The Other Side blog

Drive by posting

2012-01-28T14:11:00.002-06:00

Can't spend a lot of time here I have kids that willing got off the Xbox and Skyrim because they want to play some D&D with their Dad!

But I wanted to point a blog today that has absolutely NOTHING to do with writing, games or horror or anything like that.
My friends Jody and Beth used to be suburbanites with my wife and I till they decided to pack it all up and go live off the land. Please have a look at their blog, http://cdrvalleyfarm.blogspot.com/.

While my experience with farm life is a vague idea that is where my food comes from, my wife grew up with Jody and Beth, so I get what they are trying to do out there.

So stop by for something different and leave a comment or two to encourage them to post more.

Zatannurday: Year One

2012-01-28T06:56:00.000-06:00

I was not feeling so well last week and totally missed out on my one year anniversary of Zatannurday! Though I guess this one year since it became a regular posting here at The Other Side.

So what can we say one year later? Well we saw one Zatanna comic wrap-up (her self-titled series) and another come up (Justice League Dark). Her TV portrayals were limited to cartoons (though she was mentioned in the last season of Smallville) with here Silver Age counterpart appearing in "Batman The Brave in the Bold" and a younger version in "Young Justice".

My most popular post was the one on Adam Hughes, http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/03/zatannurday-adam-hughes.html but I think that is entirely due to the art on the page and image searches.

My most linked to post was the one where I mentioned she was going to be in Young Justice, http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/10/zatannurday-its-in-cards.html

The most commented one was the posting of Christie Zulo art, http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/04/zatannurday-z-is-for-zatanna-and-zullo.html
This was also the last posting I did for the A to Z challenge and the one that convinced me that the A to Z challenge was worth doing. The first post actually got more comments, but those were comments about the whole idea and less about post itself.

I am very pleased with how all these posts turned out. Plus it has given me something to look forward to each week and give people something new on Saturdays, a day that had been pretty dead on the ole Other Side.

So here is to another year and plenty of magical Zatannurday posts!

Willow & Tara: World of Darkness (old)

2012-01-27T08:00:00.001-06:00

I have been going over a ton of my old books and looking at what I want to keep, what I want to give to my kids and what I want to get rid of. I cam across some old World of Darkness stuff the other day and I am not 100% sure what I am going to do with it yet. Most likely sell it all in my local game auctions. But considering that I have wanted to do some posting on my girls, I thought this would be a good choice.

I never really got into the original World of Darkness. I did have Vampire the Masquerade and I recognized why and how it was good, but at the time I had also just discovered WitchCraft, so that was the game I had chosen to scratch my Modern-Supernatural itches.

Though I did really like Mage. A lot. I really like Sorcerer's Crusade, I thought it was a really cool idea and much more interesting than Mage the Ascension. That lead me to Sorcerer: The Hedge Wizard's Handbook, which is not part of Sorcerer's Crusade, but part of modern Mage. But I am glad I made that mistake, since I really liked this book and it made me look again at the World of Darkness.

For Willow's and Tara's stats in the old World of Darkness I am opting to use Sorcerer: The Hedge Wizard's Handbook instead of Mage proper for a couple of reasons.

First, it is obvious that in the first five seasons of the show Willow learned magic from books and self study. Tara learned from her grandmother and mother. Plus, Season Sux (what I have been calling it that for years) aside, neither Tara nor Willow achieve the power levels in Mage. Sorcerer handles everything nicely. I also happen to like Sorcerer a little bit better than Mage anyway. Now of course in my own games, especially in "Season of the Witch" the girls do achieve Mage like power levels. I'll detail that on a future posting when I talk about new WoD.

What works nice with this version is that it mirrors my WitchCraft/early Buffy stats, and then once I got the characters on my own I took them to Ghosts of Albion, and even the "new" Mage..

Of course I never did use these versions. I did use the Mage: The Awakening versions in one game way back when it first came out, but that is about it.

Willow Rosenberg

Nature: Sage	Society: None
Demeanor:	Mentor: None
Concept: Wicca

Atributes

Strength: 1	Charisma: 2	Perception: 2
Dexterity: 2	Manipulation: 2	Intelligence: 5
Stamina: 3	Appearance: 3	Wits: 3

Abilities

Talents	Skills	Knowledge
Alertness 1	Leadership 2	Computer 5
Instruction 2	Research 5	Enigmas 2
Intimidation 1	Survival 1	Investigation 2
		Medicine 1
		Occult 3
		Science 4

Paths	Backgrounds
Conjuration: 3	Arcane: 1
Enchantment: 2	Library: 5
Ephemera: 1	Relic: 1 (Doll’s Eye Crystal)
Hellfire: 3	Status: 2
Herbalism: 2
Counterspells
Warding

Tara Maclay

Nature: Sage	Society: None
Demeanor:	Mentor: None
Concept: Wicca

Atributes

Strength: 2	Charisma: 3	Perception: 3
Dexterity: 1	Manipulation: 1	Intelligence: 3
Stamina: 3	Appearance: 3	Wits: 4

Abilities

Talents	Skills	Knowledge
Alertness 1	Animal Ken 2	Cosmology 3
Expression 1	Research 4	Enigmas 2
Instruction 2	Survival 2	Investigation 2
		Linguistics 2
		Lore 1
		Occult 2

Paths	Backgrounds
Conjuration: 3	Arcane: 2
Enchantment: 2	Library: 5
Healing: 2	Status: 4
Herbalism: 3
Counterspells
Warding

DriveThru Reviews

2012-01-26T17:14:00.002-06:00

These are more like "Drive By" reviews since I am posting rather fast today. Also a mixed bag of stuff.

Power Pics Heroes 1 -Female Speedster
Great concept really. Provide the art and a paper mini for the games and let the imagination flow.You don't even really need or want stats with this since the purpose is fit the character to your game. I found that most of these can be used in every supers game and even some pure sci-fi ones. Well worth the price.
5 out of 5 stars

OSRIC Book of Assassins
What you get: A 26-page book on Assassins and subclasses for OSRIC and compatible games. The sub classes are interesting enough to keep my attention (I liked the Ninja and the Bounty Hunter).
What struck me as odd though was how it was written. I am not 100% sure English was the first language of the author. There were some very awkward word choices and sentences through out. It also uses a 3rd party skill system that I didn't have. With the OGL the best to do would be include it.
The layout is clean but uninspired (a single column of text) and there is no art at all.
The concept is good, the execution of it though is poor.
2 out of 5 stars

Baba Yaga: Queen of the Wicked Fens
Good little Baba Yaga workup for any level/tier of play.Lots of attention to the myths of Baba Yaga were paid attention to, but their could have been more.The art is only ok, and I would have liked to have seen more of the magic items and stories surrounding her.
This plus a quick web search though will produce a lot of any game.
3 out of 5 stars

Mutants & Masterminds Threat Report #39: Eris
My favorite Threat Report so far for M&M3.
All of these Threat Reports present a fully detailed NPC for your use in your game and all the stats you need. PLUS a .POR file if you are using Hero Lab. Import the file in and alter as needed.
At 99 cents this is a steal.
5 out of 5 stars.

Clarification on 5e

2012-01-25T19:08:00.000-06:00

Just a reminder.

I don't recall ever seeing anywhere that D&D 5e would be compatible with AD&D only that you could play the same style as you did with AD&D 1.

I can just see a lot of people throwing fits about this. To my knowledge we are still looking at ascending armor classes (easily converted if you passed 3rd grade math) and 3e style saves or 4e style defenses.

I am sure we will all know more in the next few days, but the things I have been hearing lately are in my mind good (and good for my group of players) but certainly not going to make everyone happy.

White Dwarf Wednesday Issue 3

2012-01-25T06:09:00.000-06:00

Welcome back to White Dwarf Wednesday.

Issue 3 takes us into Oct/Nov 1977.
The editorial opens up with a bit on whether or not the British SF/F game market was large enough to support a magazine like this. They decide that it is and begin looking for opinions on how they should cover items, namely D&D.
The Editorial ends, amusingly enough, with a "May the Force Be With You". It was 1977 after all.

Digging in we have an article on how to play D&D and Empire of the Petal throne as Solo games. Not a bad read really, I might try it out sometime to see if it works.
More on Fred Hemmings Competitive D&D. The interesting thing about this article that it really shows the roots of D&D in war-gaming and tournament play. It is not something I would try on my own, and I am not sure it would work so well with modern games. But a cool read all the same.

The News section talks about the smash new movie "Star Wars" and how Gen Con had attendance over 2,000 every day, out selling Origins. There is a new movie in the works with Marlon Brando named "Superman".

We delve deeper into the Monstermark system. By this point in my original readings I was loosing interest in it. It was such a convoluted system, but I appreciated it determination to keep on going. Though no new monsters in this issue.

In Open Box we get an overview of a number of D&D aids from Judges Guild including D&D Reference Sheets, a Judge's Screen and Dave Arneson's First Campaign book. They also cover what I believe is the first product to support the "City State of the Invisible Overlord", a place that was near legend when I would be playing a mere 2-3 years later.
Reviews of Citadel from FGU, Fourth Dimesion from J.A. Ball and Co. and The Battle of Five Armies (yeah that one) from TSR. The new reveiws list good points as well as bad ones and the overall score. I can't recall if this was something they kept, so I'll wait till I re-read issue 4.

The next installment of Lewis Pulsipher's "D&D Campaigns" is next. The main issue here is realism of the game and how PCs, NPCs and monsters should behave. There is also a bit about how rules should be handled. Interesting to read in a near-Pre DMG day.

Some details on painting minis comes up after that. A write up on the Assassin character class (with halflings still being referred to as Hobbits). A couple of magic rooms as "Treasure".

The letters section opens with a letter from Paul Jaquays, Editor of the Dungeoneer about the Monstermark system and a gripe about Competitive D&D. More letters follow on the Monstermark system.

The back cover is a cool looking faerie woman.

An interesting, but not landmark, issue. The layout seems a bit cleaner and they certainly know what they are doing now.

Here There Be Dragons...Year of the Dragon

2012-01-24T08:31:00.002-06:00

"I love it when a plan comes together." - Hannibal Smith

Liam and I (well, mostly Liam) have been working really hard on "Here There Be Dragons..."

Early this year we sat down and went through every monster book I own and what Liam liked the best was the classic Monster Manual from 1st Ed AD&D. Can't blame him, that book is what got me hooked.
We decided after gaming one day that HTBD should be stated out for OSRIC to capture that same feel.

Well here is the part where I take my own advice.

April 17, 2012 WotC will as you all know by now re-release the classic hardcover AD&D books.
April 23 is St. George's Day, the patron saint of England and of Dragon Slayers (ok that last bit I made up).

So given that this is the Year of the Dragon, I think it makes sense for Liam and I to double down and get this thing done.

I know I have other projects in the works and they are moving along.

There is a ton to do on it. We have a few score new dragons lined up, some art. Maybe some spells.
It is not going to be a big book. No cover art as of yet. No publisher either.
But this is pure old-school DIY. My son loves dragons and wants to see more of them in his game.

I hope we can make the deadline and get you "Here There Be Dragons..." in time for the 1st Edition releases.

Quintessential D&D for D&D.Next

2012-01-23T14:17:00.004-06:00

Remember my idea back from the late Summer, the one I was calling Quintessential D&D where there are five linked adventures that used all the rules of all D&D?

Here are the links to bring you all back up to speed.
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/08/quintessential-d-half-baked-ideas.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/08/half-baked-adventure-idea.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/08/so-building-off-of-my-half-baked.html

With me? Ok good.
It dawns on me that with what I am hearing about D&D5/D&D.Next that this is the perfect segue into the new rules.

So the characters play through the worlds, they collect the Three Great Books of Gax, fight the dragon guardians and reset the universe. Reset it to what though? Easy, reset it to 5th edition.

With the new change in the rules I am not 100% sure I am going to finish up my 4e game. Or if I do, it will be largely altered to fit into the kinda game I want to run (I still want Drama Points in D&D.)

Stepping away from this for a bit it occurs to me that this would also make a great play-test platform for D&D5.

In the mean time here is an interesting retrospective bit on "Could WotC Support ALL D&D". What a difference seven months can make.

Year of the Dragon

2012-01-23T09:26:00.002-06:00

Today is the start of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dragon. And what a year it is turning out to be so far.

"May you live in interesting times." goes the old saying (which may or may not actually be Chinese in origin).

We are certainly living in interesting times now. Never has there been such unprecedented access to games of any generation. So of course I have indulged, maybe even over-indulged.

There has been an interesting side effect to this. The editions war have hit home. In February we are ging to playing: D&D4, Pathfinder, Basic D&D, and we want to try out some 1st Ed AD&D as well. This is not even taking into consideration our semi-regular D&D 3.x game. And everyone here has an opinon on what works and what doesn't.

I have talked to some of the new D&D5 playtesters and so far 5e/D&D.Next does not appear to be what most people think it is going to be. Well, I say "most" people, I guess I really should be saying "loud" people.
I do have renewed hope for the next version of D&D.

I fear no matter what both the 4e and the OSR crowds are not going to like it; each thinking this new game looks too little like their own and too much like the other.

While there are plenty of doom-and-gloomers out there, I want D&D to succeed. I would love to see a new Golden Age in fact. We have everything we need really, we just need to get the world to see D&D (and by extension all RPGS) as a good low cost alternative to MMORPGS/Computer games that the whole family can enjoy. (see this bit here)

Get the families.
That is where the money and future is.

Adventure crowd sourcing

2012-01-22T14:55:00.000-06:00

Afternoon all.

I am looking for good 1st level adventure for about 5 characters that can be run in a little more than an hour.

I have some ideas, but want to know what my options are.

Any version of D&D is fine since I want to try it out on a few different versions.

Zatannurday: More Scarlet Witch

2012-01-21T07:03:00.000-06:00

To follow up on last week's post, here are few more pics of Zatanna and the Scarlet Witch.

First up, one that was posted midweek and pointed out to me by Martin R. Thomas. http://braveandboldlost.blogspot.com/2012/01/zatanna-and-scarlet-witch.html

A color version of one of last weeks.

And some Deviant Art pics

SCARLET WITCH - ZATANNA by *J-Estacado on deviantART

Magical Time by *petercotton on deviantART

Zatanna Vs. Scarlet Witch by ~DarthTerry on deviantART

Fishnets and Hexes by ~mrfuzzynutz on deviantART

And Hermoine showing how it is done.

hermione scarlet witch and zatanna csbg by ~stejam13 on deviantART

If I were an OSR publisher...

2012-01-20T10:12:00.001-06:00

Then I would be looking at my upcoming catalog and seeing what I have that is remotely AD&D like and get it out in time for the reprints.

Think of the ads you could use. You never have to claim compatibility except where the OGL is concerned.
"Love the new reprints of the Classic game? Well you will also love..."

I have had the chance to talk to some younger generation gamers and many (but not all) are of the mind to get these, just to see what they are all about.

This could be one of the biggest PR opportunities to come in a very long time.

GM Questionnaire

2012-01-19T14:30:00.000-06:00

Zak posted this GM questionnaire. Here are my answers.

1. If you had to pick a single invention in a game you were most proud of what would it be?
Depends I guess. The magic system in Ghosts of Albion is my pride. The revised horror/fear and insanity system for True 20 that might never see the light of day (NDAs) was also really nice.

2. When was the last time you GMed?
Last weekend, Sunday Jan 15. D&D 3.x

3. When was the last time you played?
Wow. Been maybe 6 months. Pathfinder.

4. Give us a one-sentence pitch for an adventure you haven't run but would like to.
Ghosts of Albion: Visit to Castle Dracula

5. What do you do while you wait for players to do things?
If it is truly "free time" I prep for the next adventure/encounter.

6. What, if anything, do you eat while you play?
Maybe chips, trying to cut back on snacks at the game table.

7. Do you find GMing physically exhausting?
No. Sometimes mentally, but I GM little kids.

8. What was the last interesting (to you, anyway) thing you remember a PC you were running doing?
My son figured out a way to immobilize a bunch of monsters and keep them from attacking the party without killing them. He played a great Lawful Good Paladin.

9. Do your players take your serious setting and make it unserious? Vice versa? Neither?
Sometimes. I allow jokes to lighten the mood as needed.

10. What do you do with goblins?
Goblins are one of my my most useful races.

11. What was the last non-RPG thing you saw that you converted into game material (background, setting, trap, etc.)?
Hammer Glamour. I have the best NPCs.

12. What's the funniest table moment you can remember right now?
It happened to me. We were playtesting some new auto-combat software and the black dragon kept attacking my assassin. The trouble was the software didn't recognize the fact that my assassin was already dead and at -40 hp. It knew how to deal with 0 to -10, but beyond that, not so much. The dragon kept attacking my poor dead character over and over.

13. What was the last game book you looked at--aside from things you referenced in a game--why were you looking at it?
4e Book of Vile Darkness. I looked at for a game, but opted not to use it. I guess purely non-research was the Dresden Files game.

14. Who's your idea of the perfect RPG illustrator?
Wow. No idea to be honest. I am kind of art blind really. I can name dozens of designers and scores of authors, but maybe 2-3 artists. Sorry.

15. Does your game ever make your players genuinely afraid?
Yes. I can scare anybody and never resort to any blood and gore.

16. What was the best time you ever had running an adventure you didn't write? (If ever)
Running the Gygax classics with my boys.

17. What would be the ideal physical set up to run a game in?
In my game room. It is very-nearly perfect, I just need a fridge for sodas.

18. If you had to think of the two most disparate games or game products that you like what would they be?
D&D4 and Spellcraft & Swordplay. I enjoy them both and their common points make them seem even more different.

