Mail Call: More Witches!

 Yeah...I am obsessed. Mail call today, and it was full of some great witch books.

Up first, another witch-centric RPG I backed on Kickstarter, Last Sabbath.

Last Sabbath RPG Art, bookmark and pin

The game looks phenomenal, and I want to try it out really soon.

And one I have been waiting 20+ years for.

Ashley Poston has a novel out about 17-year-old Tara, one of my all-time favorite witches. 

This is her pre-Sunnydale days, and I can't wait to jump into this.  And because I had a credit lying around, I picked it up on Audible as well.

While I am sure the narrator will be great, it would have been nice to get Amber Benson to do it.

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So yeah I *know* I am obsessed, and I know I catch some grief for it online, but you know what? 

I don't actually care.

This is my little corner of the Internet, and I get to do what I love here. And if that gets me 10 fans or 10,000*, then fantastic! Plenty of other sites out there that leave me scratching my head asking "who would even find that fun??" but hey, their sites, their rules. 

To quote Steve Martin, "The most amazing thing to me is, I get paid for doing this!"

(*It is less than 10,000, but a lot more than 10!)

#RPGaDay2023 First RPG GAMEMASTER

 Another one that has been on my mine a bit lately.

My first Gamemaster was myself really. We all kind of taught ourselves how to play back then and I didn't have older brothers or friends that played.  But that changed when I got to Jr. High.

My first real DM was Jon Cook and we played this hybrid version of Basic (B/X) D&D and 1st Edition Advanced D&D. 

In a lot of ways I guess I am still chasing that high.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 8, Room 2

 Beyond the doors is a large cave system. The cave is huge and while fires can be seen down many of the tunnels (larger tunnels than the ones on the level above), this level is cooler.

There are five tunnels leading out of this chamber. 

#RPGaDay2023 FIRST RPG played (this year)

 This one is easy because we played it New Year's Eve and Year's Day. My first game for 2023 was D&D 5e Dragonlance: Shadows of the Dragon Queen.

I was a player in it, not the DM, which was a nice change of pace.

My oldest was running it, and he combined it with bits and pieces of Rise of Tiamat and Horde of the Dragon Queen from the start of D&D 5.

Honestly, he did not care for the adventure as it was written and wanted to tweak it a bit for us.  We did not play many more sessions of this. My "falling out" with D&D 5 had a lot to do with that and his promotion as a pastry chef meant he had less time.  But we did have a great time. I was cleaning up our game room the other day and all of our minis are still in the "current campaign" box.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 8, Room 1

 These stairs go down into this tomb for quite a long way. Also, any dwarves (or other similar characters) will also note the stairs are moving towards the north.  

The stairs end in a large and somewhat cooler chamber.  There is a set of large iron doors.

These doors are large and heavy.  To open these doors requires a combined strength of 40 points or magic. Unless staked open they will slam shut.

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This level has been largely protected from the volcanic activity of the level above.  

Wandering monsters are found here using the table for 8th level (and sometimes 7th level).  Again, magic sensitive characters can detect low levels of necromantic magic here.

Monstrous Monday: What is Monster Mash II A Midsummer Night's Dream?

 What is Monster Mash II: A Midsummer Night's Dream?

Much like my first Monster Mash, this one has classes that people typically think of as "monsters" for the D&D game, but uses the special "race-as-class" feature of older, Basic-era, versions of D&D like Moldvay Basic/Cook & Marsh Expert and BECMI.

This book features 12 faerie and sylvan-based classes. Bugbears, Centaurs, Hamadryads, Leprechauns, Nymphs, Pixies, Púcas, Satyrs, Werebears, Werefoxes, and Woodwoses.

Each can be played as a Basic-era "Race-as-Class," with each gaining special abilities as they level up, or as an Advanced "Race" with recommendations for classes. 

Also included is the Faerie Witch, because, well, it is one of my books. 

There are also new spells for Clerics, Druids, Illusionists, Magic-users, and Witches. 

And new occult powers and ritual spells for Faerie Witches. 

This book can be combined with my first Monster Mash for even more combinations.

Grab yours now!

Monster Mash

Monster Mash II: A Midsummer Night's Dream

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 7, Room 31

 The last room on this level is a large landing between the flights of stairs going down.  All around the party are portals to the Plane of Elemental Fire. Standing on the landing wielding a huge flaming sword is a fire giant.

The fire giant is named Heiðra. He is a former ally of the Vampire Queen. She cursed him to remain here and keep any who would seek her final resting place away. He will do all that he can to keep the party from moving forward. 

Heiðra has the stats of a fire giant, save his sword does an additional 2d6 fire damage.  He has an abode in the Elemental Plane of Fire and there is a portal nearby. He will not retreat, though, and will fight to the death.  If he is dropped to half his HP he will summon 1d4+1 Hellhounds.