Character Creation Challenge: Day 4, Áine nic Elatha

Photo by T Leish

Today I want to revisit Áine nic Elatha from the 2021 challenge. She is my "Rules Check" of a witch priestess. Yesterday, I gave you all Branwen (Witch Priestess) and Eira (Wicce). Áine began life as a magic-user, but has switched over to cleric as a "Rules as Written" cleric. 

She is, essentially, a moon witch or a priestess of the Old Faith. Her concept aligns with a cleric. Instead of worshiping the Goddess of the Moon, she worships the Moon cycles themselves, the natural rhythm waxing and waning, full and dark. What I would do is limit her spells to ones witches would use.

Now there is the issue that she has levels of the Magic-user class. This may be how her magic came about. Áine began as a Dragon #43 witch, but this would be her moving from Moldvay Basic to Advanced D&D. 

Turning Undead

One of the cleric's defining features is their ability to turn undead. How do I factor this into the powers of a witch? Something my Witch Priestess and Wicce (at present) can't do. Throughout my development of the witch class I have gone back and forth on whether or not a witch should be able to turn undead, or command them. Over the last 20 years or so I have been in the camp that they should not. Undead turning is one of the things that make the cleric special. Hell, it was why I first played a cleric to be honest; I wanted to play a vampire hunter. I have allowed witches to take a "Turn Undead" spell.

Áine, who is a cleric mechanically speaking, can turn undead. But I dress it up in occult practice, not divine ones. So she does not hold up a holy symbol and ask for a benediction from her god. She lights a candle and rings a small bell. 

I like this. For her. But as I have played this character off and on over the last couple of years I don't think it is a power I want for the Wicce (cleric subclass) or the Witch Priestess (witch advanced class). 

Áine nic Elatha
Human 1st level Magic-user/4th level Cleric
Neutral Good

Secondary Skill: Astrologer

S: 10
I: 14
W: 17
D: 11
C: 12
Ch: 11

Paralysis/Poison: 9
Petrify/Polymorph: 12
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 13
Breath Weapon: 15
Spells: 14

AC: 10 (no armor)
HP: 20
THAC0: 18

Weapon
Staff 1d6

Spells (Cleric)
First level: Cure Light Wounds, Detect Evil, Light, Purify Food & Drink, Remove Fear, Sanctuary 
Second: Augury, Detect Charm, Hold Person, Resist fire

Spells (Magic-user)
First level: Sleep

Turn Undead.

Theme Song: Bell, Book and Candle

In addition to filling the role of a priestess of the old faith, Áine daughter of Elatha, does all the horoscopes for the coven or party. There is no real mechanical benefit here, but if characters act in concordance with their horoscopes then I'd grant them 10 xp or something like that.

Character Creation Challenge: Day 3, Branwen and Eira

 Today's characters are pretty close to my heart. They are my attempts to take my original Netbook of Witches & Warlocks for 2nd Ed AD&D and back convert it to AD&D 1st Edition. 

The CNoW&W was built on my original witch ideas, but trying to fit into the structure of AD&D 2nd ed. Looking at it now, 25+ years later, there is a lot I would have done differently. Indeed, my Basic Era Witch book is exactly that.

There are still some things I want to do with it, though, that I didn't do with the Basic Witches. Among these are witches as divine spellcasters. Branwen and Eira here, two "Celtic" girls who are new to the Daughters of the Flame coven, are my ways to test this.

Branwen is basically a version of Larina if she had continued down the path of a divine witch. For her I am using my CNoW&W rules as written. She will, eventurally, become a Witch-Priestess. Eira is a newer concept, a Wicce. The Wicce is a sub-class of the Cleric, much like a druid is, but with more witch-related spells. You can think of Eira as like Rhiannon before she became evil. 

