The next playtest packet is out for D&D5 (I still hate calling it "Next").
There is a lot more material including character generation (novel concept you ROLL for your abilities) which already has some of the newer guard complaining. Though there is the standard array.
First thoughts:
- I like the monster write-ups. They are simple and easy to read and can summarized in a module easy.
- Character creation is really fast, as it should be.
- Some feats now seem to be maneuvers, which I like.
- Classes focus on the Big 4.
- Backgrounds and skills together. This is an improvement over 4e since you can now play that kid just off the moisture farm.
- I can see Witch as being a Specialty of a Wizard. This reminds me a lot of the 2nd Ed Kits.
- Races are the other Big 4.
All in all I see the strands of DNA from every edition of D&D here.
I will buy this game, I am not sure if I'll play it much but who knows.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Witch Books, Part 1. The beginings
With Eldritch Witchery and The Witch done and off to final edits and layout I wanted to spend some time looking at some the older books on witches for the D&D game over the years. I have all these books (no surprise really) and I have played them all. Each brought something different to the game and some worked better than others.
Bard Games: The Compleat Spellcaster
Man I loved this supplement back in the day. The witch in this is very typical of the time. It is a modification of Magic User class, but with a bunch of new spells. What is lacks in actual crunch it more than makes up for in style. What was particularly cool about this was all the new demons and other monsters.
This was later merged into the Arcanum series of books that were also quite fun.
Witches Court Marshes (print) (pdf)
An adventure and an new class. When I first got this years ago, but long after I had moved away from AD&D 2nd ed and I was not that impressed. Now looking back at it, it has a certain charm. The Witch class is a sub-class of Magic-User, but the experience for each level is much lower that I have seen for other witches. There are plenty of new spells and in true old-school fashion some classes and monsters are completely immune to the witch's power/spells.
In addition to all of this there is a marsh that is the home to many evil witches. I might need to update this one for my own uses.
Dragon #114 Witch
This one the one that grabbed my, and many other's attention back in the day. It was presented as an NPC Class, but I don't know anyone that followed that rule. This was an update of the witch class that had appeared earlier in Issue 43. It is also the one the most people seek to emulate. The witch here was limited in level, but there were plenty of options. This witch included many level based powers, plenty of new spells and an interesting new concept of High Secret Order spells. The HSO spells were only available if the witch belonged to the High Secret Order. This issue also featured a really great piece of Elmore art and I have always associated witches and his art ever since.
One only needs to see the top of my blog here to know how well this class has defined how D&D players see the witch.
Witches Mayfair Games
This was the book that I HAD to buy. First off, it was all about witches and it came at a time when I had been working on my own witch class for some time, but had not quite got everything solid yet. It was also my first go at playtesting a class. I used this witch in a game but every time she went up in level I also leveled up my own witch class and the Dragon #114 witch. Just to compare powers. As a guideline I also had the exact same character as a Magic-User/Wizard so I could compare what she could do in the game. It was very interesting.
Plus is was from Mayfair games and they were now (then) doing Chill.
It has 9 different kinds of witches and plenty of really cool spells. Interestingly enough it also had the Deryni in this book. I had played a thoroughly OD&D (with honest to goodness LBBs) where the characters were all Deryni with a psionic system from Eldritch Wizardry. To this day I still feel the Deryni are more psionic than magic, but the class here is not bad. I also felt the book had a lot of good advise on how to add witches to a game that might not have had them before.
Complete Wizard's Handbook
This is less of a witch book, but it does feature the witch "Kit" for AD&D 2nd Ed. It also really set the tone for what WotC would later do with their own witches in 3.x (the custom wizard in the DMG). The additional spells are nice to have for this, but only required if you also like to play other wizard types or need to have a complete collection.
Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium #3
This guide combines the previous works of Van Richten's Guide to Fiends and Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani, plus the unreleased Guide to Witches. Needless to say I was really looking forward to this book Obviously the Guides to Demons (renamed from Fiends) and Vistani, were still top notch. The Guide to Witches really should have been called the Guide to Hags and Witches, because it dealt with both. I'll break it down here.
Guide to Hags
I really liked this part. Hags should be part of Ravenloft, and I think this section did a great job of presenting another monster type in a far more complex light. It is on par with the Guide to Liches or Vampires.
I would have liked to seen more on linking hags to Night Hags. I liked the second change idea that other hag type change into Night Hags, but does not have to be the only way they are linked. In the Monster Manual 2 (1st Ed.) stats that the Annis is a relative to Night Hags and the Greenhag is a relative to both the Annis and the Sea Hag.
