Dungeons & Dragons Stranger Things Starter Set

There is no doubt that Stanger Things gave D&D a boost.
D&D 5th ed was already doing great and was on its way to being the best selling version of D&D ever before it became a major feature of the highly popular Netflix show Stranger Things.  When Season 1 premiered I had adults my age (who would have been the same ages as the kids in ST at the time) coming to me and asking how they could get a D&D game for their kids.

Well, I wish I had had this boxed set at the time.

The new Dungeons & Dragons Stranger Things Starter Set is making it's way to retailers now.
I picked up a copy on Amazon (to donate to my son's D&D club at High School...yeah they have now) and getting another one from my FLGS.

Truth be told I don't *need* it, but it sure is fantastic!

Done up like everyone's favorite red box D&D this is a starter set for D&D 5th Edition.  And it is PERFECT for anyone that is a fan of the show and wants to learn how to play D&D.
It does have the Wizards of the Coast logo on it, but also the "Hasbro Gaming" logo which is new.  Also since this is being sold not only in game stores and Amazon it is being released to Game Stops (the video game store) and other markets.   Hasbro is serious about backing D&D and I think it is going to be a huge win for them.

The box set includes a basic rule book similar to what we got in the first D&D 5e Starter set.  We also get an adventure "Written by Mike Wheeler", character sheets, a set of dice (mine are exactly like the ones I got in the Starter Set) and two "Demogorgon" minis; one painted the other plain.

Starter Set Rulebook
This book gives all the basics of D&D in 44 concise, full-color pages.  Everything is here to get you started. How to play, the basics of combat and adventuring, a chapter on spell casting and a subset of magic items and monsters.  Pretty much what you expect in a "Basic" set.
Instead of art we get some screen grabs from the ST show.
There are stats for the Demogorgon monster (not the demon).

Hunt for the Thessalhydra
Ok, truth time, I LOVE this. I want more adventures like this.
The sample adventure is done up to like a notebook written by Mike from the show.  Complete with wide ruled notebook paper background and Jr. High style art (only much better).  D&D artist Stan! is behind this one and I could not be happier about that.

The adventure is as old-school as summer 1983. You have a quest, a knight a monster to defeat, a table of rumors. Troglodytes! (art takes it inspiration from the Monster Manual) and random encounters.
The adventure is not ground-breaking, but it is not supposed to be.  BUT it does take place in the "Upside Down", so that is cool. They describe it a bit like the Shadowfell, but no attempt is made to make it part of the larger D&D 5 cosmology and that is perfectly great by me.  There is even a sword from the Upside Down.
And no Refrigerator Aleena in this one, there is a Proud Princess that will aid the characters but they can't even harm her if they try.  She is obviously the Eleven stand in.

Character Sheets
These are all stand-ins for the kids on the show, more or less, We get all the major races; elf, dwarf, human, half-elf, and half-orc. No halfling though. And a good subset of classes; bard, cleric, paladin, ranger, wizard. But no straight up fighter or rogue.  A halfling rogue (or maybe a zoomer!) would have been a nice touch.  No names or genders on the sheets as it should be.

Dice and Demogorgons
The dice a pretty standard, same set I got with the other starter set.  There are only six (as were in old-school sets) so no d%, there is a standard d10 (and d4, d6, d8, d12 and d20).
The Demogorgon minis are the weakest part of this set.  The minis are the right scale but the plastic is really flimsy. The "painted" one only has a little bit of orange on it. These are not the Wiz Kids minis we get at game stores, these are made by Hasbro and appear to be made cheaply so they can make tons of them.

But really, this box hits all the nostalgia boxes AND is still a solid introduction to the D&D 5 game.

April TTRPG Maker, Days 1-3

I have to admit I miss participating in the April A to Z blog marathon. 
Not the work, of course, it is a lot of work, but the feeling of participation and focus it brings to post something every day on a particular topic and theme.
Plus I feel that when I do it I am ignoring my primary audience in favor of another audience that time has shown don't stick around. 

There is however a new April social media that is more RPG focused, so I thought what the hell, let's give it a try. It is focused on RPG "makers" (I prefer the word "creator" myself, or "author")

It is called #AprilTTRPGMaker and it is mostly on Twitter, but open to all social media platforms.  With the demise of G+ I feel the need to branch out more.

