I just watched the best panel discussion on instilling confidence in girls through RPGs. I was at PAX Unplugged here just recently and featured Satine Phoenix, BJ Hensley, Kate Welch, Dr. Megan Connell and moderated by Ethan Schoonover.
I could describe it, but it's just better to watch it.
I found many, many parallels in what they are talking about here and playing D&D with children with varying stages of Learning Disabilities. As some of you may recall I was running games for a while at my kids' schools. Pathfinder, D&D4 and D&D5. My sons also have a couple groups they run.
So I have seen children on different levels of the autistic spectrum, children with full on ADHD and auditory processing disorders. I have seen D&D help them focus, learn coping skills, time management skills and higher order organizational skills.
I keep thinking I really should apply my education and those Ph.D.s I worked on to this issue. But in truth I just love to see the kids play and learn. I can leave this in the more than capable hands of Dr. Connell.
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Monday, December 17, 2018
Monstrous Mondays: Undead Frost Giant
Just a few short days till the Winter Witch is out. Here is another frozen fiend to throw at your players! Again, the inspiration for this one should be obvious.
This is me, saving the best for last!
Giant, Frost, Undead
Hit Dice: 12
Armor Class: 2 [18]
Attack: 2 fist (2d8), weapon (3d8), frost breath (4d6), Constitution Drain
Saving Throw: 3
Special: Undead; Energy Drain, Frost breath, Immune to cold
Movement: 12
Alignment: Chaotic
Number Encountered: 1d3
Challenge Level/XP: 14/2,600
The horrible undead frost giant appears much as a giant wight or draugr. Indeed they are the wights among the Frost Giants. Horrible as they are powerful, these giant creatures appear as frozen skeletons with bits of armor still frozen to their frames.
In their frozen existence they forget much about what they were so they tend to attack with fists or by whatever weapons they had when they died. They do have two special attacks they can use. First is a breath weapon of cold air that can do 4d6 points of damage. That is the only attack they can perform that round and they can only do it every other round. They also have a level draining attack that drains 1 level Constitution per a successful fist attack. These creatures do not hurl rocks like their living counterparts.
These giants are usually found in great wastes and usually on the spot where they died. They typically do not have treasure save what they may have been carrying at the time of their death.
Undead Frost Giants are turned as Vampires (12 HD).
This is me, saving the best for last!
Hit Dice: 12
Armor Class: 2 [18]
Attack: 2 fist (2d8), weapon (3d8), frost breath (4d6), Constitution Drain
Saving Throw: 3
Special: Undead; Energy Drain, Frost breath, Immune to cold
Movement: 12
Alignment: Chaotic
Number Encountered: 1d3
Challenge Level/XP: 14/2,600
The horrible undead frost giant appears much as a giant wight or draugr. Indeed they are the wights among the Frost Giants. Horrible as they are powerful, these giant creatures appear as frozen skeletons with bits of armor still frozen to their frames.
In their frozen existence they forget much about what they were so they tend to attack with fists or by whatever weapons they had when they died. They do have two special attacks they can use. First is a breath weapon of cold air that can do 4d6 points of damage. That is the only attack they can perform that round and they can only do it every other round. They also have a level draining attack that drains 1 level Constitution per a successful fist attack. These creatures do not hurl rocks like their living counterparts.
These giants are usually found in great wastes and usually on the spot where they died. They typically do not have treasure save what they may have been carrying at the time of their death.
Undead Frost Giants are turned as Vampires (12 HD).
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Thursday, December 13, 2018
Featured Artist: Anna Marine
I am not sure how I found my next Featured Artist, I am just glad I did!
Anna Marine is from Prague, Czech Republic and is an amazing talent. As you can expect from me she loves to draw witches and demons.
Here is a commission I had gotten from her for my Swords & Wizardry White Box Witch.
She was so great to work with that I am now looking for any excuse to get to do it again!
It's a young Larina flying to her sabbat sky-clad. She does some really wonderful stuff.
Her newest is "Yule".
You can buy all these prints from her Big Cartel or Etsy stores.
You can find her on the net at:
Thanks so much Anna!
Anna Marine is from Prague, Czech Republic and is an amazing talent. As you can expect from me she loves to draw witches and demons.
Here is a commission I had gotten from her for my Swords & Wizardry White Box Witch.
She was so great to work with that I am now looking for any excuse to get to do it again!
It's a young Larina flying to her sabbat sky-clad. She does some really wonderful stuff.
Her newest is "Yule".
You can buy all these prints from her Big Cartel or Etsy stores.
