dice.camp is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
A Mastodon server for RPG folks to hang out and talk. Not owned by a billionaire.

Administered by:

Server stats:

1.6K
active users

#ShadowoftheWeirdWizard

0 posts0 participants0 posts today
Calico JesseKing For a Day, GM Prep. No Dustin.
Calico Jesse<p>Showdown at Huntley Keep tonight. What will my adventurers do?</p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/RPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>RPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/KingForADay" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KingForADay</span></a></p>
Calico Jesse<p>Things are heating up in my Shadow of the Weird Wizard / King for a Day campaign. They stumbled into a major subplot, and are now thinking about bringing justice for century old crimes. </p><p>It’ll be interesting to see where it goes from here. </p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/KingForADay" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KingForADay</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/OSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NSR</span></a></p>
Raldanash<p>What happens when you want to play the <a href="https://rollenspiel.social/tags/WFRP" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WFRP</span></a> campaign 'Enemy within' but also want to try Schwalb's <a href="https://rollenspiel.social/tags/shadowoftheweirdwizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>shadowoftheweirdwizard</span></a> ? Well, we are used to fusion campaigns, so here is our first session of trying out the combination. I call it <a href="https://rollenspiel.social/tags/weirdhammer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>weirdhammer</span></a>. </p><p>Come and have a look! <br><a href="https://youtu.be/B_5fgZca7Wo" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">youtu.be/B_5fgZca7Wo</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p>
What Do I Know?<p><strong>What Do I Know About Reviews? Glory to the High One (Shadow of the Weird&nbsp;Wizard)</strong></p><p><span>Unless a fantasy setting is doing a very specific thing, I prefer the setting to be clever with its real-world analogies. What I mean by that is, if you’re going to have a fantasy nation that looks like 1300 CE France, I don’t want it to be the same size as 1300s France. I don’t want all of the cities of 1300s France with different names, and I don’t like the nation to be the same age as 1300s France, with the same events happening in the nation’s history, with the proper nouns changed around.&nbsp;</span></p><p><i><span>A Song of Ice and Fire</span></i><span> has, as one of its inspirations, the War of the Roses. You can see where that inspiration affects the narrative, from politics to technology level. But you don’t have perfect analogies for various nations or historical figures. Historical flashpoints don’t line up. The span of time in the setting doesn’t match the real world at all. One of my least favorite parts of AD&amp;D 2e was the “real world, but make it Forgotten Realms” trend that we got with Central America, Mongolia, and Egypt.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>On the other hand, when someone doesn’t make everything into a direct analogy when the setting includes allusions to real-world history, especially when events get mixed and matched, I appreciate how those analogies are used. Can I tell you exactly how far is too far regarding historical analogs? Not really, although it helps when elements get remixed and logically tied to other non-analogous things in the setting. With all that said, we’re going to be looking at </span><i><span>Glory to the High One,</span></i><span> a sourcebook about the Church of the High One for </span><i><span>Shadow of the Weird Wizard.</span></i></p><p><strong><span><b>Disclaimer</b></span></strong></p><p><span>I received my copy of </span><i><span>Glory to the High One</span></i><span> by supporting the crowdfunding campaign for </span><i><span>Shadow of the Weird Wizard.</span></i><span> Although I have not had the opportunity to use any of the game material in this product, I am familiar with the similar but not identical system of </span><i><span>Shadow of the Demon Lord</span></i><span> from multiple campaigns as a player and GM.</span></p><blockquote><p><b><i>Glory to the High One: A Rulebook for Shadow of the Weird Wizard</i></b></p><p><b>Writing, Design, and Art Direction: </b><span>Robert J. Schwalb<br></span><b>Editing: </b><span>Sue Weinlein<br></span><b>Proofreading: </b><span>Jay Spight<br></span><b>Cover Design, Graphic Design, and Layout: </b><span>Kara Hamilton<br></span><b>Cover Illustration: </b><span>Çagdas Demiralp<br></span><b>Interior Illustrations: </b><span>Çagdas Demiralp, Louie Maryon, Adam Narozanski, Julio Rocha</span></p></blockquote><p><strong><span><b>The Holy Text</b></span></strong></p><p><span>This review is based on the PDF of </span><i><span>Glory of the High One</span></i><span>, which is 39 pages long. This includes a front and back cover, a title page, a table of contents, and a two-page index.&nbsp; The rest of the page count is devoted to the history, hierarchy, orders, and heresies of the Chuch of the High One, as well as stat blocks, magic items, and spells.</span></p><p><span>I mentioned this when I reviewed other </span><i><span>Shadow of the Weird Wizard</span></i><span> products, but I like this line’s trade dress. I like the borders, the off-white background, and the purple headers. It hits the perfect balance between artistic and professional without being too cluttered. There are about 15 art pieces, with half-page artwork for each chapter. Schwalb Entertainment is excellent at finding talented artists who can produce thematic images for sourcebooks, and this is no exception.</span></p><p><strong><span><b>Chapter and Verse</b></span></strong></p><p><span>It doesn’t take too long to pick up on the idea that the monotheistic church portrayed in this sourcebook takes a lot of cues from the medieval Catholic Church. Despite this analogy, there are several places where the church is tied to events happening elsewhere in the setting, and the history deviates, then runs parallel, in various places.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>&nbsp;The Church of the High One is a church that diverged from another monotheistic religion on the continent of Atemos. Atemos isn’t presented as one of the major locations of the setting, at least at this time. It serves as a place “over there,” where the founder of the Church of the High One, Jonsuel, was exiled after he committed patricide and attempted a coup to take over his home nation. Jounsuel returned a new, peaceful man, preaching his own divergent version of the religion he encountered.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>A Pontiff normally governs the church, but the current state of the church, after the assassination of the sitting Pontiff, finds it split between multiple Pontiffs at a time when the Old Country is coming apart. The assumed setting of the Shadow of the Weird Wizard is the Borderlands, the region of the setting once ruled by the Weird Wizard before his disappearance, as humans move into the region to flee the chaos of the Old Country and encounter the strange, magical, supernatural creatures that live in the Wizard’s old domain.