For this I am going back to the dawn of the OSR to pick Basic Fantasy.
In truth Basic Fantasy can work for any "Well Supported" item. One shots, adventures, supplements, you name it. The community is rich, vibrant and engaged. Their Downloads section is loaded full of things you can get for free and are constantly updated.
This includes all their adventures.
--
I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August.
"A Bhrigid, scar os mo chionn, do bhrat fionn dom anacal."
Something a little different today, a little bit of Wasted Lands myth-making applied to D&D rather than just using Wasted Lands as a D&D substitute.
One "character" that has been a feature of many of my games (fantasy, horror, sci-fi) is that of Brigid. My version is based on the famous saint, St. Brigid of Kildare AND the goddess Brigid of Celtic myth. I figured with Imbolc (Feb 1) coming up, it is a good time to talk about her.
Who Is Brigit?
A simple question with a very complicated answer. In the mytho-historical tales of Ireland there are two Brigits. The Goddess and the Saint. Was the saint named for the goddess? Was the goddess named for the Saint thanks to a 2000+ plus oral tradition that mostly predates writing? In the years I have paid (casual) attention to the academic debates, I have seen them shift back and forth a little (or a lot, depending on the journal). She is also related to the ancient British Goddess/figure Brigantia, who the Romans saw as aspects of the goddesses Minerva (Athena), Tyche/Fortuna, and Victoria (Nike). She is a complicated Goddess.
This is fascinating but only tangentially related to my games, save for how my readings add to them.
She is a Goddess, a Saint, and a figure in Celtic Pagan Witchcraft. So yeah, I am going to find a place for her in my games. Given her influence on me, I don't think it is a surprise that I have so many redheaded witches.
In my games, Brigit is more of a force than a character. I have talked about her in terms of Celtic Myth. The Witch Guardians for D&D 3.x and 4e. As a historical figure in my modern horror games. And as Protectors of Éire for my Ghosts of Albion games.
In my games where I like to play on the themes of the Rise and Fall of Paganism vs. the Coming of the Christian Faith, Brigit is my chance to "cheat a win." In these games, Brigit is a pagan Goddess. She has a following of women pagan worshipers who are no longer druids but not yet witches. My version of Bodhmal is a great if not prime, example of this. In these games/set-up Brigit tucks her fire-red hair under a nun's habit and continues on. Her witches now hiding in plain sight.
I never worked out how that works for her, but with Wasted Lands I can give it a try! Before there was the St. Brigit of Kildare, or there was Goddess Brigit, there was the woman Brigit. She was many things: warrior, philosopher, healer, and the spirit of her land. Because of her connection to Ireland, she is remembered by many in many different forms.
Class: Warrior / Theosophist / Spirit Rider
Level: 15 (5/5/5)
Species: Human
Alignment: Light Good
Background: Animistic
Abilities
Strength: 15 (+1) A
Agility: 12 (+1)
Toughness: 17 (+2)
Intelligence: 11 (+1)
Wits: 16 (+2) N
Persona: 17 (+2) N
Fate Points: 1d12
Defense Value: 5
Vitality: 114
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0
Check Bonus (A/N/D): +7/+4/+3
Melee Bonus: +5 (base) +1 (str) +2 (touchstones)
Ranged Bonus: +5 (base) +1 (touchstone)
Magical Attack: +2
Saves: +2 to all saves (warrior), +2 to Persona saves, but -2 on Magic away from Ireland (Animistic).
Animistic Powers
Mystical senses, Speak with Plants and Animals, Animal Summoning 1 (spell)
Warrior Abilities
Combat Expertise, Improved Defence, Melee Combat, Master of Battle, Supernatural Attacks (melee and ranged), Spell Resistance, Tracking, Masters of Weapons, Extra Attacks (x2), Extra Damage
Theosophist Abilities
See Dead People, Turn Undead, Summon the Dead, Channel the Dead, Protection from Undead (2/day), Command, Death Knell (Banshee Wail), Suggestion (1/day)
Spirit Rider Abilities
Innate Magic (5), Arcane Power (2), Commune with Spirit, Limited Power (outside of Ireland), Magcial Battery, Add Wits bonus to Supernatural attacks
Arcane Powers
Empathy, Precognition
Spells
First level: Gout of Flame, Restore Vitality
Second level: Eternal Flame, Lesser Renewal
Third level: Concusive Blast (Fire)
Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: First Level Spell: Black Flame
2nd Level: +1 to melee combat
3rd Level: Charm Power
4th Level: Favored Enemy: Undead
5th Level: +1 to all checks, attacks, and saves
6th Level: Immunity to Undead Attacks
7th Level: Character ceases to age
Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Craft, Fire, Warrior
Gear
Sword, Leather Armor
Brigit in the Wasted Lands
For these stats, I played up the aspects of her character that will become important in my games: her connection to fire and her hatred of the undead. This is the warrior aspect of her personality. Her Animitic background (from Wasted Lands) and her levels in Spirit Rider (NIGHT SHIFT) play very well with each other. As long as she is in Ireland (however I choose to define that) she is powerful and can avoid corruption, outside she is less protected.