I liked the Irdra/Ogre link to hags, but I liked the "Dark Fay" theory much better. My hag, the Makva (or Wood Hag), are more of a dark faerie type than an ogress. Plus I don't play Dragonlance, so the Irdra are not part of my worlds.
For Hag reproduction and powers the Makva are most similar to Greenhags. Except most Makva only live about 800 years. Makva are usually spawned from elves and half-elves rather than humans. Makva may join coveys, but their will be only one makva per covey. In spawning rituals Makva pick elves or half-elves as victims. They can perform them only on nights of the new moon.
Guide to Witches, Warlocks and Hedge Magicians
I was prepared to find witches that were very different than my own, but I did not expect that they would be this different! Witches have had a spotty history with D&D since the beginning and it seems that every few years a new rule book comes up that gives us a different vision on the witch. To begin with this witch is not a class or a subclass, but a kit. It is also not the same as the Complete Wizards Handbook witch kit. What I did like was the information on the Church of Hala and the acknowledgement that witches could be good or evil, overall I did not like it.
I am not saying I did not like the new kit, I just do not like them as Witches. The author, Steve Miller, got the points right about witchcraft being based in faith and I really liked the whole idea of the Weave, I just did not feel that these were the same kinds of witches from fantasy and horror literature. For example where was any mention of the occult? Or how about familiars? I just felt that these witches lacked a few of the things that made witches special.
Which Witch is Which?
Here is a side by side comparison of the various classes and kits that have been called witches over the years.
These products represent the earliest years of D&D on up to almost 2000. The next 12 years we will see almost 3 new versions of the D&D game (more or less, D&D 3.x, D&D 4, Pathfinder) and more witches than ever before.
Bard Games: The Compleat Spellcaster
Man I loved this supplement back in the day. The witch in this is very typical of the time. It is a modification of Magic User class, but with a bunch of new spells. What is lacks in actual crunch it more than makes up for in style. What was particularly cool about this was all the new demons and other monsters.
This was later merged into the Arcanum series of books that were also quite fun.
Witches Court Marshes (print) (pdf)
An adventure and an new class. When I first got this years ago, but long after I had moved away from AD&D 2nd ed and I was not that impressed. Now looking back at it, it has a certain charm. The Witch class is a sub-class of Magic-User, but the experience for each level is much lower that I have seen for other witches. There are plenty of new spells and in true old-school fashion some classes and monsters are completely immune to the witch's power/spells.
In addition to all of this there is a marsh that is the home to many evil witches. I might need to update this one for my own uses.
Dragon #114 Witch
This one the one that grabbed my, and many other's attention back in the day. It was presented as an NPC Class, but I don't know anyone that followed that rule. This was an update of the witch class that had appeared earlier in Issue 43. It is also the one the most people seek to emulate. The witch here was limited in level, but there were plenty of options. This witch included many level based powers, plenty of new spells and an interesting new concept of High Secret Order spells. The HSO spells were only available if the witch belonged to the High Secret Order. This issue also featured a really great piece of Elmore art and I have always associated witches and his art ever since.
One only needs to see the top of my blog here to know how well this class has defined how D&D players see the witch.
Witches Mayfair Games
This was the book that I HAD to buy. First off, it was all about witches and it came at a time when I had been working on my own witch class for some time, but had not quite got everything solid yet. It was also my first go at playtesting a class. I used this witch in a game but every time she went up in level I also leveled up my own witch class and the Dragon #114 witch. Just to compare powers. As a guideline I also had the exact same character as a Magic-User/Wizard so I could compare what she could do in the game. It was very interesting.
Plus is was from Mayfair games and they were now (then) doing Chill.
It has 9 different kinds of witches and plenty of really cool spells. Interestingly enough it also had the Deryni in this book. I had played a thoroughly OD&D (with honest to goodness LBBs) where the characters were all Deryni with a psionic system from Eldritch Wizardry. To this day I still feel the Deryni are more psionic than magic, but the class here is not bad. I also felt the book had a lot of good advise on how to add witches to a game that might not have had them before.
Complete Wizard's Handbook
This is less of a witch book, but it does feature the witch "Kit" for AD&D 2nd Ed. It also really set the tone for what WotC would later do with their own witches in 3.x (the custom wizard in the DMG). The additional spells are nice to have for this, but only required if you also like to play other wizard types or need to have a complete collection.
Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium #3
Guide to Hags
I really liked this part. Hags should be part of Ravenloft, and I think this section did a great job of presenting another monster type in a far more complex light. It is on par with the Guide to Liches or Vampires.
