Could my Answer be in the Realms?

I am moving my 3.x game over to a 4e one soon.    I have been buying up the Essentials books and some modules and I generally have what I think is a cool idea for campaign.  The world is fleshed out and I know what I am going to use and what I am not.

Except there is one little-bity problem. So much of what was true in my 3.x world no longer "works" under 4e.  Or rather it works so differently now that it is hard to see it working the same way when I was playing 3.x.  Then there are other issues.  My kids want to play the children of their D&D 3.x characters and these characters have some serious magic.  And there is the whole killing Tiamat thing they want to do.   How do I explain the changes?

Turns out the answer was under my nose this whole time.  In the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide.

I was never a fan of the Realms.  I considered it to be a pretender to Greyhawk and not a very worthy one at that.  I picked up the 3.0 Realms Guide when it came out and I liked it.  I felt it was a good book and all it really was missing was monsters.  The new 4e campaign books are a good model too.

But what I like the most about the Realms book is how completely gonzo it is.  Smash two planets together to get one world! I love that!  Spell plagues? Bring it on!

I know I have talked around all of this before in many posts, but it is time to make it more real I think.

So what will I include from the Forgotten Realms book in my Game World?

First, well, it is going to be in the future.  I am going to say about 25 to 30 years.  Not 100% sure, but long enough to have the world changing events happen at least a generation ago.  The Characters of this game have only know the world as it is now, never the world before.

Next, there will be a Spellplague.  The defeat of Tiamat and the Ascension of Asmodeus are just parts of that.  I am also going to have Raven Queen in my game and she just killed Nerull.  There will other things of course, but it was a series of Cosmos-shaking events that left the world changed.  The Fey-wild is now easier to get too, as is the Shadowfell (previously only known as the Plane of Shadow).  The main effect for the PCs is that some of the old magic no longer works.  So there is a quest for sources of "Old Magic" or even "True Magic".  With this, some older magic items are now useless.  Of course the spellplague was chaotic so some normal items are now magical.  There is still magic to be found out there "New" and "Old".
Living things touched by it have been altered.  There will be spell scarred.

The ancient Astral empire of the Tieflings, Bael-Turath, has crashed into the world.  Here I am taking inspiration from the 90's TV show "Alien Nation".  Though this is a "magical crash" so there are now lands where there are ruins of the Tiefling society that seem ancient and always part of the land.  Bael-Turath had warred against Asmoedeus and the devils for countless centuries.  Part of Asmodeus' ascension was to reclaim the power that emperors of Bael-Turath had stolen from the Nine Hells.  The tieflings are now a broken, homeless race with members now fond all over the world and many still in the Astral Sea.

The Blood War is over.  With Asmodeus' Ascension and the Reckoning of Hell, the long war with the demons is over.  Asmodeus even managed to conscript entire demonic species under the auspices of Hell.  With the the power he gained Asmodeus broke the paths through the Astral that the demons and devils used to attack each other, effectively blocking demons from being able to enter the Prime Material.  If a demon wants to get to the Prime Material plane it has to go through Hell first.  By the time of the new game the distinction between "demon" and "devil" is a loose one in most peoples minds.  Plus the entire race of yugoloths were sacrificed in the process, with many seeking refuge in either the Abyss or Hell.
Asmodeus covets the Material World and wanted to bring Hell into it.  Here he failed, but managed to get it much "closer" metaphysically speaking.

One repercussion of this though is demons now focus on the Prime Material.  While it is harder for them to reach it now, many still do and with out the Blood War to contend with it is possible that more demons than ever are now attacking mortals.   This is something Asmodeus wants.  He has placed members of his cult in areas to fit demons and rally humans to his cause.  As the game progresses the influence of this cult will be more readily felt. To combat this the Gods will be using the mortal realm as their battlefield.

I think this is a good start and gives me a good idea of what my end game needs to be too.  Lolth, in one form or another will have hand in all of this too.  Events that began in my Shadow War of 1st Ed are now coming to a head.

Now I need to figure out who the main bad guys are and what they want to get out of all of this.

Retro Revival Blog Challenge Week 3: Toys

Today I am joining the Retro Revival Blog Challenge.  Seem like a good fit, they talk about a lot of 80s and so do I.  This is Week 3 and the first one I wanted to chat about.

This week's topic is on Toys.  Now the original post was about favorite toys. But instead, I want to talk about the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons toy line from LJN.

I was never a big collector of these, to be honest.  I had a few figures that I thought were cool, Kalek for example, but that was about it.  My brother had collected some and I bought some myself, but always said they were part of his collection.  I was 13-15 at the time and was not into buying toys anymore.

So a few years back I got the whole collection given back to me by my brother with bits my youngest brother added to it.  I remember buying the Ogre and the Umber Hulk.  The others were new to me.

You can see all I have left of Kalek is his spellbook.  Maybe I'll put that in my witch figure display in my game room.  I really like the ogre and the hook horror.  That hook horror looks like he walked out of my Fiend Folio and I still prefer this look to the "revised" one we get today.

Of course what my son was most psyched about is the Tiamat figure.  She does not have her wings anymore, but he quickly said "she is the god of dragons, she can fly without wings if she wanted to".  Plus he has been coveting my aspect of Tiamat D&D mini for a very long time.  So this is a nice little prize for him.

When I first got these from my brother I thought I would not use them in my games, but recently I have used the Ogre as a proto-Orcus demon and the Troll as Vaprak the Destroyer.

In the adventure, the boys were transported back to the Dawn War where He Who Was was killed by The Destroyer (who will become Demogorgon) and Dis, the god that dies and then becomes the demon Orcus.

I am not sure if finding the other toys in this line is something I want to pursue.  It would not be easy and it would not be cheap.  I hit plenty of swap meets, flea markets, and second-hand-stores though that when I find one, I pick one up.

Of course, no discussion of these toys is complete without mentioning Skylla.
I have taken my obsession with this character to, well, my typical levels of obsession.

