Sina the Thief

In the last game of JADE's 1st Ed AD&D campaign Hymns of a Vagabond, Flint, and his companion Sen were forced to flee the town of Osteyek. They were aided in this by two NPCs; one of them was named Jeremy (who was sadly captured during our escape) and the other was a thief named Sina.

We were introduced to Sina by Jeremy and don't know anything about her. The only thing I know is that she and who I can only assume was her mother agreed to help us in exchange for a share of the now deceased Wizard Iyal's Spell Book. Needless to say, I don't trust her.

However, since our adventure has lead us to a week long spelunking expedition -with little supplies and equipment- I am hoping Sina's Climbing expertise will come in handy. Fingers crossed.

Sina's mini is from Splintered Light Miniatures and is part of a group of 4 female adventurers.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

P.S. Sadly Sina didn't last long. She died the day this was posted in Hymns of a Vagabond game 9.

Lethoras the Retired Sellsword

In Barleydale there has long lived a retired elven sell-sword named Lethoras. He quit fighting almost a century ago and moved to the Dale to become chicken farmer, and lead a quiet and peaceful life. Lethoras normally keeps to himself, but over the years (and often when he has had a little too much wine at festival) the townsfolk have learned a little bit about him, and he has even brought out his old sword and shield to wow the peasantry from time to time.

But for the most part, Lethoras likes to hide in house away from others. He is shy to the point anthrophobia, and usually only offers to help out around the Dale if asked to. Of course being the only warrior in town, Lethoras was called to help investigate the cave that collapsed under the feet of Sally Longville while she was tending her field.

Since then, Lethoras has been forced to deal with things that he would rather not. The priest and leader of the Dale has asked him to accompany the party on their way to see the lord to tell them about the death of the tax collector Henry Fielder and the incident with Toby, the Giant Spider and the Prophecy.

Despite his social qualms, Lethoras' Lawful Good alignment compelled him to go on the quest to the lord's keep in Darfield. And in fact his alignment has already created a couple of disputes among the party. Trouble is brewing, and Lethoras' lack of social cues might lead to an incident or two.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Life as a Greenwood Ranger in 2nd Ed AD&D

Elijah's character John in JADE's Arachnophobia Campaign, is probably one of the coolest character kits I have come across. As we mentioned before in John's blog post, a Greenwood Ranger is a Ranger who has devoted his life to becoming a plant.

You must choose this kit as soon as you become a ranger, and in order to maintain the kit you must spend at least 3 hours a week in game praying for the gods to transform you into a Greenwood Ranger: which is similar to that 3 armed fellow above.

Their prayers must be maintained until the player reaches level 4; at which point the god's will answer the ranger's prayer. But you don't get to become and awesome tree monster right away, first you must complete a quest given to you by the god's themselves.

You have 1 month to complete this quest. if you fail, You must spend 1d4 months in prayer until the god's grant you another quest. If you are successful however, you must find an isolated area of the forest and cover yourself in leaves and branches. You then fall asleep for a full day and awaken a true Greenwood Ranger.

So it does take some time to get up to level 4 in 2nd ed, requiring 9000 Experience, but that isn't to difficult to reach - with an average of 800-1000xp a game for a low level adventure. However, before Level 4, Greenwood Rangers don't do any thing differently than a normally Ranger so it is a wait until you get to see the benefits of your kit. That being said, while level 1-3 a Greenwood Ranger should show a stronger affinity for plants than animals. Sure, like a normal Ranger you get the Animal Empathy ability, but a Greenwood Ranger wants to become part of the plant kingdom and should respect and almost revere them.

Once you actually are a Greenwood Ranger you get a ton of pretty awesome Kit Benefits. First you can Speak with Plants at will. No casting time, or limitations to number of uses. You no longer need to eat but use your feet that root into the ground as you move, and photosynthesis to survive. Though you can drown, your body is buoyant so you float on water. At level 8 you can ro0t to the ground more firmly to increase your healing. As well, Like in the picture at the top of this article, you can grow a third limb and you get a natural bonus to your AC for having bark-like skin.