19. If you had to think of the most disparate influences overall on your game, what would they be?
Led Zeppelin albums, Hammer movies, Shakespeare, "Man and his Symbols" by C.J. Jung, comics and Clark Ashton Smith.

20. As a GM, what kind of player do you want at your table?
Enthusiastic. I can deal will all sorts of play-styles, but i want people to really want to be there.

21. What's a real life experience you've translated into game terms?
The entire campaign of The Dragon and the Phoenix was inspired by real-life events. The birth of my children revitalized my desire to play older games.

22. Is there an RPG product that you wish existed but doesn't?
Hmmm. Not really, everytime I think there is something that needs to be written I find it online somewhere.

23. Is there anyone you know who you talk about RPGs with who doesn't play? How do those conversations go?
My wife tends to humor me. People at work think I mean computer games. People I went high school and college with I think scratch their heads.
Addendum: Why doesn't my wife play? She has tried on many occasions in the nearly 2 decades we have been married. It's just not her thing. She goes to Gen Con with us every year and she has fun, but RPGs just don't click with her, much like card games don't click with me.

WotC to do Old School

2012-01-19T06:16:00.001-06:00

Woke up this morning from a crappy night's sleep to find this.

"Wizards of the Coast to produce First Edition Premium AD&D books"
http://www.wizards.com/ContentResources/Wizards/Sales/Solicitations/2012_04_17_dd_1stED_Solicitation_en_US.pdf

So not only is WotC re-releasing the the original Gygaz trinity of books for sale, they are doing to raise money for the Gygax memorial fund. There will be new covers on these books and they will be limited editions.
I might have to pick up two sets (one for me, one for my kids).

Of course despite all of this I am sure people will complain about what percent will actually be going to the Gygax fund. Or about the price of the books.

The PHB product page is here, http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/02410000

So basically WotC out-OSRed the OSR.

Better reserve your copies now.

And I am back

2012-01-18T23:18:00.000-06:00

Little black out is over.

Of course I shouldn't have to mention what SOPA and PIPA could have potentially done to the OSR. So I'll leave it at that.

White Dwarf Wednesday is back next week.

Going Black

2012-01-18T00:01:00.000-06:00

Instead of turning off my blog today in protest of SOPA I am instead posting this message and not doing my normal posting today.

Until then read this for more details.
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/English_Wikipedia_anti-SOPA_blackout

See you Thursday.

The Dragonslayers and the Books of Vile Darkness

2012-01-17T10:29:00.001-06:00

The Dragonslayers are currently wandering around the Greater Caverns of Iggwilv's lair (The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth).

They have been sent to recover the rumored "Golden Treasure of Iggwilv" which of course is Drelzna. I am of course keeping all the treasure (Demonomicon, the 6 books, Prison and Lanthorn) but I am also throwing in a copy of the Book of Vile Drakness.

I have been using the 3.0 version to expand the monster choices in the dungeon, figuring Iggwilv would have bound some demonic creatures to her lair. Plus, the original S4 introduced a lot of new demons to the 1st Ed Game and the BoVD added more to the 3rd ed game.

So I picked up the 4th Ed Book of Vile Darkness over the weekend to help buff up what would be in the game world version.

I have to admit, the 4e one does not compare to either the 3.0 version OR the 4e Demonomicon.
The 4e version is fine, don't get me wrong, but it lacks the gravitas the 3.0 version had.

It's not that the 3.0 is more graphic (graphic is not the same thing as useful or good) but it suffers from the basic fact that all the ideas that should be in have already appeared somewhere else.

I'll use the props that came with the 4e version, and I'll expand the 3.0 version to include the 4e (And really converting between the two systems is not that hard). I'll use the monsters in the lower levels, espcially if I plan to add on the Thaizdun bits.

Plus the Dragonslayers need the book because it has a ritual to summon Tiamat. They are all god characters, and the ritual requires the sacrifice of a "Rainbow Dragon" which at the moment they think is a Chaotic good faerie dragon. Have not decided about that one yet. They are just kids afterall.

Did I get my money's worth for the 4e book? Yeah, I feel that I did. There are some very neat ideas and some cool things for a 4e game. Not as much as I would have hoped for though.

Of course if I use the book in 3e, should I turn around and have it reappear in 4e or 5e? No idea yet. Let me get done with 3e first.

Oh. And my oldest son wants to go back to Mentzer Basic. It figures really, I have tried to push Moldvay/Cook Basic D&D on him for so long that naturally he would only be interested in the one box I never really pull out.

Modular D&D? Tell me more Mr. Cook.

2012-01-16T12:22:00.001-06:00

Monte Cook has posted a little bit about the latest incarnation of D&D on WotC's site.

http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20120116

It seems, so far, that they are going to take a modular approach to the game system. As a game designer and former computer programmer I find this a very interesting take and I am looking forward to more.

Extrapolating on this I can see the following set up:
D&D5 Basic - A basic box with all the rules you need to play. Basic classes, races and magic.
D&D5 Expert/Advanced - an addition to these rules that take the game into all sorts of directions. Added races, classes, prestige classes and the like. Think of all the cool things from D&D Expert and the AD&D 1st ed DMG.
D&D5 Tactics - a miniature focused set of rules for players/DMs that want more definition in their combats. Sure it makes the combats take longer, but that is the trade off.

Then splats similar to the current Heroes of the Feywild or Heroes of Shadow that expand certain "campaign free" areas of the world.

While reading the "lists of demands" in the 5e boards left feeling nothing but despair for the next edition, the official word from the actual designers is leaving me with more optimism.

What I Don't Want

2012-01-16T10:10:00.001-06:00

I do not want 5e to be like an older edition or a retro-clone.

I own and have played every edition of D&D ever published. I have (nearly) every retro- and near- clone there is.

5e can support older editions, it can even emulate some of the features of older games, but it should be be it's own game.

Janurary PDF items from DriveThruRPG

2012-01-15T14:02:00.001-06:00

Here are the Janurary PDF items from DriveThruRPG.

Leverage Roleplaying Game [Margaret Weis Productions] cool example of Cortex+ in action
The Complete Book of Denizens (d20/OGL) [Inner Circle] more new monsters for your d20 games
Kashindan Main Rules [Lupus Games]
Random Encounters Remastered [Purple Duck Games] for Pathfinder, but it looks like it would work for any D&D-like game.
Legacy: Basic Edition [Battlefield Press] Play an immortal. New version of the Legacy game from the 90s.
Mistborn Adventure Game Digital Edition [Crafty Games] based on the novels. From Crafty Games.

To get 20% off the items above just use the code: HotJanuary2012

Enjoy!

One thing I don't Get

2012-01-14T17:23:00.001-06:00

Reading the 5e boards.

How can someone say "I am an Old Timer" and "I started with 2nd Ed" in the same breath?

Ghosts of Albion: Print on Demand

2012-01-14T13:55:00.002-06:00

Tim Knight over at "I'd Rather Be Killing Monsters" featured Ghosts of Albion on his Fleamarket Friday post.
BTW glad to see you back up Tim!

He pointed out something I have not seen yet.
Ghosts of Albion is also available as a Print on Demand book.

I will pick up a copy and see how it looks.
I'll keep you all posted.

Zatannurday: Special Guests White Witch and Scarlet Witch

2012-01-14T07:25:00.000-06:00

It is expected that I would be a big fan of Marvel's Scarlet Witch, but surprisingly I am not. I mean after all there is the whole witch thing, but she just never quite grabbed me the same way Z or even Doctor Strange did. Just an FYI Strange is still one of my favorite Marvel characters.

Though this cosplayer might make me change my mind.

In the Marvel-DC Amalgam Comics Zee and Scarlet Witch are merged into one character Wanda Zatara, The White Witch. She sounds like an interesting character, but I have not read the issues she has been in. I guess her father was a combination of John Zatara (DC) and Doctor Druid (Marvel).

"Skulk" there is like the Hulk, except think John Constantine getting angry and becoming Solomon Grundy. Frankie Rayner is Jade, Kyle Raynor and Fire all in one.

Since this is an RPG blog, here is a link to her stats for the Marvel SAGA system, http://www.chopshoptoys.com/Games/WhiteWitchsht.jpg

Trouble is, in truth, the things that irritate me about Scarlet Witch will also happen to Zatanna; ie making her too powerful, then not powerful enough, never know what to do with her powers. I feel that the latest round of authors, starting with Paul Dini, have made Zee better. Scarlet Witch is just dead in the Ultimate Universe as far as I know.

Any way here are some pics of Zee and Scarlet Witch teaming up.

Edited to add:

Scarlet Witch / Zatanna team up over at the Brave and the Bold/Super Team Family.

April A to Z Challenge

2012-01-12T10:19:00.000-06:00

Blogging A to Z

The official A to Z blogging challenge site has reposted my blog post about this year's challenge.
You can see that here, http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Again, let me restate that if we want to get our messages out there we need to move beyond the collection of blogs we all read now. I spend a lot of time on writer's blogs (who love the A to Z) and horror blogs. Most have never heard of us or what we do. That's fine, but it is a reminder that while we are loud in the echo chamber of our own blogs, outside of us we are barely a whisper. And by "we" I mean RPG hobbyists in general, not just old-school, new-school or no-school.

So what I am going to do?

I have considered going back to one of my first loves, Vampires, and doing vampires A to Z as a rough draft for a monster book on vamps. I figured the change would be nice and it is popular enough to keep the conversation going. Don't know yet really.

Let me extend the challenge again to my fellow RPG bloggers to try this out.

Vampire the Masquerade 20th - Print

2012-01-11T14:24:00.000-06:00

The game that redefined games in the 90s and beyond is back in a new print version.

Vampire the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=94815&affiliate_id=10748

This is for the Print-on-demand product, and it is not cheap.
Granted it is also not a small book. Nor is it just any book.

Very, very, very few games have had the impact on the public awareness as much as V:tM. D&D being one, and maybe (just maybe) Call of Cthulhu. But really it is just D&D and V:tM.

I think one of the reason the OSR has not latched on to VtM is that there seems to be a pretty clear divide between D&D players and WoD players. Too bad really. Both games are a lot of fun.

White Dwarf Wednesday Issue 2

2012-01-11T06:03:00.002-06:00

Welcome back to White Dwarf Wednesday. Today I will talk about Issue #2 from Aug/Sep 1977.

This is an interesting issue if for one reason alone (though there are more), the editorial. Ian Livingstone talks about the superior attitude being taken by the old guard war gamers against this "New" hobby of RPGs, though called throughout the editorial as SF/F gamers.
It is interesting reading this piece where D&D is the new kid on the block and defending itself against, well, the Grognards.
It is also interesting since none of the arguments have changed in 35 years. Substitute the names of the games and you have the same post you will see on any blog or message board.

Following that we have more details on Competitive D&D. A review on Asgard Miniatures by Ian Livingstone. Lewis Pulsipher gives us a three page review/article on The Green Planet Trilogy game by Richard Jordison. He doesn't particularly like the games and invites the author to write White Dwarf to clarify some rules.

An interesting tid bit is an article by Hartley Patterson called "Before the Flood" where he describes a game called "Midgard" that according to him, had many resemblances to D&D. He contends that there was no way that Gygax and Co. could have seen these rule beforehand. The original manuscript had been written in 1972 by Will Haven and then rewritten by himself. I have never heard of it.

The regular Open Box feature gives us reviews of new games such as "OGRE", a new craze called a "micro-game", TSR's "Lankhmar", and a game called "War of the Star Slavers". OGRE got an 8 total, Lankhmar got a 6 and Star Slavers a 3 due to the poor rules and counters. There is also a review for a D&D enspired or rip-off game called Tunnels & Trolls (eek!), but no numerical rank is given.
We continue with the Monstermark system with a look at dragons, other fire breathing monsters and other "nasties". From what I can tell nearly every monster from OD&D is listed here.

The Treasure Box feature gives us new crunch. We get a new magic item, a needle that can be anything it needs to be, and a new class the Scientist. The Scientist is just plain weird. It is actually two classes, the Scientist (with level titles like Ph.D. and Polymath) and the Anti-Scientist (with level titles like Luddite, Jehovah's Witness and Football Supporter). I can't tell if they are trying to be funny with it or not.

Finally we get to some crunch we can actually use, five new monsters: the frog-like Spinescale, a constructed bottle creature, The Ning, a Giant Caterpillars, the Blood Hawk, and the Dune Stalker which survived nearly unchanged save updated to AD&D from the OD&D here in the Fiend Folio. None of the new monsters have a Monstermark score themselves just yet.

The issue ends with part two of "How to Improve D&D" and a letters section with people already writing in and telling them how do things different. Gamers have never changed.

Kids Games: Biting off more than I can chew

2012-01-10T12:22:00.001-06:00

I just got an email a bit ago saying that the Kid's Games I am running at my kids' elementary school were the most popular choices and I am at capacity.

Now I have to craft an adventure for all these kids.

This also begs the obvious questions.

1. Do I keep doing this 4e thing with 5e on the horizon?
2. If I do, am I obligated to mention 5e? If it were a game at a con I think I might be.
3. Should I just do all Pathfinder?

Here is the plan as it is right now:
Session 1 (two weeks): Play 4e
Session 2 (two weeks): Play the same adventure in Pathfinder

Its a good plan. It means more work for me, but that is fine.

I guess once I see the sign up tonight I'll know more.

New Year, New Game

2012-01-10T05:35:00.000-06:00

The recent announcement of 5th Edition D&D is now out, but the game itself will take a bit longer.

DrivethruRPG is though running a sale on 20 games for 2012 for $12 a game.
Depending on which book you get that can be an absolute steal.

Here is the list, along with my thoughts.

Arcanis: the Roleplaying Game
Artesia: Adventures in the Known World - awesome looking game. Very, very cool
Ashen Stars
Blue Rose - The Roleplaying Game of Romantic Fantasy - big fan of this one. Gave us True20.
Buffy RPG Revised Corebook - I think you all know my thoughts on this one.
Burning Empires
Chthonian Stars Core Setting - Cthulhu is SPAAAACE! Well, not exactly (well. yes.) For Traveller.
Conspiracy X 2.0 - fantastic game of modern conspiracy.
Dark Ages: Vampire - loved the DA line of Vampire. Great stuff. POD versions too!
Fantasy Craft Second Printing - would have liked to try this one more.
Icons - great, fun game.
Legend of the Five Rings 4th Edition
Legends of Anglerre - new one to me, but looks cool.
Macabre Tales rulebook
Mouse Guard Roleplaying Game
Mutant City Blues
Mutants & Masterminds Hero's Handbook - 3rd edition of the World's Most Popular Super-hero game. And tons of fun.
Outbreak: Undead
Requiem for Rome
Spycraft 2.0 Rulebook - Second Printing
Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies
The Laundry RPG - more Cthulhu inspired goodness.
The Savage World of Solomon Kane - at 12 bucks this is more than a steal.
Traveller Main Rulebook - update of the classic SciFi RPG.
Werewolf The Wild West - never quite got this game, but werewolves in the Wild West? Yeah lets do it!
Wild Talents 2nd Edition - a steal at 12 bucks.
Witch Hunter: the Invisible World - I have had my issues with this game, but it is damn attractive and still fun.

There are 1000s of games out there. Use this new year to try out a new game!

So...what would we like to talk about?

2012-01-09T14:41:00.002-06:00

Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

2012-01-09T08:22:00.000-06:00

The worst kept secret in the RPG biz is now out.

Players Roll the Dice for Dungeons & Dragons Remake

I'll have some thoughts on this in a bit. But I am interested in how they are going to get the player input.

Here is the press release from WotC.
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20120109

Here There Be Dragons...update

2012-01-07T18:56:00.001-06:00

Working with my son right now on his dragon book. He has a lot of cool ideas and I like how the book is shaping up.

After going around a couple times on the system we wanted to use, we decided today that the book will be stated up for 1st Edition Advanced rules.

We felt there are a ton of books out there for 3e. We were not really interested in doing it for 4e though either. Basic was my original choice since it can be translated well. We even very, very briefly considered Savage Worlds (his new favorite).

I need to read over the OSRIC license IF I want to indicate compatibility with OSRIC (no idea if I want too or not yet). Of course there is the Labyrinth Lord "Advanced Edition Companion" and that is also a good candidate. They both represent the same era of play and are largely compatible with each other.

I think this is a good way to go to be honest. His ideas are very much n the mindset of the earliest days of the hobby; when everything was permitted and no one said you couldn't have a blue dragon that had ice cold fire as a breath weapon. HTBD will be a new point of view on these creatures, something I think we could all use after nearly 40 years.

Not sure on the deadline or when it will be out. But the author is working on it when it is his turn to use the homework computer.

Zatannurday: Cedric Poulat

2012-01-07T07:42:00.000-06:00

I discovered Cedric Poulat in a Deviant Art search for pictures of Ice for the first day of winter. Turns out he is just about as crazy about Zee as I am. So I figured I'd start out the New Year's Zatannurday with the artist I ended the old year with.

His Deviant Art page is here, http://j-estacado.deviantart.com/
And his Zatanna gallery is here, http://j-estacado.deviantart.com/gallery/11873463 here are some of my favorites.

Z by *J-Estacado on deviantART

Z A T A N N A - markers by *J-Estacado on deviantART

Zatanna 2 by *J-Estacado on deviantART

Zatanna- A R T N O U V E A U by *J-Estacado on deviantART

Z A T A N N A - burlesque by *J-Estacado on deviantART

So, go to his page and check out all his cool art.

La Befana The Christmas Witch

2012-01-06T13:28:00.001-06:00

La Befana at Disney World

Every year I try to remember to say something about La Befana, the Italian Christmas witch.
This year I remembered, but had set the date wrong. Oh well.

