The Other Side blog

Friday, June 5, 2015

Friday Night Videos: Guest VJ Chrys Fey

Welcome back to Friday Night Videos.

Tonight I want to welcome guest VJ Chrys Fey!
Chrys is the author a number of books including the her most recent The Witch of Death and the Ghost of Death.

I asked Chrys to come by tonight and share some songs whe was listening too or were inspiring while she worked on her books.

So without further ado, take it away Chrys.

Witchy Woman by Eagles

This song was done ten years (1972) before Liberty Sawyer was born, but it could be about her: “raven hair and ruby lips, sparks fly from her fingertips-” Although there’s the mention of the devil, which Libby doesn’t like, she can’t help but dance to this fun song in her living room.

Jillian (I’d Give My Heart) by Within Temptation

This is the song that really gets me, my muse, and Libby pumped up. Ever since we stumbled across it ten years ago, Within Temptation has been our favorite band. They are a Dutch rock/metal band. The combination of Sharon Den Adel’s angelic voice and the dark, beautiful music is spellbinding. And if you’re a fan of Serenity/Firefly, you’ll enjoy the video.

A Witches Song by Ordo Funebris

The odd thing about this song is that no one can find lyrics to it but because it’s so beautiful, eerie, and mysterious, Libby loves it. On top of that, the video features work by her favorite artist Victoria Francis.

--
You can find Chrys on the web at http://writewithfey.blogspot.com/
And more about Libby at The Faux Fountain Pen and Tasha's Thinkings.

Title: Witch of Death

Author: Chrys Fey

Genre: Supernatural/Suspense

Format: eBook Only

Page Count: 45 (short story)

Release Date: May 20th, 2015

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Blurb:

Detective Reid Sanders doesn’t believe in the supernatural, but when he’s faced with a crime scene that defies the laws of nature, he has no other choice but to start believing. And solving a magical murder involves working with a witch.

Liberty Sawyer embodies the look of your classic evil witch, so, it’s no surprise when she uncovers the murderer is a witch that she becomes Reid’s number one suspect. If she can’t convince him otherwise, more people could lose their lives to dark magic, including her.

BOOK LINKS:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / The Wild Rose Press / NOOK / KOBO

ALSO AVAILABLE:

Blurb:

Jolie Montgomery, a twenty-one-year-old woman, wakes up in an alley next to her corpse. She has no memories of her murder or the night she died. She didn’t even see the killer’s face before he or she took her life. Wanting justice, Jolie seeks answers in the only way a ghost can...by stalking the lead detective on the case.

Avrianna Heavenborn is determined to find the person responsible for a young woman’s death. She gets closer to the killer’s identity with every clue she uncovers, and Jolie is with her every step of the way.

But if they don’t solve her murder soon, Jolie will be an earth-bound spirit forever.

Book Links:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / The Wild Rose Press / NOOK / KOBO

BIO:

Chrys Fey is the author of Hurricane Crimes and 30 Seconds. She is currently working on the sequel to Hurricane Crimes that’ll serve as book two in the Disaster Crimes series.

When Fey was six years old, she realized her dream of being a writer by watching her mother pursue publication. At the age of twelve, she started writing her first novel, which flourished into a series she later rewrote at seventeen. Fey lives in Florida where she is waiting for the next hurricane to come her way.

You can connect with her on Facebook and her blog, Write with Fey. She loves to get to know her readers!

Author Links:

Facebook / Blog / Website / Goodreads

The Amazing Adventures of Libby Sawyer

I am playing around some more with the witch in Castles & Crusades still and also thinking about how she might work in Amazing Adventures and the new Amazing Adventures Companion.

Since I am having +Chrys Fey and Libby Sawyer day here. Let's see how Libby might look in Amazing Adventures.

