MONSTROUS MONDAY: My Monster

How is your MONSTROUS MONDAY going so far?

Mine is GREAT!  I love seeing so many cool monsters.  I have not gotten to everyone, but I will.
In fact you can still sign up!  I am sure I am going to spend the next couple of days going to every site and reading what you all posted.  If I am going to run a blog hop and people are going to work to get posts up then you can expect that each and everyone will get my attention.

I wanted to talk about what sort of monsters I like.  I have spent this month posting all sorts of monster stats in preparation of this day.
- Wine Nymphs
- Ruslaka
- The Awakened Golem
- Witch Monsters

I also talk a lot about monsters here as can be seen from my posts tagged Monsters.  Now it is natural to assume that I would want to talk about Witches today. Though honestly I don't see witches as monsters.  Witches are witches.   No in truth my favorite monsters are Vampires.

I have talked more about vampires than pretty much any other monster, maybe even all monsters combined. The vampire is our dark mirror of our times.  He can be plague and pestilence, or smooth killer, or even ersatz super-hero.  While Edward my not look a thing like Dracula or Count Orlock, he does share more than one quality with the likes of Lord Ruthven or Lestat.

My favorite of course is Dracula.  He can be suave, sexy and cool and then in a flash be violent and bloody; a rampaging monster.  He is the best of what is great about vampire literature and film.
I have talked a lot about Dracula and the subject never gets old to me.  Back in the day I had this folder that I had written "Project Dracula" on.  It was one of my first attempts at multi-stating a character for more than one system.  Near the end of the 90s I had worked him out in dozens of systems.

I would later go on to do the same thing for the real life Countess Erzsébet Báthory.  If I have written more about Dracula, Bathory wins in terms of shear number of visits to my site.  She fascinated me and horrified me at the same time.  I could not imagine the scope of her crimes or even how she got away with it all.  I guess in the end she didn't and she got her everlasting youth afterall.

I also spent a lot of time discussing the cheesy horror movie Vampyres. I will not lie, I enjoy the hel lout of this movie.  What I like about it is how the vampire has evolved yet again here to be victim and villain.   Likewise I have felt the same about Carmilla.

Looking around this blog I seem to have stated up more vampires than I have witches.  Oddly enough I have not played all that many games of Vampire. Either the original Vampire the Masquerade or the newer Vampire the Requiem.

If vampires are thing and you also like old-school gaming then might I suggest my free book, The Vampire Class.  You can play a vampire character in Basic Era games and it is 100% free and 100% compatible with my new  book The Witch.

So what about you all?  Do you like vampires? Why or why not? Share your thoughts below!

For me they are the ultimate in Halloween monsters.

I is for the Imperial Age

The Imperial Age from Adamant Entertainment  (who also gave me last year's I for Icons) is a great collection of Victorian Age source books.  Designed to support D20 Modern, they can be used with just about any Victorian RPG.

They are "out of the box" compatible with OGL Gaslight for example and there is even a True20 source book that combines the materails of many of the books listed below.
I have been using them with Ghosts of Albion, mostly the background information and some of the game-specific material.  But I find that stylistically they tend to support games like Victoriana a little bit more.

I bought a lot of these books when they first came out, but "sat" on them while I was promoting Ghosts of Albion.  I didn't want to get distracted.
Now Ghosts is out there doing it's own thing so I can talk more about the Victorian games I really enjoy.

All the Imperial Age books are all well written and features art from the age, either public domain art and paintings as well as some original art.  In all cases the art is very evocative of the time and very well done.
The books are all easy to read, with clean layout and font sizes.  They can be printed with ease without killing your printer cartridge.

The GameMaster's Guidebook to Victorian Adventure (31 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/50046/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

A fantastic guide for running a Victorian Age game.  Plenty of background is given about societies, countries and people of the time.  Quick overviews of  Victorian thoughts on sex, the occult, and other countries  can add plenty of flavor to any game. As well as Alternate-versions of the Victorian setting such as Steam-Punk, Horror, Supers and Alt-Reality.
On the d20 specific side of things, a number of feats are given to be used (but can easily become backgrounds or qualities, depending on what your game needs) and even some advise on converting "Thrilling Tales" Advanced Classes over to Imperial Age.
The advice given is quite good, but the book almost pays for itself in terms of the near complete list of weapons (in d20 format) used.   There is a brief timeline and some references.
If you enjoy Victorian games like I do then this is a great product whether you play The Imperial Age, another d20 product or something else all-together.

Imperial Age Magick (36 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/23630/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

I love Victorian era games and I love games with magic in them.  So this book was a no brainer for me to pick up.  Using the vernacular "magick" this book present magick as seen through the eyes of the Victorian.  There are rules to magick and there is heavy reliance of the lieks of Dee and Crowley.  But that is what makes this book cool.
Magick is presented in three different styles; the common d20 magic, a skill based magick, and a school based magick where there are many different types of magick being used at the same time.  The GM needs to decide how magick works and what level of magick is the game; everything from High (D&D like) Magic to Low or No magic at all.
Plenty of background is given for the various types of magic and the authors really did their homework in terms of reading Dee, Levi and Crowley (among others).
d20-wise there are new feats and new uses for skills.  All easily adaptable.
There is a section on magickal gear which I would have liked to see more of to be honest.
The chapter on "Running a Magickal Campaign" bears special mention since it is above and beyong the Imperial Age normal game, but it also has plenty of ideas for all Victorian RPGS.
There are some very useful Appendices, including a Hermitic Scholar class (why it wasn't in the main text I am not sure).
This book is not the end-all be-all of magick in the Victorian age or games, but it is a solid resource full of great advice, ideas and tips.  My only gripe is there could have been so much more added.  But this is balanced with the cover price I guess.