Now the Downsides are that you are effected by extreme temperatures (fire is a major concern), and you can only cast plant based spells when you reach level 8, so it is something you need to carefully consider.

For John after he fled the army, and discovered a Greenwood Ranger for himself, it was the only life he ever wanted. I think that he did a good job integrating with the party last game, and I look forward to seeing him continue his quest to become a true Greenwood Ranger in future games.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

On Chronomancers in 2nd Ed AD&D

We discovered that Chronomancy was a School of Magic in 2nd Edition AD&D after flipping through the Complete Wizard's Spell Compendium - A monstrous four volume compendium that covered every Spell created in AD&D from 1979-1997. Chronomancy was listed as a school in the back, and it got our imaginations turning at the possibilities. And that was when Dave found the Chronomancer Book for 2nd Ed. Now a list spells to add on to a wizard, became an entire class.

It took us a long time to figure out where to place Dave's Chronomancer , but we fit him into JADE's Arachnophobia Campaign which finally gave us reason to look at the class in detail. And It really is a game changer, though I understand why the book only has a 6.26/10 on RPGGeek.

Being a Chronomancer. isn't really all that different form being a Wizard in 2nd ed. As I mention in Thomas' Blog Post, They get an increase in XP bonuses for casting and studying Chronomancy Spells, but also it takes them more XP to level up. The true advantage of the class is that they are the only Wizarding class that naturally has access to the Chronomancy Sphere. Other Wizards may not chose those spells as there starting spells, and of course the DM is more likely to give you access to more of them by virtue of your class being able to control them.

Now don't get overly excited about this class. It is not all powerful, and actually has some significant limitations. Which frankly is reasonable, because as much as we all want to be the Doctor from Dr. Who, That would be a very difficult campaign to host in 2nd ed AD&D. And that is perhaps... A little too much power for any player character have.

Never played it. How does it handle Time Travel?

The way Time Magic works in AD&D is by interacting with the demi-plane of time called the Temporal Prime. So the magic is directly linked to that plane and in order to use it you often have to enter it. The two main spells that let you enter Temporal Prime are Timeslip and Create Slip. Once entered, time appears as a black void filled with whispy silver lines representing people's, animals and object's lives. The more important the thing the brighter the line.

A player may then move upstream to move backward in time, Downstream to move forward in time. You may then latch on to an existing Life Line and re-enter the prime reality, at time depending on how far up or downstream you went. The physical reality of temporal prime is fairly vague, and this seems intentional. Almost as if the writers bit off a little more than they could chew. There is even a recommended warning to give players who try to investigate the mechanics of the Temporal Prime a little too much:

It is a little corny and really unsatisfying, but ultimately I don't want to have to explain the nature of the universe in game, and this at least gives me an easy out. But Chronomancy does really give your players the ability to change the nature of your campaign. By 3rd level a Chronomancer would be able to enter the Temporal Prime, and move around the time line and world your campaign is set in. As DM you need to be prepared for that, making this a class to not throw casually into a game.

It is a class that requires the DM to think about their world in a way they don't normally have to and prepare for the possibilities of time travel. I think that is the major limitation on the class: it is not useable in every game. This is the sort of character that you would need to get a approval from the DM before including it, and you need to make sure that they have considered everything that the class can do.

But Dave has wanted to try it out for so long, and I think he can handle it... I'm pretty sure I can handle it...

Right now Dave's Chronomancer Thomas is only level 1, which means that his time spells are limited to slow his metabolism, and see a bit into the future. But I imagine, as his powers grow, and we learn more about the abilities of the class and the nature of time magic, things could get pretty Wibbley-Wobbley.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Toby the Stable Boy

In Arachnophobia, Toby is the village stable. Both of his parents died from consumption, and his parents house was given to another family by the lord. Sympathetic to his case the town set up a temporary place for him to live in the Town's barn and a position as stable boy, so as not to see him fall into poverty.

At 16 Toby is an insatiably curious boy, which is likely what got him into trouble in the temple underground. While exploring with the party, Toby ran ahead excited at the prospect of the new find. He doesn't remember what happened next, but he saw a green flash of light, and next thing he knew he had awoken with to find a green gem embedded in the back of his left hand.