She is the evil magic-user/with from the LJN Advanced Dungeons & Dragons toyline and Basic/Expert modules. So there is a lot of reason for me to like her.  So I made witch stats for her for every game I currently play.

• Introduction, base stats
• Spellcraft & Swordplay: Eldrtich Witchery
• Dragon Magazine Issues #5 and #20
• Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
• Pathfinder
• BECMI + Glantri Gazetteer Witch
• Castles & Crusades
• Adventures Dark & Deep
• Dragon Magazine #114
• The Complete B/X Adventurer
• Dungeons & Dragons, 5th Edition
• Dungeons & Dragons, 4th Edition
• Adventurer Conqueror King & Players Companion
• Fantastic Heroes & Witchery (Occultist)

I even made a Hero Forge mini of her to use in my games now (more on that tomorrow).

There you have it!  There is a great listing and discussion of all these toys at The Toy Archive.


Check out the other posting this week at Retro Revival.

http://retroramblings.com/retro-revival-blog-challenge-week-3-toys/
http://retroramblings.com/retro-revival-blog-challenge/

Gods, Demigods and Heroes

I have been thinking about Gods and the like in my games for some time now.  Now that I am going to be playing Pathfinder as well as 4e I thought I would look into some gods for my Mystoerth world.

Now Mystara didn't have gods, but Greyhawk does and so do all the other worlds I am using here.
A few I know I am going to use and where they all fit.

Gods
Ancient beings of great power.  The next generation after the Titans and Primordials.  Gods differ from humans and the others in many respects.  Gods can have Aspects and Avatars, which are semi-independent versions of themselves that can interact in the world.  Demons and Devils can have Aspects too, but generally only one at a time and for them it is more like Astral Projection.
Gods also have the power of creation.  They created their specific races, or the lands, or even the world.

Bahmut and Tiamat -Bahmut (and his Dragonlance cousin Paladine) has become the god of Lawful Good paladins since the 3.0 days.  This is only reinforced in 4.0.  Plus he is a very D&;D god, with ties back to the first Monster Manual and featured in the Dragonlance sagas.

Tiamat is a given for the same reasons, but she was also a god in myth in her own right.  Though given that in Babylonian myth she was the god of Chaos, I would change her alignment from LE to CE and put her in the Abyss.  In fact the Abyss is there there because she was tossed into it.


 Sehanine / Selûne / Shar - Three aspects of the same moon goddess. Represent the Maiden, Mother and Crone aspects of the Triple Goddess. Neutral.

Wee Jas - Goddess of Magic and Death. The Witch Queen.  Worshiped by the Suel. Mix in bits of Hecate, Cardea, Isis and Mystra to her.  Her student was Ioun.  LN.

Others
Bast Egyptian - Goddess of Cats and the hunt. CG
Blibdoolpoolp (Greyhawk) - Goddess of the Kuo-toa and other deep see nasties. Maybe a daughter of Dagon and consort of Demogorgon (ick). CE
Camazotz (Aztec) - the Bat God, I like having him as the god Vampires too, great rivalry exists between him and Orcus. Camazorz doesn't control vampires, but some vampires and vampire cult pay him homage. CE
Celestian (Greyhawk)-  God of the stars.  Have to include him. Neutral
Corellon - God of Elves.
Gruumsh - God of Orcs. Neutral Evil.
Istus (Greyhawk) - Goddess of Fate. Neutral
Lovitar (Realms/Finnish) - Everyone needs a crazy S&M chick.
Set - God of Evil.
Surtur - Fire Giants and Thrym - Frost Giants, both from Norse myth, but folded into the D&D myths.
Vaprak, the Destroyer - God of Trolls and Ogres. Though I have considered having this just be an aspect of Demogorgon.

I plan to use Earth myths when I can.  For example my Desert Elves worship elven versions of the Egyptian Pantheon.  Isis is an elf, but Set is human since according to these elves humans are the greatest evils in the world.

Devils
The new editions of D&D (3.x, Pathfinder and 4) have Asmodeus listed as a god.  Now I have no issues with that per se.  I even think the back story of Asmodeus rising to power that started with the Dragon Mag article "Politics of Hell", on through the Blood War stuff and finally his triumph at becoming a Dark God is an interesting one.  But it does't work for me.   See I would rather set Devils up as the alternatives to Gods.  The devils temp mortals away from the "proper" religions to worship them.  Why would a mortal worship a lesser beign like a Devil?  Simple, the devils provide a quick avenue to power.  Gods, even evil ones, require faith and worship and service, the rewards then are given based on that faith.  Devils tell the mortals "hey, why do all that work when you can work with us and get all those benefits now."  Devils also side with mortals against the Gods.  They will remind mortals that the Gods have it easy while they work and toil.  They even try to promote kinship, "hey the Gods cast us out, so we are on your side."  Of course these are all lies, but situated in enough truth that mortals keep falling for them.   Asmodeus then is not a Dark God, but the most power Arch Duke there is and his power is equal to that of a god or goddess.  The Devils will even point out that one of their own rose to such power that is should be possible for everyone to do it.
The devils now have moved beyond the "Blood War" of 2nd ed and are now going to engage in a "Gods War" with the battlefield the mortal realms.  I think a good story for the PCs would be to become part of this "Gods War".  I alluded to it a little in my Buffy adventure, The Dragon and the Phoenix.
Afterall what would be more climatic than all the heroes, each representing their God, on the field of battle against the greatest foe in humanity.    I might drop my "Vs. Orcus" idea for this instead.

