Duchess & Candella for Daggerheart

 I hope everyone had a great Gen Con. Sadly, I was not there, but I heard it was fun. I also heard that Daggerheart had sold out of its print run and had no copies left by Saturday. That is pretty cool, really. It's also still the #1 selling PDF on DriveThruRPG, a spot it has owned since its release. 

I was on DriveThruRPG today looking to see if any of the new games I had heard about at Gen Con had been released yet. I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did see something in my Personalized Suggestions; a bunch of new-to-me titles from Art of the Genre (the Folio people) featuring my favorite party girl rogues, Duchess and Candella. Most of these were for the FAST Core RPG System, which I know nearly nothing about. But there are a lot of titles featuring them. 

I remembered I covered a lot of the Folio Black Label books when I did my feature on Duchess and Candella, and there were some new ones (again, new-to-me) that I had not seen. I grabbed some more of the Folio adventures featuring them and one of the FAST Core D\&C books, which I might review later, but I'd like to get the core rules first. 

I do have the core rules for Daggerheart.

While I tend to gravitate towards witches, spellcasters, and the odd paladin type, I do love these two. Again, I imagine them as two party girls who love a good time and don't mind getting into a little bit of trouble if it means they are going to get some gold out of it. Art of the Genre has stats and extensive backgrounds for them both in The Storyteller's Arcana. It works, I can't disagree with them really other than I see them more as thieves and rogues rather than fighter-types. But hey, they have given these characters a lot more thought than I have. Still, for Daggerheart, I think I want to keep them as thief-types. Thankfully, there are two different Rogue "subclasses" I can try, the Nightwalker and the Syndicate.

Duchess

Level 2
Class & Subclass: Rogue (Nightwalker)
Ancestry & Heritage: Highborne Human
Pronouns: She/Her

Agility: 1
Strength: -1
Finesse: 2
Instinct: 0
Presence: 1
Knowledge: 0

Evasion: 12
Armor: 3

HP: 5
Minor Damage: 8 Major Damage: 15
Stress: 6

Hope: 2

Weapons: Longsword, Agility Melee, 1d8+3
Dagger. Finesse, Melee, d8+1 phy

Armor: Leather 6/13 +3

Experience
I will live the life owed to me +2 (when dealing with people of higher social class or money)
Candella is my sister in crime +2 (when dealing with rolls that can aid Candella)
So much gold and it will be mine +2 (when trying to steal or acquire wealth)

Class Features
Cloaked, Sneak Attack, Shadow Stepper, Believable Lie

Candella

Level 2
Class & Subclass: Rogue (Syndicate)
Ancestry & Heritage: Slyborne Human
Pronouns: She/Her

Agility: 2
Strength: 2
Finesse: 2
Instinct: 0
Presence: -1
Knowledge: 0

Evasion: 12
Armor: 3

HP: 5
Minor Damage: 8 Major Damage: 15
Stress: 6

Hope: 2

Weapons: Shortsword, Agility Melee, 1d8+3
Dagger. Finesse, Melee, d8+1 phy
Paired (Tier 1) +2 to primary weapon damage to targets in Melee Range.

Armor: Leather 6/13 +3

Experience
Life is a game, and I plan to cheat +2 (when any rolls are considered cheating)
Duchess is my sister in crime +2 (when dealing with rolls that can aid Duchess)
Gold! Wine! Adventure! +2 (when trying to steal or acquire wealth, or a good time.)

Class Features
Cloaked, Sneak Attack, Well-Connected, Enrapture

--

The great thing about Daggerheart is how you can create characters that really support each other and have that baked into the rules and rolls. 

Love how these two came out!

War of the Witch Queens, Wasted Lands Edition

 I have put my massive War of the Witch Queens on pause for a little bit to focus on my 1st Edition Forgotten Realms game. It is fine, since I am using it to build up some of the myths and legends that War of the Witch Queens will rely on. While my current War of the Witch Queens uses Old School Essentials, I have been enjoying it a lot, but...I am running into some issues. Well. Issues of my own creation.

Limitation #1: Level Caps and Limits

Limits on levels. I love OSE, but one of its selling points/strengths is its limiting issue for me. Sure, 14 levels is a lot, but I am running into ideas that I want to run for characters of 15+ level. 17th level comes up a lot for me. This is also one of the reasons why I dropped Hyperborea early on for this reason too. 

This campaign isn’t just a dungeon crawl or hex-crawl, it's a mythic saga that spans worlds, timelines, and divine destinies. Characters in this game aren't just heroes; they are on the path to becoming legends, saints, or even immortals. And I keep finding myself writing material that expects 15th level and beyond. More and more often, 17th-level content crops up in my outlines. That’s not a comfortable fit for OSE without some heavy modification.

