A to Z of Vampires: Kyuuketsuki

Going back to Japan today and visiting the Kyuuketsuki (吸血鬼).

The most amazing thing about this vampire is how un-amazing it is.  Not that it doesn't have powers or anything like that.  But that the Kyuuketsuki is almost exactly like the common European Vampire.

They are often depicted with white or red hair and red glowing eyes.  They have fangs like other vampires, but can also have a mouth full of sharp teeth.  Sometimes instead of turning into bats they grow large bat like wings.

Game-wise they really do not differ all that much from other vampires.

Getting into the Anime or Manga versions they can have all sorts of strange powers. Such as using their hair to fly, or having a demon possessed body part, to even using blood as a tentacle to grab on to things.  

I think to give them variety I would grant them telekinetic powers.   

(that's all I have in me today.  Been sick all weekend long).

A to Z of Vampires: Jigarkhwar

Let's head back to India and deal with another different sort of vampire.  This time it is a vampiric witch known as the Jigarkhwar.  This undead creature had been an evil witch in her previous life.  No she is a monster.

Jigarkhwar
Armor Class: 8 [11]
Hit Dice: 5d8+8** (30 hp)
No. of Attacks: 1
Damage: Special
Special:  Charm, Witch spells.
Movement: 30’
No. Appearing: 1
Saves As: Witch 6
Morale: 10
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic (Chaotic Evil)*
XP: 2,200

The Jigarkhwar appears as an attractive woman whether that was her true form or not.  She attacks her victims by charming them and then extracting their liver out of their bodies in a complex ritual.  The ritual, once begun cannot be interrupted and takes 5 mins.  She extracts the liver and disguises it as a pomegranate seed. She then takes the seed back to her lair where she throws it on her magical heath fire.  There it grows back to normal size and then she eats it.  Once the liver is eaten the victim dies.  If the Jigarkhwar can be captured and the seed fed to the victim his liver will rego inside him.

She can also cast witch spells as if she were a 4th level witch. However she can't use Ritual spells.

To destroy a Jigarkhwar is a complicated process. First both sides of her head must be branded. This removes her powers.  Her eyes then must be plucked out and filled with salt. She is then hung up-sidedown in an underground cavern for 40 days.  On the morning after the 40th day she will turn to dust.

The Jigarkhwar does not make more of her kind, but instead women accused of witchcraft will return as a Jigarkhwar if she was very evil.

A to Z of Vampires: Impundulu

Something a little different today.  A vampiric spirit that takes the form of a bird when summoned by a witch.  This is a creature in the folklore of the tribes of South Africa including the Pondo, the Zulu and the Xhosa.

Impundulu
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 6d8+3** (30 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 claws, 1 bite
Damage: 1d6+2 / 1d8+1
Special: Blood drain 1-3 points of Constitution per bite, Charm, Demonic abilities
Movement: 30’ Fly 60’
No. Appearing: 1
Saves As: Monster 6
Morale: 12
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic (Chaotic Evil)*
XP: 2,400

The Impundulu, or Lightning Bird, is a type of vampiric servant used by evil witches. The bird is born when lightning strikes the ground.  To all others it appears as a lighting strike, but to the witch it has chosen it appears as a bird.  Once so chosen the bird will manifest to all as an Impundulu.
The bird can also assume the form of an attractive man to lie with the witch each night.
The Impundulu may also attempt to seduce other women, and feeds on them as a vampire, but it is not an undead creature, but rather one of the Calabim, or Demons of destruction.
The Impundulu must charm his victim to gain access to her home and bed, once there he will drain 1-3 (1d6/2) points of Constitution in blood each night. After three nights he will cease his attacks.  The victim could well be close to dead at this point. Any victim lowered to 0 Con dies. Victims killed by the Impundulu will come back as weak ghost (1 hit die).
The Impundulu is immortal and is often passed down from mother to daughter.  The Impundulu is incapable of fathering children.
The feathers of the Impundulu are considered to be a great source of magic for a gris gris or other talisman.

Impundulu have all the same immunities as do other Calabim; Half damage to Cold, Fire, Gas, and Lightning.  They take full damage from magic and silvered weapon. They are fully immune to the effects of sleep spells and toxins.

The bird can be turned by a Good Cleric as if it were a vampire.  To destroy it a hunter must find the feather binding it to this world and burn it.  Usually this is with the witch that controls it.

A to Z of Vampires: Hsi-Hsue-Kue

"Do you know, it just occurs to me. There are vampire legends on almost every inhabited planet."
- The Doctor.  Doctor Who: State of Decay

The same could be said of every culture.  Today let's go to a country so over run with vampires, ghosts and demon it is a wonder that there is any room left for normal humans.
China.

China might not be your first thought when it comes to vampires, but really it should. We are going to spend a lot of time here.

The Hisi-Hsua-Kuei or Hsi-Hsue-Kue is a demonic spirit that inhabits the bodies of the recently deceased. The spirit is completely foreign to the host body and has no memories of the body's life. It is simply an animalistic monster out to drink blood.
Killing the body will stop the problem temporarily but the demonic spirit will move on to another host to start over.  A priest must perform an exorcism on the vampire while the spirit still remains in the body in order to force it completely out and back to the hell it came from.  Alternately a cleric can also "turn" them as if they were a "Special" class undead.  If they are high enough level for a D result then the monster is truly destroyed.