Demons
The Abyss is the sewer of the multi-cosm.  Everything that gets flushed, thrown out, discarded and forgotten ends up here.  Of courses there were plenty of things here to start with.  Demons are legion.  There are thousands of types, races, and varieties.  Some, like Orcus, are "dead" Gods.  Others, like Demogorogn, used to be Titans.   Others still are cast out gods (not sent to Hell), forgotten powers or even monsters that have become very, very powerful.  There are even ones that were spawned by the Abyss itself.  If the ultimate purpose of the Devils is the destruction of all the Gods, then for Demons it is just destruction.
The Blood War, the war between the Demons and the Devils, was a minor skirmish in the long range plans of the Devils.  In fact prior to the Blood Wars, demons and devils had been on working terms.  The devils would often use demons as grunts in their battles.  This went on for so long that some species of demon were once considered to be devils and visa-versa.   Graz'zt, the Demon lord, had been an Duke of Hell, till he went native.  Succubi are constantly switching allegiances between demons and devils that they are difficult to properly classify.

Demogorgon - Older than the gods.  A Titan that has become more demonlike.  Hates Orcus.  Only worshiped by non-humans and insane cultists.  Just wants to destroy everything. CE.

Jubilex - Demon lord of slimes.  Created from the Abyss itself.  It is as if all the waste and runoff of the Abyss collected into a conscious form.  Deeply, deeply insane.  Wants the entire multcosm covered in acidic slime.

Orcus - Was a god, then demonized, killed, came back as undead, became a demon again.  GEnerally just an angry dude.  Hates undead, but hates them less than he hates everything else.  Wants to become the God of the Dead.  CE.

Primordials and Titans
Like in Greek myths, the Titans were the "parents" of the Gods.   Some gods from other games might end up here.  I prefer to figure these out as I need them.  The Scarred Lands books from Sword and Sorcery Studios were good for this concept as well.  They had a lot of interesting titans.  Theirs though were outright evil, I prefer to have my titans more uncaring about humans.  The world was theirs, now it isn't anymore and they are not happy about it.  Most of the titans are dead, others are imprisoned or converted to demons.

Primordials came even before the Titans and represent raw nature or natural aspects of the world.  Earth, Sky, Night, Death.  These things are hard to personify into human terms so Primordials are not really like the gods or titans at all.  Primordials do not care about worship or humans although some are aware of such actions.  In some cases my "Titans" are what other games "Primordials" are and my Primordials are something different.

Mad Gods
Have to include these. Things like Leviathan, Cthulhu and the rest certainly will have a place in my game.

For me Gods need to be complicated.  The characters live in a world where they can travel to the planes, commune or other wise get "evidence" for their faith.  I think I might make this a bit tougher is some cases and even out right prohibit in others.

The Dragonslayers vs White Plume Mountain, Part 1

Sunday was cold and rainy, so the perfect day to recover some stolen magical artifacts in a volcano!

The Dragonslayers (my kids' 3.x game) ventured into the classic module White Plume Mountain.  I changed the set up a bit, they have been hired by one of my more infamous NPCs, Crazy Omar, to recover Whelm, which he claims is owned by his family.  He tells them of Wave and Blackrazor and that representatives of their owners (which of course are already dead now).

I spent a couple days cutting out and taping the the White Plume Mountain Dungeon tiles I reviewed a while back, and the boys loved them!  They liked being able to see the doors and being able to write on the maps themselves.  BTW i figured if I printed the map out and connected all the tiles they would be about 7 feet by 5 feet.

Astute readers will recognize Fire and Ice back there as well (they are quasi NPCs in this game). Our minis are an eclectic lot of D&D minis, Heroclix, Darksword, and Heroscape. More astute OSR players will recognize this as room 10. 

My sons' ranger/arcane archer found the deeper pool and they made short work of Sea Hag and her pet, even with me boosting the Hag using some of my new rules on the witch (all hags in my game can take levels in Witch).

We had to cut short the adventure, diner was ready, but we will be getting back to it very soon.  I think my youngest wants Blackrazor, my oldest, who plays the Dragonborn Paladin, wants nothing to do with it.

I am dropping some of the Cthulhu-ish ideas I had earlier in favor of running it "straight", but there is something I just can't pass up.  A totally throw-away by Erol Otis I am sure, but the picture has always intrigued me. 

My boys after all are the "Dargonslayers" and Dragotha has to be one of the most powerful dracolich around. I figure he is a ancient (1,000+ years) red dragon lich.  I'll have him breath "black fire".  Give the boys something to really remember.  Maybe even put Kerapis on top of him, a lich of course.  Make them both pretty difficult to beat. 

Spoke too soon!  I found this online, http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4pr/20081105a.  Sweet.  And given that he is in 4th Edition, I might let him escape to plague the characters when we move over to 4e.  Plus, his stats are pretty much custom made for my son Liam!  Red dragon, dracolich, breaths cold blue necrotic fire, I am a bit surprised he never pointed this dragon out to me before in fact.  He does own all the Draconomicons.

To fit it into themythology of the game, Dragotha was once the red dragon consort of Tiamat.  Like all her consorts though he did something to offend the great Queen of Dragons and she killed him.  Of course Dragotha and Kerapis had already struck up a deal.  Kerapis, already a lich himself, turned the great dragon into a demi-lich and has been in Kerapis' service ever since.   If the players kill Kerapis first then Dragotha is free and he will use that freedom to lay waste to Kerapis' lair; ignoring the characters (till another time!).  The Dragonslayers only need his tooth to complete their own ritual to create a portal to Tiamat's lair.

This will be fun!

Getting back in to it

Ok, sorry for the long delay.  Holidays, work, school.  You know the drill.

I am going to start my end game for the "Dragon Slayers" game.  Here is how it is going to go.

The Dragon Slayers are in Glantri now having just solved the mystery of the Palace of the Silver Princess (module B3).
I was going to have them go on to S4 and WG4, but instead I think it will go like this.

First I am going to have to go to the "Forbidden City" (module I1) since I worked on the Wikipedia article a lot.  Then move on to the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (module S4) one of my favorite adventures.  Here they will need to get the copy of Iggwilv's Demonomicon.  Then naturally move on to WG4, the Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun and then finally ending in Death's Ride (module CM2) then moving on to Tiamat's lair for the big "boss battle".  Though I am going to have to up the challenges in all the modules since the characters are now between 14th and 17th level.

