The Other Side

The R. Michael Grenda Collection - Forgotten Realms

 I am still working through this large collection from my old DM and high school/college friend when I discovered something rather unexpected. Mixed in with all his stuff was a busted Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting box.

Forgotten Realms Box

I am quite excited for this.

First, I had no idea he was into the Forgotten Realms at all. His game back in the day was 100% solid Greyhawk. In fact it was so famously Greyhawk that this is where my whole Mystoerth game world comes from.

Secondly, I have needed an empty Forgotten Realms box for a while!

Forgotten Realms boxes

I have all these articles from Dragon Magazine written by Ed Greenwood and others about the Forgotten Realms, and I have had them spread out amongst all my other boxed sets. Now, I can gather them all up and put them into this empty box. These all come from my coverage of "This Old Dragon."

Dragon Magazine articles

I am still looking for all the articles I have. I know my copy of "Down to Earth Divinity" somewhere. 

This was among some other random and partial items that are not overtly part of the Realms. Things like a partial of A3 and some damaged copies of D1-2 and D3. I might also throw those in and figure out how to make them part of the Realms. Could I place Erelhei-Cinlu in the Realms? Could I edit the adventures to jive with Menzoberranzan?  No idea yet, but I will have a good time figuring it out.

I still have a stack of material here I have gone through. So who knows what other treasures are here to discover.

How Wizards of the Coast Really Dropped the Ball on D&D 50

Dungeons & Dragons 50th Anniversary Logovia Hasbro

I am preparing to wrap up my year-long celebration of 50 years of Dungeons & Dragons. 

I have talked about my experiences, I have shared a lot of characters I have used over the years, talked about all sorts of D&D games. I have spent time talking about the Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, and, as always, Mystara. While I personally feel like I could have done a lot more I am confident in one thing,

I did a lot more talking about D&D 50th anniversary than Wizards of the Coast.

Yes. There was the giant "The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons" book which seemed to please and piss people off in equal measure. There were some 50th Anniversary minis, and yes, the new edition of D&D, which they missed the mark on by having the Monster Manual out in 2025. But in truth, there has been...very little.

Look, I don't like to spend time here on things I don't like. Sure, I could rage about this game or that and bitch and moan and complain. But honestly, we have enough people that do that on blogs and on YouTube, and it is fucking boring. I don't give a fuck about the shit you hate. Tell me about what you love. Get excited. Geek out over a game or a new dice mechanic or something. But I honestly don't care what you think of "those kids today." It makes you sound old and irrelevant. 

But I can't let this year pass and not mention how badly the ball was dropped here.

Wizards has not been having a great couple of years. From the OGL fiasco to sending hired goons after Magic players to massive layoffs and declining quality of their adventures, it would be all too easy to pick on them. I am only going to focus on couple of things though.

50 Years Should Mean Something

Ok. So we had the "The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons" book which was cool and some minis. But what else?

I mentioned the minis. There was also the Quests from the Infinite Staircase which had some great classic adventures updated to D&D 5. But it wasn't released with as much fanfare as I would have suspected.

There was quite a bit of fanfare for the 10th Anniversary, same for when Wizards did the 25th Silver Anniversary Edition. Was I anticipating more? Yeah, I certainly was. Was I wrongfully anticipating more? That I don't know.

How about a comparison.

The 10th Anniversary set included: D&D Basic Rules (Player's Guide and DM's Guide, BECMI), D&D Expert Rules (Expert Rulebook, BECMI), D&D Companion Rules (Player's Guide and DM's Guide, BECMI), D&D Character Record Sheets (1981, BX), MSOLO1 Blizzard Pass (with 2 pens), B1 In Search of the Unknown (Fourth print), B2 Keep on the Borderlands (Fourth print), X1 Isle of Dread (Fifth print), AC2 Combat Shield and Mini-Adventure, AC3 Kidnapping of Princess Arelina, and six dice and a dice crayon. All in a faux-leather slipcase with gold lettering. Essentially, it is an homage and celebration of the Basic-era rules.

The 25th Anniversary set included: Facsimiles of the original modules featured in TSR’s Silver Anniversary releases: B2 Keep on the Borderlands, G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, G2 The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King, I6 Ravenloft, and S2 White Plume Mountain. A replica of the original Dungeons & Dragons rulebook. A 32-page book outlining the history of TSR - including a retrospective essay by Gary Gygax. L3 Deep Dwarven Delve - a recently recovered, never-before-released Original Edition adventure by Len Lakofka. A specially created, suitable for framing art print by Jeff Easley. All in a silver slip case. No dice, but a new never before published adventure. 

The 50th has largely been represented by the new rules (5.5), The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons, and Quests form the Infinite Staircase. Fun, but does it really fit the celebration bill? Are these books that will command collector's prices in 10 or 25 years?  I am going to say no.

25th and 50th Anniversary sets

Where are the Baldur's Gate 3 Tie-ins?

Baldur's Gate 3 was the top-played game of 2023 and 2024. It won every single Game of the Year award and awards in general sci-fi and fiction, and many of the voice actors are now considered up-and-comers in terms of entertainment. It has won BAFTAs, Hugos, Nebulas, and GLAAD media awards. To downplay its success is either to be completely out of touch or willfully ignorant.

Yet. NOTHING for the game has come from Wizards of the Coast. No minis (they are coming out next year), no adventures or starter sets (there is one coming in the Fall 2025, but I can't determine if it has Baldur's Gate material). There are new Forgotten Realms books coming in late 2025. But all of this feels like too little too late.

Now. One could argue that Larian Studios, the creators of Baldur's Gate 3 only within the last few month gave Wizards back the license. But see it is a license. Wizards could have been doing tie-in stuff from August of 2023 when it became obvious that this game was going to be a mega-hit. Look what they did for Baldur's Gate 2 back in the late 1990s. They had Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate out for the game. So much so that the books was actually titled "Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate 2."

I talked about this before. They could have had an adventure or something out. "Love the video game? Continue your adventures here! Take your characters beyond 12th level in the table-top version!"

Spend any time on any Baldur's Gate discussion board, and two things are obvious. First, people LOVE these characters. Secondly, people want more with these characters. 

While this is not necessarily 50th anniversary related, it is undoubtedly a fumble of epic proportions.

They do talk about Baldur's Gate 3 in their upcoming digital tabletop, but again, that is not out now. I am not looking for a huge expenditure of cost here, a one-shot with the characters at first level (Larian already made character sheets for that), or how about Monster Manual-like entries for people to download some of the monsters/NPCs in the game. Larian Studios spent more time and effort on freaking Wulbren Bongle than Wizards has on all the other characters combined.

What Would I Have Done?

To be honest, this is pretty loaded. I have only nostalgia to guide me and no budgetary concerns or stockholders to appease. That being said, I am sure I could come up with some better ideas.

First, Books and sets. The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons book was a good one, but they should not have stopped there. I would have redoubled the efforts to get all the OD&D books on DriveThruRPG into Print on Demand and get them sold. Not everyone will shell out $100 for the making of OD&D, but many will shell out $20.00 or so for a new version of OD&D. They can even use the new "white" covers they all have. We know they have print ready files from the OD&D collector's set they published a while back.

Second, Constant celebration. Wizard should have gone to all the popular actual play streamers and had them run a classic adventure. Vox Machina going through The Tomb of Horrors, get the Baldurs Gate voice actors to go the Caves of Chaos. White Plume Mountain and Ilse of Dread. Make these place names something that the newer generations want to know about.  And honestly while it would not matter if these were played in 5e or not, I would like to have seen some of these groups try AD&D 1st ed. I know Mercer could do it, that is where he started, so let's see some of these big streamers talk THAC0 for a session or two.

Third, Social Media involvement. Yes this means people acting for the company and thus paid, but it still should be done. It gets people talking about the brand AND maybe mends some fences broken by Wizard's recent less-than-stellar behavior. What would they do? How about D&D Trivia to win a copy of "Making of" or the giant art book they made. I am sure they have a few of those still lying around.  OR send out goodie bags to smaller streamers and bloggers to make the case for them. Wizards should have had places where people could tell their stories of adventures of the last 50 years. Friends made, battles won, or lost and what D&D means. Normal people and the occasional celebrity as well. They should have sent people to Cons to record these and play them back on YouTube. 

Fourth, Game Stores. Game Stores still are the heart of many RPGs. So send them material like organized play and host old-school D&D tournaments using AD&D tournament rules. Include prize support. Survive the Ghost Tower with the most points? Here is your special, not-for-retail-sale set of Ghost Tower dice. Provide Game Stores with special items to draw in customers. 

Fifth, Reprints. I know. Reprints are expensive. Distribution is expensive. But I also know that gamers would have eaten it up. A copy of Ravenloft I6 with 50th Anniversary gold trim? Come on, I would have bought that in a heartbeat. Limited run to conserve cost, but make it a Game Store exclusive. Original content. Chose some of the best from all areas of D&D. Yes, Infinite Staircase kinda, sorta does this, but I am talking adventures and books just like the 10th and 25th Anniversary did. 

Sixth, BALDUR'S F'ING GATE. Look, I can't stress enough how much of a missed opportunity this was. While the game is still riding high and will be for a while, each day that goes by is one more day of lost revenue. People have hundreds, even thousands of hours, in this game. They should be able to take their "Tavs" (and honestly, you should know who Tav is) and move them to the tabletop. And when they got there, Karlach, Astarion, Shadowheart, and Scratch should all be there waiting.

I am sure I could come up with more. But I am approaching bitching about level and that means a good place to stop. 

The 50th should have been a reflection on what made D&D so great. Not a litany of missed opportunities or near misses. 

