Monday, June 29, 2015

New Tradition: Daughters of Baba Yaga

This tradition is based on my Family Tradition found in my Basic Era Witch book and on the Daughter of Baba Yaga Prestige class.

One such Daughter was Elena the Fair.

Section 15: Daughters of Baba Yaga, Copyright 2015, Timothy. S. Brannan.
OGC Declaration: The following content is considered Open Content for term of the OGL.

New Tradition: Daughters of Baba Yaga

There is an ancient tradition among young witches to seek out the Great Crone Baba Yaga to learn arcane secrets known to no one else.  The vast majority of witches never find her mysterious hut. Those that do are often killed and eaten for their impropriety and presumption.  But a few, a very few, find the ancient hag and she sees something of worth or value in the witch.  These witches go on become quite powerful in their own right.  They are known as the Daughters of Baba Yaga.

Daughters of Baba Yaga must join this tradition as young girls.  Baba Yaga molds their learning and provides the access to her great lore of spells and arcane knowledge.  In many ways Baba Yaga is their Patron.

Role: These witches often become some of the smartest, cleverest and dangerous witches in the land.

Joining this Tradition: Only young girls may join. Typically they are very clever (Intelligence of 14 or higher) and often have some form of family tragedy, such as mother who died while she was young.

Daughters of Baba Yaga will meet when they are together in their fosterage, but rarely afterwards.  They do recognize each other on sight regardless when they were fostered.  There is something about the aura of someone that was taught magic under the cruel Baba Yaga.

Daughters for the most part are neutral, with some gravitating towards chaotic

Leaving this Tradition: There is no leaving this Tradition. Once you have been tutored by the Crone you can not give that back.

Arcane Diversity: Starting at 2nd level, the Daughters of Baba Yaga can learn any one 1st level Wizard/Magic User spell that is not on witch spell list.  This spell is treated as if it were one of her witch ritual spells. Every other level after this the witch may learn a 2nd level spell at 4th level, a 3rd at 6th level and so on till 8th level spells are learned (16th level witch).
These spells are cast as rituals and will require ritual implements but do not require other witches.

Occult Powers
Minor: 1st Level: Familiar.  The daughter will gain a familiar that appears to be normal, if somewhat "worn" animal.  Common familiar's have been a tiny mouse, a scrawny cat, a brow beaten dog, even a thin cow in one case.  Particularily evil Daughters may be granted a demonling.

Lesser: 7th Level: Kitchen Witchery. The Daughter of Baba Yaga can brew simple potions based on any spell she can cast.  The spells can be kept fresh in potion form for a number of days equal to her level.  Spells that affect the self must be drunk or rubbed onto the skin.  Spells that affect others must be splashed, rubbed or forced to drink.

Medial: 13th Level: Detect Bloodline. At 13th level, the witch is granted the ability to detect bloodlines of all types, and able to track the target’s history one generation per level. Essentially, this ability allows the witch to practically smell if someone is related or not, by supernaturally detecting tiny familial features within people. This can include royalty, inherited (but not contagious) lycanthropy and the creature’s true race. This ability might also provide a bonus against those trying to disguise themselves (say, a half-elf posing as a human, or someone disguising themselves as royalty).
The witch must be within 10 feet of a person to detect their bloodline. The Daughter of Baba Yaga can also detect undead with this ability.
The Witch also gains an insight into the target’s personality. For each round assessing the target’s bloodline, the Daughter of Baba Yaga can determine one of the following: One aspect of the character’s alignment (chaotic, lawful, or neutral), hit dice, age or personality.
For each round studying the character’s personality, the Daughter of Baba Yaga gains a +1 bonus to sense motive checks against the target.
The Daughter of Baba Yaga cannot examine the target’s personality whose level/hit dice are greater than her witch level.

Greater: 19th Level: Curse. The Daughter of Baba Yaga can place a powerful Curse on not just a single creature, but an entire bloodline. She can only do this once per day (for a single creature) or once per month on an entire family. The curse can be of any sort, but usually the curse will bestow a -4 to all to-hit rolls and -2 to any saving throws. Other curses may be allowed, such as the Bestow Curse spell. Witch curses are quite powerful and require the use of two (2) remove curse spells to be fully removed.
A Daughter of Baba Yaga may release a person from a curse placed by another Daughter without the use of spells. The witch will know how to remove the curse intuitively.
Note: Some good witches prefer to give a Boon instead of a curse.

Major: 25th Level: Shape Change. Once per day, the witch may change her shape to any type of natural animal indigenous to her area, as per the spell Shape Change. For 1 turn per level, the witch may move freely back and forth between her animal and human forms. Once the form is chosen though, that is the only form she can use for the day. So, a witch may choose to change between the forms of human and fox, but cannot go between fox, human and bird. Once the duration has expired, the witch reverts back to human form.

