Wizards of the Coast really, really, really wants you to play their new D&D game.
How much?
Well they have the Starter Set coming out which covers up to level 5. Not bad really.
But that is not all.
Today Mike Mearls announced the D&D Basic Set. What is that?
Well it is a stripped down version of D&D 5 with only the Basic 4 classes (Fighter, Wizard, Thief and Cleric) but you can take them to level 20.
And it is 100% free.
That's right a free PDF of the D&D rules.
https://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd%2F4ll%2F20140527
Mearls likens it to the old D&D Rule Cyclopedia without any world or campaign materials.
It also looks like there will be more freebies in the future too.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Monday, May 26, 2014
Strange Brew. Now for Castles & Crusades
I am pleased to announce that are also offering Strange Brew: The Ultimate Witch & Warlock for Castles & Crusades!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/962794554/strange-brew-pathfinder-the-ultimate-witch-and-war
This book is part of the same Kickstarter as the Pathfinder book. So really for one price you could get 4 books instead of 1.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/962794554/strange-brew-pathfinder-the-ultimate-witch-and-war
This book is part of the same Kickstarter as the Pathfinder book. So really for one price you could get 4 books instead of 1.
- Strange Brew for Pathfinder
- Strange Brew for Castles & Crusades
- The Witch for Basic Era Games
- and the update of Way of the Witch for Pathfinder
We are at 75% funded now with about 2 weeks left to go.
Material is written. We just need to secure the art and layout.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Zatannurday: Zatanna and Scarlet Witch Again!
So in any case, here she is once again with The Other Side's resident superhero Zatanna!
Zatanna + Scarlet Witch by HaphazardMachine on deviantART
Zatanna and Scarlet Witch Beach Bikinis by justinprime on deviantART
Zatanna Vs. Scarlet Witch by DarthTerry on deviantART
Scarlet Zatanna by SamwiseTheAwesome on deviantART
Zatanna VS Scarlet Witch by Broken-Endings on deviantART
Zatanna Vs Scarlet Witch by Wonder-Heroics on deviantART
Counterparts: Zatanna Zatara and The Scarlet Witch by nhiaphengthao on deviantART
Zatanna Vs Scarlet Witch by VitamineJJC on deviantART
Magic DC Vs. Magic Marvel by olybear on deviantART
Friday, May 23, 2014
PWWO: The Basic Illusionist
Time for another edition of Plays Well With Others.
The one thing you can say about the entire OSR Gestalt that despite it all there is still a sense of community and of giving back. Case in point, The Basic Illusionist.
The Basic Illusionist is the brain-child of +Nathan Irving and was first seen during the S&W Appreciation Day Blog Hop.
Go to his blog now and grab a copy. Oh. Did I mention it was 100% free?
http://secretsoftheshadowend.blogspot.com/
Before I delve into the book itself. Lets take a moment to look at this cover.
Seriously. That is a cool ass cover. I am not sure what made Nathan Irving choose this piece ("Beauty and the Beast" by Edmund Dulac) but I love it. The title works in seemlessly, like they were meant for each other. The woman in foreground is no longer the "beauty" but she is now an Illusionist.
Ok. So the book is overtly for Swords & Wizardry, but there isn't anything here keeping you from using any Original of Basic inspired system. I know it works out well in Labyrinth Lord and Basic D&D and it really should work well in ACKS, Spellcraft & Swordplay or any other system. Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea might be a trick, but they have an Illusionist class already (more on that later).
Getting into the book now we have 34 pages (with cover) on the Illusionist class. The book starts off with a helpful FAQ. Personally I think Nathan should also put that FAQ on his blog as a page so every knows why they should get this. The Illusionist class itself is in S&W format, but the only thing keeping you from using this in any other Basic or Advanced Era game is a table of Saving Throws. Copy over what ever the Wizard or Magic-user is using in your game of choice and give them -1 bonus to saves when it comes to illusions.
The Illusionist gets a power or feature every odd level, but nothing that is game breaking when compared to the wizard. The Illusionist trades flexibility for focus in their magical arsenal. There is even an Illusionist variant class called the Mountebank. Which is more of a con-artist. Not sure how it compares to other classes of the same name.
One of the best features of the book is a guideline on illusionist magic and how to play with illusions. Great even if you never play the class.
What follows next is over 150 Illusionist spells. Many we have seen before and come from the SRD. That is not a bad thing. Having all these spells in one place and edited to work with the class is a major undertaking. I for one am glad to see them here. Spells are alphabetical instead of sorted by level.
A list of conditions ported over from the SRD is also included. I like that personally. We all love how the older games and the clones play, but in our zeal we tend to forget that 3.x and later games did in fact have some good innovations and ideas; this is one of them.
We end with a couple of monsters and a two page OGL statement.
