New Spell Evisceration

L3
D8 per L
short range-50'
 live mammal must be sacrificed(cannot be summoned creature by cantrip)
Necromancy, Evil descriptor

My Campaign book's very cool cover

Start!(action)
Don't Justify
Be deciceive not defencive
skip ahead
No Homework
Less game speak
CliffhangerStakes
to be con.........

New Spell Time Jump

L2 Metamagic divination, Time
you cast this as a standard action you may take two standard actions
Don't cast more than one time spel in a round, very BAD idea.........

3 healing spells for Mages

Gem Healing
L2 Conjuration Good descriptor
Heals d6 +L HP(max D6 +7)
material component 100 GP gem that is consumed by casting(double this if a 500 gp gem is used)

Flying Bandages
L1 Conjugation Holy descriptor
creates healing bandages that fly and wrap at a range of 20' Heals as Cure Light. Target loses 2d3 DX and suffers -1/-1 ro melee attacks for 1 hour, if bandages are removed before the hour is up, healing is lost
Caster must be pious worshiper of good or neutral deity

Hitram Dringles Highly  Restricted Yet  Mostly Useful Healing Spell
This may be memorized as a cantrip, L1 , L 2  or L3 spell, granting 1,4 , 6  or 10 rolls respectively)
Roll indicated number or D6 , each one that comes up 6, a single point is cured

New Item Goat Boots

These very furry white with a little brown boots provide passage over the most difficult , rugged or swampy terrain.
Your movement is full over terrain that would otherwise halve movement
you may move 1/4 speed over water, quicksand or tight ropes
adds 1 to movement on clear terrain
adds 1 natural armor class
gives DR 3 Cold
As these boots are not made anymore they, comand triple the normal price for such an item.(DMs discretion)
The secret of their creation was gifted to the Son's Of The Panther barbarian tribe by the Panther God.
As such they are even higher valued by barbarians

New Cantrip Augmenting Fire Brand

0L Metamagic school

This cantrip is consumed by casting

This cantrip is cast with another spell, that spell must have fire descriptor, the attached spell adds D6 to it's damage. The combined casting takes a full round action

New Cantrip : Flesh Cloak

L0 Necromancy
this cantrip is consumed in casting

When cast with in 90" feet of a corpse ,the caster is granted 2D3 Temporary Hp. Healing spells may not be cast on caster for # of temp HP gained Min. If the corpse in question is undead it gets a fort save or takes same number in damage. Does not work on undead controlled by caster or with more than 5 HD.

EDIT OOPS if undead makes saving throw, spell has no effect, does not effect skeletons

New Spells : New versions of Magic Missile

all follow rules for Magic missile except as noted

L2 Immediate Missile may be cast as immediate action , 1 missile every 4 L, max 3
L2 Extended Missile double range
L2 Penetration Missile ignores Shield spell 1 missile/4 levels max 3 missiles
L3 Superior Missile as Penetration plus halves spell resistance

New Spell Implosion

L3 Evocation

range= Fireball
D6 per L to single target
Spell is at -3 to save or +3 DC (Fort for 1/2)
25% reduction in Spell Resistance
untyped magic damage
Full round action to cast
+3 to spellcraft to detect what is being cast
+2 DC to concentration checks to resist spell failure(very difficult spell to cast)

FYI

to the approx. 1d4 of you that are following this so far: I'm gonna take a break from this prob Wends - Sun.
I've got a writing project with a deadline looming and need to stay away from this for a few days. Don't worry I'm not going away.

Old school musings Barbarian Class from White Dwarf 16? 8? Hell I don't remember

Ok I can't really call this a review but I remember a great deal of it from letting players play this for 20+ years(about 15 or so years ago) Originally published to go with OD&D, then updated for Greyhawk in a later issue.(some of my modifications are no doubt in here(such as RAW stated you must win initiative to gain First Attack Ferocity)
Here's what a First L one looked like
D8 HD
no armor allowed but +1 to AC(shield OK but come on >2handed sword!)
First Attack Ferocity Double damage at +2 to hit First strike in combat(none of this rage crap!)
80% Climb
20% catch missiles
25% move silently
40% Sign language(able to crudely communicate w intelligent creatures)
25% Sense Danger (30" range, immediate danger only, no idea of direction or type)

EP as Paladin

(Gygax later gifted us with the horrible UA class)

OSR review Bushido 1st ed

Bushido is a game of a mythical feudal Japan by Bob Charet (misspelled) and Paul Hume, Published by Fantasy Games Unlimited in the 80s. It is level and class based but it only takes you to 6th level and has only a handful of classes, but lets face it, if you are going to recreate this era in Japan, you only need Samurai and Ninjas It makes a few changes to the history to allow for tabletop gaming, such as allowing non-samurai to carry one sword, only samarai can carry two. 2nd ed cleaned everything up and added more background put I never owned it and have only a passing familiarity.