You can read more about her here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Befana

The most common tale is she directed the Three Wise Men to the new baby Jesus, but declined to go with them till her housework was done.

Like St. Nick/Santa, she gives out gifts to Children on Epiphany Eve. Befana, like many other Christianized myths has her origin in an older story of the Goddess Strenua. So she is seen a protector figure in myth.

Given that she is such a complex character it would be difficult to do her justice in a write-up.

But I can talk about her broom.
Her Broom seems to be perfect as a powerful witch artifact that you can drop into your games.

The following is released as Open per the OGL.

La Befana’s Broom
La Befana was a great and powerful witch. Legend says that she once helped three great and powerful Magic-Users find their way when they were lost, search for a young king. They had asked La Befana to go with them, but she declined telling them she had cleaning to do. In reality she did not want to go because she had lost her own baby and seeing this new one would have made her sad.
The Magic-Users on their return brought La Befana a gift, a magical broom that would clean her home for her if she uttered the proper word. It would also render her invisible and allow her to enter the home of anyone unnoticed as long as her intentions were good and pure. La Befana used this magic to go into people’s homes on the eve of the Magic-Users' return to her each year to clean the homes of the good people in her village and leave a small present, usually a bit of candy for the good children or a bit coal for the bad ones.
She has let the broom go now so it may continue to do good in the world where she can’t go.
In the hands of a Good witch this broom will manifest the following powers:

Act as a Broom of Flying
Act as a Broom of Protection, Threshold
When held it will render the witch Invisible
When used to knock on a door the door will open as if a Knock spell was cast on it. Inhabitants will not be able to hear the knock.

Neutral witches can also use these powers, but only if their intent is pure and good. If they attempt to do anything that is considered harmful or against those pure intentions then the Broom treats them as if they were Evil.
Evil witches cannot use the Broom at all. Once they touch it it becomes a Broom of Animated Attack. The broom will attack for 1 round (it gets the initiative due to surprise) then it disappears.
Typically the Broom will remain with any given witch only for one year then it will disappear to find another worthy witch.

Blogging A to Z?

2012-01-06T08:17:00.001-06:00

Last year I proudly participated in the Blogging A to Z challenge in April.

I felt it was not only a good way to stretch my creative abilities but work on my writing and do a bit a cross blog-genre promotion. My hits went up, and stayed up, drastically during and after April and I got my greatest surge of followers.

Well they are doing it again this year.

http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/2012/01/blogging-from-to-z-april-challenge-2012.html

Though I am not sure I am going to do it this year yet or not.

Last year it worked out on many levels for me. I recall thinking about the posts I had queued up and how they would fit the challenge. When "Z" fell on a Saturday it clinched it for me.

Part of the purpose of the blogfest is to post every day. I do that now anyway.

Keep in mind I am NOT saying participation is a bad idea, far from it in fact.

I actually suggest that we get MORE OSR/RPG bloggers participating to get our message out there.

The one thing we all talk about is getting more people involved in our hobby, we can't do that if the only people we talk to are already in our hobby.

Plus if you are selling a product you should participate just to more attention to you and your book.

If I do it this year then I need to do a theme or something, make it more challenging than last year.

Are you going to participate? Why or why not?

Skylanders Hex for Pathfinder

2012-01-05T05:40:00.000-06:00

So we have been playing Skylanders a lot recently. My little witch Hex is now 5th level. Not to bad really.
To celebrate here she is in her Pathfinder Witch version.

You can read the background and see my 4e stats of her here.

I don't have my books with me, so I took some artistic license with how she is presented here. So instead of the floating skull familiar I gave her a bat. I am just going to say it is a skull with wings.

HexHEX CR 4
Female Drow Witch 5
CN Medium Humanoid (Elf)
Init -1; Senses Darkvision (120 feet), Low-Light Vision; Perception +7

DEFENSE

AC 9, touch 9, flat-footed 9 (-1 Dex)
hp 23 (5d6)
Fort +1, Ref +0, Will +5
Immune sleep; Resist Elven Immunities; SR 11
Weakness Light Blindness

OFFENSE

Spd 30 ft.
Melee Unarmed Strike +2 (1d3/20/x2)
Special Attacks Blight (DC 16), Misfortune (DC 16)
Spell-Like Abilities Dancing Lights (1/day), Darkness (1/day), Faerie Fire (1/day)
Witch Spells Known (CL 5, 2 melee touch, 1 ranged touch):
3 (2/day) Bestow Curse (DC 17), Pain Strike (DC 17)
2 (3/day) Scare (DC 16), Death Knell (DC 16), Glide (DC 16)
1 (4/day) Chill Touch (DC 15), Cause Fear (DC 15), Mage Armor (DC 15), Ray of Enfeeblement (DC 15)
0 (at will) Touch of Fatigue (DC 14), Dancing Lights, Daze (DC 14), Bleed (DC 14)

STATISTICS

Str 10, Dex 9, Con 10, Int 19, Wis 13, Cha 12
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 11
Feats Alertness, Arcane Talent: Daze (3/day), Ectoplasmic Spell
Traits Focused Mind, Scholar of the Great Beyond: Knowledge (History)
Skills Bluff +2, Diplomacy +2, Fly +3, Heal +6, Intimidate +9, Knowledge (Arcana) +12, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +9, Knowledge (History) +11, Perception +7, Sense Motive +4, Spellcraft +12, Stealth +1, Survival +2
Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Drow Sign Language, Elven, Undercommon
SQ +3 to Fly checks, Deliver Touch Spells Through Familiar (Su), Empathic Link with Familiar (Su), Poison Use (Ex), Share Spells with Familiar, Speak With Familiar (Ex), Ward +2 (Su)
Other Gear Staff of Necromancy

SPECIAL ABILITIES

+3 to Fly checks You gain the Alertness feat while your familiar is within arm's reach.
Arcane Talent: Daze (3/day) You gain a chosen spell as a spell-like ability, 3/day.
Blight (DC 16) (Su) Curse animals, plants, or land
Dancing Lights (1/day) (Sp) Cast Dancing Lights once per day.
Darkness (1/day) (Sp) Cast Darkness once per day.
Darkvision (120 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Deliver Touch Spells Through Familiar (Su) Your familiar can deliver touch spells for you.
Drow Immunities - Sleep You are immune to Sleep effects.
Ectoplasmic Spell You can cast a spell that has full effect against incorporeal or ethereal creatures.
Elven Immunities +2 save bonus vs Enchantments.
Empathic Link with Familiar (Su) You have an empathic link with your Arcane Familiar.
Faerie Fire (1/day) (Sp) Cast Faerie Fire once per day.
Focused Mind +2 to Concentration checks
Light Blindness (Ex) Blinded for 1r in bright light, dazzled as long as they remain in it.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Misfortune (1 round(s)) (DC 16) (Su) Target must take the lower of 2d20 for rolls.
Poison Use (Ex) You do not risk poisoning yourself accidentally while poisoning a weapon.
Share Spells with Familiar The wizard may cast a spell with a target of "You" on his familiar (as a touch spell) instead of on himself. A wizard may cast spells on his familiar even if the spells do not normally affect creatures of the familiar's type (magical beast).
Speak With Familiar (Ex) You can communicate verbally with your familiar.
Spell Resistance (11) You have Spell Resistance.
Ward +2 (Su) Target receives +2 AC and save bonus until they are hit or fail a saving throw.

Hero Lab® and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.comPathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC®, and are used under license.

White Dwarf Wednesday Issue 1

2012-01-04T07:01:00.000-06:00

Welcome to my first White Dwarf Wednesday!
Today we are going to look into Issue 1 published in June of 1977.
But first lets talk about what White Dwarf meant to me and why it later captured my attention in the OSR days.

Back in the early days of my gaming I was well aware of Dragon Magazine. My first issue was Dragon #80 and it was awesome to see that this new game I enjoyed so much was enjoyed by others. Imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered that there was not just one, but TWO magazines dedicated to this hobby.
Back in the 80s I was in love with all thing British. My favorite shows were "Doctor Who", "Monty Python" and "Benny Hill". My favorite bands were "The Who", "Led Zeppelin" and "The Police". To my teenaged mind there was nothing better than something from the UK. White Dwarf did not prove that wrong to me.
The writing style was different than what I saw in Dragon. It was grittier, it was more dangerous. I reminded me a lot of Heavy Metal magazine to be honest. Plus the ads in White Dwarf were not "edited" or dare I say, "censored" as they were in Dragon. And really who could forget those early Gamma World ads?
My first issue of White Dwarf was issue 44. I picked up some here and there over the years, and about 4-5 years ago I was able to buy issues 1 through 89. I worked on getting all the way 100, but only have a few between 89 and 96.

I used White Dwarf in the Great D&D Article Purge on Wikipedia a few years back. Since WD was a 3rd party publication it could support many of the D&D articles that needed extra references. In the process I got to read through all of them many times over and it was a great blast from the past. I am now in my 3rd wave of White Dwarf affection thanks to the OSR. You can't get much more Old School than this.

So without further ado, lets jump right on in.

White Dwarf #1
June/July 1977

The magazine contains the sub-title of "The Science Fiction and Fantasy Games Magazine", certainly that was true enough. Counting covers we have a mere 24 pages worth of content.
The editorial from Ian Livingstone discussed the emergence of just 2 short years of a new kind of wargaming brought over by two Americans, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. He mentions how there are now over 50 games in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre and over 10 companies providing these games and how White Dwarf hopes to cater to them.
We have a two and a half page review/pre-view of the newest Sci-Fi game, Metamorphisis Alpha.
We are treated to a few ads about a local game store and the British Fantasy Society.
Next up is something very unique and very interesting for a number of reasons. It is Don Turnbull's Monstermark System. The Monstermark system was used by White Dwarf to assign a "level of malignity" to every monster. An early attempt at what would be the Challenge Rating. The Monstermark is based on the number of rounds it would take to defeat a monster and the aggressiveness of a monster.
The explanation is full of wonderful equations; enough to make your high school math teacher happy and there are tables with examples. What else could be more old school really? I am bit suprised no one has tried to revive this and republish it for the OSR (or something like it). What struck me as interesting too was that this was based on something the author had published previously in Owl & Weasel. How often did you see something like that? The Monstermark system would be used in White Dwarf for many issues to rate the various monsters they created including some of the future Fiend Folio ones.
The Open Box feature column reviewed games. Games were ranked 1-10 on Complexity, Skill, Atmosphere, Originality, Presentation and an Overall score. This issue SPI's Sorcerer (overall score 7) and Avaon Hill's Starship Troopers (Overall, 9).
A piece on competitive D&D. Part 1 of Lewis Pulsipher's D&D Campaign breakdown. IS D&D a war game or something else? An article on the wargame "The Warlord" by Steve Jackson (the English one)
Near the end we are introduced to a section called "Treasure Chest", which is basically a way for readers to send their contributions to the D&D rules. We have a magic item, the Helm of Vision, and a bit talking about how D&D combat and magic is all wrong and a proposed fix (and it's only Issue #1!). We have a new class (The Pervert) and some information about Poison.
We end up with some classified ads, and a "caption this" style cartoon.

All in a good start. It does not compete with Dragon from the same time yet, but it will get there soon.

New Year, New Look

2012-01-03T12:22:00.001-06:00

I am going to be working on the look of the Other Side here for a bit. New Year and all.

If you are reading this in a reader, can you please stop by and let me know what you think.
This gives me readability feedback AND helps me check to make sure I put the Google Analytics codes in right.

Thanks!

Magical Near Talents in Ghosts of Albion

2012-01-03T06:25:00.001-06:00

The child looked at me in obvious fear and trepidation. I tried to win the young lad over with my most winninest smile. "Its ok dear. I am not going to hurt you." I said, but he shook his head.
"Beggin' your pardons Mum, its not you I'm worried about, but that ghost lady behind you."

-From The Journal of Tamara Swift

Not everyone in the Ghosts of Albion game is a ghost, powerful Protector or vampire. In fact the vast, vast majority of people in the world are not only ignorant of the supernatural, but so far removed from it that it has no impact on their lives whatsoever. Generally speaking this line is easily demarcated with the possession of either the Magic quality (in humans) or the Innate Magic quality (in supernaturals). If you have one or the other then the world of the supernatural is open to you and you to it.
There are some that have no magical talent to speak of, yet the world of the supernatural is open to them, in a limited state. They see ghosts, hear strange creaking where others hear nothing and sometimes even are able to cast a spell.

These folk are known as Near Talents and they are have a zero (0) level of Magic.

Magic 0
3 points or Special
Prerequisite: Must be human
Characters with 0 levels of Magic have a small bit of magical talent. They can cast a spell (typically they know only one) of PL 1 (and no higher). They cannot quick cast any spells and will always cast their spell at the end of their round.
Characters with Magic 0 are treated as if they have Lesser Sensing, but they typically need a Perception + Notice roll in order to see any magic or magical creature. The Director can make exceptions to this, typically making it easier to see some things like a familiar ghost.
Characters can "upgrade" to a full level of Magic with the Director's approval only. Directors are encouraged to find an "in story" reason for this manifestation of the character's full potential and either grant them Magic 1 or allow them to buy it for 1 or 2 points (never more than 2).
Spellcasting is treated the same, except the Magic modifier is 0. Characters with Magic 0 have no magical defenses, they need to be Magic 1 at least for that.

Uses of Near Talents
Near Talents can be used to provide a nice middle ground. Ordinary humans with one toe in the supernatural world. The obvious choices are NPC and Guest Stars, but Cast Members can also benefit from this quality. In particular Magic 0 also acts like a low level magic sensitivity that can be given to otherwise normal humans so they can be part of the adventuring world. If this is the case then the director is encouraged to give these Cast Members Magic 0 for free, but not give them a spell to use. If they later find one that can be up to the Director.

My new game Sky..(mumble)...

2012-01-02T08:54:00.000-06:00

So I got a new game over Christmas. It is very popular and has may RPG elements in it and you get to fight monsters and explore an expanding world and I am already 3rd level and addicted to it. It is called Skylanders.

Were you expecting a different "Sky" named game?

Well Skylanders is cool all the same. We have been playing it on the Wii and there are all these little figures you can collect and use in the game in addition to magic items, new lands and all sorts of things.

My boys have had the game for a while, but since they know I love witches they got me the figure Hex for Christmas. She is Drow Dark Sorceress whose "element" is "undead". The game play is fast and really fun. Simple enough for the young kids to figure it out, yet enough detail to keep me entertained. In fact I was killed at one point because I was paying too much attention to the details of the game.

Here is my character, Hex, done up as a 3rd level D&D4 Witch.
I decided she is a Drow. Not the best choice for a witch, but it works well for the story. She has lower than average Dexterity to reflect her lower than average Agility. She has a floating skull familiar (like in the pictures) and I figured she was cultist. Her Charisma is lower than one would expect for a Drow due to all the evil undead stuff about her.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======

Hex (witch), level 3
Drow, Wizard (Witch)
Moon Coven Option: Dark Moon Coven
Dark Apprenticeship (+2 to Bluff)
Theme: Cultist

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
STR 10
CON 10
DEX 9
INT 18
WIS 13
CHA 12

AC: 16 Fort: 12 Ref: 16 Will: 16
HP: 28 Surges: 6 Surge Value: 7

TRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +12, Dungeoneering +8, Insight +8, Intimidate +11, Religion +10

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +1, Athletics +1, Bluff +4, Diplomacy +2, Endurance +1, Heal +3, History +5, Nature +3, Perception +3, Stealth +3, Streetwise +2, Thievery +1

POWERS
Basic Attack: Melee Basic Attack
Basic Attack: Ranged Basic Attack
Cultist Attack: Master's Eye
Drow Racial Power: Cloud of Darkness
Wizard Utility: Augury
Wizard Utility: Ghost Sound
Wizard Utility: Spook
Wizard Utility: Mage Hand
Wizard Attack 1: Dread Presence
Wizard Attack 1: Phantasmal Assault
Wizard Attack 1: Witch Bolt
Wizard Attack 1: Ray of Fatigue
Wizard Utility 2: Shield
Wizard Attack 3: Grim Shadow

FEATS
Arcane Familiar (Floating Skull)
Level 1: Shield of Shadows
Level 2: Disciple of Death

ITEMS
Battle Staff +1 x1
Delver's Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing) +1 x1
Cloak of Resistance +1 x1
Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing)
Adventurer's Kit
Staff Implement x1
====== End ======

Pretty good fit I think. I might have her show up as an NPC sometime. My boys would get a kick out of that.

Oh. And we got Skyrim too. Just what I need, more distractions.

2011 by the Numbers

2012-01-01T11:23:00.000-06:00

In my corner of the world it is now 2012. Which means it is 2012 where you are too. But before I move on to 2012 and the all things new, here is a run down of the numbers here at the Other Side.

511 total posts in 2011.

According to Google Analytics here are some visitor stats.
92,225 people visited this site
127,168 Visits
92,225 Unique Visitors
191,473 Pageviews
1.51 Pages/Visit
00:01:07 Avg. Time on Site
71.16% Bounce Rate
71.65% % New Visits

The top 5 countries were
USA 67,909 visits
UK 9,104 visits
Canada 7,760 visits
Australia 3,538 visits
Germany 3,506

Not counting my root page, my most visited pages in 2011 were:
Xena and Gabrielle 31,114 views
Elzabeth Bathory 10,756 views
Zatnnurday, Adam Hughes 2,845 views
Hex Girls, 2,839 views
T is for Trogdor, 2,797 views
Willow & Tara, Macho Women with Guns, 2,198 views
More races of Mystoerth Goblins, 2,135 views
New Hex Girls, 1,827 views
Willow and Tara Page, 1,642 views
Demons Run, when chased by Madame Vastra and Jenny, 1,571 views

Top 10 search words to get to my site:
Xena
Trogdor
Dracula
Hex Girls
Elizabeth Bathory
Zatanna Young Justice
Adam Hughes
Goblins
Witch Hunter Robin
Wikipwdia (note the typo. That stupid typo gave me 317 extra hits last year)

Top 10 Sources of page hits (not counting search engines)
RPGBloggers
The Underdark Gazette (may it rest in peace. forget that, just update the link)
Risus Monkey
Hero Press/I'd Rather Be Killing Monsters
RPG.Net Forums
The Hex Girls coven
Our Valued Customers (make one pot joke and the hits go through the roof)
Eternal Keep
Grognardia
Destination Unknown

My most visited period was between July 24 and October 31 where I was averaging 200 unique visitors a day. Lately I have dropped to about 100. Don't know why yet.

