Getting back to the real purpose behind the Fantasy Friday posts, helping you to find that perfect Fantasy RPG and showing that there is more than just D&D out there. Though today's post doesn't stray very far from D&D.

Adventurer Conqueror King System

The Adventurer Conqueror King System, or more often ACKS, was released in 2012. It was one of the biggest OSR titles released and met with a lot of critical acclaim. I have already talked about it quite a lot here, so instead of treading over well-trodden ground, I'll link out those posts here. 

• A is for Adventurer Conqueror King System
• Tale of Two Games
• ACKS B/XC Or How I commit heresy with Adventurer Conqueror King
• Review: ACKS Player's Companion
• Skylla: Adventurer Conqueror King & Players Companion

I like ACKs. The system is B/X with some add-ons to give me some of the things I miss from AD&D. Plus the Witch class from the Player's Companion is based on my OGC and material I shared with the authors/designers back in their early days. 

Adventurer Conqueror King - Imperial Imprint (ACKS II)

by Alexander Macris, Autarch 2025

The WotC/Hasbro OGL scandal caused a lot of folks, myself included, to re-think their reliance on the OGL. So Autarch opted to revise their core rules into three new books they are calling Adventurer Conqueror King - Imperial Imprint AKA ACKS II.

The books feel familiar:

• ACKS II Revised Rulebook
• ACKS II Monstrous Manual
• ACKS II Judges Journal

I like how the new Revised Rulebook looks like the next scene of the original rulebook.

This system is largely the same, with some of the OGC removed and revised. We are still not deviating far from the D&D B/X standard of 14 levels and some "race as class" ideas, but all in all it is still a very playable system. Converts from OSE or D&D B/X will drop right in, maybe even using the same characters they already were. Converts from D&D 5 or Pathfinder might find themselves wonder where all their "kewl powerz" are.

Where ACKS II shines is in its scope and depth. Autarch has taken what was already a very crunchy, very ambitious game and doubled down. The Revised Rulebook is a beast of nearly 550 pages, the Judges Journal piles on another 350k words of domain rules, economic systems, alchemy, and advice. If ACKS I was about building dungeons and kingdoms, ACKS II is about running empires.

The proficiency system deserves a call-out. It’s the same idea as before, but cleaned up and standardized to cover a wide variety of “skills.” In my opinion, this is one of the better OSR takes on non-combat abilities, and something I’d happily import into other B/X-derived games.  The systems here feels like the feats of 5e (but not 3e if that makes sense) so there is a solid rhyme and reason to them all. Plus the need to spend money and time for training keeps it solidly in the old-school camp. 

The GM's book is filled with great advice. With the vast majority of if compatible with whatever OSR or old-school game you are currently playing. 

The monster book is well organized with one monster per page, art, and plenty of information on each monster. Again, compatible with most OSR games, but especially anything with B/X DNA. Even if you don't play ACKS or ACKS II, this book would be useful. Note, there are no demons or devils in this book so if you need demons, devils or creatures from the "lower planes," may I recommend my own The Left Hand Path - The Diabolic & Demonic Witchcraft Traditions.  Given ACKS compatibility, you could add this as another type of witch tradition.

The overall vibe? If Hyperborea is AD&D wearing a B/X mask, ACKS has always been B/X pretending to be AD&D. ACKS II leans further into that identity. It’s a game that lets you start with kobolds in a hole and end with fleets, armies, and dynasties, something most OSR titles only sketch at. 

A note about AI art. There is a lot of art in this book, and unlike the previous edition, it is all color art. The vast majority is human made, but some of it is AI art. This is according to Autarch themselves. I am not going to moralize on this at all. But you will need to figure out for yourself it this is a deal-breaker or not.

Larina Nix for ACKS II

So a D&D-like system with a native witch, based on my own witch materials? Of course, I am going to try out Larina. In ACKS Witches are a type of Divine Caster, so they use the same spells as do Priests/Clerics.

Larina Nix
Witch (Antiquarian), Level 14 Witch Queen
Human (Rorn) Female, Neutral (Lawful Neutral)

STR 9 +0, Witches are a type of Divine Caster, so they use the same spells as do Priests
INT 18 +3
DEX 11 +0
WIL 18 +3
CON 11 +0
CHA 18 +3

Hit Points: 30
Initiative +0
AC: 1 (Bracers of Defense AC 1)

To Hit AC 0: 16

Paralysis 9
Death 9
Blast 11
Implements 7
Spells 8

Movement
Exploration 120 Feet/Turn
Combat 40 Feet/Round
Charge/Run 120 Feet/Round
Expedition 24 miles/day

Class Features
Traditional Medicine, Brew Potions, Minor Magical Research, Second Sight, Scribe Scrolls, Magic Mirror, Major Magical Research

Proficiencies
 Lore Mastery, Knowledge Occult (x2), Healing, Familiar, Arcane Dabbling, Alchemy, Mystic Aura, Adventuringt 

Spells (Divine)
First Level: Allure, Counterspell, Cure Light Injury, Kindle Flame, Sanctuary, Word of Command
Second Level: Augury, Dark Whisper, Halt Humanoids, Magic Lock, Righteous Wrath, Spiritual Weapon
Third Level: Bewitch Humanoid, Clairvoyance, Dispel Magic, Lightning Strike, Remove Cure, Winged Flight
Fourth Level: Divination, Inspire Awe, Lightless Vision, Skinchange, Smite Undead, Spirit of Healing
Fifth Level: Boil Blood, Communion, Fiery Pillar, Healing Circle, True Seeing
Sixth Level: Arrows of the Sun, Bewitch Monster, Home Ward, Phoenix Armor, Spellwarded Zone

Rituals Known: 7

All in all, not a bad version of Larina. Reminds me a bit of her AD&D 2nd Edition counterpart from my Complete Netbook of Witches & Warlocks. I would like to have pumped up her language skills a bit more. 

Who Should Play This Game?

ACKS is a fine game, it does some things rather well, but it only brings a few new things to the table already crowded with Hyperborea, Old-School Essentials, and original B/X D&D. Mind you, the things it does bring are really great. The organization is wonderful as is the presentation. The monster book is worth grabbing if you play any OSR game, just because it has a great presentation and some new monsters. The new classes are a great addition and I am certain someone out there is using the new classes here in their OSE game or even in B/X. I admit I would roll up a Bladedancer or Elven Nigthblade in a heartbeat. Come to think of it, Taryn, Larina's Half-elf daughter, would also make for a good Elven Nightblade.

Reading the rules will not help you decide if this game is for you over some other OSR game. You will need to play.

What makes ACKS II unique in the OSR landscape is that it doesn’t stop at the dungeon door. It’s not just about slaying dragons or clearing hexes, it’s about what happens next. You claim land, raise armies, chart trade routes, and maybe even crown yourself emperor. The rules don’t just hand-wave these things; they give you the numbers, the systems, and the tools to run them at the table.

I don't think ACKS or ACKS II will replace D&D 5e at someone's table, but who knows, I could be wrong. There is enough here to make it someone's perfect game.

The physical books, especially the limited edition black covers, look fantastic. I am content with my PDFs for now.

For me, it will be a game I reference a lot, but one I likely won't actually play. Though I think I would like to come up with the three Witch Queens (one for each tradition) of the Auran Empire on the continent of Aurëpos on the world of Cybele.

Today, we head back to the dawn of the 1990s. It's February 1990. I am working on my undergrad degree in Psych and decided to pick up a minor in Computer Science. I have some great friends, a girlfriend in the last half of the term, and I am having a great time. My roomate's kid brother comes to stay with us a couple of days, I opt to stay at my girlfriend's for a bit. But he has this really annoying friend who came with him playing all these bootlegs in my tape deck telling me I need to listen because this band he has been following is going to be HUGE. I ignore him. The band as it turns out, is Soundgarden. Maybe I should have listened.

The number one song on the radio is "Opposites Attract," a duo by Paula Abdul and an animated cat. The number one film was "Driving Miss Daisy" with Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy. On the shelves and tables is Issue #154 of this old Dragon.

I am getting to the bottom of this giant box of Dragons. Many of them don't even smell musty anymore. As usual, this one is missing a cover. This one features a "war dragon" with an undead rider by Bob Eggleton. 

The Letters section is a bit thin this month. Sage Advice covers some spells from AD&D 2nd Edition. 

James Ward is up with The Game Wizards: Angry Mothers from Heck. Basically Ward talks about the removal of Demons and Devils from AD&D 2nd ed as an appeal to the "Angry Mother Syndrome" which he sees as a good, but somewhat limiting policy. He does conclude that appealing more to heroic motives rather than just wanton killing of hack-and-slash is a noble endeavor. I don't disagree, but I also like fighting demons and devils. 

The Forum covers clerics, the relative merits of the D&D vs AD&D 1st ed vs AD&D 2nd games. I *get* the discussion, but I have admitted here before we so readily mixed the rules that seems like a non-issue to me. 

We get to the featured section of this issue, The Art of Making War. 

Our first article is from Eileen Lucas, with Warrior Kings and Empire Builders, where she borrows from history, and you should as well, to define your warrior leaders. She uses Julius Ceaser and Charlemagne as her examples. 

Eric Oppen is next with The Making of a Paladin.  A fun article about the purpose of playing a paladin. Oppen makes the claim that paladin is one of the most popular class. I can see that. I love playing paladins. Even today paladin is one of the classes most used in Baldur's Gate III.

