#RPGaDAY Day 8, Favourite character

#RPGaDAY Day 8, Favourite character 

I have a number of favorite characters but currently it is my iconic witch Larina that occupies my time.

Larina by Jabob Blackmon

Larina Witch by Rick Hershey

Larina was my first witch character ever.  I have played her in every version of D&D I have ever played. Often times I start her over at level 1 and play her through various versions of the witch rules.  She is my "playtest" character in many cases.  I keep her stats the same and see how she plays through the different rules.  As I played her I would write notes on her sheets and ideas I had.  Spells that worked well were noted and spells that didn't work so well were also detailed. 

I am not exactly sure where the name came from to be honest.  I have her very first sheet where she was a dual classed Wizard/Witch in AD&D 1.  Her background was she started out as a Wizard and wasn't very good at it because her "natural" magic was witchcraft.  I used the Dragon #114 version of the witch then, but had supplemented more and more of my own house rules.   On the back of her sheet I scribbled the following:  "Larina Nix was only six when she heard the Call of the Goddess".  The idea was she was witch from the start.

Since I have been playing in the same game world for ever each version of the rules represents another generation.  So Larina in 2nd Ed used my Netbook of Witches and Warlocks book and was the alternate version of the 1st ed Larina who got stuck Ravenloft.  I got very, very loose with the rules and had multi-class as one of my witches and as one of the Witches from the Complete Wizards Handbook.  She was quite powerful.

Right now Larina is a major NPC in my kids D&D 3.x game.  She is a 20th level Witch / 1st level cleric / 2nd level Witch Priestess.  Yeah, we are into the Epic levels now.  She is the reincarnation of the 1st ed Larina who was killed by a vampire.

Currently I have no plans (yet) to move her to D&D5.  Though I do have Pathfinder, C&C, Basic and D&D4 versions of her.

Midnight Release and Tacos

It's midnight where I am and my FLGS, Games Plus, has the 5th Edition Player's Handbook out now.

We grabbed our copies and a copy of the Dragon Queen adventure too.  Yeah it is basically the same thing we are doing in 3e.  Maybe I'll back convert it or use it for ideas.

We celebrated the new release with tacos for Taco Bell.  Hey. Not much else is open that late in the suburbs on a Thurday night.

In any case, 5e looks good.  Now I need to get to bed. I still have work to do tomorrow today.

#RPGaDAY Day 7, Most “intellectual” RPG owned

#RPGaDAY Day 7, Most “intellectual” RPG owned

Not sure what this actually means.

The one that makes me think the most is Mage: The Ascension and Mage The Sorcerers crusade.
It is a great game to think about what our perceptions of reality and morality actually mean.
I guess a lot of the World of Darkness games though are like that.  Vampire makes you think about what it takes to make you a monster.  Are you going to drink that blood and take a life or are you going to hold onto your humanity a little bit longer.

Gen Con Food Trucks

When I was last at Gen Con in 2012 the new thing was all of the food trucks.  Well they expanded last year and now there is even more.

Dorkland! has a great list of all the trucks, where they are going to be and their websites.
http://dorkland.blogspot.com/2014/08/things-to-do-at-gen-con-food-truck-rally.html

Check it out.

Owl & Weasel Wednesday #5 June 1975

June 1975 is the start of something new in the pages of Owl & Weasel and I think they knew it.  First off the crossword is gone. Detailed in the editorial there were just too few people interested in it and it took too long to do.   One first glance the thing you notice is the issue has expanded again. Now at 12 pages for 10p. Quite a bargain.
A dismal report from the London Toy Fair with only two new games that might of interest; "Waterloo" and "Trafalgar".

Steve Jackson reviews two new "games" from Avon Hill. They are both "Ritual Kits" for "Witchcraft" and "Black Magic".  In some ways they look like the adult interactive games like "House to Host a Murder" and in others like a Ouija board with pawns. OR they are meant as serious ritual tools?  Who knows really. Obviously meant to take advantage of the occult revival of the 70s and perfect of example of the type of zeitgeist that fueled my own games.  You can see these "games" over Board Game Geek for a better idea.  Witchcraft Ritual Kit and Black Magic Ritual Kit.  It looks trippy as all hell, or maybe cheap.  Sometimes it is hard to tell.  Honestly this is exactly the kind of thing I would have eaten up in the 70s and 80s.

Stuck in at the bottom of page 2 is paragraph. The title is "Dungeons & Dragons" and Steve Jackson is asking what people think of it. He has not played it yet but promises more when he has.  He is also soliciting reviews.

Other games covered are Red Cloud's War and Epaminondas (something like a checkers variant).  Interestingly enough when doing some research on these games it seems that the O&W article was one of the first reviews of the game published.
A discussion of Mah Jong shows up on page 11 and guidelines for how to play it with standard card decks.

Page 8 gives us some ads and some used games for sale.
Page 12 covers the Games Workshop Games Day.  Planning on running from "Early in the morning to late at night".  they promise demonstrations, meetings for game clubs and the possibility of a "Zine Stall".  There will also be an information stall, and a place to buy used games.  Refreshments will be available.

What I love about this exploration into Owl & Weasel is not just the nostalgia; in fact I was not gaming at this point so I don't have any nostalgia for this time. It is the whole DIY and Wild West feel of the Zine.  It is similar to what we have going on in the blogs and boards now, but there is an earnestness about it that I find appealing.

#RPGaDAY Day 6, Favourite RPG Never get to play

#RPGaDAY Day 6, Favourite RPG Never get to play

Good question.

I am going to have to go with Chill and by extension all the Pacesetter games.
I used to have a lot of fun with Chill but despite all the talk I do about it here I rarely get to play.

I have plenty of ideas of things I want to do with the game and I know it would be fun, its just getting around to do it I guess.

#RPGaDAY Day 5, Most Old School RPG owned

#RPGaDAY Day 5, Most Old School RPG owned

I have a complete copy of the Original D&D rules.  It is 4th printing I believe.  Old enough to feel old, but no Hobbits or Ents in it.
I also have the recent reproduction from WotC.  Can't get much more Old-School than this!

I also have copies of Traveler, Gamma World and some really cool supplements from the 70s and early 80s.