Doing another magical character today. This one was featured in an early Character Creation challenge and then again for my discussion on moving away from D&D 5e and going to Pathfinder 2e.

Rowan McGowan is what I often refer to as a Witch Knight. She is a witch, but she is also a knight in the service of the "the Old Ways."  In D&D 5e this concept was a fun one to try with her taking levels in Warlock (Hexblade) and Paladin (Oath of the Ancients). It works surprisingly well. In Pathfinder 2e I made her into a witch and opted to later on add more martial training (Champion Dedication).  Both write-ups had their distinct advantages.

For Wasted Lands I am opting to use the Divine Warrior from NIGHT SHIFT and use the Heroic Touchstone to help fill in the gaps. 

Rowan McGown

Class: Divine Warrior
Level: 4
Species: Human
Alignment: Light 
Background: Scholar

Abilities
Strength: 18 (+3) A
Agility: 12 (0) 
Toughness: 10 (0) 
Intelligence: 13 (+1) 
Wits: 13 (+1) A N
Persona: 18 (+3) N

Fate Points: 1d6
Defense Value: 1
Vitality: 20
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +3/+2/+1
Melee Bonus: +2 (base), +3 (STR)
Ranged Bonus: +2 (base)
Saves: +2 to all Wits and Persona Saves, +1 to Magic and Spells (Schloar background)

Divine Warrior Abilities
Sixth Sense, Heal Injury and Illness (4d6), Supernatural Attacks, Protection from Evil

Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: Spell Arcane Dart
2nd Level: Enhanced Senses
3rd Level: 
4th Level: Favored Weapon, Sword

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Protection

Gear
Longsword, Full plate armor, Holy symbol

Wasted Lands as a D&D/Pathfinder replacement

Again The Wasted Lands, with the additions of other O.G.R.E.S. material works as a very nice replacement for any sort of D&D like game. While all three versions of this Witch Knight character does something really great, I can get the most bang for my buck using Wasted Lands.

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.

I thought I should be getting back to these "This Old Dragons" to celebrate 50 years of Dungeons & Dragons. Since this year is all about D&D and various themes, I am pulling out my Dragons to review, but when I post them will be timed to coincide with other events. I am saving my various Sci-fi issues for May and so on. This month though is pure randomness.  Reaching into the box under my desk I pull out a particularly musty smelling artifact from the summer of 1989. AD&D 2nd Edition is on the market. I am working two jobs (Pizza Hut during the day and QMHP at a Mental Health facility at night) to pay for school. "Satisfied" by Richard Marx is the Number #1 song. Tim Burton's Batman still dominates our screens. And on the shelves for July, 1989 is issue #147 of This Old Dragon.

Our cover is from none other than Clyde Caldwell, wanting to do a good sorceress for a change. I really liked this cover. I wish the copy ow reviewing still had it.

Inside we are treated to an ad for "The New" Dungeon game. Looks like the old one with newer art. I have this one (I have all of them) and it is a nice big board and one of the larger boxes for Dungeon.  This one advertises the new classes of Dwarf and Cleric. 

A couple of ads for the WEG Star Wars game. 

This issue's theme is magic, so that will be fun. 

Letters cover the issues of the day including details on the revised Druid from a couple of issues back. Nice, but all moot now that AD&D 2nd Ed is out. 

In a similar vein Forum covers some rulings on Clerics. Things are actually made clearer in 2nd Ed.

Skip Williams is up in Sage Advice with advice on various magic items like rings, potions, rods, staves and wands.

Sorcerous Secrets is our theme this month. 

Patricia Nead Elrod is first with Getting Familiar, a guide on familiars.  It is a 2nd Ed focused article (good) and covers what has long been a very neglected part of any wizard's (or witch's) life; their familiar. While the focus is AD&D 2nd ed the material on the types of familiars (Cats, Crows, Hawks, Owls, Weasels, Ferrets, and Toads) can be, and should be, used in any edition. Very solid article and a good kick-off.

An old friend of the Other Side, Vince Garcia, is up next with Variety, the Spice of Magic. Ok Vince knows his magic lore, so lets see what he has for us. This one is a 1st Ed article, not surprising given the time period. This covers substituting spell components for wizards casting spells. A great article if you are like me and track spell components. Lots of alternates are given with various chances of spell change or failure. Worth reading for ideas alone on spell components. 

