Mail Call and Review: Hexbound: A Witchy Supplement for 5e

 So this one was a bit of a surprise for me this week. I honestly kinda forgot I backed it over two and half years ago. But it came in yesterday and I thought I would share it.

Hexbound: A Witchy Supplement for 5e

There are a lot of reasons why I have never put together a witch class of my own for 5e. One of the biggest is I have wanted to see what others have done with their own ideas. You know, try and recapture that thrill of discovery that I had back in the 1980s and 90s when I'd find a new witch class. 

Hexbound is the first big 5e "Witch" class Kickstarter I have backed.  So how did they deliver?

I got the PDFs and STLs a while back and they looked great, but I have been waiting on the book.

Here is what I was sent.

The level I pledged at was for the  Collector's Edition cover of the Hexbound Hardcover, a set of Hexbound Reference Cards, two pins, four minis and digital files of the book and minis.

The book is really nice. I love the art and in particular the Art Nouveau style cover. Really fits the vibe I want for my witches in 5e. 

The add-ons are nice. I am a sucker for a deck of tarot-like cards for a game. I want to make a witch character for 5e JUST so I can use these cards.

And the minis are also nice. I am not sure I recall what that big one is, but it is in the book.

Hexbound: The Good

REMINDER: I am always sensitive when I am reviewing someone else's witch material. I am not aware of any RPG author who has written as much about witches as I have, so I need to be careful on how critical I could be. 

Like I said, the book is really attractive. The art is really nice I think I need some dice to go with it to fit the aesthetic (that should have been an option really.) The author of the book, Antonio Demico, is also the illustrator. 

What attracted me most to this book was there was not just one "Witch Class" but rather witch subclasses for each class. And there are some really fun ones here. All are considered "Witches" and they just have different ways of expressing their magics. This is the same idea I have witches but going in the opposite direction.  I have one witch class with a lot of options, aka Traditions which can be viewed as "subclasses." I rather like it to be honest and it would be a fun way to build a coven of witches in 5e. Everyone takes a class and then the witch sub classes. Each one has a lot of unique options to help keep the witches very flexible.

The classes and their witch subclasses are: 

• The Intoner for Bards. I kinda love this one.
• The Medium for Clerics. This one is so obvious that I am kicking myself for not doing it myself.
• Circle of the Brew for Druids. Not how I would have gone, but it is certainly clever. 
• The Witchblade for Fighters. File under "Why the hell didn't I think of that." Well, I guess I do have my Witch Knights.
• Way of the Specter for Monks. Interesting, I'd have to play it to really understand it.
• Path of the Coven for Paladins. Cool, different enough from my Green Knight to be fun.
• Coven Conclave for Rangers. Similar to my Huntsman but more powers.
• Duskwalker for Rogues. This one is interesting. I rarely mix rogues/thieves with witches. So I will have to try this one.
• Coven of Spirits for Sorcerer. This one calls on the magic of family spirits. Pretty much exactly my Family Witch.
• Witch Patron for Warlocks. This one is also pretty obvious, and likely one of the more popular ones that will get played. 
• School of Witchcraft for Wizards. Now this one is both obvious and yet still a lot of fun. It also has conceptual roots going all the way back to the earliest editions of D&D. 
• Path of the Witch for Barbarian. This one was added later on. In some ways it reminds me of my Cowan for the Pagan Witch, OR (better yet) this is how you can play Cú Chulainn (with Scáthach as his witch) OR even like the warriors on their dajemma with the Witches of Rashemen.

So yeah, if you have a witch concept then there is likely a subclass here that will fit your needs.

There are some new backgrounds for your new witch. All look great really. 

We also get some new familiars here too including a personal favorite, the Jackalope. 

There are some new spells, but only 10. That seems to be a bit, well, underwhelming to be honest. 

Part II of the book is for GMs.

This includes magic items (again, there should have been more), some wands (some really fun ones too), and some magical hats.

Part III is called "for the table." This discusses how to run and play a game filled with witches. There are adventure hooks, NPCs (lots of those), monsters, and some adventures to run. 

Hexbound: The Not So Good

While the book is great to look at, it is not without some issues.

I am not going to quibble about how long it took us to get this and how it may (or may not) sitll be compatible with D&D 5.5. That stuff happens and this is likely a one man show. They get a pass from me on that.

Some issues are like the cards above. Great idea, but I'd have to try them out to see how well they work in a game. And as you can see two of the cards went to press with their placeholder art and not the art for their NPCs.

