Original Roleplaying Concepts
I should be in the car headed to Gary Con as you read this!
So if you are there come by and pick up a copy of Night Shift!
Have a bunch on my plate at the day job right now and I am headed up the Gary Con tomorrow and the weekend. The best part of Gary Con? I can drive in, drive out, and sleep in my own bed every night!
Unnamed Victorian/Rural Gothic Mini-campaign
I want to run an adventure/campaign set in Victorian times and combine "Little House on the Prairie" with "True Detective" Season 1 and Carcosa. Essentially you are all a bunch of gritty detectives and have chased this dangerous "End times" cult to the US Midwest in the 1880s.
This cult had a member that is a bit clairvoyant and saw World War I and decide that it is better to end the world. She went mad (naturally) and this is how the PCs discover the cult's activity and connects them to a string of grisly sacrificial murders.
Why Little House? Well I did enjoy the show growing up and it seems so idyllic, even with their hardships, and some cult trying to draw down some horror beyond the stars is so incongruous to the setting that it makes for its own first level of horror.
Originally this was called "Ghosts of Albion: Carcosa" but today I could use pretty much any Victorian-era system for it. I have all of them.
New Gaming Gear
My youngest is now in college and has built a new computer. So I just got a "hand-me-down" Alienware. With this and my other gaming computer, I am thinking about getting some new PC games to play. All of the old AD&D "Gold Box" games are coming to Steam. I never had the time to play them when they were new but I am hoping they might scratch that AD&D 2nd Ed itch I have.
ETA: Just found another hard drive to put in it!
Sci-Fi RPGs
I have been in the mood for a sci0fi RPG for some time. Now my oldest is too. Though he wants something that is compatible with 5e so he can continue playing in his world and doesn't want to go the Starfinder ("Featfinder") route. Ultramodern5 has been suggested to me as has Esper Genesis.
This is only quasi-related to my Star Trek games. Though it will inform my choices when I do Sci-Fi month in May.
Spell Database
Not for publication, just my own use. I am putting together a database of every spell I have written for all my witch books. While I am not expecting to share this out, you will likely see the products of the labor one day.
Monster Books
With the day job, I have not had much of a chance to really work on any of these. In fact, my last edit was early February according to the file dates. Hope to get back on these.
Last week I spent a lot of time with the Castles & Codex series and it was great fun. But there is another book that also works well with my universe building and it is not about the gods. Rather quite the opposite.Back in October of 2017 Troll Lords launched their Tome of the Unclean Kickstarter. With the idea to bring demons, devils, and other fiends to the Castles & Crusades game. It would also work with Amazing Adventures (which is what I would end up doing later). I was immediately hooked and knew I needed this book.
Fast forward to 2019 I got my book in the mail and I had been picking up the PDFs (they released as they were completed starting in Jan 2018) all throughout.
I have just been really slow at getting my review up.
For this review, I am considering both the hardcover print version from the Kickstarter and the now final PDF from DriveThruRPG.
144 pages. Color covers, black & white interior art.
The book follows a format that is now common to many books about fiends. A part that deals with Demons and Lords of the Abyss. Another that covers Devils and the Legions of Hell. And a third, which often differs from book to book, covers other fiends of Gehenna and the Undead. Adding in the undead is a nice touch in my mind and a value add for the book.
Demons & Devils
This covers the basic differences and how these creatures fit into the World of Aihrde, the game world of Castles & Crusades. It also covers the basics of the monster stat block.
Lords of the Abyss
This is our section about Demons and the Abyss. It cleaves pretty close to the AD&D standard with what I often refer to as "the Usual Suspects," so all the "Type" demons and succubi. The new material here includes Abyssal Oases which are areas that are habitable by mortal-kind that seem to come up at random.
Covered here are also traits about the Abyss and powers and traits common to all demons.
The monsters are all alphabetical, so common demons are not separated from the lords. There are a few lords present. Demogorgon and Orcus return. But also Oozemandius (as a Juiblex stand-in) and Buer. Graz'zt is mentioned a few times, but no stats are given. There are 32 total demons with four as lords.
Legions of Hell
This section follows a pattern similar to the Demons one. The Hells are described, including the nine layers. They have some new names and some differences, but if you are wed to the Ed Greenwood Dragon articles about Hell then there is not a lot to convert here.
There are 53 devils, with 16 of these listed as unique Arch-Devils. There are more new devils here than there are new demons.
Gehenna
This is our "Neutral Evil" plane in the Great Wheel cosmology of the world of Aihrde, taking the place of Hades or the Grey Wastes from AD&D. This is home to the daemons. Like the previous chapters, this covers the features of the land and it's inhabitants. Reading through it is feels like equal parts of the Greek Hades and the Underworld of Kur in the Babylonian myths where Ereshkigal rules.
Only four deamons are detailed here, with one, Charon the Boatman, as the only unique member.
Undead
The name of the book is the Tome of the Unclean. While demons and devils take up the vast majority of the book there is still some space for the Undead.
18 undead creatures are detailed here, most of favorites (but creatures Vampires are missing) and some new ones.
Denizens. Fauna, & Flora
Covers various types of evil, non-fiendish, non-undead, monsters that can also be found.
We end with Aihrde specific information and our OGL page.
Tome of the Damned is a fantastic resource for anyone wanting more information on demons, devils, and their ilk for anyone playing Castles & Crusades. In fact, if you are playing C&C and want demons then this is a must-have book.
The advantage of Castles & Crusades is that it can be adapted to AD&D or any OSR game easily. So if you want more than what the Monster Manuals I & II can give you, then this book is also a good choice. I f you are playing AD&D 2nd ed then this book will fill in many of the gaps left by that game.
Now, I have an entire library of books dedicated to demons, devils, and all sorts of evil monsters. There were only a few things here actually new to me. But I still rather enjoyed this book quite a lot. It is a good addition to my Castles & Crusades library.
Back to the business at hand. Today will cover the "others" in my Monstrous Compendium collections, but not ones I used regularly. Again the time these came out money was tight for a college kid needing to buy school supplies, food, and pay rent so choices were made. Ravenloft won, Dark Sun and Spelljammer lost. Thankfully these days I can buy PDFs much cheaper and with little to no concern for storage space. Plus I have recently begun to explore Spelljammer and I have found it to be rather fun.
For these reviews, I am considering the PDFs only. I have the published ones, but not all of them, and the one I do have (Spelljammer 1) is incomplete. No idea why.
MC7 Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix
PDF 64 pages (70 with dividers and covers), Color cover art, black & white interior art, $4.99. 64 monsters.
There was/is something very cool about the Spelljammer monsters. First, they were not afraid to try something new here. Which I like. Secondly, there are also some odd-balls here like the Giant Space Hamster. Oh well, you have to have some fun. There are some Star Frontiers aliens analogs here, so that made cross-overs a fun idea, but I have no idea if anyone ever did any.