You can find her on the net at:
- https://www.facebook.com/anmarine
- https://www.facebook.com/annamarineofficial/
- https://www.facebook.com/aeonnewera
- https://annamarine.bigcartel.com/ (buy a print!)
- https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnnaMarine (buy prints and more!)
- https://www.patreon.com/annamarine
- https://www.instagram.com/annamarineart/
Thanks so much Anna!
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
BlackStar: The Influence of Clark Ashton Smith
Recently I just finished Marooned in Andromeda first of what is commonly called "The Captain Volmar Stories". The next one was A Captivity in Serpens and a third, which I have not gotten to yet, The Ocean-World of Alioth. What struck me was how much they were like Star Trek. Add in the Lovecraftian like horror of Marooned in Andromeda and you practically have a blue-print for what I want in BlackStar.
Indeed, the Trek connection has not gone unnoticed. Ronald S. Hilger and Scott Connors the editors of the Night Shade collection in which all three stories appear make not of the similarities between Captains Volmar and Kirk. Captivity in Serpens presages the Next Generation episode "The Most Toys" with it's crew member in captivity for a personal collection.
While doing some research this morning I came across the beginning of an adventure I had started back in the late 80s / early 90s for the then Next Generation version of FASA's Star Trek RPG.
I mentioned this last month as the adventure "Ghost Ship". As time went on it was the Enterprise B (lost according to my notes in 2329, the Enterprise C was launched in 2332), but before that, it was the USS Excelsior. In my document here it predates even that and it was the USS Necromancer. Astute readers might recall that the NX-3113 USS Necromancer is one of the "Ships of the Line" of the Mystic Class. The Necromancer seems to be a bit on the nose for this. Instead given the writings of CAS and the main representative of his work in the OSR world, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, it seems best to call the ship the NX-3102 USS Sorcerer.
I was thinking that maybe I could use the events of the CAS Capt. Volmar stories to give my Horror Universe a bit more of a backstory. Volmar's ship was called Alcyone. The Alcyone system is about 445 light years from Earth, so not sure if I could say Volmar is from Alcyone. So I going to say that the Alcyone was his previous command. His name is Howard Solomon Volmar since he has been compared to Robert E. Howard's creation, Solomon Kane.
There is so much more here too.
Seedling of Mars deals with an alien craft that lands in California in 1947 (the future from CAS' then perspective) that carries a group of scientist to Mars where it's one lifeform is a planet-wide hybrid of plant and animal that is near god like. While CAS' martian is a benign entity, it does have the look of a Lovecraftian monster. One could imagine a great Cthulhuoid beast in its place. The deal that makes with humanity is less for their benefit and more Faustian in return. Indeed in CAS' tale, the being wipes out much of the Earth's population but it's ok since those are the ones that were not scientifically minded. The rest of humanity is relocated onto Venus. Still, while this story is more Science-Fantasy it just needs a nudge to push it out of the light and into the dark of Horror.
Clark Ashton Smith in My Games
In my regular D&D 5 games (and before that) CAS has had a huge effect on my game universe as detailed here:
- Ravenloft / Glantri connection
- Averoigne via Ravenloft
- On the Road to Averoigne
- Castle Amber by Candle Light
- Castle Amber, Butterbeer and the Order of the Platinum Dragon
For these, I made a special effort to reread or in other cases re-read all the Averoigne stories to get a good feel of Medieval Horror. It was great.
These days the Atlantis and Hyperborea tales of CAS are well handled by Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. Actually, I would love to use AS&SH as the system for a Zothique game. I have already taken ideas from it for BlackStar and plan to have the PCs travel to Yamil Zacra: The Infernal Star.
Depending on how my BlackStar game goes I could conceivably pull another "Where No One Has Gone Before" and send the poor crew of the Protector to Earth, 250-300 Million years in the future.
I could combine this with the "Ghost Ship" idea above. Though that might be too much.
Alternately, I could alter my Starcrash on Hyperborea adventure idea to Starcrash on Zothique. I kinda like that idea. Shades of "The Time Machine" here too. It would also give the option of something I wanted to try in some other games. I have wanted the PCs to run into their future-incarnations; their reincarnated souls as it were in new bodies. The excuse I would give is that the Earth is so old now that old forms are being reused.
If I wanted to bring in some Atlantis I could just use some of my ideas for Doggerland.
The Black Gate ran a fantastic series on Clark Ashton Smith. I won't link all of them here, just ones that are germane to this discussion, but they are all good.