Brigit in NIGHT SHIFT
From NIGHT SHIFT I get her Theosophist class (Core Rules) and her Spirit Rider class (Night Companion). This works well for me since it also gives me more mechanics to represent her aspects. Brigit is still active in the world of NIGHT SHIFT since she is the head of the Daughters of the Flame coven. A world-wide organization of witches dedicated to Brigit.
Brigit in Thirteen Parsecs
Ah...now this one is fun. How does a Celtic Goddess find her way out into the Solar Frontier? I guess this is my answer to the infamous question, "Why does God need a Starship?" In my Black Star games (soon to be converted wholesale over to Thirteen Parsecs), there is a ship in the Mystic line, the Imbolc Mage NX-3119. This ship is the sister to the Protector NX-3120. I have not talked much about that ship because I have been using it as an NPC ship. I have also been using it as my test-run ship for ship-to-ship combat rules. Brigit herself is not on this ship, but she has a vested interest in it.
You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games. Thirteen Parsecs is coming soon.
This one is important to me.
Yesterday, I briefly introduced you to a character I mentioned around here but finally gave him a proper introduction: Nigel "Death Blade" Delamort. If he sounded like the sort of character a 13-year-old makes while trying to sound edgy, then yes, you are 100% correct. But he is part of a quintet, five aspects of my personality on paper as it were (remember I was just introduced to psychology and I was eating it all up). Today's character is the last of that quintet.
Briefly, when looking at psychoanalytic theory (and please keep in mind I am reducing a hundred+ years worth of thought into the size of a bubble gum wrapper), a person's personality can broken up into two aspects according to Jung (Anima/Animus) or three according to Freud (Id/Ego/Super-ego). I have already introduced you all to my Animus (Phygora), Anima (Larina), Id (Nigel), and Super-Ego (Johan), so all I need now is my Ego-self.
My ego is Johan Werper, aka Retsam Elddir.
Wait. That doesn't make any sense. Here is what I am talking about.
Again, I ask you to come back with me to the years between 1983 and 1986. I was in High School and playing a ton of D&D...or, more to the point, AD&D. We really tried to draw a very solid line between the two. When I was the DM, it was B/X D&D, and our world was "The Known World," later to be called Mystara. When my friend Michael was DMing, it was AD&D, and the world was Greyhawk. We would merge them, and that world became something like the Mystoerth that I use today.
Around 85-86 we were both working making new character classes and trying them out. Mine were the Healer, the Sun-Priest, a variant on the Necromancer/Death Mage, and my most successful one, The Witch. Grenda was not sitting by. He had created, sort of as a joke, a super-powered class of psychic adepts that had to hide their powers since at that time we said psionics were considered unnatural in a world of magic. That class was the Riddle Master, named after the Patricia A. McKillip book, The Riddle-Master of Hed. As it happened, he really loved the class. So much so that he wanted me to try it out. So I said fine, roll up my stats and I'll come over. He did and the stats for my new Riddle Master were the exact same as the ones Johan I had. So we thought this was the Johan of Oerth and not the same as the Mystara one I was playing. We were both high from the Crisis on Infinite Earths, I had also been reading Job: A Comedy of Justice by Heinlein and The Coming of the Quantum Cats by Pohl. So we decided that this new Johan was a "Quantum Cat" or multiverse counterpart (the current en vogue term is Variant) of my first Johan. Much like Superman of Earth 1 vs. Superman of Earth 2 there was a generational age difference.
We decided that this new Riddle Master character had to use a different name to avoid confusion in our inevitable cross-overs. I did the only logical thing. I spelled his name backwards, much to the chagrin of Grenda. Of course I stole the idea from him. He had characters named Adnerg and Htaed.
Thus began the adventuring life of Retsam Elddir. He crazy powerful psionic powers and still made dumb mistakes. Like when he stuck his hands into a Gelatinous Cube (he wore gloves after that forever to hide the scars), he was best friends with Larina, married Heather, and killed the ancient vampire Mal Havoc.