MC9 Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix IIPDF 64 pages (70 with dividers and covers), Color cover art, black & white interior art, $4.99. 61 monsters.
Like the first Spelljamer MC this one gives us some fairly unique and interesting monsters. The one I recall the best is the Scro or the "Space Orcs." We also get a trio of celestial dragons which is fun.
There is also a collection of MC-formated monsters in the Spelljammer: Adventures in Space set.
MC12 Monstrous Compendium Dark Sun Appendix: Terrors of the Desert
PDF 96 pages, Color cover art, black & white interior art, $9.99. 92 monsters.
Moreso than any other campaign world, Dark Sun is the most foreign to me. I *like* the idea of it. I have even since adopted some of the notions of it into my regular game world. Plus there is a solid message here; exploit the environment and eventually, you will screw it up for everyone. But many of the monsters are very new.
This MC does adopt a different accent color for the pages. A nice touch that again I would have liked to have seen for all the others. Pretty much all of these creatures are new for me. I would like to use them in a desert game, but I think a few might be a bit of work to remove them from their background.
Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium Appendix II: Terrors beyond Tyr
PDF 128 pages, Color cover art, color interior art, $9.99. 105 monsters.
This one was published as a softover volume. It follows closer to the Dark Sun trade dress as opposed to the Monstrous Compendium one. This does mean that monster pages are full color.
Interestingly enough for me, this one has monsters I am more familiar with. Also, given the nature of the campaign world, many of these creatures can be used as player characters. So details are given for that.
The news came out this past week about M.A.R. Barker, the creator of Empire of the Petal Throne and Tékumel. Apparently, there is confirming evidence that Prof. Barker (formerly Philip Barker) wrote the book Serpent's Walk under the pseudonym Randolph Calverhall and published by the same neo-Nazi publisher that published The Turner Diaries.This is fairly damning, to be honest. The book is pretty much Nazi "fan fiction" by those familiar with it. While this might not be enough for others there is more. It does seem that the Tekumel Foundation has known about this, and kept it quiet, for years. Now you might ask how is a "Nazi fan fiction" any different than say Philip K. Dick's "Man in the High Castle?" I guess the back cover of the book tells the whole story. It was written as fulfillment fantasy of a group of S.S. officers' descendants "correcting the the wrongs" of the end of W.W. II.
Ok that is pretty bad. Then to make matters worse, Prof. Barker sat on the board of editors for anti-Sementic, Holocaust-denial journal, "The Journal of Historical Review," as psuedo-scientific and psuedo-academic journal. It has been described as anti-Sementic by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The Journal is much like others of it's ilk; not peer-reviewed, pushing an agenda. There was some uncertainty online about who this particular "Philip Barker, Ph.D." was, but honestly combined with the publication of the other book I don't feel that he gets any benefit of the doubt.
What does that mean for me?
Well. Everyone has to draw their own lines somewhere. Like Lovecraft, Orson Scott Card, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and J.K. Rolwing, Barker has left a pretty dark mark on his legacy.
For me, Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism are steps way too far.
There is no evidence of this, as far as I can tell, within the pages of Tékumel. But the shine on the books is gone for me. I know he is dead and won't benefit from anything I do or don't do. I am not looking to boycott or raise a campaign about it, plenty of others will do that. It is just sad of course that such an obviously brilliant man also has such vile and repugnant beliefs.
Anyway, here are the relevant links. No I am not linking to the books. You can find them on your own.
Today I present the last (so far) of the Castles & Crusades mythological Codices. This one takes away from Europe and back further in time to antiquity. It was also one I was really, really looking forward to and I am not disappointed. Castles & Crusades Codex Egyptium
Nothing gets people excited quite like Egypt. A kingdom that began at least in 3,100 BC to the time of the Romans, it has missing time where "nothing really happened" (according to one Prof. used to joke) that lasts longer than the entire history of the United States. It is an impressively long amount of time and even one that seems incalculable. There is the old saying. "Man fears time, but Time fears the Pyramids."
This codex takes on the "newer" Codex format. This is one makes the new format a little clearer. The "Chapters" covers history and mythology with some game material while the "Appendicies" are game material proper.
For this review I am considering the PDF from DriveThruRPG and the hardcover edition. Again our author and designer is Brian Young. Color covers, and black and white interior art.
Chapter 1 The Black Land Arose (Geography and Worlds)
This chapter begins with a basic map of the lands around the Nile and even up to the Mediterranean Sea and out East to the Fertile Crescent. This chapter covers the geography of these lands and a bit on the people. To call it brief is a massive understatement. We are talking about nearly 3,500 years of history and people and change. While the Egyptians were notoriously resistant to change and very xenophobic, there is still a glossing over of history here. Of course, this is again a gamebook and not a history text. No problem then, there is more to come.
Chapter 2 From Early Darkness (History and Mythic Background)
This covers the history, real and mythical, of the lands. This covers the stone age (Paleolithic) to all the Dynasties up to the Fall of Rome in terms of real-world history. The remaining covers the mythical history of Egyptian creation and gods.
Chapter 3 Presided over by the Divine (Gods, Goddesses and Supernatural Figures)
This chapter opens up with some spiritual concepts like priests, mummification, souls, and the afterlife. For the Egyptians, the afterlife WAS life. Everything they worked for the afterlife. The gods and their place in the afterlife is also discussed.
Chapter 4 Rife with Charms and Spells ( Magic in Egypt)
As with many ancient societies, magic was not "Supernatural" but a part of nature and that has never been more true than with Egypt. Various words of power are discussed and listed. Descriptions of the Egyptian "wizards."
Chapter 5 Neter and Netert - The Divine
Egypt is the land of Gods. Lots and lots of Gods. Here only some of the Gods are detailed. Since Egyptian history is so long that even the gods changed. There are 40 pages of gods here. Some are listed more than once as their roles changed over the centuries. Young has a Sisyphean task here, trying to catalog all the gods that Egpyt has had. Even if it not complete it is the most complete one I have seen in a game.
Chapter 6 Using Egyptian Mythology In Airhde
For the first time the Codex covers the Troll Lords' homeworld of Aihrde. Parallels are drawn between the gods of Aihrde and the gods of Egyptian. The advantage here, beyond the page, gives a nice mixing pot (Aihrde) that all the other Codices can be mixed.
Appendix A Names This covers names for all sorts of people, PCs, NPCs, Gods and more.
Appendix B Social Classes The various classes in ancient Egypt. Note that social class was ironclad; you didn't move around between them.
