Wizards of the Coast just announced their next book for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition and I could not more excited.
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything is set for release on November 17, 2020. I already pre-ordered the standard and alternate cover from my FLGS so I should be getting it on Nov. 7.
A new lineage system that adds on to and supplants the D&D racial system. Rather looking forward to that.
Group Patrons and sidekicks. Add a little more organization to your adventuring group.
New spells, artifacts and magical tattoos. That chicken foot tattoo on Tasha's face is a huge clue as to what you are likely to get. (more on that later)
Puzzles and more puzzles!
So yeah a lot to offer. And a lot of it looks like it would translate well into other versions of D&D; which was one of the early design goals of D&D5e/Next.
I am sure I will find out more, but that chicken foot tattoo on Tasha/Iggwilv gives me a LOT of ideas. It also might help me figure out some details of my own Pact of Baba Yaga that I talked about a bit ago. Though now I might call it "The Mark of Baba Yaga" and it is how the Daughters of Baba Yaga can recognize each other. I can expand on the magical tattoos I presented in The Craft of the Wise: The Pagan Witch Tradition.
The art for this also looks fantastic as to be expected.
There is nothing I don't love about that picture. The color palette, moon, and satyr remind me of the cover of Dragon #114.
And that is Graz'zt on the Alternate limited edition cover too.
I have always believed that humor is essential in most games.
Yes, it can be a serious game, but humor; sometimes even gallows humor, is needed.
Like anything, it can be overdone. In high school during our AD&D games, we had to put a moratorium on stupid puns in our games. It got so bad that it led to our DM creating the "Wandering Damage table" or just damage your character took from the universe reacting to your pun. It, in of itself, was a humorous solution to the problem.
For Ghosts of Albion, I wrote a section on horror role-playing. I got into some detail that is appropriate for that game but I also included a section called "See A Little Light" (yes, I am a Bob Mould fan). The point was that constant horrors will wear your characters, and players, down. That every so often you need to lighten the mood. Even the Ghosts of Albion web-episodes and books had a good mix of humor to them. I mean you can't have the ghost of Lord Byron and not have fun with that.
The topic of RPGs and humor is vast really. So there is no way I am going even cover 1% of it in a blog post. But I figure I will cover one other thing.
I don't want to make it look like that all my games are Toon or Paranoia, I do like a serious game. BUT just like too much humor is a bad thing, taking yourself too seriously is also bad.
A while back I was at a game at Gen Con. This was before my family started going with me and I was in a Mutants and Masterminds game. The GM was a real dick. There were a couple of younger kids in the game and like kids do, they joked and had fun, and the GM was just a real bastard to them. Yes you can have a serious game, but don't be an asshole about it. It was this dudes game, so I was not going to tell him how to run it, so I did the "dad thing" I just inserted myself between the kids and the GM. I turned the three of us into this little mini-team of the eight sitting there so he didn't have to talk to them directly. I don't think he knew how to deal with kids really.
Again, lots of directions for "Edge" but I think I am going to go with "cutting edge" and talking about the latest cutting edge in dungeon exploring technology.
Right now the hottest thing for D&D 5 is the Combat Wheelchair.
Sara Thompson is a D&D player and accessibility educator (and if you had any clue how much money my company spends on accessibility issues you would understand why such a person is vital today) has designed a "Combat Wheelchair" for D&D 5e.
It is actually kind of awesome, and I wonder why it was never dreamed up before. I mean seriously how many D&D games can point to X-Men comics as a source of inspiration? Certainly someone, somewhere had D&D versions of the X-Men and Professor X included.
She released it on Twitter and very quickly it caught attention. Artist Claudio Pozas even provided some free art for it. She even got a lot good press on this.
AS you can imagine not everyone is seeing this as the good thing it is. I am not going to reiterate their rather tedious arguments here; go look them up if you like. I'll just say that in a game with magic, flying lizards, giants and all sorts of wonders how is this a bridge to far?
I am what I would call a casual collector of old-RPGs. I don't think I go crazy to find certain items, but there are some I am always on the lookout for.
I am particularly fond of anything printed in England for example. I have mentioned before I am an anglophile and a huge fan of anything English/British/Celtic/Gaelic. So I have made some effort to get some of the older D&D/AD&D books that were printed in England by Games Workshop.
All these books are softcover, which is kind of interesting.
On my list is a Holmes Basic box published by Games Workshop.
I don't have one of these and all the ones I have found are really expensive.
I am also not an autograph hound, but I have a couple items that I am proud of.
First, Deities & Demigods signed by Jim Ward and a couple of the artists.
Need to get some more of these. Erol Otus and Darlene are my goal.
And my only Gary Gygax signed item.
One last thing on my list is a carded set of Dragon Dice.
I used to get these at B. Dalton's Bookseller in Springfield IL. Had I know how much they go for now I would have bought a couple extra sets.
Yes I know. There are superior dice. And what I would pay for these I could several dozen sets of other dice. But what is the point of going to grad school for 14 years and living on popcorn and pineapple for a year if I can't spurge now?
Today I am talking with Christopher Grey, designer of The Great American Novel and The Great American Witch (Games) and author of Goddamn F*cking Dragons, Will Shakespeare and the Ships of Solomon. (Novels)
Christopher is currently coming to the end of his latest Kickstarter for The Great American Witch.
Tim Brannan/The Other Side: Let’s start at the beginning, who are you and what do you do?
Christopher Grey: I’m Christopher Grey and I’m a game designer and novelist. I created The Happiest Apocalypse on Earth, an ENnie-nominated PBTA game about an evil children’s theme park, and The Great American Novel RPG, which was recently nominated for the Indie Groundbreaker Award.
TB: How did you get into gaming?
