New D&D from WotC

One of the biggest problems of hanging in mostly old-school areas is people still seem to want to bitch and complain about Wizards of the Coast.

I don't get that.

It's ok not to like them. It's ok not to care for 3rd, 4th or 5th edition D&D.  But they are not the freaking devil.

We have the OGL from WotC which honestly has made the entire OSR possible.

We even are getting new content we can use in our games from them all them thanks to DnDClassics.com.

The 3.5 Edition of the Player's Handbook is now out for example.
Why is this a big deal? Because the 3.5 books all got the "deluxe" reprints. There general wisdom has been that reprints have not been getting PDFs.  Well if this is a change we can soon see 1st and 2nd edition core book pdfs.  We already see that with the Basic lines and much of the supplemental materials.

You might not play D&D 5 or have any interest in the current "Elemental Evil" arc, you have to agree that The Elemental Evil Player's Companion is a very important product.  Why? Well it is free, so there is that, but more importantly this is the first product WotC is doing "Print on Demand".  This is a HUGE deal.  Could you imagine it they started offering old school products not just as PDF but as POD?  Copies of old modules for a fraction of what the aftermarket charges?  The ability to have people new to the game buy the classics in book form?

Dragon is coming back AND it looks like it will be free. The new incarnation is Dragon+.
https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/news/dragonplus

There is a new member of their "D&D Adventure System Cooperative Play board games", Temple of Elemental Evil.  Which looks like it could be fun.
http://wizkidsgames.com/blog/2015/04/29/wizkids-temple-of-elemental-evil-board-game-arrives-in-north-american-retail/

So regardless of what system you are playing, there should be something in all this new AND old content you can use.

A to Z of Vampires: White Star SPECIAL Space Vampire

Heck with it.  Here is a special vampire for today.  To celebrate the release of +James Spahn's "White Star" here is a blast from the past, the Space Vampire of the 25th Century. The Vorvon!  Also useful for +Dan P's Starships & Spacemen or +Kevin Crawford's Stars Without Number.

The Vorvon

The Vorvon is a vampire from the darkest reaches of space. They are vampires and some even say they are the source of the vampire myths on hundreds of worlds.  They stand at just under 2 meters tall.  Their skin is a sickly pale blue color and what hair they have is thick, course and black.  They have long fangs, and long taloned fingers. It is through these talons that they drain life energy.  The vorvon can choose to drain either 2 points of Wisdom or 2 points of Constitution per touch.  The vorvon can go great periods of time between feedings, but once it meets up with intelligent life it must feed till full (30 points of Con or Wis drained total).

Vorvons do not cast shadow, reflection and they do not show up on security cameras or video recordings.  They have infrared vision to 120 ft and can survive the vacuum of space.

They are immune to the effects of energy based weapons except ones at the ultraviolet end of the spectrum.  These do 1d6 points of damage per firing.  Also the vorvon can shoot and energy blast of their own.  This is actually anti-life energy (also known as necrotic energy) to effect others.

The vorvon can hypnotize (as per the psychic power). Anyone drained by the vorvon becomes a mindless "half-dead" slave under it's control.

A mystical ward will hold it off; a diamond shape made up of four smaller diamonds.

The only way to destroy it is to get it within 800,000 km (500,000 miles) of a star.

Vorvon
AKA: Space Vampire
Frequency: Very Rare
No. Apperring: 1
Size: Man-sized (M)
Armor Class: 2 [18]₁
Movement
 Basic: 180' (60')
 Advanced: 18"
 3e: 30'
Hit Dice: 10+5 (50 hp)
% in Lair: 50% (coffin by day)
Attacks: energy bolt,  Energy Drain (touch),
Damage: 1d6, Energy Drain
Special Attacks: Hypnosis,
Special Defenses: Only killed by close orbit to sunlight; immune to energy weapons*
Save As: 10₂
Magic Resistance: 55%
Morale: 10₃
Alignment: Chaotic evil
Level/XP: 10/5,750 + 12/hp

STR: 21 INT: 11 (Normal) WIS: 11 DEX: 18 CON: __(15)₄  CHA: 8₅

1 Descending and [Ascending] Armor classes are given.
2 This is used for Basic games, and S&W. Also for monsters that I think need to save a little differently than others.
3 Morale is "Basic" Morale and based on a 1-12 scale.
4 Have not decided yet if I want to use 3.x style undead Constitutions or not. (15) Reflects what their Con would be if I do use it.  I might just put a number in () like I do for Ghosts of Albion.
5 obviously more reflective of personality and character than looks.

The Vorvon first (and last) appeared in Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century episode "The Space Vampire"

A to Z Challenge 2015 Reflections Post

I survived another A to Z blogging challenge.

