
This can be seen in the SRD here for Blue Dragons.

There are plenty of good and open under the OGL stat blocks for dragons. OSRIC has one, Labyrinth Lord Advanced Companion is another and slightly different. The stat blocks in Castles & Crusades are also open and try to merge the best of 1.x and 3.x in their own way as well. In fact they even fit 12 age categories into 8 rather well.

Additionally Dragons should have more spells as the age, have more treasure and be more powerful, not just harder to hit or kill.

So here is a rough draft of a dragon stat block for a Blue Dragon.

Blue Dragon
Frequency: Rare
No. Appearing: 1d4
Size:  See below
Move: 90' fly 240' (AA: level II)
Hit Dice: typically 8 to 10
Armor Class: typically 2
Attacks:  1 bite, 2 claws or magic
Damage: 1d6 / 1d6 / 3d8
Special Attacks: Breath Weapon, Dragon Fear, Magic Use
Special Defenses:
Magic Resistance: Standard
Intelligence: Very
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Treasure: ????
Chance of:
- Speaking: 40% + 5%/Age
- Magic-use: 20% + 5%/Age
- Sleeping: 10% + 5%/Age
- In Lair: 20% + 5%/Age
Level/XP: See Below

Breath Weapon: Lighting Bolt, 100' long, 5' wide, line
Spells: As Wizard of level equal to HD

Age	Size (length)	HD (hp)	AC	Breath Damage	Breath Range	Level/XP
1	4'	4 (18)	5 (15)	4d8	40'	4/
2	8'	6 (27)	4 (16)	6d8	60'	6/
3	12'	8 (36)	3 (17)	8d8	80'	8/
4	20'	10 (45)	2 (18)	10d8	100'	10/
5	25'	12 (54)	1 (19)	12d8	120'	12/
6	32'	14 (63)	0 (20)	14d8	140'	14/
7	48'	16 (72)	-1 (21)	16d8	160'	16/
8	60'	18 (81)	-2 (22)	18d8	180'	18/

Age Category		Age Years
1	Wyrmling	0-10
2	Young	11-25
3	Juvenile	26-50
4	Young Adult	51-100
5	Adult	101-250
6	Old	251-500
7	Very Old	501-1,000
8	Ancient	1,000+

These tables will be tweaked as we go along.

Not sure if this is the final version, it is though a working one.
I put in the the average hp on a d8 per HD since I also had the idea that HD could stay the same (say 10) and a dragon gets it's age category in hp.  So Wyrmling would have had 10 hp and an Ancient dragon 80 hp.  It works for the Blue here, not sure about the rest; I think it might.

Did not calculate the XP yet.
Still have no idea how I want to do treasure.  Should I use LL Hoard Classes or list out like in OSRIC?


Credit where credit is due.

Section 15 of the OGL.

System Reference Document copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

OSRIC copyright 2006-08 by Stuart Marshall, adapting material prepared by Matthew J. Finch, based on the System Reference Document, inspired by the works of E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson, and many others.


Advanced Edition Companion, Copyright 2009-2010, Daniel Proctor. Author Daniel Proctor.



Hypertext SRD, 2005 Jans Carton.


Castles & Crusades: Monsters & Treasure, Copyright 2005, Troll Lord Games; Authors Robert Doyel and Stephen Chenault.

Blue Dragon: Here There Be Dragons, Copyright 2012, Liam and Timothy Brannan.

All material is open under the OGL.

Zatannurday: Zatanna Witch

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Maybe should have done this one last week, but hey Halloween is not something confined to one day or even one weekend for me!

Halloween Hangover

Well.  That was the most postings I have ever done in one month.
 Please don't expect that for November!

I doubled my normal abut of visits and page hits and I added about 20 new followers. I also discovered a bunch of new sites and blogs, so that is always welcome to me.

The Witch is selling rather well and I am pleased with the sales.  I never expected it to sell thousands of units; it's a niche product inside a niche market for another niche set of rules.  There are only so many ways to cut up this pie.

I have a few WIPs on my harddrive.  A couple for another publisher, my son's dragon book and a couple of others that people have told me will never sell because they are too "out there".  I will share more about those in the next few weeks.  Gotta see how they shake out.  Maybe I will release them for free.