Here are the topics for the month.  Unlike the A to Z's 26 posts, this one has 30 for every day.

Since today is April 3, I'll do the first three here.

1. Introduce Yourself
Hello, my name is Tim Brannan and I write RPGs.  I have been playing RPGs now for nearly 40 years (started in 1979) and writing my own material nearly as long.  I am most famous for the Ghosts of Albion RPG for Eden Studios and my various books for the Witch class for all sorts of variations of the D&D game.  I worked on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG, did some minor work for the Doctor Who Adventures in Time Space, Angel and Army of Darkness.  Did some other work for the All Flesh Must Be Eaten line at Eden and playtested a few score other RPGs over the last 20 years.  I also have some work coming out Gaslight and Blue Rose.

2. Describe Your Work
I consider myself very, very fortunate. I can write the kinds of books I want to play and use.  So my primary focus is typically, "what do I think is fun?" and then I make it.  I mostly like to write about magic and horror themes. If it has a witch or a vampire in it, chances are good I have tried it.  If a game doesn't have a witch in it chances are also good I tried to fit one in somehow. ;)

3. Key to Your Making Process
Like I mentioned above I usually start with "What do I think is fun?" and go from there.  I also look for what others would enjoy in my game material.  I do try to make things that people will use and enjoy.  I also work from the philosophy of once it leaves my mind and hands and it is in yours it is no longer just "my" game. It is what others make of it.  So I love hearing about what others do with my materials even if, or especially if, it is not something I would have done on my own.

I am going to try and not let this interfere with my normal posting. I still have things I want to talk about this month other than just what is above.

Participate if you like or just post your responses below.  Yes, please link to your creations! My dad always says no one will toot your horn for you.  So use my venue to talk about YOUR creations as well.

The Refrigerator for Prowlers & Paragons Ultimate Edition

Still playing around with Prowlers & Paragons Ultimate Edition, so this time I decided to bring back a villain to challenge Justice.

A while back I introduced you all to Dr. Andreas Gelé, aka The Refrigerator. He is a socially stunted misanthrope with mommy issues and the intellect to act out in the worst ways possible.
This guy came, literally, out of a nightmare.  Around 1982 or so (I was 12) I was hit with a double shot of women being frozen alive, the movies were "In Like Flint" and "Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die". It really bugged the hell out of me and gave me nightmares for a long time.  Still kind of bugs me.  Of course, later I learned there is a whole creepy fetish thing related to this.  I think my issue is far more elemental.  I hate being cold and think being frozen is quite possibly the worst thing ever.

What solidified this character for me was a cover from the pulp magazine "Horror Stories" from 1937.

The cover is by John Newton Howett and typical pulp tradition it was reused for the first issue of Startling Mystery. That picture deserves a villain.  I have not found the issue yet so I can't say if there is a story that goes with that cover. But I have enough of my own nightmare fuel.

His name, The Refrigerator, has a nice pulpy sound to it, but that is not its origin.  He was named for the comics trope, Women in Refrigerators.   I figure I will have superheroes in my games fight this trope in a quite literal way.

History of The Refrigerator
Dr. Andreas Gelé was born to wealth and privilege but never to love.  His father was a rich industrialist who made his money on the work of others and his mother was a noted and beautiful stage actress.  From his father, he gained his intellect and from his mother, he learned lessons in cruelty.

As his mother aged she became more distant and crueler.  In his mind's eye, he still saw her as beautiful. This was reinforced by all the pictures of her on the wall of their estates where she was young, beautiful and happy. Frozen in time.  Gelé began to work on a process to forever keep the beautiful women young.  He was drawn to beautiful women, and his prestige later as a doctor and his wealth made that easy.  But he never could talk to or relate to them having grown up socially stunted.  So Gelé embarked on a plan so he could have his desires met.

His first experiments in cryonics were failures. Animals would not return to life when frozen and even when he perfected the process they still had damage.  Finally through a combination of fluids and gases at supercooled temperatures.  He tested it first on his hated father. He died soon after he was free of the ice, but Gelé expected that since the old man's heart was now weak.  He froze his mother next. He was overjoyed that the ice preserved her remaining beauty.

