Countdown to Superman: Superman (2025)

The newest Superman is now out, and I have seen it. What did I think? I loved it! It was a fantastic. I am not going to spoil anything here but I will go over the broad strokes. 

The DECU is dead, long live the DCU. 

David Corenswet is a great Clark Kent and Superman. He is bright, optimistic, and hopeful.  He carries the movie on all of this. There is a lot of "All-Star Superman" here, at least in tone and optimism, not so much in plot. 

Rachel Brosnahan is a great Lois Lane. She is smart, observant, and tough. This is a Lois who will get into trouble.

The standout has to be Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. He is evil, and brilliant, and you want to hate him but he is just so good really.

I loved the "Justice Gang" of Hawkgirl, Mister Terrific, and Green Lantern Guy Gardner, played by Isabella Merced, Edi Gathegi, and Nathan Fillion, respectively.  They played their comic roles fantastically. There are good reasons why we have Guy and not Hal, John, or even Kyle. Merced is channeling the DCAU Hawkgirl more than just a little bit.

But the winner is really Krypto. 

I also loved Milly Alcock as Supergirl for the brief time we get to see her. Now I want to see Melissa Benoist as Power Girl.

My theatre was packed and all the showtimes around it were sold out. People seemed to really love it. I can't wait to talk about it more.

It was great. Go see it.

Cameos

John Cena makes a brief appearance as Peacemaker. Not a shock, given it's a James Gunn show. It was also a DCEU show (1st season), and he was in the second Suicide Squad movie. So that counts as a previous series.  Related is Frank Grillo as A.R.G.U.S. director Rick Flag Sr. from the animated DCU series Creature Commandos.

Michael Rosenbaum, Lex from Smallville and Flash from the DC Animated series voices one of Lex's Raptar guards.

Will Reeve, the son of Christopher Reeve, appears as a Metropolis TV News reporter. Looking every bit like his dad. 

The big ones, though, are the opening and closing credits. They look just like the Salkind movies, and the John Williams' score is back.

Countdown to Superman: The DCEU and the Snyderverse

 As I wrap my coverage of the Superman movies, I want to take an aside and talk about DC's first big-screen attempt at an extended universe. Called the DC Extended Universe, or more often, the Snyderverse, this era produced some fun, some good, and some terrible movies. 

Suicide Squad (2016)

While not a great movie, it is fun one. It introduces us to Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, one of many perfect castings in the DCEU, and featured one of my favorite characters, Enchantress. Don't go into this movie looking anything but comic book action and plot. I mean one of my favorite scenes is when Harley sees her old Harlequin costume in her box of things and gets all excited about it. Ok, the scene where El Diablo fights Incubus is also pretty cool.  

Wonder Woman (2017)

Honestly, this movie is a masterpiece and is easily in my top-5 superhero movies of all time. Patty Jenkins was great as the director, and Gal Gadot WAS Wonder Woman. She had huge boots to fill from Lynda Carter, and she did it. She gave us a Wonder Woman who is strong and powerful without loosing a gram of femininity; exactly like she should be from the comics. I know the family of William Moulton Marston, Wonder Woman's creator, was thrilled with it. This one might be the best movie in all the DCEU.

Sadly, Wonder Woman 1984 just could not live up to its predecessor's heights.

Aquaman (2018) and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)

Both of these were fun and were excuses for Jason Momoa to give us his brand of Arthur Curry. They are also fun, but fall just short of great, really, with the 2018 movie being a bit better.

Shazam! (2019), Black Adam (2022), and Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)

Shazam, aka Captain Marvel, "the Big Red Cheese" is a difficult character to get right. He is a kid in the form of a god really. Zachary Levi did a great job of this in the 2019 and 2023 movies and Shazam! was a really good flick. You have to be a fan of the character though I think. Kudos for the cameo of Michael Gray from old Filmation Saturday Morning Shazam! series. The 2023 movie also has Wonder Woman in the end.

Black Adam was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's dream gig in the DC Universe. So much so he was a producer on all three movies. As expected it is darker than either Shazam movie. Nice post credits scene with Amanda Waller and Superman at the end. 

They are not great movies, but fun ones.

The Flash (2023)

Pity the poor Flash. It might go down as the movie that killed the DCEU. It didn't, but it certainly didn't help. 