Gaze Into my Crystal Ball... covers, obviously enough, crystal balls from Krys Stromsted. Again this is an AD&D 1st ed article. I'll point these out as needed for this time of the Summer of 1989. A cleaner break was made between 2nd ed and 3rd ed ten years later.  This one covers durations, distances, and how spells work through a crystal ball. 

Spelling is Out by Douglas J. Behringer details writing out spells. Again AD&D 1st Ed focused. This includes the type of paper used to how the character writes the spell. 

Richard Hunt gives us not just one, but four different Wands of Wonder in WOW Your Players. Four different wands with random tables of effects. Likely could be used with any edition with some tweaking. 

And that is it for the special feature. Hmm. Kinda expected more. 

Miniatures are featured in the Through the Looking Glass regular feature from Robert Bigalow.  Some chariots pulled by lions, some V&V heroes and some impressive dragons.

Nice ad for AD&D 2nd Edition. Still the mock-up of the Monstrous Compendium, though it should be out in stores at the same time as this issue. 

Our "centerfold" is the Magus game by Robert J. Kuntz. The rules are here but the game board and pieces are missing. Too bad, it might have been fun to try.

The Gamers Guide of small ads is after that and not in the end. Ads for dice, computerized FRPG maps, and a couple of ads for getting your character drawn.

TSR Previews reads like a collector's wish list.  AD&D 2nd Ed books, the new Dungeon, the 1990 Forgotten Realms calendar. The Shadowdale novel. Dragonlance modules. Really fun stuff.

Ken Rolston reviews a bunch of magic-themed games in Role-Playing Reviews. This includes GURPS Magic, Ars Magica (the first one!), Talislanta, and magical offerings from the Forgotten Realms and Fantasy Hero.  This long review goes into each book into detail. Generally speaking Rolston likes each of these books and what they offer.

Brenda K. Ward gives us Lord of the Keep our short story for this issue. 

The Leser clan of Hartley, Patricia and Kirk offer up this month's The Role of Computers. They cover a lot of games for various computer systems. Commodores get the most of them with Amigas, and Commodore 64k and 128k machines. I always liked the Commodore 128k, I had a girlfriend at the time who had one and it was a fun little computer. These reviews are paired up with the Clue Corner feature to give out hints on various games. 

Nice ad for the SSI AD&D PC games. 

John C. Bunnell is up with the book reviews in The Role of Books. None titles jump out at me, but most of the authors do. There is a Vonda N. McIntyre one, Starfarers, that looks interesting.  A Mercedes Lackey horror novel, Burning Water that looks like a lot of fun, and one from an author I don't know, Tom Holt, called Who's Afraid of Beowulf? that also might a fun read. 

Convention Calendar gives us some of the cons that are happening the Summer of 1989. Surprising not listed is Gen Con.

Dragonmirth wraps up our issue. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, the ones from the early 80s seemed funnier. 

So an interesting issue with a lot of great material if you are into magic and wizard types. 

Moving out of my continuity to do something newer, but related today.  Sinéad Moonshadow is a D&D character. She began life as an AD&D 2nd Ed character from a previous Character Creation Challenge. I thought she might be some sort of witch/bard or wizard/bard mix from The Complete Wizard's Handbook.  In fact, I imagined situations where she might later run into such characters as Celene, Heather, or Raven. As the last couple of years moved on, I changed my mind about what I would do with her. Now, she is very much my eyes and voice to visit the Forgotten Realms, which I will do more of later this year. 

And then Baldur's Gate 3 happened. Sinéad was my second full run-through (my fourth starting character or something). I really wanted to see how the Wild Magic Sorcerer worked in the game, and since I was using Sinéad, I also gave her levels of Bard. Honestly it was so great I have dropped the idea of her being a witch at all and instead going full wild Magic Sorcerer and Bard.  

Honestly, the distinction between a "wild magic Sorcerer" and "Natural witch" is largely an academic one. But I am the academic that gets to make those distinctions, and I am cool with it.

So, in my updated backstory, she is a half-elf girl growing up in the Moonshae Isles. She has bursts of magic that she can't control. Even in the magic-rich Realms, this is an oddity. When she accidentally burns down a barn during a bit of uncontrolled magic, she leaves her home.  That much I always had, but where did she go? Well, now I know. Baldur's Gate on the Sword Coast. I only know a little more than that because my Realms lore could be better. 

In many ways, Sinéad is the spiritual god-daughter to Heather, both half-elves, both bards. I might need to try out a Ranger/Bard under 5e or Baldur's Gate sometime in the future.