All his research though has left his fortunes depleted so he robs banks to keep himself funded for more research and to keep his "beauties" on ice.

The Refrigerator Today
The Refrigerator is very much a pulp style villain.  I always pictured his mother as a silent film star and his father cut from the same cloth as the business men of the early 20th century.  So how is he still around today?  Or more to the point how is he still around in the world of 2040 where Justice is from?  Well, that is easy really.  Sometime after his last defeat, he escapes the authorities once again and freezes himself to be awakened at a future date.  The plot point here is that the future date is much later than Dr. Gelé planned on and now it is the 21st Century.  Still, undeterred he goes about rebuilding his "collection".

Dr. Andreas Gelé, "The Refrigerator"

Archetype: Gadgeteer / Scientist
Major Villian

Edge 10
Health 3
Class Major
Group None

ABILITIES
Agility 1d
Intellect 7d
Might 1d
Perception 3d
Toughness 3d
Willpower 3d

TALENTS
Academics 6d
Charm 1d
Command 3d
Covert 3d
Investigation 3d
Medicine 7d
Professional 4d
Science 7d
Streetwise 2d
Survival 4d
Technology 5d
Vehicles 2d

POWERS
Omni Power (Gadget, Cold Protection Suit)
- Armor 10 Points, 5 toughness
- Healing (self only) 10 points
- Hibernation
- Immunity (cold, ice)
- Super Senses (thermal vision)

Omni Power (Gadget, Freeze Ray gun) (Item)
- Blast (freeze ray)
- Elemental Control (ice)
- Hibernation ray (Affect Others)
- Charges (Con) 3 times per scene
- Signature (ice residue)

Expertise (Cryonics)

PERKS
Headquarters (lab)
Resources
Great Wealth (has built it back up over the years)

FLAWS
Quirk (arrogant)
Compulsion (seek out beautiful women)
Insane (misanthrope)

GEAR
Cold Protection outfit
Freeze ray gun

DESCRIPTION
Age: 99 (appears to be in his late 30s)
Sex: Male
Hair: Gray
Eyes: Ice Blue

MOTIVATION
Power (over others, over the ravages of time)

CONNECTIONS
Iron Maiden (sometimes aids him in shared goals)

Horrible bit of work isn't he.  But I wanted a villain that people really hate.   He is after Justice because all he can see her as is a beautiful prize to add to his collection.  He would say it is because of her strength and unique heritage, but he is much more shallow than that.  All he sees is a 6'2" supermodel.   In his own sense of superiority, he can't even see Justice as equal, even though she is his superior in every aspect.

Monstrous Mondays: Wood Trolls

First Monday after spring break and I have a cold. Yeah, it sucks.  But thankfully I worked a bit on this one.  And it's a fun one.
We spent some time last week at the Morton Arboretum and went on a troll hunt.

Here they are for two similar systems; B/X Essentials and Blueholme Journeymanne Rules.

Wood Trolls
Wood Trolls are intelligent and remarkably passive creatures for the most part.  They stand anywhere from 9' to 16' tall (with some rare cases of 30' tall varieties).  Their skin and hair appear to be made up of wood. Their skin is hard inflexible and their hair looks like twigs and sticks.
Wood Trolls, as their name implies, live in deep woods.  They try to avoid other creatures when possible. Wood Trolls are often thought to be the more malevolent Earth Troll.  These trolls tend to be less evil than other trolls. 50% of these trolls are Chaotic Neutral in alignment, 30% are of the chaotic good variety and the remaining 20% are chaotic evil.
These trolls prefer to eat wild pigs with only the evil ones resorting to eating children.
Like all trolls they can regenerate, likewise they are also vulnerable to fire. Moreso than other trolls; taking double damage from fire.

B/X Essentials
AC 2, HD 8+4* (40hp), Att 2 × talon (1d6), 1 × bite (1d10), THAC0 11, MV 120’ (40’), SV D8 W9 P10 B11 S12 (F8), ML 10 (8 fear of fire), AL Chaotic*, XP 1,750, NA 1d4 (1d6), TT D

• Regeneration: 3 rounds after being damaged, start regaining 3hp per round. Severed limbs reattach.
• Return from death: If killed (0hp), will regenerate and fight again in 2d6 rounds.
• Fire: Cannot regenerate damage from fire. The only way to permanently kill a troll.
• Fear of fire: Morale 8 when attacked with fire.

