Shadow Girls

I have been a long time fan of the webcomic Shadow Girls.


http://www.shadowgirlscomic.com/






Well they have a few things going on that I'd like to let everyone know about.

First, it is a cool comic. Described as "H.P. Lovecraft meets the Gilmore Girls", which as far as mashups go has to be one of the coolest ideas ever, but the comic goes far beyond that.

Second they have a figure they are getting made that looks really awesome.

And they are being nominated for WebComicPlanet's awards. They are very much deserving of all of these awards.


Shadow Girls would make a great RPG (but the creators aldeady know that and are working on it), so until the official one is out I might try stating up the characters for Cinematic Unisystem or Witch Girls Adventures.

So go to the website, read the comic, vote, nominate and if you like, buy.

OH, and of note: the current running comic is a guest comic, please go to the first page to get the full experience.

Little Fears: Nightmare Edition

OOOOOO......

Halloween is coming and so is a new edition of Litle Fears.

Little Fears is game where you play children confronting the evils and monsters that adults can't see. This is the newest edition and so far it looks really cool.

Little Fears has the disticntion of being the only game I could not get at my FLGS. This is the same game store that I still could buy a copy of Eldritch Wizardry.

This new edition looks like it might cover some of the same ground as the first, so I am going to have to check this out.

http://www.littlefears.com/

BHB Review on RPG.net

Sorry all, been a busy couple of weeks.

Here is my review and discussion of Bounty Head Bebop on RPG.net.

Enjoy!

Review: Bounty Head Bebop

“You know the first rule of combat? Shoot them before they shoot you.” - Faye Valentine, Cowboy Bebop.

Back in 1998 a new Anime appeared on the scene, something new called Cowboy Bebop. It dealt with the lives and misadventures of a group of bounty hunters in the solar system of the future that looked more like the wild west. There were guns, and terra-formed planets, a corrupt government, the mobs and of course lots of criminals. The crew of the Bebop spent their time doing jobs, keeping their ship together and avoiding starving. While this made for a great show in and of itself, the really cool thing about this were the characters. Larger than life, with secrets, agendas and a history of development that lead them to where they were at that point.

In other words a perfect setting for a Role Playing Game.

The game, Bounty Head Bebop, obviously takes some cues from the series. (AN ASIDE. I understand that this game was supposed to have been an officially licensed product, but I do not have anything to support that with. So instead of explaining all the time why they are the same, let’s just say they are cut from the same cloth and move on from there.)

Bounty Head Bebop (BHB), is a game where you can spend your time flying around a terra-formed solar system hunting down “bounty heads” for fun and profit. The game itself is a slick little RPG with a fun cinematic feel to it. It does what it says on the tin, and does it well.

BHB uses a system called the Inverted 20 system. Basically you have a Target Number (often set by the GM, with guidance), that is modified by ability, skill and or difficulties, your job is to roll that score or under (and different things happen if you hit the number or roll under). The die mechanic is really that simple. Anyone familiar with d20 will catch on fairly quickly despite the roll under mechanic. Now I will be honest, I am not a fan of roll under systems, but I think it works here. To me it seems that Anime based games work best as roll-under. Maybe it is all of those years of BESM or maybe it because it just provides me with a different feel.

Like other d20 games you attributes that despite the name changes look familiar, skills, various edges and flaws, all which work like GURPS. No need to reinvent the wheel, they work fine. Everything is point buy and you spend XP to raise them, like Unisystem.

Details
BHB does something REALLY nice here. Puts in a Character Creation Summary so you can get an overview of everything you need to do. Figure out everything in order.
Attributes look familiar if you have been playing any game at all. They are scored from 1 to 5 for starting characters, but can go up.
Imitative and Movement are derived. As are Saves, Wounds and Vitality points. All pretty simple to figure out.

Skills are next and they are divided up into General, Combat and Specialty. General skills are your everyday skills and like d20 are tied to a specific attribute. Combat skills allow you to fight. Want to be better at aiming or hitting with your fists, then improve the skill. Specialty and Advanced skills are those that you can’t do unless you have a level/points in them. Advanced skills are like advanced sciences.

Edges and Flaws work like GURPS or any other point buy system, though there are no points. You start out with 3 Edges and get up to 6 with 3 more Flaws. Edges can be bought with XPs and Flaws bought off. The list is pretty typical, your Hard to Kill, various “Gun Fu” moves, various pilot and criminal related Edges too. The list looked good and nothing jumped out at me as not being there. There are also various new Psychic/Feng-Shui powers too (details in a bit). And some computer related ones, with the promise of new book dedicated to hacking and the net (for your own “Radical” Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky the IV). Now you don’t need to take any Flaws at all if you don’t want, but I think that might be missing the point of this game really. These characters are yes over the top Anime characters, but they also have issues.

Feng-Shui gets it own chapter and it is the province of the Inuit Indians (yeah, that confuses me too, but I’ll go with it). None of the powers seem out of control, so no anime style Ki based special fx here, but a lot of good solid powers. Danger Sense, Locate Objects, manipulate objects, things like that. More power masters can influence minds or regenerate their bodies. There are seven areas of power (spheres) you choose one and you progress through it. It reminds me of the pschic powers from AFMBE’s “Enter the Zombie”. Given that, an ability to bend bullets might be cool in this game. Of course with power comes psychotic episodes. Do it too much and you WILL go crazy, just like they said.
Given this chapter I can see, and hope that the cyber book works the same way.

A money and equipment chapter follows. Money, though very important to the focus of the game, is game mechanic rather than collected. Similar to D20 Modern in a way. And of course lots of guns, spaceships and other things you need, like food and permits. While money is always going to be an issue, since that is the primary motivation of the characters, doing the system like this was a nice cinematic way of dealing with things.

A chapter on “doing things” follows after that. It is your basic rules chapter, but most things are handled with the same mechanic, so this chapter breezes by. I appreciate transparency in my games. “You can do this and this is how you do it.” BHB takes the basic d20 system and really streamlines it to it’s barest essentials (even more so than True20) yet nothing seems lost. Thus this chapter is very short.

Combat is more involved, since the bounty heads aren’t likely to go quietly. The combat chapter is again, easy to read and uses the same simple mechanics. Skills and your rank in them are what is important here. This sets it off from the d20 crowds and puts it back into GURPS/Unisystem territory. In a neat twist you can use the same “to hit” roll as a damage roll, thus speeding up your games. There is logic in this and I like the effect.

The Setting Chapter both pleased me and irritated me. The solar system is the setting with a nearly uninhabited Earth and terra-formed planets and moons. Briefly object hits the Moon, destroys it, sends Earth into chaos where meteors rain every day. But some of those rocks were used to jump gate tech to allow quick travel throughout the solar system and was a key element in terra-forming.

Now humanity is all over the system. There is a real wild west feel to the plaents. Mars is the center of human population now, Venus is like a giant mob controlled Vegas, the moons of Jupiter have food production and so on and all have their own hazards. There is a Solar System wide police force, but they are few, overworked, underpaid and spread too thin. This gives us lots of crime and the opportunity for bounty hunters (like you!) to capture bad guys and bring them in for fun and profit. Mostly for profit.
What irritated me was that this chapter was so short. Sure, I know it is so I can later buy the Mars book or the Io book, but it just touched the surface. Yeah I could go back to the anime (or other shows, Blake’s 7 comes to mind) for ideas. But I was enjoying reading when it was over.

The book has a very nice index, a character sheet that looks familiar to us all and a summary page on how to spend XPs. But the coolest thing is the included adventure in the back. Gets you and going on your first Bounty Head hunt in no time. The adventure itself is good, and even shows you what can be done with the system in terms of story. Sure this could have been a simple bounty hunt, but this one has moral layers and corruption and the hosts of a “Big Shots” like show (nice touch).

What Did I Like?
Simple system, very easy to figure out. Plus it was also easy to figure out what to do with the game. Concepts came with every page (more or less).
The book itself has a nice simple layout and it is easy to find everything. Plus it “reads” well too. The text is concise and gets right to the point.
I also like the Luck and Surge points, which are basically like Drama Points or Hero Points.

What Didn’t I Like?
Still not a fan of roll under mechanics. They seem wrong to me. Would have loved more setting information and some basic computer hacking rules.

Other Notes
Art. The art is nice, but a lot of it is used again throughout the book. Pictures of some of the planets would be nice, what does Venus Vegas look like? How about the domes of Mars? That sort of thing.

What Can I do with This?
Well there is basic premise, go out and hunt bad guys. But there are plenty of other ideas.

The Stainless Steel Rat: Play the bad guys. Sure hunting them is fun, but wouldn’t it be more fun to be the bad guy or the mobsters avoiding the SSPB and the Bounty Hunters?

Reservoir Dogs: You get pulled into a heist gone really, really wrong.

The Usual Suspects: You bring in your small fry bounty head only to uncover that maybe, maybe the most notorious criminal mastermind might be involved or even one of your marks.

