Urban Fantasy Fridays: Beyond the Supernatural (1988)

 Beyond the Supernatural was always one of those games I kind of liked from afar. I bought various Palladium RPGs over the years. I always enjoyed reading them and even working on a character or two, but these days the rules are a little too overwrought for my tastes. I owned Beyond the Supernatural, both the 1st and 2nd Editions. I picked up 2nd Ed a while back at a Gen Con, and I held on to it for years. I kept meaning to play it, picking it up and reading it, but eventually sold it back at an auction.

I picked up the PDFs at DriveThruRPG. Both are interesting games, but I never got the chance to play them. It's a pity, really. I love the idea of Rifts, and maybe, in an alternate universe, it would have been the game I played obsessively. I mean, I can really see it; everything is already there for me to enjoy. 

I would have left this game as an interesting curiosity I would have spent years picking at and maybe doing nothing with, but then Jonathan Becker over at B/X Blackrazor started talking about Heroes Unlimited, and that brought my attention back to it. 

So I guess. This is his fault.

This is less of a review of the game (it is nearly 40 years old) and more of an overview of how I am playing it/using it. That might not be very helpful to you if you are coming here looking to see if this is the game for you. But there are a lot of reviews for it online.

Beyond the Supernatural 1st Edition

by Randy McCall and Kevin Siembieda
1988 Palladium Books, 256 pages.

I have been reading over this, and I had forgotten how crunchy this game is. Actually, I am having a lot of fun with it.  Right away, I am happy with the vibe of this game; it was written largely in 1987 and published in 1988, so for my game set in 1987/88, it feels perfect.

If you are looking for a quick way to put it, Beyond the Supernatural is "Palladium does contemporary occult horror." But that doesn’t quite do it justice.

In truth, this is a game set in our world, or something akin to it (see: Rifts), where you have your ghosts and monsters and ley lines and psychic phenomena and strange cults and things from elsewhere lurking at the periphery. It is a free and easy mix of folklore, parapsychology, 1980s notions of the unexplained, and monster movies. You will find Stonehenge and the Bermuda Triangle in the same breath as vampires and the supernatural. The book makes no bones about putting all these elements in one pot to see what kind of horror results. 

I mean. Those are all my favorite things for a game, really. 

Not to mention I like that approach. There is an unmistakably late 1980s air to it, not only by virtue of its date but in reflecting the popular culture of the day: the Satanic panic, UFO weirdness, haunted houses, mysterious energy, and possession were all part of the zeitgeist. Beyond the Supernatural has no need to keep them apart. It asks, in effect, "What if it was all connected?" Which is fine by me for the type of games I run. 

OR better yet, "What if all these were real and I made no effort to figure out why they are real at the same time?" 

Yeah. Now we're talking!

The rules are Palladium through and through. You have your eight attributes, percentile skills, S.D.C., Hit Points, alignments, saving throws, and combat bonuses, along with enough modifiers to occupy your pencil. It is crunchy. Very. Yet I am more taken with the crunch here than I thought I would be; it suits the game. A character is not merely an "Occult Investigator +4." They have an education, they speak languages, they have picked up odd bits of knowledge, technical and academic skills, and perhaps some combat training. For an investigation game, I prefer my characters to have a good deal of actual know-how.

You can engage with the supernatural in any number of ways as an Arcanist or a psychic, or you can be a normal human who has been drawn into the fray. The latter is key. You don’t have to be anything special to play. One of the included adventures is made for the ordinary "Victim" type, the sort of person who is hopelessly outmatched and whose best course of action is to leg it. That says a lot for the game’s range.

Then there is the magic system, which I find the most useful. All the different traditions, be it witchcraft, druidism, voodoo, or thaumaturgy, may have their own philosophies and rituals, but they are tapping into the same Potential Psychic Energy. I might not want to make a habit of using that cosmology in my own games, but the premise is sound. People put together their own traditions and, being human, insist theirs is the right way to do it. Since it is Palladium, I can pull things from other books. As people often did for the 2nd edition of Beyond the Supernatural. 

What I really like is the notion that genuine magical knowledge is hard to come by. The world is awash in occult tomes, but most are either wrong, incomplete or confused with superstition. An Arcanist doesn’t just level up and get new spells; she has to research and reconstruct them, or learn from another magician or an old diary. Now that is how I want my occult magic to feel. Old, often contradictory, and a little dangerous.

There is also a sensible divide between spells and rituals. A spell is quicker and easier, but a ritual demands time, concentration and maybe a few other people, and it is much harder to put down. I can work with that. Granted, that is pretty common place today in RPGs, but in 1987 that was brand new.

You can have your psychic investigators with their telekinesis, or your occult scholars with their tomes, or you can put ordinary folk in front of the wrong door. I like a game that can accommodate all three. Not all magic is a matter of casting it across the room in the heat of combat.

Occasionally you want to put in an hour and a half with a circle, six candles, and three people who know their way around a ritual, all while hoping for no interruptions. To me that is good occult magic.

Then there are the psychics.

The game treats the psychic side of things with as much importance as it should. These aren’t just powers with a different label; they have their own I.S.P. pools and a distinct way of dealing with the supernatural. It makes for a nice distinction between Larina and Morgan.

Larina will tell you she has come face-to-face with a demon or a ghost. Morgan is more likely to say they were a persistent psychic imprint and that there is no evidence whatsoever of a demon. The beauty of Beyond the Supernatural is that it gives them both enough ground to stand on for the argument. I find that useful. I don’t always want my games to offer one authoritative take on the universe’s oddities; conflicting explanations can be far more compelling.

I don't want to write them that way, and I don't want to play them that way.

As for horror, there are your standard rules for fear, possession, and insanity, but the Horror Factor is a mechanic I have taken to. A creature will have a Horror Factor, and when you see one, you roll a d20. If you fail, you are left momentarily stunned by what is in front of you. You forfeit initiative and an action, leaving you open for a moment until you can compose yourself.

Again, not uncommon today, but this predates the Fear and Horror checks of AD&D 2nd edition Ravenloft. So yeah, it is fun to see it here.  Plus it is simple and effective, and it doesn’t mean your character is out of the game for twenty minutes because he saw something awful. The monster has its turn, then you make your move. Fear should be a factor at the table, not an impediment to playing.

What do I get out of this? A good deal.

Take the way it handles occult knowledge. Magic ought to be shrouded in bad information. An old journal might have half a ritual in it, or a 1974 paperback will cite a source you can’t find anywhere else. A folklore professor will put down something that proves to be of great import, but you need to find his original manuscript. For an investigative horror game, that is gold.

I also appreciate the divide between the psychic and the magical. I have no need for every character to be in agreement over what they are witnessing, nor for it all to spring from the same well.

This works extremely well for me. Magic and Psychic phenomena should feel and "be" different. 

And the emphasis on research, education, and the like is something this game did well. Your sheet says something about the person before the monster appeared tonight. Larina has an eye for archaeology because she studies it. Morgan is well-versed in psychology and mathematics because he cares about them. When the supernatural intrudes on their academic lives, I have more to go on than a flat "Occult +8."

There is a lesson in here for my own settings too. The world doesn’t require some vast hidden order to make sense of it. A haunted house is often just that. Or perhaps there is something living under the floorboards of an abandoned building. The one with the most insight into the situation could be a professor, a psychic, or the odd dude at the bookstore.