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>The church itself isn’t presented as the most, well, redeeming organization. While it positions itself as the moral standard for humans in the world, as you might expect, it’s a rigid organization that has oppressed various populations in its history. Everything supernatural that doesn’t fit in the narrative of the Church of the High One is of the Adversary, which includes other religions and supernatural beings. Dwarves and halflings can join the church, which is human-dominated, but anyone not considered mortal and anyone deemed “corrupted” is an enemy of the faith. That means Dhampir, Cambions, Daevas, and Revenants are considered corrupted mortals, and creatures like elves or clockworks are unnatural abominations.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>The sourcebook details the following orders within the church:</span><span><br></span></p><ul><li><span>Defenders of Temples and Relics</span></li><li><span>Hammers of the High One</span></li><li><span>Holy Order of Paladins</span></li><li><span>Keepers of the Sacred Coin</span></li><li><span>Order of the Open Book</span></li><li><span>The Poor Fellows</span></li><li><span>Shields of the High One</span></li><li><span>Society of the Sacred Heart</span></li><li><span>Torches of the High One</span></li></ul><p><span>These run the gamut from scholarly monks to trained, militant knights. The Holy Order of Paladins is disgraced because one of its members assassinated the previous Pontiff and is working to restore its reputation. I also appreciate that the Keepers of the Sacred Coin take the reality of Church wealth and resources and make it just a bit more of an acknowledged part of the Church.</span></p><p><span>Whenever you explain a fantasy religion for a roleplaying game, I will be a fan of detailing specific orders within that religion. But if you really want me to pay attention, you’ll also discuss what heretical aspects of the faith look like. This sourcebook includes several heresies that have been spawned from the Church of the High One, including these traditions:</span><span><br></span></p><ul><li><span>Incarnates</span></li><li><span>Originalists</span></li><li><span>Purifiers</span></li><li><span>Questioners</span></li><li><span>Rabidashans</span></li><li><span>Scions of the One True God</span></li></ul><p><span>What does a heresy look like for this religion? The Incarnates believe that the High One will soon become embodied as a human in the world, and they are trying to make the world ready for that arrival. The Originalists incorporate more traditional Atemosian elements of monotheism. The Purifiers are an order trying to weed out corruption in the church that upset a few too many people within the church and were branded enemies of the faith. The Questioners are, well, basically, they’re Gnostics. The Scions of the One True God are zealous about destroying other faiths, but they also pushed back on church authority and gave them a bad reputation, so their zealotry is not antithetical to the official hierarchy. Oh, and the Rabidishans think that the High One has already been incarnated and murdered, and they carry his decapitated head with them, and it tells them things.</span></p><p><strong><span><b>The Adversary is in the Details</b></span></strong></p><p><span>In addition to the history and structure of the church, this product also provides more texture to various aspects of the religion. This includes a table of famous saints of the church and the purview of that saint. We get some details on monasteries and shrines, including a random shrine table. There is also a section about how common signs and portents of the divine should occur in the game and what they look like.</span></p><p><span>There is also a discussion of the holy book of the faith, </span><i><span>The Codex of the Illumination</span></i><span>. We also get the eight virtues of the faith, which are left somewhat ambiguous, partly because the church is said to have interpreted them differently over the years, and they may be enforced differently in different locations. That means that just like in real life, the same virtue that can motivate someone to serve others can be interpreted by others as permission to oppress the marginalized. The broad, open way this is phrased doesn’t call out any specific real-world marginalization associated with any of these virtues or their transgression. “Engage in No Unnatural Acts” is a hell of a loaded gun, however.</span></p><p><strong><span><b>Manifestations in Rule Form</b></span></strong></p><p><span>Each of the orders of the faith has one or two stat blocks that represent characters from that tradition. Given the intolerance of some of these branches, this makes sense, as it’s not too difficult to use them as antagonists. There is also a stat block for a Seraph Guardian, an angel that spreads the word of the High One. In total, that’s eight stat blocks.</span></p><p><span>There are seven new magical trinkets and three relics of the faith. These range from weaponized religious implements like the Holy Aspergillum and the Holy Censor of the Eight-Pointed Star to religiously significant body parts like the Blood of Jonsuel to the magically empowered Croziers held by Pontiffs in office. I’ve seen important magic items tied to a position of authority before and have wondered how I would work it into the game, but the Crozier entry introduced the idea that there have been a number of these created, meaning it’s fairly easy to have the PCs find one of the lost croziers of office, and with the current schism, finding another staff of office can be very important, without trying to explain how the current Pontiff(s) lost theirs.</span></p><p><span>The book introduces a new wrinkle to the magic system in the game in the form of Magical Rites. Rites are magical processes that take a varying amount of time and require the person performing the rite to expend some of their castings of a spell. These rites can create effects that range from 24 hours to a Year and a Day. These allow characters to bestow boon dice that can be used later on, consecrate a location, or protect a dead body from becoming undead. One also will enable you to convert those spell castings you sacrificed to magical healing.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>There are 14 new spells, which are tied to the faith of the High One rather than one of the standard magical traditions. If you pick one of these spells as the spell you learn when you level up, you lose access to it if you ever leave the faith of the High One, but don’t worry. You can retrain that spell with another spell once you have the option to do so.</span></p><p><span>I don’t think this is a bad thing, but since this is the first supplement we’ve received that provides additional details to one of the setting’s religions, it does mean that characters that follow the High One will have more mechanical options than other characters. That’s less of a problem if the players are only interested in the Church of the High One for religiously affiliated characters, and it may not be a problem for a group with characters of multiple faiths in the same party if the players know that this sourcebook is being used up front. If </span><i><span>Shadow of the Demon Lord </span></i><span>is any indication, we will see additional supplements that provide options similar to those of the Old Faith.&nbsp;</span></p><p><strong><span><b>Religion at the Table</b></span></strong></p><p><span>While the text clarifies where the religion has some major issues, most of the product presents the faith as a neutral observer might. There isn’t much direct discussion of what aspects of the faith are problematic.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>There are sidebars about the degree of religious conflict you may want in your game and the degree to which the PCs can interpret the faith in the Borderlands without the same structured hierarchy that existed in the Old Country. The book acknowledges that religious intolerance can be difficult to introduce into the game.