Really, this is a fantastic piece of work and really should be the "go to" document if you ever want to play an illusionist.
Playing Well With Others
The design of the Illusionist class (and the book) is such that adding it to any game should really be a breeze. Adventurers enter a new land and discover a new brand of wizard. Compared to other custom wizards out there the illusionist is more powerful than his counterpart in 1st Ed. AD&D. This is not power creep in my opinion, I think Nathan has has actually fixed the classic Illusionist and brought it more in line with the Wizard.
Magical Theorems & Dark Pacts
+Dyson Logos' Magical Theorems & Dark Pacts is an excellent book for playing all sorts of wizard types. That is oddly enough except Illusionists. This however is not issue; The Basic Illusionist fits in quite nicely here. The Enchanter from MT&DP would have some spells that might be good for the Illusionist as well.
Theorems & Thaumaturgy
Another great free product. Theorems & Thaumaturgy comes to us from +Gavin Norman and introduced his Vivmancer class. Vivimancers and Illusionists are about as different as one can get really. But Theorems & Thaumaturgy does have some things that the Basic Illusionist can use. For starters there some more Illusionist spells in T&T that the Basic Illusionist could use. Both books make the assumption that Illusionists should have access to 8th and 9th level spells. If you are going to play a Basic Illusionist then it is worth your time and effort to get a copy of Theorem & Thaumaturgy.
Nathan, I would talk to Gavin and see if you can use his spells if you ever expand your Illusionist book. Maybe toss over some elementalist spells his way if you have them.
Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
+Jeff Talanian's fantastic Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea also has an Illusionist class. Like all the classes in the book it is limited to 12th level. I had a quick glance over the spell lists last night and there wasn't anything that jumped out at me; the spells are drawn from similar sources. There is is information though that owners of either could use. Obviously the Basic Illusionist cover many more spells but more importantly it has the guidelines for covering how illusions in the game work.
The Witch
Of course I want to mention my own book. Witches and Illusionists share the ability to cast various figments and charms/mind affecting spells. I would say that in any game that has both classes that Illusionists should be limited to charm spells up to 5th level and witches any type of figments up to 5th level. Illusionists then get all (or most) of the Illusion spells and witches get all the curses.
What I Would Want Next
I know. I sound greedy. Nathan Irving works his butt off on this, puts it together and gives it away for free and I am over here saying "yeah, but do you have any more?"
But my motives are pure.
I would love a print version of this. It would really be awesome. At 34 pages it is a bit smallish for print, but that is easily fixed. Add a few more spells (plenty of OGC), some illusion based magic items, a couple more monsters (not a lot) an appendix for using this class in different retro-clones (LL, OSRIC, ACKS) and maybe even stats on adding gnomes as player characters. Call it "The Complete Illusionist" sell it for a couple of bucks on DriveThru and get a print copy made. OR Keep it free as a PDF and have print copies up on Lulu. In any case it would look good on my "OSR" shelf. There is enough OGC out there now to do all of this in fact. There is enough OGC in the 4 books mentioned above!
Bottom Line: This is a great book. I loved the awesome art and the fact that it is free. Though I would have gladly paid for it.
The one thing you can say about the entire OSR Gestalt that despite it all there is still a sense of community and of giving back. Case in point, The Basic Illusionist.
The Basic Illusionist is the brain-child of +Nathan Irving and was first seen during the S&W Appreciation Day Blog Hop.
Go to his blog now and grab a copy. Oh. Did I mention it was 100% free?
http://secretsoftheshadowend.blogspot.com/
Before I delve into the book itself. Lets take a moment to look at this cover.
Seriously. That is a cool ass cover. I am not sure what made Nathan Irving choose this piece ("Beauty and the Beast" by Edmund Dulac) but I love it. The title works in seemlessly, like they were meant for each other. The woman in foreground is no longer the "beauty" but she is now an Illusionist.
Ok. So the book is overtly for Swords & Wizardry, but there isn't anything here keeping you from using any Original of Basic inspired system. I know it works out well in Labyrinth Lord and Basic D&D and it really should work well in ACKS, Spellcraft & Swordplay or any other system. Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea might be a trick, but they have an Illusionist class already (more on that later).
Getting into the book now we have 34 pages (with cover) on the Illusionist class. The book starts off with a helpful FAQ. Personally I think Nathan should also put that FAQ on his blog as a page so every knows why they should get this. The Illusionist class itself is in S&W format, but the only thing keeping you from using this in any other Basic or Advanced Era game is a table of Saving Throws. Copy over what ever the Wizard or Magic-user is using in your game of choice and give them -1 bonus to saves when it comes to illusions.
