30 Years Later The White Queen's Revenge

Got my copy of Gygax #4 in the mail the other day. Most striking of course is the cover by Den Beauvais.
Den contributed to some of the best covers for Dragon including the series of Chess themed covers that this is the fifth part of.

 

 

While exciting and full of great geek-fueled nostalgia, I fear that Gygax Magazine runs the risk of been only compared to early to mid 80s Dragon.

Sure. I enjoyed Dragon then. I still like picking up issues for then and rereading them looking for something I missed the first time.   While Gygax is new and covers new games it hasn't really done anything to pull it away from it's roots.

And maybe that is fine.  I enjoy Gygax Mag for the same reasons I enjoyed Dragon back in the day.
I think though now with the first four quarterly issues out it is a good time for Gygax to find it's own voice. Do something extra to make this their own.

Gygax Magazine #1
Gygax Magazine #2
Gygax Magazine #3
Gygax Magazine #4

Healers in Old School D&D

I was going through some old materials the other day while working Strange Brew and found my notes on the Healer class.

That got me thinking and I dug up my 1st Ed AD&D characters and found my character Celene (enspired by this bit of Elmore art).  She was a Healer. Not a Cleric. Also she was my first 2nd character. Stuffed into the wrong folder I guess.

The healer I used back then was an odd mix of materials I had written for the witch, a necromancer class that no one has seen and the Sun Priest.
They all related in a weird way.

I tended to use Clerics more as the Occult Researchers of D&D.  If it was an evil monster then they knew about it.

So healers, even pacifist ones, had more to do in my games.

Did any of you use Healers as a seperate class? If so how did it work out for you? Did they have awesome 80s hair?

Quandary: Convert or Not

I am reading over these new 5th Edition rules and they are nice.
I mean really nice.

It's really like a "Best of D&D", all the things I liked about the past editions, built on top of Basic D&D and in a pretty package.

But I don't have the time to run more games.  I have to wrap up my 3e game and my kids are playing in a 1st ed game.  Both are what I want using the system I want.

I am considering converting my AD&D game over to 5e.  I think I am going to wait for the Players Handbook.  Others have suggested I just run a new 5e game.  Personally I am trying to get my son to run a game or two.

What are your plans? Is anyone converting a current game over to 5e?

Owl & Weasel Wednesday #1 February 1975

"Issue no. 1; preserve this copy carefully! Who knows, the very piece of paper you know hold between your fingers may become a rarity, its value soaring to 1 3/4 times its present cost!"

So that would put it at 17.5 p now?  Could not find a listing on eBay but I figure it must worth more than that.

This of course is the premier issue of Owl & Weasel, the precursor to White Dwarf.  Published February 1975 this actually makes it older than The Strategic Review (the precursor to The Dragon) by a couple of months.

The newsletter is dedicated to 'progressive games'.  But also mentioned are abstract games, psychological games and even computer games.  An interesting description of what would become our hobby.

In these four pages we have a review of "Killer" and a Monopoly variant "Dipoploly".  There is a discussion between editors Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson on wargamming.
But mostly it is a call for more content.

I missed the 'zine era by a few years.  Sure when I got to college there were still some local publications that were zine format, mostly sci-fi/fantasy ones, but they were rare even then.
While the feel is the same a say a blog post or web zine of today, the attention seems different.   I can put anything I like up with zero cost.  Sometimes it is good, sometimes...well you get you paid for.   Here, at 10p an issue I expect that more care and attention was put into the publication.  After all the editors only had 4 pages to work with and wanted to be sure their best material went in.

I am looking forward to see how this Zine and the Hobby develop over the next 25 issues.

Just Play the Damn Game

I had this long-ish rant about the latest tempest in a tea pot internet battle about various parts of the new D&D5 game.

I decided to delete the whole thing instead. Why? Internet "battles" are stupid. Sure I have done my fair share. Hell there have been times I have been on the front line screaming for (virtual) blood.

But man, they get old fast.

The biggest reason of all. 90% of the people who buy this game don't care about this, don't know the people involved, and it has 0% chance of changing their buying decisions.

For once I am going to listen to the advice that had been tossed back a me for so long. I am ignoring it.

So give me my dice and let me pretend to be an elf in peace.  Oh. And get off my lawn.

D&D 5 Starter and Basic Sets

Well unless you have been living in a cave for the last few days, or on a mini-vacation, the newest game to bear the name "Dungeons & Dragons" hit the stores and the net.

I picked up my Starter Set on Thursday and downloaded the Basic set (book?) the same day.

For starters I am SOOOO glad that "Next" has been dropped.  This is just "D&D".  I am glad about that since it puts it firmly back in the camp of D&D games.  This is not something different or "next" but the game we have been playing all this time.

I have not read much of it to be honest, but what I have read I like.
So far this feels like a "best of" D&D.  Taking the things that worked well from previous editions and bringing them together with some new ideas.

The saving throws are back and make more sense now. Honestly we have seen this in games like Spellcraft & Swordplay and Castles & Crusades.  4e-like conditions are back. I have not seen "bloodied" or anything similar yet, but I am sure something like it is there.