I still have a desire to write a modern-supernatural game even though I well know the market is flooded with them.

I also have a number of reviews I am really behind on.  Have to get those done too.

And the Winner is...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

David of Tower of the Archmage!

Emails have been sent.
Thanks everyone for participating in everything this past October..

October Challenge: BloodRayne: The Third Reich (2011)

BloodRayne: The Third Reich (2011)

I am a glutton for punishment.  Each year I watch something from Uwe Boll.  And each year I ask myself why.
This year I didn't, because I finally get Boll.  He is not trying to be Spielberg, or Howard or anyone. He is just trying to have a good time and make some movies.

BloodRayne though really has a lot going for it on paper.  Hot half-vampire Rayne who is a little bit of everything (she's half-vampire, half-human, ambidextrous, bisexual) is fun to watch.  You have Nazi's as the big bad, and really watching them die never, ever gets old.  And unlike the first two movies, this one is somewhat closer to the video game.

Don't go into this expecting high entertainment.  This is B-Movie all the way. But it is fun.  The plot holds together surprisingly well. Michael Pare chews up scenes all over the place and Natassia Malthe still can't act to save her life, but that is fine.

It has all the right elements of a horror or action movie and I will say this.  I doubt a "better" director would have done better on this.  Sometimes you get steak, sometimes you get cheeseburgers and sometime you get a slider.  This is a slider, don't pretend it is steak.  That is OK. Sometimes a couple of sliders is exactly what you need.

I enjoyed this movie quite a bit to be honest.

Tally: Watched 33, New 24

I am going to go back over all the other participants (next month) and see what they watched.

What are you watching?

October Challenge: Paranormal Activity 1, 2, & 3

Paranormal Activity (2007)
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

I wanted to save these for a last.  Glad I did because they do live up to the hype.

PA1, the first has this great charm about it.  You really feel like this is something that has been going on for a bit and just now they (Micha & Katie) have deiced to something about it.
It starts out slow.  Maybe too slow, but I love the build up and payoff was great.
This movie is a very, very effective mix of "Blair Witch Project", "The Exorcist" and any number of good haunted house movies.  My only complaint really is the Ouija board scene. It seemed a little over the top compare to the rest of the movie.  I think if it had just spelled out the name and not caught on fire that would have been better.  Some of the creepiest scenes are also some of the most understated ones.  Shadows and noises you can hear in any house  at night.  I LOVED the scenes were Katie would get up and just stand there starring at Micha for 2-3 hours at a time.

Of course the biggest issue was also why not get more people into the house with you to help.  After all that video evidence I'd be calling everyone to help out.  Well that doesn't serve the script/movie at all of course.

I'll talk about 2 & 3 together since they share some similar positives and negatives.
I kinda wish I had done my research more on these movies, it might have been fun to watch them in reverse order, but chronologically correct for Katie.  The sequels (or prequels rather) are more polished and go for the faster scare. Unlike the sequels to "Blair Witch" and the "Exorcist" these do add something to the mythos of the movies.  The biggest issue of course is why wasn't information from movies 2 and 3 mentioned in the respectively later movie 1?  Well we know why, of course.  For me, I also suffered from Paranormal Activity fatigue.  After a few hours I was wanting to see something a bit more.  That is more due to me though than the movies I think.

I liked 3 a little better than 2, but 1 was the best.
I am going to say this though, while I have not seen PA4 yet (and I will), I think this well might be dry.
To do something else or even to take it up another notch will make the movie more like the Exorcist really.
You can only jump at so many shadows and creaks.  I am reminded of a scene in Tom Hanks' movie Big.  When his character as an adult is scared of all the noises outside his apartment, many scenes later the same noises are occurring but he only gives them curious glance and goes back to eating chips and watching TV.  That was me, except sitting in front of my computer typing this.

I beat the Challenge! So far I watched one extra movie, but saw one less new movie over last year.
Though I still have one more I can watch and I might even have the time to get it in.

Tally: Watched 32, New 23

What are you watching?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A lot going on here today!!

