Return from the Caves of Chaos

Had the chance to play some good old-school D&D with the boys yesterday.
What was going to be a "pure" AD&D game is morphing more and more to an OSR kitchen sink game.

The boys, along with their retainers the Cinco Hermanos managed to loot the Gnoll cave.  They found the secret door to the Caves of Evil Chaos (which in Basic D&D was redundant). The had found the helm of alignment change but figured it out right away.  The attacked the evil priests and used the helm to turn one good.

I mixed in elements of "Return to the Keep on the Borderands" and made the high priest a high priestess of  Ereshkigal, who is one of the goddesses of the vampires.  This is the first clue of the oncoming plot of the world being shrouded in darkness. The paladin of the group burned all the unholy books, but the do know there are plans for the humanoids to raid the Keep and then move on to more populated lands.

While they still have part of the northern caves to cover, I am willing to call this one done. They stopped the evil cult and the monsters now will go back to fighting each other.

I have to admit it was a really fun time going through this one again.

Now there is rumor of a some slavers...

March Madness OSR Challenge! Part 4

I want to thank Tomb of Tedankhamen for hosting this.

Here is part 4 of my list.  Hope you enjoy!

23 What is the most broken game that you tried and were unable to play?
The Bram Stoker's Dracula RPG.  It's just awful really.  This one is an easy choice.  But the question remains, is it broken or just bad?

24 What is the most broken game that you tried and loved to play, warts and all?
Broken is sometimes a matter of opinion.  I personally think the Skills and Powers books for 2nd Ed AD&D are broken.  The World of Synibarr is broken and bad, and yet there is something appealing about it.  It's just so crazy it went past bad right into crazy ass gonzo.  I have seen people say (and complain) that AD&D is broken.  It might be, but it is still fun.

25 Which game has the sleekest, most modern engine?
Cinematic Unisystem.  There isn't anything that it can't do well. Or maybe more to the point there isn't anything I can't do with it.  I am sure others think the same thing about GURPS, d20 and/or Savage Worlds. For me CineUnisystem is a perfect fit.

26 What RPG based on an IP did you enjoy most? Give details.
At the risk of sounding vain, Ghosts of Albion. Based on Amber Benson and Christopher Golden's novels and animations.  Written by myself. ;)  But seriously those have been some of the most fun games I have ever played.  Outside of that then the Buffy or Angel games.

27 What IP (=Intellectual Property, be it book, movie or comic) that doesn’t have an RPG deserves it? Why?
Charmed. I am dead serious.   I have been wanting to write a Charmed game for years and honestly I think I could not only do it justice but get people to play it that never watched the show.  One of the most fun times I ever had at Gen Con was playing Piper (a witch from Charmed) in a Charmed/Buffy/Supernatural crossover game.  I would love to do it as a Cinematic Unisystem game.  And it would rock.

28 What free RPG or what non-English RPG did you enjoy most? Give details.
For free I would have to say Basic Fantasy.  It really is a great game and really represents what I feel is the best ideals of the OSR.  Plus it is that sweet spot of how I was playing in the early 80s; a mix of Basic and Advanced D&D.

29 What OSR product have you enjoyed most? Explain why.
Wow. There are so many to be honest.  Nearly half of this blog is dedicated to OSR products I enjoy.  One of the things I like most about the OSR are the products that don't give me things I already have, but things I have always wanted or never knew I needed.
Here are some of my favorites.
B/X Companion - it gave me a book I have been waiting nearly 30 years for.  I had left B/X years ago, but I always felt a little longing for the Companion rules (levels 14-36) that we never got.
Labyrinth Lord - The Basic version of D&D that opened up the OSR world to me.  While in some respects I prefer Basic Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord is still one of my favorites.
Adventures Dark and Deep - Joesph Bloch's magnum opus. A "what if" book, so not a "retro-clone" really.  Something new based on history.  This book is AD&D 2nd ed if Gygax had not left TSR.  Is it "exactly" like what Gygax would have done? No. But this is the closest I think we will ever get.  Joe based this one the reading of all Gygax's letters and things he had mentioned in the pages of Dragon magazine and elsewhere.  It is also a perfectly enjoyable game in it's own right.
Spellcraft & Swordplay - Another "what if" game.  This one takes the SRD and uses the original combat mechanic found in OD&D (not the alternate d20 one we all now use).  It also streamlines a number of things and gives you a really nice, very gritty, old-school game.  One of my favorites.
Another favorite is Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea which I have talked about a lot here.

30 Which non-D&D supplemental product should everyone know about? Give details.
Chill Vampires. If you ever want to use vampires in any game then I suggest you get this book. If you can get the Pacesetter, 1st Edition version then do so, otherwise the Mayfair, 2nd Ed. version is good too, it is just missing a couple of the vampires I really found interesting.  It really is a great book on how vampires can go from being just another monster to an enemy that needs to be studied and understood before fighting.

31 What out-of-print RPG would you most like to see back in publication? Why?
Castle Falkenstein.  Not only is it a fun game, but Mike Poundsmith is one of the best game designers out there.  The premise is cool but the game design blew me away. If you have only ever played D&D or it's direct clones/offspring then you owe it to yourself to play this.  It is available in PDF but I would love to have it in print.