Sinéad Moonshadow

Class: Sorceress / Sage
Level: 12/8
Species: Half-elf
Alignment: Light 
Background: Sorcerous

Abilities
Strength: 12 (+0) 
Agility: 18 (+3) A
Toughness: 16 (+2) 
Intelligence: 16 (+2) N
Wits: 15 (+1) 
Persona: 17 (+2) N

Fate Points: 1d10
Defense Value: 3
Vitality: 87
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +8/+6/+4
Melee Bonus: +2 (base) 
Ranged Bonus: +2 (base)
Spell Attack: +6
Saves: +6 to Spells and Magical effects (Sorcerer & Elf)

Sorcerers Abilities
Arcana, Arcane Powers (4): Beguile, Detect Thoughts, Enhanced Senses, Shadow Walk

Sorceress Spells
First Level: Arcane Darts, Beast Speech, Prestidigitation, Sleep
Second Level: Eternal Flame, Invisibility, See Invisible, Unlock
Third Level: Concussive Blast, Dark Lightning, Dispel Magic, Remove Curse
Fourth Level: Control Temperature, Dimensional Travel, Renewal
Fifth Level: Passageway, Restore Life, Telekinesis
Sixth Level: Dispel Evil, Instant Death

Elf Abilities
Night Shifted

Sage Abilities
Languages (18), Lore, Suggestion, Mesmerize Others, Read Languages, Renegade skills at level 4

Sage Spells
First Level: Arcane Darts (yes, twice), Chill Ray, Gout of Flame
Second Level: Conjure Flame, Invoke Fear, Magic Locks
Third: Fly

Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: 
2nd Level: 

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Magic

Gear
Longbow, shortsword, leather armor, Dog ("Scratch")

Wasted Lands as D&D 5th Ed / Baldur's Gate 3

Again I am impressed with the levels of customization here. I think this Sinéad fares well against her 5e and BG3 counterparts. I did not pick out any Heroic Touchstones for her, but I would do this to cover any Sorceress or Bard powers she is missing like her meta-magic and Bardic inspiration, though I might be able to get this with Beguile.

This is a really good version of her and really one I could see playing. I am going to obviously spend a lot more time with this character and even try her out in various other versions of D&D. But this one right now is my favorite.

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.

 I was saddened to hear of the passing of RPG industry titan Jennell Jaquays this morning. I had never met with her face to face, though we had spoken together many times online. She was a compassionate, understanding, and wonderfully funny soul.

You can't go through the early days of our hobby and not see her name on something. Whether it was early Judges Guild material, articles in Dragon magazine, or her works, both as a writer and artist, for Dungeons & Dragons, Traveller, The Fantasy Trip, and Runequest.  Her work in the pages of the Judges Guild Journal and the Dungeoneer are still some of my favorites from the dawn age of RPGs.

Her continued work in video games, like Quake, kept her close to RPGs. 

I knew she had been sick since October, and I knew it was not a minor thing, but today we got word from her wife that she had passed.

While her work on Central Casting is justifiably lauded, it was her Dark Tower adventure in which she gained her highest accolades. Though I admit, I am also rather partial to her adventure "Talons of Night."

Her wife, Rebecca "Burger Becky" Heineman, has a GoFundMe started. Initially, it was to cover medical expenses, which sadly she still has.

I know we are getting to a point where the pioneers of our hobby are getting older. I have even lost close friends in the last year. But that does not make it any easier.  Sad thing is I had an idea from earlier in the Fall I wanted to talk to her about. She was the sort to always give very helpful and honest advice. But I saw she was ill, so I figured I would wait. 

Well. I guess I can't now. 

My thoughts are with her family.

 Going to explore some more magic-inclined characters for a bit to see how they fare. Next is an interesting one, Heather McHael, a half-elf Ranger Bard. She was also the last AD&D 1st Edition character I made before the release of AD&D 2nd Edition. I wanted a bard character for a while but when I finally rolled up Heather, she had the stats needed to do it. 

I thought Heather would be something akin to an Irish girl living in Scotland. When I later redid her for Ghosts of Albion, I did precisely that. She was very religious (I was modeling her beliefs on Catholicism) so this would have made her a somewhat "alien" Catholic girl living in Presbyterian Scotland. In AD&D she was the youngest half-elf daughter to a human lord and elvish mother. The lord already had four human sons who were all older than she was. None were happy with their father's new wife.

Personality-wise, I wanted to explore a character who was an alien in her own world and was searching for her "true people." Along the way, she joined up with some of my other characters at the time. I decided then that she and Larina were best friends despite (or really because of) their differences.