Heraldry, politics, and feudalism in fantasy campaigns is next in Thomas M. Kane's All in the Family. Covers details on how heraldry originated and how they are designed.  It is a fairly detailed article to be honest. 

For King and Country from Dan Salas gives a new campaign model where the PCs are called to duty by their king. Well new at the time. This sort of game was well covered by Pendragon, Chivalry & Sorcerery, and AD&D's own Birthright.

Thomas M. Kane is back with another long article with How to Win Wars and Influence People. This one grabs details from AD&D 1st ed, 2nd ed and even battle system. There is a lot here, and I am wondering if this would have helped in the massive war I had run about 2-3 years before this article.  It is a great article that I am not 100% sure I get all of. I mean I like massive battles, every so often, but I don't run enough of them to have a lot of experience here.

A bunch ads and we are done with the special feature. While my issue has no cover, it does still have the GURPS poster intact.

Ken Rolston is up with Role-Playing Reviews with three Sci-Fantasy games, and all three are favorites of mine; Shadowrun, Spelljammer, and Space: 1889.

He loved Space: 1889, calling it "pure pleasure" and "comes with my unreserved recommendation." I concur. It might have been this review that made me want to check out this game. He felt Shadowrun was "adorable and surprising" and "impressive, exciting, and entertaining." Again, I concur. I remember driving back to University one night from my home town and talking with my old highschool DM who was getting ready to transfer there.  We talked about his Shadowrun campaign the whole 2.5 hour dirve down. I now have his old Shadowrun book. He also loved Spelljammer but felt that the AD&D 2nd ed rules was it's weakest point. 

I have to admit this article is what I remember the best of this whole issue. I was thinking how cool it would be to mix magic and sci-fi. An alchemy I have been trying to perfect for a while. You see in my Star Wars posts and certainly my BlackStar idea. 

Our fiction section is from all stars. Raistlin and the Knight of Solamnia from none other than Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, with illustrations from Larry Elmore. 

The Lessers, Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk are up with The Role of Computers. This month cover the Mines of Titan, M1 Tank Platoon, Star Fleet II, Ghostbusters II, and David Wolf: Secret Agent. I do note that most of the games are now PC-DOS games for the IBM compatible machines. I do miss seeing the Apple, Mac, and even Amiga games. 

Convention Calendar is next with the hottest cons of the winter and spring of 1990. I swear there were more cons then than now. Cons now are bigger for sure, but there doesn't seem to be as many. 

Novel Ideas comes to us from Will Larson and covers the novels coming out of TSR in the next months. They are "Dark Horse" by Mary Herbert, "Warsprite" by Jefferson Swycaffer, and "Nightwatch" a Greyhawk Adventures novel from Robin Bailey. I will freely admit, none of these sound familiar to me. 

Ah, now something I DO recognize, The Voyages of the Princess Ark, Part 2 from Bruce Heard. One day I will collect all of these. For the moment though I'll keep this one to the side. 

Dragonmirth gives us some comics. I recognize Yamara of course. But nothing in color.  There is a jab at the "Trump Game" which I am pretty happy to see. 

TSR Previews lets us know what is coming up in the next couple of months. More Spelljammer, more Monstrous Compendiums, and even a Buck Rogers novel. 

Marcus L. Rowland is stuck at the end of the issue with "Who Was That Masked Android?" overtly for Marvel super Heroes, but can be adapted to other supers games. 

We end with the small ads of Gamers Guide. There is a sub-section here dedicated to Play by Mail games. These were about to head to the same category as Ham Radio; still loved but by an ever decreasing fandom. 

All in all, not a bad issue, but not one that kept my attention then or even today, to be honest. 

Still working through my ideas on "Occult D&D." 

I have scads of notes on Enoch and Enochian and the connection he has to the occult via figures like John Dee and Edward Kelley. I have always wanted to explore the concept of Enochian as a magical language, but I have not used it. Why? Well, for starters, Enochian works well here due to its ties to history (Dee, Kelley) and myth (Enoch), as well as the gravitas of the Abrahamic religions. That all works wonderfully in a NIGHT SHIFT game, but not for a D&D-like game.

I also have a bunch of notes and ideas scribbled out on Proto-Indo-European languages. My thinking was to use PIE as a sort of root language of the world and one taught to witches, much like the ideas of my first "witch language" posts. 

There is no way I am going to build my own constructed language no matter how cool that sounds. I am no David Peterson. Though I do like to think his Inha language would be fun to explore. Great for Primordial. His Verbis Diablo is also great for Infernal, and I loved the idea of his Méníshè from Motehrland: Fort Salem.  What do all three of these languages have in common other than being constructed by Peterson? They are all explicitly languages learned by witches.

I am not ready yet to put a stake down in a specific witch language. I mean, I assume most Pagan witches are likely illiterate, and many of my other traditions are separated by time and space (Classical and Gothic, for example). So what language would they have in common? Well, nothing witch-specific, but something very occult.

SUPERNAL (Lost Tongue of Creation)

This language is the primordial root-speech from which all alignment tongues are said to descend. It is believed to have been spoken in the earliest ages, before the division of law and chaos, good and evil. Angels and devils alike once uttered its syllables, but even the eldest celestials and the most ancient fiends no longer command it in full.

Supernal is not a common language of conversation but a metaphysical system of sound and sign, wherein words themselves shape reality, bind spirits, and mark the planes. Only a fragment survives. Fewer than two hundred words are known with proper pronunciation, and even these must be taught with precision, for error can render meaning void or bring peril to the speaker.

There are many written forms, the most notable being Supernal-A, a draconic-seeming script often mistaken for true Draconic, and Supernal-B, a flowing elven hand that appears beautiful but yields nonsense when translated as Elvish or Sylvan. Supernal texts (grimoires, tablets, or fragments) are commonly interpolated with Celestial, Draconic, or Elven words to replace what has been lost.

Those Who May Learn It: Supernal is reserved for scholars of the occult, such as high witches, ceremonial warlocks, magi, and certain esoteric clerics or wizards. Ordinary characters cannot select it. Even among such classes, mastery is partial; no individual is known to possess more than a handful of true phrases.

Game Use: Treat Supernal as a secret, universal occult tongue. It may be used to decipher ancient inscriptions, recite certain rituals, or command extraplanar beings when the proper words are known. It is never learned by chance; knowledge of Supernal must come through initiation, tutelage, or the study of rare and perilous texts. Characters cannot learn Supernal unless they meet the following requirements. 

• Must be a witch, warlock, cleric, magic-user, or one of their subclasses. Druids cannot learn this language.
• Intelligence score of 16 or higher.
• Have a free language to learn.
• Find a teacher who knows Supernal.

Costs for this can vary greatly depending on the demand and location. It takes one year for the character to even learn the basics and a decade to learn enough to be able to read any text. For game purposes, treat one year of learning as one level of experience.

Magic-users, as part of their normal education, learn a few words of Supernal along with magical words of Draconic and Elvish. They can be assumed to have had one year (one level) of instruction already.

Phygor

The Ascended Master, Scribe of the Gods, Walker Between Worlds

In the chronicles of magic, few names are so widely spoken and so little understood as Phygor. Born into a wealthy family, he was initially a promising but unremarkable student at the Great School of Magic. Then, as the tale is told, one day he simply stood up from his bench, leaving behind his books, his belongings, and even his half-eaten meal, and began to walk. He walked out of the School, out of city, and out of the world that others knew.

Phygor wandered for years beyond counting, traveling among hermits, witches, shamans, astrologers, monks, and warlocks. He learned a fragment here, a secret there, piecing together what none before him had dared: a greater vision of magic, gathered from every corner of the earth. Some say he spoke with dragons in their dreams, others that the spirits of the land taught him great mysteries. A few whisper that he was shown hidden truths by beings of heaven and hell, who recognized in him a mind vast enough to hold the Supernal syllables themselves.

When Phygor returned, he was transformed. His magics were strange and terrible, alien even to the archmages of the Great School. With these, he crushed a rebellion of wizards not with slaughter, but with dazzling displays of artifice and spells they could not comprehend, forcing them to surrender in awe. Though a man of Law and Good, he did not hoard his knowledge. He broke with all tradition, declaring that magic was not the possession of a cabal or a guild, but a birthright of the wise. He published his findings, opened his grimoires, and gave freely of his lore. Even those of wicked heart who opposed his ideals respected his power and grudgingly acknowledged his genius.

Phygor’s end is disputed. In some tales, he simply walked again, leaving the world behind as he had once left the School, and was never seen thereafter. In others, he ascended bodily into the higher planes, taking a place among the immortals. A few claim he became something greater still: the Scribe of the Gods, known to angels as a shining scribe and to demons as a voice of thunder, recording the hidden laws by which all spells are written.

Among witches, magi, and warlocks alike, Phygor is a luminary sage of study, initiation, and the pursuit of hidden knowledge. To invoke his name is to claim the lineage of the wandering master, the one who saw further than all others and gave what he found to the world. To some, he is a hero, a true master teacher. To others, a dangerous radical bent on upsetting the balance of magic. To all who wield magic, he is a name spoken with respect.

All of the known words of Supernal come from his writings. 