Later on, Retsam, using the name Scott Elders, would show up in Ghosts of Albion, WitchCraft, and even feature in a Star Trek game as a guest, then as the main PC. The AD&D version was a blast to play with but I also enjoyed the WitchCraft version a lot. It was the WitchCraft version that I used in my Vacation in Vancouver campaign.
Retsam has a lot of things in common with both Johan (Super-Ego) and Phygora (Animus). Like both of those characters, he is an occult/arcane scholar. Like them both he is an expert in magic. In Larina's library, there are books with blue covers from Johan, black covers from Pygora, and red covers from Retsam.
Class: Psychic / Scholar
Level: 20
Species: Human
Alignment: Light Neutral
Background: Scholar
Abilities
Strength: 15 (+2)
Agility: 10 (+0)
Toughness: 12 (+0)
Intelligence: 15 (+1) N
Wits: 15 (+1) N
Persona: 19 (+3) A
Fate Points: 1d12
Defense Value: 5
Vitality: 120
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0
Check Bonus (A/N/D): +8/+6/+2
Melee Bonus: +4 (base) +1 (touchstone)
Ranged Bonus: +4 (base)
Psychic Attack: +7
Saves: +7 vs Persona (Psychic), +1 to all (touchstone)
Psychic Abilities
Psychic powers: 5, Supernatural attacks, Supernatural power: Astral Projection
Psychic Powers
Bio-feedback
Psychokinesis
ESP
Telepathy
Temporal Sense
Sage Abilities
Languages: 15, Lore 95%, Mesmerize others, suggestion, Renegade Skills: 3rd level, Spells 3/2/1
Stealth Skills
Open Locks: 30%
Bypass Traps: 25%
Sleight of Hand: 35%
Sneak: 30%
Spells
First level: Arcane Dart, Damage Undead, Mystical Senses
Second level: Lesser Renewal, Unlock
Third level: Concussive Blast
Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: First Level Spell: Black Flame
2nd Level: +1 to melee combat
3rd Level: Charm Power
4th Level: Favored Enemy: Vampire
5th Level: +1 to all checks, attacks, and saves
6th Level: Immunity to Undead Attacks
7th Level: Character ceases to age
8th Level: Persistent Luck
9th Level: Down but not out
10th Level: Time Slip
Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Knowledge
Gear
Sword, Leather Armor
Retsam in the Wasted Lands
Much like Nigel this is where Retsam starts. In the Wasted Lands I would focus on his psychic abilities and his desire to hunt the undead, vampires in particular.
Retsam in NIGHT SHIFT
In modern times Retsam is using the name Scott Elders. NIGHT SHIFT works great (naturally) with the type of supernatural games I like to play/run. In this sort of game I can use Retsam/Scott as Prof. Scott Elders, an occult scholar and faculty at St. Andrews University.
Retsam in Thirteen Parsecs
This Scott Elders was the Chief Medical Officer and then Captain of the medical starship Mercy. To have one system to be able to do all three of these different versions is fantastic. Especially one system that allows me to do this character so well.
ALL allow me to use the same character across different times, different places, and right up to the Solar Frontier.
You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games. Thirteen Parsecs is coming soon.
Back in the mid-80s, I discovered psychology. I thought it was a great topic and it really fascinated me. I started, of course, with the classics where most people start, Freud and Jung. Well, really, Jung and then Freud , I wanted to read Jung and, in particular, Synchronicity in the original German. It was not easy let me tell you. While both Freud and Jung are psychoanalysts, but Jung always more like philosophy to me. One of his concepts was that of the Anima and the Animus side of your personality. Like a Ying and Yang. Similarly, Freud had his view of the Id, Ego, and Super-ego (das Es, Ich, and Über-Ich), which I think a lot of people at least have a passing knowledge of.
You might be asking, great, but what does this arm-chair psychology have to do with characters? Well for this weekend, a lot.
My exploration of psychology (which also led to my eventual career as a Psychologist) was going on at the same time as some of my most prolific character creations. It is no shock, then, that I have characters that represent these psychoanalytic concepts.
On the Jungian side (because I am still Jung at heart! Yes, I use that joke often) we have my obvious Anima in Larina. In fact, I may have identified her as an anima before she was a character. My Animus is Phygora. I have not explored him much because what is there to say? He is an academic, he has magic. Swap magic for science, and you have me.
On the Freudian side, Johan I is very much my Super-ego. So, who are my Id and Ego characters?