You do the investigating because no one else will. 

Beyond the Supernatural provides rules for the supernatural without making it safe. There are psychics who can feel what is out there, but feeling and understanding are worlds apart. Authentic knowledge of magic is hard to come by.

That suits Jackson. That suits my nascent "Chicago 92" setting (whatever that is going to be). It suits the kind of contemporary horror I am after. The world seems normal, and for the most part it is. But then you happen upon the wrong book or venture into an old tunnel, and you see how much of it was right in front of you all along.

My Jackson Kids: Larina Nichols and Roderick Morgan

Morgan: "There are some things man was not meant to know, Nichols."
Larina: "Oh, that's ok. I'm a girl."

For this game, I set it during Larina's Freshman year at the University of Chicago. Stephanie and Faye are both down at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, but she gets an unwelcome surprise when she discovers that one of her fellow freshmen is Roderick Morgan.

Plus all month I have been watching some college-related horror movies, so this feels right.

Already, this tells you that this game has a different tone. High School Hijinks are one thing, but Larina and Morgan are at one of the most academically prestigious universities in the country. If nothing else, the stress is higher. This is also the pivot point of my campaign.

This works great for me since it gives me a chance to try out a "magical" character and a "psychic" character.

I am not 100% sure what sorts of adventures they will have at the U of C. I know one thing, though: they dislike each other too much to become anything other than casual friends. Not enemies, but they would never call each other friends. They do tend to end up in the same places a lot. 

Larina Stephanie Nichols
1st-Level Arcanist
Occupation: Student (University of Chicago)
Alignment: Scrupulous (Good)
Age 17 (September 1987)

Attributes
I.Q. 21
M.E. 19
M.A. 14
P.S. 9
P.P. 12
P.E. 13
P.B. 15
Spd. 19

Hit Points: 23
S.D.C.: 12
P.P.E.: 30
I.S.P.: None

Education: One-Year College
+10% to Scholastic Skills
Two Skill Programs
Eight Secondary Skills

Arcanist Abilities
Understanding the Principles of Magic: 82%
Read Magic: 89%
Practiced Use of Magic: Automatic
Sense Magic: Automatic, 120-foot range, but she cannot pinpoint the source
Recognize Magic Enchantment: 65%

Scholastic Skills
Automatic
English: 98%
Mathematics: Basic: 98%

Lore and Research
Lore: Demons & Monsters: 87%
Lore: Ghosts & Faeries: 87%
Lore: Geomancy & Lines of Power: 82%
Lore: Religion: 82%
Research: 98%

Science
Anthropology: 77%
Archaeology: 82%
Psychology: 82%

Technical
History: 87%
Writing: 73%

Languages
Latin: 97%
Ancient Greek: 97%
French: 97%
German: 97%
Irish Gaelic: 97%
Hebrew: 97%
Sanskrit: 97%

Skill Programs
Language Program: three additional languages.

Physical Program: Prowl, Swimming, Climbing, Running. 

Prowl: 97%
Swimming: 98%
Climbing: 98%
Running: no percentile roll

Secondary Skills
First Aid: 77%
Automobile: 98%
Cook: 80%
Dance: 70%
Sing: 67%
Photography: 77%
Mathematics: Advanced: 88%
Astronomy: 77%
Basic Mechanics: 64%

W.P. Knife
Hand-to-Hand: Martial Arts (Judo) (gained at 3rd level)

Combat
Attacks per Melee: 2
Automatic Parry: Yes
Pull/Roll with Punch, Fall or Impact: +2
Strike: +0 normally
Parry: +0 normally
Dodge: +0 normally
Damage Bonus: None

Saving Throws
Psychic Attack: +3 total (12+)
Insanity: +2 (10+)
Possession: +4
Horror Factor: +4
Magic: +4
   Spell cast by levels 1-3: 8+
   Spell cast by levels 4-7: 9+
   Spell cast by levels 8-11: 10+
   Spell cast by levels 12+: 11+
   Ritual/Ceremonial Magic: 12+
Lethal Poison: 14+
Non-lethal Poison: 16+
Harmful Drugs: 15+
Acids: No saving throw, dodge the attack.

Known Magic
Level One: See Aura*, Sense Magic*
Level Two: Detect Concealment, Extinguish Fire, Levitation, Mystic Alarm*, Turn Dead*
Level Three: Breathe Without Air, Impression*, Invisibility: Simple, Telekinesis
Level Four: Astral Projection, Energy Field*, Seal*
Level Five: Eyes of Thoth, Heal Wounds*
Level Six: Enhanced Memory, Tongues*, Words of Truth
Level Seven: Second Sight
Level Eight: Commune with Spirits*, Exorcism (ritual)
Level Nine: Familiar Link (ritual), Metamorphosis: Insect, Protection Circle: Simple*

* means Larina knows both the spell and ritual versions.

In this version of Larina, I have decided that the poor girl is tired of being knocked on her ass all the time. So, in her Freshman year, she joins the Judo club. She likes judo; it allows her to get out of her mind for a bit, but she isn't very good at it. Nor is see likely to be good, but at least it gives her something. 

Roderick Morgan II
4th-Level Psychic Sensitive
Occupation: Student (University of Chicago)
Alignment: Principled (Good)
Age 18 (September 1987)

I.Q. 24
M.E. 20
M.A. 19
P.S. 14
P.P. 14
P.E. 10
P.B. 16
Spd. 12

Hit Points: 23
S.D.C.: 19
P.P.E.: 13
I.S.P.: 88 (recovery: 2 points per hour of complete relaxation or sleep.)

Education: One-Year College
+10% to Scholastic Skills
Two Skill Programs
Eight Secondary Skills

Savings: $10,000
Trustfund: $100,000

Psychic Powers
Sense Supernatural Evil
Opening to the Supernatural
Recognize Possession: 65%
Recognize Magic Enchantment: 50%

Scholastic Skills
Automatic
English: 98%
Mathematics: Basic: 98%

Computer Program
Computer Operation: 98%
Computer Programming: 80%

Journalist/Investigation Program
Computer Operation: 98% (same as above, might give him an outside-the-rules bonus)
Intelligence: 78%
Photography: 90%
Research: 90%
Writing, Journalistic Style: 70%

Secondary Skills
Basic Electronics: 70%
Pick Locks: 65%
Wilderness Survival: 70%
Climbing: 92%
Rappelling: 60%
Automobile: 98%
Art: 66%
Mathematics: Advanced: 90%
History: 75%

W.P. Knife
W.P. Sword (Sword Cane)

Combat
Attacks/Actions per Melee: 2
Automatic Parry: No
Strike: +0 normally
Parry: +0 normally
Dodge: +0 normally
Damage Bonus: None

Saving Throws
Psychic Attack, Closed: +3 from M.E.; needs 7+
Psychic Attack, Open/Using Powers: 15+, no bonuses
Insanity: +3, needs 9+
Possession: +3
Horror Factor: +3
Magic: +1
   Spell cast by levels 1-3: 11+
   Spell cast by levels 4-7: 12+
   Spell cast by levels 8-11: 13+
   Spell cast by levels 12+: 14+
   Ritual/Ceremonial Magic: 15+
Mind-Altering Drugs: +3
Lethal Poison: 14+
Non-lethal Poison: 16+
Harmful Drugs: 15+ normally
Acids: No saving throw, dodge the attack.