Let's talk about what is good. LOVED seeing Michael Keaton back as Batman/Bruce Wayne. Wonderful, worth the price of the movie. As janky as it was, the Flash running through the Multiverse and seeing ALL the old Supermen, especially Christopher Reeve and Helen Slater, standing side by side as Superman and Supergirl was amazing. Even the Arrorow-verse, which the DCEU always seemed to ignore as an annoying kid brother, gets a nod. Though it does it in a way that shows they are either ignorant of the characters (most likely) or are being purposely disrespectful. NICHOLAS FREAKING CAGE as Superman with a mullet fighting a Thanagarian Snare Beast! If you are a DC fan, you know what this means, so while I would like to give them a pass on being ignorant on the CW-DCU (Arrow-verse) this shows they did know the deep lore. So maybe they were not allowed to use any Arrow-verse characters as their Arrow-verse character...DC does some strange things at times.  The end with the big "Batman twist" is fun. BUT it was also a sign that they knew the DCEU was ending. 

Now the bad. Erza Miller turned into a bit of a dumpster fire. I mean, he was kinda fun, but never really right as Barry Allen. Plus, we had a GREAT Barry Allen. Grant Justin was amazing. The script is a bit of a mess. Though the Flash having the Flash as the big bad does fit with the comics. Sasha Calle was great as Supergirl, but we never got to see enough of her, and she was gone before we could know her. 

There were other movies. Blue Beetle was fun. There was a soft-reboot, sorta-, sorta-not of The Suicide Squad. I enjoyed the Birds of Prey movie, even if most didn't.

There were some fun times here, but by and large they did not measure up to the successes or the storytelling of the Marvelverse. Trust me, as a DC fan, those are hard words to write. 

I am hopeful for the new James Gunn helmed DC Studios and the new Superman and DCU. Does this include the newer Batman movie? I don't know really. 

Countdown to Superman: Justice League (2017, 2021)

 Now, here we are at what should have been the crowning achievement of not just the DCEU/Snyderverse, but also of DC comic movies.  The freaking Justice League. The ultimate in superhero team-ups, the royal family, as it were. 

Sadly, real life plagued this production, and director Zack Snyder had to leave the production due to the death of his daughter. So, a replacement was brought in. I mean, on paper, it sounds fine. Bring in the guy who had a successful run of genre TV shows and who directed the Avengers movie (you know the #2 team-up), and let him wrap up filming. Well...the problem is that the guy they brought in was Whedon. Now my own personal issue with the guy aside... no, actually not. But I'm jumping ahead of myself here.

For tonight's viewing, I want to cover the 2021 Snyder Cut of this movie. I can appreciate Superman II with both the Lester and Donner cuts. Each one is a good movie on its own with strengths and weaknesses. Each one is enjoyable and cringy in equal measure. I prefer the Donner cut, but the Lester one is still good. I can't say the same for Justice League. 

I enjoyed the 2017 Justice League, but things felt off. I knew it the moment in the interaction between Steppenwolf and the Amazons. These didn't feel like the elite warriors that took out Nazis in Wonder Woman. These were bikini-clad pulp fighting women. Was it Whedon? Was it Snyder? I don't know, but the dialog was Whedon. It was also not the only thing. We know that after Snyder left Whedon reshot a lot of the movie. He also rewrote the script. There were also allegations of abuse, racism and sexism on the set from Ray Fisher (Cyborg), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman, though she shut him down), and Kiersey Clemons (Iris West, who's skin was lightened in the Whedon cut, that is where she was left in it). This opened the door for other actors to share their tales of Whedon's long-standing misconduct on set. 

I detailed his fall from grace already, so no need to go over that again. It was reassuring to hear some of my long-time critics tell me, "Wow, you were right back then."  So yeah I really can't watch the 2017 cut anymore, all I see are his attempts to "improve" the movie.

Now, I am not a big Snyder fan boy, but I do think the 2021 cut is superior. It explains things better, the pacing is better, and the character development is much better. 

There is only ONE thing in the 2017 cut that I enjoyed that is not in (nor would it fit in) the 2021. After defeating Steppenwolf Cyborg says "Boo-ya" as a nod to the Teen Titans show. I am sure Whedon's kid watched it, he is the same age as my kids and they loved that show. So did I. 

Oh, yeah, the plot.

Ok, Superman is dead, even though it looked like he might come back to life at the end of BvS. Bruce is feeling guilty and perceives a new threat. So he is gathering up a team of super-powered people, Meta-Humans, to help. Ok, kudos to writers Chris Terrio and Zack Snyder for having Batman build the league. That is a new one and it works here with Bat-Fleck. We get the Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Cyborg.