This creature must return to it's grave site by daybreak or be destroyed.  Like other vampires it can also be destroyed by running water.  Holy symbols and incense will ward it off, holy water will damage it.

Also like other vampires the Hsi-Hsue-Kue cannot enter into the private homes of others or enter holy ground.

Hsi-Hsue-Kue
Armor Class: 3 [16]
Hit Dice: 8d8+8** (50 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 claws, 1 bite
Damage: 1d6+2 / 1d8+1
Special: Blood drain 2 points of Constitution per bite.
Movement: 30’
No. Appearing: 1
Saves As: Fighter 10
Morale: 11
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic (Chaotic Evil)*
XP: 3,575

A to Z of Vampires, Gierach

Let's head back to Eastern Prussia, in what is now Poland today.  Not that far from our last stop, but still far enough away to give us a different sort of vampire.  Let's spend some quality time with the Gierach.

Presented here are the stats are for OSRIC.

Gierach

(turned as type 10)
frequency: Rare
no encountered: 1d4
Size: Man-sized
Move: 120 ft or 180 ft flying (AA: level V)
Armour class: 1
Hit Dice: 8+3
Attacks: 3 (claw/claw/bite)
Damage: 1d6+1/1d6+1/1d4
Special attacks: See below
Special defences: See below
Magic Resistance: See below
Jair probability: 75%
Intelligence: Low
Alignment: Chaotic evil
level/xp: 8/3,950 + 10/hp

Not known for their intelligence the Gierach can be easily confused.  These are again revenant type vampires. They look like hideous corpses with red eyes, long fangs and long claws. They smell of decay and earth.  The Gierach spends most of it's time in it's coffin but it can venture out attack victims.

If you suspect a grave to have a gierach in it, lay a fishing net over it. The monster will have to untie all of the knots before it can leave to hunt.  You can also spread poppy seeds or salt on it's grave for the same results.

The gierach leaves it's grave and searches for blood to consume.   Like base vampires, it will drain 2 points of Con per attack.  The gierach is not a subtle creature, it attacks with the purpose of feeding as much as possible and then getting back to it's grave.

The gierach is repelled by holy symbols, garlic and salt.  Holy water can damage it and sunlight can kill it.  It can transform into a large wolf or a large bat-like creature.  A gierach reduced to 0 hp will become smoke and will return to its grave.

To destroy it you must find it's grave before noon and burn the body and clothing till nothing but ash remain.  The ash must then be scattered.   Failing to do so could result the gierach's return.

A to Z of Vampires, Farkaskoldus

Today we travel to Hungary and enter a part of the world over run with vampires, vampire legends and stories.  It is my pleasure to introduce the Farkaskoldus ("Far-kiss-ole-dis").

This creature is a revenant type vampire. Which means it was dead and now it rises from it's grave. As opposed to spiritual, psychic or astral vampires.  It is also something of a cross between a werewolf and vampire.  I have read some material that suggests it is what happens to a werewolf when they die and come back as a vampire.

In death they still resemble werewolves. They can shift to a wolf-like form.

They are equipped with deadly claws and a bite, but their preferred prey is a baby.  Human babies typically only have 2-3 points of Constitution and the Farkaskoldus drains 1 per night.   If there are number of unexplained deaths among babies then the hunt for Farkaskoldus must begin.

They can be found in their coffins (which they must return too by daylight) with their abdomens distended and full of blood. They will also show no signs of decay.

Farkaskoldus
Armor Class: 1 [19]
Hit Dice: 8d8+8** (48 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 claws, 1 bite
Damage: 1d6+2 / 1d8+1
Special: Blood drain, shapeshift
Movement: 45'
No. Appearing: 1-3
Saves As: Fighter 10
Morale: 9
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic (Chaotic Evil)*
XP: 2,075

The Farkaskoldus is a viscous vampiric monster.  It survives solely on the blood of newborns and babies younger than 6 months.  It must drain at least 3 Con points per each full moon or be forever destroyed.
Farkaskoldus are affected by all the same things that affect vampires; holy symbols, garlic, holy water.  Additionally silver coated weapons also do +1 of damage.
To destroy one of these creatures one must find it in it's grave, cut off the head and burn the body to ashes.

Links
http://tashasthinkings.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/atoz2014f.html
https://mariwells.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/farkaskoldus/

A to Z of Vampires, Estrie

For E lets take a look into Jewish folklore.  Today I present you with the Estrie, which is something like a vampire + demon + witch.

Like a vampire the Estrie is a corpse that crawls out of her grave (Estries are always female) to drink the blood of the living.  They are possessed by a demonic spirit, but may have been witches when they were alive.   The name Estrie comes from the French Strix or night owl. A word that also is related to Strega, Stirge and a host of related creatures.