Larina Nix, The Witch for ShadowDark on Witchcraft Wednesday

 So, I suppose it goes without saying that when I made a witch class for the ShadowDarkRPG, I was going to try out my own witch to see how it worked. I mean, this character is my litmus test for anything witch-like.

Like many of my other books Larina is featured in the book, but no stats. Also, like many of the books, she is featured on the cover, only this time, the art I chose already existed.  Javier Charro is the artist, and his work has been sitting on my hard drive for a while, waiting for the right project.  I mean, it is rather perfect, to be honest.  Since I have given you all the stats for Esme and Amaranth, I figured Larina should also be featured.

Larina Nix for HeroForge

Larina Nix

Who is this "Larina?" Is she the same one I use in D&D or is she different? Well, yes and no.

My conceit here is that the original AD&D Larina, with brown eyes (thankyouverymuchVanMorrison) died while battling a vampire. And by dead, I mean dead-DEAD. Witches in my games do not have access to Raise Dead or Resurrection, AND they can't have those spells cast on them. So when a witch dies, she is dead. BUT she can be reincarnated.  The original Larina died, but she was reincarnated. She next appears as a precocious 6-year-old witch in my AD&D 2nd Ed Complete Netbook of Witches and Warlocks" and as an adult witch in my 3rd Edition games (same character), she also appears as a witch in my WitchCraft/Buffy games. They all share some similar memories and at age 25 they can contact their other selves. There is a multi-verse of Larinas out there now, one for every game I ever play.

This Larina is high-level (for ShadowDark), and she works with Esme and Amaranth. 

Larina Nix from Baldur's Gate 3Larina Nix

Ancestry: Human
Class: Witch 10th level (Witch Queen)
XP: 114
Alignment: Lawful 
Deity/Patron: Niceven and Baba Yaga
Background: Arcane Library
Familiar: Flying Cat ("Cotton Ball")

Str: 9
Dex: 11
Con: 11
Int: 17
Wis: 17
Cha: 18

Weapon: Broom staff, dagger
Gear: Crawler kit, 1 week of rations, 1 week of tea, cat treats (to supplement Cotton Ball's hunting), Book of Shadows, athamé.
Magic items: Bracers of Defense +1, Broom of Flying, Cloak of Night, Cingulum +3, Hat of Focus-Spellslinger 

HP: 36
AC: 15

Languages: Common, Elven, Diabolic, Celestial

Talents
Human: +2 to Charisma
1st level: Additional Tier 1 Spell
3rd level: + 1 to Occult Spellcasting rolls
5th level: Patron Favor, +1 to any die roll once per rest
7th level: Additional Patron
9th level: Learn additional Tier 5 Spell

Patron Boons: Learn 1 Tier 1 Wizard Spell, Learn 1 Additional Occult Spell

Spells
Tier 1 (4+1): Charm Person, Feel my Pain, Glamour, Häxen Talons, Mage Hand
Tier 2 (3): Call Lightning, Light as a Feather-Stiff as a Board, Blink (Ritual)
Tier 3 (3): Bestow Curse, Coven's Calling, Danse Macabre
Tier 4 (2+1): Ball Lightning, Fear, Witch's Cradle 
Tier 5 (2+1): Cry for the Nightbird, Phantasmagoria, Ward of Magic

Tier 1 Wizard: Burning Hands

One of ShadowDark's greatest features is its ability to generate characters quickly. I have about five or six different ShadowDark versions of Larina on my desk; each one was made to test something different. 

It is interesting (to me at least) that while I often picture her as wearing a cloak and hood, like on the cover of The Witch, the art I am using here has her in a witch's hat.

Yeah, I would play this version of her, but I am discovering that 10 levels feel a little limiting to me. Granted, those are the prime adventuring levels, but I have been pouring over characters from my past and remember how much really high-level play we used to do back then. 

The Witch and Larina's mini and character sheet

I certainly have some to explore with this game.

The Fearless Five vs Bargle: Basic Characters for ShadowDark

 My foray into the ShadowDark RPG did not begin or end with The Witch. Last week, I was chatting online with someone about my idea for a time travel adventure called "The Keep Killing Aleena," where the premise is a bunch of high-level adventurers go back in time to try to save her life, and the results of that interference. It is not an adventure I have ever finished since few ideas in it have never jelled right for me. BUT in my research I did uncover the 3.5 Edition adventure from Dungeon Magazine #150 (2007, Paizo era) called "Kill Bargle" from Pathfinder's own Jason Bulmahn.  The idea has stuck with me for years. It would make for a great convention game. It is a low-level dungeon crawl where you need to, well, what it says on the tin, Kill Bargle.

When I ran T1 Village of Hommlet, I included Aleena, Morgan IronwolfRufus, Burne, and yes, Bargle. I did their stats in 4e Essentials, but ended up running it in 5e. In that adventure, Bargle still kills Aleena and gets away. 

I could not help but think revenge would be nice and maybe someone gathered everyone up to go get him.  

Enter the Fearless Five!

The Fearless Five...er Six

Given the "Women in Refrigerators" treatment of Aleena, I thought it might be fun to grab all the "Basic-era" heroines and send them on a quest to kill Bargle. 

Premise: Skylla, wanting something from Bargle's trove of magic (likely his spellbooks) decides that the only way to kill get it is to assemble a group of adventures who have a personal grudge against him. Knowing they will never follow her, or do what she asks, she gets the one person she knows they will follow. It's just too bad that person, Aleena, is dead.

So Skylla gets Aleena resurrected (she still has contacts in the cult underworld). She gets Morgan Ironwolf to find her, and then she gathers the Sorceress, Duchess, and Candella together to go after Bargle. Five heroines to kill one villain. Easy peasy.

While I could run an adventure like this in nearly any system, it seems fitting to me to run it with ShadowDark.

AleenaAleena

Ancestry: Human
Class: Cleric, 2nd level
XP: 20 
Alignment: Lawful
Deity/Patron: Madeera
Background: Noble

Str: 11
Dex: 14
Con: 10
Int: 10
Wis: 16
Cha: 16

HP: 9
AC: 15

Weapon: Mace
Gear: Chainmail, holy symbol, backpack, torches, 1 week of rations, wolf'sbane

Languages: Common, Elvish

Talents
Human: +1 to melee attacks
1st level: +1 to Cleric spellcasting checks

Spells
Tier 1 (3): Cure wounds, Light, Shield of faith

Aleena is a cleric. She was brought back to life by Skylla's intervention but has no memory of the time between then and when Bargle killed her. 

She feels Bargle is a threat to all that is good and lawful and he must be stopped.

Morgan IronwolfMorgan Ironwolf

Ancestry: Human
Class: Fighter, level 3
XP: 34
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity/Patron: None
Background: Soldier

Str: 16
Dex: 13
Con: 14
Int: 7
Wis: 9
Cha: 8

HP: 21
AC: 14

Weapon: Longsword
Gear: Chainmail, bow and arrows, quiver, 5 silver arrows, 50' rope, 10' pole, 6 torches, 1 week rations, 1 qt wine, large sack

Languages: Common, Goblin

Talents
Human: +2 to Strength
1st level: +2 to Constitution
3rd level: +1 to melee and ranged attacks

Morgan thinks of Aleena as a little sister who needs protecting; as such, she blames herself for Aleena getting killed. She would go after Bargle for free just to have the pleasure of killing him herself. 

The SorceressThe Sorceress

Ancestry: Human
Class: Wizard 3rd level
XP: 35
Alignment: Lawful
Deity/Patron: Ord
Background: Wizard's Apprentice

Str: 10
Dex: 14
Con: 12
Int: 18
Wis: 10
Cha: 13

HP: 10
AC: 13

Weapon: Staff
Gear: 6 torches, 1 week rations, large sack, spellbook, bag of spell components

Languages: Common, Elvish

Talents
Human: +2 to Intelligence
1st level: Advantage on one Spell: Magic Missile
3rd level: Advantage on one Spell: Burning Hands

Spells
Tier 1 (4): Magic missile, Mage armor, Light, Burning hands
Tier 2 (2): Detect thoughts, Invisible

The Sorceress knows the group is getting played by Skylla. She is friends with Morgan and wants to make sure everyone comes out of this alive. The chance to rummage through Bargle's collection of magic is an added bonus. 

DuchessDuchess

Ancestry: Human
Class: Thief, 5th level 
XP: 55
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity/Patron: None
Background: Thieves Guild

Str: 11
Dex: 16
Con: 18
Int: 12
Wis: 15
Cha: 15

HP: 17
AC: 14

Weapon: Longsword
Gear: Leather armor, short bow and arrows, quiver, thieves tools, 50' rope, 10' pole, 6 torches, 1 week rations, 5 qts wine, large sack

Languages: Common, Dwarvish

Talents
Human: +2 Charisma
1st level: +1 to melee and ranged attacks
3rd level: +2 to dexterity
5th level: +1 (+2 total) to melee and ranged attacks

And her partner in crime:

CandellaCandella

Ancestry: Human
Class: Thief, 5th level
XP: 56
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity/Patron: None
Background: Urchin

Str: 12
Dex: 17
Con: 15
Int: 15
Wis: 13
Cha: 14

HP: 14
AC: 14

Weapon: Short sword
Gear: Leather armor, short bow and arrows, quiver, thieves tools, 25' rope, 7 torches, 1 week rations, 3 qts wine, large sack

Languages: Common, Goblin

Talents
Human: +2 to Dexterity
1st level: +2 to Strength
3rd level: +1 to melee and ranged attacks
5th level: Backstab +1 dice of damage

Duchess and Candella were hired by Bargle to retrieve an item for him. He meant for them to get killed, but they ended up in jail instead. Worse, he never paid them for the item. They are in it for the money and revenge—but mostly for the money.

