100 Days of Halloween: The Coven

Tonight I am starting my deep dive into a bunch of witch-related adventures, many of which I would like to use with my War of the Witch Queens campaign.

The adventures will come from the various versions of D&D and the retro-clones in the OSR. They all have or feature witches in them.  Sometimes these witches are the antagonists, other times they are allies or even friends. The point is to show this rise in witch-related activity.  The players would see this rise but only later learn the reason is that the High Witch Queen had been murdered and now the witches are running wild.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

The Coven

PDF. 45 pages. Black & White cover and B&W and color interior art.

This is a 0-level or 1st-level "adventure". In fact the adventure covers creating a coven of new "witches" (1st level magic-users).  There are a lot of random tables to help generate these characters including their background, patrons, enemies, and more for these witches. You also generate the lands and homes of these witches and their enemies.

This book is designed for Lamentations of the Flame Princess, but that is close enough to B/X that you can use that or OSE instead. 

I say "adventure" in quotes because there is not an adventure here. There is a setup for future adventures and there are plenty of ideas here to create your own. But no "going to point A to point B and kill monster X."

What it might lack (and I don't think it is lacking) in structure it makes up for in style and detail.

For Use in War of the Witch Queens

I would use this as a session zero for a future run of WotWQ (right now my characters are around 3rd level) but this would be a fun start.

Instead on 1st level magic-users I would use my witches, with a random table to also help choose their tradition.  

For Use in NIGHT SHIFT

So this is set up for LotFP, but with some tooling, I could make it work for a modern-age NIGHT SHIFT game. Certainly something for Ordinary World or even Generation HEX.

October Horror Movie Challenge: Day Shift (2022)

Starting off the Halloween October Horror Movie Challenge with a brand new one.  

I watched this for the Monster Movie Fun Time Go podcast. You can hear it all here. 

So I am not sure whether to consider this as part of the challenge or not. I am going to count it as a "Previously Watched" for today.

The premise is simple. Jamie Foxx plays Bud Jablonski, a divorced father who works as a pool cleaner. In truth, he is a vampire hunter who had worked for The Union. He kills vampires and sells the teeth on the black market to Troy played by the always fantastic Peter Stormare.

Now I have this sort of love/hate relationship with Jamie Foxx. Typically he is playing the exact same character in every movie he is in. This is not really that big of a deal. I mean it worked for Bruce Willis. Here is playing that same character. But I do have to remind myself this is the same guy that played Ray Charles and was amazing.  So here, he is good.

So the only way Bud is going to get all the money he needs for bills and his daughter's braces is to rejoin The Union that kicked him out. He gets the help of his friend, and vampire hunting legend, "Big" John Elliott, played in scene chewing wonder by Snoop Dogg. 

They let him rejoin and he is saddled with desk jockey Seth played by Dave Franco.  

Turns out the vampire Bud kills in the opener was the daughter of this higher-up vampire in LA, Audrey San Fernando played by Karla Souza.  We know Audrey is not at the top of the Vampire hierarchy (seriously has White Wolf completely saturated all Vampire mythology these days??) but she is striking out on her own to control as much of LA as she can.

The title comes from the shift Bud is assigned to; the safer, and less profitable, Day Shift.

The vampires here were all played by Cirque du Soleil acrobats and contortionists who were out of work due to the pandemic. The result is some really fun fights with the vampires as they bend, flip, and generally look inhuman.  We also learn there are different vampire clans (there you go again) and finding a nest full of vampires from different clans is something that concerns our heroes.

The movie is fun, but not great. It has all the tropes of horror but none of the scares. It leaves a lot of room for sequels.

In a scene that pays homage to Lost Boys, Snoop's Big John says "That's what I love about LA. All the damn Vampires!" 

"Welcome to the motherfucking Night Shift!" - Bud Jablonski

This movie is tailor-made for a NIGHT SHIFT game. Freelance vampire hunters working for a mysterious organization is the stuff of great roleplaying games. Exploring the vampire hierarchy and even the history of the Union would be fun.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022
Viewed: 1
First Time Views: 0* (but it was new to me just last month)

100 Days of Halloween: Octhorrorfest and Lost Classes: The Arnesonian Classes

It is the first of October! It is the month of Halloween finally.  I am going to start this auspicious night with a treat from last year, Appendix N's Octhorrorfest, and some more.  For this month I am going to focus largely on D&D in general and material for my War of the Witch Queens in particular.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Octhorrorfest!

