It is now October!
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| Larina by Djinn |
Let's celebrate the most wonderful time of the year at The Other Side!
Thursday, October 1, 2020
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
October Horror Movie Challenge: Getting Ready
I am getting ready for my annual October Horror Movie Challenge!
This year lacks a real theme save for "movies I have had laying around forever and I need to watch them or sell back the DVDs" and "movies I have been meaning to watch forever".
I am going to lean heavily on my preferred time of the late-60s to mid-70s. And I have more than a few Italian horror films.
I have about 110 movies here. Some I have already seen so won't do those. There are also more than a few overlaps. I'll try to hit more than one per day, but often that is not really doable. I'll also hit more over the weekends.
This year lacks a real theme save for "movies I have had laying around forever and I need to watch them or sell back the DVDs" and "movies I have been meaning to watch forever".
I am going to lean heavily on my preferred time of the late-60s to mid-70s. And I have more than a few Italian horror films.
I have about 110 movies here. Some I have already seen so won't do those. There are also more than a few overlaps. I'll try to hit more than one per day, but often that is not really doable. I'll also hit more over the weekends.
I am going to also try to include as much NIGHT SHIFT content as I can.
Let's see where I end up at the end of the next month!
Let's see where I end up at the end of the next month!
Review: Pages from the Mages
For this review, I am considering both the original print version sold by TSR and the PDF version sold through DriveThruRPG. Presently there is no Print on Demand option.
The book is 128 pages. Color covers, black & white interior art with full color, full-page art. Designed for the AD&D 2nd Edition game.
The PDF sells for $9.99 on DriveThruRPG.
The softcover book originally sold for $15.00 in 1995.
This book covers some 40 or so unique spell books from various spellcasters from the Forgotten Realms. Some of these spellcasters are well known such as Elminster and others less so or at least nearly mythic in the Realms. This is one of the book's greatest strengths. While this could have been just a collection of books with known spells, it is the stories and the myths behind the books that make this more.
While many of the spells found within these books are fairly well known, there are plenty of brand new and unique spells. This is what attracted me to the original Dragon magazine series. Within these pages, there are 180 or so "new" spells. I say new in quotes because most, if not all, these spells appeared first in the pages of Dragon magazine and then again in the pages of the hardcover Forgotten Realms Adventures for 2nd Edition.
Additionally, there are a number of new magic items and even a couple of new creatures.
The true value for me, as a DM and a player, is to provide these new spell books as potential treasure items or quest items. Even saying the name of some of these books, like Aubayreer's Workbook, is enough to get my creative juices flowing. Where is it? Where has it been? What other secrets does it contain?
I often refer to a product as punching above its weight class. This is one of those books. While overtly designed for the 2nd Edition game there is nothing here that can't be used with any version of the D&D game, from Basic all the way to 5th edition with only the slightest bit of editing needed.
While I have a print copy and the PDF, a Print on Demand version would be fantastic.
A complete list of the spells, spellbook, creatures and characters in this book can be found on the Forgotten Realms wiki, https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Pages_from_the_Mages
This Old Dragon: Retrospective, Pages from the Mages
Another This Old Dragon Retrospective today. Today I want to cover one of my favorite series in the run of Dragon, and one that had far fewer entries than I thought, Pages from the Mages. Again this series is by Ed Greenwood writing to us as Elminster. It's a wonder I wasn't a fan of the Realms until pretty much 2001.
The premise is laid out in the first installment, Elminster (or Ed, sometimes it is hard to say) wondering aloud why we don't find more unique spell-books in treasure hordes. He goes on to explain that such tomes are very rare. The set up is solid and less in-universe than The Wizard's Three. But like The Wizard's Three, this is used to give us some new spells and some magic tomes worthy to build an adventure around. So let's join Ed and Elminster and pour through these pages of a nearly as legendary tome, Dragon Magazine, and see what treasures we can find.