Not to mention level limits on any demi-human species. Of course Hyperborea had not demi-humans at all. 

Limitation #2: Multi-Classing

I love OSE. But one place it really falls down is Multi-classing. Yes, there are some rules, but the elegance of the system is lost when you try to do it. It's not my strongest reason, but it is a reason all the same. 

Limitation #3: Multiversal Storytelling

I want to explore various worlds and settings. OSE can do this, it can even do it well, but I want to go a little beyond the norm. 

OSE can absolutely be used to tell stories that span worlds. In fact, it does it better than many modern systems, since its rules are modular and light. But for War of the Witch Queens, I want to go beyond the norm. I’m not just talking about visiting the elemental planes or spending a session in Ravenloft. I’m talking about fully developed worlds with unique metaphysics, rules of magic, and mythic gravity, all of them linked by a larger cosmological mystery, the Witch Queens, their empowered thrones, and the shadow of The One Who Remains.

OSE can be made to do this. But I need a system that does this out of the box.

Solution: Wasted Lands

When I was participating in the 2025 Character Creation Challenge, I was reminded of how flexible Wasted Lands/O.G.R.E.S. really is.  

Wasted Lands is mythic fantasy turned up to eleven. It was designed for heroes who become gods, for magics that shape and warp reality itself, and for worlds so ancient they crumble under the weight of memory. The core assumption of Wasted Lands is that the characters matter in a way that changes the cosmos, which aligns exactly with my vision for War of the Witch Queens.

Why Wasted Lands Works for War of the Witch Queens

No Arbitrary Level Caps

Characters in Wasted Lands are meant to grow in power until they ascend to the ranks of the divine. There’s no artificial ceiling to limit storytelling or advancement. If I want characters to bind a dying god to a black star, I don’t need to “homebrew” Epic Levels; I just use the Divine/Heroic Touchstone system as written.

Built-In Mythic Scope

Wasted Lands expects multiversal and mythological play. Characters can literally change the nature of reality. That’s not just compatible with War of the Witch Queens; that’s the point of the entire campaign.

Flexible Mechanics for Multiple Worlds

O.G.R.E.S. is modular, allowing me to shift between gritty sword-and-sorcery realism, dreamlike metaphysics, or high-magic cosmic horror as needed. That’s ideal when a single session might take place in ancient Atlantis, the post-apocalyptic future, or a faerie world frozen in regret.

Ties to Night Shift and Thirteen Parsecs

Since Wasted Lands is cross-compatible with Night Shift (another system I use for witchy, modern supernatural tales), I can link stories and characters across eras and genres. My witches don’t just belong in this kind of cosmology; they thrive in it.

While the Wasted Lands mythology will certainly be in play here, I may or may not set any of these adventures in the time of The Dreaming Age or even the Earth of the Dreaming Age. I'll use this more as my Rosetta Stone to translate between all the various games I'll be using.

So What Happens Next?

While I’m still using my Forgotten Realms game to build some of the core myths behind War of the Witch Queens, I’ll be shifting the main campaign engine to Wasted Lands going forward. I may still post some OSE conversions or support for it, especially early-level material, but to experience War of the Witch Queens the way I envision it, it will live and breathe in the mythic realms of the Wasted Lands.

This also gives me an instant hook into my multiversal threat, The One Who Remains. I will already be featuring this threat in my Forgotten Realms game, and absolutely for War of the Witch Queen.  

The Witch Queens of the Wasted Lands

One of my conceits of the War of the Witch Queens was to "adopt" all sorts of witches from various games, settings, and the like, and bring them into this campaign. Given the Sword & Sorcery roots of Wasted Lands, I wanted to grab some witches from various S&S games. Some of these are familiar to you all here since I have already mentioned them in conjunction with War of the Witch Queens before: Methyn Sarr, Miriam, and newcomer, Tamsin Shalles. I will feature their native games tomorrow. 

Each of these characters is found on different worlds in vastly different times. But the wonderful thing about Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age is that versions of these characters can exist at the same time and place. Wasted Lands, Barbarians of Lemuria, Hyperborea, and Sword & Sorcery Codex all share enough of the same DNA to be cousins. I will say this: anyone playing one of these games can get a lot out of playing, or at least owning and reading, the other three.

I am also going with a pure D&D feel to these, so humans are humans and not the proto-humans of the Dreaming Age. I have already done Wasted Lands stats for Larina, Aradia, Darlessa, Kersy the Sea Witch, Skylla, Tanith Winters, and for two of Grenda's Forgotten Realms witches, Rhiannon and Briana Highstar. And of course, the current Big Bad of the War of the Witch Queens, Kelek the Cruel.