Interestingly enough, Heather was the cause of death of my first Larina. Heather had become a vampire (long story) and Larina attempted to save her. The only way do this though was for Larina to bind them both magically to the ground and wait for sunrise. This was during my D&D sabbatical between AD&D 2nd Ed and 3rd Ed and I was killing off old characters left and right. While Larina would later be reincarnated, I never got around to doing this for Heather. I tried her out in both 3e and 4e, but nothing I ever cared for. I gave her a run in Ghosts of Albion and rather liked that one. Let's see what Wasted Lands can do for me.

Heather is primarily a Ranger with some Bard levels to boot. Because this is an AD&D 1st Ed Bard she had some levels of thief as well. She dabbled in magic but still had a good amount. To that end the Sage is a good fit for her. I am going to just start with 4 levels of Sage, but in truth 8 or more might be better.

Heather McHael

Class: Archer / Sage
Level: 9/4
Species: Half-elf
Alignment: Light 
Background: Barbarian

Abilities
Strength: 12 (+0) 
Agility: 18 (+3) A
Toughness: 16 (+2) 
Intelligence: 16 (+2) N
Wits: 15 (+1) 
Persona: 17 (+2) N

Fate Points: 1d10
Defense Value: 3
Vitality: 87
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +5/+3/+1
Melee Bonus: +4 (base), 
Ranged Bonus: +4 (base), +3
Saves: +7 to Agility Saves, +2 to Spells (Elf), +1 to Persona

Archer Abilities
Improved Defense, Master Archer, Ranged Combat, Supernatural Attack, Improved Range Damage, Eagle Eye, Incapictating Shot, Multi Attack x3, Careful Aim, Trick Shot

Elf Abilities
Night Shifted

Sage Abilities
Languages, Lore, Suggestion, Mesmerize Others, Renegade skills at level 2

Sage Spells
First Level: Arcane Darts, Glamour
Second Level: Invisibility

Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: ESP
2nd Level: 
3rd Level: 
4th Level: 
5th Level: 
6th Level:  
7th Level: 
8th Level: 

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Hunter

Gear
Longbow, shortsword, leather armor, 

Wasted Lands as AD&D 1st Ed

So. I like this version, the best one out of the 3e and 4e ones, to be sure. Maybe even more than her Ghosts of Albion version. Her magic ability is a lot less here. I could tweak the character, say, reduce Archer a bit and more Sage. In any case more Sage is good.  Especially if I think of Sage = Bard.

I thought about adding in some more magic using the Heroic Touchstones, but I wanted to go light on those this time.  I will say this: the customization options given to me by Wasted Lands and NIGHT SHIFT continue to impress me. 

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.

While I am done with the various versions of Johan Werper, I am still working on his family. Today, the girl that Johan Werper III fell in love with and their adventures in "Ravenloft."

Bit of a background first. The period between 1986 and 1989 or so was a transition period for me and for my games. I was leaving High School and headed to University so I wanted to wrap up a lot of different loose ends in my game world. This was one of the reasons why I wanted to merge my world with my DM's world in what would become our Proto-Mystoerth. This was also a time I wanted to do a new world, one that was more horror-focused. Eventually, I would find this with the AD&D Ravenloft campaign setting, but for the time before that we were just calling it "ShadowEarth."  This is where Johan III would end up.

Part of the problem was the girl he was in love with. A girl known as Raven.

Now I will be truthful here, my Raven (full name Morgan "Raven" Ebonflame) began as little more than a copy of the infamous Richard Kirk's "Raven Swordmistress of Chaos," a book I had seen but had never read (yet). So my mind was already primed for this character idea.

Back in 1986, my DM Michael Grenda wrote up a new class he was calling "The Riddle Master," which was essentially a Psychic-powered class that looked like a combination of a fighter and wizard. They were more than that, but that is the overall gist. It was an experiment in class creation. This was the same time I was making my first witch class. While I had made one Riddlemaster already, I wanted another one. Someone that fought undead (sorta my thing then) and in particular, vampires (very much my thing then). Combine all of these together, and 1987 Raven Ebonflame was born.  She was the daughter of my assassin character and, what I said then, an angel. Though he did not know the woman he was with was an angel. Raven then was a supernaturally strong girl with blond hair, who's task was to destroy vampires.

Look. I am not going to sit here and tell you I invented the idea of the Vampire Slayer. 