In the 2021 cut Cyborg is our focus hero. He is the newest and in recent versions of the comic Justice League (New 52 and beyond) he is also the newest member. This was drastically reduced in the 2017 cut.  but it makes sense to have Cyborg, Victor Stone, as our way of seeing the League.

Anyway...Parademons are attacking, Motherboxes, Darkseid, Steppenwolf. All BIG THINGS you would want the League for. Steppenwolf attacks the Amazons to get the Motherbox they are guarding. Then he heads to Atlantis to get their theirs. The third Motherbox is being studied by Victor's father. 

The new League decides they need Superman back, though Diana is reluctant. They devise a plan and bring him back. In the 2017 cut they just come out and say it, in the 2021 cut it is built up more. There is more gravitas to it. More, "is this something we should be doing?" It's not quite the same as The Return of Superman in the comics, but it...no, it really doesn't make much sense in either version. I would have done it differently. But he is back, black suited (like the Return) and they are off to battle Steppenwolf and the three Motherboxes.

The ending battle is fun no doubt. Both Cyborg and Flash prove their worth to League as the youngest members. Superman and Cyborg prevent the Unity of the Motherboxes, and Diana shows how she "takes care" of her enemies. She is a warrior with a sword after all.

Watching the two side by side again (and that's six or so hours, was up till 2:30am), I am left feeling a bit worn out, to be honest. Whedon's 2017 version comes off as creepier, a little more sexist (any scene with Wonder Woman and/or the Amazons), and honestly, like he has something against Cyborg. Is that my post hoc knowledge in the way? I don't know, but I will say this for certain: the 2017 version is weaker by any measure you care to employ. 

Though I will say this, Snyder needs to figure out how to trim down his own stories. 

In the end, the differences are best summed up for me in the scene where Steppenwolf attacks the Amazons. In the 2017 cut, he is creepily referring to the Motherbox as "Mother" and telling the Amazons they will love him.  In the 2021 cut, he is threatening them with annihilation and telling the Amazons they will fear him. To which Hippolyta asks the Amazons to show him their fear and to a woman they shout, "We have no fear."

Mera pulling the water and blood out of Steppenwolf was also pretty cool too. 

I am going to say it. If there was a scene with a woman being a complete bad-ass on her own (not counting Wonder Woman) Whedon pulled the scene from the 2017 cut.

Cameos

As I mentioned before, Marc McClure, who played Jimmy Olsen in the Salkinds/Christopher Reeve Superman film series, has a brief cameo as a police officer in the 2017 version and a different police officer in the 2021 version.

Synder himself makes a cameo appearance in his cut. He is sitting in the coffee shop Lois is leaving right before she sees the resurrected Superman. 

Another "cameo" and one very close to Zack Snyder's heart, are the billboards for the AFSP, or the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. His daughter committed suicide while filming this movie. He dedicated it to her in the end credits.

I know I said I'd talk about Wonder Woman today, but it is late, and my eyes are killing me. I'll have some more to say on the the other films, Wonder Woman, and the end of the DCEU later.

Iriandor: My New Campaign World

 I was not really planning on doing this. I have enough projects on my plate to keep me busy for years. BUT I also kinda want to this. What is this? This is my new campaign world based on the ideas I began to present in "Why D&D 5.5 (2024) Needs a New Campaign World" and "Why D&D 5.5 (2024) Needs a New Campaign World, Part 2."

So what are my goals here?

The future's so bright.

I want a world that is bright, and the characters have a sense of place and purpose.

The new edition of D&D (2025) is much brighter. I want a world to match that. Plus, I have been doing dark, grimdark, and horror since 1979. I want to do something different. Very different. I am building this with "D&D" in mind, but in truth, it is going to be largely system-less, at least at the start. If I want to adapt it to Daggerheart or Blue Rose (two games I will be taking a lot of cues from), then I can.

This World is NOT OSR or Old School.

Look, I love my old-school games. I really do. I have a solid publishing history of this. But this is not that world. In fact this world is very much a "we are moving out of the ashes of the old world into a new one." If that sounds a bit like Star Trek, well then, so be it. 

I am also shedding the various "pulp" influences. Again, I do enough of this elsewhere. The Witches of Appendix N will continue. I still have old-school projects on my hard drive waiting to see the light of day. This is not replacing those. This is it's own thing.