I was so unprepared this year.  I know what vampire I was going to talk about each day, but often not much more than that.
By the numbers Vampires are much more popular than Witches or Demons.

Despite there being fewer participants in the challenge this year I did not get a chance to visit everyone.  That is too bad really, visiting new and interesting blogs is one of the highlights.
Though with the fewer blogs there were more that seemed in it to really enjoy it.

I actually had a lot more fun this year than last.  So that is something.
I did miss not participating in a mini-hop like I did last year.

This challenge would not be possible without our hosts:
Arlee Bird @ Tossing it Out
Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
Jeremy @ Hollywood Nuts
Nicole Ayers @ The Madlab Post
Author Stephen Tremp
Heather M. Gardner
AJ Lauer
Pam @ An Unconventional Librarian
Matthew MacNish @ The QQQE
Zalka Csenge Virág @ The Multicolored Diary
S. L. Hennessy @ Pensuasion
C. Lee McKenzie @ The Write Game
Joy Campbell @ The Character Depot
Susan Gourley @ Susan Says
John Holton @The Sound of One Hand Typing

I'd also like to thank the Ambassador's Team that I worked with this year:
Arlee Bird, Rob Z Tobor, J Lenni Dorner, Jenny Pearson, and Jeffrey Bushman.
You are all a great bunch!

Anyway in case you are curious here are the vampires and their country or myth or origin.

Letter	Vampire	Country / Myths
A	Aswang	Philippines
B	Berbalang	Philippines
C	Camazotz	Central America
D	Dearg-Due	Ireland
E	Estrie	Jewish Folklore
F	Farkaskoldus	Hungary
G	Gierach	Eastern Prussia / Poland
H	Hsi-Hsue-Kue	China
I	Impundulu	South Africa (Zulu & Xhosa)
J	Jigarkhwar	India
K	Kyuuketsuki	Japan
L	Lilith	Ancient Mesopotamia
M	Moroi	Rumania
N	Nosferatu	Germany
O	Ovegua	Guinea, Africa
P	Pĕnanggalan	Malaysian
Q	Vampire Queen	Modern
R	Rolang	Tibet
S	Soucouyant	Trinidad
T	Tenatz	Eastern Europe
U	Upierczi	Poland
V	Vrykolakas	Greece
W	Wurdalak	Russia
X	Xiāng-shī (殭屍)	China
Y	Yara-ma-yha-who	Australia
Z	Zburător	Rumania

Other Vampire Posts

Vampire	Country / Myths
Baobhan Sìth	Ireland
Dracula	Novel
Elizabeth Bathory	History / myth
Lilith, as a demon	Ancient Mesopotamia
Lilith, as a witch	Ancient Mesopotamia
Strigoi	Eastern Europe

I have NO idea what to do for next year! Any requets?

May the Fourth be With You

It's "Star Wars day".

I suppose you will be seeing this in a lot of places today, but I also want to increase the volume on this.  James Spahn has released his old-school Space Opera epic, White Star.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/148169/White-Star-White-Box-Science-Fiction-Roleplaying-Swords--Wizardry

James and BRG has come a long way since putting out LL compatible classes for a buck.
This should be a hit for him.  It is already #1 at RPGNow.com

Zatannurday: Scarlet Witch Edition

So I guess there is some Marvel movie out this weekend.
All I know is it isn't the Justice League!

All snark aside, I was never a big Avengers fan.  To me they spent as much time fighting each other as they did the threats attacking from outside.   Not that the JL was perfect mind you, but I still liked them better.

That all being said, I can't not post today and not at least mention the Scarlet Witch.
So for today here is a special Scarlet Witch edition of Zatannurday!



Scarlet Witch by IanJMiller on DeviantArt


Zatanna vs Scarlet Witch by FEVG620 on DeviantArt


Zatanna vs Witch Scarlet by rafabruno0 on DeviantArt


This Magic Moment by EthereaS on DeviantArt


Last Words by ShinyRaven on DeviantArt


Zatanna From Dc Vs Scarlet Witch from Marvel by newsuperdannyzx on DeviantArt

And a few White Witches


Wanda Zatara by AerianR on DeviantArt


White Witch by FYeahSTZ on DeviantArt


Previous Scarlet Witch Zatannurdays
http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2012/01/zatannurday-special-guests-white-witch.html
http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2012/01/zatannurday-more-scarlet-witch.html
http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2014/05/zatannurday-zatanna-and-scarlet-witch.html

Friday Night Videos: Supers Edition

Welcome back to Friday Night Videos! Supers Edition.

I have been thinking a lot about supers this last week or so. I have a big "deep dive" I want to do this summer with supers and of course the Summer movie season starts tonight with The Avengers.