The Imperial Age: Advanced Class - Alienist (12 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/27944/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

An Alienist is what we would call a psychiatrist today.  But in the terms of the Imperial Age game, he is a psionic parapyschologist.
The archetypical Alienist would be Dr. Seward from Dracula (sans psionic powers) or maybe even Hannibal Lector for an evil one.
This book also deals with the psychologically disturbed and how some of them can manifest wild psionic powers.  So not quite the crazy one sees in Cthulhu by Gaslight, but more so than Masque of the Red Death.
I give this book credit for coming up for something very original.  I think it is more closely tied the to campaign than say some other Advanced Classes like the Monster Hunter, but I can see this working quite well in say a Rippers game.

The Imperial Age: Advanced Class - Monster Hunter (6 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/23185/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

A new advanced class for bumping back the things that go bump in the night.  The monster hunter here is a combination of Van Helsing and Alan Quatermain.
There are some good ideas here, but nothing new or earth shaking.  The class itself is solid and something any d20 character would take a level or two in.
I would have liked to see some monster hunting societies, but I am not complaining for the price.

The Imperial Age: Advanced Class - Scientific Detective (7 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/20900/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

Playing Sherlock Holmes.
Having been re-reading a lot of Holmes lately I find this class spot-on.  If the Monster Hunter class is for fighting monsters, then this class is designed to stop crime.  The two work well together since they cover such different grounds.
There is a new feat and a repeated one from Monster Hunter (Gentry).
Again, great value for the price.

The Imperial Age: Advanced Class - Gentleman Scientist (13 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/58374/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

If the Scientific Detective book allows you make Holmes, and Monster Hunter make (a younger) Van Helsing, then this book allows you to make a Victorian fantasy Tesla.
If you are looking to turn The Imperial Age into a more Steam Punk style game, then you need to start with this book.
Plenty of new feats are included to allow your Victorian Weird Scientist to make their inventions.
Outside of the d20 realm this book is also a great guide for any sort of weird/super science for the Victorian Age.  While specifically that, it is a great start.

The Imperial Age: Anarchism (11 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/51417/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

A little history is helpful here.  Anarchism was a big deal to the Victorians.  Not just in terms of a political movement, but in terms of what it meant.  Society was everything to the Victorians, Anarchy was the opposite of that.
So first off, major kudos for the authors for recognizing this.  It is an edited and thumbnail version, but this is a game book, not a textbook.
While this book is about anarchism, it is also full of things those other misfits of society might need: namely the adventurer.
The book has plot hooks, points of view and what anarchism means in a game world.  So all of this (the first 3/4s of the book) can be used in any game.
The Anarchist Advanced class is pure d20. The new feats are a good, useful bunch that other character might want to take.

The Imperial Age: British India (67 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/51230/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

Most Victorian Age games give a paragraph or two about India, which is too bad really.  Victoria herself was known as the "Empress of India".
A good overview of the British involvement in India is given.  Again, this is not a textbook, but a game book.  There are plenty of places to get more detail, but I think what is here is a great start.
Since so much of the British involvement in India was political and military, overviews of the Government and Military, both in England and India is also given.
I like the authentic maps.
In an interesting addition, several Esoteric Societies are included. Obviously due to their ties with anything "Oriental".
A GM's section on running a campaign in India is presented covering Fantasy, Horror, Occult and Engine based game.
We don't get into any d20 specific information till about 46 pages into the book (almost 3/4ths through the book).
d20 specific info includes a section on creatures (wish there more, but this is good), weapons and feats.
The book ends with a set of reference books and films.
All in all I thought this was a great book for any Victorian-era game.  I would love to see more, but I think the book did what is set out to do.
What I can't get from this book I can get from here: http://books.google.com/books?id=-kAuAAAAYAAJ

The Imperial Age: Engines (67 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/50458/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

Rules and ideas to turn your Imperial Age game into a Steampunk or Gearpunk game.  This book goes beyond what is presented in Gentleman Scientist and presents a new campaign model.
More so than the other books in the Imperial Age line this one has more d20 information.  There is also less "history" than the other books.
Despite all of that, this is a good supplement to add all sorts of things to your game.  If you are a fan of Steampunk/Gearpunk and your current Victorian Game of choice does not support it, then this is a good choice.  If it does then this is a great source for more ideas.

The Imperial Age: Faeries (78 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/55203/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

The Victorians loved faeries.  Even the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle loved them a believed they were real.  This book help you do that for your game as well.
Plenty of faerie races are given along with their d20 stats for playing them as characters.  These will work well in any d20 game regardless of the time period.
A new mechanic is introduced, Traits, but familiar if anyone has played Unisystem or GURPS.  In fact it is because of this that makes this book more easily ported over to games like Ghosts of Albion or Victoriana.
Traits and Drawbacks can be bought to customize characters.
Rules for Fey-Touched characters are also given.
There are some monsters stated, mostly these are fey creature that would not work well as characters.  Plenty of new feats and an advanced classes.
Advice is given on the Faerie lands and how to run games that involve the fey.

This might be my favorite of the Imperial Age books just in terms of material to be used.  The organization of the material is kind of all over the place and the art is not quite a good as the other books, but that didn't matter to me since I was most interested in the words on the page.

The Imperial Age: Fantastical Races (70 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/59412/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

D&D style races in your Imperial Age game.
This book is a nice companion to Faeries in terms of expanding the fantastical elements of your game.  Also with a little bit of work they could also expand it more into horror.
In addition to the expected Dwarf, Elf and halfling, we also get Beastfolk (similar to the ones found in Victoriana and Gaslight), Celestial Blooded, Demon Blooded, Dragon Blooded, and Lizard Folk.
There are plenty of Paragon Classes for each race as well as feats.
Some campaign ideas are presented, but I feel some of them are getting farther and farther away from the Victorian norm.
Though it is a very fun book and has some great ideas.

The Imperial Age: Fisticuffs & Swordplay (25 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/55763/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

Fightclub for Imperial Age.
Information on Fisticuffs, Bartitsu, and swordplay.  Plenty of background and history and bunch of new feats.
Very useful in a game where guns might be rare.

