Pretty busy and exciting times around here.  Let's get started.

Up first I have a Pomo Code for you to get my Eldritch Witchery at 50% off from Elf Lair Games to celebrate the PDF release of NIGHT SHIFT: VETERANS OF THE SUPERNATURAL WARS.
(until July 31, 2020).

You can use Eldritch Witchery with any of my other Witch books AND it can be used with NIGHT SHIFT as well.
In Eldritch Witchery I introduce the demonic families of the Lilim (a race I used back in the 2nd Ed AD&D days), the Calabim, the Shedim, and the powerful Baalseraph. 
Eldritch Witchery uses Elf Lair Games O.R.C.S. while NIGHT SHIFT uses the more advanced O.G.R.E.S. but translation between the two is easy.   In fact, the demons, devils, and fiends of my "Night Worlds", in particular, my Ordinary World, uses the same demonic classifications.  So grab a demon from here to use in NIGHT SHIFT!
PLUS you can use all the spells from EW in NIGHT SHIFT to really increase the number of spells you have for your magic characters.
If Demons and Witches are your thing then also check out this review of my Daughters of Darkness: the Mara Witch Tradition, from the Reviews from R'lyeh.

This book also goes into more detail about the Lilim Demons. Both books feature Lilith on the cover too. 
I might need to spend more time with the demons.

Backers are now getting their copies of NIGHT SHIFT: VETERANS OF THE SUPERNATURAL WARS so the PDF was opened up on DriveThruRPG.  If you were not a backer you can get a copy for yourself now.
Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars
I am going to be posting more content and support for Night Shift here but thought I'd start off with a monster/NPC from my West Haven setting.
Ethyl Critchlow, Urban Hag
Every child, whether human or witch-born, knows to stay away from the house on the corner of Taylor and Bell.  Here sits an old run-down house that everyone thought would either fall in on itself or the city would have condemned.  But it is not the house that frightens the children, though it is frightening.  Nor is it the small angry dog that everyone remembers from their own childhoods, making it at least 25 years old or older.  Rumor in the neighborhood is that once the dog got out and bit the fingers off of a boy who could not run fast enough. It is not the dog or the house. It is the owner of both that keeps people away.
Ethyl Critchlow looks like a stereotypical old witch, but this is just a glamour, her true form is that of an ancient and hideous old hag.  She is an Urban Hag and has been living in West Haven for nearly as long as there has been a West Haven.  She hates all children and takes glee in terrorizing them, but pact made with the City Council keeps her from doing any actual harm to them.  Though if their toys land in her yard she will keep them and if any child climbs her fence to get these toys then she will send her "dog" (in actuality a glamoured Hell Hound) Maximillian after them.  
Ethyl would also admit that at her age (almost 400) that eating children, especially modern ones, given her terrible heartburn.  Though she did eat a couple of missionaries from East Haven back in the 1960s, but no one came looking for them.  
She stays in West Haven because frankly, she has nowhere else to go. The city tolerates her and is just waiting for her to finally die of old age or a magical mishap.   She is also a great source of magical knowledge and history. She can be bribed with 18-year-old single malt scotch. Ethyl is a heavy drinker, so bring more than one bottle if you plan to use this for information.  Also fair warning, as Ethyl drinks her glamour begins to fade. By the time she has worked through two bottles, her glamour will be gone.
Ethyl Critchlow (Urban Hag)No. Appearing: 1 (Unique)AC: 2Move: 30ft.Hit Dice: 10Special: Adapt to locale, Cackle, Horde, Spellcasting, Strength, Vulnerability (iron)XP VALUE: 10,240
Ethyl casts spells as a 9th-level witch.
Urban Hags are hoarders. Her home is a falling apart pit of junk she has collected over her nearly four centuries of life.  Amongst the filth, garbage and debris of decades, there are also some magical treasures.  In particular, Ethyl has several magical scrolls with spells that can be used by any witch or scholar. There is also a magical pipe that can lure the undead to sleep. Though one is advised not to go looking for such treasures.
find Ethyl and the other citizens of West Haven in Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars.

High and Dry is an introductory adventure for Béthorm: The Plane of Tékumel, the most recent roleplaying game to explore the world of Tékumel, the linguistic and cultural setting developed by Professor M.A.R. Barker. Published by UniGames, it is designed to be played between four and six players with beginning characters, but can easily be adjusted should there be more. It takes place in the small town of Mishábar, east of Katalál which has been beset by a rash of disappearances. All three of them have been of good clan women belonging to the Flat Rock clan of Mishábar, but worse, the disappearances have disrupted the Flat Rock clan’s farming business. Worse than that, this has come to the attention of the local clan’s patron and since business has been disrupted, there must be something wrong. From this background, High and Dry comes not with one introduction, but five! There is one each for if the Player Characters are all from the same Clan, from the same temple, from the same legion, they belong to a bunch of typical adventurers, or the Game Master is running a ‘Heroes of the Age’ campaign. So, if the Player Characters are from the Clan or temple, they are sent to find out why the most recent grain shipment is late; if they belong to a Legion, then they have been sent to assess the condition of a ruined fort near Mishábar, for possible future strategic use; if they are adventurers, then they will have heard childhood tales about the ruins of an accursed castle east of Katalál, and after hearing of the disappearances, decide to visit; and lastly, in an ‘Heroes of the Age’ campaign, they are drawn by a vision.

What the Player Characters find in Mishábar is a fraught situation. The local Clan Chief and mayor Shrakán hiTekkú’une has reacted poorly to the situation that both he and the town find themselves in. Not only is his third wife, Dijáya, one of the missing women, but he knows that the town and the clan are in trouble because of the missed grain shipment. This has made him paranoid and exacerbated his pettiness—he does not trust the newly arrived Player Characters, but he wants their help in locating the missing women and solving the situation before it escalates out of his control. The other clan elders are worried about the mayor’s current mental state and what it means for the future of the clan as well as the disappearances.

Dealing with the bullish mayor will be a challenge for beginning Player Characters, and even if they have greater status than he does—a distinct possibility—they may need to be subtle about how they deal with him rather running over him roughshod with their social differences. Ultimately, whether the Player Characters are pushed to act by the mayor or working with the other elders, they will find themselves tracking down the missing women. The actual mystery behind the missing women will actually be very quickly solved, being tied to the ruins of the accursed castle east of Katalál. As this should be the Player Characters’ first adventure this should be played up to be slightly creepy, but should otherwise be a straightforward bit of action to counter the awkward social situation in Mishábar.

High and Dry can really be divided into two parts—the social and the action, but its primary focus is upon the social interaction with the mayor and the elders. The issue with this is that the scenario does not include notes to help explain to the Player Characters their roles and responsibilities and thus their standing with the mayor when dealing with him. All of course will vary according to the positions held by the Player Characters—clan, temple, military, or mere adventurers, but some advice would have been useful. There is advice on the Tsolyáni custom of Shámtla or ‘blood money’, and this is useful as it does feature in the scenario.

Physically, High and Dry is a fifteen-page, full colour, 16.04 MB PDF. The artwork is excellent, the maps are decent, and everything is easy to read. Unfortunately, High and Dry does need another edit.

As an introductory adventure, High and Dry works best with the Player Characters as members of a Clan, Temple, or Legion. The lack of advice on handling the social interaction and the relationship between the Player Characters may hinder players new to Tékumel and the Empire of the Petal Throne, but experienced ‘Petalheads’ will not have a problem. Similarly, a Game Master with knowledge of Tékumel will not have a problem running High and Dry, and if necessary, can supply the advice on handling the social interaction and the relationship between the Player Characters at the heart of the scenario. Overall, High and Dry is a good introductory scenario for playing on Tékumel with Béthorm: The Plane of Tékumel, but will benefit from being run by a knowledgeable Game Master.

gomalemo:

Frog Slug Dragon

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCQbxVbptT2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Fear’s Sharp Little Needles: Twenty-Six Hunting Forays into Horror is an anthology of scenarios published by Stygian Fox for use with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition. Published following a successful Kickstarterter campaign, it follows on from the highly-regarded Things We Leave Behind in being set in the modern day, in dealing with mature themes, and in containing contributions from a number of tried-and-tested scenario authors from the last decade or so. What sets it apart though, is that Fear’s Sharp Little Needles contains some twenty-six scenarios, all but one of them, short, sharp stabs of horror—typically each five or six pages in length and thus the length of a magazine scenario or so. All twenty-six can work as one-shots, all but the last can work as convention scenarios, and all but the last require minimum preparation—the latter feature making Fear’s Sharp Little Needles a useful anthology for the Keeper to pull off the shelf at the last minute and have something ready for her gaming group with relatively little effort. In many cases, the scenarios would also work with just the one player and Investigator and the one Keeper. However, with a little more effort, many of the scenarios in the campaign would also work in an ongoing campaign, and in fact, some of them would work with Arc Dream Publishing’s Delta Green: The Role-Playing Game and some of them are actually linked together.