What I am thinking of doing is expanding S4 and WG4 into one larger supermodule.  There is so much information out there on S4 and it is a module I have owned since 1983, so I am very familiar with it.  Plus there is a lot of cool things in S4 that play well into the overall arc.  We need a copy of the Demonomicon and the Wonderous Lanthorn would be cool to have as would the Prison of Zagig (great place for Tiamat after the Dragon Slayers destroy her physical body).

Something to look forward to.

The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga

Well, it has taken us a year but we finally finished the Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga.

I made some changes to the adventure to have it fit in better with the overall arc of the Dragonslayers in their quest to stop the rise of Tiamat.  I also foreshadowed events of my Come Endless Darkness and War of the Witch Queen campaigns.

In the process of this adventure the characters began roughly at 20th-24th level in 3.x, converted over to 5e and they are leaving the adventure as 1st Ed characters.  In the course of the year they leveled up in the Hut so now everyone is about 29th level.  This is the reason for the switch to 1st ed since I think it handles 20+ levels better than 3e or 5e.   Also in the course of the last year I took bits and pieces from the Dragon Magazine (1st Edition) version of the Hut and something I found for 4th edition.

They fought the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The last Rainbow Dragon.

The dragon is supposed to be this dragon:

And finally, a re-ensouled, and very, very pissed off Kostchtchie.

For Kostchtchie I used an idea I had read years ago in White Dwarf #15; the Russian Nesting Doll monster.  Though I flipped it and started with a kobold, then a goblin, orc, hobgoblin, ogre, hill giant and then finally Kostchtchie himself.    Freaked the kids out that each time they hit him he got stronger.
Yes, that is one of the old ogre figures from the AD&D action figures line.

I mentioned in my review of this adventure that it is more plot driven than the other S series adventures. Baba Yaga is more of a defined character than say Acererak or Drelnza. In fact, she is presented in much of the same manner as Strahd was in Castle Ravenloft. Though there is the assumption that the PCs won't be so stupid as to attack her. Could the right group do it? Sure, but that is not the fun of this adventure. The fun here is investigating her magical hut and finding things that might be unique in your world. The Hut itself is almost a mini-campaign world, complete with it's own rules of magic and control over the daylight and nighttime hours. It does recall some of the "funhouse" dungeons of the S series in terms of what is being offered but there is some logic applied to most of the rooms. Others, unfortunately, feel like filler.
It was a fun adventure, but not one that really lives up to the S legacy or the potential of Baba Yaga herself.

Now given the levels the characters are at I will need to start looking into some of the really high level adventures for them.  Though really they should be ready to retire.

I did add Baba Yaga as a fully stated out monster thanks to the Baba Yaga Boss Stats (5E) from 00Games. But thankfully the kids did not piss her off enough to attack her.

Up next...are the Dragonslayers ready to stop the rise of Tiamat?

E is for Eodemon

Eodemons are another "new" race of demons I am working on.  Eodemons are the "Dawn Demons" or Proto Demons.  These are the demons that were already old and evil and sulking in the Hells.  Unlike the "devils" that were once good and then fell or "demons" that are relatively new to the scene, the Protodemons were old and evil. Their motivations are often alien to mortals and other demons.  Their numbers are few, but each one is extremely powerful.  Many are worshiped as gods, or at least, dark gods.

These are not to be confused with the Eudaemons, or beneficial demons.  Also many believe that Lilith herself is an Eodemon, but this is something she denies.  Also some scholars use the more archaic form Eolim to describe these demons.  Not to be confused with Elohim, which are also servants of Good.

For my take on these demons I am taking really, really old myths.  The one that everyone knows is Pazuzu.
How do you know him?  He was the demon in The Exorcist.

Only five Eodemons are being detailed. There maybe more, but they have thankfully remained unknown.  As a group they are more powerful than the Baalseraph, but are too independent and chaotic to work to the same ends.

While I am connecting the Baalserasph Lords with the Deadly Sins, I see the Eodemons as representing a classical element.

Dagon: Lord of the depths. This Eodemon combines the worst aspects of fish, octopi, sharks and strangely mankind.  Like most Eodemons his form constantly shifts and rearranges itself to suit his need, environment or whim.  One constant is his large, dead looking eyes. Always described as the “eyes of a fish” or a “drowned man”.
His element is Water.

Leviathan: It is supposed that this is the oldest of all the Eodemons.  Leviathan is so ancient that even other demons seem in awe of “his” age and power.  It assumed that it is a he though there is no evidence to suggest either way. Leviathan exists only for one purpose; to feed.  Leviathan can be found in the Astral realms devouring entire worlds.
"He" represents the Fifth Element of Quintessence.

Pazuzu: The Lord of the East Wind is a demon of the skies. He appears to be a well proportioned athletic male human with bronzed skin. His head is a bizarre combination of human, dragon and hawk.  His double set of wings could indicate a semi-divine nature but Lord Pazuzu denies such things.  Lord Pazuzu says a lot actually, he is the most active Eodemon in the affairs of mortals.
He represents the element Air.

Tiamat: The Queen of Monsters and Primal Chaos.  Tiamat was once a primal goddess of creation. But she desired only to destroy.  She was cast out and was already old in the hells when the Baalseraph arrived.  Evil Dragons and evil monsters still revere her as their queen and goddess.
She represents the element Water.

Tsathogga: This great demon appears as some sort of titanic frog-like monster.  It appears to be at least 50’ long or as much as 75’. There is a vague humanness about this this demon, but it’s countenance is one of an evil frog. It’s mouth is filled with rows of sharp, shark-like teeth the length of a grown man’s  arm.  It’s body is covered in open sores where oozes pour out.   Tsathogga does not bother to attack mere humans and will summon 4-9 (1d6+3) Demodands loyal only to him. Tsathogga, when he does attack, will use his tongue to attack the nearest opponent.  Human cultists worship Tsathogga, but the Demon Lord cares little for humanity.
The Lord of Toads represents the element Earth (I know, not a great fit).

So a nice collection of different myths here.