The Imperial Age: Grimoire (75 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/54275/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

This book picks up where Imperial Age Magick left off.
The Imperial Age: Grimoire covers grimoires, or magickal texts.
Included is information on how to find these books, how to read and use them and what must be done to unlock their secrets.
There are some sample grimoires detailed, with their spells and some secret societies.  A lot of information is included here and could easily be adapted to any game.  I am thinking of Cthulhu by Gaslight in particular.
Some new and many old OGC spells are also included.  They are all by design d20, but can be converted.  This makes up a lot of the book, but it is needed.

All in all a great book.

The Imperial Age: Hell Hath No Fury (35 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/54789/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

Hell Hath No Fury is a "Penny Dreadful", an adventure for the Imperial Age Game.  Designed for newer characters (2 to 4 1st level).
The author takes care to let you know that while the Imperial Age can cover a variety of Victorian game types, he had to make some assumptions to have a pre-written adventure work out, so this one is described as Occult Steam.  I like that.
The adventure is presented in Three Acts and moves at a brisk pace.
The mystery reads like a "Penny Dreadful" and has the feel and atmosphere of a Victorian mystery.   I don't want to spoil things, but this is a fun adventure for the first time players.

The Imperial Age: London (82 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/51552/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

A history and overview of the greatest city of the British Empire.  What I liked were the inclusion of the real maps from the time, but improved over how they were presented in the India book.
There is even a brief description of some of the neighborhoods, Gentlemen's Clubs and important sites.  Background on the Peelers is also included.
The book is an overview and doesn't go into great detail in any subject.  Though it is not supposed to be a textbook or a history book, a little more would have been nice.
All in all though it is a fine book.  Perfect for any Victorian game since the d20 content is minimal.


The Imperial Age: Spiritualism (17 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/25602/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

Spiritualism was a big part of the late Victorian age.  Not simply Occult, Spiritualism dealt specifically with the communication with those beyond death.
The first part of this book details this well.  The second part discusses how all of this plays out in the Imperial Age game, including the different sorts of campaign modes one might choose.
We are also given a new Advanced Class, the Medium and plenty of new feats, magic.
Again, most of this book is "system free" so it can be used in any game.  The d20 specific stuff is still quite useful.


The Imperial Age: The Price of Immortality (34 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/58698/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

Another Penny Dreadful for The Imperial Age.
This one takes advantage of the material found in the London book, so having that on hand is helpful.
It is obvious that the author(s) have learned more about adventure design since "Hell Hath No Fury" since this is a more complex plot and a more detailed adventure (despite being the same size).
A very entertaining adventure that plays to "The Imperial Age's" strengths well.

The Imperial Age: Victorian Monstrosities (89 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/50829/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

A monster book with more.  Many of the most frightening creatures we know today have their roots in Victorian literature and history.  Dracula, Carmilla, Jack the Ripper, Half-human mutants, cults.  All can be found in the pages of Victorian origin.
More than just a monster book (though it is that as well), this presents some "history" behind the monster.  I am reminded of some the more detailed Monster Hunter guides I have seen for other games.
There is so much here that it is difficult to quantify it all.  But there is a lot and a lot of it is very, very good.
The stats are all d20, but the backgrounds work for any game.

The Imperial Age: Victorian Occupations (16 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/56646/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

This book has the distinction of being the first Imperial Age book I bought.
These are optional, alternate occupations for d20 Modern characters.  Though the background works for any game.
Not a lot of detailed material, but a lot of material all the same.
If you need a list of professions then this a good place to go.

The Imperial Age: True20 Edition (271 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/63405/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

True 20 is a perfect solution for all sorts of Modern d20 based games for me and Imperial Age shows why. The rules are adapted from the Imperial Age supplements for d20, so a lot here has been seen before, but all of it looks new through the lens of True 20.

All the Imperial Age products ooze style and this one is no different. There may be better Victorian Age games out there, but one can't deny that this is a great product and a welcome addition to any Victorian gaming library.

Dracula: Spellcraft & Swordplay

I think it would be awesome to run a total old school dungeon crawl in Castle Dracula.  Not Castle Ravenloft, with it's puzzles and puns.  Castle Dracula.  It would be a blast.
And what better system to do it with than Spellcaft and Swordplay?

Anytime I stat up a character for S&S I have to ask myself the question, could this guy go toe to toe with Conan?  Sort of like what I did with Red Sonja.

Vlad Dracula
Warrior Vampire Lord

AL: E
SZ: M
AC: 4
Move: 90'
HD: 15 (54 hp)
Attacks: 2 claws (short sword), 1 bite OR 1 weapon as a 15th level warrior (8 + 6)
Special: Fly 40', Climb 40', Blood Drain, Animal Empathy (Improved; Rats, bats, wolves), Dominate, Spawn (Blood or Energy drain), Energy Drain (bite), Alternate Form (bat, wolf, incorporeal gas, improved), Resist electricity, Immune mundane weapons, Vulnerable sun, fire, holy water (treat as 2d6 acid), +2 to all Con based saves.
Treasure: 9
XP: 2400
S: 24 D: 18 C: 18 I: 15 W: 15 Ch: 17

This incarnation of Dracula is the Transylvanian warlord with vampire powers to make him far more brutal than he ever was in life.  He will be surrounded by an army completely loyal to him, though only human, not vampire.

As per the Vampire, Dracula is immune to sleep, charm and hold spells. He may summon 10-100 rats (5-20 giant rats), 10-100 bats (3-18 giant bats) or 3-18 wolves (2-8 dire wolves). Dracula may shapechange into a large bat or wolf, but his hit points remain unchanged. Dracula may also regenerate 5 hit points per round as long as he has fed.

Dracula: Lord of the Vampires, Threat Report

Mutants & Masterminds Threat Report #43: Dracula

I really like these M&M Threat Reports.  They are a quick and easy way to add a villain to your game in a second.
What I like about these is they remind me so much of the old Chill supplements and the Con X ones.  Not that I Am saying they are copies, far from it! But rather all three games went to the same well and each came back with something a little different, and each one was very cool for their own game.

