Review: Wizard's World (1983)

What can one say about Wizard's World?

Well for starters it could be easily dismissed as yet another fantasy heartbreaker, but I don't think that would be fair really.
Yes it's AD&D roots are showing and there is a lot about the this game that is derivative.  But that is looking at it in 2012.  To look at this game as it was meant to be seen you have look at it with 1983 eyes.

This game offers some interesting twists beyond the typical D&D knock-off.  First I love the art in this book.  Sure there has been better art, much better art, even in books from the same time. But there is such an honesty about it that I enjoy.  And I LOVE that cover.
The attributes are nearly the same, enough that conversions are easy.  The charts all go to 30 which is nice.

Ok so we have a bunch of classes, many of which would drop right into AD&D, OSRIC or what ever Clone you enjoy.  There are a number of fighter-like classes, that honestly only differ a little bit from each other, but that is fine.  Some martial artists, some magic using types, 14 total.  What is cool is there is Vampire class!  Something we won't see again till D&D4 or until I did my own (link).  We have all the standard races plus some new ones, Metamorphic Dwarfs and Demon Halflings.  Honestly the book is worth it just to be able to say "Demon Halflings"!

There are 22 pages worth of spells that go all the way to level 10.
Rules follow next which is primarily about combat, weapons, poisons, potions and the like.   A little bit on magic items.
Monsters follow. There are a few, but almost no overlap between here and what you might find in a typical monster manual for a game.  There are dragons, but very different from what we are used to seeing in "D&D".
Some suggestions for play and threadbare character sheet.

Ok what is good about this game?  Lots really.  If you play D&D or some old school game you would be hard pressed not to find something here to use.  Did I mention the Demon Halflings yet?  There are plenty of monsters and lots of spells.

What is bad?  That is subjective.  If you are not a fan of old-school play or expect full color art then you will be disappointed.

What did I like? Nearly everything really.  I have to hand it to Dan Procter and Goblinoid Games for becoming an old-games preservation society.   This game isn't going to win any awards now nor would it have won any then, but it is a fun trip into the past when many games were little more than a few pages, a staple and your friend's brother to do the art.

At 80+ pages this is packed.

If you wanted to play this system and say use one my of witch classes from either The Witch or Eldritch Witchery then I say you would need an INT 11 and WIL 11.  Choose spells from the witch lists and use those or the WW spell that was most similar.

Games You Never Get to Play

When people talk about influences on their games and gaming life they typically mention the works of Fritz Leiber or Jack Vance or Tolkein or the other Appendix N names.

Not me.  Well, yes I have read those, but they were not biggest effect on my games.

My Appendix N is full of Hammer Horror and In Search Of... and any more dozens of bad-wrong-fun horror and occult material from the 70s.  It should be no surprise then that I gravitate towards games that let me do that sort of thing, Chill, Call of Cthulhu and of course WitchCraft.

But just as I am a product of 70's and 80's horror, there were other things going on then.  Still lots of "leftover hippie shit" as I used to call it.  Zodiacs, crystals, psychic powers.  All the stuff that gets mixed in with magic and the occult, plus aliens, Atlantis, secret societies, Erich von Däniken and all that.

Basically all the stuff left over when you take out the horror and the magic from the big occult boom of the 70's.

What has this have to do with gaming?

Lots!

There is one game I have always wanted to play but doubt that I ever will.

It's not a game per-se but rather a campaign.

The game is one set in the 70s where all the characters are teens.  They are also, unknown to them until the game starts, the children of the first successful alien-human hybrids.  They look completely human, but each one has unique pyschic powers.  No magic, all psychic.  The drama comes in when the teens discover what they are and the government comes in to take them to a secure facility.

So you can see where this gets it's genesis.  There were a ton of shows in the 70s about kids with powers or people being chased by the government.  I want to put it in the 70s so I can avoid cell phones, gps and the like.  Plus it was the last time teens could hitchhike across the US without people calling the cops.   I'd work in mysteries of Atlantis, crystals with magic powers, strange MIB agents, aliens out to kill them all that great stuff.  Setting it in the 70s also lets me bring in "future tech" like more powerful computers and things we use today.

The list of influences of this game go on and on.  Basically I'd go to Wikipedia's Psuedoscience category and pick and choose.

My game system of choice would be Conspiracy X since I can use most of the mythos intact.  The Unexplained would also work well as would a low powered Mutants & Masterminds game.  Something like Damnation Decade, but with more danger and horror, and none of the alt-history.

I'd love to play it or even write it.  But I doubt I'll have the time.
If I were to write it all out I'd call it "Star Child" sounds very 70s.

What games or campaigns do you really want to play but don't think you will?