Witch Hunter Bebop: Let’s combine Sunrise’s two best anime ever, Cowboy Bebop and Witch Hunter Robin and make a game where you need to hunt down marks using their Feng-Shui powers illegally.

Firefly: Yeah it has a game and I really like Cortext, but I’ll be blunt here. There is nothing in Firefly that Cowboy Bebop didn’t do first and better and with a better soundtrack. You can do the same here. Plus the solar system of BHB makes more sense.

Who should get this?
If you like Anime or space adventures with bullets rather than lasers then this is your game. If you want to do something like Traveler but don’t want the overhead of the system or the mega-plot then this is your game. You might be able to do “Star Wars” or “Star Trek” but we have better choices for those games. This would be perfect for “Buck Rodgers” or “Flash Gordon” though and of course “Cowboy Bebop”.

Kids Stuff: Bogeys, Imaginary Friends and Childhood Terrors

"Fairy tales do not teach children that monsters exist.
Children already know that monsters exist.
Fairy tales teach children that monsters can be defeated."
- Attributed to G.K. Chesterson

Adults are far removed from the dreams of childhood. When we were children we thought, spoke and behaved as children do or so the Book has told us but so has Freud and Piaget. As adults, we are also removed from the fears of childhood. The Thing Under the Bed, the Monster in the Closet, the Beast Outside our Window. We grow up, get older and forget these things.

They do not forget us.

Children are the keepers of an ancient secret; that the monsters of childhood are real.
For a child, there is a certain magic in innocence. They believe with all their hearts that something magical is real. In sort of a converse of WitchCraft's crowd effect, the "innocence effect" can cause spontaneous thaumotogenesis; the creation of something by magic. In children where the Gift, Sorcery or Magic runs strong these imaginative beings can take shape and live. Or maybe they were always there and the children only brought them into our world.

Bogeys
Bogeys are the name given to harmful creatures created by children. They are mischievous and in many ways are very similar to faeries. Bogarts, Buchwans, Bwcha, and Bogeys all share the same semantic roots and the creatures are very similar. Bogeys though are also akin to demons. Some can be as cruel in their mischief as the worst demon lord.

Bogeys have one quality about them that is unique; adults can not see them. Anytime a bogey preys on a child it will scamper away if an adult comes by. The only way fight a bogey is to see it and the only way to see one is through magic. Some magic sensitive can see them (ie The Sight or Greater Sensing), but the best way to see them is through the eyes of a child or to become childlike.

Some occult scholars will blame the strange goings on around children as poltergeists or nascent magical ability. These maybe true. But there are also bogeys, and since most occult scholars are adults and not looking for them, they never see them.

All bogeys differ and can have any combination of abilities, powers, qualities and drawbacks. Even ones that are restricted to a particular group are available to bogeys. All bogeys do have Innate Magic, though some have been able to learn Magic.

Bogeys and BastIn a Classic Unisystem game or a Cinematic game with Bast, an added dimension can be used. Bogeys are the ancient enemies of the Bast. In the earliest days of Egypt's Pharos, the Bogeys entered our world and began to plague the children of Egypt. The High Priest beseeched Ra, the Sun God, to send them a protector to guard over their children. Ra turned to his protector Bast and she sent her minions to Earth.
Bast, regardless of age, always see Bogeys and most will attack them on site. In the war between them, Bast has decimated the ranks of the Bogeys. Though this is not true everywhere. In Ireland, the ancient Celts were superstitious about cats and they killed many Bast. This allowed the bogeys to gain a strong foothold in the lands of the Celts. To this day this is why you see more bogeys in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales than anywhere else in the world.

The Red-Legged Scissor Man
(From The Menagerie Series by Christopher Golden and Thomas Sniegoski)
A particularly nasty bogey is the Red-Legged Scissor Man. Named for the giant pair of scissors he wields as a weapon. He gets the other part of his name from what he does with the scissors. The Scissor Man plagues children, especially ones that others would describe as having emotional problems. He visits them scaring them with his presence and then uses his scissors to cut off their thumbs. He will then hook the thumb onto his belt with dozens more like it causing the blood to run down his naked lower half, staining his legs in blood. He is unnaturally tall and thin, maybe 8 feet tall, but weighing only 95 some pounds. His face is fixed in a clown-like grin displaying sharp yellow teeth. His tiny red eyes dart everywhere as he nervously laughs as he talks.

The Scissor Man was believed to have been defeated in the middle of the 20^th Century, but who is to say he will stay that way.

Name: The Red-Legged Scissor Man
Motivation: To frighten and maim children
Creature Type: Bogey
Attributes: Str 2, Dex 4, Con 4, Int 3, Per 5, Will 2
Ability Scores: Muscle 10, Combat 12, Brains 12
Life Points: 34
Drama Points: 1
Special Abilities: Attractiveness -3, Emotional Influence (causes fear)
Manoeuvres
Name Score Damage Notes
Scissors 12 8 Most often used to chop of thumbs
Deflect 15 - Magic defence action; deflects spells 45º

Imaginary Friends
While Bogeys are harmful to children the same creation process also can produce imaginary friends. Like bogeys, imaginary friends are created by the nascent magical ability of children. And like bogeys, imaginary friends cannot be seen by adults.

Buttons
There are very few demons that actually pay attention to strife between bogeys and imaginary friends, considering both to be too far insignificant to even merit their notice. But there is one imaginary friend that they do know about and the mere mention of his name fills them with fear and dread.

That name is Buttons.

Buttons the Bear began just like another childhood toy. He was a handmade stuffed bear given to a now-forgotten child one Christmas morning in the early 1800's. As his child grew older Buttons (and this was not yet his name) was discarded for newer playthings. That is till he ended up as a donation to an orphanage. By this time Buttons had seen a fair amount of use, in particular his glass eyes were gone. The matron of the house, a young Irish nun sewed two buttons on his face for eyes; one green the other red. She gave him to a small child who had nothing and had never received a Christmas present before. It was there that Buttons felt the first tinges of Awakening, the love of this young child stirred up the spark of divinity that is in everything; even in a stuffed bear with mis-matched buttons for eyes.

An orphanage, especially one in what was now the mid-Victorian era, was ripe for all sorts of bogeys. Generally, these were the pestering kind, but every so often something more dangerous would prey on the unfortunates. Buttons (as he was now known) went from merely scaring them off to actively hunting them down at night. For many years Buttons protected the children here and in return he knew he had their love.
Things changed shortly after the Blight. Taking advantage of the suffering and death many demons moved into Ireland, one chose to use the orphanage as a staging area. He would hide in wait, corrupting the adults and torturing the children. It was not though till the demon had fully manifested itself and prepared to kill a child did Buttons attack. Though he was no longer a child's stuffed plaything; instead he had manifested into a towering black bear with razor-sharp claws and a mouthful of teeth. He attacked the demon full on.

The demon, while still very powerful, was only expecting some starving children, not seven feet, 1,200 pounds of fur, claws, and fangs. Within a few seconds the demon was not only on the defense, but nearly ripped to shreds.

On the demon's home plane a portal opened. The demons there were awaiting their Lord's return to bring them the bounty from the orphanage. Instead, the bloodied corpse of their lord was flung through followed by a huge bear with a fire red ruby for one eye and a burning emerald for the other. It let out a deafening roar; a clear warning to the demons. Since that time Buttons has killed no fewer than 17 demon lords and wounded many others. The orphanage suffered no more attacks as long as there was one child holding a tattered old bear with buttons for eyes.

Name: Buttons the Bear (Manifested Form)
Motivation: Protect the Children
Creature Type: Bogey (Imaginary Friend)
Attributes: Str 7, Dex 4, Con 9, Int 2, Per 3, Will 2
Ability Scores: Muscle 20, Combat 18, Brains 12
Life Points: 83
Drama Points: 1
Special Abilities: Bogey (Imaginary Friend), Hard to Kill (3), Manifest
Manoeuvres
Name Score Damage Notes
Claw (x2) 18 18 Slash/Stab
Bite 16 12 Slash/Stab
- Break Neck 20 28 Bash
Deflect 15 - Magic defense action; deflects spells 45º

Mrs. Cully Mully and her Pink Dog
No one is really sure who, or what, Mrs. Cully Mully is. Was she a human witch that became more imaginary over time. Or an imaginary friend that became more like a real human? No one knows for sure. Mrs. Cully Mully appears to be a woman in her 70's wearing a pinkish frock coat, horned rimmed glasses and carrying a small handbag purse.

She is known to walk the areas between Dream and Reality, between this world and the next one, and between childhood and the end of innocence. Always between worlds, but never in any one world properly. She will say things to make you believe she was once human, like "when I taught kindergarten…" and things to make you think she is imaginary, or at least question her sanity; "…of course the sky was pink then and we had three moons."