Note: The sorcerer of Wasted Lands is mechanically the same as NIGHT SHIFT's witch. But I am going to call them witches here. Also, since I am moving away from Hyperborea and OSE for this, I can go beyond their level limits of 12 and 14, respectively. 

Each also has a homeland in the Wasted Lands that is the closest analogue to their lands in their original games.

Methyn Sarr, Witch Queen of the Fire Coast
From Barbarians of Lemuria

I have mentioned Methyn Sarr here before; she is a great character and one of my favorite things about Barbarians of Lemuria. 

Methyn Sarr
Class: Sorceress (Witch) / Necromancer
Level: 10 / 5
Species: Human
Alignment: Dark Evil
Background: Cult
Homeland: Lemuria (West coast)

Abilities
Strength: 10 (0) 
Agility: 12 (0) 
Toughness: 10 (0) 
Intelligence: 17 (+2) N
Wits: 16 (+2) N
Persona: 18 (+3) A

Fate Points: 1d12
Defense Value: 4 (Battle Harness)
Vitality: 55
Degeneracy: 11
Corruption: 2 (Eyes turned yellow, Aura of discomfort)

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +7/+4/+3
Melee Bonus: +3 (base) 
Ranged Bonus: +3 (base)
Spell Attack: +5
Saves: +3 to Spells and Magical effects (Sorcerer)

Sorcerer Abilities
Arcana, Arcane Powers: Beguile Person, Enhanced Senses, Succubus, Psychic Power: Pyrokinesis 

Necromancer Abilities
Channel the Dead (43%), See Dead People, Summon the Dead (65%), Command Spirits, Protection from Spirits, Death Knell, Suggestion (Spirits), Protection from Undead, Taste the Grave

Sorceress Spells
First Level: Arcane Darts, Command, Drain Vitality, Mystical Senses
Second Level: Defile, Eternal Flame, Invoke Fear, Subtle Influence
Third Level: Concussive Blast, Dark Lightning, Globe of Darkness
Fourth Level: Beguile Monster, Kiss of the Succubus, Protection against the Deeper Dark
Fifth Level: Dominate Other, Shadow Armor

Heroic/Divine Touchstones 
1st Level: Unique Mode of Defense (Battle Harness) 
2nd Level: Additional Vitality Points
3rd Level: Charm Creatures
4th Level: Magical Recovery
5th Level: Great Power (Fire)

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Magic, Evil

Gear
Blood Dagger of Zaggath (adds +1d6 damage due to dripping fire blood), Battle Harness, crown

I gave her levels of Necromancer in this version to replicate her levels of "Druid of Zaggarth" from Barbarians of Lemuria. I figure she gets a Heroic/Divine Touchstone every 3 character levels. 

Miriam, Witch-Queen of Yithorium
From Hyperborea

Miriam is the name I have given to the Witch-Queen of Yithorium from the Hyperborea RPG. Though she is seriously viewed through the lens of Greyhawk. She is rather great, and I love using her. I have also decided that her loyal Cowan is a mighty warrior (10th level) named Zavoda. 

Miriam, Witch-Queen of Yithorium
Class: Sorceress (Witch)
Level: 15
Species: Human
Alignment: Dark Evil
Background: Scholar
Homeland: Hyperborea (Near the Blood Sea)

Abilities
Strength: 12 (0) 
Agility: 12 (0) 
Toughness: 13 (+1) 
Intelligence: 18 (+3) A
Wits: 16 (+2) N
Persona: 18 (+3) N

Fate Points: 1d12
Defense Value: 9
Vitality: 68
Degeneracy: 6
Corruption: 1 (Aura of discomfort)

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +7/+4/+3
Melee Bonus: +3 (base) 
Ranged Bonus: +3 (base)
Spell Attack: +8
Saves: +4 to Spells and Magical effects (Sorcerer).

Sorcerer Abilities
Arcana, Arcane Powers (5): Astral Projection, Succubus, Psychic Power: ESP, Beguile, Shadow Walking

Sorceress Spells
First Level: Beast Speech, Command, Chill Ray, Night Vision, Drain Vitality
Second Level: Invoke Fear, Animal Summoning, Subtle Influence, Defile, See Invisible
Third Level: Dark Lightning, Curse, Clairvoyance, Globe of Darkness
Fourth Level: Black Tentacles, Protection against the Deeper Dark, Forbearance of Dimensional Travel, Kiss of the Succubus
Fifth Level: Banishment, Create Soul Vessel, Dominate Other, Shadow Armor
Sixth Level: Destroy Undead, Shadow Duplicate, Uluation of the Deeper Dark
Seventh Level: Wave of Mutilation, Widdershins Dance
Eighth Level: Gaze of the Abyss

Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: Sense the Presence of the Deeper Dark
2nd Level: Luck Benefit
3rd Level: Spirit Guide
4th Level: Magical Recovery
5th Level: Glamour

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Magic, Evil, Deeper Dark

Gear
Leather Armor, dagger, crown

Miriam has evolved some since I first stated her up. She has been moving to a witch of the Old Ones for some time now. In the Wasted Lands she would likely be that witch trying to bring the Old Ones back. 

