There are a lot of great choices out there, but I am still rather partial to the 1981 Moldvay Basic Set. Starts you out simple and lets you build as you go on. While the Mentzer Red Box Basic for the BECMI line gets a lot of kudos (and got the sales to be sure) I am still more in the camp of Moldvay.
I suppose it follows then that Old-School Essentials is also a good choice as is Basic Fantasy.
As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.
Advancing with Class: The Witch
PDF. 27 pages. 1 cover, title page, back cover, 1 ad, 2 pages of ogl. 22 pages of content.
This book has a bunch of new material for the Pathfinder 1st Ed. Witch class.
There are five new Patron themes (with patron spells listed); Arcane Patron, Courtly Fey Patron, Nature Fey Patron, Summer Patron, and Whimsy Patron.
There are 54 new hexes in four categories along with the general, major and grand hexes.
The 17 new feats are interesting since I do like to play with the idea that witches are almost a different type of human. So there are lot of "blood" nature feats.
The witch Archetypes give you different roleplaying ideas, with some mechanical advantages. We have the Eldritch Witch, Fey Touched Witch, Harrowed Harlequin, Madness Matriarch, Mystic Astrologer, Occult Scholar, and Shadow Mistress.
There are also three NPC witches using them material above.
There are certainly some great ideas here and some archetypes I'd love to try out.
The layout is ok. The font is very readable, but the blue boarder seems unnecessary. The art is a bit of a mixed bag. But for just under $3.50 it's a good deal.
It is the year 2000. We don't have flying cars, but I have a brand new baby, and Wizards of the Coast, the brand new owners of Dungeons & Dragons are putting out their new 3rd Edition material. The Monster Manual was the last of the three core rule books.
For today I am going to consider the 3.0 and the 3.5 versions of the Monster Manuals. I am also considering the Print and PDF versions from DriveThruRPG.
3.0 220 pages. 3.5 324 pages. 425 monsters.
More so than the AD&D 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendiums or Manual this book felt like the Monster Manual of old.
It was the start of the new millennium (almost) and we all survived Y2K. I had been moving away from D&D for some time by this point and this was the edition that brought me back. I do sometimes still get the urge to play 3.x and this book is one of those reasons.
The art budget for D&D (no more "Advanced") was heavily increased. Art that would have been chosen for cover art for products in the 1990s now joins several more just like for interior art. Every monster in illustrated in full color now and the book itself is a work of art.
Inside are all the favorites and many new ones to boot. Demons and Devils are back AS Demons and Devils, although they also retain their bowdlerized names of Tanar'ri and Baatezu respectively. This works out to Wizards of the Coast's advantage since now those names can be considered Product Identity under the newly formed OGL. Sure other publishers can, and do (and boy do they!), talk about demons, but Tanar'i are off-limits.
What is special about this book, and 3.x in general, is now monsters are built using the same rules as characters. They have the same abilities, a great wyrm blue dragon has a strength of 39, and built like characters are with the same skills and the new feat system. So that same ancient blue dragon can have a fly-by attack feat. I can't say everything is perfect, but it is certainly better than the catch as catch can abilities of AD&D where a Will-O-the-wisp can has ridiculous stats.
The implication is here is that some monsters could even be characters. For a crazy example take the Skum (p.229). It has 2d8+2 HD. At the bottom of the stat block is a "Level Adjustment" of +3. Skum start out at 3rd level but still 0 XP. Once they gain enough to get to 4th level they can advance. Usually, there is a preferred class listed, but almost everything can advance as a fighter.
Creatures also get a different hit die based on their type. Faeries get a d6 while undead gets a d12. Type is very important here.
There are also templates which is a great idea. Have a 14th-level fighter who is changed into a vampire? Well in older forms of D&D he would have gone down to the HD of a vampire. In 3.x he is now 14th level (yeah level drain is gone, more or less) and you add vampire abilities on top. It was something hinted at with Ravenloft, now it is part of the rules.
I mentioned the art, it is great though there are some changes between the 3.0 and 3.5 versions.