CG: It’s hard to pinpoint a starting place, I feel like I’ve always been gaming. When I was eight I was making board games on my dad’s file folders. My first RPG design happened somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 or 16. In the early days I played AD&D 2e, then graduated to Rifts, then hobbled over to World of Darkness. I think it’s fair to say I’ve been playing some sort of RPG for at least thirty years.
TB: What are some of your favorite games? Why?
CG: It’s so hard to choose! And it changes fairly regularly. I basically love anything Free League puts out and their latest game Vaesen I think is a masterpiece. The game system is slick and easy and the setting/content is perfection. But they get lots of love, so I’d like to point out some of my favorite indy games. I’m a big fan of Monkeyfun Studios and they are close friends--Bedlam Hall is still on my list of all-time favorite games. I mean you basically get to play Downton Abbey meets The Addams Family. I think Kimi Hughes’ Decuma is a huge innovation in gaming and I shamelessly robbed her approach for a game concept of my own. I’m a big fan of world-building games like Dialect and Microscope. Ten Candles is also top of my list. Oh! And Icarus… that kind of lands in the world-building category. For the Queen changed my understanding of game design. Really loving Lighthearted by Kurt and Kate Potts. I should probably stop. I love so many games.
TB: Very cool! Let’s get into what is important! What is The Great American Witch?
CG: The Great American Witch is an RPG where you get to play in the secret world of witches as they protect humanity from supernatural threats and secret societies. It was built on The Great American Novel chassis so it is story and character-focused. It is designed for campaign play of the kind you see from World of Darkness games.
TB: What sorts of games do you see others playing with these rules?
CG: The rules are highly tuned into the Great American Witch setting and experience. I think folks will have a tough time playing something other than powerful secret witches with the ruleset. However, it was adapted from a generic rule system that has a lot of flexibility. I do intend to expand this rule set into other categories of the GAW fictional universe. So stay tuned on that!
TB: How does it relate to your earlier game, the Great American Novel, and can the two be used together?
CG: Great American Witch adapted the GAN rule-set heavily in order to create an experience unique to it. They aren’t really compatible as they are working toward different things. GAN is designed for one-shots or short campaigns of a literary nature (the sorts of slow-moving narratives you find in classic literature), whereas GAW is designed for extended play that creates cinematic experiences (like the dramatic tension you find from your favorite streaming shows). However, if you’ve played GAN you’ll find a familiar approach to game design--one that focuses on characters and motivations, not on attack rolls or skills.
TB: Of course while the title is clearly an homage to your earlier game, I have to ask are you a Rob Zombie fan? And was the title inspired by his “American Witch”?
CG: I almost didn’t go that direction in order to differentiate it from American Witch. I do like Rob Zombie, but this experience is more like American Horror Story: Coven, the Craft, or True Blood. Ultimately I couldn’t resist calling back GAN since that is the primary engine running it. Plus, it has a nice ring to it.
TB: I loved American Horror Story: Coven and The Craft! What are your future plans for this game?
CG: Oh so much. I intend to work in this system and setting for quite some time. I’ve already started supplements for GAW that will include more play options (such as covens and crafts) as well as additional settings within the same world. I’m also working on other types of games for the setting, such as a story-prompt card game that is already in the editing phase. Eventually, I will expand to other supernatural groups, like the Illuminati, vampires, werewolves, etc. Frankly, I’ll be doing this for a while.
TB: Nice. That sounds great. And for me and my audience here. Who is your favorite wizard, witch, or magic-user?
CG: Considering the amazing examples of magic-users throughout recorded history, this is a hard one. Ultimately, I’d have to say Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service. I just absolutely love that movie and character.
TB: I adore Kiki! She is fantastic. Finally, where can we find you on the internet?
CG: Best place is my site christopher.world where I keep all my stuff and links to my social channels.
There is always one day in these month-long posting sessions that I have nothing.
Today is that day. I mean I can come with stuff for "Push" don't get me wrong, just nothing I feel inclined to write about in a meaningful way. I usually allow my self a pass on any given day. Today I am taking it.
So here is something "push" related.
I guess Garbage is from the same area as D&D, so there is that.
Wynonna Earp is the great-great-granddaughter of Wyatt Earp and heir to the Earp curse. She is the one that must rid the Ghost River Triangle of all the revenants, or "demon-adjacent" dead that return to battle with the Earp heir.
Waverly Earp is Wynonna's younger half-sister. She only recently discovered that she is not in fact and Earp, but instead the offspring of Michelle Earp, nee Gibson, and the Angel Julian. She knows the most about the Earp family and curse. She is currently engaged to former Sheriff Nicole Haught.
Nicole Haught AKA "Red", "Sheriff Hot", "Hot Sheriff" 4th level Veteran, Human "Did I just hit my head and wake up in patriarchal bullshit land?"
Check Bonus (P/S/T): +3/+2/+0 Melee bonus: +2 Ranged Bonus: +2 Saves: +2 to all saves
Special Abilities/Skills Combat Expertise, Increased damage, Supernatural attack, Tracking
Equipment Shotguns, handguns
Sheriff (formerly) Nicole Haught is the only survivor of an attack of demons lead by Bulshar, the demon responsible for all the demonic activity in the Ghost River Triangle and the town of Purgatory. She is smart and resourceful. She is in love with Waverly Earp and just said yes to Waverly's proposal.
John Henry "Doc" Holiday AKA "Doc", "Holiday" 5th level Veteran, Vampire "Careful, Earp. Doing what’s right, even in the face of ridiculous odds … you are beginning to sound like a hero."
John Henry "Doc" Holiday was cursed after his friend Wyatt Earp died and had been trapped in a well for 130 years. He was released by Wynonna and they went from being colleagues to friends to lovers. Though with his aging catching up to him Doc went to his ex-wife Kate and became a vampire.