I would have liked to seen more on linking hags to Night Hags. I liked the second change idea that other hag type change into Night Hags, but does not have to be the only way they are linked. In the Monster Manual 2 (1st Ed.) stats that the Annis is a relative to Night Hags and the Greenhag is a relative to both the Annis and the Sea Hag.
I liked the Irdra/Ogre link to hags, but I liked the "Dark Fay" theory much better. My hag, the Makva (or Wood Hag), are more of a dark faerie type than an ogress. Plus I don't play Dragonlance, so the Irdra are not part of my worlds.
For Hag reproduction and powers the Makva are most similar to Greenhags. Except most Makva only live about 800 years. Makva are usually spawned from elves and half-elves rather than humans. Makva may join coveys, but their will be only one makva per covey. In spawning rituals Makva pick elves or half-elves as victims. They can perform them only on nights of the new moon.
Guide to Witches, Warlocks and Hedge Magicians
I was prepared to find witches that were very different than my own, but I did not expect that they would be this different! Witches have had a spotty history with D&D since the beginning and it seems that every few years a new rule book comes up that gives us a different vision on the witch. To begin with this witch is not a class or a subclass, but a kit. It is also not the same as the Complete Wizards Handbook witch kit. What I did like was the information on the Church of Hala and the acknowledgement that witches could be good or evil, overall I did not like it.
I am not saying I did not like the new kit, I just do not like them as Witches. The author, Steve Miller, got the points right about witchcraft being based in faith and I really liked the whole idea of the Weave, I just did not feel that these were the same kinds of witches from fantasy and horror literature. For example where was any mention of the occult? Or how about familiars? I just felt that these witches lacked a few of the things that made witches special.
Which Witch is Which?
Here is a side by side comparison of the various classes and kits that have been called witches over the years.
Bard Games CWH Role-Aids VR MHC3 Dragon #114 Base Class own Wizards Wizards Any non-magical Own subclass Races, human yes yes yes yes yes …Half-Elf yes yes yes yes yes …Elf no yes yes yes no …Half-Orc no no no no no …Gnome no rare no no no …Vistani (and Half) NA maybe no yes no Ability Requirements WIS 13, INT 13 INT 13, WIS 13 INT INT 10, WIS 12 INT 10, WIS 10 …Minor Requirements CON 13 WIS CON Proficiencies NA Wizard Wizard By Class NA …Bonuses magic yes no yes yes Alignment, Witch Any non-good Any any lawful …Warlock NA NA Any any chaotic NA Weapons Restrictions yes yes yes no yes Armor Restrictions yes yes yes when casting yes Highest Spell level 7 9 9 9 8* Special Powers yes yes yes yes yes Special Hindrances yes yes no minor yes Faith? NA not-required yes yes yes Covens yes no yes yes yes
These products represent the earliest years of D&D on up to almost 2000. The next 12 years we will see almost 3 new versions of the D&D game (more or less, D&D 3.x, D&D 4, Pathfinder) and more witches than ever before.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Posting this week
My regular posting is going to be off this week due to Gen Con.
I have some reviews of some books I have been using for years , so I have those queued up and ready to go.
There might the random/odd post from Gen Con itself.
But otherwise I am going to be enjoying the Best 4 Days in Gaming!
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Zatannurday: Zatanna art
Here some Zatanna art that has crossed my computer screen the last couple of weeks. Thought I would share.
Enjoy!
Making the rounds on Facebook
This one is by Oliver Nome
By Cedric Poulant
A couple of Anime Zatannas
Friday, August 10, 2012
Friday Links
It is the Friday before Gen Con. While I am gearing up for some serious vacation time coming to me. I figure I'll send you out some link today.
First off, David from There's Dungeons Down Under is back, at least for 1 post.
Kenzer & Co are giving away HackMaster Basic for free! Crazy I know.
The Kickstarter for Band of Zombies for All Flesh Must Be Eaten has 21 days left to go. Get in on the Zombie WWII goodness. This promises to be a great book.
My boys and I have decided to start our 1st Ed AD&D game at Gen Con. Seems fitting and I don't have to haul all my minis and maps with me.
But to do that I need character sheets. While I have one of each type of the original AD&D sheets left, I didn't want to use them. Good thing we have the Mad Irishman and his collection of RPG Sheets.
Happy Friday everyone!
Thursday, August 9, 2012
What Was Your Childhood Monster?
I write a lot of horror into my games. I love horror movies and books and pretty much have dedicated all this writing to horror and horror-themed RPGs. So you might be wondering what is it that scares, or rather scared, me.
Tree Monsters.