My most commented pages were:
Defending the indefensible, 36 comments
All Fun and Games, 31 comments
More OSRIC Player's Guide woes, 28 comments
But, shouldn't we aspire to be the Hero?, 27 comments
There goes my last shred of OSR-ness, 18 comments
Worst Movies Ever, 17 comments
Should WotC support ALL D&D?, 17 comments
Question for my Readers, 16 comments
Skills in D&D, 15 comments
Product Changes at WotC: no more Minis, 14 comments
My collection is now complete, 12 comments

What did 2011 give us?
Well we saw more OSR products than ever and finally something more than just another retro-clone.
Back in Gen Con 2010 people kept telling me about the death of 4e in 2011, it never happened, but it also didn't sell enough compared to Pathfinder.
Ghosts of Albion saw print! I also got paid for my first official D&D writing gig. Though I didn't get "The Witch" out when I wanted.
My Zatannurday posts were a huge success in my mind (and according to the stats) so I am hoping for more this year.
My number of followers nearly doubled, most of them were from outside of the RPG and OSR circles, so that is nice.
I joined a bunch of blogfests which was fun and got me a bunch of hits and new followers and exposed the Other Side to a much wider audience. I would suggest that other OSR blogs do the same, we tend to get into a rut to be honest.

Now. On to 2012!!

Zatannurday: Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T07:24:00.000-06:00

Time to say goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012!

So how about Zatanna and Cedric Poulat show us the way.

zatanna -new year card by *J-Estacado on deviantART

Here is to a great new 2012!!

Looking Forward to 2012: Willow and Tara

2011-12-30T11:02:00.000-06:00

I have been missing my Friday Willow and Tara posts.

I have been reading and re-reading a ton of my old supers games (and new ones) and I have been thinking that maybe I need to revive Generation HEX. I think it would be a good time and frankly, I miss the girls.

Expect to see some supers related posts in 2012.

Looking Forward to 2012: Other Features

2011-12-29T11:09:00.000-06:00

I'd love to get some more games and useful crunch out to you all.

Books I am working still are "Here There Be Dragons..." and a couple of books for Elf Lair Games.
I might have more material coming out from Eden, too soon to tell right now.

I am also working on a first for me, a Sci-Fi game that I hope is a twist on many sci-fi games.

Here's hoping I get some good writing in.

Looking Forward to 2012: White Dwarf

2011-12-28T11:00:00.000-06:00

This week I am going to continue some posts of things I want to do in 2012.

I have a stack of White Dwarf magazines sitting here at home. They cam in handy to stop the purge of many D&D related articles on Wikipedia a while back and I generally get a big kick out of them. There is something so British about them to me.

So in 2012 I am going to try to do "White Dwarf Wednesdays". I am going to go through issues #1 to #100 each Wednesday and pull out what is good. Less of a review or a "Where I Read..." type post. But we will see.

Looking Forward to 2012: Reviews

2011-12-27T11:05:00.000-06:00

In 2011 I wanted to get 400 new reviews done and up at DriveThru RPG.
The trouble is that 400 products take a long time to do. I did get about 200 in all said and told.

So this year I'd like to get some more reviews up. I want to share what I like with you all and hope that you return the favor and tell me what you like, or don't like. Sometimes this is the best way to learn of a new product.

Most of my reviews, the vast majority really, will be on DriveThruRPG / RPGNow. Though I'll continue doing longer reviews for RPG Net and Amazon.

Looking Forward to 2012

2011-12-26T11:01:00.000-06:00

This week I am going to be posting a series of posts on what my plans are for 2012.

2011 and 2010 were big years here at the Other Side and I want to keep that up. So stayed tuned all week and post your thoughts!

You can expect to see more Zantannurdays and of course my take on what is going on in the OSR and other areas of the hobby.

Of course we have have some great movies coming up that go to the very heart of our hobby, "John Carter of Mars" (now just John Carter) and the first part of "The Hobbit" (not to mention the new Dark Knight movie too).

Here are my new year's resolutions for this blog and gaming in general:
1. Play more with my kids.
2. Try more new games.
3. Get more reviews done.
4. Get more of my works in progress done.

Merry Hexmas!

2011-12-25T18:25:00.001-06:00

Great Christmas day!

My boys got me the Dresden Files RPG! Yeah!
My wife picked up "Hammer Glamour" for me.
This was a great gift. While the rest of my friends growing up were lusting after women with names like Farrah and Cheryl, my first serious lusts were Ingrid Pitt, Pippa Steele, Caroline Munro, and Madeline Smith.

Hope your holiday was equally as good.

Zatannurday: yrreM samtsirhC!

2011-12-24T08:01:00.000-06:00

Holiday treats from Dean Juliette.

And another from Cedric Poulat,

And a special X-mas pic from Chris Shields.

Merry Christmas!

Return of the Dragonslayers

2011-12-23T23:29:00.000-06:00

I got home early from work today and my boys wanted to play some D&D. Like a good Daddy I agreed.

We continued going through the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, the Lesser Caverns, and they got to the stairs to the Greater Caverns. I pulled out my 3.0 version of the Book of Vile Darkness to up the "demonic" content a bit. I figure that caverns are a stopper for the forces of the Abyss, so the boys are bound to run into the worst types of demonic scum.

The original adventure had the Greater Caverns were protected by a gorgimera. Today it was the largest abyssal chimera ever seen (well by them).

It was a great time today. Looking forward to the Greater Caverns and the search for Iggwilv's greatest treasure.

What are you getting this year?

2011-12-23T12:17:00.000-06:00

To all the good little boys and girls (and to the bad ones too!) what are you getting for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Solstice/Yule/Festivus this year?

I am hoping for The Dresden Files RPG in print and maybe some fudge dice to go with it.
I'd also like one of then Kim Harrison books.
But mostly I am hoping for some time to do some gaming with my kids. That would be best of all.

What are you all hoping for?

First Day of Winter, celebrate with Ice

2011-12-22T05:30:00.000-06:00

Since today is the first day of Winter I'd thought I'd celebrate with something for my oldest son. Here is one of his favorite super-heroes, Ice.

I have always liked Ice. Like Tara I felt she was totally shafted; killed just make a point that was soon forgotten. I am glad she is back in the comics now.

Ice Wallpaper by ~Ziggyman on deviantART

Cool as Ice by *SebbyWhite on deviantART

Riddle1 Ice by *AmericanNinjaX on deviantART

Cold as Ice by *eisu on deviantART

Ice by *olivernome on deviantART

Ice by ~Dani-V on deviantART

Ice by ~ArtNerdEm on deviantART

Updated pages

2011-12-21T12:54:00.001-06:00

I am going to be making some mostly cosmetic changes to the old Other Side here for the new year.
Not changing scope or posts or anything like that.

I am though working on how information is organized and how things look.

So yesterday I started with the Pages. Those are the links above, just under the banner.

I added a new Mystoerth page which details my *D&D campaign world. There are a lot of internal links to material I have written here and links to outside sources that I also like to use. If you know of a blog or website that should be linked here, let me know.

I combined the "About Me" and "My Books" page into one About Me page.

My Links Page is still the same, I might add the awards I have gotten though since those are to be linked back to other blogs.

I have added a few new builds to my Willow & Tara page and my Characters page.

Ghosts of Albion still gets it's own page. As does my OGL declaration.

Let the Adventure Begin

2011-12-21T06:43:00.000-06:00

If you are like me then it all started here, with an Unexpected Party.

December 2012 feels like a long way away.

I asked, you repsonded!

2011-12-20T14:49:00.000-06:00

Earlier today I asked a simple question. "Using only Mundane means how can you kill a ghost?" here are the responses I got!

Trey said...
Destroying the item/location it's tethered to?
December 20, 2011 9:58 AM

Great post. I guess I was thinking more of attack the ghost itself. But that is a tried and true way to do it.

farawayeyes said...
A ghost is already dead. You can't necessarily kill them. Best to just send them on.
December 20, 2011 10:03 AM

I think I was thinking more of the attacking kind of Ghost. So yours and Trey's would be to figure out why it is here and use that.

Simon Forster said...
Reciting the ghost's history, up to its death, reminding it that it has lived and died, thus sending it to whatever afterlife awaits it.
December 20, 2011 10:18 AM

Neat idea. Something that would be perfect for an Occult Poet in Ghosts of Albion to do!

The Happy Whisk said...
I'm going to agree with Trey. Destroying them by removing whatever is holding them here.

Then maybe they can move on.

I've heard salt before though, but never tried it so I can't tell you if it really works.
December 20, 2011 10:18 AM

Salt has a long standing connection to the supernatural. It is also simple to get and use. I am sure there is a connection there.

seaofstarsrpg said...
If ghosts are ectoplasm and ectoplasm has a physical existence, fire.

If the ghost believes, an exorcism should send it away.
December 20, 2011 10:23 AM

Kill it with fire! Always a good choice.

keithboyle said...
Depends on the type of ghost being killed... er, dispensed with, I guess. Working from a ghosts-as-electromagnetic-fields perspective:

Death echoes could be dispersed by setting up a counter-noise generator - like the ones in noise-cancelling headphones, but on a room- or house-sized scale. Remember those multiroom speakers that transmitted sound through the house wiring? this would be the lo-fi DIY way of implementing this.

Intelligent/Interactive ghosts would be best handled through negotiation. The trick would be to get them to stay still long enough to have a meaningful chat. So I'm thinking EM Pump combined with Carnacki's electric pantacle with Spirit Box as vocal translator. Then have the conversation - what you want, what they want, how to find agreement, that sort of thing...

Poltergeists as rogue PK in children/teens also fits this model, so ground them via conductive jewelry, cutting their hair shorter, and good old patience as they grow out of this phase should work as well.

You said no supernatural, so I'm going to call the "demonic hauntings" of current TV ghost hunting fashion "anomalous idiopathic EM fields" and recommend Faraday cages around the sensitive spots. It doesn't destroy it, but it does contain it...
December 20, 2011 10:26 AM

Well thought out. So a Spirit Zapper or Spirit Trap in a way.

keithboyle said...
The lore on salt goes something like this: it's the only rock that's pure enough that we can eat. That purity is incompatible with the "uncleanness" of the spirits, Thus, ghosts can't cross it. Getting shot with it would just be forcing them to not cross themselves and causes dispersal.

Not a huge fan of calling that sort of thinking"mundane only," but salt's about as mundane as you can get.

The Kripke Trinity - salt, iron, burn the bones - works really well as weapons for adventure stories like SPN, though their meaning and uses in traditional ghost stories is quite different...
December 20, 2011 10:36 AM

Cool. I like this approach. I always figured that it was something that you can bring into your home, salt is something that is like life.

Woodclaw said...
Given the "no supernatural" rule I think that the main methods are already covered by the previous posts.
Either destroying the links of the ghost to the mundane world (if possible) or destroy its mortal remains might work.
The whole reminds him/her that he/she is already dead is tricky because I'm not sure a ghost is willing to listen.
Keithboyle pretty much covered the scientific/technobabble angle.

Another option is running water. According to the Celtic tradition large bodies of water (especially rivers and lakes) are doors into the afterlife, for this reason a ghost can't cross running water. If someone can force a ghost close enough to a river or a stream the proximity might do the trick.
December 20, 2011 11:12 AM

So if I am facing a ghost, then a fire hose. I like it!

tarotgames said...
@Technobabble: EM Pumps and Spirit Boxes are considered legitimate tools for ghost hunters/paranormal investigators, in the same way EVP is. Granted, it's a pretty biased piece of reasoning to go from unexplained phenomenon to explainable and exploitable technology, but truly critical thinking isn't normally a well-used tool in a ghost hunter's bag. It's akin to forgetting what the U in UFO stands for and saying that the odd lights in the sky are aliens here to rule the world...

I threw out the Carnacki reference because, frankly, it's Tim who's asking the question. The real-life analog to what Hodgson described is a Faraday cage - aka the shielding & grounding frame inside the computer that you're using to read these words.

Mongo avoids the [tech] like the plague: even if the terms aren't that familiar, they're not entirely meaningless or made-up if I can help it...
December 20, 2011 12:16 PM

I think I was going with "things I have laying around the house or garage". Granted that also rules out fire and the fire hose. I have a garden hose though and a sprinkler that looks like a turtle for my lawn. I am so screwed.

JWRouseIII said...
Blow it apart with a leaf blower.
December 20, 2011 12:40 PM

That's only good for guys dress in sheets going "boooooo". ;)

Laura said...
Using a lot of moxy and deduction, I'd reveal that it's only Old Man Grimley, the owner of the abandoned amusement park, out to scare off the current owners so he can collect his money. He'll call me a meddling kid, but a good day's work is worth it.
December 20, 2011 1:06 PM

Haha!! Scooby Doo for the win!

Jensan said...
Treat it like a hiccup: scare it away!
December 20, 2011 2:20 PM

Be scarier than the Ghosts. Of course! The Doctor Who Offensive.

Thanks all!

Question for my Readers

2011-12-20T09:48:00.000-06:00

So I have a great collection of readers and followers here.

I have RPG types, Horror fans and para-normal/supernatural authors and fans. A great group really.

So here is a question for you all that I have been pondering the last couple of days.

Given you have only "mundane" means, how do you kill a ghost?

I was thinking something like a shotgun full of rock salt or something. Silver buckshot? Something else.

What do you all think?

Krampus for Ghosts of Albion

2011-12-19T11:39:00.002-06:00

Krampus is an old legend, but one I never heard of growing up. He/It is a reminder that the Christmas legends of today are part a of a larger variety of Winter Solstice celebrations. Krampus, though is interesting to me this year because he has come up time and time again, from completely unrelated sources. So here he is.
Krampus for your Ghosts of Albion games. I am taking a large number of liberties with this write up. So please keep that in mind.

Krampus, The Christmas Demon

Long ago, long before children would know of the kindness of St. Nicholas there was a demon that tormented the long Alpine winter nights. This demon, know locally as Krampus (from the word meaning Claw) would torment children and punish wrongdoers. Sometimes Krampus would even carry off a child that had been particularly wicked.
The trouble was that Krampus was more or less in a pact with the parents of the region that had used him as a means of controlling unruly children. Over the decades since their un-witting pact Krampus had grown in violence and deceit.
That is till the coming of St. Nicholas.
St. Nicholas was able to confront the demon and was well on his way to dispatching the fiend (Santa was a bit more of a fighter in those days) when the issue of the pact was brought up. The pact made with the demon was strong, and even though not one adult in area had made it an overt one, built up over the centuries with a little tale here, a story there, made it as strong as any pact sealed with a soul. St. Nicholas then employed Krampus as a personal assistant, he could still torment bad children, but now under the eye of St. Nick himself. Krampus also got more children as he traveled with St. Nick. Since St. Nicholas was know as Sinterklass in some areas and Father Chritmas in others, Krampus also received more names such as "Belsnickel" or even "Black Pete".
Sometimes it is even said that his travels with St. Nicholas has tempered his evil. Or he is just bidding his time.

Krampus
Motivation: To punish wicked children
Creature Type: Demon
Life Points: 45
Drama Points: 1

Attributes
Str: 4
Dex: 3
Con: 4
Int: 3
Per: 3
Will: 5

Ability Scores
Muscle: 14 Combat: 15 Brains: 14
Qualities and Drawbacks: Acute Senses (taste, sight, smell), Adversary (St. Nicholas), Attractiveness -2, Cause Fear, Hard to Kill, Honorable (1), Innate Magic, Unique Kill

Manoeuvers
Name Score Damage Notes
Claw 15 8 tries to limit the damage he causes, dead things have no fear.
- Grab 13 - Krampus attempts to grab a child. Only a contested STR roll can let the child break free.
Deflect 17 - Magic defence action

Description
Krampus appears as a particularly nasty looking satyr or demon. He is covered in fur, but is sometimes wearing a coat covered in soot. He has one cloven hoof and one animal-like paw for feet. His legs are like that of a goat and his upper body is human. His hands are human, but end in terrible claws. His face is a twisted snarl of evil, with goat like eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. His long tongue lolls out of his mouth and constantly drips saliva. Despite this he can still speak eloquently. He uses his tongue to lick a person, typically their face, to know if they are naughty or nice. His head supports to long curved horns. He smells of burnt coal. He is sometimes seen carrying an old rusted chain. It is not clear if the chain is for himself or for the children he terrorizes. He also carries a satchlel of switches that he uses to beat children with.
His overall appearance is menacing and demonic. He cowers though from any stern word from St. Nicholas.
Krampus does have a weakness. If given a piece of fruit, typically an apple or an orange, by a child, he will sit down to eat the gift, sharing it with whomever is there and engage is polite conversation. Krampus will then leave the area, harming no one.
Krampus may be a demon, but he is fair and impartial. "Good" children have nothing to fear from him, "Bad" children are only punished in relationship to the severity of their "naughtiness". Of course Krampus will attempt to use any trick he can to get someone onto his naughty list. For truly evil children he carries a sack to put them in. He will either drown them or take them off to Hell.
It is suspected though that he is fact feeds on the children's fear and the tales told by the parents.