SkyllaSkylla

Ancestry: Human
Class: Witch, 6th level
XP: 64
Alignment: Chaotic
Deity/Patron: Baba Yaga
Background: Cultist

Str: 9
Dex: 11
Con: 10
Int: 12
Wis: 11
Cha: 15

HP: 16
AC: 11

Weapon: Staff
Gear: 3 torches, 1-week rations, large sack, bag of spell components

Languages: Common, Diabolic

Familiars: Raven, Owl (+1 to Wisdom checks)

Talents
Human: +1 to occult spellcasting checks
1st level: +2 to Charisma
3rd level: one additional witch spell (T2)
5th level: additional familiar (special)

Patron Boon: Learn 1 Tier 1 Wizard Spell: Magic Missile 

Spells
Tier 1 (3): Charm person, Disguise self, Mage hand, 
Tier 2 (3): Call lightning, Light as feather-stiff as a board, Turn Undead (Ritual)
Tier 3 (2): Hag's Illusion (Baba Yaga), Bestow curse

Our "sixth" member of the Fearless Five is the mastermind behind all of this. Well...sort of, she is discovered rather quickly, but her intuition that these women would all do this to get back at Bargle is spot on. Have to figure out who gets the best magical loot between her and The Sorceress. 

Skylla and the Sorceress

--

I love the idea of a distaff "Usual Suspects" or "Reservoir Dogs." I really want to run this sometime. I would love to see how a witch (Skylla) and a wizard (The Sorceress) work together in an adventuring party run by someone other than me. 

And more to the point, I just want to see Bargle get curb-stomped by a bunch of women.

The R. Michael Grenda Collection - The Characters

 I am still in the process of working through my friend's collection of old D&D material.  While I have put his books on my shelves and given my current copies to my kids, I am still working through all the characters.

And he had a LOT of characters.

stacks of characters

There are some here dating all the way back to 1976. The vast majority are for AD&D 1st ed. There is a long period of post 1987 to 1989 where there are dozens and dozens of characters. And then there are a few 2nd Edition ones as well.

Among these I found versions of my characters Retsam, Death Blade, Rogue, and Phygor. But those are not as interesting to me as my nearly forgotten and abandoned SpellJammer characters. And these pale to the shear weight, number, and import of his own characters. Names I have known now since the early 1980s.

Even Yoln is here in his original form.

Yoln
Characters
Characters
Characters

Here are my problems.

What do I do with them all? And what story about them should I tell? 

Also, they have been in a house with cats, and I am deathly allergic. I can only handle them for a little bit. So my son suggested putting them in sheet protectors. That was smart. It will take me a bit to get them all in, but it has been fantastic so far.  Plus, he wants to use them as NPCs in his AD&D 1st Ed game (more on that later).

Here is what I am considering.

I am thinking about participating in The TARDIS Captain's New Year New Character challenge/fest. These are not new characters by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel the need to share them with you all. 

I just hope I can remember enough about each one to do them justice.

In addition, I am considering taking these characters and putting my spin on them. I might even post Wasted Lands or OSE or ShadowDark stats for them. I am still deciding. 

The Refrigerator for DC Heroes

The DC Heroes Role-Playing Game 40th Anniversary Kickstarter is still going strong, and new stretch goals are added all the time. I am quite excited for this one to be honest.

While I have a lot of heroes I would love to add, more than a few villains also need my attention. And given how this particular villain got his real-world start, it seems fitting to stat him up now.

The Refrigerator

Dr. Andreas Gelé, The Refrigerator

You can read the history of this misanthrope here, but he began as a nod to the "Women in Refrigerators" trope as detailed by Gail Simone. 

History of The Refrigerator

Dr. Andreas Gelé was born to wealth and privilege but never to love.  His father was a was a rich industrialist who made his money on the work of others and his mother was a noted and beautiful stage actress.  From his father he gained his intellect and from his mother he learned lessons in cruelty.

As his mother aged she became more and more cruel.  In his mind's eye, he still saw her as beautiful. This was reinforced by all the pictures of her on the wall of their estates, where she was young, beautiful, and happy. Frozen in time.  Gelé began working on a process to keep the beautiful women young forever.  He was drawn to beautiful women, and his prestige later as a doctor and his wealth made that easy.  But he never could talk to or relate to them, having grown up socially stunted.  So Gelé embarked on a plan so he could have his desires met.

His first experiments in cryonics were failures. Animals would not return to life after being frozen, and even when he perfected the process, they still had tissue damage, finally, through a combination of fluids and gases at supercooled temperatures.  He tested it first on his hated father. He died soon after he was free of the ice, but Gelé expected that since the old man's heart was now weak. He froze his mother next. He was overjoyed that the ice preserved her remaining beauty.

All his research, though, has depleted his fortunes, so he robs banks to fund more research and to keep more of his "beauties" on ice. He still has trouble talking to and relating to women, but he finds it much more manageable after he has frozen them. 

Creepy little bastard, huh.

Dr. Andreas Gelé, The RefrigeratorThe Refrigerator

Dexterity: 2  Strength:2 Body: 3
Intelligence: 6
Will: 4
Mind: 5
Influence: 2
Aura: 3
Spirit: 4

Initiative: 10
Hero Points: 100

Current Body: 3
Current Mind: 5
Current Spirit: 4

Alter Ego: Dr. Andreas Gelé
Occupation: Former Medical Faculty
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliations: None
Base of Operations: Gotham City
Motivation: Twisted Obsession
Wealth: 6
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 125 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: White

Skills
Gadgetry 6
Medicine 5
Weapon (Freeze Ray) 5

Powers
Freeze Ray (Gadget)
- Ice Control 6
- Ice Production 6
Thermal Goggles (Gadget)
- Thermal Vision 6

Advantages
Connoisseur [5], Gadget Freeze Ray, Rich Family [15], Scholar: Cryonics [10], Medicine [10]

Drawbacks
Guilt [25], Irrational Attraction [25], Mistrust (women) [50]

Equipment
Freeze Ray

--

I am sure my numbers are off here. But it is a start.

Since I am expecting something of a DC Heroes renaissance, here are a couple of sites I really enjoy. 

The Mayfair Games DC Heroes RPG online Character Database

Hundreds of characters for the MEGS DC Heroes game. Heavy on the DC characters, but a few others.

Writeups.org

Lots of characters for both DC Heroes (MEGS) and DC Adventures (M&M 3).


The Witch for ShadowDark - Amaranth Lilis

 Yesterday, I talked about my "Can I play it as a witch" character, Esme Valethorne for my Witch Book of Shadows supplement for ShadowDark. Today, I want to share my "played as a witch with no preconceived notions" character, Amaranth Lilis. And since she was "new" I made her a tiefling. 

Amaranth Lilis

I say "new" in quotes because she was/is a character I have had in mind for a bit now; she was just never given form. Like Esme, she also had a Baldur's Gate 3 counterpart, but unlike Esme, she, so far, only lives on paper in ShadowDark.

Amaranth Lilis

So, who is she? "Amaranth" comes from the Nightwish song and because her skin is the same color as the flower of the same name. "Lilis" is not just a nod to Lilith, her "mother" and Patron, but also to Sophia Lillis who played Doric, the tiefling druid in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

Outside of that...I knew nothing about her. In my mind, she was in this demonic pact, but it wasn't so much a pact as it was a, well, family obligation.  The rest I just ran with.

Amaranth LilisAmaranth Lilis

Ancestry: Tiefling
Class: Witch 4th level (Apprentice)
XP: 20 (need 50 for 5th level)
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity/Patron: Lilith
Background: Born with a Caul (sensitive to certain occult workings)
Familiar: Raven ("Lucifer")

Str: 8
Dex: 11
Con: 12
Int: 17
Wis: 15
Cha: 10

HP: 10
AC: 11

Languages: Common, Diabolic

Talents
+1 to Spellcasting checks (tiefling)
1st level: +2 to Charisma
3rd level: Patron Favor, +1 to any die roll once per rest

Patron Boon: Learn 1 extra Tier 1 wizard Spell: Burning Hands

Spells
Tier 1 (3): Feel my Pain, Glamour, Häxen Talons
Tier 2 (2): Light as a Feather-Stiff as a Board, Scorching Ray

The one thing I wanted to do most with Amaranth is have her be a "Good Witch."  She is essentially a "good girl" with some minor demonic tendencies. I modeled her behavior a lot on "Anita" from Keith Roberts' book of the same name

Her raven, Lucifer, is a joke, but it is also a nod to a familiar another character of mine had years and years ago.

I am pretty happy with how she turned out and want to see more of her adventures. Her low(er) Wisdom lets me get her into trouble, and her background, "Born with a Caul," is a great excuse to make those misadventures be based on something "she sensed" or "she felt." Lots of fun potential there. 

I have a lot more characters I could do for The Witch - Book of Shadows, but I think you are getting the idea here. 

 

The Witch for ShadowDark - Esme Valethorne

My new The Witch - Book of Shadows for ShadowDark features a couple of new iconic characters/NPCs: Larina Nix, Amaranth Lilis, and Esme Valethorne. They are not just NPCs or names in the book; they were my playtest characters for the witch rules. 

Now, all of you know Larina, so there is little need to post her first. But I do want to talk about Amaranth and Esme. Since Esme was the first, I will go with her.

Esme Valethorne

Esme Valethorne

Esme is a wizard, but I played her like a witch to first see if it could be done. Very much like I did with Marissia (magic-user), Luna (cleric), and Cara (illusionist) back in the earliest days of my D&D days and when I was first working on my witch class. 