</span></p><p><span>It also mentions that players in the Borderlands who are church members may seek to implement the faith less oppressively than the traditional church or fight for reforms. If you have players who want to have a character who is a member of the Church of the High One, you may want to highlight that discussion to make sure that everyone understands that it may be a really bad idea to follow this religion, which can be as oppressive and regressive as the traditional aspects of the faith.</span></p><p><strong><span><b>Lift Your Voices</b></span></strong></p><p><span>To tie this back to what I mentioned at the beginning, I appreciate how </span><i><span>Glory to the High One</span></i><span> uses inspiration from real-world history. Some elements reminded me of a much less complimentary version of Siddhartha Gautama with Jonsuel’s origin. There are allusions to the split between the Eastern and Western Church, various antipopes, and some of the historical elements of the Knights Templar. The heresies have aspects of Gnosticism, Henrisians, and Fraticelli. But what’s great is that there are pieces of these things aligned in a different configuration than they appear in the real world and tied to aspects of the setting, simultaneously making the religion recognizable and unique to the setting. Any supplement that provides details on how the faiths are practices, with information about orders and heresies, will be a net positive for me, especially when it uses real-world elements cleverly and entertainingly.</span></p><p><strong><span><b>Penance</b></span></strong></p><p><span>This isn’t a negative for me, but anything using this much inspiration from real-world religion may rub some people wrong. It’s not quite as overt in its treatment of its primary monotheistic religion as Shadow of the Demon Lord. Still, it also clearly shines a light on some issues with Christianity over the centuries. I appreciate the sidebars we got, but it is two paragraphs of information. I would have liked more about navigating potentially problematic religious themes, not just in the callbacks to real-world religions but also by introducing religious conflict and the pitfalls of players playing into some of the worst aspects of the faith.</span></p><p><strong><b><span>Recommended—If the product fits your broad area of gaming interests, you are likely to be happy with this purchase.</span></b></strong></p><p><span>I love playing clerics. Exploring themes of religion in fantasy gaming can be very rewarding. Anything that provides additional details on fantasy religions in a meaningful way, with substantial roleplaying hooks, is something I’m going to recommend. I think narratives that don’t address the gods as anything but a source of power are missing a lot of potential depth. I also think narratives that drive too hard to reduce the importance or impact of religion can be reductive and self-congratulatory without exploring why people have faith and what that looks like</span></p><p><span>While this product doesn’t go quite as hard as Shadow of the Demon Lord when it comes to shocking religious truths and betrayals of assumptions about reality, it also doesn’t advocate for religion. Religions being correct isn’t the point. The point is to provide players and GMs with tools to explore what place religion has for humans and how it can be a tool for oppression, a means of reinforcing comfortable supremacist structures, but also how it can elevate and motivate some human beings, how it can speak to them. This kind of product is still an excellent template for what a fantasy religion can look like in a game setting, even if you aren’t using </span><i><span>Shadow of the Weird Wizard</span></i><span> or its setting.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span><em>If you want to help support the blog and feed my habit, you can use the affiliate links below. Thanks!</em></span></p><ul><li><span><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/457226/shadow-of-the-weird-wizard?affiliate_id=63392" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span>Shadow of the Weird Wizard</span></a></span></li><li><span><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/472099/secrets-of-the-weird-wizard?affiliate_id=63392" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span>Secrets of the Weird Wizard</span></a></span></li><li><span><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/501082/glory-to-the-high-one?affiliate_id=63392" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span>Glory to the High One</span></a></span></li><li><span><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/187672/uncertain-faith?affiliate_id=63392" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span>Uncertain Faith</span></a></span></li></ul><p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/fantasy/" target="_blank">#fantasy</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/fantasy-rpgs/" target="_blank">#FantasyRPGs</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/robert-j-schwalb/" target="_blank">#RobertJSchwalb</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/rpgs/" target="_blank">#rpgs</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/schwalb-entertainment/" target="_blank">#SchwalbEntertainment</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/shadow-of-the-weird-wizard/" target="_blank">#ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/ttrpgs/" target="_blank">#ttrpgs</a></p>
Calico Jesse<p>King For A Day<br />Shadow Of The Weird Wizard</p><p>Been a busy couple weeks so I’ve barely had time to prep for tomorrow. Still need to generate a few magic items for the snake men stash, figure out some visions for my priests, and what news/events/rumors for when they get back to town.</p><p>Also they will be noticed by the regent, who will require an audience to see what they are doing in “his” valley.</p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GMPrep" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GMPrep</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/KingForADay" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KingForADay</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/SOTWW" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SOTWW</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/OSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NSR</span></a></p>
Calico Jesse<p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a><br /><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/KingForADay" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KingForADay</span></a></p><p>Have next game tomorrow. Being a sandbox, I feel over prepared and under prepared. Over if they go a particular way, but any other way it’ll be improved time. </p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GMPrep" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GMPrep</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/OSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/SSOTWW" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SSOTWW</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/JustGMProblems" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>JustGMProblems</span></a></p>