The design and the shortness of the scenarios in Fear’s Sharp Little Needles means that none of them are lengthy, sophisticated, or convoluted pieces of investigation. They are direct, straightforward pieces of horror—in other words, ‘sharp, little needles’, each with a quick set-up, a relatively easy mystery to investigate and explain, and a solution. Each follows the same format. This starts with a one-page, full colour illustration as a frontispiece, and an introduction followed by a guide to ‘Involving the Investigators’  and ending with ‘Rewards and Repercussions’. In between which is the scenario itself. The frontispiece includes the scenario’s title, author, and four tags for the scenario’s four elements. So, for Brian Courtemanche’s ‘Do Not Call Up That Which You Cannot Put Down’, these are ‘Sea Monster’, ‘Summoning’, ‘Cover-Up’, and ‘Martin’s Beach’. The ‘Rewards and Repercussions’ covers the possible Sanity rewards and losses for a successful or unsuccessful conclusion of the scenario respectively as well as any consequences. This section is also where the monster and NPC stats are listed. Lastly, some scenarios contain an extra box marked ‘Track Marks’, not only keeping in theme with the anthology’s title, but also making connections between some of the scenarios in Fear’s Sharp Little Needles. Not every scenario has a ‘Track Marks’ section, and even those that do can still be run as standalone scenarios rather than being linked in some way.

The anthology opens with the first of two scenarios by Jeffrey Moeller. ‘Separation Anxiety’ concerns a missing biomedical researcher whose investigation into her own condition lead to her being covertly investigated herself and then her disappearance. In tracking her down, the investigators will end up in the hometown of a creepy family in what is nicely traditional style Call of Cthulhu scenario to start the collection with.

Simon Brake’s ‘Undertow’ is more underplayed in its horror in comparison to the other scenarios in the anthology. A new horror novel from Justin Hayes after a gap of a few years has hit the bestseller lists, but its dark tale of a Los Angeles-based actress whose downward spiral into despair appears to be influenced by the Cthulhu Mythos. The question is, just how much does the novelist know about the Mythos? What exactly is going on feels slightly oblique, but the relative lack of lethality means that it would nicely work as a single-Investigator scenario.

Oscar Rios contributes three scenarios to Fear’s Sharp Little Needles. The first is ‘Sins Of My Youth’, in which a seemingly inexplicable attack by a homeless person swathed in manky clothing quickly escalates into something much more personal. Inspired by The Terminator franchise, this is a nasty confrontational set-up which best works when played out as a series of interludes. Oscar Rios’ second scenario, ‘Poetry Night’ takes place at a poetry event at The Lakeside, a coffee shop which sits on Juniper Lake in the Pine County Artist Enclave. What should be a relaxing evening takes a nasty turn as a bad ode draws the attendees to the shores of another lake. Veteran devotees of Call of Cthulhu will recognise familiar elements in the scenario, but the brevity of the format means that the author pleasingly filters these elements down to an espresso rather than perhaps a latte. Oscar Rios’ third scenario, is the penultimate scenario in Fear’s Sharp Little Needles. ‘The Winoka Point Research Center’ is really a location-based scenario, being primarily set on an island that is the subject of several urban legends. It is said that it was once home to a government research facility, but this is utterly disavowed and seemingly wiped from history—and as the Investigators get closer to the island, actually increasingly difficult to get ashore. Of course, there is certainly more than a grain of truth to the urban legends and there are some nasty surprises to be found in the Winoka Point Research Center. The issue here really, is player or Investigator motivation, so using this scenario in an ongoing campaign is likely to be challenging.

In ‘Walter’s Final Wish’, the Investigators are either visitors, employees, or residents at the Whispering Willow Retirement Home when everything goes to hell. Initially, Matt Wiseman and Jennifer Thrasher’s scenario has a traditional horror set-up—a zombie outbreak—which gives a fun, familiar feel until it delivers a nasty twist to the ‘Investigators’. Jason Williams’ ‘Whose Fuel Is Men And Stones’ is specifically written to be played by one Investigator and one Keeper and takes that Investigator on holiday to London as the result of an inheritance. The holiday takes an increasingly odd, even weird turn, and then has a nasty twist. This though is balanced against an opportunity for some solid roleplaying interaction between player and Keeper, and so will require fairly careful roleplaying upon the part of the Keeper to work effectively.

Matthew Sanderson contributes two scenarios to Fear’s Sharp Little Needles. The first, ‘Pulvis Et Umbra Sumus’ brings together several Investigators from across the USA to rural Maine. Each is from a large city, each is relatively poor and in debt, but all learn that they are the beneficiaries of a will. Of course, being the beneficiary of a will is never a good thing in Call of Cthulhu and such is the case in this scenario, which places innocents in a terrible situation and forces them to deal with it. In the second scenario, ‘Dissociation’, has the Investigators all aboard a night flight up the USA’s Pacific coast when the aeroplane is cut up, the passengers are sucked out into the open sky, and- This has the Investigators running around like rats in a maze and whilst both scenarios essentially cast the Investigators as victims, ‘Dissociation’ is the more interesting of the two, and definitely has the more powerful opening scene.

‘The Great And Terrible Awto’ by Jo Kreil, begins with a ‘hit and run’ and the victim begging for help. It turns out that he is a scientist working on a revolutionary new automobile engine, but who would want to kill him? The truth is as always, both weird and horrifying and the Investigators will need to rush in order to prevent one hell of a car crash.

‘Spilsbury #9485’ is the first of two scenarios by Adam Gauntlett. It takes its set-up from the idea of the disposing of bodies in large pieces of luggage and then turns that luggage—in this case, a well-travelled steamer trunk which certainly got as far as Istanbul—into an artifact which keeps appearing over and over to spread chaos, horror, and death. Unfortunately, the Investigators are just at the railway station when this happens once again… The Spilsbury of the title refers to the noted pathologist, Sir Bernard Spilsbury, and also in the scenario to the Spilsburys, a group dedicated to keeping track of the steamer trunk. The Spilsburys would certainly work as an Investigator group with some development. The scenario also affords the Keeper—or Handler—the opportunity to bring PISCES from the Delta Green: The Role-Playing Game into play, has some entertaining nods to Call of Cthulhu scenarios past, and in general, this has nicely done echoes of Nigel Kneale’s work (or even the television series, Sapphire & Steel). Adam Gauntlett’s second scenario is co-written with Brian M. Sammons, and is a much bloodier, nastier affair. ‘The Special Menu’ would also work well with the Delta Green: The Role-Playing Game as various investigators and agencies are called into to investigate an incident at a Wyse Fries fast food outlet where an employee and a customer have been found dead from having ingested rat poison.

Joe Trier’s ‘Lights Out’ begins as a simple missing persons case—a teenager, depressed after the death of her boyfriend, has disappeared. However, it quickly escalates into murder and arson, and presents the Investiagtors with a potentially difficult dilemma. This scenario moves smartly along and feels not unlike a horror film. Strange murders and missing body parts spur the investigation in Alan Goodall’s ‘Bone Deep’, which again would work with the Delta Green: The Role-Playing Game. A weird medical condition and a winding down funeral home are nicely tied together by new lore for the ghoulish antagonists. In comparison to the previous ‘Lights Out’, this has more of a televisual feel.

However, ‘Do Not Call Up That Which You Cannot Put Down’ has again a filmic tone—in particular, Jaws. Brian Courtemanche’s scenario is the first of two in the anthology to be set at sea and is set aboard a boat whose crew is taking part in the Massachusetts State Fisheries Department’s annual shark-tagging programme. The crew—or Investigators—have already had an encounter ashore with a drunk rambling about sea monsters,  and whilst they will probably have dismissed his ravings, events out at sea prove that they should have listened. Taking place aboard a small boat, it has a claustrophobic feel despite it being at sea and really delivers a horrible dilemma for the Investigators.

In Tyler Hudak’s ‘Hit And Run’, the Investigators witness the eponymous death on the road. That would seem to be that, but then the driver of the other car comes to them for help, telling them that following the incident, he is being hunted. This is a serviceable adventure which has potential as an on-the-road encounter between the larger parts of a campaign.