Esme was first brought to life, not in ShadowDark but in Blue Rose. I was playing in a Blue Rose RPG over the summer and Esme was one of my NPCs. She was originally designed to be a foil for the PCs, a local magical expert, but over time I began to invest more into the character. That game ended and I ported her over to ShadowDark and ran her as a wizard learning about witchcraft. 

And of course. I also tried her out in Baldur's Gate 3, also as a wizard. I will likely give her a go in AD&D 1st Edition now, too.

I initially based her appearance and personality on Stacy London, but she (as characters often do) grew away from that.  

Esme is a "by the book" ShadowDark character. 

Esme ValethorneEsme Valethorne

Ancestry: Human
Class: Wizard 5th level (Warden)
XP: 30 (need 60 for 6th level)
Alignment: Neutral 
Deity: Ord
Background: Acolyte

Str: 8
Dex: 11
Con: 12
Int: 17
Wis: 15
Cha: 10

Languages: Common, Sylvan

Talents: +2 to Int stat, +1 to wizard spellcasting rolls. Additional wizard spell, Tier 1 (Charm Person) 
3rd level: Advantage on Spell (Charm Person)
5th level: Additional wizard spell, Tier 3 (Lightning Bolt)

Spells
Tier 1 (4+1): Burning Hands, Charm Person, Detect Magic, Light, Magic Missile
Tier 2 (2): Hold Person, Misty Step
Tier 3 (1+1): Dispel Magic, Lightning Bolt

I like this character. And I had a lot of fun playing her in Blue Rose and ShadowDark. But she wasn't "witchy" enough for me. There is a LOT you can do with ShadowDark, but in the end I did decide I wanted a proper witch.

Still. I am not done with Esme just yet. 

New Release: The Witch - Book of Shadows for ShadowDark

 New release Tuesday. Earlier this year, I started a ShadowDark Witch book, and now today it is available to buy.

The Witch - Book of Shadows

The Witch Book of Shadows for ShadowDark

https://legacy.drivethrurpg.com/product/502244/The-Witch--Book-of-Shadows

The Witch Book of Shadows

Witches have long been a part of Fantasy, from fairy tales to fiction to RPGs. Now, you can bring the witch class to your ShadowDark games. 

Included here is the Witch Class.

  • Six new ancestries
  • New occult backgrounds
  • Basic, Expert, and Advanced witch talents that grow as you level up.
  • Thirteen Witch Patrons, from Baba Yaga to Xthluhu the Horror of the Deep! Each with boons and spells.
  • 160+ new occult spells for ShadowDark, including special Patron Spells and Ritual Magic spells.
  • 60+ Witch-related monsters for your ShadowDark adventures
  • 40 new magic items.
  • 124 pages

Compatible with ShadowDark and other ShadowDark products.

Art by Javier Charro, Tamas Baranya, Joe J. Calkins, Luigi Castellani, Dean Spencer, and James Thompson.

--

This is my first big project using Affinity Publisher 2, and I am very pleased with how it turned out. I am sure some improvements could be made in my process, but all in all I am very happy with it.

The Witch Print on Demand
The Witch Print on Demand
The Witch Print on Demand
The Witch Print on Demand
The Witch Print on Demand
The Witch Print on Demand

I bought that cover art from Javier Charro a while back, and I have been dying to use it somewhere. This seemed like a perfect fit for me.

Order your Print on Demand copy now to get it in time for Christmas.

The R. Michael Grenda Collection

 This past weekend I went downstate to see my family and celebrate my Dad's 95 birthday. Yeah, he still doing great at 95! I also stopped by my old friend Michael's house, where his widow gave me a bunch of his old D&D stuff.

Grenda D&D Collection

There is so much here. That black grocery bag is filled with character sheets dating back to 1981. There were a lot of duplicated books too. Much to my surprise and delight, a few of them were mine!

My Fiend Folio

I have always talked about here how in the 1990s I lost a lot of my Basic and 1st Ed AD&D collection in various moves. I know where some of it went. I guess I lent some of it to Grenda back then.  There was my Fiend Folio, Manual of the Planes, Tales of the Outer Planes adventures, a bunch of other modules, and more. My oldest got my replacement copies, and I reclaimed my originals. 

There is so much more here too. 

City books

In addition to a bunch of city books, I found a ton of his notes on our house rules for playing in cities and urban environments. By the way, other than some box damage, that Haven set is in fantastic shape. 

Maybe our "Urban Survival Guide" will see the light of day. 

There are also hundreds of characters here—so many that I don't even know what to do with them all. Some of the main ones, the ones I remember from our time playing, are going to get some airplay here. 

stacks of character sheets

I found maps of our shared world, maps (so many!) of his city, the Riddlemaster, Shadowmaster, Beastmaster, and Starmaster classes—they were so overpowered, but it was a blast when we were teens. Details of his Greyhawk campaigns into CY 800—just so much stuff.

It is also sad. I would have loved to have gotten this stuff out there for others to enjoy while he was still alive. I could have asked him about these complex family histories and the differences in these maps. 

There is so, so much here. It is like walking into a past I only vaguely remember. It is also a reminder of how long ago some of this actually was.  

I tend to think of my University days as being "not that long ago."  Maybe because I am still hanging out with the same girl I was then (best friend. totally married her). But it really was. There is sadness in that. It is sad to know that Warluk, Adnerg, Danis, Finn, Tali, and Alix will never have their stories continue. Well, they can, with me I suppose, but that is really not the same is it?

I do take comfort and joy in the fact that my oldest has been converting over to AD&D 1st ed and will use all of this stuff and my own stuff with his group.

I'll spend more time with all this material and see where it takes me. 

Mail Call Tuesday: Thirteen Parsecs

 A fantastic Mail Call Tuesday today! I got my copies of Thirteen Parsecs.

Thirteen Parsecs

I am very pleased with how these turned out. 

Thirteen Parsecs
Thirteen Parsecs
Thirteen Parsecs
Thirteen Parsecs
Thirteen Parsecs

The leathers look great and great with NIGHT SHIFT and Wasted Lands.

I even grabbed a new dice bag!


Can't wait to share more of this with you all.

Larina Nichols, Agent of A.R.T.E.M.I.S. for DC Heroes (Kickstart Your Weekend)

 A special Kickstart Your Weekend this week. Last week, I mentioned a new DC Heroes Kickstarter on the way. Well, it launched on Monday, and it has already blown through all its stretch goals, and now they are making new ones. 

So, this Kickstarter doesn't really need my help. 

But anyone who spends any time here at all knows about my deep love for all things DC Comics. So they might not need my help, but I am giving it anyway!  And what better way to do it than to dust off some characters! Well. Not so much dust off, as in recreate. I will get my old V&V character up soon, but I have been thinking a lot about my occult investigative agency A.R.T.E.M.I.S. and how it might exist in other game settings. So you know what I am going to do here. 

Larina Nichols for DC Heroes

For this one, I pulled out my Batman Role-Playing Game, which is DC Heroes 1.5 or something like that. I have (or had, I think I loaned it out) the 1st Ed boxed set, and I was trying to decide if I want the 1st or 2nd ed boxed set from the Kickstarter. I think I am going with 2nd Ed.  I had 3rd Ed for a while, but I know I sold that at my local game auction.

So who is this Larina? 

The game is dated from 1989, back when Bat-Mania was at its height. So I am making this a 19-year old Larina (1989). The obvious comparisons are her Chill stats (still need to post them) and my recent R.I.P. Horror Role-playing project. This Larina is a little different from her R.I.P. counterpart though they are about the same age (19 vs 22). Is that a Crisis On Infinite Earths potential adventure I hear? 

For DC Heroes, new heroes always start out with 450 APs. I bump it up to 500 because I like a little more power. This is magic rich world, so my magic characters need a boost.

Larina Nix AKA Nix the WitchLarina Nix AKA Nix the Witch

Dexterity:2  Strength:1 Body:2Intelligence:6Will:5Mind:4Influence:3Aura:5Spirit:7

Initiative: 11
Hero Points: 50

Current Body: 2
Current Mind: 4
Current Spirit: 7

Alter Ego: Larina Nichols
Occupation: Student/Research Librarian, Gotham University
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Stephani Nichols (Mother), Lars Nichols (Father)
Group Affiliations: A.RT.E.M.I.S.
Base of Operations: Gotham City
Motivation: Responsibility of Power
Wealth: 5
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 124 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red

Skills
Artist (Music) 2 [13]
Charisma 2 [32]
Medicine 2 [17]
Occultist 9 [101]

Powers
Flight (Broom) 5 [25]
Force Shield [10]
Magic Blast [20]

Advantages
Area Knowledge (Gotham) [20], Attractive [15]. Connection (Occult Underworld) [10], Gadget/Artifact (Broom) [25], Luck [15], Scholar [10]

Drawbacks
Arch Enemy (Mordru) [15], Secret Identity [10]

Equipment
Broom (Body 1, Fly 5 [10]) [25] (can fly at about 50 mph)

--

Ok, so who is this?

This Larina is still young. Honestly, this version would work better as a Teen Titan, which would work well with the 1st Edition boxed set.

I might adjust her wealth down to 4. I also need to remember how to give her some more languages. I also decided against the edgy notion of having her parents dead. Been there, done that, no need to go back. 

