Friday Night Videos: Guest VJ Elizabeth Chaipraditkul of WITCH

Welcome once again to Friday Night Videos!

Tonight I want to welcome my very first Guest VJ.
Back on the original FNV guest VJs were a staple.  Usually they had something to promote, a new movie or TV show, or they were pop-culture icons.

Tonight I want to welcome my very special guest Elizabeth Chaipraditkul, author and designer of new game WITCH!

I featured WITCH this morning on my Kickstart your weekend post so please check that out.
So without further ado here is Liz!
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Hi! I am Liz and I was asked by Tim to guest VJ and make a playlist based on my game WITCH and what I listened to while creating it. This was difficult and I spent a lot of time agonizing over my Spotify playlists and YouTube history before I came to this core essence list. I hope you enjoy it.

Florence and the Machine - No Light, No Light


When I need to get in the mood for writing I love listening to beautiful things and for me that is Florence and the Machine. Their lyrics stay with me and make me think. No light, No Light is no exception. It is a simple love song with beautiful lyrics. “You are the night time fear, you are the morning when it’s near, when it’s over you’re the start, you’re my head, you’re my heart.” When creating WITCH, the fluff pieces that are meant to tempt and entice readers, I try to emulate what I feel when I listen to Florence and the Machine

Lana Del Rey - Gods & Monsters



Lana is so apathetic in all her songs, it is brilliant. I am a pretty passionate person, at least I like to think so, and Lana is the perfect Yin to my Yang. Furthermore, the subject matter of her songs is darkly shallow, the perfect mood for a simple noir setting- smoking a cigarette, sipping a martini, and trying to hide the run in your stockings. Lana Del Rey just works for WITCH, she’s mysterious, deceptively shallow, and seductive- just like magic.

Johnny Cash - I Hung My Head



Anything Johnny Cash was the soundtrack to my university years. He is a fantastic storyteller. His voice conveys so much emotion, it’s clear and it’s strong. I try to emulate Johnny when I write and listening to him clears my mind. I Hung My Head is one of my penultimate favourite songs by Mr. Cash, it is a simple story of utter tragedy. It makes me think a lot about WITCH, what would you do if you did something so stupid, what would you give up to get out of a stupid mistake you made?

Stevie Nicks – Edge of Seventeen



We’re shaped a lot by our parents. I wasn’t the coolest kid in school so, when I wanted to get into music, I asked my mom to buy me “cool” tunes (big mistake). She came back with Fleetwood Mac. While this didn't make me the most popular kid, I am now happy she did. I love Stevie Nicks and she helps me when things just aren't working the way I want in WITCH. Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac are my editing music. They get my head bopping, they allow me to let go of crappy pieces of text I through were brilliant weeks ago, and the help me get work done.

Shireen - Unmarked



Shireen is actually a band who’s lead singer I know pretty well. She’s my friend and her name is Annieke and she has the voice of a siren. Normally, when you meet people and they tell you they have a band you cringe a bit. (Note: This normally has nothing to do with the band and more me just being too judgmental). However, when I heard Shireen I was sold. Their music is amazing and haunting. I ended up listening to this one track so much while working on our Kickstarter Campaign. It’s a perfect song for WITCH (especially if you take the lyrics a bit too literally).

Thank you for listening in with me. I had so much fun compiling this list :).
If you like the playlist and you’re interested in our Kickstarter for the corebook of WITCH, please check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1568822309/witch-a-dark-modern-fantasy-role-play-game

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Tim here again. Thanks Liz. That's a great playlist.
Are you interested in being a Guest VJ here at Friday Night Videos? Send me an email at timothy.brannan@gmail.com

Friday Night Videos: Sojourn in Hell

Welcome once again to Friday Night Videos!

Tonight I want to feature videos from the soundtrack "A Sojourn in Hell".  Never heard of it? No one has.  It was a collection of MP3s I listened to while I was working on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG and then later when I was writing Ghosts of Albion.

Some of this music also fueled my playtests of Buffy with games that became part of The Dragon and The Phoenix, my alternate Season 7 of Buffy.

The Wallflowers were at the height of their popularity at the same time Buffy was. So I always associated this song with Buffy's last good season (season 5).   In my games I always wanted Buffy to fake her death so she could leave Sunnydale and start over.  Maybe with someone that looked like Jakob Dylan.



Around the same time we were hit with the death of a performer that actually meant a lot to me and my gaming life, Warren Zevon.  I mentioned in the very first FNV that "Werewolves of London" was one of my favorites and the album Excitable Boy was thrust into my hands by my DM with the instructions to listen to it before our next game.

Lawyers, Guns and Money was one of those songs that just stuck with me.  This version is not by Warren Zevon, but by his son Jordan with the Wallflowers (again).  Of course the lead singer is the son of Bob Dylan.  This is from the Warren Zevon tribute album, Enjoy Every Sandwich. A line that he gave to David Letterman when he learned he was dying of cancer. Sage advice really.




Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory was just one of those albums that came into my life and grabbed every bit of my attention.  I admit I have always enjoyed the mashup of hard rock and rap.  Public Enemy's Bring the Noise with Anthrax is still one of my all time favorite songs.

