#RPGaDay2024 Compelling Characters

What makes for a Compelling character? What makes one for me and say not for you?

I'll talk about an NPC on the 22nd, so today I'll feature PCs.  As it turns out, I also just got some new art for a couple of my PCs Sinéad and Larina from artist Mondhut.

Sinéad Moonshadow

Larina Nix

I should think that these two don't really need introductions at this point. But briefly, Larina is my witch character I stat up in every game I play to see if I can make a witch in that game.  Sinéad is a sorcerer/bard that I am currently using in my exploration of the Forgotten Realms. Sinéad was also the character I used when I did my "perfect" run of Baldur's Gate.

What I had not realized until I started this post is that at no point in my histories of these character have they ever met.

Larina has had dealings with all my major characters over the years, being a near immortal witch will do that. Sinéad has interacted with Taryn, Larina's daughter, quite a bit. In fact when Sinéad was trapped in the Feywild she and Taryn met and decided that they must be sisters (both are half-elves). 

But Sinéad and Larina have never actually met.

They are compelling, to me, because I keep finding ways to use them. I also have my Johan character and he is every bit as compelling, but he is 100% a PC, so a lot of what happens to him (all the Johans) is largely due to the game he is in at the time. Larina and Sinéad bonuce a lot now as PCs, NPCs, and GMPCs. 

Check out Mondhut's Instagram if you can.

--

I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August. 

Pop Yourself! Larina

 I am not a big collector of Funko-Pops. I have a few but not what I consider a lot. But recently I saw they had a Halloween (now over) promotion to get a Funko Pop figure of yourself. Well that is fine and all, but do I really need one of me? A blonde (er now gray) guy with glasses? I am not even sure I can get one with glasses and a goatee. (I just checked, I can). But since one of the choices was a witch, well I knew what I needed to do!  

And since today is what I consider to be Larina's birthday, I thought I would share the Funko Pop I had made of her.

I did a re-paint on her hair, and yo see I messed up her eyebrows a bit. Still, I am happy with the hair. I opted not to repaint the rest of her. I am not really that good to be honest.

Here is the original. 

Obsessive? Yeah maybe. But I always buy something for myself on Halloween. This was what I got for myself this year.

By the way, I did go back and see what a Funko Pop version of me would look like. 

Not bad. Not sure I need it though.

Larina Nichols for Amazing Adventures

I have some projects going on right now that I am trying to get organized for my big Christmas break this year.  I am planning on burying myself in writing. So I am finding bits of text here, and some ideas there, and I have not even gone through my bookmarks* yet.

(*I scribble ideas on bookmarks while I read. Habit from my undergrad days.)

A couple came to me more or less at the same time.  The first was more details on what I am doing with the various incarnations of my iconic witch Larina. The other was some notes about an Amazing Adventures street-level supers game I keep batting around in my notes.  Since the new printing of Amazing Adventures (well, new printing and reorganized material) is now up on Indiegogo I thought, let's clean up one stack of notes with a post. 

The Game: Amazing Adventures

I have always been rather fond of Amazing Adventures. It is a modern version of Castles & Crusades and with the 2nd printing, the rules cleave much closer to the C&C SIEGE Engine rules. My understanding is that this new printing (a bit like a 2.5) is even closer. So close that the three books of Castles & Crusades are called "The Three Sisters" and the new three books for Amazing Adventures are called "The Three Brothers." Three brothers and three sisters? That sounds like my family. 

If you like modern games then this is a great time to get into Amazing Adventures. Especially if you are a fan of Castles & Crusades.

The Character: Larina Nichols

One thing that I do with my Larina is to have different versions of her in different games. These are truly different versions of the same character in the multiverse but connected a bit like the Eternal Champion.  These are my worlds, I get to do these things. The GREAT thing about Amazing Adventures is that it IS so much like Castles & Crusades I can make moving between a modern world and a fantasy world much easier. If I can do that with her, you can do it with any character.

Also for me, there is this notion of adventures connected by places or people and displaced in time. This would be my trilogy of adventures "All Souls Night," "Blight," and "The Dark Druid" dealing with D&D-like fantasy, Victorian-age Gothic horror, and modern supernatural respectively. Larina, or someone like her, would be there in all three, reincarnated each time to deal with the threat of the Dark Druid.

But before I can do that right, I have to make sure I can move characters, or their other incarnations, to each time.  Here is my Drosophila melanogaster for these experiments.