Tamsin Shalles
From Sword & Sorcery Codex

Tamsin is a new one for me. I have been playing around with the Sword & Sorcery Codex (see tomorrow), and it is a great system and has a lot to offer in terms of feel and style. It can do about 80% of what I want. She is not as powerful as the other two, not yet anyway. 

Tamsin Shalles
Class: Sorceress (Witch) / Renegade
Level: 5 / 2
Species: Human
Alignment: Dark Evil
Background: Barbarian
Homeland: Fennokarelia

Abilities
Strength: 11 (0) 
Agility: 13 (+1) N
Toughness: 13 (+1) 
Intelligence: 16 (+2) N
Wits: 14 (+1) 
Persona: 16 (+2) A

Fate Points: 1d8
Defense Value: 8
Vitality: 30
Degeneracy: 2
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +4/+2/+1
Melee Bonus: +2 (base) 
Ranged Bonus: +2 (base)
Spell Attack: +x
Saves: +2 to Spells and Magical effects (Sorcerer).

Sorcerer Abilities
Arcana, Arcane Powers (2): Beguile Person, Succubus

Renegade Abilities
Improved Defense, Ranged Combat, Stealth Skills, Climbing, Danger Sense (1-2), Perception, Vital Strike x2

Stealth Skills
Open Locks: 25%
Bypass Traps: 20%
Sleight of Hand: 30%
Sneak: 30%

Sorceress Spells
First Level: Summon Familiar (Imp), Mystical Senses, Armor of Earth
Second Level: Vampiric Augmentation, Eternal Flame
Third Level: Oily Cloud of the Deeper Dark

Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: Psychic Power: Glamour
2nd Level: Additional use of Beguile

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Magic, Summoning

Gear
Dagger

She isn't quite there yet, but her specialty will be demon summoning and control. Right now, she relies on her charms (natural and supernatural) along with her renegade skills to cheat and con her way through most situations. 

I gave each of them the Beguile and Succubus powers to cover the levels of "Temptress" both Tamsin and Methyn have, and I assume Miriam would have. Beguile to well...beguile, and succubus to cause the up close damage.

These women are all evil and up to no good and I can't help but love them all. If they could put aside their mutual hate, they could team up and be a force to be reckoned with.

I kinda want a mini-series of War of the Witch Queens now to just cover these three and their drama. They are not responsible for the death of the High Witch Queen, but they are all vying for her throne. 

Doing these reminds me how much fun Wasted Lands really is. 

Witchcraft Wednesday: Larina Nix and Skylla for Lands of Adventure

A while back I picked up the classic RPG, Lands of Adventure. While it is fair to say the game is not great, there is something about it I can't quite put my finger on that I love. Is it the  Bill Willingham art? Is it Lee Gold's attention to historical detail, even when the details are wrong? Ok, to be fair, some these details may not have been "wrong" when she was writing. But she is certainly good at building an interesting world.

No. I don't know what it is, but given this is my year to try out more (and different) fantasy RPGs, I owe it at least to myself to try this game out.  It will not replace *D&D on anyone's table today. But for a moment, let me pretend it is 1983. I'll put on K-Tel's CHART ACTION '83 and work on some characters!

Character Creation

This is the most tedious process of this game, really. The rules for playing are largely pretty simple. However, I do admit that I am really in the mood for a complicated character-creation process today. 

For this I'll start with the Lands of Adventure core rules and make adaptations based on the Culture Packs I have. I will do my two favorite witches, Larina and Skylla, for Medieval England and Ancient Greece, respectively. If I had had the other proposed Culture Packs I would have tried something for them as well. 

The game has 11 (yes, eleven) primary stats, but of those, only four are purely random. The others are often the averages of the others with some more randomness added in.  You can roll the d20 or d10 as needed, OR you can allocate 110 + 2d10 points among the 11 characteristics. 

The minimum score is 1, and the max is 20. 

Piety is also important and has it's own means of calculation, but to get that, I'll need some skills for the characters. Skills can also increase other stats.

This game also has three different "Hit Point" pools; Energy Points (EP), Body Points (BP), and Life Points (LP). Damage affects them differently, but none should be 0.

