October Horror Movie Challenge: The Church (1989)

Another Dario Argento flick.  The first 5-10 minutes was like Monty Python and Holy Grail that someone decided to play straight.  Seriously. Many points I was going "we are the Knights that say Ni!", "Burn her she's witch" and "Bring out your dead!".   Someone even looked like Patsy there was even a duck.

The rest of the movie is in modern times. And there it slows down to a crawl.  A church is built on the site where the Teutonic Knights killed a bunch of witches and in the modern day the church, now in disrepair is the home of a legion of demons.  The demons look kinda cool though.  Especially the last one.

There are some neat hallucination/possession scenes.

It does feature a very young Asia Argento as the last girl.

Not a great movie, but it have some really neat looking effects.


2016 Movie tally
Watched: 7
New: 6

Monstrous Mondays: Wendigo Matron

A while back I featured a Wendigo as part of my A to Z.  Well, my son has been running some games on his own with a group of his friends and he has been using Wendigoes as well.  This monster is one of his original creations.

Section 15: "Wendigo Matron" Copyright 2016 Liam W. Brannan.

Wendigo Matron
Armor Class:  2 [17]
Hit Dice: 10d8+5* (50 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 claws / 1 bite / breath weapon / spell use
Damage: 1d6 / 1d6 / 1d6+3 / 1d8+5 (cold)
Special: breath weapon, fear, low-light vision (240’), scent, immunity to cold
Movement: 90’/180' (fly)
No. Appearing: 1
Saves As: Witch 10
Morale: 9
Treasure: None
Alignment: Evil (Chaos)
XP: 3,000

A windigo matron is if anything, more evil than the common wendigo.  This creature is te defacto leader of a any band of wendigo and she has powers above and beyond the already formidable powers of these foul creatures.
In addition to the physical attacks, breath weapons, and fear of a normal wendigo, the wendigo matron can also use the following spell-like powers 3 times per day:

Wind Walk
Fly
Invisibility 
Shape change

A common tactic of a wendigo matron is to shape change into a normal human woman and lead victims to the lairs of the wendigo. She will often pose as a rescued victim, or as a someone seeking vengeance against the wendigo that killed her "family".   There may be truth in both guises as the wendigo may in fact, have been her family.
The wendigo matron is also different in her origin.  While humans can become wendigo when confronted with the prospect of starvation and freezing to death, a wendigo matron chooses to become what she now is.
It is believed that there is a dark ritual where prospective wendigo matron cuts out her own heart with a flint dagger.  What is known that a wendigo matron can not be truly destroyed till she is reduced to 0 hp and her heart is burned.  Otherwise, she will rise again when the next snowfall occurs.
Like the lich and his phylactery, the wendigo matron keeps her heart in a safe place.

Don't forget to include the hashtag #MonsterMonday on Twitter or #MonsterMonday on Google+ when you post your own monsters!

A to Z of Adventure! Q is for Queen of the Demonweb Pits

Q is for Queen of the Demonweb Pits.

What else could it be?  Well...funny you should say that. There is also a few Vampire Queen adventures out there and there is the adventure path I am playing around with, War of the Witch Queens.  But I guess really there is only one queen and only one Q module.

Queen of the Demonweb Pits is the ultimate finale that began with the characters looking into some giant raids. Behind it all was the Drow and Lolth!...er wait. Wasn't supposed to be the Elder Elemental Eye? Tharizdun? I mean that is what is going on in T1 Village of Hommlet.

Well as it turns out Q1 was supposed to be different. It wasn't the vision that Gary wanted. Now the official story is that Gary was too busy to work on Q1 because he was working on T2 The Temple of Elemental Evil.  We can see bits of his thinking in T1, S4 and WG5.  So David Sutherland came in to finish it off.  At least that is story we have been told.  According to Shannon Appelcline this was the start of Gary's eventual ouster at TSR.

Regardless of how, what and why, Q1 is fondly remembered to this day 36 years later.  As part of the GDQ series it is considered to be one of the greatest adventures of all time.

I remember playing this back in the day and that confusing as hell map.  I remember talking to friends in the days WAY before the Internet and how we would speculate on Q2 and Q3.

Like T1 and the mythical stand-alone T2, a DIY Q2 would be great.

SO TO MY REGULAR READERS:  What would be in YOUR Q2?

Would you have the characters look into the Elder Elemental Eye connection?  Maybe there would be a civil war among the drow; those that support the EEE and those that support Lolth.

I suppose I could take a few pages from Expedition to the Demonweb Pits for 3.5 edition of D&D to.  I do know I need to work out this Lolth-Tharizdûn issue before my players get there!

3 Different Editions, 1 Basic idea

A to Z of Adventure! E is for Epic Level Adventures (4th Ed)

E is for Epic Level Adventures (4th Ed)

Fourth Edition gets a bad rap from a lot of gamers, especially old-school gamers.  Which is really a pity to be honest.  There is a fun game there. There is even a fun D&D game there.  But alas it is also a game I am not likely to ever play again despite my investment of time and money in on it.

What I did like the most about 4e though were the HPE modules.  These were a series of three adventures for each "tier" of play; H for Heroic (1st to 10th level), P for Paragon (11th to 20th level) and finally E for Epic or 21st to 30th level of play.  Now while most D&D games stick to 20 levels, 4th edition went to 30. Well...1st had an assumed cut off at 20 and D&D BECMI went to 36th and beyond.  But I'll get to that.

