WIP it Out

I was digging through my hard drive the other day.  Just looking through files after files of things I have written spanning 3 decades, 6 different computers, 8 different OSes and countless game systems.

I have a huge desire to get these out of my hands and into yours.  Either as free, purchase or whatever books.

So here are the statuses of my various "Works in Progress", or in this case "Witches in Progress".

The Witch (for Basic Era Games) is off to an editor for final edits.  Art has been purchased and then I can wrap-up the layout.

Eldritch Witchery for Spellcraft & Swordplay is off to a different editor.  Art has been purchased for that one as well.  That one will need some tweaks according to my editor, but that is expected to be honest.

The Complete Book of Witches & Warlocks (working title) is a Pathfinder update to my Liber Mysterium book.  It is a collection of everything I have done for d20/OGL witches.  Significant edits and rewrites to bring my witches in line with the Pathfinder one.

Here There Be Dragons... my son's old school (OSRIC/LL Advanced) book on various new dragons.  Written, needs edits and stat revisions.

On other fronts I have:

The Vampire Queen adventure.  Needs maps.  For Spellcraft & Swordplay.

Darwin's Guide. A collection of monsters for Gaslight.  Writing.

And some Ghosts of Albion adventures: (various stages of completion)

GoA: Obsession - who keeps killing singer Miriam White?
GoA: Blight - the Protector of Ireland is dead and you are prime suspect.
GoA: Wilderness - the Industrial Revolution is on hold when the Wood fights back.
GoA: Dinosauria! - You are invited to a most unusual New Year's Eve party.
GoA: Angst - strange goings on at a local school for girls.  Ran once. needs edits.
GoA: Underground - The new London underground train has unearthed something horrible.
GoA: Pygmalion  - an artist  is surround by death.
GoA: Synchronicity - what threat is so horrible that it takes the combined casts of Ghosts of Albion and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to stop?

Some of these would work for other systems.

Anyway. Lots of stuff. I'll need more time to sort it out, but no sense is letting it languish any more.

I get these moods every so often.  The desire to clean house. Normally it takes the shape of me packing up a bunch of my books and games and unloading them at the local game auction.  But the last time I did that I so regretted it that I vowed never to do it again.  So this time I'll create new books to unload.

Don't Forget!

EN World Game Day Chicago is this weekend!

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day by coming to the the aid of Ireland in her darkest hour.


Ghosts of Albion: Blight

Ireland is dying. 
Her Protector has been murdered and you are the primary suspects. Can you clear your name, regain your magic and stop whatever necromancies befoul the land? Time is short, yours and one million lives hang in the balance. Set in 1847 this is an adventure for the Ghosts of Albion RPG.

Game System: Cinematic Unisystem
Rules Edition: Ghosts of Albion
Players: Minimum 5, Max 8.
Minimum Age: Teen (13+) (PG for some violence, and problem solving)
Experience Required: None (never played before), some knowledge of "Ghosts of Albion" is helpful.
Materials Provided:  Yes, materials are provided for this game. You do not need to bring your own.  One d10 is needed.

There is a sign-up thread over at EN World, http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/319338-chicago-gameday-31-3-17-sign-up-play.html



And because I can.
One of my favorite Irish "rebel" songs.

EN World Game Day Chicago

I am going to be running a game at EN World Game Day Chicago!

I'll be running Ghosts of Albion: Blight. Seems appropriate given that Game Day this year in March 17.

Here is the blurb for the game:


Ghosts of Albion: Blight
Ireland is dying. 
Her Protector has been murdered and you are the primary suspects. Can you clear your name, regain your magic and stop whatever necromancies befoul the land? Time is short, yours and one million lives hang in the balance. Set in 1847 this is an adventure for the Ghosts of Albion RPG.

Game System: Cinematic Unisystem
Rules Edition: Ghosts of Albion
Players: Minimum 5, Max 8.
Minimum Age: Teen (13+) (PG for some violence, and problem solving)
Experience Required: None (never played before), some knowledge of "Ghosts of Albion" is helpful.
Materials Provided: Yes, materials are provided for this game. You do not need to bring your own.  One d10 is needed.

There is a sign-up thread over at EN World, http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/319338-chicago-gameday-31-3-17-sign-up-play.html

I have an afternoon slot 3:30pm to 8:30pm on Saturday, March 17 at Games Plus in Mount Prospect, IL.

Hope to see you there.
If you let me know that you found out about this by reading my blog then your character will get a free drama point!

Skylanders Hex for Pathfinder

So we have been playing Skylanders a lot recently.  My little witch Hex is now 5th level.  Not to bad really.
To celebrate here she is in her Pathfinder Witch version.

You can read the background and see my 4e stats of her here.

I don't have my books with me, so I took some artistic license with how she is presented here.  So instead of the floating skull familiar I gave her a bat.  I am just going to say it is a skull with wings.


HEX    CR 4
Female Drow Witch 5
CN Medium Humanoid (Elf)
Init -1; Senses Darkvision (120 feet), Low-Light Vision; Perception +7

---

DEFENSE

---

AC 9, touch 9, flat-footed 9   (-1 Dex)
hp 23 (5d6)
Fort +1, Ref +0, Will +5
Immune sleep; Resist Elven Immunities; SR 11
Weakness Light Blindness

---

OFFENSE

---

Spd 30 ft.
Melee Unarmed Strike +2 (1d3/20/x2)
Special Attacks Blight (DC 16), Misfortune (DC 16)
Spell-Like Abilities Dancing Lights (1/day), Darkness (1/day), Faerie Fire (1/day)
Witch Spells Known (CL 5, 2 melee touch, 1 ranged touch):
3 (2/day) Bestow Curse (DC 17), Pain Strike (DC 17)
2 (3/day) Scare (DC 16), Death Knell (DC 16), Glide (DC 16)
1 (4/day) Chill Touch (DC 15), Cause Fear (DC 15), Mage Armor (DC 15), Ray of Enfeeblement (DC 15)
0 (at will) Touch of Fatigue (DC 14), Dancing Lights, Daze (DC 14), Bleed (DC 14)

---

STATISTICS

---

Str 10, Dex 9, Con 10, Int 19, Wis 13, Cha 12
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 11
Feats Alertness, Arcane Talent: Daze (3/day), Ectoplasmic Spell
Traits Focused Mind, Scholar of the Great Beyond: Knowledge (History)
Skills Bluff +2, Diplomacy +2, Fly +3, Heal +6, Intimidate +9, Knowledge (Arcana) +12, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +9, Knowledge (History) +11, Perception +7, Sense Motive +4, Spellcraft +12, Stealth +1, Survival +2
Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Drow Sign Language, Elven, Undercommon
SQ +3 to Fly checks, Deliver Touch Spells Through Familiar (Su), Empathic Link with Familiar (Su), Poison Use (Ex), Share Spells with Familiar, Speak With Familiar (Ex), Ward +2 (Su)
Other Gear Staff of Necromancy