She walks the "in-betweens" helping those who are lost, or of need information. In her bag she almost anything the Cast could need, almost. She has no (and no use for) weapons. If the Cast is hungry then she might have their second-favorite sandwich (she is always out of their first favorite) or some magical bauble that may not seem to be useful now but will be priceless later on. She will of course claim she is just walking her dog.

Her dog, who is completely pink, will bark constantly in its small yippish barks. It is only when it stops barking is there reason to fear. That usually means bogeys, spirits or demons are near.

She will try to hastily retreat, pulling the Cast in-tow. IF she has to fight then her true nature (or is it?) is revealed. She has never been known to get into a fight, but in one case an occult scholar (who has since retired to working on a small farm) was lost in the in-betweens when he encountered Mrs. Cully Mully. He described her as pleasant, if seemingly addled. She agreed to walk the man home since it was "on her way" when the object of the scholar's search appeared, the Great Demon Abraxas (so he claimed). Abraxas demanded the scholar's soul and threatened to kill everyone else. Mrs. Cully Mully, he then claimed, walked right up to the demon lord and called him by his true name (also, so the scholar claims) and proceeded to scold him like a schoolboy. She was stern, but never once raised her voice. The demon, angered beyond rage, roared and disappeared in a pillar of flame. She took the man's hand and told him that we're taking a short cut, walked two or three steps and were in front of the man's home. She told him to give up this life, get a real job and find himself a nice quiet girl to marry.

Some say she is a good-natured aspect of the Crone, Goddess of the Witches. Others say she is really the Goddess Ceriweden. And still, others say she is a retired kindergarten teacher out walking her dog.

Mrs. Cully Mully
No Stats. She does not engage in combat. She does have a handbag and small pink, yippy dog.

Games Plus Fall 2009 Auction

I would like to draw your attention to my Favorite Local Game Store, Games Plus in Mount Prospect, Il. I have been going to this place for years and years and I will continue to do so.

But this is not an advertisement for Games Plus.
This is an ad for their Game Auction! ;)

Every Fall and Spring Games Plus hosts a game auction. This is the BEST way to find some really rare games, unload some games you no longer need or just hang out and see some fellow gamers and maybe catch a deal or two.

Typically the FAll auction is my time to unload those impulse buys from Gen Con. This year though I bought so little at Gen Con and have not had the time to even go through what I did buy that I might not have much in this auction at all.

I am sure though I will be there. I'll talk to my kids and see what they have they want to get rid of and then also check out some of the other nights. I could use some cheap minis and Pokemon cards are always welcomed in my home.

Here are some links with information:
http://games-plus.com/auction.htm
http://www.facebook.com/richard.kurtin#/event.php?eid=135594128125&index=1
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=101+W+Prospect+Ave%2C+Mount+Prospect%2C+IL

Stop in. Get a number and who knows that game you have been wanting for years just might be there.

Jury Duty

I will be out of contact for a bit. I have Jury Duty all this week, so any "free" time I have will be used up in getting work done I couldn't do during the day.

Back with more updates soon including what Nel is doing in "Witch Girls Adventures" and a review of "Bounty Head Bebop".

Dirty Nellie, Street Faerie

For Ghosts of Albion I introduced a new race of fae call Street Faeries. They are fae that have choosen to live in the urban sprawl of large cities rather than their normal sylvan glades and woods. The most notorious of of all though was a little street fae name "Dirty Nel".

Dirty Nellie
She looked like child, one of those unfortunates forced to work the streets, though no child had such a licentious gleam in her eyes. Of course no human child had wings either. They were the same shape as other pixies, that of a butterfly, but these were more like that of a peppered moth. They were colorless, save for irregular patches of what appeared to be soot or grime. She smoked an American style cigarette, which of course was not only scandalous as a woman, but as a creature of the Fae. Her clothing was a motley assortment that revealed more flesh than even the most brazen dollymop would have been ashamed to show. I approached her to ascertain what sort of creature she was. She noticed me and said, "Oi! Piss off. Im trying to work ere!"
She disappeared in a shower, not of pixie-dust, but of soot and smoke.

- From the Journal of Tamara Swift

One of the more notorious Street Fae is a pixie named Nel, also known as Dirty Nellie by human occult researchers. Nel is a Street Faerie prostitute often working in the theatre district of London. She got her start at the dawn of the Victorian age as a simple street walker. She would use her minor powers of Glamour to appear as whatever she felt her clients were looking for. A low level of empathic powers helped her to seek out those whose need was great (and thus able to pay more) and what they were looking for. Her most oft-used guise is that of a coster girl who has lost all her snells and needs to make back all her lost money or her cruel stepfather will beat her. She has also been known to appear as dusky beauty for the orient, or a young lad lost in the city after leaving his boarding school.

Through guile, deceit, and lots of hard work, Nel worked her way into the prominent occult societies of the time. As her clientele increased in wealth and status, so did her own. She gained not only monetary wealth but a wealth of information about such organizations as the Algernon Club, the Rosicrucians, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (where she was Crowley's lover for a time), and the Theosophical Society. By World War I no living being knew as many secrets (and it is amazing how many secrets a man is willing to share in the cloak of night in the lover's bed) of the occult underground as she did.

Note to Modern Directors: Dirty Nellie has not been seen since the Blitz of WWII. If she survived (and many suspect she did not) she must be using a new guise or has moved on to another city.

Roleplaying Dirty Nellie
Nel is the archetypical good-time girl. When not working she can be found in gambling houses, public houses, or even an opium den. Her looks in any form are striking. She is a bit vain and proud of her looks, so in any guise her midnight black hair (cut short), green eyes and many piercings remain. She is fond of soldiers and once traveled to India to be with an entire troup. She returned to London with a pierced nose and an addiction to the cigarettes smoked there. Her favorite trick is to produce one she has pre-rolled from nowhere and light it with the tip of her finger. As a Faerie, Nel is immune to the harmful effects of her addictions to smoking, alcohol and drugs. She is also immune to the diseases that plague her trade, but Directors may decide she is a carrier and say there is a chance that her paramours could contract syphilis themselves.
Nel in any part of the Victorian age is a wealth of information and can act as a Criminal or Supernatural Contact. In the time of Ghosts of Albion (early Victorian) she is worth up to 3 points of Criminal Contacts (she knows everyone and most owe her) or 2 points of Supernatural. As the 19th Century progresses she can be bought fo up to 3 points of Supernatural but only 2 of Criminal.

Nel is not a fighter. She not above threatening someone with her knife or even throwing a bit of fire at someone, but she will not engage in most forms of combat. Nel would rather seduce someone and then poison them in the bed chamber if she wants someone dead. Usually though trouble finds Nel and not the other way around. A possible introduction would be having her running for her life and smack right into the Cast.
Despite some of her addictions, arrogance and her rather rude habit of calling humans monkeys, Nel is actually a very sweet faerie girl. She is also just determined to do things her way. One thing is certain, it is never boring with her around.

Ghosts of Albion stats
Name: Nel, Dirty Nellie (various human guise names are Alice, Little Mary, Tommy Atkins)
Motivation: To make some money and have a good time while doing it
Creature Type: Faerie (street faerie)
Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 4, Constitution 4, Intelligence 4, Perception 5, Willpower 6
Life Points: 34
Drama Points: 15
Qualities and Drawbacks: Addictions (Hashish 1, Opium 1,Smoking 2, Sex 2), Adversaries (Police, various rivals, various demons she owes money to), Blink 2, Criminal (Prostitute), Contacts (Criminal 3, Supernatural 3), Elven Soul Flame, Emotional Problems (Covetous, Cruel, Faerie Arrogance), Faerie, Glamour, Minority (Woman), Resources (start at -6 works up to +2).

Manoeuvres
Name Score Damage Notes
Dodge 11 Defence action
Grapple 7 Resisted by Dodge
Punch 5 4 Bash
Knife 11 4 Slash/Stab* Plus Elven Soul Flame



Dirty Nellie in Rippers & Gaslight (Savage Worlds)

Dirty Nel. I am afraid no amount of Ripper Tech can prepare you for that tangle with the supernatural.
- Attributed to Jonathan Harker, circa 1890

You can't be truly initiated into the inner ranks of the occult until Nel initiates you herself.
- Alistair Crowley, 1899

By 1892 Dirty Nellie (now mostly known as just Dirty Nel) is still doing what she does best. While not uncommon (Faeries have all sorts of obsessions), keeping the same job for 60 plus years is quite a feat for a little Street Fae.

