Boxing Day: Haven the Free City

 I did not get any new D&D or RPG material this Christmas. No big deal, really; the only new things I wanted were those I wrote! But I did get a chance over the last couple of days to go through a boxed set I got in that lot from my late friend. 

I spent some time in the Free City of Haven.

In his collection was a copy of Haven the Free City. This is the second edition/printing, and it is in fantastic shape.

Fantastic is an understatement, really. The contents are in pristine shape. The box has a blown-out corner, but that is really it.

I am rather thrilled, to be honest. This is not just a great find; I have wanted this boxed set for, well, forever, it seems. Back in the day, Grenda and I spent a lot of time playing in cities and urban areas in our games. So to see this now from his old collection is not just a great gift, it is an emotionally charged one. 

We had planned to write our own "Urban Survival Guide" back then. He had created his own city with a giant map. The map is mixed in with all this stuff. I hope to get to it someday soon.

I didn't even know he had this; we would have played the hell out of it back in the late 80s. Given the material it was bundled with, he must have picked it up in late 1988 or 1989. 

The contents, as I mentioned, are in fantastic shape. I am not sure he used it all that much.

This is great stuff. I could spend days going through all of this. A true gift. 

Grýla, The Christmas Witch for NIGHT SHIFT

 We watched the newest Christmas movie, "Red One," the other night. It is silly but fun. It had Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, and J. K. Simmons as Santa. But the surprise was Kiernan Shipka, as Grýla, The Christmas Witch. 

When she played Sabrina, Kiernan Shipka encountered Grýla before, so seeing her take on the mythological witch was fun. I have also encountered Grýla here before. And given that I already did Santa, I thought Grýla for NIGHT SHIFT would be fun, too.

Thorsteinn1996, CC BY-SA 4.0

Grýla
8th level Witch

Strength: 17 (+2)
Agility: 13 (+1)
Constitution: 16 (+2) S
Intelligence: 14 (+1)
Wits: 18 (+3) P
Persona: 9 (+0) 

HP: 51
Alignment: Dark
AC: 2
Attack: +1

Fate Points: 1d8

Check Bonus (P/S/T): +4/+3/+1
Melee bonus: +2 Ranged bonus: +1
Saves: +4 against spells and magical effects

Witch Abilities

Arcana, Supernatural Senses, Spells, Arcane Powers,

Arcane Powers
Immunity to Cold, Charm Person, Shapeshifting

Spells

First Level (4): Chill Ray, Detect Magic, Mystical Senses, Sleep
Second Level (3): Find Traps, Knock, Suggestion
Third Level (3): Animal Summoning 2, Blinding Speed, Curse
Fourth Level (2): Befuddlement, Metamorphosis

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This Old Dragon: Issue #115

I think I have enough time left in this year to do another one of these. My box of old Dragons, though, is getting a little lighter these days. Today's issue takes us all the way back to November of 1986. My old High School DM had just been medically discharged from the Air Force due to arthritis, something that would plague him to the point that the last time I saw him, he was using a cane. I was a Senior in High School working on College applications and trying to get in as many AP math courses as I could. "Amanda" by Boston from their highly successful "Third Stage" album was the biggest song on the radio, which for me at the time was WYMG. "Crocodile Dundee" had dominated the screens for the last two month making Paul Hogan a household name, and on game store shelves and gaming tables all over was Issue #115 of This Old Dragon.

Our cover art is one of my time favorites from Den Beauvais. It might not get as much nostalgia as his chess ones, but this one is every bit as good. 

Letters is dominated by kudos for the Role of Computers feature and a demand for more AD&D computer games and aids. 

Roger Moore is now our new editor-in-chief of Dragon, taking on the role about a week prior. We were only vaguely aware at the time, or *I* was only vaguely aware, that there had been a huge shake-up at TSR.  Moore lets us know, maybe even reassuring us, that there are more great things coming, like supporting the Masters and Immortals sets for D&D and the newer AD&D books. 

Forum covers the big issues of the day. Namely was the cover of issue #114 considered softcore pornography and what is all this talk about 2nd Edition! I own all the 1st edition books and I don't replace them all now. 

Our featured topic this month is Thieves. In fact, this might be one of the first of the official "Special Attractions" or theme issues. I never associated these with Roger Moore's tenure, but it could be the case.

Lords of the Night by Eric Oppen covers thieves and thieves' guilds. I remember reading this one with great interest back in the day, and was the beginning of my thoughts on the Urban Survival Guide.

Friend of the Other Side Vince Garcia follows up with A Den of Thieves, which also covers guilds and how they exist in relation to each other and their city. It is, like much of Vince's work, very detailed.

Vince follows this up with The Art of Climbing Walls. This expands the thief climb walls skill. nearly 40 years later, we are using a single d20 and a single skill for all thief abilities. Another article, Getting Up in the World by Robin Jenkins also expands on this skill.

Eric Oppen is back with Robin Jenkins in Honor Among Thieves which covers the rules in which thief guilds operate. 

And Vince Garcia is back again with Tools of the (Thieving) Trade which covers, as you guessed, thief tools. 

All said an told about 27 pages of thief information. I ate it up. My main character at the time was Nigel "Death" Blade, a thief and assassin. Larina was still very low level at this point and Johan II was involved in a long prolonged war.

Speaking of holy fighters, James A. Yates is up with an idea that has seen a lot of print in Dragon, but not something that would become commonplace until AD&D 2nd Ed. Hammer of Thor, Spear of Zeus details what weapons clerics of the various Deities & Demigods Legends & Lore Gods can use. 

Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth covers all sorts of snakes in the AD&D game by Ray Hamel and David Hage.

Ed Greenwood is up next with Airs of Ages of Past, which gives us nine magical harps from the Forgotten Realms.

"There's Something on the Floor..." by Reid Beutler features some random tables for determining what is found on, in, and of dungeon floor design. 

Here is a rarity for the time, a non-Greenwood Ecology of article...almost.  The Ecology of the Harpy is split into two articles. The first, Songs of Beauty... comes to us from Barbara E. Curtis. The second, Songs of Death is by Ed Greenwood. Both work well together and I get the impression that the Curtis article was first and Greenwood added his piece afterwards. That's fine, and let's be honest, Elminster *is* the authority on these things in the Realms. The articles are a good read.