My New Map!

I got my new map from Banners on the Cheap!

A bit of background.  I was approached back at the end of  June about the possibility of printing up a large vinyl banner for an RPG map.  Consequently I have also wanted a large map of Victorian London to put up in my game room.

Well I went to the website and setup my new map.  All you need is really is the image.  The layout interface is ridiculously easy to use.

Here is the original image I used, 1890s Map of London and here are the results below!

As you can see the map is huge.

The banner itself is 4 feet tall by 6 feet long.  The image I had when printed at it's best resolution would have been 6 feet by 7 feet.   So a good fit really, with some space on the edge.

I might print up Places of Interest (occult locations, the Swift's Home, St. Erisian’s School) and pin them in place.  I'll more than likely use stickers since I don't want to poke any holes in this.




This picture does not do it justice, but the print is very clear, clear as the source image, to the point where I can read the street names.

The color is great.  It really is an absolute gem of a map.

I have not tried it yet with water based or dry erase markers yet, so I can't confirm if those work.
What I do know is I am looking for other maps I have laying around here that I would like to get blown up onto a huge banner like this.   A scale map of Castle Dracula would be awesome.  Failing that, a scale Castle Ravenloft.

My expectations were pretty high and I am happy to say they have been met!

If you want to try them out for yourself then here is the link. I highly recommend them.

Custom Bandit Signs

Read more here:
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/06/my-game-room-needs-huge-map.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/07/london-map-updates.html

White Dwarf Wednesday #24

White Dwarf gets a little bit bigger again in April/May of 1981.  And again we get a great looking cover.

The editorial doesn't get started till page 9, where Ian Livingstone talks about the growth of the hobby. Games in plastic zip-lock bags are a thing of the past and now we get games in boxes with full color cover art.  He notes that D&D alone sold more 500,000 sets.  I am unclear whether these are considered the Golden Age or the Silver Age (I think 1983 is the cut-off most people agree on) but they were certainly the Halcyon Days.

Lew Pulsipher is back with his Part II of an Introduction to Dungeons & Dragons.  Again this reads so fresh to me today that I am going to xerox the whole series and use it with my new groups.

Andy Slack provides the coverage for the other big game of the day, Traveller, in "Backdrop of Stars". This article deals with setting up a Traveller campaign.  So much of this article has been personally ingrained with me on what Traveller is that I am a little surprised re-reading it all these years later.  I didn't know it was separate from the game.  As an aside my oldest got to play some Traveller this past weekend.  He ran into the issues that most of did 30 years ago; characters dying or being so horrible that they were next to useless.

Open Box has some interesting reviews up this issue.  Quirks is an odd little game of plant and animal mutation.  It reads like Pokemon set in Gamma World, but I am sure that is not it (though that sounds cool).  Ian Livingstone gives it 9/10.  Shooting Stars from then giant Yaquinto Publications is a ship to ship tactical space game.  It gets 8/10 from Nick Henfrey calling it "delightful to play".  Valley of the Four Winds (the same as the fiction that used to appear in WD) is a new game from Games Workshop.  It was designed by Lew Pulsipher and is given a 9/10 by Alan Paull.  GDW gives us a new Traveller book, Adventure 3 Twilight's Peak.  Andy slack gives this classic adventure a 10/10 calling it the "best FRP scenario of any kind I have ever seen".  I recall this one as being good, but the best of the best?  Well it has been 30 or so years.

Marcus Rowland presents another new class, the Detective.  This class is very much cut from the same cloth as Sherlock Holmes, but re-crafted to fit the D&D world better.  In many ways this is offered as a "good" alternative to the Thief and Assassin classes; with similar skills, progression and attacks.  The Detective also gets a bit of spells. As a custom class goes it looks pretty solid, but I can never recall seeing one in play even in the wild and crazy days of Jr high where everyone was playing some weird class they found.

Letters has some rule questions for D&D and one on the Fiend Factory from Issue 22.

An AD&D mini-module by Mark Byng is up next.  I do note that it is referred to as a Mini-Module and not a Mini-Adventure.  The Lair of Maldred the Might spans the next few pages and it is layout like a an old tome.

Starbase is back with more Traveller material and an article I remember reading many times.  Laser Sword and Foil was about bringing lightsabers into Traveller.

O.C. Macdonald discusses Alignment in Role-Playing Games.  The discussion begins with D&D and then moves on to AD&D and C&C.  The article generally pro-alignment even if it admits that it adds little to the games.