So of course I had to get this one on my favorite villain of all time, Dracula.

The vampire lord is presented with stats for M&M3, as well as some plot hooks for adding him to your game.  Included is his "classical" history and personality profile.  His powers are also discussed, which is nice since the new M&M3 book does not have a Vampire Lord like the old 2nd ed book did.

My only complaint about this one.  Dracula in the books was immune to the effects of sunlight.  He should be unique in this regard.

I would have given him the complication Powerless during the day.  It would have added some nice flavor AND been a big surprise to the players. I have used Dracula in every game I have played and the look on player's faces when he walks out into the sunlight and then grabs them by throat is PRICELESS.

I like the Plot Hooks and the "Power in the Blood" is a great idea.  You could use it with Dracula or even some new vampire upstart.

Since M&M3 is the same system as DC Adventures then this is also perfect for that.

Also they should edit the boiler-plate credits and licensee page for this one. Dracula can't be Product Identity.  His history in the M&M universe is, but his "real world" history can't be.

But all in all a great product.

You can see my M&M 2nd Ed version here: http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/05/dracula-mutants-masterminds.html

October Challenge: Dracula's Curse (2002)

Last year I did a big run of Dracula movies, but obviously I missed a few.

Dracula's Curse (2002)

This one was an Italian TV movie.
The story is fairly close to the book with some odd bits.  It takes place in modern times in Budapest.  All the characters are there, but some of the nationalities are switched around, but everyone is recognizable.
The is an odd bit where we see young Dracula before old Dracula and then young Dracula again. Other than that it is again really close to the book.
So close in fact that it makes it difficult judge this one.  The trouble with this one it is a bit boring.  You don't get the same dynamic between Lucy and Mina or even what makes Mina so important to the Dracula story.  In truth too the horror is missing to make this really one of the most, uhm..., anemic Dracula's I have ever seen.  They lost all of the depth and essence of what made Dracula, the book, so special.  Mina and Lucy were both very shallow and lacked anything that made them special.
I did like the Renfield character, interesting twist.
The actors were fine and the actor for Dracula looks like what you would expect from the description in the book and he is not a bad actor either.
The ending is different than the book.

Tally 21 movies, 19 new.

Juxtaposition Blogathon: Mina Harker

For my participation in the Juxtaposition Blogathon at Pussy Goes GRRR I though I would take a look at the various Dracula movies over the years.  But since I had gone over them in detail last year, I figure I'll focus on the heroine of our tale, Mina Murray Harker.

Now to be clear, so we are talking about the same character.  Mina is the character in the novel Dracula that married Johnathon Harker and is bit by Dracula, but does not die.

In many ways Mina is prototypical "Last Girl" of horror films, she could even be considered the first.  While she is still wrapped int he tropes of the female needing saving of the Gothic horror tradition, her growth in Dracula sets her apart.  Mina in the novel is a modern woman.  In the films...well let's have a look.

Nosferatu (1922)
We meet screen-Mina for the first time here, but her name is Ellen.  Mina/Ellen is very much the victim here.  In fact despite having just seen this movie the only scene I can recall with her in it is when Orlock (Dracula) is feeding on her bedroom.   She does hold the old vampire in the sunlight and kills him, but she dies herself.
Now Nosferatu had to deviate quite a bit from the source material in order to get made (and even that was iffy), but Lucy went from a integral part of the story to the roll of the victim, and purely the victim here.

Dracula (1931)
This is famous Bela Lugosi version and this movie is full of Hollywood glam.  Mina and Lucy (Lucy is now brought into picture) are depicted in their Hollywood finest.  Not too bad for a secretary and her idle rich friend.  Again, as with Ellen above, Mina is more victim here.  While this movie is closer to the stage play than the novel we do get to see some of Mina's character.  Now another change here is Mina is the daughter of Dr. Seward, a bit of an odd choice, but one that comes up again (and again, due to the stage play).   As in the book it is Mina that gives our would be vampire hunters the insight they need.  Also interestingly enough this is the genesis of the "Mina loves Dracula" sub-plot that we get in later movies, but is absent in the book entirely.  In the end we end up with Mina back with Johnathon and Lucy dead.

Dracula (1958)
The first of the Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing Dracula films for Hammer.  The roll of Mina/Lucy and the other women is reduced even more than the 1931 outing. The focus here is the Dracula/Van Helsing relationship.   This time Harker is engaged to "Lucy" and Holmwood is married to Mina.  Lucy is killed and Mina is now the focus of the count's obsessions. Again, Mina here is a victim, but she is a "preferred victim" now.  We see the attachment of Mina to Dracula that was hinted in the Lugosi version and made more manifest here.  Dracula is not just a predator, he is after our wives!  Mina displays some of the cool intelligence we see in the book, but this character is not really the same woman.

Dracula (1979)
The famous John Badham film with Frank Langella oozed atmosphere and sensuality.  Here "Lucy" is a wholly modern woman.  She has her own opinions on things and is at the heart closer to Mina in the books than the other portrayals.     Here is the fiancee of Harker, but is also the daughter of Dr. Seward.   "Mina" plays the Lucy role and is Van Helsing's daughter.  Odd changes, but again these are due to the stage play (which gave both Lugosi and Langella their careers.)
Lucy in this movie is viewed as Dracula's equal, or at least a partner he would elevate above the others.  Again there is the "love story" between the two that did not exist in the book.
Lucy is less of a victim here in the sense of the victim's role.  She at times is a co-conspirator of Dracula and even in the end when all seems well, Johnathon turns away from her and she watches Dracula's cloak like she expects him to come back to her.