The Illusionist gets a power or feature every odd level, but nothing that is game breaking when compared to the wizard. The Illusionist trades flexibility for focus in their magical arsenal. There is even an Illusionist variant class called the Mountebank. Which is more of a con-artist. Not sure how it compares to other classes of the same name.
One of the best features of the book is a guideline on illusionist magic and how to play with illusions. Great even if you never play the class.
What follows next is over 150 Illusionist spells. Many we have seen before and come from the SRD. That is not a bad thing. Having all these spells in one place and edited to work with the class is a major undertaking. I for one am glad to see them here. Spells are alphabetical instead of sorted by level.
A list of conditions ported over from the SRD is also included. I like that personally. We all love how the older games and the clones play, but in our zeal we tend to forget that 3.x and later games did in fact have some good innovations and ideas; this is one of them.
We end with a couple of monsters and a two page OGL statement.
Really, this is a fantastic piece of work and really should be the "go to" document if you ever want to play an illusionist.
Playing Well With Others
The design of the Illusionist class (and the book) is such that adding it to any game should really be a breeze. Adventurers enter a new land and discover a new brand of wizard. Compared to other custom wizards out there the illusionist is more powerful than his counterpart in 1st Ed. AD&D. This is not power creep in my opinion, I think Nathan has has actually fixed the classic Illusionist and brought it more in line with the Wizard.
Magical Theorems & Dark Pacts
+Dyson Logos' Magical Theorems & Dark Pacts is an excellent book for playing all sorts of wizard types. That is oddly enough except Illusionists. This however is not issue; The Basic Illusionist fits in quite nicely here. The Enchanter from MT&DP would have some spells that might be good for the Illusionist as well.
Theorems & Thaumaturgy
Another great free product. Theorems & Thaumaturgy comes to us from +Gavin Norman and introduced his Vivmancer class. Vivimancers and Illusionists are about as different as one can get really. But Theorems & Thaumaturgy does have some things that the Basic Illusionist can use. For starters there some more Illusionist spells in T&T that the Basic Illusionist could use. Both books make the assumption that Illusionists should have access to 8th and 9th level spells. If you are going to play a Basic Illusionist then it is worth your time and effort to get a copy of Theorem & Thaumaturgy.
Nathan, I would talk to Gavin and see if you can use his spells if you ever expand your Illusionist book. Maybe toss over some elementalist spells his way if you have them.
Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
+Jeff Talanian's fantastic Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea also has an Illusionist class. Like all the classes in the book it is limited to 12th level. I had a quick glance over the spell lists last night and there wasn't anything that jumped out at me; the spells are drawn from similar sources. There is is information though that owners of either could use. Obviously the Basic Illusionist cover many more spells but more importantly it has the guidelines for covering how illusions in the game work.
The Witch
Of course I want to mention my own book. Witches and Illusionists share the ability to cast various figments and charms/mind affecting spells. I would say that in any game that has both classes that Illusionists should be limited to charm spells up to 5th level and witches any type of figments up to 5th level. Illusionists then get all (or most) of the Illusion spells and witches get all the curses.
What I Would Want Next
I know. I sound greedy. Nathan Irving works his butt off on this, puts it together and gives it away for free and I am over here saying "yeah, but do you have any more?"
But my motives are pure.
I would love a print version of this. It would really be awesome. At 34 pages it is a bit smallish for print, but that is easily fixed. Add a few more spells (plenty of OGC), some illusion based magic items, a couple more monsters (not a lot) an appendix for using this class in different retro-clones (LL, OSRIC, ACKS) and maybe even stats on adding gnomes as player characters. Call it "The Complete Illusionist" sell it for a couple of bucks on DriveThru and get a print copy made. OR Keep it free as a PDF and have print copies up on Lulu. In any case it would look good on my "OSR" shelf. There is enough OGC out there now to do all of this in fact. There is enough OGC in the 4 books mentioned above!
Bottom Line: This is a great book. I loved the awesome art and the fact that it is free. Though I would have gladly paid for it.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
One more Reason to Support my Kickstarter
Say that 256 pages of witchy goodness is not enough?
Ok, how about another 200. For free?
Pledge at $25 or above level and I will throw in a PDF copy of my 2012 "The Witch" for Basic Era/OSR games.
It makes a great companion to my Pathfinder book.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/962794554/strange-brew-pathfinder-the-ultimate-witch-and-war
Ok, how about another 200. For free?
Pledge at $25 or above level and I will throw in a PDF copy of my 2012 "The Witch" for Basic Era/OSR games.
It makes a great companion to my Pathfinder book.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/962794554/strange-brew-pathfinder-the-ultimate-witch-and-war
Kickstarter hits 65% in 10 Days!
So my recent Kickstarter for Strange Brew is moving along nicely.