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SPECIAL ABILITIES

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+3 to Fly checks You gain the Alertness feat while your familiar is within arm's reach.
Arcane Talent: Daze (3/day) You gain a chosen spell as a spell-like ability, 3/day.
Blight (DC 16) (Su) Curse animals, plants, or land
Dancing Lights (1/day) (Sp) Cast Dancing Lights once per day.
Darkness (1/day) (Sp) Cast Darkness once per day.
Darkvision (120 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Deliver Touch Spells Through Familiar (Su) Your familiar can deliver touch spells for you.
Drow Immunities - Sleep You are immune to Sleep effects.
Ectoplasmic Spell You can cast a spell that has full effect against incorporeal or ethereal creatures.
Elven Immunities +2 save bonus vs Enchantments.
Empathic Link with Familiar (Su) You have an empathic link with your Arcane Familiar.
Faerie Fire (1/day) (Sp) Cast Faerie Fire once per day.
Focused Mind +2 to Concentration checks
Light Blindness (Ex) Blinded for 1r in bright light, dazzled as long as they remain in it.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Misfortune (1 round(s)) (DC 16) (Su) Target must take the lower of 2d20 for rolls.
Poison Use (Ex) You do not risk poisoning yourself accidentally while poisoning a weapon.
Share Spells with Familiar The wizard may cast a spell with a target of "You" on his familiar (as a touch spell) instead of on himself. A wizard may cast spells on his familiar even if the spells do not normally affect creatures of the familiar's type (magical beast).
Speak With Familiar (Ex) You can communicate verbally with your familiar.
Spell Resistance (11) You have Spell Resistance.
Ward +2 (Su) Target receives +2 AC and save bonus until they are hit or fail a saving throw.

Hero Lab® and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC®, and are used under license.

Spellcraft & Swordplay: The Necromancer

The Necromancer

One of the most oft created sub class, new class or alternate class is the Necromancer.
Gamers in good campaigns look to them as the penultimate foe. Gamers in evil campaigns dream of controlling scores of undead.

The Monstrous Mayhem book for Spellcraft & Swordplay introduced the Necromancer Elite Path.  He is also featured in the Deluxe Core Rule book.

The Necromancer

Level 8
HD: 6+4 (36 hp)
Attacks: 5+3 (Staff, spells)
S: 10 D: 12: Con: 13 Int: 18 Wis: 16 Cha: 13
Bane of the Dead, Enhanced Undead, Skeletal Minion, Undead Apotheosis: +3
Spells:
First Level: Bane, Chill Ray, Detect Evil, Inflict Light Wounds
Second Level: Cause Fear, Death Knell, Hold Person, Protection from Good
Third Level: Curse, Speak with Dead, Unholy Blight
Fourth Level: Death Ward, Vampiric Killer
Fifth Level: Shadow Armor

The Necromancer prowls the night looking for crypts to raid or fresh corpses to use in his unholy experiments of the dead.

He is armed with a Skull Staff that gives him a +1 on his spellcasting rolls.

Gen Con 2011 Last Day

Well another Gen Con is over.

Got to play some games, buys some games and see some people I have not seen in a year.

I did not get to play any Victoriana, but I did have some Cubicle 7 people in my Ghosts of Albion game so that was good.

Dinosauria went great!  Much better than I thought it might.  The game came in at just a little over 3 and a quarter hours, so not too bad really.
Obsession went really well with the "revised" version and I had what might be the best Byron player ever.

I have had a request to run Blight again, so I'll see about that.

I have been itching to do something with a train or even the Orient Express itself.  Just have to find the right story.

More later.  Have not even unpacked yet.

Once upon there was Irish ways and Irish laws.

One of my WIPs that is very close to my heart is a game of playing mythic Ireland.

Éire (also sometimes called Ériu in my notes) has been in my notes for many, many years and the system has changed based on what I have felt best suited it.  Presently, and likely to be the final version, uses the ORCS system seen in Jason Vey's Spellcraft and Swordplay game.  I chose that over say straight OD&D or some other clone because I like the feel of the game and it has some DNA in it that I really like.

Well the game has languished in the hell of my hard drive since the dawn of the d20 system.  But last night I got inspiration from an unexpected source.

I was working with my son last night on his research paper on Ireland.  We talked about the the Blight, the Troubles and even went back a bit to talk about St. Patrick and my personal favorite Finn MacCool.  After telling him the story of the Salmon of Knowledge my son (whose name is Liam by the way) looked at me and said "this would make an awesome D&D game."

So I am rereading all my notes.  Marveling at some, and wondering what the hell I was thinking with others.
No idea when I'll have it done.  But I feel I should get it done soon.  If for nothing else for my boys Liam and Connor, so they can learn a bit of their own heritage too.

L is for Little Fears

Fairy Tales don't teach children that monsters are real, all children know that. 
Fairy tales teach children that monsters can be defeated.

Not exactly the quote from G. K. Chesterton, but close enough for today's letter.

Little Fears has the distinction of being one of only five games my FLGS will not carry.  I didn't press them why or ask to order it (they said they would order it for me, they just don't stock it), they are my FLGS for a reason and I have many other means of getting the books I need.
I had the original edition from some time ago and picked up the nightmare edition, promising the author Jason Blair I'd have a review up.  I still don't.  But I hope to fix that now.

LF is a game of Childhood Horrors.  Simple enough.  As a father I have been up many nights sleepily fighting one bogeyman or another.  Thankfully most bogeymen are terrified of my "huh? go back to sleep" speech cause I have never seen them.  But maybe once apon a time I did.  I am reminded of a Charmed episode where a little girl was being attack by little bogey like creatures and the Charmed Ones, being adults, could not see them.  They had to cast a spell to be more childlike (with accompanied wackiness) to see the threat.  That was the hook I was going to use to get my group to play LF one day.  Turn their characters into kids and to keep them off guard I was going to take their Unisystem sheets and give them Little Fears sheets instead and then not tell them all the rules.  The Little Fears book makes a big issue about kids living in an adult world and not knowing or understanding the rules.  Frankly I thought it was brilliant, but it never happened.

Little Fears plays like that.  Only more so.  Monsters are defined by the character's fear but also by their belief.  In some ways playing LF with adults is a bit like playing D&D with really young kids.  They want to be the player AND the DM.  In LF the characters and players can change the nature of the game in overt or subtle ways.

The rules are very simple really.  The system is a d6 dicepool based on abilities or qualities.  Monsters are built similar to characters though are tougher generally speaking.  The damage system reminds me of Mutants and Masterminds a bit and is also pretty simple.   Emphasis though in this game is not how many monster you can kill, but how well you role-play the monster you nearly escaped from and lived to tell your friends about (because they have seen the same monster, but have been too afraid to tell you).  Little Fears is one of the most role-play heavy games I have read in a very long time.  If you only like to hit things with pointy metal sticks or throw fireballs, then this might not be your game.  If the idea of playing something that is akin to "Kult Jr." or "C.J. Carella's WitchCraft Babies" then this is the game for you.