Elven Armies and Dwarves-At-Arms by James A. Yates details what sort of troops the demi-humans can muster. I would not run into the need for this one very often, but when I need it, it is nice to have here. You would be excused if your thoughts wander to the Battle of Five Armies. 

More dungeon exploring from Dan Snuffin in Door Number One, Door Number Two, or... You, it dawns on me that modern players would not know what a Monte Hall style play is OR even why we call it Monte Hall. Anyway, this it a bunch of random tables for various dungeon doors. I used to give the Monty Hall Problem in my Intro to Stats course when discussing probability. Really messes with people's heads.

Getting out of the dungeon and into the world of spies we have Stayin' Alive from John J. Terra. This would have been a good bit to have read back when I was investigating the R.I.P. RPG a bit ago. Not for any reason than to give me some more insight on how to play Top Secret. Which is exactly what this article was going for. Later on we also get more Top Secret material in Kevin Marzahl's When Only the Best Will Do. This covers Heckler & Koch weapons. 

The Role of Books by John C. Bunnell reviews newly published sci-fi and fantasy books from the gamer's perspective. This includes some Find Your Fate books, the Lords of the Middle Dark.

Nice ad for DC Heroes 1st Edition. The big DC Heroes Kickstarter just wrapped, so this will all be new again. 

Few more pages down a big full color ad for Traveller: 2300.

TSR Profiles features Roger E. Moore and Bill Larson.

Previews gives us the products coming for the end of 1986. These include a couple of my favorites M3 Twilight Calling by Tom Moldvay and RS1 Red Sonja Unconquered. For the new year of 1987 module H2 Mines of Bloodstone and a new DA2 Temple of the Frog from non other than Dave Arneson and David Ritchie is on the way. 

While the Ares section is a thing of the past now it seems, the back half of the magazine is still devoted to sci-fi and Marvel. 

An Interstellar Armory by Gus Monter for Star Frontiers Knight Hawks covers new weapons and defenses. 

Gamers' Guide has our small ads. All the usual suspects for 1986 are here. Wargames West, Gamescience and others. 

The Convention Calendar covers November, December, and January. None local to me (either now or then). 

We get four pages of Wormy. Tramp would soon move south to Carbondale and I would be a couple of months behind him. We lived in the same town for 4+ years and I never even knew. A page of Dragonmirth and three pages of SnarfQuest.

Honestly, a pretty good issue and a preview of what we would see in the Roger E. Moore, back half of the 80s, era. More special features and less content for non-TSR games. 

Witchcraft Wednesdays: ShadowDark and Old-School Essentials

 Yesterday, I discussed mixing two of my current favorites from the Old-School RPG world into one gaming experience. Today, I want to discuss some specifics. Since it is Witchcraft Wednesday, I am going to talk about remixing the Old-School Essentials and ShadowDark Witches.  I am sure you can do the same with the other classes as well. 

Overlap

I mentioned yesterday there was already quite a bit of overlap between the two systems. Since today I want to focus on one class, the Witch, I am going to see where these two systems have some commonalities. 

Basics. Both systems have a witch class. Both provide an old-school gaming experience to levels 10 (SD) and 14 (OSE), so what many consider the "prime" adventuring levels.  

Both systems are built on a "Basic-era" aesthetic, and there is a lot of common ground on things like spells and monsters. 

Class-wise, Level 1 in one game is about equal to Level 1 in the other, and so on. Spellcasters get the added benefit of repeat casting in ShadowDark. Armor classes and hit points work the same ways. All characters have the same basic six abilities ranging from 3 to 18. The bonuses are different, but not enough to make it matter really. 

Humans are largely the same. Demi-humans like elves, dwarves, and halflings lose some of the things that make them special when moving from OSE to SD, i.e., loss of infravision/nightvision.

What are the differences though?

Differences

There are, in fact, a few differences between these two games that make all the differences in the world to their fanbases. I am not going to detail them all here, I am just interested in the rules that affect my interpretations of the witch classes.

Old-School Essentials

The OSE Witch is very much like my other OSR witches. She needs quite a bit of XP per level, more than the wizard at first, and she gains some powers (Occult Powers) over various levels. More than the Cleric or Magic-User, but less than the Druid. One of her powers is gaining a familiar at level 1.

ShadowDark

These witches use the same XP advancement as everyone else. She gets Talents just like the other characters do, but these are molded closer to the Occult Powers of other witches. Additionally, she gains a Patron and a Patron Boon.

Yesterday I proposed that gaining the additional powers of a class from SD in OSE would require an extra expenditure of XP. 

Since I would use OSE style leveling and XP budgets, adding the SD XP requirements is manageable. It could, in fact, be what the repeated casting and Talents would need if I were to recreate the witch XP.

Witch Level	To Next Level (OSE)	To Next Level (SD)	Total
1	2,600	10	2,610
2	5,200	20	5,220
3	10,400	30	10,430
4	20,800	40	20,840
5	40,000	50	40,050
6	80,000	60	80,060
7	160,000	70	160,070
8	320,000	80	320,080
9	440,000	90	440,090
10	560,000	100	560,100
11	680,000	110	680,110
12	800,000	120	800,120
13	920,000	130	920,130
14	NA	NA	NA

As you can see, the addition of ShadowDark XPs are barely an issue. The cells in light blue are where OSE continues after SD.

Now, OSE is a cumulative XP. So to get to level 3 you have to have all the XP from level 2 and then the extra. SD XP thresholds restart at 0 for each level.  So technically, to express SD XP levels in the same terms of OSE I would need to go with 10, 30, 60, 100, 150, 210, 280, 360, 450xp, and so on. But since I am only adding the SD material that is missing from OSE I don't think I need to do that.

Yes, the XP budgets of each game are different. An orc in OSE is not worth the same in terms of XP as one in SD, though they do represent the same sort of challenge and potential reward (i.e., Treasure and progress toward the next level). I am going to hand-wave these differences. Want math? Take my Introduction to Statistics course. 