Blueholme

AC: 2                                        XP: 1,725

HD: 8d8+4                               Alignment: CN (50%), CG (30%), CE (20%)

Move: 30                                  Treasure: 13 (0)

Attacks: 1 bite + 2 claws / 1 weapon

Damage: 1d6 each / 1d8

Abilities: Strength +1, Dexterity -1

Trolls from the Morton Arboretum Troll Hunt.

Kickstart Your Weekend: Gothic Horror, Supers, Zines and the 8.2M lb Gorilla

Lots of great Kickstarters today!  Let's have a look.

Leagues of Gothic Horror RPG Expansions

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1588759266/leagues-of-gothic-horror-rpg-expansions?ref=theotherside

Leagues of Gothic Horror is one of my favorite games and these three books are a must have in my opinion. Not much time left on this one.


Prowlers & Paragons Ultimate Edition

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1977703373/prowlers-and-paragons-ultimate-edition?ref=theotherside

I have been featuring P&P all week.  It is a fun game and character creation is a snap. Plenty of demo videoes out there to see game play as well.

The Way of Wicked Sin #ZineQuest

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1666739355/the-way-of-wicked-sin-zinequest?ref=theotherside

Three Zines about the evilest races in FRPGs.  A zine each for Orcs, Drow and the worst of all, Humans!  Stated for 5e, S&W, Pathfinder, and Runequest.
Don't want all three? No problem pick the ones you want.


And finally, let's address the 8.2 Million Pound Dollar gorilla in the room.

Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina Animated Special

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/criticalrole/critical-role-the-legend-of-vox-machina-animated-s?ref=theotherside

Critical Role has blown past its funding goal, all of its original stretch goals and its second batch of stretch goals.  With 20 days still to go it is sitting at $8.2 Million (right now, but it grew by $100,000 while I was writing this post). 

I am coming around to agreeing with the Diana Jones award for "Actual Play" in 2018.  This is a huge phenomenon and like it or not one that will shape what the RPG industry does in the future.

Vampire Willow & Vampire Tara: Ubiquity / Leagues of Gothic Horror

I love Ubiquity.  It's a great system that has the cinematic feel of Unisystem and the grit of Savage Worlds.

Leagues of Adventure, Leagues of Gothic Horror and Leagues of Cthulhu are Ubiquity powered games from Triple Ace Games.  The Hollow Earth Expedition RPG is a Ubiquity powered adventure game from Exile Game Studios.  All these games are compatible and together give us a world full of adventure and horror.

There is a new Kickstarter for Leagues of Gothic Horror RPG Expansions from Triple Ace Games.  It looks like a bunch of fun (as all the LoGH books are).

So today though I wanted to come back to some characters near and dear to my heart.
The Vampire versions of Willow & Tara.  In of particular use to us here is Leagues of Gothic Horror: Guide to Vampires and Guide to Black Magic.

Of course, everyone knows who Vampire Willow is. Vampire Tara appeared in the video game Chaos Bleeds and the related stories, all by Christopher Golden.  They also appear in the Wish-verse comic One Soul.

I have also used Vampire Willow and Tara in my adventure Through a Glass Darkly. I stated up Vampire Tara for both Cortex and Unisystem.  I always meant to do Vampire Willow, but never got around to it.  Well, in truth Vamp Willow for Unisystem appears in one of the books (forget which one, I remember writing the stats) and I don't play Cortex anymore.

Here they are for Leagues of Gothic Horror, though for a modern age game.