I like the Advantage and Disadvantage mechanic.  In fact it really is a nice addition to any single die game (such as Unisystem's d10). I will have to give it a try in my AD&D 1 game I have going now.

The feel of the game is very much old-school and it has all the trappings of old-school as well.

Box, Books, Dice (or chits) and Adventure.

But yet it also feels unfinished.  I am sure that is intentional; we still need the PHB and DMG to properly run this game.  But in truth I have enough background in all the other games to mentally fill in the gaps.  Plus I can see where things can or might be slotted in.  This is the part where we have 3e like feats, or this is the part where we have 4e style combat or powers.

Personally I am excited for this game in how it will help me run my current games.
It is very much like a Rosetta Stone for translating between editions.  Sure, this is something I did on the fly anyway, but something was always lost to accommodate the system being translated to.  Save or Die sorts of modules are more difficult with the mechanics in 4e.  4e monsters tend to be much more powerful than their 1st ed or 3e counterparts and so on.    This feels like a nice middle ground.

The idea that comes to mind right away is to play the 4e HPE modules using these rules and supplementing the 1st Ed H-series (Bloodstone) for the massive "let's go kill Orcus" game I wanted to do under 4e.   Though I admit I am selfish and don't want to leave 1st ed right now.

But I do rather like the 3e style multiclassing that 5e offers.

The game is not all perfect mind you.  I am not thrilled with the new XP to next level tables.  Frankly 300 xp to level 2 is a bit too little.  I might take a page from Holmes/Moldvay and give XP out for gold and increase the amounts to something closer to 3e.  I think I might have to figure out if there is really a difference between the editions.  I have read somewhere that one of the design goals was to be able to level up faster.  That might be true.

The other thought I had was that this game will displace or replace OSR games or Pathfinder.
I can see this selling better than 4e as word of mouth gets passed around and I can see it doing better than Pathfinder.  But Pathfinder fans are loyal to their brand. Plus D&D 5 is pretty much the opposite of "one true wayism" so people might take it's "play how you like" approach at face value and keep playing what they have been.

I haven't even decided if I am going to switch or not to be honest.

Zatannurday: Bloodspell

I finally got around to reading the new Zatanna/Black Canary graphic novel Bloodspell.  In short. No one writes Zatanna as well as Paul Dini.


Bloodspell was not what I expected it to be and that is a good thing.  I knew the idea behind bringing these two together was an off the cuff remark by Dini years ago about doing a Zatanna/Black Canary story that he was jokingly referred to as "Trouble in Fishnets".  But this was so much more than that.

The eponymous "Bloodspell" is only a plot device (though it is a good one, more later) to tell the real story.  The story about two very different kinds of women and their long friendship.

When we first see the characters in the book Zatanna is a 12 year old sorceress in training.  Nice cameos here by her father AND mother.  She meets 16 year old Dinah on the top of Mt. Everest.  Zatanna floated up, Dinah climbed. Both to prove they could do it.

We fast forward a number of years to Dinah/Black Canary foiling a heist while undercover. She defeats the baddie, but soon all the members of the heist start dropping dead. Canary takes her concerns to Zee and they discover that Canary is under a Blood curse.    I'll leave it at that since I don't want to spoil the reading.

Like I said though the Bloodspell takes a backseat to the real story. The friendship between Zee and Dinah.  We are treated to a number of "insider" jokes (Green Arrow not having a car anymore because Batman made fun of it) and cameos of Superman, Plasticman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman and of course Green Arrow and Zatara. Plus there are some great scenes too. Zee animating the Black Canary and Green Arrow action figures (all profits of the sales of official JL merchandise go to help the children hurt by super-villains), to Canary mentioning that "the Hawks speak very highly" of Zee (a nod to Zatanna's first appearance in the pages of Hawkman. To what is a good reason for Ollie not to bring expensive glass vases of flowers to Dinah's apartment.

We also get to see via flashbacks important milestones in the friendship of Zee and Dinah.  Zee's first trip to the Watchtower thanks to Dinah (featuring their older costumes) and Zee and Dinah (with Wonder Woman and Plastic Man) battling Granny Goodness and her Female Furies. Also with costumes appropriate to the publishing time.

No one gets Zatanna quite like Paul Dini. This in not the new 52 DC, this is classic DCU and Paul Dini has Zatanna's voice down so well he can make us really feel for her at these different points in her life. He can do powerful Zatanna, stage magician Zatanna and even starry eyed fan girl Zatanna on her first trip to the Watchtower.   Equally he shows us a great evolution of Black Canary from "Loud Mouthed Girl" to founding member of the Justice League.

But just like this is not just Zee's story, it is also not just Paul Dini's.  The illustrations from Joe Quinones bring this to life.  Teenage Zee and Dinah are adorable and quickly sets the stage for how different they are.  The short hair-perm of Zee on the Watchtower easily makes you think that this is still a very young hero.
Quinones has been showing off his work on his blog for a number of months, but one of the real treats with the book are all the sketches in back (with Dini's original script) that show how this project evolved under the creative talents of both men.