Repeated casting for an OSE witch is a big deal. I would need to rework some spell failure ideas. Additionally, I would also say that by their very nature, a Ritual Spell can never be cast repeatedly. Spellcasting rolls in this combined system are a must. 

If it becomes too much I would add in a "repeated castings" roll like I did with Ghosts of Albion. 

Which Witch?

One of the things I always try to do with my witch books is give the buyer unique options. The Old-School Essentials witch is a "Pagan" witch while the Shadow Dark witch is very much a "Pact with a strange powerful creature" witch. But I can find overlap.

Pagans honored many gods. One could even argue that is essentially the core definition of pagan. But what sort of Pagan would choose the Patrons of ShadowDark? Well, game-wise, there is nothing stopping you from mixing as you see fit, but I'll try to make some sort of sense out of these.

The Patrons of ShadowDark have Pagan and real-world analogues, but not all. Varnavas, for example, was created especially for ShadowDark. Despite what the Christian church claimed, Pagans did not worship demons and devils. 

Larina Nix, the Pagan Witch

I am going to use my always-reliable test witch Larina. I have her stats for OSE, but I still need to share them here.  I wish I had shared them already since it would make this comparison a bit better, but in truth, these stats are about 90% the same as her Pure OSE stats. I also have her ShadowDark stats. 

Her Patron from ShadowDark is Nicnevin, the Witch Queen of Faerie from Scottish Folklore. This works well as far as I am concerned. When she hits the 7th level, she gains the additional Patron talent, so she gets Baba Yaga.

Pagan works well for her, and she certainly fits, concept-wise, into the Craft of the Wise Tradition. 

Larina Nix

Class: Witch (Pagan Tradition)
Level: 13
Species: Human

Title: Witch Queen
Alignment: Lawful (Lawful Neutral) 
Patron(s): Nicnevin & Baba Yaga
Background: Arcane Library*

Ability Scores
STR: 9
INT: 17
WIS: 17
DEX: 11
CON: 11
CHA: 18

Saving Throws
D: 8
W: 10
P: 9
B: 12
S: 11
Wisdom Mod: +2

HP: 28
AAC: 14
THAC0: 16

Init: +0
Languages: Common, Elven, Giant, Goblin

Weapon: Broom staff, dagger
Gear: Crawler kit, 1 week of rations, 1 week of tea, cat treats (to supplement Cotton Ball's hunting), Book of Shadows, athamé.
Magic items: Bracers of Defense +1, Broom of Flying, Cloak of Night, Cingulum +3, Hat of Focus-Spellslinger 

Occult Powers
Level 1: Familiar
Level 3: Herbal Healing
Level 7: Of the Land
Level 13: Visage of Another

Talents
Human: +2 to Charisma
1st level: Additional Tier 1 Spell
3rd level: +1 to Occult Spellcasting rolls
5th level: Patron Favor, +1 to any die roll once per rest
7th level: Additional Patron
9th level: Learn additional Tier 4 Spell
11th level: Learn additional Tier 5 Spell
13th level: +1 to Occult Spellcasting rolls

Patron Boons: Learn 1 Tier 1 Wizard Spell, Learn 1 Additional Occult Spell

Spells
Level/Tier 1 (5+1): Call Spirits of the Land, Charm Person, Color Spray, Feel my Pain, Glamour, Cake and Tea Ritual (Ritual)
Level/Tier 2 (4): Bless, Fascinate, Inscribe Tattoo I, Pins and Needles
Level/Tier 3 (4+1): Bestow Curse, Call Lightning, Fly, Hold Person, Scry
Level/Tier 4 (3+1): Cure Serious Wounds, Instant Karma, Witch's Cradle, Drawing Down the Moon (Ritual) 
Level/Tier 5 (2+1): Cry for the Nightbird, Flood of Tears, Ward of Magic
Level/Tier 6 (2): Eye Bite, Brew Storms (Ritual)

Level/Tier 1 (Wizard): Burning Hands

I am not 100% sure how the Background "Arcane Library" works for a pagan witch. Likely, she has a store of shared knowledge. Something to play with, to be sure. Where both books have the same spell I opted for that one. I'll assume she is an odd case and is literate. 

There are no Level 11 and Level 13 Talents. So I just rerolled on other tables. 

For Spells, I would go mainly with OSE spells and choose SD spells as her bonus spells from her Talents. Seems a good plan. 

This is rough and hardly perfect, but it gives me many ideas of what I can do with future games. It appeals to me with all the extra details I can now generate for her. 

The other character classes would be easier. However, I know I would need to tweak thieves a bit to work well with both systems since their skills are handled differently.

For Old-School Essentials

• The Craft of the Wise: The Pagan Witch Tradition (Craft of the Wise and Daughters of Aradia) 
• Monster Mash (Gothic Witch)
• Monster Mash II (Faerie Witch)

For ShadowDark

• The Witch - Book of Shadows

Plays Well With Others: ShadowDark and Old-School Essentials

I have been thinking a lot about the two darlings of the Old-School RPG world: Old-School Essentials and ShadowDark. Both are great games. Both feature outstanding layout and design. Both attempt to (and succeed) capture that old-school, circa 1981, gaming feel. They come at it from different directions; one could almost say opposite directions to arrive at the same or at least a similar point. 

So it is no surprise then that I think both games can be used to enhance the other in terms of your gameplay experience. I want to talk about that today and how both games give us something more than their historical ancestor, B/X D&D.

My table copies

There is quite a lot of significant overlap for both games. There is a focus on a limited number of classes and level caps. OSE sticks with the 14th level of B/X and ShadowDark goes for 10 levels of play. Both games then focus much more on the dungeon crawling aspect of the D&D universe of games, even to the point of adventurers in ShadowDark being called "crawlers."

I have spent years playing B/X-era D&D, both when it was new and within the last few years. For the last 17 or so years, I have recorded my "Basic-era" experiences here on this blog. There is something evocative of Basic (both B/X and BECMI) that keeps people coming back for more.  These two games are just the latest examples of this.