Pages from the Mages
Our first entry is in Dragon #62 which has one of my all-time favorite covers; the paladin on horseback challenging three orcs. This takes us all the way back to June 1982, the height of my D&D Basic/Expert days. The magic books we discover here are:
Mhzentul’s Runes, with details for making a Ring of Spell Storing. Rings that become guardian creatures (but no details) and the spells Fireball, Fire Shield, Fire Trap, and Delayed Blast Fire Ball.
Nchaser’s Eiyromancia, this book gives us two new spells, Nulathoe’s Ninemen and Nchaser’s Glowing Globe.
Book of the Silver Talon, this sought after tome has a number of good spells, Read Magic, Burning Hands, Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Erase, Write, Identify, Message, Shocking Grasp, Shield, Darkness 15’ Radius, Detect Invisibility, Knock, Ray of Enfeeblement, Web, Wizard Lock, Blink, Dispel Magic, Gust of Wind, Infravision, Phantasmal Force, and Protection From Normal Missiles. Additionally, it has recipes for the ink for Read Magic, Buring Hands, Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Erase, Write, Identify, Message, Shocking Grasp, and Shield. All in-universe and fluff, but fun all the same AND an often overlooked aspect of magic.
Chambeeleon, the unique spellbook is described as a treasure. In contains the spells, Water Breathing, Fly, Lightning Bolt, Fire Shield (cold flame version only), Ice Storm, Airy Water, Cone of Cold, Conjure Elemental (new version), Disintegrate, Glassee, Part Water, Spiritwrack, Cacodemon, Drawmij’s Instant Summons, Reverse Gravity, and Vanish. Which leads to the obvious conclusion that Drawmij was also moving between the planes between Greyhawk and the Realms. This book is also considered to be a religious text by many priesthoods of aquatic gods.
Nchaser’s Eiyromancia, this book gives us two new spells, Nulathoe’s Ninemen and Nchaser’s Glowing Globe.
Book of the Silver Talon, this sought after tome has a number of good spells, Read Magic, Burning Hands, Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Erase, Write, Identify, Message, Shocking Grasp, Shield, Darkness 15’ Radius, Detect Invisibility, Knock, Ray of Enfeeblement, Web, Wizard Lock, Blink, Dispel Magic, Gust of Wind, Infravision, Phantasmal Force, and Protection From Normal Missiles. Additionally, it has recipes for the ink for Read Magic, Buring Hands, Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Erase, Write, Identify, Message, Shocking Grasp, and Shield. All in-universe and fluff, but fun all the same AND an often overlooked aspect of magic.
Chambeeleon, the unique spellbook is described as a treasure. In contains the spells, Water Breathing, Fly, Lightning Bolt, Fire Shield (cold flame version only), Ice Storm, Airy Water, Cone of Cold, Conjure Elemental (new version), Disintegrate, Glassee, Part Water, Spiritwrack, Cacodemon, Drawmij’s Instant Summons, Reverse Gravity, and Vanish. Which leads to the obvious conclusion that Drawmij was also moving between the planes between Greyhawk and the Realms. This book is also considered to be a religious text by many priesthoods of aquatic gods.
In each case, we also get a little history and the last known or suspected whereabouts of the tomes. I say tomes, but thankfully Ed was not so limited in his thinking. Some are books, some are collections of pages and others are stranger still. I find it interesting that this entry is followed by the classic NPC class, the Scribe, also by Ed.
More Pages from the Mages
Our next entry comes from Dragon #69 which I also covered as part of my This Old Dragon Issue #69. Again a fantastic cover from the legendary Clyde Caldwell. The article is titled "More Pages from the Mages" and has art by Jim Holloway. Interestingly there is a book in the art named "Holloway's Guide to Everything" could that be the next 5e book to come out? The actual books covered here are:
The Magister, this particular tome has no title so it is just called "the Magister". It consists of 16 sheets of parchment between two ivory covers. It includes a treatise on illusion magic and the spells Change Self, Color Spray, Phantasmal Force, Detect Illusion, Mirror Image, Dispel Illusion, Nondetection, Massmorph, Shadow Door, Programmed Illusion, and True Sight. There is also an alternate version of the Clone spell. There is also a lot of debate on what is exactly on the last page.