This World is not for Publication

As much as I think this would sell (based on my post stats), I don't have the time or art budget to make it fully manifest in the way it deserves. So instead, I am just going to write stuff here for it, and people can take what they want. I am not precluding a publication, I am saying that is not my plan.

Welcome to Iriandor  - A New World for a New Age

The world is healing.

Iriandor is not another rehash of a Forgotten Realm or a Gray Past. It is something new, a bright world born from the ashes of a terrible war. Not just a war. The War. For a century, the devils of Hell marched across the land, collecting the debts of power-hungry Warlock Thanes who bargained away not just their souls, but ours. The Warlock Thanes and their Hierarchs are gone now, burned out of history, but their twisted magic still lingers in wild places, where the ground is scorched and the air hums with wrongness.

Now, at last, the world begins to breathe again.

The people of Iriandor are rebuilding, not just cities, but trust. They are rediscovering lost places, forging new bonds, and reclaiming their place in a multiverse that almost forgot them. Floating cities drift above wounded forests. Ancient dwarven forges ring again. The Tieflings, once Hell’s foot soldiers, seek peace as free people. The Forgekin, born as tools, now walk as citizens. And the Elves? They debate the very nature of sentience in their spire-libraries above the clouds. Humans, always eager to explore and expand seek new lands and old mysteries. 

--

That's my start anyway. I wrote the words "The world is healing" in a notebook when I first started coming up with this idea. I like it, I think it is a good introduction to the world. 

Here are some of the peoples I have in mind for this world.

Dwarves

Master artisans, artificers, and called "The First Born," dwarves live everywhere in the world. They are fiercely devoted to family and clan, which can number in the dozens and thousands, respectively. Each dwarf has a personal name, a family name, and their "forge name," the name given to them when they come of age. Most dwarves believe that Forgekin houses the souls of long-dead dwarves, returned to the world to help the dwarves forge a new future. For this reason, dwarves will often call Forgekin "brother" or "sister" even though Forgkin themselves recognize no specific genders. Forgekin prefer the title "Cousin" from Dwarves and consider it an honor to called such.

Elves

They are called Eldryn by humans, but their own name is Naelyar, "the people who endure." They are long-lived philosophers of life and existence. They believe they came to this world at the same time as the dwarves, and as such share a kinship with them. The Eldryn are divided into philosophical factions so deep that most other races see them as separate subspecies.

    The Sylarië

    These Eldryn believe that all living things are sentient. They fought to have the Forgekin recognized as living beings and believe that all life is a precious gift.  Humans call them "Greenhearts" because of their love of plants and all things natural. They are the most numerous. Most are vegetarians. 

    The Talarien

    These Eldryn believe that only humanoid life is sentient, but still all life is precious. Humans call them "Gray Elves," a name they find amusing. They are extremely fond of humans, though some say in the way a human is with a pet.

    The Vaelshari

    The least numerous are the isolationist Vaelshari. They believe that only Eldryn lives are sentient. They think humans are at best animals and Forgekin are abominations. They can and do work with other Eldryn happily, but feel uncomfortable with other species.

Forgekin

Created centuries ago by dwarven artificers, they began their existence as servants, aides, and domestic labor. The dwarves who created them felt there was more to them than anyone realized, thus their name of "kin." When The War broke out, the Forgekin to an individual stopped their tasks and joined the fighting. For their efforts, they were awarded the status of citizens. In the floating city of Aetherreach, the home of Eldryn and Dwarves, and where the Forgekin were created, they are the most numerous and enjoy the most rights.

Some parts of the world still refer to them by the name "Househands" but this is considered to be derogatory in polite company.

Hellspawn / Tieflings

Slaves of the devils, these poor souls were used to fight the mortals of Iriandor. When the devils were defeated and the gates of the Warlcok Thanes destroyed, they threw down their arms and refused to fight anymore. They have since been recognized not as oppressors, but fellow victims and survivors of Th War. There are many places though where they are still not trusted.

Humans

Humans make up the bulk of the world. While the Warlock Thanes were human (mostly), most of the lives lost in The War were human ones. Humans now want to reach out and see who still survives and if there is any left of the Warlock Thanes, to stamp them out. There are always a few that would like to find that power for themselves.

--

I am also planning to add Halflings and Gnomes, but I am considering lumping them together as one species, the current front-running name "Brindlekin." Dragonborn will be there, as well as various anthropomorphic animals. Orcs of course will be here as well as goblins. I do love goblins. 