Psychic Powers

Sense Supernatural Evil
Automatic class ability
I.S.P.: None
Range: 300 feet

Clairvoyance
I.S.P.: 4
Base Skill: 66%
Friend or Loved One: 71%
Duration: 6d6 melees
Maximum Attempts: Twice per day

Divination (arithmancy)
I.S.P.: 3
Base Skill: 48%
Divining His Own Future: 38%
Duration: 2d4 minutes

Morgan feels that what he does is just calculating probabilities.

Mind Block
I.S.P.: 4
Duration: 40 minutes
Bonus: +1 vs. psychic and mental attacks

See Aura
I.S.P.: 6
Range: 60 feet
Duration: 30 seconds

Sixth Sense
I.S.P.: 2
Range: 90 feet
Trigger: Unexpected imminent life-threatening danger

For the initial melee when triggered: +6 Initiative, +2 Parry, +3 Dodge. Cannot be surprised by a sneak attack from behind

Speed Reading
I.S.P.: 2
Duration: 12 minutes
Reading Speed: 30 pages per minute
Highly Technical Material: 15 pages per minute

--

Wow, that was a lot.  That took me a couple of days to get right to be honest. I remembered why I picked up this game, got all fascinated with it, and then put it back down. 

And I have barely scratched the surface of what this game can do to be honest.

While I have talked about it in other posts for this Urban Fantasy Friday, some ideas began here. 

This is where I got the idea that Larina should pick up Judo so at least she can last a little longer in a fight where she can't use magic. 

Both here and in NightLife Larina has a "pistol" rating. Again, the idea is she picked it up for a little self-defense. I can't recall if Illinois required a FOID card back then like they do now, but I figure she, along with Fiona and Morgan, joined a shooting club. I am going to say it was Morgan's idea, saying something like, "You can't rely on magic all the time, Nichols," and Larina saying under her breath, "the fuck I can't." But while I have never considered her a "gun person" at all, she can appreciate the skill and sportsmanship of shooting as a hobby or sport. In my mind, it is Fiona who takes to it and is surprisingly good at it. 

Both Beyond the Supernatural and later on NightLife are wonderfully crunchy. They grab that time when AD&D 1st ed was in it's last days, but before AD&D 2nd ed or Vampire hit the shelves and tables. It seemed, to me at least, that any game had a chance to be the top RPG of the time. I felt the same way about ShadowRun when it first came out. 

I am not likely to run either game to be honest. Again, NIGHT SHIFT does everything I want. But they do have a quality that is hard to replicate because it has to do with the time they were developed and written. It is part and parcel with the crunch.

One thing I do know is that if (and that is a big if) I ever get my Chicago game going, these will be some of the books I look to for inspiration.

Links

• Palladium Books
• Beyond the Supernatural, 2nd edition
• Character Sheets
• Palladium on DriveThruRPG
• Palladium Horror on DriveThruRPG
• Beyond the Supernatural RPG - 1st Edition Rules
• Beyond the Supernatural RPG - 2nd Edition Rules

Tales of Jackson: Land of Confusion

 You know how it is. You want to run NIGHT SHIFT. Your players want to play Dungeons & Dragons. Well, my last Jackson, IL adventure shows you can do both!

Hey Look, A Dungeons & Dragons Ride!

This adventure idea began innocently enough back in September. It was September 17, and I noticed that it was the anniversary of the Dungeons & Dragons animated series. I didn't watch it a lot back then; I had a job on Saturdays, but when my kids were growing up, I rediscovered it. We picked up the DVD set when the 3rd edition was popular, and I later got the Spanish-language DVD version to help with my Spanish.  I got to thinking. What if my Jackson kids found a "Dungeons & Dragons ride!"

Suddenly I had a very, very evil idea. Or a very silly one.

I loaded some movies into my queue for the October Horror Movie Marathon, knowing they would give me some good ideas. Largely because I had seen so many of them before. And I spent the month in between coming up with the ideas.

So I watched the movies last week and took the early shift in our Sunday game to run my adventure.

Enter the Dungeon

 Essentially, I had three basic problems in front of me. I knew the characters from Jackson were going to be transported to a "Dungeons & Dragons" world. But I needed to figure out who did it (which tells me why), how they did it, and what classes the characters would become in the new world.

I went with the last problem first. My three witches, Stephanie, Faye, and Larina, were easy. Too easy, as it turns out. Since I was using D&D 5.5 Rules-as-Written, I opted for Sorceress, Warlock, and Wizard, respectively. It was perfect. But I kept thinking these three were already powerful enough. So I set them aside and worked on all the other major NPCs/Characters. I didn't know who would take what, so I did everyone.

Here is how it shook out, and the surprises. One thing to keep in mind: I have also been considering a "Class Reunion" Adventure, so I have jotted down some ideas of where everyone is in 1992, 2007, and 2027. That is, if my players don't kill them.

Ami Reed: Ami was easy; she is based on Amiri from Pathfinder. If you recall Jackson's first game, I had a bunch of Pathfinder Iconics minis I was using. Amiri the Barbarian became Ami, the tough girl on the girls' softball team. Turning her back into a barbarian made sense.

Valentino Moreno: Likewise, Val is based on Valeros, the iconic fighter. So, fighter he remains.

Andy Thompson: Anderson is a Sage in the Jackson game, but he takes on his true role here as Bard. He has his trumpet, and when they later go fight the "Dragon Master," he belts out Asia's "Only Time Will Tell." At least that is the player's plan. They love the 80s and queueing up songs on Spotify. Andy is an original character, but from West Haven. 

Rowan McGowan: Rowan has been many things in my games before Jackson. Witch Knight, Protector, Paladin. But Rowan in Jackson has become something different. All those things still describe her, but a surprise later on made me re-evaluate her role. Here, she became a Gloom Stalker Ranger. Why? Because Rowan is all about making sure the creatures of the night have something to fear.

Kyra Bellamy: Kyra was also lifted from Pathfinder minis. She was Kyra, the iconic cleric. Here she is Kyra, the Preacher's Kid, who discovers her own true faith. So she is my Cleric of Light.

Meriko Hayashida: Meriko, Kyra's secret girlfriend, is also taken from Pathfinder's Merisiel, the iconic thief. Honestly, I took Kyra, and Meriko insisted on coming along. She is my thief. 

Tetsuya "Tetsu" Hayashida: Meriko's 12-year-old young brother. NPC at the moment, because I wanted her annoying younger brother to tag along (her mom made her take him to the movies). He is the comic relief and plays the annoying little-sibling trope. He is also a thief.

Benjamin Brown: "Benny" is a new character I haven't talked about much, but I wanted to bring him to the table here. Benny is a lot of things. He works with Faye at "Strawberry Fields." He is friends with Meriko and Kyra. He is the kid who wants to do everyone's star chart and horoscope. He is also the local pot dealer (he doesn't look the part at all, and only his friends know), and he is also my "Gay Kid" from the 80s. I like Ben. He is a complex character and much, much more than a stereotype. In the D&D world, he becomes a Druid of the Circle of Stars. And he has key information. And drugs.  

Note: this should also be the first clue that Darren is not 100% in control here. If Ben were to be transported to a D&D fantasy world, Darren would have been much crueler. Ben comes over not just largely intact, but key elements of his personality are enhanced.