Superior: 31st Level: Longevity.  The witch stops aging.  Her appearance will continue to age but her body and mind will stay the same age she was when she reached this level.  She is also no longer affected by magical aging.  She can still be killed by normal means.

Special Restrictions:  Only women may join this tradition.  Once joining the new witch must take an Oath of Fosterage.  The Oath of Fosterage must be taken when Baba Yaga first considers to take on the potential daughter.  Baba Yaga will often demand some sort task or quest from the witch.  The task will be one that is difficult and require cleverness to complete.  For example asking her to fetch water from a well but only give her a sieve to collect the water.
Once the Oath is made the Daughter cannot attack or harm in any way any other Daughter or Baba Yaga despite their alignment.  All Daughters, despite when they were fostered will know each other on sight.

Equipment:  None required.

The ritual tool of the Daughter is a mortar and pestle, to honor their "Grandmother".  It is used much like a wand or athame is.  They are also most likely to use a besom (broom) in place of a staff.

Preferred/Barred Covens: None. Daughters are typically solitaries.

Relationship to the Goddess/Patron:  For all purposes the Patron of these witch is Baba Yaga herself.

Source/Views of Magic: Magic comes from wrestling the secrets of the world from those that keep them.  These secrets often come from primordial spirits of nature, demon lords, heralds of the heavens and nearly forgotten fae.

Wealth: Daughters are all typically rather poor. They start with half the amount of gold typical for a 1st level witch.


Saturday, June 27, 2015

Zatannurday: Lord Ingvard redesigns

Lord Ingvard's comic book redesigns are making their way across the net this week.
I posted the Red Sonja and Wonder Woman ones already.

Generally speaking I like the changes and can see them working. Though I will admit I am not sure he knows much about the history of the all characters he is talking about (he does have a good grip on Ms./Captain Marvel I will give him that).

http://lordingvard.tumblr.com/
http://www.ingvard.com

Let's look at his Zatanna.




http://lordingvard.tumblr.com/post/121856841408/womens-superhero-costumes-revamped-9-zatanna


ETA: Here is the image


He gets a few things right and a few wrong.  Now mind you. This is *his* version and by default that means it is right for him.  But I also ask how much can you change a character and still have it be the same character?

Ok so the punk style hair do, I love it. Black hair with streaks of purple (or blue) would be a great look for a younger Zee.  I can totally see her looking like this while she was working on her undergrad degree.
The coat is very reminiscent of Constantine's trench coat.  So this could even be early in her relationship with him.
I like the striped pants she is wearing; a nice call back to the striped socks you will sometimes see witched wear.
The choker necklace is cool, if a bit predictable.

I really, really love the look of this character.  It is cool, hip and I want to know more about her.
I can't help but wonder though...don't we already have a Raven and a Traci 13?

There is a reason for her look.
Zee dresses the way she does because that was how her dad dressed when he was on stage.  She dresses like an old school magician because her dad was an old school magician.  So the top hat, the fishnets are all apart of what her stage persona is.  She might be the most powerful magician on Earth, but in her mind she will never be as good as her dad was.

Now, not to sound like "that guy" but I do wish he had done some research into these characters.
The part where he mentions "changing the color of the spandex" on Zee's art shows he really doesn't know much about these characters.  Zee has one of the more recognizable looks of any superhero, male or female.  The only hero she looks like is the one that in character she wants to look like; her dad.

Oh and the bit about modern magicians not dressing like this anymore?  Two words. Misty Lee.



So I like the vision of his changes, but not for the reasons he gives.

In the end though I will agree with Zee herself. Her costume is fine as it is.


Friday, June 26, 2015

Friday Night Videos: The Sword

Welcome back to Friday Night Videos.

Tonight I want to focus on just one band, but one that I really identify with the entire OSR and nostalgia D&D movement.

The Sword hit my awareness in 2008 or so with their album "Gods of this Earth".  Right around the same time this blog got going.

Like the retro-D&D/OSR/Nostalgia movement The Sword was a new thing that sounded like an old thing from the 70s.  In this case a band that had a similar vibe to Slayer to sound like Black Sabbath.  In any case it worked.

Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians was the first single from "Gods of the Earth".  It sounds old school and the video is something right out of Ralph Bakshi.  The biggest influence is obviously Bakshi's Wizards.  Confession time. I am not a fan of Wizards.  Never saw the appeal. I also don't care for rotoscoping.




If any song captures this retro-feel of The Sword the best it's How Heavy This Axe. The video even looks like something filmed the same day Black Sabbath filmed Paranoid or Iron Man.  Plus this was also the theme song to +Zak Smith and gang's "I Hit it with My Axe".  That gives it OSR street cred right there. Or it gave them cred.  Not sure which.