Both provide a similar experience. But what do they offer above and beyond books I have owned for 40+ years?

Of Carcass Crawlers and Sting Bats

One of the strengths of both games is improved organization. I can create an OSE or ShadowDark character in a matter of minutes, regardless of the level. BX is nearly as fast, but there is still some flipping involved. I knocked together an AD&D 1st Ed last night (from this writing), and it took me a lot longer.

Both games embrace a superior layout. Everything I need is on facing pages. 

But content-wise, both games offer me the same thing that I already have. This is no shock, really; both games are drawing from the same roots. Somewhat different expressions of the same roots, but certainly, they both aim to provide the same or similar experiences. 

As a by-product of their simplified design philosophy, some entries, like monsters and spells, are pretty much identical in terms of what is needed. There are some significant differences (saving throws), but I'll get to that. 

What is new?

Old-School Essentials

Old-School Essentials is B/X D&D brought into the modern age.

Much like Labyrinth Lord before it, OSE offers an "Advanced" option that decouples race and class and provides a lot more classes. Class construction in OSE is also rather easy since the classes themselves have been streamlined. The Carcass Crawler zine also provides many new classes, options, and spells, among other things. 

The Advanced option means that there is a world of already published material that is compatible with it. Yes, this is true for nearly all the OSR titles, but conversion here is a bit easier.

There is also a granularity and detail to the classes and by extension the monsters because of these rules. 

Spells and Monster stat blocks are reduced to their bare essentials. Now, I prefer a more verbose presentation myself, but I can't argue they work.

ShadowDark

ShadowDark comes from the other end of the spectrum. Modern D&D, and D&D 5 in particular, stripped down to the barest (one could even say Basic) essentials to create a game that feels like Old-School D&D.

As such, it has a lot of ideas and concepts pulled from modern games, or reactions to modern games. One thing, in particular, is the notion that no race/species has infravision/darkvision. A reaction from D&D 5e where it seems everyone can see in the dark but humans. There is that and the rather innovative notion that torch time is equal to 1 hour in real time. That's a nice way to add some tension to the game. Yes, I know this is not the first game to do this, but it is still fun.

ShadowDark uses simpler XP systems and adopts modern D&D's idea that all classes use the same XP chart. It balances this by giving spellcasters the ability to keep casting spells until a spell fails. Again, this is not the first to do this (I did something similar in Ghosts of Albion ages ago), but it is still fun and welcomed here. 

Other innovations/additions include the carousing tables (lots of fun) and class talents.

ShadowDark has enough going on that 10 levels feels full.

Still though, there are things about both games I don't like or more to the point don't fit my overall style of play. Thankfully I have an idea.

The Reese's Peanut Butter Cup 

There is so much overlap in the games, so why not make it complete? Merge the two.

How would I do it?

Start with the base game of OSE or OSE Advanced Options. Then use a lot of the ShadowDark trappings including the 1 hour time on light sources.  I might still let demi-humans have infravision/darkvision but limit it some. I mean really, it doesn't make sense for a subterranean species not to have it. 

I would use ShadowDark's distance and movements of Close, Near, and Far for most things unless a distinction needs to be made. 

I'd use ShadowDark's checks BUT I would adapt 5e Saving throws to OSE and drop the OSE/BX style saves. This still gives me the same functionality of Saving Throws in a language that works with ShadowDark. This would mean ShadowDark style DCs for checks. Maybe steal another page from 5e and say the DC of a spell save is 8+the level of the caster? Saves then improve by +1 per level. I would need to play with it. 

For characters. I want a lot of classes and OSE does specialized classes well. I would also allow the classes to take ShadowDark-style talents. Maybe by adding the ShadowDark XP values to each of the classes' level XP cost.

I might adopt ShadowDark's gear mechanic. It is simple and elegant. I would also use ShadowDark's stat mods, though honestly, it is a toss-up between those and OSE's.

Since I would split class and race/ancestry, I would let ancestries in this game take the ancestry boons from ShadowDark. Just like I would allow classes to take a class talent. Just have the OSE class take the one that is closest from ShadowDark; ie. Rangers and Paladins take Fighter ones. I would also also allow a Paladin to take a Cleric one. 

I have not decided yet on which spellcasting system I would use. I am leaning more towards ShadowDark. I would not have said that six months ago.  If I do then the spell failure, mishaps, and penance rules would have to be used as well. 

I would use the ShadowDark carousing tables and the extensive encounter tables ShadowDark has to offer. 

Now, after all of this, you might ask, "Well, why not just play ShadowDark?" Because I still enjoy the OSE system and OSE-Advanced in particular. I like saving throws, I like more robust character classes. I like OSE Monsters. 

I would put the level limit at 14, like OSE and B/X, because I still enjoy that.

Fighters would need to get better as they level up like in ShadowDark. Thieves would have OSE style thief skills, but maybe some bonus or convert the percentile rolls to a d20 and allow for Advantage or Disadvantage rolls. 

It would all take some tinkering to get it all right, but everything is in front of me. 

Of course, I would need to play a witch in this "Best of Both Worlds" game to be sure.

The R. Michael Grenda Collection - Forgotten Realms

 I am still working through this large collection from my old DM and high school/college friend when I discovered something rather unexpected. Mixed in with all his stuff was a busted Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting box.

I am quite excited for this.

First, I had no idea he was into the Forgotten Realms at all. His game back in the day was 100% solid Greyhawk. In fact it was so famously Greyhawk that this is where my whole Mystoerth game world comes from.

Secondly, I have needed an empty Forgotten Realms box for a while!

I have all these articles from Dragon Magazine written by Ed Greenwood and others about the Forgotten Realms, and I have had them spread out amongst all my other boxed sets. Now, I can gather them all up and put them into this empty box. These all come from my coverage of "This Old Dragon."

I am still looking for all the articles I have. I know my copy of "Down to Earth Divinity" somewhere. 

This was among some other random and partial items that are not overtly part of the Realms. Things like a partial of A3 and some damaged copies of D1-2 and D3. I might also throw those in and figure out how to make them part of the Realms. Could I place Erelhei-Cinlu in the Realms? Could I edit the adventures to jive with Menzoberranzan?  No idea yet, but I will have a good time figuring it out.