Dracula (1992)
The last on screen outing of Dracula and Mina is movie that was supposed to be the best adaptation of the book.  In many ways FFC's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" does get it right.  Mina is strong, courageous and a modern woman.  This contrasted with the "weaker" Lucy who is still very much part of the past.   This is the closest to the Novel Mina we have gotten.  And yet we still get the "Love Never Dies" story line inserted.   Mina is Dracula's equal here and this is shown in the movie with her delivering the killing blow (as opposed to Johnathon and Holmwwod doing it in the book). In this Mina is less the victim and even less the co-conspirator of Dracula, though she does sometimes forget herself.

In both the 1958 version and this one Mina is burned on the forehead with a holy item.  The ways in which these scenes play out I think is telling in how the director of each movie viewed Mina.  The 58 Hammer film the burn is nearly gratuitous.  A big burned on cross on the actress' face.  In the 92 FFC movie the burn is a partial circle from the host, it looks like a bad blister is all.  In both scenes we get the same message, Mina has been tainted by Dracula's evil, but in one she is disfigured and the other simply marked.

Growth
Mina is a reflection of the Modern Woman in the novel while Lucy is more the reflection of the Woman of the Past.  Mina is the one that finds everything and uses the latest technologies (typewriter and even Seward's phonograph).  I find it interesting that Mina in the novel is more forward thinking and modern than the movies that came after the fact. In fact it would be another 100 years till we ended up with a Mina, in the form of Winona Ryder, that came close to the book.  Sure Kate Nelligan is great and very modern, but she comes up a little short.  Or rather, the director and script do not allow her character to reach it's fullest potential.

Last Girl
Does Mina qualify as the "Last Girl". Yes. In book she is the prototype of the Last Girl, she confronts the evil and lives to tell the tale.  In fact it is Mina that discovers all the connections in the various tales of the other characters.  In the movies, well she survives, most of the times, but she also confronts the evil of Dracula.

Want to read more movie Juxtapostions?  Head on over to Pussy Goes GRRR!

Happy Birthday Christopher Lee

Happy 89th Birthday to Christopher Lee.

I hope I am half as awesome as you are when I am 89.

D&D4 Halloween Previews

Wizards has some previews up for some new Essentials products that have a distinct Halloween flair.

First, the classic Universal monsters, Frankenstein's Monster (Flesh Golem), Dracula (Master Vampire) and the Wolf-man (infected lycanthrope).
http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ex/20101029b

And the new Warlocks, Hexblades are up.  Looks like they might be beefing up their combat a bit.
http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ex/20101029#71432
People are already talking about them a lot too.
Points of Light, http://daegames.blogspot.com/2010/10/meet-hexblade.html and
RPG.Net, http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=544671
Can't wait to see the full writeup on these since Warlocks are my favorite 4e Class.

Happy Halloween.

October Movie Reviews: Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires

Back to Hammer for this one in the LAST true Dracula films from the House of Hammer.

Though there is not a lot of Dracula in it and no Christopher Lee.

Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1974)

Dracula is visited by a Chinese monk who needs him to resurrect the Seven Golden Vampires, the most powerful vampires in China.  Dracula initially refuses, but decides he needs to get out of his castle for a bit. We learn here that Dracula can speak Chinese/Mandarin or at least understand it.  This scene featured Dracula rising from his coffin in one motion that we would later see in "Fright Night" and "Bram Stoker's Dracula".   Dracula takes over the body of the monk and heads off to China.

There Prof. Lawrence Van Helsing (unknown if it is the same Lawrence Van Helsing from Dracula AD 1972, but it is safe to assume it is) is lecturing to a Chinese university about vampires.  His son, Leyland is also there.  The other professors scoff at him, but one student takes him seriously.  He is the grandson of the man that killed one of the seven Golden Vampires and want's Van Helsing's help to kill the others.  They travel along with his son, another woman paying for everything, and the seven siblings (6 brothers and 1 sister).  Of course the Chinese siblings are all Kung-Fu masters.

There are lots of kung-fu fights which is as unexpected as it gets in a Hammer film and then there is the final confrontation with the last of the Golden Vampires and Dracula himself.

All in all a very interesting tale.  I like how even Van Helsing was stumped on the differences between West and East vampires.  He even postulates, given China's rich history of the supernatural, that the vampire my have originated there and moved west.
This is a period piece to be sure.  Not the 1804 period from the movies, but rather the mid 70's.  Kung-fu was where the money was.
It was not a great movie, and for the last Dracula film, pretty lacking in the Dracula department.  It features John Forbes-Robertson as Dracula looking exactly like he did in Hammer's "Vampire Lovers" (where he was supposed to be Dracula, sort of), but he is only seen at the beginning and end and he dies like punk.

Enjoyable as a Kung-fu movie with Vampires, but lacking as a Hammer film or a Dracula one.

October Movie Reviews: Count Dracula (1977)

For my October Reviews I am back on Dracula.

Count Dracula (1977, BBC)

I am half-tempted to count this one as two movies.  It does come in two-parts and it was rather long.

Ok let's start with the good.
This is closer to the book than any other movie so far.
There are some differences though.  Minor are Lucy and Mina are sisters here.  Arthur Holmwood and Quincy Morris have been combined to a single character, Quincy Holmwood, but he is still American.  An aside, I love it when English actors do American accents.  Quincy is so stereotypically Texan that it comes off more endearing than comedic or even bad.  The actor is very earnest about his role.

Louis Jourdan is a fantastic Dracula.
Susan Penhaligon as Lucy does remind me quite a bit of Sadie Frost, who played Lucy in the 1992 movie.  One gets the feeling that Francis Ford Coppola watched this movie to get ideas.

Judi Bowker (who would later earn her geek cred playing Andromeda in the original Clash of the Titans) plays a wonderful Mina here.  She has the sweet innocence that one needs in Mina in the early part of the tale.  She was the best Lucy up that time and rivals that of Kate Nelligan in the Hollywood film of 1979.

The bad. Though it is not really that bad.

