Skylla: Dragon Magazine #114

The first witch class that many people remember the best is the very good Dragon Mag #114 version.
It was the first one I remember seeing and using.  Chances are if you ran into someone playing a witch anytime after 1986 then they were using this class.  Interesting that it was designed as an NPC class.
It was another update to the venerable witch from Dragon Mags #5, #20 and #43.  While issue #43 had a great deal of information, Dragon #114 is known for the art. There was controversial cover and the use of Larry Elmore art as one of the witches.   It was this issue that set the desire in my mind to have Elmore art in one of my books one day.

Like issues #5 and #20, Skylla seems to be a good fit for this witch.  Like those witches the prime abilities for this witch are Intelligence and Wisdom.   Charisma is still important since it determines the witch's starting gold.
The amount of magical powers this witch gets is much less though.  Some the power don't really make a lot of sense, like a find familiar ability at 10th level.
Spells are more inline with the other spell casters.
Like most AD&D spell casters the witch starts out weak, but soon grows to be very powerful.  Maybe too powerful for some games to be honest.

Skylla from Dragon #114
Again I am making her 7th level.  If I had to name a Tradition for her it would absolutely be the High Secret Order Tradition.

Not exactly Skylla, but really close

Skylla, 7th Level Witch "Mystic" (Dragon #114)
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 14* (bonus 2 1st level spells)
Wisdom: 13*
Charisma: 12

Hit Points:  20
Alignment: Neutral Evil
AC: 4 (Ring of Protection +1)

Powers
1st level: none
2nd level: none
3rd level: Brew poisons & narcotics
4th level: Brew truth drug
5th level: Brew love potion
6th level: Manufacture potions & scrolls
7th level: Candle magic

Spells 
First: Charm Man I, Darkness, Detect Poison, Give Wounds, Light, Magic Disk, Sleep
Second: Detect Invisiblity, Locate Object, ESP
Third: Calm, Lightning bolt
Fourth: Levitate

Magic Items
Ring of Protection +1, Dagger +1, Staff of Enchantment, Skull of Death**

Of course I am pleased with this build but that is no surprise.   I played a "Dragon 114" witch till she was about 10th level and then rolled up a "Mayfair Witch", but that is a post for another day.

Interview / Round table Discussion at Aethercon

Here is a interview / round table discussion I did last month for AetherCon.

We spend a lot of time talking about Strange Brew but we talk for about an hour and half so we hit a lot of topics.



I really should have put a light on. It is kind of hard to see me.

So have a watch! Learn more about Strange Brew.

Ghosts of Albion: Carcosa

"Every good story begins with a death." - Amber Benson

So I have had this terrible, terrible idea.

I want to run a Ghosts of Albion adventure set in the Reconstruction-era South. I am going to borrow heavily from sources like "True Detective", "Salem" and of all things "Little House on the Prairie" (trust me here).

So the basic plot is that the characters leave their typical English environs for America at the behest of a friend.  A girl has been ritually murdered in an otherwise quiet, hard working American town.  Upon investigation they discover a wide ranging cult of some of the town's most powerful men and the ritual that will take them to place known as Carcosa.

Following in the footsteps of TD I am not sure yet if Carcosa will be a real place or not. It doesn't have to be. There is plenty horror here without the need of things beyond the stars.  But given that this is a Ghosts of Albion game there will be some supernatural elements.

If it works out half as nice as I think it will I could really run it under any Victorian system. From the stark hyper-realism of Victoria to magic in the shadows of Cthulhu by Gaslight to the steam/magic-punk world of Victoriana.

White Dwarf Wednesdays? Sure!

Today is Wednesday.  That used to mean something around here at the Other Side.  I spent a nice long time reviewing White Dwarf from issue 1 to 100.

I missed doing something special each Wednesday to be honest.

Thanks to a kind benefactor I now have 25 issues of Games Workshop's precursor to White Dwarf, Owl and Weasel.

Owl and Weasel was launched in 1975 and was aimed at War-, board- and role-playing game enthusiasts.
Issue #6 is often considered their watershed issue where they devoted the entire issue to the new Dungeons & Dragons game.

The title was always a bit of mystery. Most people believe that it referred to the editors, Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, themselves.   I personally have never heard a definitive answer, but that is fine. I like the name.

So sit back and over the next 25 weeks I am going to briefly go over these issues.  Not a review so much as a looking for topics that interest me and readers of this blog.

Summer Cleaning

So making some cosmetic changes here at the ole' Other Side.

I moved my Kickstarter applet lower on the screen so people can still see it, but make room for my social media buttons.

I also have a great summer themed banner from old friend from the Kitten Board, Willow Ehrenreich.
Yes that is Willow and Tara up there. Yes I think it's cool.  Here is her untouched copy.

