Time for another Featured Artist post. I discovered today's artist, Brian Brinlee, in one of the fantasy art groups I frequent on Facebook. He had a great style and something about his art made me think of some of the old D&D books from the late 90s. So I got him to commission a piece for me I was calling "Tea with the Witches." It featured five witches from various D&D worlds and it takes place in The Simbul's castle in the Forgotten Realms.
Here are the witches pictured. Left to right (clockwise, never widdershins when dealing with witches):
Sagarassi the Sea Witch (Krynn/Dragonlance), Iggwilv the Witch Queen (Oerth/Greyhawk), The Simbul, Witch Queen of Aglarond (Toril/The Forgotten Realms and where this is taking place), Larina (my OC), Feiya the Pathfinder iconic witch (Golarion/Pathfinder).
They are playing Pentacles, a game played with five people using Tarroka cards.
I loved this one so much I wanted to share more of his art with you.
You can find Brian online on his Facebook, Instagram and DeviantArt pages.
I missed a couple of days last week on this. Busy at the day job. But I am making up for it today, the last day. Today I want to feature the witches of Motherland Fort Salem.
Season 3 has not started yet and there is a huge push to get a Season 4. While I do respect the creators to tell their story in a three-season arc, I would love to see more.
If you have not been watching then you are missing out. The show is fantastic really.
Motherland gives us an alternate history where witches rose up during Salem and forged a pact with the then Colonies to protect the new country from their enemies. There are fewer states in the US and a large portion, The Cession, was given back to the Native Americans in return for their help and magic.
The series follows three new witch recruits, Abby, Tally, and Raelle, as they go through Basic Training and later War College and how they survive as a unit. The show does a great job of featuring both their strengths and their weaknesses and how they work together to be a better whole.
The show features a full cast of strong, interesting women characters. The leader of the Army is General Alder, a 300+-year-old witch, their drill sergeant is a woman. Even the President is an African-American woman. Men are either tertiary characters at best (the Witch-Father) or eye-candy (Abby's two boy toys). Tally doesn't even see a man until one gives up his seat for her so she can fly from California to Massachusetts. Not that men are put into a bad light. The Witch Father is respected and well-liked. Raelle's dad is proud of his daughter and worries about her. It's just their stories are not as important here. That's a nice change of pace really.
The witches are also not a Ms. Pac-Man trope. They are warriors, witches but also women and they are allowed to be all three. It really is quite enjoyable and very different from what I have seen in the past.
I can't wait for Season 3!
In the past, I have stated the witches of the Bellweather Unit/Sekhmet Company for OSR D&D, D&D 5e, and NIGHT SHIFT.
"I'm in this with you, and we're gonna figure it out together, okay? Whoever you are, whoever you were, I'm in. No matter what happens, no matter what anybody else thinks, I'm with you."
Contacts (2, Amry, Spree) Hard to Kill 9 (bonded with the Mycelium)
Immortal (bonded with the Mycelium)
Nerves of Steel
Soldier
Witch (Magic) (3)
- Magical Philosophy, Fixer (Healer)
Drawbacks
Adversary (lots)
Honorable (2)
Love, Romantic (Scyla)
Obligation (3, Army)
Useful Information
Initiative +4
Observation +5
Height: 5'4"
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue
Skills
Acrobatics 1
Art 2
Computers NA (Tech seems to be about 1980 levels, but no computers)
Crime 2
Doctor 6
Driving 1
Gun-Fu 0 (I have not seen any guns in this universe)
Getting Medieval 4
Influence 3
Knowledge 3
Kung Fu 2
Languages 2 (English, Méníshè)
Mr. Fix-it 1
Notice 2
Occultism 4
Science 1
Sports 1
Raelle lived in the part of American known as the Chippewa Cession where the Indigenous Tribal Federations are. She is a healer of great power like her mother was. Her mother was reported dead by the Army and Raelle blames the Army and Gen. Bellweather in particular. She doesn't want to be there and her plan was to get enlisted in the infantry and get killed as soon as possible. Her attitude earned her the nickname "shitbird" from Abby.
Raelle attitude changed when she met and fell in love with fellow cadet Scylla Ramshorn.
She came in contact with the great mycelium network under Fort Salem and she has bonded to it. This makes her practically immortal. She has a special attack dubbed "the witch bomb" which lays waste to all around her. She is hesitant to use it.