Krampus is most often seen during the first two weeks of December. All other times he is bound to his cave somewhere in the Alps. There is no known way to dispatch of Krampus permanently. Like many of the supernatural creatures associated with Christmas, as long as one child believes then he will return next year.

Edited to Add:

More Krampus at

Half a millon hits

2011-12-17T23:23:00.001-06:00

Sometime, maybe about an hour ago I reached 500,000 page views.

Not too bad really.

Thanks everyone for the interest!

Zatannurday: RPG DC Heroes (Mayfair)

2011-12-17T07:03:00.000-06:00

Given my love for Chill and DC, it should be no surprise then that I also liked the DC Heroes RPG from Mayfair. I did, but it was never a "love" of mine. It was a cool game, just not something I got to play a lot of.

DC Heroes used Mayfair's MEGS system, Mayfair's Exponential Gaming System who's DNA I can still see in Mutants and Masterminds.

Now I did love the Magic supplement that later came around and thought it was one of the better magic books for an RPG I had seen in a very long time.
I was flipping through them all recently and thought I'd post some stats for Zee for anyone still playing this game.

And given when this book came out let's use her costume from about that time.
These are not the same stats that appear in the books...mostly.

Zatanna (DC Heroes, 1st Edition, Boxed set)

DEX: 6	STR: 2	BODY: 5
INT: 7	WILL: 4	MIND: 5
INFL: 12	AURA: 14	SPIRIT: 14
Initiative: 19	Hero Points: 80

Powers:
Mystic Link:
Air Control: 12, Earth Control: 12, Flame Control: 12, Flame Projection: 6, Fog: 12, Ice Control: 12, Lightning: 12, Plant Control: 12, Water Control: 12, Weather Control: 12

Limitations:
Power Limitation: All spells must be spoken backwards.

Skills: Artist (stage magic) 6, Gadgetry 4, Occultist 10, Scholar (Magic) 7

Connections:
Justice League, Supernatural, United Nations (high level)

Motivation: Responsibility of Power

Wealth: Affluent

Job: Stage Magician, Adventurer

Race: Human (Homo Magi)

Origin: Mystical Heritage (Major)

Alter Ego/Aliases: (none) Zatanna Zatara, The Witch

Base of Operations: Shadowcrest; San Francisco, CA

I think I should give Raven a try next.

Willow & Tara: DC Heroes

2011-12-16T15:06:00.000-06:00

DC Heroes from Mayfair Games was one of the "Big Games" for me back in the day. One of those games that was like entering into an entire sub-culture, not just a game. You know like old World of Darkness, Call of Cthulhu, Rifts or Exalted. One where they have their fans and they are very loyal and the entry seems to be a bit high.

I loved DC comics at the time, though I was slowly going over to Marvel. I never got into DC Heroes. Villains & Vigilantes seemed easier to get into coming from D&D and when I finally got back around to Supers, it was Marvel Super Heroes. I feel I missed out on something though to be honest.

DC Heroes has a certain style to it. A certain elegance I see now on the other side of several graduate level statistics courses. It is a game I'd love to give another chance too. Course parts of it seem pretty dated too. Tables with "column shifts" and exploding doubles. Course that sounds exactly like the kind of thing that would get the OSR's blood pumping. I also like it because in many ways DC Heroes is the antidote to "grimdark" and "gritty", not that you can't do those with this, you can rather easily, but DC Heroes was about being a hero, being the good guy.

I have not done a lot of posting of Willow and Tara in a while. When "Season of the Witch" died down and "Generation HEX" never took off I had run out of creative juices. Plus I had moved on Ghosts of Albion by then and other games. Though Gen HEX was going to be my supers/animie/comics game. I still have great plans to run each "issue"/episode/adventure with a different rule set. But I am not likely to get to it all now. More's the shame. In any case here are my girls, in their Generation HEX best.
Since these are very seasoned vets of many battles they are starting higher than your average character.

Willow Rosenberg

DEX: 2	STR: 1	BODY: 3
INT: 9	WILL: 4	MIND: 5
INFL: 11	AURA: 13	SPIRIT: 12
Initiative: 22	Hero Points: 20

Mystic Link:
Empathy (Will) 2, Magic Blast (Spirit) 6, Magic Shield (Spirit) 6, Mystic Shield (Will) 5, Telekinesis (Will) 7, Telepathy (Int) 5 (9 with Tara), Teleportation (Will) 4, Truesight 3

Limitations: Since the events in "Season of the Witch" Willow has no limitations on her powers.

Skills: Detective 2, Gadgetry 5, Medicine 1, Occultist 7, Scholar (Supernatual) 7, Scientist 5

Connections:
Business (high), Supernatural (high)

Motivation: Learn more about her power

Wealth: Affluent (maybe a bit higher, but not Multimillionaire)

Job: Semi-retired software designer and CEO, teacher

Race: Human (Homo Magi is what she would be in the DC universe)

Origin: Mystical Heritage (Major)

Alter Ego/Aliases: none

Base of Operations: Boston, MA

Tara Maclay

DEX: 2	STR: 2	BODY: 3
INT: 8	WILL: 5	MIND: 4
INFL: 10	AURA: 14	SPIRIT: 12
Initiative: 20	Hero Points: 20

Powers: Mystic Link:
Empathy (Will) 6, Heal (Spirit) 4*, Magic Blast (Spirit) 2, Magic Shield (Spirit) 3, Mystic Shield (Will) 2, Telekinesis (Will) 4, Telepathy (Int) 5 (9 with Willow), Truesight 5

(*Heal is not in the rule book, but something Tara can do. At 4 AP she can heal 4 AP of damage per touch)

Limitations: Since the events in "Season of the Witch" Tara has no limitations on her powers.

Skills: Animal Handling 2, Artist (dancing) 4, Artist (singing) 5, Artist (painter) 4, Occultist 6, Scholar (Witchcraft) 7

Connections:
Supernatural

Motivation: Responsibility of Power

Wealth: Affluent

Job: High school art teacher, girls counselor

Race: Human (Homo Magi)

Origin: Mystical Heritage (Major)

Alter Ego/Aliases: none

Base of Operations: Boston, MA

Willow and Tara in Generation HEX
In Generation HEX we pick up a few years after the events from Season of the Witch. Magic is outed and the first generation of magic using children are reaching high school age. One of which is their own daughter. Tara is an art teacher and girls counselor at a school for magical teens. Willow, having sold off her software firm is also teaching. They relocated to Boston, MA and despite being older, there is still plenty of adventure left to have.

Willow and Tara in the DC Universe
Personally I would think that the girls would have fared much better in the DC Universe than in others. I can easily see them both joining the Teen Titans, or depending on when we do this, Young Justice. Though Willow would need something else to do than turn evil since that was already done by Raven.
Given their backgrounds I would expect they would be viewed as resources into the occult and supernatural worlds the same way that Zatanna, Doctor Fate and Madame Xandu are. Only less dangerous to deal with. In the DC universe though, the nod has to go to Zee. I am assuming a more magic-rich world than the 1st edition rules laid out, maybe something closer to what we saw in the 3rd ed DC Heroes.

In either case the girls work as a team. Willow is the heavy hitter, but Tara has a greater store of power and more subtle powers.

Déjà vu: Scaring the Dickens out of Your Players: Ghosts of Albion

2011-12-16T06:05:00.000-06:00

Here is my post for the Déjà Vu Blogfest.

This post was originally posted on December 19th 2009 and was viewed by what I could tell as many as 9 people since. I felt it deserved another look due to the timing (it is close to the Anniversary of A Christmas Carol's publication) and now Ghosts of Albion is out in stores, so it is all a good fit.

Scaring the Dickens out of Your Players: Ghosts of Albion

On this day in 1843 Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, also known more simply as A Christmas Carol.

The story of Scrooge, Tiny Tim and the Ghosts is now a timeless Christmas classic retold in prose, stage, film (the 1951 version with Alistair Sim is my personal favorite), even animation and various parodies, homage and pastiches.

Such is the timelessness of this tale that it is perfect fodder for a Christmas themed episode. Even it is good enough for Doctor Who it is good enough for us right. Given that is a quintessential English tale of ghosts in the early Victorian age then it is perfect for Ghosts of Albion.

Jacob Marley
Motivation: To walk the Earth for his sin of greed, warn Scrooge of his fate.
Creature Type: Restless Spectre
Life Points: 30
Drama Points: 1

Attributes
Str: (2)
Dex: (2)
Con: (2)
Int: 4
Per: 3
Will: 4

Ability Scores
Muscle: (10) Combat: (0) Brains: 16
Qualities and Drawbacks: Attractiveness -1, Cursed, Ghost, Telekinesis, Unique Kill

Manoeuvers
Name Score Damage Notes
Deflect 19 - Magic defence action
Telekinesis 17 varies Effectiveness Str 5

Jacob Marley is the former business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge. He had died seven years before on Christmas Eve and is now confined to Earth to pay for his sins of greed and not helping his fellow man. He wears the shackles of his sins in form of heavy chains attached to ledger books, money boxes and heavy keys.

Marley cannot be killed or dispatched by normal means. He is similar to a Poltergeist, but even the means to remove those troublesome spirits are not effective on him. Marley consequently will not attack, nor even reveal himself to others but Scrooge. Though anyone with Magic or Innate Magic will be able to see him and interact with him.

Zeitgeist

Zeitgeist is a German word meaning the Spirit of the Times, used to describe the general feeling or atmosphere of a particular period in time. In the Ghosts of Albion game Zeitgeist is quite literal. Each time can manifest as a spirit or ghost. This is not a ghost of someone that has passed as most spirits, but more of a collective consciousness given magical form. A Zeitgeist can have any power, quality or drawback that a ghost may have. Since they are more of reflection of a particular time a Zeitgeist also can't be destroyed, though many exist only under very specific conditions.

Ghost of Christmas Past
Creature Type: Zeitgeist
Life Points: NA
Drama Points: 5

Attributes
Str: -
Dex: -
Con: -
Int: 5
Per: 6
Will: 5

Ability Scores
Muscle: NA Combat: NA Brains: 18

Qualities and Drawbacks: Archaic, Ghost, Manifest, Telekinesis, Unique Kill

The Ghost of Christmas Past appears to be both young and old at the same time. His hair is long and white, but his face is smooth. He speaks in a somewhat archaic manner.

This spirit shows their charge their memories of the past. A bitter old man like Scrooge is shown times when he was young and denied love from his abusive father and the loss of his sister. There are wonderful scenes in the 1951 movie with Scrooge and Marley that typify what this spirit does.

Ghost of Christmas Present
Quote: Come! You have never beheld the likes of me!
Creature Type: Zeitgeist
Life Points: NA
Drama Points: 5

Attributes
Str: (4)
Dex: (2)
Con: (5)
Int: 5
Per: 6
Will: 5

Ability Scores
Muscle: NA Combat: NA Brains: 20

Qualities and Drawbacks: Ghost, Manifest, Telekinesis, Unique Kill

This spirit is the most living of the lot. He appears as large man wearing green robes. His image invokes comparisons to Father Christmas or even the Pagan Green Man or Winter King. Though his appearance can vary greatly from year to year. He tells Scrooge that he has over 800 brothers, implying that he will no longer exist after midnight on Christmas and next year there will be a new Ghost of Christmas.

His task is to show Scrooge what he is missing and what his own greed has wroght.

The Ghost of Christmas Present has two horrible companions with him. They represent the greatest sources of suffering in the world. A boy, Ignorance and a girl Want. The spirit warns Scrooge to beware them both but especially of the girl.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
Creature Type: Zeitgeist
Life Points: NA
Drama Points: 5

Attributes
Str: -
Dex: -
Con: -
Int: 4
Per: 4
Will: 7

Ability Scores
Muscle: NA Combat: NA Brains: 14

Qualities and Drawbacks: Chill of the Grave, Ghost, Manifest, Telekinesis, Unique Kill

This spectre is more horrifying than all the others. He is a grim Death-like figure shrouded in a robe and hood that never speaks but shows Scrooge visions of his future; the death of Tiny Tim, his own lonely death and callousness in which people view his passing.

Using the Ghosts in Your Story

Dickens used A Christmas Carol not only to pay some bills, but to address some serious social issues. The same set up can be used as a special Christmas episode in your on going game. The set up may seem a bit clichéd now nearly 170 years later, but they still work. The trick is not adding the Ghosts to your game, but figuring out the proper character or plot hook.

Keep in mind that as Directors you are not likely to get the same change of heart Scrooge had out of your characters, so instead focus on using the Ghosts to tell an important tale or show the characters a brief glimpse into their (possible) future.

A good example for a modern Cinematic game would be a demon hunter who is dedicated only to her mission ignoring family, friends and loved ones, in a sense becoming like the monsters she hunts. The Ghosts then in order show her what her life has been like in the past before her calling, what her friends and family are doing without her around, and then her grim and dark future. Too easy? Yeah, the future is likely to dark and grim regardless, but this where the twist comes in. Our demon hunter is still alive, but everyone she loves is either dead or lost to her. She finds that she is becoming less human (metaphorically speaking) and have more in common than the monsters she kills. Maybe she breaks into nest of vampires and they have set up a small Christmas tree and are giving each other presents. Sure the presents might be live kittens, but it is the thought that counts.

The purpose is to show our chosen demon hunter that without family, friends and even love, none of what she does matters. You can kill a 1,000 monsters, there is another 10,000 right behind him. Loved ones are often all you really have.

Merry Christmas!

Who else is doing this do over day? See all the participants here: http://dlcruisingaltitude.blogspot.com/2011/11/deja-vu-blogfest.html

DriveThruRPG/RPGNow December sale

2011-12-15T10:36:00.003-06:00

It's that time again for the DriveThru RPG monthly sales.
They give me codes to pass on to you for deals on products.
Here they are. This month I wanted to add a bit more than just list the products.

Adventure Companion for FantasyCraft
Some more tools for the tool-kit game Fantasy Craft. I have not played Fantasy Craft, nor do I own the books. But what I have seen looks very cool and looks like it is a neat extension of the basic d20 rules. If you have played this or bought this, let me know what you think!
Age of Cthulhu 5: The Long Reach of Evil for Call of Cthulhu
An adventure from Goodman Games and for the Call of Cthulhu system. 5th in the series. Looks cool.
Smallville: The Watchtower Report for Smallville
Part "Bad Guy Sourcebook" and part "Season 10" update. This is the book that makes Smallville feel more like a Supers game to me. If you are a fan of the Smallville RPG, then this is a great choice.
Huxtropy for D&D 4e
I had not seen this one till getting ready for this post. It is an interesting concept to be sure. It is well done and a neat addition to magic rules. The book itself is nice looking and certainly "looks" like it is worth more than the 5 bucks (or 4 bucks for you using the code below) they are charging. I will consider using this in my games.
Shambles for the Brains (?!)
Interesting take on the latest round of Zombie craze. The twist here is you get to play a zombie. I got it as something to mine for All Flesh Must Be Eaten, but it is a good game in it's own right.

Here is the code that gives 20% off the entire list above: HolidayHooplah2011
This is good until January 18th, 2012.

Enjoy!

One last test

2011-12-14T11:05:00.002-06:00

I know. Messing with your Reader notifications.

One last test of Blogger and Google+.

Just another text of Google+ Blogger

2011-12-14T10:34:00.001-06:00

This is just another test of Google+ and Blogger.

So far it look like this will be posted to my Google+ page and people can comment on Blogger or Google+. So two places I'll need to check on to keep track of the conversation.

I'll keep an eye on the stats to see how many people are coming here from Google+ to see if it is worth it.

Here are some links.

First you need to be using "Blogger in Draft"
http://draft.blogger.com/

And here are the specifics
http://buzz.blogger.com/2011/12/connect-to-google.html
http://bloggerindraft.blogspot.com/2011/10/use-your-google-profile-with-your.html

Hope this helps!

Blogger+ integration

2011-12-14T10:11:00.004-06:00

I see you can now integrate Blogger and Google+ now. This move has been coming for some time I think.
Not sure what it means for me or even your the reader, but I have them all connected now.

I know quite a few people in the OSR and Gaming blogs are doing this, so I guess this means it is a good thing. I have been looking for ways to use Google+ more.

Best RPGs of 2011?

2011-12-13T12:59:00.000-06:00

I was thinking back on this past year and the absolute ton of material released. While it is has been a good year in terms of quantity (rumors of the death of the hobby continue unabated since 1986), I am not sure I could name my favorite product from 2011.

My favorite purchases that were new in 2011 were the Heroes of the Feywild, Call of Cthulhu Anniversary Edition and the DC Adventures Heroes and Villains book. There are others I know. I reviewed them here. But for the life of me, nothing is sticking out.

What were YOUR favorite games out in 2011?
Why did you like them?

Kid's Games

2011-12-12T12:52:00.000-06:00

I have signed up to run some games at my kids' elementary school.

It is part of their after-school program. So in February I am running 2 sessions of two-weeks each of D&D. Totally introductory, 1st level. I am even going to buy dice for the kids.

My plan was to run D&D 4e out of the new Red Box. But this weekend I also picked up the new Pathfinder boxed set. It is really, really nice.

The two are comparable on every level to be honest. Figures or tokens for characters and monsters, maps, player's books, DM's books, a starting adventure. Nice sturdy box and dice.
But now I find myself in the situation of which one to run?

Both have their merits and I know I could both justice and my audience justice with either.