Andi Newton has two scenarios in Fear’s Sharp Little Needles. The first is the other sea-based scenario in the anthology, ‘Remaking The Hatteras Reef’. This is set on the North Carolina coast where strangely mutated fish have recently begun to be caught and a diver has been badly injured in a fish attack. The North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission believes that an old ship, recently scuttled to rebuild the reef, has leaked some sort of contaminants. Getting  the Investigators directly involved may be difficult for a campaign, but with the right characters this has a nice sense of atmosphere and place, and sets up an interesting technical challenge.

The second scenario by Andi Newton is ‘The Tormiss Crd Model Z-17’. The Tormiss CRD Model Z-17 of the title is a successful model of pacemaker which has a perfect record. Now when one is removed from a cadaver at a mortuary, a strange discovery is made—the leads which connect to the heart are full of a clear, viscous fluid instead of the standard electrically conductive material, and then the fluid seems to wriggle… Now a video of the device has been put online and the Investigators are tasked with looking into both what happened and the strange device. Of course, the trail leads back to the manufacturer. This scenario would work well with Delta Green: The Role-Playing Game, but however it is used, it makes nice use of a common medical device.

Most of the scenarios in Fear’s Sharp Little Needles are set in the USA. Of course, many of them can be moved elsewhere, but ‘The Sores’ by Helen Gould is specifically set elsewhere. In the 1990s, a terrible illness swept the small town of Dirgel, Wales, causing weeping sores and, eventually, death. Now, it has returned. Whether as medical personnel, police detectives, or even local residents in the now quarantined town, the investigators must race to find out the cause even as they break out in sores… This is weird and creepy, though the Keeper may want to do a little research on what Welsh towns are like as part of her scenario preparation.

Chad Bowser’s ‘Up Jumped The Reaper’ is another case of a missing person. This time a promising graduate student pursuing a degree in American Folklore. Her research has taken her into the Western North Carolina Mountains and her family is growing concerned about the whereabouts of both her and her boyfriend. Essentially, this is a decent rural bogeyman horror tale. In the earlier ‘Sins Of My Youth’, only the one Investigator is the target, but in Stuart Boon’s ‘Resurrection’, all of the Investigators become the targets. The scenario begins at the rain-sodden funeral of a college friend when they are confronted by someone who looks like another college friend who disappeared years ago and is thought to be dead. The question is, where has he been, and then, why is he targeting the Investigators? This scenario is simply okay.

‘Waiting To Be Born’ by Christopher Smith Adair is a one-location scenario, primarily being set in and around the New Life Fertility Center in the Canyon Lake, Texas area, fifty miles north of San Antonio. The clinic was set up to provide holistic solutions for infertile couples, but the Investigators are asked to look into it by a couple who blame their son’s death on the clinic. Alternative options are suggested, which give stronger reasons for the Investigators to be at the clinic, as perhaps this is not the strongest reason for them to investigate or get into the clinic. That said, when they do, there is a slightly odd feel to the clinic, which turns downright weird once they penetrate its depths. One potential angle or location feels slightly underdeveloped, but overall the scenario really works once the Investigators are inside the facility.

Scott Dorward’s ‘Unland’ takes place at former amusement park which was shut down two decades ago following a terrible scandal. The Investigators will need a good reason to visit the dilapidated site, but once inside find themselves trapped in a horrid funhouse, full of hellishly collapsed rides, mirrors, and strange remnants of former attendees. Ultimately the horror in ‘Unland’ will take a very personal turn for each of the Investigators and so may not be to the taste of every player. Nevertheless, short and creepy. 

At just three pages, ‘The Focus Group’ by Simon Yee, is the shortest scenario in Fear’s Sharp Little Needles at just three pages. Prior to the start of the scenario, the  Investigators were brought together as a play test focus group for a geo-caching, puzzle-solving game called ‘The Cage of Morpheus’, but after a problem with the music, they are brought back in to test the new version. When their smartphones start displaying odd content and things start getting weird, is it the game or is it something else? This is a good scenario if the Keeper wanted to inflict pithecophobia on an Investigator, but it is a short scenario, probably too short to run as a convention scenario.

Glynn Owen Barras’ ‘Ghosts Of Ravenscar’ is another missing persons case, this time in England, at an abandoned village, just south of Whitby, on the Yorkshire coast. The investigators find themselves stalked amongst the ruins and must deal with the monsters if they are to escape. Coming towards the end of the anthology, this suffers from being too similar to earlier adventures and reliant upon a similar set-up. So again, it is okay.

Rounding out Fear’s Sharp Little Needles is ‘Phlebotomy’, Jeffery Moeller’s second contribution to the anthology. Unlike the previous twenty-five scenarios in the book, this is a full length scenario, one which will take multiple sessions to complete. It begins in nasty fashion at the QwikLab Phlebotomy Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio when on an ordinary morning, a patient suddenly begins screaming in rage and pain, before driving a syringe through the eye of a nurse and into her brain, thus killing her. He then explodes into a puddle of goop. This set-up leads into a lengthy and convoluted investigation, perhaps linked to a mysterious patient who was also at the clinic that morning. The problem with the scenario is the difference between the set-up and the investigation. The set-up really works well with one or more of the Investigators at the clinic and the investigation really works with the Investigators as law enforcement or Delta Green agents. However, having the Investigators as the law enforcement or Delta Green agents means that they are unlikely to experience the set-up, and having the Investigators at the set-up makes it harder for them to be law enforcement or Delta Green agents, and so the investigation is going to be a whole lot more challenging. Find a way to balance the issue and this is still a good investigative scenario, throwing the Investigators into a modern celebrity culture, a conspiracy of sorts, and potentially, to a link back to the first scenario in the book, ‘Separation Anxiety’. In fact, the two work well together and perhaps it would have been interesting to see the two pulled out of the anthology and perhaps developed with another scenario or two as a mini-campaign. Ultimately, this scenario is not as good as the author’s ‘Ladybug, Ladybug, Fly Away Home’ from Things We Leave Behind, but it is still a very good, well detailed scenario. The nod to the superb Nameless Cults Volume One: Lost in the Lights – A Call of Cthulhu sourcebook of cult horror in the handouts is a nice touch.

Physically, Fear’s Sharp Little Needles is very well presented, the layout being pleasingly uncluttered and easy to read. Reuben Dodd’s colour artwork is excellent, the layout is clean, the maps are clear, and the writing is good. Plus all of the handouts, all of them done in full colour, are repeated at the end of the book.

Whether they are looking for a one-shot, a convention scenario, or something short to add to a campaign, then Fear’s Sharp Little Needles has about everything a Keeper would want. Though some of them will need some development in terms of set-up for a campaign or even just preparation of pre-generated Investigators, there is not a bad scenario amongst the twenty-six entries in the anthology, and some of them are excellent pieces of horror. Each one of the short scenarios in this anthology is clearly presented, easy to understand, and easy to prepare, enabling the Keeper to deliver each one of Fear’s Sharp Little Needles: Twenty-Six Hunting Forays into Horror with the horror they deserve.

I know we have all heard this one before, but it seems like a new live-action Zatanna movie is in the works at Warner Brothers.
DCEU Mythic / Comic Book Resources reports.

https://dceumythic.com/2020/07/03/wb-has-begun-development-on-a-zatanna-movie/
https://www.cbr.com/zatanna-film-warner-bros-report/
http://epicstream.com/news/NicoParungo/Warner-Bros-Might-be-Working-on-a-Live-Action-Zatanna-Movie
We have all heard rumors before of Emilia "Mother of Dragons" Clarke being eyed for the part for either the movie or the HBOMax Justice League Dark series.  But right now everything is either hearsay or rumor. 
But hope springs eternal here at the Other Side.
In other DC news, Ray "Cyborg" Fisher accuses Justice League relief Director Joss Whedon of unprofessional behavior.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/justice-league-star-ray-fisher-accuses-joss-whedon-abusive-unprofessional-behavior-1301362

Joss Wheadon’s on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.

He was enabled, in many ways, by Geoff Johns and Jon Berg.

Accountability>Entertainment

— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) July 1, 2020
Or the same thing I have been saying about this asshole for the last 20 years.
Here is hoping that we start seeing something better from the DC Movies.

It is an undeniable truth that the Witch gets a lot of bad press. Not necessarily within the roleplaying hobby, but from without, for the Witch is seen as a figure of evil, often—though not necessarily—a female figure of evil, and a figure to be feared and persecuted. Much of this stems from the historical witch-hunts of the fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeen, and eighteenth centuries, along with the associated imagery, that is, the crone with the broom, pointy hat, black cat, cauldron, and more. When a Witch does appear in roleplaying, whether it is a historical or a fantasy setting, it is typically as the villain, as the perpetrator of some vile crime or mystery for the player characters to solve and stop. Publisher The Other Side has published a number of supplements written not only as a counter to the clichés of the witch figure, but to bring the Witch as a character Class to roleplaying after being disappointed at the lack of the Witch in the Player’s Handbook for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition. Each of these supplements draws upon more historical interpretations of the Witch—sometimes to counter the clichés, sometimes to enforce them—and presents her as a playable character Class. Each book is published under the label of ‘Basic Era Games’, and whilst the exact Retroclone each book is written to be used with may vary, essentially, they are all compatible. Which means that the Game Master can mix and match traditions, have player characters from matching traditions, and so on.