"In the End" was just one of the those songs and one of those videos that captured exactly what I wanted my games to sound like.



Spend anytime here and you know I LOVE old horror movies.  Especially sexploitation, Euro-sleaze. No one is better at than Jean Rollin and no appreciates this more than our next artist Rob Zombie.

Hellbilly Deluxe was an album I got for my 30th birthday and I listened to it on pretty much repeat for the next four years.  Living Dead Girl was what my group always thought would be Buffy's theme song, but really there is a lot here that also influenced Ghosts of Albion.  The Charlatan archetype, which didn't make it into the final book, is based on Rob Zombie's character in this video.
This was also one of the first MP3s I ever bought and I put it on the Sojourn in Hell disk.



In the early 2000s Chris Rea seemed to be everywhere for me.  I am not sure why a ten-year old album, Road to Hell, was so popular again, but it was.  For me the song "Road to Hell" was the title track of Sojourn in Hell at least in spirit.   One day I'll revisit this and maybe even talk about why it was called Sojourn in Hell.  But until then here is the title track and partial inspiration for my Buffy adventure Road to Hell.



Finally for this set we have the 2007 update of the 1994 Megadeth classic, "À Tout le Monde".  I have the 1995 Youthanasia version on the disk, but this version actually captures the feel so much better. A little faster, a little louder and 100% more Cristina Scabbia.  If there something I like more than rap with my metal it's Goth.  Not only is her French better than Mustaine's, she is a lot better looking too.



Ok. I lied.
I said Goth and immediately thought of this one.  Not Another Teen Movie is actually a send up of the teen movie tropes in the opposite direction than Buffy was.  Tainted Love of course was huge hit for Soft Cell back in the 80s and in the 2000s Manson made it his own.  I actually enjoy how he is not taking himself very seriously in this.  I mean really if the Rodney Dangerfield reference wasn't enough.  You can be dark, scary and all gothy but that doesn't mean you can't have a sense of humor about it too.

Friday Night Videos: Steampunk Videos

Welcome once again to Friday Night Videos!

To celebrate the newest member of the Victorian / Steampunk RPG gaming community I thought some Victorian Chap-hop was in order.

Of course I love Victorian games of all sorts. Just love the time period and the endless possibilities.  You can have adventure, science, magic, occultism, spiritualism and the entire world is both at your fingertips and still large and mysterious at the same time.

So let's open it up with some good old Professor E!

+Professor Elemental donning his Fighting Trousers.




Professor Elemental might be the first name you think of when it comes to Victorian era chap hop but he is not the only one.   So just like Biggie had Tupac, the good Professor has Mr. B the Gentleman Rhymer.





I am not sure how one can describe Abney Park.  They are steampunk yes. But in more of a Forgotten Futures sort of way.  They have their own RPG, Airship Pirates which comes to us from the same people that brought us Victoriana. In fact it even uses the same system as Victoriana 2nd Edition.



+Lindsey Stirling might not be the first name you think of when it comes to Steampunk music, but her Roundtable Rival certainly has the right look and feel to it.  Plus Lindsey has upped her own geek street cred by providing a song for the Dragon Age soundtrack.  So there is that.
So here is the girl that my friend Cal refers to as a "magical musical pixie" or how I think a Ghosts of Albion Occult Musician would look.  Frankly I think she is amazing.



And lastly tonight back to the good Professor to remind us that we can all enjoy different things, but we are all in it together.  One of the reasons why many of us in the Victorian RPG community get along so well with each other.  We all enjoy each other's games and talk about our favorite bits.

Friday Night Videos: Led Zeppelin

Welcome to the Friday the 13th edition of Friday Night Videos!

If Iron Maiden represents AD&D 1st Ed. Then Original D&D is Led Zeppelin.

Led Zeppelin were the pioneers of what would become "Hard Rock" and even "Heavy Metal".  Though it would take bands like Black Sabbath to really provide what we think of when we consider 70s and 80s metal.

Led Zeppelin was heavily influenced by jazz, blues and folk music. Plus a rather healthy dose of themes from J.R.R. Tolkien, they have long been associated with the 70s occult scene (backward masking, drugs, lyrics) and by association D&D.

Let's start with what was start for many my age, Led Zeppelin's 4th album from 1971.  Sometimes called "4", "Sticks", "Zoso" or "Symbols". I prefer "Zeppelin IV" myself.   This song was on the B side and is often overlooked due to the fantastic set on the A side.  Pack your bags for the Misty Mountain Hop.



The same album gave us two other greats. Well it gave us a lot of greats, but two in particular.

Honestly I doubt there is a more D&D song than Battle of Evermore.  This song features the amazing vocals of Sandy Denny, the "fifth" symbol on this album.



Zeppelin IV also gave us one of Led Zeppelin's most enduring, if not overplayed song. Stairway to Heaven.


This one song fueled more D&D games of mine than I carry to consider.

Going back a bit to 1970's "Led Zeppelin III" another great song is The Immigrant Song.  What it lacks in length it makes up for in Saxon fueled energy.



Finally no Led Zeppelin discussion can happen with out a nod to the near Moorcock-like visuals of Kashmir from 1975's Physical Graffiti.