Larina Nichols

19th Level Witch (Arcanist)
Race: Human

Strength: 10 (0)
Dexterity: 11 (0)
Constitution: 13 (+1) P
Intelligence: 17 (+2) 
Wisdom: 17 (+2) P
Charisma: 18 (+3) P

Hit Points: 79
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
AC: 10 
BtH: +4
MEP: 226

Primary Spellcasting Attribute: Charisma

Sanity (SAN): 90 (Max), 75 (Current)

Fate Points: 6

Fate Die: 1d12

Languages: English, Latin, Gaelic, Greek, Russian (native language is English)
Background: Scholar (Librarian)
Skills: Mythology (Celtic, Norse)

Traits: Spellgifted (Enchantments/Charms)

Powers
Familiar: Cotton Ball
Spellcasting

Spells
Cantrips: (9) Arcane Mark, Dancing Lights, Detect Illusion, Detect Magic, Light, Magical Aura, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Stun
First: (5+1) Color Spray, Command, Darkness, Identity, Shield, Sleep
Second: (5+1) Alter Self, Blur, Burning Hands, Hold Person, Pyrotechnics, Scare
Third: (4+1) Aid, Blink, Nondetection, Remove Curse, Tongues
Fourth: (4) Dispel Magic, Emotion, Phantasmal Killer, Seeming
Fifth: (4) Feeblemind, Mass Suggestion, Projection, True Seeing
Sixth: (3) Mislead, Veil, Wind Walk
Seventh: (3) Prismatic Spray, Teleport without Error, Word of Recall
Eighth: (3)  Antipathy, Prismatic Wall
Ninth: (2) Astral Projection

That went pretty fast really. Like creating an AD&D 1st Character.  In fact, that should really be the main reason to check this game out; how close it is to AD&D. 

In truth, that was a LOT of fun to do. Makes me realize how much I miss playing C&C and AD&D too.

So everyone get in on that Indiegogo campaign so others can see just how much fun this game really is. 

Larina Nix for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition

Larina by Beatriz Sanguino

Again, I'm surprised I haven't posted something like this already. Given that I talked about AD&D 2nd Edition earlier today, I thought this might be a good time to discuss the different witches from the AD&D 2nd Ed era. 

I have talked in the past about how the AD&D 2nd edition era was a good time for all sorts of witch classes. By my count, there were at least four official classes from TSR (and later WotC) for AD&D 2nd Ed, and quite a few unofficial ones. 

I have compared a few witch classes with each other at varying levels of detail over the years and will likely do it more when I take my deep dive into the Forgotten Realms for AD&D 2nd Ed. But looking back, I see I never taken the time to compare the AD&D Second classes to each other. The closest I have come was comparing two AD&D 2nd Characters to each other, Nida and Sinéad, and Sinéad is no longer even a proper witch. 

One day, I'll do more, but I want to look at one official witch and two unofficial ones for today.  I think I'll save Nida when it comes time to discuss the other official witches. Plus, using Larina here is much more appropriate. 

As I mentioned earlier today, AD&D 2nd Edition can be seen as an extension or continuation of the AD&D 1st Edition line. The games are very compatible. So, my characters often moved from 1st to 2nd Edition without so much as getting a new sheet. Larina here is no exception. She began in 1986 with AD&D 1st Ed and moved to AD&D 2nd Ed in 1989 without a blink. But I did make new sheets for her eventually.

Let's go back a bit before AD&D 2nd edition came out. Back in July 1986, I created a witch character, Larina, to test some ideas I had about doing witches in (A)D&D. When Dragon Magazine came out in October of 1986 I started using that. But all the while, I am collecting my notes and ideas. Moving forward to 1989, AD&D 2nd Edition was released. There were a lot of new ideas in that and I was looking forward to trying out my collected notes. One set of notes became my Sun Priest kit for Clerics, another became a pile of notes for the Healer, another the Necromancer/Death Mage, but the largest would become the Witch. It would be almost 10 years before it would see publication but it did and Larina was a central figure in that work.

In those 10 years, there was a lot of writing and playtesting. 

While I kept my Dragon #114/AD&D1st ed witch version of her, I created a parallel version using my new witch rules. This version was supposed to be the same person, just with a different set of rules to govern her. While that happened, two other witch classes were published to help me make other choices. I also set her up for these rules and played all three (or four, really) versions to see how she worked in different situations.  So, if you have ever wondered if I have run out of things to say about witches or even this witch in particular, the answer is no, I have spent more hours with her than any other character I have.

So I would like to present her for AD&D Second Edition, but three different witch classes.

• AD&D Complete Wizards Handbook, Witch Kit
• Mayfair's Role-Aids: Witches
• My own Netbook of Witches and Warlocks

Larina Nix for AD&D 2nd Edition

This version(s) of Larina is just the continuation of her AD&D 1st Edition incarnation.

Base Stats (same for all versions).

Larina Nix
Human Witch, Lawful Neutral

Strength: 9
Dexterity: 17 
Constitution: 16
Intelligence: 18 
Wisdom: 18
Charisma: 18

Movement: 12
AC: 1
HP: 86

Weapons
Dagger, Staff

Defenses: Bracers of Defense (AC 1)

Languages: Common, Alignment, Elven, Dwarven, Dragon, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan
Ancient Languages: Primordial, Abyssal, Infernal

So, in this version, her dex and con were raised by some magic.