It caused him no pain, but was eerily similar to a figure depicted in the mural on the domed ceiling above: shown defeating a colossal spider among giant ones.

After the first game - to be fair to my player party - I let them know that Toby was important. essentially he was the "chosen one" in the campaign and they would need to protect him in order to succeed. Of course I was immediately challenged with the reminder that they had time magic on their side. So we will see what they figure out.

Toby's mini came from Khurusan Miniatures, as part of their Fantasy Adventurer's Set. I think he makes for a wonder and uncertain adventurer.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

A Map of the Dale

This is the map of Barleydale that I used to host Dave, Adam and Chris through their first round of Arachnophobia, and will likely serve the same purpose for game 2.

Barelydale is a simple town that farms barely, and has fields scattered thorugh out the area for miles. Built up around the ruin of an old temple, Barelydale's "downtown" features a stable and barn, a blacksmith, a sheep farm, a chicken farm, And the Temple Ruins that serve a a place of worship. It was in this simply town that my player's began, with most of them having never gone more than 20 miles away from town.

I personally like using maps when planning out my games, for me it helps the scene click into place, and let's me add a few details to the my games that help bring them to life. This time I used a new idea and divided my map into quadrants, which I used to plan out the events my player could potentially encounter. It was a really useful way of dividing the town, though I doubt it work as well in large city with more people to encounter.

Do you guys use maps when creating your games?


Written by: Andrew Gregory

John the Greenwood Ranger

Our last party member in the Arachnophobia Campaign is John the Greenwood Ranger. A Greenwood Ranger is a 2nd Ed Kit that Elijah and I found while going through The Complete Ranger's Handbook... And boy is it a strange one. Greenwood Rangers operate like normal Rangers except for one distinct difference: At level 4 they will turn into a small treant. I am not joking... this is literally the picture from the Complete Ranger's Handbook:

So the way this works is that everyday, your character must pray to the gods to turn them into a tree. Once you have reached level 4 the gods will task you with a quest you must complete. If you pass, you become a true Greenwood Ranger and a tree person. You can even pray to grow a third arm if you wish.

Like Dave's Chronomancer, Elijah has been wanting to use this class for a while and JADE's Arachnophobia campaign was the perfect place to test this.

John does not actually live in the Dale like Arachnophbia's other player characters. Instead he is a vagrant who travels from town to town, selling the apples from the 100-150 some odd trees that he and his mentor have planted around the countryside.

John's mentor (a tree person and true Greenwood Ranger) died only 2 short years ago, and it was then he started on his quest to become a Greenwood Ranger himself; following the teachings passed down to him.

We have the mini picked out when his transformation begins. However, it is a long haul from level 1 to level 4 in 2nd edition. But I think Elijah and John will be up to task.

Since Elijah couldn't make it to the first game of Arachnophobia we will be introducing this character in game 2. Giving the party a much need Player Character Warrior.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Playing a True Neutral Death Priest in 2nd Ed AD&D

Source: funerium.deviantart.com

There is something fascinating about playing an evil character in a table top RPG. The power and the thrill of an ill deed make for a really entertaining time. However being Evil can also be really hard. Few NPCs want to interact with you... And then of course there is the whole being wanted by the law thing. So evil characters often end up as recluses, unless they are able to hide their true nature.

This is exactly what Adam wanted to avoid. He wanted to see if he could play his Death Priest: Enoch Fellstone, as a neutral character rather than a evil one.  Of course since this is 2nd edition... There is a rule for that.

Ah yes, The Complete Priest's Handbook

The Complete Priest's Handbook, gives you about a dozen sample priesthoods that your players can be a member of. These samples aren't Kits, but rather specific ways of playing a cleric or Priest's beliefs. On page 53 of the book, it covers rules on being a Death priest. The Most important note here is that The God of Death (whoever it may be) is true Neutral. Though their followers may be of any alignment, Death itself is neither good nor evil. So Enoch Fellstone, has the same alignment as his god, making sure to neither be to good (not that that is too much a problem with this class) and more importantly, no be tempted by evil.