Libby Sawyer
8th Level Witch (Cha-based Arcanist) / 4th level Gumshoe (Police Detective) (Multiclassed)
Family Tradition Witch

Strength: 12 (0)
Dexterity: 16 (+2) p
Constitution: 13 (+1)
Intelligence: 15 (+1) P
Wisdom: 13 (+1)
Charisma: 18 (+3) P

Hit Points: 50
Alignment: Lawful Good
AC: 13
BtH: +4
MEP: 65

Languages: English, Latin, (native language is English)
Background: Law Enforcement +2,
Traits: Spellgifted
Skill: Knowledge (Arcana)

Gender: Female
Age: 33 (Born 1982)
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 138 lbs

Powers
Ritual Magic

Abilities
Climb (Dex)
Cat and Mouse (Wis)
Hide (Dex)
Move Silently (Dex)
Face in the Crowd (Cha)

Spells
Cantrips: (8) Arcane Mark, Detect Illusion, Detect Magic, Light, Magical Aura, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Stun
First: (5+1) Change Self, Command, Daze, Identify, Shield, Sleep
Second: (3+1) Blur, Hold Person, Knock, Pyrotechnics,
Third: (2+1) Fear, Nondetection, Remove Curse
Fourth: (1) Seeming

Items
Gun (police issue .45), cell phone

Works for me! Still need to figure out how to do traditions.

Chrys Fey, Libby Sawyer and the Witch of Death

Recently I had the pleasure to read a pre-release copy of The Witch of Death thanks to author and fellow A to Z Blogging survivor +Chrys Fey. This introduced me to her newest character Liberty "Libby" Sawyer, a police detective and kick-ass witch. Which of course means she is perfect for this blog!

So please allow me to introduce Libby and Chrys.

Liberty “Libby” Sawyer
“Actually, I’m a witch.” She smiled when Reid jolted and turned to face her. “I’m Detective Liberty Sawyer." She stuck out her hand.

Cinematic Unisystem Rules (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Magic Box, Ghosts of Albion)
Experienced Hero

Libby, off duty obviously

Drama Points: 10
Life Points: 39

Attributes
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 3
Constitution: 3
Intelligence: 3
Perception: 4
Willpower: 5

Qualities: Attractiveness 2, Contacts (criminal) 2, Contacts (occult) 1, Empathy 2, Hard to Kill 3, Magic 2, Magical Family, Nerves of Steel, Occult Library 2, Psychic Visions 1, Rank (Detective) 2

Drawbacks: Adversaries (various. supernatural and criminal) 3, Honorable 2, Love (Reid) 4, Obligation (uphold the Law)

Skills: Art 1, Computer 3, Crime 3, Doctor 2, Driving 3, Getting Medieval 2, Gun-Fu 3, Influence 2, Knowledge 3, Kung-fu 2, Language 2 (English, latin), Mr. Fix-it 1, Notice 3, Occultism 5, Science 2, Sports 1

Initiative: +2
Spellcasting: 1d10 + 12
Notice: 1d10 + 7
Magical sight: 1d10 + 9

Gender: Female
Age: 33
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 138 lbs

Combat
Gun +6 by type
Punch +5 4
Kick +5 5
Spells +12 by type
- Witch Bolt +12 damage 4
- Deflect +14

Liberty "Libby" Sawyer is a witch from a long line of family witches.
Her personal occult library is growing, but she has access to much larger collections through her magical family connections. Unfortunately because of these ties enemies of her family are hers as well. She is not sure, but suspects that she is distantly related to Elizabeth Sawyer.

Like most witches Libby can read auras, is sensitive to psychic impressions, and has magical sight.
She is likely to have the Anamchara quality with Det. Reid, but it is still undeveloped at this point.

New Spell: The Bleeding
Quick Cast: Yes
Power Level: 4
Philosophy: Evil
Requirements: A command word, line of sight, and a drop of blood from the target.
Effect: This spell causes the target’s blood to evaporate if he is within 50 feet. He must resist the spellcasting roll with a Constitution (doubled) roll each Turn or suffer one-third of his total Life Points in damage (round up). The effect lasts for a number of Turns equal to the half the Success Levels (round down) of the spellcasting roll. Multiple castings of this spell on one target have no effect.
Once the blood has been removed from the body the witch casting the spell gains the victim’s Magic Levels. For every 2 levels of magic the victim has the caster gains 1.
Note: This is not one of Libby's spells.

You can find Chrys on the web at http://writewithfey.blogspot.com/
And more about Libby at The Faux Fountain Pen and Tasha's Thinkings.