Daughters of Darkness: The Mara Witch for Basic Era Games is the first book in the series and is designed for use with Goblinoid Games’ Labyrinth Lord. It presents the Witch dedicated to the Mara Tradition, that of the Dark Mother—Lillith, the First Woman, the First Witch, and the Mother of Demons. Although for use for Labyrinth Lord, it presents several options for the Class, depending upon the Dungeons & Dragons ‘tradition’ that a gaming group follows. So that is Levels One to Thirty and with Race limits or not, so Daughters of Darkness can be run with Labyrinth Lord, Labyrinth Lord and Advanced Labyrinth Lord, or another retroclone. In addition to the Class, the supplement includes some one-hundred-and-seventy-five spells and rituals for the Witch character Class, almost forty monsters as allies or enemies, and a trio of unique witches for the Player Characters to encounter.

As a Class, the Witch has much in common with the Cleric and the Wizard. Primarily, the Witch is an arcane spellcaster who studies her spells and records them in her spell book or Book of Shadows. However, she may also gain some divine or ritual spells. She is religious in that she honours, follows and worships a patron, a single Goddess, and where for the Cleric, this worship is for good of the community, for the Witch, it is very much personal in nature. Where a Wizard prepares his spells and a Cleric prays for his spells, a Witch prepares them via ritual to her goddess or patron. Whatever her god, goddess, or patron, the Witch does not believe in the afterlife, but sees life as a cycle of life, death, and rebirth—and so cannot be raised from the dead or use the spells Raise Dead or Resurrect. Most Witches are Lawful and are reluctant to cast ‘black’ or evil magic, but can be of any Alignment. Like the Warlock, the Witch’s primary attribute is Charisma and gains more spells and an Experience Point bonus the higher her Charisma is. They see their magic as being older than that of either the Cleric or the Wizard. The Witch also has Occult Powers, the most basic of which is an understanding of healing herbs at Second Level and beyond.

Each Witch, after answering ‘the Call’ to her goddess or patron, follows a Tradition. This can be a Family Tradition, the Witch following her family into or joining a Coven; she can follow a mix of Traditions—an ‘Eclectic’ Tradition; or even be a Solitary Practitioner. The Tradition explored in Daughters of Darkness: The Mara Witch for Basic Era Games is the Mara Tradition. This Tradition serves deities dedicated to Death, Transition, Change, and even Destruction. In terms of Alignment, it can be either Lawful or Chaotic, never Neutral, but a Daughters of Darkness—or Mara—Coven is typically Chaotic and Evil in nature, their primary patron being Lilith, the Queen of the Night. They may revel in, and benefit from, death and destruction, and consort with vampires and demons.

The Mara Tradition adds a number of elements to the base Witch Class. It grants the Witch a Familiar, such as a Crow, Hyena, or Wolf, more as the Witch grows in power. At higher Levels, a Witch can invade the dreams of others and drain their Constitution, polymorph into nightmares, and places curses on others. The Mara Tradition grants access to Necromancy spells, though not the Raise Dead or Resurrect spells.

Artemise Mallor
Second Level Witch
Alignment: Chaotic Evil

STR 10 (+0)
DEX 13 (-1 AC, +1 Missile Attack/Imitative)
CON 15 (+1 HP)
INT 15 (+1 Languages, Literate)
WIS 13 (+1 Saving Throw Modifier)
CHR 17 (-1 Reaction Adjustment, six Retainers, Morale 9)

Armour Class: 7 (Padded)
Hit Points: 3
Weapons: Dagger, Sling, Whip
THAC0 20

Occult Powers
Healing balms (1d4+1/three times per day)

Spells: (First Level) – Allure, Blood Augury, Consecration Ritual, Minor Curse

Familiar: Jackal (+1 Intelligence, +1 Constitution checks)

In terms of spells, Daughters of Darkness: The Mara Witch for Basic Era Games offers a wide selection. So, at Level One, Bewitch I is a variant of the Charm spell, Blood Augury allows the caster to ask a single question of her own blood, Minor Curse temporarily inflicts a -3 penalty on a target, and Sickly reduces both the victim’s health and constitution. At Level Two, a Witch gets familiar spells such Augury and Cause Light Wounds, but also spells particular to her Class like Ghoulish Hands which the victim’s hands clawed like those of a ghoul, complete with paralysing effect, and Raven Spy for sending a corvid to keep watch on a victim. The spells go all the way up to Eighth Level and really include some meaty spells that are more interesting to roleplay than the simple flashbang of a Wizard’s repertoire. In addition, the Witch also has access to Ritual spells, which gains at every even Level. These are cast as a group, so require more than the one Witch. So, Curse of Lycanthropy lets a coven turn the victim of the spell into a wererat or wereboar or werewolf.

Daughters of Darkness: The Mara Witch for Basic Era Games describes nearly forty monsters. Many are drawn from folklore and lore to do with witches—Barghests, Black Cats, Demons, Imps of the Perverse, and more. Others are less obvious in their sources, such as the Demonic Ghūl, a worse type of the Ghoul or Ghast, or the Olitiau, a monstress riding bat. The Lilim are included as another group who claim Lilith as their mother and may be seen as the sisters to the Daughters of Darkness, some of whom claim to be part-demon as a consequence. The bestiary section is rounded out with a selection of vampires. The last section of the supplement describes three unique witches—‘Bloody’ Mary Worth, who haunts mirrors scaring away girls who come looking for their fates; Darlessa is a Queen of Vampires and  former witch; and lastly Lilith herself.

Physically, Daughters of Darkness: The Mara Witch for Basic Era Games is generally tidily presented. It needs an edit in places and some of the illustrations—which do vary in quality and style—are poorly handled. In general, the supplement feels slightly rough around the edges.

There is a great to like in Daughters of Darkness: The Mara Witch for Basic Era Games. There are some good monsters and lots and lots of spells which should be fun to game when roleplaying a Witch. Yet there is an issue at the heart of the supplement and that is that as much as the Witch Class clicks together easily with the Mara Tradition, there are dissonant differences between the Class and the Tradition. What it boils down to is that the Witch Class as written is not inherently evil, and in fact, the Class states that Witches avoid casting ‘black’ evil magic, yet to get the fullest out of Daughters of Darkness: The Mara Witch for Basic Era Games, a Player Character Witch will have to be evil—or at least Chaotic. Some players may have an issue with this, as will some playing groups, and that is understandable. However, for a player wanting to roleplay that type of character, there is a fair amount of detail in Daughters of Darkness: The Mara Witch for Basic Era Games for him to dig into and bring into his portrayal of his character, whereas a player not wanting to play a Witch from the Mara Tradition, or not wanting to play a Witch of the Mara Tradition who is neither evil or Chaotic, will have a harder time. Similarly, the Labyrinth Lord can easily take the information in this supplement and make an interesting NPC and more.

Overall, Daughters of Darkness: The Mara Witch for Basic Era Games is a good supplement for a player wanting to play a darker, perhaps even evil character in a Dungeons & Dragons-style campaign which allows such characters or for the Game Master wanting to create Witch NPCs for her campaign.

Because someone’s 100th birthday should go on for a while.

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, the  Jonstown Compendium is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s mythic universe of Glorantha. It enables creators to sell their own original content for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and HeroQuest Glorantha (Questworlds). This can include original scenarios, background material, cults, mythology, details of NPCs and monsters, and so on, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Glorantha Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Glorantha-set campaigns.

—oOo—
What is it?
Monster of the Month #6: Petty Spirits presents four minor spirits for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

It is an eight-page, full colour, 911.74 KB PDF.

Monster of the Month #6: Petty Spirits is well presented and decently written.

Where is it set?
The four petty spirits may be found almost anywhere in Dragon Pass, although some may not be found in the Praxian Wastes.

Who do you play?
Shamans, farmers, and redsmiths will be interested in some of these spirits.

What do you need?
Monster of the Month #6: Petty Spirits requires both RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and RuneQuest – Glorantha Bestiary. 