Finally, we get to the two who should have been easy, but let me be honest: these two surprise me all freaking the time.

Candy and Denise are, rather obviously, based on Candella and Duchess from the classic D&D adventure B3: Palace of the Silver Princess. So they should be thieves, right?

Wrong. 

Candy and Denise have grown a lot as characters. I know who they will become when they get older (back to my proposed 2007 or 2013 Class Reunion idea): Candy becomes a nurse because she knows how to help people in times of crisis. Denise becomes a social worker because she stands up for kids and mothers who need someone. The magic of the land sees this. And this becomes the another clue as to what is going on, and not all of it is Darren.

Candance "Candy" Mercer: Candy is still that girl who can climb to the third story of a building to break in, but she is also the girl who stitches people up and gets them back into the fight. She is a Way of Mercy Monk. Her touch can heal or harm. Mercy is even in her name.

Denise "Duchess" Carver: When the kids were pulled into the world the "Dragon Master" wanted to Denise to be a simple serving wench or better (for him) a slave. That didn't happen. Something (someone) saw into Denise's soul, and when she got here, her true self was revealed. 

Denise Carver, Paladin. Oath of Devotion.

She shows up in shining (literally) armor, wielding a sword. I justify this by stating the obvious (well, obvious to the other players and me). Denise wears "armor" all the time. In Jackson, her armor is sarcasm and attitude. When Candy was hurt, she picked up a crowbar and challenged the monster (a zombie) to "fucking come get some!" I don't care if she was a "thief" in another life. Denise is a protector. Denise gets in between her friends and danger. Or as I have said repeatedly, "Denise Carver fucking shows up."

I honestly can't explain how well they all fit their new roles. So now to figure out my other (many) problems.

I have guidelines for all the other major and minor NPCs as well.

The Dragon Master Summons

When putting together my list of movies, it became obvious that I needed a Big Bad, and this was the guy who pulls everyone into his realm. The answer was obvious before I finished my thoughts on it. 

Darren Vale AKA "The Dragon Master"

At the end of Am I Evil? Darren was in a coma. Well, somehow this little asshole managed to create an entire fantasy world in his mind. I cheated and just used a "cartoon" version of Yog. He wanted revenge against all the people who wronged him. So he first traps Stephanie, Faye, and Larina. How? No freaking idea; I am going to use horror-movie logic here and say they were performing some ritual, and Darren had already laid a trap for them. They are trapped in his Realm, and he thought he would get the other characters into his world as well, where he could torment them at his leisure while siphoning off the magic of my three witches.

This solved a lot of problems for me. It kept the witches out of the picture so my other characters (jokingly referred to as "The B Team") could shine. It gave Darren the magic power he needed to power his realm and draw others in.  AND it gave me the key to Darren's defeat.

The adventure in Jackson begins when all the characters receive an invitation to see a new fantasy movie at the Illinois Times theatre at midnight (Yes, cribbed from "Demons"). They are the only ones there. The movie is cheesy but looks realistic, and then a group of orcs jump out of the screen and drag the characters into the movie.

The Realms of Spellcraft & Swordplay

The characters come through, and many of them are much more powerful than I think Darren intended them to be. Candy, Denise, and Ben in particular. There are "copies" of all the other NPCs from Jackson, but they are all caricatures of who they really are. Coach Kurt is portrayed as a dumb jock, despite also teaching AP Calculus and serving as the Honor Society sponsor. Kerri is depicted as an alluring nymph (ok that is not too far from the truth), and Valerie as an old hag, because that is how Darren categorizes women. Thomas Avery is stereotypically gay and predatory. It is all an awful version of Jackson. That's Darren's vision. But there are other tells. 

First, there is no one here who showed up after Darren's coma. Renee is still here, for example, and she left to return to Finland at the end of the 1986 school year. BUT. Moria is here. And more to the point, she is here as a demon-girl. Moria was introduced after Darren, and only four people knew Moria was really a demon: the three witches and Candy. Something Darren would not have known.

Also, the characters are on a quest. To find and free the Three Witches from the dungeons of the Dragon Master. (again, obvious) BUT the names of the witches are The Sorceress (Stephanie), The Ash Witch (Larina), and The Thorn Child (Faye). Again, only four people know that "Thorn Child" was what Faye's aunts were trying to turn her into: the three witches and Ben. Faye works with Ben at Strawberry Fields.

I drop other little clues that only the characters know, but not Darren. 

Somehow Stephanie, Faye, and Larina's thoughts are getting into Darren's world. 

What follows is a really, really stereotypical D&D adventure. I wanted it that way. In fact, I wanted it to almost feel like a parody that was so earnest it became an homage. The Dragon Master's lair was just Module B1: In Search of the Unknown and B2: Keep on the Borderlands.

The party finds the witches and rescues them. Each witch is a separate quest. Doing so breaks the magical hold. So freeing Stephanie, the Red Sorceress, causes social interactions to loosen their magical bonds; all the NPCs remember who they really were/are, and Darren loses control of them. Freeing Faye, the Thorn Child, causes the land to begin to revert to normal. Finally freeing Larina, the Ash Witch, breaks the magical hold. Now the PCs have to confront the Dragon Master directly. Everyone wakes up in the theatre. The janitor wants to know why they are all still there at 3 in the morning. ("Those damn kids!")

BUT I haven't gotten to that in-game yet. My real-world players are just now finding clues.And this is looking like it will be a lot longer than the one-shot I had intended it to be.

What is good about this adventure? The witches are completely sidelined. They didn't have to do anything and gave me a chance to see how the other characters do without them.

Spoilers?

Given the influence of Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors, not just on this adventure, but on the genesis of AD&D Larina's daughter Taryn, I did add Taryn (in her Half-elf incarnation) here. She appears to know things and even understands that this is a trap. The players picked up right away that she was different, but I didn't tell them why. My oldest got it right away. In fact, his comment was, "What the hell is she doing here?"

Sorry, Liam, I don't really have a good answer for that other than "fan service." Now I need to figure out how/why she was there.

This game is going to go on much longer than expected, and it is already shaping up to be my proper "Season 2" of Jackson, just not in the way I expected. I had planned to bring in Taryn as a time traveler to return to the 1986-87 school year, but I never figured out why she was there. Other than a 21-year-old Taryn trying to deal with her mom when she was 17.

It will be fun to see where this one goes.

October Movie Challenge: The Stuff (1985)

It tastes great.

It has no calories.

Everyone loves it.

It is also alive.

This is an odd one. It's an obvious dig on 80s consumerism. Its commentary is spot on really. I can't fault it for that. Not quite as good as "Robocop," but still good. But is it good horror?

The Stuff (1985)

Larry Cohen’s 1985 horror-comedy, The Stuff, concerns a new dessert that has become the talk of the nation. It is irresistible. No calories, great taste, and everyone is fond of it. There is only one catch: it is alive.

We start the film with some workers who come across an odd white matter oozing from the ground. One of them, being a man of reason in the face of an unknown substance, decides to put it in his mouth. Because that is what you do. 

Before you know it, the material is on shelves across the country under the name "The Stuff." As a kind of miracle confection, it is putting ice cream makers out of work, leaving other food companies in a tizzy. Instead of looking into what their rival is up to, they put money in the pocket of David "Mo" Rutherford a former FBI agent, now an industrial spy, to see how the product is made.