The minis are nice, but they are really too small. As you can see above compared to HeroForge minis; one I printed myself and one I bought color printed. 

I have the 3D printer, I can print new ones if I want to get them to 25/28 mm Not everyone has that option. OR I just redo the characters as halflings, dwarfs, gnomes and/or goblins.

There should have really been more spells. I know all to well that page count is all important when it comes to this Kickstarters fulfilments. But spells are important to the witch, and there should have been a lot more. 

Ok, so I do not know much about the creator Antonio Demico, but I think I have been writing about witches for longer than he has been alive. So I can't hold his work up to the same critical lens I would hold my own up too, but really. Ten spells is not even close to enough. Reduce the font size by a point and get at least 13 in there. Respect the source material. 

One last thing. Antonio Demico is a great artist and he certainly knows someone that is great at layout, there really should have been a redesigned witchy character sheet. I mean that cover BEGS to have a character sheet to match. I mean really, I do love that cover. 

Overall I am happy with the book and the cards. The minis are too small really and the pins, while nice, are largely forgettable. I mean I put them on my gamer bag and will I even remember what they were from next Gen Con?

At the end of the day, I am still happy to have another witch class and book for my collection. Since at last count I had, well, all of them.

Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 4 November; Dr. Seward's Diary, Van Helsing, and Jonathan Harker's Journal

More updates from Dr. Seward, a rare one from Van Helsing himself, 

Dr. Seward’s Diary (cont).

4 November.—To-day we heard of the launch having been detained by an accident when trying to force a way up the rapids. The Slovak boats get up all right, by aid of a rope and steering with knowledge. Some went up only a few hours before. Godalming is an amateur fitter himself, and evidently it was he who put the launch in trim again. Finally, they got up the rapids all right, with local help, and are off on the chase afresh. I fear that the boat is not any better for the accident; the peasantry tell us that after she got upon smooth water again, she kept stopping every now and again so long as she was in sight. We must push on harder than ever; our help may be wanted soon.

Memorandum by Abraham Van Helsing.

4 November.—This to my old and true friend John Seward, M.D., of Purfleet, London, in case I may not see him. It may explain. It is morning, and I write by a fire which all the night I have kept alive—Madam Mina aiding me. It is cold, cold; so cold that the grey heavy sky is full of snow, which when it falls will settle for all winter as the ground is hardening to receive it. It seems to have affected Madam Mina; she has been so heavy of head all day that she was not like herself. She sleeps, and sleeps, and sleeps! She who is usual so alert, have done literally nothing all the day; she even have lost her appetite. She make no entry into her little diary, she who write so faithful at every pause. Something whisper to me that all is not well. However, to-night she is more vif. Her long sleep all day have refresh and restore her, for now she is all sweet and bright as ever. At sunset I try to hypnotise her, but alas! with no effect; the power has grown less and less with each day, and to-night it fail me altogether. Well, God’s will be done—whatever it may be, and whithersoever it may lead!

Now to the historical, for as Madam Mina write not in her stenography, I must, in my cumbrous old fashion, that so each day of us may not go unrecorded.

We got to the Borgo Pass just after sunrise yesterday morning. When I saw the signs of the dawn I got ready for the hypnotism. We stopped our carriage, and got down so that there might be no disturbance. I made a couch with furs, and Madam Mina, lying down, yield herself as usual, but more slow and more short time than ever, to the hypnotic sleep. As before, came the answer: “darkness and the swirling of water.” Then she woke, bright and radiant and we go on our way and soon reach the Pass. At this time and place, she become all on fire with zeal; some new guiding power be in her manifested, for she point to a road and say:—

“This is the way.”

“How know you it?” I ask.

“Of course I know it,” she answer, and with a pause, add: “Have not my Jonathan travelled it and wrote of his travel?”

At first I think somewhat strange, but soon I see that there be only one such by-road. It is used but little, and very different from the coach road from the Bukovina to Bistritz, which is more wide and hard, and more of use.

So we came down this road; when we meet other ways—not always were we sure that they were roads at all, for they be neglect and light snow have fallen—the horses know and they only. I give rein to them, and they go on so patient. By-and-by we find all the things which Jonathan have note in that wonderful diary of him. Then we go on for long, long hours and hours. At the first, I tell Madam Mina to sleep; she try, and she succeed. She sleep all the time; till at the last, I feel myself to suspicious grow, and attempt to wake her. But she sleep on, and I may not wake her though I try. I do not wish to try too hard lest I harm her; for I know that she have suffer much, and sleep at times be all-in-all to her. I think I drowse myself, for all of sudden I feel guilt, as though I have done something; I find myself bolt up, with the reins in my hand, and the good horses go along jog, jog, just as ever. I look down and find Madam Mina still sleep. It is now not far off sunset time, and over the snow the light of the sun flow in big yellow flood, so that we throw great long shadow on where the mountain rise so steep. For we are going up, and up; and all is oh! so wild and rocky, as though it were the end of the world.

