100 Days of Halloween: Into The Breach: The Witch

Making my way through various Pathfinder books this one caught my eye a while back. 

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Into The Breach: The Witch

PDF. 32 pages. 1 cover, 1 title, 1 credits page, 1 table of contents, 1 OGL, for 27 pages of content.  $5.99.

This book has quite a bit of good content. 

There are new archetypes: Bailiwick Hermit, Bog Builder, Bulwark Theurgist, Dweomer Weaver, Foul Temptress, Gluttonous Crone, Marjara Bound, the Scorned Heart, and Voodoo Crafter.

Each archetype has a number of new associated powers. 

There is a new  Base Class related to the witch, the Sèvitè which is the worshiper of a lost creator god. Essentially this is a Voodoo practitioner in Pathfinder terms.  The interesting thing for me is their ability to Syncretize various gods. Very interesting to be sure. 

There are a couple of very interesting Prestige Classes presented as well. The Heathen and The Scarred Shaman. 

Like all good witch books for Pathfinder, this one has a number of Hexes, Major Hexes, and Grand Hexes.  There are also four new Patrons and quite a few new feats.

I rather like it to be honest. Lots of fun options here. The Voodoo-themed elements are nice and I would love to explore more with the syncretism of the gods. 

#RPGaDAY2022 Day 4 - Where would you host a first game?

This one is easy.

If it is the first game for people I don't know well and I am teaching them the game then I usually want to do it at my Favorite Local Game Store, Games Plus in Mount Prospect, IL.  This way if they want to buy the game in question everything they need is right there.  Plus it is a nice neutral environment.

If it is for people I know well then I prefer my game room here at my home.  I always wanted my own game room and now I have one.

I just need to convince my kids they need to clean up when they are done using it.

100 Days of Halloween: Witches and Bats

Halloween is coming...in a couple of months, but you are going to need to be ready and here is something to help with that.

Witches and Bats

These papercraft minis to print and cut out.  You get 6 wicked witches, 4 giant bats and 1 small bat swarm. There is a preview on the DriveThruRPG page.

I do not own a Silhouette/Craftrobo cutter, I just printed them out on a laser printer and made little stands for them.  I use them as part of a village of witches.  My kids have learned that "paper minis" are NPCs that don't interact much while "plastic minis" are main NPCs.  So of course they want to talk to all the paper minis!  At least these ones are interesting. 

One page at $2.95 but that is fine really, I don't think art has to follow the same rules I use for reviewing other materials.

Do I use these with my War of the Witch Queens?  Absolutely. I need a lot of witches to populate the Tredicim (the gathering of Witches) and these are great to fill out the ranks.

I mix them with Ghostly Spirits, Demons, Devils and Imps, Scarecrows and Jack-O-Lanterns (a favorite), Evil Cultists, and Gothic Statues for a full-on Halloween Village feel.

#RPGaDAY2022 Day 3 - When were you first introduced to RPGs?

I believe I have shared this story before, but it never hurts to re-share.

For me, it was the Winter of 1979.  It was "quiet reading" time at school and I had already read everything in our school's small library on science and my new fascination, Mythology.  So instead of picking up "D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths" for the 100th time, I borrowed a friend's book that also covered all the same monsters and creatures. 

The book was the AD&D Monster Manual.

The rest is history.  I tried to figure out to play on my own, made up a bunch of stuff, and then finally got a copy of the Holmes Basic book. A poorly Xeroxed copy to be exact. Until I got my hands on the Moldvay Basic set this was how I tried to play D&D.  

100 Days of Halloween: 1,000,000 Witches

 Two different products from two different publishers that aim to do similar things. But combined?  Oh I may have found something rather amazing here.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

100 Witches

PDF. 19 pages. Color cover and pages. Black & white art.  $1.99.

This book has 100 different witches with names and a paragraph for their background.  Need a quick NPC witch? Roll a d100 and you will have one. There are no stat blocks, just the names and backgrounds.  But that is exactly what they adveritse, so we are in great shape really.

10,000 Witches

PDF, 1 page, no art. $1.50.

Another one of Lee's Lists products. This one features two d100 tables, one of names and the other of titles or honorifics.  So a roll of 23 and 85 produces "Isadora the Bald."

What it lacks in length it makes up for in versatility.  You can in fact create 10,000 different witches here. 

--

Now how can I get 1,000,000 witches? Take both products and run your generation methods; a 3d100. The first d100 gives you the name, the second d100 gives you the title honorific, and the last d100 you use to get the backstory.  100x100x100 or 100³ or 1,000,000 witches.

Combine this with a product like Build a Witch and you can create a nearly endless supply of witches.

New Releases Tuesday: Witch & Warlock Bundles

It's Tuesday and that usually means new releases.  It is also Lughnasadh (well yesterday) and the first of the Pagan harvest festivals.

I thought some "new" releases were in order.  They are not new per se, but they are new bundles.

2022 Pagan Witch Bundle

This combines several "Pagan" witches into one set.  Five books for four different OSR rulesets (Old School Essentials, Labyrinth Lord, Blueholme, and Swords & Wizardry).  Plus the Witch/Warlock Character Folio. 333 pages.

It includes:

• The Craft of the Wise: The Pagan Witch Tradition
• Daughters of Darkness: The Mara Witch for Basic Era Games
• The Children of the Gods: The Classical Witch for Basic Era Games
• The Green Witch for Swords & Wizardry 
• The Witch: Aiséiligh Tradition for Swords & Wizardry
• Witch Character Sheet - Folio

The idea is to take whichever class you want, a Pagan Witch, or a Green Witch, and use the ruleset of your choice. Use all the spells, powers, and monsters from all the books.

And not to let the witches have all the fun, I have a warlock bundle as well.

2022 Warlock Bundle

Five books for four different OSR rulesets (Old School Essentials, Labyrinth Lord, Blueholme, and Swords & Wizardry).  Plus the Witch/Warlock Character Folio. 333 pages.

• The Warlock for Old-School Essentials
• The Warlock for Swords & Wizardry 
• The Winter Witch for Swords & Wizardry 
• Witch Character Sheet - Folio

If you purchased any of these books in the past then DriveThru will apply a discount. 

#RPGaDAY2022 Day 2 - What is a great introductory RPG?

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.