Calico Jesse<p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a><br /><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/KingForADay" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KingForADay</span></a></p><p>Needed some cave maps for the crags, and remembered I have an excellent pdf from 0one Games that’s an expanded Caves of Chaos (B2). </p><p>I’m not going to have them near each other, and just randomize which ones they find first. It’s just a map with a few words to suggest what is in each, so I have to customize. But more than enough caves to explore.</p><p><a href="https://www.0onegames.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/153" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">0onegames.com/catalog/product_</span><span class="invisible">info.php/products_id/153</span></a></p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/CavesOfChaos" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>CavesOfChaos</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/OSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/Maps" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Maps</span></a></p>
Calico Jesse<p>Gm brainstorm, my players don’t read the responses. </p><p>Looking for suggestions of weird and strange rooms to be in a creepy manor/wizards lair.</p><p>What have you got for me?</p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/OSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GMPrep" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GMPrep</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/KingForADay" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KingForADay</span></a></p>
Calico Jesse<p>What are your favorite creepy mansion or wizard tower adventures?</p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/OSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a></p>
Calico Jesse<p>Shadow of the Weird Wizard<br />King for a Day</p><p>I am as ready for tomorrow’s first session as I’ll ever be. I managed to make index cards for every NPC in the book.</p><p>Being at the start of a sandbox, I don’t know what they will do first. But I’m excited to find out. </p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/SOTWW" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SOTWW</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/KingForADay" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KingForADay</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/OSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GMPrep" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GMPrep</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/PostworldGames" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>PostworldGames</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GallantKnightGames" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GallantKnightGames</span></a></p>
Calico Jesse<p>Shadow of the Weird Wizard<br />King for a Day</p><p>I’m excited there’s only six more days before our next session. I still feel under prepared, but I’m getting there.</p><p>Need to brainstorm specific things for each character. Having six in a group it is hard to make sure everyone gets some spotlight, but I try. </p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/SOTWW" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SOTWW</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/KingForADay" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KingForADay</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/OSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GMPrep" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GMPrep</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/PostworldGames" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>PostworldGames</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GallantKnightGames" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GallantKnightGames</span></a></p>
Calico Jesse<p>Shadow of the Weird Wizard<br />King for a Day</p><p>Worked on more NPC index cards for my game. Wrote up about 20, bringing my total around 65. Which is about 1/3 of them. Got everyone from the first town and the keep, not even halfway through the second town yet.</p><p>Not that I’m even certain they’ll meet most of them, but taking notes helps me remember and get familiar with everything in the setting.</p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/SOTWW" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SOTWW</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/KingForADay" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KingForADay</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/OSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GMPrep" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GMPrep</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/PostworldGames" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>PostworldGames</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GallantKnightGames" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GallantKnightGames</span></a></p>
Calico Jesse<p>Shadow of the Weird Wizard<br />King for a Day</p><p>I can’t say much here, the eyes are watching. </p><p>Started work on a prop for my game. It’ll be at least a month before they find it. But I’m having fun working on it when inspiration hits.</p><p>It’s a little journal they will (hopefully) find. </p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/SOTWW" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SOTWW</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/KingForADay" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KingForADay</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/OSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GMPrep" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GMPrep</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/PostworldGames" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>PostworldGames</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GallantKnightGames" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GallantKnightGames</span></a></p>
Calico Jesse<p>Shadow of the Weird Wizard<br />King for a Day</p><p>Every day I read a little more to get familiar with the adventure. I need to start making a list of ready rumors. Started working on a prop, but I can’t say more here. </p><p>Pulled out my copy of the Poetic Edda to get more tales for when they see the storyteller again. </p><p>What I don’t know is what their first combat encounter will be. </p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/SOTWW" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SOTWW</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/KingForADay" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KingForADay</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/OSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GMPrep" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GMPrep</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/PostworldGames" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>PostworldGames</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GallantKnightGames" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GallantKnightGames</span></a></p>