Appendix C Defended by Fierce Warriors (The Military and Soldiers) Covers the different sort of warriors. None are different from the Fighter game-wise, but there are a lot roleplaying ideas here.
Appendix D Chariots The high tech of the ancient world. It could not be understated that this was the implementate of war for the time.
Appendix E The Sphynx A little bit of background on the creature.
Appendix F Where Monsters And Demons Dwell The creatures of ancient Egypt. 25+ creatures here and each one is more interesting than the last to be honest. I am hesitant to say this is the best chapter, but it is really fun.
At the end is a really nice bonus map. The map is included with the PDF.
While there is a lot of information in this book, it still makes me want more. I have a feeling that to do this topic justice we would need a 500+ page book. I can't even begin to imagine what Young had to do to pare it down this much.
Eygpt is just so damn interesting. There is so much here to play with that my cup runneth over with ideas. I honestly don't even know where to even start to be honest.
With all of these Codecies, one would be tempted to combine them all. Build something akin to Lands of Adventure or Man, Myth, & Magic. While I could see this working somehow in Aihrde or a homebrew campaign, I would avoid it for a purely mythic Earth where I feel this would work best.
For my money and time, play these various codices in their own times and their own places. For me, that would be the best way to really get the feel for them. Nicely they are written in such a way to allow pretty much anything.
I understand that Dr. Young is working more of these. I am really looking forward to them!
Again, today is a good day for this one. I just finished my review of the Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum so I wanted to compare and contrast it to the earlier work on a similar topic, the HR3 Celts Campaign Sourcebook for AD&D 2nd Edition. I reviewed the HR1 Vikings Campaign Sourcebook a while back and always wanted to get back into the series. HR3 Celts Campaign Sourcebook (AD&D 2nd Edition)
For this review, I am considering both the PDF and softcover copies. 96 pages with color (well, green) covers and black & white interior art. There is a color map attached to the original softcover I bought in the early 90s. The PDF has the map appended to the end. Graeme Davis is the author here. He got his RPG start with Games Workshop.
Illustrations are by Roger Raup and Cartography by Steve Sullivan.
The publication of this book is contemporaneous with the famous BBC-2 series, The Celts. The one with all the music from Enya. They do cover similar ground and if you are interested in using this for any *D&D sort of game I would recommend the series. Yes, there has been newer scholarship since then. But are you working on a dissertation or a game? The obvious choice for newer and game-related scholarship is Brian Young's Codex Celtarium for Castles & Crusades from Troll Lord Games.
Chapter 1: Introduction
This covers the question of "Who Were the Celts?" and what this book is for. The goal here is an AD&D gamebook, not one on Celtic history.
Chapter 2: A Mini-Course of Celtic History
I discussed updated scholarship above, but for pretty much any game (but especially AD&D) this chapter is a great overview of Celtic real-world history. Covering roughly 1,500 years, 600 BC to 900 AD, and all of Europe a lot does get left out. But this is enough to get you going to the right place. Today we have the advantage of the latest scholarship at the click of a mouse, but in 1992 this was what we had. Ok. That is not entirely true. Even in 1992, there was BITNET access for a lot of great articles and Usenet for talking with others. But that is beyond the scope of this conversation and this book. For an AD&D game world this will get you going rather nicely.
The timeline graphic is a nice touch.
Chapter 3: Of Characters and Combat
This covers differences from the standard AD&D 2nd Edition character creation. In particular, you will typically only have humans. Humans can get a random "gift" and possibly "sidhe" blood, but do not expect to see dwarves, elves, and halflings in great abundance.
The classes also get a facelift more or less. Fighters of course are the most important with the druids tied. Paladins are limited to Christians on the Continent. Rangers get a bit of an update. Wizards are to be used sparingly. Clerics are relegated to Christian missionaries (so St. Patrick was a Cleric!). Bards and Druids get the attention. A new class under Priests is introduced, the Manteis or Vates is the Celtic Seer.
Names and homelands are discussed along with social class. Various Warrior "feats" are also discussed. They take proficiency slots but otherwise "feel" like feats in the D&D 3/5 sense.
Chapter 4: Magic
Covers changes to spells and magic items. Also makes a distinction between "gifted" and "trained" spellcasters. If this were D&D 3rd Edition then we would call them "Sorcerers" and "Wizards" respectively.
There are new magic items and magical places characters can find themselves in.
Chapter 5: Monsters
I do love monsters. This section covers all sorts. First, we get a list of monsters that can be used unchanged. Then a section of "new" monsters, or more to the point Celtic variations on existing monsters from the Monstrous Compendiums. Then we get whole new monsters in Monstrous Compendium formats. Not a lot mind you, but enough to give some flavor.
Chapter 6: Equipment and Treasure
This covers equipment, treasure, gifts, and the barter system used. Coins are still used (and for ease mentioned in GP amounts). The big issue here is that a lot of older equipment will be Bronze Age and some will be newer Iron Age varieties. An important notion given that this is not a "Medieval" setting.
Chapter 7: The Celtic Culture
We get a brief overview of Celtic Culture through the eyes of Conall Mac Eogan. This 15-year-old is coming of age and we see how the next year of his life touches on aspects of the culture. Now obviously the events for Conall would be very different if this had been Deirdriu or Eithne we were talking about. Some discussion is given on the advanced, atypically for the time, role of Celtic women.
The topics of Fostering and Trade are also mentioned. We also get the wheel of the year (adopted by many modern pagans) and some of the gods with nods to the AD&D 2n Ed Legends & Lore book.
Chapter 8: A Brief Gazetteer
Covers the lands we typically associate with the Celts. Heavy on the British Isles and Ireland. Various "other worlds" like Avalon, Tir Na Og, and Annwvyn are also briefly discussed.
Appendix 1: Enech
The notion of Celtic honor price is given in AD&D 2nd Edition terms.
Glossary
A brief glossary of terms and names.
The PDF ends with the map and the softcover book has it as a tear-out attachment.
I did not go into this expecting graduate-level work and that is fine. It is a great source for playing in a Celtic-themed AD&D 2nd Ed game world. If the goal had been to provide AD&D 2nd Ed rules for a Celtic world then it would have needed to have been larger, but as it is it met the scope of their requirements.
This book is also 30 years old. It holds rather well really, both physically and in terms of what it needs to do, and can still be adapted to any version of D&D you care to think about.
All in all I am as happy with it now as I was when I got in 92.
If there was any doubt where Dr. Brian Young's true love lies in this series, the new second printing of the Codex Celtarum should dissolve those. This new book brings the original Codex in line with the other codies in terms of style and feel. This new book is also expanded to 256 pages, up from the previous 178 pages. It is without a doubt also my favorite of the codies. Chapter 1: In Lands Far Away
This covers the lands of the Celts and how the Castles & Crusades player can drop their game into this world. The advantage here is this 2nd Edition does talk about how you can use the Codex Germanica along with this. This covers not just the expected British Isles, but all (mostly all) Celtic Europe.