I put her in Gotham as a nod to my copy of the Batman RPG and my undying love for the Caped Crusader. In D&D, her alignment is Lawful Neutral, so she would be an agent of Law here. Not civil law, but Universal and Magic Law. This would make her the natural target of the likes of Mordru. Also, Mordru scared the shit out of me when I got one of my first DC comics. I must have been 5 or 6. So yeah, he is a great Arch Enemy for my witch here. While his modern look is likely the better one, I tend to go with his classic crazy-looking wizard look from his first appearance. Plus, I am rereading all of Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion books, so the battle of Law vs Chaos is very much on my mind right now.

I want to get my V&V version of Johan ported over, and I have a few others in mind. I am thinking of something like Justice League Dark but with my band of characters here. I guess that means I will need versions of Dracula and the Refrigerator, too.  I'd love to find a copy of "Blood of Heroes" from Pulsar Games. It was the same system with more magic. If I do, then I need to update her stats. Maybe Larina as a 30-year-old, really powerful witch. 

She has an alter ego, but I have never had a great "Superhero" name for her. Later, she is known as "Witch Queen," but at this point, she is still figuring things out.

I am backing the Kickstarter. Great to see a "new" DC game out there. 

Witchcraft Wednesday: The Witch Book of Shadows for the ShadowDark RPG

 What have I been doing? Well this last Gary Con (back in April) I was talking with my Elf Lair Game co-conspirators about future projects. Of course our plans revolved mostly around the recently released Thirteen Parsecs. But I also began flipping through the "new to me" physical copy of the ShadowDark RPG. I had picked up the Quickstart and the Curse Scroll #1 zine at a previous Gary Con, so it seemed right to grab it then too. Originally my plan was only to use it as a supplement for my Old School Essentials games. But others encouraged me to try it out on it's own merits. 

It finally clicked with me one evening this past summer while making dinner what ShadowDark actually is and not what I thought it was. Granted, it is exactly what the video creator Kelsey Dionne has been saying for two years. So I sat down that night during my writing time and put together an outline. I gave myself one week. Well...that week went on, and on, as I really grew to like this project. So now I am ready to reveal the fruits of those efforts. Or at least reveal that I am revealing it.

Coming soon (next month or so), The Witch Book of Shadows for the ShadowDark RPG!

The Witch Book of Shadows for the ShadowDark RPG

From the upcoming DriveThruRPG page:

Included here is the Witch Class.

- Six new ancestries
- New occult backgrounds
- Basic, Expert, and Advanced witch talents that grow as you level up.
- Thirteen Witch Patrons, from Baba Yaga to Xthluhu the Horror of the Deep! Each with boons and spells.
- 160+ new occult spells for ShadowDark, including special Patron Spells and Ritual Magic spells.
- 60+ Witch-related monsters for your ShadowDark adventures
- 40 new magic items. 
-124 pages A5 size to fit with your current ShadowDark RPG booksCompatible with ShadowDark and other ShadowDark products.

The biggest selling point for this book are all the new spells. Plus every witch takes a patron which opens new and unique spells to them. Add ritual spells and no two witches are ever the same.  There are thirteen new witch patrons as well.

For the monsters, well, many of these came from my recent Horror movie marathon. Going back to the roots of AD&D monsters and then rebuilding them from the ground up, or at least getting a head start from horror movies, gave me plenty of new ideas—so many that a few didn't make the cut and will be featured on a few Monstrous Mondays. 

Right now I am just waiting on the print proofs. Once I have those in hand (expected by Dec 1) then I will figure out what needs to happen next. 

As always, I had a blast working on this one, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did putting it together. 

Special thanks to Kelsey Dionne for not just making such a fun game, but building a great community and a sense of community involvement with this game. That might be her best achievement yet.

Working copy of The Witch
Working copy of The Witch


Companion Set Dungeons & Dragons

NOTE: My oldest has been running his Sunday group through all the editions of D&D. I have been planning on doing something with the Cook/Marsh Expert set, but schedules being a thing I have had to adapt and now do a Companion-level adventure.

One thing led to another, and now I have a new, different project on my hands. 

Today is my "Day 1" of it. The day I start pulling together research notes into a draft. 

I put this post together as a set of notes and research from previous posts. 

No. I am not doing my own Companion set. As I have outlined below we have plenty very good ones.

D&D Companion Set

The Companion Edition of D&D was one of the near-mythical books for me growing up.  As I mentioned yesterday that I began my game playing with the Basic/Expert, known today as B/X, sets from the early 80s.  The expert took the game from the 3rd to the 14th level, and the Companion book was then going to take the game from the 14th to the 36th level.  Even though I knew of AD&D at the time, I thought the Companion book would be the way to go. So I waited for it.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Finally, I gave up waiting and dove into AD&D instead, leaving Basic D&D behind.  Eventually, a Companion Rules Set came out.  But it was for the new Mentzer-edited Basic set (now called BECMI), and I no longer had any interest in it, having discovered the world could also have Assassins, half-orcs, and 9 alignments.

Fast forward to the Old School Revolution/Renaissance/Resurgence/Recycled and I have re-discovered the Basic sets (all of them) in their imperfect glories.  And I am not the only one that must have felt a little gipped by not getting a Companion book for B/X.

Jonathan Becker over at B/X Blackrazor designed his own Companion rules. If it is not exactly what the companion would be, it is really close.

Soon after, I managed to pick up my copy of the Companion Set.  So join me on my exploration of the new worlds of the D&D Companion Set.  But a warning, here there be Dragons!

D&D Companion Set (1984)

I don't think it is too much to say that the Companion Set contains some of the most interesting changes and updates to the D&D than any other product TSR had published to date.  I will talk more about these in the review, but first a look back.

I have eagerly awaited the Companion set for D&D ever since I got my Expert Set, which is by B/X Moldvay/Cook Basic and Expert Set.

The Companion Set, as promised by the Expert Set rules, mentions that characters will now go to 36th level and there will be a way to cure undead level drain!  Such promises. Such hope!

Classes D&D Cook/Marsh Expert Set, page X8

I did manage to read it once.  I was in college, and it was at Castle Perilous Games in Carbondale. Of course, AD&D 2nd Ed was the new hotness at the time, and I had no desire to look backward.  What I saw, though, at the time did not impress me.  The entire Mentzer set at the time (AT THE TIME, mind you) made me think of it as D&D for little kids (now I see it differently).

Looking back now, I see I made a BIG MISTAKE.
Well...maybe.  I would not have traded my AD&D time for anything, but I wish I had given the BECMI rules more chance.

Now I can fix that.

Today I am going to cover the BECMI Companion Rules.  I am going to cover both the DriveThruRPG PDFs and my physical box set.

Companion Rules
The Companion Set follows the rules as presented in the BECMI Basic and Expert books. But unlike those books, the Companion Rules sets off into uncharted directions and gives us some new material.

While the claim can be made that Frank Mentzer only edited and organized the Basic and Expert rules based on previous editions, the Companion set is all his.  While there may be some influences from earlier editions such as Greyhawk (with it's 22nd level cap [wizards] and some monsters) and AD&D (some monsters and the multiverse) this really feels new.

Companion Player's Book 1
The player's book is 32 pages with color covers and black & white interiors. Art by Larry Elmore and Jeff Easley.
Opening this book we get a preface with a dedication to Brian Blume. A nice touch and yeah he is often forgotten in the tale of D&D's earliest years.  The preface also firmly situates us in time. We 10 years out from when D&D was first published. The design goals of this book, and consequently this series, have never been more firmly stated.  This is an introduction to the D&D game and designed to be fun, playable, and true to the spirit of D&D.  It certainly feels like this is the successor to the Original D&D game; maybe more so than AD&D.
One page in and we are off to a great start.

The title and table of contents page tell us that this game is now "by" Frank Mentzer, based on D&D by Gygax and Arneson.  As we move into the book proper we get a feel for the "changing game."  Characters are more powerful and once difficult threats are no more than a nuisance or exercise.  The characters are ready to take their place among the rulers of the world.  This makes explicit something I always felt AD&D only played lip service to.

We get some new weapons that have different sorts of effects like knocking out an opponent or entangling them. We also get some unarmed combat rules.    Now, these feel they really should have been added to the Basic or Expert rule sets. Maybe they were but were cut for space or time.

Up next is Stronghold management from the point of view of the player characters.  Again here D&D continues its unwritten objective of being educational as well as fun.  More on this in the DM's book.

Character Classes
Finally, about 11 pages in we get to the Character updates.  Here all the human character classes get tables that go to level 25; again maybe a nod to Greyhawk's level 20-22 caps, and caps of 7th level spells (clerics) and 9th level spell (magic-users).  Clerics get more spells and spell levels.  The big upgrade comes in the form of their expanded undead turning table.  Clerics up to 25th level and monsters up to Liches and Special.  This mimics the AD&D Clerics table; I'd have to look at them side by side to see and differences.  One difference that comes up right away is the increase in undead monsters.  There are phantoms, haunts, spirits, and nightshades.  Nightshades, Liches, and "Special" will be detailed in the Master Set.

Something that is big pops up in the cleric listing.  A Neutral cleric of level 9 or higher may choose to become a Druid! Druids only resemble their AD&D counterparts in superficial ways.  They have similar spells, but the BECMI Druid cannot change shape.  It is an interesting implementation of the class, and I'll discuss it in detail.

Arguably it is fighters that get the biggest boost in the Companion Set.  They gain the ability to have multiple attacks per round now and other combat maneuvers such as smashing, pairing and disarming. This is a big deal since they got so little in the Expert set. Fighters can also "specialize" into three paths depending on alignment.  There are Knights, Paladins, and Avengers.  Each type gives the fighter something a little extra.  Paladins are not very far off from their AD&D counterparts and Avengers are as close to an Anti-Paladin as D&D will get until we get to the Blackguards.

Conversely, Magic-users do not get as much save from greater spells. We do get the restriction that any spell maxes out 20dX damage.