Skills are a roll-under mechanic of percentages, with 5% (96-00) always as a fumble. To roll 10% under your skill is a maximum or flawless success. There are 10 Skill categories and their base scores are based on a Major Characteristic and Minor Characteristics. So for example MAG (Magic) is TAL (Talent)/2 and then squared + INT (Intelligence).  Unlike some games, height and weight have mechanical effects on how fast you can move and how much you can carry respectively.

You have as many skills as you do PRU, the max you can have in any skill area at the start of the game is 10% of the skill area score. Given that this are also not starting characters I will use the options for Prior Experience Points to buff up some skills and spells.

Spells are an odd mix to be honest. I am not sure what would be right to choose since I am not 100% certain of all the game effects. But I can say that the magic section does feel like it is bolted onto this system and there are bits of game-design bondo and duct-tape holding it together. Not that this can't be fun, AD&D did it for decades. 

For Larina and Skylla here, I am certainly aiming to give them a witch-like background. Turns out that is pretty easy to do with this game. The Ancient Greece Culture Pack has the Pelasgians who are characterized as worshipping a Maiden-Mother-Crone Moon Goddess from the belief that older civilizations were more Matriarchal than Patriarchal. Following in the same logic, or even from the same logic, in the Medieval England Culture Pack, Gold lists Margaret Murray's now discredited "The Witch-Cult in Western Europe" as part of the suggested reading. I say "discredited," but I still use the central thesis in my own game writing for my books. Hey. I am writing about witches, not an academic anthropological treatise.  Though given Gold's inclusion of Murray, I would also have gone with Jane Harrison for Ancient Greece and Jessie Weston for Medieval England for a trifecta of Late Victorian/Early 20th Century independent women scholars.

Makes my choice of witches to stat up for this game even more appropriate. 

Larina Nix

Species: Human
Gender: Female
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 125 lbs (light frame)

Culture/Religion: Medieval England/The Old Faith
Piety: 6

CRF (Craft): 12            DEX (Dexterity): 12
TAL (Talent): 18          VCE (Voice): 19
INT (Intelligence): 16  PRU (Prudence): 14
APP (Appearance): 18 AGY (Agility): 12
STR (Strength): 10       CON (Constitution): 10
CHA (Charisma): 19   

COM (Communication): 52%
KNW (Knowledge): 44%
MAG (Magic): 97%
MAN (Manipulation): 32%
MIR (Miracle Working): 99%
MOV (Movement): 28%
OBS (Observation): 36%
PER (Persuasion): 55%
Melee: 16%
Missile 26%

Local KNW: 144%
General KNW: 84%

Non-Combat Specialized Skills
Reporting Accurately (Com), Legend Lore (Knw), Medical/Herb Lore (Knw), Astronomy/Astrology (Knw), Languages Speak (Knw) (English, French, Celtic)

Specialized Spell Skills
Stop Behaviors (Compulsion) PL 5, 10x10, 5 rounds, 1, 200 ft.
Energy Shield (Energy) PL 3, 10x10, 5 rounds, 1, 10 ft.
Energy Bolt (Energy) PL 4, 10x10, 1 round, 1, 200 ft.
Enchantment (Enchantment) PL 6, 10x10, 30 min, 1, 10 ft.
Darkness (Illusion) PL 5, 30x30, 5 rounds, 1, 10 ft.

EP: 36
BP: 12
LP: 10

Weapons: Dagger, Staff

Armor: None
Shield: None

Free Load: 60lbs

--

Skylla

Species: Human
Gender: Female
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 130 lbs (average frame)

Culture/Religion: Ancient Greece/Moon Mother
Piety: 4

CRF (Craft): 12            DEX (Dexterity): 11
TAL (Talent): 16          VCE (Voice): 14
INT (Intelligence): 14  PRU (Prudence): 10
APP (Appearance): 14 AGY (Agility): 12
STR (Strength): 9        CON (Constitution): 10
CHA (Charisma): 17   

COM (Communication): 37%
KNW (Knowledge): 34%
MAG (Magic): 78%
MAN (Manipulation): 29%
MIR (Miracle Working): 80%
MOV (Movement): 23%
OBS (Observation): 36%
PER (Persuasion): 42%
Melee: 22%
Missile 24%

Local KNW: 134%
General KNW: 74%

Non-Combat Specialized Skills
Lying (Com), Legend Lore (Knw), Medical/Herb Lore (Knw) x2, Astronomy/Astrology (Knw), Languages Speak (Knw) (Greek, Egyptian)

Specialized Spell Skills
Stop Behaviors (Compulsion) PL 5, 10x10, 5 rounds, 1, 200 ft.
Energy Bolt (Energy) PL 4, 10x10, 1 round, 1, 200 ft.
Enchantment (Enchantment) PL 6, 10x10, 30 min, 1, 10 ft.