Chapter 2: Mythical Locations
This brief chapter discusses mythical locations like Hyberborea and the Hercynian Forest. These lands were assumed to be real just "over there."
Chapter 3: Once Upon A Time
This chapter covers the history of the Celtic real-world universe including the various wars that happened at the dawn of time and various involved countries/lands in Europe.
Chapter 4: Otherworldly History
This is the "myth" part of the mytho-historical background of the Celts. It overlays the stories of the gods and other powerful beings on top of the history of the Celts. This chapter is rich in storytelling and follows a tale very familiar to me, but there are always new things to read and learn.
Splitting Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 into two separate and distinct chapters is good since for most books on the topic they are intertwined so much that it is hard to tease out the "myth" and the "history" from the mytho-historic events. Certainly one has had a profound effect on the other and I think Young demonstrates this well.
Also while I am 100% behind his enthusiasm here (and I share it) we have yet to see anything game-related and we are 75 pages in.
Chapter 5: The Otherworld of Faery
This chapter covers the various "otherworlds" (yes plural) of the lands of Faery. Usually tied to a physical location in the real world. It reads like an unreal Gazeteer of Europe to be honest, a mist-shrouded tour into a land that is similar but still very different. The faery lands don't have the same rules of nature as the mortal realms. So there are some tables about the odd passage of time or the nature of the land.
Chapter 6: There Lived a People
ALmost everything you want to know about the Faery races. This includes traits faeries can have and their weaknesses. This also includes a list of the giants of Wales.
Chapter 7: Great of Magic and Power
This details, what else, magic. If human wizards study magic and human priests pray for it then the Fae ARE magic. The distinction is not a subtle one. The magical powers here are listed as spells. So they can be used by the fae as if they were spells, but that robs them of what makes them so interesting. Instead, go with the suggestion in the book that each member of the fae gets a number of special powers based on their intelligence. And there are plenty of powers here! If you are anything like me and love magic, spells, or powers for characters then this chapter alone is worth the price of the book.
It is one of the largest chapters so far and has the most "game" material.
Chapter 8: With Great Gods and Lords
This covers the gods, demigods, and named faeries of the lands. There are no stats for these gods or heroes. Why? That is easy. They are not meant to be killed or even interacted with. They are the legends of this land. If you have any familiarity with the gods of Celtic myth and legend you can find them here.
Appendix A: The Druidic Order This covers the druid classes for Castles & Crusades within the Celtic world. There is the Druid (Wisdom), the Celtic Bard (Charisma), and the Druidic Seer (Wisdom).
Appendix B: The Secrets of the Druids This appendix covers the Ogham writing and runes.
Appendix C: Druidic Spells What is says, the spells the various druid classes can use.
At this point, I wonder if all three could not have been combined into one Appendix.
Appendix D: The Enchanted of Faerie Here we get a nice discussion on Faery Metals and how they can be used. There is a list of divine items (artifacts in other games) listed by the owner; that's right the Gáe Bulga is not just lying around waiting for you to find it. No this +8 spear (!) is well in the hands of Cú Chulainn.
Appendix E: The Severed Head discusses the importance of taking the head of your enemy.
Appendix F: The Feast Hall details the Celtic hero's feast.
Appendix G: The Celtic Chariot. what it says on the tin.
Appendix H: The Celtic Warrior Society. Gives us a very brief overview of the importance of warriors and how they were organized. I wish this one had been much longer.
Appendix I: Accoutrements of War. Deals with the arms and armor of the celtic warrior.
Appendix J: Strong Feats and Deeds. Covers the tales of the heroes of the Celtic myths and legends.
Honestly, Appendices E to J should be combined into a chapter on Celtic Warriors. This is what the other Codices have done. Appendix K: Holidays & their Customs.
Appendix L Celtic Themed Adventures.
Appendix M: Monsters
Also, this should have been a chapter. There are 30 pages of monsters here. Many are very familiar to me, but again are closer to their "roots."
Ok. So what can say here?
The book is fantastic and I loved every bit of it. BUT, I find the new organization of the 2nd Printing to be inferior to that of the 1st Printing. I felt some of the material could have been organized and combined a bit better. I still find it a delight to read, but is that due to this book or the subject matter?
Again, there is no doubt that Brian Young is not only an expert in this field, he also loves it. That enthusiasm shows and I am sure he could have written a book twice this size. I do love the expanded history and the raised importance of the continental Celts over the typically well-trodden lands of the Irish and British Celts. Looking over my review of the First Printing this is exactly one of the things I thought was missing from that version. Though some of the material from the first edition (some classes) are missing from this edition. I guess I should keep both on hand.
Still, if you are a fan of Celtic myth, Faery lore, or Castles & Crusades then I highly recommend this book. Even if you don't play C&C, I would get this book.
Coming up on some myths I know the least about and maybe the most excited to read. There is a lot of great stories I have read and watched over the years. What I like, so far, is that these are mostly new stories to me. Well. Not entirely new. I have been using Baba Yaga for years and my first published Ghosts of Albion adventure deals with Chernbog (Czernobog in this book). Castles & Crusades Codex Slavorum
For this review, I am considering the PDF and hardcover book. The book is 94 pages. Color covers, black & white art. Written once again by Brian Young. He doesn't say it in the books, but it is Brian N. Young, Ph.D. He worked hard and earned his degree and it should be recognized.
Chapter 1: In Bygone Years
Like the previous volumes, this chapter covers both the real-world history and the myths of the area. The area in question surrounds the Black Sea in Eastern Europe.
We get some pre-history, but the people we call the Slavs will get their start in this volume with Byzantine Empire. The time period here is parallel to both the Germanica and Nodica books.
The myths of the area are all new to me and while Young (the author) does a good job in his summary, it leaves me wanting to seek out more. I suppose that is the point right?
Chapter 2: The Whole World & That Which is Beyond
This goes into detail about the lands of the Slavs and these myths. I have now gone through five of these Codecies and I am thinking that a Castles & Crusades game in Mythic Earth is a great idea. There is a nice map of the Slavic Kingdoms.
The second half of this covers the mythic lands of the Slavs; the three worlds. Like the Norse, these are placed on the World Tree, the Drugi Svet. Young even mentions that combination is possible but does not (correctly) tell you how since it would depend on YOUR world. The three worlds are Parv (or Iriy or Vyrjy), the realms of light, the lands of summer, and the home of the Gods. Lav (or Yav) is the middle realm of men, and Nav the Underworld. Here Czernobog becomes the Devil-like figure. Indeed it might be hard to tease out what is Czernobog and what is "Lucifer" in modern depictions of "the Devil." Svarog is our creator deity of light.