First, don't forget that you have less that 13 hours to sign up for "Spread the Witch"!
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/10/wicked-after-dark-blog-hop-spread-witch.html

I have some movies left to review and put up for the October Challenge (and I am draggin' today).

Also White Dwarf Wednesday.

Foremost though Happy Halloween!  The Best of all holidays!

History of The Witch

The Witch is my latest book of rules to play the Witch character class for a version of the World's Largest and First Fantasy Roleplaying game.

It is not my first book.  Or even my second.  To date this is my third book on witches.

My first was a "netbook" called "The Complete Netbook of Witches and Warlocks" for the 2nd Edition version of the game.  It was totally a fan-driven work and most of it had been written for the 1st Edition version of the rules.  Back then the file on my computer was called "thewitch.doc".

This original "thewitch.doc" was never really meant to be seen by anyone but my gaming group. Indeed, I figured I'd be the only one to ever play a witch character.  I took a Magic-User character I had rolled up with the idea of playing her like a witch and then stopped her MU advancement and started her out as a 1st level witch.  Occult Powers were spells back then and all I had was a list of spells from the Cleric and MU lists that I felt were "witchy".   That document grew to become the "The Complete Witch" and then finally  "The Complete Netbook of Witches and Warlocks".

The CNoWaW was in my mind a great sucsess. I released it between October 28th and October  31st of 1999.  In fact I remember sitting in the hospital room right after my first son was born posting it on a laptop while my wife and new baby slept.  Well that baby turned 13 over this past weekend!  Kinda nice that my newest Witch book  was released 13 years later.

After that in 2002 released  "Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks".  This one was far more polished and I considered a "real" release.  It used the OGL and the d20 logo.  I worked with what was then called the FANCC, or the Fantasy Community Council.  Their goal was to make and release quality netbooks that adhered to the OGL.  Many of the members would later go on to do other things.  I went on to Eden to work a number of their books including WitchCraft, Buffy and Ghosts of Albion.

In the case of all my books I would go back to my ever evolving research notes.  Pictured above and below is just one of maybe 4 binders of information I have collected over the years.  One of the print outs has a date scrawled in red pen (former teacher here!) of March of 1997.  I know I have some materials even older than that. Lots and lots of notes.

 

In every case and especially when starting a new project I like to go back to my notes.  Revisit old ideas, question why I rejected some and kept others.

The Witch is different from the CNoWnW or LM.  While in each book the witches have "Occult Powers" their mechanisms are different.  Each witch can for example cast "Wave of Mutilation", but how it works is slightly different.  Complete Netbook witches are akin to that  edition's Priests.  Liber witches are more like Wizards.  The witches in The Witch are something new.  Older versions of my witch needed high Wisdom as their primary stat.  Witches in The Witch need a high Charisma.

It is a ritual for me to go back even further when I start a new project to go not just to my notes, but my primary sources.  For the Witch I really wanted that feel of a game supplement from the late 70s early 80s.

 

So I went back to my books.  I re-read not just game books and the latest retro-clones, I also hit books about witches and witchcraft from the 60s and 70s.  The things the first and second generation of gamers would have read if they were making a witch class.  I watched the old movies like "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Initiation of Sarah".  In fact, look over my lists of movies from the October Challenge of the last couple of years.  That will give you an indication of my "Research".

You can still find my older books online, I don't link them here really for a couple of reasons.  First they were done a LONG time ago and I would like to think my writing has improved significantly since then.  Also, at least in the case of CNoWaW, they are predominantly fan works and written under that assumption.  Those assumptions are not the same that The Witch (well and Liber) was written under.  While I don't explicitly state any compatibility I did do a lot of playtesting to make sure that The Witch works with what ever version of the Basic Era game you are using, be it the original games or the newest Retro-clones.

You can read more developments notes under the Basic and Witch tags (there are a lot though).

MONSTROUS MONDAY: Fin

I am very, very pleased with the way MONSTROUS MONDAY turned out!

Thank you all very much who participated, commented and visited all the sites.