There is an over-arching malaise though over Little Fears.  I get depressed reading it I have to admit.  Maybe it is because I am a father and I know how those little kids feel to be afraid and alone and powerless.  I guess the counter argument is they are not powerless or alone really.

Given the mythology of Little Fears, I could easily adapt a couple of my Bogeys to use in the game.

Buttons the Bear
Buttons is either a Monster (but a good one) or a Hand Me Down (p 114).

Buttons the Bear began just like another childhood toy. He was a handmade stuffed bear given to a now forgotten child one Christmas morning in the early 1800's. As his child grew older Buttons (and this was not yet his name) was discarded for newer playthings. That is till he ended up as a donation to an orphanage. By this time Buttons had seen a fair amount of use, in particular his glass eyes were gone. The matron of the house, a young Irish nun sewed two buttons on his face for eyes; one green the other red. She gave him to a small child who had nothing and had never received a Christmas present before. It was there that Buttons felt the first tinges of Awakening, the love of this young child stirred up the spark of divinity that is in everything; even in a stuffed bear with mis-matched buttons for eyes.

An orphanage, especially one in what was now the mid Victorian era, was ripe for all sorts of bogeys. Generally these were the pestering kind, but every so often something more dangerous would prey on the unfortunates. Buttons (as he was now known) went from merely scaring them off to actively hunting them down at night. For many years Buttons protected the children here and in return he knew he had their love.
Things changed shortly after the Blight. Taking advantage of the suffering and death many demons moved into Ireland, one chose to use the orphanage as a staging area. He would hide in wait, corrupting the adults and torturing the children. It was not though till the demon had fully manifested itself and prepared to kill a child did Buttons attack. Though he was no longer a child's stuffed plaything; instead he had manifested into a towering black bear with razor sharp claws and a mouthful of teeth. He attacked the demon full on.

The demon, while still very powerful, was only expecting some starving children, not seven feet, 1,200 pounds of fur, claws, and fangs. Within a few seconds the demon was not only on the defense, but nearly ripped to shreds.

On the demon's home plane a portal opened. The demons there were awaiting their Lord's return to bring them the bounty from the orphanage. Instead the bloodied corpse of their lord was flung through followed by a huge bear with a fire red ruby for one eye and a burning emerald for the other. It let out a deafening roar; a clear warning to the demons. Since that time Buttons has killed no fewer than 17 demon lords and wounded many others. The orphanage suffered no more attacks as long as there was one child holding a tattered old bear with buttons for eyes.

Mrs. Cully Mully and her Pink Dog
Mrs. Cully Mully is one of the Good People (p 111)

No one is really sure who, or what, Mrs. Cully Mully is. Was she a human witch that became more imaginary over time. Or an imaginary friend that became more like a real human? No one knows for sure. Mrs. Cully Mully appears to be a woman in her 70's wearing a pinkish frock coat, horned rimmed glasses, and carring a small handbag purse.

She is known to walk the areas between Dream and Reality, between this world and the next one, and between childhood and the end of innocence. Always between worlds, but never in any one world properly. She will say thing to make you believe she was once human, like "when I taught kindergarten…" and things to make you think she is imaginary, or at least question her sanity; "…of course the sky was pink then and we had three moons."

She walks the "in betweens" helping those who are lost, or of need information. In her bag she almost anything the Cast could need, almost. She has no (and no use for) weapons. If the Cast is hungry then she might have their second-favorite sandwich (she is always out of their first favorite) or some magical bauble that may not seem to be useful now but will be priceless later on. She will of course claim she is just walking her dog.

Her dog, who is completely pink, will bark constantly in it's small yippish barks. It is only when it stops barking is there reason to fear. That usually means bogeys, spirits or demons are near.

She will try to hastily retreat, pulling the Cast in-tow. If she has to fight then her true nature (or is it?) is revealed. She has never been known to get into a fight, but in one case an occult scholar (who has since retired to working on a small farm) was lost in the in-betweens when he encountered Mrs. Cully Mully. He described her as pleasant, if seemingly addled. She agreed to walk the man home, since it was "on her way" when the object of the scholar's search appeared, the Great Demon Abraxas (so he claimed). Abraxas demanded the scholar's soul and threatened to kill everyone else. Mrs. Cully Mully, he then claimed, walked right up to the demon lord and called him by his true name (also, so the scholar claims) and proceeded to scold him like a schoolboy. She was stern, but never once raised her voice. The demon, angered beyond rage, roared and disappeared in a pillar of flame. She took the man's hand and told him that were taking a short cut, walked two or three steps and were in front of the man's home. She told him to give up this life, get a real job and find himself a nice quiet girl to marry.

Some say she is a good natured aspect of the Crone, Goddess of the Witches. Others say she is really the Goddess Ceriweden. And still others say she is a retired kindergarten teacher out walking her dog.

She does not engage in combat. She does have a handbag and small pink, yippy dog.


Using Little Fears
Little Fears works fine on it's own and you can do a lot with it.  But for me there are other great advantages to using this game.

1. Character Building Device
Want to know more about your character's history?  Then stat them in LF and maybe even run a session or two with them as young kids.   Imagine a supers game where you play Bruce at age 9. He is not the Batman yet, he doesn't even know that is coming, he is just Bruce a scared, lost and hurting little boy and these are the moments that define him and make the Batman.  This type of episode I call the Crucible Episodes, where the impurities of their character are burned off leaving only the hero you know will be.

2. The "Special Episode"
In my long running Willow and Tara game I was going to have a Season 3 that had an episode called "Hell is for Children" were the cast had to go into the Closetland of LF to find a monster preying on magical children.  To do this they needed to become kids themselves.

I think it behooves anyone playing any modern supernatural game to give Little Fears a shot using 6-12 year old versions of your characters.  It would be a fantastic experience.

Plus like I said, I want to run a Buffy/Little Fears crossover episode one day based on this image alone.

Little Fears might also be one of the most effective horror games I have ever played.  Chill, Kult, WoD, CoC, WitchCraft are all great and I love them all, but Little Fears is different and the power structure between what you can do and what you need to do is such that it is a scary, scary game.

Buy it. Play it. And even if you don't like it you will never look a butterflies the same way again.

Recycled Adventures

So it is well known that I love the old D&D adventures from the early 80's.  I think they are well done and a lot of fun to play.  I have been playing them with my kids but I have not been able to fit in all the ones I have wanted into our 3.x game.

But I have lots of games.

So here are some of the recycled adventures I have done using other systems and the classic adventures.

Ash vs The Keep on the Borderlands
System: Army of Darkness and Dungeons & Zombies
Module: B2 Keep on the Borderlands

The character get sent back in time to the Keep and need to clean out the Caves of Chaos with a shotgun.

I designed this as a way to play-test Dungeons & Zombies under the Cinematic Unisystem Rules.

Never got to play it all, but the bits I did were a blast.  Characters I created for the game were Xena and Gabrielle (seemed appropriate) and used a version of Indiana Jones I found online.

One day I should run this at a convention.  I think it will be a blast.