The Complete Wizard's Handbook

Class: Wizard
Kit: Witch
Level: 15

Saving Throws (Base)
Paralyze/Poison/Death: 11
Rod, Staff, Wand: 7
Petrify/Polymorph: 9
Breath Weapon: 11
Magic: 11

THAC0: 16

Proficiencies: Ancient History, Astrology (2), Herbalism, Reading/Writing (4), Religion (2), Spellcraft (4), Animal Handling, Artistic.
Weapons: Dagger, Staff

Secondary Skill: Scribe

Powers
3rd level: Familiar
5th level: Brew Calmative
7th level: Brew Poison
9th level: Beguile
11th level: Brew Flying Ointment
13th level: Witch's Cure

Spells
1st level: Burning Hands, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Copy, Chromatic Orb
2nd level: Blindness, ESP, Tasha's Hideous Uncontrollable Laughter, Knock, Ice Knife
3rd level: Clairvoyance, Hold Person, Hovering Skull, Iron Mind, Pain Touch
4th level: Dimension Door, Fear, Magic Mirror, Remove Curse, Fire Aura
5th level: Advanced Illusion, Cone of Cold, Feeblemind, Telekinesis, Shadow Door
6th level: Eyebite, Dragon Scales
7th level: Shadow Walk

--

Mayfair Role-aids: Witches

Class: Witch / Wizard
Tradition: Classical
Level: 15 / 1

Saving Throws (Base)
Paralyze/Poison/Death: 13
Rod, Staff, Wand: 9
Petrify/Polymorph: 11
Breath Weapon: 13
Magic: 10

THAC0: 16

Proficiencies: Ancient History, Astrology (2), Herbalism, Reading/Writing (4), Religion (2), Spellcraft (4), Animal Handling, Artistic.
Weapons: Dagger, Staff

Secondary Skill: Scribe

Powers
Herbalism

Spells
1st level: Feather Fall, Identify, Read Magic, Sleep, Chill Touch, Protection from Evil, Color Spray
2nd level: Flaming Sphere, Locate Object, Forget, Ray of Enfeeblement, Strength
3rd level: Cure Light Wounds, Dispel Magic, Clairvoyance, Delude, Mystery Script
4th level: Call Lightning, Fear, Fire Shield, Magic Mirror, Wall of Fire
5th level: Feeblemind, Shadow Magic, Dream, FAlse Vision
6th level: Geas, Legend Lore, True Seeing
7th level: Shadow Walk

--

The Complete Netbook of Witches & Warlocks

Class: Witch (Priest Sub-class)
Level: 15

Saving Throws (Base)
Paralyze/Poison/Death: 5
Rod, Staff, Wand: 9
Petrify/Polymorph: 8
Breath Weapon: 11
Magic: 10

THAC0: 12

Proficiencies: Ancient History, Astrology (2), Herbalism, Reading/Writing (4), Religion (2), Spellcraft (4), Animal Handling, Artistic.
Weapons: Dagger, Staff

Secondary Skill: Scribe

Powers
1st: Turn Undead
3rd level: Read/Detect Magic
6th level: Chill Touch
9th level: Candle Magic
12th level: Immune to Fear
15th level: Fascination
11th level: Brew Flying Ointment
13th level: Witch's Cure

Spells
1st level: Create Fire, Katarine's Dart, Witch Light, Dowse, Wall of Darkness, Painful Wounds
2nd level: Burning Wind, Acquire Witch's Familiar, Blackfire, Dance Trantra, Minor Hex, Pain Armor, Protection vs. Elementals
3rd level: Lesser Strengthing Rite, Beguile III, Astral Sense, Lethe, Witch Writing, Rite of Remote Seeing
4th level: Spirit Dagger, Cloak of Shifting Shadows, Broom, Cleanse, Card Reading, Grandmother's Shawl, Middle Banishing Rite
5th level: Rite of Magical Resistance, Starflare, Dolor, Bull of Heaven
6th level: Anchoring Rite, Greater Banishing Rite, Kiss of Life
7th level: Demon Trap

--

The biggest differences are in the powers and the spells. 

I kept her HP the same in all three cases to keep combat a fixed variable, the same with her weapons and non-weapon proficiencies. 

The Wizard's Handbook from TSR strikes a good balance of powers and spells. The Mayfair Role-aids Witches book has some great spells. Of course I am fond of my own Complete Netbook of Witches & Warlocks. Of course, after 25 years, there are things I would do differently now.

Playing All Three

Playing all three in a game was interesting but also a lot of fun. I'd generally alternate between them, choosing which one to use in combat beforehand so I could measure the utility of the spells. So when I say I have played her more than any other character, I really mean it. I kept her "real" sheets as notes in MS Word 2.0/95/97 to make easy changes to them as I played with my CNoW&W one as the "official" character sheet. 

This also gave me the idea that all her incarnations are aware of each other. It has nothing to do with any of the game mechanics I have written, but it is aa fun little role-playing exercise. 

In 1999, on October 31st, I was sitting in the hospital. My wife had just had our first baby, Liam, and I had my laptop. Just after midnight, I released my "The Complete Netbook of Witches & Warlocks" for free on the web. Larina was featured in that book as a 6-year-old who discovered she was a witch.