I am going to sit here and tell you the idea was not as original as some Vampire Slayer creators might want you to believe. Hey, maybe if my father and grandfather had been big-name Hollywood writers, I could make this claim. Plus, I also know at least two other creatives who did similar things and, in one case, had published their work before the Buffy movie and series.

So Raven was a slayer hmm hunter of vampires. I used the Riddle Master class for her as a test bed for what would later become the Shadow Master class. NOTE: Don't expect to see the Riddle Master, Shadow Master, or Beast Master classes anytime soon. They were grossly overpowered even if the XP per Level were excessive. 

Fast forward to the early 2000s. I would revisit my Raven using the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG. She would even be a part of my Buffy "Season" The Dragon and the Phoenix. 

I did a version of the Richard Kirk Raven (her "Godmother") for Wasted Lands last year, I figure I should do my Raven now.  There is no Riddle Master analog in the Wasted Lands, so what is she? I thought maybe I could build her out XP for abilities like I did her namesake. It would be fitting given how the Riddle Master class came to be. But the more I thought about it the more I kept coming back to the same conclusion.

Morgan "Raven" Ebonflame is a Chosen One from NIGHT SHIFT.

Morgan "Raven" Ebonflame

Class: Chosen One (NIGHT SHIFT)
Level: 8
Species: Human*
Alignment: Light 
Background: Warrior (Wasted Lands p. 185)

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

Fate Points: 1d8
Defense Value: 1
Vitality: 87
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +4/+3/+1
Melee Bonus: +5 (base), +2 (STR)
Ranged Bonus: +5 (base), +3
Saves: +3 to all Saves, +2 to Toughness (Warrior background)

Chosen One Abilities
Brutal Warrior, Melle Combat, Stunning Blow, Killing Blow, Supernatural Attack, Difficult to Surprise, Improved Defence, Ranged Combat, Survivor Skills (Level 2), Mental Resistance, Regeneration

Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: Sense Evil
2nd Level: Favored Weapon: Sword
3rd Level: 
4th Level: Smite
5th Level: 
6th Level:  Great Smite
7th Level: 
8th Level: Destroy Undead
9th Level: 

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Protection

Gear
Longsword, leather armor, vampire hunting kit

Wasted Lands as D&D and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Ok. THIS is Raven. At least this is the Raven I imagined she was when I made the character so long ago. Wasted Lands + NIGHT SHIFT gives my the perfect combination of Fantasy plus Horror that I really enjoy in my games.  Here stats are high because her mother was a freaking angel after all. 

Of course, now I am a little sad I don't get to share this one with Grenda. He would have loved it. In fact I can hear him now saying "Oh shit! That IS her!"

I am going to have to go through my various folders of characters and see who else I have in this Dark Fantasy Horror theme and see if they are as equally improved by this conversion. 

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.

The large double door to the the next room is triple locks (needing three separate rolls to open) and each lock is trapped with a fatal poison. Getting past these will take an expert thief. 

This large circular room is the goal of your quest. This is the crypt of Darlessa, the Vampire Queen.

Her sarcophagus is located in the middle of this room. A combined strength of 35 is needed to lift of the stone lid. Once open the PCs will have one round to attack her before she is revived. They have +2 on their initiative rolls.

The Vampire Queen is dead but far from helpless. She is shocked you made it this far, but she is prepared all the same. 

Darlessa, The Queen of Vampires

Female Vampire Witch, Demonic Tradition
No. Enc.: 1 (Unique)
Alignment: Chaotic (evil)
Movement: 120’ (40’)
   Fly: 180’ (60’)
Armor Class: -5 (bracers of defense, amulet of protection, ring of protection)
Hit Dice: 13
Attacks: 1 (touch, see below) or spell
Damage: 1d10, drain 2 points of Constitution, Witch Spells
Save: W13
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XXII
XP: 11,400

Str: 18 Int: 15 Wis: 14 Dex: 18 Con: (18) Cha: 22

In addition to the powers of a vampire, Darlessa has the following witch spells and Occult Powers.  She casts spells as a 13th-level witch.

Spells by Level
Cantrip (3+5): Alarm Ward, Black Flame, Daze, Knot, Mend, Mote of Light, Object Reading, Spark
1st (4+3): Burning Hands, Cause Fear, Everlasting Candle, Hecate's Spiritual Dog, Minor Curse, Read Languages
2nd (4+3): Agony, Bewitch II, Burning Gaze, Enthrall, Ghost Touch, Produce Flame, Rite of Remote Seeing
3rd (3+2): Astral Sense, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Danse Macabre, Toad Mind, Tongues
4th (3+2): Arcane Eye, Bewitch IV, Elemental Armor, Moonlit Way, Phantom Lacerations
5th (2): Death Curse, Greater Command
6th (2): Death Blade
7th (1): Wave of Mutilation

Occult Powers
Familiar (Undead Raven)
Evil’s Touch
Devil’s Tongue

Magic Items
Intangible Cloak of Shadows, Amulet of Protection* (also prevents cleric turning), bracers of defense, ring of protection, ring spell storing (3 stored Magic Missile spells).