For those that are curious does Bloodspell pass the Bechdel Test? This is fair to ask since the book does feature two female leads.  Briefly the test of the media is:
1) Two named female characters
2) who talk to each other
3) about something other than a man.

Bloodspell is passed this test in the first few pages and then went on to pass it over and over again.  Zee and Black Canary are fully realized characters with names. Who spend pages talking to each other on every sort of topic to who gets the money from licensed products, to Zee's tiger, to whether or not stores should give them a bulk-discount on fishnets, to basically recalling years of friendship and kicking evil's ass.  The two main men in their lives are either dead (Zatara) or sidelined (Ollie Queen).  Important to them, but not to this story so much.
It also passes the Mako Mori Test, as both characters have arcs. Well Canaray's arc is more relevant to the story at hand.

Honestly there is nothing I didn't like about Bloodspell.  Black Canary was one of my first super-girl crushes and I have always loved Zatanna.  Paul Dini is a master at his craft and no one can do Zee better.  Quinones is also a master, but in a more subtle way that makes you check every panel to make sure you didn't miss something important.

The story has been described as feeling like it was taken out of the Justice League Unlimited series.  I can totally see that. It actually shares a number of similarities with the Batman the Animated Series episode "Zatanna".

I hope against hope that this is not the only chapter in the adventures of this Dynamic Duo. But it nearly took us 8 years for this one, I hope more won't be as long.

Skylla: Dragon Magazine #114

The first witch class that many people remember the best is the very good Dragon Mag #114 version.
It was the first one I remember seeing and using.  Chances are if you ran into someone playing a witch anytime after 1986 then they were using this class.  Interesting that it was designed as an NPC class.
It was another update to the venerable witch from Dragon Mags #5, #20 and #43.  While issue #43 had a great deal of information, Dragon #114 is known for the art. There was controversial cover and the use of Larry Elmore art as one of the witches.   It was this issue that set the desire in my mind to have Elmore art in one of my books one day.

Like issues #5 and #20, Skylla seems to be a good fit for this witch.  Like those witches the prime abilities for this witch are Intelligence and Wisdom.   Charisma is still important since it determines the witch's starting gold.
The amount of magical powers this witch gets is much less though.  Some the power don't really make a lot of sense, like a find familiar ability at 10th level.
Spells are more inline with the other spell casters.
Like most AD&D spell casters the witch starts out weak, but soon grows to be very powerful.  Maybe too powerful for some games to be honest.

Skylla from Dragon #114
Again I am making her 7th level.  If I had to name a Tradition for her it would absolutely be the High Secret Order Tradition.

Not exactly Skylla, but really close

Skylla, 7th Level Witch "Mystic" (Dragon #114)
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 14* (bonus 2 1st level spells)
Wisdom: 13*
Charisma: 12

Hit Points:  20
Alignment: Neutral Evil
AC: 4 (Ring of Protection +1)

Powers
1st level: none
2nd level: none
3rd level: Brew poisons & narcotics
4th level: Brew truth drug
5th level: Brew love potion
6th level: Manufacture potions & scrolls
7th level: Candle magic

Spells 
First: Charm Man I, Darkness, Detect Poison, Give Wounds, Light, Magic Disk, Sleep
Second: Detect Invisiblity, Locate Object, ESP
Third: Calm, Lightning bolt
Fourth: Levitate

Magic Items
Ring of Protection +1, Dagger +1, Staff of Enchantment, Skull of Death**

Of course I am pleased with this build but that is no surprise.   I played a "Dragon 114" witch till she was about 10th level and then rolled up a "Mayfair Witch", but that is a post for another day.

Interview / Round table Discussion at Aethercon

Here is a interview / round table discussion I did last month for AetherCon.

We spend a lot of time talking about Strange Brew but we talk for about an hour and half so we hit a lot of topics.



I really should have put a light on. It is kind of hard to see me.

So have a watch! Learn more about Strange Brew.

Ghosts of Albion: Carcosa

"Every good story begins with a death." - Amber Benson

So I have had this terrible, terrible idea.

I want to run a Ghosts of Albion adventure set in the Reconstruction-era South. I am going to borrow heavily from sources like "True Detective", "Salem" and of all things "Little House on the Prairie" (trust me here).

So the basic plot is that the characters leave their typical English environs for America at the behest of a friend.  A girl has been ritually murdered in an otherwise quiet, hard working American town.  Upon investigation they discover a wide ranging cult of some of the town's most powerful men and the ritual that will take them to place known as Carcosa.

Following in the footsteps of TD I am not sure yet if Carcosa will be a real place or not. It doesn't have to be. There is plenty horror here without the need of things beyond the stars.  But given that this is a Ghosts of Albion game there will be some supernatural elements.

If it works out half as nice as I think it will I could really run it under any Victorian system. From the stark hyper-realism of Victoria to magic in the shadows of Cthulhu by Gaslight to the steam/magic-punk world of Victoriana.

White Dwarf Wednesdays? Sure!