What can I honestly say about Maiden Mother Crone?
Well for starters it is easily my favorite song from The Sword.  Plus there are great allusions to Pagan myths and witchcraft.  In true heavy metal cliche fashion it has a "mystical orb" at the end (3:30 mark).  I am sure that was done completely tongue in cheek.  But still it's pretty awesome.



I listened to this a lot when working on The Witch.

Tres Brujas or "Three Witches" came along later.  It mixes in elements of Westerns, sci-fi, witchcraft (again) and Kung-fu (the TV show).  So yeah...sounds a bit like the AD&D DMG.




Veil of Isis is a newer song.  The video reminds me a bit of some of the videos of the later 80s, before Grunge took over. Still it's a pretty cool song.



You can find The Sword on the web at http://theswordofficial.com/

Kickstart your Weekend: Blue Rose for the AGE System

Green Ronin has Kickstarted the newest edition of their groundbreaking game, Blue Rose for their in house AGE Adventure Gaming Engine.



https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/504269797/blue-rose-the-age-roleplaying-game-of-romantic-fan

I have not played much with AGE to be honest.  I have the first two Dragon Age sets and they look like fun.  I like the system, but it is one of those things I have not found an audience for.

I will pick this one up.  I really want to see what they add new to it.
I might even play the AGE system or back-convert it to True20.

In any case I am quite looking forward to this.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Prestige Class: Daughter of Baba Yaga

There is an ancient tradition among witches to seek out the Great Crone Baba Yaga to learn arcane secrets known to no one else.  The vast majority of witches never find her mysterious hut. Those that do are often killed and eaten for their impropriety and presumption.  But a few, a very few, find the ancient hag and she sees something of worth or value in the witch.  These witches go on become quite powerful in their own right.  They are known as the Daughters of Baba Yaga.

Section 15: Daughter of Baba Yaga, Copyright 2015, Timothy. S. Brannan.
OGC Declaration: The following content is considered Open Content for term of the OGL.

Daughter of Baba Yaga

The Daughters of Baba Yaga (DoBY) are a varied lot but all share a desire to learn more arcane secrets and in particular secrets of witchcraft.  Witches are the most common of her daughters, but sometimes an occasional wizard or sorcerer will also seek her out.

Hit Dice: d4

Requirements 
 To qualify as a Daughter of Baba Yaga, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.

Knowledge (History): 9 Ranks
Knowledge (Arcana): 7 Ranks
Feats: Iron Will
Spell casting: Ability to cast arcane spells
Special:  Female only; Oath of Fosterage*

The Oath of Fosterage must be taken when Baba Yaga first considers to take on the potential daughter.  Baba Yaga will often demand some sort task or quest from the witch.  The task will be one that is difficult and require cleverness to complete.  For example asking her to fetch water from a well but only give her a sieve to collect the water.
Once the Oath is made the Daughter cannot attack or harm in any way any other Daughter or Baba Yaga despite their alignment.  All Daughters, despite when they were fostered will know each other on sight.

Alignment: Any (usually any non-evil)

Class Skills
(2 + Int modifier per level): Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft (any), Knowledge (arcana),  Knowledge (history), Knowledge (nature), Profession (any), Spellcraft, Survival, and Swim.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Daughter of Baba Yaga prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Daughter of Baba Yaga gains no additional weapon or armor proficiencies

Spells per Day: The character’s caster level increases when a Daughter of Baba Yaga level is gained if she had also gained a level in a previous class that allows them to qualify for this class.

This affects her spells per day and spells known, as if they had gained a level, but she does not gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If a character had more than one qualifying class before becoming a Daughter of Baba Yaga, she must decide to which class she adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day and caster level.

Daughters continue to use whatever Arcane spell lists they used before becoming a Daughter of Baba Yaga.  Daughters also continue to use what ever spell casting ability she had been using before becoming a Daughter.

Poison Resistance (Su): Daughters are exposed to a number of noxious potions, poultices and herbals and even poisons.  This exposure builds up over time till the witch gains a +5 to any posin based saving throws.

Arcane Diversity (Sp): Starting at 2nd level, the Daughter of Baba Yaga can learn any 1st level Arcane spell that is not on her typical list.  So if she begins as a witch she can choose a 1st level spell from the Wizard/Sorcerer, Bard or Magus lists. At 4th level she can choose a 2nd level spell and so on.  The spell will use same spell casting ability she uses for all her spells.

Hex (Sp): The Daughter may choose a Hex from the Witches list of hexes.  If she previously met the requirements for higher level hexes she may choose from those lists as well.

Kitchen Witchery (Sp): The Daughter may substitute any spell of 1st to 3rd level with an Alchemical Extract of the same level.  The Daughter may replace 1 spell of every level, 1st to 3rd, in this manner.  The Daughter though is not an alchemist by training so once a spell is replaced in this way the choice is permanent.
At 9th level the Daughter can choose Alchemical Extracts of 4th to 6th level. She may replace one spell each of levels 4th to 6th.

