PWWO: Doctor Who, Hitchhiker's Guide and Pokémon

With the publication of Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space Limited Edition Hardcover Edition I have been wanting to do more with this game.  I have already run a classic AD&D module with it but the applications for this game seem endless.  So starting with Doctor Who here are the two mashups based on ideas from both of my kids.  So for this edition of Plays Well with Others I have two game ideas based around Doctor Who.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Doctor Who Universe
My oldest son has been reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and he had to do a school report on Douglas Adams.  Fans of Adams know of his long association with Doctor Who during the classic Tom Baker years. So for me this has been a great little trip to 1983 when I was doing something very similar in school.  Though unlike my kids I did not have Doctor Who on BluRay anytime I wanted it.

Well this morning I was thinking about Arthur Dent, or more specifically, Martin Freeman.  To date he has pretty much played every important English "everyman" I can think of after only one cup of coffee; Arthur Dent, Bilbo Baggins and John Watson.  The Watson connection got me thinking again about doing a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy game using the Doctor Who rules.  I touched on this last year but I think I need to look into it more.

No need to worry about who plays the Time Lord since everyone, including the aliens, are just regular people.  Ok sometimes regular people with two heads and three arms, but that is the galaxy we live in.

Junior Timelord Academy
I was having a conversation with my youngest son back in the winter about how Pokéballs must be Timelord science. Afterall they are bigger on the inside.  Also Pokémon evolution looks more like Timelord regeneration.   Many others have pointed this out. Even the Pokémon character "Looker" is supposed to look like/be the 10th Doctor.  There are dozens of other examples (not to mention all the "Time" powered Pokémon) so I'll leave it as a given.

What can we do with this idea?  Simple, if in the HHGTG game there are no Timelords in an Pokémon one everyone is a Timelord, or at least they will be when they grow up.

Junior Timelord Academy then focuses on young Timelords in training, or even more generically, young Gallifreyians.  They have pets, like most kids do, except in stead of accidentally peeing on the floor these pets summon up elemental powers to do battle.  We know that in the Dark Times on Gallifrey gladiatorial fights were held in the Death Zone till Rassilon put a stop to them.  That legacy lives on in the children's games of fighting with their genetically engineered pets.

So a mix of Doctor Who, Pokémon, some ideas from WitchGirls Adventures, and a little bit of BESM: Cute and Fuzzy Seizure Monsters.  Big Eyes, Small Mouth 3rd Ed though might work better with Doctor Who in terms of system conversion.  This isn't High School drama like Smallville or Byron Falls, the target age here is pre-Teens.

So the characters move across Gallifrey battling their cute pet killing machines against each other knowing that soon they will enter the great Time Lord academies.

Also there is no reason I can't mix both.

Strange Brew Kickstarter back on!

So in February we started a Kickstarter for Strange Brew: The Ultimate Witch & Warlock.
We ended up pulling the plug on it because we wanted some more art, video and better definition of what we wanted to do.

Well we have not been sitting around this past month and in April we would like to bring it back.

We have more art now and we are working on some other details with artists as well.
Plus we are lowering our target amount and hoping to present a more streamlined book.

I still have 500+ pages written, but not sure yet how much of that will make it to the final cut.

I have seen mock-ups of the layout and it looks great. I am so excited to be part of this.

But what has the me the most psyched is the team being put together for this.
Here is something from our revised Kickstarter.

Timothy S. Brannan has been writing about witches for most of his RPG career. In 2002 he released Liber Mysterium a book on playing witches for the Dungeons & Dragons 3.0/d20 game. He has worked on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG and Ghosts of Albion RPG, where he worked side by side with Amber Benson, who played his favorite TV witch, Tara Maclay. Tim is this project's Author and Lead Designer.

Industry veteran and award-winning writer and editor, Christina Stiles, will be our Editor-in-Chief. In addition to co-authoring of the original Way of the Witch, Christina has written, edited, designed and developed scores of projects for Paizo, White Wolf, Green Ronin, Misfit Studios, Super Genius Games, Kobold Press, Rogue Genius Games and more.
She is currently finishing Freeing Nethus for Kobold Press and starting editing on Bite Me! The Gaming Guide to Lycanthropy.

Robert H. Hudson, Jr., best known for his work on Hero System’s Pulp Hero line, will be the book's developer. Robert has been both lead designer and lead developer on numerous projects for Christina Stiles' Presents.

Mike Welham, the 2012 RPG Superstar in Paizo Publishing's Pathfinder contest, will be providing additional feats, spells, archetypes--and whatever else strikes his imagination!

Team members Carlos Ovalle, Andrew Durston, and Heleen Durston will also be contributing to the project.

Morgan Boehringer and Mike Myler will provide material to the book.  Morgan has been in Kobold Quarterly #23 (Gauntlet Witch) and Wayfinder (no's 7,8 and 9 - #7 was the Bonewitch); as welll as Midgard Tales, Legends of Midgard and Journeys to the West. I also published the critically acclaimed Direlock.
Mike Myler has also authored numerous Pathfinder books including Rise of the Drow and The Clockwork Wonders of Brandlehill.

Additionally, Morgan Boehringer and Megan Robertson (a co-author on Way of the Witch) have been asked to provide stretch goal material for the project. And Jean Rabe (a co-author on Way of the Witch), best known for her Dragonlance novels, will be writing an original short story for the project. Janet Pack, the final co-author on Way of the Witch, may be joining us on this romp, as well.

Peter Bradley, Troll Lord Games' artist and layout guru created the cover art and will be doing additional art in the book.

Jacob Blackmon, an extraordinary artist who has done work for Christina's Rogue Mage RPG (Misfit Studios) and other projects, will be doing much of the interior art.

I can't wait to get this out you!

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.