Today is Wednesday.  That used to mean something around here at the Other Side.  I spent a nice long time reviewing White Dwarf from issue 1 to 100.

I missed doing something special each Wednesday to be honest.

Thanks to a kind benefactor I now have 25 issues of Games Workshop's precursor to White Dwarf, Owl and Weasel.

Owl and Weasel was launched in 1975 and was aimed at War-, board- and role-playing game enthusiasts.
Issue #6 is often considered their watershed issue where they devoted the entire issue to the new Dungeons & Dragons game.

The title was always a bit of mystery. Most people believe that it referred to the editors, Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, themselves.   I personally have never heard a definitive answer, but that is fine. I like the name.

So sit back and over the next 25 weeks I am going to briefly go over these issues.  Not a review so much as a looking for topics that interest me and readers of this blog.

Summer Cleaning

So making some cosmetic changes here at the ole' Other Side.

I moved my Kickstarter applet lower on the screen so people can still see it, but make room for my social media buttons.

I also have a great summer themed banner from old friend from the Kitten Board, Willow Ehrenreich.
Yes that is Willow and Tara up there. Yes I think it's cool.  Here is her untouched copy.

I like symbolism to be honest. Tara under the tree, Willow on a rock.  Fits well with how I have been running these characters for the last 12 years.

Posting might be light this summer.  Working hard on Strange Brew and other projects.  But don't worry.  I am not going anywhere.  In fact I have something special in mind for tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Best of the Best

I am very pleased to have replaced my lost Best of The Dragon vol. 1.

As you see my Vol. II is a little worse for the wear.

I loved these growing up. Even though some of the articles were only a few years old when they got into these "Best of"s they seemed like some lost artifact of a bygone age.

Gygax's first details of what has come to be known as the Great Wheel cosmology was and still fascinating reading.  Sure I had already seen it a 1000 times in the Player's Handbook but here and in color no less was a rare treat.

The famous (or infamous) "How Green was my Mutant" was the article that got me interested in Gamma World more than anything else.

Here are also reprints of the first versions of the Illusionist and the Witch.  Not to mention a different version of the Bard class and the original version of the Ranger.

I am struck with the overall feel of the magazine. It reminds me what I loved the most about old-school gaming and gaming back in the day; the complete DIY feel of everything.   Granted there was a lot more undefined areas back then.

Still. I love reading this old stuff. I love my Dragon magazine CD-Rom set, but holding on to the actual old mags is really nice.

New Monster: Web Witch

Today is my mom's birthday.

Why should you care?  Well it was my mom that introduced me to the weird world of sci-fi, horror and the macabre.   Her idea of a bedtime story was telling about a haunted schoolhouse where the floors still were stained with the blood of two boys that killed each other in a knife fight.  Or of a man who was so sick of his nagging wife that he chopped her up and buried her in the garden, only to have the flowers grow with her face on them.  She introduced me to Dark Shadows and "documentaries" on Bigfoot and Atlantis.  Though to be fair I think my dad introduced me to the Twilight Zone and I know my love of bad horror movies comes from him.

So here is a creature she had to share with me last week.  It works well for D&D but I think she had more of a pulp feel for this.

Albino Spider by Mooki003

Web Witch

	Human Form	Spider Form
Armor Class:	8 [11]	5 [14]
Hit Dice:	3*+2 (15 hp)	3*+12 (25 hp)
No. of Attacks:	1 poison dagger	1 bite
Damage:	1d6 + Poison	2d6 + Poison
Special:	Magic, see below	Invisibility
Movement:	30'	20' Web 40'
No. Appearing:	1	1
Save As:	Witch 3	Fighter 3
Morale:	8	10
Treasure Type:	Special	Special
Alignment:	Chaotic	Chaotic
XP:	160	185

The web witch is a female humanoid that can also take the form of a huge spider.  Not a lycanthrope, the web witch can shift between forms once per round as often as she likes.  In her human form she appears as a smallish woman (possibly of elf decent) with very pale skin, long white hair and eyes with a reddish tinge.  She will typically wear a long black dress or gown that appears to be made of silk. It is, but her own spider silk.  When in human form she can be mistaken for a vampire.  Despite the ability to use witch magic a web witch cannot form a coven with other web witches. Though it is speculated that she may be able to do so with other witches and/or hags.
In her human form she use magic as a 2nd level witch including the use of magic items usable by a witch.  GMs should pick out which spells the web witch has access to.
In her spider form she appears as a huge white spider with red eyes.  When sitting in her web she can make herself and the web invisible until touched.  The web itself is made up of stick long black strands of spider silk.  The web witch can move about in spider form invisible as per the invisibility spell. She can speak in this form, but not use magic.
A favored tactic of the web witch is to pretend to be a damsel in distress and lead a party of adventures into her maze of webs where she can shift form and feed on them.  She will keep any treasures she can find including magic items, but items such as swords, armor or other weapons she will discard, magical or not.
Once per year a web witch will capture a humanoid male for breeding. Three months later she will lay a clutch of eggs. She injects a different poison into the male to paralyze him and place the clutch in his mouth.  After one month the clutch will hatch and 10-100 (10d10) baby web witches will devour the male from the inside out.  The hungry web witches will then turn on each other til only about dozen survive (2d6). They will reach maturity in one year and transform to their human shape for the first time.