Then I arouse Madam Mina. This time she wake with not much trouble, and then I try to put her to hypnotic sleep. But she sleep not, being as though I were not. Still I try and try, till all at once I find her and myself in dark; so I look round, and find that the sun have gone down. Madam Mina laugh, and I turn and look at her. She is now quite awake, and look so well as I never saw her since that night at Carfax when we first enter the Count’s house. I am amaze, and not at ease then; but she is so bright and tender and thoughtful for me that I forget all fear. I light a fire, for we have brought supply of wood with us, and she prepare food while I undo the horses and set them, tethered in shelter, to feed. Then when I return to the fire she have my supper ready. I go to help her; but she smile, and tell me that she have eat already—that she was so hungry that she would not wait. I like it not, and I have grave doubts; but I fear to affright her, and so I am silent of it. She help me and I eat alone; and then we wrap in fur and lie beside the fire, and I tell her to sleep while I watch. But presently I forget all of watching; and when I sudden remember that I watch, I find her lying quiet, but awake, and looking at me with so bright eyes. Once, twice more the same occur, and I get much sleep till before morning. When I wake I try to hypnotise her; but alas! though she shut her eyes obedient, she may not sleep. The sun rise up, and up, and up; and then sleep come to her too late, but so heavy that she will not wake. I have to lift her up, and place her sleeping in the carriage when I have harnessed the horses and made all ready. Madam still sleep, and she look in her sleep more healthy and more redder than before. And I like it not. And I am afraid, afraid, afraid!—I am afraid of all things—even to think but I must go on my way. The stake we play for is life and death, or more than these, and we must not flinch.

Jonathan Harker’s Journal.

4 November, evening.—The accident to the launch has been a terrible thing for us. Only for it we should have overtaken the boat long ago; and by now my dear Mina would have been free. I fear to think of her, off on the wolds near that horrid place. We have got horses, and we follow on the track. I note this whilst Godalming is getting ready. We have our arms. The Szgany must look out if they mean fight. Oh, if only Morris and Seward were with us. We must only hope! If I write no more Good-bye, Mina! God bless and keep you.

Notes: Moon Phase: Full Moon

Seward and Godalming are making their way by boat. Van Helsing has a rare journal entry. Of course it is needed because Mina is slipping under Dracula's power more and more and it unreliable for the first time in 27 chapters. Mina knows the countryside, not just because she read her husband's journal but because she is in mental communication with Dracula. We also see she is sleeping more. 

Jonathan has little to offer here.

Halloween Hangover 2024

 Another Halloween has come and gone.

And what a month it was! Normally I post this right after Halloween, but had a lot going on this past weekend. So lets get to it.

By the Numbers

This was one of my busiest Octobers so far, with 118 posts! I reviewed over two dozen Ravenloft products spanning all the editions of Dungeons & Dragons. I also watched 43 horror movies, 21 of which were first-time views.

I also opened my Advent-ure Dice Advent Calendar.

In Search Of...R.I.P.

My In Search of feature of the TSR Horror game that never was, R.I.P. was very popular. I was featured on Episode 16 of Table Top Weekly where I had a discussion with Flint Dille about it. And my post was the feature of a recent Christian Lindke's Geekerati post.

RPG Blog Carnival

I dedicated a few posts to this, and there were a lot of other great posts, too. Please check them all out. There is some really great material listed here. 

• Tuesday Magic Item – Corpse Mask
• Tuesday Magic Item – Necroanimate Prothesis
• Death by a Thousand Claws
• Tuesday Magic Item – Contagious Curse Collar
• Describing and Modifing Zombies to Better Evoke Horror
• RPG Blog Carnival October: Horror in Different RPG Settings
• The Selv
• Vol. I: Vampires and werewolves
• Vol. II: Zombies and ghosts
• Tuesday Magic Item – Liquid and Powdered Skeletons
• Evoking Horror in Old School Games
• Why am I sharing this old Geekerati Interview?

There are a few Dracula posts left to go still and this season will be wrapped up.

Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 3 November; Dr. Seward's Diary

Quick update from Dr. Seward.

Dr. Seward’s Diary (cont).

3 November.—We heard at Fundu that the launch had gone up the Bistritza. I wish it wasn’t so cold. There are signs of snow coming; and if it falls heavy it will stop us. In such case we must get a sledge and go on, Russian fashion. 

Notes: Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous

Not much here. Seward describes using a sledge instead of using carts or wagons.

Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 2 November; Dr. Seward and Harkers' Entries

More entries from our hunters. 

Jonathan Harker’s Journal.

2 November, morning.—It is broad daylight. That good fellow would not wake me. He says it would have been a sin to, for I slept peacefully and was forgetting my trouble. It seems brutally selfish to me to have slept so long, and let him watch all night; but he was quite right. I am a new man this morning; and, as I sit here and watch him sleeping, I can do all that is necessary both as to minding the engine, steering, and keeping watch. I can feel that my strength and energy are coming back to me. I wonder where Mina is now, and Van Helsing. They should have got to Veresti about noon on Wednesday. It would take them some time to get the carriage and horses; so if they had started and travelled hard, they would be about now at the Borgo Pass. God guide and help them! I am afraid to think what may happen. If we could only go faster! but we cannot; the engines are throbbing and doing their utmost. I wonder how Dr. Seward and Mr. Morris are getting on. There seem to be endless streams running down the mountains into this river, but as none of them are very large—at present, at all events, though they are terrible doubtless in winter and when the snow melts—the horsemen may not have met much obstruction. I hope that before we get to Strasba we may see them; for if by that time we have not overtaken the Count, it may be necessary to take counsel together what to do next.

Dr. Seward’s Diary.

2 November.—Three days on the road. No news, and no time to write it if there had been, for every moment is precious. We have had only the rest needful for the horses; but we are both bearing it wonderfully. Those adventurous days of ours are turning up useful. We must push on; we shall never feel happy till we get the launch in sight again. 

Mina Harker's Journal

2 November, morning.—I was successful, and we took turns driving all night; now the day is on us, bright though cold. There is a strange heaviness in the air—I say heaviness for want of a better word; I mean that it oppresses us both. It is very cold, and only our warm furs keep us comfortable. At dawn Van Helsing hypnotised me; he says I answered “darkness, creaking wood and roaring water,” so the river is changing as they ascend. I do hope that my darling will not run any chance of danger—more than need be; but we are in God’s hands.

 

2 November, night.—All day long driving. The country gets wilder as we go, and the great spurs of the Carpathians, which at Veresti seemed so far from us and so low on the horizon, now seem to gather round us and tower in front. We both seem in good spirits; I think we make an effort each to cheer the other; in the doing so we cheer ourselves. Dr. Van Helsing says that by morning we shall reach the Borgo Pass. The houses are very few here now, and the Professor says that the last horse we got will have to go on with us, as we may not be able to change. He got two in addition to the two we changed, so that now we have a rude four-in-hand. The dear horses are patient and good, and they give us no trouble. We are not worried with other travellers, and so even I can drive. We shall get to the Pass in daylight; we do not want to arrive before. So we take it easy, and have each a long rest in turn. Oh, what will to-morrow bring to us? We go to seek the place where my poor darling suffered so much. God grant that we may be guided aright, and that He will deign to watch over my husband and those dear to us both, and who are in such deadly peril. As for me, I am not worthy in His sight. Alas! I am unclean to His eyes, and shall be until He may deign to let me stand forth in His sight as one of those who have not incurred His wrath.

Notes: Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous

Four entries, two from Mina, but not much going on.  Strasba from Harker's Journal does not seem to be a real place unless Stoker meant Straja. 

In retrospect, I should have had maps and placed little dots where everyone was at the time.

Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 1 November; Harkers' Journals (cont.)

 We enter the final act.

Jonathan Harker’s Journal.

1 November, evening.—No news all day; we have found nothing of the kind we seek. We have now passed into the Bistritza; and if we are wrong in our surmise our chance is gone. We have over-hauled every boat, big and little. Early this morning, one crew took us for a Government boat, and treated us accordingly. We saw in this a way of smoothing matters, so at Fundu, where the Bistritza runs into the Sereth, we got a Roumanian flag which we now fly conspicuously. With every boat which we have over-hauled since then this trick has succeeded; we have had every deference shown to us, and not once any objection to whatever we chose to ask or do. Some of the Slovaks tell us that a big boat passed them, going at more than usual speed as she had a double crew on board. This was before they came to Fundu, so they could not tell us whether the boat turned into the Bistritza or continued on up the Sereth. At Fundu we could not hear of any such boat, so she must have passed there in the night. I am feeling very sleepy; the cold is perhaps beginning to tell upon me, and nature must have rest some time. Godalming insists that he shall keep the first watch. God bless him for all his goodness to poor dear Mina and me.

