Zatannurday: Year One

I was not feeling so well last week and totally missed out on my one year anniversary of Zatannurday!  Though I guess this one year since it became a regular posting here at The Other Side.

So what can we say one year later?  Well we saw one Zatanna comic wrap-up (her self-titled series) and another come up (Justice League Dark).  Her TV portrayals were limited to cartoons (though she was mentioned in the last season of Smallville) with here Silver Age counterpart appearing in  "Batman The Brave in the Bold" and a younger version in "Young Justice".

My most popular post was the one on Adam Hughes, http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/03/zatannurday-adam-hughes.html  but I think that is entirely due to the art on the page and image searches.

My most linked to post was the one where I mentioned she was going to be in Young Justice, http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/10/zatannurday-its-in-cards.html

The most commented one was the posting of Christie Zulo art, http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/04/zatannurday-z-is-for-zatanna-and-zullo.html
This was also the last posting I did for the A to Z challenge and the one that convinced me that the A to Z challenge was worth doing. The first post actually got more comments, but those were comments about the whole idea and less about post itself.

I am very pleased with how all these posts turned out.  Plus it has given me something to look forward to each week and give people something new on Saturdays, a day that had been pretty dead on the ole Other Side.

So here is to another year and plenty of magical Zatannurday posts!

Willow & Tara: World of Darkness (old)

I have been going over a ton of my old books and looking at what I want to keep, what I want to give to my kids and what I want to get rid of.  I cam across some old World of Darkness stuff the other day and I am not 100% sure what I am going to do with it yet.  Most likely sell it all in my local game auctions.  But considering that I have wanted to do some posting on my girls, I thought this would be a good choice.

I never really got into the original World of Darkness.  I did have Vampire the Masquerade and I recognized why and how it was good, but at the time I had also just discovered WitchCraft, so that was the game I had chosen to scratch my Modern-Supernatural itches.

Though I did really like Mage. A lot. I really like Sorcerer's Crusade, I thought it was a really cool idea and much more interesting than Mage the Ascension.  That lead me to Sorcerer: The Hedge Wizard's Handbook, which is not part of Sorcerer's Crusade, but part of modern Mage.  But I am glad I made that mistake, since I really liked this book and it made me look again at the World of Darkness.

For Willow's and Tara's stats in the old World of Darkness I am opting to use Sorcerer: The Hedge Wizard's Handbook instead of Mage proper for a couple of reasons.

First, it is obvious that in the first five seasons of the show Willow learned magic from books and self study. Tara learned from her grandmother and mother.  Plus, Season Sux (what I have been calling it that for years) aside, neither Tara nor Willow achieve the power levels in Mage. Sorcerer handles everything nicely. I also happen to like Sorcerer a little bit better than Mage anyway.  Now of course in my own games, especially in "Season of the Witch" the girls do achieve Mage like power levels.  I'll detail that on a future posting when I talk about new WoD.

What works nice with this version is that it mirrors my WitchCraft/early Buffy stats, and then once I got the characters on my own I took them to Ghosts of Albion, and even the "new" Mage..

Of course I never did use these versions.  I did use the Mage: The Awakening versions in one game way back when it first came out, but that is about it.

Willow Rosenberg

Nature: Sage	Society: None
Demeanor:	Mentor: None
Concept: Wicca

Atributes

Strength: 1	Charisma: 2	Perception: 2
Dexterity: 2	Manipulation: 2	Intelligence: 5
Stamina: 3	Appearance: 3	Wits: 3

Abilities

Talents	Skills	Knowledge
Alertness 1	Leadership 2	Computer 5
Instruction 2	Research 5	Enigmas 2
Intimidation 1	Survival 1	Investigation 2
		Medicine 1
		Occult 3
		Science 4

Paths	Backgrounds
Conjuration: 3	Arcane: 1
Enchantment: 2	Library: 5
Ephemera: 1	Relic: 1 (Doll’s Eye Crystal)
Hellfire: 3	Status: 2
Herbalism: 2
Counterspells
Warding

Tara Maclay

Nature: Sage	Society: None
Demeanor:	Mentor: None
Concept: Wicca

Atributes

Strength: 2	Charisma: 3	Perception: 3
Dexterity: 1	Manipulation: 1	Intelligence: 3
Stamina: 3	Appearance: 3	Wits: 4

Abilities

Talents	Skills	Knowledge
Alertness 1	Animal Ken 2	Cosmology 3
Expression 1	Research 4	Enigmas 2
Instruction 2	Survival 2	Investigation 2
		Linguistics 2
		Lore 1
		Occult 2

Paths	Backgrounds
Conjuration: 3	Arcane: 2
Enchantment: 2	Library: 5
Healing: 2	Status: 4
Herbalism: 3
Counterspells
Warding

DriveThru Reviews

These are more like "Drive By" reviews since I am posting rather fast today.  Also a mixed bag of stuff.

Power Pics Heroes 1 -Female Speedster
Great concept really. Provide the art and a paper mini for the games and let the imagination flow. You don't even really need or want stats with this since the purpose is fit the character to your game. I found that most of these can be used in every supers game and even some pure sci-fi ones. Well worth the price.
5 out of 5 stars

OSRIC Book of Assassins
What you get: A 26-page book on Assassins and subclasses for OSRIC and compatible games. The sub classes are interesting enough to keep my attention (I liked the Ninja and the Bounty Hunter).
What struck me as odd though was how it was written. I am not 100% sure English was the first language of the author. There were some very awkward word choices and sentences through out. It also uses a 3rd party skill system that I didn't have. With the OGL the best to do would be include it.
The layout is clean but uninspired (a single column of text) and there is no art at all.
The concept is good, the execution of it though is poor.
2 out of 5 stars

Baba Yaga: Queen of the Wicked Fens
Good little Baba Yaga workup for any level/tier of play. Lots of attention to the myths of Baba Yaga were paid attention to, but their could have been more. The art is only ok, and I would have liked to have seen more of the magic items and stories surrounding her.
This plus a quick web search though will produce a lot of any game.
3 out of 5 stars

Mutants & Masterminds Threat Report #39: Eris
My favorite Threat Report so far for M&M3.
All of these Threat Reports present a fully detailed NPC for your use in your game and all the stats you need. PLUS a .POR file if you are using Hero Lab. Import the file in and alter as needed.
At 99 cents this is a steal.
5 out of 5 stars.