Branwen
3rd level Human Witch (Witch Priestess), Lawful Good

Secondary Skill: Translator

S: 10
I: 16
W: 16
D: 12
C: 12
Ch: 16

Paralysis/Poison: 13
Petrify/Polymorph: 13
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 14
Breath Weapon: 16
Spells: 15

AC: 9 (Padded armor)
HP: 12
THAC0: 20

Weapon
Dagger 1d4/1d3
Sickle 1d4

Familiar: Dove

Spells 
First level: Faerie Fire, Purify Food & Drink, Sanctuary, Portent
Second level: Augury, Charm Person

Theme Song: All Souls Night

Eria
3rd level Human Wicce, Lawful Good

Secondary Skill: Weaver

S: 11
I: 15
W: 16
D: 13
C: 13
Ch: 16

Paralysis/Poison: 10
Petrify/Polymorph: 13
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 14
Breath Weapon: 16
Spells: 15

AC: 9 (Padded armor)
HP: 14
THAC0: 20

Weapon
Dagger 1d4/1d3
Sickle 1d4

Familiar: Hare

Special Abilities
Moon Blessed Magicks, Shared Rituals (can cast ritual spells), Sacred Circle, Coven Bond

Spells
First level: Bless, Command, Light, Purify Food & Drink
Second level: Chant, Spiritual Hammer (manifests as a Moon bow)

Theme Song: The Old Ways

Ok. Both of these are great choices; they just differ a bit in spells and how their "occult powers" manifest. 

Also both of the classes need some tweaking, the Wicce starts out more powerful and has less XP needed, but the Witch Priestess begins to over take her at higher levels. Not a deal breaker by any means. Right now both girls are similar enough that the differences are largely minor or even cosmetic.

These two have been a lot of fun to play to be honest and I kinda wish I could play them more often. Plus I would love to do more with the Daughters of the Flame. They were a big deal for me once.

Character Creation Challenge: Day 2, Eireann

Photo by Juliana Stein from Pexels

Welcome to day 2 of the Character Creation Challenge. Today's witch is a return from the 2021 Challenge.

Eireann is/was a Moon Elf Witch for the 4th Edition D&D game. She was also tied very closely to the Forgotten Realms. I had some ideas for her, but some of those went on to be part of Sinéad's character.

For this version, I am going to say that Eireann knew about Sinéad and looked up to her. So much so that like Sinéad in her time, Eireann leaves the Moonshae Isles to make her fortune on the Sword Coast.

Mechanically, she is a Dragon Magazine #43 witch. This is important to me because this is most likely the witch Ed Greenwood talks about in his "Down-to-earth Divinity" article in Dragon #54. Witch obviously had a role to play in the early Forgotten Realms; Ed even says so. 

Eireann is a "Moon Elf" by birth, but she is a "Free Elf" by culture. When she left home, she joined a band of Free Elves and began to travel with them. At second level, she is still with them. 

Her secondary skill is "Midwife." A skill she learned when living on the Moonshae Islands. I will detail all the new Secondary Skills I am developing later on. I am 100% certain that it is a skill that will never see game use in most games. But there will be a case or two in my games where it would happen. Of course it is also great background detail. She joins the Free Elves, and stays because she is a good mid-wife.  For this reason I give her the form of address of "Goodwife" even though she is not married.

I am also still playing around with the idea of "unaligned" in AD&D 1st Ed.

Goodwife Eireann
2nd level Free Elf (Moon) Magic-user/Witch, Unaligned

Secondary Skill: Midwife

S: 10
I: 18
W: 12
D: 10
C: 14
Ch: 15

Paralysis/Poison: 10
Petrify/Polymorph: 13
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 11
Breath Weapon: 16
Spells: 15

AC: 10 (no armor)
HP: 6
THAC0: 20

Weapon
Dagger 1d4/1d3

Familiar: None yet (Dragon #43 witches can get them later on)

Spells (Witch)
First level: Change Self, Charm Man, Cure Wounds

Spells (Magic User)
First level: Read Magic, Sleep

Theme Song: Child of the Meadow

So a lot of old ideas and a lot of new ones as well. 

I feel a little bad that I have neglected this witch in favor of Sinéad. But this also allows me to build a better witch out of her. Essentially, I have taken anything "witchy" I had planned for Sinéad and dumped it all into Eireann. It works well to be honest. 

I have her listed as part of the West Haven coven, but in truth, she is really more of a Solitary Witch. Maybe loosely aligned with it.  

Character Creation Challenge: Day 1, Grýlka and Doireann

 Here we are. 2026! Let's make some AD&D witches.