Title: Witch of Death

Author: Chrys Fey

Genre: Supernatural/Suspense

Format: eBook Only

Page Count: 45 (short story)

Release Date: May 20th, 2015

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Blurb:

BOOK LINKS:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / The Wild Rose Press / NOOK / KOBO

ALSO AVAILABLE:

Blurb:

But if they don’t solve her murder soon, Jolie will be an earth-bound spirit forever.

Book Links:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / The Wild Rose Press / NOOK / KOBO

BIO:

Chrys Fey is the author of Hurricane Crimes and 30 Seconds. She is currently working on the sequel to Hurricane Crimes that’ll serve as book two in the Disaster Crimes series.

You can connect with her on Facebook and her blog, Write with Fey. She loves to get to know her readers!

Author Links:

Facebook / Blog / Website / Goodreads

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Troll Lord Games Sale, Part 2

Here is part two of some of my favorite Troll Lord Games products.
I know. I am gushing, but I really enjoy this game and wish I played it more often.

Castles & Crusades Black Libram of Naratus
Obviously I grabbed this one since it deals with darker magic and was part of the Haunted Highlands campaign (which I also enjoy). There is also the cover which is a call back to the infamous Eldritch Wizardry of OD&D.
The first part covers necromancers and necromancer spells. This includes a way for normal spell casters to gain a level of Necromancer. A nice little add on for any CK really.
There is also a great spellbook in here called the "Grimoire of the Witch Queen" that makes the whole book worth it to me all by itself!
That's the first half of the book. Later we get into Ritual/Sacrificial magic, magic items and some new monsters. Given the types of games I run and the magic I like to have this is a "Must Have" book for me. The book is a tight 38 pages. Covers, title/ogl page, so 35 pages of solid content.

Castles & Crusades Book Of Familiars
I love playing magic using classes. I also love having familiars. Nothing it more iconic that a witch and her cat or a wizard with his owl. Or a necromancer and a floating skull!
This book covers the basics; what is a familiar? How is it different than an animal companion? What does it do for a wizard?
We move into a number of familiar "abilities" that a caster can use. Now these look an awful lot like feats from 3.x. That is no shock, this book began as a d20 supplement and this is the new C&C version. That is fine, they have been reworked and it works well here. Don't think of them as feats really. Familiars also get a few special abilities themselves. A lot of these are true special abilities and set the familiar off from the rest of animal kind.
We get a list of "standard" familiars and the benefits they grant. We also get "Greater" and "Supreme" Familiars. Pretty much anything can now be a familiar.
If we wanted to just talk about basic familiars we could stop here. But we don't. Next chapter deals with the familiars Assassins can get. This is followed by a chapter on Barbarian familiars and special mounts. This is includes an awesome bit on Totem Spirits. Buy it for the wizards, keep it for the barbarians! (and we are only 1/4 of the way through!) This is followed by chapters for Bards, Clerics, Druids, Fighters, Monks, Paladins and Knights, Rangers, Rogues, and finally special ones for Wizards.
We get 12 pages of new animals and 25 pages of new monsters.
We get 2 pages of new spells and 4 of new magic items. All in all 210 pages. Pretty nice really.

Castles & Crusades Night of the Spirits

I LOVE Halloween themed adventures. This one comes from Brian Young who also gave us Codex Nordica and Codex Celtarum. The adventure takes place in the Codex Celtarum version of the world over three days of Samhain, or Halloween to you heathens.
The veils between the worlds are thin and there is every chance that fae lords and lady or even th Lord of the Dead himself will make an appearance.
Personally I am a little jealous of this one. It features the machinations of a Dark Druid. I ran something similar myself many years before. I am jealous because this one just oozes style and creepy atmosphere. The adventure is not long. It could be played in a couple of sessions or a longish one on Halloween night. Start at 6:00 or so and you can be hitting the end of Act 3 at Midnight.
Honestly. There is so much I love about this adventure I kinda want to blame Brian Young for hiring clairvoyants to get exactly what I wanted out of my head and on to print.
It is that good and I hate him forever for it.
(not really...but maybe a little bit)