Estrie by Feline Zegers

Estrie
Armor Class: 4 [15]
Hit Dice: 6d8+6** (38 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 claws, 1 bite (monster form) OR 1 (human form)
Damage: 1d6+2 / 1d8+1 OR by weapon type.
Special: Blood drain, cause fear (as per spell), witch spells, shapeshift
Movement: 30’ (90' fly)
No. Appearing: 1
Saves As: Fighter 7
Morale: 10
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic (Chaotic Evil)*
XP: 1,750

The Estrie is a type of vampire that can pass for a normal human during the daylight hours.  Indeed she can appear to be living, have good alignment (if detected) and even walk onto holy soil and wear holy symbols.  However at dusk she will revert to her vampiric form which appears to be a rotting corpse.  She can shapechange after that, but it takes a full turn for her to do so. The estrie must kill anyone witnessing this transformation or she will loose her powers (fear, spells) over them.
As a vampire the estrie can also shapeshift into large night owl, a large black cat or into smoke if she is reduced to 0 or fewer hp.  Unlike a vampire the estrie can be hit with normal, non magical, items.
The estrie can cause fear but she lacks the charm power of many other vampire types.  She can though cast spells as if she were a 3rd level witch; specifically of the Mara tradition.
Estrie's are strong (18 strength) in their "Vampire" form, but seem to be normal humans in their "human" form.
The estrie attacks with a claw/claw/bite routine.  A successful bite inflicts 1d8+1 damage.  A critical hit bite (a roll of 20) does damage and drains the victim of 1 point of Constitution.
If someone offers her bread in any form she is powerless against that person until after the next sunset.  In her vampire form she cannot enter a dwelling without permission.
In order to fly the estrie must have her hair unbound and allowed to to blow in the wind.  Some scholars believe she needs her hair to fly or at least to navigate.
Her favored prey are young men, ones that would be enchanted by a young woman without the need of arcane inducements.  She will attack these men as they sleep, not wanting to enter into combat. The estrie must feed every night.  In this form of attack she drains either 2 points of Constitution or 2 points of Strength each night. If only attacked once or twice the victim can regain lost points with bed rest at the rate of 1 per week.  If the victim has been attacked three times then the rate is 1 point per 2 weeks.   Any victim drained to 0 in either Constitution or Strength will die.  Male victims, the most common, will return from the dead as a shadow.  The rare female victim will return as an estrie herself.
An estrie must return to her grave before dawn.  She must remain in her grave till "noon". By this it is when the sun has passed it's mid-day point.  After this she may rise and appear human.
To destroy an estrie one must first force her back into her grave.  Then the body must be exhumed.  The mouth of the creature, which is always open, must be filled with dirt from her own grave and then sewn shut.  The head is then removed.

A to Z of Vampires, Dearg-Due

For D let's travel to Ireland for the nasty Dearg-Due.  Also know as the Dearg-dul or "Red Blood Sucker" these are particularly nasty little beasts.

Presenting them here for use with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG or the Ghosts of Albion RPG.

Dearg-Due

These ghoulish vampire sub-types were found in Ireland and parts of Great Britain before their Christian conversion. During that time, all Dearg-duls were wiped out. Some Church historians claims these are “snakes” that St. Patrick drove from Ireland’s shores. In any case, no one has seen one in nearly 1,000 years. Until today that is (aren’t you the luck one).
Dearg-dues are basically animalistic predators. They are not intelligent, but may be controlled to a slight degree by a sufficiently powerful sorcerer (Magic/Sorcery 4+). They hunt in packs of three or more. The creatures prefer the taste of fresh blood like all vampires, but they are not above raiding a tomb for food. Their eyes glow amber-red and they look like ragged, blue tinged corpses.
For the most part, Dearg-dues have the same powers and vulnerabilities as your garden variety vampires. What sets these little nasties off is that a stake to the heart (sufficient to drop them below zero Life Points) does not kill them. It stops them, but they don’t turn to dust. Their only goal at that point is to reach out feebly and remove the stake. Once that is done, they recover normally (normally for a vampires, that is) and come back for more. The only way to kill them permanently is by piling stones on top of them. Once every part of their body is covered, they are destroyed.
Dearg-dues can’t effectively make more of their own kind, but once in a while (1 on a d10) a victim drained by a Dearg-due will rise as one.

Name: Dearg-due
Motivation: Kill! Blood!
Creature Type: Vampire
Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 4, Constitution 4, Intelligence 1, Perception 3, Willpower 2
Ability Scores: Muscle 16, Combat 14, Brains 9
Life Points: 46
Drama Points: 1
Special Abilities: Destroyed only by stones, Vampire
Maneuvers
Name Score Damage Notes
Bite 14 18 Must Grapple first; no defense action
Dodge 14 — Defense action
Grapple 16 — Resisted by Dodge
Kick 13 15 Bash
Punch 14 13 Bash

A to Z of Vampires, Camazotz

Now let's go to Central America where their vampires are gods and still straight up killing machines.

Please allow me to introduce Camazotz the vampire "death-bat" and god.

Camazotz was first made known to me from the pages of AD&D 1st Ed hardcover Deities  & Demigods.   His write up includes the standard stat-block and two thin paragraphs.  None of which help show how awesome this vampire/demon/god/creature is.  No picture either.

So for my games Camazozt is an ancient vampire. So powerful that over the epochs he has become more and more demon like and is now worshipped as a god. Well humans worship him, other vampires fear him and honor him as their king.  In a way like the Red Court Vampire King from the Dresden Files books.  Here he is in Petty Gods format.