The Ghost Tower of Inverness, Illinois
Systems: Doctor Who and Angel.
Module: C2 The Ghost Tower of Inverness

From the intro:
"No one has ever asked why there is a lighthouse between Palatine and Inverness, Illinois.  The closest large body of water is Lake Michigan, over 20 miles away. But it has always been there, quiet.

Till the day the Time Beacon went crazy."

The Ghost Tower of Inverness, IL was an adventure that I had converted for my playtest of Doctor Who.  Outside my town there is a water tower that is painted like a light house.  I thought it would be cool if it were a real lighthouse, but not for ships at sea, but ships in the time stream.  On top was a beacon to warn passer-bys "warning, primitive culture ahead!" Well one day the time beacon goes nuts and start pulling in people from out of their times (an excuse to convert a bunch of Unisystem characters from Ghosts and Angel).  The characters have to go through the tower and shut down the beacon.  Each level of the tower is a different time stream, so I had dinos, Victorian, post-apocalyptic and all sorts of terrible things.  At the top was the control center and the time beacon.  So I converted the original Ghost Tower module and replace the Soul Gem with the Time Beacon.  Part Doctor Who, part Angel, part Ghosts of Albion, part D&D and a dash of Primeval and Torchwood.  It was going to be the first adventure in a new campaign, but I never got it going.  Too bad, really.

Why does Inverness need a light house?

Ghosts of Albion: Ravenloft
System: Ghosts of Albion
Module: I6 Ravenloft

Ravenloft might be my favorite classic module ever.  Ghosts of Albion is of course my game.  It was natural to me to bring them together.  Ravenloft has that great Gothic feel.  Ghosts of Albion deals with all sorts of magical weirdness, and while it is hard for us today to really understand this, to the Victorians the world was a wild and scary unknown.  Unknown lands were meant to be explored and conquered.  What can be more unknown than Barovia?  Who is to say it is not on the map somewhere in 1840?  Plus you might have noticed that  Ghosts of Albion movies and books all have one word titles, "Legacy", "Astray", "Witchery" and my adventures have followed suit, "Obsession", "Blight", and "Synchronicity".  So "Ghosts of Albion: Ravenloft" also works.
The idea is simple.  The characters are travelling by rail to the east.  Their train suffers some malfunction, and I start the Ravenloft adventure by the book.  I include the mists and Madame Eva and everything.  And that map of Castle Ravenloft is still one of the coolest maps ever made.  One day I'll build a 1" = 5' miniature of it for play.  That would be very awesome.
For this I have bits I am using from the Ravenloft world, WitchCraft RPG and the Expedition to Castle Ravenloft module for 3.x.

I still have more games and more adventures.  I'd like to try some other pairing in the future.

Live, from Gen Con

Well sorta. It's almost 1:00am here.

The day is ending on Gen Con Day 2.
I just finished running a marathon day of Ghosts of Albion: Obsession today.
Both groups were fantastic and I had a lot of fun.  Both group also managed to save a few of the NPCs before the demonic janitor did them in.

So my purchases have been non-existent.  I stopped by many booths today to say.  Talked to George, Derrik and Alex at Eden.  The new Hack/Slash game looks like it could be fun. Got to say hi Matt McElroy from DriveThruRPG. Stopped by to see the guys at Cubicle 7.  Andrew was in a my afternoon Ghosts game so that was awesome.  Nice parity since I was in one his early Victoriana games.
Said hi to Cam Banks at the Margret Weis Game booth.  Love to write a new magic system for Cortex, something awesome and cool and something people will want to buy and enjoy playing.
Kurt Wiegel of Game Geeks was in my night Ghosts game.  That was a blast.

Tomorrow is costume day and Day 3 of Gen Con; AKA the busiest of the whole con.  I have no major plans.  I had considered running some Ghosts games, but I am hoping to get some emails back on that.

Need to come up with a new Ghosts of Albion adventure I think.  Blight and Obsession were an absolute blast, but I don't think I can talk about Miriam White anymore.

The Dragon and the Phoenix: The Dark Druid

A Gen Con treat for those of you who can't make it to the "Best Four Days in Gaming".

The Dark Druid: The Director's Cut

- Download here -

A bit of history.  Back in 2002 Eden was getting ready to release their newest game, The Buffy the Vampire Slayer game.  As you know, I had already been playing a Willow/Tara focused WitchCraft game for about a year, so I was pretty excited by this.  Well I got asked by Eden to write the first Buffy adventure that would appear in "Games Unplugged" along with an interview with C.J. Carella talking about the game.
I took an idea I had been working on for my other game (tentatively called "All Soul's Night") and thus the Dark Druid was born.

The original featured, rather prominently, Willow and Tara, as to be expected.  I had to make some changes to make it playable for others and to make it an "intro" or season opener type episode.  The plot dealt with an enemy from the Cast's past as a portent to greater evil in the future.  It was designed to be a opening episode of the season, but one that may or may not be directly related to the seasonal arc.  We were going to use this i n part of the great "Djinn" story, but that never happened.

Fast forward a few years and I was finishing up work on Ghosts of Albion and another adventure that sprang from "All Soul's Night" called "Blight" (which I have played at Gen Con before).  I felt it was time to bring back the Dark Druid and restore it to the mythology that I had created in my games.  Now you can have it too.

I updated it not only to fit better with my world-myths, and with some of the work I did on Ghosts of Albion and the adventure Blight.  In fact you can run Blight and The Dark Druid as co-adventures, separated by time.

The story is rather direct and linear.  This was partly due to the nature of the story and what is was supposed to do (introduce new players to the game) and part of just me writing for the Buffy game for the first time.  I have opted not to change that here, despite nearly 8 years of Cinematic Unisystem adventure writing since then.  It is supposed to be a quick, fun little adventure dealing with past lives.

Enjoy!

Ghosts of Albion and Gen Con

Good News, Bad News.

Let's do the bad first.
There will not be any copies of the Ghosts of Albion core rulebook at Gen Con afterall. 
To say I am disapointed is putting it rather mildly.  I am going to withhold my frustration about this, well, because I should.

I wish there was more to say on that, but there isn't.

Ok. Lets do the good news now.

I would LOVE to run another pickup game of Ghosts of Albion: Obession or even Blight if anyone wants to join me.  I am not sure what my bandwidth is going to be like, but I really would like to do this.

So.  If you are going to Gen Con and want to play and didn't get into the scheduled times, please email me at timothy.brannan@gmail.com and put "Ghosts" in your subject.  If I get enough people I'll run it.

Frankly. I am not sure I will be running Ghosts at Gen Con after this.  So this might be your last chance.

Protectors of Éire for the Ghosts of Albion RPG

Tá an chumhacht agaibh. Cosnaímis mé, a Chosantóirí na hÉireann!


The Protectors of Éire
Like it's neighbor, Albion, Éire (the mystical name for Ireland) has also had her Protectors.