Table Daughter of Baba Yaga Progression

Class Level Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Spells per Day
1st +1 +2 +2 +0 Oath, Poison Resistance +1 level of existing class
2nd +1 +3 +3 +1 Arcane Diversity, 1st level +1 level of existing class
3rd +2 +3 +3 +1 Hex +1 level of existing class
4th +2 +4 +4 +2 Arcane Diversity, 2nd level +1 level of existing class
5th +3 +4 +4 +2 Kitchen Witchery, 1 +1 level of existing class
6th +3 +5 +5 +3 Arcane Diversity, 3rd level +1 level of existing class
7th +4 +5 +5 +3 Hex +1 level of existing class
8th +4 +6 +6 +3 Arcane Diversity, 4th level +1 level of existing class
9th +5 +6 +6 +4 Kitchen Witchery, 2 +1 level of existing class
10th +5 +7 +7 +4 Arcane Diversity, 5th level +1 level of existing class



Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Questions for you all. Favorite 70s Sci-Fi

Work has me busy today writing faculty training guidelines.  But that doesn't mean I am not active on my projects.

I have a question for you all today.

What is your favorite 70's science fiction or science fantasy movie (or TV show)?

I am looking for obscure stuff here and the weirder the better.

Now by 70s I do mean 1970 to 1979.  BUT I will take movies as early as 1967 or late as 1983.

A few of mine are:
2001 A Space Odyssey (1968)
Star Wars (1977)
Alien (1979)
Logan's Run (1976)
Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) (computers were the new demons!)

I also want to extend my personal thanks and a shout out to the Space: 1970 blog.
Christopher Miller really has a great blog and I have spent hours reading it over.

Let me know what you like and why.



Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Labyrinth Lord: Liath and Bodhmall

I recently picked up two books from Brian O'SullivanFionn: Defence of Ráth Bládhma and  Fionn: Traitor of Dún Baoiscne.  While the books are about Fionn MacCumhail (Finn MacCool) they feature younger versions of the druidess Bodhmal and the warrior Liath Luchara.
Like I did, he has both women as lovers.  I have not read the books yet, but a quick flip and I like what I see.  
His Liath and Bodhmal are not exactly like my versions of them and that is cool.

Like what I have been doing with Skylla I wanted to do some versions of Liath and Bodhmall to test out different systems.  I wanted to do "by the book" versions for both Labyrinth Lord:AEC (as a stand in for any OSR game) and D&D5.  Another good choice would be Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.

I made minor changes in each case to reflect what works best for that game.

Previous Versions:
Castles & Crusades
Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, Essentials

Since I am currently running a D&D5 game around 5th-7th level, I set them around that.  I did both versions of the characters around that level.

Liath Luachra
NG Female Half-elf*
Ranger 7th Level

Abilities
Strength: 13 (+1)
Dexterity: 16 (+2)
Constitution: 18 (+3)
Intelligence: 10 (0)
Wisdom: 10 (0)
Charisma: 11 (0)

Saves
Breath: 9
Poison or Death: 8
Petrify or Paralyze: 10
Wands: 9
Spells or Spell-like: 12

AC: 7
HP: 50

Base To Hit AC 0: 14

Abilities
Half-elf
Infravision 60'

Equipment
Long bow (1d8)
Spear +1 (1d6+1)
Leather Armor +1

Water skin, belt pouches, travellers gear, boots.

*I am going with half-elf since I am going with the idea that Liath has some fae or Sidhe blood in her ancestry.  I have a lot of "in-universe" reasons for this, but for me it just works out nice.


Bodhmal
N(G) Female Human
Druid 8th Level

Abilities
Strength: 10 (0)
Dexterity: 10 (0)
Constitution: 14 (+1)
Intelligence: 14 (+1)
Wisdom: 18 (+3)
Charisma: 11 (0)

Saves
Breath: 14
Poison or Death: 9
Petrify or Paralyze: 12
Wands: 10
Spells or Spell-like: 12

AC: 7
HP: 37

Base To Hit AC 0: 17

Spells
1st Level: Divine weather, detect magic, faerie fire, shillelagh
2nd Level: barkskin, cure light wounds, produce flame, charm person
3rd Level: call lightning, pyrotechnics, protection from fire
4th Level: flash fire, summon sylvan beings

Equipment
Scimitar
Leather Armor
Amulet of Protection +1

Water skin, belt pouches, travellers gear, boots.

Stating these two for LL was exactly like AD&D/D&D.  I have made scores of characters for LL but I am always surprised how quick and easy it always is.
Having already done 5e versions; they were just as fast as these.

In the past I had made Liath a barbarian.  Here I went a ranger.  I thought a fighter might also work, but a ranger to me seems closer.  I will have more thoughts on this when I post the 5th edition stats.