Photo by Дмитрий ПропадалинStill working through a bunch of notes for my "Occult D&D" project. I was thinking about my descriptions of "The Library," home of the Akashic Records in my universe, and how I have not really detailed any librarians at all. I am still not today, but I am going to share the Guardians. These creatures keep an "eye" on the collections, make sure no one damages any books or tomes or disrupt other patrons. 

Guardians of the Library
(Custos Bibliothecae)

FREQUENCY: Very Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVE: 12" (Fly 18")
HIT DICE: 8+8 (always 50 hp) (Greater Guardian: 10+10, always 60 hp)
% IN LAIR: 90%
TREASURE TYPE: Special (see below)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1–6+3 / 1–6+3 (mace)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Gust of Wind (breath weapon)
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Immune to fire, sleep, charm, hold; half damage from non-magical weapons
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 30%
INTELLIGENCE: Very
ALIGNMENT: Neutral (orders tend toward Lawful Neutral)
SIZE: L (7' tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
    Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/XP VALUE:
 Guardian: VIII / 3,200
 Greater Guardian: IX / 4,500

Guardians of The Library are powerful extraplanar servitors, created by the Unseen Masters to protect the great cosmic Archive known simply as The Library. Their forms appear as animated suits of ancient, rune-marked armor, though the armor is but a shell, within dwells an intelligent elemental force akin to an invisible stalker, but bound by vows of scholarly protection.

They serve as wardens and curators, ensuring the safety of books, scrolls, and ancient grimoires from theft, fire, and willful destruction. Though not inherently violent, Guardians will employ force, escalating as needed, to fulfill their charge. Most patrons of The Library will only see them as silent watchers, pacing slowly down the marble corridors of endless shelves.

On the very rare occasions they speak, their voices are a deep bass and sound hollow, as if the voice is coming from somewhere deep within their suits of armor.

A Guardian attacks with two powerful mace strikes per round, each dealing 1d6+3 damage. Though they carry weapons, these are not enchanted items; they are extensions of their elemental force and vanish if the creature is destroyed.

Once every 3 rounds, a Guardian may exhale a gale-force blast of wind (treat as a Gust of Wind spell cast by a 10th-level Magic-User). Creatures in a 6" cone must save vs. Breath Weapon or be knocked prone and disarmed. The gust will extinguish all non-magical flames instantly and has a 50% chance to snuff out magical fires (e.g., Flaming Sphere, Burning Hands). It is frequently used to subdue would-be thieves or suppress fires before they spread.

Guardians are immune to fire, and suffer only half damage from all non-magical weapons. They are unaffected by sleep, charm, and hold spells, and cannot be turned. They can see invisible, detect heat, and sense intention to harm (as ESP) within 3".

They never pursue to kill unless the lives of other patrons or the integrity of The Library is directly endangered.

Guardians dwell within The Library, an interplanar construct maintained by the Unseen Masters—entities believed to be ancient witches, archmages, or ascended Starchildren. Each Guardian is assigned a section to oversee, and their awareness is attuned to every page, shelf, and ward within that domain.

Once bound to The Library, a Guardian remains in eternal service unless recalled by its Master or utterly destroyed.

Guardians do not eat, sleep, or age. They do not reproduce. Their armor-shells are forged from spiritual metals unknown to mortal smiths. Upon death, they dissipate into rushing air and scattered dust. No treasure is carried save what they guard, which may include scrolls, spellbooks, or occult tomes.

GREATER GUARDIANS

These elite custodians (HD 10+10, AC 0, +4 damage per strike) are found only in restricted or high-risk sectors of The Library, such as the Infernal Stacks, Forbidden Annex, or near tomes written in Supernal. They are also sent to the Prime Material Plane to recover overdue or stolen books, always appearing silently near the offender.

Once per day, a Greater Guardian may Gate in a second Guardian (60% chance, no greater variant), but only if defending The Library itself.

--

The phrase "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" keeps running through my mind here. Who are the Ascended Masters?

What is reward, really?

Is it gold? XP? Magic items? The thrill of leveling up and unlocking that next power, that new spell, that coveted domain?

Sure. It can be all of that.

But if you’ve been playing for a while, really playing, you know the real rewards aren't measured in coin or mechanics.

The real reward is the story you still remember fifteen years later.

It’s the time your witch stood alone in the haunted chapel, torch flickering, casting Augury with a deck of real tarot cards, trying to divine whether the village elder was possessed, or worse.

It’s the argument your players had, in character, about whether or not to open the sarcophagus sealed with silver nails, or follow that perfectly innocent-looking elf into the dark alley.

It was a battle so tense that you all jumped to your feet when the last die finally landed. 

My oldest’s Sunday D&D sessions will often get quite loud. I’ll turn to my wife and say “oh I wonder what happened this time!” Especially with his recent “It’s Always Sunny in Waterdeep” campaign. I know it will be something crazy.

You don’t tell stories about how many XP you got. You tell stories about the time the halfling bard tricked the lich into believing he was its long-lost apprentice, and somehow, it worked.

You tell stories about that game, the one that went off the rails in the best possible way. The one that ended at 2 a.m. with laughter and a hastily scribbled map and a blood pact to absolutely pick this up again next weekend.

The reward is connection. It’s the friendships forged in dungeons and dark forests. It’s the notes passed between players when they think the DM isn’t watching. It’s the memes, the inside jokes, the long-running gags about cursed dice or that one player who always rolls a natural 1 during stealth checks.

And yeah, sometimes it’s the bragging rights. The tale you tell at the next Gary Con or your local game store. The story you pull out at dinner when someone says, “Wait, you play D&D?”

The reward is knowing you built something together, something weird and magical and fleeting. A tale that never existed before you sat down to roll the dice.

And maybe, if you’re like me, the reward is watching your players squirm when the signs and portents line up just right, and they realize they’ve been dancing on the edge of something much older and darker than they imagined. 

Or when they finally connect all the dots and realize that they, and they alone, are the ones to save the whole freaking world.  When Willow & Tara held hands and jumped into the maw of Leviathan. When my son’s paladin used the Sun Sword from Ravenloft to split the Chaos Stone Lolth was using to cover the world in Darkness. And so many more that have meaning to me and my players.

So yes. Reward is treasure, sometimes.

But more often?

It’s the echoes of shared imagination, still lingering long after the dice are packed away.

It’s the memory of that witch, that warlock, that paladin who fell but didn’t break.

It’s the experience of creating together.

And that?

That’s priceless.

Questions

What. Nostalgic. Character. What Character am I nostalgic for? I have to admit I LOVED playing Johan, my AD&D 1st Paladin. I have played a version of him in every edition of D&D and many other fantasy games. I have even tried a couple of versions of him in Baldur's Gate 3 and other video games. But nothing really compares to that goldenrod sheet and those old sky-blue dice from my Expert set.

--

And that’s a wrap on another #RPGaDAY! Huge thanks to David F. Chapman (Autocratik) and Casting Shadows Blog for keeping this tradition going year after year. It’s been a great excuse to reflect, reconnect, and rediscover why I love this hobby so much. Whether you joined in with every prompt or just caught a few along the way, I hope you found something that inspired you.

See you next year! 

https://www.autocratik.com/ • https://www.castingshadowsblog.com/

 Wow. Experience. What a loaded word.

Are we talking about experience points? Game experience? Play experience? Player experience? Or what it means to build experience over time, as a gamer, a DM, a creator?

All of it, really, I guess.

I have been posting my Witches of Appendix N to tap into the experiences of the creators and first players of the D&D game, while also incorporating my own experiences and influences. 

But today I want to focus on the experience of exploring different games, and what we carry with us when we return to the familiar.

Recently, D&D influencer Ginny Di did a great video talking about what she loved about Daggerheart, and what she planned to steal for her own games. And while she didn’t name names, we all know she meant D&D. And you know what? She’s absolutely right.

The best games we play change how we think. They expand the toolkit. They remind us there are other ways to do party dynamics, relationships, mechanical choices, and storytelling rhythms. And even if we come back to the same rules we’ve always loved, we bring something new with us.

For me, this has been a theme lately. I’ve spent a lot of time working on my Witches of Appendix N project, not just reading the stories that inspired the first generation of D&D creators, but trying to feel what they felt. What was it like to play this weird little fantasy game in 1974? What shaped it? What inspired it?

But I’m not Gary Gygax. I’m not Dave Arneson. I’m not sitting in a basement in Lake Geneva trying to rework Chainmail into a fantasy skirmish. My Appendix N isn’t just swords and dragons and pulp novels. It’s Dark Shadows reruns on PBS. It’s D-grade horror movies from the ’70s. It’s weird occult books I wasn’t supposed to be reading. It’s Led Zeppelin and  Iron Maiden album covers (I am listening to “Number of the Beast” as I write this)  and pages from Fangoria, Starlog, and Heavy Metal taped into a spiral notebook.

Those are my experiences. And they show up in every spell I write, every monster I stat out, every setting I dream up. No matter how “old-school” I go, it’s always filtered through who I am, what I’ve seen, and what I love.

And I think that’s true for every one of us.

We all bring our own experience to the table, our own flavor, our own influences, our own emotional palette. That’s what makes the hobby so weird and beautiful and impossible to define.

So yes, learn new systems. Try new styles. Borrow shamelessly. Steal structure from Daggerheart, emotional mechanics from Monsterhearts or Blue Rose, pacing from Call of Cthulhu, drama from Star Wars, or epic deeds from Wasted Lands. Fold it all back into your game.