Ego represents you, who you are to the outside world. My Ego character is "Retsam Elddir" (yeah, I will explain that later).
Id represents all your unchecked desires and dark impulses. My Id is Nigel "Death Blade" Delamort.
Who is Nigel "Death Blade" Delamort?
Nigel was a 1st Ed AD&D character and I had a lot of fun with him. He is/was a Neutral Evil assassin that used to adventure in the same party as Johan II. I fudged it and said that both heard a prophecy that they would both be needed in a great war and they could not harm each other. All BS of course, I wanted to have a LG Paladin and a NE Assassin at the same time.
Nigel began life through a dirt-poor second son in Specularum, he tried to steal a dagger from a local blacksmith. Instead of turning the boy in the blacksmith trained him, until the blacksmith was killed by assassins. I won't get into the details here, but suffice to say that he was a fun character who allowed me to live out a lot of violence (it is what my Id would do).
He mellowed out over the years. Which is good because he was a bit of an asshole.
Through a series of events that are too long and complicated to get into here, Nigel was transported to the future so I could use him Star Frontiers. He would come back to help Johan in my big war at the end of High School with his spaceship, the Lucifer. Along the way, he became immortal, or at least very long-lived, and he has been a galactic bounty hunter for hire.
Class: Renegade
Level: 20
Species: Human
Alignment: Twilight Evil
Background: Craft (Blacksmith)
Abilities
Strength: 18 (+3) N
Agility: 20 (+4) A
Toughness: 17 (+2) N
Intelligence: 13 (+1)
Wits: 12 (+1)
Persona: 8 (-1)
Fate Points: 1d12
Defense Value: 2
Vitality: 119
Degeneracy: 1
Corruption: 0
Check Bonus (A/N/D): +8/+6/+4
Melee Bonus: +6 (base) +3 +2 (touchstones)
Ranged Bonus: +6 (base) +4 +1 (touchstone)
Spell Attack: NA
Saves: +7 vs Death effects (Renegade), +2 to Toughness-based saves related to stamina and endurance (Craft). +1 to all (touchstone)
Renegade Abilities
Improved Defence, Ranged Combat, Stealth Skills, Climbing, Danger Sense (1-7 d8), Perception, Vital Strike x7, Read Languages, Stealth Skills
Warrior Abilities
Combat Expertise, Improved Defence, Melee Combat, Master of Battle, Supernatural Attacks, Spell Resistance, Tracking, Masters of Weapons, Extra Attacks (x2), Extra Damage
Stealth Skills
Open Locks: 95%
Bypass Traps: 95%
Sleight of Hand: 95%
Sneak: 95%
Climbing: 95%
Perception: 95%
Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: +1 to melee attacks
2nd Level: Favored Weapon: Sword (+1 to hit, +2 Damage)
3rd Level: Level 1 of Warrior
4th Level: Level 2 of Warrior
5th Level: +1 to all checks, attacks, and saves
6th Level: Level 3 of Warrior
7th Level: Character ceases to age
8th Level: Level 4 of Warrior
9th Level: Down but not Out
10th Level: Level 5 of Warrior
Heroic (Divine) Archetype: War
Gear
Sword, Leather Armor, thieves tools, (later plasma rifle).
Nigel in the Wasted Lands
This is the starting point for Nigel, my D&D stand-in. When I had him move between systems I always had to restat him. Here he can move between the epochs with ease.
Nigel in NIGHT SHIFT
In modern times Nigel is something of a supernatural hunter. From his personal timeline this occurred after he spent his time in literal Hell. After coming back from the future he went back to Glantri. Here he followed his daughter's (Raven) killer into hell. Again like said above it is long and complicated. But after Hell, Nigel was a WitchCraft/Armageddon character.
Nigel in Thirteen Parsecs
This was right after "D&D" and here I used Star Frontiers for his stats. It was an interesting translation. Then we tried a little Gamma World, then a little (tiny little) bit of Traveller. Each translation I felt something in the character was lost even if my knowledge of the games increased. Thirteen Parsecs hopefully will fix that for me. Nigel will be one of my first 13P characters.
ALL allow me to use the same character across different times, different places and right on up to the Solar Frontier.
You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games. Thirteen Parsecs is coming soon.
It is pretty late, and I thought I had a character lined up to go, but I guess I didn't. So, going through this big old folder of characters I have worked up over the years, I ran into an "oldish" friend.
Content creator GinnyDi released three elf characters that anyone could adopt a couple of years back. I took an immediate liking to one, Morelia the Wood Witch. So much so that she makes a guest appearance in my War of the Witch Queen campaign.