Mo gets to the bottom of it. The Stuff is not something you should be eating. In fact, it is eating us.

Cohen has written and directed a film that is as much a conspiracy thriller and body horror as it is a sci-fi monster piece. It is an unapologetic satire of the way we in America will consume anything if it is well packaged and marketed. Roger Ebert saw the ambition in it, though he felt the satire had more impact than the scares. It was even reviewed in White Dwarf #77. 

You could not ask for a better fit than Michael Moriarty for this role. His Mo Rutherford is an odd one, with a certain relaxed strangeness about him. When he tells you he goes by Mo because he is always after "Mo'" whenever someone hands him cash, that is explanation enough. Contrast this with his turn in Dark Tower. 

 "No one is as dumb as I appear to be." - David "Mo" Rutherford

He is no hero set on saving the world. He is an employee of competing interests who stumbles into an apocalypse because he was paid to check out a dessert. In fact, he is kind of a jerk. 

He ends up with Nicole, an ad exec, and a boy named Jason. Jason has seen The Stuff moving in the fridge and knows there is trouble. But then again, his family is very partial to it and has been putting away large amounts of late, acting rather peculiar. Jason can tell people are being changed by it, but the adults will have none of it. They never do in these films. Par for the course in the 1980s really.

As for the Stuff itself, think of it as an alien take on marshmallow creme or yogurt. It has a mind of its own, will crawl up a wall, and pour from its container to finish off its host. Some of the effects are fine; at times, it looks like shaving cream forced through a hole in the plaster. I mean, what can you expect?

The body-horror is where the movie excels. You watch as The Stuff pours out of people who split open, leaving nothing but an empty shell. It does not merely have control over you; it replaces you.

The Stuff is somewhere between "The Blob" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," with catchy television commercials playing continuously in the background.  In a way those are the best joke in the film. Cohen knew he did not need the monster in pursuit if he could get advertising that made you want to put it in your mouth. There is a marketing department for the monster, one with a colorful logo to put on The Stuff. You will see celebrity endorsements, health claims, product placement, and some rather catchy commercials. Competitors are even at work trying to ape its success. It is all extraordinarily 1985. 

One can almost see parallels to New Coke here. 

The satire is not in the least bit subtle. Cohen is plainly enjoying himself as he takes on the excesses of consumer culture and corporate America. Not only that, he gets the "Where's the Beef" woman, Clara Peller, to ask none other than Abe Vigoda, "Where's the Stuff?"

Then the heroes realize that The Stuff is making its way across the country at a speed no one can contain. Who is left to save America? Paul Sorvino and his private militia, because why not. Sorvino is in fine form as Colonel Malcolm Grommett Spears, a right-wing military type who hears Mo’s tall tale and figures this is the kind of problem he has been waiting for his whole life.

As Cohen transitions from consumer satire to paramilitary action in the final act, things get more and more ridiculous. But they should. This is a film where killer yogurt is in charge of America; restraint would be uncalled for, really.

Released in U.S. theaters in June 1985 alongside a cast featuring Andrea Marcovicci, Garrett Morris, Danny Aiello, Patrick O’Neal, and a cameo from young Mira Sorvino, I find The Stuff to be better for its ideas than its execution. The story has a way of wandering (a lot); the tone constantly oscillates between broad comedy and real horror, and some of the effects are hit-or-miss. I also can't help but think that the version I am watching (on Tubi) has been hacked up. Or maybe it was really this disjointed. Hard to say.

Yet Cohen makes his point. The true monster is not The Stuff but the system that sees an unknown organism coming up from the ground and wants to know how to put a price on it and whether they can make a commercial for it.

It is the commentary that really saves this movie for me. I also love the idea that in the 1980s the horror comes to you in your home, and sometimes you invite it in.

I actually liked this one more than I expected. Mostly for how weird it is. 

Jackson, IL Connections

This is an easy one to put together.

Something new has taken hold in Jackson. A diet drink, frozen yogurt, or some protein snack is being given away for free at the public high school. It has everyone in town raving about it. Larina won’t touch it, finds the smell off. Faye will have none of it precisely because of the crowd. Stephanie has half of one before she gets a bad feeling about it. Andy puts down three. Val has eaten an entire box.

And then you notice people are not quite themselves.

Make sure the threat seems absurd at first. There is no haunted house or demon here, just an item on the grocery shelf. The characters may find out it is a parasitic ooze or an alchemical experiment, or something that has been under Illinois for eons. And the company behind it might be completely in the dark. Which is frankly worse. 

There is a line at the end of the movie where the execs talk about the new product "The Taste" tested in a "small Illinois town." Kinda writes itself, doesn't it. 

In an Occult D&D campaign, let us say it is an intelligent slime from the caverns below, marketed as a wonder food that cures fatigue and restores your hit points while tasting good. Every portion also allows the thing inside you to grow. In time, it will no longer need you and start wearing your body like a skin suit. Honestly, this might be the better idea. 

The Stuff is gross, funny, and messy, but far too clever in places for a movie about a dessert that kills, and in others not clever enough. It offers a nice 1980s horror lesson: the monster doesn't need to find its way into your home. It can simply wait for you to purchase it.

Ok. Not even halfway through and I am dragging. This was a lot easier 10 years ago. 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2026
Viewed: 18
First Time Views: 10

Mirror Mondays: When the Mirror Becomes a Door

 Back in May, when I put out the first of my Mirror Monday pieces, I was preoccupied with two projects: Advanced Witches & Warlocks and Jackson, IL. I called that first post "Two Books, One Spell," and it was highly appropriate. I still think it is a pretty good description of what I was doing. One book was about what the Witch should look like in AD&D. The other was about what it would actually be like to be a witch, particularly a teenage witch, in 1986.

I made the case then that the two were informing each other. If anything, the case is stronger today.

The fundamental question for each remains unchanged: what does a witch look like through a 1986 lens? With Advanced Witches & Warlocks, I am after the kind of Witch class and occult mechanics that would have been at home with the AD&D books I was running back then. With Jackson, I take Larina, Stephanie, Faye, and company, and consider their type of witchcraft: the old school building is your dungeon, the road out of town is the wilderness, and a curious volume from the library is all the occult knowledge you have.

Those sound like very different questions and lines of inquiry. They are not.

Two Books, One Spell, Again

My job on Advanced Witches & Warlocks is to put on my old-school game designer hat. What sets the Witch apart from a Druid or an Illusionist? What are her spells and her limitations? How do you handle covens, pacts, rituals, and familiars? AD&D demands answers, if not always perfectly drawn ones. But *I* need to be able to say how something works or why the witch can’t do it. The distinction between her magic and the Arcane or Divine must be more than just something in my notes.

Jackson allows for some ambiguity, which is often preferable in horror. Larina has no use for the percentage odds of a ritual’s success. There is no spell list on Stephanie’s character sheet when she steps in front of a friend to shield them from danger. And Faye doesn’t care to know which page of the rulebook details what the Blackthorne Hags have done to her soul.

But I do need to know. Or have some idea of it, at any rate.

