The Best Blog You Are Not Reading

Time for another installment of "The Best Blog You Are Not Reading".

This time I want to focus on a writer's blog that helps you figure out what your characters are all about.
The Blog That Helps You Diagnose Your Characters

So if you are not into role-playing and see your character only as a collection of numbers and no name, then this is probably not for you.

The author, Joshua D. Hoyt, is a writer and also has a Master's Degree in Counselling Psychology and working on another on in School Psychology. I have a Masters and Ph.D. (ABD) in Educational Psychology myself and working on a Ph.D. in Curriculum Instruction myself, so I appreciate what he is writing here.

Now most people reading my blog are not writers (though some are) and most are gamers.  But we all deal with characters of some sort.  Players might want some sort of insight as to why things are done and GMs in particular (who don't have time to RP a character from tabula rasa) will gain some help in making their NPCs more life-like.

Some of the work is rather simple stuff, his run on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs was good, but his Schema and Traits discussion was very interesting.

My favorite so far though has been his working through the Erikson stages of Development.  I liked this since I have been working on a character life-span development idea now for sometime.

I like this blog since it allows me to use both my gamer and academic backgrounds.  And besides that it is kinda fun.

Strigoi: A New witch monster for Basic-era games

A long time ago, back in the far off time of 2000, the OGL was released.  Back on the OGL and OGF list there were many discussions over what is and what couldn't be considered PI (Product Identity).
What was intended was it a way for publishers to protect their IP (Intellectual Property) while still releasing other material into the OGC pool.  Among the "top tier" publishers this worked out well.  Sword and Sorcerery Studios, Mongoose, Necromancer and so on all played nice and thing more or less worked out.  Typically they protected "fluff" and text writeups while stat blocks were open.

Occasionally you would get someone that would try to claim some material they scraped off the net as PI (say the names of devils and demons) or the history of some historical figure, but for the most parts these were ignored when they were frowned apon.  The telling thing I think is the ones that did it well are still here to tell us about it.

Well...some people still don't quite have a grasp on this yet.

Check out this post from Kobold Quarterly,  on the Strigoi.
http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/front-page9247.php

It is a good write-up for Pathfinder and I detect a bit of "4th Edition Envy" in some of the text.

What I don't like is the little bit at the end of each page where it says "(This post is Product Identity.)"

Hmmm...Ok....I guess.
I don't think that is very neighborly of them, and others tend to agree.
http://carjackedseraphim.blogspot.com/2011/07/this-bugs-me.html
http://quicklyquietlycarefully.blogspot.com/2011/07/strigoi.html

In truth they can't make "strigoi" PI anymore than they could make it copyrighted.  The post can certainly be PI. Their unique expression of a strigoi in Pathfinder can be PI.  The name cannot.
Plus, and not to put too fine a point on it, they can't make a claim of PI without the rest of the license as stated in the license itself.
Obviously the author wants to keep his creation for appearing in other publications and that is cool, I respect that.  There are better ways to go about it and his PI declaration doesn't quite pass the "reasonable person test".

In any case here is my contribution.  I am declaring the following monster stat-block, write-up and all text below and including the name of the monster to be Open Content.
My OGL documentation is here, http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/p/open-game-license.html and this post is copyright Copyright © 2011 Timothy S. Brannan.

Strigoi
Armor Class: 4 [15]
Hit Dice: 5d8+4** (28 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 claws, 1bite
Damage: 1d6+2, 1d6+2 / 1d4+1
Special: Blood drain, transform into a large bird, undead
Movement:: 40 ft., Fly 60 ft
No. Appearing: 1
Saves As: Fighter 7
Morale: 10
Treasure: none
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 660

The much feared Strigoi is an undead form of a particularly evil witch. They are most common among the witches of the Classical and Family (Gypsy) traditions and many are part of the Mara covens. They ways to become a Strigoi are varied, but it is believed to be part of a curse. The Strigoi loses her ability to cast spells, but it is offset with her increased strength and speed (treat as 18 in both strength and dexterity).
The Strigoi leaves her grave at night, usually an unhallowed one, to feed on blood much in the same manner as a vampire. She can transform into a large, evil looking bird; something akin to a giant crow with sharp teeth in her beak.
In human form the Strigoi can appear much as she did in life. Most Strigoi have red hair and blue eyes, though scholars debate on whether there traits were present before the witch was cursed. Most Strigoi do not attempt to hide what they are and retain the palor and look of death. Grave dirt clings to their clothes and their faces are smeared with gore.
Strigoi are predisposed to return to their loved ones in an attempt to reenter their lives. This often leads to the Strigoi destroying her former family.

Weaknesses of the Strigoi
The Strigoi cannot enter a home unless invited in first. A Stigoi also cannot pass a line of grain or salt laid out in front of them. Garlic is also effective, as is silver, but mirrors are not.
Strigoi can only be hit with silver or magical items.
Like all undead Strigoi take damage from holy water and avoid holy items. They do not care for light (or Light spells), but they are not destroyed by the sun as are vampires.
To permanently kill a Strigoi one must hammer an iron stake or nail through their head into their coffin. Their heart and blood sac (a new organ that looks like a second heart but is more akin to a stomach) must be cut out and burned.
Strigoi are turned as are Wraiths.

Living Strigoi
A type of witch known as a Strigoaică or a Strigoi Viu is a type of living Strigoi. She appears as a normal human witch with red hair and blue eyes. They are immune to the attacks of other undead, but will become a Strigoi on their own deaths. It is rumored that these Strigoi retain their spellcasting abilities after their transformation.