EP: 31
BP: 13
LP: 10

Weapons: Dagger, Staff

Armor: None
Shield: None

Free Load: 65lbs

--

Ok. There is a lot here and even more that I didn't do. These are better than starting characters, certainly, but not 100% reflective of stats for them I have posted in the past. For the Point Allocation method, Larina has 160 points (30 above max) and Skylla has 137 points (7 above max). 

Magic is an odd affair, mostly using the "Spells on the fly" method. I could explore it more IF I ever choose to play this game. But I have enough here for now.

A few interesting quirks. The Culture Packs give a lot more detail to the characters, BUT you should have them next to you when you develop the characters. Skylla, for example, ended up having the Goddess Athena in her maternal line and thus added to some of her stats. Not sure how a virgin goddess was able to do that, but ok. Skylla gained an extra Herbalism skill as well. Larina had a mystical encounter. Since I was recently re-reading her 4th Edition D&D stats, I am going to say she saw a unicorn when she was a little girl. 

This game is rich in atmosphere, but the system itself leaves a little to be desired. Maybe I am just used to simpler systems now or unified mechanics. I do admit I am still very happy I have this game and I will likely come back to it. 

Year of Fantasy RPGS: Cd8 The Return of the Fearless Five!

 I am still having fun with Jason Vey's Cd8 Fantasy Roleplaying game. I thought I would give it a spin with some more characters. Getting a feeling of what the various power level benchmarks are and so on.  So I thought, let's bring back the Fearless Five and give them a go at it!

Not sure what mission they will be going on next. They got already Bargle. I just 3D printed Kelek on a Warg so maybe they are going after him.

Skylla

Name: Skylla
Species: Human
Attitude: The only thing important is power

Gumption: 3
Moxy: 3
Chutzpah: 1
Childlike Wonder: 7
Cut of My Jib: 5
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 1

Life Points: 26
Armor: 0 None
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Detecting 2, Doctoring 2, Fighting 1, Herbalizing 4, Magicking 6, Mythologizing 2, Performing 1, Running 1, Shooting 1

Benefits/Bugs

Enhanced Senses 1

Prodigy (Magicking) 1 (3pts)

Super stats (Child Like Wonder) 4

Super stats (Cut of my Jib) 4

Psychic 3

- TK, PK, Mind contrtol

Weapons
Staff

Aleena

Name: Aleena
Species: Human
Attitude: Helping others

Gumption: 3
Moxy: 1
Chutzpah: 1
Childlike Wonder: 4
Cut of My Jib: 2
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 1

Life Points: 10
Armor: Heavy
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Doctoring 4, Fighting 1, Magicking 3, Mythologizing 2, Researching 3, Running 1, Shooting 1

Benefits/Bugs

why me? -5

Weapons
Mace

Mogan Ironwolf

Name: Morgan Ironwolf
Species: Human
Attitude: Hitting things

Gumption: 1
Moxy: 1
Chutzpah: 3
Childlike Wonder: 1
Cut of My Jib: 4
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 3

Life Points: 21
Armor: Medium
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Detecting 1, Driving 1, Fighting 6, Running 3, Shooting 3, Sporting 3, Tumbling 1

Benefits/Bugs

Takes A Licking 1

Keeps on Ticking 5

Lucky 3

Weapons
Longsword, Bow

Duchess

Name: Duchess
Species: Human
Attitude: Helping herself

Gumption: 1
Moxy: 2
Chutzpah: 3
Childlike Wonder: 1
Cut of My Jib: 4
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 1

Life Points: 20
Armor: Light
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Detecting 3, Fighting 3, Performing 2, Researching 1, Running 2, Shooting 3, Sporting 1, Tumbling 3

Benefits/Bugs

Lucky

Iron Constitution

You Want to Get Out of Here Real Fast? 4

Stat Increase 4

Weapons
Short Sword, Dagger

Candella

Name: Candella
Species: Human
Attitude: Helping herself and have a good time doing it!

Gumption: 2
Moxy: 2
Chutzpah: 3
Childlike Wonder: 1
Cut of My Jib: 3
A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi!: 2

Life Points: 17
Armor: Light
Speed: 30 ft

Skills: Detecting 3, Fighting 3, Performing 2, Researching 1, Running 2, Shooting 3, Sporting 1, Tumbling 4

Benefits/Bugs

Lucky

Stat Increase 4

Weapons
Short Sword, Dagger

 OK! These are fun. I did not detail Skylla's or Aleena's spells, really. They have them. If I expand them into a one-shot, then I may. I would totally run a game at a convention with these—some sort of heist where everything goes sideways.

That is not really a bad idea. I already built them all for ShadowDark and now again for Cd8. Well, minus the Sorceress. She was done with Skylla's interference. 