All the playtesting would then lead to my "The Witch: A sourcebook for Basic Edition fantasy games" released exactly 14 years later.  It would also lead to my 3rd Edition books on witches, but I'll talk about them next week.

#AtoZChallenge2024: L is for Larian Studios

 I have been talking a lot about D&D history this month, but today I want to shift focus for a moment and talk about D&D's present. Honestly, the best Dungeons & Dragons content is not coming from the current owner and publisher, Wizards of the Coast (Hasbro), but from other companies. One in particular is Larian Studios, and the content is Baldur's Gate 3.

It is not really hyperbole to say that Baldur's Gate 3 is the biggest video game of the last couple of years and might be the best video game I have ever played.  Larian is a smaller independent video game company located in Belgium. They have had a great track record of producing engaging, high-quality games for a small studio. Their big claim to fame prior to BG3 was their Divinity series. In their game Divinity: Original Sin 2, you can see the elements that would later be enhanced and perfected in BG3.  They are notable for their constant and rapid support, their desire to listen to their fans and give them what they want, and their games do not have microtransactions. These are little features in other games. Want some cool armor? Great, just $0.99 on your credit card. Cool sword? $1.99. For Larian, if you want those things, they are in the game for you to find somewhere.

They are a small independent studio producing games that rival, and in many cases surpass, the ones made by larger and more well funded companies.

Baldur's Gate 3

Larian Studios shocked me with this. Baldur's Gate 1 was released in 1998, and Baldur's Gate 2 was released in 2000, with updates up to 2016. They had been rumors before of a Baldur's Gate 3, but nothing ever came from it.

Then in 2020 Baldur's Gate 3 went into "Open Beta" with little fan fare and almost no mention in the wider Dungeons & Dragons community.

In August 2023 it got its official release on PC and PlayStation with Mac and Xbox versions close behind.  To say it blew up is putting it rather mildly.

Right now, the game has an aggregate score of 96/100 from all reviews. I has also won pretty much every Game of the Year award for 2023 there is, including sweeping all five of the industry's top Game of the Year Awards. It even won more BAFTA awards while I was writing this post!

Like all the other Baldur's Gate games, this one takes place in the Forgotten Realms, but 120 or so years after the first two events (and a few months after the published book adventure Descent to Avernus). This corresponds to the published Forgotten Realms game books and novels, which had 100 or so years between the 3rd and 4th editions. This game uses some of the same mechanics and feel of Divinity: Original Sin II, and it is heavily influenced by the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition rules.  It feels like a 5th Edition game. The classes, spells, magic, and combat are all from the 5th edition rules.

Want to know how D&D plays but don't have people to play with? This is not a bad substitute.

I am currently on my third play-through with an eye toward's completion. I am half way through Act II. In this one I am running as a "companion run" to my 2nd play through. Same basic outline with similar characters, only swapping who is the main character. 

My first full play-through was with Larina. This was followed by Sinéad. Now, I am mirroring my Sinéad run with Taryn. They were "NPCs" in each other's run.

Larina

Sinéad

Taryn

I have incomplete runs with Kelek, Skylla, Rayne (Bloodrayne), and, of course, my Paladin Johan.

Rayne

Kelek and Skylla on an "evil run."

Johan's run with NPC Larina

Johan

I have been using a combination of hirelings, "Withers" (an in-game guide), and the "Magic Mirror" to turn the various NPCs into previous playable characters. So my Johan run for example has Larina in it, She can't interact like Johan can, but game-play wise she is the same. 

Same with my Taryn/Sinéad runs. In my mind they are the same run, just from each character's point of view. 

This has also allowed me to try out different "romance" options. Karlach for Johan, Gale for Taryn, Shadowheart for Sinéad, and Shadowheart, Halsin, Wyll, Mizora, Sorn and Nym Orlith, (!) all for Larina. She is a lover. She is also a fighter, but mostly a lover.

Bloodrayne *might* go for Astarion. She is based on the video game character Rayne from Bloodrayne, after all. But I have never had my approval rating high enough with him in any run. My Kelek and Skylla runs are all about violence, not romance. Which come to think of it, might be what I need to do for Astarion. 

The game is bloody, violent, very often NC-17 and NSFW, and an absolute ton of fun.

I am just over 350 hours into all my runs and I am STILL finding new material. Both of my kids play it, and they tell me about things they found that I haven't! I even found another hidden door last night in Act II. So yeah, I have in no way exhausted all of this game's options. 

This is the most fun I have had with a video game in a very long time.

Sadly Larian will not be doing Baldur's Gate 4 despite their overwhelming success. They have been super gracious about it online, saying they loved doing BG3, but they want to do new things now. Reading between the lines, it was obvious that Hasbro was asking for a LOT more in licensing fees for the Forgotten Realms world, and Larina didn't want to lay people off to pay for it. So, kudos to Larian Studios.

Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro now has full rights again to all these characters. Back when Baldur's Gate 2 came out Wizards published game material to support it. Now? Nothing for Baldur's Gate 3. I hope they do something; otherwise, they are leaving money on the table. 