Her coffin can be destroyed after she is dead. There is a spare coffin underneath this one. Even if her body is burned, she can come back due to the dark necromancies she has practiced for centuries. 

 This appears to be a long hallway with mirrors on both sides. Light from torches that ignite as you enter scatters in all directions.

The mirrors are in fact portals from the astral plane. There are 16 in total. As the PCs walk past an Astral Ghoul is released. 

Astral Ghoul

Armor Class: 4 [15]
Hit Dice: 8+16* (52 hp)
Attacks: 2 × claw (1d4 x2 + paralysis), 1 × bite (1d8 + paralysis)
THAC0: 12 [+7]
Movement: 90’ (30’) fly 90' (30')
Saving Throws: D8 W93 P10 B11 S12 (2)
Morale: 12
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 650
Number Appearing: 1
Treasure Type None

These creatures look like ghouls but are partially in substantial. They have the same paralyzing touch of all ghouls.

I dreamed about these guys last night.

Today I normally like to post some sort of Boxed Set thing I have going on. But instead, I'll just talk about my D&D-related fun from the last couple of days. BTW I sliced my finger open on a mandolin making sliced potatoes, so this post is taking a lot longer.

Hanging Coffins of the Vampire Queen

Up first I got my copies of Hanging Coffins of the Vampire Queen from Mark Taomino. Both the 10th Anniversary OSR and the new 5th Edition versions.

I signed on early for these adventures. No shock given my love for the original Wee Warriors Vampire Queen. So now I have three different printings of this Vampire Queen.

Party Like It's 1979!

For Christmas, my oldest son decided to go all out for everyone. This is what he got me.

The Atari 2600 plugs into any HCMI TV/Monitor and even has an aspect ratio switch.  But the coolest part is it will run old 2600 cartridges. So time to start cruising the Half-Price Books and second-hand stores!

The Monster Manual minis are from set G-J. Though really, G-I.

D&D en Español

My son also ran some D&D for us. We played the "Witchlight Carnival" adventure.

I made a character, but to help with my Spanish, I opted to only use my new Spanish language Players Handbook.

El es Brujo y Elfo. For play, I limited myself to what I could read and understand in this book. 

Hope everyone is having a great holiday.

 The last room on the right opens to an empty space, a room with many alcoves on either side.  There appears to be some sort of pile of treasure in the center.

Once inside the room, the illusion of the treasure disappears and a horde of undead stream out.

There are 3d12 zombies, 2d10 ghouls, 1d8 ghasts, and 1d6 wights.

If the PCs can get back to the door they can close off the attacks to just a few at a time. Otherwise, in one round they will be surrounded in the "Kill box."

--

Happy Boxing Day, enjoy the kill box.

 The second room on the left is the treasure room of Vampire Queen.

This room is filled with treasure.

There is Type Ax5, Type Bx10, Type Gx5, Type Hx10.

In addition, there are five spell books with 4d6 spells each of levels 1-6. 2d4 Swords of +1 enchantment, 1d6 of +2, 1d4 of +3, and 1 of +4. Armor +1, Staff of the Magi.

There are no magic items here vs. undead, demons, or devils here.  There are also no potions of healing or magical healing of any sort. Vampires of no need of such magic.

-

Merry Christmas Everyone!

 The first chamber on the right is the Cenotaphs of the Vampire Queen's Council of Advisors.  Each is a stone monument erected for her council of 20 advisors.

The Vampire Lords are as follows. Each stone has a brief description of the vampire lord or lady whose ashes are inside.

