Oz Character of the Month: The Wizard (Again)

First of all, thank you to everyone who participated in the poll last month. A few more responses than the last one, which I find encouraging. It looks like L. Frank Baum is the winner as everyone's favorite Oz author. 9 out of 15 votes went to him. His successor on the Famous Forty, Ruth Plumly Thompson, came in second with 3 votes. The number 3 slot goes to James Wallace II, author of the Magician of Oz trilogy with 2 votes. Although he did try to "win" the poll by getting people to vote for him (I may not post much, but I do check my Facebook regularly, James ;) Only one unclaimed vote this time around, so I'm going to give it to Ron Baxley Jr.

Last month's Oz character was a non-magical version of the Wizard. This version is the Wizard from later in the series, after he learned magic from Glinda. Even though this version is technically more experienced than the version from last month, both of them are built using the same rules for starting characters.

If you're wondering why, it's for a couple of reasons. First of all, there really aren't any rules for building advanced characters in the game. The second reason is that point of posting characters in the first place is to show people what types of characters can be built using just the basic rules.

Name: Oscar Zoroaster P.I.N.H.E.A. Diggs
First Appearance: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (though the Wizard didn't learn magic until sometime before The Road to Oz)
Template:Sorcerer
Size: 3

Basic Skills

Athletics: 1
Awareness: 2
Brains: 4
Presence: 4 (The Great and Powerful Oz)
Sneaking: 1
Wits: 2

Traits: Sorcery, Magical Toolkit, Poet

Friends List: Glinda

Dr. Nikidik, I Presume?

While Baum was not famous for consistency within the Oz stories, the differences between the two appearances of the Powder of Life were significant enough to affect how they were represented in the rules of AiO. But were they really intended to be the same?

David Maxine does accurately point out that while Dr. Nikidik's Celebrated Wishing Pills are indeed a product of Dr. Nikidik, the Powder of Life isn't necessarily. Though the connection is strong enough for Gregory Maguire to have Nikidik's appearance in Wicked include a demonstration of a prototype Powder of Life.

In The Road to Oz, we learn some more details of the fate of the Crooked Sorcerer. He apparently fell off of a precipice and died (this is apparently before Baum instituted the "no death" rule), leaving his possessions, including a small batch of the Powder of Life, to a distant relation named Dyna. This Powder was used to accidentally animate a blue bearskin rug, creating a rather pathetic creature.

But in The Patchwork Girl of Oz, we meet Dr. Pipt, who claims to be the inventor of the Powder of Life. He also claims that he gave Mombi (and ultimately Tip) the batch that was used to animate Jack Pumpkinhead, the Sawhorse and the Gump. He doesn't mention the Wishing Pills, so it's certainly possible that Dr. Pipt and Dr. Nikidik are two different people.

However, this does not tell us who died and left the Powder of Life to Dyna. Did Dr. Nikidik fake his own death? Or did he actually try to kill himself only to be thwarted by the magic of Oz? Maybe the bearskin rug knows. But without the lungs he used to have, he is rather unable to speak.

Although when you think about it, many things without lungs are able to speak in Oz. Maybe it's actually a curse of silence. So lifting the curse may be the first step in unraveling the mystery. Where it leads is up to you.

Oz Character of the Month: Shaggy Man

A couple of announcements first: Another round of complimentary copies of the game went out today, mostly to thank people who helped me out with the game (you know who you are) but a couple of them went to the good folks at Indie Press Revolution, a consignment distributor of independent games. These copies will not be for sale, but for review. IPR is unique in requiring that products be reviewed before they are accepted for distribution. This not only helps them maintain a high standard of quality for their products, but it also means that the people selling the game have actually read it and have a better idea of how to sell it.

Also, I have recently obtained the domain http://adventuresinoz-rpg.com and am in the process of migrating my old site there. A lot easier to remember than the old URL.

Now, without further ado, I present our Oz Character of the Month for July, The Shaggy Man.

Name: Shaggy Man
First Appearance: The Road to Oz
Template: Wanderer
Size: 3

Athletics: 3 (baseball)
Awareness: 2
Brains: 2
Sneaking: 2
Presence: 3
Wits: 2

Traits: Magic Item (The Love Magnet [AiO rulebook p 41]), Poet (2 points)

Friends List

Johnny Dooit