I like symbolism to be honest. Tara under the tree, Willow on a rock.  Fits well with how I have been running these characters for the last 12 years.

Posting might be light this summer.  Working hard on Strange Brew and other projects.  But don't worry.  I am not going anywhere.  In fact I have something special in mind for tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Best of the Best

I am very pleased to have replaced my lost Best of The Dragon vol. 1.

As you see my Vol. II is a little worse for the wear.

I loved these growing up. Even though some of the articles were only a few years old when they got into these "Best of"s they seemed like some lost artifact of a bygone age.

Gygax's first details of what has come to be known as the Great Wheel cosmology was and still fascinating reading.  Sure I had already seen it a 1000 times in the Player's Handbook but here and in color no less was a rare treat.

The famous (or infamous) "How Green was my Mutant" was the article that got me interested in Gamma World more than anything else.

Here are also reprints of the first versions of the Illusionist and the Witch.  Not to mention a different version of the Bard class and the original version of the Ranger.

I am struck with the overall feel of the magazine. It reminds me what I loved the most about old-school gaming and gaming back in the day; the complete DIY feel of everything.   Granted there was a lot more undefined areas back then.

Still. I love reading this old stuff. I love my Dragon magazine CD-Rom set, but holding on to the actual old mags is really nice.

New Monster: Web Witch

Today is my mom's birthday.

Why should you care?  Well it was my mom that introduced me to the weird world of sci-fi, horror and the macabre.   Her idea of a bedtime story was telling about a haunted schoolhouse where the floors still were stained with the blood of two boys that killed each other in a knife fight.  Or of a man who was so sick of his nagging wife that he chopped her up and buried her in the garden, only to have the flowers grow with her face on them.  She introduced me to Dark Shadows and "documentaries" on Bigfoot and Atlantis.  Though to be fair I think my dad introduced me to the Twilight Zone and I know my love of bad horror movies comes from him.

So here is a creature she had to share with me last week.  It works well for D&D but I think she had more of a pulp feel for this.

Albino Spider by Mooki003

Web Witch

	Human Form	Spider Form
Armor Class:	8 [11]	5 [14]
Hit Dice:	3*+2 (15 hp)	3*+12 (25 hp)
No. of Attacks:	1 poison dagger	1 bite
Damage:	1d6 + Poison	2d6 + Poison
Special:	Magic, see below	Invisibility
Movement:	30'	20' Web 40'
No. Appearing:	1	1
Save As:	Witch 3	Fighter 3
Morale:	8	10
Treasure Type:	Special	Special
Alignment:	Chaotic	Chaotic
XP:	160	185

The web witch is a female humanoid that can also take the form of a huge spider.  Not a lycanthrope, the web witch can shift between forms once per round as often as she likes.  In her human form she appears as a smallish woman (possibly of elf decent) with very pale skin, long white hair and eyes with a reddish tinge.  She will typically wear a long black dress or gown that appears to be made of silk. It is, but her own spider silk.  When in human form she can be mistaken for a vampire.  Despite the ability to use witch magic a web witch cannot form a coven with other web witches. Though it is speculated that she may be able to do so with other witches and/or hags.
In her human form she use magic as a 2nd level witch including the use of magic items usable by a witch.  GMs should pick out which spells the web witch has access to.
In her spider form she appears as a huge white spider with red eyes.  When sitting in her web she can make herself and the web invisible until touched.  The web itself is made up of stick long black strands of spider silk.  The web witch can move about in spider form invisible as per the invisibility spell. She can speak in this form, but not use magic.
A favored tactic of the web witch is to pretend to be a damsel in distress and lead a party of adventures into her maze of webs where she can shift form and feed on them.  She will keep any treasures she can find including magic items, but items such as swords, armor or other weapons she will discard, magical or not.
Once per year a web witch will capture a humanoid male for breeding. Three months later she will lay a clutch of eggs. She injects a different poison into the male to paralyze him and place the clutch in his mouth.  After one month the clutch will hatch and 10-100 (10d10) baby web witches will devour the male from the inside out.  The hungry web witches will then turn on each other til only about dozen survive (2d6). They will reach maturity in one year and transform to their human shape for the first time.

The silk of a web witch is much prized by wizards as a superior ingredient for their web spells. Creatures need to have a Strength of 15 or higher or be 6 HD or higher to break free.
The venom of the web witch is also valued.

There is no known relationship between the web witch and the fabled Queen of Spiders or the Dark Elves.

There are rumors of more powerful web witches that can use even greater witch magic.

"Web Witch" is copyright 2014 Timothy S. Brannan.
All monsters stats and text below is considered OPEN under the guidelines of the OGL.