PDF. 50 pages. Color covers. Black & white interior art.

This book is designed for Old-School Essentials, so that is already a plus in my mind.

It is filled with some wonderful art that is both creepy and evocative. 

We begin with an introduction from author R.J. Thompson about Halloween, and all the things that make Halloween great.  

There is a bit on Samhain (with correct pronunciation) and All Hallows with ideas of how to add them to your game. This includes what classes can do and the effects on magic. 

There are new classes and since this is OSE there are race-as-classes.  The classes include The Jack-o-Kin racial class and race for Advanced OSE. A jack-o-lantern race is a really interesting idea. Maybe not one I would play myself, but I am sure I would use it as an NPC race.

The next class is the Witch. Ah. Now we are talking. The class is a Wisdom-based spellcaster. They are fairly close to the Cleric class. There are a lot of interesting features to this class like healing, cure poison, and my favorite the Dying Curse. 

There is also a Witch Hunter class. A fighter type that also can turn undead and detect evil.  Essentially like a less devout paladin.

Magic of Hallows covers the spells for the witch. There are some ones that are familiar from OSE or SRD sources and four new spells.  This section also covers Ritual Spell Casting which is adapted from the old d20 Relics & Rituals converted to OSE. It is rather good to be honest.  There are 11 "new" spells. They are familiar spells but re-presented as ritual spells.

There is a section on Curing Vampirism, Demons and Exorcism.  Another section on Turning the creatures of the Outer Dark (like Undead Turning). 

Up next, around page 40, we get some movie monsters. 

Since this Appendix N Entertainment, we get an Appendix N with new readings, music, and film. 

In its 50 pages we get a lot of fun material. Well worth the price.

Lost Classes: The Arnesonian Classes

PDF. 30 pages. Black & white covers and interior art.

This one is not really a "Halloween" issue, but given I am doing Octhorrorfest I figure I would add this one is as well. Plus, it is for Old-School Essentials so that is reason enough.

Plus I think today is the last day of Dave Arneson week, so there is that.

This book covers what is called the Arnesonian Classes. This includes the Merchant and the Sage, as standard classes.  We also get the Beastfolk. This includes Chimpanzee Folk and Duck Folk.  We get both Basic race-as-class versions and Advanced races.

I have to admit I want to make a Chimpanzee Sage. I think that would be rather fun.

This little book is a great addition to OSE.

Both books are great fun.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022

Today is the last day of September and that means tomorrow is the first day of Halloween, er...October.

And you know what that means here! Yes, the start of the October Horror Movie Challenge!

I have been doing the October Horror Movie Challenge for years now.  I am not doing anything wildly different than in previous years, and I am largely following the rules as set out by Krell Laboratories.

You have 31 days, October 1st to October 31st, to watch 31 Horror movies. At least 20 of these need to be first-time views.  

I am largely going themeless this year. I have a few I want to hit, a few brand new ones, and a few leftovers from last year.  If I have a theme so far it is "movies that have a pentagram on the cover."

I have learned over the years that if there is a movie you want to watch and it is on a streaming service you need to watch it right away.   So yeah, I have a lot of "witch" movies. 

Again I am hoping to have content for NIGHT SHIFT, my Monstrous Mondays, and more. 

If you want to join me here is a banner image to use.

Let the Spooky Season begin!

100 Days of Halloween: BaF - The Muse

Keeping with the OSR books tonight.  This one is a bit special.  First, it is produced by Basic Witch Games which is just a great name.  Secondly, the game is produced by a couple of friends of mine, Miranda Hunt and her wife Caitlin Hliwa doing the art. Thirdly I contributed a few spells for this book.

So...that makes reviewing this a little more difficult. So in addition to following my rules I am also going to be especially careful here.  I am not going to review the spells for example.

BaF - The Muse

PDF. 8 pages. Color cover. Black & white internal art.

BaF is short for "Basic as Fuck" a philosophy and a game design ethic. These classes (of which the Muse is the first) are designed for B/X D&D or OSE. 

This class, the Muse, is a magic-using class that alters emotions and enchants their companions. This is a Charisma base class and it cast spells in a similar manner to the witch classes. 

The XP charts follow the same format as Old School Essentials. The muse is similar in advancement to the Cleric and Magic-users. The Muse casts spells up to the 5th level. 