Tomorrow is Sunday, so there will be no A to Z post, but I will continue my Sunday Specials. So tomorrow is Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition.

Jenny, Larina and Valerie for Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space

Time to put it all together now.  Over the course of my reviews of the various Doctor Who RPGs I have looked at some characters with the express purpose of comparing them across different versions. 

Today I want to take three characters and have a go at building them in the 1st Edition of the Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space RPG. The three are: 

• Jenny Everywhere, who I have been using as my stand-in for a Time Lord
• Larina Nichols, my Drosophila melanogaster of every RPG experiment and to see if I can build a witch in every game.
• Valerie Beaumont, a Ghosts of Albion character who became one of my playtest characters for the original Doctor Who playtests.

For this group, let's say they are all traveling together. The game gives us a lot of options on "Games without Time Lords," so this would be a good place to test it all out. Either Jenny or Val have a vortex manipulator, but I also like the idea that Jenny can travel in time and space (to a limited degree) all on her own without needing gadgets. 

In all three cases I stuck as close as I could to the point-buy budgets for character creation. Though in all three I did go over. That is not a big deal in my mind since Val has already had some adventures (The Ghost Tower of Inverness, Illinois), and Jenny, well I can use nearly anything to justify her stats. But in all cases I tried to stay close to what I had done in other games.

Jenny Everywhere

Jenny, as I have mentioned in previous posts, is a "shifter" she can shift between realities and times and even interact with her own alternates. She is expressly a public domain character that everyone can use, so for my tests, she is the perfect stand-in for a Time Lord. In previous versions of the Doctor Who RPG, this was a conceit since there were other Time Lords, but in the "new" game, there is only the Doctor.

Here she has some of the qualities/traits of a Time Lord, but not the ability to regenerate as River Song did.

As always, I must include her license:

"The character of Jenny Everywhere is available for use by anyone, with only one condition. This paragraph must be included in any publication involving Jenny Everywhere, in order that others may use this property as they wish. All rights reversed."

Jenny Everywhere

"The Shifter"
Story Points: 12

Attributes
Awareness 4
Coordination 3
Ingenuity 4
Presence 3
Resolve 4
Strength 3

Skills
Athletics 1
Convince 2
Craft 
Fighting 1
Knowledge 4
Marksman 1
Medicine 
Science 3
Subterfuge 2
Survival 1
Technology 3
Transport 1

Traits
Brave, Charming, Lucky, Time Traveller (Minor), Eccentric (-1)

Special Traits

Shifter, Feel the Turn of the Universe

Equipment
Various gadgets

Home Tech Level: 6 (Jenny has some solid tech)

Larina Nichols

Larina of course is my witch that I use everywhere. She is my experiment to see if I can do a witch in any game, Rule as Writen. So far I have come up with some very interesting versions of her. Unlike Jenny she is only vaguely aware of her other selves in different realities, usually images that appear to her in dreams. She knows what they are but she has no control over them.  

In the Doctor Who universe her "magick" appears as advanced psychic powers. Humans in this game have a bit more psychic abilities than assumed in previous games. Indeed in the new series of Doctor Who we have seen actual witches.  Larina though is human and not a Carrionite. Though I am not ruling out that human witches might not have Carrionite blood/DNA in them.

Larina Nichols

"The Witch"
Story Points: 12

Attributes
Awareness 4
Coordination 3
Ingenuity 4
Presence 4
Resolve 6
Strength 3

Skills
Athletics 
Convince 1
Craft 2
Fighting 1
Knowledge 4
Marksman 1
Medicine 2
Science 1
Subterfuge 1
Survival 2
Technology 2
Transport 1

Traits
Attractive, Empathic, Psychic Training, Insatiable Curiosity, Obsession (learn more about magic)

Special Traits
Psychic (Package)

 - Clairvoyant 1

 - Precognition 1

 - Telekinesis 1

 - Telepath 1

Equipment
Book of Shadows (on her phone), Tarot Cards.

Home Tech Level: 5

I have this funny notion that Jenny goes to Larina for a Tarot reading about her and despite all the shuffling all the cards when flipped over are blank. The same thing happens again with Valerie. 

That seems like a fun hook.

Valerie Beaumont

Val is an immortal who was born in England in 1569. She came with a family to the new colonies (America) to be the nanny of Virginia Dare, the first child to be born of European parents in an American colony. Both she and Virginia are immortals and have a Doctor/Master style relationship.

She is not my character per se, she is the character of one of my good friends Greg, though she does appear as an NPC in many of my games.

Valerie Beaumont

"The Immortal"
Story Points: 12

Attributes
Awareness 4
Coordination 5
Ingenuity 5
Presence 5
Resolve 4
Strength 3

Skills
Athletics 2
Convince 1
Craft 
Fighting 3
Knowledge 5
Marksman 2
Medicine 1
Science 1
Subterfuge 2
Survival 3
Technology 1
Transport 

Traits
Attractive, Brave, Quick Reflexes, Tough, Adversary (Virginia Dare), Dark Secret (is Immortal)

Special Traits
Immortal (2), Fast Healing (2)

Equipment
Sword cane

Home Tech Level: 4 (she was born in 1569)

--

In truth I am rather happy with these. I altered some of Valerie's skills from her play test file. 

