Sisters of the Aquarian Order for White Star

Saturday I received my print copy of +Timothy Brannan's new book for White Star, Sisters of the Aquarian Order.

The Sisters are an ancient order of mystics that have guided humanity since ancient times. These mystics train there minds and have psychic powers that seem almost magical.

The book is divided into six chapters. Chapter one presents the sister of the Aquarian Order class. The class gets a few psychic powers and rituals.  I don't know if this has been corrected in the pdf or for later printings, but the introduction has a few repeated paragraphs.

The second chapter describes the rituals of the order. These psychic rituals essentially work like spells and are very "witch-y" in nature (not surprising considering this is one of Tim's books).

Chapter three gives stats for a new weapon, includes a few pieces of equipment, and includes two new starships.

Chapter four discusses using the Sisters in your game and chapter five extends that by taking about the history, present, and future of the order (plus detailing the Sisters' home planet, Gaia).

Chapter six discusses the splinter Capricorn order and other heresies. I like the treatment of the alternate group and that they aren't really darksiders (in the star knight/void knight way) and in their minds are working for the good of humanity.

This book is a lot of fun. If you want to want to play a witch in space, this is your opportunity. If you're a GM the Sisters provide a great opportunity for mystery. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Get your copy today.

White Star Companion

If you're a fan of White Star, you should pick up the White Star Companion. The book is loaded with new options and rules for White Star. We get 8 new classes, (optional) rules for multiclassing, new vehicles (space and land), skills and serials (background info), aliens, equipment, random encounters, and a new system (adjacent to the one described in the core book).  This pdf is totally worth the 6.99 asking price. If you buy the pdf, you'll also receive a discount coupon for the print version when it drops.

Oh yeah and did I mention you can play as a Transformer... I'm sorry a novomachina?

Succubus Sunday - Barbarella

I have a confession, I watched Barbarella for the first time a few weeks ago. I don't know why it took me so long. It was ridiculous, cheesy, and fun. I figured we'd step away from the sex demons and highlight a sci-fi sex goddess.

Death House and the Order of the Lycan

As many of you know, Curse of Strahd releases March 4 in Wizards Play stores. I plan on picking a copy up Saturday (which coincidentally is my birthday).

Tonight one of my regular gaming groups meets (my original 5E game, not the Itinerant Gentleman Adventures... they meet tomorrow). As long as character creation goes smoothly (and they're up for it), they'll be trapped by the mists and deposited into Barovia tonight. The newest issue of Dragon+ has a preview adventure that takes characters to level of three. It's called Death House and looks like a lot of fun. You can download it here. There's also a new background, haunted one.

I've talked about Matt Mercer's Blood Hunter class before. You can download it for free from the DM Guild here. The class seems pretty balanced from what I've seen and seems very appropriate for Ravenloft. Matt released his an expansion to the class a few days ago, the Order of the Lycan. The order lets those afflicted with lycanthropy to keep their primal rage in check and focus it. It seems like a lot of fun and I'm recommending it to one of my players (who really wants to play a werewolf).

Itinerant Gentleman Adventurers - Session 5: It's Got A +9 Against Ogres

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4

The party began the session by getting Nym, former mate of the kobold chieftain and Vex's new lover, to give them info about the valley and the caves. Using this information they ambushed the ogre (and took him down pretty quickly). The party then cleared out the goblin cave, went back to the keep, and discovered the secret entrance to the hobgoblins' lair.

• Valkorme was on autopilot because Stew had Valentine's Day stuff to do with his wife.
• The ogre got ganked pretty hard. He was only able to get one shot off before going down.
• Alton got knocked out in a fight for the first time. The common room and goblin chief encounter ended up being combined and he got cut off from the group. He survived, but took quite a bit of damage.
• The party opened an account and the keep's bank.  During this time they also discovered the jewel merchant and his wife were overdue.

Due to some unfortunate events this campaign will have to be put on indefinite hiatus soon. My goal is to finish the adventure. Even if we aren't able to clear all of the caves, we should be able to clear the hobgoblin and cultists' caves.

Succubus Sunday - Boss Monster

This is a card from the game retro-video game inspired Boss Monster. If you've not played Boss Monster, you should check it out. In the game you use cards to build the best dungeon and collect the souls of heroes. It's a fun game that's simple, but still has some great strategic play. 

Dicey Stuff

My question today is a simple one. What do you keep your dice in? I've used a few things over the years, Crown Royal bags, a beholder dice bag, and even an old military surplus ammo box. I have to say it may not look as cool as my previous containers, but my dice box is my favorite.

This is a 5 dollar container I bought in the craft section of Walmart (which despite my disgust I still find myself at occasionally). It's really handy and not too big. I keep the dice I use regularly in the top tray and pencils and such in the middle. I use the bottom for all of my other dice and post-its (for note passing), but there's ample space for miniatures if that's more your style.

I'd like to know what you use.

My First Mythoard

Today I received my first Mythoard! I can say that I'm pleased. I do have a minor complaint that I'd like to mention before I get into the awesome. I was charged for my second month, before I received my first month's contents. My original plan was to try a month and then cancel my sub if I wasn't pleased. Because of the late shipment (which I understand rarely happens), I wasn't able to do that. All right, now that I've mentioned that, let's get talk about the goodies.