Morelia is such a fun character she was so much fun when I ran A Witch's Desire. She and her familiar Crimini showed up in place of the Witch of the Wild. Since then I have been dying to use her somewhere else again. I just wish I could pull off her adorable high-pitched voice!
So once again, with her (implied) permission, here is Morelia the Wood Witch.
Class: Witch (Wits)
Level: 8
Species: Wood Elf
Alignment: Light Good
Background: Craft
Abilities
Strength: 18 (+3)
Agility: 18 (+3)
Toughness: 18 (+3)
Intelligence: 15 (+1) N
Wits: 14 (+1) N
Persona: 22 (+5) A
Fate Points: 1d8
Defense Value: 8
Vitality: 45
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0
Check Bonus (A/N/D): +4/+3/+1
Melee Bonus: +1 (base)
Ranged Bonus: +1 (base)
Spell Attack: +4 (witch)
Saves: +4 to Spells and Magical effects (Sorcerer), +1 to Persona, Agility, and mind-affecting spells (Wood Elf), +1 to Toughness (touchstone)
Elf Abilities
Nightsighted, surprised, saves, bonus spell*
Witch Abilities
Arcana, Arcane Powers (3): Polymath (Alchemy), Beguile, Subtle Influence
Sorceress Spells
First Level: Beast Speech*, Armor of Earth, Glamour, Read Languages, Mystical Senses
Second Level: Create Water, Invisibility, Locator Spell: Plants
Third Level: Cure Disease, Remove Curse, Slow
Fourth Level: Metamorph Other, Plant Speech
Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: +1 bonus to Toughness saves
2nd Level: Luck Benefit
3rd Level: Spirit Guide: Cat "Crimini"
4th Level: Magical Recovery
Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Crafting, Alchemy
Gear
Dagger, cauldron, very spoiled cat
Wasted Lands and Morelia
The spell selection here is bit less than what I would want with Morelia. I think this is largely due to the fact that I really liked her Basic-era/BX/OSE version a lot. But in truth there is nothing stopping me from gabbing a spell or two from one of my witch books and use them here. This is even more true if I am using Wasted Lands as D&D.
For the Divine/Heroic archetypes, I might swap out that 2nd level Luck benefit for an herbal healing one. Makes much more sense for her, really, but like the spells, I want to do it by the book first.
Still, though, this character is a delight. I have decided that the next time my players encounter her she is going to be having a long and animated conversation with her herb garden.
Morelia Links
--
Don't forget to stop by the Tardi Captian's Blog to see all his character posts, and all the other participants.
You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.
Mad genius Mark Taormino is back with another Maximum Mayhem Dungeon!
Maximum Mayhem Dungeons #8: Funhouse of the Puppet Jester
What can I say here? Mark does great work, and these adventures are always fun.
Click, check it out and pledge!
Mark: I am going to need a bigger box for the adventures now!
September is here, and every year at this time, I say, "how in the hell did that happen???"
I have a snowblower to fix, veggies to harvest, and family to visit this month, so posting might be light.
I also want to get in some Old-School game reviews and discussions, plus I have some other things I want to clear off my plate before October hits.
This year I am joining in the 31 Days of Halloween Movie Challenge from Pun Issac over at Hall of the Nephilim.
Here is the text version:
Daily Prompt
Alternates
A few of these might end up being re-watches. I wanted to do all Spanish language horror this year, but I might not get to that. I am not as far along in my Spanish as I would have hoped, to be honest.
Speaking of October, Horror and Halloween.
Here is some new art for my next book, I need to get a move on it to get it done.
 |
| https://www.billyblueart.com/ |
Best get back to writing.
I have a soft spot for Obscure RPGs. But I think one of my favorites, warts and all, is Lee Gold's "Lands of Adventure."
The game has some flaws, but it is such a fun concept and a great idea. Plus, the art and design are fantastic.
I reviewed it a couple of years ago but have only played once or twice since then. It really is an old-school gem from the ancient days of Dragon Magazine.
Hello. My is Tim, and I am addicted to dice.
It began innocently enough. I got a set in my D&D Basic. Then another in my D&D Expert Box. Then B. Dalton's Bookseller in White Oaks Mall had Dragon Dice in full sets and percentile genators.
Then I got clear sets. Blue sets. Discover more. Now...well, now I have no clear idea how many I have. I have sets for characters, a set for each game, and sets for DMing certain campaigns. Metal dice, tiny dice, huge dice.
So what did I get in the mail yesterday? You guessed it.