Well a specific one at least.
Back when I was young I remember watching this movie on KPLR-TV Channel 11 out of St. Louis. It was an old 50s horror film called "From Hell it Came". My gods it was terrible.
But the monster in it, a cursed tree that grew out of the grave of a wrongly condemned man, freaked me out to no end.
I am not sure why. Maybe it is because trees are alive and they are everywhere. I think too it was the noise it made. The monster was called a "Tobonga" but in my young mind it became "Taboo the Tree Monster" and I must have freaked out pretty hard cause to this day I still get grief for it from my family. I even get "gifts" of little tree monsters for Halloween from them.
I have never made a tree monster that I thought worked well enough to match the memory of fear (not the fear itself, that is long gone) I had then. I did create Druthers for various games and I think they have a link to this guy. Though I did buy this bit of art to come up with something. I still might.
Yeah. So I was never afraid of witches. I loved them back then too. Scarecrows freaked me out for a bit. But the real horror is in walking, back from the dead, killer trees.
I am posting this as part of Christine Rains: What Was Your Childhood Monster Blogfest.
And check out here new novella, Fearless.
You can sign up too!
Tree Monsters.
Well a specific one at least.
Back when I was young I remember watching this movie on KPLR-TV Channel 11 out of St. Louis. It was an old 50s horror film called "From Hell it Came". My gods it was terrible.
But the monster in it, a cursed tree that grew out of the grave of a wrongly condemned man, freaked me out to no end.
I am not sure why. Maybe it is because trees are alive and they are everywhere. I think too it was the noise it made. The monster was called a "Tobonga" but in my young mind it became "Taboo the Tree Monster" and I must have freaked out pretty hard cause to this day I still get grief for it from my family. I even get "gifts" of little tree monsters for Halloween from them.
I have never made a tree monster that I thought worked well enough to match the memory of fear (not the fear itself, that is long gone) I had then. I did create Druthers for various games and I think they have a link to this guy. Though I did buy this bit of art to come up with something. I still might.
Yeah. So I was never afraid of witches. I loved them back then too. Scarecrows freaked me out for a bit. But the real horror is in walking, back from the dead, killer trees.
I am posting this as part of Christine Rains: What Was Your Childhood Monster Blogfest.
And check out here new novella, Fearless.
You can sign up too!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Thinking about Halloween
Halloween is coming up really fast. Well. I start thinking about Halloween in August anyway.
Work is moving forward on both of my Witch books and I would love to have them out and to you by Halloween.
And to light a fire under my ass, I am committing to Give Away Blog Hop.
Here is the banner:
http://closeencounterswiththenightkind.blogspot.com/2012/07/wicked-after-dark-halloween-giveaway.html
So I am joining a bunch of other Halloween themed giveaways (mostly paranormal erotica, but hey) and I am going to give away a PDF copy of "The Witch" to one lucky winner.
I have no idea how I will do it or how I will choose, but I have more pressing matters. Like layout.
But I am going to use this to promote the two books.
As a reminder (I know I am woefully late on these, but trust me they are better for it):
The Witch: A new class for Basic era games
And Eldritch Witchery for Spellcraft & Swordplay.
The inLinkz link list is here: http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=170526&r=http%3A%2F%2Fcloseencounterswiththenightkind.blogspot.com%2F2012%2F07%2Fwicked-after-dark-halloween-giveaway.html
I could not find the embed codes like you have with Linky.
I think this will be great. It starts the week before Halloween. I am going to look for other means of promoting these books.
Work is moving forward on both of my Witch books and I would love to have them out and to you by Halloween.
And to light a fire under my ass, I am committing to Give Away Blog Hop.
Here is the banner:
http://closeencounterswiththenightkind.blogspot.com/2012/07/wicked-after-dark-halloween-giveaway.html
So I am joining a bunch of other Halloween themed giveaways (mostly paranormal erotica, but hey) and I am going to give away a PDF copy of "The Witch" to one lucky winner.
I have no idea how I will do it or how I will choose, but I have more pressing matters. Like layout.
But I am going to use this to promote the two books.
As a reminder (I know I am woefully late on these, but trust me they are better for it):
The Witch: A new class for Basic era games
And Eldritch Witchery for Spellcraft & Swordplay.
The inLinkz link list is here: http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=170526&r=http%3A%2F%2Fcloseencounterswiththenightkind.blogspot.com%2F2012%2F07%2Fwicked-after-dark-halloween-giveaway.html
I could not find the embed codes like you have with Linky.
I think this will be great. It starts the week before Halloween. I am going to look for other means of promoting these books.
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