Family Game Day: All Wet (rain and ocean adventures)

Taking a break from Anime RPGs for a sec to talk about yesterday's family game day.

Due to the rain yesterday and a general lack of motivation we decided to play a game of D&D.  This is the on going saga of the "Dragon Slayers" which consisted of my oldest son's three characters (I have alway let him play multiple characters since it was just us), my youngest son and his Archer Ranger/Thief and even my wife got into the game for a bit.  A couple of D&D tile sets (which my wife told me to go out and buy more!) a few  of my son's toys that work great with the minis, and a half baked idea all came together for "Dragon Slayers and the Quest for the Dragon Pearl!"

I used my Hero Lab for Pathfinder to put together a character for my wife really fast; a duel wielding Ranger/Fighter multiclass. Now this is not the same game as the Kid's Pathfinder game I have been playing in.  Though Connor is playing an older version of that character in the Dragon Slayers game.  Liam's characters are also somehow related in both games.  I am playing the same witch character.  In Dragon Slayers she is a 9th level witch using my Liber Mysterium rules for D&D 3.0 and in Pathfinder she is a 1st level witch using the new witch class from that game. In Dragon Slayers she is a GMPC/NPC of course, but her job in that group is to record all the knowledge the characters gather on dragons.

The Dragon Slayers game has turned into a rather cool one.  It is at it's base D&D 3.0 with various 3.5 add ins, a little Star Wars d20 (for the Bounty Hunter) and some BESM d20 and Mutants and Masterminds where needed.  It is set in my Mystoerth world which is another unholy union of various D&D worlds, so it all fits really.  The over arching plot here is that evil dragons are planning to take over the world by killing all the good dragons, the characters are finding all the big bad evil dragons and hunting them down, while collecting pieces of an artifact so the can defeat Tiamat. So it has it's own built in end game.   While they are seraching for these artifacts they are also looking for other items of power.  They are supposed to head to the South Pole next time, which I am going to draw heavy from At the Mountains of Madness for, but before they get there they will come to Ansalon, a country they did not know was there (it's not on their maps) and this gives me the excuse to have them gain some Dragonlances.  So yeah, this game is more cartoon than it is fantasy adventure epic, so in a way it does connect back to the topic at hand; how to add Anime Style to your games.  My son's character sheets are an odd collection of D&D 3.0, M&M and BESM d20.  For this game the BESM d20 sheets work the best since his wizards tend to have "powers" instead of "spells".
I know there are purists out there cringing, but all I can say is it works and it is fun.

Yesterday the Dragon Slayers were convinced by an Ogre to retrieve a "Dragon Pearl".  Why were they dealing with an ogre?  Well he had the only boat that would take them from The Four Kingdoms north of the Zakhara desert to the South Pole where they believe another piece of the artifact was.  The pearl was in a submerged cave system and protected by a Deep Sea Dragon Eel and an Aquatic Dragon.  Which were stat wise just two adult black dragons with about 200 hp each.  The Dragon Eel was a toy viper fish that my son got years ago and the aquatic dragon was this sea dragon toy he bought recently on Amazon.  The "ogre" was also an "igor" figure from a Castlevania Succubus, so while he is a small figure to her, to a 7ft tall Dragonborn mini he is about 10-13ft tall (hard to tell, he is hunched over).

The adventure went great and nearly everyone gained enough XP to level up.  My sons started talking about the "end game" of this; when they defeat Tiamat and retire to pick up on 4th Edition.  While I Am looking forward to playing some 4th edition with them, I am finding I am not really ready to see the end of the Dragon Slayers yet.  It has been a ridiculously fun ride.

What adventures will the Dragon Slayers have next rainy day?  Unknown, but it will certainly be a blast.

Return to the Palace of the Silver Princess, Session 3, Finale

Well we finished the adventure.

I changed it a bit and actually had the character fight Arik of the Hundred Eyes who was in reality not so much of a god, but a really, really powerful fiendish beholder.  Set him at 20 HD and let the group of characters, 6 of them, 10th to 14th level, deal with him.

In the end it was pretty awesome really.  Lots of fun.  Everyone got a chance to level up and I forgot how much book-keeping 3.x is.

Now need to figure out what to do for the next adventure before they take on Tiamat.

D&D40 Bloghop: Day 25

Day 25: Longest running campaign/gaming group you've been in.

This one is pretty easy.
I have been able to play in some pretty cool groups, but the one that has lasted the longest and the one I get the most enjoyment out of is Dragonslayers.

The Dragonslayers began as a way of teaching my oldest son how to play.  He was only about 4 years old at the time. I began with some very simple rules, but mostly based around D&D 3rd Ed.

I added in bits of Star Wars d20, BESM d20 and Mutants & Masterminds.  Over the years we also added my youngest son.  I have talked about the group many times here.

Presently the Dragonslayers are all in Epic levels, 24-26.  Yeah I wanted to do somethings with 4e too, so I am using the 3.x Epic Level Handbook and ideas from 4e. I have one more adventure to take them through and then it is off to the Dragon's Isle to fight Tiamat.  It will be epic!

D&DGII The Black Forest Mythos: The Mother Goddesses Herde Oberin, Mutter Natur and Großmutter

Three more Goddesses today for my Black Forest Mythos. All are "mother" Goddesses and have quite a lot of control. Herde Oberin is the wife of Unser Vater and represents the home and hearth. She has aspects of Juno/Hera and Frigg as well as Hestia. Mutter Natur, or "Mother Nature" is the anthropomorphized Nature.  The last is Großmutter or "Grandmother", who is Gaia in the Greek myths. She is the mother of the Gods but is also the mother of many of the other creatures in these myths, including the Álfar.  

I am undecided whether Großmutter and Mutter Natur are not aspects of the same goddess. Often times you see gods and goddesses getting reduced as the pantheons age.  BUT also you see gods and goddesses splitting off.  In this case, I am keeping them separate for now but keeping in mind they might in fact be the same being.  Mutter Natur could be an aspect of Großmutter that is in an easier-to-understand concept for these people.