In a case of supporting my "One Man's God" series, there is Peklo, the Abyss, which is the home of various demons. Demons it seems very much in the AD&D mindset.
There are more lands and frankly, the more I read the more I want to use all of this in a game.
Chapter 3: Did Dwell Many Peoples
Our monster chapter. Monsters are "false creations" (my words, not so much Young's) of Czernobog. And there are some GREAT monsters here. Nearly 50 monsters here. Some are familiar to any D&D players, but many are new to *D&D games or at least in this form.
There are a couple new "races" that characters can be. The Zmajevit, or the "Dragon born" are humans with dragon blood in them. The Zduhac, or the Elemenatal ones, are elemental influenced humans.
There is also a new class here, the Vampirdzhija or the Vampire Hunter. This is a Wisdom-based class. Essentially the Vampire Slayer of the Slavic cultures.
Chapter 4: Filled with Great Magic
Another favorite section this one covers magic and new magic-using classes. The Kolduny is a new type of wizard that is Wisdom-based. The Molfar is the Slavic shaman, also Wisdom-based.
There are a few names mentioned for other types of spell casters. These are just names for other types, but do not have their own class per se.
Chapter 5: Of Mighty Gods and Spirits
This chapter takes the myths and reshapes them into something that can be used with Castles & Crusades but of course any other game. And there are a lot of gods here! Some are familiar to me, but most are brand new.
There is some text on the pagan religions of the Slavs and their practices.
Chapter 6: Battle Strong and Heroic
This is typically the "fighters" chapter. This one covers the weapons used by the Slavs and mentions of the heroes and groups of heroes of their tales.
Chapter 7: Castle Keeper Info
This is the GM's or Castle Keeper's information on running a game using these rules. Like the others in this series, this includes names and the various laws of the lands.
More so than the other books this one left me wanting more. This is a good thing and not a fault of the book. It is due to my own unfamiliarity with these myths and stories. It would work well with the Germanic and Nordic books for greater world-building. Now I want books like this for all the big myths of the world.
Maybe one for Spain and Al-Andalus should be next? What do you think Dr. Young?
Today I am going further south and a little more back in time. Related to the Nordic myths and tales are the older Germanic ones. Given the connections between the two, I am going to have to point out the differences and commonalities. Castles & Crusades Codex Germania
For this book, I am reviewing the PDF and hardcover edition of this book. This book has 110 pages, so slightly smaller than the other codices. Like a lot of Castles & Crusades books, the art here is from Peter Bradley. Once again Brian Young is our author and designer. Young also spends some time comparing the Germanic and Nordic myths and tales.
These myths come from central Europe and begin as early as the 1st century BCE right on up to the time of the Vikings.
Chapter 1: In Ancient Tales
Like the previous books, this chapter covers the history of the Germanic peoples as well as a brief bit on their legends and stories. Like the Nordic (or to the point the Nordic myths are like these) we get an origin story about Giants and three Gods. Young takes pains to differentiate these myths from the Norse and talks about the shortcomings of the source material. Here we see the first comparisons between Woden and Odin.
Chapter 2: Of Germania & Beyond
This chapter covers the Germanic lands. Now to assume there is only one Germany is a huge mistake and one that Young deftly avoids. There are lots of lands here and lots of peoples dating back to the height of the Roman Empire to it's fall. It is helpful to consult the map or hit up various maps online.
Chapter 3: Magical Beings & Monsters Dwelled
Once again we have a chapter on monsters and it is a real collection of gems. Here are 40+ monsters. All are a little bit familiar to any D&D players, but these harken back to their "original" forms so great for players that have "seen everything."
The monsters are of course enough on their own, but there is a nice section here on the complexities of the Germanic dragons. Essentially if you ever have read about the dragon Fafnir, then you have an idea of what this is about. Honestly, this is something that all dragons should have or at least the really interesting ones. Speaking of the interesting dragons, there are also tables to determine what a unique dragon's name would be.
Chapter 4: In Wizardry & EnchantmentsHere we get some new magic-using classes. There is the Halirúna, or the Dark Witch (Intelligence-based) which I absolutely love, the Erilaz, or the Rune Master (Wisdom-based) which also has runic magic (like the Nordic book), and the Gudja. or People of the Gods, the clerics for this setting.
Magic is not a "supernatural" force here, but rather a natural one; THE natural one to be honest. This chapter uses magic as a means of connecting the people to the gods. Which are coming up next.
Chapter 5: To Serve the Gods
This chapter covers the gods and discusses the overlap between these cultures and the Nordic. Young points out that due to the Roman Empire the gods and myths of the Germanic pagans are a bit better documented than that of the neighboring Celts. Among these gods it is likely that Woden (Odin) and Þūnor (Thor). Again there are no stats for gods here (as it should be).
The chapter also details Germanic pagan beliefs and practices.
Chapter 6: Skilled in Battlecraft
Warriors are still one of the highest castes in the life of the Germanic peoples. This chapter gives us information on arms and armor used. How retainers were used and honored, and other topics on warcraft, including special unique weapons.
The new class, the Drachentöten (lit. "Dragon Killer") is a Dexterity-based class.
Chapter 7: Castle Keeper Info
Like the other codices, this covers running a Castles & Crusades game with this worldview. The importance of the king and lawgivers are established and explained.
The common folk are not forgotten and details like the importance of names (and many tables of names) are detailed.
Chapter 8: Sample Adventure Module
The sample adventure, "The Monster of the Fens," is given. It reminds me, naturally enough, of Beowulf. The adventure takes place in East Anglia so Young states that it can be integrated with the Codex Celtarum. The adventure is for 2 to 4 characters of 3rd to 4th level.
It is a fun little adventure and reminds GM/Castle Keepers that even a "simple" monster like a Troll would be a menace to the folks of pagan Germanic lands. Indeed, much like Beowulf shows.
The temptation is great to compare this to the Codex Nordica and also to find it lacking. This temptation must be avoided! The Codex Germanica is its own thing. While the myths and stories will feel familiar to the more popular Norse myths, they are their own, situated within their own time and place. These myths feel older and darker in many respects. In many ways, I like these myths and tales a little more than those of the Norse.
Again, this book is light on actual rules details, save for the classes, so it is an excellent resource for any RPG. Converting it over to AD&D, D&D 5, or your favorite OSR-Clone would be trivial at worst. Of course it is designed for Castles & Crusades which is fantastic in it's own right.
Fiends, Fiends, Fiends!Today I delve into a dark subterranean world filled with long-forgotten creatures that have not seen the light of our sun for ages. Of course, by that, I mean the Usenet, and that age was the early 90s.