Since the dawn of the Victorian age when she gained certain infamy in occult circles she only become more notorious. Some time in the 1840s she caught the attentions of a few occult researchers and scholars. Originally she was the subject of much discussion in the inner circles of occult lodges, discussing her the same way they would the tomes of Agrippa or a new species of vampire. That is till one of them decided to just approach her. When the young research returned from his visit, he spoke of her charm, her wit and of course her skills. Soon Nel was being visited by most of the members of the lodge and of a few others. Each would share some secrets with her, as is common with paramours. She went from back alley toffs to receiving gentlemen in her apartment. Her fees increased, not that the erstwhile men of learning noticed, and she increased her own knowledge. By the time anyone had figured out what was happening it was too late. Nel knew all their secrets, all their enemies secrets and a few more besides. She bartered her knowledge and took over one of the clubs where the men had met, the Mayfair House, and converted it into a club catering to me with a taste for both forbidden knowledge and forbidden carnality. While it is money that is often paid with her real currency is information and secrets. The Mayfair Club becomes a central gathering place for members of the occult community. She hires several girls, many with faerie or other blood in them, but most are still just human. She provides the men with a place to talk and relax, like any other Victorian club, but she provides other services as well. By 1892 the Mayfair Club is the place to go to get answers or find someone in the occult community. To date she has not hired any demons, werwolves or vampires, but she is getting more requests a day for even more forbidden fruit.

She has a lavish flat in Highgate, paid for by her many paramours, both with occult and terrestrial power. She is also now often paid just to be seen with someone, rather than have sex with them; though she still does that as well.

Nel after Rippers

People have been excommunicated or executed for less.
- One occult scholar failing to describe the events of the Mayfair Club party on New Years Eve, 1899.

During The Great War Nel provided financial power to protect her own homeland against the threat of the Kaiser, but that was not her major concern. She was also dealing with worsening relations with the Seelie and Unseelie Courts and ultimately the Shadow War between them. Nell like many Street Fae refused to choose sides and she was branded a traitor by the Seelie Court Queen. Hoping the further her own end the Unseelie Court Queen granted Nel Safe Passage for her services to the Unseelie Court (mostly by keeping Englands occult community in a sex-crazed haze to keep them out of the Courts business). This infuriated the Seelie Queen and she order Nels death.

During the Pulp Adventures ages (an age I think Savage Worlds is best at) Nel can be found at Mayfairs (the Club was dropped years ago) but her lust for life is mostly gone. Though adventurers search for some artifact will certainly find their trail leading to her door. She now employees a number of Unseelie Court faeries, but she even admits they are more likely to be spies for either Court.

The last reported sighting on Dirty Nellie was during the final Blitz of WWII. If she survived (and many suspect she did not) she must be using a new guise or has moved on to another city. Given the events of the Shadow War between the Fae, it is unlikely that the Seelie Court could have made good on their threats to kill her. But various stories suggest she was killed in the Blitz, or a jealous lover killed her or even more fantastic that the Devil claimed her as his own bride. Though it is also likely she has slipped away to live quietly. Though anyone that knew her cannot believe that.

Mayfairs remained closed till the 60s when it reopened as a center of the psychedelic drug culture. Since the middle 70s it has been owned and operated by a vampire couple who brought back to its roots of a contact place of the occult and the mundane.

Dirty Nellie (Savage Worlds)
Agility d8
Smarts d8
Spirit d8
Strength d6
Vigor d8

Charisma 4/2/0 (humans/other street fae/seelie court fae)
Pace 6
Parry 3
Reason
Toughness 6

Skills
Climbing d4
Fighting d4 (Nel is a lover, not a fighter)
Guts d10
Intimidation d4
Knowledge (Occult) d12+3 (if Nel does not know it, its probably not true)
Knowledge d10
Notice d10
Persuasion d8
Riding d4
Spellcasting d6
Stealth d8
Streetwise d8
Survival d10
Taunt d6

Hindrances
Compulsions (Smoking, Sex) (Used as Habit (Major)), Delusional (Faerie Arrogance, Minor), Illiterate, Outcast (unwelcome in the Seelie Court, treat as Outsider in respect to Seelie Court Fae), Weakness: Iron

Edges
Connections, Faerie Attractiveness (Adds +4 to Charisma for humans), Hard to Kill, Rich

Powers
Arcane Background (Magic Glamour)

D&D Overload

I am sitting in my game room now, looking at my shelves. I have D&D. And by that I mean I have EVERY D&D ruleset there is. Original, Basic (3 different boxes claiming to be “Basic D&D” and none of them are very compatible with the others), Advanced, Editions 1, 2, 3, and 4. Not to mention OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord, Basic Fantasy, S&W, Spellcraft & Swordplay, Hackmaster, Castles & Crusades and now I am adding Pathfinder to my crowded “D&D” shelves, and this not even counting what is on my hard drive.

It has gotten insane. I NEVER need to buy another “D&D” product again. Yet I know I will.

But it has gotten so chaotic and even psychotic. If I look at the products released only in the last year on my shelf I can play 5 (maybe even up to 7) different versions of the “Largest Selling Role Playing Game” of all time. And that is not even cracking my books from back in the day. I have at least 15 different ways to play “D&D” and I am sure I have forgotten one or two.

I think I either need to choose one version of the game and stick with that (but which one) or design a simple, streamlined version of the game that fits my needs that includes elements I like from all the other versions. While that idea has merit and appeal to me, it is an awful lot of work. Plus the game has changed so much over the years that some concepts I liked in one version have no place in another.

I think I would start with fewer classes. Like in 2e, go with Priest, Rogue, Magic-User and Warrior. Then break it down into tiers like 4e. So 1 to 10 you can have 2e-like kits to allow role playing. A magic-user then takes a kit to be a wizard, warlock, illusionist and so on. Levels 11 to 20 are prestige classes (including prestige versions of core classes), Levels 21 to 30 are epic level. Use 3e as a base (I like the idea of feats), give the classes powers at each level (like Pathfinder), but start them out at a higher level. That is a Level 1 character in this version is more like a 5th level character in D&D3. In a way it is like using the D&D Rules Cyclopedia and just starting everyone on 5th level. Use 4e’s skill system or use more of an “ability” check system like from 0.
But that is all surface stuff. That doesn’t tell me anything about how to redo monsters, deal with magic or the numerous other rules that are effected (Pathfinder is 575+ pages of rules. And it is not complete!)

Well maybe we can see 5th Edition work out some of these issues, or just adds to them. Or I can just stick to playing Ghosts of Albion. ;)

New RPG Groups on Facebook

For the fans of Victorian era role-playing games I have made two new Facebook groups.

The Victorian Gamers Association is very new and is for any game set in the Victorian Era or is at least Victorian in feel and tone. So games would in include Cthulhu by Gaslight, Victorian Age Vampire, Ghosts of Albion, Ravenloft: the Masque of Red Death, Victoriana, Rippers as well as Forgotten Futures, For Faerie, Queen and Country for the Amazing Engine and Space: 1899.

Please come by and visit.

More dedicated is The Ghosts of Albion group. It is dedicated to the Ghosts of Albion RPG as well as all the animations and novels.

Plus I feel I should mention two groups of games I am a fan of, Spellcraft & Swordplay and Witch Girls Adventures. Fan them as well!

Bodhmall, the Druidess, er.. Nature Priestess

Regular readers know of my search in 4e for the best Druid class. I have been largely disappointed with the class we got in Player’s Handbook 2 and instead have expressed my fondness for the Nature Priest in Ari Marmell’s Advanced Player’s Guide from Expeditious Retreat Press.
Well now I have the Wokan from Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor 4e.

A bit of background on the Wokan, the Wokani made their appearance in Mystara many years back. They were basically the witches or even witch-doctors of the world. In fact many publications set in Mystara (the Glantri books are a good example) have “witch” in older versions and “wokani” in newer versions of the same copy-pasted text. So I figured they were a good place to look too.

Now for Bodhmall nic Tadg.
Bodhmall (“Bode-vull”) is a character of mine, she is described in Irish myth as the sister of Muirne the White Neck (or sometimes Cumhail) and the foster mother of Fionn mac Cumhail. She is a wise woman and a druidess. In my games I deal with a younger Bodhmall. She is a druidess still, with a penchant for fire and weather based magic. Not quite an elementalist, but close. She also, along with Liath Luchara, form one of the enduring covens of witches in my games, the Daughters of the Flame. The Daughters appear time and time again in all my games, and I usually have Bodhmall and Liath, or their reincarnations, in my games somewhere.

For this experiment I built many different versions of Bodhmall to 12th level. This gave a wide choice in powers and a Paragon Path. Lets go to the data.

First up is the Druid from D&D Player’s Handbook 2
Short: Hate it. I am sure there are plenty of people that like it, but I never used the druid wild shape ability and this is all the stuff I didn’t like in 1st Ed Druids turned all the way up. There are some nice powers sure, but not enough to merit taking the class.

Secondly, using the Hybrid rules for Dragon/DDiThis build is a hybrid Druid/Shaman. Aw now there are more choices, but not enough fire based powers. Sure I could add Warlock into that mix, and given my success with warlock hybrids that is not a bad idea, but it isn’t what I want. Still though a hybrid fey-lock/druid might have some potential and take the Alchemy feat from Arcane Power. Druids can be ritual casters, but druids did not read, that was the deal with being a druid all this knowledge committed to memory.

Though the Keeper of the Hidden Flame is so close in concept to a Guardian from the Daughters of the Flame that I almost can’t pass it up.