The Epic level adventures were truly epics.  The adventure plot was discovering that Orcus, the Demon Prince of the Undead (and the cover boy on Prince of Death), desires to be a god and he sets out to kill the new Goddess of Death, the Raven Queen.  The E series had you confront Orcus in a reality-spanning quest to stop a mad demon with the powers of an ancient evil artifact.  It was a plot that appealed to me.  The series featured three modules.

• E1 Death's Reach (21st to 24th level)
• E2 Kingdom of the Ghouls (24th to 27th level)
• E3 Prince of Undeath (27th to 30th level)

Now back in the 1st ed days we battled Orcus back in the Bloodstone Series (H1-4), which I'll also cover on "H" day.  So this was not really all that original.  Indeed even today in the 5e world we have the Rage of Demons adventure series which includes Orcus.   Orcus is a very easy target. He hates everythng, wants everything destroyed and is a rampaging beast.  Which is also the biggest issue I have with these modules.  Orcus is portrayed as a schemer. He isn't. He is a beast. In my own games he is classified as a Rage Demon.  So I thought someone else pulling the strings behind him would make more sense.  Someone clever, someone evil, and someone that will use Orcus getting godhood just as a mask to his own plans.  So now I think you can see how my "Come Endless Darkness" was born.

Over the last couple of years I have come up with some fairly rough algorithms for 4e conversion.  So here are my current thoughts.

Plan 1.  Use bits of this plus bits of H4 Throne of Bloodstone to fold into my Come Endless Darkness campaign.  This is the most likely really.

Though I would still LOVE to use ALL these adventures someday.  Play all nine, ten or eleven if you count the ones that came with the 4th ed basic set and Ghost Tower of the Witchlight Fens.   I doubt I will ever run it under 4e, but stranger things have happened.
But I could convert it.

Plan 2. Convert for use for another game. There is some good stuff here really and I would still love to play all of them out.  Conversion could solve my issues, but how do I convert it?

Well if I am playing 2nd, 3rd or 5th ed then levels are about to 2 to 3.  So if the adventure says it is for 6th level then I take 4th level characters through and replace the monsters appropriately.

If I am playing B/X/C or BEMCI (aka "Basic") version of D&D or AD&D 1 then I add 5 levels to the characters.  B/X/C and BEMCI assumes that the characters, well, human characters, will advance to 36th level.  And your average 1st level 4e character is still more powerful than your average 4th-5th level character.

I am more likely to try it under Basic; going from 1st to 36th level.  I am not really sure how well it would work to be honest.  But I will also admit this is my conversion of choice.  It allows me to use all the cool OSR toys I have and use a system am very familiar with.  I would adopt some of the 4e trappings like conditions, especially "bloodied" and ideas like minions.
I have already converted 1st and Basic-era luminaries as Emirikol the Chaotic, Aleena and Morgan Ironwolf to 4e, so going backwards is not that difficult.

There are a couple of conversion guides out there too. WotC has one as does Sly Flourish.  But none that I have found so far back-converting.

If you are new to this and want to learn how to play 4th Edition D&D and see the first part of the HPE saga you can get H1 Keep on the Shadowfell & Quick-Start Rules for 4e for free.

Skylla: Compleat Spell Caster

The Compleat Spellcaster

Recently +Eric Fabiaschi over at Swords & Stitchery did a retro-review of the old Bard Games "The Compleat Spellcaster".   A book I have enjoyed for a number of years. A book that I will freely admit got me interested in doing my own witch class back in the day.  I played a witch using these rules rather briefly, but soon switched over to my own version.   Eric points out that the book is rich in ideas and magic.  What I personally liked were the spells and the variety of demons.  I still use Astorath, Shax and empusa demons.  

Eric did a fine review, so no need for me to go over the same ground.  Instead I want to see what sort of witch I can make with it.

In this book witches are a sub-class of the druid. Likewise necromancers and mystics are subclasses of the cleric.  I rather like this to be honest, I like that wisdom is the primary stat for the witch.

Skylla, 7th Level Witch
Chaotic Evil

Strength: 9
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 14
Charisma: 13

Breath Weapon: 13
Poison & Death: 7
Petrify: 10
Wands: 11
Spells: 12

Hit Points:  25
AC: 4 (Ring of Protection AC 4)
Familiar: Imp (looks like a small dragon)

Spells
1st level: Detect Magic, Disguise, Eldritch Fire, Hex, Object Reading, Summon Familiar
2nd level: Circle of Darkness, Frost, Levitate, Youth
3rd level: Dispell Magic, E.S.P., Locate Object
4th level: Invisibility, Thunderbolt


There are a lot of great spells for the witch.  There some powers that the witch gains including some alchemy and gathering followers.  I think this is good version of Skylla, though the lack of 8th and 9th level spells reduces the overall power of the class.

In the end I will repeat what Eric said, "...the Complete Spell Caster has a lot to offer if a DM thinks outside the usual boxes."

Friday Night Videos: Guest VJ Jason Vey

Tonight we have a special guest VJ Jason Vey!

He is here to share songs that influenced him or motivated him while working on Brimstone & The Borderhounds RPG.

Jason and I have known each other for years. We worked on Buffy together, playtested each other games and respected each other enough to say when a bit of game design was total shit.

I was a playtester on this in the early days but I really can't say anything about it other than I am REALLY excited it is coming out.  So without further rambling on from me, here is Jason.

--

Greetings, night stalkers, vampires and Weepers! I’m definitely NOT Kasey Kasem. I’m Jason Vey(sem) and I’ll be your guest veejay for this week’s edition of Friday Night Videos on the Other Side.