The effects are Doctor Who-in-the-70's quality, but this should not be a surprise given it was in the 70s on BBC.  Missing Holmwood is not that big of an issue.  When you are doing this on stage fewer actors are better, but as we would later see in the FFC Dracula (1992) that it can be done.


It suffers from some of the same issues as the book.  Long and drawn out in places.

All in all a great movie, tribute to the BBC.  I am glad I finally got a chance to watch it.

Dracula: Ghosts of Albion

Something I have always wanted to do is bring Dracula into Ghosts of Albion.  I could imagine a plot similar to Dracula's Guest, only with the Cast.  The cast come to castle Dracula and meet up with the Count, in his old form from the the beginning of the book.  I'd like some sort of mystery.  Maybe a murder, but the Count wants to find out who did it just as much as the Cast.  I'd like to pit the Count against the cast, but not in a physical or combative way; I need him "alive" at the end of the tale.
I'd use the maps from Castle Ravenloft, since they are supposed to be like Dracula's castle anyway.

But the issue is, and has been, I can't quite come up with something interesting enough for the Cast to do with Dracula.  I figure if I am pulling out the big gun here, it needs to be nothing short of awesome.

If I come up with something you all will be the firsts to know.

Count Dracula of Transylvania

Name: Count Dracula
Motivation: To leave Transylvania and see new lands
Creature Type: Vampire, Protector

Attributes: Strength 9, Dexterity 6, Constitution 7, Intelligence 5, Perception 5, Willpower 7
Life Points: 98
Drama Points: 10

Qualities
Acute Senses
Age 4
Animal Communication (limited to bats, rats and wolves)
Charisma
Cloak of Beasts (bat, rat, and wolf)
Control Weather
Hard to Kill 8
Hypnosis 3
Nerves of Steel 2
Magic 4
Mesmerize
Protector of Transylvania
Resources 7
Scale Walls
Soldier, Officer (Retired)
Status, Noble
Sunlight Immunity (limited, unable to change form or use his magical powers except at noon)
Vampire

Drawbacks
Adversary (monster hunters, rival vampires, some gypsies, people with the last name Van Helsing) 8
Anti-Social Impulses (violent)
Archaic 1
Attractive -1  (remember, this is Old Dracula with the bad breath, very thin, hairy palms, and long mustache)
Covetous (Lechery, 2)
Cruel 3 (deranged)
Home Soil
Honorable 1
Love, Tragic (sure, why not.  He believes so at least)
Natural Barrier (running water)
Obsession (leaving Transylvania) 2
Obsession (find a bride) 1
Secret 3 (many)

Skills
Armed Mayhem 7
Art 2
Athletics 6
Crime 5
Doctor 1
Drive/Ride 5 (Coaches)
Engineering 2
Fisticuffs 6
Influence 5
Knowledge 8 (he has done nothing for the last few centuries but read)
Languages 9 (he speaks many languages including English with no noticeable accent)
Marksmanship 3
Notice 10
Occultism 9
Science 4

Combat Maneuvers
Name Score Damage
Punch 12 18 Bash
Break neck 16 36 Special
Sword 13 36 Slash/stab

Bite (vampire)14 22 Must Grapple first; no defense action
Dodge 13 -- Defense action
Grapple 15 -- Resisted by Dodge

Bat 20 -- +8 to hiding
Bite (bat) 14 8 Slash/stab

Wolf 20 -- Double movement; +3 to Crime at night
Bite (wolf) 14 15 Slash/stab
Claws (wolf) 14 15 Slash/stab

Magic 20 Varies By spell
Deflect 20 90° spell deflection (Innate Magic)
Hold 19 Holds spell in place for SL rounds
Dispel 17 Cancels Spell
Volley 14 Returns spell to originator

This is Dracula in 1839. He has not left Transylvania in years and is now planning his moving to England. Of course there are the Protectors of Albion yet to deal with.

Think the old man that greats Harker in the beginning of the book; Old, not very attractive, but charismatic. Here is also the Protector of Transylvania. Though you might want to rule that in your games he looses the benefit of those powers when he leaves his lands.

October Movie Reviews: Dracula 1992

For my October Reviews I am continuing my Dracula reviews.

Dracula (1992)
Also know as "Bram Stoker's Dracula".
Depending on your point of view this is either the best cinematic Dracula, or the worst. But before that lets take the movie at face value.

What I like the most of about this one is it is beyond a doubt one of the better cinematic adaptations of Stoker's book.  All the characters are here, including the oft missed Quincey Morris and Arthur Holmwood.  There are tons of little details that I love.  Dracula's shadow in the early scenes at Castle Dracula are great and invoke the classic Nosferatu.  The newspapers, Draucla's map of London, even a sandwich board advertising the Lyceum Theater are nice touches.  The sets are masterful, this may be the best Castle Dracula since Lugosi.  Of course watch for Dracula's shadow in his castle.  Nosferatu anyone?  The three brides, always hinted at, are revealed in their full gory glory here.  This might also be one of the first film roles for Monica Bellucci. The use of real Romanian is a nice treat, even if it isn't perfect (it's modern Romanian through out, even when medieval Romanian should have been used).

Though the movie is not without some serious problems.  The whole Mina and Dracula love affair thing is just another example of the Dracula/Vampire fetish. And don't get me started on the whole absinthe scene.  As much as I like Wynnona Ryder I felt her Mina was very flat.  Yes, and there is Keeanu Reeves as Harker, but I like Reeves and didn't mind this, though I kept thinking he was going to say "No way Van Helsing!" ala Ted.  Sadie Frost was a bit overtly sexual as Lucy, but I preferred her performance over that of Jan Francis' portrayal of the similar character in the 1979 film.

We have a little joke among my friends, if you can't figure out an actor to play a roll, get Gary Oldman, he can do anything.  He is convincing as Dracula, both old and young, the suave seducer and terrible monster.  But sometimes here he is a bit over the top.

