Review - Cult of Diana: The Amazon Witch Tradition

Title: Cult of Diana: The Amazon Witch Tradition
Publisher: The Other Side Publishing
Author: Timothy S. Brannan
Year: 2019 (?)
Pages: 26 pages
Overall Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Text Only Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Continuing in the vein of the occult, today's review is of the Cult of Diana. This book is a part of a series on witches by Timothy S. Brannan for the Basic era D&D game. A word of warning, I play a mashup of B/X and AD&D 1e. I may let slip some observations which reference a set of rules that is not the one intended by the author of this book. 

To start, the entire series of books has excellent cover art. These are worth printing in high quality. Personally, I like to print the covers of DriveThruRPG books on photo paper. It is totally worth the effort. 

What makes witches worth of a new class in Basic era? The ideas, mainly, but also the integration within the rule set. Cult of Diana introduces some simple but powerful ideas to the rules. Mr. Brannan made sure these are carefully balanced so as not to be game breakers. Except for outward facing abilities like spells, no mechanic introduced upsets other character classes, which is very important for consistency. 

Like all characters, witches roll for HP, require certain modest ability scores (10 for INT, 11 for WIS and CHR), gain a bonus to experience for superior ability scores, and have limited armor and weapon selections. The author has provided 8 pages of new spells available to witches, none of which are unbalancing. 

What makes these characters different is their calling. Witches are part of a coven, granting them the ability to access new spells based on a particular tradition. This religiosity allows the witch to be of any alignment so long as they follow the tenants of their tradition. In the case of the Amazonian witch, their tradition is based on several gods such as Diana and Artemis. The author provides a brief section on what these beliefs mean. 

Circling back to the idea of covens, witches have access to ritual magic which requires many casters to participate in. Again, these ritual spells are well balanced. For both "normal magic" and "ritual magic" there are 8 levels of each described in the standard format for Basic era games. 

This particular set calls out BlueHolme but readers will find that it is a nice addition to any basic era game such as Labyrinth Lord or the Red box set. With a little adaption, this book could be plugged into a great many rule sets like AD&D. 

All and all this is a rock solid addition to your table. Text only is 4 of 5 stars. 

I tend to be colored by great artwork, usually shifting my rating upwards by one. In this review, I have ignored the excellent artwork and tables so as not to damage my rating scale too much. The art is superior for a supplemental book and completely inline with the Basic Era style. Considering the layout with the artwork, this book merits 5 of 5 stars. 

Reviewer's note: The date is taken from the forward, this could be the most recent update rather than the original publication date. If that is the case, my apologies but then that also means the author is providing an excellent experience by routinely updating his works. 

Review - Dragon Snack Games

2024 Edit - Dragon Snack has closed. You can check out their Facebook page for details. I hear they are going to reopen under new ownership. 

The goal is to have a review a week. My idea was to do a review of books, movies, and games every week for 2021. This is week two and I have 3 already and a list of 52 on deck to go. 

This is a bonus post because I didn't set out to review stores. This post is without remuneration, I have no affiliation with Dragon Snack games but I am purchasing a lot of material from them to fuel this thing. I have a shortlist of stores I need to visit in the near future, so expect to see more store reviews in the future. 

Name: Dragon Snack Games
Location: 3908 Maple Rd, Buffalo, NY 14226
Phone: (716) 833-0740
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dragonsnackgames/

January 1st, 2021 I needed something to do. I had the chance to stop into Dragon Snack Games to make some game purchases. I had never been there before and had no idea what to expect. 

Normally, I'd call this "a trip to The Shop", but Dragon Snack is much more than a "shop". It's huge. I was the only shopper probably because of the holiday and that wide open space threw me for a loop. 

On entry, there is a closeout section in front of the register loaded with stuff I want. I bumbled my way past it and onto the dozen or more racks that line the center of the store. They have a bit of everything from books to figures. I was so Woww'ed by what I saw, I am unable to process everything I saw. The outer walls are lined with shelves loaded with books, games, and puzzles. Maybe some models, too.

They have a small selection of paints and figure supplies, but this is a highly qualified statement. It was several shelves and racks, easily enough to fill a 10 by 10 room. 

Unlike other "game shops" Dragon Snack Games is open, airy, and brightly lit. I was easily able to make up a list of 50 things I wanted on entry and ticked off a list of 50 more items I saw that I now wanted after browsing the shelves. To say their selection is ample is an understatement. Prices are on par with other outlets or websites. If they are more expensive than online retailers, it's tiny and worth the experience.  

The back of the store is dedicated to either in-store gameplay or some sort of DIY activities, I was not able to tell as it was not in use due to Covid. I can't wait to go back after this mess is over. 

Quirks: In addition to being brightly lit and spacious, they play Sisters of Mercy and have a large glass screen between the cashier and the customer. It is completely touchless. I was surprised when the cashier asked me to turn the boxes around so she could read the price. Real, really touchless. It was one of the best touchless shopping experiences I have ever had. Probably on par with something you'd see at a massive company like Disney. 

Yeah, that feels about right. It's the Disney World of Game shops in my mind. 

Map: 

It's Here! This Artwork Now EXISTS!

Back in March of 2020, I sort of went nuts. I started drawing everything that came to mind, whether I had the skill or not. I had this idea for a drawing from The Last Unicorn. It was to be in full color ink, but in the middle of the project I realized that I didn't have the pens or the skill to make it work. 

However, I was determined to make it work. I started over with oil paint and hit another dead end. Finally, I took it digital. 

The first iteration didn't work either. Then I stumbled across a couple websites: Thisartworkdoesnotexist.com and Deepart.io. Switching back and forth between the two, with a little image manipulation on my end, I finally got it right. 

But how to get that tiny file out of the computer? 

I was just going to print it out at Walmart or Walgreens, but it didn't look right. Then I found Fractureme.com. It took a couple weeks because I ordered in the middle of Christmas and New Years. 

Fracture prints on glass, an artform that when done by hand is mind boggling difficult. Completely beyond my skills. I am not sure how Fracture works, but it looks great. No frame required and all of the mounting hardware comes with it. 

I think I am going to have to do this again. 

Fun Storage Option for Dice

I found the greatest dice storage option at the dollar store.

Little Lego boxes! 

They're kind of small for actual Legos, but these party favors are just the right size for a set of dice. 

The lid clips closed to keep them inside and the boxes stack just like Legos. Go check out the party supply section at your local dollar store. They come four to a pack in red, yellow, blue and green. Perhaps you can find other colors. 

I, Damiano: The Wizard of Partestrada (1984)

Having finished my three reviews of R. A. MacAvoy's Damiano trilogy, I thought I was done with 12th century Europe. I was wrong. 

It turns out that Bantan Software published an IF game of the series for DOS and Apple II. 

I wish I had a copy and the time to do a review. I was able to find a copy on The Internet Archive which plays in a browser, but I still don't have time. My basement flooded and while I don't mind chilling out reading a book or writing a 300 word review after cleaning up, my time is better spent saving my game books, models and other things so can do more reviews in the future. 

So, this one I will throw over to you. Go play I, Damiano: The Wizard of Partestrada. Let me know how it goes in the comments. 

Credits

Opening gameplay screen.