Tonight I’m going to talk about the music of Brimstone and the Borderhounds – my RPG that’s currently in Kickstarter through Troll Lord Games. I’d like to share a few little ditties that are inspirational or otherwise appropriate to this particular game which falls solidly in the urban fantasy genre. But before we do that, here’s a quick primer from the Kickstarter itself:

Forget everything you know about the afterlife. Good guys don’t always go to Heaven and bad guys don’t always end up in Hell. The multiverse is one giant amalgam of giant corporations that humans know as afterlives. Heaven. Hell. Valhalla. The Happy Hunting Grounds. Some might look prettier than others, but in the end they’re all at war for the greatest commodity in the multiverse…Human souls.

It doesn’t matter much where you end up when you die; your lot in life is one of slave labor in one of these afterlives, doing whatever you might have done best (or didn’t know you were best at) in life. That could be constructing buildings or architecture. It could also be mopping up in a strip club. In Hell these human souls are called Weepers. Some win their freedom and earn a meager living in the dregs of society. Others try to escape, either to join terrorist groups known as Kittens, or to get out to another afterlife or even back to Earth. When that happens, crack teams of bounty hunters called Borderhounds are sent out to the Wastelands to bring them back in. The best of these teams is known as XiBalba and is led by Brimstone, the half-demon son of Hell’s Grand Architect.

Using the acclaimed and easy-to-learn SIEGE engine mechanic, the Brimstone and the Borderhounds RPG lets you play as Brimstone and his allies, as a new team of Borderhounds hunting down escaped Weepers and battling corporate espionage from other afterlives (or engaging in a little of your own), or play as a psychic, mystic, occult investigator or Earth-bound hero, battling supernatural incursions from the other worlds as our planet becomes a battleground in the greatest corporate war the multiverse has ever seen. Wield Helltech weapons, call upon Forza Infernis (the powers of Hell) or draw forth alien magic and psychic energies. The sky (or the Pit, as it may be) is the limit when you play in the world of Brimstone and the Borderhounds!

So there you have it, kids. Brimstone and the Borderhounds is an urban fantasy game using the same rules that power Castles & Crusades and Amazing Adventures. If Buffy-meets-Cyberpunk-in-Hell sounds cool, then B&B is just for you!

Now let’s take a look these happy little numbers that were inspirational or are otherwise appropriate for this game.

1. The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
A classic of heavy metal by one of the most important bands in the genre, this nightmarish story about a guy hunted through the woods by the devil himself is uniquely suited to a game about, well, souls escaping from Hell!





2. The Road to Hell - Bruce Dickinson
This may be cheating, since it’s by the lead singer of Iron Maiden and sounds a bit Maiden-ish, but it’s a relentless, driving tune that’s perfect background music for chasing down those Weepers or battling incursions from the other Afterlife Realms!



3. Seasons in the Abyss - Slayer
Sensing a theme, here? What did you expect? It’s a game set in or revolving around the theme of HELL! This is a classic of dark thrash metal from 1990. Its minor key and chilling, dark vocals are a great mood setter for a campaign revolving around those first discovering how the multiverse works.



4. All Nightmare Long - Metallica
Kind of a new record, and sure, Metallica has probably had better tunes, but this one is a worthy entry into their oeuvre. The video is as chilling as the lyrics and like Road to Hell, it’s relentless and driving and would be great for that climactic battle against whatever enemy your GM cooks up.



5. Faster - Within Temptation
Led by singer Sharon den Adel, Dutch metal masters Within Temptation are one of the more underrated symphonic rock bands out there today. This song is actually a single from their album The Unforgiving, which would completely unto itself act as a great soundtrack for a B&B campaign. It’s also tied to a comic book limited series, which you should totally check out as it dovetails neatly with the themes in Borderhounds.



6. Welcome to my Nightmare - Alice Cooper
Seriously, need you ask? What game about hell and monsters is complete without a song about the gradual degradation of sanity and the horrors of the madhouse? Nobody has ever captured the mood of horror and nightmares in music like Alice Cooper, and likely no one ever will. Here’s a creepy live clip of that one.



7. Holy Wars - The Punishment Due – Megadeth
The connections here are several. Thematically, this is about terrorism in the Middle East…and the Marvel Comics’ character The Punisher. Strange pairing, but there it is. The idea of “holy wars,” however, is a great fit for a game about corporate espionage between Heaven and Hell, and the driving, never-quit force of it is another excellent soundtrack for action and adventure, while the comic connections are obvious.


There you have it: seven songs to get you in the mood for Brimstone and the Borderhounds, Kickstarting now! Check it out—back if you like, and spread the word!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676918054/brimstone-and-the-borderhounds-rpg

Kickstart Your Weekend: Brimstone & The Borderhounds RPG

I don't know much about the Brimstone & The Borderhounds comic, except it looks like "Dog the Bounty Hunter" meets "Hellraiser".  I could be wrong.  But even if I am it sounds like a cool game.

Troll Lords also thinks so with their new Brimstone & The Borderhounds RPG.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676918054/brimstone-and-the-borderhounds-rpg/

It is being written by Jason Vey (of Amazing Adventures, Band of Zombies, Broken Gods, and contributing author to the Defending Earth the Unit Sourcebook for the Doctor Who RPG, and contributor to Buffy) and uses the SEIGE Engine found in Amazing Adventures and Castles & Crusades.

Already I see a lot of use for this game.