I was talking to my friend Greg who runs a Pathfinder game with my son and his own kids. He suggested run both, D&D4 one session and Pathfinder the next.
I think that is a great idea to be honest. Though it is twice the work for me.

I would run the same adventure for 1st levels. So I might have to make something up.
Here is what I am looking for:

Appropriate for new players
Plenty of chances for everyone to be a hero
Should include teamwork
I'd like them fight a dragon, even a small one, at the end

I guess the Pathfinder adventure is the box is close to that, but I have not checked it out in detail yet. If so doing a 4e conversion will be easy.

Now before anyone says "Why aren't you play XXXX game?", simple, these are the ones I have chosen. These are the ones that have the mainstream appeal and the kids will be able to then later go to the store and get them. I am trying to entice the next generation of players and to do that I need to be able to steer them to product they can play on their own in their own groups.

I'll keep you all posted on what is going on with this.

All I Want for Christmas is...

2011-12-11T18:51:00.001-06:00

The Dresden Files RPG.

I have been going back and forth on this one for a while, but I want to have my own hard copy now.
I bought the PDFs at DriveThru and I thought they were fantastic, but never thought I want the hard copies too.

Well now I do.

Gotta tell my kids.

Zatannurday: Deviant Art Research

2011-12-10T07:03:00.000-06:00

I had post for today, but I am not quite done with it.
So instead I am posting the "surplus" of the research for that post (which you will see next week).

So here are some more Deviant Art Zatannas!

Zatanna 2 by ~Pencilbags on deviantART

Ame-comi Zatanna by *SANTI-IKARI on deviantART

ZATANNA II by ~LORENA-CARVALHO on deviantART

UnCD-annataZ by =windriderx23 on deviantART

Illustrious Bits Week 2 - Zatanna by *Ricber on deviantART

Zatanna by ~ronsalas on deviantART

Zatanna commission LCF by *manulupac on deviantART

Zatanna Dave Hoover by ~pressy24 on deviantART

Random Stuff Friday

2011-12-09T06:35:00.001-06:00

I had a cool post for today, but on re-reading it this morning I realized it might need some edits first. Game stats and trying to get day-job work in at the same time is not good for either.

So instead here are some random things I'd like to share with you.

My friend Kim Pauley has a new book coming out, "Cat Girl's Day Off" about a girl whose super power is the ability to talk to cats. If it is like her last books, the "Sucks to Be Me" series, then is should be fun. Expect to see some stats for Natalie Ng here in the future!
http://www.kimberlypauley.com/2011/12/09/the-cover/
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1037171487?ean=9781600608834&itm=8&usri=kimberly+pauley

Douglas Wall would like you all to check out his fun game "Adventures in Oz".
It is a fun game in and off itself, but I also think it is a good supplement, like an Oz source book for whatever game you are also playing now. I already did a "Wicked" version of the main good guy, er, wait, sorry main witch (I can't help it, the Wicked Witch of the West IS the hero for me, has been since I was little).
I think you should check it out.
http://fdouglaswall.blogspot.com/2011/12/why-you-should-be-playing-adventures-in.html

IO9, the website obsessed with all things in geek culture has a cool "Rules of Magic" chart up and it is huge.
I did notice some errors, but they expected there would be some.
http://io9.com/5866306/the-rules-of-magic-according-to-the-greatest-fantasy-sagas-of-all-time

Enjoy!

You are playing what??!

2011-12-08T21:31:00.001-06:00

I am sitting here. Avoiding work. Starring lovingly at my stack of DC Heroes books and wondering why I don't have more of them.

This got me thinking. What games are you all playing that you don't think anyone outside of your group is still playing?

For me it's True 20. I still like it.
I'd love to get a good Superhero game going again; Silver Age Sentinels would be cool, V&V, DC Heroes, I am not picky.

What are you all playing that you are sure no one else is?

Now this is disapointing

2011-12-08T12:16:00.001-06:00

Was checking on my stats today and noticed a few new hit coming from the OSR's pet troll. Went there to see what "she" was saying and saw this instead.

Well. At least she didn't get all dramatic and ragequit. Or maybe she did, I might have missed it.
I was at least getting 5-6 hits from this blog a week. What am I ever going to do about the loss of traffic.

Actually what I find most disturbing is the number of hits I am getting on my Houri write-up from a website forum of people looking for rape-themed RPGs. Guys, not here.

The Witches Three: 4e v. Pathfinder v. OSR

2011-12-08T07:18:00.000-06:00

We are at an an interesting time in the history of D&D. Today we have two games, but fun and great to play, that are the heir's of the legacy that is D&D. The first is a direct descendant of the previous version with some of that version's best and brightest minds; Pathfinder. The other bares the name, but is very different in structure and play, but no less fun and no less of an adventure: Dungeons & Dragons 4th Ed. BUT that is not all, like buying two and getting the third for free we also have the large and chaotic mass that is called the OSR. In it are many games that also claim rights to the throne.

I am not going to delve into the relative merits of one game or the other. Or even talk about play style or anything else. Play the game you enjoy, the way you enjoy it. Personally I like to play all of the above.

No today I want to drill down my attention on one thing in particular. How the witch class is presented in the rules in these games. For the first time we have what can amount to an "Official D&D Witch Class".

The 4e witch was just introduced in Heroes of the Feywild and the Pathfinder witch was introduced in the Advanced Players Guide.
For the moment I want to recuse myself from commenting too much on the OSR witches. Both "The Witch" and "Eldritch Witchery" are off to editors, but still I don't think it would be the most proper thing to do. That all being said I don't have issues commenting on these witches since a.) they have already been written and published and b.) all my ideas are already on "paper" and sent off, so I am not likely to change anything at this point.

So what do we have here?
Both the 4e and Pathfinder witches use Intelligence as their prime ability and the one tied to their spellcasting.
Both require the use of familiars to learn their spells.
Both can form covens for an added benefit or coven related benefits. The 4e witch handles covens a bit like builds. The Pathfinder witch can only join a coven with a hag. I don't like that at all really.
Neither offer much right away in terms of higher level class options; ie no Paragon Paths (outside of the Legendary Witch) and no Prestige Classes.

The 4e witch, as mentioned previously, is a "type" of Wizard. This bugged me at first, but I got over it once I saw the advantages.
The Pathfinder witch is a base or core class.

The 4e powers are very much in line with charming, controlling and turning enemies into animals. There are some "striker" like powers, but not many really. The authors took care to make the distinction between Witch, Wizard and Warlock a lot clearer.

The Pathfinder Spells are similar, but lot are pulled from both the Arcane and Divine lists. The Pathfinder witch with Hexes and a familiar gets an absolute ton of spells. I'll need to go into detail on the Pathfinder witch on a later date.

I am using my checklist from Tom Moldvay as a means to identify how witchy these classes are, at least for a start.

Ability	4e Witch	Pathfinder Witch	Basic Witch
1. Ability to use Herbs	skills	skills	ability check
2. The Power of Fascination	powers	spells	spells
3. Clerical and Magic-User magic	Yes	Yes	Yes
4. Sympathetic Magic	limited to powers	limited to spells	new spell mechanic
5. Worshipers of forbiden religions	yes	yes	yes
6. Powers based on natural cycles	"Moon" builds	no	spells
7. Covens	Yes	only with hags	Yes
8. Ritual Magic	In PHB I only	limited	Yes

Based on that, the Pathfinder witch is a little short, but nothing that can't be fixed with role-playing and some supplements. I do notice that Moldvay's list does not include the ability to use familiars. I think that is rather important too.

I am getting a chance here in a bit to play some more of the 4e Witch so I'll know better how she plays out. I am still looking for a chance to play the Pathfinder witch some more.

Negatives
Here is what I don't like about the classes.

4e Witch: There is still some confusion over the roles between a Witch and a Fey Pact Warlock. Maybe this is on purpose. Warlocks and Witches should have animosity towards each other and this could be where it comes from.
While it is nice that the Witch has some of the same options as does the Wizard, it also means the witch can take "Fireball" or "Lighting bolt" as spells. Two very iconic wizard powers.

Pathfinder: I hate what they have done with covens for the Pathfinder Witch. It robs the witch of one of her key elements to be honest. The hexes are cool, but some of them are too focused on curses and less on the other aspects of witches.
Where are the Prestige classes?

Both/Either: Intelligence as a prime stat? I can see why, but really it should be Wisdom or maybe Charisma. They supposed to be members of the craft of the wise.

In any case it is an embarrassment of riches. I am not sure if I'll ever have enough time to play the games I have now, let alone anything released in the future. I like both of these classes and would love to see more for both of them.

It's a good time to be me! ;)

In praise of your FLGS

2011-12-07T06:23:00.001-06:00

I was talking with a friend yesterday on how we have both used Amazon to buy a bunch of gifts in past years Christmas. I sat down to do it again last night and felt a twinge of guilt. I had been talking to one of the guys at my local game store and he was mentioning how they are not moving as much product as in the past (of a certain game) but he sees lots of people in the game area of the store playing the game. Seems that many are getting their books from Amazon.

I see the allure, hell I have been the band leader in the past of the allure parade. Amazon is fast, easy and cheap. I can avoid paying the insane Illinois + Cook county sales taxes (which are some of the highest in the country). And going out to the Mall??? There are at least 100 good reasons to stick with Amazon.

Except I am loyal to my Favorite Local Game Store (FLGS).

You hear people of a certain age wax on about their favorite local comic store. How it was a place of wonder to their young eyes and how it later it even became a place of amusement to older eyes (if Our Valued Customers is any indication). Game Stores don't get quite the same press.

Well today I want to honor the Favorite Local Game Store and remind you all that to keep these places alive we need to purchase our products there.

My first local game stores were book stores, Waldenbooks, B. Daltons, and Belobrajdic's Bookstore. I detailed my experiences at those stores here and here. They are all long gone now.
I am happy to say that my old home town now has a real, honest to goodness game store, "Off/On the Square" in Jacksonville, IL. I picked up Pathfinder Ultimate Magic there recently to support the local biz. Plus it isn't too far from where Belobrajdic's used to stand, so it was nice to be buying a "D&D" book in my old hometown again.

While in college I had the chance to be there the first years that Castle Perilous had opened in Carbondale, IL. Great store and I purchased the vast majority of my 2nd Ed collection there. It was great. I am glad to see they have grown over the years and are still serving Southern Illinois. One day I'll need to go back.

But my first true game store and the one I returned to after college was Games Plus in Mount Prospect, IL.
When I lived downstate I used to mail order items from Games Plus I could not get locally; like the entirely-too-risque-for-central-Illinois Eldritch Wizardry or individual lead minis (back when they were lead).

When I moved to the Chicago land area after grad school, they became a place I could go too anytime I got out to the burbs. When I moved to Mount Prospect, they moved to their current location.

To me Games Plus is the model of the perfect game store. Huge inventory of thousands of games, books, minis and more dice than anyone will ever need. Knowledgeable and friendly staff that can answer questions and really enjoy the hobby; both as a past time and serious business. It also has one of the best in-store gaming areas I have ever seen. There is a certain feel of camaraderie and even brotherhood going into a room where eight groups of guys and gals across all social strata are here for the same reasons. I play-tested Buffy and Ghosts of Albion there. I run into ChicagoWiz there every so often. It really is like Mecca for gamers; or at least the closest one to me. Honestly there is not a single book I have wanted that they could not get for me. They are better and cheaper than eBay.

The really nice feature of Games Plus is their Game Auctions, held twice a year. It is a great way to get something rare and old for your collection, or unload something you don't want anymore. You have read about my successes at the auctions in the past ([1], [2], [3]), so I am rather fond of going.

So if you are in need of a new game or gaming book, please visit your local game store. These places are the starting place for so many in this hobby and they are a dying breed I fear. Plus helping out the local business is helping out the community and keeping your neighbors employed.

To my readers: What is YOUR favorite game store? Where are they, why do you like to go? Post their url or FB page and share the love. Don't have one? Maybe you can find a new one here!

Links
Games Plus on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/GamesPlus
Castle Perilous Games & Books on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Castle-Perilous-Games-Books/142184075822321
Off/On the Square on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/pages/OffOn-The-Square/329762308228

Games that I'd like to give another chance

2011-12-06T06:41:00.001-06:00

One of the cool things about being at this point in my life is I have tried hundreds of games. While there are only about half a dozen I come back too, there are few I'd like to try again and give another go at.

Here are some I'd like to give another chance too.

Traveller
One of the first non-D&D games I ever played. I was a big sci-fi geek back in the day and would love to play this one again as an adult.

Savage Worlds
People love it, but it has never worked for me. I have given this one more than enough chances really, but I also broke up with and got back together with my crazy ex-girlfriend in college a number of times too. So obviously I am a glutton for punishment.
I think I need to try it with another GM. Nothing again my regular GM Greg, but maybe someone that can run this like he can run D&D or I can run Unisystem.

MERP
Loved the books. Thought the game was cool. I would really like to try a good game in Middle Earth at least one more time.

BESM 3.0 or 2r
I really enjoyed the hell out of Big Eyes, Small Mouth. I'd like to give that one another go too.

Marvel Super Heroes
I am much more of a DC fan, but I'd love to try this one again.

World of Synnibarr
I know, I know. Worst RPG ever. But there is such a gonzo quality about this game that just begs that you don't take it seriously, and thus all the reasons to consider it bad are somehow less important. Just need to find the right crowd.

Alternity
Enjoyed it the one time I played. Would like to try it again.

What games are on your lists?

And on a special note, today is the 20th anniversary of the first date I had with the woman I'd later marry. Thought it was kinda nice to remember that.

Tis the season for Charity

2011-12-05T10:17:00.000-06:00

I first heard about Doctors without Borders when I was teaching over at the University of Illinois' College of Medicine. If you don't know about them, you can get all the details here, http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

DriveThruRPG supports them every so often with a product or collection of products. All the money goes to Doctors Without Borders, so it is a good way to score some RPG related material and help out a worthy cause.

This year it is a collection of the "Bring Dice and Chips" comic.

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=97260&affiliate_id=10748

Please check it out.

Vote Hermione!

2011-12-05T00:07:00.000-06:00

Jen over at Unedited is a participant in the YA Tournament of Heroines and is the advocate of Hermione Granger as the best YA heroine.

She has some details here, http://jennifer-daiker.blogspot.com/2011/11/ya-tournament-of-heroines.html
and the host site here, http://ya-sisterhood.blogspot.com/ and more info here, http://ya-sisterhood.blogspot.com/p/summer-crushin-tournament.html.

There are a ton of reasons why Hermione is the best and most obvious choice. She is smart, strong willed, stands by her friends, caring, and I could go on, but I'll leave that for Jen to do.

So go out and vote!

Zatannurday: Young Justice Secrets

2011-12-03T07:22:00.000-06:00

We were treated to another Zatanna episode of Young Justice recently. It was a the Halloween episode "Secrets".
It had some nice non-Zee moments.
Wendy and Marvin were there. Megan disguising herself as Marvin the Martian from 'Looney Tunes'.

Of course there are lots of good bit with Zatanna and Artemis in this epsiode. Zee figures out right away that Conner and Megan are a couple. I like how they are opting to portray her as younger than the rest of the team (except for Robin).

I enjoyed the heck out of the old Teen Titans cartoon when it was on, but this one is really good. Love the storyline they are building here.

Here are some more pics of her appearances from 'Humanity' and 'Secrets'.

I normally don't post animated GIFs but this scene made me laugh out loud. (might need to click on it to make it work)

It got me wondering about when in this continuity Zatara was going die. Not to be morbid about it, but it is a central part of her character just as much as Batman's.

Conspiracy X 2.0 Kickstarter 2, Paranormal Sourcebook

2011-12-02T15:19:00.001-06:00

Eden had a hugely successful Kickstarter for Conspiracy X that they are doing it again. This time for the Paranormal Sourcebook.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1801360072/conspiracy-x-rpg-the-paranormal-sourcebook?ref=users

Among other things, you can get a hardcover copy of the book, pdf and my favorite, a deck of Zener Cards.

A great add-on to the game really. Yeah you could make or buy your own, but getting these is still a really cool deal.

So check it out!

DriveThruRPG reveiws

2011-12-01T18:13:00.000-06:00

Some random DriveThruRPG reviews.
I wanted to get a lot more of these done this year, but reviews take a bit to do properly. I am making recommendations that I hope others are reading are them, but I want to make sure they are informed recommendations.

Diana: Warrior Princess
Diana: Warrior Princess is a game that is so out there it is hard to quantify it.
Lets start with the easy part first, the game system. The game is very cinematic and focuses largely on characters can do that is cool, amazing or fun. So no stats for cooking here, unless of course one of your characters is a notorious Iron Chef (which would totally work with this game).

Now the premise. Take our world, but go many thousand of years in the future. Now make a TV show of our times, but give it the same historical accuracy (and sense of over the top cinema and fun) as Xena: Warrior Princess. That is D: WP, except you are playing in that world and it is all real to you. So tons of characters make appearances that we know of today. England is a land ruled by Queens Victoria and Elizabeth with the undead Thatcher in control. Just tons of over the top things like that. Adding stuff is easy. There might be this new Robber-Baron from the USA that uses technology to suck the lives out of people into his magical book that keeps a representation of their face. This dreaded artifact of the ancient 21st century was known as "The Facebook"! Just like that. Hard to say what being Googled will mean!

Don't take this game too seriously and you will have a lot of fun.
If you are the type though that looks for internal consistency in your worlds and retcon is a dirty word, then maybe don't get this.

But everyone will have a really fun time.
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

Field Guide to Superheroes Vol. 3 (ICONS)
A hefty collection of archetypes for the ICONS game. Lots of familiar territory here with some standard comic book archetypes. What I came here for was the Magician, Occult hero and the Psychic.