Third, The Nature Priest from Advanced Player’s GuideGenerally speaking this class is weaker than the druid. The powers are about the same in terms of effects and damage done. But concept wise it is such a better fit that it is unreal. Lots of Fire-based powers, lots weather based ones. Going through and build Bodhmall to 12th level was so easy that I figured I had time to do this Blog post about it.
The cons here though are there is not a wide variety of powers to choose from, but the powers they do have a re very nice.

For a Paragon path I choose the Hierophant. Not as close as the Keeper of the Hidden Flame, but good enough and it is more “druidy” feeling.

Fourth, the Wokan from Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor 4eThe Wokan is not a perfect either. To pull out something from the half remembered Miller’s Analogies Test, Druids are to Nature Priests as Shamans are Wokans. I think that is what they are supposed to be too. The powers are nice, a little more powerful than the Druid in some ways. Quite a few powers that would make good Fey-lock powers. A Hybrid Wokan/Warlock (“Worlockan”?) might be interesting to see one day.

I did not pick a Paragon path for this one since I could tell right away it was not going to give me what I wanted.

The Winner?
There is a clear winner here. The Nature Priest is exactly what I want in a druid with all the extras that everyone seems to like. Not sure if the Nature Priest could be considered another build of Druid or not. They are so similar in some ways and so different in others; like comparing Warlocks to Sorcerers.

Though I am ready to chuck the druid from 4e and use the Nature Priest instead.

Dracula, use or not?

So, I have an adventure idea that is just jelling and it might be my next Gen Con adventure.

But here is my question to you all.

Is Dracula too overused to be a credible threat anymore?

I want to use him in a Ghosts of Albion game, set in Transylvania around 1850 or so. So sometime before he meets up with Harker and the events of "Dracula".

It could be that this encounter is what has prompted his move to England.

Looking for input.

Thanks!

Blackmoor!

Gen Con was great.

But I only picked up ONE book my entire time there, the new 4e Blackmoor book.
Reading it back in my hotel room I was overwhelmed with the feeling I was reading a new version of the D&D Rules Compendium.

There are a lot things in this book that are familiar to me. Wokan(i), Arcane Warrior, Nobles. The races are standard 4e, and even explains how to work in some of the newer ones.

But what I like is now I have another piece of my puzzle. I am placing Blackmoor on my North Pole, past the land of Black Ice (Greyhawk). Blackmoor sits inside a crater carved out the north pole where the former Blackmoor had once stood. This explosion created a crater (in Mystara this would have blown a hole in the planet, making it hollow) and the refugees settled here. Blackmoor then becomes something like Shangri-la and Atalntis. There are people there, shut off from the world, maybe even thinking the rest of the world had been destroyed.

Some survivors of the great Blackmoor explosion went south and settled in the lands that later became the "Known World" that is why these lands know about Blackmoor, use similar names for things and why so many different cultures have settled in such a small area.

My Blackmoor is only about 500 miles across and about 250,000 square miles of area, so about the size of France. Geothermal activity keeps the area warmer than would be expected, and the high mountains keep the area remote.

Though it doesn't *exactly* fit with my plans for my world, I might keep the Dragonborn there as well. They are a different sub-species as my Dragon-isle ones. These would be more "human" for lack of a better word.

More after I read the book some more.

Tim

Good Night Gen Con!!

And there is another Gen Con come and gone.
Ran some "Ghosts of Albion" games and they went great! If I can I'll be posting them here for you all to download and play at home!

Got to play in some games too. D&D4e, Victoriana. Wanted to get into a Bounty Head Bebop game, but timing didn't allow it.

I have some ideas for some new adventures for next year.
"GoA: Wilderness", based on a comic by Amber Benson and Christopher Golden.
"GoA: Synchronicity", a Buffy / Ghost of Albion crossover.
"GoA: Victoriana", a Ghosts of Albion / Victoriana dual stated adventure.
and one that sounds great to do on paper, but maybe not for a Gen Con game, "Ghosts of Albion: Ravenloft".

I did not buy a bunch of stuff this time around. I picked up an Elmore print for my game room, and Dave Arneson's Blackmoor 4e. Some dice to give out during Ghosts, and Pokemon cards for the boys.

The long drive is tomorrow.

Work is on Monday. Not looking forward to all the email that has backed up while I was gone.

Elizabeth Bathory, Witch Girls Adventures

Now here is something to get us through Gen Con. The Witch Girls Adventures version of Elizabeth Bathory. I can see a mini-series of adventures featuring Bathory here at the Willow-Mistt school. First with her take-over and the cast slow finding out she is not just named after the sadistic vampire, but is in fact her all the way to the final battle.

I like her numbers here but would need to playtest them to be sure.

Elizabeth Bathory
Witch Girls Adventures
Vampire
Rank: 5 (or 6 depending on how the cast finds her)
Age: 449 (looks either in her late 20s or 449)
Motivation: To stay young and beautiful forever.

Body: d10
Mind: d12
Senses: d8
Will: d10
Social: d8 +1
Magic: d12

Life Points: 20
Reflex: 13
Resist Magic: 15
Zap Points: 24

Skills (Rank)
Acting d8 +7
Athletics d10
Art d12
Basics d12
Casting d12 +4
Focus d10 +6
Fib d8 + 11
Fighting d10 +2
Hear d8 +1
Instrument d8 +6
Leader d8 +9
Look d8 +4
Magical Etiquette
Mundane Etiquette d8 +7
Mysticism d12 + 4
Mythology d12 + 4
Potions d12 +2
Scare d8 +6

Traits
Beautiful* (only when fed. If not then Hags Syndrome)
Rich
Wicked
Imperial

Magic
Alteration 1
Divination 2
Illusion 3
Mentalism 2
Necromancy 2
Offense 1
Protection 2

Signature Spell: Glamour

Abilities
Common Vampire abilities
Magic Immunity: Bathory is immune to Mentalism and Necromancy type magic.
Shape Shift: Bathory can become a paragon raven or paragon wolf at will.
Special Immortality: Bathory can only die if she is forced to see herself in her “hag” state.

AttacksBite: 10 damage and drains a person of all Life and Zap points. Bathory only feeds on young witches.
Claws: 6

Plot HookElizabeth manages to get on the Board of Directors of the Willow-Mistt School. Through manipulation, magic and outright threats she manages to get Amora Mistt removed as Headmistress and herself put in her place.
Bathory then starts recruiting the best and brightest senior girls to her side, to help ease the transition, to have lackeys in the school and of course when her plans comes, to have these girls nearby so she can drain them of their life-force. She will have also vamped one of the teachers to her side, some she will be grooming as her Scion (I am thinking Connie Li, but certainly NOT Ursula Scratch, too cliché).

Once the big dance comes on Walpurgis Night, Bathory will have worked out a ritual to drain every girl in the School of their magic, blood and life.

That is of course, unless the Stars can do something about it.

The teachers can’t help since going after Elizabeth violates some magical contract they have all signed and she has manipulated to her advantage (something like teacher cannot threaten the school and since she is Headmistress and on the Board and maybe tapped into the energies of the school, she *is* the school). The senior class are all her thralls now (they will willing drain their dates for their mistress at the dance). I would have to say she had Tandy arrested for something, she looks like she is too clever to fall for Bathory’s magic. Ebony would have to be magicked somehow. Leaving Ursula and the Krofts left to help the kids. I like the idea of Ursula having to team up with Susan and Derrick.
Or just do what I did when I originally ran this, make is a inter-term like J-Term (a term in the Winter during break where students can take an extra class for more credit) or Summer Term. I like Summer better, then the dance becomes the Mid-Summer's Ball (figure a 4 week term May 21 to June 22/July 1). Most of the faculty will be away; of course only to show up at the final battle against Bathory’s vampire minions with a very pissed of Amora in the lead. Of course the Stars will need to stop (the rapidly aging) Bathory themselves.
In the grand tradition of horror movies, anime and TV shows, I might need a few red shirt teachers and students to go down in the battle. I am not one to kill characters randomly or even to make a point, but in this case it might be needed.

Elizabeth Bathory in Witch GirlsElizabeth began her life as a young woman as an apprentice witch. She enjoys the power she gains from magic, but has never had the frame of mind to complete her studies much beyond the beginning phases.
She hates the formal training witches receive (part of her reasons to attack the school) but loves that some many potential victims are under one roof.

Elizabeth Bathory, Chill

Going back to my roots here for a bit. Elizabeth Bathory was one of my favorite evil characters in the old Mayfair Chill game. This was the game that convinced me (long before we ever saw Ravenloft for AD&D) that vampires need to played as characters and not monsters. Of course this is the defacto way of doing things now, but back then this was a new and powerful insight. Despite the fact that in the book Bathroy looked like Susan Lucci (and still not a bad choice), my earliest opinions on what Elizabeth Bathory acts like as a vampire come from the 1971 movie Les lèvres rouges, known here in the States as "Daughters of Darkness" (not to be confused with the movie Vampyres, which also had been called Daughters of Darkness).