At the time of Swifts (1839 on) the Protector of Éire is Tadgh O’Braohain and he is detailed in the upcoming adventure "Ghosts of Albion: Blight", which can be played this 2010 Gen Con.

Though until then here are some of the more famous Protectors of Ireland's shores.

Fionn Mac Cumhail (Finn Mac Cool)
Protector of Éire

Fionn Mac Cumhail was believed to have lived sometime around the Fifth to Second Century BCE. Fionn lost his father, Cumhail, when he was killed by a rival clan. Muirne, his mother, called her son Fionn which means fair-haired. Knowing that the Clan Morna would seek him out as well she took him to be raised by the wise Ban-drui Bodhmal and her anamchara the warrior woman Liath. They taught Finn to be both a warrior and a druid. He was taught magic, poetry, and the arts of survival.

Fionn learned also from druid Finegas. Finegas captured the Salmon of Knowledge and Fionn cooked it. He burned his thumb on the fish and sucked on it, giving him the gift of wisdom. When Fionn wanted to gain insight to a problem he would put his thumb into his mouth, behind his molars and contemplate.

Fionn later went on to become captain of the Finana, an army of men loyal to the High King Fiachadh (fee-a-kuh). Fionn implemented a code of honor among them, changing the Fianna from an unruly band to a group of champions of the people. The Fianna became models of chivalry and justice. Some claim that the tales of the Fianna formed the basis of the legends of the Knights of the Round Table.

Fionn is also the ancient Protector of Éire, the mystical name of Ireland. Fionn was the father of the Irish hero Oisín, by the goddess Sadb. Fionn battled many mundane and supernatural foes including a Scottish giant and his greatest enemy of all, the Dark Druid. Details of his death are sketchy and many contradict each other. Some say he is not dead at all but merely waits for Ireland to need him. When Éire is in its greatest need he will return.

Special Notes: Fionn generally avoids overt magical use. He knows some spells (as needed by the Director) and performs them when he must through the use of poem or song, though he is not as powerful in this respect as his son Oisín, considered to be one of Ireland’s greatest Occult Poets. Fionn prefers to use his magic in a more passive role, for healing or discovery. This however does not make him a pacifist, far from it, Fionn enjoys to defeat his enemies in combat either by weapon or hand to hand.

As a protector Fionn is allowed to use Magical Flourishes and may use any Magical Defence maneuver.

Name: Fionn Mac Cumhail
Protector of Éire
Character Type: Hero
Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Constitution 5, Intelligence 3, Perception 3, Willpower 4
Ability Scores: Muscle 14, Combat 17, Brains 12
Life Points: 64
Drama Points: 5
Qualities: Attractiveness +1, Fast Reaction Time, Hard to Kill 6, Honorable (Rigid), Magic 6, Nerves of Steel, Occult Poet, Protector of Éire (Ireland)
Drawbacks: Adversary (Dark Druid and others) 5, Archaic (in 20th Century)
Skills: Use Brains Score for Occultism and Wild Card (Herbal Remedies)
Maneuvers
Name Score Damage Notes
Dodge 17 Defense action
Grapple 19 Resisted by Dodge
Kick 16 14 Bash
Punch 17 13 Bash
Big Sword 17 29 Stab/slash; two-handed

Notes: Fionn appeared in the first published Buffy RPG Adventure, the Dark Druid. He has been updated to the Ghosts of Albion RPG here.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fionn_mac_Cumhaill

Cú Chulainn

Hero of the Ulster Cycle (The Red Branch, The Cattle Raid of Cooley), the Hound of Chulainn
Protector of Éire, Manx and Alba

Known as in his early childhood as Sétanta, the boy who would be Cú Chulainn was already the fairest and strongest in the land. Even at the age of seven Sétanta would enter into battle and invoke his ríastrad to defeat enemies three times his age and twice his size. Tutored by the bard and occult poet Amerigan as well as the druid Cathbad, it was predicted that he would be Ulsters greatest warrior. It was also foretold that his life would be a short one and that its beginning and ending would be marked by the death of a dog.
The first dog was one of the great hounds of the blacksmith Chulainn. Stanta was visiting the smith on the invite of his fosterer King Conchobar MacNessa. Conchobar though forgot to let Chulainn know and he released his guard hounds. Stanta was attacked, but he managed to kill it with a hurley ball. Devestated at the loss of his prized hounds, Chulainn demanded retribution. Sétanta, already honorable beyond his years offered to rear a new hound for him and until such time the hound was ready he himself would be his guard dog. From that point on he was known as Cú Chulainn, the Hound of Chulainn.

Worried that Cú Chulainn will steal their wives and daughters now that he is of marring age, the elders of Ulster decide that he should be sent to train with the fierce warrior woman of Alba, Scáthach, the Shadowy-one. In Alba Cú Chulainn learns not only the skills to become a master warrior, he also impregnates Scáthach, her daughter and Alfie, Scáthach’s mortal enemy and sister. Each bare him a son in due course.

Cú Chulainn returns to Ulster and has many more battles and adventures (and sons).
For more see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%BAchulainn

Cú Chulainn first was called by Éire at age seven to become her Protector. Though mostly associated with Ulster (Northern Ireland) his adventures took him all over. His training by, and his command over, Scáthach earned him the Protector of Alba (Scotland) as well. His defeat of Alfie gained him the Protectorship of Manx.
Like Fionn, Cú Chulainn learned his magic from bards, ovates and druids. He often sings his spells when going into battle. Again, like Fionn, Cú Chulainn prefers to be more physical.

His greatest weapon is the Gáe Bolg, or great spear. The skill to use this devastating weapon is only know to Scáthach. She at first refused to teach it, but was overcome with Cú Chulainns resolve to learn it. He had also by this time impregnated her daughter so she demanded he stay. The Gáe Bolg is a heavy spear that can be used as a melee weapon (min STR 4) or a throwing weapon (min STR 5). What makes this weapon so awful is the spear blade is formed with many barbs so that removing the spear causes even more damage, represented by the number of Success Levels from the attack.

Name: Cú Chulainn
Protector of Éire, Manx and Alba
Character Type: Master
Attributes: Strength 6/9*, Dexterity 4, Constitution 3/6*, Intelligence 4, Perception 3, Willpower 5
Life Points: 64/94
Drama Points: 5
Qualities: Attractiveness +4, Fast Reaction Time, Gáe Sidhe, Hard to Kill 6/8*, Honorable (Rigid), Magic 7, Nerves of Steel, Protector of Éire (Ireland), Manx and Alba (Scotland), Ríastrad*
Drawbacks: Adversary 5, Geas (the death of a dog will end his life, 5), Geas (must accept any dinner invitation offered to him, 5)
Skills: Armed Mayhem 9
Maneuvers
Name Score Damage Notes
Gáe Bolg 13 28/40* Removing spear causes an extra 12+SL points
Damage
(thrown) 12 21/30
Dodge 13 - Defense action
Grapple 15 - Resisted by Dodge

New Quality

Ríastrad
5 Point Quality
Ríastrad, or Warp Spasm, is a type of supernatural attack in which the attack can go into a berserk sort of rage. During a ríastrad the attackers Strength and Constitution are increased by 3 each, with an additional 2 levels of Hard to Kill (with corresponding increase in Life Points). Attractiveness though drops to -3 regardless of what the previous level was. In addition the ríastrad will cause the attacker to attack everyone, friend and foe alike.
To enter ríastrad the attacker must be excited, that is to see blood or an army massing. A failed fear check might be enough to push someone into a ríastrad against their will.
Once in the throws of the ríastrad the attacker’s body twists and bloats. Arms and legs become huge with tendons and veins visible under the skin. Their hair sticks out in chaotic directions, eyes bulge an pop out while their tongues look engorged with blood. The scene is frightful enough that friends and foes alike must make a fear check.
The attacker then my attack, usually running into the direction they were facing and randomly attacking all. Only a difficult Will test can calm the attacker down.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warp_spasm

Gáe Sidhe is detailed in the Ghosts of Albion corebook.