CHAPTER XXVII

MINA HARKER’S JOURNAL

1 November.—All day long we have travelled, and at a good speed. The horses seem to know that they are being kindly treated, for they go willingly their full stage at best speed. We have now had so many changes and find the same thing so constantly that we are encouraged to think that the journey will be an easy one. Dr. Van Helsing is laconic; he tells the farmers that he is hurrying to Bistritz, and pays them well to make the exchange of horses. We get hot soup, or coffee, or tea; and off we go. It is a lovely country; full of beauties of all imaginable kinds, and the people are brave, and strong, and simple, and seem full of nice qualities. They are very, very superstitious. In the first house where we stopped, when the woman who served us saw the scar on my forehead, she crossed herself and put out two fingers towards me, to keep off the evil eye. I believe they went to the trouble of putting an extra amount of garlic into our food; and I can’t abide garlic. Ever since then I have taken care not to take off my hat or veil, and so have escaped their suspicions. We are travelling fast, and as we have no driver with us to carry tales, we go ahead of scandal; but I daresay that fear of the evil eye will follow hard behind us all the way. The Professor seems tireless; all day he would not take any rest, though he made me sleep for a long spell. At sunset time he hypnotised me, and he says that I answered as usual “darkness, lapping water and creaking wood”; so our enemy is still on the river. I am afraid to think of Jonathan, but somehow I have now no fear for him, or for myself. I write this whilst we wait in a farmhouse for the horses to be got ready. Dr. Van Helsing is sleeping. Poor dear, he looks very tired and old and grey, but his mouth is set as firmly as a conqueror’s; even in his sleep he is instinct with resolution. When we have well started I must make him rest whilst I drive. I shall tell him that we have days before us, and we must not break down when most of all his strength will be needed.... All is ready; we are off shortly.

Notes: Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous

More tour guide material. Our young men hunters are flying the flag of Romania (which is similar to today's version) to aid them on their travels. It works well, except I am not sure any of our hunters speak Romanian, so I am not sure how the ruse works.

Similar reactions to Mina now to when Jonathan first came through this was to the mention of Dracula. Is Stoker laying on the "superstitious peasant" thing too heavy or is there a tangible feel of evil the surrounds Mina here? I'd like to think that the locals, used to such evils, can recognize it in Mina.

Larina McAlester, Agent of A.R.T.E.M.I.S. for R.I.P. Horror Role-playing

Yes, her middle name is Stephani and yes, she hates it.

 Yesterday I posted my findings on the R.I.P. RPG, the game that never was. Today I want to figure out if you could actually play a game of R.I.P. with the materials at hand.

Well...no. Not really. But I should qualify that.

Without some work, there is not enough published material to play a complete game. On the other hand, I could probably knock together enough details to play a game of R.I.P. in a few sessions. I would have to borrow heavily from other horror games, particularly Chill 2nd ed, GURPS, and Unisystem.  

But I think I have enough here to make a character. So, let's go with my drosophila melanogaster of these sorts of things and see what I can do. 

For this, I am going to create a character first with the Top Secret/S.I. rules, then with the Agent 13 supplement, and finally with the material from the R.I.P. comics. I'll use the core TS/SI rules to form her "base" character, followed by details from Agent 13 and the R.I.P. comics. I'll also borrow the idea from Agent 13 of exceptional characters since the supernatural world of R.I.P. is similar to that of Agent 13.

I don't own the Top Secret rules nor the Agent 13 book, but thankfully I was able to borrow them from a friend.

Larina McAlester, nee Nichols

The first thing I am going to need to do is make some assumptions. I am going to stay in the 1990s for this one, so for that reason, I am going to borrow a lot from my WitchCraft RPG version of her (which, oddly, I have never posted), the DarkMatter version (which feels like the spiritual successor to R.I.P.) and the TimeLord version, just to get the feeling of the era right.  Here she is just out of college, but instead of going to grad school she is recruited by a secret organization, A.R.T.E.M.I.S., to investigate the paranormal.