Delphine Seyrig really helped form the idea of vampire Bathory as a timeless aristocrat so convinced that what she was doing was right that there is no sign of psychosis at all. She was a royal and therefore all others exist to serve her. After all, she had been locked away and cheated death. Of course the memory of her imprisonment still haunted her, so she became more cautious and more selective. And that is how she was formed for me in Chill. These stats differ from her published ones but they fit better with the Unisystem ones from before. Elizabeth Bathory, Chill (these are my combined 1st and 2nd Ed version of Chill stats) BASIC ABILITIES Strength 90 Perception 100 Dexterity 80 Willpower 110 Agility 90 Luck/EWS 150 Personality 120 Stamina 120 Attack 2/90% Movement 75’ (225' as Raven or Wolf) EDGES & DRAWBACKS (2nd Ed) Name /CIPs/ Notes Attractive /4/ Psychological flaw /1/ Obsessions (stay young, stay beautiful) SKILLS Name (Rank) Score Dagger/Knife (M) 145 Acting/Drama (M) 165 Anthropology/ Archaeology (M) 160 Antiques (M) 130 Art Criticism (M) 160 History (M) 160 Hypnotism (M) 165 Investigation (M) 142 Language, Contemporary [all European languages] (M) 160 Language, Ancient (M) 150 Legend Lore (M) 160 Modeling (M) 142 Disguise(M) 155 Filching(M) 145 Graphology/Forgery (M) 145 Occult Lore (M) 116 Ritual Magic (M) 116 Movement: Varies according to form: in human form, can sprint without Stamina loss; can move 75' per round as mist or fog, 225' as raven or wolf. Disciplines: Animation of the Dead, Appear Dead (Self), Change Self (to large raven, large wolf, woman of any race, cloud of fog), Create a Feast, Darken, Dreamsend, Evil Eye, Flight*, Gnarl, Halt, Haywire, Influence, Purified Shell, Quiet, Slam, Sleep, Steal Memory, Summon, Swarm, Telekinesis, Teleport, Total Illusion, Wave of Fog, White Heat. *Bathory can use Flight any time, day or night, except for one hour after sunrise and one hour after sunset. To fly, she assumes the form of a cloud of sparkling lights that dance in the air, then materializes when the flight ends. She cannot be destroyed while in this dancing light form. IPs: 7200 Characteristics 1. Like other vampires from this region Bathory casts no reflection. Nor does her image appear on film or video tape. All paintings of Bathory have mysteriously disappeared. The quickest way to anger her is to take her photograph. 2. Daylight does not harm or affect Bathory; however, she cannot use the Evil Way for one hour immediately following sunrise, and one hour immediately following sunset. She is still not comfortable however moving about during the day. 3. Bathory can control people who are reduced to 5 or fewer Stamina points by her bite. The extent of this control equals a "C" result under the discipline Influence. 4. Bathory must rest once her Stamina or Willpower goes below 10. When she rests she appears dead. This rest need not take place inside a coffin: a crypt, the inside of a mausoleum, or any place of the dead will do. Twelve hours of uninterrupted rest restore all lost Willpower and stamina. If Bathory is disturbed before the 12 hours have passed, her Stamina and Willpower remain where they were when she began resting; she must start allover again and rest for an entire 12 hours in order to recuperate Willpower and Stamina. 5. The following items offer protection against Bathory: -A Patriarchal Cross (but no other type of cross or crucifix). This item is the holy symbol of the Greek Orthodox Church. Upon seeing this item, Bathory cowers and leaves the room or area in any manner available. Bathory cannot approach within 2-1/2' of the Patriarchal cross. A Patriarchal cross hung above the doorway to a room prevents her from entering or leaving by that doorway. -Garlic. The odor of a bulb of garlic within 2-1/2 feet causes Bathory to leave the room or immediate area. She will use the Evil Way (particularly the discipline Influence ) or her Hypnosis skill to make a subject remove the garlic. -Salt. Bathory cannot touch table salt nor cross directly over a line of table salt. However, as with garlic, she uses skills and Evil Way disciplines in order to make a subject remove the salt. Direct contact with table salt causes an automatic critical wound to Bathory with full damage results (including Stamina loss). -A Wild Rose. This flower has the same effect as garlic. It also immobilizes the Countess when placed upon her. If so immobilized, she can still use the Evil Way, except for any discipline that moves the rose or her own body. -Mountain Ash. When placed upon the Countess, this leaf has the same effect as a wild rose. 6. Bathory must drink the blood of three young (younger than 25 years old) female victims per the New Moon, or her Personality score drops by 50 points for one week. She will appear to have aged 10 years from her usual appearance (that of a beautiful 25 year old woman). For one entire week, she will appear to be a 35 year old woman. If for some reason, she cannot claim three victims from the time she appears as a 35 year old woman, she ages another 10 years and loses another 50 points from her Personality score. If she fails to claim three victims on the fourth successive week, she is destroyed forever. The victims of Elizabeth Bathory do not become vampires when they die, but remain dead after their Stamina falls to zero. The blood of a man does not fulfill Bathory's needs, so rather than perform her vampire attack on male victims, she attacks them with her skills and Evil Way disciplines. Often, she has been known to turn one male against another. 7. When draining blood from the body of her victim, Bathory drains 1d10 points of Stamina per minute. The blood drain lasts for 1d10 minutes. 8. There are several ways to destroy Bathory .If she sustains enough wound damage from table salt, she eventually dies. A wooden stake driven through her heart leaves her completely helpless for one minute. Then, she uses her Evil Way disciplines to change into sparkling lights and escape. Once the stake is driven through Bathory , her body should be set on fire immediately. Bathory's body is highly flammable in this state, catching fire and burning completely in 3 rounds, leaving no trace of its existence. 9. Bathory does not suffer wounds or Stamina loss from normal weapons. I did not see "Countess Dracula" till much later on. While it is a fun little flick in it's own right, I did gain anything new gaming-wise from it. Though a back to back Bathory film-fest might work out well one Halloween eve. Or maybe the weekend of August 21, when the Countess dashed off her mortal coil. Each of these three builds gives me something different. The Unisystem one is best at representing the fiendish side, the bloodthirsty sadist. The Mutants & Masterminds works better for me in terms of the power hungry vampire. And this Chill version is the best at figuring out how to convert a real life psychopath into an calm, cool, undead psychopath. Next up. Something that all three versions have contributed to, Elizabeth Bathory, Headmistress.

Elizabeth Bathory, Mutants & Masterminds

Here is Elizabeth for Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Edition.

It was playing M&M that I got the idea for her to be the new head mistress at a school of magical/gifted/special children. She would live of of their blood to make herself immortal. She would have taken over on Mid-winters night and had until Walpurgis Night (April 30) to get all of her required souls. Of course that is the night of the big school dance.

I plan to expand it for Witch Girls Adventures. Instead of a huge (and literal) bloodbath, I might take a page from the WitchCraft RPG and have her drain Essence instead; which to a witch is more precious than blood anyway.

Erzsébet Báthory
Mutants and Masterminds d20

PL: 12 (185 pp)

Str: 22 (+6) Dex: 20 (+5) Con:NA Int: 20 (+5) Wis: 16 (+3) Chr: 16 (+3)

Skills: Acrobatics 4 (+9), Bluff 8 (+11), Climb 2 (+8) , Concentration 2 (+5), Diplomacy 10 (+13), Disguise 6 (+9), Drive 2 (+7), Escape Artist 2 (+7), Gather Info 4 (+7), Handle Animal 2 (+5), Intimidate 8 (+11), Investigate 2 (+7), Arcane Lore 4 (+9), History 7 (+12), Art 6 (+11), Theology and Philosophy 6 (+11), Streetwise 3 (+8) , Medicine 1 (+4), Notice 6 (+9), Keyboards 3 (+6), Acting 4 (+7), Ride 4 (+9), Search 6 (+11), Sense Motive 8 (+11), Sleight of Hand 1 (+6), Stealth 4 (+9), Survival 6 (+9), Swim (+6)

Feats: Animal Empathy, Assessment, Contacts, Fascinate (2), Fearless, Fearsome Presence (1) , Inspire (1), Leadership, Minions (1), Rage (1), Skill Mastery (1)

Powers: Animal Control (wolves, rats, ravens) (8) , Drain Constitution (blood Drain) (1), Immunity (Fortitude Effects) (30), Insubstantial (dancing lights) (1), Protection (7), Regeneration (source: blood drain) (5), Shapeshift (Wolf, Raven) (2), Magic [- Emotional Control (2), Mind Shield (4)] (4+1)

Combat: Melee 10 [Unarmed +6 (Bruise)] Ranged 10 [Unarmed +6 (Bruise)] Defense 19 (14 flatfooted) Init +5

Saves: Toughness 7 (7 flat-footed) Fortitude NA Reflex 8 Will 7

Drawbacks: Weakness -Blood Dependence [Freq DC 10] [Sev DC 5], Weakness -Holy Items [Freq DC 10] [Sev DC 10] , Weakness -Sunlight [Freq DC 5] [Sev DC 15], Weakness -Garlic, Salt, Wild Rose [Freq DC 5] [Sev DC 5]

Complications: Obsessions: Stay young and beautiful. Temper.
Roleplaying Complications: Erzsébet Báthory is a proud and vain woman, she will always use some form of her real name.