Bushido is fantastic in recreating this era. but you will need to read outside the books to get a better grasp on the history. Bob's wife was from Japan so he was able to access a lot of first hand material for sourcing.
I had the pleasure or meeting Bob on more than one occasion at cons. and actually played in a Bushido game he ran (I won!) As far as I know a lot of old FGU games are still in print and second ed. might not be too hard to get your hands on.

DM RANT Three : Handouts and homework

no, No, NO! Nobody wants to read pages and pages of handouts. Nobody will pay attention to them. One of the very successful tricks I learned from running a 31 year long campaign: Less is more. I always UNDER explain everything. It creates an itch in  your players, makes them THIRSTY for any scrap of knowledge. You will eventually be rewarded with players deeply engaged in every scrap of your lore.

New Spell Razor Ray

L2 Stone Elemental and Evocation
Creates ray of shuriken like stars that do 4d6 on a ranged touch at 50' Plus 10' L, as the stars are non-magical ignores spell resistance but will not harm creatures that you need magic to harm.

New Spell Wall of Dust

L1 Stone elemental and Conjuration

Creates 30 x 10 x3 wall of dust, Missiles are at -3 to shoot through. Passing through wall does d6+l damage unless you hold your breath. Spells are at -1 DC through wall, except for caster , lasts for 5 +L rounds.

New Spell Earth Vault

L2 Stone Elemental and Conjuration schools
Creates 10' cube (1 foot thick) of earth around targets. fairly easy for target to break out of (DMs discretion based on ST, tools available etc normally about 2-3 rounds) save to avoid being trapped is Reflex at +2 to DC

New Mythos Spell Cardiac Extraction

L3 evocation evil descriptor

Casting time is full round, range 50' +10' L
Does D8 per L. ( save fort for half)if target reaches -4 hp then you rip his/her beating heart out of their chest
Spell does not work on undead/constructs/ oozes etc. Max of 7D8.

Sex, Orgasim and Pregnancy in Gaming

I lied......I'm wondering how many of you are repeat viewers, if I'm reading the stats on my blog right its not many.......please +1 this post if you have looked at blog more than once, Its not necessary to follow just trying to get an idea at this early stage(actually I'm a big prude and keep sex at PG level) also I PROMISE, no more tricks! (Fingers crossed behind back ;) )

Spells to come!

I'm working on a stone elementalist and a diviner. Lots of stuff from both those coming!!!!
(The stone guy is a pc in my game (he's 5th) and I want to see how all the new spells I created for him work in actual play, the other is a pc for me in my son's MAYBE game, not as much new stuff for that)

New Item Chrystal Sword

These items are very powerful and remarkably fragil. Mostly found as long swords, these weapons are +7/+7 but can only hit creatures needing +1 magical to hit(mundane targets too) on any natural roll to hit of 1-5 the sword shatters. Any disarm/parry/ sunder attempt has a 50/50 chance of shattering the sword or slicing hostile weapon in half (+2 or greater weapons will shatter the Chrystal Sword) inflicting normal damage if a natural weapon is used. Any use as a tool will shatter sword, but often inflicting serious damage to object struck. When the sword shatters ,it's wielder takes 2d6 damage. Often found with heavily protected scabbards.

New Plant / Item Sword Fronds

Sword fronds should be placed only in one location in your world. They were formed by by a dying nature god, investing his last bit of power to aid the fight against evil.

Every 10 years D8 Fronds will be ripe for harvesting. they will each be +D8 magic to hit and damage, determine size randomly for each.

1 Dagger
2 Shortsword
3 long sword
4 broad sword
5 sabre
6 great sword

they will only "live" for two weeks once they are harvested, if they are harvested by an evil being they die instantly. Magical means can lengthen their lifespan by one week at most. If planted within 24 hours of harvesting a new patch of fronds will be formed in 100 years, only +6 or higher fronds will reproduce in this way

New Spell Type "Perm B" and some examples

Perm B spells are memorized and then function continuously until you empty the slot and memorize a new spell. These spells get "stuck" in the slots if memorized for long periods of time( 1 month or more) requiring clerical help to extract from brain. (NOTE again these spells are for 7th L and under play and I do not allow multi classing)

L1 Pusilance you are +1 to hit in melee (there is a second L version you may memorize that also adds +1)

L1 Hog skin +1 Natural armor untyped)

L2 Rhino Skin you get 2 damage reduction that does not stack w/ any other damage resistance

L3 Mazarinan's Spell of Over All Excellence  +1 to all your physical stats, +1 to Fort saving throws and +1 movement( these bonuses are untyped and stackable w/ any other buffs) May only be memorized once a day

New Spell : Brutal Telepathic Assault

L2 Divination school
This spell does 4d6  at short range ( save for half) caster takes 2d4 backlash (save for half)
This unleashes horrible "goblins" in the targets brain that can have temporary brain damage.
Any target with Int 13 or higher is spared the brain damage

New Item : Battle Axe of Arc

This +1 battle axe leaves a glowing blue trail as it is swung. You can make a melee attack with it hitting all targets in range for 1/2 damage (including all damage bonus, only one to hit roll is compared to all targets)
It must be swung 2 handed to Arc.