This movie, more so than even the Jack Palance one, makes the connection between Dracula, the vampire, and Dracula aka Vlad the Impaler more explicit.  It also bridges that important gap of how one man became the monster.  At the time of the movie I liked that, but after just re-watching I am less convinced.  Oh it still is a good bit of storytelling, but it is another factor of the whole Dracula loves Mina sub-plot that gets on my nerves.

In terms of the other characters, well they are all there. Arthur Holmwood, Quincy Morris, Dr. Seward are all great in their respective points in the story played very well by Cary Elwes, Bill Campbell and Richard E. Grant respectively.  Anthony Hopkins plays a much crazier Van Helsing than those before him.  Taking that "we are all God's madmen" line a little too literal I think. Hopkins is great of course, he is Sir-Anthony-fucking-Hopkins after all, but some things about his portrayal bugged me.  The whole "the foe I have been searching for all my life" thing bugged me too.  Was this a metaphorical foe as in "all evil" or "Dracula" in particular?  I got the impression that they meant Dracula himself.

I do have this copy of the script that is full of production notes, stills from the movie, images from the various Dracula publications over the years and Victorian era photos/pictures.   It is sitting in-between my copy of Ghosts of Albion and Victoriana on my "Horror RPG" shelf.

The next full outing of Dracula will have to do better than this one in order to be remembered. And we are about due for one.

Dracula: True 20

I like True20. I do.  It suffers from some issues though.  If you like generic games, then it is great, but it still has classes and levels.  Plus the only way to really do a character properly is a load of multiclassing.

Here is Dracula in his True 20 form. Warrior is obvious, as is expert to some degree.  Adept really is there to cover his powers.

Count Dracula, True 20

Type: 16th level Undead (Adept 2/Expert 1/Warrior 13)
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 ft

Abilities: Str +8, Dex +7, Con -, Int +3, Wis +1, Cha +3

Skills: Acrobatics 19 (+26), Bluff 8 (+11), Climb 8 (+16), Concentration 7 (+8), Diplomacy 11 (+14), Disable Device 2 (+5), Disguise 2 (+5), Escape Artist 2 (+9), Gather Info. 7 (+10), Handle Animal 2 (+5), Intimidate 14 (+17), Jump 2 (+10), Languages 5 (+5), Medicine 4 (+5), Notice 3 (+4), Ride 6 (+13), Search 5 (+8), Sense Motive 3 (+4), Sleight of Hand 3 (+10), Stealth 6 (+13), Survival 8 (+9), Swim 0 (+8), Knowledge (History) 2 (+5), Knowledge (Supernatural) 2 (+5), Knowledge (Religion) 2 (+5)

Feats: Iron Will, Menacing, Leadership, Armor Training (Heavy), Armor Training (Light), Weapon Training, Armor Training (Heavy), Weapon Training (Long Sword), All-out Attack, Canny Dodge, Attack Focus (Long Sword), Defensive Attack, Diplomatic, Improved Strike, Dedicated, Influential, Night Vision, Uncanny Dodge, Rage, Smite Opponent, Greater Attack Focus, Accurate Attack, Power (Weather Shaping), Power (Mind Touch), Master Plan

Traits: Determination, No Constitution, Dark Vision (60ft), Proficiency (Natural Weapons), Immunity (Mind Influencing Effects), Immunity (Sleep, Poison, Paralysis, Stunning), Immunity (Critical Hits, Fatigue), Immunity (Fortitude Saves), Unhealing, Healed by Harm (Harmed by Heal)

Powers: Suggestion 5 (+8) DC 14, Wind Shaping 5 (+8) DC 14

Combat: Unarmed +21, Damage +8 (20/+3), Longsword +21, Damage +11 (19/+3), Defense +21/+22, Initiative +7

Saving Throws: Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Reflex +11, Will +8

October Movie Reviews: Dracula 1979

For my October Reviews I am continuing my Dracula reviews.

Dracula (1979)
The John Badham film was one of the first Dracula films I saw in the theaters.  Well, actually I think I saw it at a Drive-In. If you don't remember those then I can't help you.

This movie is a visual master-piece and Frank Langella dominates every scene he is in and he is in quite a number of them.  Dracula in the book doesn't get a lot of "screen time", but this one cleaves closer to the screen-play.  Like Lugosi before him, Langella played the character on stage first.
This is another one of the tales that reverses the roles of Mina and Lucy.  Normally it is Mina who loves Jonathan Harker and who is later seduced by Dracula and Lucy who is the friend who dies by Dracula.
Kate Nelligan is a great Lucy (in the Mina role) and Lawerence Oliver is great as the aged Van Helsing.  Donald Plesasence as Seward though left a little to be desired. I guess they decided to drop Seward's morphine addiction and swapped it with eating.  Seward is eating in nearly every scene he is in. Watch close and you will see a younger pre-Doctor Sylvester McCoy.

For some odd reason this movie is set in the Edwardian age (1913 to be exact) rather than the more traditional late Victorian.  It almost plays out as a sequel to the book, if you can come up with a good reason why Van Helsing and Seward don't remember Dracula from before, and deal with the issue that Van Helsing's wife was an invalid in the book.  Maybe she died and he got remarried and had a daughter that he named Mina (after Mina Harker) and Seward got married and had a daughter named Lucy (after Lucy Westerna).  Figure John Harker in this tale is really John Quincey Harker, the son of John and Mina Harker and "Milo" Reinfield is the son of R. M. Reinfield from the book.  At least that is how I have viewed the film for years.

This is an interesting film for a number of reasons.  First it has another great score by John Williams that is so sweeping in it's construction that you can feel that the sort of languid dream quality of the Dracula/Lucy scenes.  Also it was the first Dracula film that many people my age recall seeing.  I had seen the older Hammer and Universal ones yes, but I had been much younger.  I was 9 when this came out and the scene where Mina comes back to her grave scared the crap out of me.  Plus it was at a point in my life when I had not yet read the book, but knew of it's existence.
Langella's Dracula is a sexual predator.  He takes Mina and then Lucy because he can.  There is no "lost love here" like what we will see in the Francis Ford Coppola outing of 1992.