New Drawback

Geas
1-5 point Drawback
A Geas (Gesa) is a magical taboo that has it roots in the Celtic tradition. A cast member must always follow his Geas or a calamity will occur. The nature of this calamity should be up to the Director, but it should never personally be life threatening. Unlike a curse the Geased person can violate the taboo by force of will, but must pay the price.
A Geas of 1 point is something the character is never likely to break or has minor consequences, such as never owning a black cat or violate it to be overcome with a fit of coughing. A 5 point should be something that the cast member cannot avoid, such as always accepting any invitation to dinner offered, or something life threatening.
The player and the director can work out the details of the Geas. How did the cast member become Geased? Is it magical taint? Karmic debt? They must also figure out how the Geas needs to be paid off. The director should not allow the player to buy off the Geas with points, they must actually do something; like lay the bones of a long dead relative to rest, or travel to some distant land and bring back some water from a sacred stream. Or maybe there is a time limit, such as when they reach their 30th birthday.
In the case of C Chulainn he could not avoid his Geas and it did end up killing him in the end. He is offered dinner by his enemy Lugaid who feeds him dog meat. This breaking of his Gesa manifests by removing the power of the Protector from him. He is then defeated in battle by Lugaid.


Brigit of Kildare
Protector of Éire

"A Bhrigid, scar os mo chionn, do bhrat fionn dom anacal."
- Traditional prayer to Brighid

The Goddess Brighid is one of the most beloved by the Celtic people. Every year they celebrated her feast day, Imbolc, to celebrate the return of spring.

Brighid, also known as Brigit, Brigantia, Bridget, or Bride, is the Celtic Goddess of the rivers and rural life. She is also the Goddess of Healing, Midwifery and Wisdom. She was the daughter of the Dagda and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann. She was the wife of Bres of the Fomorians, with whom she had a son, Ruadn (the Red).

Brighid is one of the great Triple Goddesses of the Celtic people, with some saying that there are three Brigits: one sister in charge of poetry and inspiration who invented the Ogham alphabet, one in charge of healing and midwifery, and the third in charge of the hearth fire, smithies and other crafts.

Once the Christians came to Ireland the Goddess Brighid was not forgotten, but her worshippers favored the new Christian God.

Later in the very center of Brighid's worship center, Cill Dara ("Kildare"), a woman of God was born. Her name became Brigid.

Here, as a nun Brigid of Kildare performed miracles, healed and taught. All the things that pagan Brighid had done. When she had done enough in this world she left and was made one of the Patron Saints of Ireland.

Brighid as a Protector
Not all Patron Saint were Protectors and visa versa, but in Ireland there was a great sense of pride and of belonging with the land. This was land of the Goddess and she choose her own Protectors. Like Patrick, Brigid was very much a part of Ireland. It is natural then that Ireland Protector, a land that never fought against the Christian conversion, would choose to exemplars of it's faith to lead it into the next age.

Brighid as the Protector embraces both halves of the heart of Ireland, the Christian and the Pagan.

Name: Brighid of Kildare
Motivation: Protect her worshippers, Christian and Pagan
Creature Type: Protector, Goddess or an Irish Saint, hard to say really
Attributes: Strength 6, Dexterity 9, Constitution 9, Intelligence 6, Perception 8, Willpower 9
Ability Scores: Muscle 18, Combat 18, Brains 22
Life Points: 88
Drama Points: 5
Special Abilities: Aspects (Fire, Healing, Water, Wisdom), Age (Ancient), Immortal(?), Iron Mind, Hard to Kill 6, Magic 9, Regeneration (2 Lifepoints per turn), Supernatural Senses (Empathy, Insight, the Sight)
Maneuvers
Name;Score;Damage;Notes
Dodge;18;;Defense Action
Grapple;21;;Resisted by Dodge
Kick;17;19;Bash
Punch;18;18;Bash
Sword;18;24;Slash/stab
Spell;22;by spell type

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Brigid

New Quality
Blessed of Brighid
1 Point Quality
Prerequisites: Must have red hair; taken only during character creation (or by special Director permission).
In Ireland is said that those marked by Brighid lead charmed lives.  They can usually be spotted by their firey red hair.
The Blessed of Brighid can do one of the following once per day.
1. Aspect of Three.  The player may roll three (3) dice (d10) for any one roll made and choose the more favorable of the outcomes.
2. Add 3 to any one roll. The player may add 3 points to any one roll made in a day.  The choice can be made after the roll is done.

Kids Stuff: Bogeys, Imaginary Friends and Childhood Terrors

"Fairy tales do not teach children that monsters exist.
Children already know that monsters exist.
Fairy tales teach children that monsters can be defeated."
- Attributed to G.K. Chesterson

Adults are far removed from the dreams of childhood. When we were children we thought, spoke and behaved as children do or so the Book has told us but so has Freud and Piaget. As adults, we are also removed from the fears of childhood. The Thing Under the Bed, the Monster in the Closet, the Beast Outside our Window. We grow up, get older and forget these things.

They do not forget us.

Children are the keepers of an ancient secret; that the monsters of childhood are real.
For a child, there is a certain magic in innocence. They believe with all their hearts that something magical is real. In sort of a converse of WitchCraft's crowd effect, the "innocence effect" can cause spontaneous thaumotogenesis; the creation of something by magic. In children where the Gift, Sorcery or Magic runs strong these imaginative beings can take shape and live. Or maybe they were always there and the children only brought them into our world.

Bogeys
Bogeys are the name given to harmful creatures created by children. They are mischievous and in many ways are very similar to faeries. Bogarts, Buchwans, Bwcha, and Bogeys all share the same semantic roots and the creatures are very similar. Bogeys though are also akin to demons. Some can be as cruel in their mischief as the worst demon lord.

Bogeys have one quality about them that is unique; adults can not see them. Anytime a bogey preys on a child it will scamper away if an adult comes by. The only way fight a bogey is to see it and the only way to see one is through magic. Some magic sensitive can see them (ie The Sight or Greater Sensing), but the best way to see them is through the eyes of a child or to become childlike.