In fact, there are some monsters not illustrated in the 3.0 version that do get illustrations in the 3.5.
It is really a great resource. My one complaint is that the one monster per page layout is gone. This does conserve space and makes the book smaller, I just had gotten used to the format with 2nd Ed. 4th Ed would bring it back.
I have very fond memories of this book. My oldest son as a small child would spend hours flipping through it, just like I had done with the original Monster Manual.
I should also point out that because of this book and the Open Gaming License I was able to get my first ever professional RPG writing gig working on Eden Studios' Liber Bestarius.
Hmm. I have already introduced RPGs to so many people. My kids and through them more people.
I think there are is an untapped market in appealing to other creatives I know; artists, writers, and the like. I think many of them would naturally take to RPGs.
Though it is still many, many years down the road, maybe I can introduce RPGs to my grandkids!
As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.
From Knotty Works. PDF. 6 pages; 1 cover, 1 title page, 1 page OGL, 1 back cover. So two pages of content. The price is PWYW with a suggested price of $0.
This book is essentially an ad for Advancing with Class: The Witch. This is not a bad thing. I think I'll have a look at that one later.
This free file includes three witch archetypes; Abyssal Bound Witch, the Infernal Bound Witch and the Tribal Witch. They all do about what they sound like. There are some new powers and suggestions for hexes the witches can take.
Seriously though while these are "easy" archetypes to do (Demon and Devil worshipers) they are still quite good and worth the minimal effort needed to take download them.
Tomorrow is the first of August and that means #RPGaDAY for 2022!
Started and maintained by Dave Chapman at AUTOCRATIK, this has been a yearly thing for the last nine years. My first was in 2014. I took 2017 off, and didn't finish 2018s. But I am here for it all in 2022!
Here is the list of post prompts I will be doing all month. They follow the questions of Who, What When, Where, Why, and How. With bonus questions on Sunday.
As well as text ones for anyone using a screen reader.
#RPGaDAY2022 Prompts:
1 - Who would you like to introduce to RPGs?
2 - What is a great introductory RPG?
3 - When were you first introduced to RPGs?
4 - Where would you host a first game?
5 - Why will they like this game?
6 - How would you get more people playing RPGs?
7 - System Sunday: Describe a cool part of a system that you love.
8 - Who introduced you to RPGs?
9 - What is the 2nd RPG you bought?
10 - When did/will you start Gamemastering?
11 - If you could live in a game setting, where would it be?
12 - Why did you start RPGing?
13 - How would you change the way you started RPGing?
14 - Suggestion Sunday: Roll 1d8+1, and tag that many friends and suggest a new RPG to try.
15 - Who would you like to Gamemaster for you?
16 - What would be your perfect game?
17 - Past, Present, or Future? When is your favorite game set?
18 - Where is your favorite place to play?
19 - Why has your favorite game stayed with you?
20 - How long do your games last?
21 - Setting Sunday: Share an intriguing detail from a game setting you enjoy.
22 - Who is your current character?
23 - What situation are they currently in?
24 - When did you start playing this character?
25 - Where has the character been?
26 - Why does your character do what they do?
27 - How has the character changed?
28 - Style Sunday: Roll 1d8+1, tag that many friends with your favorite RPG cover art.
29 - Who would you like to see take part in #RPGaDAY?
30 - What should #RPGaDAY do for its 10th anniversary next year?
31 - When did you first take part in #RPGaDAY?
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Follow along here and on Twitter.
As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.
Class Expansions: The Charmbrewer Witch Archetype
This PDF is 5 pages; 1 for the cover and 1 for the OGL. $1.25.
This is a class archetype. This one mixes the witch with a bit of the alchemist. She exchanges some of her hex ability for a connection to a cauldron.
With this cauldron, she can brew potions and elixirs. She gets two new hexes and 21 elixirs they can brew. These elixirs take the place of hexes and the witch can gain them at various levels.
The concept of a witch using a cauldron is a powerful one and this one is well executed.
I rather like it to be honest. The price is rather nice as well.