Useful Information
Initiative +5
Observation +10 (+13 with magic)
Height: 5'6"
Hair: Auburn
Eyes: Brown
Skills
Acrobatics 2
Art 2
Computers NA (Tech seems to be about 1980 levels, but no computers)
Crime 1
Doctor 2
Driving 1
Gun-Fu 0
Getting Medieval 4
Influence 3
Knowledge 4
Kung Fu 2 Languages 2 (English, Méníshè)
Mr. Fix-it 1
Notice 5
Occultism 4
Science 1
Sports 1
Tally comes from the depleted Craven line. All her aunts had gone to fight in the Army and they all died. She is the last of her line. She lived in the Matrifocal Allotment near Sacramento, California. She had not even seen a male until she answered her call of duty, an action her mother strongly wished her not to do. Her power is to "see." She can detect disguised and hidden objects or people and might be one of the most powerful seers to come up in the ranks in a long time.
Tally is a sweet girl who loves with all her heart because that is what she knows. She is fiercely loyal to her Unit.
She saved Alder's life when she volunteered to become a Biddie for a short time. This has given her access to Alders memories.
Contacts (2, Army, Bellweather family) Hard to Kill 2
Nerves of Steel
Resources (10)
Soldier
Status (4)
Witch (Magic) (3)
- Magical Philosophy, Storm magic
Drawbacks
Adversary (lots)
Honorable (3)
Obligation (4, Army)
Tradition Bound
Useful Information
Initiative +3
Observation +6
Height: 5'8"
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Skills
Acrobatics 4
Art 0
Computers NA (Tech seems to be about 1980 levels, but no computers)
Crime 1
Doctor 1
Driving 2
Gun-Fu 0
Getting Medieval 4
Influence 4
Knowledge 4
Kung Fu 3 Languages 2 (English, Méníshè)
Mr. Fix-it 1
Notice 3
Occultism 5
Science 1
Sports 1
Abigail "Abby" Bellweather, of the East Coast Bellweathers, is the leader of the Bellweather Unit. She starts out in the show as an arrogant, if even spoiled, girl of privilege. By the end of the series she is the leader she was born to be. Even her rivalries with Raelle and fellow East Coast witch Libba Swythe become something different as she accepts the responsibility of what being a soldier-witch means.
When the Camarilla targeted her family and killed her cousin she has dedicated her entire training to wiping them out.
"I like you, okay? I have feelings for you, and they're not something I'm used to having ... not something I'm used to dealing with. I'm a dodger, which means no attachments. Because things go away, we go away."
Skills
Acrobatics 1
Art 1
Computers NA (Tech seems to be about 1980 levels, but no computers)
Crime 4
Doctor 2
Driving 1
Gun-Fu 0
Getting Medieval 3
Influence 3
Knowledge 3
Kung Fu 3 Languages 2 (English, Méníshè)
Mr. Fix-it 1
Notice 4
Occultism 5
Science 1
Sports 1
Scylla is a "Necro" or a Necromancer. Because their power makes others uneasy they are quartered in a different part of the base. We learn that Scylla's parents were killed when she was young. She meets and falls in love with Raelle. Later we find out she is part of the terrorist organization known as The Spree, responsible for hundreds of deaths across the country. Her job was to recruit Raelle, but she actually fell in love with her.
Scylla was instrumental in discovering the location and leadership of the local Camarilla faction. With her help Raelle got to see her mother one more time and now she, along with the Spree, are protecting the Bellwether Unit.
Skills
Acrobatics 3
Art 2
Computers NA (Tech seems to be about 1980 levels, but no computers)
Crime 4
Doctor 3
Driving 3
Gun-Fu
Getting Medieval 9
Influence 7
Knowledge 5
Kung Fu 5 Languages 3 (English, Méníshè, French)
Mr. Fix-it 2
Notice 4
Occultism 9
Science 1
Sports 1
Sarah Alder was a survivor of the witch hunts of the 16th and 17th Centuries. She rallied her fellow witches at Salem, Massachusetts and presented the new government with a deal. Save us and we will fight your wars. The US Government and the Witches have been allies ever since.
Sarah maintains her youth with her select group of "biddies" or women that have sacrificed their own youth so she may remain forever young. The biddies and Alder are all connected, much in the way a witch and familiar might be. Thus Sarah can call on greater magics than her already high level has access to.