- The Fantasy Cycles of Clark Ashton Smith Part I: The Averoigne Chronicles by Ryan Harvey
- The Fantasy Cycles of Clark Ashton Smith Part II: The Book of Hyperborea by Ryan Harvey
- The Fantasy Cycles of Clark Ashton Smith Part III: Tales of Zothique by Ryan Harvey
- The Fantasy Cycles of Clark Ashton Smith Part IV: Poseidonis, Mars, and Xiccarph by Ryan Harvey
- Adventures in Stealth Publishing: The Return of the Sorcerer
- A Few Words on Clark Ashton Smith by Matthew David Surridge
- The Crawling Horrors of Mars: Clark Ashton Smith’s “The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis”
- The Shade of Klarkash-Ton by James Maliszewski
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Shrine of St. Aleena for 5e
In a very nice surprise this morning I was given the word that a conversion I did a bit ago is now live on DMSGuild.
The Shrine of St. Aleena, Small Niche Games and Pete Spahn's classic OSR adventure is now available for 5e thanks to yours truly. Love the colorized cover!
You can read my review of the original on its product page.
The 5e version remains faithful and adds some new 5e features such as the Monastic Order of St. Aleena. Now you can play a Monk dedicated to the service of this most revered saint.
I want to thank Pete for giving me a chance to play around in his world here for a bit.
At under 5 bucks this is a steal!
You can still the OSR version too.
The Shrine of St. Aleena, Small Niche Games and Pete Spahn's classic OSR adventure is now available for 5e thanks to yours truly. Love the colorized cover!
You can read my review of the original on its product page.
The 5e version remains faithful and adds some new 5e features such as the Monastic Order of St. Aleena. Now you can play a Monk dedicated to the service of this most revered saint.
I want to thank Pete for giving me a chance to play around in his world here for a bit.
At under 5 bucks this is a steal!
You can still the OSR version too.
Monday, December 10, 2018
Monstrous Monday: Frost Maiden
Woke up to freezing fog this morning. That sounds totally made-up, but there is a thin sheet of ice everywhere. Remind me again WHY I live in Chicago?
Today's little beastie is another one from the upcoming Winter Witch book. It should feel familiar to any old-school gamer.
Frost Maiden
Hit Dice: 10
Armor Class: 3 [17]
Attack: Spell abilities or two fists (2d8x2) (giant size)
Saving Throw: 8
Special: Spell-like abilities, growth, immune to all cold.
Movement: 18 (can run without impediment over snow and ice)
Alignment: Chaotic
Number Encountered: 1
Challenge Level/XP: 12/2,000
Frost Maidens are related to both Frost Giants and Snow Elves. It is believed that the first Frost Maiden was the offspring of a snow elf princess who was abducted by a Frost Giant Jarl. The Princess was a powerful winter witch and she cursed her abductor and his family. Now once every 100 or so births among frost giants will result in a frost maiden. Due to the curse, the frost giants cannot abandon their frost maiden daughters and they usually rise to levels of importance and power.
These creatures stand some 5’ tall under normal conditions. Her skin is an unhealthy white or pale blue with white or platinum blonde hair. Their eyes are a piercing ice blue. They appear as a snow elf, but something is different about them. They are unearthly beautiful with melodious voices and a coquettish smile. The often will appear wearing only the barest minimum to support modesty, but little else. They are often barefoot.
Frost Maiden are all irredeemably evil. Their favorite game is to tease human males to point they are maddened with lust then they lead them to their deaths. Usually in a blind canyon where they will bury them in an avalanche or trap them in a deep bit of ice. They are also not above leading them into ambushes of winter wolves, worgs, or their frost giant brothers. Some males they trick into acts of passion. The resulting children are the same race as the father. Children of these unions have an additional +1 to saves against cold-based attacks.
The frost maiden can cast spells as a 7th level winter witch and can also once per day grow to three times her size (15’) to the size of a frost giant once per day. She will revert to her normal size at sunrise.
Some sages say that the “snow elf princess” was actually the Snow Queen, the Faerie Lady of Ice and Snow and the “frost giant jarl” was no less a personage than Thrym, lord of the Frost Giants. This is unconfirmed and both the Snow Queen and Thrym are loathe to discuss it. But it is known that many frost maidens serve the Snow Queen in her court.
Today's little beastie is another one from the upcoming Winter Witch book. It should feel familiar to any old-school gamer.
Hit Dice: 10
Armor Class: 3 [17]
Attack: Spell abilities or two fists (2d8x2) (giant size)
Saving Throw: 8
Special: Spell-like abilities, growth, immune to all cold.