What Do I Know?<p><span>For a long time, the only fantasy species I thought about in a heroic fantasy campaign were mythologically adjacent. If D&amp;D was going to adopt species based on Tolkien, with a bit of Anderson, Moorcock, and Leiber thrown in, then my imagination of what was “normal” seemed to align with things that didn’t step too far off the beaten path. Are elves, dwarves, halflings, and gnomes standard? Then maybe I’m okay with centaurs and satyrs as outliers.</span></p><p><span>But with every generation of creators, the idea of what heroic fantasy could look like widened. When I read the </span><i><span>Planescape </span></i><span>boxed set, I wondered, ” What would the fantasy equivalent of the Mos Eisley cantina look like?”&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>Not every heroic fantasy setting needs to build out its roster of sapient species. In many cases, having a constrained perspective can focus a narrative. But when you look at fantasy games meant to emulate heroic fantasy, having a broader toolbox to pull lets players and GMs make informed choices about what they want their games to look like.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>The default perspective of Shadow of the Weird Wizard is that of humans moving into the Borderlands from the chaos of the Old Country, encountering what they assumed were myths, legends, and exaggerations. But if you want to mix things up or expand the options as the players explore the world, that’s what </span><i><span>Weird Ancestries</span></i><span> is about.</span></p><p><strong><span><b>Disclaimer</b></span></strong></p><p><span>I am not working from a review copy. I received my copy of </span><i><span>Weird Ancestries</span></i><span> from backing the crowdfunding campaign for </span><i><span>Shadow of the Weird Wizard</span></i><span>. I have not had the opportunity to run or play </span><i><span>Shadow of the Weird Wizard.</span></i><span> I have run </span><i><span>Shadow of the Demon Lord </span></i><span>several times and been a player. </span><i><span>Shadow of the Weird Wizard </span></i><span>has some significant differences from </span><i><span>Shadow of the Demon Lord,</span></i><span> and while they aren’t directly compatible, there is some baseline similarity between the systems.&nbsp;</span></p><blockquote><p><b><i>Weird Ancestries: A Rulebook for Shadow of the Weird Wizard</i></b></p><p><b>Writing, Design, and Art Direction: </b><span>Robert J. Schwalb<br></span><b>Editing and Development: </b><span>Sue Weinlein<br></span><b>Proofreading: </b><span>Jay Spight<br></span><b>Cover Design, Graphic Design, and Layout:</b><span> Kara Hamilton<br></span><b>Cover Illustrator:</b><span> Mirco Paganessi<br></span><b>Interior Illustrations: </b><span>Auri Cavendish, Andrew Clark, Lyrica Costello, Biagio d’alessandro, Jack Kaiser, Vladimir Lubin, Yugin Maffiolo, Britt Martin, Mitch Mueller, Matthew Myslinski, Mirco Paganessi, Svetoslav Petrov, Claudio Pozas, Phill Simpson, and Jonathan Vera</span></p></blockquote><p><strong><span><b>Patents of the Borderlands</b></span></strong></p><p><span>The PDF for </span><i><span>Weird Ancestries </span></i><span>is 66 pages long. Those pages are used efficiently. There is a front and back cover, a table of contents, and a single-page Introduction. There is also an ad for the upcoming </span><i><span>Shadow of the Weird Wizard</span></i><span> sourcebook, </span><i><span>Glory of the High One</span></i><span>. The rest of the book is focused on presenting ancestries.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>If you have seen any Schwalb Entertainment products before, you won’t be surprised to see a very attractive layout. There are art-adorned page borders and clear and easy-to-read two-page columns. Each ancestry has a piece of full-color art showing an example of an adventurer of that ancestry.</span></p><p><strong><span><b>The Longview</b></span></strong></p><p><span>Each ancestry receives two pages of details. Those pages contain the following information:</span></p><ul><li><span>A description of the ancestry</span></li><li><span>A history of the ancestry</span></li><li><span>How others view the ancestry</span></li><li><span>What professions are typical for the ancestry, and what those professions mean for the ancestry</span></li><li><span>What starting paths are typical for the ancestry, and why they might adopt that path</span></li><li><span>Alternate 2nd and 5th-level path advancements based on archetypes that the ancestry might follow</span></li></ul><p><span>The introduction broaches a topic we’re still wrestling with in heroic fantasy roleplaying. Harmful themes have been attached to heritability in fantasy roleplaying, as have some damaging assumptions about biological determinism. Some fantasy RPGs have adopted a minimalist approach to ascribing anything beyond sheer physicality to species. In some ways, this isn’t so much addressing the problems of the past as it is wallpapering over them.</span></p><p><span>In the introduction, Schwalb explains that some aspects of the cultures of these ancestries in the setting will be detailed, and common and uncommon professions, courses of action, and societal assumptions exist in the entries. Two things are true of this means of presenting the information:</span><span><br></span></p><ul><li><span>It provides an archetypical explanation of the ancestry, which can serve as something to iterate from and is not meant to be a constraint on what the player does with that character</span></li><li><span>None of the attitudes, customs, or practices are dictated by blood but by the history and interactions that ancestry has had with the world and with others</span></li><li><span>The entries largely frame the information about that ancestry from the point of view of that ancestry’s primary culture rather than defining them by what humans know or feel about them</span></li></ul><p><span>Creators are still going to have their biases. Whenever a culture starts to take on more aspects of existing, real-world cultures, even superficially, people who understand that culture need to be consulted. However, an approach like the one outlined in the introduction will do more to advance and address the storytelling done by introducing various ancestries and their cultures into a campaign world than making ancestries or species too much of a blank slate.</span></p><p><span>Some of these ancestries are going to be easier to introduce to a campaign with similar assumptions as those outlined in the </span><i><span>Shadow of the Weird Wizard</span></i><span>’s Borderlands setting, while others are going to entail a more customized approach to the story of the game.</span></p><p><strong><span><b>Roll Call</b></span></strong></p><p><span>What follows is a list of the ancestries in the book and as succinct a description as I can provide for them:</span><span><br></span></p><ul><li><span>Archon–angel adjacent constructs cast to the mortal realms for some imperfection</span></li><li><span>Cambion–someone with an infernal ancestor or carrying a long-term infernal mark from their family</span></li><li><span>Centaur–half human/half horse wanderers</span></li><li><span>Changeling–a shape-shifting fey that has adapted to fit into a wide range of situations</span></li><li><span>Clockwork–constructs initially working for the Weird Wizard, finding new purpose in his absence</span></li><li><span>Daeva–a mortal being bonded to the spirit of a lost empire</span></li><li><span>Demigod–the offspring of powerful spiritual beings, or invested with their power at birth</span></li><li><span>Dhampir–living mortals partially infected with vampirism but not fully transformed</span></li><li><span>Dragonet–a three or four-foot-long draconic creature that looks like a small dragon</span></li><li><span>Dwarf–hirsute, short, stout, hearty humanoids looking for new homes to ply their craftsmanship, who worship their ancestors</span></li><li><span>Elf–immortal fey beings that live in adjacent pockets to the world, appearing as thin and graceful humanoids with something different about them, like tails, gossamer wings, or hooves</span></li><li><span>Faun–short, forest-dwelling humanoids with goat-like traits, mainly evident in their lower bodies</span></li><li><span>Ferren–cats that can turn into people, or maybe the other way around</span></li><li><span>Goblin–fey creatures that feared the damage humankind could do and set out to harry them from their entry into the world</span></li><li><span>Halfling–three-foot-tall humanoids who travel in wagons drawn by mammoths and are generally well-regarded</span></li><li><span>Haren–rabbit-like humanoid creatures that have been fighting to drive out those that get too close to their dwellings</span></li><li><span>Harpy–winged humanoids