Because your game, your world, should reflect your experience.

And if you do it right?

It becomes an experience someone else will never forget.

Questions

 What. Confident. Lesson.  What lesson am I the most confident in? I would ahve to say the math lessons I built in my games with my kids. It was great fun.

https://www.autocratik.com/ • https://www.castingshadowsblog.com/

Nothing in this game works without a connection.

You can run the most finely crafted dungeon, write the most terrifying villain, drip suspense like wax onto the map, but if there’s no connection at the table, it falls flat.

No tension. No stakes. No spark.

Because in the end, this is a shared experience. Between players and the DM. Between the characters and the world. And, maybe most importantly, between the characters themselves.

We talk a lot about storytelling in RPGs. Plot arcs. Mystery reveals. The slow burn of occult horror. But the game isn’t just what happens. It is who it happens to, and why that matters.

Suspense only works if the players care.

Horror only works if the players believe in it.

Mystery only works if the players want to know more.

Danger only matters if they don’t want to lose what they’ve found.

Daggerheart is good at this. So is Blue Rose. They help foster connections that matter. Even the FFG/Edge Star Wars I have been dipping into has this. It’s not really new, of course, we did this a lot with DC Heroes and Marvel Super Heroes.

That’s why I care so much about connection in my games. The bonds between players and characters are the emotional engine behind everything else. When those bonds are strong, everything hits harder. The betrayal cuts deeper. The rescue means more. The shared victory feels earned.  It makes the stakes feel higher and the victories feel better.

Sometimes this connection happens naturally. A few good players click, and suddenly you’ve got a party dynamic that could fuel an entire campaign. Other times, you have to work for it. Give them moments to talk. Space to share. Conflicts that force them to choose each other over the easier road.

And it’s not just about the characters. It’s about the people at the table.

As a DM, I try to read the room. I listen. I adjust. I check in. Because every suspenseful pause, every creepy whisper, every climactic reveal, only works if the players trust me enough to lean in. That connection is the unspoken contract we all agree to when we sit down and roll dice together.

Even when I’m building strange, mythic, symbolic games, when the world feels uncanny and the magic is layered with secrets, what holds it all together is the bond.

Between the witch and her familiar. The rogue and her rival. The paladin and his doubts. The players, sitting together in a shared dream.

Connection makes it real. Connection makes it matter.

And without it?

You’re just telling stories in the dark, hoping someone’s still listening.

Questions

 What. Grateful. Rule. I might have answered this one or some variation of it. What rule am I grateful for Rule #0 that says the GM can change what they need to. 

https://www.autocratik.com/ • https://www.castingshadowsblog.com/

I love combat. I love magic duels, chaotic tavern brawls, dragons roaring from the sky while the players scramble for cover. There’s a thrill in the crash of dice, the rush of tactics, the immediacy of it all. 

But you know what sticks with players longer than the fight?

The silence before it.

Suspense is the slow blade. It’s not about surprise, it’s about anticipation. That creeping sense that something is wrong, but no one’s named it yet. It’s the moment when the music fades. When the torch flickers once and then goes out. When the NPC who always answers the door… doesn’t.

As a DM, building suspense is one of the most powerful tools I have. And unlike combat, there’s no initiative roll for it. It lives in pacing, description, rhythm. It lives in what I choose not to say.

I’ll lower my voice a bit. I’ll describe something small. Too small. I’ll pause more often. I’ll ask, “Are you sure you want to do that?” even if I’m not planning anything. Yet.

Suspense is a collaboration between the DM and the players. I give them the shadow, they give it teeth. The more room I leave, the more their imaginations fill in the gaps. And usually, what they come up with is far worse than what I had planned. As I mentioned already, often it is best to let the players’ own imaginations fill in the gaps. 

But here’s the trick: suspense isn’t just for horror games. It’s not just ghosts and witches and the slow creak of a basement door. Suspense works anywhere there’s uncertainty. Fantasy thrives on it.

• The crypt that hasn’t been opened in centuries.
• The noble court, where one wrong word will get you exiled or executed.
• The ancient artifact that hums when no one is looking.
• The character’s dream that ends with a name they’ve never heard… and the next day, an NPC says it.

Suspense turns every room into a question. Every choice into a forked path. Every moment into a heartbeat you feel at the table.

In my Occult D&D projects, I lean hard into this. I want the players to hesitate. To ask, “Wait… is that normal?” I want the moment before they open the book, before they cast the spell, before they step through the arch. Because once they do? That’s when the reveal comes. That’s when the real danger starts. But the suspense is what makes that moment matter.

There has not been enough danger in finding an old spell book in current games. It’s a spellbook. In Occult D&D, it's an ancient grimoire that belongs to an ancient witch queen, then passed down to a corrupt warlock who talked to spiders and learned their secrets. Is that human skin it is bound in? Why does it feel a little too warm to the touch? Did the book flinch when it was touched?

You can run a game without suspense. Plenty of people do. But once you start using it, once you learn how to play the table like an instrument, quiet, careful, patient, you’ll find your players remember those moments just as clearly as the big battles.

Maybe more.

Questions

 How. Enthusiastic. Person.  Ok...How enthusiastic am I to game in person? Hey, it's what I live for! 

https://www.autocratik.com/ • https://www.castingshadowsblog.com/

Witchcraft Wednesday Edition

Dungeons & Dragons, at its roots, is a game of tactics.

It grew out of wargaming. Miniatures on a battlefield. Movement rates. Ranges. Terrain. Planning your strike before the other side rolls initiative. That foundation still lingers, even in the wildest fantasy campaigns. Position matters. Choices matter. You can feel the wargame bones in every hit die and saving throw.

But today I want to talk about a different tactic.

 And a very different kind of fight.

My current opponent doesn’t breathe fire or lurk in dungeons. It’s not a dragon, or a lich, or even one of those slippery players who always find a loophole in your spell descriptions.

It’s my Occult D&D project.

This thing has grown far beyond what I thought it would be. What started as an experiment, "What if I treated witches as seriously as clerics and magic-users, and they had been part of D&D from the start?" has turned into a full-blown system of spells, subclasses, traditions, monsters, mechanics, cosmology, and philosophy.

And the tactic I’ve used to wrestle it all into something cohesive?

 Research. Years of it. I looked back at my first notes on this back in mid-July (they are sitting here now), and they are dated 2013. Not my first notes ever, just the first notes I began collecting for an AD&D book. I have notes still dating back to the 1980s. All carefully kept (much to my wife’s chagrin sometimes) in three-ring binders. I might be obsessive, but it works for me. 

I’ve read historical witch trial records. I’ve gone deep into Margaret Murray, Jung, and Campbell. I’ve pulled from Golden Dawn rituals, folk magic, Wicca, Kabbalah, medieval grimoires, Victorian spiritualism, and pop culture from Dark Shadows to The VVitch. I’ve cross-referenced monster entries, spell levels, class XP charts, and Dragon Magazine articles like I was studying for an occult-themed Ph.D. dissertation.

And every time I thought I was close to done?  Another thread appeared. Another tactic had to be employed. Another heretic idea needed a place on the page.

This project hasn’t just been about building something.  It’s been about learning how to listen, to myth, to symbol, to rhythm, to the structure of D&D itself. And then figuring out where my work fits, and where it pushes back.

There’s tactical thinking in this, even if it doesn’t look like a battlefield. 

•  What does each Tradition offer? 
•  How do I balance the occult with the arcane and divine?
•  Where does narrative shape the mechanics, and where do the mechanics open new story paths?

And yes, I am using the word “story” here. Why? Because that's what the player is going to do with this. I am fairly sure that the audience here is the ones that will look at the traditions, subclasses, and classes I have and say, “yes, these are different from each other.” They are the ones I want to reach. 

It's not always straightforward. Sometimes it’s sitting at my desk, staring at a spell description for 20 minutes, trying to decide if it should be second or third level. Sometimes it’s rewriting a single monster power because it breaks one of the unwritten rules of AD&D logic, or it is too close to something already done, OR even because I need it to be closer to something already done.

But that’s the work. That’s the tactic. Slow, careful, deliberate construction.

I love a good battle map. I love clever flanking. I love using the environment to turn the tide.

But sometimes the most satisfying tactic isn’t found in the order of initiative.

It’s in building something that others can use.

And knowing that somewhere, someday, a new player’s character might light a candle, draw a circle, and say, “I cast an occult spell.”

Questions

 Where. Confident. Accessory. Hmmm...Where am I confident I can get the latest accessory? Easy, my FLGS, Games Plus.

https://www.autocratik.com/ • https://www.castingshadowsblog.com/

 Double hitter today. Went out on a hunt for some old-school D&D and came home to some mail.

Dragged my wife and youngest out to a yard sale way north of Chicago because I saw online they had a ton of D&D books. A box of adventures, hardcovers, a box of Dragons, and a bunch of old Ral Partha minis. We got there in plenty of time, but the boxes were stanched up by, well... I never got a satisfactory answer. My wife and kid suspected (with some good reason) that the people running the sale held it back for someone. I kept getting a different answer from the workers (it was a managed sale) and the person buying them all didn't seem like a gamer because they really couldn't answer and questions.

Oh well. I did get a chance to look into the boxes, and I had about 95% of it all anyway.

