Ansalon: Terra Incognita?

My son is starting to read the "Gold Dragon Codex" from Mirrorstone books.  These are YA titles that are connected to the "Complete Guide to Dragons" the Mirrorstone/Wizards of the Coast has produced.  Basically they are YA D&D novels, but not overtly so.   Well I was flipping through it and I noticed that the map of area they were set in was Ansalon. I thought this was very cool to be honest.
It got me thinking about Mystoerth.  There is a area on the map that I have always wanted to put a Terra Incognita/a lost missing land.  I have roughly 2,000 miles east west and the same north south to play with.  Well that sounds perfect to fit Ansalon in.

Like many in my age group I read the Dragonlance novels and enjoyed them.  I read the second trilogy and enjoyed that one too.  I had some of the Dragonlance game books but it was never a world I spent much time in, but gladly used all sorts of things from it (like their elves, ideas on dragons, gods, having three moons).  When 3.x came around I looked at the Dragonlance stuff again and liked it in a whole different way.

Now the nice thing is Ansalon can fit in my little used southern region of my map.  It's not too big so I am not worried about it fitting.  It's far enough away that I can say that there has been no contact between the other continents for long enough to make it work for me.  A quick edit with Photoshop and I am sure it will fit nice.

But here is the question.  Am I giving up on the uniqueness of the land by just making it another continent?  Can the stories I want to tell still be done if for example I am missing Taladas?

So now my world has Blackmoor, Mystara, Greyhawk and  now Dragonlance.  Not too bad really.

Books for February and later

So February is usually the darkest, coldest, most dreary month on the calendar.   So it's a perfect time for some new books.  Good for me some of my favorite authors (an some I consider friends) have some new books out.

First up.  What's going on in the land of the dead?  Amber Benson and Calliope Reaper-Jones know.  The second book of the Death's Daughter series, "Cat's Claw" comes out on Feb 23.  I really enjoyed the first one and it is different than the "vampire" fare that is out now.  This book is firmly in the urban-fantasy camp and it's something like "Sex in the City" meets "Dante's Inferno".  A very different mix that I like.  What is really cool you can read this and then get a good feel for the sections in "Ghosts of Albion" Amber worked on.  I have not quite warmed up to Callie yet, but that is only a matter of time.  I like that despite her powers she is not all knowing.  She is still basically a 20-something woman living in the city and that doesn't mean she has all the right answers, or even good ones.

Here is the Amazon link, http://www.amazon.com/Cats-Claw-Amber-Benson/dp/0441018432/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3

Next is a series I have been reading non-stop since I discovered it about this time last year.  The Hollows Series by Kim Harrison.  The star of this series is Rachel Morgan, independent runner, witch, and soon to be target of a witch-hunt.  I first mentioned Rachel and her roommate the living-vampire Ivy, in Play Ivy for Me, and I still want to d more with this world.  The new book, Black Magic Sanction, has Rachel doing what Rachel does best; getting into trouble WAY over her head.  Like Callie, I didn't like Rachel at first.  I thought she was, well, stupid.  She did things all the time that got her into trouble.  But soon I figured out that Rachel isn't stupid.  She is impulsive and being drawn into plots she would rather not have to deal with herself.  Like Calli, Rachel has powers and that doesn't mean she knows what she needs to do with them.  Rachel can be a total flake, but it works for her and now I love this character.  The advantage Rachel has over Callie so far is I am 7 books deep into the Hollow's series now and only 1 in Death's Daughter.  And Rachel has that whole red-headed witch thing going for her. ;)
Black Magic Sanction is also out Feb 23.

The Amazon link, http://www.amazon.com/Black-Magic-Sanction-Rachel-Morgan/dp/0061138037/ref=pd_sim_b_1

And last up, a new author, but one I met before I knew she was an author.  Kimberly Pauley (her husband works with my wife) has part two of her YA/Modern Supernatural book, "It Still Sucks to be Me" the ongoing saga of teen-age vampire (maybe) Mina Hamilton.    I don't have much to say here since I am still reading "Sucks to be Me", but I really like what I have read so far.  Kim has a new take on vampires and there is not a sparkly on in the bunch!  Yeah I am a bit beyond the demographic for this, but it is a fun read.
"Still Sucks to be Me" is not out till May.