These retro dice were made by Threshold Diceworks. Which you can find on Facebook and their Etsy store. He was taking pre-orders a while back and mine finally came in yesterday and I am very pleased with them!
They compare very favorably to the sets I had with my Expert set, the Dragon Dice polyhedrals, and the sets that came with the Mentzer Basic boxes.
Yes. Those are my Mentzer dice still in a bag and unopened and unmarked.
I even have some Armory Dice Markers for them! I might swap a d10 in each set for a proper set of percentile dice. I can even use them for Star Frontiers.
Now. I just need a good dice bag for them.
These will likely be my Old School Essentials dice or my Wasted Lands ones.
In any case, I am really happy to have them. When they start selling more I need to snag an orange d8.
Two new games to scratch that old-school itch.
Bloody Appalachia - Grindhouse Rural Horror Tabletop RPG
There are like two or three people I would pick as a dream team to make a game of rural horror. And they are all on this project.
Honestly, I didn't need to look past the names. Once I saw Josh Palmer, Eric Bloat, and Pun Issac, I knew I had to have this. And so should you.
So get this now.
Shadowdark RPG: Old-School Gaming, Modernized
This one doesn't really need my help, but it still looks fun. I had picked up the play-test/preview materials at last year's Gary Con and this looks like it will be great.
It is smart trying to get the Old-School and New-School players together. I am not sure it will replace OSE in my life, but it will add some nice features to it.
PDF and Hardcover. 308 pages. Color cover, black & white art with full-color art pages.
Chapter 10: Introduction Again, this is our introduction this time for the Game Master or Referee's point of view. What the Referee does for the game and more.
Chapter 11: Refereeing This get's into the Game Mastering process in detail. This covers grant experience for the characters and setting up the campaign.
Chapter 12: Bestiary Our monster section and truthfully one of my favorites. The expected ones are here, but there are also plenty of new ones. This covers roughly 130 pages. There are interesting new takes on some classic "D&D" monsters, plus many new ones like a bunch of new "lesser" and "sublunary" demons. The format is most similar to Basic or Labyrinth Lord, and it is full of the usual suspects with some Lovecraftian Horrors, and even remnants of alien and bygone ages. "Demons" are here, but no devils.
Chapter 13: Treasure Covers treasure types and magical treasure. Among the magic items are things like Radium Pistols and other sc-fi artifacts. Very pulpy. It also includes some rules on scribing spell and protection scrolls. There is even a small section on Alchemy in Hyperborea. Very useful to have really.
Chapter 14: Gazetteer. The lands are a pastiche of Howard, Vance, Lovecraft, and Smith. If these names mean anything to you, then you know or have an idea, of what you are going to get here. This section has been greatly expanded from the previous editions. Included here are the gods again and a little more on religion. Basically, you get the idea that gods are either something you swear by (or to) or get sacrificed to by crazy cultists. So yeah, you know I am a fan.
Appendix A: Weather in Hyperborea. Likely more important here than, say, other game worlds. Weather in Hyperborea is dangerous.
Appendix B: Hazards of Hyperborea. There are horrible things waiting for you in Hyperborea and they are not all monsters or the weather.
Appendix C: Waterborne Expeditions. Covers waterborne adventures and combat.
Appendix D: Warefare and Siege. Your characters have built their strongholds. Now someone wants to know it down. Here are the rules.
Appendix E: OGL Statement. The OGL statement for this book.
Nearly every aspect of this game has seen expansion since the 2nd Edition; some sections more than others, but it is a great upgrade.
With the new 3rd Edition, we have some changes. First, the game is now simply called "HYPERBOREA" and not "Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea 3rd Edition." Secondly, the Player's Manual and the Referee's Manual are now separate books. Much like the 1st Edition was. Only this time, they are full hardcover books.
PDF and Hardcover. 324 pages. Color cover, black & white art with full color art pages.
For my review, I am going to be considering the hardcover from the Kickstarter and the PDFs from DriveThruRPG.
The book starts with the credits, acknowledgments, and dedication to John Eric Holmes, the author/editor of the "Holmes" Basic edition.
Chapter 1: Introduction this covers what this game is and what RPGs in general are. This is important and worth a read since it sets the stage for what sort of sub-genre this game covers, "swords, sorcery, and weird science-fantasy." The classics of Swords and Sorcery are covered here briefly and how they add to the feeling of this game. This is pure Howard, Lovecraft, and Smith.
Chapter 2: Character Generation covers character creation. This chapter is brief covering of what you can do with the five chapters. This also has a listing of the common "facts" known to every character. There is a section on leveling up.