Yes there will all the classes and I'll add some gods as well. 

Though, I am having my cake and eating it here, too. The time before The War, during the Rule of the Warlock Thanes, would make for a fantastic Old School style world. Gritty, war, diabolic monsters, and power-crazed spellcasters. Both sound fun.

Countdown to Superman: Batman v Superman (2016)

Batman v Superman, subtitled The Dawn of Justice, from 2016 gives us our first real cinematic treatment of DC's Trinity; Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. All while asking the question, what would it be like to put "The Death of Superman" and "The Dark Knight Rises" on the screen at the same time? I guess it also asks the question, what would Lex Luthor be like if he were modeled on Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos? 

Some of these questions didn't need to be answered.

There is a lot to enjoy here, so lets do that first.

Ben Affleck makes for a great older "Dark Knight Returns" Batman. Gal Gadot is amazing as Wonder Woman (more on that later) and Cavil is still good as Superman.

Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor? Eh...well, I at least see what they are trying to do here. It fails, but I see it.

Doomsday is under-used and wasted here. It could have been any sort of monster. Bizzaro would have been good to be honest. Plus, he doesn't even look like Doomsday. They did a much better job with him on "Smallville," and even used him as a quasi-Bizarro creature in "Superman & Lois."

Watching this right on the tail of watching Man of Steel is actually pretty good. You can see how the movie ties in better. Now I am watching my Director's Cut Blu Ray and it is a much better movie than what we got in the theatres. Even Eisenberg's Luthor comes off as a lot smarter and more evil. He is purposely winding Batman and Superman up so they go after each other. His motivation here is not some land grab, but his personal hate of Superman. And maybe a little bit of Bruce as well. While he is still annoying as Luthor, his plans at least are better.

An aside about Jeremy Irons as Alfred. In recent years Alfred has gone from a mild-mannered butler to a former SAS agent who you feel could still kick Bruce's ass if he wanted too. Well, maybe not kick his ass, but he does stand up to him. Oh. He did beat the crap out of Superman once. Anyway, Iron's Alfred is a little droll, a little caustic, and still very, very clever. You do get the feeling that he has a solid history and likely knows where a body or two is buried. 

It does make me wish we had an Affleck solo Batman movie. I know he wants nothing else to do with the role, and the Snyderverse is dead, but still, it would have been fun. Likewise I would ahve liked more  Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Thomas Wayne and Lauren Cohan as Martha Wayne. Flashbacks would have been good. Maybe Matthew Goode as young Alfred too.  But we are not even getting the Batgirl movie they finished, so there goes that idea.

All said and told, I did like this movie. It wasn't well received, and it's box office dropped the second week (a bad sign), but it was still fun despite the problems. 

Wonder Woman

Let's step aside for a moment here and talk about Wonder Woman. Honestly, has there ever been a more epic entrance of a superhero than Wonder Woman's entrance to save Batman in fight against Doomsday? The answer is, of course, no*. That swelling guitar riff of her theme song? The look on her face as she just stands there and takes his energy and then fires is back at him? 

"She with you?" "I though she was with you."

"You both are with me. And my sidekicks."

Or even later in the same battle. Batman is going to get squished, Superman has had the living crap beat out of him. Wonder Woman...is laughing. This is a true warrior in her element, fighting a foe that gives her purpose. 

Wonder Woman is the best thing about the Snyderverse, hands down. I'll talk more about this tomorrow. 

*Ok, I'll throw Marvel fans a bone here and say that Thor's entrance in Wakanda in Avengers Infinity War is pretty damn good too. But we have been wanting Wonder Woman for DECADES. I'd counter that the Thor scene above has a better analog to Wonder Woman's "No Mans Land" scene.

Cameos

Just ones from the future Justice League and Wonder Woman movies. 

Witchcraft Wednesdays: The Witch-Priestess

Photo by Paola  Koenig

Continuing in my Occult D&D related threads I have another "Advanced" Class to share. This is one I have played around with many times for various editions. I like each one, and they bring something new to the table for me each time.

This is a witch dedicated to more priestess-craft and worship aspects of the witch. A true "Priestess of the Old Ways." More so than the generic cleric or shape-shifting druid. 