This barely scratches the surface of their catalog.

Friday Night Videos: Long Distance Requests

Kind of mixing my 80s music mediums here.

I am pleased with the reactions I am getting for this feature.  I have often joked that my Appendix N consists mostly of 80s music and bad sci-fi movies.  I am starting to think I am not the only one!

I want to lead of though with this one.
I finally found a copy of the intro.  Really, could anything be more 80s than this?  The 8-bit sounding sound effects. The neon. The lone rocker dude against the world...yeah.


So here are some requests I have had since starting this.
Have a request?  Send it to me.
Have a long distance dedication for next week, Valentines Day Weekend?  Send that too!

Knightsky requested two songs. First up, Chris de Burgh's Don't Pay the Ferryman.




Next is Murray Head's One Night in Bangkok from the concept album Chess.



Murray Head is also the older brother of Anthony Stewart Head.

Rainswept requested Men Without Hats' Safety Dance.
While the video is more Ren Faire than it is D&D, I do have some good memories of this one and playing D&D as well.





Based on this weeks earlier Sol Invictus post, here is a request. Billy Thorpe's "Children of the Sun"


Might be better for a trippy near future space age game.  Or a 70s fueled psychic game.

Friday Night Videos: Iron Maiden

Ok.
Last week went great.  Had some good hits and some requests.
So lets get back to it.

This week I want to feature a band who I, and many others, consider to be the quintessential Dungeons & Dragons band.

Iron Maiden!

I was introduced to Iron Maiden via my Jr. High School DM.  He was a huge Iron Maiden fan and lived close to the Capitol Records/EMI plant. So we would ride our bikes there and shift through the discarded tapes that would litter the back lot.  We found tons of Kenny Rogers and The Tubes, but finding Iron Maiden was a treat.

He would come up with adventures based on the album covers (at the time he had all five of their first four studio albums and "Maiden Japan") and songs.  Later when we got to High School and a new DM (we both kept on as players) we would work "Eddie" into a our universe as an undying assassin. I don't think we ever came up with stats.    

Somewhere in Time was my favorite album of those days.  So first up is one of my favorites, Wasted Years. This video also features a pictorial history of Eddie up to that point.



"Woe to you, Oh Earth and Sea, for the Devil sends the
beast with wrath, because he knows the time is short...
Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the
beast for it is a human number, its number is Six hundred and sixty six."

Honestly. Could have anything sounded cooler to a bunch D&D obsessed 13 yearolds with an healthy obsession with the occult?  No. Nothing else was a cool as Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast.



No discussion of Iron Maiden and my early D&D days can happen without at least acknowledging The Trooper. This was my DM's favorite song and the one video we would wait for before playing.



And another great one from the time, Flight of Icarus.



And my first request, from Mercurius Aulicus, Fear of the Dark:



Going through all these videos and memories I realize I have enough for a Part 2!  So look forward to that at some future date.

Have a request?  Hit me up!
Want to be a guest VJ (video jockey for those that don't remember MTV)? Also hit me up!

Friday Night Videos: Werewolves

This is something I wanted to start the year off with, but for some reason didn't get it set up.

Maybe it is the age I started playing or the time, but there was a strange alchemy that has forever link D&D (and most RPGs) and music together for me.  When I was in Jr. High we would not start playing until we saw at least one Iron Maiden video on the then commercial free MTV.  And in High School it was through D&D that I was introduced to scores of new bands and music that I remain a fan of to this day.

So it is with that in mind that I introduce my newest weekly feature.
Friday Night Videos.  I'll post a couple of videos, maybe around a theme, and talk about how they tied into my games.  I won't just focus on the 80s, though there will be a lot of that, nor will my focus be purely D&D related.

For my first post I want to include a video that I first saw on the show "Friday Night Videos" on NBC back in the day.  Just like the original, I'll have this up on Friday nights at 11:30 PM Central time.

First up is Ozzy Osbourne with the title track from his 1983 album, Bark at the Moon.
Honestly to this day I can write about werewolves and NOT think about this video.  I put this album on repeat when I was working on the monster section of Ghosts of Albion.



My Jr. High DM introduced me to Ozzy and my High School DM introduced me to Rush.
Of course the song has more to do with paranoia (and Paranoia) and a police state, I took it more literally as an enemy within yourself.  From 1984's Grace Under Pressure, "The Enemy Within".



Finally. Really how can we talk about werewolves and not include Warren Zevon's classic.
Excitable Boy was one of those albums that my DM threw at me and told me I had to listen to it before I came back for our next game (we were doing the Slave Lords adventures then).  The album is fantastic and it is almost regrettable that people usually only know "Werewolves of London".  You do get people that know about "Lawyers, Guns and Money", but most don't know what album it is from.   "Lawyers, Guns and Money" of course I used in my Buffy/Angel games.

"Werewolves of London" is honored in my games a number of ways but the most obvious is my vampire run strip club Mayfairs.



So what songs remind you of gaming?  Put in your requests below and I might pick them up on next weeks Friday Night Videos!  (People posting on Friday nights get to move to the front of the request lines).