In that respect, Advanced Witches & Warlocks has been of great service to me in writing Jackson. It compels me to get under the hood of the supernatural. Where is the power coming from? Why can one witch do what another can't? Is it inherited or given? What are the terms of a bargain with something beyond her? Jackson can let the characters wonder about such things while the other project makes me think about what is going on behind the curtain.

Then again, the dynamic is not one way.

What Jackson Has Taught My Witches

This has been a big one. I am not sure I can adequately capture what I have learned over the last few months. 

I have been at this long enough to have written witches for most of my life, longer than some of my readers have been around. Over the years, I have put pen to paper (or, more to the point, fingers to keyboards) for Basic-era games, AD&D, d20, Unisystem, NIGHT SHIFT, and many others in between. In the course of that work, I have produced Witch classes, traditions, spells, and monsters; I have written Witch Queens and more than my share of demons, enough to last a few lifetimes.

Jackson keeps reminding me that witches are people.

It is a painfully obvious statement, but one game design has a habit of making you overlook. It is all too simple to view a Witch as a collection of class abilities: at this level she has this spell, at that one she has those restrictions on her magic items, and so on. When I am crafting an AD&D-compatible class, these details are vital, yet they say little about who she is.

Jackson makes me deal with the questions in a different order.

Who was her teacher? Who can she trust? And when things go horribly wrong, who does she call? What does she make of her own magic? What is her friends' reaction when they are afraid of what she is capable of, or, worse, how does she handle being afraid of it herself?

I have let some of those considerations seep back into Advanced Witches & Warlocks. A coven is no longer just an organization bestowing abilities; I think about what it means for a witch to have a place to belong. Pacts have real consequences rather than simply being a way to "gain power X." And a familiar is a relationship, not a list of bonuses with fur.

Jackson has been adept at getting me to consider why a Witch would act a certain way, not merely if the rules permit it. The reverse is true as well. Putting together the AD&D Witch has made me examine Jackson with a critical eye. Larina, Stephanie and the rest cannot do as they please because "witchcraft" demands it. If anything can happen at any moment, magic ceases to be magical and is little more than an excuse. There is value in limits and costs; they give weight to a choice.

The two projects end up correcting one another.

And so to Land of Confusion.

Welcome to the Land of Confusion

I have mentioned the Land of Confusion adventure before; if somewhat obliquely. The basic idea is exactly the sort of thing that happens when I am left unsupervised with my own characters for too long. With my villain Darren's help, the folks from Jackson have been transplanted into a proper Dungeons & Dragons world.

Yes. As in "Hey, look, A Dungeons & Dragons ride!"

Not some D&D-ified version of Jackson with orcs out by Sal’s Pizza. An actual fantasy world.

In that sense, Land of Confusion is the most straightforward crossover I have done between Jackson and Advanced Witches & Warlocks. I have taken people built to confront supernatural horror in 1986 small-town Illinois and put them where the assumptions of AD&D are fact.

This creates a problem I find absolutely irresistible.

Strip away Jackson Public High School, Paula’s Book Store, Strawberry Fields, the telephones, and the cassette tapes, and what is left of Larina Nichols? Or Stephanie, for that matter? Rowan? Vera? Candy?

The easy answer is to convert their character sheets. I mean, many of these characters began as D&D characters. Give them classes, assign some ability scores, figure out their equipment, and move on. I am doing all of that, naturally. I am a game designer. Stat blocks are one of the ways I amuse myself. But the easy answer is not the interesting one.

What I want to know is what makes the journey through the mirror.

When the Reality of Magic Is Common Knowledge

I find there is a certain distinction that is worth noting. In Jackson, magic is kept under wraps. You could say it is not the best-kept secret in some quarters, but for the most part people live their lives with the firm belief that witches and demons and the like are figments of the imagination. Should something odd occur, social mores will see to it that an alternative explanation is found. It is, in every sense of the word, Occult.

This is what gives Jackson its character; the inhabitants are privy to truths the rest of the world is not.

Put those same characters in an AD&D setting and the dynamic changes. Everyone is aware of magic. The fellow at the tavern table next to you could be a bona fide Magic-User. The priest in his temple has the power to heal with a touch. An old woman on the edge of the village might curse you if she is so inclined. There are monsters in the woods, and the local lord would have no qualms about publically putting a price on their heads for any adventurer willing to do the job.

Which raises the question: what is it that makes Larina stand out?

It is a good question, and one that brings to mind Advanced Witches & Warlocks. If my Witch is just another spellcaster she will be indistinguishable in a fantasy world teeming with them. She needs to be different, not more potent, not more knowledgeable, but certainly different. One finds that in the pacts, the rituals, the traditions, and the kind of old magic that does not belong in a Cleric’s church or a Magic-User’s tome.

In Jackson, these things set her apart from the common world. In D&D, they set her apart from her peers.

The witch is the same, only the mirror is different.

Consequently, Land of Confusion is evolving into something of a stress test for both endeavors, rather than simply an opportunity to put fantasy versions of my Jackson NPCs. I have to be able to explain what makes her a Witch in an AD&D context, as well as in Jackson. Or if an ability in Advanced Witches & Warlocks works on paper but is not something Larina would ever put to use, then I need to re-examine it. The rules put the characters to the test and vice versa.

1986 Through the Looking Glass

Somehow this always leads me back to 1986.

There was a reason for choosing that year for both projects. It is an interesting juncture in D&D history and in my own. AD&D was well established yet in flux. Rules were being added. Some of the original designers were out. Locally, we call the post-Unearthed Arcana era AD&D 1.5 (note: Not then, but now). I was busy playing the game and making up characters, devouring any horror or fantasy I could find, taking in the movies and the music and all manner of ideas without any inkling which ones would be with me forty years down the line.

Larina herself is a product of that time. A character made for AD&D in the eighties (July 1986) became the teenage witch of Jackson, Illinois in 1986. Now I am sending that girl back into a D&D world. I could not have planned that in 1986 if I had tried.

Then again, Land of Confusion is not an exercise in determining which Larina is real. I have long since let go of such concerns. The one in AD&D and the one in Jackson are both Larina, shards of the same concept fashioned by different games and even different versions of myself. My characters were always a bit of a psychological experiment.

Placing the Jackson version in a D&D world does not make her the AD&D character.  It doesn't even make her the younger version of that character. That would be too simple. I want to see what happens when the girl from Jackson is forced to be an adventurer. That is where the fun is.

With all these "looking glass" metaphors, I can't help but think I need a character named Alice. Or Brandy. ETA: I figured out who Alice and Brandy are.

The Mirror Opens

Mirror Mondays began with the mirror as a metaphor. On one side was Advanced Witches & Warlocks, on the other Jackson. I could look at the Witch in one and see something of value reflected from the other.

Over the last few months, that has become less metaphorical than I expected.

My work on Jackson has altered how I view the witches in Advanced Witches & Warlocks, while the latter has provided a way to understand the behind-the-scenes workings of Jackson. Answer a question for one project, and I seem to spawn two for the other.

Land of Confusion is where they meet.

What started as a reflection between the fantasy witch and the teenager is now seeing one of them cross over.

The mirror was never just a mirror.

It's more of a door.

October Movie Challenge: Other Worlds

 Ok, this weekend is a complete cheat. Of sorts. I have watched these movies over the last week or so but have not talked about them because I want to get them all together to talk about them today. I saved the only "new" one for tonight and will talk about it last. But the others are all rewatches. 