The silk of a web witch is much prized by wizards as a superior ingredient for their web spells. Creatures need to have a Strength of 15 or higher or be 6 HD or higher to break free.
The venom of the web witch is also valued.

There is no known relationship between the web witch and the fabled Queen of Spiders or the Dark Elves.

There are rumors of more powerful web witches that can use even greater witch magic.

"Web Witch" is copyright 2014 Timothy S. Brannan.
All monsters stats and text below is considered OPEN under the guidelines of the OGL.

Zatannurday: Ivy95 Cosplay

It's SUMMER! The first day of summer in fact.
Summer means a lot of things, but around here it means Cons and Cosplay!  So let's start up the summer with great Zee cosplays.

https://twitter.com/Ivy_Pole
https://www.facebook.com/IvetteCosplay
http://ivy95.deviantart.com/
http://instagram.com/ivy95



Zatanna by Ivy95 on deviantART


Zatanna by Ivy95 on deviantART


Cheers!! by Ivy95 on deviantART


Getting ready for the last hour of the year! :D by Ivy95 on deviantART


Zatanna by Ivy95 on deviantART

New Interview up

I know this is akin to phoning it in, but I have a new interview up at a new blog Otyugh Talk.

http://otyughtalk.blogspot.com/2014/06/interview-4-timothy-brannan-ghosts-of.html

Check it out and give this new blog a look as well.

All Work and No Play...

Is exactly the week I am having.
Hopefully something intelligent, witty and thoughtful soon.

OR maybe just my usual stuff.

Character Writeup Page updated

So I have something like a 1000 things to do, but to help clear out my head I updated my Character writeups page.
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/p/characters-and-builds.html

They are sorted by character or property. One day I really need to sort them by game system too.

Until then here is a list of the systems I have used to stat up these characters.  Maybe there is something you like here.

4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons
AD&D  1st Ed.
Adventures Dark & Deep
Adventures in Oz RPG
Amazing Adventures
Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
B/X Companion
Barbarians of Lemuria
BASH
Basic D&D
BECMI + Glantri Gazetteer
Big Eyes, Small Mouth (BESM) 2r
Big Eyes, Small Mouth (BESM) 3.0
C. J. Carella's WitchCraft RPG
Cartoon Action Hour, Season 2
Cartoon Action Hour, Season 3
Castles & Crusades
Chill, 1st Edition (Pacesetter)
Chill, 2nd Edition
Cinematic Unisystem
Cortex
Cortex Plus (Smallville)
DC Adventures
DC Heroes (Mayfair)
Dirty Nellie
Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space
Ghosts of Albion
Icons
Marvel Heroic Roleplay
Meddling Kids
Mutants and Masterminds, 2nd Edition
Mutants and Masterminds, 3rd Edition
OVA
Pathfinder
Quest of the Ancients
Savage Worlds
Spellcraft & Swordplay
Superbabes
Supers Unleashed
True20
Victoria RPG
Victoriana
Villains & Vigilantes
Witch Girls Adventures

40+. Not too bad.
Would love to throw a few more into that mix.

If you throw in my Willow & Tara page then I can add these too:

C.J. Carella's WitchCraft
Amazing Adventures
BASH!
Big Eyes, Small Mouth, 2ndEdition
Big Eyes, Small Mouth, 3rd Edition
Big Eyes, Small Mouth d20 (and SAS d20)
Call of  Cthulhu
Cartoon Action Hour, Season 2
Chill
Cortex
d20 Modern
DC Heroes (Mayfair)
Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space
Fudge / Now Playing
Icons
Kult
Macho Women with Guns (Original and d20)
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying (Cortex+)
Mutants and Masterminds, 2nd Edition
Mutants and Masterminds, 3rd Edition
OVA
Savage Worlds
Slasher Flick: Director's Cut
Superbabes: The Femforce RPG
True20 / Blue Rose
Villains & Vigilantes
Witch Girls Adventures
World of Darkness (old)
World of Darkness (new)

Any system you would like to see me try next?
Any character you would like me to try next?

The Spirit of '76

With all the talk last week of Chill and Pacesetter games it got me thinking again about this Chill/Cryptworld/Majus game I have been wanting to run.

It is set in the summer of 1976. July 1st to be precise.  The characters are all old acquaintances; possibly all S.A.V.E. envoys who had worked together in the past.  They have all been drawn to New York to stop something from happening.

I want to do it "24 style", that is intense adventures over a relative short space in time.  Basically four or five days.  I am not sure what it will be like yet but I do know that it has to have a few things:

- Take advantage of 70s tropes. Disco, the birth of Punk Rock, "Frampton Comes Alive" playing on every radio, drugs, NY street gangs and the like.  Plus have to do a bunch with 70s occultism.
- Have something to do with the American Bicentennial.
- Give it a 70s Hammer Horror feel. When Hammer moved away from the historical and "Hammer Hamlet" movies to more modern takes.
- Ideally I would LOVE to include a vampire.  Chill Vampires is one of my all time favorite books. Having a vampire in it would really be fun.
- Given the title there should at least be one ghost.