1. Corvus Nox - A brooding lord wielding shadows like weapons.
2. Amara Tenebris - A cunning duchess, weaving webs of intrigue in moonlit courts.
3. Zale Moondragon - A tempestuous warrior, leading their coven with fiery passion.
4. Silas Ember - A melancholic scholar, haunted by memories of their mortal life.
5. Seraphina Thorne - A seductive siren, luring prey into an alluring abyss.
6. Lyander Blackwood - A stoic sentinel, guarding ancient secrets amidst crumbling ruins.
7. Esme Wysteria - A whimsical trickster, dancing on the edge of chaos with laughter.
8. Cassius Vervain - A noble alchemist, seeking an elixir to gain true immortality.
9. Luna Sanguis - A fierce huntress, stalking the night with unerring instincts.
10. Erebus Umbra - A cryptic oracle, whispering prophecies in forgotten tongues.
11. Isolde Morraine - A vengeful spirit, driven by an undying thirst for retribution against the gods of light.
12. Lucian Fane - A charming storyteller, weaving illusions with silken words.
13. Nyn Obsidian - A master of shadows, vanishing like smoke on the wind.
14. Aurora Vesper - A radiant anomaly, defying the darkness with a defiant glow.
15. Darius Argent - A skilled strategist, playing pawns in a grand, blood-soaked game.
16. Lillian Crimson - A fiery rebel, sparking revolutions against oppressive elders.
17. Caspian Hawthorne - A gentle healer, offering solace in the heart of darkness.
18. Amara Whisperer - A silent assassin, leaving only whispers of their victims.
19. Zephyr Dusk - A fleet-footed scout, mapping forgotten paths across forgotten lands.
20. Thanatos Requiem - A harbinger of death, wielding a chilling scythe and a bone-chilling smile.

The Cenotaphs are hollow with an earn inside containing the ashes of these vampire lords and ladies. If any are mixed with living blood the vampire lord will return to unlife. They 8+1d6 HD.

Here the PCs will find Treasure Types Ax10, Hx4 & Mx2 stored here.

 The first room on the left is a Ritual Room.

This room has altars and ritual spaces dedicated to the demon lords Akelarre and Orcus, the arch Devil Dispater, and to the dark gods Ereshkigal, Hecate, and Hel. The last and central altar is to the Vampire Queen herself.

There are treasures here upwards of 100,000 gp, but all are cursed.  Removing them from this room requires a save vs. Death or die. A Remove Curse can be used, but it must be done on each item. There are seven altars here.

There are no creatures here.

 How about something to lighten the mood around here.

This was shared by a friend. I had seen it on my feed, but he reminded me that it would be good for today.

Periodic Table of Elementals, by Catilus

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/catilus/periodic-table-of-elementals-by-catilus?ref=theotherside

Catilus is giving us something that honestly we should have all figured out decades ago. But here we get her fantastic art and 5e monsters.

Catilus has been putting out some high-quality and fun 5e books for a while now, and I expect this one will be her best yet.

From her project page:

Periodic Table of Elementals is my third book on Kickstarter and (by far) my largest book to date. It features unique elemental creatures inspired by every actual chemical element, with lore and abilities based on each element’s chemical properties!

What’s in the Periodic Table of Elementals?

• 118 fully illustrated unique elementals representing ALL chemical elements
• Abilities and mechanics based on real chemistry
• Familiars, steeds, and gargantuan summonable elementals
• Science-inspired lore for each elemental
• An actual, fully usable periodic table with all the elementals from the book
• Adventure hooks, optional rules, tables, synergies, and more tools
• More than 120 detailed illustrations, including art for each elemental, by me!

Sounds fantastic really.  I am not really into D&D 5e these days, but my issues are with WotC/Hasbro not with independent creatives like Catilus. There will be plenty to convert over to other systems should you want.

 This large opening leads to the grand burial chambers of the Vampire Queen herself. There is a flight of stairs going down, opening to a large chamber.

The chamber has five exits: two to the left, two to the right, and one ahead.  

Between the party and these exits are a hundred or so skeletons. 

This chamber has 6d20+10 skeletons that will rise up and attack.

 Well. I didn't expect to be doing this today. I just got word that my old High School and College DM, R. Michael Grenda, died yesterday.  The cause of death is unknown, but it is suspected it was a heart attack.

I have mentioned him here many times, usually not by name, I don't name people unless they have explicitly said it was fine. But we began playing in my early high school days. We met via our school's theatre group. Yeah, we were both theatre kids. We bonded over our shared love of D&D and the fact that we both owned TRS-80 Color Computers. 

He had his world, based mainly on the World of Greyhawk and I had mine, based on the Known World, or what would later be known as Mystara. And we would go back and forth between these worlds. Eventually, we would merge them and he made a map for it that I would eventually lose and then much, much later find the Mystoerth map I still use today. We played chess together often, had similar tastes in fiction, and discovered computer games together.