What I think was one of the first big battles of the Edition Wars was the one concerning demons and devils. Namely, where the hell were they for AD&D 2nd Edition? They have not appeared in any of the Monstrous Compendiums so far and the official word was they were no longer needed. Which everyone knew was a smokescreen for TSR caving into concerned, busy-body mothers and the religious right. The discussions on Usenet had a LOT of opinions on why they were gone and then what to make of them when they finally came back.
Thankfully this did not last and by the start of 1991, we got demons and devils back, albeit in the names Tanar'ri and Baatezu. Ok, the names were changed but they were back. In truth, I never minded the name change and it opened up the lower planes to have more than one type of demon or fiend. Something we are still benefiting from today.
MC14 Monstrous Compendium Fiend Folio Appendix
PDF 64 pages (70 with dividers and covers), Color cover art, black & white interior art, $4.99.
While not full of fiend per se, the Fiend Folio has always had a place in the games of many 1st Ed AD&D players. It was the second "Monster Manual" and it collected a number of creatures from various modules and the White Dwarf Fiend Factor column. It was also either really loved or really hated, depending on who you asked. Maybe that is the reason it did not get published until much later (1992) and was the 14th MC to be published.
This MC contains 65 monsters, Aballin to Zygraat, and is a fairly good representation of the monsters listed in the original Fiend Folio. Some new (the aforementioned Aballin) but a few notable ones had appeared in other volumes already. Drow appeared in the main Monstrous Compendium. Death Knights were moved to Dragonlance (a loosing their demonic heritage in the process) and Styx Devils had been published in the MC8 (see below). The "oriental" Dragons are not here, but Gem Dragons are. There is no flumph here though. We don't see those again until Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Two.
Also there are no explanatory notes here that many of the others also had. I guess at this point you are expected to know how to read the stat blocks. Not a complaint at all, merely an observation.
It is a mostly generic compilation of monsters and I mean that is a positive way. These monsters can be used anywhere. For example, I pulled out the Penanggalan and put it in my Ravenloft collection.
MC8 Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes AppendixPDF 96 pages (102 with dividers and covers), Color cover art, black & white interior art, $4.99.
This collection has 90+ monsters (Aasimon to Zoveri) from the various outer planes. There are good and evil ones here so plenty for DMs taking the characters out of the dungeon and into new worlds. There are a lot of old familiar faces and some new ones. The "named" Demon Princes or Dukes of Hell are not here. Many, like Orcus, will never even get AD&D 2nd Ed stats. Most of the 1st Ed converts feel buffed up in stats. Even the succubus, a demon with little desire for combat, feels tougher with all her powers defined.
Demons and creatures from the Outer Planes in general really feel like they benefit from these expanded monster entries. While the Planescape Setting is still a bit away, we get tidbits of information about the Blood War and more. Reminding us that when it comes to settings, 2nd Ed really was quite superior.
PDF, 128 pages. Color art. $9.99
This book was one of the bound softcover Monstrous Compendium Appendices and it took on the trad dress and style of the Planescape line rather than the Monstrous Compendium line. The monsters inside conformed to the standard of the Monstrous Compendium stat blocks, but there was no doubt what line this belonged to.
This volume has 128 pages and 71 monsters from Animental to Xill. Many of these monsters appear on both sides of the page, usually due to the larger art elements, and expanded details including a bit of fluff for each one. This makes this book actually better for use in the three-ring binders. Even though this one was never designed to be added! Again another point for the PDFs. That is if you don't mind printing out all the full-color pages this one has.
Interestingly enough the Xill appears here and the Fiend Folio MC 14. In fact, many monsters from the AD&D 1st Fiend Folio also make it here. Cases in point the Quasi-elementals, the khargra (with much improved art), thoqqua, and trilloch. The Khargra and the Xill appear in all three (1st ed and both 2nd Ed books).
This one does have explanatory notes and it also covers the ecology of the outer planes. By this time the Planescape setting had been in pretty wide use so the "Planescape" view of the Outer Planes has superseded, for good or ill, the AD&D 1st Edition Manual of the Planes version.
AD&D 2nd Ed may not have started out with fiends (of any sort) but they ended with not just a few, but a whole new outlook on them that changed how D&D would use them for the next 30 years.
The Castles & Crusades Codecies series are great books to add some flavor and history to your game. While overtly for the Castles & Crusades game they can be used by nearly any game. The Codex Nordica is another I was looking forward to getting and it did not disappoint. Norse myths are among my favorites, right behind the Greek and Celtic myths. Castles & Crusades Codex Nordica
For this book, I am reviewing the PDF and hardcover edition of this book.
The book is 146 pages with color covers and black & white interiors. The art is up to the high standards you should expect from Troll Lords with plenty of evocative art from Peter Bradley. Like the other books in this series, this one was written by Brian Young, who has the educational background to tackle these books.
Norse myths are some of my favorites and rarely have they been more in vogue. Young makes it clear that this book is a game guide to myths, legends, and history of the Swedish, Danes, Norse, and the other peoples of Scandinavia and not a full recounting of history, myths, and/or legends.
Chapter 1: History & Cosmology
This chapter gives us both the real-world historical background of the lands and the people of the area. This also covers the basic myths. It will not replace a history text or a book on Norse Mythology, but it is a great overview for a gamebook. This book is likely better researched than most game accessories you will find.
Chapter 2: The Nine Worlds
This takes the material from the previous chapter and some more to build on a game world of the Nine Worlds of Norse myths and how they could work in Castles & Crusades. Each world is covered, in as much detail as can be provided, which also includes what random creatures can be found. My favorite bits are the two maps that include the Viking colonies and migrations across Europe.
Chapter 3: Magical Beings & Monsters
I would be tempted to say that this chapter is worth the price of the book alone, but while this is true there is a lot of great stuff in this book. But seriously this chapter is a lot of fun. There are nearly 40 creatures of varying degrees of familiarity to D&D/C&C players. Some are new enough to be quite fun. Since the format is for Castles & Crusades they can be easily converted to AD&D, D&D5, or any OSR game of your choice.
Chapter 4: Wizardry & Enchantments
This chapter is the most "Norse" of all of the ones in the book if I may be so forward. It covers magic in its Nordic version or Seiðr. Since war is the realm of men, magic belongs to women. There are two new character classes, the Seiðkona, an Intelligence-based sorceress or more accurately, a "Magic-user" and the Völva or Vǫlva, a Charisma-based prophetess who is quite similar to the notions of a "Witch."
The Seiðkona uses Intelligence as her primary ability and casts the same spells and magic as the Wizard does. If she had used Charisma, I would naturally compare her to the Sorcerer of D&D3/5. Though given her role, Intelligence (or maybe even Wisdom) is the proper choice here. This is a class that is very much part of the mythology of the world she is in. She has access to the Wizard's spell list in C&C.