I have a little side game going on (well on hold for a moment) called "The Daughters of Death" that was using D&D4.  With this it looks like I could easily move it over to Castles & Crusades.

Since I already have some Castles & Crusades plans in the mix for my game after my D&D 5 one.

In anycase this looks like a lot of fun.

Troll Lords has a great track record with Kickstarter so backing this one should be a no brainer.

Demon Hunter Class for AA (and C&C)

Just in time for Halloween (but I just found it now) Jason Vey has put out a new Demon Hunter class for his SIEGE Engine Amazing Adventures RPG.

http://bit.ly/aafreeclass

While designed for the Pulp-era adventures of Amazing Adventures this class also would work fantastic with Castles and Crusades.

The class is much more "Buffy" than it is "Solomon Kane" but you could do either with it.  Mostly though it reminds me of John Gregory, the Spook, from the "Last Apprentice" book series.

It compares well to the Paladin really, except it doesn't have healing, spells or a special mount. It does have supernatural senses and a special weapon.

Just another reminder that I need to play more Castles & Crusades.

Endless Darkness vs. The Outer Darkness

No game this weekend. It's my son's birthday so he is taking over my game room this weekend.

This gives me some time to work on their next adventure (well, future adventure), the D series.

I have been re-reading the D series for a bit now. It's funny how when reading it today I have a really different perspective on things than when I was going through the adventure 30 years ago.  That's not a surprise really, nor is how much of it I had forgotten.  What is the surprise is how much of it I remembered.  Not from reading it or even the printed page, but what my characters were doing at the time.

I remembered how much I HATE Blibdoolpoolp.

Not the goddess herself actually, but the deception.  20 foot tall nude human with a lobster head?  Why would Kuo-toa worship something that looked so different than themselves?  Well the answer was obvious even to my then pre-teen and teenaged mind.  It was an excuse to draw a naked woman.
Now generally speaking I don't have a problem with this, but I would like to think I am a bit more sophisticated today.

Since Kuo-toa are supposed to be stand-ins for Deep Ones anyway, why not go all the way and use Mother Hydra instead of Blibdoolpoolp.  I can keep all the same names, Kuo-toa are a more "fishy" offshoot of the Deep Ones and they call their Goddess Blibdoolpoolp instead of Mother Hydra, but they are the same thing.  She would become one of those things that is a mix of demon, goddess and what those things are from the outer darkness of Lovecraft's mind.

vs.

I have been adding more "Lovecraft" to this adventure series anyway.  Castle Amber was already very steeped in the mythos of Clark Ashton Smith.  I have a bunch of Yithan minis now too.  Plus I have wanted to bring the Mind Flayers closer to their Lovecraftian step-fathers.   So in this sense it all works out.  I also have all of these books at home with the monster stats; Deities and Demigods,  Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, Realms of Crawling Chaos and what I call neo-Mythos books like the Teratic Tome.

My kids are really into reading about the mythos, but not the actual stories yet.  My oldest doesn't read horror and my youngest is working his way up to Lovecraft now.  
Ok. For the record, I know there is so much more to Lovecraft than the Mythos.  But that is the part I want to use here.

I am not planning on bringing in the big C himself.  But I can see Dagon showing up sometime.

In any case it is going to be a lot of fun.

October Movie Challenge: 1970s Collection

Women, Warlocks and Weirdos...

Here are few I have seen over the last week that I have not had the time to review properly yet.
All are 1970s flicks (with one exception) and most have to do with Satanism or the Occult.  All of these have been on my "too watch" list for sometime.

La plus longue nuit du diable (1971)
Also known as "The Devil Walks at Midnight" and "The Succubus".  A cursed woman returns to her father's home and proceeds to kill everyone seven deadly sins style long before "Se7en".  She is described as a Succubus, but she seems to be a cursed woman.  I saw this one originally on VHS many, many years ago. Right around the same time I first saw "Vampyres", so it had to be mid 80s. Been looking for it for years.

Status: Seen

A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973)
NOT part of the "Living Dead" movie franchise nor really about zombies.  In truth it would not be Halloween if I didn't watch a Jesús Franco movie.  He even appears in the cast as a weird servant that can only utter gibberish.  I have to admit I enjoyed that.  This movie actually has a little in common with my next two movies.  A woman arrives at a castle in England after her father has died only to be drawn into her weird uncle's family of living dead.  Like some of Franco's work it is surreal at times, but this was still a fun movie with some nice surprises.

Status: First Time View

Evil Heritage (1976)
Also know as "Satan's Slave".  This time, the girl comes to her uncle's home and they are Satanists instead of the living dead. Yes her parents are both dead in this one too.  This one features Micheal Gough as the evil uncle and a young Barbara Kellerman who will later play the White Witch of Narnia on the BBC.  This one also has a nice twist on the ending.

Status: First Time View

Black Candles (1982)
Ok, not the 70s, but it does have that late 70s feel to it, though the hair and clothes are very much 1980.  Stop me if you have heard this one before.  A girl travels to England on the death of her...brother this time.  Here she met by her sister-in-law who also happens to be the high priestess of a Satanic coven.  Her boyfriend gets pulled in and well, wackiness ensues.  I liked the ending of this movie the least.  I am a little surprised what they got away with in this movie. Depictions of incest, bestiality...it makes the ritual killings look so passe.

Status: First Time View

Moral of the story here?  If a family member dies and leaves you a castle...just sell it and keep the money instead.