Now I have a Mutants & Masterminds idea I have been knocking around about Dracula in the 1970s. But I also see where using Elizabeth Bathory would be fun.

I have no end of good ideas, I just need to tie them together into a workable mini-campaign or long 5 part adventure.  If I get it all together it would make for a Gen Con game.

Maleficent for Basic Games

Last weekend was my birthday and I got a chance to go out and see Maleficent.
I liked it.  I thought Angelina Jolie did a great job (if maybe a little hammy) and there were some great moments with some good lines.   I thought the denouement was both welcome and interesting.

I know people had some issues with the changes to story and character, but honestly if you want to see "Sleeping Beauty" then go watch Sleeping Beauty.

What I have here is a cross between both her portrayals. The idea that reality lies somewhere in between.  I think she is rather obviously a Faerie Tradition witch.

Maleficent, either version, is still one of my favorite characters.

Maleficent
The Witch stats for Basic Era Games
14th level Witch, Faerie Tradition

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

Saves
Death Ray or Poison:  9/7
Magic wand or devices: 10
Paralysis, Polymorph or Turn to Stone: 9
Dragon Breath: 12
Rods, Staffs and Spells: 11


To hit AC 0: 16

Hit Points: 70
Alignment: Chaotic (in Advanced games she varies between Chaotic Good, Chaotic Evil and Chaotic Neutral)
AC: 5 (Ring protection)

Occult Powers
Familiar:  Raven (+2 to Death related saves) "Diaval"
7th level:  Speak to Plants and Animals
13th level: Fey Shape (She can grow wings)
Like all Faerie Witches Maleficent takes extra damage from items made of cold iron.

Spells 
Cantrips: Chill, Daze, Detect Curse, Object Reading, Open, Sound
First: Bad Luck, Cause Fear, Silver Tongue, Sleep, Speak with Animals
Second: Bewitch II, Burning Gaze, Evil Eye, Rose Garden
Third: Bestow Curse, Fly, Improved Faerie Fire, Scry
Fourth: Arcane Eye, Intangible Cloak of Shadows, Polymorph
Fifth: Death Curse, Endless Sleep, False Vision
Sixth: Geas, Wall of Roses
Seventh:  Maze, Hell Hath No Fury*

New Ritual Spell

Hell Hath No Fury
Level: Witch Ritual 7
Witches Required: 1
Range: One Creature
Duration: Permanent
The ritual, Hell Hath No Fury, is a rare ritual in that only one witch is required to cast it, but the situations in which it can be cast are also rare.  The witch lay a devastating curse on an individual who has someone personally harmed the witch in some way.  The harm isn't as simple as an attack, the offense must be a great one such as murdering the witch's family or lover, breaking the witch's heart with the promise of true love or spurning the affections of the witch for another.  Typically only one such person in the witch's lifetime would fit the requirements.  The witch then takes all her anger, rage and sorrow and pours it into this curse.  The witch may affect the person responsible or a member of that person's family.  The choice of victim and the curse is directly tied to insult done to the witch herself.
Once the curse is laid then it can only be broken under very specific circumstances either dictated by the witch or somehow related to original hurt to the witch.  This curse can not be broken via a remove curse, wish, dispel magic or similar enchantments.  The witch herself can not break the curse either.

Examples would be Maleficent's curse on Aurora or Maria Owens curse on her own family in Practical Magic.

Section 15 OGL Statement
The new witch ritual "Hell Hath No Fury" is considered Open for the terms of the OGL.
"Hell Hath No Fury" Witch Ritual, Copyright 2014 Timothy S. Brannan.

Zatannurday: Cosplay special!

It's SUMMER! The first day of summer in fact.
Summer means a lot of things, but around here it means Cons and Cosplay!  So let's start up the summer with great Zee cosplays.




Anime Banzai 2013-007 by fujifangirl75 on deviantART


Mistress of Magic by gillykins on deviantART


Time for The Show by ArienReign on deviantART


Gotham Girls Photoshoot by MishyMisheru on deviantART


Zatanna by UndiciSmaug on deviantART


Nightwing and Zatanna Cosplay - DC Comics by SylunaHirokashi on deviantART


Demons worry when the wizard is near by S-Lancaster on deviantART


Zatanna Zatara - Otakon 2012 by mariegreycosplay on deviantART


It s a kind of magic by Ikari-Gendo on deviantART


Zatanna by Ivy95 on deviantART


Zatanna 02 by RyuuPhotoAlchemy on deviantART


Zatanna at wondercon by HobbesTCat on deviantART


Zatanna and Batman by Aquamaureen13 on deviantART


Zatanna Cosplay by Daisy-Cos on deviantART


Yay, it's me:) Zatanna cosplay by cosplayerotica on deviantART


Gotham party/backstage by BazingaCosplay on deviantART


Zatanna Zatara Cosplay by Aicosu on deviantART


Zatanna Cosplay by pinknekophile on deviantART


zatanna DC cosplay injustice by GhiandaiaCosplay on deviantART


Zatanna Zatara by emokittylover23 on deviantART


Zatanna - Dc Comics by Daisy-Cos on deviantART


Zatanna at Mago's Magic Shoppe by zeraphie on deviantART


What do you want to tell me? by revien-fiennes on deviantART

Skylla: Adventures Dark & Deep witch

I had planned on doing a Skylla write-up today, but for a different system.  But given that +Joseph Bloch is running a sale this weekend, I think it would be better to use his witch.