Thieves can now become Guildmasters or Rogues.  A name that will come up more and more with future editions of D&D.

BECMI "Prestige Classes?"
The Druid, Knight, Avenger, Paladin, and, to a lesser degree, the Magist and Rogues represent what could arguably be called the first Prestige Classes to D&D.  Their inclusion predates the publication of the Thief-Acrobat in the AD&D Unearthed Arcana.
Prestige Classes are classes that one can take after meeting certain requirements in other "base" classes in D&D 3.x and Pathfinder. Often at 10th level, but can occur anytime the character meets the requirements.  This concept is later carried on into D&D 4 with their "Paragon Paths" (chosen at 11th level) and even into D&D 5 with their subclasses (chosen at 2nd level).
The BECMI Avenger and Paladin are the best examples of these working just like the Prestige Classes will in 15 more years. This is interesting since it also means other classes can be added to the basic 4 core ones using the same system.  An easy example is the Thief-Acrobat from UA or even the Ranger from AD&D.  Though in this version the problem lies in the alignment system.  Rangers are supposed to be "good" for example.

Demi-Humans
Demi-humans may not advance any more in level, but they are not idle.  This is also the area of the Companion Set that I most often go wrong.  Each demi-human race has a Clan Relic, and some demi-humans could be in charge of these clan relics, making them very powerful. There are also clan rulers, and they are also detailed.  What does all that mean?  It means there is a good in-game reason why demi-humans do not advance in levels anymore.  They are much more dedicated to their clans than humans. So, after some time, they are expected to return home to take up their responsibilities for the clan.

Companion level Elves
That is not to say that these characters do not advance anymore.  Each demi-human race can still gain "Attack Ranks" as if they are still leveling up.  They don't gain any more HP, but they can attack as if they are higher-level fighters.  They also gain some of the fighter's combat options. Each class gets 11 such rank-levels.   It seems to split some hairs on "no more levels" but whatever.

We end with a map of the expanding Known World.  This is the continent of Brun of Mystara, but we don't know that yet.  But I will discuss that later this week.

This book is a lot more than I expected it to be and that is a good thing.

Companion DM's Book 2
The DM's book is 64 pages with color covers and black & white interiors. Art by Larry Elmore and Jeff Easley.
There is a lot to this book.  First, we get to some General Guidelines that cover the higher levels of play and planning adventures accordingly. There is sadly not a lot here.
We follow up with Part 2: The Fantasy World.  This continues some of the discussion of stronghold management and dominion management as well.  Now here is quite a bit of good information on what happens, or could happen, in a dominion. 
This section also includes the hidden secret of the D&D BECMI series.  The War Machine Mass Combat system.

War Machine
Around the same time, TSR also developed the BattleSystem Mass Combat system.  The two are largely incompatible with each other.  I always thought it was odd that two systems that do essentially the same things were created and incompatible.   Later I learned that D&D BECMI lived in what we like to call a "walled garden" in the business.  It was out there doing it's own thing while the "real business" of AD&D was going on.  The problem was that D&D Basic was outselling AD&D at this point.  This was not the first time that TSR would woefully misunderstand their customers, and sadly, it was not the last time either.
War Machine is elegant compared to BattleSystem. I am not saying it is simple, but the work involved is not difficult, and I am happy to say it looks like it will work with any edition of D&D.

The Multiverse 
A big part of any D&D experience is the Multiverse.  This section allows the DMs and Players to dip their toes into the wider Multiverse which includes the Ethereal Plane and the Elemental Planes.

Elemental Planes
Space is also given to the discussion on aging, damage to magic items, demi-human crafts, poison, and more. We also get all of our character tables.

Monsters
About halfway through the book, we reach the monster section. Many familiar AD&D faces are now here, though a bit of digging will show that many of these are also from OD&D up to the Greyhawk supplement. Most notable are the beholder, larger dragons, druids (as monsters), and many elemental types. Monsters are split into Prime Plane and Other Planes. 
Among the monsters featured are the aforementioned Beholder, larger Dragons, and bunches of new Undead, like haunts, druj, ghosts and more.  A few that caught my attention are the Gargantua (gigantic monsters) and Malfera.  The Malfera REALLY caught my attention since they are from the "Dimension of Nightmares."  This is more fodder for my Mystara-Ravenloft connection.
Monsters from the Other Planes focus on the Elemental planes.

Treasure
Lots of new treasures and magic items.

Adventures
There are three short adventure or adventure hooks for companion-level characters.

All in all the Companion Set is full and had many things I did not think it had given my very casual relationship to it over the years.  Reading it now and in-depth for the very first time I see there is a lot I could have used in my games back then.

Other Companion Books

I was not the only one that waited. 

Companion Expansion from Barrataria Games,Jonathan Becker's B/X Companion

Others came up with their own Companion rules for the B/X Style Basic D&D instead of the BECMI Style Basic D&D. Now...let's be 100% honest here. The differences between BX and BECMI are so subtle that only a huge nerd like me cares. But then again, I was not the only one.

I mentioned Jonathan Becker's B/X Companion above and I reviewed it a while back. It compares favorably to the BECMI Companion from TSR, and it fits the look and feel of the BX books well.

There was also the Companion Expansion from Barrataria Games, which was also quite good. It was more of a move from BX Basic D&D closer to AD&D, which is fine. It is also free, and all the content was released 100% under the Open Gaming License, so that was a nice plus in my mind.

And proving that sometimes the wait is good, Stephen R. Marsh, the Marsh of the Cook/Marsh Expert Set, is working on his own Companion set.  So I can have all three to satisfy that desire the 12-year-old-me had. 

It just goes to show how active the old-school D&D communities still are.

Some part of me still wants a proper B/X Companion set from 1982. Maybe such a thing existed in an alternate universe. But that is also a universe where the BECMI sets didn't exist, and given how popular Mentzer's red box was, I am unsure how it would have changed D&D as a whole in the mid- to late 1980s.

Companion Set Rules

What Role Does the Companion Serve?

One has to ask. What does the Companion rules actually do? Or even what role does it serve?

In many ways, the Companion rules (and here on out, regardless of which one I mean) represent the fork in the road where D&D splits from AD&D.  With the continuum of OD&D to Holmes Basic to Moldvay and then Mentzer Basic, you could still go on to AD&D (largely as Gary would have liked). The Companion rules then are the path of no return. Once you head down that path there is no turning back for AD&D.  So the Companion needs to fill the same gaps that AD&D fills, but it doesn't need to do them in the same way.

For me, any discussion about the various merits of AD&D vs Basic-era D&D has to include a conversation about how the Companion (and Masters) handle various AD&D topics. The only problem is that no Companion development ever happened in a vacuum. 

Things like Druids, stronger monsters (notably elementals), the outer planes and their inhabitants, are all slightly different in the Companion rules. But rare are the entirely new elements. Granted, the BECMI Companion often has new monsters and the War Machine. The Companion Expansion from Barrataria Games was designed to fill in the gaps B/X had compared to AD&D. It is hard to throw off the shadow of AD&D. Though I would like to see something new. Something that AD&D would have to convert over from D&D for a change. But likely that time has long since passed. 

Should Classes Be Different?

One of the ideas floated by the BECMI Companion is that there are some classes, the Druid is my prime example, that act like Basic Prestige Classes. So, a neutral 9th-level cleric could now be considered a Druid if that is what the player wanted. Does that mean a Fighter then could be something else? Knights, Avengers, and Paladins are mentioned in BECMI. But would Rangers, Barbarians, and Cavaliers be out of the question?

While I would not want to recreate the Prestige Class bloat of the early 2000s, the idea is an intriguing one. Would my witch even be just a type of magic-user, then? 

Should Monsters Be Different?

My go-to here is the humble succubus. In Becker's Companion, she is a 7 HD monster. In BECMI, granted in the Immortal Rules, she is a whopping 15 HD (Whispering Demon in the Immortals boxed set). In Eldritch Wizardry (where she is introduced) and in AD&D she is 6+6 HD.  Obviously, for characters 15th level and higher, a single 6 or 7 HD succubus is not really a challenge unless she is played correctly in a non-combat role.

Other times, we get more powerful dragons and more powerful elementals. A 15 HD succubus may be a bad idea, but the 15 HD Queen of Succubi is better.

The threats need to be targeted to the level of the characters involved. 

Gives me a lot to think about.

Kickstart Your Weekend: DC Heroes Role-Playing Game 40th Anniversary

 Oh. I am so excited for this one!

DC Heroes Role-Playing Game 40th Anniversary

DC Heroes Role-Playing Game 40th Anniversary
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cze/dc-heroes-role-playing-game-40th-anniversary?ref=theotherside

I really had a lot of fun with DC Heroes, and I am a huge DC fan.

This Kickstarter is not yet live. I have heard it will be in four days. It has over 3,100 followers so it should do well. 

I plan on backing this one and looking forward to seeing how it does. 


The Governess for the Doctor Who RPG 2nd Edition

The GovernessThis is something of a "low-hanging fruit" character. I am sure everyone has at least considered this character at one time or another, but I figured I might as well stat her up.

The Governess

The Time Lord (Time Lady), known as "The Governess," left Galifrey with much less drama than the Doctor did.  In fact, she doesn't even possess her own TARDIS, but she does have other means of transportation, usually by an umbrella blown in by the East Wind. She has also been to planets in the Pleiades cluster.

She has a carpet bag that is bigger on the inside and she speak to all sorts of creatures. Her Time Lord science often appears to be magic and she has no desire to educate the ignorant on the differences.

