Let's be honest: It's more than likely that there's a supers supplement for Night Shift: VSW on the horizon some day in the future. Here's the trick, though: you don't really need it to do supers with the game as it stands. You could do a street level supers game with NS:VSW exactly as it sits, and you'd still be well within genre. Look at TV shows like Arrow or Batwoman  on the CW or the Netflix Marvel shows for examples of how street-level supers can be dark urban fantasy at its finest.  Hell, consider Blade as an example of how the superhero genre can be mixed with horror. It's certainly not outside of the wheelhouse of Night Shift to experiment with superheroic games, particularly if you keep it at "street level" abilities.  Let's check out the easy ways you can do superheroes with Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars Start with the Supernatural Race In Night Shift: VSW, you have essentially two options for your character ...

So for many years, the Arduin books have been on the periphery of my awareness. I knew they were out there, knew they comprised significant expansion and modification to the OD&D rules, knew they eventually became their own system of sorts, and knew that there was some controversy regarding Dave Hargrave, but that was about it. I've seen more and more discussion about them recently, so finally I decided that I would take the plunge. I acquired copies of the "Trilogy" on eBay. My copy of The Arduin Grimoire Volume 1 is a 4th printing; the Volume 2 and Volume 3 books are first printings. Replica box I made to store the trilogy in.   So I guess I'll start a running commentary here as I work through. Again, bear with me as I don't read fast to begin with, and combined with the piles of writing work on my desk and the fact that I can only read a few pages of this tiny text without getting a splitting headache and, well...it's going to take awhile...

Okay, so this series is just growing and growing. I believe this should be the last entry. I just really like psionics and I thought this would be an interesting topic. So now we've looked at how psionics work in OD&D and AD&D , and examined how they compare and contrast with one another . Certainly it seems to me that while OD&D's system is a bit simpler and more straightforward, AD&D's system is clearer, cleaner, and more balanced, less likely to overpower a character who has the abilities. What occurred to me, then, is how psionics could be used in other games. Since the system itself is a sort of self-contained "bolt on" subsystem, it can pretty seamlessly be dropped in a range of other games. I'll look at a few below, but honestly, most of them, the process will be, "just drop 'em in!"   B/X and BECMI D&D Note that this section also applies to retroclones like Labyrinth Lord , Basic Fantasy , OSRIC , and oth...

Before reading through this post, it's a good idea to look back over my posts on How Psionics Work in OD&D , and How Psionics Work in AD&D . These will give a solid overview of the systems in place, and establish how straightforward and easy to use psionics actually are in these games, despite their long-running reputation for being overcomplicated or arcane. The Core Concepts The use of psionics in D&D is a fairly simple affair: first, you roll to see if you have the capability. Then, you roll to see how strong that capability is. Finally, you determine which psionic attack and defense modes you know, and which powers you learn. Abilities (attack and defense modes and powers) are used by spending psionic strength points. Psionic combat is resolved by comparing attack mode and psionic strength of the attacker vs. defense mode on a matrix, or based on a saving throw if the victim is a non-psionic. These basic concepts are the same across both versions of the ru...

Now that we've looked at how Psionics work in original Dungeons & Dragons, let's examine how they work in Advanced D&D. Readers may be shocked to discover that psionics in AD&D are, in many ways, much easier and more straightforward than they are in OD&D. The two systems are very similar, but there are some important and notable differences. The next blog entry in this series will compare and contrast the two systems, but for now I want to focus on how they work to keep a clean exploration and explanation of these two rules sets, both of which offer a lot of fun and something different and mysterious for D&D games that have become a bit rote in their approach. Psionics can present an interesting approach to mysticism in an AD&D game, particularly one that seeks to represent certain styles of 1970s and 80s fantasy, particularly those of writers like Mercedes Lackey, Ursula K. LeGuin, Andre Norton, and Marion Zimmer Bradley, which in modern terms system...

I'd like to take a couple blog entries to explore the concept of psionics in the early editions of D&D--specifically, original D&D and AD&D first edition. Psionics, traditionally, have been a much-reviled part of the D&D opus, and those who do not include them in their game are certainly far more common than those who do include them. It's no secret that even Gary Gygax lamented and regretted their inclusion, and didn't use them himself. As with any aspect of the game, ask 100 players why they don't like psionics, and you'll get at least 50 different answers (if not more). The vast majority, however, will come down to one of two major points: They are science-fiction feeling and simply don't have a place in a fantasy game They are overcomplicated, confusing, and simply arcane and unworkable.  I can't really address point one. If you simply don't like the idea of psionics, if you feel like they're not fantasy-feeling, and y...

So a discussion arose on the ODD74 message forums awhile back, about how difficult it would be to run a Star Wars  game using the OD&D rules. The general consensus was that it shouldn't be difficult to do, but there was some disagreement on how to handle the Force--most people assumed Clerical magic would be the best approach. My own thought was that psionics, as presented in Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry  are a better, and near-perfect, approach to modeling the Force in a Star Wars game. This of course led to some disagreement, as psionics in Dungeons & Dragons, at least prior to third edition, have a reputation for being confusing, arcane, and complex. The truth is, however, that like much of the older editions of D&D, psionics aren't all that difficult--they're just poorly organized. After one goes through the rules and gets a handle on them, they are actually quite straightforward. I, thus, took it as something of a challenge to do up a full sourceb...