So most of his sacrifices are the animals he has trapped (he is a trapper after all), snd he would need a very good reason to sacrifice a sentient being without slipping into an evil alignment. It certainly is not impossible. But it is definitely a more difficult route to go then being straight out evil. Being evil comes a little more naturally to a Death priest I think, and being Neutral requires you to hide your beliefs around good parties that will likely have no qualms about working with you. It also means that you are generally going against the societal norm that death is a bad thing, without removing yourself form the obligations of the society as an evil character would likely do. So it is going to be a bit of a tight rope walk for Enoch and as the Dungeon master I will need to vigilant to make sure he doesn't slip too far into darkness without an appropriate alignment change.

The role of a death priest isn't exactly what you would expect. My first impression is that you would be some sort of a necromancer like figure, but that isn't exactly true. While yes Death Priests are the only type of priest that can both Turn and Rebuke the Undead, giving them a necromancer-like quality, their true beliefs lie in defending death as a neutral concept: the natural conclusion of a life. This does not mean that they are opposed to healers, or any similar sort of thing, but rather against anyone unnaturally (through magic) extending their life span. So a wizard who uses spells to live past their race's natural life expectancy would be an enemy of a death priest. Anyone practising resurrection spells or reincarnation spells would also be targets of a Death Priest. To them, death is as sacred as life, and not to be disturbed.

A dark class to be, but we will see how well Adam plays in upcoming games of JADE's Arachnophobia Campaign.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Thomas The Chronomancer

So the party in JADE's Arachnophobia Campaign consists of a Lawful Evil Gnomish Thief and Beggar, and a True Neutral Human Death Priest. I think Dave's character takes it a step further. For those familiar with 2nd Ed (and I mean really familiar) will remember that the expanded material added a new wizard class in: The Chronomancer - A Time Wizard.

As a class Chronomancers don't actually operate all that much different from regular wizards, aside from them getting a bonus spell from the Chronomancy school everyday, and slightly more XP (60/spell cast, and 600/spell researched rather than the usual 50/500). So what makes chronomancers unique are their access to Chronomancy Spells. There are spells that let you predict 6hrs into the future/level. Spells that let you cause minor to major paradoxes in the game's time line. There are spells that let you travel into the demi-plane of time, find some ones life line, and teleport to within 10miles of where they currently are.

Chronomancy spells let you change the very nature of the game you are playing and Dave simply couldn't resist that idea, and has been trying to include it in a campaign for some time now. The problem has been, it just hasn't quite fit in anything until now. Luckily, Arachnophobia is set in a fairly stock D&D fantasy world, so just about anything goes here: the perfect testing ground for such a wonky class.

Thomas is a really odd fellow, which Dave reflected in his Chaotic Neutral alignment. He found himself in Barleydale when his cart wheel broke and his mule ran off, and has been there ever since. Having never seen his like before, the town accepted him graciously as the town wizard, coming to him with all sorts of questions and asking him to solve problems around town.

Of course Thomas promptly abused this power blaming most happenings on Unicorns (there are none in the area) which has a caused some paranoia among the towns people who are constantly on the look out for what they have been told are dangerous magical creatures. Thomas has a party of 5 peacocks. that hang around the town square fascinating the villagers who see such exotic creatures as almost magical.

Thomas was one of the people to witness the events inside the cave involving Toby, the green gem and the prophecy. And was one of the people involved in fighting the Giant Spider. The priest Sarah Harper asked him to join the party travelling to the Lord's keep to tell him of these strange events. He has yet to decide if he is going.

Of course Dave and I chose the mini based on its Dr. Who like nature. Which we plan to play off of by building a TARDIS in game... But more on that when the mini is ready. I also like the idea of a Chronomancer wearing a more modern suit in a medieval fantasy setting. It has a great vibe to it.

Dave and I have yet to fully consider all the implications that time travel will have in the game, but I am sure that we will see their effects ripple across the campaign soon. So I am going to have to bury my nose in the Chronomancer's Book soon.

Thomas' mini came from Khurusan minis. You should check them out, probably the best sculptors in the scale. I can't get enough of them, and they do tons of different time periods and settings.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Using a Beggar Kit in 2nd Ed AD&D

When Chris was designing his Thief for JADE's 2nd ED AD&D Campaign Arachnophobia, he made Butters a Beggar. At the time, it was simply a roleplay decision to justify his presence in town. Little did he know, in 2nd Ed there are rules for everything.