Movement: 18 (can run without impediment over snow and ice)
Alignment: Chaotic
Number Encountered: 1
Challenge Level/XP: 12/2,000
Frost Maidens are related to both Frost Giants and Snow Elves. It is believed that the first Frost Maiden was the offspring of a snow elf princess who was abducted by a Frost Giant Jarl. The Princess was a powerful winter witch and she cursed her abductor and his family. Now once every 100 or so births among frost giants will result in a frost maiden. Due to the curse, the frost giants cannot abandon their frost maiden daughters and they usually rise to levels of importance and power.
These creatures stand some 5’ tall under normal conditions. Her skin is an unhealthy white or pale blue with white or platinum blonde hair. Their eyes are a piercing ice blue. They appear as a snow elf, but something is different about them. They are unearthly beautiful with melodious voices and a coquettish smile. The often will appear wearing only the barest minimum to support modesty, but little else. They are often barefoot.
Frost Maiden are all irredeemably evil. Their favorite game is to tease human males to point they are maddened with lust then they lead them to their deaths. Usually in a blind canyon where they will bury them in an avalanche or trap them in a deep bit of ice. They are also not above leading them into ambushes of winter wolves, worgs, or their frost giant brothers. Some males they trick into acts of passion. The resulting children are the same race as the father. Children of these unions have an additional +1 to saves against cold-based attacks.
The frost maiden can cast spells as a 7th level winter witch and can also once per day grow to three times her size (15’) to the size of a frost giant once per day. She will revert to her normal size at sunrise.
Some sages say that the “snow elf princess” was actually the Snow Queen, the Faerie Lady of Ice and Snow and the “frost giant jarl” was no less a personage than Thrym, lord of the Frost Giants. This is unconfirmed and both the Snow Queen and Thrym are loathe to discuss it. But it is known that many frost maidens serve the Snow Queen in her court.
I used this monster as a "side quest" after running G2 Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl. The ice maiden in question was the daughter of the Jarl. My players were quite surprised when the "snow elf" they were chasing starting using spells and became a 15' frost giant.
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Featured Artist: Larry Elmore
This one might seem something like a cheat or a dodge. I mean the idea behind Featured Artist is to share with you artists I enjoy and want you to know more about. Let's be honest EVERYONE knows who Larry Elmore is.
But in truth, there might not be my witch class and thus not this blog had it not been for Larry Elmore. Well. That might be overstating it since I was working on my witch rather early. But it was his art that gave me inspiration. I do know I would never have published my first "netbook" of witches had it not been for his art.
This week is my "anniversary week" and Elmore has had an inordinate influence on my writings. It seems only fair to give him his due here.
I have to be 100% honest.
I love his witches.
This witch appeared in the famous Dragon #114 version of the witch class and she was the "face" of my witch character ever since. My goal is to get this as a print to put up in my game room.
Equally as influential was the Dragonlance character Laurana, which is not a great mental leap to my own Larina. Though really only in name. Laurana went from spoiled princess to warrior to one of the main heroes of the Dragonlance saga.
Though this next one was more influential.
"Early Snow" was one of my favorites. So much so that at Gen Con 2010 I bought the mini from Dark Sword and a signed print from Larry himself.
Larry admitted he loves drawing women and witches in particular.
He is pretty famous for his clerics too.
Aleena should have been working with Avalyne! She might still be alive.
And of course, there is this one, maybe his most famous painting ever.
But on Earth-2 they got this one as the cover.
I have to say, I like this one better. Maybe not as epic as "one man vs. dragon" but it is more "D&D" with a fighter, magic-user and what could be an elf or halfling. I am going with halfling.
There is so much art out there that I could spend days talking about it and him.
You can find Larry on the internet at:
But in truth, there might not be my witch class and thus not this blog had it not been for Larry Elmore. Well. That might be overstating it since I was working on my witch rather early. But it was his art that gave me inspiration. I do know I would never have published my first "netbook" of witches had it not been for his art.
This week is my "anniversary week" and Elmore has had an inordinate influence on my writings. It seems only fair to give him his due here.
I have to be 100% honest.
I love his witches.
This witch appeared in the famous Dragon #114 version of the witch class and she was the "face" of my witch character ever since. My goal is to get this as a print to put up in my game room.
Equally as influential was the Dragonlance character Laurana, which is not a great mental leap to my own Larina. Though really only in name. Laurana went from spoiled princess to warrior to one of the main heroes of the Dragonlance saga.
Though this next one was more influential.
Larry admitted he loves drawing women and witches in particular.
He is pretty famous for his clerics too.
And of course, there is this one, maybe his most famous painting ever.
I have to say, I like this one better. Maybe not as epic as "one man vs. dragon" but it is more "D&D" with a fighter, magic-user and what could be an elf or halfling. I am going with halfling.
There is so much art out there that I could spend days talking about it and him.
You can find Larry on the internet at:
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