New post discussing Eldritch Witchery over at my publisher's site.
http://elflairgames.blogspot.com/2013/11/eldritch-witchery-now-in-print.html
I have to say I am floored by the response EW has been getting.
It is has been selling great, far better than expectations, and the feedback is equally as positive.
Jason and I had a long conversation about the future of ELG and we are convinced that there is a little life in S&S and ELG after all!
Not sure what we want to do yet. I have tons of material on my hard-drive. But hopefully we will get some more things out to you soon.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Tomb of Horrors
Today the Dragonslayers ventured into the most fabled of all dungeons, the infamous Tomb of Acereak himself. The Tomb of Horrors!
I am running the 3e version of this module with ideas stolen from the 4e version and the 2nd ed Return to the Tomb of Horrors. Additionally we are using this map set to help us along the way.
So far so good. My youngest loves the traps and he very meticulous on checking each one. It was even his idea to use a 10' pole on the Green Devil Face to check for traps and he found the Sphere of Annihilation. He loves the puzzles and really has a brain for them. My oldest prefers good old fashioned combat. They both were able to guess the correct sequence of the Yellow/Blue/Orange gems right away. Sure a couple of characters have been hit with some poison, but the brought plenty vials of healing, curing and cure poison. Though they have taken quite a bit of hitpoint damage.
So far it has been a great followup to S4/WG4.
The Dragonslayers have now finished S4, S2 and now working on S1. I wasn't going to do S3 (Expedition to the Barrier Peaks) but now I think I might. It would be a lot of fun.
We played for 6 hours (or more) today and I think we can knock this one out fairly quickly.
I am running the 3e version of this module with ideas stolen from the 4e version and the 2nd ed Return to the Tomb of Horrors. Additionally we are using this map set to help us along the way.
So far so good. My youngest loves the traps and he very meticulous on checking each one. It was even his idea to use a 10' pole on the Green Devil Face to check for traps and he found the Sphere of Annihilation. He loves the puzzles and really has a brain for them. My oldest prefers good old fashioned combat. They both were able to guess the correct sequence of the Yellow/Blue/Orange gems right away. Sure a couple of characters have been hit with some poison, but the brought plenty vials of healing, curing and cure poison. Though they have taken quite a bit of hitpoint damage.
So far it has been a great followup to S4/WG4.
The Dragonslayers have now finished S4, S2 and now working on S1. I wasn't going to do S3 (Expedition to the Barrier Peaks) but now I think I might. It would be a lot of fun.
We played for 6 hours (or more) today and I think we can knock this one out fairly quickly.
Stevie Nicks on American Horror Story Coven
The writers for American Horror Story: Coven continue to pick ideas out of my head and will be featuring Stevie Nicks on an upcoming episode.
Seriously, it is like they read this blog! (Ok, I know they don't)
New Orleans? Check and check
Witchcraft Traditions? check
Stevie Nicks? Check
Witch Queens? Check.
Ok all of that is to be expected really. But it has still been a really fun ride!
In other TV-Witch news, "Witches of East End" has been picked up for Season 2.
New Orleans? Check and check
Witchcraft Traditions? check
Stevie Nicks? Check
Witch Queens? Check.
Ok all of that is to be expected really. But it has still been a really fun ride!
In other TV-Witch news, "Witches of East End" has been picked up for Season 2.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Zatannurday: Bloodspell updates
Posts by Paul Dini and DC Women Kicking Ass.
Welp, I just handed in my cover bio and now the book is up on Amazon, so you know it must be coming soon: http://t.co/egxS22ffRh
— Paul_Dini (@Paul_Dini) November 18, 2013
Here is the Amazon link, http://www.amazon.com/Black-Canary-Zatanna-Paul-Dini/dp/1401210546
DC Women Kicking Ass reported these images:
Other updates have been posted here:
- http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/04/zatannurday-life-in-fishnets.html
- http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2013/03/zatannurday-bloodspell.html
Friday, November 22, 2013
Skylla: Dragon Magazine #20 (and #5)
It was the first one I remember seeing and using.