While I don't feel it would be right to review the spells there is a good number here and many that are original.  

There is also a new magic weapon featured.

The class is really fun and I can see a lot of uses for it as a great support character (like the Cleric) and some magic firepower (like the Magic-user).

The Official Night Shift: VSW MEAD!

Now for something a little different.

Reposted from The Official Night Shift: VSW MEAD!

From Jason Vey creator and co-author of NIGHT SHIFT:

Twilight Queen, the official mead of Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars

I am pleased to announce the release party for the official Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars mead: Twilight Queen on October 8! This release makes us the first ever tabletop role  playing game company to have our own official mead!

Even better, the mead connects with the game, as the favorite drink of Maeve Antinea, the woman who calls the shots, and the Twilight Queen herself, served in Club Khalsa, the most popular nightclub/watering hole in the City.

This mead, a collaboration with Apis Mead & Winery in Carnegie, PA, is a buckwheat mead with black cherries, vanilla, allspice, and cinnamon. The release party will be at Apis on Saturday, October 8, from 2:00 PM until whenever. We will have gaming events and giveaways, and both the mead and the game will be on sale! Our friends from Drawbridge Games will be on site as well!

I should also mention here that this is not just me slapping my company name on something. I'm a mead maker and have been for about 15 years. I collaborated closely with Dave from Apis on every aspect of this, from the initial flavor profile to the level of spice and flavoring in it, adjusting, tweaking, and the entire process of brewing the beverage. This is very much an Elf Lair creation as much as it is an Apis Mead, and after several rounds of tasting and tweaking, I am absolutely confident in saying IT IS A WINNER.

Please save the date and stop down! And if you can't make it, Apis can ship to any state that is allowed, through Vinoshipper!

You can find more information about Apis at their website here:

https://www.apismead.com/

Tim here now.

I don't do a lot of drinking anymore, save for coffee (I did enough in college for myself, my kids, you, your kids...) but this is fun.

Will it help the sales of NIGHT SHIFT? No, and I would be surprised if it did, but that is not the point is it. This is a fun thing to have and I'll happily pick up a few bottles.

Can you say your RPG has its own mead? No.

NOW, what would be totally on-brand for me? A "From the Editor's Cup" Weirdly World News coffee roast. Dark, imposing, and each cup is the LD50 of caffeine for a grown adult!

100 Days of Halloween: Jeremy Reaban OSR Classes

Reviewing Twilight Fables the other day has put me more into the mood for more OSR material. So Given I am spending my 100 Days of Halloween talking about witches, lets go with some other OSR witch material.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Jeremy Reaban has published a good number of OSR Classes.  While they say OSR on the cover they do have advancement tables for "Original," "First Edition," and "Basic/Expert" editions.  So they are really quite flexible.  I do note that the "Basic/Expert" table does go to level 20, so great for Labyrinth Lord and Basic Fantasy, but you will need to cut off at 14th level for Old School Essentials. Keep in mind these classes all predate OSE in publication.

All his classes, and indeed all his publications, are Pay What You Want.  I like that. Given he is buying art for all of these at least pay him a couple of bucks.

Here are his classes that I think work well with the witch concept. 

PC13 - The OSR Witch

PDF. 15 pages. Color cover.

Covers the basics of the class including requirements, alignment, and all the other expected details.  There is a section on the special abilities of the class, in this case abilities all witches get.  Each witch also gets a "Focus" or what I have called a "Tradition" but could be read as archetype or even sub-class.  These include Black Witch, Fire Witch, Frost Witch, Light Witch, Mind Witch, Storm Witch, Wander Witch, Water Witch, White Witch, Weather Witch, and Wood Witch for a total of 11 (two more would have been great). Each gets some powers and a selection of spells unique to that Focus.

This is followed by the advancement tables. Witches get bonus spells for high Charisma. And the selection of spell common to all witches.  

There are 9 NPC witches of various levels and alignments. 

There are some design notes that talk about the lack of an official witch class and how most of the OSR ones are all done by "one guy" (no idea who that could be). 

We end with the OGL statement.

All in all a really fun class. If this one works for you then by all means go with it.  There are a lot of great ideas here. 

PC11 - The OSR Warlock

PDF. 14 pages. Black & White cover.