What do you get?
Monster of the Month #6: Petty Spirits presents four different, minor spirits which can annoy, interact with, or even be used by the Player Characters. The four are Bronzebiters, Lily’s Eyes,Premonitions, and Seed-Eaters. Each is broken down to cover its ecology and both superstitions and rites related to it, as well as stats.

Bronzebiters are red mouths with black teeth which devour the bones of Air and Storm gods—or bronze. When they attack bronze, it appears pitted and discoloured, or diseased. They are a nuisance, but also a warning to oil, polish, and maintain a weapon. They cannot enter a space sacred to Gustbran, the god of redsmiths, and Praxian shamans will bind them and send them against enemy tribes.

Lily’s Eye spirits are flowers with tiny eyes which grow in the Spirit World before they manifest and grow in the Middle Realm—especially in wild, fertile areas. Oddly, Aldryami consider them to be spies, as do Orlanthi. Lily’s Eye spirits can be plucked, their magical properties being highly valued by shamans and alchemists.

Premonitions are manifestations of the Movement Rune which carry a glimpse of the future from the far Outer Regions of the Spirit World, where boundaries grow vague, and Eternity draws near.

Seed-Eaters are small rural Darkness spirits with long snouts used to rummage through the furrow of plowed fields, plucking up and eating seeds. They like spiritual foods linked to Chaos—strife, disease, and hate. Despite this, they are associated with Mallia, the Goddess of Disease.

On one level, these are four inconsequential spirits which the heroes should not be bothering themselves with, but on another there is scope with each one to add flavour or detail to an adventure or scenario. The presence of Seed-Eaters might suggest the influence of Mallia and thus work as a clue, but the passing of the seasons could be indicated by the annual ceremony to win their favour. Similarly, Red Mouths might be a simple annoyance, but perhaps be the indication of an attack by the shaman from a rival tribe. 

Is it worth your time?
Yes. Monster of the Month #6: Petty Spirits gives the Game Master four interesting spirits that can be used to add small, flavoursome details, and serve as clues, challenges, and so on.
No. Monster of the Month #6: Petty Spirits consists of details too small to really bother about—especially if the Player Characters lack a shaman.
Maybe. Monster of the Month #6: Petty Spirits are mostly colour, mostly the small details, and some of the four are easier to use than others. 

I have not one of these in a while so let's get to it!
Nightfell: Horror Fantasy Setting for 5e

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/278542219/nightfell-horror-fantasy-setting-for-5e-0?ref=theotherside
While I could do with less Grimdark these days, this one does look like a lot of fun and promises to have some nice Stretch Goals.  Plus I have chatted with the creator a bit and looks really fantastic.
So yeah, I think I'll give this one a try.

Somewhere on the far reaches of Europe’s north, high amidst its snow-covered mountains lies the Dorag Passage. Recently, a scientific expedition consisting of botanical cataloguers, geographers, geologists, and even a noted alchemist, led by Hastik Melmark, headed into the region. It has been weeks, even months since the expedition has been heard of, and perhaps there are rumours of nightmares and hysteria plaguing the sparsely settled regions near the Dorag Passage. Does the expedition need rescuing or simply checking upon? Is there any truth to the rumours? Perhaps the Player Characters are employed to conduct that check or need to find Hastik Melmark—or another member of the expedition—for reasons of their own. This is the set-up for The Feast on Titanhead, a weird-fantasy, Lovecraftian-tinged scenario of body horror which echoes Death Frost Doom by way of The Thing From Another World. It is also a heavy-metal, grind-core interpretation of the Manifestus Omnivorous.

Published by Games Omnivorous, The Feast on Titanhead is a system agnostic scenario of fantasy horror which would work with any number of Old School Renaissance retroclones. The most obvious one is Lamentations of the Flame Weird Fantasy Roleplay, another is the publisher’s own 17th Century Minimalist: A Historical Low-Fantasy OSR Rulebook, but with some adjustment it would work with Cthulhu by Gaslight or a darker toned version of Leagues of Gothic Horror for use with Leagues of Adventure: A Rip-Roaring Setting of Exploration  and Derring Do in the Late Victorian Age!. Take it away from its European setting and The Feast on Titanhead would work well with Mörk Borg as they share a similar tone and sensibility. Notably though it adheres to the Manifestus Omnivorous, the ten points of which are:

1. All books are adventures.
2. The adventures must be system agnostic.
3. The adventures must take place on Earth.
4. The adventures can only have one location.
5. The adventures can only have one monster.
6. The adventures must include saprophagy or osteophagy.
7. The adventures must include a voracious eater.
8. The adventures must have less than 6,666 words.
9. The adventures can only be in two colours.
10. The adventures cannot have good taste. (This is the lost rule.)

So yes, The Feast on Titanhead adheres to all ten rules. It is an adventure, it is system agnostic, it takes place on Earth, it has one location, it has the one monster (the others are extensions of it), it includes Osteophagy—the practice of animals, usually herbivores, consuming bones, it involves a voracious eater, the word count is not high—the scenario only runs to twenty-eight pages, and it is presented in two colours—in this case, black and grey. Lastly, The Feast on Titanhead does lack good taste. Be warned, this scenario is one of gut churning—in some cases, literally—horror, bodily fluids, and madness. To that end, the scenario includes a sense of ‘Contagious Pyschosis’, a fairly brutal countdown and timing mechanism which drives the Player Characters into insanity and the maw of the monster at the heart of the scenario. This is quite a blunt mechanic and if the roleplaying mechanics that the Game Master is running The Feast on Titanhead with has sanity or madness mechanics of its own, she may want to substitute those instead of using the ones given.

The play of The Feast on Titanhead is actually quite straightforward. The Player Characters will ascend to and Dorag Passage, and after a nasty encounter with weirdly behaving beasts of burden, they descend into a series of passages and rooms uncovered by Hastik Melmark’s expedition. Here in a strange, horridly fetid and organically bloody complex they are likely encounter the former members of the expedition, their possessions, signs of madness, odd energy, and vomit-inducing monsters. The encounters get odder the deeper they penetrate into the complex until they get to the centre of the complex and the scenario, where they can confront the inhuman force behind what is going on. That is, if they get there. Although The Feast on Titanhead presents two options in terms of motivation for the Player Characters to get to the adventuring location, but once inside, there is a dearth of clues or hooks for them to find which would drive them onwards and pull deeper into the complex—though there is the possibility that a Player Character could be snapped up and taken there already, hopefully motivating to rescue them. Balanced against this is the scenario’s weirdness and its ‘Contagious Pyschosis’ which may actually drive the Player Characters to flee before they learn anything.

Much of the problem in The Feast on Titanhead is that it only names three NPCs. Two are members of the expedition, one being Hastik Melmark, whilst the third is a treasure hunter. The latter is left up to the Game Master to develop and decide what he is going to do and how he reacts with the Player Characters—the advice being rather slight. Of the expedition, there is relatively little sign, no real clues as to what they discovered, and so the Player Characters never quite have anyone to actually care about or emphasise with. Ultimately, the Player Characters will only actually learn or gain hints as to what is going on if they penetrate into the complex’s furthest reaches and defeat the monster at its core—and that is a difficult prospect.

Physically, The Feast on Titanhead is a black and grey book a sperate card cover. The map is on the inside of the card cover and the internal illustrations reflect the heavy-metal, grind-core interpretation of the Manifestus Omnivorous manifesto. It needs a slight edit in places, but is overall quite a sturdy product, being done on heavy paper and card stock.

The Feast on Titanhead is short and brutal, it being possible to play through the scenario—and win or lose (even if they survive)—in a single session. It needs fleshing out somewhat in terms of Player Character motivation and drive to delve deeper, and if played as part of a campaign, any failure upon their part—again, if they survive—may have a profound effect upon the future of that campaign. In need of some development upon the part of the Game Master, The Feast on Titanhead probably works best as a heavy-metal, grind-core, bloody body horror grindhouse style one-shot.