Stats
26 Watched / 20 New

October Movie Challenge: Demon Hunter (2005)

Continuing the "Hunter" vibe I also picked up Demon Hunter starring Sean Patrick Flannery in the role of the "brooding loner with a chip on his shoulder and a dark past".  The movie is predictable, but it has some nice features.

Billy Drago stars as Asmodeus. Basically he is playing the same character he did on Charmed only now he surrounds himself with more naked women.  Drago chews up scenery as a slimy bad guy like no one else save for maybe Eric Roberts.

Tania Deighton plays his succubus lieutenant.  She has the look, but I can't tell if her fake fangs make it hard for her to talk or if she is just a bad actress. Her succubus looks really cool. The wings were a nice touch.  Yes, she is also featured on the Succubus.net website.

The movie though is predictable, even to the "surprise" ending.  But it has some good moments.

This movie has me curious though.  Here Asmodeus is played as the Demon of Lust as he is depicted in many older texts and not so much as the King of Hell.  I wonder why Gary picked him as the ruler of hell and devils in D&D?  Was it because of him being described as the King of Hell in some books?  Curious. The classic "Politics of Hell" notwithstanding I am curious about his rise over other names like Baalzebul or even Mephistopheles.


Stats
18 Watched / 13 New

Review: The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence

Continuing my week of +Venger Satanis posts here is his next big one.

The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence
Described as weird fantasy/sci-fi/gonzo, I also wondered if it was a subtle jab at "The Big Purple".
Let's start of with the easy stuff.  Yeah, some people are likely to get offended by this adventure.  That's not a bug, but a feature, as we say.  Typically anything done either to purely offend or go out of it's way to push an agenda is going to suck.  I get the feeling here that this is the sort of game he plays all the time.  The art is still more "Heavy Metal" than it is "Hustler" and there is a solid 80s vibe to reading it all.  Please keep in mind this aesthetic when reading; it is a guiding principle that fits the art and the game design.   I think in someone else's hand it would have come off as crass or even as complete shit, but VS owns this. There is an honesty here that can be respected.

This book is a campaign book/hexcrawl/sandbox.  The PDF is 110 pages and packed.  It would make for a gorgeous looking book and it would sit nicely on my shelf with my other books circa 1983.

VSd6: This is a new mechanic introduced for skill checks/ability checks.  He mentioned it has been influenced by 100s of other d6 based mechanics and you can see that here.   It is an interesting system and provides some nice dramatic elements to the game, but not something I am planning on using myself.

Darker Secrets: This book also brings over the "Dark Secrets" idea/tables from Demon Slayer.  So in some respects you can use this book as a means to "beef up" the Demon Slayer adventure, although you don't really need too.   Though adding in the changes to magic that this book does might be fun.

The Monk: This campaign guide also features a Monk class.  It is not too far from the AD&D1 standard, though not as much detail is given.

We get into the islands proper and are given some background; 20,000 years of background to be precise, but only in a couple of pages.  The interesting bits happened in the more recent past including turning the "Purple Islands" into a penal colony.  Yeah, no jabs here at all...

There is a lot going on with these islands and the worship of the Great Old ones is just a small part of it.  The wording of the monsters, settings and even location is basic or even vague enough to allow you to put this anywhere.  It feels kitchen-sinky enough to fit into places like Mystara (which has a little bit of everything anyway) but focused enough to give you hints that is part of a much larger world.   Though I do like the appearance of the Shiny Demon and a preview of "Alpha Blue".

There are pop-culture references galore here, and it is very obvious that VS pulled out every bit of fantasy, sci-fi, euro-sleaze horror and 70s metal he had at his disposal and threw it into a blender with plenty of purple dye.  It could have turned out to be a horrible mess, but it doesn't.  Instead we get a ton of options spread over three islands.

I have to point out, don't play this as a single adventure.  The purpose here really is not to clean out the island, but to explore it.  It's a great place to strand some PCs after an ocean-going adventure.

At the end of the book we are given new spells and new magic items.

In the Afterword VS mentions that this product should not be used in isolation.  I agree, again I think that this would make for a great semi-tropical island in Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. The mythos are similar enough, or at least enough to fit together.  The only thing that would make it more perfect is if this book could be printed in 7.0" x 8.5" format to fit in my AS&SH box.

Not sure where or how I want to use this yet, but I know I really want to.

October Movie Challenge: Horns (2013)

Ig Parish is having a terrible day.  His girlfriend was raped and murdered and now he has these two horns growing from his head.  Now everyone wants to tell him their deepest, darkest secrets.

Horns (2013) marks the return of both Daniel Radcliffe and Juno Temple to my horror reviews.  I have made a couple of decisions here.  First, Daniel Radcliffe is a phenomenal actor.  Second, Juno Temple is not.  Sorry. I really wanted to like her but she just was not that good in this.

The story here is interesting and Daniel Radcliffe makes Ig as about as distant from Harry Potter as you can make it.  No reason is given as to why he grows these horns and gains his powers, but none it really needed.

Game wise I think I want to redouble my reclassification of fiends and only have devils as fallen angels.  Everything else is a demon or something like that.

Stats
9 Watched / 7 New

A Week with Venger Satanis: Liberation of the Demon Slayer

It's the month of Halloween!  Though I understand many people still call it "October".  Fine. Whatever.

I thought this month I would spend some quality time with products that fit the theme of Halloween.  While putting together my list I realized I had a bunch of products from Kortthalis Publishing and +Venger Satanis.  I thought, what the hell, lets make a week of it.