Managing the sites was pretty easy.  Many of the participants were familiar faces from other blog hops, so they knew what to do.   I did delete a few sites from the listings.  Some signed up early and then must have forgotten.  Others signed up yesterday and never posted a link back or a monster.  One I even recognized from previously bloghops/blogfests as signing up but never participating.  Obviously just looking for the links.

I have a LinkyTools account now, so I am going to look into ways of using it to improve my site.  Likely a dynamic link list of some sort.

Though the action is not done here yet.  I still have the WICKED AFTER DARK bloghop I am participating in.  Don't forget to visit all those sites and enter for some free stuff.  I am giving away a copy of the Witch!
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/10/wicked-after-dark-blog-hop-spread-witch.html

MONSTROUS MONDAY: My Monster

How is your MONSTROUS MONDAY going so far?

Mine is GREAT!  I love seeing so many cool monsters.  I have not gotten to everyone, but I will.
In fact you can still sign up!  I am sure I am going to spend the next couple of days going to every site and reading what you all posted.  If I am going to run a blog hop and people are going to work to get posts up then you can expect that each and everyone will get my attention.

I wanted to talk about what sort of monsters I like.  I have spent this month posting all sorts of monster stats in preparation of this day.
- Wine Nymphs
- Ruslaka
- The Awakened Golem
- Witch Monsters

I also talk a lot about monsters here as can be seen from my posts tagged Monsters.  Now it is natural to assume that I would want to talk about Witches today. Though honestly I don't see witches as monsters.  Witches are witches.   No in truth my favorite monsters are Vampires.

I have talked more about vampires than pretty much any other monster, maybe even all monsters combined. The vampire is our dark mirror of our times.  He can be plague and pestilence, or smooth killer, or even ersatz super-hero.  While Edward my not look a thing like Dracula or Count Orlock, he does share more than one quality with the likes of Lord Ruthven or Lestat.

My favorite of course is Dracula.  He can be suave, sexy and cool and then in a flash be violent and bloody; a rampaging monster.  He is the best of what is great about vampire literature and film.
I have talked a lot about Dracula and the subject never gets old to me.  Back in the day I had this folder that I had written "Project Dracula" on.  It was one of my first attempts at multi-stating a character for more than one system.  Near the end of the 90s I had worked him out in dozens of systems.

I would later go on to do the same thing for the real life Countess Erzsébet Báthory.  If I have written more about Dracula, Bathory wins in terms of shear number of visits to my site.  She fascinated me and horrified me at the same time.  I could not imagine the scope of her crimes or even how she got away with it all.  I guess in the end she didn't and she got her everlasting youth afterall.

I also spent a lot of time discussing the cheesy horror movie Vampyres. I will not lie, I enjoy the hel lout of this movie.  What I like about it is how the vampire has evolved yet again here to be victim and villain.   Likewise I have felt the same about Carmilla.

Looking around this blog I seem to have stated up more vampires than I have witches.  Oddly enough I have not played all that many games of Vampire. Either the original Vampire the Masquerade or the newer Vampire the Requiem.

If vampires are thing and you also like old-school gaming then might I suggest my free book, The Vampire Class.  You can play a vampire character in Basic Era games and it is 100% free and 100% compatible with my new  book The Witch.

So what about you all?  Do you like vampires? Why or why not? Share your thoughts below!

For me they are the ultimate in Halloween monsters.

MONSTROUS MONDAY

NOTE: Looking for the Entry Page for the WICKED AFTER DARK Bloghop? Click HERE!

Are you ready for the MONSTROUS MONDAY Blogfest?

Check out all the sites that have signed up.
Come back all day today for more MONSTROUS fun!

October Challenge: Army of Darkness (1992)

Army of Darkness (1992)

I debated doing this one too.  But it was a first time viewing for my kids, so I thought that made it ok.

I would say I forgot how much fun this one is, but I have seen it so many times now I have it memorized.
Great, fun. Some sorta-scary bits and a generally a great horror-comedy.

Puts me in the mood to see the new Evil Dead.













Tally: Watched 29, New 20

What are you watching?

Retrospectives

I have to admit. I really enjoy reading the Retrospectives over at Grognardia.
http://grognardia.blogspot.com/search/label/retrospective

James usually covers something I know, but every so often something comes up and I am seeing something new.  But in every case I learn something I didn't know before.