I DID manage to score boxed sets of Top Secret and Indiana Jones. This gives me more evidence that person buying didn't know what they had. These were right next to the books and were ignored. That's fine, I didn't have these, so score for me! I also got the Doctor Who Technical Manual to replace my old one that was lost. 

The boxes are in worn shape, but the contents are good. Missing dice, save for the saddest looking d10 I have ever seen.

On the mail front, this was waiting for me when I got home.

The Folio Black Label #3 White Witch and Black Stone from Art of the Genre.

And it looks like I got the last copy! Sorry all. But honestly, how could I have said no? It features Duchess and Candella as NPCs and the main antagonist is "the White Witch."  I mean, come on? 

While print is sold out, the PDF is still available. 

I'll get a proper review of this up soon. Now I just need to figure out where I am going to slot this into my War of the Witch Queens.

 One of my favorite characters in Superman has always been Lex Luthor.

Why? Because Lex never thinks he’s evil. In his mind, he’s the only one doing the right thing. Humanity can’t trust an alien god with their future, no matter how many kittens he rescues from trees. Lex isn’t mustache-twirling evil, he’s rational. Cold. Calculating. Absolutely convinced that he is the smartest man in the room and that everyone else is either too blind, too stupid, or too naïve to see the danger.

That, to me, is the perfect nemesis.

In my games, I’ve had plenty of recurring villains, necromancers, devils, cultists with too many teeth, but only a few that have earned that capital-N “Nemesis” title.

Magnus is one. He’s my classic evil necromancer, complete with black robes, pale skin, and an ego that can barely fit into the dungeon. But I’ll be honest, sometimes he feels like a cartoon villain. Fun to bring out for a good dramatic monologue, but not quite the existential threat I want.

Yoln was a better one. He was the nemesis in my AD&D 1st ed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer games. His evil had a face, a voice, a reason. Players hated him, but they also understood him. That’s good villainy.

Dracula? Always a favorite. But he’s more of a force of nature than a true nemesis. The devil you invite in by accident.  The Refrigerator? Fun, but he is a misanthropic one-trick pony.

But lately… I’ve been circling something deeper. A presence that’s shown up in many of my games, even when I didn’t know it yet.

At first, it was just a phrase, The Whispering God. A vague mythos thread to tie things together. But somewhere between running a Buffy session and catching a train in downtown Chicago, I realized something. Magnus has heard those whispers. So has Yoln. And maybe, just maybe, they were never the real threat.

They were echoes. Shadows.

The true nemesis is something I’ve started calling The One Who Remains.

He’s not a person, not really. “He” is just a convenient pronoun. “It” would be more accurate. “They,” maybe. Or “We,” if I’m being honest.

Here’s what I know:

• He was once a human, or something like it.
• He helped end the Age of Old Ones, maybe in the Wasted Lands’ Dreaming Age, maybe earlier.
• He did something, some ritual or betrayal, that shattered his being across time and space.

Now he is trying to pull himself back together.

Like gravity pulling dust into stars, his scattered thoughts, identities, and echoes are coalescing. Slowly at first. Then faster. Always faster. And when he is whole again?

It will be too late to stop him.

Some worlds feel his influence only faintly, a name in a forgotten grimoire, a face glimpsed in a nightmare. Others bear him like a scar. In some, he is barely more than a drive or a hunger. In others, he takes on form: a warlock, a high priest, a masked prophet. In some campaigns, he’s just a whisper. In others, he’s a storm.

And in my multiverse?

He’s everywhere.

He’s the shadow behind the coven. The Patron no one names. The face in the mirror when the moonlight is hitting it wrong,  or maybe just right.

He is the Nemesis not of a single hero, or of the world, but of all the cosmos. Of memory. Of meaning.

He is the end that waits, and the beginning that never should have been.

And the worst part?

He’s almost here.

I can’t wait for you to meet him.

Questions

What. Envious. Genre.  What Genre am I envious of? Well none really. Though I do like hearing people talk about their superhero games. I can't ever keep one going for long.

 

https://www.autocratik.com/ • https://www.castingshadowsblog.com/

 For years, I have been getting these little blank journals. My kids used to like to get them and give them to me for birthdays, Father's Day, and Christmas. Anyway, I typically keep them next to my desk, my bedside stand, and my end tables where I read or watch TV. I have dozens of them filled up, and maybe twice that number that are partially filled. 

This past summer, I have been working on collecting these into something. Not 100% sure what that something is, but I have been scribbling it all down under the header of "Occult D&D."  

Here is a "monster" I have been playing around with for a little bit. The first version of this was from a notebook I had all the way back to my earliest AD&D 1st Edition days. Revised heavily in the 1990s, and picked back up this past July.

Starchild - Photo by Alesia  Kozik

STARCHILD

(Custodes Sidereus, Ascended Master, Starborn)

Astral Celestial (Unique/Extraplanar)

FREQUENCY: Very Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: -2
MOVE: 15"/48" (Fly)
HIT DICE: 14–16
% IN LAIR: 15%
TREASURE TYPE: see below (Astral Cache only)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 (touch) or by spell
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2–12 (psychic touch) or by spell
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spell use, see below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +3 or better weapon to hit; immune to charm, sleep, fear, illusion
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 65%
INTELLIGENCE: Supra-Genius (20–22)
ALIGNMENT: Variable (see below)
SIZE: L (10'–12' tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: 200
Attack/Defense Modes: All / All
LEVEL/XP VALUE: IX / 19,500 + 20/hp

Starchildren appear as radiant humanoid beings of flawless beauty and serenity. Their physical forms are idealized, genderless or androgynous, glowing with starlight or surrounded by cascading auroras. In some traditions, they appear as translucent, elven-like sages robed in constellations; to others, they are shining spheres of cosmic intelligence, barely contained in mortal shape.

Starchildren rarely engage in physical combat, preferring pacifism, diplomacy, or departure. However, they will defend others from destruction, particularly mortals of magical inclination. They attack once per round with radiant energy (3d6 damage), or may cast spells as a 20th-level magic-user, 20th-level witch, or illusionist, depending on which magical tradition is strongest in the region.

They also possess the following innate abilities, usable at will unless noted otherwise:

• Teleport without Error
• Plane Shift
• True Seeing
• Detect Magic
• Telepathy (universal languages)
• Contact Other Plane (always succeeds, never drives them mad)
• Banishment (3/day)
• Akashic Memory (see below)

Once per week, a Starchild may grant a mortal access to the Akashic Record as per the Access the Library ritual spell. This is usually done only for profound magical seekers or as part of a sacred pact.

Starchildren possess all psionic defense and attack modes and may use any of the "sciences" or "devotions" as needed in a particular situation. 

No two sources agree on what the Starchildren are. Some witches say they are the ascended forms of the first witches, elevated beyond mortal limits. Others insist they are celestial beings from the stars, what modern occultists call Star People or Elder Teachers. Still others view them as sentient emanations of the Cosmic Consciousness, a universal mind from which all magic flows.

They do not reproduce, nor do they maintain societies in the conventional sense. However, Starchildren have appeared to witches in times of great need, offering insight, visions, or magical gifts.

Starchildren are known to walk the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Realm, and other dimensions unknown to mortals. They are believed to be custodians of the Akashic Record, a vast, extradimensional archive of all knowledge, magic, thought, and possibility.

Starchildren do not eat, breathe, or sleep. Their presence warps reality subtly, nearby spellcasting becomes easier, plants grow slightly better, and dreams become filled with symbols and visions. Prolonged contact with a Starchild can result in magical mutations or spiritual awakening, depending on the soul of the one exposed.

A slain Starchild does not leave a corpse, but transforms into stardust and ascends, its essence dissolving into the Astral Light.

Though they do not hoard material goods, a Starchild’s sanctum may contain:

• A spellbook containing 1d6 unique or forgotten spells.
• Crystalline artifacts imbued with planar energy.
• An Astral Map that allows access to unknown planes.

Starchildren as Patrons. If the Starchildren were once patrons of witches, as many believe, they are no longer. Though all traditions have something in their teachings that many conclude is a product of the Starchildren. 

Each Witch Tradition interprets them differently:

• The Aquarian Tradition see them as the progenitor of their tradition and the form they ultimately aspire to transcend to.
  
  
• The Atlantean Tradition believes they are the architects of the great crystal cities beneath the waves.
  
  
• The Classic and Pagan Traditions see the Starchlidren as the messengers of the old gods of their faiths. They would be called angels in other philosophies. 
  
  
• The Daughters of Baba Yaga whisper that Baba Yaga herself is the most terrible and wise of the Starchildren.
  
  
• The Followers of Aradia believe the Starchildren first taught Aradia the language of the stars.
  
  
• The High Secret Order seeks audience with them for the secrets of deep occult power.
  
  
• The Scaled Sisterhood refer to them as Cosmic Serpents, and some suspect the great Dragon/Serpent Anantanatha is one.

Names of the Starchildren

These are the Starchildren known to occult scholars.

Unceph the Dual-Flame: The one who whispers across mirrored selves. Keeper of the Seventh Gate of Thought. They are male and female, both eternally. 

Lioriel of the Infinite Choir: Angel of harmonics and secret words. Her voice is a thousand singing stars.

Xavhalon the Prism-Eyed: All colors bend through their gaze; they dream in radiant geometry.

Astraema of the Crystal Veil: Watcher of fates yet unformed, veiled in moonlight and deep water.

Seraphex, Keeper of the Burning Glyph: Bearer of the first word etched in flame. Those who read it are forever changed.