Amazon link, http://www.amazon.com/Still-Sucks-Be-Me-Confessions/dp/0786955031/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264958780&sr=1-1

Now here is the gamer in me.  Mina, Callie and Rachel are all sitting together in a local coffee shop.  What is each of them drinking?
My guesses:
Mina - hot chocolate, extra whipped cream.
Rachel - coffee, black, in a huge mug with a flaming bunny on it.
Callie - decaf green tea chai with soy milk.

And what happens next to put them all into an adventure.  Ok, Mina is a bit young, so it has to be something that would be good to drag a high school kid into.  Maybe Ivy is there and Mina was sent to learn from her by the head of the vampire council....too much of a stretch?  Yeah maybe.

And why am I thinking of all of these women in terms of Cortex stats?  Seems to work well.

Support these authors.  They are good people and write good stuff.

What Should an OSR Witch Do or Be?

So Eldritch Witchery is on the (far) horizon and it has been getting me thinking.
What should an Old-School Witch do?

One of the strengths of the older games, and maybe something we have gotten away from in newer game design, is trying to do more with less.  The older games had four classes (give or take) and these represented roles of the characters, it was then up to the player to detail and refine those roles and characters.

Lets look at the class "Magic User" for a bit.  Magic User does not automatically mean "Wizard".  It took me a while to get that  (I blame 2nd Ed).  We lost this distinction in later versions of the game and even in popular thought during the "golden age".  But really Magic User should really mean anyone that uses magic, whether you call them Wizard, Wu-Jen, Sorcerer, Illusionist, Mystic, Necromancer or even Witch is up to the player (but not Cleric or Priest...).  For most people this is fine.  Others want more definition to the role.
In Spellcraft & Swordplay we already now have a Necromancer.  One could argue there is a bit of "divine" magic that a Necromancer must channel to do his job.  He is still a "magic user" just a very specific one.  Same was seen in AD&D 1st Ed with the Illusionist, but that was a separate class.  Druid, Ranger, Paladin and Assassin are the same way for their respective roles.  It is is easy to see why it happens and even why it needs to happen.  So accepting there are general roles and then some specific roles where can we go with a concept like a witch?

The witch then, as a class, should be something special.  When I write for Buffy, WitchCraft or even Witch Girls Adventures, the witch is the defacto magic using class, but in a world where magic is largely unknown.  In D&D and it's clones the Wizard is the main class.  The role of the witch then should be to provide that air of mystery and "otherness" that the wizard and other magic-users no longer supply*.
*The caveat here being "in many games", there is nothing saying you can't have mysterious wizards in your game.

When I did the witch for 2nd Ed AD&D, she was basically a type of divine spell caster with access to various arcane spells and occult powers.  In 3rd Ed/d20 I flipped that to make her an arcane spell caster with access to divine spells and occult powers.  The same seems mostly true for all the other d20/3.x witches I have seen over the years.  IF (that's a big if) I were to do a witch for 4th Ed then I would up the occult power angle with access to "divine" and "arcane" powers.

Looking to games like Spellcraft & Swordplay, Basic Fantasy RPG or Labyrinth Lord I think I want to keep the arcane power base, to make her mostly similar to the current "Magic Users" in those games, but continue to shuffle to spell list to offer some differences. Add things like some minor healing spells (at later levels than the Cleric gets them), and certainly increase her ability to make potions and other minor magics.  Someone has to be stocking all those dungeons with potions and Amulets of Protection.  To aid that air of mystery she should have some powers that wizards/magic-users don't have.  Something that when she uses them the other characters need to be thinking "how did she do that?"

One thing I don't want though is class bloat.  That seems too much against the Old-School thought.  I have an edition of D&D with 100s of classes.  Actually I have more than one edition.  But an OSR game should be tight. Add what is needed and no more than that.