New Spell : Call Hero

L9 conjuration and divination
Casting time 3 rounds
This spell will contact a historical figure from your campaigns past. You can try to pay.bribe or cajole him/her to come and aid you. Will not work on individuals who are deities now or in the active employ of deities(example: now they are angles/devas). Will contact named hero at the peak of their prowess, former PCs can only come if player agrees. after casting time hero will stay for 10 rounds if they agree to come.
Material component : a possession or bone of individual to be contacted

DM RANT #TWO

Don't make impossible to hit creatures, it is very frustrating for the players. Once in a GREAT while this is OK, but mostly it's just a time waster. The simple solution is to just give the thing more HP but there are creative ways to make the creature last longer
-Give it a force field that shows damage
- A swirling wall of living runes that absorb hits(functionally no dif from force field)
-Give it a "mastermind" ability that allows mooks/bodyguards to absorb hits

DM RANT # ONE

Ok this is HIGHLY hypocritical of me but: Don't waste your time writing whole new sets of rules when there are a thousand different games to pick from. Sure house rules are fine but leave the writing of new ones to others. You will NEVER get rich or famous writing new rules. If you REALLY want to see your name in print write a GREAT adventure for an existing game! Spend your prep time on your setting or individual adventures

Ok now I admit I wrote my own set of rules but that was because one of my players did ALL the hard part, formating and actually doing the typing plus I have no money and a lot of time on my hands.

Other ways to find me

Not sure at this early stage if I'm getting repeat viewers but you can find me:
On En World TheMiddleAgedOne
On Dragonsfoot The Middle Aged One
On Strolen's Citadel Aramax (this was my old online name for most everything until my email got hacked a few years ago)

New Spell : Speed Spell

L3 Divination(cause div school needs love) and Metamagic schools
This spell is cast attached to any other spell. It allows the second spell to be cast as a free action. This cannot be combined with Time spells(some to follow). This spell is totally for low level games(max of 7th L caster)
It is very unbalanced for higher L campaigns. User takes 2d6 back lash at end of round, this does not effect any other casting in round

New Mythos Spell : Golden Lash

L1 Evocation, Evil Descriptor

Cast as a standard action, this spell does 4d6 at a range of 30 feet, going over anything in it's path. Every time you cast it after the first time, it has a cumulative -2 to damage. If the spell does 6 or less damage it gets "stuck" in the spell slot for 1-6 days and can never be cast again.(it does not function on the "stuck" days.)
It appears as a large glowing Golden whip. You must invoke Hastur to cast this. Dangerous.

New creature : Chisel-Toothed Squirrel

This small rodent has enormous magical front and bottom teeth. it can deliver a nasty bite (d10) and the top 2 teeth can be crafted into +3 arrowheads  and the bottom 2 can be fashioned into +5% Thieves tools. As they are highly sought after they are endangered, difficult to breed in captivity.

A Different Way to Dungeon Crawl Part One

Here at Dragonsfoot http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=65381 The post discuses the use of the classic arcade game " Dragon's Lair" as a playable dungeon but it approaches it like a normal D&D game. You cannot represent DL with " Ok Bob, it's your turn what are you doing?" So I've got a germ of an idea.

The castle itself is a dream construct of the way-too-powerful-to fight Dragon. From a distance the castle is changing, growing towers, walls falling , getting bigger and smaller in rapid succession. The castle "eats" interesting things that the players will need to extract. It is also Multidimensional and planer and moves around.

The way I am planning on running it is that individual rounds are broken into 3 parts and only one player gets an action to interact with the "trap". a second player will be able to aid the "phasing" player in what ever action he takes. casting spells will be broken up over the 3 partial rounds(depending on L of spell).The phasing player will in essence be the party leader for the 3 partial rounds. The phasing player "job " will be rotated in some fashion(havent got this worked out yet). This is all run w/ the idea that you are trying to recreate the frantic pace of DL The growing and shrinking nature of the castle forces constant movement on the players A brief description of the situation will be provided with the idea of "looking around" will be an action that takes up a whole "partial" round. A few normal combats to be sprinkled in.

Since a lot of work will go into an encounter that should only take IRL 2 maybe 3 min., the rooms and traps are reusable (justified by the "dream logic")

This will obviously not work for a large group of players. Prob want to keep it to 3 or 4.
This will require MASSIVE prep time for what will prob amount to a 1 hour crawl at best (depending on how many standard fights you work in) That's why REUSABILITY is key. To make the prep worth it , you can rerun it w/ the "dream logic"

Not sure if I'm going to pull the trigger on this. But I really like the idea.Not promising a part two if I don't.