Clarification on 5e

Just a reminder.

I don't recall ever seeing anywhere that D&D 5e would be compatible with AD&D only that you could play the same style as you did with AD&D 1.

I can just see a lot of people throwing fits about this.  To my knowledge we are still looking at ascending armor classes (easily converted if you passed 3rd grade math) and 3e style saves or 4e style defenses.

I am sure we will all know more in the next few days, but the things I have been hearing lately are in my mind good (and good for my group of players) but certainly not going to make everyone happy.

White Dwarf Wednesday Issue 3

Welcome back to White Dwarf Wednesday.

Issue 3 takes us into Oct/Nov 1977.
The editorial opens up with a bit on whether or not the British SF/F game market was large enough to support a magazine like this.  They decide that it is and begin looking for opinions on how they should cover items, namely D&D.
The Editorial ends, amusingly enough, with a "May the Force Be With You".  It was 1977 after all.

Digging in we have an article on how to play D&D and Empire of the Petal throne as Solo games.  Not a bad read really, I might try it out sometime to see if it works.
More on Fred Hemmings Competitive D&D. The interesting thing about this article that it really shows the roots of D&D in war-gaming and tournament play.  It is not something I would try on my own, and I am not sure it would work so well with modern games.  But a cool read all the same.

The News section talks about the smash new movie "Star Wars" and how Gen Con had attendance over 2,000 every day, out selling Origins. There is a new movie in the works with Marlon Brando named "Superman".

We delve deeper into the Monstermark system.  By this point in my original readings I was loosing interest in it.  It was such a convoluted system, but I appreciated it determination to keep on going.  Though no new monsters in this issue.

In Open Box we get an overview of a number of D&D aids from Judges Guild including D&D Reference Sheets, a Judge's Screen and Dave Arneson's First Campaign book. They also cover what I believe is the first product to support the "City State of the Invisible Overlord", a place that was near legend when I would be playing a mere 2-3 years later.
Reviews of Citadel from FGU, Fourth Dimesion from J.A. Ball and Co. and The Battle of Five Armies (yeah that one) from TSR.  The new reveiws list good points as well as bad ones and the overall score.  I can't recall if this was something they kept, so I'll wait till I re-read issue 4.

The next installment of Lewis Pulsipher's "D&D Campaigns" is next. The main issue here is realism of the game and how PCs, NPCs and monsters should behave. There is also a bit about how rules should be handled.  Interesting to read in a near-Pre DMG day.

Some details on painting minis comes up after that. A write up on the Assassin character class (with halflings still being referred to as Hobbits). A couple of magic rooms as "Treasure".

The letters section opens with a letter from Paul Jaquays, Editor of the Dungeoneer about the Monstermark system and a gripe about Competitive D&D. More letters follow on the Monstermark system.

The back cover is a cool looking faerie woman.

An interesting, but not landmark, issue.  The layout seems a bit cleaner and they certainly know what they are doing now.

Here There Be Dragons...Year of the Dragon

"I love it when a plan comes together." - Hannibal Smith

Liam and I (well, mostly Liam) have been working really hard on "Here There Be Dragons..."

Early this year we sat down and went through every monster book I own and what Liam liked the best was the classic Monster Manual from 1st Ed AD&D.  Can't blame him, that book is what got me hooked.
We decided after gaming one day that HTBD should be stated out for OSRIC to capture that same feel.

Well here is the part where I take my own advice.

April 17, 2012 WotC will as you all know by now re-release the classic hardcover AD&D books.
April 23 is St. George's Day, the patron saint of England and of Dragon Slayers (ok that last bit I made up).

So given that this is the Year of the Dragon, I think it makes sense for Liam and I to double down and get this thing done.

I know I have other projects in the works and they are moving along.

There is a ton to do on it.  We have a few score new dragons lined up, some art.  Maybe some spells.
It is not going to be a big book.  No cover art as of yet. No publisher either.
But this is pure old-school DIY.  My son loves dragons and wants to see more of them in his game.

I hope we can make the deadline and get you "Here There Be Dragons..." in time for the 1st Edition releases.

Quintessential D&D for D&D.Next

Remember my idea back from the late Summer, the one I was calling Quintessential D&D where there are five linked adventures that used all the rules of all D&D?

Here are the links to bring you all back up to speed.
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/08/quintessential-d-half-baked-ideas.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/08/half-baked-adventure-idea.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/08/so-building-off-of-my-half-baked.html

With me?  Ok good.
It dawns on me that with what I am hearing about D&D5/D&D.Next that this is the perfect segue into the new rules.

So the characters play through the worlds, they collect the Three Great Books of Gax, fight the dragon guardians and reset the universe.  Reset it to what though?  Easy, reset it to 5th edition.

With the new change in the rules I am not 100% sure I am going to finish up my 4e game.  Or if I do, it will be largely altered to fit into the kinda game I want to run (I still want Drama Points in D&D.)

Stepping away from this for a bit it occurs to me that this would also make a great play-test platform for D&D5.

In the mean time here is an interesting retrospective bit on "Could WotC Support ALL D&D".  What a difference seven months can make.