I still have a stack of material here I have gone through. So who knows what other treasures are here to discover.

How Wizards of the Coast Really Dropped the Ball on D&D 50

via Hasbro

I am preparing to wrap up my year-long celebration of 50 years of Dungeons & Dragons. 

I have talked about my experiences, I have shared a lot of characters I have used over the years, talked about all sorts of D&D games. I have spent time talking about the Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, and, as always, Mystara. While I personally feel like I could have done a lot more I am confident in one thing,

I did a lot more talking about D&D 50th anniversary than Wizards of the Coast.

Yes. There was the giant "The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons" book which seemed to please and piss people off in equal measure. There were some 50th Anniversary minis, and yes, the new edition of D&D, which they missed the mark on by having the Monster Manual out in 2025. But in truth, there has been...very little.

Look, I don't like to spend time here on things I don't like. Sure, I could rage about this game or that and bitch and moan and complain. But honestly, we have enough people that do that on blogs and on YouTube, and it is fucking boring. I don't give a fuck about the shit you hate. Tell me about what you love. Get excited. Geek out over a game or a new dice mechanic or something. But I honestly don't care what you think of "those kids today." It makes you sound old and irrelevant. 

But I can't let this year pass and not mention how badly the ball was dropped here.

Wizards has not been having a great couple of years. From the OGL fiasco to sending hired goons after Magic players to massive layoffs and declining quality of their adventures, it would be all too easy to pick on them. I am only going to focus on couple of things though.

50 Years Should Mean Something

Ok. So we had the "The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons" book which was cool and some minis. But what else?

I mentioned the minis. There was also the Quests from the Infinite Staircase which had some great classic adventures updated to D&D 5. But it wasn't released with as much fanfare as I would have suspected.

There was quite a bit of fanfare for the 10th Anniversary, same for when Wizards did the 25th Silver Anniversary Edition. Was I anticipating more? Yeah, I certainly was. Was I wrongfully anticipating more? That I don't know.

How about a comparison.

The 10th Anniversary set included: D&D Basic Rules (Player's Guide and DM's Guide, BECMI), D&D Expert Rules (Expert Rulebook, BECMI), D&D Companion Rules (Player's Guide and DM's Guide, BECMI), D&D Character Record Sheets (1981, BX), MSOLO1 Blizzard Pass (with 2 pens), B1 In Search of the Unknown (Fourth print), B2 Keep on the Borderlands (Fourth print), X1 Isle of Dread (Fifth print), AC2 Combat Shield and Mini-Adventure, AC3 Kidnapping of Princess Arelina, and six dice and a dice crayon. All in a faux-leather slipcase with gold lettering. Essentially, it is an homage and celebration of the Basic-era rules.

The 25th Anniversary set included: Facsimiles of the original modules featured in TSR’s Silver Anniversary releases: B2 Keep on the Borderlands, G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, G2 The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King, I6 Ravenloft, and S2 White Plume Mountain. A replica of the original Dungeons & Dragons rulebook. A 32-page book outlining the history of TSR - including a retrospective essay by Gary Gygax. L3 Deep Dwarven Delve - a recently recovered, never-before-released Original Edition adventure by Len Lakofka. A specially created, suitable for framing art print by Jeff Easley. All in a silver slip case. No dice, but a new never before published adventure. 

The 50th has largely been represented by the new rules (5.5), The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons, and Quests form the Infinite Staircase. Fun, but does it really fit the celebration bill? Are these books that will command collector's prices in 10 or 25 years?  I am going to say no.

Where are the Baldur's Gate 3 Tie-ins?

Baldur's Gate 3 was the top-played game of 2023 and 2024. It won every single Game of the Year award and awards in general sci-fi and fiction, and many of the voice actors are now considered up-and-comers in terms of entertainment. It has won BAFTAs, Hugos, Nebulas, and GLAAD media awards. To downplay its success is either to be completely out of touch or willfully ignorant.

Yet. NOTHING for the game has come from Wizards of the Coast. No minis (they are coming out next year), no adventures or starter sets (there is one coming in the Fall 2025, but I can't determine if it has Baldur's Gate material). There are new Forgotten Realms books coming in late 2025. But all of this feels like too little too late.

Now. One could argue that Larian Studios, the creators of Baldur's Gate 3 only within the last few month gave Wizards back the license. But see it is a license. Wizards could have been doing tie-in stuff from August of 2023 when it became obvious that this game was going to be a mega-hit. Look what they did for Baldur's Gate 2 back in the late 1990s. They had Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate out for the game. So much so that the books was actually titled "Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate 2."

I talked about this before. They could have had an adventure or something out. "Love the video game? Continue your adventures here! Take your characters beyond 12th level in the table-top version!"

Spend any time on any Baldur's Gate discussion board, and two things are obvious. First, people LOVE these characters. Secondly, people want more with these characters. 

While this is not necessarily 50th anniversary related, it is undoubtedly a fumble of epic proportions.

They do talk about Baldur's Gate 3 in their upcoming digital tabletop, but again, that is not out now. I am not looking for a huge expenditure of cost here, a one-shot with the characters at first level (Larian already made character sheets for that), or how about Monster Manual-like entries for people to download some of the monsters/NPCs in the game. Larian Studios spent more time and effort on freaking Wulbren Bongle than Wizards has on all the other characters combined.

What Would I Have Done?

To be honest, this is pretty loaded. I have only nostalgia to guide me and no budgetary concerns or stockholders to appease. That being said, I am sure I could come up with some better ideas.

First, Books and sets. The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons book was a good one, but they should not have stopped there. I would have redoubled the efforts to get all the OD&D books on DriveThruRPG into Print on Demand and get them sold. Not everyone will shell out $100 for the making of OD&D, but many will shell out $20.00 or so for a new version of OD&D. They can even use the new "white" covers they all have. We know they have print ready files from the OD&D collector's set they published a while back.