In all cases an archetype is presented with some explanatory notes on how this character works in the comics and the game. Examples from comics are given and ways to use the character. Then we also get a full write up of a ready to use character, either as an NPC or PC for your own games. Usually 4 pages per archetype.

Very good book for the price and now I want to pick up the first two as well.
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars (bought it for the Zatanna like character on the front).

Hope Prep School Freshman Handbook, Mutants & Masterminds 3rd Edition
Hope Prep School Freshman Handbook, ICONS
The Freshman Handbook is a great product in the Hope Prep product line. Meant to follow from the Hope Prep Orientation book, this book expands what you know and provides more information.

Like the Orientation Book, this book is multi-system. I had no issue moving from the ICONS version of one to the M&M version of the other.

This book contains everything a new student will need to know about their new school. There are class schedules with information on the teachers (and their powers, listed in back). While there is a wealth of information here it's utility will vary form GM to GM. While somw may like know where the students are at any given moment of any given day, there are others that will hand wave this.

One thing I found a distraction was the multi-colored text of the two students, Maza and Kid Courage. While interesting and provided a good insight to what was "really" going on, I found the font choice and color difficult to read sometimes.
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

Hope Prep #0 Orientation, Mutants & Masterminds 3rd Edition
Hope Prep #0 Orientation, ICONS
Ever since the X-Men went to class and the Teen Titans went to their tower, being a super powered teen has always been popular in comics. It was popular before that too, but let's stick with high school. Hope Prep is another in a long line of Schools for .... you get the idea.
This book was written for ICONS, but I am certain that the same applies for other versions (M&M).
The idea here is a day spent learning about your new school, Hope Prep. A new bad guy organization is introduced, which I really liked and will use. And it works as a good introduction to supers roleplaying and the game systems as well.

Each scene is detailed well, but not in a way that tells the GM what everyone needs to do, but instead a framework of what is going on and how to move from one scene to the next. Very nice.
There is a starter map of the school grounds and some materials to print and give to your players.

All in all, a very fun intro and certainly makes want to get some more from this line of products.

All in all I really like the Hope Prep products and plan to buy some more of these.
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

Dryden: Hero or Horror
Dryden: Hero or Horror seriously undersells itself.
At 10 cents it is likely to be ignored and that would be a shame. While I think today it could be released with some slightly better presentation of the art (the art is good, but quality of the scan seems bad) for a much greater price, there is plenty here for nearly any flavor of the 3.x d20 game.
Dryden are a race that can interbreed with other races, even monsters. For this reason they are listed as a character race, a monster and a monster template. It is also for this reason it carries a "for mature audiences" tag, but there is nothing here that I would not consider to be PG-13.
Differing information is given for fantasy, modern and future versions of the game and some plot hooks.
If you like the idea of a quasi-parasitic race then this is a good product. I like it since it designed to be used in multiple flavors of the same game and show the flexibility of the d20 system and this race.

And it is only 10 cents. Grab it before the publishers realize that giving something away that is this good is a bad idea. ;)
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

Campaign Builders: Modern High
Campaign Builders are quick books to help you get started with a campaign mode. In this case a modern high school (and two popular variations, the Horror High and Ninja School).
I grabbed this for ideas to help with a anime/supers/magic flavored high school game I Was working on at the time and it was a great help. The coolest feature here (and since used in other games) is the "Allowance" mechanic. This might not be the first place it has been used like this, but what they do have here is very good.

It is a great product for the price. I might have liked to see more school types and paid a little more, but all in all I am very happy with it.
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

Baba Yaga's Hut

2011-12-01T10:35:00.001-06:00

It has been a cornucopia of witchy goodness from Wizards of the Coast over the last month or so.

First we get a new Witch class which I have to admit I rather like and one that works well with the older material. We also got a version of Baba Yaga, and now we get her infamous hut too as a new adventure.
I'll have to print it out and see how it compares with versions from the past.

I think WotC did a good job of integrating this version of Baba Yaga and the Dancing Hut into the D&D4 Feywild.

My only gripe. It's supposed to be chicken legs.

BTW: Still coming up with some background on Father Nyaga. I know he was someone important in Baba Yaga's life many, many years ago. And I have settled on the fact that he is good, or at least not-evil.

The Déjà Vu Blogfest

2011-11-30T13:03:00.000-06:00

I am going to participate in another Blogfest. But this one is different.

On December 16th I am going to repost an older post of my own that I felt didn't get the benefit of a wider audience.

You can read all the details here: Cruising Altitude 2.0: The Deja Vu Blogfest

It is a gaming post, and one I think you will all like.

So join me on the 16 and I'll do something I have already done.

Awards

2011-11-29T11:01:00.001-06:00

Back when the Other Side was just a website and not a blog, I used to get a lot of awards.

Sure they were really just means of getting someone to link back to your site, but I still treated them all like they were special. After-all, someone took the time to read through my site and thought it was good enough for an award or a least a link back. I also had an award of my own I gave out (no, you can't sign up for it anymore).

Today's blog awards are not much different really, and that is fine.
But I did get this one and in a twist I am supposed to also give it to 15 other bloggers. So in a way it is like an award chain letter. I opted to go ahead and give it out, but with a twist of my own. I wanted sites that were appealing to me either for their content, their design or some combination of the two. I also was going to focus on blogs outside of the OSR/Gamin sphere since, well to be blunt, we all link to each other anyway.

I chose a lot of sites from writers of Paranormal Fiction or Young Adult Fiction. I feel that these authors have the most to offer me in my own game-related writing. I don't pretend to be, nor do I aspire to be, a novelist. I write games. I am a game designer. But these sites help me think about how my games can be viewed from the character's perspective, and thus the player's.

So here is the One Lovely Blog Award. Given to me by S. L. Hennessy at Pensuasion (BTW she got it from here, who got it from here, who got it from here...you get the idea.)

Here are the rules. I'll give it 15 more people who in turn will link back to me and give to 15 others. Please post a comment in the person's blog to let them know they got the award, just as I am doing with you.

I am not sure why I got a "Lovely" award; the aesthetics of my site tend more towards pragmatic rather than attractive. But hey. I am not complaining. These sites do look nice, or at lease they appeal to me.

Bobert the Hoosier expatriate - Bob is a long time friend and YA author.
Space 1970 - one of the most awesome sites on the net. Love the late 70s and SciFi? Then go here, now.
Propnomicon - Lovecraft inspired props. Creepycool!
Stargazer's World - A great looking RPG site. The author has spent a lot of time to make it look good.
Rather Gamey - quirky game site with some great art and commentary.
Unedited by Jennifer Daiker - Author and Blogger with a lot to say. Love how her site looks.
Creepy Query Girl - Mother, Author and creepy stalker? Maybe not yet, but a cool blog about getting your books published.
A Writer's Journey - Melissa Cunningham is an author and book reviewer.
Ciara Knight - is another author with a great looking site. Plenty of guest posters keep the blog fresh.
Susan Fields - Great writer, but don't touch her coffee.
Nicki Elson - Interviews, review and author commentary.
Bang out the Prose - Suz Korb is newer to the writing scene but she is working getting her rough draft done.
Who can Turn the World off With Her Smile - one of my favorite names for a blog. Great movie love here.
That's All She Wrote! - Julie is a new writer working on her first book. She is also a high school classmate of mine so I want to give her encouragement to keep on writing!
The Last Witch series - Elizabeth Kolodziej's blog dedicated to her books in the Last Witch series.

There they are! Please visit them and have a look at what they have to say.

Strippers make the best informants

2011-11-29T10:09:00.001-06:00

So if you have been following Sarah Michelle Gellar's new show "Ringer" you know she has ties to the mob (or her sister did, not sure) well tonight we get a treat in the form of Amber Benson, playing a mob informant/stripper named...~~Tara~~ Mary.

http://www.tvline.com/2011/10/ringer-buffy-amber-benson-sarah-michelle-gellar/
http://www.tvguide.com/News/Ringer-Amber-Benson-1040084.aspx

Now where have I seen that before? Oh yeah.

http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/09/dragon-and-phoenix-episode-4.html

So in the Ringer-world Willow's spell went really wonky and "Kara" became real, but was implanted with "Candy's" personality. Sure. Why not.

ETA: I guess the sources got it wrong. Her name was "Mary" on the show.

Runequest II License ending

2011-11-29T07:59:00.001-06:00

The Runequest license is ending over at Mongoose. Actually it is up tomorrow.
I had been planning to mention this before now, but my October and November got way from me.
So here is you last chance to get these books from Mongoose.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?cPath=161_5353&affiliate_id=22713&src=MMMFB&affiliate_id=10748

I am sure RQ will be poping up somewhere else. It is a good old school game and in today's market it should find a home pretty easy.

Cyber Monday

2011-11-28T10:33:00.001-06:00

Today is Cyber Monday, the day when most of of us go back to work after the long Thanksgiving bender and do our Holiday shopping online. I like to shop online, even if I know I really should be shopping local.

That all being said, DriveThruRPG is offering some great deals deals today.

Get something for the gamer in your life. Even if that happens to be yourself!

Baba Yaga

2011-11-28T05:53:00.001-06:00

WotC has put up the 4e stats of Baba Yaga, the Hungry Witch, up. You will need DDi access.

http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/dun/201111courtofstars#77691

Baba Yaga has been part of the D&D universe since the beginning. Eldritch Wizardry and the DMG featured stats for her Dancing Hut and there have been adventures to feature her over the years as well. The great D&D witch Iggwilv is said to have been one of her students.

It's a good article. Reading it I do notice that WotC falls into the trap we all do, making any mythical NPC just really, really powerful; she is a 27th level opponent here.

I think I should stat her up for "The Witch" and see if I can get by with less level, but still give her the power she needs.

ETA: The oddest thing just occurred. I was reading my post in Google Reader with auto translate on, and it changed "Baba Yaga" to "Father Nyaga". I think I need to come up with a male witch that is Baba Yaga's counterpart, or enemy or something. Maybe he is a wizard and thousands of years ago, so long that even he and Baba Yaga were young, they were lovers. I like that idea.

Zatannurday: More Deviant Art

2011-11-26T07:31:00.000-06:00

I like Deviant Art. While there is a bunch of junk on the site, there is still a ton of great art to enjoy and sometimes even buy a print of.

Here are some more of my favorite Zatanna pieces.

do you believe in magic? by ~KillerStella on deviantART

_Zatanna by ~JardelCruz on deviantART

Zatanna goes to Heroes con by ~doonboy on deviantART

Zatanna-Ink by *leonartgondim on deviantART

Zatanna - Elegance And Magic by ~Canjoke on deviantART

Zatanna by =Candra on deviantART

And more from Chrissie Zullo

Zatanna Commish by *chrissie-zullo on deviantART

Zatanna Commission by *chrissie-zullo on deviantART

And one special non-deviantART one that was posted earlier in the week.
http://artofdesignosaurus.tumblr.com/post/12071958763/zatanna-i-experimented-a-bit-more-on-this

The Witch: Artifacts

2011-11-25T07:52:00.000-06:00

Been working on the Artifacts for "The Witch". I know, I am so late...

I like the idea of witch artifacts. There are so many powerful witches it follows that there are some powerful artifacts.

Here are some new books usable by witches and witch hunter respectively.

The following text is considered Open.

Liber Mysterium: The Book of Witches
This ancient tome is bound in rich leather and brass. The book itself is a hefty volume full of information on the subject of witches, witchcraft and the topics surrounding witches such as the traditions, covens and monsters typically associated with witches.
Any witch, of any alignment, that reads this text will gain enough experience points to gain one level and put them half way through to the next. Reading will require 1 full lunar month of study and contemplation.
This tome also includes descriptions of all the new witch spells presented. Witches must still learn the secrets for casting these spells as normal; that is leveling up and consulting their familiar, but now they know the spell to request.
Non-witches gain no benefit, but GM's may allow a +2 to +5 on any check that might be occult in nature. Wizards (Magic-Users) may use this text to learn spells that also appear on their own spell lists.
Witch, Wizard and Cleric can also scribe 2-5 scrolls (1d4+1) of spells that appear on their own lists to use at a future date.
Non-witch characters also suffer the following effects.
Wizards (Magic Users): lose 100 to 600 xp (1d6x100)
Clerics: lose 500 to 1,000 XP (1d6x100+400)
All other classes: Save vs Spells or be knocked out for 1d4 turns.
Once the book is read and it's secrets revealed it will disappear to find another worthy witch.

The Malleus Maleficarum: The Hammer of the Witches

This text was penned by clerics in their attempt to rid the world of witches and witchcraft. While not as rare as other magical texts there are in fact many copies of this book. Only the True Malleus is the artifact.
The Lesser, or more common Maalleus once read by any class other than a witch will gain a +1 to all to hit rolls against witches and other magic users. For game purposes even clerics of different faiths can be considered to be a witch.

The True Malleus was in fact "edited" by demonic forces to spread more unrest and chaos. This tome is cursed and anyone that reads it gains a +3 to hit and +1 to damage against any magic using class such as a witches, wizards and clerics. The reader also becomes paranoid and must make a save vs. Spells or believe that anyone they meet immediate after looking through the pages is a witch and must be destroyed; friend or foe.
If the save fails and the reader manages to kill the "witch" they will go on a bloody rampage, seeking out all sorts of "witches" to commit mindless murder. Only a Remove Curse spell can stop them.
Readers that do read the True Malleus, but make the save will always be suspicious of any new magic user they meet.

"Witch Artifacts" Copyright 2011 Timothy S. Brannan

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T10:50:00.001-06:00

To all all my American readers, happy Thanksgiving!

To everyone else, Happy Thursday!

Giving the Gift of Adventure: Patriot Edition

2011-11-22T18:35:00.001-06:00

I was dropping off some donations today at a local women's charity; toys and the like really.

While grabbing some old kids games from my basement I could not help but think that a good way to help others out this holiday season and spread the word about gaming would be to give out some gaming sets; 4e, Pathfinder, OSR, didn't matter, just as long as someone who needed it got it.

But giving is only half the issue really, with kids you need to be able to game with them and it is a not a cheap hobby. I know myself better, I can't donate time really, not working full time with kids of my own. So giving to these places would not have the full impact I would like. So I'll keep donating clothes and toys to needy charities, but my desire to spread the word about gaming though still needs to be addressed.

While unloading I think I came up with it.

Donate new RPG games to our men and women in service overseas.

I'd pick up a couple of boxed sets of something a donate, but I don't want to be alone and I don't exactly know where to give these things.

So help me out. How can we do this this year? Give the gift of gaming AND let the men and women that serve for us know we still care?

Ghosts of Albion - Haunted Illinois

2011-11-21T16:32:00.001-06:00

I was visiting my parents home this past weekend and of course picked up on of the many "Haunted Illinois" books that are ubiquitous in the Central Illinois region. I thought maybe I'd repost something I had done for Ravenloft's "Gothic Earth". This was for a netbook called the "Crossroads of Gothic Earth" done by the Kargatane many years ago.

While this was designed to be used with AD&D2nd ed, it was mostly a fluff piece and can really be used with any Victorian Era horror RPG.

Enjoy!

HAUNTED ILLINOIS:
A GUIDE TO STRANGE HAPPENINGS IN THE HEART OF THE GOTHIC MIDWEST

Local Correspondent:
Timothy S. Brannan

When people say “heartland of America” often one thinks of Illinois. Founded as a state in 1818, but inhabited long before that, Illinois is rich in history and in ghosts. Former presidents walk the halls of their home or tombs. It has been rumored that Lincoln haunts the his tomb in Springfield, the capital building in Springfield, and the old State Capital in Vandalia, a place where he had worked as a young lawmaker. All of this has led to a popular, but grim saying among Illinoisans, “Abraham Lincoln walks at Midnight.”
Iroquois, Fox and Sioux Indians walk ancient plains, and dead confederate soldiers march to an uncertain doom. Illinois is a starting point for many in their westward expansion, and a final resting place for others.

Illinois
Illinois is located in the heart of the “Heartland,” bordered by the mighty Mississippi River on the west and the Ohio on the south. This, combined with rich, flat land and warm, humid summers, produces some the nation’s best farmland. Since the 1850’s no other state has grown as quickly and as prosperously as Illinois. Currently (1890) the population is over 4,500,000.

History
The area was first seen by Europeans in 1673, by two Frenchmen: Louis Joliet, a fur trader, and Jacques Marquette, a Catholic missionary. Marquette later set up a mission along the Mississippi river (present day Kaskaskia) for the native peoples. The first permanent settlement built by Europeans was a mission on the Mississippi river in the town of Cahokia in 1699.
Up to 1763 the area had been controlled by the French. After the French-Indian wars, France gave this part of North America to the British, who soon made it part of Quebec. This action was one of the causes of the American Revolutionary War. During the war both Cahokia and Kaskaskia were sites of pivotal battles. In 1783, Britain surrendered the Northwest Territory, which included Illinois. In 1809 Illinois became a separate territory. About this time the settlement of northern Illinois began, centered around Ft. Dearborn on Lake Michigan.
In 1818 Illinois was admitted as the 21st state of the Union. Kaskaskia was named as its first state capital. This later moved to Vandalia in 1820 to encourage growth in Illinois’ interior. The capital was later (1837) moved to its present day location of Springfield. The city of Chicago was incorporated in March, 1837 on the site of Ft. Dearborn. By 1850 it was Illinois’ largest city with a population above 5,000. Chicago became the leading industrial center of the former Northwest Territories.
The Civil War began in 1861 with most of the state supporting the Union. Illinois sent more than a quarter of a million young men to serve with the Union army. Among those were General Ulysses S. Grant. In 1865, after the war’s end, Illinois became the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment to outlaw slavery.
In the years of the Reclamation, Illinois has seen many immigrants from other countries. Most notable are the Irish, Italians and Poles. Many ethnic neighborhoods have sprouted up all over Chicago and in some of the down-state areas as well.
The effects of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 can still be seen to this day, more that twenty years later. The fire killed 250 people and left nearly 90,000 homeless. The city was quick to rebuild and surpass its previous size.
Illinois is set, here at the turn of the 19th Century, to become one of the leading industrial and agricultural areas of the Untied States.