Today I am working from my original The Witch: A sourcebook for Basic Edition fantasy games using the "Advanced Option Appendix" and the Winter Witch for Swords & Wizardry using the same options. I also peeked at my Green Witch and Faerie Witch for OSE. There is not much difference between them save for rules presentation, traditions and spells. But the key for me is some of the material inside. In particular, how to make a Troll Witch.

I have always liked trolls, but ones that cleave closer to Norse myth than the Three Hearts and Three Lions versions that dominate D&D. And if I can do trolls, I can also do goblins.

Grýlka
1st level Troll Witch, Chaotic Neutral

Secondary Skill: Hunter/Fisher

S: 17
I: 13
W: 14
D: 13
C: 17
Ch: 17

Paralysis/Poison: 13
Petrify/Polymorph: 13
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 14
Breath Weapon: 16
Spells: 15

AC: 7 (leather armor)
HP: 4
THAC0: 20

Weapon
Staff 1d6

Familiar: Crow, Leitarmaðr ("Seeker")

Spells
First level: Darkness, Black Fire, Chill Touch

Theme Song: I Put a Spell On You

Grýlka is a troll witch from the Broken Mountains. She worships the "Trollfather" (who I see as a Troll version of Odin). He speaks to her from her crow familiar Leitarmaðr.

She has joined the West Haven coven to learn more about seiðr.

Doireann
1st level Goblin Druid/Witch, Neutral

Secondary Skill: Herbalist

S: 8
I: 11
W: 13
D: 14
C: 16
Ch: 16

Paralysis/Poison: 13
Petrify/Polymorph: 13
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 14
Breath Weapon: 16
Spells: 15

AC: 9 (no armor, small)
HP: 5
THAC0: 20

Weapon
Dagger 1d4/1d3

Familiar: Frog, "Toad O"

Spells (Witch)
First level: Darkness, Fey Sight, Mend Light Wounds

Spells (Druid)
First level: Animal Friendship, Purify Water

Theme Songs: Doreen / Goblin Girl

Doireann is a sweet little goblin witch. I wanted her to be Chaotic Good, but I also wanted her to be a druid since that fit with my idea of her. Plus, I want a druid/witch. A neutral goblin might be easier to sell than a Chaotic Good one. 

She follows the Swamp Mother, who speaks to her via frogs, water, and rain. She loves humans and thinks jellyfish are the strangest things ever.

I also like to think that Doireann and Grýlka are good friends, finding similarity in their witchcraft. I have used both characters as NPCs, and Doireann is one of my favorites. 

Goblins and Trolls make for great witches. I can't wait to see what else I can do with these two.

No. There is no rhyme or reason for the various colors of character sheets. If I had been smart I'd color code the covens. 

Tim Kask (1949 - 2025)

Today, we lost Tim Kask, and it feels like one of the load-bearing pillars of this hobby has been removed. He was 76, just two weeks shy of 77.

Before he was TSR’s first full-time employee, before he edited The Dragon and helped turn a homebrew wargame into a living culture, Tim Kask was a married student at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale (SIUC). A Saluki. That detail matters more than it might seem. Well. At least to me.

From SIUC, Kask did something that sounds almost mythic now. He found an address for Gary Gygax in the back of Chainmail, picked up the phone, and cold-called Lake Geneva. Late '73 or early '74, depending on whose memory you trust. He got invited up, and the rest is history. Not destiny. Not inevitability. Just a guy deciding to make the call.

Tim and I talked a lot about SIUC. Salukis never really ever forget Carbondale, becomes part of our DNA. He told me about visiting his brother in the Triads, playing D&D there, making space for imagination in cinderblock dorm rooms. He lived in Boomer Hall, I lived in Wright Hall two of the three Triads. About thirteen or fourteen years apart, but close enough that the echoes line up. Same bricks. Same paths. Same sense that something strange and creative could happen there. 

I'd love to know how many games were played in those ugly damn dorms. And we all have Tim Kask to thank for this.

Kask refereed what local coverage described as the first Dungeons & Dragons campaign played at SIU, and likely one of the first outside Lake Geneva. The Qualishar campaign, or Kwalishar, depending on which source you read. The spelling drift alone tells you how early this was. This was before canon. Before anyone knew they were making history.