Here are some of my favorites:

• The Book of Marvelous Magic - I was looking for a copy of this at the auction, so this was the right thing at the right time.
• Authentic Thaumtaurgy -  Issac Bonewits was one of the first people I talked to on the Internet back in the old Bitnet days.  He was kind of a jerk.  But I liked this book.
• Dragon Dice- precious jewels!
• The Dying Earth - How I learned to love Vancian magic.
• Palace of the Vampire Queen - managed to score a copy of this.
• Alma Mater - this one too. One of the strangest games in my collection.
• Chill - again my love of Chill knows no bounds.
• Castle Amber - one of my most favorite adventures.
• Castle Greyhawk - I also own this one, and yes it is bad.  It is also deadly, maybe one of the deadliest dungeon  crawls to be published by TSR.  Yes. Even more deadly than Tomb of Horrors.  If I remember right CG features at least two elder vampires, three Death Knights, a couple of demon lords and everything but a Kitchen Sink Monster.
• Ravenloft - Still my favorite adventure ever.

I have used these retrospectives many times as a starting point to do more research for articles on Wikipedia or for my own benefit.

Zatannurday: Tower of Fate: Dr. Fate and Zatanna JL Unlimited Tribute

Reblogged from the Tower of Fate: 

Dr. Fate and Zatanna JL Unlimited Tribute

Great tribute video of Dr. Fate and Zatanna from the Justice League Unlimited television show by youtube user  Rikku.




A few other Zatanna links at Tower of Fate:
http://toweroffate.blogspot.com/2012/03/zatanna-as-dr-fate-from-young-justice.html
http://toweroffate.blogspot.com/2012/03/big-young-justice-episode-today.html
http://toweroffate.blogspot.com/2012/03/zatannadr-fate-animated-gifs.html
http://toweroffate.blogspot.com/2012/03/young-justice-episode-22-agendas.html

October Challenge: The Vampire Lovers (1970)

The Vampire Lovers (1970) & Lust for a Vampire (1971)

I debated on whether or not to do this one.  Obviously I have seen this movie many times given the postings I have made about it and the effects it has had on my game.  In fact it is second only to Dracula in terms of how much I have read and seen this.

I decided to sit down and watch it again, this time while listening to the audio commentary  since I had seen so many Carmilla-based movies this year.

Back in June of 2011 I mentioned how this movie is like a perfect storm for topics here at the Other Side.
Based on the original novel, it is Hammer, has Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing, Kata O'Mara, Pippa Steele and Madeline Smith, there is even a Faux Dracula (John Forbes-Robertson as Dracula looking exactly like he will look in Hammer's "Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires").

The movie is actually fairly close to the book.  Enough that if you read the book and see the movie you will notice more of similarities rather than the differences.

The movie should be familiar ground to any horror fan by now.  Young girl Emma makes a new friend, Carmilla, soon after another one of her friends dies.  Soon Emma begins to weaken and only do the men of the tale suspect that Carmilla may be to blame.  Vampire hunt follows.  This movie though somehow makes due with this simple story really.  I am giving it the benefit of the doubt of having been based on the work that created this kind of story; but the movie holds up rather well.  Even under repeated viewings I have not grown tired of it.

Now here there is no doubt that Carmilla is supposed to be evil.  She casually uses and tosses away Mdme. Perrodot (Kate O'Mara) and she did kill Laura (Pippa Steele) but yet to me there is something underneath all of this.  Carmilla is still a tragic figure.  She was damned, but maybe the least of the damned.  Not as much as in the novella, but it is there.

Now taken as part of the Hammer Karnstien Trilogy, this is obviously the best of the lot.  The others are good bloody fun, but there is a much better story here.  Also the characterization of Carmilla is much more nuanced here.  I also think that is due to a better story and better acting ability by Ingrid Pitt.  Again I am publicly calling for a new Carmilla movie.  I know that Styia is coming out next year, and it looks good, but I think I want a period piece again.

Also I feel I should comment on the poster.  WTF?  I am not sure what movie that poster is for but none of that happened in the movie.