Camazotz

God of Vampires
Also known as: The Death Bat, Bat God, Sudden Bloodletter, Slaughter Lord 
Symbol: a bat in flight
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Movement: 120' (Flight is infinite at night)

Armor Class: -2
Hit Points (Hit Dice): 120 hp (24 HD)
Attacks: Special, see below
Damage: Special, see below
Save: F20
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XV
XP: 8,600
--
Armor Class: -2
Hit Points (HD): 120 (24 HD)
Save: F20
Morale: 12
Treasure Type: Q
XP: 13,600

Camazotz is the demon god of bats and vampires. But he is not truly a god or a demon but rather a vampire that is thousands of years old.  Vampires pay him homage more out of fear than actual piety. Humans on the other hand worship and hope that he will reward them with the gift of immortality (vampirism).  He requires blood sacrifices every new moon.  Camazotz himself goes through periods of extreme torpor and frenzied blood lust.

Camazotz dreams of one day destroying the god of the sun.

Camazotz attacks as a vampire with a claw/claw/bite routine of 1d8/1d18/1d12.  His bite (any natural roll of 18, 19 or 20) will drain 3 points of Constitution per round.  Anyone reduced to 0 becomes a vampire under his control. As a god-like being Camazotz can attack 4 times per round.

He lives in a dark cave like plane know as Xibalba on the Abyss where he serves as a vassal to Orcus. Again this is not out of fidelity but out of fear of the Demon Prince of Undead.  The cave is dark and the floors are stained with blood.  In this cave Camazotz can summon up to 1000 bats to do his will.

He considers the Goddess Nox his "Sister" but whether that is an actual familial relation or merely an affectation is unknown.

Links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camazotz
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xibalba
http://tashasthinkings.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/atoz2014c.html
http://demonhunterscompendium.blogspot.com/2012/12/camazotz-death-bat.html
http://www.blueroadrunner.com/camazotz.htm
https://ferrebeekeeper.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/camazotz-the-death-bat/

A to Z of Vampires, Berbalang

We are sticking with the Philippines today.  Why? Because they have some awesome freaky fantastic vampires there.  I swear they have the Carpathians and Eastern Europe beat.

The Berbalang blur the line between vampire and ghoul. They are described as "bat winged creatures that live underground and eat corpses. They make a loud moaning sound that can be heard for miles when they feed."

The Berbalang appeared in the Fiend Folio for AD&D 1st Edition and it was something like an astral ghoul. It changed a bit over the editions to what we have below.

https://sites.google.com/site/pathfinderogc/bestiary/monster-listings/undead/berbalang

Berbalang
CR 6
XP 2,400
CE Medium undead
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +14

DEFENSE

AC 20, touch 15, flat-footed 15 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +5 natural)
hp 68 (8d8+32)
Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +9
Defensive Abilities projection DR 10/good or silver; Immune undead traits

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)
Melee* bite +10 (1d6+3 plus paralysis), 2 claws +9 (1d6+3 plus paralysis) or incorporeal touch +10 (1d4 Con damage)
Special Attacks paralysis (1d4+1 rounds, DC 18)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th; concentration +13)

At will—bleed, ghost sound (DC 14)
3/day—alter self, charm person (DC 15)

STATISTICS

Str 17, Dex 19, Con —, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 18
Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 26
Feats Defensive Combat Training, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Mobility
Skills Bluff +10, Escape Artist +10, Fly +17, Knowledge (local) +5, Knowledge (religion) +6, Perception +14, Stealth +15
Languages Common

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Projection (Su)

Once per day as a full-round action, a berbalang can enter a trance that separates the creature's spirit from its body. This splits the berbalang's current hit points in half between its body and its spirit. The berbalang's spirit body gains the incorporeal subtype and special ability; otherwise, it retains the same statistics as its physical self with the following changes: AC 19, touch 19, flat-footed 10 (+4 Dex, +4 deflection, +1 dodge), single incorporeal touch attack that deals 1d4 Constitution damage on a hit as its sole attack. This spirit projection can travel no more than 1 mile away from the berbalang's body. Because the creature is only partially in existence when in this state, its body gains displacement as the spell. When separated in this way, the berbalang's body is unconscious and helpless. If the berbalang's body is injured while in this state, the separated projection immediately returns to its body, and the body loses displacement. If the physical body is slain, the spirit body immediately dies as well. If the spirit is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, it returns to the body immediately. A berbalang in spirit form can end the effect at any time as a standard action, at which point the spirit immediately returns to the body. When a berbalang's spirit form returns to the body, add both the spirit body's hit points and the physical body's hit points back together to determine the creature's current hit point total.

ECOLOGY

Environment any land
Organization solitary or pack (2-8)
Treasure standard

Berbalangs prefer to make their homes within a day's travel of humanoid settlements. These lairs are well hidden and sometimes protected by other undead creatures. Some berbalangs set themselves up as secluded shamans or wise old crones, using alter self to appear human. Ultimately cowardly, berbalangs rarely attack a settlement directly, preferring to pluck its meals from those who stray too far from civilization. A berbalang stands as tall as a human and rarely weighs more than 100 pounds.

OGL Section 15: Copyright Notice - Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 3
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 3, © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors Jesse Benner, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, James Jacobs, Michael Kenway, Rob McCreary, Patrick Renie, Chris Sims, F. Wesley Schneider, James L. Sutter, and Russ Taylor, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.

A to Z of Vampires, Aswang

Welcome the the 2015 A to Z blogging challenge.
This year I am going to take on Vampires. Talk some history and present some stats for various games. It should be fun.

So it's April 1st. Lets get started.