I knew my month of BECMI reviews and deep dives was going to be educational, but while I had hoped, I did not expect to find a new Witch Queen.  But there she was, in Module M1 Into the Maelstrom. 
In the module, we are introduced to a nascent Immortal, Kersy.  She is using her human guise as a 30th level Magic-user and she is the ruler of the Island of Turkeys.  If you are thinking she sounds a lot like Circe and her Island of Pigs then you are correct.  But.  Doing some deeper research into Kersy gives me a stanger tale.   Over at the Vaults of Pandius, they have expanded on her background a bit more. 
She is described as the distillation of Koryis' own unwanted thoughts, urges, and feelings.  Koryis is the Immortal Patron of Peace.  While he was on his epic quest he sought to purge himself of evil in impure thoughts. He was successful and that "impurity" manifested itself as Kersy.
At least that is what his mythology says. 
We learn from M1 that she is a "beautiful maiden" and a "30th level magic-user." But other details are scant. From the Vaults of Pandius we learn that she is beautiful with long raven black hair and amber-colored eyes.  She is the Patroness of Witchcraft and Charms.  Certainly, she is more than just some cast of skin of evil.
She is also described as having "milky-white skin" (boring!) but I have been looking for an excuse to use Vanessa Williams as a witch since 1997.  Today is that day.
Kersy and Koryis
We first meet both of these immortals in M1 Into the Maelstrom.  It is obvious they have a connection from the start.  
Kersy (Vanessa Williams) and her "brother" Koryis (Armand Assante)

Back when I was an undergrad in psychology I read a lot of Freud and Jung. It wasn't required, I was (still am) a Cognitive Psychologist. But I felt it was important to my overall education to know my subject's history.    While I like Freud, I find his theories to be outdated and outmoded.  Jung on the other hand felt more like philosophy than psychology at times.  I have credited his "Man and His Symbols" as one of my most important "Appendix N" books.  
What is the importance of that here?  Kersy is Koryis' "dark anima" in Jungian psychology.  The description of Koryis' quest to rid himself of these dark, impure impulses sounds exactly like a quest to confront his Anima; who is Kersy.
Now if this is what happened then according to Jung Koyris is now forever incomplete.  Reading over the history on VoP it would seem that Kersy knows this. If we extend this to other Jungian archetypes then Kersy fits one perfectly. The Witch.  She is powerful, connected to the Earth, and a source of wisdom.  Koyris in his quest to rid himself of Kersy only weakened himself and gave his power away.
Kersy as a Witch
You knew I was going to come to this.  Kersy is not just described as a witch, she is listed on VoP as having the portfolio of Witchcraft and Charm. she is also described as being unique among immortals. She prefers to use her own magic for example.  She also seems to have become an immortal at the same time Koryis did due to their link.  So she hides from other Immortals, not having a Patron of her own, and lives in a cave on an Island filled with turkeys.That's all rather disappointing.Even a 30th level magic-user can do better than living in a cave somewhere.  So taking a page from my own games I say Kersy went on her own quest of Immortality and she got it, as a Witch Queen.
In this version soon after her "birth" Kersy, granted great power, but no learning on how such power should be wielded and let's just say poor impulse control, soon overpowers her jailers and sets her sights on the known world.  She travels much as her history suggests and in particular in Old Alphatia.  She studies magic everywhere and learns her magic does not come from the study of dusty tomes, she gets her magic from somewhere else. In the intervening centuries she learns much about who and what she is.  The divide between her and Koryis grew.  She still desires him and wants to make him hers. Maybe this is some desire to reunite their torn assunder soul or a darker desire to possess him in a way that was his desire but now forsaken and left with her desires.
Kersy, Witch Queen of Alphatia31st level Witch, Eclectic TraditionFemale, Chaotic (Chaotic Neutral)

Strength 12
Intelligence 25
Wisdom 18
Dexterity 17
Constitution 19
Charisma 25

Saving Throws (Base)
Death Ray/Poison 2
Magic Wands 2
Paralysis, Polymorph 2 
Dragon Breath 4
Rods, Staffs, Spells 3

+5 to all saves via Ring of Protection
+3 for Wisdom

Hit Points: 87
AC: -8
(leather armor +5, Bracers of Protection +3, Cord of Protection +2, Ring of Protection +3, Dex 17 -2)

Base THAC0: 8
(I know, THAC0 was not used in Basic D&D. You know what this means)

Occult Powers
Lesser: Familiar (Familiar Spirit)
Minor: Speak to Animals
Medial: Drawing Down the Moon
Greater: Witch's Blessing
Major: Polymorph Other
Superior: Longevity

Spells
Cantrips (8): Arcane Mark, Clean, Daze, Guiding Star, Mote of Light, Object Reading, Open, Summon Vermin
1st (9+3): Allure, Analgesia, Bar the Way, Bewitch I, Burning Hands, Call Spirits of the Land, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Eldritch Fire, Glamour, Mend Minor Wounds, Pace Without Trace
2nd (8+3): Alter Self, Beckon, Bewitch II, Blight of Loneliness, Burning Gaze, Continual Flame, Detect Charm, ESP, Evil Eye, Haunting Mists, Mind Obscure
3rd (8+3): Astral Sense, Bestow Curse, Bewitch III, Calm Animals, Clairsentience, Control Winds, Danger Sense, Expand Senses, Lethe's Curse, Toad Mind, Twisting the Heartstrings III
4th (8+4): Analyze Magic, Ball Lightning, Bewitch IV, Cauldron of Rage, Confusion, Divination, Forest of Deception, Instant Karma, Masque, Polymorph Others, Remove Curse, Threshold 
5th (7+4): Adoration, Bewitch V, Break Enchantment, Commune with Nature, Decimate, Enslave, Maelstrom, Nightmare, Sending, Song of Night, Ward of Magic
6th (7+3): Analyze Dweomer, Animate Shadows, Bewitch VI, Bones of Earth, Cackle of the Winter Crone, Cloak of Dreams, Greater Scry, Heroes' Feast, Mislead, Smitten
7th (6+1): Adoring Crowd, Astral Spell, Bewitch VII, Breath of the Goddess, Irresistible Dance, Mass Polymorph, Veneration
8th (6): Adoration (Overwhelming), Bewitch VIII, Demand, Eye of the Storm, Mists of Ecstasy, Storm of Vengeance
Magic ItemsAlrune Statues, Bracers of Protection, Brooch of Shielding, Calming Tea, Cauldron of Plenty, Cloak of Night, Cord of Protection, Earings of Timeless Beauty,  Friendship Tea, Ring of Protection, Wand of Spell Storing
Kersy is something of a unique witch, so I made her an Eclectic Tradition Witch.  She is also a solitary witch so you will notice and no "ritual" spells.   I also opted to raise her to 31st level from 30th to give her a bump in her power.As an Eclectic, I was able to grab spells and occult powers from a variety of sources.  While a case could be made that she is a Classical witch or even with bits of the Mara thrown in, I felt Eclectic was the best choice. 


Books and Resources Used

• M1 Into the Maelstrom (Kersy)
• The Witch (Eclectic Tradition, levels to 36)
• Daughters of Darkness: The Mara Witch for Basic Era Games (spells)
• The Children of the Gods: The Classical Witch for Basic Era Games (spells)
• The Basic Witch: The Pumpkin Spice Witch Tradition (spells)
• The Craft of the Wise: The Pagan Witch Tradition (spells)
• Kersy, Vaults of Pandius

Ok. So it is July. June is over and so should BECMI month.  The trouble is I find I still have a little more to say.  Plus it would be difficult to properly end BECMI month without a good look at the Immortals themselves.
So far we have run into six named Immortals; Koryis, Kersy (more on her later!), Vanya and Alphaks from Into the Maelstrom and Orcus and Demogorgon from the Immortals DM's Book. None are mentioned (too my knowledge) in the module The Immortal Storm. Of these five, three are demons.  Not just demons in the general sense, but demons in the AD&D (and now D&D) sense. 
One thing made clear in the Immortals game was that Immortals are not gods.  They are powerful beings, with near unlimited magical powers, who occupy the outer planes, and are worshipped by clerics...what was my point here? Oh not gods. Right, totally not gods. Nope.
Except they are.
Alphaks aside (he is a special case), Orcus and Demogorgon are immortals, and demons, and (let's be honest here) minor gods.  Essentially what OMG is all about. 
In the D&D Rules Cyclopedia Immortals are discussed, but specific Immortals are rarely mentioned.  Ka, Odin, and Atzanteotl are mentioned by name and have appeared in other BECMI products over the years.  The conversion notes for D&D to AD&D 2nd Ed in the Cyclopedia gives us this little tidbit:The Immortals of the D&D system and the deities of the AD&D system should not be converted between the game systems.They were real set on the whole Immortals ≠ Gods thing.
I wanted to review The Wrath of the Immortals.  But I don't have a copy and DriveThruRPG also doesn't have it.  I have managed to piece together some of the immortals from other products and from the Vaults of Pandius.  A couple of them stick out, Immortals and Faith and the Codex Immortalis by Marco Dalmonte. 
A few of the "demonic" Immortals mentioned in other products are, Bagni Gullymaw, a demonic troll and the immortal of canibalism and Stodos, a cold-blood Type II/Hezrou demon.  Bagni could be another name of the Other Side favorite Vaprak the destroyer.
What BECMI lacks, and really should have been a major contributor to, are new demons.
So instead of looking to the Gods and Immortals of this "mythos" like I normally do, I should look at the monsters and see which ones make for good demons.  
Demons of BECMI
I should start this part off with a note about another post on Demons in BECMI from Mystara Sage in Residence, Bruce Heard.  He posted about demons earlier this year and it is worth taking a look at.https://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2020/04/calidar-demons.html
 Moving away from the Immortal-level rules I look back at the various monsters.  To make my life easier I am just going to look at the D&D Rules Cyclopedia and D&D Creature Catalog.