This is the "new" warlock from Reaban. I'll get to the "old" one in a bit.

Essentially this is a conversion of the 5.1 SRD warlock and I am totally happy with that.  You get a Pact boon and a bunch of Eldritch Invocations.

Listed are various Patrons the warlock can take. We get the Fiend, the Great Nature Spirit (this one is new), Faerie Queen (or King), the Great Old One, Elemental Prince, and the Celestial. Each gives the warlock powers and a collection of spells. 

This is followed by the advancement tables (with level titles!). Warlocks get bonus damage on their Eldritch Blast for high Charisma. And the selection of spells common to all warlocks.  

There are 7 NPC warlocks and some design notes. The design notes in particular discuss why this is the second Warlock Reaban has done and how the old warlock is now the Kineticist.

PC1 - The OSR Kineticist

PDF. 8 pages. Color cover.

This was the first OSR class done by Reaban and was originally called The Warlock. This class is a bit different. It is like a sorcerer in that has innate magic, but this is not due to bloodline. It has some blasty-like warlock powers, and some others making the class fairly unique. 

There are the advancement tables (with level titles!). Kineticist get bonus damage on their Arcane Bolts for high Charisma.

It is a new idea and I really like it. This one is so early that there are no NPCs. 

PC2 - The OSR Exorcist

PDF. 6 pages. Black & White cover.

Ah. Now here is a class that is not all that witchy, but one that is likely to come up in any game where there are a lot of witches and demons.  I have also played around with an exorcist class in the past and this one works so well for me I really don't think I need to do one now. 

Exorcists are a bit warrior, bit cleric. 

There are the advancement tables (with level titles!) but no NPCs yet in this one.

The class does exactly what is should do and does it well.

PC3 - The OSR Witch Hunter

PDF. 7 pages. Color cover.

Can't have witches and not expect a few witch hunters. Like many of the "witch hunter" classes you can find this one is not limited to hunting witches alone but any supernatural evil. Like the Exorcist this one is a combination of fighter and cleric, though more leaning on the fighter side (they are considered a sub-class of the fighter).  They get a number of abilities to allow it to hunt down their prey and vanquish them.  

The witch hunter also gets a Bard-like Lore ability and the ability to read magic. They can even turn undead at 3rd level. 

There are the advancement tables (with level titles) for First Edition, Original Edition, Basic/Expert Edition, and Cyclopedic Edition (to 36th level).

PC8 - The OSR Amazon Warrior

PDF. 9 pages. Color cover.

This might be stretching my "witch" idea, but I did do a book, the Cult of Diana: The Amazon Witch, and I like to use this book with that one.

This one gives us the Amazon Warrior class. It is a fighter, but with a more athletic bend to it. The have to have minimum scores of 15 in Strength, Dexerity, AND Constitution.  The Amazon Warrior can't use magic items unless that magic item is a weapon and provided to them by a god. 

There are the advancement tables (with level titles) for First Edition, Original Edition, Basic/Expert Edition, and Cyclopedic Edition (to 36th level).

There are 10 NPCs including a Red Martian (nice!), Zenia, and "Crimson Sonia" who is 25th level. 

There is also a section on the daughters of the gods and how they can generate ability scores. There are also role-playing notes on the children of gods.

All in all a really fun additional class.

PC10 - The OSR Beguiler

PDF. 15 pages. Color cover.

A related class, this one has also been called the houri, the courtesan, the temptress, or the hetaera. It is a Charisma based class that uses charms. She is also a poisoner along with her other skills, so in many ways she is closer in nature to the thief or assassin. 

There are the advancement tables (with level titles) for First Edition, Original Edition, and Basic/Expert Edition. 

This one also has some new magic items. There are 19 NPCs. 

PC17 - The OSR Enchantress

PDF. 15 pages. Color cover.

This class is another spellcasting class, this time ismanipulates the emotions of others.  This class is a magic-user sub-class. 

There are the advancement tables (with level titles) for First Edition, Original Edition, and Basic/Expert Edition. There is also spell advancement to the 7th level.

The best part of this class, at least for me, are the new spells. There 33 in total. Some come from the d20 SRD, but that is fine. They work great here.

There are only 2 new NPCs here.

And finally there are two new Witch Focuses for the Witch Class; a Desire Witch and a Dream Witch.

Works great for me to be honest.

--

Lots of great classes here and I didn't even review them all.