Fiend Factory falls into the April Fools trap and gives us some joke monsters.  I used to enjoy these sort of features, but anymore I don't find them as funny.  Granted at 40 something I am no longer the target audience of 1981.  So what do we have, the Bonacon which is a cow that stinks. There is an alternate version that is a flying cow.  Llort is a Troll with nilbogism. The todal which is some sort of monster sent to punish evil doers for not doing enough evil. The unique Tali Monster which is so huge it has to be carried by 35 goblins. Finally there is the Dungeon Master, which I am loathe to explain.

Treasure chest renew my faith with some interesting and deadly tricks and traps for dungeon rooms.

News is very interesting this issue.  It is telling us about the arrival of the D&D clones!  In particular the new Expert Set.  I recall seeing the picture back in the day and to me it looked like a metal tin with rounded edges and I thought for sure there were Expert Sets (and Basic Sets) that were metal tins.  Sadly that never happened.   In more back to the future news Yaquinto is going to give us a space game called Demon's Run.  No idea if it includes Sapphic 19th century Silurians or not. 

We have classifieds, and ads till the end.

A good issue marred by some silly monsters.
Lots of space given over to D&D and Traveller this issue, but not so much for the other big game, Rune Quest.

AD&D Reprints

The AD&D reprints are now in.

They are really nice too.

Newer paper that feels thicker, if glossier.  "Gilded" edges.  Nice covers.  These are nice enough to be collectors' items and still sturdy enough to be able to play with them.

The covers are a nice homage.

Gilded pages are always a nice touch.

It might be hard to see here, but the text is not an "exact" copy, there are some minor formatting issues.  The books though have the same page count as before and my quick glance tells me that things that show up on page X in the old books still appear on page X of the new ones.

I also like the ribbon book mark.

This copyright statement and the new ISBNs are the only clue you will get inside that this was not a TSR publication.  Many companies wold have altered the text inside to a degree I am sure.  These pages, even considering they were completely re-done, are the same.

I think we are going to be playing some First Edition here soon!

There is your history of D&D right there.  Original Edition, Basic, Advanced 1 & 2 (and OSRIC), RC, 3.0, 3.5, Pathfinder and 4e.  And my new books have a new home.  That is till my kids see them in a couple of hours and they end up upstairs in their rooms.

I am not sure how much of my purchase went to the Gygax Memorial fund, but as long as it was some then I am fine.

Major kudos to WotC for getting these produced.

Putting my Monster where my Mouth is. Baobhan Sìth

Rended Press is working on an OSR monster book.  I think it is a great idea, especially if they are all OGL complaint. The issue with me though was "any monster posted in June".  Well that is cool, but I didn't post any in June.  So I mentioned that on the blog the other day and gave the suggestion that if it was say all of 2012 then I could do something.

They opened it up to all of 2012.  And I looked.

Sheepishly I noticed that I didn't post a single OSR/OGL monster in 2012.  Plenty for other systems, but nothing an OSR book would need.

So here is one of mine from "The Witch".

All text that follows is considered Open under the OGL.  Full OGL text is listed here, OGL Declaration/Statement.


Baobhan Sìth
Armor Class: 2 [17]
Hit Dice: 9d8+2** (43 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 claws, 1bite
Damage: 1d4+2 / 1d4+1
Special: Blood drain, captivating dance, dying words, spell-like abilities, vulnerable to iron
Movement: 30’
No. Appearing: 1-3
Saves As: Fighter 9
Morale: 9
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic (Chaotic Evil)
XP: 1,800

The Baobhan sìth (bavaan shee, “faerie woman” in Scottish Gaelic) are evil female fey that feed on the blood of living creatures.  By entrancing creatures with their dance, they lure men to their deaths.  Baobhan sìth are always female; no males of this race are known to exist.  These creatures are generally found in remote locations such as unclaimed forests or overgrown and ruined keeps, castles or the like; always a secluded location, but close enough to a populated area that the baobhan sìth can feed when hungry.

Often called the “White Woman” of the Scottish Highlands, the baobhan sìth are often confused with vampires.  Though they are not undead, they do have a lot of similarities.  Both feed on blood and use seduction in order to lure their prey into their grasp.  Baobhan sìth also are vulnerable to cold iron, much like a vampire to silver.  The baobhan sìth also avoids bright sunlight, it is not dangerous to her, but they avoid it all the same.

Local legends claim that when young women fall to the allure of witchcraft and lie wantonly with men they will die and return as baobhan sìth.

Their lairs are typically clean; the monsters have disposed of the rotting corpses of past victims.  They are solitary creatures and rarely work in groups.  There is however a popular tale of a group of four men traveling in the Scottish Highlands that were seduced and attacked by three or four (depending on the tale) Baobhan sìth working together.  Baobhan sìth each have their own hunting ground and to intrude on another’s is certain death.