Urilathe the Memory Unbound: He who walks the halls of unchosen pasts. Wields the Book of What Might Have Been.

Omniala the Pale Aurora: She dances on the threshold of death and dreaming, trailing silver fire.

Zyntharion of the Thirteenth Ray: Patron of heretics and innovators. The ray no one remembers seeing.

The Archon Selador: Who guards the spiral path inward. All questions asked three times.

Velek-Tha of the Outer Spiral: The serpent-form of stellar wisdom. They uncoil thought from the void.

Galithriel, She of the Star-Seeded Womb: Mother of the Starborn. Cradles the souls of those who dream beyond the veil.

Nocturiel the Dream-Encoded: Sleeper beneath the silver sphere. His sigils bloom in moonlit minds.

--

One might be excused for thinking that this all originated from weird post-70s New Age thinking. And yes, that is true, but it was equal parts that, equal parts of Chariots of the Gods?, and equal parts of television shows like The Phoenix. The catalyst, though, had to be Juice Newton's cover of "Angel Of The Morning."  My thought was, if there is an Angel of the Morning, are the others? Of course there are. 

I make no claim that Lioriel looks like Juice Newton circa 1980. But I also do not not claim it.

Monstrous Monday Edition

Over the decades, we've had "Dungeon Level," Monster Mark, Threat Levels, Challenge Ratings, Encounter Difficulty, and a dozen other shorthand systems meant to answer one very old question:

 "Can my party handle this thing?"

And here's the short version of my answer:

 Maybe. But also... maybe not.

That’s the paradox of Challenge in D&D and most fantasy RPGs. It sounds like math, but it plays like myth. There’s a desire, especially in newer editions, to systematize danger. To give you charts, budgets, and formulas that make the world behave. The 3rd Edition tried really hard to codify it. 5e softened the math, but still aims for the same goal: fairness. Balance.

But here's the thing. Balance is an illusion.

Challenge doesn't live in the numbers. It lives in the tension between what the players think they can do and what the world dares them to try.

In old-school games, especially AD&D 1st Edition, there was no guarantee that the next room wasn’t going to have something that would eat you in one round. The game trusted the Referee to warn, not to weigh. The sign of blood on the doorframe, the sulfur stink in the air, the scratch marks on the wall. That was the challenge rating.

And as a monster-maker and adventure writer, I love that freedom. It lets me drop a coven of night hags in the woods outside of a Level 3 village, not because it “fits,” but because it means something. The challenge is a story, not a stat block.

When I design new monsters for my campaigns, or for my witch projects, I rarely ask “Is this balanced?” I ask “Is this meaningful? Is this memorable? Will this scare the players just enough to make them think before they roll initiative?”

Because the best challenges are the ones that change the characters. Not just in XP or loot, but in story. The foe that scars them. The one that got away. The one that cost them something. The monster that becomes a legend around the table.

So sure, build your encounter tables and run the numbers if you like. But don’t forget what the real challenge is:

Getting out alive, with your story intact.

Questions

When. Excited. Adventure.

When am I excited for an adventure? Any time I get to play with my kids and family. 

https://www.autocratik.com/ • https://www.castingshadowsblog.com/

Every game has that moment.

The moment when something slips out of the shadows. A secret comes to light. A mask comes off. The moment a reveal hits the table and changes how everyone sees the world, or themselves.

As a DM and a designer, I live for those moments.

They don’t have to be big. Not every reveal is a secret villain or a hidden bloodline. Sometimes it’s just a player realizing they’ve been wrong about their character’s path. Or that the “harmless” NPC has been manipulating things since session two. Or that the relic they’ve been carrying isn’t what they thought it was, and never was.

One of my favorite reveals was during my series of 5e Gen Con games my family played in. There was this elf-girl who kept ending up on the PCs tail. She would be in the same dungeon, or be in the slaver’s camp, or just following. She was Evelyn, the Princess Escalla, and she was leading the rebellion of elven slaves in the drow city of Erelhei-Cinlu.

But every reveal has weight.

In my worlds, especially the occult ones, revelations aren’t always helpful. They don’t always come with a neat explanation or a reward. Sometimes the truth is confusing. Frightening. Half-seen. And that’s the point. Not every mystery needs to be solved cleanly. Some truths don’t bring clarity, they bring consequence.

Another one was Yoln as The Hand of Leviathan. My players (and ther characters) thought the hand was a weapon. It was a person or a former person. 

Speaking of which. 

Lately, I've been threading something into my games. A presence. A name. A whisper behind other plots. He’s not always visible. In fact, he rarely is. But he’s there, like a recurring nightmare that no one talks about. A cosmic echo that appears in different guises across different campaigns and settings.

The players don’t always notice it at first. But eventually, someone will ask:

 “Wait… haven’t we heard that name before?”

 “Didn’t someone else dream about that same phrase?”

 “Why does this ruin in the Realms have the same symbol we saw in a galaxy far, far away?”

And that’s when I smile. Because the reveal isn’t just a plot point. It’s a pattern. Something reaching across time and space and genre, pulling pieces of itself together.

I’ve started calling him The One Who Remains.

He’s not just a villain. He’s not even entirely real in the way most beings are.

 He’s the echo of something that broke too long ago to remember.

 A shadow stitched from regret and silence.

 A thought that keeps trying to remember itself.

In some campaigns, he’s just a whisper. In others, he’s the secret patron behind a warlock’s power. In still others, he’s already won, and no one realizes it yet.

He’s been revealed slowly, in fragments.  And he’ll get more detail in just a couple of days. Day 26 is coming.

Sometimes the best reveals aren’t about answers. They’re about realizing the question has been with you the whole time.

Questions

How. Proud. Person. 

Easy. I was proud of my kids in their first Gen Con game and then really got into the spirit of it right away. The GM later told me he didn't normally like having kids so young, but they did great.

https://www.autocratik.com/ • https://www.castingshadowsblog.com/

 One of the joys of this hobby is how often we revisit the past.

Old characters. Old settings. Forgotten rulesets we swore we remembered better than we do. And yes, there’s a kind of magic in cracking open that AD&D 2nd Edition Forgotten Realms box and realizing that even though you’ve been gaming for decades, somehow… this still feels new.

But lately? I’ve been reminded that the recent moments are just as powerful.

In the last few months, I’ve been lucky enough to dive into a few very different games, and each one has changed the way I think about the stories we tell at the table.

Daggerheart caught me off guard in the best way. I went in expecting a rules-light, character-driven story game, and it is that, but what really stood out was how it handles party dynamics. There's a gentler kind of tension here. Not the clash of classes or alignment charts, but emotional connection, hope, and the quiet drama of shared vulnerability. It’s not just how the characters fight together, but how they heal together. And for someone who’s spent a lot of time in dungeons and haunted ruins, that shift was… refreshing.

Then came a run in Edge’s Star Wars RPG, and that was a whole different ride. Fast, cinematic, gloriously messy. But what it reminded me most of was this: balance isn’t the point. Fun is. Characters aren't finely tuned chess pieces. They’re scoundrels, force users, misfits, and rebels flying by the seat of their robes. The game never once worried if something was "too strong" or "underpowered." It just asked, “Did that feel cool?” And honestly? That’s a design philosophy I want to carry with me.

And finally, there’s my return to the Forgotten Realms, but this time, through the lens of AD&D 2nd Edition. It’s funny. I’ve spent years reading Realmslore, pulling from its gods and guilds, its elven legacies and deep roads beneath the mountains. But actually playing in that space, using the materials from the late '80s and early '90s? That feels different. It’s like stepping into a place I’ve only ever read about. Not as a scholar or a fan, but as a traveler.

Nostalgia is great. It’s powerful. But it’s not a substitute for presence.

And that’s the thing I keep coming back to: the most important past isn’t what we played twenty years ago, it’s what we did at the table last week.

That last game. That weird plot twist. That character choice no one expected. That moment of laughter, tension, heartbreak, or triumph that came out of nowhere.

So yeah, I love looking back. I’ll always treasure the books, the maps, the stories that got me here.

But what really matters?

What’s happening in the next session?

Nostalgia is great and fun, but sometimes the most important past is what we did in our most recent game.

Questions

What. Confident. Genre. 

What genre do I feel the most confident in? Easy Horror. I love running horror games. 

https://www.autocratik.com/ • https://www.castingshadowsblog.com/

Something a touch different today for Fantasy Friday. 

I was chatting with some Daggerheart fans, and they liked the Sonja build I had done. They suggested I should do Conan as well, but I got to thinking about my earlier statement of a connection between Kull, Conan, and Kane, and thought it might be fun to stat them all up in Daggerheart to see how I could represent the pinnacle of the Howardian "fighting men" in this new system. 

Joe Kubert's Connecting Covers Featuring Conan, Kull, and Solomon Kane

Caveat and Full Disclosure. I have read all of the Kull and Conan stories by Howard and most of the Kane ones. I have read some of his letters to others about these characters, but I know there is still an absolute ton I have not read. TL;DR I only marginally qualified to write them up as characters. Yeah I know what I would do with them, but there are people out there, people I am friends with, who are far more knowledgeable than I am about this. I apologize in advance for any mistakes I might make.