I am going to say in this version she is still married, but separated from her Irish husband, Eric. She has not changed her name back because the paperwork is too much trouble.

A.R.T.E.M.I.S.

A.R.T.E.M.I.S., or Agency for Research into Transdimensional Events, Magic, and Inexplicable Sightings, is the special investigations group similar to Top Secret's ORION. Or...at least it is supposed to be. I wrote the bulk of what A.R.T.E.M.I.S. is prior to reading any of the Top Secret RPG material because as I was working on the character background I want to be able to port this organization over to NIGHT SHIFT if I wanted.

This group employs people who are "Sensitive" to the dealings of the Supernatural. So very much like her character in Time Lord. They also have funding and governmental backing. So like Chill's SAVE, but more in line with the X-Files.

Given this, I might consider the Supernatural Sensitivity Advantage to be a prerequisite for being a part of this organization. 

Larina McAlester
Agent of A.R.T.E.M.I.S.

Nationality: American
Sex: Female
Race: Caucasian
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 124 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red
DOB: 10/25/1969 (Age 22)

Handiness: Right
Tags: Bites nails, large tatoo of the triple moon goddess (see ref photo #MLS02) on her back between shoulder blades (see ref photo #MLS03). 

Attributes
STRength 38/19/9
REFlex 52/26/13
INTelligence 75/37/18
WILlpower 78/39/19
CONstitution 47/23/11
MOVement 45/22/11
DEXterity 63/31/15

Psychological Profile
Cruelty: Low
Loyalty: High
Sanity: High
Selfishness: Some
Passion: High
Piety: Some/High (Wiccan religion)

Advantages
Sixth Sense (3)
Attractive (1)
Obscure Knowledge (2)
Supernatural Sensitivity (2)

Disadvantages
Addiction, Caffeine (2)
Moral Qualms, Will not Kill (2)
Enemy, Ex-husband (1) 

Skills
Professional Career -
- Fine arts 1 63%
- Musical Instrument (flute) 1 75%
- First Aid 2 80%
- Social Chameleon 1 37%
- Basic Liberal Arts 1 37%
- Anthro/Psychology/Soc 3 85%
- Philo/Religion 2 80%
- Language: Latin 1 75%
- Language: Greek 1 75% (can learn up to 5 more languages)
Research 3 85%

Powers
Mind Reading 4pts
Telekinesis 1

So. Who is this Larina? Well this is an agent who is sent in to assess, but not engage, a situation. She can blend it and knows enough to be able figure out what is going on in a situation. She is still young, a new agent, but learning. Her ability to read minds and her supernatural sensitivity allow her find a supernatural threat among normal humans.

I think for a "real" game of R.I.P., there should be an Advantage, maybe called "Powered," which allows the character to take powers. An 8-point Advantage might grant 10 points in powers and 2 points in a Disadvantage, something like "Haunted." The logic here is that once you dip your toes into the world of the supernatural, then the supernatural also sees you. This is very common in a lot of horror games.

This mechanic would also cover what I think would be a feature in the R.I.P. game; playing something like a Revenant. A dead character is now back to fight the supernatural threats to the mortal world. 

Comparisons to Chill 2nd Edition

Yesterday I made a lot of comparisons of R.I.P. to Chill 2nd Edition. The reasoning is that Chill is also about normal (for the most part) humans fighting the unknown/supernatural and there is a reasonable chance of success. Plus Chill 2nd edition was out at the same time that the proposed R.I.P. RPG was going to be, so the comparisons would have been natural.

I don't have Chill stats up for her here either (note to self, add WichCraft RPG and Chill 2nd ed stats). I do have an old character sheet, but that is not a great comparison since she has had some adventures and is not a starting character like her R.I.P. counterpart. However, there are some comparisons to be made.

Both skill-wise and power-wise, they seem close in respect to their specific game universes. Granted, we don't really know what the characters' power levels were going to be in R.I.P. 

I will say this, though: The character creation was rather fast. Obviously, that has more to do with the Top Secret/S.I. rules than anything else. IF the R.I.P. game followed suit, then it would have this leg up on Chill. Though I can knock together a Chill character quickly these days.

Another good comparison is to the Modern Horror game TSR did produce, Dark•Matter. Again I see similar themes being explored here. Dark•Matter certainly has more gravitas to it. I would like to say it is also better designed, but that isn't really fair since we really have no idea how R.I.P. would have been designed. 

In the end we are just left with a case of thinking of what might have been.

Now to explore A.R.T.E.M.I.S. more.