Cd8 does not have "levels" for characters. The game assumptions between this and level/class systems are too different. But for this round, I was working under some assumptions about how many XP to give out to equal a level. So far, my numbers have panned out, but I want to try it with a few more to be sure. 

So far I rather enjoy this game. 

The Fearless Five vs Bargle: Basic Characters for ShadowDark

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

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

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

Enter the Fearless Five!

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

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

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

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

Aleena

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

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

HP: 9
AC: 15

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

Languages: Common, Elvish

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

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

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

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

Morgan Ironwolf

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

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

HP: 21
AC: 14

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

Languages: Common, Goblin

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

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

The Sorceress

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

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

HP: 10
AC: 13

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

Languages: Common, Elvish

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

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

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

Duchess

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

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

HP: 17
AC: 14

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

Languages: Common, Dwarvish

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

And her partner in crime:

Candella

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

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

HP: 14
AC: 14

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

Languages: Common, Goblin

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

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

Skylla

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

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

HP: 16
AC: 11

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

Languages: Common, Diabolic

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

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

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

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

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

--

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

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

The R. Michael Grenda Collection - The Characters

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

And he had a LOT of characters.

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

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

Even Yoln is here in his original form.

Here are my problems.

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

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

Here is what I am considering.

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

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

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

#RPGaDAY2024 An Accessory You'd Like to See

 An accessory I'd like to see? I think in general I would like to see some more ethically trained AI apps, both for art and text. I love the potential of AI. Despite all the time I have spent trying to find ways to deal with AI-based plagiarism in my day job, I still think there is something powerful here.

The problem I have with AI right now is largely two-fold.  The current databases are filled with material that is in reality owned by someone else and they never got paid for.

But even if you remove all the art or text from the databases the algorithms were trained on that data, so even that is somewhat tainted. This why you should never believe someone when they claim that they are using ethically trained AI, most people don't know enough to do that. 

I have used many AI products, but all of them have issues. I'll use them on my blog here, but not in any published product unless there is an ethical way to do so. 

Until then it is traditional art for me. 

--

I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August. 

Daggerheart Open Playtest Beta: Intro and Character Creation

 The minds behind Critical Role have come up with their new Fantasy RPG and honestly, it has some things going for it.

Daggerheart Fantasy Role-Playing is now in Open Beta Playtesting and you can grab a copy for free from DriveThruRPG or their website. 

Galapa, one of the new Ancestries. Art by Jessica Nguyen

I began reviewing it yesterday and quickly decided to take the plunge to print out the entire 375+ page playtest document so my kids and I can try it out.

You can see the DNA of many systems and games here, which they acknowledge.  I have not read a bunch, but there is a very interesting world here and one I think many will like to play in.

I know most of my readers are "old-school D&D" so I'll say this. If there is something about D&D 5 you dislike chances are good it is here and turned up to 11. 

That all being said there is a really interesting game here. 

Will this game be a "D&D Killer?" too early to say. I mean we didn't see Pathfinder taking D&D's throne when 4e was out, but then it happened. And when was the last time an RPG Playtest made the pages of Business Insider the day of release?  Do not underestimate the fanship of Critical Role, who, in their nine years, has only seen their popularity rise. Sooner or later, Hasbro will do something boneheaded again, like the OGL or maybe even AI art, and people will look for more options. 

One thing is for certain, the crew at Critical Role will make the game look great to play. Cases in point, they have already produced some videos for it. 

• How to Play Daggerheart | Open Beta (16:18)
• How to Make a Character in Daggerheart | Open Beta (31:55)
• Critical Role Creates Characters in Daggerheart | Open Beta (2:00:05)
• Critical Role plays Daggerheart | Live One-Shot | Open Beta | LIVESTREAM (4:33:57) 

I am watching the One Shot now, and the game looks fun. The feel is a solid fantasy RPG. Their enthusiasm is infectious. 

Character Creation

I have gone through character creation. It will be faster once I know the system better, but it is still very fast. There are a lot of options. LOTS. If you are the type that looks at D&D 5's choices of species and shakes your head then this will not be the game for you.

Daggerheart is a Class and Level based system, so that will be familiar to most; especially what I perceive as their main target, D&D 5e players. 

So, there are nine classes, each with two sub-classes (Foundations) and 18 ancestries. Like I said, there are lots of choices. Watching the "How to Make a Character" video is helpful here, but I just dove right in. That's how we did in the 1980s! The video shows Travis Willingham of Critical Role rebuilding one of his Campaign 3 characters, Bertrand Bell, in this game.  I can relate. 

Each class has two "Domains" and these overlap. These help decide what sorts of powers, abilities, and spells they can take. For example "Arcana" is magic and is the Domain of Druids and Sorcerers. But Sorcerers are also "Midnight" which is sneaky, shadowy stuff and also a Domain of Rogues. 