There is also the Völva, which is the clerical counterpart to the Seiðkona. This class also serves the role of a priestess and uses a distaff. Her gift is divination and prophecy. So by means of a rough comparison, she is more similar to the Oracle class in Pathfinder. She uses the Cleric's spell list until 5th level and then can split between Divine and Arcane magic.
Also, this chapter covers the runic magic system from this world. The runes are used along with the traditional magic powers (aka Spells).
Chapter 5: The Gods and GiantsThis chapter covers the gods of the Nordic lands as well their primary adversaries the Giants. Here are names that will be familiar to nearly everyone who has ever played D&D or even watched a "Thor" movie or A&E's/AAmazon's "Vikings." There are similarities with the names found in the Deities & Demigods, but enough differences that readers should be sure to attend to the details.
Here the tale is more on the side of myth and legend rather than history. We learn of the Æsir and the Vanir; the gods and goddesses of the Nordic people. Also covered here in more detail than other gamebooks are the Giants and "other evil beings" spelling out the role Giants have in this mythology. They are more akin to the Titans of Greek or even the demons of other myths. You will not find stat blocks here though. Gods are not "epic-level monsters" to be fought; least of all by the likes of player characters.
Chapter 6: Warriors & Battlecraft
Magic and gods are great, but the world is made of warriors. This chapter covers the various warrior types and additions to the basic fighter of Castles & Crusades. The "upgraded" fighter includes basic warriors, elite warriors, and shield maidens. New classes include the Berserker, who is a Charisma-based fighter, and the Giant Killers (more traditionally Strength-based).
There are some details on fighting styles and weapons unique to this area as well.
Chapter 7: Castle Keeper Info
This chapter details running a Castles & Crusades game in the Nordic lands during the time of these myths and stories; aka the Viking Age. Here you can learn about society, laws, and the people that make it work. Of course, sea voyages are covered and various types of boats were used.
There is a section on poets and Kennings. It makes me wish they had included more for Bards here other than a brief mention that Skalds are Bards. But I guess this works. Names and their importance is covered with examples.
Most importantly there is a section on the Eddas (Prose and Poetic) and how they can be adapted to a game.
Chapter 8: The Precious Works"The dwarves of lore made mighty spells," Tolkien told us in The Hobbit, but the dwarves he was thinking about likely were the Sons of ĺvaldi rather than the Children of Durin. Here we learn of the great magical artifacts of the Nordic myths including Gundnir, Skidbladnir, Draupnir, and Mjölnir.
Save for monsters and classes, the vast majority of this book is fairly neutral in terms of game rules. What does that mean? It means that you could easily use this book with AD&D, D&D 3 or 5, or an OSR game of choice. Of course, it works the best with Castles & Crusades, but the book is such a good resource I would hate to see it missed by people that do not play C&C.
Brian Young has a unique combination of Ph.D. level research and game design and writing credit to bring a series like this to life and make you want to play exclusively in the world he describes. Many have tried over the years, but I feel he has achieved the rare success of balancing the needs of mythological research and game design.
I highly recommend this book for anyone that wants to add a little bit of Norse myth to their games. And really who wouldn't?
I have been reading a lot of history over the last couple of years. Mostly for my own enjoyment and education and partly to provide better Witch Tradition books and One Man's God posts. So it has been with great enjoyment that I have been reading Brian Young's Codex series for Castles & Crusades.
While they are overtly Castles & Crusades books I have found they are usable and have useful information for just about every game; especially original D&D/AD&D games and the OSR clones they are based on (of which C&C is one of the biggest).
I have been meaning to do a review of them forever, or at least since 2016. With the release of the Codex Egyptium and the second printing of the Codex Celtarum, I thought what better time than now.You can read my reviews of the first printing of the Codex Celtarum and the Codex Classicum. Having already spent some time with them all I can say that Brian Young brings his Ph.D. level skills to the task of uncovering these myths, legends, and history and brings them to your game table. That's not hyperbole by the way. Dr. Brian Young does have a Ph.D. and he is working on a second one if I recall right.
On tap for this week are:
I am also going to give these a bit of One Man's God. Or more to point I'll at least look at them through the same lens of my One Man's God posts.
Should be a fun romp through the history of our world.
Today's weekly KickstartCrowdfund Your Weekend looks at projects beyond Kickstarter.
Mistletoe Massacre - Horror Comedy Slasher Film
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mistletoe-massacre-horror-comedy-slasher-film#/
I love Indie horror movies and this one looks like a lot of fun. They are crowdfunding, which is also fun. I have participated in crowdfunded projects like this before and it is cool to see your name on the screen under "thanks!"
Seriously though, check this out and give what you can. I know a lot of you love horror films as much as I do. So help them out, get a fun new horror flick and some memorabilia too! The signed poster looks nice.
https://itch.io/b/1316/bundle-for-ukraine
Another RPG Bundle from Itch.io. This time they are raising $4M+ for aid to Ukraine.
For $10 you get $992 pdfs/games from 733 creators. That's a hell of a deal.
Both of these are very worthy so check them out!
I am over on the Elf Lair Games blog today to talk about how you can use my OSR books The Witch and Eldritch Witchery to expand on your NIGHT SHIFT games.
With this, you can add new spells, new Arcane Powers, and Traditions like The Aquarian Order, The Cult of the Magna Matter, The Hermetic Lodges, and the Masters of the Invisible College.
https://elflairgames.blogspot.com/2022/03/guest-blog-using-witch-and-eldritch.html
It's that time of year again when we honor our GMs/DMs/Referees/Storytellers/Directors and more with the DriveThruRPG GM's Day sales.
Right now there are just under 73,000 items for sale! You should be able to find something you like here.
Just about every book I have worked on in the last 15 years is on sale:
You have just until this weekend! I also grabbed a few classic AD&D books for future review material.
Back at it today with more monsters from AD&D 2nd Edition. I have to say that going through all of these has put me in the mood for an AD&D 2e game at some point. I have mentioned this many times before but for me AD&D 2nd Ed was synonymous with Ravenloft for me. For most of AD&D's heydays, I was at university, either as an undergrad, in grad school, or working on my first Ph.D. So both money and free reading times were limited. I focused my efforts on the campaign world that I enjoyed the most, though I did dabble a bit into Planescape.
While I bought the Monstrous Compendiums as I could, I made an effort to get the Ravenloft ones.
MC10 Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix
PDF 64 pages, Color cover art, black & white interior art, $4.99
I don't remember when exactly I bought this product the first time, but I do remember I was living in my first apartment after the dorms. I thought it was amazing and I could not wait to use some of these monsters. This product also expands on many of the monsters that had been briefly mentioned in other products, namely the Ravenloft boxed set and some early adventures.
