I was reading over the newest version of Swords &Wizardry over my brief lunch break today.
It is neat and has some cool ideas but one thing struck me.
Like Basic Fantasy and some others and most notably D&D 3rd Ed and Pathfinder, S&S IV lists all the spells in alphabetical order and not by class and level. While I get this is very good way to organize the spells, it doesn't quite feel old school to me.
For me I guess it is one of tone. If this were a 3.x era book then I would want the spells in that format. If it were an OSR book, then do it like they did it when Gary and Dave were still rollin' 'em.
What are your preferences?
Do you like books were the spells are divided up by cast then level or do you like the alphabetical approach?
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Sorry, I was OUTSIDE!
Yeah it's springtime in Chicagoland, which means it is just as cold as winter, but we have a few more hours of daylight. I wanted to do some more White Plume Mountain today, but yardwork calls.
Though while cleaning out gutters today I did think of how first contact happened between the dwarves and human of my world. Much better than the first contact between dwarves and elves.
Going out to fertilize the lawn now. Who knows what I'll come up with then.
Though while cleaning out gutters today I did think of how first contact happened between the dwarves and human of my world. Much better than the first contact between dwarves and elves.
Going out to fertilize the lawn now. Who knows what I'll come up with then.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
13 Magazine for WGA
Just in time for Friday the 13th comes the newest supplement for Witch Girls Adventures.
13 Magazine
This is a fun little product.
Designed to be a magazine for young witches in the WGA world, it looks like any number of tween and teen mags that talk about fashion, boys and school. 13 is no different except the advice section deals with how to deal with your vampire boyfriend to a bunch of new spells no young witch should be without. IT looks like there will be regular features such as Aimee the Alchemist, Cryptid Database, advice from Denora the "Wicked Witch of the West Coast" and dating advice from Desdemond. Everything is presented with a little sidebar of notes for the Director of a WGA game on how to use.
I particularly liked the "First Jobs" article which dealt with baby sitting, but provided material to play or run younger witches than the core book had.
The layout is really good, full color and looking like a glossy fashion magazine. There are a few typos I noticed, but nothing that distracted me from the text or the fun.
If you like Witch Girls Adventures (and I do), then this is a good buy.
5 out of 5 stars
Again, I am inordinately fond of this game so anything new for it is great in my mind.
13 Magazine
Designed to be a magazine for young witches in the WGA world, it looks like any number of tween and teen mags that talk about fashion, boys and school. 13 is no different except the advice section deals with how to deal with your vampire boyfriend to a bunch of new spells no young witch should be without. IT looks like there will be regular features such as Aimee the Alchemist, Cryptid Database, advice from Denora the "Wicked Witch of the West Coast" and dating advice from Desdemond. Everything is presented with a little sidebar of notes for the Director of a WGA game on how to use.
I particularly liked the "First Jobs" article which dealt with baby sitting, but provided material to play or run younger witches than the core book had.
The layout is really good, full color and looking like a glossy fashion magazine. There are a few typos I noticed, but nothing that distracted me from the text or the fun.
If you like Witch Girls Adventures (and I do), then this is a good buy.
5 out of 5 stars
Again, I am inordinately fond of this game so anything new for it is great in my mind.
Happy Friday the 13th!
Hey! It is Friday the 13th which is usually pretty good for me. We will see if that holds today. ;)
On the down side all my posts since Wednesday are gone, but I think I can bring them back if I want.
Hope your Friday is a good one.
On the down side all my posts since Wednesday are gone, but I think I can bring them back if I want.
Hope your Friday is a good one.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Monster High
I blog about horror, monsters, vampires, witches and stuff like that. I enjoy webcomics like Eerie Cuties, Magick Chicks, School Bites and Shadow Girls. One of my favorite games is Witch Girls Adventures.
So it should be no surprise really that I know about the Monster High Dolls from Mattel. No, I don't own any of them (they don't have any witches from what I can tell) but I do get emails about them from readers letting me know about them.
But that is not why I am talking about them today.
I was reading this post from OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS about a father that wouldn't buy his daughter a Usagi Yojimbo doll. Being a parent myself I have spent a lot of time in the toy stores (really that is my honest reason!) and I have seen a lot of parents do some really dumb things and say some really stupid shit about toys their kids wanted to buy.
Though there is one that will always stick in my mind. I was at Target one day this last month or so. I forgot what it was I getting, but I was walking past the cash registers and there was this little boy, no more than 3 or 4 really. In his hand was one of these Monster Dolls. The look on his face as he looked down at his new doll and hugged it was priceless. He was so in love with his little monster girl. The mother, as any parent who has ever been in a Target, looked tired but she was obviously getting the toy for the little guy.
It really made me smile to see this little guy so happy and it made me feel good that this mother wasn't bowing to the pressure of buying a "Girl's Toy" for a little boy.
So it should be no surprise really that I know about the Monster High Dolls from Mattel. No, I don't own any of them (they don't have any witches from what I can tell) but I do get emails about them from readers letting me know about them.
But that is not why I am talking about them today.
I was reading this post from OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS about a father that wouldn't buy his daughter a Usagi Yojimbo doll. Being a parent myself I have spent a lot of time in the toy stores (really that is my honest reason!) and I have seen a lot of parents do some really dumb things and say some really stupid shit about toys their kids wanted to buy.