Like the Archwitch, a Witch-Priestess (or Witch-Priest) begins as a witch, but then transitions to more priestly and religious duties. While the Archwitch leans more into the Arcane side of witchcraft, the Witch-Priestess focuses on the divine. Again my model for this class is the Bard (PHB), Thief-Acrobat, the Archdruid (UA), and the Wizards of High Sorcery from the Dragonlance Adventures book. I am just codifying something that was already there.  (An aside. I'd love to see other "Advanced Classes" anyone else come up with these?)

In my current 1st Edition AD&D game, I have two witches, I am hoping to get each one to choose one of these other paths.  

WITCH-PRIESTESS

Advanced Class for Witches

The Witch-Priestess is the spiritual and ritual leader of the Old Faith, bridging the gap between arcane witchcraft and divine mystery. Where the ordinary witch communes privately with her Patron, the Witch-Priestess embodies that relationship in public rites, seasonal festivals, and sacred duties. She does not merely cast spells; she invokes the will of the gods and spirits of nature, channeling divine energy through her well-honed arcane focus.

Only witches who belong to a coven and who have demonstrated piety, wisdom, and leadership are called to walk this sacred path. The calling is not common, and the burden is great, but the rewards are divine.

Requirements

To become a Witch-Priestess, a character must:

• Be a Witch of at least 7th level
• Have a Wisdom of 16 or higher
• Be a member of a coven
• Have performed a significant religious service to the Old Faith, such as leading a solstice rite, sacrificing personal power for the good of the land, or invoking a successful blessing that saved a community

Restrictions

• The character ceases to gain new Witch Occult Powers after 6th level (or if not yet acquired, forfeits future access)
• Must maintain a leadership role within her faith. Either with respect to her tradition or coven.

Spellcasting

The Witch-Priestess continues to cast Witch spells as normal

In addition, she gains access to Divine spells drawn from the Cleric and Druid lists (Old Faith Spells list).

Occult and divine spellcasting remain separate; she prepares them independently

Divine Favor (Channeling Powers)

At 7th level and again at 9th and 11th levels, the Witch-Priestess may select a Divine Favor. Each may be used once per day unless otherwise noted.

Sample Divine Favors:

• Blessing of the Grove: Allies within 30' gain +1 to attack rolls and saving throws for 1 turn
• Turn Spirits and Undead: Functions as Cleric turning Undead but also affects spirits and fey as a cleric of the same level.
• Healing Hands: Cure 1d8+level hp with a touch (one creature)
• Nature’s Wrath: As Call Lightning or Earthquake (minor effect), save for half
• Invoke the Ancients: Ask a yes/no question (as Augury or Commune, once per day)
• Occult Insight: The Witch-Priestess may select one Occult Power from her tradition.

Sacred Coven

At level 9 or later, she may form her own coven. She attracts 1d6+Charisma modifier witches of 1st–5th level, with total levels equal to her own Witch-Priestess level. These followers are loyal but not fanatical, and expect guidance and regular rituals.

Charge of the Goddess

Once per day, the Witch-Priestess may enter a trance to regain spell energy lost. After 1 full round of ritual casting, she regains a number of spell levels equal to half her combined level (rounded down). She may not exceed her usual spell limits.

Drawing Down the Moon

At the 11th level, she may invoke the divine power of her Patron in full. For a number of rounds equal to her Wisdom score modifier:

• Radiates a 15' aura of fear to enemies (as Fear)
• Gains +2 to all saving throws and Armor Class
• Gains +3 to all attack rolls and damage rolls
• Usable once per day, requires a full round to activate

Experience Progression and Saving Throws

The Witch-Priestess continues to use the Witch experience table, attack matrix, and saving throws.

(unless I change my minder later on)

Multi-Class and Dual-Class Use

This path is open only to single-classed Witches. Dual-classed characters must fulfill all entry requirements. A typical dual-class would be a character who begins as a cleric but does not go past 6th level, then becomes a witch till 7th level, and then switches over to Witch-Priestess. Divine abilities from cleric do not stack with divine abilities from Witch-Priestess

Elves and other non-human multi-class witch characters must seek DM approval for entry.

Optional Rule - Ritual Dedication

To fully embrace this path, the character must undergo a Ritual Dedication during a solstice, eclipse, or conjunction. The rite must be overseen by another Witch-Priestess or a powerful druid, or by divine vision if none are present.

The Witch-Priestess is the living bridge between mortal and divine, arcane and natural. She is the last light of the Old Ways, a candle in the night when the stars fade.

The Old Faith Spell List

A Witch-Priestess may choose the following spells as if they were part of her normal, Witch (Occult) spell lists. These spells are Divine in nature and come from the witch’s patron. 

