Getting Ready for the Witch

I just sent my final copy of The Witch back to the publisher to get uploaded to DriveThruRPG soon.

I honestly can't wait to get this out to you all.  It seems like I have been working on it forever. I started this blog in fact as a design blog to talk about the development of Eldritch Witchery and The Witch.

A number of the monsters, magic items and spells that appear in the book I have posted here.

My desire to do this book for "Basic Era" games was partially due to my involvment in the old-school game movement, but also because I had been going back to my copy of Moldvay's Basic Book and some of his ideas on what a witch should be.  I also wanted this book to capture what I felt were some of the best books on witches from the early days of the game.

My goals were simple.

• Make the book feel like something I would have wanted to buy in 1982/83.
• Make the witch more than just another type of magic-user, but still allow her to be easily added to a game.
• Keep what was best of the old school, but still keep in mind all the developments of the last 30 years.
• Elmore art.  I might get grief for this, but ever since Dragon #114 came out I wanted a witch book with art from Larry Elmore in it.  I am in a position to do that now.  It's not the  entire book, but there are some choice pieces in the 120 pages.

So what do you get in The Witch?

Well I was reading that selling points that do nothing but list a bunch of numbers turn people off. On the other hand I have had some people ask me what they are getting.

• The Witch class
• Five traditions of Witchcraft with Occult Powers
• Rules for Familiars for Witches and Magic-Users
• New rules for Cantrips for your Basic game 
• Over 300 spells
• Witch Ritual magic and spells
• Rules for Covens, Covensteads and example covens.
• New witch related monsters
• Magic items and artifacts
• Plus appendices on
• Using the Witch in your Advanced game
• Demi-human witches for games that have class and race seperate
• The Wizard, a magic-user class that is different from the Witch

All with years of playtesting.

I am hoping to get a preview up for you all here soon.

Posted in: basic,Elf Lair Games,old-school,witch