that often live in cliffside caves</span></li><li><span>Hobgoblin–a fey creature similar to a goblin that instead adopts humans, lives in their homes, and provides services as long as they are respected</span></li><li><span>Jann–humanoids infused with elemental powers, who are traveling sailors and merchants from across the sea</span></li><li><span>Naga–serpent folk who once ruled the continent but whose society collapsed</span></li><li><span>Pollywog–isolationist amphibious frog folk, mostly smaller than humans, but some of whom grow to a much larger size than average</span></li><li><span>Revenant–a mortal that has died and returned to life to complete some task</span></li><li><span>Shadowkith–humanoids that live in a mirrored, shadowy reflection of the world</span></li><li><span>Sphinx–generally human-sized cat folk with wings who have relocated to the Borderlands</span></li><li><span>Spriggan–human-sized plant people who were once trees but are now much more humanlike</span></li><li><span>Sprite–two-foot-tall fey creatures with wings who don’t want to take orders from elves</span></li><li><span>Tatterdemalion–a vaguely humanoid pile of clothes inhabited by a spirit that animates them</span></li><li><span>Triton–aggressive fish/humanoid hybrids who traditionally don’t get along with seafarers</span></li><li><span>Warg–humans descended from lycanthropes who were chased out of the Old Country by zealous inquisitors</span></li><li><span>Woodwose–beast-like humanoids who were once shock troops of the trolls but who now want to forge a new life</span></li></ul><p><span>If you’re asking, “What about orcs,” Shadow of the Weird Wizard has a different take on orcs. Orcs aren’t an ancestry or a species. There is a disease that infects other humanoids, turning them into orcs, who violently attack other humanoids that haven’t been infected.</span></p><p><strong><span><b>Mechanical Makeup</b></span></strong></p><p><span>I’m not particularly fond of what defaults to human ancestry benefits compared to the ancestries in this book. Humans have an ability called “a cut above,” which lets them add +1 to two attributes. “A Cut Above” already sounds a little like humans are the “chosen ones” in the setting rather than the default point of view, and I would have liked to avoid any attribute boosts as ancestry benefits. This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that they aren’t applied to any specific attributes, and the description mentions something more akin to special training, fate, or destiny being the source of this rather than humans being “born better” genetically.</span></p><p><span>The other problem with two ability bonuses is that it makes it hard to gauge what the other ancestries get as benefits are in line with humans. They’re always playing with different mechanics than what humans get, and it’s hard to weigh a +1 greater chance to roll success in those situations where your attributes are relevant to abilities outside of what humans could accomplish overall. I almost wish humans got to pick from a handful of benefits more in line with the abilities these ancestries get.</span><span><br></span><span><br></span><span>But what kind of ancestry benefits are we looking at in this book? Here are some example benefits:</span><span><br></span></p><ul><li><span>Bonus to defense score</span></li><li><span>Bonus to health</span></li><li><span>Immunity to some condition</span></li><li><span>Speed Increase (compared to humans)</span></li><li><span>Fire Resistance</span></li><li><span>Natural Weapons</span></li><li><span>Impersonation</span></li><li><span>Push your luck for extra actions</span></li><li><span>Disembodiment</span></li><li><span>Health Drain</span></li><li><span>Flight</span></li><li><span>Extra probability to avoid magical effects</span></li><li><span>Harder to hit</span></li><li><span>Friends with animals</span></li><li><span>Changing the results of luck rolls</span></li><li><span>A limited number of floating boons</span></li><li><span>Additional opportunity attacks</span></li><li><span>Keen Senses</span></li><li><span>Limited and conditional invisibility</span></li><li><span>Venom</span></li><li><span>Repositioning enemies</span></li><li><span>Limited conditional healing</span></li><li><span>Short-range limited teleportation</span></li><li><span>Quick escape</span></li><li><span>Speaking with animals</span></li><li><span>Immunity to some transformative effects</span></li><li><span>Bonuses to some traits when in another form</span></li><li><span>Easier checks when you use strength to move things&nbsp;</span></li></ul><p><span>Some of these ancestries have similar traits that work in slightly different ways. Many of the flashier abilities can only be used for a specific amount of time until the character rests or makes a successful luck roll.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>Quite a few of these ancestries, especially those with some of the more substantive special abilities, also have weaknesses or difficulties. For example, some larger ancestries are more accessible to hit. Some are slower than the standard rules assume. Some are easier to target with specific attacks or take more damage from them, such as cold or fire.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>First, I’m not looking for some magical means of measuring any of these abilities for balance. That’s not possible. Mostly, I think the ancestries that get some of the wilder abilities have some thematically appropriate setbacks to deal with. I don’t care if those setbacks trigger more often or less frequently than the character can use their benefits. I’m more concerned that setbacks don’t keep you from playing your character and that you can use your abilities often enough to enjoy having them without causing too much of a headache for the Sage to present appropriate challenges.</span></p><p><span>Going back to my comment about humans, getting a statistically consistent bonus on two attributes and not having any particular setbacks or weaknesses may “balance” against more situational abilities, but having abilities you can actively trigger or abilities that can be used to mitigate situations that come up in play, feels more actively engaging than what humans get.</span></p><p><span>What I’m getting at is that I like most of these ancestries and what they can do mechanically. I just hope there’ll be some advanced option where humans might play with active or situationally crucial abilities.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>I’m less concerned about some abilities that appear if you take your ancestry as an advancement instead of a path because those will be measured against the various paths. Some of them have similar benefits. For example, more traditionally magical ancestries may provide access to new magic traditions. Some of the ancestry advancements take an ability that can only be used infrequently and increase its use intervals. In some cases, powerful signature abilities are tucked away at higher levels, but the story of the ancestry often reframes those defrayed abilities. For example, your screeching ability as a harpy isn’t going to manifest until you take your 7th-level path advancement.</span></p><p><strong><span><b>Challenges</b></span></strong></p><p><span>There are some very imaginative options in this book, some of which may be too interesting not to entertain and still a little strange to implement. Humans from the Old Country are distrustful of the strange supernatural things they didn’t have to deal with in their previous homes, but changelings, daeva, demigods, careful dhampir, ferren, maybe revenants (for a while), shadowkith, and warg all may be able to sit next to wary humans without too much trouble. Dwarfs and halflings seem to be regarded by humans as just strange folk but not overtly supernatural or inherently dangerous.