Castles & Crusades The Goblins of Mount Shadow
Another Celtic/Fey themed adventure for characters 1st to 5th level. This time they have to deal with the rise of the Grey King (who I really, really want to call Jareth). The book is 26 pages with the artwork you come to expect from Troll Lords. Also written by Brian Young this adventure feels like someone should be playing uilleann pipes in the background. I love that C&C can effortless emulate old-school D&D, but these adventures take to someplace new...or rather someplace old. Someplace that is a little darker.
This adventure is simple enough (as it should be) but it also might be more difficult in terms of the challenges faced. Granted life in Celtic, even pseudo-Celtic, times was supposed to be harsh. I would say have the characters start at 2nd level instead.

Castles & Crusades A Druid's Lament
A nice little adventure that can be played in a single session. While not specifically tied to the Celtic world of Codex Celtarum, it does work well with it. It is an introduction adventure so there are many of the tropes of that, but that is fine. It works here.
If you have an afternoon and couple of bucks then this is a great choice.

Castles & Crusades The Giants Wrath
Another Celtic-themed adventure featuring some classic Irish and Welsh monsters and situations. Giants used to populate the lands but now men do. Some of those giants are not happy about it.
This adventure is 26 pages and can be played in a couple of sessions. Be warned though, it is a tough one given that there are a large number of giants to fight. Characters should be strong and the party should include a fair number of fighters and rangers. A wizard would help too.
This adventure also makes for a good bridge (somewhat literally) between the normal fantasy of C&C to the Celtic-fueled darker fantasy of the Codex Celtarum.
Also a good way to introduce the lands of faerie to new players.

Magnificent Miscellaneum Vol. 3
These books are a collection of various items for use in C&C by James Michler. Vol. 3 includes a couple of new artifacts, about a dozen new "White Box" menaces (monsters) and finally (and why I bought it) 3 new druid spells.

Magnificent Miscellaneum Vol. 4
These books are a collection of various items for use in C&C by James Michler. Vol 4. has to offer five new artifacts/magic items and 10 new White Box style monsters.

Still have more to look at.

Troll Lord Sale

Troll Lord Games, makers of the amazing Castles & Crusades and Amazing Adventures is having a sale this week till Sunday.

I really, really like Castles & Crusades. There is so much going on in that game that I just love.
D&D 3 mechanics, AD&D feel and as streamlined as D&D 5. Or, rather...D&D 5 is as streamlined as C&C!

This sale is crazy. There are some serious deals here and I am loading up my cart now.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Castles & Crusades Players Handbook 6th Printing
Read my review here.

Castles & Crusades Castle Keepers Guide
Read my review here.

Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure
This is the main monster and treasure book for C&C. Here you will find what I call the "classic" monsters from the great Monster Manual. If you are familiar with 3.x then these are all the monsters from the SRD in C&C's format. There is plenty of new text here though to make this more than just another SRD-derived book. Like all the C&C books the art and layout is great. I have the physical book, the pdf and a printout of the PDF and all read great.

The Castles & Crusades Monster stat block is a nice combination of Basic's simplicity, 1st AD&D's comprehensiveness, and some 3.x style rules. Saves are simple (Physical, Mental or both), AC is ascending and there is a "Challenge Rating" stat and XP all factored in. Honestly it really is a synthesis of the best of D&D. Grabbing a monster from another source and converting on the fly really could not be easier.

This book though is more than just a monster book, all the treasure and magic items (normally found in a Game Master's book) are here. This is a nice feature really. One place to have your encounter information.

Castles & Crusades Classic Monsters The Manual
A fantastic collection of monsters from the original Fiend Folio, Monster Manual 2 and various publications. All revised to be used in in Castles & Crusades. Not a "must have" book, but certainly a "you will really, really want it and kick yourself if you don't get it" book.
It is a fantastic edition to my C&C collection and I am very glad I bought it.