Venger has had an interesting time in the RPG biz.  I remember talking to him shortly after he was banned from RPG.net and we discussed our respective horror games.  He has had a nice rise recently as an OSR publisher and has a few nice titles under his belt.

Lately he has been promoting something he calls O5R, which I have to admit it very clever, or products that can be played with either old-school games and their clones or with the newest 5th edition game.  It is a solid strategy really.  I have demonstrated time and again to myself at least that you can freely mix the two in terms of adventures.  I would imagine that goes even further.

Today though I want to start with one of his first OSR books.

Liberation of the Demon Slayer
I first picked this up near when it was released.  Since then I have considered it a potential entry in my War of the Witch Queens adventure path.

The adventure is six levels and 70 pages.  VS suggests using 3 0-level characters per player and let everything work out, or a large party of 1st level characters.   Nothing is mentioned on how many players, but I am guessing 6 to 8.

There is some background given about the world this adventure lives in.  They are all optional, but it does set the mood for the rest of the book.   I found the bits about Snake-men and elves to be interesting.  The adventure is steeped in a lot of Lovecraftian tropes and we are introduced to some of the "Old Ones" here, albeit with different names.

If you, like me, love eldritch abominations and dark magic then this the adventure for you. The adventure itself "sounds" simple enough. Retrieve a demon killing sword from the caves to stop the demons attack your village. Easy peasy. Trouble is that the author grew up when dungeons-as-meat-grinders were a thing and everyone was afraid the big bad devil was going to get you. This adventure though is closer in tone and danger to the Hanging Coffins of the Vampire Queen than it is to most Lamentations of the Flame Princess products. With the right DM this could be a great and dangerous adventure where the party could live. Sure they could all easily die too. One can read this and imagine that all of the author's games are a bit like it.

Actually I have known the author for a number of years and yeah this is exactly the kind of things I expect in his games. I think the difference here with this adventure and some of his earlier material is there is a maturity here to accept the absurd. This adventure can be played straight or with a dash of dark humor. Think of it as a horror movie, even the scariest have a touch of humor to them; it sets you up for the bigger punch later down the road.

The adventure proper gets going about page 17.  We are treated to rumors, some background, wandering monsters and some maps of the first level.  The maps have been drawn by +Dyson Logos , so you know that these will be interesting.  The feel of the first 4-5 pages of the adventure is really one of pure old-school nostalgia.   The first level is a bit of meat grinder, by design, and there are a lot things going on here that would make the hard-core Gygazian adventure fan happy.  Going back a bit it becomes obvious that the "optional" information above is still rather important since it colors the actions of many of the inhabitants in this dungeon.

As you descend into the dungeon things get weirder and more deadly.  I mean really, really deadly.  Devil lords, liches, vampires, freaking lasers and a nuclear warhead.  Yeah, VS really cut his teeth on the 70s and 80s era gaming.

I want to take a moment to talk about the art. Yes there is a lot gore, nudity and phantasmagorical horror here.   It comes off though more as "Heavy Metal" than say "Hustler".  All I can really say is that it fits the aesthetic of the book.   In truth I had more of an issue with the sci-fi elements (even though there were very good reasons for them to be there) than I had with the nudity.

The demon-slaying sword Kalthalax is an interesting weapon. One that would have a good home in my regular games to be honest and one that is enough of a hook to make me want to find a way to work this adventure in.   Maybe I can make Clavenus a witch instead of a wizard.

In any case there is a lot of fun to be had with this adventure; if you don't mind the occasional casualty.  I think what helps here is while the adventure is a meat grinder, it is done just to rid the party of the weak.  They are expected to survive and tell people the tales of their great adventure.

While VS takes the care to make sure this works with nearly any old-school game (and in the future he fits 5e into that as well), I can't help but think how well this would work with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.  The background is similar and the elves in Demon Slayer would be a nice addition to AS&SH, which does not have any elves.  Indeed, elves would seem like souless, demon-like monsters compared to humans. At least to humans that have never seen an elf before.   There is a mix of demons, devils and Lovecraftian beasts/gods that somehow feels right for that world. Mixing in AS&SH to this would give you something very, very close to playing akin to Michael Moorcock's world.

Curiously enough in my own games I do have an epic weapon for killing demons. In my current world state this sword is lost and a quest is needed to recover it. Maybe this is what I need. If so then the value of this adventure just increased ten-fold for me. I am going to have to spend some quality time with it and a pencil to see if it can be recrafted into something that fits my world a little better.

However YOU decided to use this adventure I am sure it will be fun.  Maybe deadly fun, but certainly fun.

Demons Run...

Picked up the latest D&D5 adventure Out of the Abyss this weekend.  Part of their whole Rage of the Demons.

I am not planning on running this but there are a lot of cool ideas in it.  Heck it was worth it for me just for the D&D5 stats of the various demon lords.

There is a lot of similarities between this and the GDQ series, which is good for me.  Since I am still planning on running GDQ with my kids this all fits nicely.  The events of this module are what is going on in the Forgotten Realms while over in my little corner of the multiverse Lolth, Camatoz and *maybe* Orcus are doing their thing.


Time for good men and good women to go to war.

Rage...Across the Multiverse.

Wizards of the Coast is pulling out the stops for it's new Rage of the Demons campaign and I have to admit I am rather excited about it myself.


There is a lot going on here. Including the new Out of Abyss book and Rage of the Demons minis.