Though there is one that will always stick in my mind. I was at Target one day this last month or so. I forgot what it was I getting, but I was walking past the cash registers and there was this little boy, no more than 3 or 4 really. In his hand was one of these Monster Dolls. The look on his face as he looked down at his new doll and hugged it was priceless. He was so in love with his little monster girl. The mother, as any parent who has ever been in a Target, looked tired but she was obviously getting the toy for the little guy.
It really made me smile to see this little guy so happy and it made me feel good that this mother wasn't bowing to the pressure of buying a "Girl's Toy" for a little boy.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
More reviews
A few reviews sitting in my queue.Find this at DriveThruRPG.
Fantasy Heroines Set
I love these paper minis from Arion games and this package is no different. I bunch of little paper people for your game. There are heroines of every class type here and the "cheese cake" factor is minimal (the paladin for example is in head to toe armor). Some mounted and some tri-folded versions as well.
There is only one thing missing from this package are full sized (or even half sized) page versions of the characters to print out and use with a character sheet. That would make these perfect in my mind.
4 of 5 Stars
Greek Woman
Two hi-res pieces of art (the same, one in b/w, the other in sepia) to be used with any project personal or comerical.
A very good piece.
5 of 5 Stars
Doctor Who: Aliens and Creatures
An excellent source of new things to run away from!
Actually this is a great product, full of all sorts of monsters, aliens and other creatures primarily from the new version of Doctor Who (but some old favorites are still there).
There is also an adventure book with two ready to go adventures using these new creatures; and plenty of ideas of how to use the others.
Some printing will be required for the cards, but that is minimal.
The same level of art, design and layout given to the core game is here, making it one of the more attractive games out these days. Perfect for the Doctor Who gamer and the Doctor Who fan alike.
5 of 5 Stars
Eden Studios Presents: Volume 3
While it doesn't come out as often as I would like, each issue of ESP is worth the wait. In particular here are Jason Vey's conversions of WitchCraft Gifted to be used in the Cinematic lines like Buffy or Ghosts of Albion.
More Cinematic Unisystem spells for Buffy/Angel (and Ghosts of Albion or Army of Darkness).
If you play Unisystem games then this is a great resource for you.
5 of 5 Stars
Book of Races
This book is filled full of new and interesting races, many of which are not your typical fantasy fare. While not all are great there are some gems and I appreciate the overall effort. There are races, new feats and paragon paths for 4e (not Essentials, but easily updated).
The art does tend to be all over the place and some of it is not great. But for half price and the chance to do something very different than the typical elf-dwarf-halfling trifeca, this is a good choice.
4 of 5 Stars
F-211 Copperhead
This is actually pretty awesome and one of the best things about PDFs. For one price (and lot of printer ink) I can have a fleet of little paper spaceships.
The design is very cool, brings to mind both the Vipers of BSG and the X-Wings of Star Wars, so that is a plus.
My suggestion is to take your time and let the paper dry before gluing. I smudged my first one.
5 of 5 Stars
Enjoy!
Fantasy Heroines Set
I love these paper minis from Arion games and this package is no different. I bunch of little paper people for your game. There are heroines of every class type here and the "cheese cake" factor is minimal (the paladin for example is in head to toe armor). Some mounted and some tri-folded versions as well.
There is only one thing missing from this package are full sized (or even half sized) page versions of the characters to print out and use with a character sheet. That would make these perfect in my mind.
4 of 5 Stars
Greek Woman
Two hi-res pieces of art (the same, one in b/w, the other in sepia) to be used with any project personal or comerical.
A very good piece.
5 of 5 Stars
Doctor Who: Aliens and Creatures
An excellent source of new things to run away from!
Actually this is a great product, full of all sorts of monsters, aliens and other creatures primarily from the new version of Doctor Who (but some old favorites are still there).
There is also an adventure book with two ready to go adventures using these new creatures; and plenty of ideas of how to use the others.
Some printing will be required for the cards, but that is minimal.
The same level of art, design and layout given to the core game is here, making it one of the more attractive games out these days. Perfect for the Doctor Who gamer and the Doctor Who fan alike.
5 of 5 Stars
Eden Studios Presents: Volume 3
While it doesn't come out as often as I would like, each issue of ESP is worth the wait. In particular here are Jason Vey's conversions of WitchCraft Gifted to be used in the Cinematic lines like Buffy or Ghosts of Albion.
More Cinematic Unisystem spells for Buffy/Angel (and Ghosts of Albion or Army of Darkness).
If you play Unisystem games then this is a great resource for you.
5 of 5 Stars
Book of Races
This book is filled full of new and interesting races, many of which are not your typical fantasy fare. While not all are great there are some gems and I appreciate the overall effort. There are races, new feats and paragon paths for 4e (not Essentials, but easily updated).
The art does tend to be all over the place and some of it is not great. But for half price and the chance to do something very different than the typical elf-dwarf-halfling trifeca, this is a good choice.
4 of 5 Stars
F-211 Copperhead
This is actually pretty awesome and one of the best things about PDFs. For one price (and lot of printer ink) I can have a fleet of little paper spaceships.
The design is very cool, brings to mind both the Vipers of BSG and the X-Wings of Star Wars, so that is a plus.
My suggestion is to take your time and let the paper dry before gluing. I smudged my first one.
5 of 5 Stars
Enjoy!
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