It was not long though before I discovered that there were other versions. In fact the 114 article mentions this. I tracked down issue #43 (and 42, it had demons) and spent...well a lot on it. That's how bad I wanted that issue. It was worth it in my mind but I know I over paid.
The Witch in Dragon magazine has a nice long history. The first version appeared as early as issue #5 (March '77). It was basically an expanded NPC/Monster entry, but it introduced ideas adopted by every other witch class to appear afterwards; differences between good and evil witches, a mixing of clerical and magic-user powers and spells, and the High Secret Order. I will go into these all in the detail they deserve in this and future posts.
The witch in Dragon #5 is an odd one for another reason. The editors claim that it was sent to them 18 months prior to publication. So October 75. There was no Dragon magazine then, just the Strategic Review which began in Spring of 75. There is also no name on it. The claim is that it was sent to them anonymously. It is possible I guess, though I also think it is likely that the authorship is known. It had a number of new spells and magic items, but no advancement tables. This class/npc later appeared in the Best of The Dragon Vol 1.
Right now though I want to concentrate on the witch from Dragon #20 from November 1978.
For starters it is a complete class so that makes it ideal for comparing to my other classes. It also marks one of the first of the Halloween themed issues.
This class was expanded by Ronald Pehr and based on the witch that appeared in issue #5. This could also be one of the first examples of power creep in the game. The witch gets a lot of powers (more so that other versions) and more XP per level than the Magic-user.
This witch gets spells up to 8th level. A split between the cleric's 7th level max and the magic-user's 9th level max. The same thing I did for the Basic Witch.
The author says that the Witch has the same relationship to Druids as the Magic-User has to Clerics.
Witches in this variant are Neutral, but individuals can be good or evil. Witches need a 13 in both Intelligence and Wisdom (I adjusted Skylla stats accordingly), they also need to have a minimum Charisma of 9.
Skylla from Dragon #20
Again I am making her 7th level, though 6th would have been just fine really. If I had to name a Tradition for her it might the High Secret Order or even the Dragon Witch Tradition.
 |
| Not exactly Skylla, but really close |
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 14*
Wisdom: 13*
Charisma: 12
Hit Points: 20
Alignment: Neutral Evil
AC: 4 (Ring of Protection +1)
Powers
1st level: Brew poisons, narcotics, hallucinogens
2nd level: Make a Bag of Holding
3rd level: Brew Love Potions
4th level: Dance of Seduction
5th level: Add Plus 1 to Charisma
6th level: Brew Truth Drug
7th level: Read Magic, Druid, Illusionist scrolls
Spells
First: Give Wounds, Cure Wounds, Detect Magic
Second: Detect Invisible, Locate Object, ESP
Third: Charm, Phantasmal Forces
Magic Items
Ring of Protection +1, Dagger +1, Staff of Enchantment, Skull of Death**
Skull of Death (from Dragon #5): A huge charred bejewelled dragon skull to be worn like a helmet.
The wearer may mentally command any undead characters (up to three dice in number) at any range. Other powers imbued in the wearer are “The Finger of Death” and “Animate Dead”, and these two powers may be used repeatedly. The wearer will regenerate from combat damage at the rate of 5 points/turn, even if killed (unless beheaded).
A LOT more powers, but a smaller and very different selection of spells.
I also gave her the Skull of Death from Dragon #5 since that is what it looks like she is wearing anyway.
Other Skylla writeups
BAMF Girls Club Special Guest. You will never guess Who!
Sorry couldn't help it. Either with the bad pun or posting this.
The next episode of the BAMF Girls Club is up.
Are you ready for the 50th?
The next episode of the BAMF Girls Club is up.
Are you ready for the 50th?
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Across The Sea of Years
A dual stated adventure across Time and Space for.... well that is what I don't know yet.