Breakdown: Abilities 34 + Skills 32 (128 ranks) + Feats 12 + Powers 75 + Combat 38 + Saves 7 – Drawbacks -13 = 185

Elizabeth Bathory, Unisystem

Here is my write-up for Bathory for C.J. Carella's WitchCraft RPG. This version focuses more on her sadistic need to cause pain (to release Essence) than some other versions.

I am pretty pleased with this version of her and it helped shape my Mutants and Masterminds and Witch Girls Adventures versions.
She is not a physical powerhouse, but she more than makes up for it with her metaphysics and she is no slouch. Typically she will have minions to help her out in more physical realm and she will have one or two special humans she has enthralled to help her out during the day.

Elizabeth Bathory

Unisystem (Classic)
Character type: Vampyre

Strength: 5
Dexterity: 6
Constitution: 6
Intelligence: 4
Perception: 5
Willpower: 5

Life Points: 63
Endurance Points: 0
Speed: 24
Essence Pool: 114

Qualities
Vampyre 1 15
- Sades Curse
- Bloodthirst
Age 4
Attractiveness 4
Charisma 2
Hard to Kill 3
Increased Essence Pool 7
Nerves of Steel 1
Resources 5

Drawbacks
Covetous - Lecherous 2 (despite lurid tales, Erzsbet is not a lesbian, though she does gain sexual satisfaction from torture).
Cruel 3
Mental Problems, Sadism 3
Mental Problems, Sanguinephilia 3
Obsession 3 (stay young and beautiful)

Skills
Acting 5
Beautician 1
Dancing (Ballet) 2
Fine Arts (Painting) 5
Play Instrument (Piano/Keyboards) 1
Acrobatics 2
Dodge 4
Hand Weapon (Knife) 2
Unconventional Medicine (Herbal Medicine) 1
Craft (Weaver) 5
Humanities (Art History) 3
(History) 5
(Philosophy) 3
(Christian Theology) 4
Instruction 3
Myth and Legend (Slav) 4
Occult Knowledge 7
Rituals (Vampyre) 4
(Voodoo) 2
Sciences (Biology) 1
Writing (Creative) 2
Intimidation 3
Notice 5
Seduction 7
Smooth Talking 3
Riding (Horses) 5

Metaphysics
Greater Shifting 5
Manipulate Emotions 2
Bloodthirst 1
Sade's Curse 1

Alternate Forms
Raven
Strength: 2 Dexterity: 7 Constitution: 3
Intelligence: 4 Perception: 5 Willpower: 5
Life Points: 63
Endurance Points: 0
Speed: 20
Essence Pool: 129

WolfStrength: 4 Dexterity: 5 Constitution: 6
Intelligence: 4 Perception: 5 Willpower: 5
Life Points: 63
Endurance Points: 0
Speed: 22
Essence Pool: 129
Natural Attacks: Bite:1D6xStrength (12) Slashing
 

Elizabeth Bathory

For the next few days I want to do something different. Given that Friday is the 449^th birthday of Elizabeth Bathory the infamous Blood Countess, I figured I'd post her history as I have researched it and stats for a few of my favorite games.

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction for my role-playing games.  Please do not consider this page as anything other than that.

(and portrayed in my games by Monica Bellucci)

So Happy Birthday Elizabeth. It is too bad you had to gain your infamy in such a brutal and sadistic way, but isn't that often the case.

Erzsébet Báthory
Countess Báthory Erzsébet, Elizabeth Bathory, Alžbeta Bátoriová, also known as the Blood Countess of Hungary.

She was in life, one of the most notorious serial killers in Hungarian history, with detailed accounts in her own hand of how she killed 610 servant girls.

Birth: August 7, 1560 in Nyírbátor in present-day Hungary
Death: August 21, 1614 in Castle Čachtice (Csejte) in present-day Slovakia (54 years old)

Life
Erzsébet Báthory was descended from a long line of one of Europe's wealthiest noble families. Her family had, in the years before her birth, already began to exhibit signs of mental illness and sexual depravity. Known for their brutal acts of sadism, fiery tempers, and bizarre sexual tastes (incest, satyrism and necrophilia being the most scandalous), the Báthorys provided the young Erzsébet the perfect breeding ground for her own neuroses.
Erzsébet began her lifetime of depravity very early. Erzsébet was a Báthory from both her father and mother's side of the family. It is also claimed that Erzsébet is a descendent by blood (if one can use that term) of Vald the Impaler himself.

Even as a very young woman she was known to be cruel, manipulative and promiscuous. Early on she had been sent to live with an aunt only to be introduced to her aunt's own obsessions with bisexuality and witchcraft. While her aunt was content to being merely cruel and have sexual dalliances with the servant girls, Erzsébet had already graduated to torture. Her aunt did introduce her to the whip and flagellation of the servants. A taste she quickly grew accustomed too.

One tale of Erzsébet's early cruelty deals with her treatment of one of these servant girls. Erzsébet was only 14 but already showing the signs of her adult ways. A servant girl, a milk maid, discovered the young Erzsébet in a stable being pleasured by two young stable hands. The servant told her mistress of the deed. Erzsébet denied the whole affair of course and the girl was whipped. Erzsébet, not having satisfied her taste for revenge planned an ambush for the young girl. Once the servant girl was alone in the stable the two young men from before attacked her and ravaged her while Erzsébet watched in delight. When the milk maid later died from her trauma Erzsébet had the two men castrated and executed.

She was engaged to Count Ferncz Nádasdy at the age of 11. The count came to claim his bride when she was 15. Once married they moved into Csejte Castle situated in the Carpathians in present-day western Slovakia near Trenèín, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary. In addition to Erzsébet's illegitimate daughter (born when Erzsébet was 14, father unknown) Erzsébet had six children with the count, but only four survived to adulthood.

Erzsébet inexplicably abandoned Nádasdy to run off with a "Dark Stranger" sometime during the first years of her marriage. Erzsébet returned to Nádasdy and she was forgiven, but speculation about the identity of this dark stranger would come up much later in her life.

Nádasdy was often away at war with the Turks and Erzsébet was left as lady of the castle. She spent this time learning to read and write in four different languages, and came in contact with more horrific forms of torture. She also began to gather around her a rogues gallery of support. Her former nurse Ilona (Helen) Jó, the witches Katarína Benická, Dorota "Dorko" Sentéšová and Anna Darvulia who taught her more witchcraft, her captain of arms Thorko (with whom she was reported to having an affair) and János "Fickó" Ujváry, a twisted dwarf who also relished in the torture and murder of young girls. At times Erzsébet's "Dark Stranger" would make appearances at her torture sessions.

Her marriage did nothing to quell her sadism. She was known to severely beat any of her servants for even the most minor of infractions. Her husband would partake with her when would make his infrequent visits to their home and he introduced his young bride to even more gruesome forms of torture for their shared amusement. Soon even he was outpaced in cruelty by the young Erzsébet. Nádasdy himself came to an ignoble end, the great hero, the "Black Hungarian" feared by the Turks, was killed by a whore he had refused to pay. After his death all restraint Erzsébet had shown was now gone.

A well know, and often retold, tale of Erzsébet deals with the first servant girl Erzsébet tortured to death. While brushing her mistress' hair a servant girl pulled a little too hard and tugged out several strands of Erzsébet's hair. The Countess struck the girl so hard that blood spurted from her nose onto Erzsébet's skin. The countess rubbed the blood away and felt the skin underneath was younger, more beautiful. She quickly sent for the servant girl, had her stripped naked and drained of all her blood. Erzsébet then bathed in the blood of the dying girl. For the next few years it is claimed the Countess tortured, killed and drained the blood from her victims, all beautiful young girls and women, to fill her literal bloodbath. As many as 610 girls met their fate this way in the dungeons of Castle Čachtice.

As the inventible tide of age grew, Erzsébet went from bathing in the blood of virgins to bathing and drinking the blood of virginal girls of noble birth. It is speculated that the law of the time ignored Erzsébet when she focused on peasant girls (whom she regarded as little more than dogs or worse) and focused on noble birth girls.

Erzsébet kept a diary of every victim she killed in her sexual-sadism. She quickly went through the local crop of peasant girls and moved up through the lower gentry. She had to resort to sending out her henchmen to collect young girls from neighbouring lands. One night after an orgy of blood lust Erzsébet had the corpses of three girls tossed out the window instead of taking care to bury them. This was the last straw for the local townsfolk.