Baobhan sìth prefer to use their abilities against male humanoids, particularly elves or humans, and most of all bards.  They generally avoid dwarves and halflings, though if food is scarce they have no qualms about draining the blood of just about any living creature.  They do not drink the blood of animals; no matter how hungry they are, as they see this as primitive and savage.

A baobhan sìth stands 5 to 5-1/2 feet tall and weighs roughly 120 pounds.  Her hair ranges in color from black or brown to golden yellow.  Eye color varies but is usually brown or green.  A baobhan sìth wears flowing, loose fitting robes or tunics of white or green often tied at the waist with a scarf of red or black.
They speak Common, Elven, and Sylvan.

A baobhan sìth prefers to attack a lone target and generally avoids combat with groups, fleeing if confronted by such a party.  Stragglers are often the subject of the baobhan sìth’s attention if the straggler is far enough behind its comrades.

When first encountered, a baobhan sìth opens combat with her captivating dance.  Creatures that fail to succumb are entangled (saving throw vs. Paralysis).  Once she has captivated at least one foe, she moves in and uses her sharp nails to draw blood from the victim’s chest or throat and then it drains the victim’s blood.  It deals bite damage and drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of permanent Constitution drain each round it maintains the hold.  At Constitution 0, the victim dies.

The Baobhan Sìth may cast spells as a 3rd level witch.

If overwhelmed or outnumbered, the baobhan sìth uses her entangle ability (if she hasn’t already used it) and tries to slip away into the surrounding forest.

Leanan Sìth (Leanan Sídhe, Lhiannan Shee, “faerie mistress”): The Leanan Sìth is the Manx (Isle of Man) counterpart to the Baohbhan Sìth.  This creature can be found all across the British Isles.  She has the additional power of being able to turn invisible at will, as a spell like ability (9th level).  The Leanan Sìth will typically feed on the blood and life force of young poets.  They drain the victims slowly, and in a state of ecstasy.  Such poets create works of unsurpassed brilliance while in the clutches of these women.

Section 15 Copyright Notice

Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
System Reference Document Copyright 2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Bruce R. Cordell, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks is Copyright© 2003, Timothy S. Brannan and the Netbook of Witches Team.
Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game Copyright © 2006-2008. Chris Gonnerman.
Labyrinth LordTM. Copyright © 2007, Daniel Proctor. Author Daniel Proctor.

"Baobhan Sìth" Copyright ©2012, Timothy S. Brannan

Post-Game Day

It was "mini-con" this past weekend at the Brannan household.

Saturday my oldest son played old school Traveller and had some of the crappiest dices rolls in the history of dice.  He was disappointed, but not in the rolls themselves but he was looking forward to playing rather than rolling up characters.

Saturday evening was Ghosts of Albion at EN World Game day.  I didn't have a full roster so I invited him to come along (my youngest had a friend spending the night).  He played William Swift, Protector of Albion. He did a great job.   He thought I had made the character especially for him! Everyone else had a great time and it was great to run Blight one last time.  It dis give me some ideas for new adventures and maybe even a hook to bring my boys into this game.

Sunday was D&D 4: Keep on the Shadowfell with the kid's group.  The group agreed to take out the Kobold lair for the nice price of 100gp each.  The got past the kobold ambush and the kobolds outside the lair, but they have not gone it yet.  The kids did great really.  They are learning to work together more and that is a good thing.  I have a couple of players that want to retrain or swap out some feats.  It is a generally accepted house rule here (and at the games my son and three of the other players play at) that you can make "free" modifications to your character to better suit you, the party or whatever.  My youngest is playing a Bard, he is thinking he wants to add a little bit of warlock to that and maybe rearrange his stats for a better Dex.  My oldest is playing a Paladin multiclassed with Warlord, which works, but he did this thinking we would not have any "Leader" types.  With my youngest now playing a Bard (instead of his usual ranger) and one of the others playing a cleric, he wants to drop the Warlord in favor of Sorcerer, his other favorite class. So the idea is that he had some military training (was Warlord, now it will be more of a background) and during his adventures the stress of combat has awakened the Celestial Dragon blood in his veins and now he can call on Dragon magic. It works.  I still need to talk to the other players too to see if they want to make any alterations.

The kids' 4e Group still doesn't have a name of their own yet.  In the game they are called the Heroes of Winterhaven.  Though in the arc a better name for them would be Death's Champions; though that sounds darker than it is supposed too (they will be making sure that that Death and Life are saved from Orcus).  They have an unknown ally in the form of a mysterious girl named Nera and one of the Arch Dukes of Hell will offer his aid as well. 'Enemy of my Enemy" and all.  Should be a great time!