I also decided to rewatch Lust for a Vampire (1971), the second movie of the Karnstien Trilogy.

It had been a long time since I had seen this one. I forgot about the overt Satanism, but it was Hammer in 71 so that is no surprise.  Mind you I don't mind that, it works for Dracula, but Carmilla?  I am not quite seeing it.  Now to be fair I DO see it for the Karnstiens as a family.  Let's be honest though, this is the least of this movies problems.

Once again we get a near-Christopher Lee as an almost-Dracula. Heck they actually used Chris' famous red eyes from Scars of Dracula.  This time he is in charge of the Satanic ritual that brings Carmilla/Mircalla back from the dead 40 years (1830, prime time for GoA) after the first movie.  Gone is the hair "color a rich very dark brown", Carmilla is now a blonde.  Maybe it was the peasant girl she ate.  BTW the Peasant Girl in this movie was the first vampire killed in TVL and one of the first "witches" burned in "ToE".

 The movie though goes downhill, story wise from here.  We get the involvement an author, Richard Lestrange (who's family will later go on to support the Dark Lord) who gets a job at a local girl's finishing school where Carmilla is now a student. It's an oldie but a goodie and I have used it myself.
The rest follows the well worn paths of Hammer lore.  People die, some people think there is a vampire, others don't. Compared with Vampire Lovers this one feels like the cast was still standing around after the last movie stopped so they decided to do another one.

With TVL and the book Carmilla, you felt that Carmilla was a victim of her circumstance as much as she was the villain. Here you don't get any of that nuance. In fact Carmilla is more interested in Lestrange than her roomate!  What is up with that?

This was not one of Hammer's better films.  What gets me the most is that there are a lot of good elements to this movie and some great ideas, just strung together rather poorly.


In a related movie I have seen, but not reviewed the related "Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter". That was an enjoyable film. (Not counting it for this Challenge)


Tally: Watched 28, New 20

Given the influence of this film, here is a links sections to other posts here.

• The Lesbian Vampire: Villain or Victim? Part 1
• The Lesbian Vampire: Villain or Victim? Part 2
• The Lesbian Vampire: Villain or Victim? Part 3, with Ghosts of Albion stats for Carmilla/Mircalla
• A Willow/Tara RPG adventure that borrows from Carmilla

Movies

• Ingrid Pitt as another Infamous Vampire in Hammer's Countess Dracula
• Vampyres
• Vampyr
• Blood and Roses
• Twins of Evil

Carmilla, by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (off site links)

• Gutenberg e-Text
• Librivox audio-book

What are you watching?

Witches and Protectors: John Dee

I am always very proud of the books I work on.  Whether it is a small amount or an entire book each one is pretty special to me.

So it is a rare treat when I can do something that covers multiple books.  It is even rarer when it happens to be these two books.

Ghosts of Albion		The Witch

I was going down my list of potential witches and I realized that one of the names stood out.  John Dee.

John Dee was a real person in Elizabethan times.

He is sort of what I had in mind when I created the Aquarian Tradition.
He also was the Protector of Albion.  That's not just me making that one up, that was part of the early conversations I had with Christopher Golden and Amber Benson about former Protectors.

I will keep his "known" background the same. His Occult background was that he was a witch/Protector that used the power of the stars, planets and other heavenly bodies to fight the enemies of Albion for his Queen.  He worked with Occult Poet William Shakespeare to protect Albion from evil witches, demonic forces and vile necromancers.  He guided Queen Elizabeth during her long and successful rule.
Most of the magical protections around Albion are a result of Dee's magic.

