RPGaDAY2016: Day 25

In your opinion, what do you need for a satisfying character?

All I need is a good concept I want to explore.

In particular when creating a character I might have some archetype or even some stereotype I want to explore.

Currently, the character I am working on is an NPC for various project. She is a witch (of course, but so are my projects), but comes from an ancient line of witches.  Something like the Mayfair witches from Anne Rice, but a lot less incest.

Tanith Winters is a member of the ancient Winters family of witches.  She might be the powerful one yet, no one is sure.  But I plan to find out.
Like all of the Winters witches Tanith is pale, with white hair and favors darker clothing.

I am basing her look a little off of Taylor Momsen, the actress and lead singer of The Pretty Reckless. Yes she was also "Cindy Lou Who" in the live action How the Grinch Stole Christmas movie.

The name is a nod to both the novel "Tanith" by Jack D. Shackleford and the author Tanith Lee.

Lately for characters, I have been putting together Pinterest boards to collect ideas, mostly images, about the character.

Here is Tanith's:

Follow Timothy's board Tanith on Pinterest.

I also have boards for other characters as well.

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RPGaDAY2016: Day 24

What is the game you are most likely to give to others as a gift?

It kind of depends on the situation.  If I am trying to introduce someone to our hobby, but I think they need "training wheels" of a sort, then I am most likely to give them Dungeon! because it is easy to learn and does not require a game master.

Though if I think they are ready for the plunge I have a couple of other options.

My go to in most cases is the D&D Basic set of whatever the most current or popular version is.  So over the last few years I have given away copies of the 4th and 5th edition Basic/Beginners Sets and the Pathfinder Basic Box.

I also love to give out copies of Basic Fantasy with a set of dice.
It is cheap and everything is in one book and easy to learn.  Typically anytime I make a big Amazon order, I'll throw a couple of Basic Fantasy books on and always have them on hand.  Sometimes I also throw in a copy of my Witch book.

Maybe what is needed is a nice cheap book that is designed to get people into the game and has everything they need to get going.  Something like "OSR Basic".

Hmm....I wonder how much it would cost to print up just the basic information from the D&D 5 SRD?
But not just rules, something to really bring new players into the fold.

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RPGaDAY2016: Day 23

Share one of your best 'Worst Luck' stories.

I mentioned this one a couple years ago for "Most Memorable Character Death" but it also falls under best "Worst Luck" since the poor guy was at the receiving end of some truly diabolic dice rolls.

I have played exactly 1 ninja my entire  gaming life.  His name was Oko-nishi (horrible I know).  My lame attempts at a Japanese sounding name.  In my defense at what I knew was a bad name, I made him a half-orc; because I could then blame his orc parent.  It must have been around 1984-5 as I made him using the Oriental Adventure rules.  My then DM and I had worked up a D&D combat simulator on the Color Computer 2 and we plugged him in with 9 other characters.  He was attacked by a Black Dragon (or Red, cant recall) and killed. The dragon kept attacking him and only him.  We had not worked out all the errors. In the end, he had been reduced to something like -70 hp.  My DM offered to let him be ok, or keep him dead. We enjoyed watching it so much and getting the mental image of this dragon jumping up and down on my dead ninja that I felt it was a waste to say it never happened.

I never played a ninja or a half-orc again.

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Monstrous Mondays: Wendigo Matron

A while back I featured a Wendigo as part of my A to Z.  Well, my son has been running some games on his own with a group of his friends and he has been using Wendigoes as well.  This monster is one of his original creations.

Section 15: "Wendigo Matron" Copyright 2016 Liam W. Brannan.

Wendigo Matron
Armor Class:  2 [17]
Hit Dice: 10d8+5* (50 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 claws / 1 bite / breath weapon / spell use
Damage: 1d6 / 1d6 / 1d6+3 / 1d8+5 (cold)
Special: breath weapon, fear, low-light vision (240’), scent, immunity to cold
Movement: 90’/180' (fly)
No. Appearing: 1
Saves As: Witch 10
Morale: 9
Treasure: None
Alignment: Evil (Chaos)
XP: 3,000

A windigo matron is if anything, more evil than the common wendigo.  This creature is te defacto leader of a any band of wendigo and she has powers above and beyond the already formidable powers of these foul creatures.
In addition to the physical attacks, breath weapons, and fear of a normal wendigo, the wendigo matron can also use the following spell-like powers 3 times per day:

Wind Walk
Fly
Invisibility 
Shape change

A common tactic of a wendigo matron is to shape change into a normal human woman and lead victims to the lairs of the wendigo. She will often pose as a rescued victim, or as a someone seeking vengeance against the wendigo that killed her "family".   There may be truth in both guises as the wendigo may in fact, have been her family.
The wendigo matron is also different in her origin.  While humans can become wendigo when confronted with the prospect of starvation and freezing to death, a wendigo matron chooses to become what she now is.
It is believed that there is a dark ritual where prospective wendigo matron cuts out her own heart with a flint dagger.  What is known that a wendigo matron can not be truly destroyed till she is reduced to 0 hp and her heart is burned.  Otherwise, she will rise again when the next snowfall occurs.
Like the lich and his phylactery, the wendigo matron keeps her heart in a safe place.

Don't forget to include the hashtag #MonsterMonday on Twitter or #MonsterMonday on Google+ when you post your own monsters!

RPGaDAY2016: Day 22

What are some random events in your games that keep happening?

We have been going through the "Greyhawk Classics" series of modules and other adventures from about the same time.  There seems to be an inordinate number of wealthy elvish princesses captured in dungeons.  Yeah I know it has a lot to do with the time the books were written (late 70s early 80s) and the audience they were geared too (teenage boys), but it is getting silly enough that even my youngest is like "who is keeping an eye on these girls? not their parents, that's for sure".

Appearing almost as much is the "helpless captive, who is really a thief".  So much so that I have taken to use the same mini for this character in a half-baked idea that it is in fact the same thief that keeps getting captured.  Just need to come up with a name a little bit of a back-story for her.  She has managed to steal quite a bit of loot from the characters already.

I am thinking something like Autolycus the Prince of Thieves, played by Bruce Campbell on Xena. Pure comic relief.

Could be fun really.


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RPGaDAY2016: Day 21

What was the funniest misinterpretation of a game rule in your group?

Funniest?  No idea really.

The only rule misinterpretation I recall was back in the days of Basic I saw the wizard XP and thought ok, he needs 2,500 to get to level 2 and then 5,000 to level 3. So I got 2,500xp, went to level 2 and erased the XP and started at 0 to work to level 3.  By the time I was level 3 I had already earned close to 8,000 XP.

Not really fun I know, just kind of youthful misunderstanding.

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RPGaDAY2016: Day 20

What is the most challenging but rewarding system have you learned?

I don't find many systems to be very challenging to be honest.

Back in the day I would have said Chill or Call of Cthulhu just because they were so different than what I have used in the past.



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