Second, Constant celebration. Wizard should have gone to all the popular actual play streamers and had them run a classic adventure. Vox Machina going through The Tomb of Horrors, get the Baldurs Gate voice actors to go the Caves of Chaos. White Plume Mountain and Ilse of Dread. Make these place names something that the newer generations want to know about.  And honestly while it would not matter if these were played in 5e or not, I would like to have seen some of these groups try AD&D 1st ed. I know Mercer could do it, that is where he started, so let's see some of these big streamers talk THAC0 for a session or two.

Third, Social Media involvement. Yes this means people acting for the company and thus paid, but it still should be done. It gets people talking about the brand AND maybe mends some fences broken by Wizard's recent less-than-stellar behavior. What would they do? How about D&D Trivia to win a copy of "Making of" or the giant art book they made. I am sure they have a few of those still lying around.  OR send out goodie bags to smaller streamers and bloggers to make the case for them. Wizards should have had places where people could tell their stories of adventures of the last 50 years. Friends made, battles won, or lost and what D&D means. Normal people and the occasional celebrity as well. They should have sent people to Cons to record these and play them back on YouTube. 

Fourth, Game Stores. Game Stores still are the heart of many RPGs. So send them material like organized play and host old-school D&D tournaments using AD&D tournament rules. Include prize support. Survive the Ghost Tower with the most points? Here is your special, not-for-retail-sale set of Ghost Tower dice. Provide Game Stores with special items to draw in customers. 

Fifth, Reprints. I know. Reprints are expensive. Distribution is expensive. But I also know that gamers would have eaten it up. A copy of Ravenloft I6 with 50th Anniversary gold trim? Come on, I would have bought that in a heartbeat. Limited run to conserve cost, but make it a Game Store exclusive. Original content. Chose some of the best from all areas of D&D. Yes, Infinite Staircase kinda, sorta does this, but I am talking adventures and books just like the 10th and 25th Anniversary did. 

Sixth, BALDUR'S F'ING GATE. Look, I can't stress enough how much of a missed opportunity this was. While the game is still riding high and will be for a while, each day that goes by is one more day of lost revenue. People have hundreds, even thousands of hours, in this game. They should be able to take their "Tavs" (and honestly, you should know who Tav is) and move them to the tabletop. And when they got there, Karlach, Astarion, Shadowheart, and Scratch should all be there waiting.

I am sure I could come up with more. But I am approaching bitching about level and that means a good place to stop. 

The 50th should have been a reflection on what made D&D so great. Not a litany of missed opportunities or near misses. 

Larina Nix, The Witch for ShadowDark on Witchcraft Wednesday

 So, I suppose it goes without saying that when I made a witch class for the ShadowDarkRPG, I was going to try out my own witch to see how it worked. I mean, this character is my litmus test for anything witch-like.

Like many of my other books Larina is featured in the book, but no stats. Also, like many of the books, she is featured on the cover, only this time, the art I chose already existed.  Javier Charro is the artist, and his work has been sitting on my hard drive for a while, waiting for the right project.  I mean, it is rather perfect, to be honest.  Since I have given you all the stats for Esme and Amaranth, I figured Larina should also be featured.

Larina Nix

Who is this "Larina?" Is she the same one I use in D&D or is she different? Well, yes and no.

My conceit here is that the original AD&D Larina, with brown eyes (thankyouverymuchVanMorrison) died while battling a vampire. And by dead, I mean dead-DEAD. Witches in my games do not have access to Raise Dead or Resurrection, AND they can't have those spells cast on them. So when a witch dies, she is dead. BUT she can be reincarnated.  The original Larina died, but she was reincarnated. She next appears as a precocious 6-year-old witch in my AD&D 2nd Ed Complete Netbook of Witches and Warlocks" and as an adult witch in my 3rd Edition games (same character), she also appears as a witch in my WitchCraft/Buffy games. They all share some similar memories and at age 25 they can contact their other selves. There is a multi-verse of Larinas out there now, one for every game I ever play.

This Larina is high-level (for ShadowDark), and she works with Esme and Amaranth. 

Larina Nix

Ancestry: Human
Class: Witch 10th level (Witch Queen)
XP: 114
Alignment: Lawful 
Deity/Patron: Niceven and Baba Yaga
Background: Arcane Library
Familiar: Flying Cat ("Cotton Ball")

Str: 9
Dex: 11
Con: 11
Int: 17
Wis: 17
Cha: 18

Weapon: Broom staff, dagger
Gear: Crawler kit, 1 week of rations, 1 week of tea, cat treats (to supplement Cotton Ball's hunting), Book of Shadows, athamé.
Magic items: Bracers of Defense +1, Broom of Flying, Cloak of Night, Cingulum +3, Hat of Focus-Spellslinger 

HP: 36
AC: 15

Languages: Common, Elven, Diabolic, Celestial

Talents
Human: +2 to Charisma
1st level: Additional Tier 1 Spell
3rd level: + 1 to Occult Spellcasting rolls
5th level: Patron Favor, +1 to any die roll once per rest
7th level: Additional Patron
9th level: Learn additional Tier 5 Spell

Patron Boons: Learn 1 Tier 1 Wizard Spell, Learn 1 Additional Occult Spell

Spells
Tier 1 (4+1): Charm Person, Feel my Pain, Glamour, Häxen Talons, Mage Hand
Tier 2 (3): Call Lightning, Light as a Feather-Stiff as a Board, Blink (Ritual)
Tier 3 (3): Bestow Curse, Coven's Calling, Danse Macabre
Tier 4 (2+1): Ball Lightning, Fear, Witch's Cradle 
Tier 5 (2+1): Cry for the Nightbird, Phantasmagoria, Ward of Magic

Tier 1 Wizard: Burning Hands

One of ShadowDark's greatest features is its ability to generate characters quickly. I have about five or six different ShadowDark versions of Larina on my desk; each one was made to test something different. 

It is interesting (to me at least) that while I often picture her as wearing a cloak and hood, like on the cover of The Witch, the art I am using here has her in a witch's hat.

Yeah, I would play this version of her, but I am discovering that 10 levels feel a little limiting to me. Granted, those are the prime adventuring levels, but I have been pouring over characters from my past and remember how much really high-level play we used to do back then. 