I can easily see a series of adventures with these three. Likely running into Madam Vastra and Jenny in Victorian times (and whom Valerie has dealt with before), Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in a modern London (gotta figure out how that works!), and of course fellow witches Willow and Tara. 

It's a weird and wonderful universe out there, and this is the game to explore it!

Larina Nix for d20 Dark•Matter / Urban Arcana

 I was talking to my oldest about my desire to maybe, just maybr running a d20 Dark•Matter game sometime. He laughed at me. I asked him why and he asked if I remembered what a a pain in the ass d20 Modern was at higher levels. Characters having at least three classes, feats all over the place, a recording nightmare. He was right, but undaunted I jumped in. I figure I'd create a few characters. I have three characters from my WitchCraft game that I'd love to get back too. Then there were two others from a Cinematic Unisystem game set in Chicago, brother and sister private eyes, that I always thought migth be fun to revist. 

Yeah. That didn't work out really.

Now, to be fair, I am really, really out of practice building a d20 Modern Character, but damn I don't remember it being like this. In the end, I only did one (sorry, Scott and Heather) from my WitchCraft game. 

While I set out to try to do a fairly straightforward translation of the Alternity material to d20, that also didn't work out really. So in the end I did a "spiritual translation" of Larina's Alternity Dark•Matter version to d20.  They started out the same, but they drifted a bit apart.

I also could not find Scott's and Heather's sheets from my 1999 WitchCraft game, so at this point, I'd be basing them on their D&D alter egos, which may or may not be the best. Heather is a half-elf in D&D after all. I did find Eric MacAlister, Larina's ex-husband. But in truth, I never really did anything else with the guy after the 1999 game. She always worried that he would come after her, and he had kind of forgotten her. Plus, he was unable to fly post Sept. 11, 2001, due to all the restrictions. 

So here is my witch. She took a long time to build here, and I am not 100% sure I got her correct.

Larina "Nix" Nichols

Human Charismatic Hero 5 / Mystic 7

Strength 8 (-1)
Dexterity 12 (+1)
Constitution 12 (+1)
Intelligence 17 (+3)
Wisdom 17 (+3)
Charisma 19 (+4)

Hit Points 66

Speed 30ft.

Defense 17, touch 17, flat 16

Init +1

Fort +9
Ref +8
Will +10

BaB/Grap +5 / +5
Melee/Ranged +5 / +6

AP 115 (lifetime)
Rep +7

Academic (starting occupation) University Librarian
Decipher Script
Knowledge (arcane lore)

Feats
Alertness
Attentive
Creative
Endurance
Educated (+2 on two knowledge skills)
Meticulous
Iron Will
Simple Weapon Proficiency [free]
Trustworthy
Toughness x1
Wild Talent (Psionic, Far Hand [TK])

Talents
Coordinate
Inspiration
Great Inspiration

Skills

Skill Name	Key Ability	Skill Modifier	Ability Modifier	Ranks	Misc. Modifier
Balance	Dex*	1 =	+1
Bluff	Cha	12 =	+4	+8
Climb	Str*	-1 =	-1
Computer Use	Int	6 =	+3	+3
Concentration	Con	9 =	+1	+8
Craft (Structural)	Int	3 =	+3
Craft (Visual Art)	Int	3 =	+3
Craft (Writing)	Int	3 =	+3
Decipher Script	Int	13 =	+3	+10
Diplomacy	Cha	16 =	+4	+6	+2 [bluff] +2 [Knowledge, history] +2 [trustworthy]
Disguise	Cha	6 =	+4	+2
Drive	Dex*	1 =	+1
Escape Artist	Dex*	1 =	+1
Forgery	Int	5 =	+3		+2 [meticulous]
Gamble	Wis	3 =	+3
Gather Information	Cha	6 =	+4		+2 [trustworthy]
Hide	Dex*	1 =	+1
Intimidate	Cha	6 =	+4		+2 [bluff]
Jump	Str*	-1 =	-1
Knowledge (arcane lore)	Int	19 =	+3	+14	+1 [Academic] +1
Knowledge (behavioral sciences)	Int	9 =	+3	+6
Knowledge (current events)	Int	7 =	+3	+4
Knowledge (earth & life sciences)	Int	7 =	+3	+4
Knowledge (history)	Int	8 =	+3	+5
Knowledge (popular culture)	Int	5 =	+3	+2
Knowledge (theology)	Int	12 =	+3	+8	+1
Listen	Wis	9 =	+3	+4	+2 [alertness]
Move Silently	Dex*	1 =	+1
Navigate	Int	3 =	+3
Perform (Act)	Cha	4 =	+4
Perform (Dance)	Cha	4 =	+4
Perform (Keyboards)	Cha	6 =	+4	+2
Perform (Percussion)	Cha	4 =	+4
Perform (Sing)	Cha	8 =	+4	+4
Perform (Standup)	Cha	4 =	+4
Perform (String Inst.)	Cha	4 =	+4
Perform (Wind Inst.)	Cha	8 =	+4	+4
Research	Int	10 =	+3	+7
Ride	Dex	1 =	+1
Search	Int	5 =	+3		+2 [meticulous]
Sense Motive	Wis	5 =	+3		+2 [attentive]
Spellcraft	Int	15 =	+3	+10	+2 [Knowledge, arcane]
Spot	Wis	5 =	+3		+2 [alertness]
Survival	Wis	3 =	+3
Swim	Str**	-1 =	-1
Treat Injury	Wis	3 =	+3