I was positive that there would be something in  in The Complete Thief's Handbook. So I flipped it open, and there it was on page 28: The Beggar Kit. This would canonize his roleplay choices, and likely give him some abilities he did not have.

Useful Book for 2nd Ed!

For those of you unfamiliar with 2nd ed Kits, The Complete Class Handbooks (like the Thief's above) added Character Kits to the game. These Kits Gave different Role-Play options to the player allowing them to hone in on what they want their character to specifically do. These kits usually give the player bonus proficiencies and a special ability called a benefit. However there is a downside: each class comes with a hindrance, some negative to balance out your skills.

I absolutely love using character kits and encourage my player's to use them where they think they will fit in. They add for a wonderful element of roleplay, and will often give your players (and yourself) and new way of looking at a classes. Whether they want to run a Paladin using a Field Medic Kit, or a bard using a Riddler Kit, the books will open up the possibilities.

For Butters, it was exactly what he needed to properly run his Beggar.

There's the Little Guy!

Being a beggar, as you can imagine, doesn't give you a lot to work with. It limits the weapons proficiencies you can choose, gives you a -2 on reaction rolls with NPC, and you only start with 3d4 gold pieces. It is a pretty long list of hindrances, but they all make sense. The Weapon's Proficiencies you are limited to (Club, Dagger, Dart, Knife, Sling and Staff) represents your lack of any formal training. The -2 Reaction Rolls: society's view of the homeless. And of course the low starting gold is due to your character's poverty.

However using a Beggar does come with an advantage. You get the following proficiencies for free: Begging, Disguise, Information Gathering and Observation. These additional proficiencies more than double a thieves usual starting abilities, making them very versatile and useful character for spying on others.

JADE's Arachnophobia Campaign is our first time using this kit in Game, and so far it has fit the role perfectly. It better defined the abilities of a beggar in game, and Chris used those to his advantage when playing Butters. It also gave me as the DM some information on how my NPC were supposed to react which smoothed out any NPC interactions.

If you have a beggar in your campaign in any edition, it is worth having a look at this kit for some ideas on how to handle it.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Enoch Fellstone the Death Priest

Moving away from more the more normal classes (like Lawful Evil Gnome Thieves using Beggar Kits) and into the stranger side of things in JADE's Arachnophobia Campaign. For a long time my cousin Adam has wanted to run a Death Priest, but instead of being evil, he wanted to try and be true neutral. Essentially this character was to see if someone could follow those religions and practices without falling into the evil side of things. And so Enoch Fellstone was born.

His parents were refugees from a far away land with bizarre and dark customs, but found their way to the small farming village of Barleydale. Though they tried to keep this past hidden from their son, when Enoch found their ancient religious text has path became clear.

Currently employed in Barleydale as a trapper, Enoch uses the opportunity to practice his death-based religions on the creatures that he catches. No one in town knows the true extent of his beliefs; only that he is a loner and weirdo who's skills make him useful to the town, but is best left alone.

This class really walks the line between what is good and what is evil, and frankly it will be a challenge for Adam to not tip scale, as it would be so easy to do with such a character.

Enoch was asked to join the party because he was part of the events surrounding Toby and green gem, the Prophecy and the giant spider, and he was more then willing to go along with it.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Butters the Gnome Theif and Beggar

To get started in the Arachnophobia Campaign, I had my players create detailed back stories for themselves, inserting their characters into the small, isolated hamlet of Barleydale, or The Dale as they have come to affectionately call it.

While most of the party features some pretty strange classes, Chris' Gnome Thief that uses a Beggar kit stands out as being the most normal. However, that doesn't mean his back-story isn't rich.

Butters was the 6th child of 11 born to a prostitute, and one of only 3 to survive to adulthood.  When he turned 18, his mother kicked him out on the street, where he sought refuge in the quiet and generous town of Barleydale.