Vampire Willow

Vampire Willow
Willow Danielle Rosenberg
Female Vampire Witch

Patron 3
Archetype: Vampire
Motivation: Mayhem, Protect Tara

Style: 5
Health 11*

Primary Attributes
Body 5, Dexterity 6, Strength 5, Charisma 6, Intelligence 6, Willpower 5

Secondary Attributes
Size 0, Move 11, Perception 11, Initiative 12, Defense 11, Stun 5*

Skills
Academics: Computers 7, Religion 3, Athletics 6, Brawl 6, Con 5, Diplomacy 4, Intimidation 7, Linguistics 5, Science 4, Survival 3

Talents
Attractive +3, Fearsome, Fearsome Attack, Magical Aptitude, Tough, Unarmed Parry (can block melee weapons), Well Educated

Resources
Contacts 2

Rituals
Empower, Fear, Greater Hex, Harm,

Flaw
Thirst for Blood (+1 Style point when her unholy appetite reveals its true nature), Lustful

Weapons
Bite 9L**, Punch 9N

Vampire Willow has less experience as a witch than her human counterpart.  This is not a problem as Willow prefers to use her vampire powers to scare and intimidate.

Vampire Tara

Vampire Tara
Tara Ann Maclay
Female Vampire Witch

Patron 2
Archetype: Vampire
Motivation: Stay with Willow

Style: 5
Health 11*

Primary Attributes
Body 6, Dexterity 5, Strength 5, Charisma 6, Intelligence 4, Willpower 6

Secondary Attributes
Size 0, Move 10, Perception 10, Initiative 9, Defense 11, Stun 6*

Skills
Academics: Art 4, Religion 1, Animal Handling: Horses 4, Athletics 3, Brawl 5, Diplomacy 5, Empathy 4, Intimidation 7, Linguistics 4, Performance 3, Survival 3

Talents
Animal Affinity, Attractive +2, Danger Sense, Fearsome Attack, Magical Aptitude, Tough, Unarmed Parry (can block melee weapons),

Resources
Contacts 2

Rituals
Empower, Fear, Greater Hex, Harm, Lesser Hexr, Spirit Binding, Summon Animal

Flaw
Thirst for Blood (+1 Style point when her unholy appetite reveals its true nature), Danger Magnet

Weapons
Bite 9L**, Punch 9N

Tara was essentially the same witch she was in Season 4 prior to becoming a vampire.

* Vampires are immune to lethal and nonlethal damage except fire or holy objects.
** If Vampire Willow or Tara scores 3+ successes on her bite attack, she has latched onto her victim’s neck. Until she ceases feeding voluntarily or is forcibly removed (as per ending a grapple), the victim takes automatic damage equal to her Strength rating each round.

Decapitation/Piercing the Heart: This requires a Called Shot against a vital area. If the damage exceeds the Vampire’s Body rating, she is instantly killed, otherwise, the attack has no effect.

All in all good builds I think.
Make sure you check out the Kickstarter for Leagues of Gothic Horror Expansions.

Return to the Nentir Vale

I am on Spring Break now.  Yeah, that is still a thing here in the Brannan Household.
Got back into my Into the Nentir Vale which I am setting in the Forgotten Realms.

I am doing the second part of H2 Thunderspire Labyrinth, The Well of Demons.  Throughout the course of today's adventure, the characters discover that more gods than they knew have been killed.  They are are a little disturbed.

Now I am really messing around with the Faerûn gods and history here, so bear with me.  They learned today that Bhaal the God of Murder is dead and likely killed by Baphomet.  They already knew that Mykrul was dead, but unknown who did it. They will soon learn that Moander was killed by Zuggtmoy in her attempt to open the Temple of Elemental Evil. Other gods that are dead are Azuth, Amaunater, Bane, and Leira.  There might be more.  Shit is getting serious in the Realms.

This campaign is my attempt to revive my abandoned 4e game.  My attempt to make some use of all my 4e books.

It's actually been a lot of fun.  I even worked out a quick method of converting any 4e stat to 5e.   Typically any 4e number (level, HD, hp) can become a 5e number by multiplied by 2/3rds. It's worked out to be pretty close to what I see in 5e.

I am keeping track of experience points, but I use the 5e Milestone advancement for this.  Each of the published 4e adventures (HPE, 9 in total) the characters level up one level halfway through and then one level again at the end of the adventure.  So 18 levels all together.  I am doing this to keep the levels from going crazy. I can hear people now complaining that characters need to earn their levels, but trust me they are getting far more experience points.

Really it has been a blast and I can't wait to do some more.