Seven Fingers (The Life of Thorstag), this tome is bound in leather. It describes the Void Card from the Deck of Many things. How wonderfully random! Yet so on point for an academically minded wizard. There is also a recipe for Keoghtom’s Ointment, which may or may not be correct. There is also some local history.
The Nathlum, is a rather non-descript book. But there is some saying about books and covers. This one will cause damage to anyone of Good alignment holding it! It includes recipes for poisons, so not all these books are limited to spells. Something that honestly is not stressed enough.
The Workbook, there is no accurate description of this tome. So Elminster isn't all-knowing (ok to be fair, Elminster and Ed would be the first to point this out). This is rumored to include the spells Spendelarde’s Chaser, Caligarde’s Claw, Tulrun’s Tracer, Tasirin’s Haunted Sleep, Laeral’s Dancing Dweomer, Archveult’s Skybolt, and Dismind. All are new.
As I mentioned in my original post, back in the day I would go right for the spells, today I am more interested in the story behind the spellbooks. Maybe the spells inside are some I have already seen, but that is not what makes it valuable to me now. It's the story, the history, maybe there is something really special about this book. Maybe the spellcaster is still alive. Maybe his/her enemies are and want this book. My cup runneth over with ideas.
Pages From the Mages III
We jump to December 1984 and Dragon #92. Damn. Another classic cover. This time it is "Bridge of Sorrows" by Denis Beauvais and he has updated it on his website. what a great time to be a classic D&D fan. This one is very special for me for many reasons. First, this was the very first PftM I had ever read. I didn't know a damn thing about the Realms (and I only know slightly more now) but as I mentioned in my This Old Dragon Issue #92 I remember going on a quest to recover Aubayreer's Workbook having only the glyph as a clue. I don't remember all the details save that the quest was dangerous and the spells in the book were a bit anti-climatic given the quest. Not that the spells are bad (hardly!) it is the quest was that hard.
This is also, at least from what I can tell, our very first mention of The Simbul, "the shapeshifting Mage-Queen". I guess she is looking for a copy of this book too! I think I see a plot hook for my next Realms game (and playing on the events in The Simbul's gift). MAYBE that quest was only half of the tale! Maybe the other half was really to get this book to The Simbul. I am only 30+ years late. Thank you Ed! Of course, that is only one of FOUR magic books. Let's have a look.
Aubayreer's Workbook, this "book" is a long strip of bark folded accordion-style between two pieces of wood with a rune carved on it. The spells are read magic, burning hands, dancing lights, enlarge, identify, light, message, write, ESP, wizard lock, dispel magic, explosive runes, fireball, and extension I. There three special spells hailcone (a version of ice storm), and two new spells, Aubayreer's phase trap and thunderlance.
Orjalun's Arbatel, not to be overshadowed this book's pages are beaten and polished mithril! Lots of Realms-centric details here. In fact this might be where many of these topics saw print for the very first time. This one includes two new spells Encrypt and Secure.
The Scalamagdrion, bound in the hide of some unknown creature this book has a little surprise. The spells included are (and in this order): Write, erase, tongues, message, unseen servant, wizard lock, identify, enchant an item, permanency, blink, disintegration, feeblemind, fly, death spell, flame arrow, delayed blast fireball, invisibility, levitate, conjure elemental, minor globe of invulnerability, wall of force, remove curse, and dispel magic. The book also has a unique monster bound up in the pages that will protect the book!
The Tome of the Covenant, named for the group of four mages that gathered together to stop the onslaught of orc from the north. What this entry makes obvious is exactly how much detail Ed had already put into the Realms. There are four new spells in this book, named for each one of the Covenant wizards. Grimwald's Greymantle, Agannazar's Scorcher, Illykur's Mantle, and the one that REALLY pissed me off, Presper's Moonbow. It pissed me off because I had written a Moonbow spell myself. Only mine was clerical and it was a spell given by Artemis/Diana to her clerics. My DM at the time told me it was too powerful at 5th level and here comes Ed with a similar spell, similarly named and his was 4th level! Back then it was known as "Luna's Moonbow" named after one of my earliest characters. Ah well. Great minds I guess.