Currently Butter's main goal in life is too acquire wealth. Whether it is to buy his way out of poverty, or some twisted sense of its importance; he has yet to reveal. but one thing is sure, money is always on Butter's mind. Though he does not seem interested in working to earn it. He rarely helps around town, preferring to play his reed flute and beg for a few scraps and what copper pieces the townsfolk are willing to part with.

Most of the town view him as a burden, and a low-life and want little to do with him. But, and no one is quite sure how, when the tax collector comes Butter's always has something to give him. This small contribution is enough for Butter's to pay his way in the town, even if his contribution is of a questionably origin.

If it seems like Butters would an unlikely volunteer for a quest to save the world, you'd be right.  His cowardly nature came through in the first game that we played with him, and so the leader of the town, the Priest Sarah Harper had to give him the following ultimatum:

"Butter's if you aid the others in their quest, you may return to the Dale. But either way, you will be leaving with them."

I expect Butter's to travel with the party until he finds his next big score. But he won't be the most trustworthy of companions. Any character too obsessed with their own wealth is something to watch out for, and Butter's Lawful Evil alignment only confirms that.

Perhaps the fear of giant spiders, and the fact that the party is headed towards a lord's keep and a potential fortune in gold and favour will keep him along for the ride.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

JADE's Arachnophobia Campaign

Ever since JADE finished the first part of our Traveller Campaign: Interstellar Exports, we have had some trouble figuring out what to do next. After a solid 3 years of mainly playing RPG's, the group was a little tired and wanted to return to the card, miniature, and board games that got us together as a group in the first place. Of course, there was the occasional one-off game of Ivershill, or an intense round of Maze of the Minotaur, and through all of that my cousin and I were playing through our rules heavy 1st ed AD&D game Hymns of a Vagabond, but as a group we hadn't returned to seriously RPG's in a while.

And we had a lot of games to pay.

We had planned at the start of the year to run Jeff's latest version of his Elementia Campaign after our break, but unfortunately his work schedule made that impossible. Then we planned to try out the 1st ed AD&D module DL1: Dragons of Despair, however we couldn't get enough people to cover the 6-8 players required for the game.

After another Month's planning, JADE has finally agreed to start a new campaign. I call it Arachnophobia.

Not quite like that...

Arachnophobia, is a 2nd ed AD&D campaign that takes place in the world of Zendar in the Grayland Country. For aeons Zendar has seen a species of giant spider travel across the world, consuming all in their path. This thousand year long migration, has again come full circle and returned to the Graylands But the people are ill prepared. The last migration destroyed much of civilization, and most of what was known of those times has been long forgotten.

The story, as it is remembered, now states that 1000 years ago a dark and terrible force laid waste to the lands. It came from the North West destroying the fertile Orcish lands to the North, and the preceded into the Graylands. Only the harsh Mountains Wastes of the Range of Aguraush between the Orcs and the Graylands quelled the dark forces enough to save the Graylands from the from the full brunt of their assault. They were able to hold them off, and though much of civilization was destroyed they were able to rebuild; founding the 2nd Age of Mortals.

Nearly 1000 years later this is more of a story then fact, as survival was more important than preserving history at the time.

Love those reprints!

We are currently 1 game into the campaign, which saw my players start as peasants from the simple farm hamlet of Barleydale. There they stumbled upon an ancient temple deep underground, and saw a 16yr old NPC villager become the target of a strange prophecy involving a green gem that embedded itself into his hand, a Colossal Spider and the coming arachnid hordes.

To keep my players in the loop, I let them know that they would need to keep this NPC alive in order to complete the game. It only seemed fair to warn them, though given their track record it will be enough of a challenge in itself.

The next game they will begin their journey to the Lord's castle (some 200 miles from their isolated village) to inform him of their find, their encounter with a giant spider, and (due to some player actions) the sudden and "accidental" death of the area's Tax collector.

In some later posts I will go over each of the characters the guys picked, as they really do deserver their own article each. However, we have a Gnome Thief using a Beggar Kit, a True Neutral Death Priest, a Chronomancer and a Ranger using a Greenwood kit. So some really ridiculous characters this time around, with the guys really using all of my 30 or so 2nd ed books.