Kull of Atlantis

Kull spends most of the tales I read as King of Valusia and an exile of Atlantis. We know he has been a hunter, a gladiator, a soldier, a general, and finally a king. He is philosophical and brooding. He cares for his people even if he sometimes despises their civilized ways and the "masks" (though that turns out to be true later on) they wear. According to Wikipedia, his lifetime was some 100,000 years ago, or near the end of the Old Stone Age. The tales, of course, read more like Bronze Age. 

For this reason I am choosing Guardian for him. The Domains are Valor and Blade, the two competing aspects of his personality.

Level 3
Class & Subclass: Guardian (Stalwart)
Ancestry & Heritage: Wildborne Human
Pronouns: He/Him

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

Evasion: 9
Armor: 5 

HP: 9
Minor Damage: 15 Major Damage: 28
Stress: 7

Hope: 2

Weapons: Battleaxe, Strength Melee, +2 2d10+3 Physical

Armor: None

Experience
Fighting Man for Life +2
The Brooding King +2
Enemy of the Serpent Men +2

Class Features
Bare Bones (add STR to Armor), Not Good Enough (reroll 1 & 2 on damage), Bold Presence, Versitle Fighter, Soldier's Bond

Ok. I like this one. This is a soldier's soldier. This would be a fun character to play. Granted, he should be a bit higher level, but I wanted him lower than Conan.

Conan the Cimmerian

Howard's better known creation and maybe the Godfather of all D&D fighters. Now I feel better about doing Conan than Kull. 

Conan is the archetypical barbarian. Yes he has been a soldier, general, thief, sailor, pirate, and eventually King, he is at his heart a barbarian.

Like Red Sonja, he would be a warrior with his Domains Bone and Blade, but he is a little different. I am giving him the sub-class Call of the Brave, because if nothing else Conan knows no fear.

Level 7

Class & Subclass: Warriror (Call of the Brave)
Ancestry & Heritage: Wildborne Human
Pronouns: He/Him

Agility: 2
Strength: 3
Finesse: 0
Instinct: 2
Presence: -1
Knowledge: 1

Evasion: 12
Armor: 4

HP: 10
Minor Damage: 14 Major Damage: 22
Stress: 7

Hope: 2

Weapons: Longsword, Agility Melee, +3 3d10+10 Physical
Broadsword, Agility Melee, +3 3d8+7 Physical

Armor: Chainmail

Experience
I have been everywhere +3
I will LIVE by Crom! +3
I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content +2
Polyglot +2

Class Features
Get Back Up, Not Good Enough, Ferocity, Brace, Scramble, Deadly Focus, Know Thy Enemy, Battle Hardened, Recovery, Rage Up

Again, this is a good character and a fun one to play. I tried to capture Conan's multi-lingual ability here in Experiences. This covers that fact that he knows a lot of languages, but no formal education in them. I spent the extra point to bump up his knowledge to 1 (from 0) to also show that he isn't a dumb barbarian.

I gave him chainmail, which he sometimes wears, but he is just as often in just a loincloth or even the garb of a sailor.  Still, this is a good version of him I think.

Solomon Kane

Next is our dour puritan Solomon Kane.

For Kane, I also picked the Guardian class as I did with Kull. But where Kull is a Stalwart, Kane is dedicated to Vengeance. I mean, look at his single-mindedness in pursuing Le Loup. Kane sees himself as the instrument of God's will and often God's vengeance. He is more similar to Batman in this respect than he is say Conan or Kull.

With Kane, I went in a different direction. While I did what I could to increase Kull's and Conan's HP, I spent more time increasing Kane's Stress. Most of Kane's adversaries are a little more supernatural in nature and seem to be more taxing on his mind and soul than on his body.

To respect his Puritan background, I gave him the heritage of "Orderborne."

Level 6
Class & Subclass: Guardian (Vengeance)
Ancestry & Heritage: Orderborne Human
Pronouns: He/Him

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

Evasion: 11
Armor: 4

HP: 9
Minor Damage: 12 Major Damage: 19
Stress: 10

Hope: 2

Weapons: Rapier, Presence Melee, +0 3d8 Physical
Flintlock Pistols, Agility Ranged, +1 3d10+3 Physical

Armor: None

Experience
I am God's Instrument +3
Avenge the Weak and Defenseless +2
Wanderer of Africa +2
Scholar of the Occult +2 (this also covers his connections with N'longa)

Orderborne Dedications
Evil Must be Destroyed.
I am the instrument of God's vengeance.
Chivalry and Honor are not dead, not while I breathe.

Class Features
Bare Bones (add STR to Armor), Get Back Up, I Am Your Shield, Critical Inspiration, Deadly Focus, Rousing Strike, Champion's Edge

I like this version as well. Very solid.

Even among "Fighting Men" (to use the old term), there is a lot of variety and versatility in Daggerheart and I like that. Though each has their connections with the other. You could make a group of all "fighters" and still have plenty of differences between them to keep the game interesting. 

Fantasy Friday Edition

If the unexpected is where the magic happens, then allies are the ones who help you survive it.

In most fantasy games, we talk a lot about the players, the villains, and the world. But some of the richest, strangest, most meaningful moments don’t come from the final boss or the quest-giver with a shiny reward; they come from the people the characters meet along the way.

The allies. The NPCs. The ones who weren’t supposed to matter, but suddenly do.

I’ve long believed that a good ally is more than just someone who helps in a fight. They’re the soul of a campaign. They give the players a reason to care about the world. A reason to stay. A reason to come back.

Sometimes they start as simple archetypes: the barkeep with a missing eye, the goblin who insists he’s a poet, the witch in the woods who offers help with a price attached. But then something happens. A player makes a connection. They ask a question you weren’t ready for. They offer kindness, or threat, and the relationship takes on a life of its own.

Suddenly, that nameless sage becomes the character’s mentor. The grumpy caravan driver becomes comic relief, and then a trusted friend.

 The rival adventuring party becomes something more complex than competition.

In fantasy stories, allies ground us. They remind the characters that they’re not alone. That the world isn’t just monsters and gold and ancient curses, it’s people. Living, flawed, sometimes irritating, and often surprising people.

And yes, sometimes they betray you. Sometimes they turn out to be working for the villain, or hiding a dangerous secret, or just get in over their heads and die in the second act. That’s part of the deal. But the good ones, the ones who stay, those are the ones your players will talk about years later.

I’ve had NPCs who were meant to be one-hit wonders end up starring in entire campaigns.  I’ve seen players go to absurd lengths to save them, avenge them, or recruit them. The characters and players even look forward to seeing them. Evelyn, the Princess Escalla, is an excellent example of this. They hated her at first, but when she showed up at the right time, they loved her. Not bad for a little half-pixie girl with a huge sword.

And I think that’s the point.

In the middle of all the darkness and mystery, all the chaos and combat, allies give us something else: hope.

 Even if they’re flawed. Even if they’re weird, and Evelyn was weird. Even if they were just a name on a note card five minutes ago.

They remind us that the world is worth saving. Or at least, worth traveling through one more day.

Questions

When. Confident. Rule.

Hmm. When am I confident in a new rule? When I have made a new rule for a game, I am confident it will "sell" well when my playtesters tell me how cool it was.  

https://www.autocratik.com/ • https://www.castingshadowsblog.com/

 I am still enjoying Daggerheart, but I haven't had much of a chance to play lately. Star Wars has been taking a lot of our time. No need for minis when you still have Kenner Star Wars figures!

This past week, we saw the limited release of the new Red Sonja movie, which, by all accounts, is not bad. Better than the 1985 movie (not a high bar, of course). Too bad it did not get a better release. Have to wait for an on-demand or digital release. I am also reading Gail Simone's "Red Sonja: Consumed." I wanted to follow up with some Red Sonja after reading so much of Howard's original work, and I wasn't all that interested in reading the Conan or Kull pastiches. There were a couple of newer Kane books (from different authors) that looked fun. And since anything done is worth doing in excess, I grabbed the latest Humble Bundle of Dynamite's Red Sonja comic run.

Appendix N Note: Although Red Sonja is not listed in Appendix N, Gary was aware of the character from Marvel's 1973-1986 run. That is prime "Golden Age" D&D time. She gets honorable inclusion, I think.

I like Red Sonja. Ok. I like her a lot. She might be one of the reasons so many of my characters have red hair. Ok, her and Batgirl. I loved her run in Marvel comics. I do think we get a slightly more sophisticated character under Dynamite, but all the Sonjas are great in my mind. One of the stories I read last night, "Red Sonja: Altered States," dealt with her spirit reappearing in modern New York. Fun idea really. Got me thinking maybe the "red goddess Scáthach" is really just Sonja herself helping her reincarnations throughout time and space. Anyway, there is something I am planning to have some fun with later on, but for now I think I want to see what she would be like in Daggerheart.

Sonja the Red for Daggerheart

There are a lot of "fighter"-like classes for Daggerheart and lots of things she could be. While there is the "barbarian" idea from Conan, I always felt Sonja was a bit different. In AD&D terms, she would be a fighter. A good fighter, but not a ranger (though that is what she is in Pathfinder: Worldscape) and certainly not a paladin. 

In Daggerheart classes are made up of two Domains. Given her moniker of "She-Devil with a Sword" I feel that one of those domains needs to be "Blade." This gives me two choices, Warrior (Blade and Bone) and Guardian (Blade and Valor). For this, I have to go with Warrior.  After that the rest fell into place rather quickly.