Though how is any of this going to affect the Order of the Platinum Dragon?  Simple. This is a multiversal event.  While all that stuff is going on in the Realms and the Sword Coast, over here in my world we are still running through what I call the "Great Greyhawk Campaign" in my campaign of the Endless Darkness.

The two campaigns are obviously linked. I'll adapt bits and pieces from the Rage of Demons to put into my campaign.

I am excited to see Demogorgon in this and the mindflayers.  Mindflayers working with Orcus, that is like custom made for my games.

Zatannurday: Raven

Today is my birthday!
So I want to post one of my favorite DC magic-using characters, Raven.

Here is a collection of some of my recent favorite images of her.




Raven DC by MeganCoffey on DeviantArt


Raven I by MeganCoffey on DeviantArt


Nightwing and Raven by MeganCoffey on DeviantArt


A Greeting looking up by ChelzorTheDestroyer on DeviantArt


Raven Exposed Preview by ChelzorTheDestroyer on DeviantArt


Raven by JayEmEl on DeviantArt


Azarath Metrion... ZINTHOS! by DiegoAGM on DeviantArt


Raven Upper Profile by JayEmEl on DeviantArt


Raven by JayEmEl on DeviantArt


Raven by CeruleanRaven on DeviantArt


Raven by Peachykiki on DeviantArt


Raven - DC comics by Neferet-Cosplay on DeviantArt


Raven and white Raven Teen Titans Cosplay by AverageCosplays on DeviantArt


Comikaze 2014 Raven Titans Abby Normal Cosplay by wbmstr on DeviantArt


Raven by DarkKitteh on DeviantArt


Demon's Daughter by raymundlee on DeviantArt

A to Z of Vampires: Zburător

Here we are at the end of our blogging challenge for another year.
Today let's return to the "home" of vampire legends and myths, Romania and pay a visit to the Zburător.

Max Ernst's Une Semaine de Bonté 1934 collage.

This creature is somewhat similar to an incubus, a male demon, but it is a vampiric spirit inhabiting a male body.  It preys on young girls (particularly virgins) and widows. They always appear as stunningly handsome young men with dark eyes and black hair. It will find a woman and prey on her nightly till she is dead.  It will typically charm the woman before hand and then gain an invitation to her home.  Once there he will come to the woman's bed and drain her blood while having sex. This results in the loss of 3 Constitution points per night.  Typically no one survives more than three encounters with a zburător.  Women killed become vampires under the zburător's complete control.

Despite being very fast and very strong the zburător is a stereotypical "lover and not a fighter" they will flee if faced with violence or great numbers. If forced to attack the creature will use a weapon or attempt to charm his way out.

The zburător is a shape shifter. It can become dust, mist, or flame to escape capture. It can also fly.
Though different than other vampires, the zburător has large bat-like wings that grow out of his back that he can hide when needed.  These wings are strong and can carry the vampire and his victim. This creature can also teleport (as per the spell) back to his lair once per night. Additional spell like powers include the ability to charm person, hypnotize, cause fear and phantasmagoria.

Like many vampires the zburător is destroyed by sunlight, is repelled by garlic and holy items, casts no reflection or shadow and can only be harmed by silver (or magic) weapons.  Additionally garlic or wolfsbane can be spread on windows or made into garlands or wreaths to hang on windows to keep it out.

Zburător
AKA: Zemu, Zmeu
Frequency: Very Rare
No. Apperring: 1
Size: Man-sized (M)
Armor Class: 3 [17]₁
Movement
 Basic: 180' (60') / Fly: 210' (70')
 Advanced: 18" // Fly: 21"
Hit Dice: 9+4 (45 hp)
% in Lair: 50% (coffin by day)
Treasure Type: Weapon + Blood Drain
Damage: Weapon + Blood Drain
Special Attacks: Per Vampire; Blood Drain
Special Defenses: Only killed by silver or magic weapons or sunlight
Save As: Magic-user 9₂
Magic Resistance: 25%
Morale: 5₃
Alignment: Chaotic evil
Level/XP: 9/4,250 + 12/hp

STR: 21 INT: 10 WIS: 10 DEX: 21 CON: __(13)₄  CHA: 23₅

1 Descending and [Ascending] Armor classes are given.
2 This is used for Basic games, and S&W. Also for monsters that I think need to save a little differently than others.
3 Morale is "Basic" Morale and based on a 1-12 scale.
4 Have not decided yet if I want to use 3.x style undead Constitutions or not. (15) Reflects what their Con would be if I do use it.  I might just put a number in () like I do for Ghosts of Albion.
5 obviously more reflective of personality and character than looks.

The zburător is the prototype of the "suave, sexy" vampire.
I have seen these type of vampires in other mediums, sometimes called "Dark Angels".  While they are better looking than other vampires and typically do not fight, they do prey on weaknesses; young girls looking for a 'dream lover' and widows longing for a companions touch. They still leave a trail of bodies where ever they go.

They are still popular enough to have a recent film made about one.  "Ultimul Zburător" or "The Last Incubus" focuses more on the "Dark Angel" aspect of this creature.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3031914/

A to Z of Vampires: Lilith

Lilith by Isra2007

Let's head to ancient Mesopotamia and talk about Lilith.

Er...wait. Haven't I done this before?

Actually I have, I talked about Lilith last year on the A to Z of Witches and the year before that on the A to Z of Demons.   She is just one of those subjects I never grow tired of talking about.
Obviously since I made her the cover of my Eldritch Witchery book.

Back in my WitchCraft RPG game I actually wanted to do three different Liliths that were also all connected.