Spells

0-Level
Detect Magical Aura, Haywire, Light, Mending, Read Magic

1st-Level
Bane, Cause Fear, Comprehend Languages, Instant Identify, Sanctuary, Trace Purge

2nd-Level
Augury, Darkness, Daylight, Hold Person, Shatter

3rd-Level
Bestow Curse, Dispel Magic, Magic Circle, Secret Pocket

4th-Level
Divination, Greater Magic Weapon, Via Negativa

Incantations
Bibliolalia, Cast into Shadow, Dedicate Site, Mystic Veil, Quartz Compulsion

Equipment

Knife [1d4, crit 19-20, range inc 10ft., 1lb., one-handed, piercing]
Taser [1d4 special, crit --, range 2ft., 3lb., electricity]
First Aid Kit [Treat Injury DC 15, one use, negates normal -4 to Treat Injury checks, 3lb.]
Vampire Slayer Kit [Mossberg, 5 wood stakes, 5 phos. shls, silver holy symbols, hand xbow, 5 wood bolts, metal mirror, garlic necklace, alum. case, 20lb.]
Business Clothing [3lb.]
Casual Clothing [2lb.]
Overcoat [3lb.]
Digital Camera [connects to computer, 0.5lb.]
Notebook Computer [5lb.]
PDA [connects with computer, 0.5lb.] Portable Occult Library
Total Weight Carried: 41lb. (medium load)

2005 Volkswagen Beetle (Purple) ARCANIX Illinois License Plates.

Larina Nichols

Human Female
Alignment: Independent (Agent of A.R.T.E.M.I.S.)
DoB: 10/25/1969 (36 in 2006)
Place of Birth: Carbondale, IL
Current Residence: Chicago, IL

Hair: Red
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 127 lbs

Handiness: Right* (can write with Left hand, with difficulty)

Aliases: Larina MacAlister, Larina Nix, "Nixie."

So. This is a good build, I can't say I am 100% happy with it. There is so much customization you can do with d20 that the combinations and permutations are practically endless. 

I both miss and hate, at the same time, d20's multiclassing. I love how flexible it is and how you can combine all sorts of classes to get the exact character you want. But it is also tedious. I mean I could have gone down the path of Occultist, or Acolyte, or even going into the various Prestige classes. There is so much choice. 

I showed this to my son when he got off work Wednesday night/Thursday morning. He just laughed and reminded me yet again why we tend to play 5e, AD&D 1st ed and Basic D&D instead.

This exercise has also reminded me that I wanted to do a lot more with A.R.T.E.M.I.S. as well. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Larina McAlester, nee Nichols

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Powers
Mind Reading 4pts
Telekinesis 1

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

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

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

Comparisons to Chill 2nd Edition

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Larina Nix for Alternity Dark•Matter

 It's time to put everything together and see how it works. Since this is a modern horror sci-fi game, I'm going to use my standard character for these things. But first, I should at least talk about how I'm going to do it all.

I knew I had to use both the Alternity Core rules as well as the Dark•Matter campaign setting. I also looked into two of the other books I have here, Mindwalking: A Guide to Psionics and Beyond Science: A Guide to FX. Both books are good, but they are designed with Star*Drive in mind. Plus the rules for Psionics and FX, in particular Arcane and Miracles, have been updated in the Dark•Matter book. The designers even mention there are differences. So as fun as those too books look, I am going to not use them for this build.  

Now, one of the things I have had for Dark•Matter, well, forever, it seems, is this download on Witchcraft FX. While I am not 100% sure where I got it originally, it can still be downloaded from the alternityrpg.net site. 

• Witchcraft in Dark•Matter by Christopher West and Rod Bedison

I like it. I have liked it for many years now*, and I really wanted to use it. Instead of explaining it, you can download it for free yourself.  Here Witchcraft is a Faith-based FX. I like this. It tracks with what I was doing with Larina and all my witches at the same time. My own 1999 Complete Netbook of Witches & Warlocks had witches as a type of priest using wisdom. 

I began my base stats for Dark•Matter Larina using her AD&D 2nd Ed stats as a base. I used the guidelines in the Alternity Gamemaster's Guide for conversion. For her "back story" well, I used the version I was using at the time in WitchCraft. Here she is, a 29-year-old divorcee living in Chicago and working in the library of a major university. She is a librarian and linguist by training but an occultist "by night."  This gave me a good idea of who this Dark•Matter Larina was going to be.