I have always toyed with the idea of running a game at a con, say like Gen Con where I have multiple days, where it is the same group of characters, or their reincarnations or their children, across time and different systems. My systems of choice would be Unisystem and some flavor of D&D. Likely Basic.
I have done similar ideas in Season of the Witch, where I took in ideas from different games to get a different feel. Generation HEX was conceived as using a different system each game, but that never worked out.
This idea though is two plan a game that takes place in the past, present and maybe future. Each game is seperate unto itself, but builds a bigger story.
One idea I had was a adventure named "Synchronicity" where characters from Ghosts of Albion meet up with their counterparts from Buffy. But that is only one, albeit long, game. Plus the system for Ghosts and Buffy is the same.
Another game I have played before is Blight for Ghosts of Albion. It takes place in 1847 and is an unofficial sequel to my Dark Druid for Buffy (that takes place in an alternate 2001). There is a third adventure in the mix, All Souls Night, which was always designed to go with my Eire game.
I would retool Blight just a bit. But the Dark Druid is designed for new characters, so the big bad introduced is not all that big and bad. It works though if I run them in something like a past life regression.
The other idea I had was an adventure around the rise and fall of Elizabeth Bathory.
D&D for when she was alive and you have to stop her (though to be 100% fair, an adventure like that screams LotFP), Ghosts of Albion when she is prowling the streets of Victorian London, and something else (Call of Cthulhu maybe) for later.
I have also over the years toyed with the idea of Doctor Who, Star Frontiers, and Alternity (yeah I have been thinking about this one for a while) for the future. I think the idea came to me when I wanted to run a hunt Jack the Ripper and I thought back to the old Star Trek episode "A Wolf in the Fold" and to the movie "Time After Time". Jack the Ripper is still an interesting idea. A time traveling serial killer/entity could make a fun opponent.
Lots of ideas really, but nothing has really jelled yet for me. Once I have the right story idea and roll for the characters then the system will be easier to decide on.
Anyone done anything like this before? What did you do and what did you use?
I have always toyed with the idea of running a game at a con, say like Gen Con where I have multiple days, where it is the same group of characters, or their reincarnations or their children, across time and different systems. My systems of choice would be Unisystem and some flavor of D&D. Likely Basic.
I have done similar ideas in Season of the Witch, where I took in ideas from different games to get a different feel. Generation HEX was conceived as using a different system each game, but that never worked out.
This idea though is two plan a game that takes place in the past, present and maybe future. Each game is seperate unto itself, but builds a bigger story.
One idea I had was a adventure named "Synchronicity" where characters from Ghosts of Albion meet up with their counterparts from Buffy. But that is only one, albeit long, game. Plus the system for Ghosts and Buffy is the same.
Another game I have played before is Blight for Ghosts of Albion. It takes place in 1847 and is an unofficial sequel to my Dark Druid for Buffy (that takes place in an alternate 2001). There is a third adventure in the mix, All Souls Night, which was always designed to go with my Eire game.
I would retool Blight just a bit. But the Dark Druid is designed for new characters, so the big bad introduced is not all that big and bad. It works though if I run them in something like a past life regression.
The other idea I had was an adventure around the rise and fall of Elizabeth Bathory.
D&D for when she was alive and you have to stop her (though to be 100% fair, an adventure like that screams LotFP), Ghosts of Albion when she is prowling the streets of Victorian London, and something else (Call of Cthulhu maybe) for later.
I have also over the years toyed with the idea of Doctor Who, Star Frontiers, and Alternity (yeah I have been thinking about this one for a while) for the future. I think the idea came to me when I wanted to run a hunt Jack the Ripper and I thought back to the old Star Trek episode "A Wolf in the Fold" and to the movie "Time After Time". Jack the Ripper is still an interesting idea. A time traveling serial killer/entity could make a fun opponent.
Lots of ideas really, but nothing has really jelled yet for me. Once I have the right story idea and roll for the characters then the system will be easier to decide on.
Anyone done anything like this before? What did you do and what did you use?
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