In the first 10 days we have hit 65% of our funding goal.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/962794554/strange-brew-pathfinder-the-ultimate-witch-and-war
That is fantastic, but it won't help us hit man of our stretch goals.
So are thinking of adding some more "benefits" for levels. For example we have the rights now to the old Citizen Games, Way of the Witch book and were are updating that to Pathfinder.
We have a couple of other products ready and a few more nearly ready.
What would you like to see?
Pledge and get a free copy of my Basic Era Witch book?
Something else?
If nothing else or if you are not interested, please consider spreading the word! Let others know.
Thanks
In the first 10 days we have hit 65% of our funding goal.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/962794554/strange-brew-pathfinder-the-ultimate-witch-and-war
That is fantastic, but it won't help us hit man of our stretch goals.
So are thinking of adding some more "benefits" for levels. For example we have the rights now to the old Citizen Games, Way of the Witch book and were are updating that to Pathfinder.
We have a couple of other products ready and a few more nearly ready.
What would you like to see?
Pledge and get a free copy of my Basic Era Witch book?
Something else?
If nothing else or if you are not interested, please consider spreading the word! Let others know.
Thanks
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
What *is* a Warlock?
More specifically "what is a warlock?"
Research on the word reveals that it is Scottish in origin and was first used in the early 1700s and has a few cognates. So what is a warlock?
A wizard: Well that doesn't help. We have those already in Pathfinder. Ditto for sorcerer and magus.
A male witch: No. That doesn't work so well either. Besides a male witch is a witch unless you want a male witch to be a wizard. But why have a witch at that point?
A spellcaster: No. Half the classes are "Spellcasters" in one way or another.
There is evidence that word shares roots with lēogan and wǣrloga, but those only tell me the roots of the word, not what the word is itself.
And more to the point, what does a warlock mean in my games? What is it's role? What does it do? This isn't a history or linguistic text I am working, it is a game book, so I have to think about this in terms of what is good for a class and what is good for the players.
Recently I spoke about them on my blog back in April (W is for Warlock), but I have never really sat down to define them in terms of role and powers. Powers might be important mechanically speaking, but if the class doesn't fill a role in my game then the powers could or should go to someone else.
A while back on my blog I reprinted what Tom Moldvay, author of the D&D Basic set, had to say about witches. These came from Dragon Magazine #43 which was presenting their version of the Witch class.
According to Moldvay a witch has: 1. The ability to use herbs for healing and magic. 2. The power of fascination, like a super-charm ability. 3. A combination of both Clerical and Magic-User abilities. 4. The ability to practice sympathetic magic. 5. Be worshipers, in secret, of a religion otherwise forbidden in a particular era. 6. Powers based on nature and the cycle of seasons, similar to Druidic* powers.
I added a 7th, the ability to form into covens.
I would like to take these as a basis for the Warlock class, since the witch and warlock are so intertwined historically.
1. The ability to harm using magic. Warlocks, if anything, are seen as evil. But players should be able to choose their own alignments for their characters. So an "Evil" act would be to use magic to directly harm. One thing D&D/Pathfinder is missing is a magical blaster class. Sure the Wizard and Sorcerer could do this, but it is a side effect of their spell use, not a feature of the class.
2. Combination of Witch, Cleric and Wizard powers. Like the witch the warlock is an arcane spell caster that deals with otherworldly powers. They are a bit cleric, a bit wizard and a lot of something else. I think this should allow them access to the Witch spells. This also ties the two classes closer together.
3. Witches have sympathetic magic, warlock have this too but in order to do harm. This is best exemplified by curses. But warlocks need something more than just that. Correspondences will be important to warlocks too. Their magic is tied closely to their patron. The rituals they perform to learn and cast their magic also bind them closer and closer to their patron. Their magic needs to be reflected in this.
4. Like witches, warlocks are in league with otherworldly powers for their own benefit. These are stereotypically demons, devils and lost gods, but they are also Arch Fey Lords and Ladies, areas of magical power, even elementals and primal creatures. These pacts are a way for the warlock to gain power without having to do all of the learning that wizards do. They also do not have the sorcerer's magical bloodlines, so power for the warlock must be taken where it can.
5. Warlocks, again like wizards and witches, form into groups that aid them. Wizards have their schools, witches have covens, and warlocks have cabals. Where covens are more centers of worship for the witch, a cabal is place for like minded warlocks to share secrets. It is similar to the wizard school in that there is shared learning.
Additionally I would like to see the warlock have some form of corruption happen to them. Their pact ties them body and soul to their patrons. This should be reflected in the physical presence of the warlock. The Oracle class has their curse for example and the anti-paladin has their auras.
In the Strange Brew Kickstarter I mention I want the witch to be more than just a distaff wizard. I also want the warlock to be more than a male, maybe evil, witch.
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