Zatannurday: Young Justice Girls Cameo in Scooby Doo

The DC Universe of any sort has always had an odd relationship with the Scooby-Doo one.  Going all the way back to Scooby-doo meets Batman and even recently in Batman Brave and the Bold.

Well the latest Scooby-doo entry was not where I was expecting to see another one.
Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery features cameos of the girls of Young Justice; Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandmark), Artemis, Zatanna and Miss Martian.

Somehow it makes sense that the girls like WWE.  Can't be any stranger than the fact that WWE is on the SyFy channel.

Makes my Zatanna/Hex Girls crossover seem more likely too!

Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery is out March 25, 2014.

An Interesting thing happened in the Theme Reveal

So an interesting thing happened today in the Blogging A to Z Theme Reveal.
I was clicking through some links and noticed that this one blog was doing an A to Z of Vampires, which is what I had been thinking of doing myself.  Her sister is doing A to Z of Ghosts. And another is do Supernatural creatures.

So we all have decided to get together and do a mini-hop inside the larger one of Supernatural A to Z posts.
Really we are not doing anything extra here, but helping increase the attention of like minded blogs.

So here are the links I have now. I'll add more.

Tasha's Thinkings, A to Z of Vampires
Sophie's Thoughts, A to Z of Ghosts
A Creative Mind, A to Z of Supernatural Creatures.

Here are the topics I am planning to cover in my A to Z of Witches.  Links are not live yet. They are set to be posted at 5:00am Central time.

4/1	A	Aradia	a-to-z-of-witches-a.html
4/2	B	Baba Yaga	a-to-z-of-witches-b.html
4/3	C	Coven, Circe	a-to-z-of-witches-c.html
4/4	D	Dianna	a-to-z-of-witches-d.html
4/5	E	Enchantment	a-to-z-of-witches-e.html
4/7	F	Familiar	a-to-z-of-witches-f.html
4/8	G	Gris Gris	a-to-z-of-witches-g.html
4/9	H	Hex	a-to-z-of-witches-h.html
4/10	I	Incantatrix / Imbolc Mage	a-to-z-of-witches-i.html
4/11	J	Ju-ju	a-to-z-of-witches-j.html
4/12	K	Kiki / Kikimora	a-to-z-of-witches-k.html
4/14	L	Lilith	a-to-z-of-witches-l.html
4/15	M	Morgan Le Fey	a-to-z-of-witches-m.html
4/16	N	Nox / Nicks	a-to-z-of-witches-n.html
4/17	O	Obeah	a-to-z-of-witches-o.html
4/18	P	Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Paige	a-to-z-of-witches-p.html
4/19	Q	Queen of Witches	a-to-z-of-witches-q.html
4/21	R	Rachel Morgan	a-to-z-of-witches-r.html
4/22	S	Shaman	a-to-z-of-witches-s.html
4/23	T	Tarot	a-to-z-of-witches-t.html
4/24	U	Underworld	a-to-z-of-witches-u.html
4/25	V	Voodoo	a-to-z-of-witches-v.html
4/26	W	Warlock	a-to-z-of-witches-w.html
4/28	X	Xothia	a-to-z-of-witches-x.html
4/29	Y	Yama-uba	a-to-z-of-witches-y.html
4/30	Z	Zatanna	a-to-z-of-witches-z.html

Here is the Sign-up list for the Supernatural A to Z. Sign up for this only if you are already doing the A to Z Challenge.  Hope to see more!

A to Z Blog challenge Theme Reveal

I am doing the A to Z blog challenge again this year.

Last year I did the theme of Demons A to Z.  This year I thought it would be Vampires, but something happened last week that made me change my mind.  So I ran back to the drawing board (or in this case the spreed sheet in Google Drive) and checked my ideas.

I am going to do the A to Z of Witches.

There are some out there wondering how this is a stretch for me.  Or even how this is different than any other day. Well I am planning to tackle a lot of topics and subjects that I don't otherwise do. I still have tons of ideas and tons of things to say.  This is a good chance for me to do this.

I am rather looking forward to this one.  I have a lot of ideas about what sorts of things I want to write about and I hope I can make interesting for all my audiences.

BTW I am also talking about one of my favorite books, Dracula, over at The Unconventional Librarian.
http://unconventionallibrarian.com/2014/03/21/atozchallenge-bookish-friends-introducing-tim/

Maybe I will do Vampires next year!

Today is the A to Z Blog Theme Reveal so lots of people are letting you know about their themes.

First day of Spring...

Today is the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
Can't tell by looking outside.  Still a lot of ice outside.  So here are some pictures of Ice.


Ice - Justice League International - DC Comics by WhiteLemon on deviantART


Guy Gardner and Ice by JonathanDuran on deviantART


Tora by theEyZmaster on deviantART


Sailor Ice by dirk-geijsbeek on deviantART

Since today is the equinox, give equal time to Fire as well.



Ice and Fire - Justice League International - DC by WhiteLemon on deviantART


Fire and Ice by SebbyWhite on deviantART

Same Class

Random thought this morning between cups of coffee.

Have you ever been in a game where every character was the same class?
If so what class and how did it work out?

At Gen Con a couple years back I played a Castles and Crusades game where everyone played an assassin. Another time I played some 4e where everyone was a dwarf fighter.

The assassin one worked, the fighter one not as well, but A for effort.

How about you all?