The Plane of Nightmares was introduced to us in the X series of modules and would then later be expanded on in later Companion and Master books.  There are a few creatures from this plane that certainly qualify as demons.
DiabolusThe devilish Diabolus appeared in the Immortals Set.  They are described as looking like devils essentially but were in most ways human. They could take any human class and were their dimension's equivalent of humans.  The BECMI rules even state they can be played as humans. They were updated in Dragon Magazine #327 as a character race.  Essentially these are Tieflings. You can play Chaotic or what 5e called demonic tieflings. I'd argue they can only choose "Chaotic" alignment, so Chaotic Good (their default in 2e), Chaotic Neutral or Chaotic Evil.  
MalferaFew creatures fit the description and general attitude of a demon better than the Malfera.  Let's get into some details.  In the Rules Cyclopedia, we learn they are chaotic. can only be summoned to our plane by a powerful magic-user or Immortal. They are a planar monster. They have massive physical attacks and special attacks. Can open doors as per knock and has higher than normal saves.  Plus they are described as a literal nightmare creature.  If not a demon, then "demon-adjacent."
There are stats for them all over the web.  Here are some from the Vaults of Pandius for 2nd Ed AD&D, 3rd Ed D&D, 4th Ed D&D, and 5th Ed. D&D.  A 3.5 version for the Forgotten Realms based on the Dragon #343 version.  The Piazza also has a Malfera and there is another 5th edition version.
Here is the version from the Piazza linked above. They make it a large monstrosity, but they don't give it the extra-planar tag.And there may be a Malfera / Maelephant connection.  I am going to say related creatures from the same plane. Given that maybe there is a larger creature, a Masdaemon.  sure, Why not. Actually, it is close to an idea I was playing with back when I was writing Ghosts of Albion. 
HellephantFREQUENCY:  Very RareNO.  APPEARING:  1-2 (4-9)ARMOR CLASS: 0MOVE:  18"/36", special stampede 24"/48"HIT DICE:  12+36 (90 hp)%  IN  LAIR:  95%TREASURE  TYPE:  Nil, SpecialNO.  OF  ATTACKS:  2 + 2 specialDAMAGE/ATTACK:  2-24 (2d12) trample, 2-12 (2d6) gore, 4-48 (4d12) swallowSPECIAL  ATTACKS:  Breath Weapon, Swallow wholeSPECIAL  DEFENSES:  +2  or  better weapon to hitMAGIC  RESISTANCE:  10%INTELLIGENCE:  Animal (savage)ALIGNMENT:  Chaotic  EvilSIZE:  L  (20' tall)PSIONIC ABILITY:  Nil, immune to Psionic attacks
Deep in the pits of the abyss roams the monstrous Hellephant.  Believed to be related to both the Malfera and the Maelephant, these creatures are roaming, ever-hungry nightmares. They appear to be Mastodons, only twice as large. Their fur appears to be black, but in truth soaked in blood. Their tusks come out from their bottom jaw and curve downward.  This allows them too run their prey down and scoop them up into their terrible maw.  The hellephant is a voracious carnivore and their preferred prey is anything warmblood that will run from them. Their attacks are a trample or a gore. On a successful gore hit the victim must make a saving throw vs. Paralyze or be scooped into the hellwphant's maw.  Once there they are bitten by the monster's rough teeth, still in the shape of the teeth of a plant-eater, and then they are swallowed whole.  The digestive acid causes 4d12 points of damage per round. Resistance to acid attacks can reduce this to half.  The hellephant's digestive system though is not adapted to eating meat so living creatures are exited out in the way of all digested food in 1d4 rounds. The expelled victim, if still alive need to make another save vs. paralysis in order to get up and move out of the way.  The Hellephant, still ravenous, returns to scoop up any victims that are too slow to move and the eating and digestion process begins again.If a group of 6 or more Hellephants are present they may stampede.  They will run in one direction for several minutes causing maximum trample damage. They will not return to eat any victims left behind.Hellephants have no treasure, but their ivory is prized through-out the multiverse and is, pound for pound, 10x the price terrestrial elephant ivory. 
TabiThese small, winged-ape like creatures are chaotic.  They are somewhere between an imp and a flying monkey. 
There are a lot of Chaotic Evil monsters in Post-BECMI Mystara that have appeared that would make good demons.   I think these are the most likely candidates. I also think, given the mythos of the world and the roots of it, that demons are fine, but devils (as defined by AD&D 1st Edition) are not.   But hey, that is only for my games.

After a solid month, it’s safe to say that even with current events and considerations, the Triffid Ranch Flash Sales are a hit. It’s now a mix of old friends, new people wanting to get into carnivorous plants for the … Continue reading →

For friends, cohorts, and relations outside of the Dallas area, a tribute to the flower emblem of Newfoundland & Labrador. For those in the Dallas area, it’s time for breakfast takeout from The Maple Leaf Diner, serving the absolute best … Continue reading →

“I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.”- Frodo to Sam, Return of the King

And here we are. June is drawing to a close and we are here in the last week of BECMI month.  Fitting too that the last week, as short as it is, is dedicated to the oddest set of rules in the set.  The Immortal rules set. We see some major changes here and in TSR as well.  So. Let's jump right in.
D&D Immortals Set (1986)
I am reviewing both my rather beat up and water damaged version of the Immortal set (I only have the books, not the box) and the PDFs from DriveThruRPG.
A couple of notes.  The set now lists Frank Mentzer as Author. No mention of Dave Arneson nor Gary Gygax here.  The year is 1986 and Gygax had been removed from TSR the previous October. Frank had been very closely allied with Gary so his time at TSR was also going to come to an end soon.  The Immortals rules and the module The Immortal Storm would be his last books for the company.  This had two rather obvious impacts on these rule books.  First, the art that had been getting more sparse with each set now hits an all-time low.  No in quality mind you! But in terms of amount. There is just not that much art in these books.  Secondly, it also meant that the company focused more on its perceived cash cow, the AD&D line.  Gary had been talking about the AD&D 2nd Edition game, but now that project was turned over to Dave "Zeb" Cook of the B/X Expert Set rules.  Others have played the conjecture game of what might have been, so I will not go into that here.  What I will say though is it left Frank and the BECMI line alone for the Immortals set to go into some very weird directions.
If BECMI is the ultimate update of the OD&D rules, then the Immortals rules cover part of what Eldritch Wizardry and Gods, Demi-gods & Heroes.
Players' Guide to Immortals32 pages, color covers, black & white art.Your character, now 36th level and has pretty much done everything from dungeons to the planes hears the call to become an Immortal! Certainly, this was the goal of those quests and battles. Immortality.  But now the game, both actually and metaphorically, has changed.  Just like when you moved from Jr. High/Middle school or Grade school to High School you go from being the most powerful of mortal kind, to the least powerful of the immortals.This book covers how your character now becomes an Immortal.  There are five spheres, four of which characters can access, detailed here.  These are the same spheres that have been hinted at since the Companion set and introduced in the Masters set; Matter, Energy, Though, Time, and Entropy.  characters choose one of the first four usually corresponding to the class they had in life; Fighter, Magic-User, Thief, and Cleric respectively.Experience points gained will alive now become PowerPoints on a 10k to 1 basis.  We get our first hints at a proto-point buy system in D&D here since PowerPoints can be spent. Now the Initiate Immortal can begin to do some Immortal things. PowerPoints are used for a lot of things, but mostly for magical or spell-like effects.  Your sphere will determine which ones you can do easily and which ones are harder.There are a lot of interesting rule changes along the way.  AC is now Ascending for Immortals; so Immortal AC 20 is the same as mortal AC of -20.  AC 0 is the same. Ability scores can be raised. First to a max of 25 (the AD&D max of the time) but also all the way to 100!   In a lot of ways the PP mechanic is similar to what we see in other Point Buy systems used for super heroes.  It makes sense really.  Though for all of it's detail there is very little information on what an Immortal should do. Right now they seem, at best, super-powered mortal characters.  There is some implicit ideas, but nothing spelled out yet.
DM's Guide to Immortals64 pages, color covers, black & white art.The DM's book spends some time covering the planes of existence.  While a lot on specific planes is left vague, there is a lot of details on how planes are designed.  The artwork and some of the notes appear as if the author and artists were checking on what the AD&D team was doing "down the hall" there is a unique feel to the BECMI multi-verse.  A lot of emphasis is given on "doing it yourself" including room for the DM to pencil in their own % for monsters occurring.There is a bit more here about the planes, in particular the Prime plane.  We learn that the Known World doesn't just look like Earth from 150 Million Years ago, it IS Earth from then.  This explains the map a bit better. We also learn that this Earth is the predecessor to our lands.  Though, in the spirit of everything else in the book, this can be changed.  The Solar system is the same, save for a few notable differences. Mercury and Pluto are not in their orbits yet and between Mars and Jupiter where the asteroid belt is there is a planet called Damocles. Fitting named for a doomed planet but doesn't fit with the names of the Roman Olympians. Damocles will be destroyed and the two largest pieces will fly off to become Mercury and Pluto.  Imaginative to be sure!  But Mercury is only 35 million miles and Pluto is closer to 3 billion miles from the sun. The asteroid belt is roughly 300 million miles from the sun.  So Damocles is not really in the middle of that.  No big deal, this is D&D not Astronomy.  I DO however love the idea of a doomed planet in the current or future asteroid belt. Maybe a MiGo outpost or something like that.   I want to talk more about the Known World/Earth a little more in just a bit. Plus there is one more bit of information I want to collect.It would be interesting to compare and contrast the multiplanuar mechanics and rules here with the various Manual of the Planes.This is followed by the Immortal Campaign.  Or, what do Immortals do? There are some ideas given but for the number of rules on immortal characters and planes you would expect some more to be honest. Our "Monsters" section is now called "Creatures" since they "cannot be adequately called monsters."  All these monsters...creatures now have expanded stat blocks to cover their immortal statuses.  One of the first things I noticed were the inclusion of demons to roster of D&D BECMI monsters.  I am not sure why this surprised me since these are the same demons from Eldritch Wizardry.  Well...same in name but these demons got a serious upgrade.  Let's compare.  A Succubus in AD&D is a 6+6 HD creature (average hp 33), her physical attacks are not great, but her kiss drains 2 life energy levels.  In BECMI a Whispering Demon has 15* HD and 70 hp! Oh and her AC is -6.  Orcus and Demogorgon have 39 and 40 HD with 620 and 660 hp respectively!  Yikes!  We do get some art of them. 