1st Level

• Command
• Faerie Fire
• Portent
• Purify Food and Drink 
• Sanctuary
• Speak with Animals

2nd Level

• Augury
• Chant
• Charm Person or Mammal
• Obscurement
• Slow Poison
• Spiritual Hammer

3rd Level

• Call Lightning
• Continual Light
• Meld into Stone
• Remove Curse
• Prayer
• Speak with the Dead

4th Level

• Call Woodland Beings
• Divination
• Neutralize Poison
• Protection from Evil, 10' Radius
• Speak with Plants
• Spell Immunity

5th Level

• Animal Growth
• Commune with Nature
• Dispel Evil
• Flame Strike
• Insect Plague
• Moonbeam

6th Level

• Aerial Servant
• Heal
• Forbiddance
• Part Water
• Word of Recall
• Weather Summoning

7th Level

• Control Weather
• Earthquake
• Fire Storm
• Gate
• Holy Word
• Regenerate

--

Ok. I like this. I am going to have to try it out. There will likely be some tweaks to it later on.

Countdown to Superman: Man of Steel (2013)

While Superman Returns didn't wow audiences. The Christopher Nolan Batman/Dark Knight movies were critical and commercial successes. So much so that Nolan was a producer on a new, rebooted Superman movie. Early on Nolan and director Zack Snyder considered having this movie linked with Nolan's Dark Knight series, the title certainly suggested it. They ultimately dropped the idea. The then became the genesis of what has been called the DC Extended Universe or the DCEU, or most often, the Snyder-verse. 

Man of Steel is a reboot and introduces British actor Henry Cavill to the role of Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent. Look, if you read this blog I am going to assume you know who he is even though I have not talked about him here before. Cavill is great as Superman. He is even a good Clark. His portrayal was needed to escape the long shadow of Christopher Reeve, while still being (mostly) true to Superman. Cavil also delivers one of my favorite Superman lines ever, "I grew up in Kansas, General. I am as American as it gets." Coming from an adopted alien played by a British actor. 

I say "mostly" because the most significant criticism of his performance and indeed the director's vision here was that this Superman was a little too dark both in tone and, frankly, color palette.  Jumping to the end here, yes, Superman kills Zod. BUT if you remember correctly, he also kills a depowered Zod in Superman II, the Donner cut, and implies he is left to die in the Lester cut.  Personally, I would have rather he find a way to get him back into the Phantom Zone, but no one is paying me to write movies.

On to other bits.

WHO do you get to play Jor-El following Marlon Brando? Well, Russell Crowe is not a bad place to start. Kevin Costner plays Jonathan Kent equally well. A lot has been made about Jonathan not letting Clark save him. And yeah, it was kind of stupid. I *get* what the director is trying to do here by "Uncle Ben"ing him. I mean Jonathan dies in every version of Superman except for the ABC series "Lois & Clark" so that show that superman can learn a lesson without it resulting in the death of someone. Oddly enough he has to kill Zod to get him to stop. So was the lesson learned? Was the lesson for him or us?  Again, I get what the director is trying to do here, I just don't think the execution is good.

Amy Adams is fantastic. I never considered a red-head Lois before, but here we are. For the record, my favorite Lois Lane is Elizabeth "Bitsie" Tulloch from "Superman & Lois." Though Erica Durance from "Smallville" is also great. The interactions between her and Cavill's Superman are great.

Michael Shannon's Zod is closer to what we might see in the comics. He feels like the ruthless General bent on a coup. Now that his world is dead, he will conquer and remake our world. 

Diane Lane is great as Martha Kent, one of the best, to be honest. She brings enough presence to the role to be the mother of an Earth-bound God. Well. Mostly Earth-bound. 

The movie is long on action, and unfortunately, it's a story we've seen before.

I liked Cavill as Superman. I liked the idea of the Snyderverse. But I am also glad we are moving on to something new. 

The Smallville scenes were filmed in Plano, IL. Not far from where my wife grew up, and not far from where the fictional Midvale would be in the Supergirl movie. Would this count as a cameo?

Cameos

Sadly, here the movie falls down. Look, it's a Superman tradition, and one that should be honored.

Marc McClure, Jimmy Olsen from the Salkind movies, does make a cameo later on as two different characters in  Justice League (2017) and  Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021). I'll mention that one later on. Marc also makes cameos in Smallville. Smallville, like Supergirl, was great for this.