"Strigoi" Copyright © 2011 Timothy S. Brannan
Released under the OGL as Open Gaming Content

Conventions and other maddness

Been a slow blogging week here at the Other Side.  
I am really busy at work and I have been re-working both Ghosts of Albion adventures I'll be running.

Speaking of which, I will be at a local Convention, Cyphan, at the end of July.
http://www.cyphan.com/cyphan/CYPHAN_HOME.html

I will be running both of the same adventures I'll be running at Gen Con, "Obsession" and "Dinosauria!" on Friday and Saturday respectively.
You can see the schedule here: http://www.cyphan.com/cyphan/GAMING.html
Cyphan has a more Steampunk feel to it than Gen Con, so maybe I'll make a mad-scientist like character to fit into that mix.  He/She would be perfect for "Dinosauria!" really.

I have also been active in paying some more attention to my other (co-owned) blogs, Red Sonja: She Devil with a Sword and Amazon Princess.

PDF reviews at DriveThru RPG

Blazing headache today.
I was holding on to this post for a rainy day, but today is good.

Some more DriveThru RPG reviews.  No theme today. Just a bunch of random pdfs that caught my attention.
I am trying out a new database to keep track of my reviews now too.

Action! System Core Rules (Free Version)
Good game for action/adventure RPGs.
It is designed to focus on "realism", so no super science or magic, but perfect for say a spy, detective, cop or any other type of action game.
4 out of 5 stars


Bardic Lore: Riastradh
Very cool for any Celtic flavored game and cool for any game to be honest.
The warp-spasm of Cú Chulainn is something that has been in the stories of the Ulster cycle, but never really implemented well in a game. This is a pretty good way to do it.

If you are running a Celtic game, then this is a good product to have. Great price as well.
5 out of 5 stars

Out for Blood
If there was anything you ever wanted to know about vampires or those that hunt them then this is your book.
In the 200+ pages there are 18 new prestige classes, new uses for skills, feats, and of course tons of vampires. There are a handful of new spells and campaign ideas for using or hunting vampires in your game.
What I liked best about this book though was the Fist of Light Prestige Class. It was exactly what I was looking for in one of my games and I was happy to see someone else had done all the work for me.
The layout is very clean and clear and easy enough to read onscreen. The art varies, but most it is rather good.
5 out of 5 stars


Paths of Power
Ideas and options for alternate magic systems in d20. Lots of great ideas here and can be used as a tool kit, options or just a way to give characters a different feel.
5 out of 5 stars

Teenage Demon Slayers
I do not own or ever have played a Pocket Universe game, but I was working on a "magical high school" campaign for my players and I saw this. I saw Jeff Dee's name and picked up a copy.
It makes for a good resource and translating the ideas to other games or systems is fairly easy.
It can't comment on the playability of the material, the readability was fine.
4 out of 5 stars

Campaign Builders: Modern High
Campaign Builders are quick books to help you get started with a campaign mode. In this case a modern high school (and two popular variations, the Horror High and Ninja School).
I grabbed this for ideas to help with a anime/supers/magic flavored high school game I Was working on at the time and it was a great help. The coolest feature here (and since used in other games) is the "Allowance" mechanic. This might not be the first place it has been used like this, but what they do have here is very good.

It is a great product for the price. I might have liked to see more school types and paid a little more, but all in all I am very happy with it.

4 out of 5 stars


Venture 4th: Pact of Ghosts
An interesting addition to the 4th edition game. I liked many of the powers and did not feel they were too overpowered or underpowered. I also liked the different flavor they gave to the Warlock class.
3rd party publishers of D&D4 material are at a severe disadvantage. They can't add their material to the DDi and that makes them less attractive. But if you can get past that this is a very good class build and one I plan on using in my games.
4 out of 5 stars


Silver Age Sentinels D20: Stingy Gamer Edition
Silver Age Sentinels is a fantastic d20 based supers game. It has the problem of being "that other d20 Supers game" and never got the foothold in the market it would have.

This version includes all the rules but is missing some of the text that I felt made SAS worth buying.

4 out of 5 stars

Villains for 2.0
You get 10 detailed NPCs/concepts/archetypes to use either as heroes or as villains for Mutants and Masterminds 2nd ed.
The art is comic book fare, but that is actually to it's benefit here. The archetypes are not particularly original, but they are afterall archetypes.
If you need a bad guy quickly then this is good product. I bought it for just one of the archetypes and was happy with the rest.
4 out of 5 stars

Character Builder Complete: Celtic
A 36 page, form-fillable character folio with a celtic theme. "Builder" is a bit of a mis-nomer, there is nothing here that contains rules, but nearly everything is here to build a character of any class. For d20/OGL 3.x.
4 out of 5 stars

Librum Equitis - Volume 2
Twenty new prestige classes and some new spells.
The book is good if you are looking for some more prestige classes, but I found I never used any of them myself.

I did like the new spells.
4 out of 5 stars

The Dragonslayers vs. The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, Part 2

I have been re-reading the original S4, the original tournament module it was based on and the update Iggwilv's Legacy and something occurred to me.  For a module centered around Iggwilv and her interest in demons, there are surprisingly few demons in this adventure.

Since I need to up the ante anyway I am thinking that I am going to replace some of the monsters with demons.  It will be one of the last times I'll use demons in a 3.x adventure and I have tons of books on them.  So stirges for example would be replaced by chasme (fly demons), the dao in the greater caverns (the "ante-chamber of the garden of 1001 delights") will be replaced by incubi and succubi.

I won't go overboard, but I think I have a few good places where I can do this and it will work out well.

I'll keep you posted.

Happy 4th of July

Posting will be light this weekend (you may have noticed).

Celebrating the July 4th Weekend.

Zatannurday: More Cosplay

More Zatanna cosplay fun.

These are from all over the net.