Now, the party is strange enough that I have had to balance it with a few NPC's, but I intended that to be a main feature right from the start of this game. We have only just started utilizing NPCs to their fullest potential as a group and I wanted to continue the trend. While before we used NPCs as simple canon fodder, they have now grown into valued members of our parties, and I wanted to see just how attached they could become.

So look forward to more discussions about weird 2nd ed rules, 15mm miniatures and stories from around the table as we start our Arachnophobia Campaign!


Written by: Andrew Gregory

15mm Cultists

In JADE's Hymn's of a Vagabond Campaign, my character Akelius Flint, and his party of NPC have encountered several possessed people. We have found them almost mindless and in the middle of some mysterious dark ritual. I don't know much about them, or what they plan; but they do make my skin crawl.

Each of the "cultists" seem to have a ring, that appears to have something to do with their possession, though again, I know not what. I have encountered these cultists on three separate occasions, and each time I was either completely ignored by them as they went about their mindless business or was immediately attacked.

All of these miniatures come from Magister Militum's 15mm lines, and I think they get that creepy feeling across quite well. I actually haven't had a chance to use any of the cultists in game yet, since I only painted them a couple weeks ago, and they did not feature in last Tuesday's game. But I am sure we will encounter these poor souls again soon.

In previous games, I have even encountered powerful wizards who have succumbed to the possession. Thankfully, I was able to pass my spell save, and then slay him in one blow with an incredibly lucky hit.

Though I do not relish meeting these cultists again, I am curious as to what they are up to. Something dark is returning to the land, and I am sure they seek to herald its arrival.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Old School Magic the Gathering

Forgive my nostalgic ramble here but, the very first "Geek Game" I ever played was Magic the Gathering. It was Christmas 1999, and my cousin taught me how to play, and a few years later I was making my own decks, and playing with my friends.

My First true introduction to the advanced game was during the Invasion, and Odyssey Blocks. Like most players I hold my first couple of blocks with high regard; a nostalgic memory of how wondrous the game seemed in my youth. Well 2002 rolled around, and I fell out of playing magic in favour of other tabletop games like Warhammer 40k, and D&D 3, and didn't honestly come back to the game again for another decade. Sure I dabbled in it from time to time, but nothing serious until 2013: JADE was in its infancy, and we were all looking for new games to play. So, remembering how much I enjoyed it and how relatively easy it was to get into, I recommended we try out Magic the Gathering, and JADE first gaming obsession began in earnest.

Oh when Gatecrash was new.

Getting back into the game was a fairly jarring experience. The card designs had changed, the rules had changed, and there were a ton of new abilities and new strategies. Cards consider valuable and excellent, were now worthless in both price and power against newer cards. Coming from Invasion and Odysessy and playing with cards as old as Ice Age, and even 3rd edition Magic the Gathering, it really seemed like a new game.

Not that kind of game.

 And the truth is, I really like the new rules, and the new additions to the cards. It has changed the game up, and overall made everyone's decks more powerful than they once were. But, for me at least, I never got that same feeling I got when I opened up the old cards. I just wasn't as intrigued by their mysteries, I never got lost dreaming about the art, etc. it just wasn't the same.

That is not to say that I don't like the new cards. The truth is I have spent more time building decks in the modern format than any other, but for me, magic will always be the old cards with the old design. The sad thing is that many of these cards are no longer legal in modern, meaning if I want any sort of deck building restrictions, I can't use my old cards. So to get around that I started looking at other alternatives, like Legacy and Vintage. But the problem there was more often than not, the newer cards work and combo together far better than the old. Frankly Unless I was playing something like 1st-3rd Edition, or using heavily from the Urza's block, my beloved old cards were simply outclassed.

After a few years of searching, I finally decided that I would give Block Construction a try. Block Constructed decks only use cards from a specific block, limiting what you can use, but also allowing my to use my old cards. The first block I went with was Invasion. And it did rekindle some of the "magic" for me as I searched through Gatherer focusing only on Invasion, Apocalypse and Planeshift cards.

What do you think? Do prefer the changes made to Magic the Gathering is recent blocks? or like me do you have a soft spot of the old game?


Written by: Andrew Gregory