Forbidden Lore
As America of the 1890’s expands ever westward, the forces of the Red Death follow. Minions that are common in Illinois are most types of non-corporeal undead (Ghosts, Spectres, Haunts). It is known that there is at least one Banshee on Chicago’s south side and two more down-state. Many graveyards are prone to have ghouls and ghasts lurking around. Zombies and skeletons, created by powerful necromantic magic, are usually rare. No vampires or Liches have been recorded.
Lycanthropes, in particular werewolves and foxwomen, are more common down-state. Other common minions are Will o’wisps.

Ghost March of Southern Illinois
The Civil War pitted brother against brother. Nowhere was that more strongly felt than in Southern Illinois. While Illinois was technically a “free” state, many farmers south of Springfield sided more with the sensibilities of the Confederate states. These farmers’ fields became the sites of some of the bloodiest skirmishes of the war.
At certain times, sometime after midnight, a ghostly army arises from the mists hugging the ground. This ragged army of undead are all that remains of a Confederate Army troop sent into Illinois at the height of the war. The ghostly horde appears exactly as can be imagined; skeletal remains, with tatters of rotting flesh and gray uniforms. Their weapons, long since spent of ammunition, hang in their hands useless, but serve as constant reminders of what has lead them to this fate. Occasionally one can find a soldier that faired better than his brothers in arms. He is not as damaged or decayed, but his young innocent face is no less of a horror than the phantasms that surround him.
It is unknown what prompts this ghastly march or what motivates it.

Haunted Cemeteries
Illinois seems to have more than its fair share of haunted cemeteries. Often these cemeteries are the source of faint apparitions or ghost lights, as in Barrington Cemetery in Barrington, home of the white ghost lights. Sometimes the activity is more sinister. Pagan rituals have been seen in cemeteries along the Des Plaines river, northwest of Chicago. Similar events have happened in cemeteries in Jacksonville, 200 miles to the south.
Hickory Grove in Wrights, south of Springfield, is the final resting place for one unsavory character. Lying in a small unmarked grave southeast of the cemetery proper lies the body of man who was a doctor and a murderer, hung for the shooting death of a love rival. It is said that if you stand on his grave you can hear the sounds of a hanging rope swinging in the wind.
In 1841 an unknown man was found hanging in Clement’s Cemetery east of Champaign. Whether he was the victim of a lynching or a suicide is unknown. The people removed his body and gave him a proper burial. Soon after reports came back of the “Blue Man,” a thin wispy ghost of blue that can only be seen in the light of the full moon.
Old Union Cemetery in Dewitt county is considered to be one of the more haunted cemeteries in Illinois. Its first burial was in 1831. Located on the stagecoach route between Bloomington and Springfield, Union has become a “favorite” stopping place for the dead. Like many cemeteries in Illinois reports of ghostly lights
abound. This place also has areas of extreme cold, even in Illinois’ normally humid summers. Others have reported feeling sick at certain points.
Also located on a former stagecoach route is Williamsburg Hill, or “Cold Hill,” Cemetery. When the railroad came, Williamsburg became a ghost town; or rather a town of ghosts. The cemetery itself is placed on a large, uncharacteristic hill among completely flat farmland. Among the hundreds of mostly unmarked graves it is said a being wanders. This spectre is vaguely human in appearance. It seems to be an electrical field of some sort. Electricity can be heard crackling in the air around it. Whether it is a proper ghost or even if was at one time human is unknown.

Haunted Schoolhouse
Bloody Island School in Lime-Kill Hollow was a small one-room school house. Like hundreds of other schools that dotted the countryside children young and old were sent with pail and slate in hand to learn the “three R’s” from a school marm, but what the children learned here was a lesson in horror. Two teenage boys, long rivals, stabbed each other to death in front of a dozen screaming children. Town officials and the kindly young teacher, Miss Daniels, did what they could to clean up the blood of the two dead boys, but try as they might the blood continues to seep up through the floorboards and into the classroom. The floorboards have been cleaned over and over, and finally replaced, but the blood continues to flow. Plans are now to close down the school and build a new one.

The Watseka Wonder

Just south of Chicago and west of Indiana lies the sleepy town of Watseka. Unremarkable, save for what happened one summer of 1877. Lurancy Vennum fell into a deep coma-like sleep. When she awoke the 13 year old claimed she could speak with the spirits of the dead. These episodes began to happen with more frequency and lasted many hours. During these times Lurancy would speak in different voices and say things that she otherwise would not know of. When she would awaken she would have no memory of the events. Her family took Lurancy to best doctors in the state; finally they decided that she was insane and were going to have her committed.
In January of 1878 a man named Asa Roff approached the Vennum family. He had a story of his daughter, Mary, who had suffered a similar affliction, but had died in Peoria’s State Insane Asylum. However, Asa believed in his daughter and wanted to save Lurancy from the same fate. During mesmerism, Lurancy spoke in the voice of Asa’s daughter Mary.
Lurancy then proceeded to speak to Asa about details that only the Roff family would know. Lurancy (as Mary) lived with the Roffs, with the Vennum’s permission, for three months. She was able to identify family members and favorite things that only would have been known to the family.
In May, Mary left Lurancy and she asked to be returned home. She left, bidding everyone in the family goodbye. She never again experienced any contacts with the spirits, but she would return to see the Roff family on occasion and allow Mary to speak through her.

Haunted Theaters
Murphysboro in Southern Illinois is a quiet town located just a few miles east of the mighty Mississippi River. This town, known more for its apples and its close proximity to the Shawnee Forest, also has a darker secret: The Ghost of the Liberty Theater. The Liberty was built at the turn of the century and Emil McCarthy was there. He started working there as a young boy; cleaning, running the spotlights and other odd jobs. Sixty years later, Emil was still working odd jobs at the Liberty. He had developed a drinking problem and a poor attitude over the years, but since he lived in the theater and had such an attachment to the place none of his supervisors had ever fired him. Any that tried usually met with fatal accidents. Emil was never suspected; he was usually in a bar or passed out in the city square when the deaths occurred.
When the town decided to tear down the Liberty to put a new theater across town, Emil panicked and seemed to die of a broken heart. Plans are still underway for the new theater, but people now claim the new site is cursed. Tools disappear. Workmen get into accidents. None have been fatal, but they are increasing in number and magnitude. All is not quiet at the Liberty either. Patrons complain of noises, and cold areas. Management has reported that the curtains will open and close silently on their own. As the day of the Liberty’s demolition approaches, more incidents are reported.

Ghosts of Albion - In my Hands!

2011-11-20T17:45:00.001-06:00

Got back home today from visiting family and found a nice big box waiting for me.
Inside...

A box of Ghosts of Albion books!

Coming soon to a Game Store near you!

4E: Witch Paragon Paths

2011-11-20T12:17:00.000-06:00

Last week I discussed what I thought about the new witch class for 4E. One of the slights I felt was the lack of some good witch Paragon Paths. Obviously the Essentials format now includes a "default" Paragon Path and the book could not include multiple Paragon Paths for all the classes. So I am going to take something I thought was a weakness of the class and turn it into a strength. Today I want to look at what sort of previously published Paragon Paths work well for the witch.

First up, the Legendary Witch from Heroes of the Feywild is a perfect fit. It really just extends the Heroic Tier witch and gives some power based on the coven the witch is in. Nothing fancy really.

Starting with the core rule books (PHB and Essentials) and working out here are some of my choices.
The Blood Mage and Spellstorm Mage from PHB1 are good choices. With a bit of fluff, these can become a Blood Witch and Tempenstarii with no changes to crunch.

Arcane Power gives us a number of options as well, but really only one Paragon Path stands out as sufficently "witchy". The Weaver of Chance has background that is compatible with the witch's and the powers work well too. In fact with this Path you can finally make the Scarlet Witch character you always wanted.

Moving out to the Campaign Worlds we get more choices since they are designed to be something more akin to what Prestige Classes were in 3e. The Forgotten Realms is full of wizards, and even the Hatharans and Simbul are more or less witches. The Simbul is even called Witch Queen of Aglarond and the Paragon Path based around her, Simbarch of Aglarond, is a great one for a witch to take. Another nearly perfect one for the witch of a Full Moon coven is the Silverstar. Neitehr of these need to be changed in terms of fluff or crunch.

From the sister book Heroes of Shadow, the witch can take on powers of Necromancy or Nethermancy as she chooses. There is also the Ravenkin path as sort of a dark parallel to the Silverstar. The Shadowthief and Shadow Shaper are also decent choices.

Moving on to the issues of Dragon, we have the Vistani Execrator (#380), which is thematically a good choice if your witch has some Vistani blood. For witches that focus on their familiars there is the Familiar Keeper (#374).

There are others, based on races and skill or feat choices, but these look like they are the best to me.
Now the Legendary Witch doesn't look so lonely.

Zatannurday: Happy Birthday Darwyn Cooke!

2011-11-19T07:54:00.000-06:00

We have had the pleasure of seeing a lot of good artists at DC. But one of my favorites just had a birthday on Wednesday and here are some of his best Zatanna pics!

So Happy Birthday Darwyn Cooke!

And as a special bonus, head over to DC Women Kicking Ass for a awesome post on why Zatanna Kicks Ass.

Holiday Sales at Elf Lair Games

2011-11-18T14:41:00.001-06:00

Hey all!

Quick one to let you all know that Elf Lair Games is offering some discounts on the print editions of the Spellcraft & Swordplay game.

Spellcraft & Swordplay: Core Rules Hardcover
Spellcraft & Swordplay: Monstrous Mayhem Softcover

A great game and a great gift choice for the gamer (or non-gamer) in your life.

A Good Toy Goes to War

2011-11-18T10:50:00.001-06:00

Normally Friday night is movie night at Castle Brannan. We pop up some popcorn, order some Chicago-style pizza and watch what ever new movie is out. Buying a BluRay disc sight-unseen is still cheaper for us than taking every out to the theater.

But tonight we are going to do something different. We are going to try a new game.
The boys are a little burned out on D&D so I have wanted to try some new games. I didn't get a chance to play Doctor Who with them last week, but tonight I would like to try out Toy War.

I picked this up as part of the the Teach Your Kids to Game event this week at DriveThruRPG.

My boys are at the ages where they have an odd collection of toys. They still have some older stuffed animals and newer action figures. This game allows you to take any toy in your house (2-3 per player in fact) and play with them in an RPG.
Actually reading through the rules I am struck more how they are closer to the War Gaming origins that I would have thought.

So tonight we are getting out some toys. My oldest has already picked out a small Dalek and my youngest has this giant polar bear and some seals that he got from The Petting Zoo.

It should be fun. I'll keep you all posted.

ChicagoWiz's Toys for Tots fundraiser

2011-11-17T14:30:00.000-06:00

Many of you know that our very own ChicagoWiz is a very active supporter of Toys for Tots.
Well he is selling off some of his Battletech material to raise some money. Please check out these auctions, help out some kids and get some game stuff dirt cheap.

Here is his message:

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As part of my Toys for Tots fundraising drive, I'm auctioning off a lot of Battletech sourcebooks and some neat magazines/fanzines. All of these start at $5, and some have multiple items in the lot. I hope you bid generously and enjoy the items!

The Battletech Compendium (1990, Paperback)
The Battletech Compendium (1995, Paperback, Reprint)
The Battletech Compendium (1994, Hardcover)
Battletech Mechwarrior RPG Adventure Modules lot (1672, 1676)
Battletech Clan Sourcebooks lot (1642, 1645, 1685)
Battletech Sourcebook lot (1655, 1665, 1673) (Comstar, Objective Raids, Intelligence Operations Handbook)
Battletech Sourcebook lot (1639, 1659, 1670) (20 Year Update - 1639, Solaris: The Reaches (with maps) - 1659, Mercenary's Handbook 3055 - 1670)
Battletech Kurita/Draconis Combine Sourcebook lot (1620, 1698)
Battletech Kurita/Draconis Combine Sourcebook from 1987 (1620)
Battletech Fanzines - The Mech Factory/Tech Factory lot of 10 copies

Ral Partha Miniatures 1994 Catalog (NM, with inserts, OOP) - this bad boy is an actual print Ral Partha catalog and it's like it just was printed. Very good shape and just an amazing catalog to look at.
Renegade Legion - Centurion - Blood & Steel Wargame OOP - looks like a fun "Mech-like" game!

Well this is not a surprise

2011-11-17T05:57:00.000-06:00

Though I did come very close to Lawful Good and Neutral Good.

I Am A: True Neutral Human Wizard (5th Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength-12
Dexterity-10
Constitution-11
Intelligence-17
Wisdom-15
Charisma-15

Alignment:
True Neutral A true neutral character does what seems to be a good idea. He doesn't feel strongly one way or the other when it comes to good vs. evil or law vs. chaos. Most true neutral characters exhibit a lack of conviction or bias rather than a commitment to neutrality. Such a character thinks of good as better than evil after all, he would rather have good neighbors and rulers than evil ones. Still, he's not personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way. Some true neutral characters, on the other hand, commit themselves philosophically to neutrality. They see good, evil, law, and chaos as prejudices and dangerous extremes. They advocate the middle way of neutrality as the best, most balanced road in the long run. True neutral is the best alignment you can be because it means you act naturally, without prejudice or compulsion. However, true neutral can be a dangerous alignment when it represents apathy, indifference, and a lack of conviction.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

DriveThruRPG November PDFs

2011-11-16T13:29:00.000-06:00

Here are the latest PDF specials from DriveThruRPG for the month of November.

Psionics Unleashed [Dreamscarred Press]
Phantasia Zoologica Volume I: Cats, Dogs & Horses (Pathfinder) [4 Winds Fantasy]
BASH! Ultimate Edition [Basic Action Games]
Forgotten Foes (Pathfinder) [Tricky Owlbear]
Due Vigilance- The Oktobermen (M&M 3E) [Vigilance Press]

Your general Support Code that gives 20% off the entire list above is: EarlyShopRPG2011
This code is good until December 10th, 2011.

Enjoy!

Heroes of the Feywild: The Witch

2011-11-15T10:52:00.001-06:00

So I picked up the Heroes of the Feywild a while back. I had been looking forward to this one for a while, especially when I saw that the Witch was going to be one of the character class options.
I then spent some time working on various witch characters and builds (and yes I did them all by hand). Here are my insights.

In General
Like Heroes of Shadow, Heroes of the Feywild assumes that these characters are either from or have strong ties to their "homeland" in this case the Feywild. IF you have any interest at all in the Feywild or any sort of land of the Faerie (such as Avalon, Alfheim or any number of others) then this is a good book. While not really compatible with older editions of D&D there is still plenty that can be used. The feats even are written that they could even be used with Pathfinder or D&D 3.x. I found plenty I can use for my current 3.x game that I run with the kids and Ghosts of Albion. I actually ended up liking this book more than the Heroes of Shadow book out earlier.

The Witch
The witch is a new "sub-class" of wizard that basically learned in the Feywild. On one level I didn't like this since the witch isn't really a type of wizard. But in reading it I can get past it since the witch is only a type of wizard "mechanically", she uses the same rules as a wizard and thus all the same powers, feats, magic items, Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies the wizard can use. In this respect it makes her more like what I have done in the past where wizards and witches are both a type of "magic-user". It gives the witch a lot of power to choose from.

The witch has two builds or covens she can choose from, a Full Moon Coven and a Dark Moon Coven, or if you prefer a good witch and a bad witch. The covens have some powers associated with them, but the witch is still free to choose powers as she sees fit.
Only Paragon Path is given, the Legendary Witch, and it focuses on the two covens. It lacks any strong thematic element, but this is a complaint I have had of the Paragon Paths of the post Essentials line.
The Epic Destiny, the Witch Queen, though is quite good. I had done something similar as a Prestige Class for 3.5. This one is different but there are some interesting powers and effects.

Powers and Spells
What sets this witch apart from another Wizard or a Warlock are her spells and powers. The witch relies on her familiar to learn magic. Something I have seen more and more of late in FRPG versions of the witch. Her magic has a distinct feel to it different than that of the warlock, even if there seems to be some overlap. Witches do get a minor healing power from the Full Moon Coven, and her magics in general are more subtle. She does not for example have a fireball like spell, but she can change monsters into other animals and they take damage for it. Heavy on the charms and transformations. Lots of powers with the Psychic key-word. Some are similar in theme to the Warlock; Horde of Puckish Sprites is not too different, save in level, than Pixie War Band.

I would like to see more on the relationship of Witches and Warlocks. Especially given the Fey commonalities and interactions with Patrons. I think I'll have to write that myself.

Non-Witch Material
There are three new races to play that are well suited to a Feywild/Faerie World sort of game. The Hammadryad, the Satyr and the Pixie. All have something very interesting about them and I'll stat up some witches for each race as well. There are other class builds as well the Berserker (Barbarian), Protector (Druid) and Skald (Bard). All great for a psuedo-Celtic themed game of D&D. Just add Player's Handbook 2 to the mix to get the base Bard and Gnome and you are set. Honestly there is enough here to run a high-magic game and never leave the Feywild.

Overall I am very pleased with this witch class. It's not perfect, but it is very, very close. I might try a multi-classed warlock, but that might be splitting my roles a bit too much.