In addition to being able to summon other demons Orcus and Demogorgon can summon Gargantua. 
We get more inhabitants of the nightmare dimension like the Diabolus which are...checking the description...well they basically tieflings. And they can take any human class. So all the Grognards out there complaining about "monster races" have no ground to stand on. Here are the rules from 1986. The Dragon Rulers are updated to Immortal stats and so are some of the elemental rulers.  There is the Megalith and it is ... WHAT???  More on that in a bit!A few more creatures and some, ok a lot, of tables on magic.
Crisis on Infinite UrtsSo there are a couple of new-to-me bombshells in the Immortal rules.  First, the world of the PCs, aka the Known World is Earth of 150 mya. Secondly, this Earth is in actuality a creature known as a Megalith ("big rock") and it is known to the Immortals as "Urt."It's tucked away in two different places, but this is a revelation really.  The Known World as living planet known as Urt.  Imagine what the "Mystara" line might have been about had this thought continued?  No Hollow World to be sure. Frank Mentzer pretty left TSR soon after this and the Immortal Storm were complete, so we never really got to see what his ultimate vision was.  We do know that Gygax considered his Oerth and later Aerth for his Dangerous Journeys to all be alternates of Earth. Aerth was a little more on the nose about it.  Frank was set to design parts of Oerth a few years back, but that project fell through.  It might have been the closest we would have seen to a fleshed-out Urt.  At some point between 1986 and 1991 (the publication of the D&D Rules Cyclopedia) the world of Urt became Mystara.
So here at the end of all things what can I say about the Immortals rules? It is an inconsistent set of rules to be sure. There are a lot of really interesting ideas connected together with bits of fluff that may, or may not, work well.  The concepts of Immortals is a compelling one and D&D would come back to it in big ways at least two more times with Wrath of the Immortals and Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition where Immortally was the goal after 30th level. 
Still. One can be impressed with the scope of the rules and how it caps off a set of rules that began in 1983 but has roots going back to 1977 and to the dawn of D&D.  For that reason, it gets a few points more than it might have gotten on its own. 
Back in the day, I had only two characters gain immortality via a route similar to this. More like my DM read these rules and figured his own way of doing it. One would be my character Johan Werper the Cleric and bane of the Undead. 

We are coming to our very last week of BECMI month and it has been an education for me.  The biggest surprise was the inclusion of demons in the BECMI Immortal rules. It makes sense of course, demons are the ultimate in evil, chaos, and entropy in nearly every myth.
Let's start off Immortals week with a new version of the Demon from my home games.  Presented here in BECMI Immortal format.
Lord Ahrimanes (Immortal)Sphere: EntropyStatus: EternalPower Points: 7,500Anti-Magic: 90%Armor Class: -5Hit Dice: 35**Hitpoints: 555Move: 120' (40')  Flying: 180' (60')Attacks: 2 clawsDamage: 2d8+5, 2d8+5No. Appearing: 1 (Unique)Save As: Eternal 3Morale: SpecialCall Other: See belowTreasure Type: B, H, IAlignment: ChaoticXP Value: 6,405,000 (640 pp)
Lord Ahrimanes was once a servant of Law and Good (Thought) until he chose Chaos and Evil (Entropy). Believed to be one of the most powerful of the forces of evil, his own disgust for nearly all others leaves him alone and without allies. Even demons that would normally despise one another would join forces to defeat or thwart the plans of Ahrimanes.  There is a particular hatred between Lord Ahrimanes and Duke ʾIblīs.
He is a great admirer of science and knows all the natural sciences. When he writes his writing always appears upside-down. Some scholars point to the Demon Abraxas and note that he is master of all the magical arts and his writing always appears backward as a sign of the relationship between the two.His realm is known as Ahriman-abad and it is said to lie “between the stars.” 
He can appear as a handsome man with a high domed forehead, inquisitive eyes, and thoughtful demeanor.  He will appear garbed as a scholar or philosopher of an earlier age but yet his physique is athletic.  When he is enraged, which happens easily and at the barest slight, his demonic form is revealed.  He stands 10’ tall with dark red skin covered in patches of thick, coarse black hair and scales.  His face becomes twisted in rage and seven horns grow from his head which now has numerous heads, eyes, and mouths.  His hands, which had previously looked like the hand of a scribe, now twist into giant claws.
Lord Ahrimanes attacks with claws, usually too enraged to consider using a weapon.  Due to his nature all magic has a 90% of failing when around him.  Any magic that does get past his anti-magic shield is still subject to a saving throw.  He cannot use magic himself.  Additionally, Lord Ahrimanes has all the resistances and vulnerabilities of all demons.
Lord Ahrimanes is so despised that he cannot summon other demons except for his seven “sons” which appear as Howling Demons / Type III / Glabrezu of the largest size and maximum hp. 
--
Not too bad.  A bit powerful for an AD&D or OSR game, but certainly great for a BECMI game.

The commission assignment: a birthday present that combined a recreation of the Doors of Durin from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, a Nepenthes pitcher plant enclosure, a potentially amphibian-safe herp enclosure, and a low-maintenance water feature. This required … Continue reading →

A lot of people will be making note of how today would have been Ray Harryhausen‘s 100th birthday, and they all have good reason to note his influence on them, creative and otherwise. My sole contribution: every last enclosure I … Continue reading →

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was a Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

—oOo—

Name: A Wealth of Knowledge

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Leith Brownlee
Setting: 1930s Miskatonic University 

Product: Scenario
What You Get: 1.22 MB eighteen-page, full-colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Somethings have a greater thirst for knowledge than you do. 
Plot Hook: When your need to find a book to pass an exam is greater then worrying about missing students and academia, are your priorities straight?Plot Development: An impending examination, a better stocked new library, missing friends, an all too friendly librarian, and a deadly book depository.Plot Support: A tight plot and a new Old One.

Pros
# Easy to adapt to other periods
# Easy to set in Lovecraft Country
# Easy to add to a Miskatonic University campaign
# Straightforward plot 
# Forewarns the danger of reading too much

Cons# Linear plot
# Needs a better edit
# No maps
# No illustrations
# No NPC write-ups
# Underdeveloped plot

Conclusion
# Easy to adapt to other settings
# Possible addition to a Miskatonic University campaign# Underdeveloped and linear