Some occult scholars will blame the strange goings on around children as poltergeists or nascent magical ability. These maybe true. But there are also bogeys, and since most occult scholars are adults and not looking for them, they never see them.

All bogeys differ and can have any combination of abilities, powers, qualities and drawbacks. Even ones that are restricted to a particular group are available to bogeys. All bogeys do have Innate Magic, though some have been able to learn Magic.

Bogeys and BastIn a Classic Unisystem game or a Cinematic game with Bast, an added dimension can be used. Bogeys are the ancient enemies of the Bast. In the earliest days of Egypt's Pharos, the Bogeys entered our world and began to plague the children of Egypt. The High Priest beseeched Ra, the Sun God, to send them a protector to guard over their children. Ra turned to his protector Bast and she sent her minions to Earth.
Bast, regardless of age, always see Bogeys and most will attack them on site. In the war between them, Bast has decimated the ranks of the Bogeys. Though this is not true everywhere. In Ireland, the ancient Celts were superstitious about cats and they killed many Bast. This allowed the bogeys to gain a strong foothold in the lands of the Celts. To this day this is why you see more bogeys in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales than anywhere else in the world.

The Red-Legged Scissor Man
(From The Menagerie Series by Christopher Golden and Thomas Sniegoski)
A particularly nasty bogey is the Red-Legged Scissor Man. Named for the giant pair of scissors he wields as a weapon. He gets the other part of his name from what he does with the scissors. The Scissor Man plagues children, especially ones that others would describe as having emotional problems. He visits them scaring them with his presence and then uses his scissors to cut off their thumbs. He will then hook the thumb onto his belt with dozens more like it causing the blood to run down his naked lower half, staining his legs in blood. He is unnaturally tall and thin, maybe 8 feet tall, but weighing only 95 some pounds. His face is fixed in a clown-like grin displaying sharp yellow teeth. His tiny red eyes dart everywhere as he nervously laughs as he talks.

The Scissor Man was believed to have been defeated in the middle of the 20^th Century, but who is to say he will stay that way.

Name: The Red-Legged Scissor Man
Motivation: To frighten and maim children
Creature Type: Bogey
Attributes: Str 2, Dex 4, Con 4, Int 3, Per 5, Will 2
Ability Scores: Muscle 10, Combat 12, Brains 12
Life Points: 34
Drama Points: 1
Special Abilities: Attractiveness -3, Emotional Influence (causes fear)
Manoeuvres
Name Score Damage Notes
Scissors 12 8 Most often used to chop of thumbs
Deflect 15 - Magic defence action; deflects spells 45º

Imaginary Friends
While Bogeys are harmful to children the same creation process also can produce imaginary friends. Like bogeys, imaginary friends are created by the nascent magical ability of children. And like bogeys, imaginary friends cannot be seen by adults.

Buttons
There are very few demons that actually pay attention to strife between bogeys and imaginary friends, considering both to be too far insignificant to even merit their notice. But there is one imaginary friend that they do know about and the mere mention of his name fills them with fear and dread.

That name is Buttons.

Buttons the Bear began just like another childhood toy. He was a handmade stuffed bear given to a now-forgotten child one Christmas morning in the early 1800's. As his child grew older Buttons (and this was not yet his name) was discarded for newer playthings. That is till he ended up as a donation to an orphanage. By this time Buttons had seen a fair amount of use, in particular his glass eyes were gone. The matron of the house, a young Irish nun sewed two buttons on his face for eyes; one green the other red. She gave him to a small child who had nothing and had never received a Christmas present before. It was there that Buttons felt the first tinges of Awakening, the love of this young child stirred up the spark of divinity that is in everything; even in a stuffed bear with mis-matched buttons for eyes.

An orphanage, especially one in what was now the mid-Victorian era, was ripe for all sorts of bogeys. Generally, these were the pestering kind, but every so often something more dangerous would prey on the unfortunates. Buttons (as he was now known) went from merely scaring them off to actively hunting them down at night. For many years Buttons protected the children here and in return he knew he had their love.
Things changed shortly after the Blight. Taking advantage of the suffering and death many demons moved into Ireland, one chose to use the orphanage as a staging area. He would hide in wait, corrupting the adults and torturing the children. It was not though till the demon had fully manifested itself and prepared to kill a child did Buttons attack. Though he was no longer a child's stuffed plaything; instead he had manifested into a towering black bear with razor-sharp claws and a mouthful of teeth. He attacked the demon full on.

The demon, while still very powerful, was only expecting some starving children, not seven feet, 1,200 pounds of fur, claws, and fangs. Within a few seconds the demon was not only on the defense, but nearly ripped to shreds.

On the demon's home plane a portal opened. The demons there were awaiting their Lord's return to bring them the bounty from the orphanage. Instead, the bloodied corpse of their lord was flung through followed by a huge bear with a fire red ruby for one eye and a burning emerald for the other. It let out a deafening roar; a clear warning to the demons. Since that time Buttons has killed no fewer than 17 demon lords and wounded many others. The orphanage suffered no more attacks as long as there was one child holding a tattered old bear with buttons for eyes.

Name: Buttons the Bear (Manifested Form)
Motivation: Protect the Children
Creature Type: Bogey (Imaginary Friend)
Attributes: Str 7, Dex 4, Con 9, Int 2, Per 3, Will 2
Ability Scores: Muscle 20, Combat 18, Brains 12
Life Points: 83
Drama Points: 1
Special Abilities: Bogey (Imaginary Friend), Hard to Kill (3), Manifest
Manoeuvres
Name Score Damage Notes
Claw (x2) 18 18 Slash/Stab
Bite 16 12 Slash/Stab
- Break Neck 20 28 Bash
Deflect 15 - Magic defense action; deflects spells 45º

Mrs. Cully Mully and her Pink Dog
No one is really sure who, or what, Mrs. Cully Mully is. Was she a human witch that became more imaginary over time. Or an imaginary friend that became more like a real human? No one knows for sure. Mrs. Cully Mully appears to be a woman in her 70's wearing a pinkish frock coat, horned rimmed glasses and carrying a small handbag purse.

She is known to walk the areas between Dream and Reality, between this world and the next one, and between childhood and the end of innocence. Always between worlds, but never in any one world properly. She will say things to make you believe she was once human, like "when I taught kindergarten…" and things to make you think she is imaginary, or at least question her sanity; "…of course the sky was pink then and we had three moons."

She walks the "in-betweens" helping those who are lost, or of need information. In her bag she almost anything the Cast could need, almost. She has no (and no use for) weapons. If the Cast is hungry then she might have their second-favorite sandwich (she is always out of their first favorite) or some magical bauble that may not seem to be useful now but will be priceless later on. She will of course claim she is just walking her dog.

Her dog, who is completely pink, will bark constantly in its small yippish barks. It is only when it stops barking is there reason to fear. That usually means bogeys, spirits or demons are near.