Alder appears to die at the end of the last episode of Season 2, but instead we see she has become part of the mycelium network.
--
Damn. Now I want to rewatch all of Season 1 and 2 again!
Raven Hex is the older sister of Tarot. She is evil...sorta. She really just wants a world where witches are not feared or mistreated. The first Raven Hex book I picked up was a fun romp with Raven sick and feverish from a virus while Tarot read her bed time stories. The comic was her fever dreams. It was a lot of fun and very tongue and cheek and a lot of insight to two (Jim and Holly) super fans of Disney.
Grabbed the new Dungeons & Dragons Rules Expansion Gift Sets at my FLGS today.
I have to admit I am a sucker for a boxed set.
Comparisons of the new books to the older ones.
The new book, Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, is the big star of course. Lots of monsters from other books, but new ones as well. I am not sure how many are new but I am happy to have them all in one place. Kinda like a Monster Manual II for 5e.
I'll have to review the books in detail, but so far I like what I have here.
I was waiting on today's Character Creation Challenge until I got my copy of Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse today. While this collects a bunch of material for other books into one volume, I did want to wait to see what the options for new character races/species were. And I can say I am not disappointed at all!
Personally I like having all these different options in my games. Especially with the way I have been playing D&D 5 of late. It makes me want to make my part of the world something akin to Elis Island of the Multiverse. A place where everyone comes too on their way to new lands.
One of those places in my town of West Haven. Once I settled on that then the choice of today's character was an easy one.
Nik Nak is a goblin fey-pact Warlock in service to the Goblin King. I featured him a while back for my Swords & Wizardry Warlock book; which introduced both the warlock class and the goblin playable species. Here he is in his D&D 5th Edition version.
He is a sneaky little goblin, but not completely evil really. He lives in the Goblin Wood where he is the local Boglebo (akin to a warlock/shaman for goblins) and alchemist. He sometimes sells potions in the market. He has learned that ripping off a customer is a good deal in the short term, but to sell what he has at a fair price brings in more money in the long term. He is fond of urban life and would bring more money home if he didn't have such a taste for human alcohol.
He is often found with his toad familiar, "Lady Patricia Blackwell." A gift to him from his patron the Goblin King.
It's a month since Christmas, so I can buy things for myself again. And this is what the mail has given me this week.
Vis Imperium Victoriana is a Victorian RPG using the same rules as Pendragon Chivalry and Sorcery Essence (thanks for the corrections!). So you know I am excited for that!
Enoch's Wake is from Richard Ruane. Game designer, co worker at my day job, and all around great guy. Can't wait to get into that as well. I am totally planning on stealing ideas from this for my BlackStar game.
I got a League of Malevolence figures which include my favorites Skylla and Kelek.
They look pretty good and compare well to my HeroForge ones I had made a while back.
I also treated myself to a signed photo from Ginny Di as Tasha.
That one is either going to be part of my D&D5 DM's Screen or be part of my Tasha/Iggwilv/Zybilna character folder. Either way I am happy to have it!
I have to admit I rather enjoyed the old Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries. I was more partial to Nancy Drew; having a crush on Pamela Sue Martin and later Janet Julian. I was quite excited on hearing there was going to be new Nancy Drew series staring Kennedy McMann. So imagine my delight when the show went hard-core supernatural.
The show is full of ghosts, possessions, family curses, witches fighting other witches, and yes lots of mystery. In its 3rd season, it is one of my new guilty pleasures.
Plus Nancy would be fantastic for any number of supernatural RPGs. In the spirit of crossovers how about Nancy for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG. After all, Buffy would not have been here had it not been for Nancy Drew. And the Nancy Drew show would not have been on the CW had Buffy not been on the WB before it.
You wont see Nancy getting into too many fights and she has never, in my memory, used a weapon. Maybe a she has picked up a stick or used a supernatural weapon, but never a gun or even a knife really. Her main weapon is her mind; her keen intelligence and her photographic memory.
She would really fit in well. I mean Horseshoe Bay might as well be a Hellmouth with all the supernatural shenanigans going on. This Nancy Drew really is the spiritual daughter of Buffy, as much as Buffy is the spiritual granddaughter of Nancy Drew from the books.