New Cantrip or you were wondering where the Lovecraft stuff was : Voor Sign

This cantrip is consumed when used
Metamagic school, evil descriptor

You may cast this as a free action, accompanying another spell that requires a saving throw. That spell now gives a -1 on its saving throw, -2 if the target is Cthulhu Mythos related (you can substitute aberrations)
Mythos related beings will often go directly for the caster of this spell as it enrages them.

New Spell : Multispell

L2 Metamagic school
When you memorize this spell you  "load" 4 different first L spells into it.  You may then(as a full round action) cast one of them. For example you load Burning Hands, Jump, Shocking Grasp and Mage Armor,
you could then cast any one of them later

New Cantrip : Augment Magic Missle

this cantrip is consumed in use
(Metamagic school)
Casting this on another magic wielder as a standard action allows your target to cast 1 extra missile when they next cast Magic Missile. Commonly the second cantrip learned by apprentices, as up to 2 of these may be cast on the target at one time. Also very effective when a number of low level mages take turns cast this in an army type situation

Magic Item : Friend

This +1 long sword will teleport to your hand when you say "Come hither Friend" as long as it is within 30 feet of you

My Fav Blog!

http://talesofthegrotesqueanddungeonesque.blogspot.com/

awesome blog of a OSR and gaming verity. Reviews , music and art, very cool, only blog I follow on a regular basis

Making Mundane Weapons Unique

I've never been happy that almost every player picks long sword and greatsword, so I made a special chart to make them more unique. I use this in OSR and Pathfinder. I use 20 only as crit threat,double damage.

dagger +2 to hit, D4 damage
short sword +1 to hit, d6 damage
long sword, threatens crit on 19-20, D8 damage
battle axe, ignores one Damage resistance(scale at higher L?) D8 damage
Mace, 0ne damage on a miss(Scalable?) D8 damage (Ok , should prob only be vrs Metal armor but not looking for that kind of complexity)
spear D6 damage, d12 damage vrs large creatures
great sword 2d6 damage
military pick d6 damage, x3 damage on crit
great axe D10 damage, +3 to confirm crit
quarterstaff(2 handed) D6 damage 1 bonus to AC
Etc.

New Cantrip : Thunderkick

When you miss w/ a melee attack, you may followup w/ an attack at same bonuses to hit but with a fixed d6 damage

2 New Spells :A Powerful Defence and it's Counter

Preserve, L2, Evocation, duration 24 hours, The next damage target takes is negated, be it 2 HP or 50.
A counter to it has led to the following spell being far more popular
Practice Fireball L1 as Fireball but damage is d6+ 1 per L.
Mage duels have become punctuated by low L apprentices casting Practice FB and being prepared to counterspell  with it

New Cantrip : Power Word Swear

This cantrip is emptied from slot when used

Does d10 necrotic damage to caster and two other targets. Damage is rolled separately for all targets.
although casting is a free action the caster can't cast another spell in same round. This spell is considered evil and may attract some unwanted attention from the nameless god whose name you invoke.........

New Creature : Jotan's Shrew

This normal looking shrew has 18 St. and is as tuff as plate. Only one inch long, they will probably be encountered by stepping on one and then being thrown in the air. An outstanding component for a potion of ST. Named after a legendary god-king.

New Spell Type and an Example.

"Leach" spells are added to other spells memorized for example:
Xur the Not-So-Humble is a 3rd L wiz. one of the second L spells he has memorized is "Flaming Sphere" He adds the Leach spell "Leach Magic Missile" to it. He can cast either Flaming Sphere or Magic Missile from that slot. I suggest a limit on how many Leach spells you may attach, prob 1 per Levels you can cast, thus Xur can attach 1 Leach spell to a first L spell and 1 to a second. " Leach Jump" makes a good a good one to attach to a first L spell

Important Note On New D&D/Pathfinder Spells here

As both a player and a DM I am obsessed with creating new spells for Wizards. The spells you will see here are mostly very powerful for their Level. This is for the following reasons:

I run VERY low level games, these spells will be for 1-7th L characters. They are NOT balanced for higher level games. You will need to adjust them for higher level characters.

Since I run low level games , the wizards need more juice!

Also I'm not big on details so they will be very basicly explained.

If your still with me, stay tuned , I've got a bunch of cool ones coming in the future!

My latest Obsession

Have you discovered Comet TV network?
Its on FIOS 468 in the Philly area. It showcases great B movies. It's the total LOW RENT SYFY channel!
Set my DVR for "The Raven", "Die.Monster. Die!" and "Tank Girl." Call your provider and DEMAND Comet!