She will try to hastily retreat, pulling the Cast in-tow. IF she has to fight then her true nature (or is it?) is revealed. She has never been known to get into a fight, but in one case an occult scholar (who has since retired to working on a small farm) was lost in the in-betweens when he encountered Mrs. Cully Mully. He described her as pleasant, if seemingly addled. She agreed to walk the man home since it was "on her way" when the object of the scholar's search appeared, the Great Demon Abraxas (so he claimed). Abraxas demanded the scholar's soul and threatened to kill everyone else. Mrs. Cully Mully, he then claimed, walked right up to the demon lord and called him by his true name (also, so the scholar claims) and proceeded to scold him like a schoolboy. She was stern, but never once raised her voice. The demon, angered beyond rage, roared and disappeared in a pillar of flame. She took the man's hand and told him that we're taking a short cut, walked two or three steps and were in front of the man's home. She told him to give up this life, get a real job and find himself a nice quiet girl to marry.

Some say she is a good-natured aspect of the Crone, Goddess of the Witches. Others say she is really the Goddess Ceriweden. And still, others say she is a retired kindergarten teacher out walking her dog.

Mrs. Cully Mully
No Stats. She does not engage in combat. She does have a handbag and small pink, yippy dog.

A Few Updates

Here are bunch of updates all at once as I am getting ready for Gen Con.

Hybrid Class Playtest and Character Concept IVb

Tried out Bodhmall as a straight Druid out of PHBII. HATED it. Didn't fit her at all. I also tried the shaman by itself, hated that one too. So in this case the hybrid Shaman/Druid is greater than the sum of it's (half) parts. I still will try this with Expeditious Retreat's "Nature Priest", which I think will make a much better fit in terms of her concept. Oddly enough I find myself once a again moving towards a Bard/Warlock or Bard/Sorcerer hybrid to do this. Hmm. Lots of choices really.

The Old School Renaissance Will Eat Itself, Part 2

I was not expecting the amount of discussion this one would bring me. In particular very useful insights from posters D7 and Thasmodious. I am still certain that the biggest hurdle that the OSR faces is not new editions of the game (those are hurdles we should not even try to go over) but rather the in-fighting and exclusionist nature. I am still very interested in what people have to say on this subject, I just don't always expect to agree with what they say.

Quest for the Dragon Part 4

This one is totally new and an update only in the broadest sense. Today my son and I did Part 4 of his great quest in D&D 3.0. His characters (I am letting him run a couple) and his hirelings (a bard to record their deeds and three goblins hired to carry their stuff) were in the deserts today searching for the fourth item they need to be able to summon Tiamat so they may defeat her. Today it was the scale of a green dragon located in a desert. We decided that there are five relics of Tiamat's greatest consorts, but they betrayed her so she killed them all and disperse their bodies amongst her cultists. Each relic was found in a place where that dragon type is never found. So a white dragon claw was found in a volcano range, the blue dragon skull on a tropical island, the green dragon scale in the dessert and a black dragon wing in a dungeon full of undead. He needs a red dragon tooth, found deep in the arctic, to complete the ritual, summon Tiamat and defeat her once and for all. After this he is retiring all of those characters and we will begin a new game where his heroes are the stuff of legends. I give the little guy credit, yeah I normally would not let a player detail the game so much, but this has been a lot of fun.

After this who knows? A retro clone or D&D RC? Maybe 4^th Ed? I am sure whatever it will be it will be fun.

Gen Con

Getting ready. Blight is done and ready to go. Obsession has a few more props I need to print out, but looking good! I am running more games this year than ever before and playing in less. I want to stop by and see the guys at Starkweather Studios and check out their Shadow Girls project. I want to stop by and say hi to Jamie Chambers and Malcolm Harris, and hopefully get a game in with all of them. And yes of course, stop by and see the guys at Eden Studios!

Ghosts of Ablion at Gen Con

I am running three Gen Con events this year for Ghosts of Albion.

These are the official times and places from Gen Con. Registration is closed now, so you can register for these at the con or use the generic tickets.

I will repost this when I have more information

Here are the details.

Ghosts of Albion: Blight

RPG0906270 - 08/13/2009 07:00:00 PM (Thursday) Crowne Plaza, Grand Central Ballroom B, Table 3

RPG0906268 - 08/14/2009 07:00:00 PM (Friday) Crowne Plaza, Grand Central Ballroom B, Table 3

Ireland is dying. Her Protector has been murdered and you are the primary suspects. Can you clear your name, regain your magic and stop whatever necromancies befoul the land? Time is short, yours and one million lives hang in the balance. Set in 1847 this is an adventure for the Ghosts of Albion RPG.

Ghosts of Albion: Obsession

RPG0906269 - 08/15/2009 07:00:00 PM (Saturday) Crowne Plaza, Grand Central Ballroom B, Table 3

There is trouble at the Plough Street Theatre. The Times reports that authorities have found the strangled body of prominent actress and performer, Miriam White. However Miss White has herself commented to The Times that she is in fact alive and well and has been seen not only on stage, but having lunch with her manager just outside the theatre. You are requested by James V. Harold, esq., owner of the Plough Street Theatre to discreetly investigate this matter.

Ghosts of Albion at GenCon Indy

Ghosts of Albion: Blight and Obsession



My games have been accepted for GenCon Indy and I will soon give you all dates and times for the Ghosts of Albion games I will be running. I am running "Blight" and "Obsession". I ran Blight at GenCon last year to a couple of small crowds and it went great. So if you played it last year, then this the same adventure. Obsession is one I ran at a mini-Unisystem con I did in Chicago a couple of years ago. I ran that for one group.
Blight is good if you love Irish myth. Obsession is a bit more adult in themes.

More details when I have them myself.

GenCon 2009 & Ghosts of Albion, Part 2

I am running three Gen Con events this year for Ghosts of Albion.

This are the official times and places from Gen Con. Registration is closed now, so you can register for these at the con or use the generic tickets.

I will repost this when I have more information

Here are the details.

Ghosts of Albion: Blight

RPG0906270 - 08/13/2009 07:00:00 PM (Thursday) Crowne Plaza, Grand Central Ballroom B, Table 3

RPG0906268 - 08/14/2009 07:00:00 PM (Friday) Crowne Plaza, Grand Central Ballroom B, Table 3

Ireland is dying. Her Protector has been murdered and you are the primary suspects. Can you clear your name, regain your magic and stop whatever necromancies befoul the land? Time is short, yours and one million lives hang in the balance. Set in 1847 this is an adventure for the Ghosts of Albion RPG.

 

Ghosts of Albion: Obsession

RPG0906269 - 08/15/2009 07:00:00 PM (Saturday) Crowne Plaza, Grand Central Ballroom B, Table 3

There is trouble at the Plough Street Theatre. The Times reports that authorities have found the strangled body of prominent actress and performer, Miriam White. However Miss White has herself commented to The Times that she is in fact alive and well and has been seen not only on stage, but having lunch with her manager just outside the theatre. You are requested by James V. Harold, esq., owner of the Plough Street Theatre to discreetly investigate this matter.