Red Sonja of Hyrkania

Level 5
Class & Subclass: Warrior (Call of the Slayer)
Ancestry & Heritage: Wanderborne Human
Pronouns: She/Her

Agility: 3
Strength: 2
Finesse: 0
Instinct: 1
Presence: -1
Knowledge: 0

Evasion: 12
Armor: 4 

HP: 7
Minor Damage: 14 Major Damage: 22
Stress: 6

Hope: 2

Weapons: Greatsword, Strength Melee, 3d10+8 Physical
Hallowed Axe, Strength Melee, 3d8+6 Magical

Armor: Leather 6/13 +3

Experience
No Man Can Defeat Me +2
I Will Avenge my Clan +2
Gold! Drink! Adventure! +2 (can find adventure, or trouble)
I have been to lots of places +2 (picking up tidbits of knowledge and language)

Class Features
No Mercy, Call of the Slayer, Weapon Specialist, Get Back Up, Untouchable, I See It Coming, Reckless, Fortified Armor, Vitality x2

This was a fast and easy build. 

Her features (the class cards) fit her well, to be honest. Given Daggerheart's narrative structure, fitting these to her backstory is easy. And given her backstory has changed over the years, well, this all still works.

I have seen Red Sonja in New York, in Victorian London, in Pathfinder, and even in Riverdale. Maybe this is Red Sonja in Iriandor. Why she is there, though, is an excellent question. She is never a tourist; there is a reason. I am going to blame the Wizard Thorne.

I am not sure what that reason is just yet.

Links to my other Red Sonja builds

• Old-School Essentials, with Thorne
• Army of Darkness
• Spellcraft & Swordplay
• Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Edition
• Barbarians of Lemuria
• Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
• Leagues of Adventure (Ubiquity)

I could certainly do more, to be honest.

 The unexpected is where the magic happens.

You can prep the dungeon. You can write out the villain’s monologue. You can stack the random encounter tables and plan your traps with precision. But none of it survives contact with the players.

And that’s the point.

"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face." 

 - Mike Tyson

Fantasy roleplaying lives in that strange middle place between structure and surprise. The tension between what we plan and what actually happens. And over the years, I’ve learned to stop resisting the unexpected and start inviting it.

I’ve had villains turn into allies, thanks to a clever player speech. I’ve had major arcs derailed by a single spell (more than one). I’ve seen players bond with NPCs I hadn’t even named yet (too many times to count), turning a throwaway shopkeeper into a long-running favorite. I’ve had sessions where everything clicked, and others where nothing went according to plan but somehow worked anyway.

That’s what I love about this hobby. The unexpected isn’t a problem. It’s the reward.

But it’s not just in gameplay mechanics or plot twists. It’s also in the tone. The emotional texture. I’ve had horror campaigns become character dramas. Light-hearted one-shots veer into genuine catharsis. Once, in the middle of what should have been a tense combat encounter, a player described their character’s internal conflict so beautifully it stopped the game cold. We just sat with it. That moment, unplanned and unprompted, said more than any scripted scene could.

And sometimes, it’s the characters themselves who surprise you. The warlock who resists the call of their patron. The cleric who starts to doubt. The witch who turns away from power to protect something small and fragile. The hero who decides not to fight, but to forgive.

As a DM, I’ve learned to treat the unexpected like a knock at the door. You don’t always know who’s there, but it’s worth answering.

Because that’s where the best stories begin.

Not where you planned, but where the players took you instead.

Questions

How. Excited. Character.

How excited am I for a character? I am always excited about a new character, all the untapped potential. Everything about a new character.

https://www.autocratik.com/ • https://www.castingshadowsblog.com/

 Today I conclude this "mini-series" on the pivotal works of Robert E. Howard, one of the most influential authors in Appendix N, shaping the Dungeons & Dragons experience. 

I have already covered Conan in Part 1, and his horror stories in Part 2. Today I am going to talk two of his other characters, King Kull of Atlantis and Solomon Kane.

Kull of Atlantis: Silence Where a Witch (or even Women) Might Be

Kull’s stories are dreamlike, almost mythic, often more about philosophy than plot. Women of any kind are scarce, and witches are entirely absent. When sorcery intrudes, it comes from male figures: Thulsa Doom, the snake-men, necromancers, shadowy priests.

Is Kull even interested in women? Howard never shows him with lovers, nor does he pit him against the temptations or sorceries of an enchantress. Kull broods on law, on identity, on the shifting unreality of his throne, but not on witches, or even women for that matter. Their absence says much: the philosopher-king is concerned with metaphysical threats, not the seductions or mysteries that witches (and sorcerers) often embody in Howard’s other tales. 

Kull's most significant interaction with a woman comes from one of his earliest tales. A girl in his village is being burned at the stake for taking a lover from the wrong tribe. Kull, not seeing the justice in this, uses his own flint dagger to give her a merciful, quick death. For which he is hunted. 

Speaking of flint daggers. Kull is supposed to be taking place around 100,000 BCE. So really pre-history, but it feels more like 100 BCE in terms of "technology." Granted it is "lost age" the same sort you see working in Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age. Credit where it is due, Howard does do a great job of making it feel like Kull predates Conan by centuries. 

If Kull, and Conan, are covered well by Wasted Lands and other Fantasy RPGs, then Kane is dipping right into horror.

Solomon Kane: A Puritan Without Witches

If Kull’s Atlantean dreamtime excludes witches entirely, Solomon Kane’s early modern setting seems tailor-made for them. The 16th and 17th centuries were rife with witch trials and burnings, and Kane is a zealous Puritan avenger. You’d expect him to clash with witches by the dozen. But he never does.

Instead, Kane’s foes are vampires, demons, revenants, and African sorcerers. Women in his stories are usually victims or innocents caught in evil’s path, never witches themselves. Was this deliberate on Howard’s part? Perhaps he didn’t want women as Kane’s outright antagonists, preferring instead to cast him against inhuman horrors or exotic magics.

One exception worth noting is Nakari from The Moon of Skulls. She is cruel, manipulative, and queenly, with many of the trappings of a witch, save for actual sorcery. She does have a coven of sorts, her "Starmaidens" and she knows some Atlantean rituals.  She rules through charisma and cruelty, not spells. And despite her names she is neither demon nor vampire. Kane’s crusade against her feels witch-hunter-like, yet Howard stops short of giving her magic. Again, we see the absence: Kane fights monsters, not witches.

Kane is adventure fiction, but it dips into horror and horror themes more often than not. 

Kull, Conan, and Kane make up an interesting trinity of Howard protagonists. All are cut from the same cloth and each could be a reincarnation of the previous.

Accidental Feminism?

Now, I do want to say upfront that Howard considered himself a feminist. He had some very progressive views for his time, but also some fairly typical ones. People are complicated. 

If Conan’s world has some witches and Kane’s and Kull’s are completely barren of them, what does that say about Howard? His female characters are sometimes villains (Salome, Tascela, Nakari), but they are also commanding presences, equal to or greater than the men who face them. When Howard leaves witches out, women almost vanish. But that absence makes it striking when he does put women at the forefront, because when he does, they are unforgettable.

Think of Bêlit, the Queen of the Black Coast, who is as fierce and ambitious as Conan himself. Or Valeria of the Red Brotherhood, a woman who makes her own choices and follows her own path. Red Sonya of Rogatino and Dark Agnes de Chastillon are not sorceresses at all, but warrior women who seize the agency the world denies them. These characters aren’t “witches” in the pulpy sense, but they are Howard’s women: strong, willful, larger than life, and often overshadowing the men around them. Red Sonya appears in one tale, yet "Red Sonja" has hundreds, including comics, novels, and a new movie out. Bêlit & Valeria have also appeared in plenty of comics together, often sans Conan, to prove they are interesting enough characters in their own right. Even if I am getting a bit of a Betty & Veronica vibe from them sometimes. Though Red Sonja has teamed up with Betty & Veronica in the past.

Bêlit, Red Sonja, (and Conan) and Valeria by Geof Isherwood

That duality shows up outside the stories too. In a famous letter to Harold Preece, Howard rattled off a litany of great women, from Sappho and Aspasia to Joan of Arc, Emma Goldman, and Edna St. Vincent Millay, defending their genius, passion, and rightful place in history. “Women have always been the inspiration for men,” he wrote, “and… there have been countless women whose names have never been blazoned across the stars, but who have inspired men on to glory.”  

Howard’s pulp tales are not feminist manifestos, but they carry a paradox I’d call his “accidental feminism.” In his fiction, women may be cast as temptresses, pirates, or witches, but they are never weak. And in his private words, he saw women as philosophers, poets, and warriors equal to any man. It may be accidental, but it left us with heroines and enchantresses who still burn as brightly on the page today as they did nearly a century ago.

Conclusion

There are more Robert E. Howard tales. Lots more, and many that could be fundamental to what the D&D experience was going to become. But here is where I part ways with the author. I found his sword & sorcery tales to be captivating, his horror stories fascinating, and his heroes equally as wonderful in their own imperfect ways. There is a reason why we all know of Conan and Kane, and to a lesser degree, Kull. Even his forgotten "step-daughter," Red Sonja.

When it comes to witches, Howard doesn't give me enough, though what he does give is wonderful. Salome and Tascela are fantastic characters who I would have loved to see more of, or more to the point, more like them. Too bad that they died in their respective tales; they would have made great antagonists for Bêlit, Red Sonja, and Valeria.