Chapter 3: Statistics or the "rolling up characters" chapter. The six recognizable methods are presented here. The most common of course is Method III; roll 4d6 drop the lowest. We also have the same six attributes we have always had.
Each class has a "Fighting Ability" (FA) and a "Casting Ability" (CA) which relates to attacks. So yes, even magicians can get a little better in combat as they go up in level. It's a great little shorthand and works great. So a 4th level Fighter has a fighting ability of 4. A 4th level magician still only has a fighting ability of 1 and a cleric 3 and thief 3. Subclasses can and do vary.
AC is descending (like old school games), BUT with the Fighting Ability stat it could be converted to an ascending AC easily.
Chapter 4: Classes We still have our Basic Four; Fighter, Magician, Cleric, and Thief. Each also gets a number of subclasses. Fighters get Barbarian, Berserker, Cataphract, Huntsman, Paladin, Ranger, and Warlock. The Magician has Cryomancer, Illusionist, Necromancer, Pyromancer, and Witch. The Cleric has the Druid, Monk, Priest, Runegraver, and Shaman. Finally, the Thief has the Assassin, Bard, Legerdemainist, Purloiner, and Scout.
Each subclass is very much like its parent classes with some changes. The classes look pretty well balanced.
Chapter 5: Background This covers all the things about the character that "happened" before they were characters.
Races are dealt with first. They include Amazons, Atlanteans, Esquimaux, Hyperboreans, Ixians, Kelts, Kimmerians, Lemurians, Picts, and Vikings along with the catch-all "Common" race of man. No elves or dwarves here. Physique is also covered.
Alignment is a simpler affair of Lawful Good, Lawful Evil, Chaotic Good, Chaotic Evil, and Neutral.
Along with race, there are various languages the characters can learn/know. There are also gods here, an interesting mix of Greek, Lovecraftian, Norse, and Smith gods.
There are background skills and weapon skills. Though I misread "charcoaler" as "chocolatier," and now I want a character with this background.
Chapter 6: Equipment Or the "let's go shopping" chapter. If you missed the "to hit modifiers vs. armor types/AC" in AD&D then I have a treat for you. Weapons here are more detailed than they were in previous editions of HYPERBOREA; or at least more detailed than my memory of the older editions. Just checked, this one is much more detailed.
Chapter 8: Adventure. This chapter improves over the previous editions. It covers all sorts of adventure topics like hirelings and henchmen, climbing, doors, nonstandard actions, time and movement.
Chapter 9: Combat. All sorts of combat topics are covered. Critical hits, unarmed combat, mounted combat and more. Damage and madness are also covered. The madness section is small and not really designed to mimic the real world.
Appendix A: Name Generator. Pretty useful, really, to get the right feel of the game. Afterall "Bob the Barbarian" isn't going to cut it here.
Appendix B: Lordship and Strongholds. What each class and subclass gains as a Lord or Lady of their chosen strongholds. There is a great section on creating strongholds as well.
Appendix C: Cooperative Gaming. This covers how well to play in a group.
Appendix D: OGL Statement. This is our OGL statement.
These appendices (with the exception of D) are all new.
There is also a great index.
So I will admit I was unsure about backing the 3rd Edition of HYPERBOREA. I have the 1st and 2nd Editions and they have served me well over the last few years. This edition brings enough new material to the table that it really is the definitive version of the game.
The leatherette covers are really nice and I am happy I waited for it. Since the Player's and Ref's books are now separate, I could, if I wanted, pick up another Player's book.
The art is great. There are some reused pieces and still plenty of new ones. It uses the art well and helps set the tone of the game.
Another Old-school mail call this week and this one is quite timely. I finally got my Hyperborea leatherette Players and Referee's Guides.
If you have been here for any amount of time you know of my love for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, now just called HYPERBOREA.
This new set, 3rd Edition, does not disappoint.
Now I have all three editions of this game. I don't need all three, but I can't find myself parting with any of them.
AS&SH and to a degree HYPERBOREA was where I started my ideas for the War of the Witch Queens, but I have moved it on to Old-School Essentials now. I would still LOVE to do something with HYPERBOREA, something special really.
HYPERBOREA is firmly in the AD&D rules camp of the OSR clones, though it does only go to level 12.
Part of me wants to run the Dark Wizard Games modules from Mark Taormino. There is some overlap in themes to be sure. I just wonder if some of the Eldritch Weirdness of HYPERBOREA would be lost in the Gonzo weirdness found in the Dark Wizard adventures.