Aswang

A creature from the Philippines.  This evil vampire appears to be something like a cadaverous dog with large bat wings when in it’s natural form.  It can assume any shape such as a humanoid, wolf or something inbetween.  This often leads many occult scholars to classify them as werewolves or even a type of witch.  These creatures though are undead.  The creature is known to cause miscarriages and infertility.
The Aswang is a shapeshifter. It can appear as a normal townsperson, an animal like a dog, cat or pig or as a horrible monster like a ghoul or werewolf.  The creature can move about during the day in it’s “human” form but can’t use any of it’s special attacks.

Also the subject of a 1994 horror movie, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswang_(1994_film) and an episode of Grimm.

Aswang 
Armor Class: 2 [17]
Hit Dice: 6d8+2** (34 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 claws, 1 bite (monster form) OR 1 (human form)
Damage: 1d6+2 / 1d8+1 OR by weapon type.
Special: Blood drain, cause fear (as per spell)
Movement: 30’ 90' fly
No. Appearing: 1 (3-9 in nest)
Saves As: Fighter 6
Morale: 8
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic (Chaotic Evil)
XP: 1,500

The Aswang can cause fear as per the wizard spell up to 3 times per day. It can also shapeshift into dogs, cats or pigs like any other vampire can turn into wolves or bats.  An aswang can not become mist, but can grow large bat like wings and fly away.
The bite of an aswang drains blood.  An successful combat roll of 19 or 20 while biting means the aswang has locked onto the victim.  The aswang will then drain 1 point of Constitutions worth of blood each round. The aswang will typically feed for 1d4 rounds and then try to flee.  Anyone brought to 0 points of Constitution will die and rise an aswang on the next full moon.
A holy symbol will keep an aswang away like a normal vampire. As will garlic and a line of salt.
It is rumored that the only way to capture an aswang is to use a whip made from a stingray's tail. Once captured the aswang can not use their magical abilities.  The only way to defeat the creature is to cut off it's head.
The creature can only be hit by magical weapons, but a weapon coated with oils prepared by a village priest (an albularyos) will also be effective.

A to Z Blog challenge 2015 Theme Reveal

It's that time of year again!  Time for the Blogging A to Z challenge.

Today is the big reveal of what your theme will be.
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/2015/02/the-great-and-powerful-to-z-theme.html

This year I have the least surprising reveal of everyone I think.

This year I am going to be doing Vampires.  I know I have threatened to do this in the past, only to do witches or demons instead.  But this year I am serious.

And I am out of time. It is the only thing I have written!

So gamers, expect to see stats for various types of vampires.  I am hoping though that there will be something for everyone.

Are you participating? What is your theme?

The A to Z Blogging Challenge Theme Reveal

I am participating in this year A to Z Blogging challenge again.

While the challenge for me is not to post every day, I already do that, but to post with the proper subject letter AND to stick to my theme.

The theme reveal this year will be on March 23.   Come back and see what I choose...although I have not been very secretive about it.

You can see what others are doing as well. If you are interested in doing the challenge (and I would suggest you try it at least once) and thinking of a theme the head on over to the sign up list.
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/2015/02/the-great-and-powerful-to-z-theme.html

Even if you don't sign up for the Theme Reveal, you can see what others are doing in time to sign up for the A to Z yourself.

Happy Snowy Imbolc!

Well gaming was canceled yesterday so we could spend 3 hours (total) digging ourselves out.
But I really can't complain to be honest.  We have not had that much snow yet this year.

So what do I know?

The Witches
I am going to pick up a copy of Dungeon World today.
I want to do a review of +Melisa Fisher and +David Guyll's "Playbook" for DW, The Witch.
Also I want to read and review another playbook for Dungeon World, also titled, The Witch by Jacob Randolph.  Both look like they are fun.

April A to Z
Yes once again I am going to participate in the April A to Z blogging challenge.  This year I am going to do vampires and like demons and witches the years past I am going to include game playable material for you to use in your games.  Likely it is going to some flavor of OSR game, but I am also wanting to do something for Ghosts of Albion.

Also again this year I am part of the Ambassador's team.  This means I'll visiting a lot of blogs during this time.  Last year I felt I did a good job spreading the word of our little hobby.  I can recall three people in particular who went out and bought Basic Fantasy to either use or give to a loved one.

We talk about spreading knowledge of our hobby around.  This is a good way to do that.
A number of people that come to my blog from outside our hobby will comment to me that they didn't think people still played these games.  Of course WE know that isn't true and the rising attendance of Gen Con helps demonstrate that, we still tend to be a bit insular.
So I encourage you to sign up and give it a try.  I do id not just to be an "ambassador" or even an evangelist but also to improve my own writing skills.

So please join me.
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/2015/01/the-2015-to-z-challenge-list-is-open.html


Edited to Add:  WOO HOO!  I guess sometime in the last couple of days Eldritch Witchery went up to "Silver" best seller.

Blogging A to Z Guest Post: Did I Survive?

This is a Guest Post I am posting today over at the Blogging A to Z Challenge.
IF you are a regular reader here then I do want to hear from you.  What would make the month of April more interesting for you?

Hello everyone. My name is Tim Brannan. I blog over at The Other Side where I primarily talk about games, RPGs and horror.  I am a game author so I use my blog as a platform to talk about my books, but also to share with others in my blogging community to sorts of things I like to write about.