So what is a witch in an old-school game?
She is an arcane spell caster. So she learns her magic from other agents, be they familiars sent by powers unknown, the powers themselves or handed down mother to daughter.  She also gains certain divine magics due her ties with the natural world. This puts her at odds with more traditional wizards, who see her as little more than a hedge wizard, and clerics, who see her as a heretic to their beliefs.  Witches also gain a set of occult powers, magical effects she can use like spells, but come without study or practice.  Witches learn in Traditions (how their magic is taught to them) and form Covens, groups of other, like minded witches.

The prime ability for magic-users is Intelligence.  For clerics it is Wisdom.  Witches have been called "the craft of the wise" and I have been using Wisdom as their prime ability for years.  But I think a strong case can be made for Charisma here. This is the section on charisma from Spellcraft & Swordplay:

Charisma is a combination of a character’s personal magnetism, presence, and appearance. The higher the charisma, the more impressive the character is. Whether this manifests as an ominous intimidation or an ethereal beauty is up to the player in question.

If the witch is dealing with other-worldly agents to learn her magic, then only the most successful ones are the ones with the personality to hold their own.  I think charisma then is the way to go here.  Plus if we have three magic using classes now (magic-user, cleric and now witch) then it makes sense that each one uses a different mental stat for their magic workings.  I would say though witches still need a high wisdom in order to be successful.  Of course this leads to the all witches are therefore good looking cliché seen all too often in games and stories.  Not that I have anything at all against a sexy witch (far from it), but Baba Yaga is also a witch and mentioned in the OD&D books.  Obviously then Baba Yaga has a very high charisma, but in the terrifying and intimidation sense, not in the hot witch sense.

Why do witches go on adventures?
In the pulps and related fictions that had an influence on the fathers of role-playing games, witches occurred fairly frequently.  But they were often the means of the quest, not on it.  The heroes went to the the witch, or she was the one sending them on the quest or the reason they were questing.  In games terms that puts them in the NPC category fairly squarely.    A witch though might want to go on adventures for the same reasons that wizards and other magic users do; to learn more magic.  Or maybe she is on a quest of her patron power.  Or she is on a pilgrimage to a sacred site.  In truth any reason why a wizard or cleric would adventure is a good reason for a witch.  And let's not forget the most tried and true reasons, to become a hero or at the very least kill things and take their stuff.

Do witches belong in D&D?  Well that would depend on your own games I think.  But given all the attempts over the years, from the earliest Dragon magazines to Paizo's latest playtest, I think there is certainly a desire to include her by many.

Here is hoping that Eldritch Witchery lives up to all of that!

Monks come from Blackmoor

I have been re-reading all my old original D&D books lately.  Fun stuff.
But I caught something today that I know I have read before, but now it jelled differently.

The Monk Class was introduced in the Blackmoor supplement.
Monks come from Blackmoor.

Now I am thinking for my Blackmoor, whether I use an OSR game or 4e, will have monks.  Sure it might not fit, but it is certainly an interesting concept.

Of course when most people think monks they think Kwai Chang Caine or Oriental Adventures. What if this sect of Monks were still psychic ascetics who trained their mind and body, not so much for a higher religious purpose, but more like something from the psychic awareness boom/New Age we saw in the 1970's.  So less Caine and more Uri Geller.

Yeah, the more I think about this idea the more I like it.   New Agey, crystal wearing hippie monks with psychic powers come from the "forgotten lands" of Blackmoor.  In the community of Blackmoor they replace the clerics as the spiritual leaders, getting people to work out their problems through peace, love and understanding.  When that doesn't work, they go all Neo on you and bend a spoon on your ass.  I'll look over  the "Mystic" class again in my 4e version of the Blackmoor book and see if there are any parallels that I can make work with this concept.

Blackmoor is quickly becoming my go to place for doing some cool Old School sandbox creating.

Elmore Art for Old School

I am working on Eldritch Witchery for Elf Lair Games and I have the bulk of it written now.  There are some editing issues and I need to tweak a few of the spells and monsters to fit the old school theme a bit better than when I originally wrote them.

But I do have a question to pose to the OSR.  Elmore art, use it or not?