Death
On the morning of December 29, 1610 György Thurzó, the palatine of Hungary, was sent by emperor Matthias II to investigate the complaints. Thurzó and his men invaded Csejte and caught Erzsébet in the act in the Csejte country-house; she was torturing several girls - one of them had only just died. She and four collaborators were charged with sadistic torture, as well as mass murder. Despite the overwhelming evidence found by investigators, Elizabeth herself was not brought to trial.

Except for Katarína, all of Erzsébet's collaborators were executed at Bytèa on January 7, 1611. Katarína's guilt could not be proven, and according to McNally's sources from recorded testimony by all witnesses, she seems to have been dominated and bullied by Dorota Sentéšová and Anna Darvulia. Two of the women had their extremities hacked off before being thrown onto a blazing fire, while Fickó, whose guilt was deemed the lesser, had the mercy of being beheaded before being consigned to the flames. A public scaffold was erected near the castle to show the public that justice had been done.

Erzsébet herself was walled up alive in her castle, kept alive only by food poked through a slit in her door. On August 21, 1614 one of her guards took a peak to see the famed beauty of the countess saw that she was dead.

Undeath
Erzsébet was burned at the stake after her death and placed in the family crypts. It was then that her dark stranger, none other than her own distant relative, Dracula, returned. Having infused Erzsébet with his own vampiric blood during their initial tryst he called to her to join him in unlife.
Erzsébet remained with Dracula for many years, but they had a disagreement over his "harem". She demanded to be his one and only bride, an equal in his endeavours, he refused and she left. At least that is the story that Dracula scholars tell. It must have been much more than that since there exists a great animosity now between the two noble vampires.

Erzsébet has since travelled throughout Europe, often accompanied by a young woman or man. These thralls are not vampires, but under her control. Erzsébet also has numerous allies that will aid her in dozens of countries.

Every new moon Erzsébet (now using Elizabeth for the most part) must feed on the blood of three virgins or she will begin to age. She appears as a hauntingly beautiful woman in her prime (25-30). However every month she does not feed she appears to age 10 years. This is similar to the aging that Dracula does, but while the Count uses this as a way to keep people from realizing he is a vampire, the Countess is very vain and cannot stand to be anything but perfect.



In life Elizabeth had long black hair. Given the style of the time she died it blonde very often and it sometimes appears to be red. In undeath her hair is black right after feeding but changing quickly to iron grey to white as her month progresses.

Elizabeth has been searching for a permanent solution to her aging problem, one that will allow her to stay forever young. There was a time in 18th century France that she felt she had a solution, draining a virgin girl a day. But even that did not stave off her aging effects. Elizabeth was also known to be in London in the 1840's, Ireland soon after, Russia in the 1900's to 1920, and Germany in up to 1945. It was believed that she was working with the Nazis on their Gegengeistgrüppe, though she had her own motives and plans. She was seen again in her native Hungry during the late 1970's and then she vanished, believed to have been destroyed.

Erzsébet Today - Mid-Semester's Nightmare
Elizabeth was recently spotted in Boston, her first recorded American encounter. Here she worked her way into a position at BLANK* Academy. Of note in this particular class were a large number of Gifted and magic wielding girls. Elizabeth had moved not only to the "blue bloods" of America, but ones that were magical as well. Elizabeth's plan was to drain the blood and magical essence of these young girls in order to achieve her ultimate goal of everlasting immortal beauty.

Notes: I had this idea of her finding a job at a school so she could feed on all the young virgins there. I thought I might go BESM with it, but I started to play M&M and Claremont looked like it fit rather well. I would also love to try this in Witch Girls Adventures, though the tone of that game is much lighter than the plot of a depraved blood fiend feeding on all the magical girls she can get her hands on.

The game, "Mid-Semester's Nightmare", was my "crossover" mini-season where I dual (or tri-) stated most things. Chill, d20, BESM and M&M were all worked in to my normal Unisystem game.

Bathory was my big bad from Chill and I thought that she would be perfect to bring back.

Of course she was defeated at the end of "Mid-Semester's Nightmare", but that is not the first time someone has thought that.

Links
http://bathory.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_B%C3%A1thory
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elizabeth-Erzsebet-Bathory/15657774961
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A593084
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0026864/

*It was "Claremont Academy" under Mutants & Masterminds, "Eden Girls' Academy" under Unisystem, the "New School" for BESM, and "Boston Academy for Girls" in Chill.

Witch Hunter Robin for Witch Girls Adventures

Here is one that I have wanted to try for a while.


It is Robin Sena, the titular character of the awesome anime series Witch Hunter Robin for the Witch Girls Adventures RPG.
Robin Sena
Witch Sorceress

Body: d4
Mind: d6
Senses: d4
Will: d10
Social: d4
Magic: d12

Life Points: 8
Reflex: 10
Resist Magic: 15
Zap Points: 24

Skills (Rank)
Basics d6 +2
Computers d6 +1
Drive d4 +2 (Vespa, bike)
Science d6 +2
Streetwise d6 +1

Casting d12 + 4
Focus d10 +5
Magical Etiquette d4 +3
Mysticism d6 +3
Spellbreaker d12 +3

Talents
Mysterious
Urban

Heritage
Prodigy

Magic
Elementalism 2
Mentalism 2
Offense 5 (all fire based)
Protection 3

Signature Spell: Zap (manifests as fire)

Equipment
Glasses, Vespa Scooter, Messenger Bike
Occupation: Witch Hunter / Witch
Age: 15 (in 2002)
Gender: F
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 105#
Eyes: Green
Hair: Auburn

Mother: Maria, dead
Father: Toudou, dead.
Grandfather(maternal): Juliano Collegrie, priest and high ranking officer of Solomon HQ.
Allies: Amon, Nagira, hunters from STN-J
Enemies: Rogue witches, rival hunters

Ethnicity: European/Japanese
Languages: Japanese, Italian, English

All in all, I like it. I think what WGA now needs are more elemental based powers/spells that manipulate the elements to do different things. That way we can get at something closer to Avatar or W.I.T.C.H. Yes there is an elemental section, but it is not quite what I need at the moment. I'd do a new Elemental magic and rename the old elemental to "Nature Magic" or something.
Here are the stats I did for Cinematic Unisystem (Buffy, Angel and Ghosts of Albion): http://edenstudiosdiscussionboards.yuku.com/sreply/43111/t/Witches-.html

A Few Updates

Here are bunch of updates all at once as I am getting ready for Gen Con.

Hybrid Class Playtest and Character Concept IVb

Tried out Bodhmall as a straight Druid out of PHBII. HATED it. Didn't fit her at all. I also tried the shaman by itself, hated that one too. So in this case the hybrid Shaman/Druid is greater than the sum of it's (half) parts. I still will try this with Expeditious Retreat's "Nature Priest", which I think will make a much better fit in terms of her concept. Oddly enough I find myself once a again moving towards a Bard/Warlock or Bard/Sorcerer hybrid to do this. Hmm. Lots of choices really.

The Old School Renaissance Will Eat Itself, Part 2

I was not expecting the amount of discussion this one would bring me. In particular very useful insights from posters D7 and Thasmodious. I am still certain that the biggest hurdle that the OSR faces is not new editions of the game (those are hurdles we should not even try to go over) but rather the in-fighting and exclusionist nature. I am still very interested in what people have to say on this subject, I just don't always expect to agree with what they say.

Quest for the Dragon Part 4

This one is totally new and an update only in the broadest sense. Today my son and I did Part 4 of his great quest in D&D 3.0. His characters (I am letting him run a couple) and his hirelings (a bard to record their deeds and three goblins hired to carry their stuff) were in the deserts today searching for the fourth item they need to be able to summon Tiamat so they may defeat her. Today it was the scale of a green dragon located in a desert. We decided that there are five relics of Tiamat's greatest consorts, but they betrayed her so she killed them all and disperse their bodies amongst her cultists. Each relic was found in a place where that dragon type is never found. So a white dragon claw was found in a volcano range, the blue dragon skull on a tropical island, the green dragon scale in the dessert and a black dragon wing in a dungeon full of undead. He needs a red dragon tooth, found deep in the arctic, to complete the ritual, summon Tiamat and defeat her once and for all. After this he is retiring all of those characters and we will begin a new game where his heroes are the stuff of legends. I give the little guy credit, yeah I normally would not let a player detail the game so much, but this has been a lot of fun.

After this who knows? A retro clone or D&D RC? Maybe 4^th Ed? I am sure whatever it will be it will be fun.

Gen Con

Getting ready. Blight is done and ready to go. Obsession has a few more props I need to print out, but looking good! I am running more games this year than ever before and playing in less. I want to stop by and see the guys at Starkweather Studios and check out their Shadow Girls project. I want to stop by and say hi to Jamie Chambers and Malcolm Harris, and hopefully get a game in with all of them. And yes of course, stop by and see the guys at Eden Studios!