This got me thinking about 2003-2005 (well that and a post at Age of Ravens that I will get too later) when I was working on a big Supers/Supernatural crossover.  Not Supernatural the show, but rather a world, or two worlds, that were "light" and "dark".  The dark world was my regular WitchCraft/Buffy/Ghosts of Albion game.  The light world was a world populated by Super Heroes.  Characters in one world had a counterpart in the other.

It is from this effort that I began working up a number of different versions of Willow and Tara and it gave birth to Justice.  Of course I had a soundtrack.

"Heroes" was not just the centerpiece of this time period, it became the name of the first adventure.  Honestly, there is very, very little about David Bowie's singing and song writing that doesn't inspire me.




Heroes always reminds me of the 1977 movie "Heroes" that starred Henry Winkler, Sally Field and Harrison Ford.  The movie was not about supers, but about a soldier from Vietnam and the loss of his dream.  I remember seeing this movie dozens of times.  But what always, always got me in the end was when the credits closed in on a broken Henry Winkler (he came to the reality that his friend was dead) and a crying Sally Field was "Carry on Wayward Son" by Kansas from their prog-rock classic Leftoverture.   I put this in my top 20 of all time favorite songs.   Like the movie I always felt that this song was what the characters and situations I were working on were about; Noble, but deeply flawed heroes.  The fact that it is use every year for Supernatural only cements it's credibility for my games.




What I wanted to say about my next song was "Fuck you P!nk is my jam!" but you all deserve much better and more than that.  P!nk is freaking fantastic.  I bought Missundaztood for my wife and I promptly left it in my car where I listened to it everyday.  "Just Like A Pill" is not about supers. But it did give me an idea on an old comic/cartoon trope, the drug-addiction episode.  Plus if I am going to mix supernaturals with supers then drugs seem like a no brainer.




What became something of a theme song to my later Buffy games, this also captured something I wanted to capture in my own games.  These characters, these supers are as removed from humanity as the monsters they fight.  I wanted to capture what is was to be human.
Rob Zombie may not have the answer, but in "More Human than Human" from White Zombie's Astro-Creep: 2000 he knows what question to ask.




It's a wicked world we live in. It's cruel and unforgiving. No one raps it better than The Transplants in "Diamonds and Guns".



If you need a theme song for an end of the world Armageddon event then you can do worse than Disturbed and their cover of Genesis' "Land of Confusion" from Ten Thousand Fists.  The video was animated by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, so it also has "street cred".   If I need to write an adventure about destroying the world I put Disturbed on first.




Mixing Supers and Supernaturals is the Reese's Peanut Buttercup of campaigns for me; mixing two different things together to get something that is better than either on their own. Or at least something new and exciting.
EXACTLY like "Bring the Noise" by Public Enemy and Anthrax.  Rap meets speed metal.  This gets me pumped.  Just like Chuck D says "these lines are dope".



In truth I could do an entire night of rock/rap crossovers and talk about how they influenced my horror writing.

Kickstart Your Weekend: Valnwall UPDATE

I want to update you all on a Kickstarter I shared last week.

Guidebook to the Duchy of Valnwall is set in the same Duchy as the Guidebook to the City of Dolmvay.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/665143704/guidebook-to-the-duchy-of-valnwall

This project will detail the Duchy of Valnwall and the surrounding areas.

It is the stretch goals that are really the interesting features of this book.

Each stretch goal will include an adventure or content by some of the best in the OSR.
Check these names out.

Stretch Goal #1: ($1250)  MET
A mini-adventure by James M. Spahn of Barrel Rider Games.

Stretch Goal #2: ($1,500)  MET
A mini-adventure by Jason Paul McCartan of Infinibadger Press and OSRToday.

Stretch Goal #3: ($1,750)  MET
A mini-adventure by Tim Shorts of Gothridge Manor.

Stretch Goal #4: ($2,000)  SOOO CLOSE
A mini-adventure by Joe Johnston of Taskboy Games.

Stretch Goal #5: ($2,250)
A mini-adventure by Tim Brannan of The Other Side Blog.

Stretch Goal #6: ($2,500)
A mini-adventure by author Paul "greyarea" Go.

Stretch Goal #7: ($2,750)
A mini-adventure by cartographer Matt Jackson.

Stretch Goal #8: ($3,000)
A mini-adventure by Jeff Sparks of Faster Monkey Games.

Stretch Goal #9: ($3,250)
A mini-adventure by Erik Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern.

Stretch Goal #10: ($3,500)
A mini-adventure by Pete Spahn of Small Niche Games.

Not a bad crowd to be included with!

I promise I have something special planned for this, but only if the stretch goal is made.

Like this? Share with others!