I love the art in the Spellcraft and Swordplay and would love to have something very much like that in EW.  I also am a fan of Larry Elmore and since for as long as I can remember (or at least since 1986) I have wanted to do a witch book with Elmore art.  It's a thing.

I know that the original version of S&S that had Elmore art was criticized and the new art is a lot better, but Elmore and witches have such a close relationship in my mind that I would not be doing myself justice if I didn't include at least one piece.

I know many in the OSR equate the advent of certain artists to be indicative of "the end of the Golden Era" (mini rant here: Yeah like the art in the LBBs was so excellent it could never have been improved on!) Which I have to say is not very fair to the artists in question.

But at the same time I do respect the feelings the OSR has.  After all if it were not for that passion 90% of the old-school/retro-clone games would have never been made and I would not have had the chance to even do this book.

So Old Schoolers, what do you say?

Ghosts of Albion updates. Gen Con and More!

I am pleased to be able to post some positive updates to Ghosts of Albion!

First, news from Eden Studios.

Ok its been a while so here is an update.

Last year I had planned to release a bunch of product - it started off good - projects were moving through the pipeline and all looked well.

Then as I sent two projects to press BEFORE GenCon I was hit with a very serious legal issue that threatened financial ruin for me personally and threatened to take Eden down with me. I can't go into too much detail about it but basically I made the call to cancel the print projects I had in the pipeline to get my deposits back from the printers so that I could have that money set aside to deal with the legal issue. It was a hard decision to make... but I didn't want to hurt my relations with my printers if I was forced to pay those legal issues before we were able to collect from distributors moneys from new releases, that would have also meant not paying freelancers and everyone else. So it was easier to just push everything back and put Eden on a holding pattern (again).

As of last week a ray of hope arrived, no let me word that - a miracle happened with the legal issue. As of March 15th I will be absolved of this issue. At a HUGE financial savings. Which means I can put the money I set aside for lawyers back into the Eden coffers to release Ghosts of Albion and ConX ETs book... and then proceed with the Books of Flesh reprints and new AFMBE material.

At this time Ive begun reworking the Eden website and will hopefully have it go live in a few weeks.

As soon as I can I plan to send Ghosts and ConX back to the printer que.

Also we are planning to have a booth at GenCon this year... with new releases (other than Ghosts and ConX ETs).

Once again I ask you to be patient. I know many of you may have moved on but for those of you who are still here... thanks for all the support.

George Vasilakos Zombielord Eden Studios
http://edenstudiosdiscussionboards.yuku.com/topic/7226

This is of course fantastic news!  So we could be seeing a Ghosts of Albion core books in stores soon and at Gen Con.

Speaking of Gen Con, I have three Ghosts of Albion games lined up.
Two sessions of "Obsession" and one of "Dinosauria!".  Details on those when I can.

Ghosts of Albion: The Cailleach Bheur

The Cailleach Bheur

It was her eyes that still haunt me.

She was abnormally tall, at least 8 ft., though that is normal if you consider her species. She was ghastly thin, weighing maybe 12 or 13 stone at the most. Her skin was a dark blue, like that of a bruise. It left the impression of having been dyed in woad for countless nights. She appeared as many of her kind; hideous countenance, with her face and body a little too sharp and too many angles. Her hair was a chaotic nest of wiry and frozen strands. Her clothing, what little remained, was a tattered rag reminiscent of a peasant’s garb of a bygone age. She stood her ground holding her staff. If she were affected by the cold then we could certainly not see it. She spoke with a voice of ice cracking tree limbs.

“Begone Protectors. These are my lands to vanguard.”
She glared at us with those bright blue, all too human, eyes.
- From the Journal of Tamara Swift

Known as the Crow of Winter, The Cailleach Bheur is deadly hag. She appears only after Samhain/All Hallow’s Eve and stays till Beltane eve. While as evil as other hags, Cailleach Bheur is more interested in eating sheep and deer than children. In Ireland and Scotland she is the personification of Winter. During the summer months Cailleach Bheur turns to stone and is indistinguishable from the other standing stones of the area.