She first appeared on Earth during the early Victorian Age, and her mission was to find exceptional children who needed a little extra guidance. She has used many different names, including "Mary Poppins," "Nanny McPhee," and even just "the Nanny," but she is always known as the Governess.

She tries to be subtle when she can, but her attitude is not that of a human. She is a Time Lord and knows she is superior to all those around her. So she can be imperious, even arrogant, at times—okay, most times—but she always tries to do what is best for the children in her care.

She also only stays for a short time, only while needed. Often leaving when "the wind changes" or some other sign that it is time to go.

She has an agreement with other Time Lords to generally stay out of each other's way. It is uncertain if she survived the Time War, she was never seen during the battles, but she has also not been seen since. 

The Governess

Time Lord
Story Points: 8

Attributes
Awareness 5
Coordination 4
Ingenuity 6
Presence 6
Resolve 5
Strength 3

Skills
Athletics 1
Conflict 1
Convince 4
Craft 3
Intuition 5
Knowledge 4
Medicine 4 (little drop of sugar and all)
Science 3
Subterfuge 1
Survival 2
Technology 2
Transport 1

Distinctions
Time Lord
Protector of Children
Friends (major)

Equipment
Umbrella, Carpet Bag

Home Tech Level: 10 (mostly conforms to 4)

Personal Goal
To protect the Children

The Time Lord known as "The Governess" (to some, Mary Poppins or even "The Nanny") fled Gallifrey long before the Time War with one goal in mind: To protect those who could protect or help themselves.   She has been known to have encountered the Time Lord, known as The Doctor, at least once.

She has several family members she will mention, but these are all adopted and are worldwide.

ETA: I should have saved this for the 23rd, Doctor Who's anniversary. 

New Project; Posting delays

 I am eye-balls deep in a new project and I am not 100% ready to share it all with you yet.

New Project

But I am having a lot more fun with it than I expected.

This is also my first realyl big project since moving over to Affinity Publisher and Photo from Indesign and Photoshop. Bit of a learning curve for somethings, but I am enjoying the results.

Hope to let you all know very, very soon.

Kickstart Your Weekend: 5e Witch Content

 I mentioned before that one of the reasons I have not done a 5e Witch class myself is that I have wanted to have some joy in discovery of something new for D&D. If I make a 5e witch, then I am always comparing it to the new stuff to mine. 

So today there are two witch-related 5e Kickstarters I want to share. They are in their last days of funding, so get on these while you can.

Witchfyre: A Dark Fantasy RPG for 5E+ & Pathfinder

Witchfyre A Dark Fantasy RPG for 5E+ & Pathfinder

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/witchfyre/witchfyre-a-dark-fantasy-rpg?ref=theotherside

This looks like a lot of fun and has a great Folk Horror vibe. It is for 5e and Pathfinder, so that is really great.  And it comes with minis and a tarot set, so I am very intrigued. While the deluxe cover looks nice, I think I prefer the standard cover.

Any looks great, to bad I will have to wait a year to get it.

The Mystery of Witchhaven: A 5e Solo Adventure

 A 5e Solo Adventure

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obviousmimic/the-mystery-of-witchhaven-a-5e-solo-adventure?ref=theotherside

I admit a little trepidation to this one. First, I am generally not a fan of Solo adventures. Nothing against them, I just prefer to play with a group. Secondly I have my own "Witch Haven" but the name is so common I should not be surprised when a variation of it gets used.

But this does look fun and I'd be remiss if I didn't check it out.

ETA: Another one!

Wicked Echoes - Whispers of the Samodiva: A 5E Supplement

 A 5E Supplement
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wicked-echoes/wicked-echoes-whispers-of-the-samodiva?ref=theotherside

Folk Horror is pretty hot right now. And this one looks great.  This is more horror than Witch focused, but that is fine by me!


--

Both look great and hopefully ship quickly.

Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 6 November; Jonathan Harker’s Final Note

Jonathan gives us a final update seven years later.

Dracula - The Hunters' Journals NOTE

Seven years ago we all went through the flames; and the happiness of some of us since then is, we think, well worth the pain we endured. It is an added joy to Mina and to me that our boy’s birthday is the same day as that on which Quincey Morris died. His mother holds, I know, the secret belief that some of our brave friend’s spirit has passed into him. His bundle of names links all our little band of men together; but we call him Quincey.

In the summer of this year we made a journey to Transylvania, and went over the old ground which was, and is, to us so full of vivid and terrible memories. It was almost impossible to believe that the things which we had seen with our own eyes and heard with our own ears were living truths. Every trace of all that had been was blotted out. The castle stood as before, reared high above a waste of desolation.

When we got home we were talking of the old time—which we could all look back on without despair, for Godalming and Seward are both happily married. I took the papers from the safe where they had been ever since our return so long ago. We were struck with the fact, that in all the mass of material of which the record is composed, there is hardly one authentic document; nothing but a mass of typewriting, except the later note-books of Mina and Seward and myself, and Van Helsing’s memorandum. We could hardly ask any one, even did we wish to, to accept these as proofs of so wild a story. Van Helsing summed it all up as he said, with our boy on his knee:—

“We want no proofs; we ask none to believe us! This boy will some day know what a brave and gallant woman his mother is. Already he knows her sweetness and loving care; later on he will understand how some men so loved her, that they did dare much for her sake.”

Jonathan Harker.

THE END



Our final note from Jonathan tells us all this took place seven years ago. So my idea that this all took place in 1892 is suspect since that would put his final note at 1899, two years after the publication of the novel.

One of the conceits many modern Dracula writers use is that Harker told all of this to Stoker and then Stoker published it all as a warning and a guide to other Vampire hunters. It's a fun idea. I imagined the two them sitting out for lunch as Harker gives Stoker Mina's meticulously copied notes of all the journal entries. 

Mina's and Jonathan's has been born. Jonathan Quincey Harker. He would later go on to be the main protagonist in the 2009 sequel from Darcy Stoker's Dracula the Un-dead. I am not really a fan of that book to be honest. It really has a "Brian Herbert" thing going. 

I have used him as my base idea on how to square the novel with the Hamilton Deane-John L. Balderston play. With the younger Harker now engaged to Mina Seward who is friends with a Lucy Van Helsing. This would have given us the "1913" events of the 1979 John Badham movie. IF we stick with my 1892 idea it would make Jonathan Quincey Harker in his early 20s. The earlier dates I have proposed would work even better. I just need to figure out why Seward and Van Helsing don't remember the Count from the 1890s. But Dr. Seward naming his daughter Lucy and Van Helsing naming his daughter Mina (maybe his wife died and he remarried) is the easiest thing to figure out. The Count coming back for revenge is also easy to see. Maybe Märy Land fits into this somewhere?

Both this novel and the 1924 version of the play are in the public domain. 

A lot is made about the nature of Dracula's death. A topic covered in varying degrees of quality. But most agree that since Dracula was killed with a stake to his heart he can come back. We see that in Dracula the Un-dead and in Fred Saberhagen's The Dracula Tape.

My only issue with the death of Dracula in the novel is it came after this huge build up and it was over so fast. I also don't care for the death of Dracula in the FFC 1992 movie though either.

Final Thoughts

This has been a great experience. I loved doing this. I kinda want to go back and recheck some of my dates. It would be a process, but I do want to recheck with 1886 and 1888. 1888 would make JQH's birth in 1889, and make him 24 in the Badham movie. I do like that.

I would also like to go over some of this again with a map of Europe from the time. I still have my Victorian-era map of London up in my office. 

Victorian London

Where do I take this from here?

No idea, I kinda want to compile all these posts and see how long it all is. That might be fun. I also think that after doing this I kinda want to go back a re-read it for pleasure with my new insights.

But that is a task for another day. Maybe even next year.

Though, I do have a copy of Frankenstein I have been meaning to get back too. 


Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 6 November; Mina Harker’s Journal

Our hunt is at an end, but the cost is high.

Dracula - The Hunters' Journals

Mina Harker’s Journal.

6 November.—It was late in the afternoon when the Professor and I took our way towards the east whence I knew Jonathan was coming. We did not go fast, though the way was steeply downhill, for we had to take heavy rugs and wraps with us; we dared not face the possibility of being left without warmth in the cold and the snow. We had to take some of our provisions, too, for we were in a perfect desolation, and, so far as we could see through the snowfall, there was not even the sign of habitation. When we had gone about a mile, I was tired with the heavy walking and sat down to rest. Then we looked back and saw where the clear line of Dracula’s castle cut the sky; for we were so deep under the hill whereon it was set that the angle of perspective of the Carpathian mountains was far below it. We saw it in all its grandeur, perched a thousand feet on the summit of a sheer precipice, and with seemingly a great gap between it and the steep of the adjacent mountain on any side. There was something wild and uncanny about the place. We could hear the distant howling of wolves. They were far off, but the sound, even though coming muffled through the deadening snowfall, was full of terror. I knew from the way Dr. Van Helsing was searching about that he was trying to seek some strategic point, where we would be less exposed in case of attack. The rough roadway still led downwards; we could trace it through the drifted snow.