Contents of my hoard

For me, this was well worth the 25 dollar a month subscription price. I just put the print version of White Star on my One Book Shelf wishlist. Getting this paid for the subscription. Everything else is just icing on the cake. Robot Uprising is a one sheet (front and back) single session White Star adventure from Barrel Rider Games. The Astrogators Chartbook is a great book of charts and graphs that would be useful to anyone doing a space game. You're reading that correctly too. It's an old Judges Guild product. The two flat plastic miniatures are from ArcKnight games. One looks like a male vampire/necromancer and the other a female rogue. I've been interested in these minis since I first saw the Kickstarter. They look great, though because of the thin nature of the plastic, I do worry about them breaking. The die is a d12 that lists body parts. You can order them on Paizo's website by going to this link. Finally, The First Sentinel is a 3-5 level  OSR adventure by Lesser Gnome. It's nominally set in the Lesser Gnome Whisper Vale setting, but can easily be adapted to any setting. In addition to the print materials, I also have access to various digital downloads.

Close-up of the flat plastic miniatures from ArcKnight

Hit Location d12

Pathfinder: Goblins of Golarion

Pathfinder goblins are my favorite goblins, so why did it take me so long to buy Pathfinder Companion: Goblins of Golarion?

The Basics: Like all of the other Player Companions, Goblins of Golarion is a full-color 32 page Pathfinder book. The retail price is 10.99. It tends to go for a much higher price if you order if you try to get it anywhere but Paizo's website. The book discusses goblin origins, physiology, and psychology. In addition it gives a list of goblin tribes (by region), discusses goblin religion (and includes gods and subdomains). We are also presented with campaign traits, favored classes bonuses, fighting feats, and magic.

The Good: The Pathfinder goblin creation story is cool. Lamashtu, mother of Monsters, stole for barghests from Asmodeus. The blood these beastly devil hounds shed created the first goblin. The traits are fun and can lead to some interesting characters. Also, I really like the Flotsam subdomain of water, which essentially lets you pull treasure from large bodies of water.

Also one of the regions discussed the Shackles... so goblin pirates!

The Bad: There really isn't anything bad about this book, other than the rarity of goblin pc's makes it a limited use book.

Final Thoughts: If you're like me and love Pathfinder goblins, pick this one up. It has a lot of nice rules and flavor.

Succubus Sunday - Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day ladies and gents. I hope you're spending it with someone you love... or at least with a good bottle of booze (like me).

Valentine's Day - D&D Style

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

These Videos Are Essential...

If you're an 80's Marvel mutant fan, you need to watch these music videos. I love them both, though I think the second is my favorite because it features Cannonball (one of my favorite X characters).

I really hope Greasy Pig Studios keeps making these.

New Strahd Art

A few D&D tweets have shown some new artwork for Strahd. What do you fine folks think of them?

Also, don't forget you can have Madam Eva read your fortune too.

Succubus Sunday - The Moonscar

The Moonscar is a high level Pathfinder adventure that takes place in an Abyssal jungle on Golarion's moon. Why is it the topic of Succubus Sunday? The main villain of the adventure is the Izmiria, the Insatiable Queen. This fiend is a 12th level succubus antipaladin of Nocticula, The adventure also features multiple alu-fiends and succubi (including a vampire succubus).

I've not actually played the adventure, but when I do, I'll give a more detailed look at it.

Kickstarter - Mutant: Genlab Alpha

Over the last year or so I've gained an interest in Mutant: Year Zero by Modiphius. The game is the 30th anniversary of the Swedish rpg Mutant. You play a young mutant who lives in the ark, the cradle of new civilization. An important aspect of the game is improving life within the ark. In addition to the tasks in the ark, players can explore various zones, to find new resources and technology. Check out the free preview here. Most reviews I've read of the game are extremely positive. 

A few days ago, the creator launched a Kickstarter for a stand-alone expansion: Mutant: Genlab Alpha.  The premise sounds really cool:

In a remote mountain valley, mutant animals dwell under the watchful eyes of the mysterious Watchers. Kept prisoners for generations by electric wire and drones in the sky, never knowing who’s next to be dragged off to deadly experiments in dark laboratories, the animal mutants have had enough. The time for resistance is now. The fight for freedom has come.

The game has new powers, skills, rules, roles, and mutations for animal mutants, but is also compatible with Year Zero. That being said, it is a stand-alone game and you don't to have Mutant: Year Zero. Instead of focusing on building up the ark, the characters can strategically improve their tribes. Characters will also explore zones, just like the original. The book even includes a campaign focused on escaping the valley. 

There's something about the game that just excites me. It reminds of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and other Strangeness: After the Bomb, except I think I'll actually like this system. Check out the cover:

Itinerant Gentleman Adventurers - Session 4: A Kobold By Any Other Name

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3

Vex the Grinning Kobold
kobold wizard, ex-pirate, and merchant

The session began with Alton seeking help to rescue his captured friends and Valkorme and Erevan chained in the kobolds' storeroom. Valkorme managed to break himself and Erevan free from their bindings. Coincidentally (yeah I know nothing is coincidental in D&D) as Alton was seeking help he came across a brightly colored wagon being driven by an old friend from his pirate days, a kobold wizard named Vex. Vex was heading to the caves to sell some of his wares to the tribe. The pair teamed up and made it to the cave as the other pc's made their escape. The party regrouped with their new ally and headed directly to the chief's lair. It was a massacre and the party made short work of the winged chief and his mates. Leaving the cave, the encountered and defeated a gelatinous cube.

• I planned on introducing Vex to give the party a fourth member and an arcane caster. Their capture by the kobolds made it easier to introduce him.
• I replaced the giant rats in room 2 with a gelatinous cube.
• The kobolds that were left after the chief and his brides were killed have fled the caves and will probably join up with one of the other local humanoid tribes (possibly even the cultists).
• The fight with the chief was a gangland assassination. Valkorme opened the door and hit him with a crossbow, Alton followed with the same move, and Everan chill touched for maximum damage.
• One of the chief's mates surrendered. Vex spoke with her and she's decided to follow him.
• The party is now 3rd level.