When I left town to go to University, he eventually followed me there. He was a computer science major and would eventually end up working with databases for the State of Illinois (which is as much archaeology as it is computer science) and met his future wife while we were all at school together. His wife (then his girlfriend) introduced me to Gopher sites and even this new thing called the World Wide Web.

Much of what happened in our games lives on in my work here.  The "Big Bad" of my Buffy campaign "The Dragon and the Phoenix" was Yoln Shadowreaper, one of his NPCs. The entire background of TDaTP was my big War of the Dragons, which was our world-ending battle before college.

Our "D&D on the Computer" game BARDD was largely written by him. When I6 Ravenloft came out I bought it and then made him run it. Back in college, we even did the "Dreams of Barovia" campaign where the characters shifted from one reality to the next, with him running House on Gryphon Hill and me running the original I6. I ran my first test of my witch class with him and we tried out his Riddle Master, Beastmaster, and Shadowmaster classes.

We had met up recently, back in July, and that was great. We had not seen each other in a long time. Family, jobs, kids. You know the story.  I hate to say it, but when his wife called me last night, I was not 100% surprised. I thought he looked a little unwell. But hell, we are all in our 50s now. None of us look "great."  

I have not quite processed it all yet, to be honest.  I owe a lot of my my current writing to him and the games we played. Thought we might roll some dice one more time, but I guess not.

I'll end with him flipping me off at a party a bunch of us were at in college. He would have found it funny.

 A secret door here is similar to the one in Room #18 to Room #19.  Finding that one makes finding this one easier; an extra 1 (on a d6), a +16% (d%), or +3 (on d20).

This room contains Treasure Types A, G, and H. There is also a sword +3 here. The sword and all the treasure here is cursed. Removing any of it from this room results in the possessor needing to make a saving throw vs. Magic or begin losing 1 point per turn to a random ability: d6 1=Strength, 2=Intelligence, 3=Wisdom, 4=Dexterity, 5=Constitution, 6=Charisma. To stop the drain the items must be returned to this room.  

Only magic can restore ability loss. 

 You know how I have lamented how I never have found the perfect sci-fi RPG?  Well. That all might be changing.

Thirteen Parsecs

https://tinyurl.com/13psignup

Thirteen Parsecs: Adventures Beyond the Solar Frontier is the latest tabletop role-playing game project from Elf Lair Games, producers of Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars and Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age. It forms the third of our trilogy of core games - we've given you modern and fantasy, and now we bring sci-fi to the forefront with the same rules, completely customizable and ready for you to build exactly the type of science fiction gaming you want. As always, it's your game your way when it's Powered by O.G.R.E.S.!

I am so excited for this.  I have been dying to work on a solid sci-fi game since forever.

A bit of background, I think I have mentioned in the past that prior to switching gears to become a psychologist I had actually started out in physics, and astrophysics in particular. I got to a point in calculus where I just stopped understanding it, so I had to switch. BTW this makes my former Actuary (with degrees in math) wife laugh her ass off all the time. 

So it will be wonderful to put all this knowledge I have about astronomy, space, and science to good use.

Launch is not till later in the year, but Jason is already working out all sorts of great things. I hope to resurrect Space Truckers, get some more mileage out of Dark Star (formerly BlackStar), and more.

So please sign up and watch for more details!

 On the other side of Room 12-17 from Room 18 is another set of stairs to an ornate tomb.  This one belongs to the Vampire Queen's Majordomo, the Dwarf Fizko.

Fizko was in charge of the household of the Vampire Queen. She rewarded his faithful service by turning him into a Death Knight.

Death Knight

Armor Class -1 [20]
Hit Dice 12+36 (90hp)*****
Attacks 2 × weapons (1d10+4) + Special
THAC0 6 [+13]
Movement 120’ (40’)
Morale 12
Alignment Chaos
XP 5,900
Number Appearing 1 (1)
Treasure Type None

The Dwarf Fizko is a supernaturally strong Death Knight.

He attacks with a great mattock +3 that he can use to hit twice per round.  He can summon 2d6 Haugbui twice per day.

As a death knight, he has the powers and spells of a 12th level anti-Paladin.  His "lay on hands" ability causes damage instead of healing.

Fizko is fanatically loyal to the Vampire Queen, whom he believes is a Goddess and he swore his oath to her.

 A secret door in Room 18 leads to a secret treasure room.

This room contains Treasure Types A, G, and H. Additionally there is a suit of elven chain, and a sword +3 vs. Magic-users (Wizards and Witches).