Herde Oberin

Herde Oberin is the wife of Unser Vater and one of the trinity of Goddesses which includes Liebhaberin the Maiden and Helga the Crone.  She represents the Mother aspect of the trinity and is the protector of the home and hearth and the family.  She is responsible for all things that happen within the home.  Unser Vater may be the chieftain of the gods, but in the home, her word is law. Spells and prayers to protect a home or children always invoke her name.

She combines aspects of Frigg/Frigga, Hera/Juno, and Hestia. She is not a jealous sort as is Hera/Juno because she is the regal queen who knows how to get what she wants/needs through her own power. 

HERDE OBERIN (Queen of the Gods)
Greater Goddess

ARMOR CLASS: 1
MOVE: 12" 
HIT POINTS: 350
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3d8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Magic
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Commanding Presence
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 75%

SIZE: M (5' 6")
ALIGNMENT: Lawful Good
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All (mostly Good)
SYMBOL: Distaff
PLANE: Himmel

CLERIC/DRUID: 20th level Cleric
FIGHTER: Nil
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
WITCH/WARLOCK: Nile
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
S: 15 I:20 W: 23 D: 20 C: 20 CH:25

Herde Oberin is the Queen of the Gods, wife to Unser Vater, and mother to many of the younger gods. She is the rule of the home and hearth where her word is law. She provides order and calmness to the gods and their dealings. She is the peacemaker between the gods, but they all fear her wrath. 

She prefers not to attack anyone, god or mortal, but when threatened, she can. She can cast any cleric spell at the 20th level of ability. She also wields a distaff that she can use to strike anyone for 3d7 hp of damage. Within her home on Himmel she also has a Commanding Presence. She can speak and any mortal who hears her will obey. Gods and other divine beings are allowed a saving throw. Undead, constructs and other creatures normally immune to the effects of mind-affecting magic are destroyed when she uses her commanding voice.  Likewise, she can use any Power Word spell once per day.

Herde Oberin is part of a Trinity of Goddess who see the well-being of mortals from birth to death. Liebhaberin the Maiden sees life begin, Herde Oberin the Mother sees life grow and flourish, and Helga the Crone sees life end and takes the souls beyond.  In this manner, they interact with the Fata Norne.

Animal: Dog or cat
Rainment: (Head) circlet or crown (Body) Simple garments
Color(s): White, 
Holy Days: Summer and Winter Solstices
Sacrifices: A small bit of food and drink left out at night
Place of Worship: The home

Mutter Natur

The Goddess of Nature and the Earth. She is the Mother of Ôstara, and she holds the same place in these myths as Demeter/Ceres. Likewise she has a mystery cult dedicated to her as Demeter did with the Eleusinian Mysteries. From the Germanic/Norse people she takes on aspects of Frigg (like Herde Oberin) but also of Woden/Odin do to her mystery cult. As Odin knew many secrets, so too does Mutter Natur. 

Mutter Natur is the goddess that druids would worship. Her mystery cult is comprised of a type of early European Celtic type of Druid adapted from the La Tène culture of Europe.

MUTTER NATUR (Goddess of Earth and Nature)
Greater Goddess

ARMOR CLASS: 1
MOVE: 18" / 24"
HIT POINTS: 300
NO. OF ATTACKS: See below
DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Blight/Bless
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Blight/Bless
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 60%

SIZE: M (6' 1")
ALIGNMENT: Neutral 
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All (Farmers, Druids, Mystery Cultists)
SYMBOL: A circle
PLANE: Prime Material

CLERIC/DRUID: 25th level Druid
FIGHTER: Nil
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
WITCH/WARLOCK: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
S: 11 I:20 W: 24 D: 25 C: 20 CH:20

Mutter Natur is the Goddess of the Earth, Nature, and all growing things. If Herde Oberin is the Goddess of Domestic life then Mutter Natur is the Goddess of all things wild. She is the daughter of Großmutter and the mother of Ôstara. She waxes and wanes with the seasons. 

She does not attack, but she can summon any weather of her choosing to hinder or even destroy anyone that would cause her harm. This can include spells like Gust of Wind or Lightning Bolt. She can also cast spells as a Druid of the 25th level.  At her choosing, she can also have a continuous Blight or Bless aura about her that extends to 60'.

Mutter Natur has a mystery cult. This cult resembles the practice of Druids and Shamans. Here, great secrets are revealed to the members and only the members.  To divulge these secrets results in a loss of all status and power. Some even say that the Earth itself will open up and swallow anyone before they can reveal these secrets. To date no one knows what these secrets are outside of her cult and none within will risk her wrath.

Animal: All
Rainment: (Head) circlet of flowers in the spring, leaves in the fall (Body) Simple garments
Color(s): Green
Holy Days: Equinoxes
Sacrifices: Animal sacrifice at the Equinoxes. Animals are then eaten by congregants.
Place of Worship: Any open space

Großmutter

While she is called Grandmother, she is more appropriately the mother of the Gods,  Die Hüne, and many of the other creatures in this myth. She is equal to the Greek Gaia and the ancient Tiamat. Her brother/husband/lover Großvater is destroyed by their son Vater Hüne to make the night sky. Großvater is equal to Uranus/Ouranos in Greek and Roman myth and Ymir in Norse.

GROẞMUTTER (Goddess of Creation)

Intermediate Goddess

ARMOR CLASS: NA
MOVE: NA
HIT POINTS: Infinite
NO. OF ATTACKS: NA
DAMAGE/ATTACK: NA
SPECIAL ATTACKS: NA
SPECIAL DEFENSES: NA
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 100%

SIZE: Varies
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: None
SYMBOL: Infinity sign
PLANE: All

CLERIC/DRUID: Nil
FIGHTER: Nil
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
WITCH/WARLOCK: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
S: - I: - W: - D: - C: - CH: - 

Großmutter is the creatrix goddess and has no physical form save for all the Earth people walk on. She can communicate to others via dreams or other sending. It is said she can talk directly to gods, but her voice would destroy any others that hear it.