Pages from the Mages IV
We jump ahead to Dragon #97from May 1985. I also covered this one in This Old Dragon Issue #97. Rereading this article years later is the one where I thought I should stop being such a spoiled Greyhawk twat and see what the Realms had to offer. It would still be a long time before I'd actually do that. This one also had a bit of a feel of the Wizard's Three to it. The books covered here were:
Bowgentle's Book, a slim volume bound in black leather. It has a ton of spells in it, so many I wonder how "slim" it actually was. Cantrips clean, dry, and bluelight, and the spells affect normal fires, hold portal, identify mending, push, read magic, sleep, continual light, darkness 15' radius, detect evil, detect invisibility, ESP forget, knock, levitate, locate object, magic mouth, rope trick, strength, wizard lock, blink, dispel magic, fireball, fly, hold person, infravision, Leomund's Tiny Hut, lightning bolt, protection from evil 10' radius, protection from normal missiles, slow, tongues, water breathing, charm monster, confusion, dimension door, enchanted weapon, fire shield (both versions), minor globe of invulnerability, polymorph other, polymorph self, remove curse, wizard eye, Bigby's Interposing Hand, cone of cold, hold monster, passwall, and wall of force. The two new spells are dispel silence and Bowgengle's Fleeting Journey.
The Spellbook of Daimos, this one has no title on the cover and described as very fine. Very little is known about who or what "Daimos" is. The spells included are, identify, magic missile, invisibility, levitate, web, fireball, monster summoning I (a variant), slow, suggestion, confusion, fear, fire trap, polymorph self animate dead, cloudkill, feeblemind, anti-magic shell, disintegrate, geas, globe of invulnerability, reincarnation, repulsion, Bigby's Grasping Hand, duo-dimension, power word stun, vanish, incendiary cloud, mind blank, astral spell, gate, and imprisonment. The new spells are flame shroud, watchware, and great shout.
Book of Num "the Mad", this one is interesting. It is loose pages held in place by two pieces of wood and a cord. Num was a reclusive hermit who learned a bit of druidic lore. There are a few more spells here. But what is more interesting are the new ones. Briartangle, Thorn spray, and Death chariot.
Briel's Book of Shadows. Ok, the title has my attention. Though it has little to do with the Books of Shadows I am most often familiar with. This one has the following new spell, Scatterspray. It does have some details on uses of Unicorn horns and a recipe for a Homonculous.
These books really upped the number of spells included in each book. Was this intentional? Is this the "Power creep" that was starting to enter the game at this point? It was 1985 and this was not an uncommon question to ask with the Unearthed Arcana now out (and now these spellbooks all have cantrips!) and classes like the Barbarian and Cavalier making people say "D&D is broken!" The more things change I guess...
Pages from the Mages V
Dragon #100 from august 1985 was a great issue all around. From the Gord story, to Dragon Chess, to this. I really need to give it a proper This Old Dragon one day. But until then Ed is back with some more magic.
Sabirine's Specular, the first book from a wizardess. It has a good collection of standard spells. The new spells are Spell Engine, Catfeet, Snatch, Spark (Cantrip), Bladethirst, and Merald's Murderous Mist.
Glanvyl's Workbook, what is neat about this book is it appears to be the book of a lesser magic-user and these are his notes. So like the workbook a student might have in a writing class. There are three new cantrips, Horn, Listen, and Scorch. One new spell, Smoke ghost, which is level 4 so he had to be at least high enough level for that. and the preparations for inks for the Haste and Lightning Bolt spell.
The Red Book of War, this is a prayer book for clerics of the war god Tempus. I liked seeing that spells for clerics were also offered. These of course would differ from the arcane counterparts in many ways, or, at least they should. Ed makes the effort here to show they do differ and that is nice. Many often forget this. There are a number of prayers here that are common. Also the new prayers/spells are Holy Flail, Reveal, Bladebless, and Sacred Link, one I enjoyed using back then. None of these spells though would late make it to the AD&D 2nd published version of Pages from the Mages.