You choose a Class, then a Foundation (which gives you benefits), then your first-level powers/abilities.

Choose your Heritage (Ancestry and Community) which gives you yet more powers/abilities. There are nine Communities. Think of these as being like your background. 

So where are we? We have 9 classes, 2 foundations, 18 ancestries, and 9 communities. So 2,916 combinations at level 1. 

There are Traits, which line up more or less with d20/D&D abilities. 

Damage Thresholds are bit like HP, with a tracker. Damage gets deadly really fast.  Oh and damage to you also damages your armor. 

A note about Death. This game has a great rule that I might steal for my home games. 

I like the whole "Embrace Death and Go Out in a Blaze of Glory." You die and stay dead, but you do it with style. Oh, it also seems that coming back from the dead is rare and not at all easy. When a character does, they permanently lose one point of the Hope resource.  I have not talked about the Hope and Fear resources yet. But they are spent like Drama or Hero points depending on the situations. These use the oft-neglected d12.

You choose your abilities/powers/spells based on your Domains. The feel is similar to some of the choices for characters seen in D&D 4e.

There are Background questions. They are optional, but they are fun.

Experiences are fun. These are bits on your background that you can use a bonus to your Hope roll. These are figured out in Session 0 and work best if they complement (or aggravate!) the other characters.

Connections are similar. This has a solid Blue Rose feel to it. 

Character creation is fun and would work best during Session 0 with your group. 

Larina Nix in Daggerheart

Of course, I am going to try this with my Drosophila melanogaster of character creation experiments. There is no witch class here, so the first thing I need to do is figure out what her class is. 

While the playtest materials give me plenty to create a class (and the videos use them) there are other options. One is the Character builder at the Daggerheart Nexus at Demiplane.app. This is what I did for my witch Larina. 

Looking through my options here and with the playtest I am opting for Sorcerer over Wizard. Larina knows things, but they didn't all come from books (which she loves) plus I like the idea of the Midnight Domain for her, so she is a Sorcerer. For her Foundations (subclasses), I gave her Primal since her magic needs to feel a little old and a little wild. Her ancestry is human, and in this reality, she is Loreborn to tie into her connection to reading and books. 

Background I can skip over since this not with a group yet, but I do want to cover her Experiences here. For her +2 Experience I went with "I understand that! (Magical Scholar)" so she can spend a Hope die anytime something magical needs to be explained or figured out. For her +1 Experience, I went with "Wait, I need to read this (Seeker of Magical Secrets)" to cover that sometimes her curiosity overrules her common sense. So that +1 to her Hope die would be great in situations where she is trying to read a magical inscription on a tomb wall while avoiding getting hit by a mummy. 

For my Domain Cards (yes there are cards, but also slots on my sheet) I took one Arcana and one Midnight out of my choices of three each. I wanted to try a balance of the two. 

The effort was fast, really fast. And I am pleased with the results. 

Yeah, I am quite pleased with this character and character creation. But the proof is in the playing.

So now, after reading, making a character, watching some videos, and retweaking the character, I'll try my hand at making a character from the start again to see how long it takes. For this I will do my other active character Sinéad.  She is also a sorcerer, but I want to see how different two characters of the same class can be. Then I'll also try her as a multi-classed Bard.

Sinéad in Daggerheart

In D&D Sinéad is a half-elf Magic-user (Sorcerer)/Bard. Now her history is very, very much tied to the Forgotten Realms. So unlike Larina, her home is a very integral part of her. It will be interesting to see how that works in a game like Daggerheart.

Ok, that took about 4 minutes. While I can get into the details, suffice it to say that this worked well for me and I was EASILY able to capture the concept here that this is character who can't control her magic and is working on figuring out how.  She isn't a bard yet. But that also fits in well with my starting concept of her.  For her item, Family Heirloom, I have it as her father's lute.

In Daggerheart, you can multi-class starting at the 5th level, so I am going to try that. When Multi-classing, you choose one of the two Domains of the second class. I rather like that. The Bard Domains are Grace and Codex. While Codex would be great for the added magic, concept-wise, Grace is a better fit.  She also chooses one of the Foundations (Subclasses). For Sinéad, I picked Troubador so she can get some game advantage from her lute.

Level 0 to Level 5, plus making screenshots? 25 mins.  A PDF export would be nice here.

So, despite Larina and Sinéad both being Sorcerers in Daggerheart, they do look and feel different.

There is a lot to try out for this game and I am looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Links

• Main Website
• Daggerheart Nexus (character creation)
• Daggerheart Open Beta Playtest rules, DriveThruRPG