I certainly have some to explore with this game.

The Fearless Five vs Bargle: Basic Characters for ShadowDark

 My foray into the ShadowDark RPG did not begin or end with The Witch. Last week, I was chatting online with someone about my idea for a time travel adventure called "The Keep Killing Aleena," where the premise is a bunch of high-level adventurers go back in time to try to save her life, and the results of that interference. It is not an adventure I have ever finished since few ideas in it have never jelled right for me. BUT in my research I did uncover the 3.5 Edition adventure from Dungeon Magazine #150 (2007, Paizo era) called "Kill Bargle" from Pathfinder's own Jason Bulmahn.  The idea has stuck with me for years. It would make for a great convention game. It is a low-level dungeon crawl where you need to, well, what it says on the tin, Kill Bargle.

When I ran T1 Village of Hommlet, I included Aleena, Morgan Ironwolf, Rufus, Burne, and yes, Bargle. I did their stats in 4e Essentials, but ended up running it in 5e. In that adventure, Bargle still kills Aleena and gets away. 

I could not help but think revenge would be nice and maybe someone gathered everyone up to go get him.  

Enter the Fearless Five!

Given the "Women in Refrigerators" treatment of Aleena, I thought it might be fun to grab all the "Basic-era" heroines and send them on a quest to kill Bargle. 

Premise: Skylla, wanting something from Bargle's trove of magic (likely his spellbooks) decides that the only way to kill get it is to assemble a group of adventures who have a personal grudge against him. Knowing they will never follow her, or do what she asks, she gets the one person she knows they will follow. It's just too bad that person, Aleena, is dead.

So Skylla gets Aleena resurrected (she still has contacts in the cult underworld). She gets Morgan Ironwolf to find her, and then she gathers the Sorceress, Duchess, and Candella together to go after Bargle. Five heroines to kill one villain. Easy peasy.

While I could run an adventure like this in nearly any system, it seems fitting to me to run it with ShadowDark.

Aleena

Ancestry: Human
Class: Cleric, 2nd level
XP: 20 
Alignment: Lawful
Deity/Patron: Madeera
Background: Noble

Str: 11
Dex: 14
Con: 10
Int: 10
Wis: 16
Cha: 16

HP: 9
AC: 15

Weapon: Mace
Gear: Chainmail, holy symbol, backpack, torches, 1 week of rations, wolf'sbane

Languages: Common, Elvish

Talents
Human: +1 to melee attacks
1st level: +1 to Cleric spellcasting checks

Spells
Tier 1 (3): Cure wounds, Light, Shield of faith

Aleena is a cleric. She was brought back to life by Skylla's intervention but has no memory of the time between then and when Bargle killed her. 

She feels Bargle is a threat to all that is good and lawful and he must be stopped.

Morgan Ironwolf

Ancestry: Human
Class: Fighter, level 3
XP: 34
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity/Patron: None
Background: Soldier

Str: 16
Dex: 13
Con: 14
Int: 7
Wis: 9
Cha: 8

HP: 21
AC: 14

Weapon: Longsword
Gear: Chainmail, bow and arrows, quiver, 5 silver arrows, 50' rope, 10' pole, 6 torches, 1 week rations, 1 qt wine, large sack

Languages: Common, Goblin

Talents
Human: +2 to Strength
1st level: +2 to Constitution
3rd level: +1 to melee and ranged attacks

Morgan thinks of Aleena as a little sister who needs protecting; as such, she blames herself for Aleena getting killed. She would go after Bargle for free just to have the pleasure of killing him herself. 

The Sorceress

Ancestry: Human
Class: Wizard 3rd level
XP: 35
Alignment: Lawful
Deity/Patron: Ord
Background: Wizard's Apprentice

Str: 10
Dex: 14
Con: 12
Int: 18
Wis: 10
Cha: 13

HP: 10
AC: 13

Weapon: Staff
Gear: 6 torches, 1 week rations, large sack, spellbook, bag of spell components

Languages: Common, Elvish

Talents
Human: +2 to Intelligence
1st level: Advantage on one Spell: Magic Missile
3rd level: Advantage on one Spell: Burning Hands

Spells
Tier 1 (4): Magic missile, Mage armor, Light, Burning hands
Tier 2 (2): Detect thoughts, Invisible

The Sorceress knows the group is getting played by Skylla. She is friends with Morgan and wants to make sure everyone comes out of this alive. The chance to rummage through Bargle's collection of magic is an added bonus. 

Duchess

Ancestry: Human
Class: Thief, 5th level 
XP: 55
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity/Patron: None
Background: Thieves Guild

Str: 11
Dex: 16
Con: 18
Int: 12
Wis: 15
Cha: 15

HP: 17
AC: 14

Weapon: Longsword
Gear: Leather armor, short bow and arrows, quiver, thieves tools, 50' rope, 10' pole, 6 torches, 1 week rations, 5 qts wine, large sack

Languages: Common, Dwarvish

Talents
Human: +2 Charisma
1st level: +1 to melee and ranged attacks
3rd level: +2 to dexterity
5th level: +1 (+2 total) to melee and ranged attacks

And her partner in crime:

Candella

Ancestry: Human
Class: Thief, 5th level
XP: 56
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity/Patron: None
Background: Urchin

Str: 12
Dex: 17
Con: 15
Int: 15
Wis: 13
Cha: 14

HP: 14
AC: 14

Weapon: Short sword
Gear: Leather armor, short bow and arrows, quiver, thieves tools, 25' rope, 7 torches, 1 week rations, 3 qts wine, large sack

Languages: Common, Goblin

Talents
Human: +2 to Dexterity
1st level: +2 to Strength
3rd level: +1 to melee and ranged attacks
5th level: Backstab +1 dice of damage

Duchess and Candella were hired by Bargle to retrieve an item for him. He meant for them to get killed, but they ended up in jail instead. Worse, he never paid them for the item. They are in it for the money and revenge—but mostly for the money.