</span></p><p><span>Some human settlements may have acclimated enough to the strangeness of the Borderlands that they have an easier time associating with centaurs, harpies, Haren, fauns, or even clockworks. That seems like the kind of drift of assumptions that works for special frontier towns that have a history with other cultures.</span><span><br></span><span><br></span><span>On the other hand, holy constructs, demonically infused humanoids, small and friendly dragons, snake folk, frog folk, winged cat people, plant people, scary-looking fish folk, and Ludo from Labyrinth all seem like a harder sell if you are using the default setting. That said, there is no reason it couldn’t be an interesting story arc, building relationships between humans and their stranger-seeming neighbors. I don’t know how comfortable I would get around an animated mound of clothes.</span><span><br></span><span><br></span><span>When I say this is challenging, I don’t mean that as a negative. It’s just that the campaign will either be a unique setting created by the group, or the story will at least partially be about how these characters came together.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>As far as abilities go, some might cause the game’s Sage to do some extra planning, but those trickier abilities aren’t any more challenging to navigate than the inclusion of similar abilities in a game like D&amp;D. For example, some of these ancestries can fly from level one, meaning that any challenge you hope to derive from a scenario where PCs have to climb or find some way up a vertical surface, or where a chasm or pitfall would be a significant problem, may not be a problem for that party.</span></p><p><strong><span><b>Storytelling</b></span></strong></p><p><span>It’s interesting to see some ancestries similar to those presented in </span><i><span>Shadow of the Demon Lord</span></i><span> and how their stories change in this setting. For example, changelings, as far as their own history says, are fey creatures just as old as the elves and goblins, but their replacement construct origin from </span><i><span>Shadow of the Demon Lord </span></i><span>exists as folklore humans share about them.</span></p><p><span>Elves retain their “one step stranger than Tolkien” traits, which lean slightly toward Poul Anderson’s elves and folklore about the fey. The woodwose touch on the idea that the trolls are some of the setting’s more dangerous supernatural antagonists, which is consistent with their role in </span><i><span>Shadow of the Demon Lord.&nbsp;</span></i></p><p><span>Goblins are portrayed as largely unpleasant and adversarial, which might be more of a problem, except the fey are somewhat influenced by their outlook and what traits they want to have, at least in a broad sense. It’s also interesting that hobgoblins seem almost like goblins would be if they hadn’t quarreled with other fey and decided that humans are too dangerous to be left alone.</span></p><p><span>While some ancestries often have cultures that are antagonistic to humans or other ancestries, it’s also interesting to see those ancestries that aren’t demonized by human folk tales. Harpies rarely sing songs to enthrall humans and lead them to their doom. They are mainly a matriarchal society of bird folk. Since fauns share traits that humans often ascribe to devils, they sometimes portray them as devils living in the woods, seeking to tempt humans into damnation.</span></p><p><span>Some of these ancestries also throw some curve balls. Archons have a backstory that calls back to the D&amp;D 4e angels, constructs built to serve the gods with no natural morality of their own. The daeva in Shadow of the Demon Lord are elemental creator spirits from prehistory rather than the survivors of a sunken realm who exist in spiritual form. Sphinx aren’t any more overtly magical than a humanoid cat person with wings would be. The triton are less the noble aquatic humanoids of D&amp;D and instead have traits more commonly associated with kua-toa, sahuagin, or deep ones (which get name-checked as an alternate name for the creatures). The haren are unexpectedly aggressive compared to assumptions you might have about rabbit folk.</span></p><p><span>While the Shadow of the Demon Lord products mixed some comedy with a fantasy horror vibe, the setting of Shadow of the Weird Wizard allows for a little more breathing room for light-hearted content. The description of the ferren is the kind of loving yet exasperated assessment you would expect from someone who loves cats. The dragonets have an amusing balance of self-importance and benevolent disposition that is a fun trait to draw from when playing one.</span></p><p><strong><span><b>Trickier Content</b></span></strong></p><p><span>There are a few places where it may be worth it to tread carefully with the ancestry story that’s been told. This product handles ancestries with issues in other games well. For example, an interesting point/counterpoint in the cambion entry says the gods may have cursed them, or they may be the recipients of a consciously chosen bargain.</span></p><p><span>On the other hand, there are still some potential pain points. Goblins avoid many negative stereotypes and real-world allegories that other games have stumbled into. However, they still amount to creatures that almost always come from an unpleasant and malevolent society, where few will challenge the status quo to become more benevolent adventurers. Despite this, framing goblins as having their own city and explaining their initial point of view on humans doesn’t assume they are lesser or subservient and makes them feel less two-dimensional than they might have.</span></p><p><span>While it avoids some of the more detrimental language surrounding these tropes, the Naga play with the “we were a great ancestry once, but now we’re lesser and trying to find our glory,” which implies that they are less intelligent and competent than in the past. It also frames some of them as superior because they are more like their “unfallen” form. I’m not sure what would work better for this story, but I’d rather there was less of an assumption of superiority versus a cultural divide based on motivation.</span></p><p><span>My last concern may not be of concern to other people. I’m mainly worried about what it might appear to be rather than what it is. Pollywog isn’t an offensive term, but it does contain a word that is used as a slur in some parts of the world, and using a word that contains that a potential slur to refer to a sapient species feels like it might be getting close to touching the third rail. I realize that this is a regional slur, that the complete word isn’t a slur at all, and that there are so many languages that contain slurs and insults that it’s not going to be possible always to avoid them, but because I’ve seen this brought up before when people were discussing the world pollywog, I wanted to address it.</span></p><p><strong><span><b>Hands Across the Borderlands</b></span></strong></p><p><span>There is a ton of imaginative, evocative material in this book. It expands character options, fills in setting details, and provides a toolkit for people homebrewing their own settings. Many of these ancestries have fun and thematic abilities that are active and available for players to use, and other abilities are clutch abilities that would feel good when the right circumstance comes up. The ancestries that have weaknesses have weaknesses that make sense for their stories. Each entry is just long enough to provide practical, actionable information but short enough to remain engaging and to compel you to read on.