In a little while the Professor signalled to me, so I got up and joined him. He had found a wonderful spot, a sort of natural hollow in a rock, with an entrance like a doorway between two boulders. He took me by the hand and drew me in: “See!” he said, “here you will be in shelter; and if the wolves do come I can meet them one by one.” He brought in our furs, and made a snug nest for me, and got out some provisions and forced them upon me. But I could not eat; to even try to do so was repulsive to me, and, much as I would have liked to please him, I could not bring myself to the attempt. He looked very sad, but did not reproach me. Taking his field-glasses from the case, he stood on the top of the rock, and began to search the horizon. Suddenly he called out:—

“Look! Madam Mina, look! look!” I sprang up and stood beside him on the rock; he handed me his glasses and pointed. The snow was now falling more heavily, and swirled about fiercely, for a high wind was beginning to blow. However, there were times when there were pauses between the snow flurries and I could see a long way round. From the height where we were it was possible to see a great distance; and far off, beyond the white waste of snow, I could see the river lying like a black ribbon in kinks and curls as it wound its way. Straight in front of us and not far off—in fact, so near that I wondered we had not noticed before—came a group of mounted men hurrying along. In the midst of them was a cart, a long leiter-wagon which swept from side to side, like a dog’s tail wagging, with each stern inequality of the road. Outlined against the snow as they were, I could see from the men’s clothes that they were peasants or gypsies of some kind.

On the cart was a great square chest. My heart leaped as I saw it, for I felt that the end was coming. The evening was now drawing close, and well I knew that at sunset the Thing, which was till then imprisoned there, would take new freedom and could in any of many forms elude all pursuit. In fear I turned to the Professor; to my consternation, however, he was not there. An instant later, I saw him below me. Round the rock he had drawn a circle, such as we had found shelter in last night. When he had completed it he stood beside me again, saying:—

“At least you shall be safe here from him!” He took the glasses from me, and at the next lull of the snow swept the whole space below us. “See,” he said, “they come quickly; they are flogging the horses, and galloping as hard as they can.” He paused and went on in a hollow voice:—

“They are racing for the sunset. We may be too late. God’s will be done!” Down came another blinding rush of driving snow, and the whole landscape was blotted out. It soon passed, however, and once more his glasses were fixed on the plain. Then came a sudden cry:—

“Look! Look! Look! See, two horsemen follow fast, coming up from the south. It must be Quincey and John. Take the glass. Look before the snow blots it all out!” I took it and looked. The two men might be Dr. Seward and Mr. Morris. I knew at all events that neither of them was Jonathan. At the same time I knew that Jonathan was not far off; looking around I saw on the north side of the coming party two other men, riding at break-neck speed. One of them I knew was Jonathan, and the other I took, of course, to be Lord Godalming. They, too, were pursuing the party with the cart. When I told the Professor he shouted in glee like a schoolboy, and, after looking intently till a snow fall made sight impossible, he laid his Winchester rifle ready for use against the boulder at the opening of our shelter. “They are all converging,” he said. “When the time comes we shall have gypsies on all sides.” I got out my revolver ready to hand, for whilst we were speaking the howling of wolves came louder and closer. When the snow storm abated a moment we looked again. It was strange to see the snow falling in such heavy flakes close to us, and beyond, the sun shining more and more brightly as it sank down towards the far mountain tops. Sweeping the glass all around us I could see here and there dots moving singly and in twos and threes and larger numbers—the wolves were gathering for their prey.

Every instant seemed an age whilst we waited. The wind came now in fierce bursts, and the snow was driven with fury as it swept upon us in circling eddies. At times we could not see an arm’s length before us; but at others, as the hollow-sounding wind swept by us, it seemed to clear the air-space around us so that we could see afar off. We had of late been so accustomed to watch for sunrise and sunset, that we knew with fair accuracy when it would be; and we knew that before long the sun would set. It was hard to believe that by our watches it was less than an hour that we waited in that rocky shelter before the various bodies began to converge close upon us. The wind came now with fiercer and more bitter sweeps, and more steadily from the north. It seemingly had driven the snow clouds from us, for, with only occasional bursts, the snow fell. We could distinguish clearly the individuals of each party, the pursued and the pursuers. Strangely enough those pursued did not seem to realise, or at least to care, that they were pursued; they seemed, however, to hasten with redoubled speed as the sun dropped lower and lower on the mountain tops.

Closer and closer they drew. The Professor and I crouched down behind our rock, and held our weapons ready; I could see that he was determined that they should not pass. One and all were quite unaware of our presence.

All at once two voices shouted out to: “Halt!” One was my Jonathan’s, raised in a high key of passion; the other Mr. Morris’ strong resolute tone of quiet command. The gypsies may not have known the language, but there was no mistaking the tone, in whatever tongue the words were spoken. Instinctively they reined in, and at the instant Lord Godalming and Jonathan dashed up at one side and Dr. Seward and Mr. Morris on the other. The leader of the gypsies, a splendid-looking fellow who sat his horse like a centaur, waved them back, and in a fierce voice gave to his companions some word to proceed. They lashed the horses which sprang forward; but the four men raised their Winchester rifles, and in an unmistakable way commanded them to stop. At the same moment Dr. Van Helsing and I rose behind the rock and pointed our weapons at them. Seeing that they were surrounded the men tightened their reins and drew up. The leader turned to them and gave a word at which every man of the gypsy party drew what weapon he carried, knife or pistol, and held himself in readiness to attack. Issue was joined in an instant.

The leader, with a quick movement of his rein, threw his horse out in front, and pointing first to the sun—now close down on the hill tops—and then to the castle, said something which I did not understand. For answer, all four men of our party threw themselves from their horses and dashed towards the cart. I should have felt terrible fear at seeing Jonathan in such danger, but that the ardour of battle must have been upon me as well as the rest of them; I felt no fear, but only a wild, surging desire to do something. Seeing the quick movement of our parties, the leader of the gypsies gave a command; his men instantly formed round the cart in a sort of undisciplined endeavour, each one shouldering and pushing the other in his eagerness to carry out the order.

In the midst of this I could see that Jonathan on one side of the ring of men, and Quincey on the other, were forcing a way to the cart; it was evident that they were bent on finishing their task before the sun should set. Nothing seemed to stop or even to hinder them. Neither the levelled weapons nor the flashing knives of the gypsies in front, nor the howling of the wolves behind, appeared to even attract their attention. Jonathan’s impetuosity, and the manifest singleness of his purpose, seemed to overawe those in front of him; instinctively they cowered, aside and let him pass. In an instant he had jumped upon the cart, and, with a strength which seemed incredible, raised the great box, and flung it over the wheel to the ground. In the meantime, Mr. Morris had had to use force to pass through his side of the ring of Szgany. All the time I had been breathlessly watching Jonathan I had, with the tail of my eye, seen him pressing desperately forward, and had seen the knives of the gypsies flash as he won a way through them, and they cut at him. He had parried with his great bowie knife, and at first I thought that he too had come through in safety; but as he sprang beside Jonathan, who had by now jumped from the cart, I could see that with his left hand he was clutching at his side, and that the blood was spurting through his fingers. He did not delay notwithstanding this, for as Jonathan, with desperate energy, attacked one end of the chest, attempting to prize off the lid with his great Kukri knife, he attacked the other frantically with his bowie. Under the efforts of both men the lid began to yield; the nails drew with a quick screeching sound, and the top of the box was thrown back.

By this time the gypsies, seeing themselves covered by the Winchesters, and at the mercy of Lord Godalming and Dr. Seward, had given in and made no resistance. The sun was almost down on the mountain tops, and the shadows of the whole group fell long upon the snow. I saw the Count lying within the box upon the earth, some of which the rude falling from the cart had scattered over him. He was deathly pale, just like a waxen image, and the red eyes glared with the horrible vindictive look which I knew too well.

As I looked, the eyes saw the sinking sun, and the look of hate in them turned to triumph.

But, on the instant, came the sweep and flash of Jonathan’s great knife. I shrieked as I saw it shear through the throat; whilst at the same moment Mr. Morris’s bowie knife plunged into the heart.

It was like a miracle; but before our very eyes, and almost in the drawing of a breath, the whole body crumbled into dust and passed from our sight.

I shall be glad as long as I live that even in that moment of final dissolution, there was in the face a look of peace, such as I never could have imagined might have rested there.

The Castle of Dracula now stood out against the red sky, and every stone of its broken battlements was articulated against the light of the setting sun.

The gypsies, taking us as in some way the cause of the extraordinary disappearance of the dead man, turned, without a word, and rode away as if for their lives. Those who were unmounted jumped upon the leiter-wagon and shouted to the horsemen not to desert them. The wolves, which had withdrawn to a safe distance, followed in their wake, leaving us alone.

Mr. Morris, who had sunk to the ground, leaned on his elbow, holding his hand pressed to his side; the blood still gushed through his fingers. I flew to him, for the Holy circle did not now keep me back; so did the two doctors. Jonathan knelt behind him and the wounded man laid back his head on his shoulder. With a sigh he took, with a feeble effort, my hand in that of his own which was unstained. He must have seen the anguish of my heart in my face, for he smiled at me and said:—

“I am only too happy to have been of any service! Oh, God!” he cried suddenly, struggling up to a sitting posture and pointing to me, “It was worth for this to die! Look! look!”

The sun was now right down upon the mountain top, and the red gleams fell upon my face, so that it was bathed in rosy light. With one impulse the men sank on their knees and a deep and earnest “Amen” broke from all as their eyes followed the pointing of his finger. The dying man spoke:—

“Now God be thanked that all has not been in vain! See! the snow is not more stainless than her forehead! The curse has passed away!”

And, to our bitter grief, with a smile and in silence, he died, a gallant gentleman.


Notes: Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous

Our action packed finale here has our two groups of men coming back together to pursue the Count's forces. 

Here we see Dracula's "final" demise. His throat is cut by Harker and Morris lunges his knife into the Count's heart.  Then he disappears into dust. Not at all like Van Helsing said he needed to be destroyed. With the death of Dracula we see his forces disperse. Even the wolves run back to the woods. Mina's curse is also lifted. 

This scene also gives us the loss of the American, Quincey Morris. 

I'll post the final, undated, entry tomorrow.

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