Larina "Nix" Nichols

Human Female, Age 29 (1998)
Height: 5'4"  Weight: 125 lbs

Level: 10

Profession: Diplomat
Career: Occultist

Attributes
Motivation: Find the truth
Morals: Ethical / Just
Traits: Curious

Allegiance: Independent

Ability
Strength 8  (Res. Mod. 0)
Dexterity 9  (Res. Mod. 0)
Constitution 9
Intelligence 14  (Res. Mod. +2)
Will 14  (Res. Mod. +2)
Personality 14

Stun 9
Wound 9
Fatigue 5
Mortal 5

Last Resorts 3

Action Check Score
Marginal 13+
Ordinary 12
Good 6
Amazing 3

Combat Movement Rates
Sprint 8
Run 6
Walk 2
Easy Swim 1
Swim 8
Glide (8)
Fly (16)

Armor: None

Special Abilities: Witchcraft (Faith) FX

Perks: Great Looks, Second Sight

Flaws: Obsessed (+2)

Social Class: Middle Class

Contacts: Scott Elders (Psychic), Heather McHael (Seer). 

Enemies: Eric MacAlister (ex-husband, former IRA operative)

Attack Forms
Unarmed 4/2/1 LI/O Personal d4a/d4+1s/d4+2s
Athame 8/4/2 LI/O Personal d4w/d4w+1s/d4+2w

Skill Points Spent: 91  Stored: 6

Skills

Skill	Cost	Ability	Rank	Score
Athletics	3	STR		8	4	2
Vehicle Operation	3	DEX		9	4	2
Land Vehicle	3	DEX	1	10	5	2
Stamina	3	CON		9	4	2
Knowledge	3	INT		14	7	3
Lang. English	1	INT	3	17	8	4
Lang. Latin	1	INT	3	17	8	4
Lang. Greek	1	INT	3	17	8	4
Lang. Hebrew	1	INT	1	15	7	3
Lang. Russian	1	INT	1	15	7	3
Medical Science	3	INT	1	15	7	3
Psychology	5	INT	2	16	8	4
Physical Science	7	INT	1	15	7	3
Astronomy	3	INT	1	15	7	3
Social Science	6	INT	1	14	7	3
Anthropology	3	INT	2	16	8	4
Linguistics	3	INT	2	16	8	4
Awareness	3	WIL		14	7	3
Intuition	3	WIL	1	15	7	3
Perception	2	WIL	1	15	7	3
Investigate	7	WIL	1	14	7	3
Research	3	WIL	3	17	8	4
Lore	6	WIL	1	14	7	3
Conspiracy Theories	3	WIL	1	15	7	3
Occult Lore	3	WIL	2	16	8	4
Psychic Lore	3	WIL	1	15	7	3
Entertainment	4	PER	1	14	7	3
Sing	2	PER	1	15	7	3
Interaction	3	PER		14	7	3
Charm	3	PER	2	16	8	4
Seduce	3	PER	1	15	7	3

Bolded skills are Free. Skills in Purple are from Dark•Matter.

FX

Spell	Cost	Ability	Rank	Score
Witchcraft	13
Glamour	4	INT	1	15	7	3
Cast the Circle	2	WIL	2	16	8	4
Divination	3	WIL	3	17	8	4
Earth's Harvest	2	WIL	3	17	8	4
Part the Veil	4	WIL	3	17	8	4
Spellbind	2	WIL	2	16	8	4
Ward of Protection	3	WIL	2	16	8	4
Call Familiar	3	PER	1	15	7	3
Crone's Curse	4	PER	1	15	7	3

I went ahead and gave her Glamour even though it is not on the witchcraft list—it should be.

--

So I REALLY like this build. A few notes.

Levels in Alternity are treated differently than they are in *D&D games. In D&D games, you gain a level, and that helps define how powerful your abilities and skills will be. In Alternity, it is the other way around; your skills and powers help determine your level.

So Larina here would be a lot more skilled if she had dumped all of those skill points she spent on FX  (65 total) on more skills. 

She is not a combat person. She has no combat skills to speak of, and I am not likely to add much more to her for that. She can read a lot of languages and is a good researcher. More importantly, she has magic. I should give her some sort of blasty magic, but she is a support character for the most part. 

She compares well to her WitchCraft and AD&D 2nd Ed versions. I should get her WitchCraft version up sometime.

I will admit this build took me a while. A lot of it was my unfamiliarity with the system. It still took a bit. Going between multiple books is never really ideal. But this is a character I would play.

Now, if I were to get serious about Alternity Dark•Matter, I would likely work up my go-to psychic character, Scott Elders. He is a good choice since it would allow me to use all of the Mindwalking rules. He has alternates in AD&D, Modern times, and the Far Future so that also makes him a good fit.

*In the process of re-reading this to post today I found my original Dark•Matter sheets for Larina AND the printout of the Witchcraft Faith FX.

I started working on her back in March of 2000.

It only took me 24 years to finish.