</span></p><p><strong><span><b>Good Fences Make Good Neighbors</b></span></strong></p><p><span>It’s less of a flaw in this book, but the fun design of these ancestries makes humans feel a little lackluster and perfunctory. The book does a great job of approaching ancestries with intentionality and from their own point of view, but some story elements still need to be navigated with care.</span></p><p><strong><span><b>Recommended—If the product fits your broad gaming interests, you are likely to be happy with this purchase.</b></span></strong></p><p><span>It’s not hard to recommend this product if you’re already interested in </span><i><span>Shadow of the Weird Wizard.</span></i><span> There is enough imaginative thought in the descriptions of the various ancestries that it might not even be a bad purchase if you aren’t using the system just to mine for ideas. In addition to providing player options, it also provides the Sage with additional information on the setting, making it a good guide for portraying NPCs, their personalities, and their motivations. It’s also useful if you use </span><i><span>Shadow of the Weird Wizard</span></i><span> as your framework for a homebrewed heroic fantasy setting.</span></p><p><em><span>If you would like to pick up some of the Shadow of the Weird Wizard releases, and you don’t mind supporting my habit of buying too many RPGs, you can buy them at the affiliate links below:</span></em></p><ul><li><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/457226/shadow-of-the-weird-wizard?affiliate_id=63392" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Shadow of the Weird Wizard</a></li><li><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/472099/secrets-of-the-weird-wizard?affiliate_id=63392" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Secrets of the Weird Wizard</a></li><li><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/492780/weird-ancestries?affiliate_id=63392" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Weird Ancestries</a></li></ul><p><a href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/2024/10/29/what-do-i-know-about-reviews-weird-ancestries-shadow-of-the-weird-wizard/" class="" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://whatdoiknowjr.com/2024/10/29/what-do-i-know-about-reviews-weird-ancestries-shadow-of-the-weird-wizard/</a></p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/000080/" target="_blank">#000080</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/339966/" target="_blank">#339966</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/800080/" target="_blank">#800080</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/d20/" target="_blank">#d20</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/d6/" target="_blank">#D6</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/rpgs/" target="_blank">#rpgs</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/schwalb-entertainment/" target="_blank">#SchwalbEntertainment</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/shadow-of-the-weird-wizard/" target="_blank">#ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/ttrpgs/" target="_blank">#ttrpgs</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://whatdoiknowjr.com/tag/weird-ancestries/" target="_blank">#WeirdAncestries</a></p>
Calico Jesse<p>Shadow of the Weird Wizard<br />King for a Day</p><p>We made characters and had a short intro session. Now I know the party.</p><p>Two human fighters<br />Two human priests (both of Sky Father Woden’s faith, but only following his son Thunur, the other his son Wyr)<br />Two dwarves mages (siblings, the brother a technomancer, the sister a necromancer)</p><p>They met a few people in Compton. They already hate the place.</p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/SOTWW" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SOTWW</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/KingForADay" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KingForADay</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/OSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GMPrep" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GMPrep</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/PostworldGames" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>PostworldGames</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GallantKnightGames" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GallantKnightGames</span></a></p>
Calico Jesse<p>Shadow of the Weird Wizard<br />King for a Day</p><p>Off for our session zero. People are still deciding on concepts, but I think we’ll have mostly humans and a pair of dwarves brothers. It’s good to be gaming again. </p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/SOTWW" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SOTWW</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/KingForADay" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KingForADay</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/OSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GMPrep" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GMPrep</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/PostworldGames" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>PostworldGames</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GallantKnightGames" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GallantKnightGames</span></a></p>
Calico Jesse<p>Shadow of the Weird Wizard<br />King for a Day</p><p>Printed out character sheets and novice paths. After some maintenance so my printer would print yellow again, printed out some maps.</p><p>I have some background questions pilfered from Protocol Squared: Home and Toolcards: Interrogation to help round out PC connections with each other. </p><p>I am ready for tomorrow night’s character creation session zero as I’ll ever be.</p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/SOTWW" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SOTWW</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/KingForADay" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KingForADay</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/OSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GMPrep" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GMPrep</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/PostworldGames" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>PostworldGames</span></a></p>
Calico Jesse<p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/KingForADay" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KingForADay</span></a></p><p>I decided to make flash cards for all the NPCs in the first village my players will encounter. Both to be able to take notes and to have ready descriptions of each. A dozen cards later and I’m only halfway through. Not that they’ll meet a quarter of them the first session.</p><p>Everyone in Compton is poor and miserable.</p><p>But I’m getting more and more familiar with the setting. </p><p><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TTRPG</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/DND" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>DND</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/OSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NSR" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NSR</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/SOTWW" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SOTWW</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ShadowOfTheWeirdWizard</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/GMPrep" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GMPrep</span></a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/NPC" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NPC</span></a></p>