I reviewed his witch a while back and I enjoyed it even if there are couple things I didn't like about it. But it is still a fun class and I have enjoyed it.

So here is Skylla using The Darker Paths 2: The Witch and the Adventures Dark and Deep RPG.

Skylla
CE Female Human
Witch 7

Abilities
STR: 9
INT: 11
WIS: 15
DEX: 11
CON: 10
CHA: 12* (initial)/5 current

Saving Throws
Paralyzation, Poison, Death: 7
Petrification, Polymorph: 10
Rod, Staff, Wand: 11
Breath Weapon: 13
Spells: 12
+1 to Magical attack saves

Special Abilities (class)
Spell casting
Create Magic Items
Bell, Book & Candle
Brew Poison
Call Familiar (Quasit)
Charisma degradation
Limited to 13th level
Wisdom Bonus Spells (2 1st, 1 2nd)

Secondary Skills
Alchemy

HP: 13
AC: 6 (Bracers)

Spells
1st: Charm Person or Mammal, Detect Magic, Infravision, Protection from Good, Witch Shot, Wither
2nd: Blight Field, Command, Magic Broom, Misfortune, Wizard Lock
3rd: Bestow Curse,  Hand of Glory, Magic Missile
4th: Polymorph Self, Sleep
5th: Season of the Witch

Skylla is a good fit for his style of witch i think. I would have to play more to be sure.  Limiting her to 13th level might the fit the narrative I have for her. She would later go on to take more mage classes.

BRW Games Summer Solstice Sale

I make no secret of my enjoyment of Joseph Bloch's, aka The Greyhawk Grognard's, work.
I enjoy his blog, his games and frankly he has helped tremendously in improving the perception that OSR-based Kickstarters are always late.

So it is my pleasure then to let you all know about his first, and maybe only sale.
All his products (and there is a lot there for a one-man shop) are on sale.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse.php?manufacturers_id=3728&affiliate_id=10748

Everything from Castle of the Mad Archmage to Adventures Dark & Deep his "what if" 2nd edition game.

Stop by and pick something up.  Honestly I say grab something, anything, if for no other reason than to tell Joseph that he is doing a good job and sales are appreciated.

Here are some of the books I have reviewed here and really enjoy:
A Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore
Adventures Dark and Deep Players Manual
Adventures Dark and Deep Game Masters Toolkit
Adventures Dark and Deep Bestiary
Darker Paths 1: The Necromancer
Darker Paths 2: The Witch

Universal Horizons: Naïve or Patent Trolls?

There is has been a lot of talk in gaming circles about Universal Horizons and their attempt to patent an RPG mechanic.

You can find most of the details here:
http://www.bedroomwallpress.com/2014/06/patent-trolling-comes-to-rpgs.html
http://www.bedroomwallpress.com/2014/06/following-up-on-patent-issue.html

And here is their patent application:
http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=20140038722.PGNR.

Now as is it read it is vague on what "Game 1" and "Game2" could be and some people are claiming that this patent could be used to convert from different games instead of the games within Universal Horizons' own catalog.

Also there is the fear of what happens if the patent is bought by someone else. You see it all the time in the tech market.

I don't have much more to add to this, outside of my realm of expertise, but I do know I have been converting from games to other games for years and have been posting about them for years too.

So then in my efforts to give back, here is my "super secret" method of converting and the tool I used to do it.  My "All Conversions" excel sheet.  I figured out the math and works for me. Let me know if you see ways to improve it.
https://app.box.com/s/ooffm0xcqwgy82ufnlip
You can also download this sheet from my Downloads area.

Guest Post over at The Insecure Writer's Support Group

I have a guest post over at The Insecure Writer's Support Group today.

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

I talk about game writing but also how we various "Masters" to serve while writing.  Just doing my own little bit of community outreach.

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/2014/06/the-art-of-writing-for-games-serving.html

Stop by and check it out.

A Chill in the air

It has just been announced that Growling Door Games has just purchased the rights to classic horror RPG Chill.

Here is their press release:

For Immediate Release: 6-13-2014

Growling Door Games Acquires License For Chill RPG

US Roleplaying Game Publisher Brings Back Classic Horror Game

 Cleveland, OH: Today, Growling Door Games, Inc. is proud to announce that they have entered into a licensing agreement with Martin Caron, the owner of the Chill RPG. The agreement gives Growling Door Games the English-language rights to publish the Chill RPG core book and supplementary materials for that game, setting the stage for a new release of a classic property that helped make horror gaming a staple of the RPG landscape.