I have talked before about how great these would be for B/X or OSE, but maybe this is where I need to go.
Another option is this.
Now, this would work and The Lost City and Castle Amber both have solid Clark Ashton Smith vibes. Into the Borderlands and Expedition to the Barrier Peaks also fit the tone of HYPERBOREA well. Same with Isle of Dread which is very sandboxey. The Temple of Elemental Evil is the odd one out unless I do a little massaging.
Level wise I think it all might work. Into the Borderlands covers levels 1-3. Isle of Dread covers 3-7. Barrier Peaks covers 8-12. The Lost City 1-3 (though I argue more like 2-4), Castle Amber 3-6, and Temple of Elemental Evil 1-8 (or more). I can already see how I could do this, to be honest. The trouble is I have run most of these with my kids already.
Still might be fun as an intellectual experiment.
With just a little over 20 hours left on this I am reposting.
Gateway To Adventure Trilogy For Old-School Essentials
Appendix N is kickstarting a trio of books for Old-School Essentials. So the "Gateway to Adventure" is quite appropriate.
From the campaign page,
Within the Gateway To Adventure trilogy you will receive optional rules and classes based on the Mid-Realm campaigns of R.J. Thompson, as well as lore for the various kin and classes. All of this information will be presented in a way that will be easily transferable into any campaign setting! These books are meant to be cherry picked by referees and players alike to create the campaign that they want to have! Similarly to how we present our adventures, so that every table's experience is different, so too with our rules variants, we want everyone to have their own unique game! All of this in an A5 format so these books fit on your shelf right next to the core Old-School Essentials line!
Sounds like a lot of fun and OSE is my current OSR clone of choice.
A couple of Kickstarters designed for Old-School Essentials (the new hotness in the OSR scene) are up. Let's have a look.
Dark Places & Demogorgons for Old-School Essentials
This one is the Peanut Butter and Chocolate of the OSR right now. Dark Places and Demogorgons is a fun setting, OSE is a great rule system. Two great tastes that are great together.
Honestly, outside of NIGHT SHIFT, these are the only two games that excite me right now. AND they both live on the same shelf, so this is kind of a no-brainer for me.
And this one has now hit its funding goal and headed for stretch goals! And the stretch goals look FANTASTIC. I am in on an early bird special, so I am looking forward to all the great stuff this one is going to get for me.
Gateway To Adventure Trilogy For Old-School Essentials
Appendix N is kickstarting a trio of books for Old-School Essentials. So the "Gateway to Adventure" is quite appropriate.
From the campaign page,
Within the Gateway To Adventure trilogy you will receive optional rules and classes based on the Mid-Realm campaigns of R.J. Thompson, as well as lore for the various kin and classes. All of this information will be presented in a way that will be easily transferable into any campaign setting! These books are meant to be cherry picked by referees and players alike to create the campaign that they want to have! Similarly to how we present our adventures, so that every table's experience is different, so too with our rules variants, we want everyone to have their own unique game! All of this in an A5 format so these books fit on your shelf right next to the core Old-School Essentials line!
Sounds like a lot of fun and OSE is my current OSR clone of choice.
A fun one today Correction, TWO fun ones today.
Gateway To Adventure Trilogy For Old-School Essentials
Appendix N is kickstarting a trio of books for Old-School Essentials. So the "Gateway to Adventure" is quite appropriate.
These books are updates to various new Appendix N books, a few I am going to review for my 100 Days of Halloween to Old School Essentials.
From the campaign page,
Within the Gateway To Adventure trilogy you will receive optional rules and classes based on the Mid-Realm campaigns of R.J. Thompson, as well as lore for the various kin and classes. All of this information will be presented in a way that will be easily transferable into any campaign setting! These books are meant to be cherry picked by referees and players alike to create the campaign that they want to have! Similarly to how we present our adventures, so that every table's experience is different, so too with our rules variants, we want everyone to have their own unique game! All of this in an A5 format so these books fit on your shelf right next to the core Old-School Essentials line!
Sounds like a lot of fun and OSE is my current OSR clone of choice.
They just launched and are very, very close to hitting their funding goal now, get them a look.
And a late entry.
Raiders of R’lyeh: From the Tideless Sea—Epic Horror Sandbox
An adventure/sandbox set in 1900 for " RAIDERS OF R’LYEH tabletop roleplaying game and other d100 GAMES based on H.P. Lovecraft’s ‘Call of Cthulhu’ and other mythos or pulp stories."
It also looks like a lot of fun and they are also very close to their funding goal.