The Alcaister, this is a book with a curse. Not the spell, but rather a poison worked into the pages that is still potent 600 years after it was written. Among the common spells it has three new cantrips, Cut, Gallop, and Sting. There is one new spell, Body Sympathy, and the last page of the spellbook is a gate! Destination determined at random.
Arcane Lore. Pages From the Mages, part VI
It is going to be a five-year jump and new edition until the next Pages comes in Dragon #164. The article has some subtle and overt changes. First there is a little more of the "in character" Elminster here. Ed has had more time to write as the Elminster and I think this is part of the success of the novels. The overt change is now the spells are in AD&D 2nd Edition format. Not too difficult to convert back (or even to any other edition) but it is noticed. It is December 1990, lets see what Ed and Elminster have for us.
Book of Shangalar the Black, a deeply paranoid wizard from 700 years ago you say? I am sure this will be fun! There are only new spells in this short (4 page) spellbook. Bone Javelin, Negative Plane Protection, Repel Undead, and Bone Blade. Well, the guy had a theme to be sure.
The Glandar's Grimoire, now here is something else that is rarely done, at least in print. This book is only a burnt remnant. What is left of what is believed to be a much larger tome is four pages with new spells. Fellblade, Melisander's Harp, Disruption, and Immunity to Undeath.
The Tome of the Wyvernwater Circle, this is a druids prayer book. Now I know D&D druids are not historical druids that did not write anything down. So a "Druid book" still sounds odd to me. But hey when in the Realms! This book has a few common spells and some new ones; Wailing Wind, Touchsickle, Flame Shield, and Mold Touch.
The Hand of Helm, another clerical prayer book. This one is of unknown origin. It has 27 pages (and thus 27 spells; one spell per page in 2e), four of which are new; Exaltation, Forceward, Mace of Odo, and Seeking Sword.
Is it because I know TSR had gone through some very radical changes between 1985 and 1990 that I think the tone of this article is different than the one in #100? I can say that one thing for certain is that Ed Greenwood is more of a master of his craft here. The history of the Realms is, for lack of a better word, thicker in these entries. There is more background to the spellbooks and their place in Realms lore. This is a positive thing in my mind in terms of writing. It did make it hard to add them to my Greyhawk campaign, but by 1990 I was hard-core Ravenloft; shit just randomly popped out of the Mists all the time. If I needed one of these books I could make an excuse to get them there.
Pages From the Mages
It is now May 1992. I am getting ready to graduate from University now and Dragon #181 is giving us our last Pages from the Mages. It has been a fun trip. A little bit of framing dialogue starts us off. I did notice we have gone from talking about "the Realms" to now saying "FORGOTTEN REALMS® setting" instead.
Galadaster's Orizon. This book is actually considered to be a "lesser work" in the eyes of the wizard-turned-lich Galadaster, but this is all that survived of his tower's destruction. Among the common spells there are three new ones. Firestaff, Geirdorn's Grappling Grasp, and Morgannaver's Sting.
Arcanabula of Jume, another book from a wizardess (rare in this collection of books). This one is written in the secret language of Illusionists (which are, as a class, slightly different in 2nd Ed) and is a traveling spellbook. It has four new spells, Dark Mirror, Shadow Hand, Prismatic Eye, and Shadow Gauntlet.
Laeral's Libram. I was just about to comment that while these books are fantastic, none of the names have the recognition factor of say a Tenser, Bigby, or even Melf. Then along last comes Laeral. Now here is someone famous enough that I have box of her dice sitting next me! Laeral Silverhand is of course one of the famous Seven Sisters. So not just a name, but a Name. This spellbook has the common spells of feather fall, magic missile, spider climb, and forcewave. As well as the new spells of Laeral's Aqueous Column, Jhanifer's Deliquescence, and Blackstaff. The blackstaff spell was created by another Name, Khelben Arunsun. This one would be worthy of a quest to be sure.