 Matthew McFarland, President of Growling Door Games, said, “We’re thrilled to bring such a classic of horror gaming back to print. Chill has a great history of success in the market. There’s been a lot of enthusiasm for the game even during its long stint out of print, and we hope both those fans and new ones will enjoy our revival of Chill.”

Growling Door Games is planning on releasing the new core book for Chill, 3rd Edition in August 2015, with a Kickstarter in late summer 2014 to launch the project. The initial release of the core book will be as a full-sized hardcover, available in both print and PDF.

Now I have been a fan of Chill for a very long time.  I even participated in Otherworlds Creations own Chill 3.0 playtests. A quickstart was produced after years of work but soon disappeared after dispute over who owned Chill came up.  Also, all the Mayfair Chill products have been transferred to Martin Caron on DriveThruRPG.

I also wonder what this means for Goblinoid Games and their line of Pacesetter books, especially Cryptworld their Chill clone.

Of course, I will be following this one closely.

Summer Reading

School is out for my kids and we did our annual Summer Reading purchases.  We head out to a couple of different bookstores and get books for all summer.

My youngest has some books assigned to him by the school so that was pretty much his choice.  My oldest is going to read the Dragonlance Chronicles.  He is 14 so that really is the best age for that.

I didn't find anything myself. But I have some Amazon gift cards burning a hole in my pocket so I need to get in and find some books.

Myself, I have fond memories of riding my bike to the local library and getting books to help out my D&D game or books on science, I have always been a big science geek.

How about you?  Do you have a Summer Reading ritual?

Zatannurday: Helm of Fate/Nabu on Constantine?

Some more images coming from the new Constantine TV show including more glimpses into the DCU.
First up the Helm of Nabu as worn by Doctor Fate.

The image, as scooped by my good friends at the Tower of Fate  Blog.

Could a Zatanna guest shot be in store as well?
Keep an eye here for any Zatanna related Constantine news and over at Tower of Fate for any Doctor Fate news.

Witch Kickstarter Goodies!

If you were a backer in the Strange Brew Kickstarter at the $25 or above level then your first PDF is on the way.

Check your email!

Friday the 13th

Well it's Friday the 13th!

And my Birthday.

And I am moving offices to the 13th floor of my building.  I just got my internet back in fact.

Hopefully I'll have something more intelligent to say next week.

GOAAALLLLLLLLLL!

We did it!

Last night we wrapped up our Kickstarter for Strange Brew: The Ultimate Witch & Warlock  at went almost $2,700 over our goal!

I am so excited now. I can't wait to get you everything!

The Encounter Table: Interview - Tim Brannan, Robert H. Hudson, and Morgan Boehringer

The Encounter Table: Interview - Tim Brannan, Robert H. Hudson, and Mor...:

This week the Encounter Table sits down with Tim Brannan and Robert H. Hudson, developers of the 3rd Party Pathfinder (and Castles & Crusades) book Strange Brew: the ultimate Witch and Warlock, currently funding for stretch goals on Kickstarter. We're also fortunate enough to be joined by Morgan Boehringer, developer of the stretch goal, Warwitches & Hexmavens.

Read more here:

http://www.encountertable.com/2014/06/interview-tim-brannan-robert-h-hudson.html

AetherCon Podcast Tonight

Tonight I am going to be talking about Strange Brew at AetherCon Online RPG Convention.

http://aethercon.com/
https://plus.google.com/+AetherconOnlineTabletopRPGCon/videos
https://www.facebook.com/AetherConRPG

It starts at 9:00pm Eastern Time (8:00pm here in Chicago).

Stop on by, here me talk.  SEE me talk (yeah, THAT's an incentive I am sure).

DriveThruRPG 10th Anniversary Sale

To celebrate 10 years of business DriveThruRPG is holding their 10th Anniversary Sale.

There are tons of great products on sale, plus you can see the Top 10 RPG sales for each year of the last 10.

So check out the deals.  Really worth it.

Heading to the Home Stretch!

As of this writing we have 63 hours left of the Strange Brew Kickstarter.




https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/962794554/strange-brew-pathfinder-the-ultimate-witch-and-war

Currently $1,000 over we still a lot of great stretch goals to offer.

Your last chance is coming up!

Then Again...maybe I spoke too soon

From the desk of Mike Mearls.

It is so hard trying to keep straight what's been revealed and what's secret. Made this handy little reminder. pic.twitter.com/NrJ8HXfBVz
— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) June 5, 2014

Warlocks in D&D 5.  I had heard a rumor of witches in 5 too.

Here is a larger pic

I like the look so far!

Success! 100% Funded!

Thanks to all of you we did it!

Strange Brew is 100% funded with 130 backers!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/962794554/strange-brew-pathfinder-the-ultimate-witch-and-war

I am pleased. Humbled. And most pumped to get this book out to you all!
Hell Yeah! I am so psyched right now.