That Carbondale period mattered. It shaped how D&D escaped the gravitational pull of those three little brown books and became something people shared, argued about, wrote letters about, and eventually built communities around. Tim was there when the game stopped being just rules and became culture.

There is also that wonderful bit of apocrypha Tim himself shared over the years. His first player character was named Kwalish. Fans have long connected that, informally, to the Apparatus of Kwalish. Is it provable? No. Is it plausible? Absolutely. And that feels right for Tim. Part fact, part legend, part inside joke, all wrapped up in the living memory of the game.

Tim Kask was never just an editor. He was a bridge. Between Lake Geneva and the rest of the world. Between amateurs and professionals. Between "this is a fun idea" and "this is something worth taking seriously."

Rest well, Tim. The dice are still rolling because you helped get them out of the box. I'll roll some dice in your honor or use a Quatro's cup with some chits, or my SIU cup.

Character Creation Challenge: Witch Challenge (Witchcraft Wednesday Edition)

The last few years I have taken on TardisCaptain's New Year, New Character challenge. But I also like to give it my own twist. This year I am going to be doing all AD&D 1st edition characters AND all witches! Wait you say, didn't I already do witches one year? Yes, I did, back in 2021. But that was for a variety of systems. This year I am focusing on the various ways to do an AD&D witch. I am going to use my notes, conversions of my other books, the various Dragon Magazine witches and other published witches. 

While I say "AD&D 1st ed" I might detour a bit into Basic and AD&D 2nd ed, but all the writeups will be for 1st edition. I am playing in a 1st edition AD&D game now so I want plenty of NPCs. Also for a lot last year I was doing something I was calling "Occult D&D." I am going to keep exploring that here as well as a bunch of notes I have had laying around that I have never fully implemented into any of my books. Or in some cases variations of rules I have used elsewhere but wanted to go back and revist. 

I also want to use this as a way to finally get some work done on my "Land of a 1000 Witches" idea that originated with the late Jason Zavoda and his "Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches." While his is obviously Blackmoor and Greyhawk focused, my current AD&D game is set in the Forgotten Realms. I'll figure that out later. 

My goal is to present a witch or two for each level of the day. So Jan 1 will have 1st level witches all the way to Jan 31st with a 31st level witch. They will be mostly original characters, some will be repeats that I want to revist and others will "special guest stars."

I have a ton of notes. Lots of ideas and about 40-50 character sheets ready to go.

Bring on 2026!

Larina "Nix" Nichols for Villains & Vigilantes

"Larina" by Jeff Dee

 Been meaning to do this one for a while.

Just got back from visiting my family. Anytime I meet up with them, especially my brothers and sisters, we get to talking about all the scary stories we know.  This time it was about a road where people, in particular single women, will often just vanish. Yes. We know the truth is a different sort of horror, but this is still where our thoughts took us. 

The "haunted road" tale is very old. This got me to think about who, or what, is haunting them and who, or what, should be guarding them.

While it is great for modern supernatural games, I was reading over Tim Knight's new blog, Cowboys, Capes, and Claws, and was reminded of how much fun I always had with Villains & Vigilantes.

And given that we both have Jeff Dee art of our characters, I can't help but think that they exist in the same universe. 

The Witch and The Road Warden

Larina Nichols did not become a hero because she wanted to save the world. She became one because the world kept losing people in the spaces no one watched. 

She had survived a house fire that should have killed her. Officially ruled an accident, it never sat right with her. From that moment on, Larina heard things others did not, felt the pull of grief and danger like a pulse beneath the skin of everyday life. Roads felt watched. Abandoned places whispered. Women went missing, and the silence around their absence was louder than any alarm. She learned early that evil did not always announce itself, and that survival carried an obligation.

The truth found her on a moonlit stretch of forgotten highway, following a pattern no one else believed in. What haunted those roads was not a man or a monster in the simple sense, but a thing older than asphalt, a guardian spirit twisted feral by neglect and blood. A Road Warden. When Hecate, guardian of the crossroads, answered Larina’s call, it was not with command but recognition. Strength came, clarity followed, but the magic was never a gift alone. Larina studied, bled, bargained, and learned the old ways. 