It is believed that Mutter Natur may be her aspect in an anthropomorphic form, and this is one of the many secrets learned in her secret Mystery cult.

--

Links

• One Man's God Special: Syncretism Part 3, the Roman-Norse Pantheon
• My overview and rules for these postings
• Unser Vater, Father of the Gods
• Sisters of the Dawn, Liebhaberin and Ôstara

This is another post for my RPG Blog Carnival Horrors, Gods, and Monsters.

Not Yet a Mail Call Tuesday: ReAction D&D Figures

 Well...not exactly a Mail Call Tuesday today. Though it will be sometime in June/July.  But I had to mention these.

ReAction, the company that makes action figures for various properties in the style of the old Kenner Star Wars figures (3.75" scale), has a new series coming out.

Wave 1 of their Dungeons & Dragons line has some very familiar faces.

There is the Sorceress (D&D Moldvay Basic), the Efreeti (DMG), and the Githyanki (Fiend Folio) in the first wave for preorder now.

Damn it. Just when I was in a good place NOT to give WotC any money out of protest for the OGL shenanigans. 

Anyway. As someone who really went hardcore with D&D with the Moldvay Basic (my first proper D&D) and writes so much about witches, I am morally obligated to buy the Sorceress.  I owe it to that 11-year-old I once was. Besides, she is certainly popular.

The other figures also look great.

The Efreeti also has another advantage. At 3.75", that translates to 18.75' in D&D 3/4/5 scale.  So I could use it as the Efreeti Pasha. It would have a certain level of "street cred" to use the same figure as the front of the DMG for it.  Everyone in my current gaming groups knows all about 1st Ed AD&D, so to them, pulling this guy would have the same effect as pulling out Tiamat or Orcus.

All three of these figures have also, in one form or another, have had premium statues made of them. The Efreeti and the Githyanki from Wizkids and the Sorceress, in her modern guise of Seoni, from Dynamite. These figures are a lot cheaper.

You should be able to preorder these anywhere.

I am getting mine from Super7, which has better shipping. But I have seen them at Entertainment Earth as well. They will likely be on Amazon soon.  Of course you could order them from your FLGS or FLCS.

These are not the same scale as the new D&D Cartoon figures, but they are close to last year's NECA Skyla and Kelek figures. Come back around in June/July, and we will see.

My first new Game of 2010: BASH

Well had my regular GM and his family over the other night for New Year's Eve and I was introduced to BASH, Basic Action Super Heroes. It is a simple supers RPG that I am sure I am going to be playing more of in the near future. But what has impressed me the most are the number of conversions that the BASH fan community has already put together. I converted one of my M&M characters over to BASH fairly quickly. I have another character I am working on now that started out in BESM 3.0, re-done in M&M (as PL 5), then converted over to Marvel Super Heroes. It will be interesting to see if the BASH conversion goes over well.

The system is really simple, a good thing these days, and looks easy to learn. I also looks pretty flexible too. There are BASH Fantasy and BASH Sci-Fi games too, which I will need to check out.

Like most Supers games, well pretty much every game, I look at the magic first. So far the powers look very Champions or Mutants & Masterminds like, i.e. I choose the "Blast" power and call it "Arcane Blast". I plan to look at Fantasy BASH for more classical, ritualized spellcasting. Given my GM's preferences, I also expect we will be diving into Sci-Fi BASH at some point this year as well.
Since that seems to be the thing to do I'll post some conversions for BASH myself, after I have read it a bit more.

Other games I want to play in 2010:

• D&D 3.x (running) – I want to finish up my oldest son's campaign to defeat Tiamat. The characters in this game will the mytho-historical figures of our next, 4e game.
  
• D&D 4e (playing) – I have at least four 1^st to 2^nd level characters that I have started on various games and I want them to progress.
  
• Doctor Who (running or playing) – I am going to convert my Ghosts of Albion adventure "Obsession" over to Doctor Who. Fitting really since one of its inspirations was the 4^th Doctor's "The Talons of Weng-Chiang". I thought about doing it for Victoriana, but part of plot is somewhat contradictory in a world where everyone knows magic is real.
  
• Witch Girls Adventures (running or playing) – I have a few things I am working on for myself that look like they would be a lot of fun.
  

Otherwise here is to some good gaming in 2010!

The Next Dungeons & Dragons

If you haven't heard yet you soon will.
We now know the dates, prices and cover art of the next edition of Dungeons & Dragons.
No 5th ed. No "Next" (thankfully!). Just "Dungeons & Dragons".

First I like that the edition has been dropped.  This is supposed to be the "Edition to unite all the Editions".
I also like the dragon ampersand a call back to the roots, or at least when D&D was at it's most popular.

Here are the products to get us going.  They are listed on Amazon for pre-order, but I would like to point out that support for these games comes not from Amazon, but from your Local Game Store.  Please buy these locally if you can

Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set
Fantasy Roleplaying Fundamentals
http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/starterset

The D&D "Basic" set is first up and this is a fantastic way to get the edition going.  For $20 you can see if you like the rules and game and still get everything you need for levels 1 to 5.   It has a 64 page DMs/Adventure book, a 32 page Player's book and 5 pregens. It even comes with dice.

As a long time fan of the Basic Set(s) I think this is fantastic.

Release Date: July 15, 2014
Page Count: 96
Price: $19.99; C$22.95

D&D Player's Handbook
A Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook
http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/playershandbook

Now we are getting into the hard covers proper.  This is a little bit like the late 1970s.  We had the Holmes basic set and then the other hardbacks came out in staggered releases.  Then I think it was more matter of production and bandwidth. Now it is to keep the errata down and make sure each book gets its due.  The PHB is the perfect choice for a second release.
At 320 pages I am expecting quite a lot.  For $50 I should get a lot.  Again, this is not an unexpected price.