John Dee
20th Level Witch Aquarian Tradition
From  The Witch

Strength: 9
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 17
Wisdom: 18
Charisma: 16

Saves
Death Ray or Poison: 5
Magic Wands: 6
Paralysis: 5
Dragon Breath: 8
Rods, Staffs and Spells: 7

To Hit AC 0: 14

Hit Points: 42
Alignment: Lawful
AC: 8 (talisman of protection)

Occult Powers
Familiar: Angelic Spirit
7th level:  Astromancy
13th level:  Moon Blessing
19th level: Planetary Blessing

Spells 
Cantrips: Alarm Ward, Animate Tool, Dancing Lights, Ghost Sound, Object Reading, Warm
First: Comprehend Languages, Everlasting Candle, Fey Sight, Light, Magic Circle Against Evil, Consecration Ritual (Ritual)
Second: Augury, Detect Thoughts, Guard Watch, Mind Obscure, Rite of Remote Seeing, Calling the Quarters (Ritual)
Third: Astral Sense,  Dispel Magic, Scry, Spirit of Albion (Avalon), Imbue Witch Ball (Ritual)
Fourth: Analyze Magic, Divine Power, Ethereal Projection, Remove Curse, Drawing Down the Moon (Ritual)
Fifth: Calm Weather, Dream, Greater Command, Seeming
Sixth: Anchoring Rite, Greater Scry, True Seeing, Legend Lore (Ritual)
Seventh:  Ball of Sunshine, Greater Arcane Eye, Binding Ritual (Ritual)
Eighth: Astral Projection, Discern Location, Mystic Barrier

John Dee
Protector of Albion
Very Experienced Master
From Ghosts of Albion

Life Points
Drama Points 10

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

Qualities
Charisma
Contacts (Royal Family, Government) 4
Contacts (Supernatural) 5
Hard to Kill 2
Fast Reaction Time
Magic 10  (Protector of Albion)
Magical Family
Nerves of Steel
Occult Library (Amazing)
Resources 8
Situational Awareness
Supernatural Senses (the Sight)
Status 5

Drawbacks
Adversaries (Lots) 7
Honorable (Minimal)
Love, Romantic (Tragic) (Two wives)
Obligation (Albion, Important)
Obligation (Queen Elizabeth, Important)
Rivals 2

Useful Information
Initiative +2
Actions 1/2
Observation 1d10 + 12
Lesser Sensing +21
Fear +12

Skills
Armed Mayhem 2
Art 4
Athletics 2
Crime 1
Drive / Ride 1
Engineering 3
Fisticuffs 2
Influence 8
Knowledge 7 (Science, Mathematics, Astronomy)
Languages 7 (English, Italian, Latin, Greek, Egyptian, French, Enochian)
Marksmanship 2
Notice 6
Occultism 9
Physician 2
Wild Card

Combat

Maneuver	Bonus	Damage	Notes
Dodge / Parry	+4	-	Defense Action
Grapple	+4	-	Defense Action
Punch	+4	4	Bash
Magic	+24	per spell	Usually graphs a horoscope first
- Counterspell	+21	Special	Magic defense action; dispels spell
- Deflect	+24	Special	Deflects spell 45 degrees
- Hold	+23	Special	Magic defense action; delays spell SL turns
- Deflect	+18	Special	Magic defense action; returns spell to caster

Furious Friday!!

I have a lot going on today!  So let's get to it.

First a reminders about the MONSTROUS MONDAY Blogfest on Monday.
If you are participating you need to have your  image and link back here by Monday 12:01 AM CST.
I will be checking and sending out emails over the weekend.  You can still sign up after that time.

If you are not participating, then please stop by and see my post and visit all the sites.  If you are a gamer there will be a lot of great monsters for your use.  If you are not a gamer but are here as an author or horror fan then maybe there will be something here to influence you!

I am still in the middle of the WICKED AFTER DARK Blogfest.  Please visit these sites to win something cool.  Every site is giving away something, usually a book, but I have seen all sorts of things.

I am giving away a PDF copy of The Witch!  Go to my sign-up page for a chance to win!  I opened up some more options for you to get some entries.

So not only can you win some cool prizes and visit some site outside the normal OSR Blog Realms, but you can win a copy of the Witch for your self!

If you don't want to enter you can still purchase a copy of the Witch on your own.  It is on sale now for $5.00 at DriveThruRPG / RPGNow.  A little bit later today or this weekend I am going to go into some of the history of this project.

DriveThru is in the Halloween mood as well, so don't forget their Halloween sales. Look for the pumpkin to get your own Halloween treat!

Finally I am still participating in the October Challenge.  I have seen a bunch of horror films at will be talking about them every night.