Her first act was not destruction but binding. She restored the Road Warden to its true purpose, and in doing so, saved some who were lost and mourned those who were found. The world called it a miracle. Larina called it insufficient and kept going. For this, she received the Blessing of Artemis and may call on her in her need. 

She wears no mask, only intention. Her power is divine and learned, occult and earned, sharpened by grief rather than dulled by it. In a world of capes and symbols, Larina walks the liminal spaces, guarding thresholds, sealing cracks, and watching the places heroes overlook. She does not promise salvation. She promises attention. Sometimes that is enough. 

Sometimes it has to be.

Larina "Nix" Nichols (formerly Larina Macalister), Villains and Vigilantes

SIDE: Good
SEX: F
AGE: 28
WEIGHT: 128 lbs

EXPERIENCE: 90,000
LEVEL: 13

TRAINING: Occult Studies, Folklore, Ritual Magic

POWERS
Magic Spells (requires speaking & gestures)
- Witch Bolt (Power Blast, 1d20, magical; +3 to hit)
- Witchfire Ward (Force Field +7 vs physical/energy)
- Glamour (Illusions, all senses)
- Mirror Walk (Teleport; medium = mirrors/reflective surfaces)
- Divination (Precognition/Postcognition; Detect Magic)
- Binding Curse (Paralysis/Affliction; Will/mental resistance applies)
- Flight (broom or spell)
Familiar: Cotton (small white flying cat; mental link; while nearby, Larina gains +2 Detect Hidden and +2 Detect Danger)
Weakness: Must be able to speak and gesture to cast.

ABILITIES

STRENGTH: 10
ENDURANCE: 14
AGILITY: 13
INTELLIGENCE: 21
CHARISMA: 22

DERIVED STATS
BASIC HITS: 3
HIT MOD: (STR 1.0)(END 1.4)(AGL 1.3)(INT 1.4) = 2.548
HIT POINTS: 8 (3 × 2.55 → 7.65, rounds to 8)
POWER: 58
CARRYING CAPACITY: 132 lbs
BASE HTH DAMAGE: 1d4 (STR 10)
HEALING RATE: 1.0/day (END 14)
ACCURACY MODIFIER: +1 (AGL 13)
DAMAGE MODIFIER: +3 (AGL/INT)
DETECT HIDDEN: 16% (INT 21)
DETECT DANGER: 20% (INT 21)
REACTION FROM GOOD: +4 REACTION FROM EVIL: –4 (CHA 22)

MOVEMENT
Ground: 37" (AGL 13)
Flight: 90 MPH (broom/spell)

INVENTING
INVENTING POINTS: 29.4 (INT-based)
INVENTING %: 63% (~INT × 3%)

LEGAL STATUS
Citizen of the US with no criminal record.

ORIGIN & BACKGROUND
Multiversal witch and occult scholar; protector of the gifted. Known in mystical circles as Nix the Witch Queen. Her familiar Cotton is psychically linked and often scouts or warns of danger.

VISUAL
Flowing dark purple costume with glowing runes, black boots, triple-moon goddess symbol, bracers engraved with warding symbols, and a faint aura of witchfire. Crescent moon burn scar near her left collar bone. Triple moon goddess tattoo on her back, between her shoulder blades.  

Red hair, blue eyes.

--

Ok, this is a good build and there are enough differences between this version of Larina and say my Mutants & Masterminds versions [2][3][4]. Larina was never one of my V&V characters back then. That honor goes to Johan as "The Paladin." But she certainly works here.

Given her Triple Goddess tattoo I am saying she is in contact with three goddesses, Artemis, Selene, and Hecate; representing the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. I went with Greek here because that is what I would have done back when I was playing V&V. If I had gone with my usual Celtic, then it would have been Brigid, Cerridwen, and the Morrigan. 

Links

• Taryn, Larina's (future) daughter (V&V)
• Johan, Taryn, and Larina for Mighty Protectors
• Justice and Iron Maiden for V&V
• Willow & Tara

I have enough here to work up my ARTEMIS group for V&V. Sounds like something to do next year!