I have been writing material for games nearly as long as I have been playing them.  I started in 1979 and my first "custom class" was a Healer. And....I am not afraid to admit my first new monster I ever wrote up was a "Smurf". Yeah. I was 10.  My first witch class was written sometime between 1985 and 1986.

This was my fourth year of doing the A to Z Challenge on the Other Side. I have also done it one year on my Atheism blog, The Freedom of Nonbelief and another years at Red Sonja She-devil with a Sword, a shared blog dedicated to the comic book character Red Sonja.  Plus I have guest-posted here before on how to use the A to Z challenge in your own writing efforts and the importance of having a theme to your posts.

One would have thought I would have been more prepared this year!

At some point in February I was still planning on doing an A to Z theme on Vampires.  I had started the posts last year when I did Demons. I had an idea for a book about vampires and I thought it would have been a good way to do some research.  It was. Till I shifted midstream.

My newest book is now at Kickstarter to get funding for art and printing.  "Strange Brew: The Ultimate Witch & Warlock" is, well, the most complete guide to playing a witch in the Pathfinder game.  A bit of background.  Back in 2000 the 3rd edition of Dungeons & Dragons hit the shelves with the "Open Gaming Licence" which briefly meant 3rd party authors could make their own books for D&D and not get sued or anything like that.  If you followed the admittedly simple rules of the Open Game Licence then you could do it.  Well I did and in 2003 I released "Liber Mysterium: The Book of Witches & Warlocks".  A friend of mine released a similar book for witched called "Way of the Witch". We liked each other books and we happy.  2013 rolls around and this friend, Christina, decides it is time we mixed our books together with the newest version of the D&D 3rd edition game, Pathfinder (it's not exactly, but close enough).  We added in the Pathfinder witch and some others and decided to kick start it as a project.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/962794554/strange-brew-pathfinder-the-ultimate-witch-and-war

So far things are going great!  But my extra writing time was taking a solid hit.  I have 13 years worth and 1,000s of pages of notes and material to go through.

So to save some time I switched over to the A to Z of Witches.

It was a good idea.  Go through notes, post ideas as they come to me.  I only managed to stay about 10 days ahead of schedule and that was no where near enough.  So much for my own advice about theme and planning!

I got a lot of great posts up and in fact have enough for another couple months of solid witch postings.
I got to participate in a "mini-hop" of people doing supernatural creatures during the A to Z as well and that was the best!  I have to give very special thanks to Tasha (Tasha's Thinkings) and Sophie (Sophie's Thoughts and Fumbles) for helping me with the idea and then doing all the heavy lifting afterwards.  THEY, and everyone in the Supernatureal mini-hop, really made this A to Z special for me.

If you look at my May 5th post I state I survived the A to Z challenge.  Survived is the right word. Not beat, not won, but survived.  Yes I posted everyday and still got in some of my other posts. Yes I visited my neighbor blogs, but didn't always comment on them.  Yes the material I wrote will find a home somewhere in Strange Brew.

But, I didn't get to interact with other bloggers as much as I wanted. I didn't visit every blog on the list like I have in years past.  And while I noticed that I was getting a good amount of traffic from the Supernatural A to Z and from the A to Z site itself, my regular readers dropped off.  So in that respect I didn't do as well as I would have liked.

I write about games.  That is who I am and what my readers want.  I tried to keep the topics I posted very relevant to gamers, but also to the non-gamers.  Most people in the world don't care if some beastie has 5 HD or 15 HD, you just want to know how tough it is. To gamers that is a big deal. It's a big deal to me.

I love doing the A to Z and I am taking my own advice to heart and starting my 2015 posts this summer.  I am still considering doing vampires. So to make it work there needs to be plenty of material for gamers (what we in the RPG biz call "crunch") and plenty of narrative material enjoyed by everyone else (what we call "fluff").

So what is my plan?

• Start my post writing early.  Crunch takes longer to write than Fluff. I'll need the time.
• Keep enough crunch to keep my regular readers happy. Especially if it something new.
• Keep the fluffy interesting to keep the A to Zers coming back.
• Visit and interact with more of the bloggers in the A to Z. If I write all my posts this should be easier.
• I would LOVE to participate in another mini-hop like I did this year. That was awesome.

Looking forward to it!

About the Author 
Timothy S. Brannan is the author of The Other Side blog, http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/
He has worked on a number of games including the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG", and is the author of “The Ghosts of Albion RPG”, “The Witch”, “Eldritch Witchery” and the upcoming “Strange Brew” which is currently in a Kickstarter Campaign. Please stop by and see if this is something you would like to support.

A to Z Reflections Post

Once again I survived the April A to Z blog challenge.
This year's theme of Witches was a bit closer to my heart and I had a great time.
Here are my reflections in no particular order.

- Joining up Tasha and Sophie for the Supernatural A to Z mini-hop was one of the best things about this year. They were both great and I got to read a lot of great supernatural themed posts.

- Once again I got to visit some really great blogs and some really great people stopped by mine.  Maybe that is worth it all right there.

- I did get some new followers, which is very nice. Not something I was planning to get to be honest, but I am very happy to have you all.

- I got a lot of great comments from new visitors talking about how my posts helped them in their research or gave them something new to think about.  Likewise there were plenty of posts on other blogs that were helpful to me too.