Tasso's Arcanabula. Our last spellbook comes from an illusionist named Tasso. Tasso is almost a "Name." I recognize it, but I am not sure if it was because of this article or some other Realms book I read. The spell book has what I consider to be the common illusionist spells and four new ones. Tasso's Shriek, Shadow Bolt, Shadow Skeleton, and Prismatic Blade. That's where I have heard of him. I have used that Prismatic Blade spell before,
After this series, the Wizard's Three took over as our source of spells from Ed.
I have read that Ed created this series based on his love of some of the named spells in the AD&D Player's Handbook. He wanted to know more about the characters and how they came to be associated with those spells. I think that he showed his love here in this series. I also think it was made clear that sometimes the spell creator's name gets added to a spell not just by the creator, but by those who chronicle the spell, spellbook, or spellcaster later. Sometimes centuries later.
We got away from this but now it looks like it is coming back. especially with the recent Mordenkainen, Xanathur, and now Tasha books coming out from WotC.
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Dungeons & Dragons Animated Series: Requiem The Final Episode
Well here is an unexpected treat.
Growing up I didn't watch much of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. I caught it when I could, but I worked most Saturdays and didn't always see it. This was also back before DVRs or even on-demand viewing, so unless recorded it on VHS, well I missed out.
Many years later I picked it up on DVD when it was packaged with some wonderful 3rd Edition content. This was about the same time my oldest was getting interested in D&D and the D&D animated series was the perfect gateway drug for him. If it is possible to wear out a DVD then he would have done it.
On the DVD extras were a lot of neat little things. One of them was the script for Requiem, the last episode of the series. Written by series writer Michael Reeves it detailed the last adventure of Hank, Eric, Diana, Bobby, Sheila and Uni. It had been put on as a radio play in 2006 and was also included in the DVD release.
Now some enterprising animators pulled together clips from the series and new animations to give us the final episode in full animated form.
Watch it while you can.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsNHTnY6HQg
I think they did a pretty good job, to be honest, all things considered.
New Page: Appendix O and the Purpose of Research
I just published a new Page and you can see the link above.
It is my version of the classic "Appendix N." But mine comes after it and it is more about the occult, witches, vampires, and other horror related topics.
So I am calling it Appendix O.
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| Just a small portion of my library. |
If you are interested in seeing the sites on the web that I found useful or have good witch content then check out my other page Witch Links.
If you want to know what movies I have been influenced by to write witch, vampire, and other horror-related content then check out my October Horror Movie Challange.
And occasionally I do make an Appendix N post.
Nothing in the citations will tell you how to play a better game of D&D, Ghosts of Albion, NIGHT SHIFT, or any other RPG.
Nor will they allow you rebuild one of my books or classes from just the content they have. They all however have lead me to a place where those books could be written.
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| Current research pile. |
Also, this is not scholarly-level research here. I did not come up with a thesis statement, a research question, or anything like that and then carried out a systematic literature review. This is 100% books that were within my grasp at the time (eg growing up in a small midwest town with a larger than average personal and public libraries), then access to one of the largest open shelve university libraries in the state, and of course then the internet. These are titles that captured my attention at the time and then left a mark on my RPG writing.
As with all my Pages here, I'll update this one periodically. In fact looking at the pictures above I see there are a few entries that I missed.
The Purpose of Research
Back when I was getting my Ph.D. in Ed. Psych my advisor was going over my records and my Master's Thesis and asked me why I did not go into Cognitive Psychology, which is what my academic life had been up to that point. I told him I was (and am) more interested in how people learn. We talked about my Master's Thesis where I showed that it takes about 550 ms to activate a memory from long-term memory when it had been properly primed by a queue. It was situated in the current Information Processing theories of the time. My advisor, who was one of the nicest people you could ever meet, looked at me and said "so what?" I was floored. So what? I spent months working on that theory, and then more weeks writing the software to test it, weeks testing undergrads, weeks of eating nothing but popcorn and pineapple while writing a 180-page thesis. So what?? And, he was right. I was in an Ed. Psych program now, not Cog Psych. My research had to mean something. If I could not tell that Fourth Grade teacher at CPS what my research meant to her then why should I do it?