Release Date: August 19, 2014
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 320
Price: $49.95; C$57.00

D&D Monster Manual
A Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook
http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/monstermanual

I like this cover a lot. While a red dragon would have been nice, the beholder is also a good choice.
Same page count as the PHB, which I expected.  Same price too.

Release Date: September 17, 2014
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 320
Price: $49.95; C$57.00

D&D Dungeon Master's Guide
A Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/dmg

I have often said that the best book out there on how to run a game (any game) is still the 1st Ed DMG.  I honestly felt that the 3rd Edition DMG was also very good.  So I have high hopes for this one.  Again, the same size and cost as the PHB and MM.

Release Date: November 18, 2014
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 320
Price: $49.95; C$57.00

All in all I am pretty excited for these.  Right now I have no plans to play it.  My kids still love 1st Ed.  There are some adventures coming out, but they focus on Tiamat and the dragoncult and I did all of that for 3e.  But we are getting new sets of miniatures, so that is something.

Looking forward to that Basic set in two months.

A to Z of Adventure! H is for High Level / Bloodstone

H is for High Level / Bloodstone.

The H series is an odd one, even in a group that includes a lot of odd ones.  There is a connecting story, of sorts; dealing with the interference of Orcus, but there are other things going here.
The first adventure, H1 Bloodstone Pass was for 1st edition AD&D but was also part of their new Battlesystem mass warfare rules.  H2 Mines of Bloodstone is more of a straightforward adventure.  H3 brings us back to Battlesystem and finally H4...well, let me get to H4 in just a bit.

H1 Bloodstone Pass 13–17
H2 The Mines of Bloodstone 16–18
H3 The Bloodstone Wars 17–20
H4 The Throne of Bloodstone 18-100

H4 The Throne of Bloodstone was fairly notorious back in the day.  It was another adventure I bought and then gave to my DM with screams of "run this!"  We ran it the first summer I was home from college.

The basic plot is that all the trouble caused in the previous modules was not just due to a cult of the Demon Prince Orcus, but Orcus himself.  In H4 the characters went to his lair in the Abyss and killed him.  Ok...where to begin with this one!

Well let's start with that cover.

This is the only adventure in the series that is labeled for the Forgotten Realms.  The first, H1, assumed any world.   There is Orcus himself coming out of the mouth hell or something (the Abyss really).   Oh and the recommended levels...let's see, 18 to 100!  100th level characters?

I have to admit that was one of the reasons why I grabbed this.  We had been playing a LONG time and I have many characters well past the by-the-book levels.  AD&D at the time really only went to about 25th level, but figuring out higher levels was not that big of a deal.  Generally speaking, adventures topped off at 20th level.
So I took some characters, right around 20th - 25th level...and a couple of them died right away!  This was not an adventure to screw around with.

The other thing you notice with this adventure is that it is long. The module itself is like 96 pages and tons of maps.  I seem to recall it took us a while to get through it too, most of the summer I was home from college.

You do get to fight Orcus in the end, as well as Tiamat, Baphomet, a giant Red Dragon, and potentially Asmodeus.  It is just a deadly, deadly module.

After this, I retired all the characters that went through.  After all what was left for them to do?

Fighting Orcus is a theme that D&D would come back to again and again.  The HPE series for 4e, especially the Epic modules.  In 2nd edition, the events of this module would later play out as part of the Dead Gods' adventure.

For me, today, this adventure is a template for other high-level adventures.  While the module said up to 100th level, there are not really many qualitative differences between a 25th level character and a 100th level one.  Fighters top off in attacks. Clerics top off on undead turning at 14th level and so on.   I was a little disappointed that the AD&D designers did not take a page from the D&D team in this case.  At this point in time AD&D and D&D were two different, but similar, systems.  D&D characters could go to 36th level and even become immortal.  Some of that would have been helpful here.

Much like the E modules, this module is likely to use as a source of material, but not so much as the adventure itself.  Still...running it could be a lot of fun.

In truth fighting Orcus is always a good idea. He is a demon, he wants to destroy everything AND in the E series, he desires to become a god.  This H series and the E series only scratches the surface when it comes to fighting Orcus.  And even if you do kill him there is still the Dead Gods adventure that deals with him coming back from the dead. In fact, there is no lack of products out there to let you match up against the Demon Prince Orcus.

This is certainly an end-game adventure after this buy that castle in southern Nyrond, hang your +5 Holy Avenger over the mantle, hire some Valley Elves to make some wine and kick up your heels and smoke pipeweed to end of your days.

Caverna do Dragão / Cave of the Dragon

Like many gamers my age I have had a "complicated" relationship with the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon of the 80s.  At the time I thought it was stupid. But as I got older I came to appreciate it for what it really was.  My kids LOVED it, especially my youngest son.  I bought the boxed set that came out with the D&D 3.0 stats and it was a great blast.

So the whole Internet has been abuzz when these pictures start coming out.

A cosplay group?  A new movie!? A Netflix series??
Nope. It's a Brazilian car commercial for the new Renault Outsider!




I have to admit. Tiamat looks freaking awesome here, and they really captured the feel of the characters.  I swear that Eric and Diana looked like they walked right out of the cartoon and into this commercial. 

My orginal DM just said on Facebook that they must have had a bigger budget for this 1 minute 45 second TV spot than the first D&D movie.  I am inclined to believe that.

AND now thanks to Renault we know how the story ends.

Now maybe Paizo can team up with Nissan for a Pathfinder commercial?

Lack of brain

There were a lot of things I wanted to post over the last week or so, but my brain is mush.

To top everything of I worked 14 hours today to get ready for the Fall term that starts next week.
I am still not done.

So what do I know?

Well DriveThru is celebrating H. P. Lovecraft's birthday with some sales on Lovecraft inspired games.

Not sure if I am going to get to play Pathfinder next week cause of all the work I still have to do.

I did the math the other day and the DragonSlayers don't have enough gear, spells or HP to take on Tiamat yet.  Especially if I play her right.

I have about 12 started, but unfinished posts.  I hope to get some of them out to you all soon.