- My hits were roughly flat.  I know I was getting more traffic from the A to Z thanks to Google Analytics, so there must be a corresponding drop in regular readers.  I find this disappointing to be honest.  After all the material in April is just as good as the material in June with the same amount of posting.
Anyone that doesn't like the A to Z care to chime in?

- I didn't get a chance to go to every site on the challenge this year as I have in years past.

- There are still a number of sites that use CAPTCHA and even set their posts to moderated which is annoying.  A few never bothered to even approve some posts.  I also don't understand blogs that don't allow replies at all. Seems to defeat the entire purpose of a blog really.

I enjoy doing the A to Z Challenge. Next year I would like to do vampires, but also include something that my regular audience can use in a game every day.  But I am going to consider it long an hard before I do.  The joy just wasn't there for me this year.

A to Z of Witches. Z

Z is for Zodiac

I was going to do Zatanna today, and really I should since my normal Zatannurday posts have been taking a hit for the A to Z.  But instead I want to talk about something else.

Growing up in the 70s I was exposed to what I like to call a lot of "left over hippy shit". One of those was Astrology.  Now I knew astrology was bullshit at a very early age, but I also grew up up when people would ask "what's your sign?".  As typical with anything from the 70s occult era, it somehow made it's way into my writings on the witch.  So witches, by my reasoning, are all very much into horoscopes and everything.

This manifests itself in my book The Witch as the Aquarian Witch.

The Aquarian Witch looks to the stars, planets and beyond to divine the secrets of the universe. The meaning each witch divines can vary from witch to witch and they will often disagree on what the signs and portents mean, but they all share a common belief; that a new astrological age is coming and the change will be profound. Whether this change will be good or ill is at present unknown.

The Aquarian Witch often serves as an astrologer, soothsayer and diviner of fortunes. They are learned in the ways of the motions of the stars, planets, sun and moon so there is a practical, even mundane, application of their skills.

So this looking to the stars is less Call of Cthulhu "when the stars are right" and more "Age of Aquarius".
I have always imagined my "iconic" Aquarian witch as a blonde, waify, looking hippy chick. Stereotypical? Yeah. I never claimed to be 100% original. For a while I had a couple different characters that fit this iconic image, top of that list was Megan Maclay nee O'Kelly from my Season of the Witch game.  But the best example might be Misty Day from American Horror Story: Coven.

What I really want to do with the Aquarian Witch is expand their beliefs and add more spells based on Zodiac signs.

I would stick with Classical Zodiac 12 signs like Gemini, Ares, and of course Aquarius. Though I might go with there common names like The Twins, the Ram and the Water Carrier instead.  I am also still debating on whether or not to use Ophiuchus, the Snake Handler, as the 13th.  I like 12 because there 12 hours on a clock and 12 months of the year.  Also I have 12-sided dice.  I like the idea of using "our" Zodiac as opposed to making one up. It gives me a lot different sources of materials to use and players can relate.  Sure I can use Chinese, Celtic, Hindu or other Zodiacs as well.

In truth there is a lot about Astrology I don't know.  Though for witch characters I will go online and input an approximate "birth date" and see what I come up with in terms of character traits.  Not be a slave to those traits, but play them up more often. I really have no clue what I am reading, but I pick and choose as I like or what I feel works for the character.

Let's pick my favorite witch, Tara Maclay, who I say was born on November 7, 1980.
Here is her natal chart.
While I can certainly see "brave" not so much the "popular".  But like I said, I'll pick and choose.

For my iconic witch Larina, I had to move to modern times, but that is easy.  Her natal chart I can make more use out of.

Has anyone out there tried this with their characters? Does it work? Are you happy with what you get?




Supernatural AtoZ

A to Z of Witches. Y

Y is for Yama-uba

Yama-uba is a mountain witch or hag from Japanese culture.
The issue with Japanese creatures and myths, at least from western eyes, is that Yama-uba could be a witch, a hag, a ghost, a demon or somehow all the above at the same time!  Certainly makes them fun.

What separates these creatures from western hags is that the Yama-uba has a second mouth on the top of her head.  She uses this one to eat while her "regular" mouth can be used to hold conversations.  Interestingly this does not make her unique in Japanese culture.  The Futakuchi-onna also has a second mouth on the back of her head.  Maybe in myth these started out as the same creature and then split or two local creatures that adopted the same traits.

The Yama-uba is described otherwise very much like the western Hag; old, large and potentially cannibalistic.  Alternately she is also described as having a dark face with large white eyes.
This has lead to a couple of strange pop-culture trends in Japan.  First is the Pokemon Jinx, that looks like the descriptions of Yama-uba.  She is of course a psychic Pokemon.

Jinx

There is also the Yamanba fad (is that the right word for this) that Japanese girls have participated in.