Castles & Crusades Tome of the Unclean
A collection of fiends, demons and devils for C&C (and any SIEGE Engine Game like Amazing Adventures). At 38 pages it focuses on some of the classics of fantasy RPGs. There are not a lot, but there are enough new creatures and unique devils to make this worth anyone's while.
Personally I would love to use this with Amazing Adventures. Faustian bargins against a backdrop of 30s pulp noir is just too tempting not to do.
The creatures each get about half a page of stats and description along with art. Just because you know these creatures from other games don't assume you know them for this one! Actually, go right ahead and assume. That makes the game that much more fun for the Castle Keeper!
If I had a criticism it is I wish the book was larger. There is enough material out there for a book 4 times this size.

Castles & Crusades Of Gods & Monsters
A collection of gods and monsters from various myths and legends. It immediately reminds you of the of Deities and Demigods, but it is closer in format to the earlier Gods, Demigods and Heroes.

The myths are well represented, though there are a few oddities. The Greek and Roman myths are separate and the demi-human myths could have been left out.

I did like all the new spells for clerics of the various gods. That was a good touch.

Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum
All my C&C games have a Celtic feel to them.
Read my review here.

Castles & Crusades Character Reference Sheets
Sheets specifically designed for Castles & Crusades. Plenty of room for all your equipment, information and spells.
I like that they are a nice combination of both modern functionality (3.x era) and old-school sensibilities (AD&D). Diving the sheets up by what ability the characters need (Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom) is a nice call back to the old "golden rod" sheets of a bygone age.
Yes you can find sheets on the web for free, but these are worth the price.

Amazing Adventures!
My favorite Pulp-era game.
Read my review here.

Amazing Adventures! Manual of Monsters
I won't lie. I LOVE Monster books. They are to this day one of my favorite things to buy for any game. The Amazing Adventures Manual of Monsters manages to give me monsters I have seen before, but with a whole new take. I mean a mummy is a mummy right? Well...your old monster book won't tell you how it reacts when you fire your .38 into it. But beyond that this book also has a lot of new monsters. Enough to make it worth while in my opinion.
Also as an added bonus feature is an appendix of monsters from different countries. So fight that Kelpie on it's native soil. Or tangle with the machinations of the Greys.
If you play AA then you need this book.

Amazing Adventures Rise of the Red God
GREAT adventure for Amazing Adventures. Maybe I should have said amazing.
But seriously this adventure has it all. Exotic locations, cults, demons, two fisted/high calibre action. Even an ancient text to be found.
But more than your lives are stake here. You sanity or even your soul will be lost.

I have had the pleasure of running this under both AA AND Castles & Crusades (converting from Pulp to Fantasy) and both times it worked out great. So even if you don't play AA (and why aren't you??) then you can run this with some thematic tweaks (and almost NO mechanical ones) with Castles & Crusades.

Part 2 later on today. I just bought a bunch of stuff myself!

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Well...so much for that idea.

Not everything will work. Not everything will work well.
Sometimes though things do work, and do work well, but not in the way you thought they might.

Today's example was the giant post I had started and wanted to wrap up in the next day or so.
I was calling it "In Search Of...Castle Greyhawk". A play on the old In Search Of TV show and by desire to uncover mysteries from my gaming past.

Sidebar: I found a bunch of stuff I had written decades ago on some old floppies. There were a lot of treasures there but also a lot a things I was researching. Back then I didn't have the resources I do now so research was a longer, more difficult process.

Back to In Search Of...

SO I wanted to post a lot on the historical Castle Greyhawk. What was it and how could I play it today.

Turns out all that work was done years ago.
I knew that +Joseph Bloch was the go to guy for this kind of information. His blog Greyhawk Grognard is full of these sorts of tidbits and his game Adventures Dark and Deep is a love letter to the Gygaxian games that never were.
He has already done all the heavy lifting on this topic, in part of his working on Castle of the Mad Archmage. In fact part of my own research was to look into how he wrote CotMA.

But he posted most of his own findings years ago.
http://greyhawkgrognard.blogspot.com/search/label/Castle%20Greyhawk
In particular this post is the most useful, http://greyhawkgrognard.blogspot.com/2008/12/getting-off-pot.html

Now I am a bigger fan of "Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk" than Joseph is. But I have the benefit of something he did not have back then; his completed Castle of the Mad Archmage.

So now my research is done. Admittedly by someone else. I just need to see if I want to run a Castle Greyhawk adventure at all.

I'll start working on my next "In Search Of..." post.