This mini-theme here is all about people from our world and time going to another place and time of sorts. These movies are the horror versions of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. Though with some, the only horror was having to sit through them all. 

House II: The Second Story (1987)

House was very much within my regular boundaries of movies, and I decided that House II would work as well. In truth, it was my rewatch of this that got me onto this idea. This one really doesn't have much to do with the first House movie, and that is fine. It has some fun lines ("Isn't Madonna the Madonna of the 80s?") and some good ideas. The basic premise is simple enough. Spooky house. Crystal skull (always fun!), and protals to other worlds/dimensions. What is not to love. This one, though, is less "horror" than House I.

Why I included it here: The portals to other lands/times/dimesions are absolute Jackson fodder. Plus I have not had a horror RPG where a crystal skull was not some sort of source of evil. I will admit, I own a couple of small ones myself. 

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

This one, and really all the Nightmare movies, deserve their own mini-marathon. I have seen all of them multiple times. But this one is one of my favorites. I have talked about this movie here many times before, but largely because of Jennifer Rubin and her portrayal of Taryn. I really loved the character. So much so that later I would have a character of my own named Taryn with questionable hair choices. She was so important to me that she is no less than Larina's own daughter. 

Why I included it here: In this movie, the kids are being plagued by Freddy, and they learn to fight him by taking on aspects of their Dream Warriors. Taryn becomes a knife-wielding badass who may have imprinted a little too deeply into my psyche. But the connective tissue here is also Will Stanton, who becomes the "Wizard Master" in his dreams. Stupid name, but the idea works for me and what I need.

The Nightmare on Elm Street movies became less and less about horror and more about Freddy's one-liners and gore.

Waxwork (1988)

Outside of my theme boundaries, but only by a little bit. This one has a group of teens stuck in a wax museum where every display is a pocket dimension. The trouble is that each display is an homage to the "eighteen most evil beings" in literature, with the always-great David Warner as the Wax museum owner. It's a fun little flick with Zach Galligan and Deborah Foreman as our two stars, and Patrick Macnee playing... well, Patrick Macnee, but that is fine. 

Why I included it here: Well, the pocket universe idea had a serious impact on how I played Ravenloft 2nd Edition. I would go so far as to say that this is one of the more influential movies on my Ravenloft games outside of Hammer Horror. Which is either cool or sad.  The movie is not great, but it has it's moments. Though I was (and still am) a little indignant about how Dracula was killed. 

Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983)

Is this one horror? It has some horror elements, to be sure, but I am not 100% sure I can call it horror. Anyway, this one was an attack of opportunity a couple of nights ago from American Horrors. It features Richard Hatch and John Saxon, so make of that what you will. 

Why I included it here: Time travel and dimension hopping were reason enough. I'll count it as a "watch" but not a first-time view for this since I am having a hard time justifying it as horror.

The Dungeonmaster (1984)

Ok. So the first shock is I have never seen this one. I think I was avoiding it due to the name. It obviously has Dungeons & Dragons and Tron as its main sources of influence. That is the nice way to say "ripped off shamelessly." Ok, "ripped-off" might be too strong. Borrowed heavily might be better, but still no worse than any other movie from the time with this sized budget.

Also known as Ragewar and Excalibrate, it is ambitious in one respect. The movie is built around seven sequences, each by a different director and writer, though often the same person. Representing seven different worlds/levels/challenges. 

They all focus on Paul Bradford (Jeffrey Byron), his supercomputer "Cal" (X-CalBR8), and his oft-ignored girlfriend Leslie Wing (Gwen Rogers). They get sucked into a fantasy world/computer world by Mestema, played to the hilt by Richard Moll (with hair).  And he really plays it up. 

So Paul and Cal (now in wrist-wear format) must fight through the seven different challenges.   

There is only about 8 minutes per challenge. I would say the challenges are uneven in writing and directing, but the same can be said about the Twilight Zone movie, which is generally pretty good.  

This movie does give us the immortal quote "I reject your reality and I substitute my own." Though I had no idea it was spoken by our hero to Richard Moll cosplaying as Satan in front of a demon puppet named Ratspit. And right before he summons a dragon that looks like Trogdor and WASP shows up...as WASP. 

Metal, gratuitous nudity, dragons, magic, a stop-motion giant monkey, and computers? This is the most early 80s movie ever. We are just missing some ninjas. 

It could have been more interesting, but it just kind of ends. Oh well. Still fun, but only minor horror trappings.

Jackson, IL Connections

Ok. This one is a little different. I have an adventure coming up that these movies are the foundation for. I am not ready to share it yet; I haven't finished it yet let alone played it. But the genesis of this adventure began with a snarky comment followed by "Look, A Dungeons & Dragons ride!"

In all of these movies, people from the 1980s get stuck in another world of horror or fantasy adventure. That is what I have planned.

These were also chosen because of how many of them influenced my actual D&D games back then, as I detailed above. Horror icons, crystal skulls, dreams, portals to other worlds. I think you all can still see some of that in these pages.

Ok. That is enough for one weekend. Work is going come very early and very rudely in the morning. 

But more on this idea tomorrow.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2026
Viewed: 17
First Time Views: 9

October Movie Challenge: Biohazard (1985)

While this movie really has nothing at all to do with my themes of "local" and "high school horror" it is on the spot for the time period, 1985, and a great (if that word can be used here) example of 80s sci-fi, horror schlock. It has an alien, a psychic, the military, weird tech, and manages to rip off both Alien and E.T., and features Star Trek-connected actress Angelique Pettyjohn. 

Starting this one late since tonight was the Games Plus RPG Auction.

Biohazard (1986)

The movie is fairly notorious. Though not for any good reason, really, the movie is fairly bad. The effects are cheap, the acting is mediocre, and the plot is weak.

So yeah, it's fun.

But it is also exactly the sort of schlock I would have loved back in 1985. 

So we have some scientists working with the government or the Army (not really clear here) and a psychic (Pettyjohn) to transfer matter from "another dimension." Of course, it goes wrong, and an alien creature is brought over instead. Though kudos to the writer-director-producer Fred Olen Ray for predicting the touch-screen display seen before Star Trek: The Next Generation. 

The monster runs through town, killing the locals while being chased. The ending...well. I can't say it was a disappointment. The movie didn't engage me enough to disappoint me, but honestly, I should have seen it coming. No I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen it. I hope the SpoilerText works below. Just highlight to read.

Spoiler: Lisa is an alien in disguise. The other creature's commander no less. She even rips off her own breasts to show the alien skin underneath. It's a bit gratuitous. End spoiler.

Rather famously, Ray's 8-year-old son Christopher Ray played the alien creature.

This was also one of Angelique Pettyjohn's last roles.

Jackson, IL Connections

Much like last night, the obvious connection is an alien invasion via some sort of psychic experiment gone wrong. Jackson does not have a military base, and the two colleges are not well funded enough to feature anything like the research shown here. 

Again, I go with Thirteen Parsecs for aliens, NIGHT SHIFT for demons. But that line is really blurred here in this flick. Yeah, it is an alien, but it does act very much like a classical demon. 

For Jackson, I could always say that psychic activity summons some sort of extra-dimensional creature. Hmm, now that sounds fun, let's make it all Morgan's fault!