Skylla

Ancestry: Human
Class: Witch, 6th level
XP: 64
Alignment: Chaotic
Deity/Patron: Baba Yaga
Background: Cultist

Str: 9
Dex: 11
Con: 10
Int: 12
Wis: 11
Cha: 15

HP: 16
AC: 11

Weapon: Staff
Gear: 3 torches, 1-week rations, large sack, bag of spell components

Languages: Common, Diabolic

Familiars: Raven, Owl (+1 to Wisdom checks)

Talents
Human: +1 to occult spellcasting checks
1st level: +2 to Charisma
3rd level: one additional witch spell (T2)
5th level: additional familiar (special)

Patron Boon: Learn 1 Tier 1 Wizard Spell: Magic Missile 

Spells
Tier 1 (3): Charm person, Disguise self, Mage hand, 
Tier 2 (3): Call lightning, Light as feather-stiff as a board, Turn Undead (Ritual)
Tier 3 (2): Hag's Illusion (Baba Yaga), Bestow curse

Our "sixth" member of the Fearless Five is the mastermind behind all of this. Well...sort of, she is discovered rather quickly, but her intuition that these women would all do this to get back at Bargle is spot on. Have to figure out who gets the best magical loot between her and The Sorceress. 

--

I love the idea of a distaff "Usual Suspects" or "Reservoir Dogs." I really want to run this sometime. I would love to see how a witch (Skylla) and a wizard (The Sorceress) work together in an adventuring party run by someone other than me. 

And more to the point, I just want to see Bargle get curb-stomped by a bunch of women.

The R. Michael Grenda Collection - The Characters

 I am still in the process of working through my friend's collection of old D&D material.  While I have put his books on my shelves and given my current copies to my kids, I am still working through all the characters.

And he had a LOT of characters.

There are some here dating all the way back to 1976. The vast majority are for AD&D 1st ed. There is a long period of post 1987 to 1989 where there are dozens and dozens of characters. And then there are a few 2nd Edition ones as well.

Among these I found versions of my characters Retsam, Death Blade, Rogue, and Phygor. But those are not as interesting to me as my nearly forgotten and abandoned SpellJammer characters. And these pale to the shear weight, number, and import of his own characters. Names I have known now since the early 1980s.

Even Yoln is here in his original form.

Here are my problems.

What do I do with them all? And what story about them should I tell? 

Also, they have been in a house with cats, and I am deathly allergic. I can only handle them for a little bit. So my son suggested putting them in sheet protectors. That was smart. It will take me a bit to get them all in, but it has been fantastic so far.  Plus, he wants to use them as NPCs in his AD&D 1st Ed game (more on that later).

Here is what I am considering.

I am thinking about participating in The TARDIS Captain's New Year New Character challenge/fest. These are not new characters by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel the need to share them with you all. 

I just hope I can remember enough about each one to do them justice.

In addition, I am considering taking these characters and putting my spin on them. I might even post Wasted Lands or OSE or ShadowDark stats for them. I am still deciding. 

The Refrigerator for DC Heroes

The DC Heroes Role-Playing Game 40th Anniversary Kickstarter is still going strong, and new stretch goals are added all the time. I am quite excited for this one to be honest.

While I have a lot of heroes I would love to add, more than a few villains also need my attention. And given how this particular villain got his real-world start, it seems fitting to stat him up now.

Dr. Andreas Gelé, The Refrigerator

You can read the history of this misanthrope here, but he began as a nod to the "Women in Refrigerators" trope as detailed by Gail Simone. 

History of The Refrigerator

Dr. Andreas Gelé was born to wealth and privilege but never to love.  His father was a was a rich industrialist who made his money on the work of others and his mother was a noted and beautiful stage actress.  From his father he gained his intellect and from his mother he learned lessons in cruelty.

As his mother aged she became more and more cruel.  In his mind's eye, he still saw her as beautiful. This was reinforced by all the pictures of her on the wall of their estates, where she was young, beautiful, and happy. Frozen in time.  Gelé began working on a process to keep the beautiful women young forever.  He was drawn to beautiful women, and his prestige later as a doctor and his wealth made that easy.  But he never could talk to or relate to them, having grown up socially stunted.  So Gelé embarked on a plan so he could have his desires met.

His first experiments in cryonics were failures. Animals would not return to life after being frozen, and even when he perfected the process, they still had tissue damage, finally, through a combination of fluids and gases at supercooled temperatures.  He tested it first on his hated father. He died soon after he was free of the ice, but Gelé expected that since the old man's heart was now weak. He froze his mother next. He was overjoyed that the ice preserved her remaining beauty.

All his research, though, has depleted his fortunes, so he robs banks to fund more research and to keep more of his "beauties" on ice. He still has trouble talking to and relating to women, but he finds it much more manageable after he has frozen them. 

Creepy little bastard, huh.

The Refrigerator

Dexterity: 2		Strength:	2	Body: 3
Intelligence: 6		Will: 4		Mind: 5
Influence: 2		Aura: 3		Spirit: 4

Initiative: 10
Hero Points: 100

Current Body: 3
Current Mind: 5
Current Spirit: 4

Alter Ego: Dr. Andreas Gelé
Occupation: Former Medical Faculty
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliations: None
Base of Operations: Gotham City
Motivation: Twisted Obsession
Wealth: 6
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 125 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: White

Skills
Gadgetry 6
Medicine 5
Weapon (Freeze Ray) 5

Powers
Freeze Ray (Gadget)
- Ice Control 6
- Ice Production 6
Thermal Goggles (Gadget)
- Thermal Vision 6

Advantages
Connoisseur [5], Gadget Freeze Ray, Rich Family [15], Scholar: Cryonics [10], Medicine [10]

Drawbacks
Guilt [25], Irrational Attraction [25], Mistrust (women) [50]

Equipment
Freeze Ray

--

I am sure my numbers are off here. But it is a start.

Since I am expecting something of a DC Heroes renaissance, here are a couple of sites I really enjoy. 

The Mayfair Games DC Heroes RPG online Character Database

Hundreds of characters for the MEGS DC Heroes game. Heavy on the DC characters, but a few others.

Writeups.org

Lots of characters for both DC Heroes (MEGS) and DC Adventures (M&M 3).