This compendium appendix covers 55 monsters "Bastellus" to "Zombie Lord" and includes the "demi-human" vampires. Up to this point, I had argued that only humans could become vampires, but I guess the Demiplane of Dread is such that any race can become a vampire.
In addition to all the monsters, this book includes an "Encounters in Ravenloft" that is helpful for the different rules that monsters can follow here.
MC15 Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix II: Children of the Night (2e)
PDF 64 pages, Color cover art, black & white interior art, $4.99. Covers just 20 monsters from "Brain, Living" to "Vampyre."
This second compendium draws from many of the adventures and books published for Ravenloft at this point. It has similar monster types to the first one, but all of these monsters are unique NPCs. For example, the MC10 had the Ermordenung creature, this one has the specific entry for Nostalla Romaine. Some, like Desmond LaRouche, the Half-golem and Jacquelline Montarri, even get 4 pages of treatment each. This is part and parcel of the nature of monsters in Ravenloft, each and everyone has the potential to become a unique encounter and a specifically planned one. This is one of the reasons I really don't do "random monsters" anymore. In Ravenloft, there never should be a random encounter. Even "non-Ravenloft" creatures get a unique Ravenloft treatment like Althea (medusa) and Salizarr (a meazel).
This might make the utility of this book a little less than the others, it is a book of NPCs really, not just monsters. The advantages though are a way to show how nearly any monster can get the "Ravenlot" treatment and expand to something more than a collection of HP to be traded for XP.
Monstrous Compendium - Ravenloft Appendix III (2e)
PDF 128 pages, Color cover art, black & white interior art, $9.99
This is one of the first "bound" Monstrous Compendiums I ever bought. By this time TSR had learned that the three-ring binder experiment was over. So no attempt here is mad to keep up that pretense.
This book is larger, 128 pages, and takes on the trade dress of later (middle era) Ravenloft products. This one does feature a guide of what monsters from other Monstrous Compendiums are suitable for Ravenloft. Additionally, the "Climate/Terrain" section lists which Domain they are found in or even when they are found on other worlds.
This book covers 120 monsters from "Akikage" to "Zombie, Wolf." Some are repeats, but all are updated. We get newer versions of Flesh Golems and Strahd Zombies, and yet another version of the Baobhan Sith. Some more vampires (Drow and Drider) and a bunch of Liches.
Monstrous Compendium - Ravenloft Appendices I & II (2e)
PDF 128 pages, Color cover art, black & white interior art, $9.99
This product features the final Ravenloft trade dress and is one of the last Ravenloft products to be wholly TSR and not TST/Wizard of the Coast. Again, like the Ravenloft Appendix III, this is a 128 page book that first appeared as a softcover. The monsters are the same as Appendices I & II; even dividing them up into two sections of Part I Creatures of Dread and Part II: Children of the Night.
If your goal is to print out pages for your own Monstrous Compendiums, then the original MC10 and MC15 might be the better choice. If you are collecting the PDFs to have all the monsters then this product is the better bet.
I am a Ravenloft fan. So I have all four.
I also find quite a lot in these I can still use in my 5e games and in my OSR/Old-School games.
In a move that shocks no one, Texas (and it is always fucking Texas) Governor Greg Abbott signed an order to classify medical transitioning for transgender youth as child abuse. Again, I am not surprised because just like his abortion doctor bounty of a while back the purpose here is not to protect the children (as a state that ranks 34th in k-12 education and 43rd in infant mortality they obviously don't care about real children) but instead about bein cruel.
I say this and can't stress this enough, Fuck Texas.
Thankfully there are still good people. And there are an absolute ton of them over on Itch.io.
I don't spend a lot of time over there and I don't sell my RPGs through there. It is a very indie sort of scene and I have found some good things there but I don't really "click" with the place. That's fine we both can still live very happily. But in this one case, we are in 100% agreement.
Creators on Itch.io are offering up a bundle of TTRPG PDFs to support trans rights in Texas.
TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Texas!
https://itch.io/b/1308/ttrpgs-for-trans-rights-in-texas
You saw that price right. For $5 you get 493 games! That is just a fraction more than a penny a game.
If you find 10 in that lot that you like then it is still a deal.
The funds will go to support two organizations: Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) and Organización Latina de Trans en Texas (OLTT).
Many, many kudos to Rue (ilananight) for setting this up.
As you can see this is already past its funding goal with a month still to go! Given the markdown of these games, I think it would be great if they got 10 times their goal!
So spare a Lincoln (that's $5 for everyone outside of the US) here and support a very worthy cause.
While this week is not my "blog birthday" it is the anniversary of my first website called The Other Side, of which this blog is the continuation. In celebration, I thought I would get myself something fun for it.
So here is Laura Guldemond, lead singer of The Burning Witches to welcome you to my site!
I have to say Laura was an absolute sweetheart to work with! I knew I wanted to get a Cameo of someone to mark the occasion this year and she popped up in my searches and I knew she was the one.
I rather enjoy The Burning Witches and have featured them here before on a Friday Night Videos segment.
So with that. Welcome again "where all witches love the Other Side!"
Links for Laura Guldemond
My *other* publisher, Elf Lair Games, has been putting out some great free content for all of February in support of the new Night Companion and I would be remiss if I didn't share or point some of it out to you all.Click on the links below for more information.
This is a holy order of knights set to defend Christianity from Muslim incursions. Vlad Dracul was a member, but when he became a vampire the order shifted focus to destruction of all vampires and hunting of the supernatural.
The Divine Order of the Sisters of Orleans
A sister organization to the Order of the Dragon created by and in the name of Jeanne d’Arc. They have also survived to the modern day to fight supernatural threats.
Jason gives some advice on adding Folk Horror to your NIGHT SHIFT games. This part was left out of the core rules.
Our old friend from the Eden days Derek Stoelting has been part of NIGHT SHIFT from the start. He is up with more information on the location mentioned in the Quick Start Kit.
Supers
A couple of good posts on Supers including how to create street-level supers in NIGHT SHIFT using the Inventor class. Followed up by adding supers to a fantasy style RPG, with NIGHT SHIFT as the translator.
This naturally branched out to and from the next two topics.
Cyberpunk and how NIGHT SHIFT, or more accurately O.G.R.E.S. is a great Rosetta Stone for all sorts of old-school play.
Finally we get some discussion on the Fighter class.
I also have more NIGHT SHIFT goodness for you all coming up including some more weirdness from Valhalla, AK and a new feature I am working on called From the Editor to support my Weirdly World News NIGHT WORLD from the Night Companion, and GenHEX from the NIGHT SHIFT Core Rules.
So keep an eye out here and on the Elf Lair Games blog for more material for Jason, Derek and myself.