Following the Maiden, Mother Crone archetype she would have been a Witch, Vampire and Demon.  In my Buffy/Ghosts of Albion games she was a more central figure. A faction all her own in the constant wars between the forces of good and evil.

While that was a fun idea and it worked well for the WitchCraft RPG, for something like D&D I prefer one Goddess. A complicated Goddess to be sure.

So here she is. In Petty Gods format. Though she is by no means a Petty God. She is actually something more than a demon, witch or goddess.  She is Lilith.

Lilith
Goddess of Witches, Mother of Vampires and Demons
Also known as: Ardat Lili, Lili, Lillitu
Symbol: Image of the Goddess
Alignment: Chaotic Evil*
Movement: 40' (Fly 160)
Armor Class: 4 (15)
Hit Points (Hit Dice): 140 hp (25 HD)
Attacks: Special, see below
Damage: Special, see below
Save: Witch 25
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XV
XP: 16,660

Lilith is the mother of monsters.  She is the mother of demon, having spawned so many, but she is also the mother of vampires and many say witches.

Lilith was the first human woman. She rebelled against the gods that created her and now controls armies of demons.  The gods won't work against her or strike her down because she knows all their True Names.

Lilith has no true friends because most fear her.  She is known to ally herself with the Goddess Ereshkigal since both have similar portfolios and areas of concern.  Some even claim that Lilith spent some time as Ereshkigal's handmaiden.  Others claim she served Astártē or Ishtar.

Appearance and Emissaries
Lilith always appears as a young very attractive woman.  Most often with long flaming red hair.  It is claimed her true form is that of a ancient hag with long, but sparse wild black hair, talons, fangs and the feet of a predatory bird.  Either or neither could be her true form.

Servants

Naamah - Known as the Daughter of Lilith Naamah is either a demon, a human or something else.  She is honored in her right as either the Patroness of Whores or the Patroness of Those Who Hunt the Night (slayers of the undead).  Her title as The Daughter of Lilith, as opposed to just a daughter of Lilith, is significant.  She may be her first true daughter or she may be her first human daughter.

Abyzou - Another daughter of Lilith. She is a powerful Lilitu Demon. She takes pleasure in possessing others and destroying them from the inside out.

Nox - The Petty Goddess of the Dusk is also believed to be a daughter of Lilith.  Possiblly the offspring of Lilith and a Sun god.

Camazotz - a Son of Lilith and the bloodthirsty god of Vampires.  Some claim that his father may have been Orcus.

Combat
Lilith never openly attacks.   She considers combat beneath Her and will not partake in it.  Her arena is intrigue, guile and deception.  Why fight when a cup laced with poison or a dagger in the night are much quicker.  If forced into combat she can summon pretty much any demon she likes save for the Baalor. If it comes down to it, Lilith can cast spells as 25th level Witch of the Demonic Tradition.

*Lilith's alignment is listed as Chaotic Evil.  The Chaos part should be obvious, she has rebelled against the entire universe.  While many of her actions are evil, she still kills babies, she is also a lot more complicated than that.  Lilith has a high personal morality. She honors and keeps her friends and associates.  You can trust that she will always do what is best for herself., but she also cares for her own "children" so she will protect them.

Other posts about Lilith here:
Every Angel is Terrifying: The Secret and True Origins of the Slayer
- Pseudo Slayers
Going Up to Hell: Cosmology
Sympathy for the Succubus
- Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Let's Talk About Sex(y)
E is for Eodemon
The Dragon and the Phoenix: Episode 7
Season of the Witch: Episode 2

A to Z of Vampires: Impundulu

Something a little different today.  A vampiric spirit that takes the form of a bird when summoned by a witch.  This is a creature in the folklore of the tribes of South Africa including the Pondo, the Zulu and the Xhosa.

Impundulu
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 6d8+3** (30 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 claws, 1 bite
Damage: 1d6+2 / 1d8+1
Special: Blood drain 1-3 points of Constitution per bite, Charm, Demonic abilities
Movement: 30’ Fly 60’
No. Appearing: 1
Saves As: Monster 6
Morale: 12
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic (Chaotic Evil)*
XP: 2,400

The Impundulu, or Lightning Bird, is a type of vampiric servant used by evil witches. The bird is born when lightning strikes the ground.  To all others it appears as a lighting strike, but to the witch it has chosen it appears as a bird.  Once so chosen the bird will manifest to all as an Impundulu.
The bird can also assume the form of an attractive man to lie with the witch each night.
The Impundulu may also attempt to seduce other women, and feeds on them as a vampire, but it is not an undead creature, but rather one of the Calabim, or Demons of destruction.
The Impundulu must charm his victim to gain access to her home and bed, once there he will drain 1-3 (1d6/2) points of Constitution in blood each night. After three nights he will cease his attacks.  The victim could well be close to dead at this point. Any victim lowered to 0 Con dies. Victims killed by the Impundulu will come back as weak ghost (1 hit die).
The Impundulu is immortal and is often passed down from mother to daughter.  The Impundulu is incapable of fathering children.
The feathers of the Impundulu are considered to be a great source of magic for a gris gris or other talisman.

Impundulu have all the same immunities as do other Calabim; Half damage to Cold, Fire, Gas, and Lightning.  They take full damage from magic and silvered weapon. They are fully immune to the effects of sleep spells and toxins.

The bird can be turned by a Good Cleric as if it were a vampire.  To destroy it a hunter must find the feather binding it to this world and burn it.  Usually this is with the witch that controls it.