The Cailleach Bheur was cursed into her existence back in a time before writing came to Scotland. One tale, disturbing as it sounds, describes the Cailleach as the ancient Protector of Alba, maybe even a faerie queen or goddess.

In her previous life Cailleach Bheur was a lone protector of animals and a follower of the Great Goddess. One night he fell asleep by a well. The well overflowed with the thaw and she nearly drown. She invoked powerful magics to move the water away, but in the process created Loch Awe (in Scotland) and drowning several villagers and cattle. As repentance she is to walk the snowy earth till she can feel the mid-summer sun on her face, something that can’t ever happen since she is cursed to be stone from Beltane to Samhain.

The Cailleach Bheur still protects her lands as she did before, ignoring humans unless they tread on her domain, then she kills them with glee by freezing them solid. She blames humans for her current state.

The Cailleach Bheur is believed to be at least 4000 years old.

Staff of Winter: Possibly a remnant of her former life the Cailleach Bheur carries a magical staff. The Staff of Winter is made up of holly and gorse branches intertwined to form a 7’ long staff of solid wood. It acts as a magical focus tool providing the Cailleach Bheur +2 magic to all magic related rolls and checks.

Anyone in possession of this staff can command Cailleach Bheur to leave the area by holding the staff and saying “Bì falbh buitseach!” (begone (get out) witch!). Both Cailleach Bheur and her staff will disappear after the command is uttered. This would require research into Cailleach Bheur specifically (occultism with 5 SLs) or local lore (occultism with 7 SLs).

Unisystem / Ghosts of Albion
Name: The Cailleach Bheur
Motivation: To keep winter alive, protect the local animals
Creature Type: Faerie
Attributes: Str 6, Dex 6, Con 5, Int 4, Per 3, Will 6
Ability Scores: Muscle 18, Combat 19, Brains 14
Life Points: 75
Drama Points: 2-4
Special Abilities: Attractiveness –4, Increased Life Points, Faerie, Magic 5 (+2 from staff)


Manoeuvres
Name Score Damage Notes
Bite 21 27 Must grapple first; no defence action
Claw 19 19 Two attacks per Turn
Grapple 21 — Resisted by dodge

Spellcasting 19 Varies By spell
Deflect 19 — Magic defence action; deflects spells 45º
Hold 18 — Magic defence action; delays spell
Lesser Sensing18 — Notice magical effects, nature, or possession
Volley 13 — Magic defence action; returns spell to caster
Dispel 16 — Magic defence action; dispels spell

The Cailleach Bheur by Andrew Paciorek

Victoriana
The Cailleach Bheur
Rank: 14 (Focused)
Physical Competence: +10
Mental Competence: +4
Health: 10 dice (20 pips)
Signature Skills: Fisticuffs +6; Survival +20; Thaumaturgy +5 (+2 from staff)
Talents: Ageless; Fear; Huge; Immunity (Cold); Incapacitating Attack (Freeze victims)
Combat: Claws and bite (16 dice)
Damage: Claw (5 dice) Bite (3 dice)

Savage Worlds / Rippers / Gaslight
The Cailleach Bheur
Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d10, Spirit d10 Strength d12 Vigor d8
Skills: Fighting d8, Intimidation d8, Knowledge (Nature) d10, Notice d6, Persuasion d12, Taunt d8
Charisma: –4; Pace: 5; Parry: 5; Toughness: 6
Special Abilities:
* Arcane Background (Magic): barrier (wall of ice), blast (cold wind), deflection (winds), fly (ride the winds), obscure (create snow storm) (50 Power Points)
* Claws: Str+2
* Curse: Like a hag, the Cilleach can curse one enemy within sight each round. The target must make a Spirit roll or be Shaken.
* Fear: Anyone seeing the Cailleach must make a Guts roll at -1.

In honor of post #114 of my blog I put up the cover from Dragon Magazine #114 by David Martin, called "Spirit of the Night".  This issue featured the witch NPC class and the first time I ever saw the class.  From October 1986. Caused quite a stir back then I recall.

The other picture is the Cailleach Bheur by Andrew Paciorek at http://www.batcow.co.uk/strangelands/.