This page came about not because I kept getting asked for it. That is true and a good enough reason, but the real reason is I am constantly going back and re-examining my own work and research.
I love to research for research's sake. But that is not the degree I ended up with. Research is fun, but it needs a goal. Appendix O started out without a goal in mind. But that doesn't mean I can't have one now.
Presently I am working on two books for my "Basic-era Games" banner; "The Basic Bestiary" and "The High Witchcraft" books. I wanted at least one of these to be ready by Halloween. That's not going to happen. The Basic Bestiary is moving along well, but not as fast as I would like. High Witchcraft...that's another matter.
I have been calling High Witchcraft my last book on Witches. I want that to mean something. But I think I am setting up too many mental roadblocks for myself. So I am going back to my first assumptions. Back to my first "research questions" as it were. It might take me a little longer, but I want something really good. Something that is worthy of being called my "last witch book."
Basic Bestiary is moving along fine. I have a ton of material, I just need to edit it.
The Secret Order is a call back to the witches of Dragon Magazine (but not setting them up the same way, I gotta do my own thing) and to that very strange time between 1981 and 1983 when we freely mixed in both Basic and Advanced D&D concepts. I am publishing it with my "Basic-Era Compatible" logo as opposed to "Labyrinth Lord" or "Old-School Essentials" (and either of those would be fine) because I do want a lot more freedom to express my witch how I want.
For the cover art, I am a huge fan of the Pre-Raphaelites. So there was really only one choice for the high Witchcraft book and that was "Astarte Syriaca" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Astarte was one of the Goddesses I researched the most in those early days of my first witch. I even made my first version of Larina a worshipper of Astarte, and not the more obvious Hecate.
For the Basic Bestiary I wanted a Pre-Raphaelite, but "The Nightmare" by Henry Fuseli was calling to me. I always loved that painting.
Back to the books!
Monday, September 28, 2020
Monstrous Monday: Apple Sprites
It is officially Autumn now, so our family tradition is to head out to the apple orchards to pick apples and buy some items from the local farm stands. This got me thinking about the mischievous, but elusive Apple Sprites.
Tiny Faerie
Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 0 (1-6)
Alignment: Neutral (Chaotic Good)
Movement: 120' (40') [12"]
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 1d4 (2 hp)
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1hp
Special: Only harmed by cold iron, turn invisible.
Size: Tiny
Save: Elf 1
Morale: 4 (7)
Treasure Hoard Class: None; see below
XP: 5
Apple Sprites, also known as Apple Fairies or Apple Cherubs, a small faerie folk that live in apple trees. They are typically hard to see due to their coloration and size. In the spring their hair is light green and their skin is the pink and white of apple blossoms. As the season moves on their skin takes on the reds and golds of the apples they live near. Their wings shite from the whites and pink of apple blossoms to greens, to reds and yellows. They are shy and elusive in the Spring and Summer months (Morale 4) but as Autumn sets in, usually between Lughnasadh and Samhain, they become more active and bolder (Morale 7). Apple Sprites hibernate in the winter, sleeping in nests of up to six. They remain invisible during hibernation and can not be discovered.
Their only real attack is to throw apples at passersby. They will do this, turn invisible and laugh. It is more irritating than damage causing.
Apple Sprites have no treasure but like other denizens of enchanted apple orchards (Apple Tree Man and Epimēlides) can be lured and bribed with hard apple cider. If given cider the Apple Sprites can direct the adventurers to a spot in the forest where treasure (Type A x2) is hidden. Though their favorite trick is direct the adventures to other tribes of Apple Sprites, who will demand more cider, and then direct to another tribe and keep the party wandering the orchard for hours while the sprites drink the cider and laugh.
Apple Sprites speak sylvan and elven, one or two per tribe speak enough common to converse.
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