Ventisca the Yama-uba

Yama-uba
AC: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 10d8+10* (54 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 claws + 1 bite
Damage: 1d8/1d8 + 1d6
Special: Charm, Dance, Shape Change, Spell use
Movement: 20'/40'
No. Appearing: 1
Saves As: Witch 10
Morale: 11
Treasure: 1d12 Gems (1d10x10 gps each)
Alignment: Chaotic
XP:  2,300

Yama-uba is large creature related to the common hags and the night hag.  She has two forms that are her most often used.  The first, and the one that many claim is her true form, is that of a grossly bloated hag. Her hair is black and wiry and her skin is molted and yellow from disease.  Open sores cover her skin and her breath is foul.  Due to her size her movement is slowed.
Her second form, Yamanba, is more appealing.  Her skin is dark, almost blue or violet and her hair varies from light blonde to platinum.  In this form she move twice as fast. There must be some reason why she can't remain in this form.
In both form the Yama-uba favors red dresses.
The Yama-uba is a cannibalistic monster that prefers to eat small children, but like many hags she has been known to care for children that evil parents have left to die.
The Yama-uba can cast any charm-like witch spell as a 10th level witch. She will typically augment this with dance which in her Yamanba form will provide a -2 penalty to any save vs charm.
Yama-uba, despite their appearance and diet, are often sought out for magical advice.  If the Yama-uba so decides she can grant as many boons as she likes.  Typically this takes the shape of either knoweldge or a +1 to hit, damage and saves for 24 hours.  She can also just decide to eat anyone that walks into her land.

Supernatural AtoZ

A to Z of Witches. X

X is for Xothia

The Xothia is a the witch of the dwarves.  Back when 3.0 D&D came out a change in the rules opened all classes to all races. That left me with an interesting problems.  I had half-elf, half-orc, and even goblin witches were like, but never considered dwarves, halfling or gnome witches would be like.
I was sitting in a research meeting at work on day, a student was presenting but I didn't need to pay attention. So I set down and wrote these words "for as long as anyone can remember Roryn was the Xothia of the Rock".

The Xothia is the witch of the dwarven people.  Dwarves are depicted as lawful, dour and non-magical.  The Xothia was a chaotic, bright and very magical creature.  In other words, more elf-like.  From this point the ideas just flowed.

I decided that the worst things that can happen to any dwarf are removal from clan and family and shaving off their beard.  The xothia deals with both of these as part of her life.  First when a dwarf learns she is a xothia she moves away from her home.  She is still a part of the community, but she is also apart.
How does a dwarf, male or female, learn they are a witch?  They never grow a beard.
In my world dwarves, male and female, grow beards and these beards are a measure of their standing int he clan.  For dwarves a fully beard indicates virility and overall health. A xothia never grows a beard.  For a male this is devastating; in fact the best way to shame or dishonor a dwarf is to remove his beard.  For a dwarven woman lack of a beard means she would not be able to have children.  It's not true, but it is a belief.

She typically will wear long, brightly colored dresses. Minimal gold jewelry (it reminds them too much of the home they left).  Their homes are bright lit with lanterns that cast light in multiple colors.

The Rock is the home of the Xothia.  Typically 6 to 7 witches will live at the Rock, all under the direction of The Xothia, the oldest witch of the group. In my world the current Xothia is Roryn.
I talked about her when the first Hobbit movie came out.

Over the years I have really gotten to like the xothia.  Dwarves are an interesting race, so the witches of the dwarves should be as equally interesting.   I have not come up with any other xothia other than Roryn, but her story is interesting and I think there is more to tell about her.




Supernatural AtoZ

A to Z of Witches. W

W is for Warlock

For the longest time I did not do anything with Warlocks.
I know the first time I ever heard the word warlock in connection with witches. It was, oddly enough, an episode of the Waltons (a show I never liked) that a baby sitter was watching. Though more likely it came from an episode of Bewitched (a show I did like).

Once I started doing research I soon discovered that "warlock" really isn't the male version of a witch.  Witch is the male version of witch.  "Warlock" actually comes from the word wǣrloga, which means “oath breaker”.  I also read that warlock is actually an offensive term to most witches.  So my first writings had warlocks as evil witches.

When I opted to use the term warlock in my 2003 Liber Mysterium I decided that Witches and Warlocks were similar classes.  So I decided that at some point in their shared history, warlocks broke free from witches ideologically and were branded traitors.  Witches often refer to warlocks as “betrayers”.  This conflict, commonly known as “The Schism” is something neither side will speak of.  However a poignant reminder remains, witches and warlocks have similar means of learning their magic (from Patrons or Pacts) and both have access to the same spells.

Despite common stereotypes, warlocks can be either male or female. Most warlocks are male, and this association is so strong that most people mistakenly call a male witch a warlock.

For 2013's Eldritch Witchery the Spellcraft and Swordplay rules allowed me to try something new.  The witch was a type of cleric (something I did in 2nd ed, pre 1999) and the warlock was a type of wizard.  So instead of being one thing (class) that split apart I made them two seperate things that came closer together.  I liked how it turned out to be honest.  For Strange Brew I am going back to my original idea of having the two classes seperate, witch and warlock, but have them have roots that are tied together.  So there is more in common between the witch and warlock than the cleric and druid.  Closer actually to the wizard and sorcerer relationship.

In Strange Brew the plan is now for the Warlock get the same spells the Witch does.  They also have access to Hexes, though it is more limited.  The Warlock also gets a magical based attack in the form of the Arcane Blast.  There are also differences between the Patrons of the witches and the Patrons of the warlocks.

I am sure I will get questions about why not use the Warlock from the Tome of Magic or from 4e. Simple. I can't. They are not open in terms of the OGL. Plus I don't want too.  Those warlocks are fine, but not really what I think of when I think of a warlock.

I feel that most warlocks out there in the gaming world now are influenced by the Warlock in World of Warcraft and other MMORPGs.  I want to go back to much older sources and build my warlock from that.





Supernatural AtoZ