October Horror Movie Challenge 2026
Viewed: 12
First Time Views: 8

Urban Fantasy Fridays: Occult Detective (2026)

 Occult Detective is a newer game to me. In fact, I didn't even know about it until the author posted about it in his #RPGaDAY2026 posts on Bluesky. Sadly, you will not find the game on DriveThruRPG, and I got my copy via Amazon. 

Doing a bit of research on the game before I bought it, I saw it had been in development for while, with some evidence of an early version going back nearly 10 years.  They took their time to get exactly the way they wanted it and I can respect that.

The Occult Detective

by Bob Freeman and Connor Freeman.
2026. Bordermen Games. 352 pages (6" x 9" format).

There are two central themes/ideas baked into this game. The first is that magic, the supernatural, and all that is real but hidden (the Occult part), and the characters play the part of investigators of the occult (the Detective part). It is a very solid premise. But as long-time readers of my blog already know, we have no end to games that do this. What does Occult Detective do that is different?

The feel of the game is very Noir. IT could take place in the 1930s, 1990s, or last week. The timeline is not as important, I think, as the stories it is trying to tell. Stories is a good word for it, too. The game master is called "The Author," and the player characters are "The Protagonists." So already you get the feel that is a detective novel you will try to bring to life. There is some merit to this, but I have been watching a lot of Masterpiece Mystery on PBS. Sure, many of these began as books, but maybe the feel I want is more "The Director" and "The Characters."  Yes, Occult Detective can do this, and that's how I'd play it.

The World Building chapter supports the idea of any sort of world/time. The equipment chapter, though, is more focused on 21st-century items and prices (as expected).

The intended audience for this book/game seems to be people who only have a passing familiarity with role-playing games. But maybe more than a starting interest in the Occult. That is fine. Any game can be someone's first game. I certainly get the feeling that author Bob Freeman has played a few games of his own, so he is familiar with how different games work.

Resolution is a d20 vs. target; roll high; 20s and 1s are criticals. But it is not a d20-as-in-D&D game. There are places where the DNA of D&D comes through, but that is true of every game.

Character Creation is fun and pretty easy. I did have to go back and forth just a little. But I kinda expect that with a new game. I do have to say I rather like the character sheets. 

All characters have a Trope, or what amounts to an archetype. Not a class really, but it does let you know how your character will respond in certain situations and might give you a bonus to your rolls in other situations. For example, I gave Larina the Trope of Scholar, which will help her in her research tasks.

After that, you choose your Kith. This is similar to other games' species or even races. Think of it this way: Trope is what you Do; Kith is what you Are. They are Natural (your normal Humans), Preternatural (your magic users), and Supernatural (vampires, ghosts, and the like). There are rules for moving up. A Natural can learn some magic to become a Preternatural or become a werewolf (Supernatural). They are handled well enough and work well for this game. 

All characters get a score in Fire, Air, Earth, Water, and Spirit. Each of these has different applications. For example, a high Spirit score gives a bonus to magick checks and other supernatural abilities, while Earth adds to your health. I have to admit it is my favorite part of the system. 

Everyone starts at Level 1, and you level up after a successful case. Sometimes, for longer cases, you could level up in between. It is essentially a "milestone" style experience, and it works well here. Different Kith get different things at different even levels, and everyone gets something at different odd levels. (Or that might be the other way around; I'll have to check.

There are no long list of spells or psychic effects, but there are some to give you a start. The idea here is that each and every character might do things a little differently. I also like that. 

Characters can also have curiosities. Like a Book of Shadows or a pentagram necklace.

If you are getting a "Dresden Files" vibe from this game so far, you are not wrong. I would say that the world of Occult Detective is a little more rain-swept and both darker and not as dangerous as Harry Dresden's Chicago. For example, the focus is on the "Protagonists," so the world bends around them. That doesn't mean they are "safer"; it is just that the mysteries they are going to solve will be ones that they can potentially solve. Also not saying they *will* solve them, but that they *could* solve them. This isn't Call of Cthulhu. Nor is it the sweeping universe that built up in the Dresden Files or even Antia Blake or Rachel Morgan. This is Harry, Anita, and Rachel in their first three books or so. The world of Occult Detective is dangerous, but it is also one the Protagonists can relate to. 

The strength of this game comes from the notion that many occult traditions are true, even the contradictory ones. Use what you want and ignore the rest. The World Building chapter is the most flexible, but if you squint, you can see the "intended setting." That's fine, really, nothing at all wrong with that. There is enough here to make it your own. 

Which is what I did.

My Jackson Kids

I mentioned last week that one of the takeaways from these playtests was the shocking revelation that Vera "Raven" Rook is a lot of fun. The game I played with her and my family was back in August. We only did one game of this before we came down with a cold. No. I don't blame the game. But Vera really started to become someone fun to have around.

Given the book is filled with various bits of occult symbolism and ideas, I am going to stick with my witches.

The first character took me a little bit, but after that the rest went extremely fast.

Larina Stephanie Nichols

2nd Level Preternatural (Magician)
Trope: Scholar
Tradition: Folk Magic

Earth +1
Air +5
Fire +0
Water +2
Spirit +3

Wellness 12
Defense 12

Immunities: None
Resistances: None
Weaknesses: None

Resources: Upper Middle Class

Spells (Folk Magic)
Warding, Wild Speech, Scrying

Her Air is higher, reflecting her intellect.

Faye Thorne

2nd Level Preternatural (Magician)
Primary Tradition: Chaos Magick
Trope: Ghost Hunter

Earth +2
Air +2
Fire +1
Water +3
Spirit +3

Wellness: 13
Defense: 13

Immunities: None
Resistances: None
Weaknesses: None

Resources: Lower Middle Class

Spells (Chaos Magick)
Pyromancy, Dwimmering, Summon (Chaos)

Faye is a Chaos Magician to reflect her upbringing.

Stephanie Wren Vale

2nd Level Preternatural (Magician)
Primary Tradition: Ceremonial Magic
Trope: Investigator

Earth +2
Air +2
Fire +1
Water +4
Spirit +2

Wellness: 13
Defense: 14

Immunities: None
Resistances: None
Weaknesses: None

Resources: Upper Class

Spells (Ceremonial Magick)
Compel, Magic Circle, Mesmerize

Investigator works really well for the later game Stephanie. She wants to know what is going on. Not to understand it like Larina, but to stop it.

Vera Diane Rook 

2nd Level Preternatural (Magician)
Primary Tradition: Mysticism
Trope: Thrill Seeker

Earth +1
Air +4
Fire +0
Water +2
Spirit +4

Wellness: 12
Defense: 12

Immunities: None
Resistances: None
Weaknesses: None

Resources: Upper Middle Class

Spells (Mysticism)
Mesmerize, Mind Reading, Scrying

This is where Vera began to shine for me. She is a "Thrill Seeker" because she likes the idea of these adventures. She also likes to hang out with Faye and annoy Larina and Stephanie. 

Larina (reading): "Hic locus mortuorum est."
Vera: "Is that some Christian thing I don't get because I am Jewish?"
Larina: "No, it's Latin. And I am not Christian either; I'm Wiccan."
Vera: "There is hope for you yet, Nichols."
Laria: "It says, 'This place belongs to the dead.'"
Vera: "Less hopeful now."

Faye, Vera, Stephanie, and Larina investigate.

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