Langella does something here that few Draculas manage.  He acts like royalty.  Christopher Lee comes close and Oldman does capture the warrior-lord well, but Langella acts like a Count or a Prince. Like I said, he dominates every scene he is in and even when not the focus, his presence is felt.  That's some good acting.

This was my favorite Dracula, but almost 13 years later a new one would challenge that title.

Dracula: The Books

Despite my reviews, Dracula had a life before cinema.

The book "Dracula" is one of the most influential in the English language.  While the book itself is long, and often slow in places, one cannot deny the effect it has had.  There were vampire tales before it, Varney the Vampire and The Vampyre come to mind, and there were even better vampire stories before it, Carmilla is prime example.  But none had the effect of Dracula, both the book and the character.

If you have never the book then you owe it to yourself to do so. You can get the book nearly anywhere, including for free at Project Guttenberg.   I am fond of the Leonard Wolf annotated version myself, but I would read the book without the annotations first.









Dracula in print, like his movie counterpart, has also had a number of sequels published over the years.  Some were good, most though were not.  Here is a round-up of a few.

WARNING, there are spoilers here if you have not read these books.

The Holmes-Dracula File by Fred Saberhagen

I read this so many years ago that my recollection of it is fuzzy at best.  I remember not liking it that much at the time, which I think had more to do with how Saberhagen choose to portray Dracula as a misunderstood hero. And the wood thing. And the amnesia thing too.  I should re-read it to be sure.
Funny though, I am watching "Count Dracula" from the BBC now, and the cover art on this book reminds me of Louis Jourdan. The timing is right for it too.

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman
These books are just goofy fun.  There is a good story here, one about Jack the Ripper and the changes happening to England now that Dracula sits on the throne next to Queen Victoria.  All sorts of name dropping in this one (oh look there's Lestat, hey that's Prince Mamuwalde!) and nods to old vampire movies and books.  I have not read all of his books, but the first one was quite fun.  I remember at the time thinking that if Vampire the Masqurade was as fun as this book then I'd play it more.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Oh I LIKED this one. A secret book bearing the symbol from the Order of the Dragon shows up ever so often to historians throughout the 20th century.  Each of them begins a quest that leads them to...what? Dracula? That is too insane, but as each one investigates further and further that is the conclusion they reach.  The Historian spans three generations of historians as they search for the burial place of the infamous Prince only to find he is not there.  Sweeping in scope and attention paid to the smallest detail you can almost smell the old books and taste the blood as you read this one.
It is a sequel in the loose sense.  All the characters have read the Stoker novel and use it as a basis.  It is never made clear whether or not Stoker was one of their kind as well or just happened to be lucky.
This one is long and you should have a love of history, old books or libraries to get the full satisfaction of reading it.
The narrator of the tale, who is 17 in the book, but in her 50s as she is retelling it, is a descendant of Vlad Dracula and would make for a great Van Helsing like character in a modern game.

Fangland by John Marks 

This is a modern re-telling of Dracula rather than an out-right sequel. The main character Evangeline Harker fills the John Harker role, while Ion Torgu is our vampire (of sorts). It starts off really good and I like the gender reversal and the modern setting. Plus I could always imagine that Evangeline was the decedent of Johnathan and Mina Harker.
But the book fell apart on me for a lot of reasons.  First, Ion has none of Dracula's charm or grace.  I also found I didn't care much for the characters in the book and the author kept giving me more.  Telling it from the point of view of Trotter, a character I didn't like, also didn't help.
What bugged me the most was the part where Evangeline meets up with this other woman Clementine Spence after she (Harker) had been tortured at "Dracula's" home. Harker and Spence have a brief physical relationship while in Romania and Harker describes herself as "changing" which we learn means becoming a killer. One night she rapes and kills Spence and then drinks her blood.
Unlike the book (or movies) Harker does not "get better" but has become a vampire. The book makes it clear that Harker only had sex with Spence in order to close enough to kill her.  This is another case of the Dead/Evil Lesbian Cliché and frankly it is getting quite old.  The rest of the book was really just mush after that.
If I kept Evangeline Harker it would only be as a name drop and saying she had been killed under strange circumstances in Romania.  Dracula getting his revenge.

Dracula the Un-dead by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt

I am of mixed feelings about this one.  On one hand we have an interesting story about the events of our heroes 25 years after Dracula.  We have the great, grand-nephew of Bram Stoker penning the tale.  We have a cool mystery involving Elizabeth Bathory.
Then is all goes bad.
The stories never quite jell, the book makes claims that "Dracula" by Stoker got it all wrong and even makes mistakes.  In truth it is like the authors never actually read the book and instead wrote a sequel to the 1990's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" movie.  Of course there are more cliches here as well.  Tying Bathory to the Jack the Ripper murders (which also got some details wrong about that, and didn't do it a well as in Anno Dracula), more evil/dead lesbians in the form of Bathory (God would not allow her to be a lesbian so she rebelled against God and men, but kills women), Mina still pinning over her "Prince" and using a katana to fight of one of Bathory's brides. I could go and on, but I won't.
I liked the more explicit tie-in with Dracula and Bathory.  I like that Dracula, even though is back up and running, is still not 100%, I like Mina not aging (shades of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and the way her and Johnathan's relationship turned sour. I like Seward's morphine addicted vampire hunter.  So like I said a lot of good ideas strung together rather poorly.  In the end the book just made me mad because how bad the ending was.  This book was so derivative of other ideas that it is wonder it got published.
From this I use most of the background and chuck the narrative.

Special Mention

Grave Peril: The Dresden Files, Book 3

I picked this up after a long pause with the series and I have to say this was the best book in series (so far).  I mention here because after nearly throwing Fangland out the window after reading Dracula the Un-Dead this was so good it restored my faith in the vampire story.  Grave Peril is a vampire story and how Chicago's very own Harry Dresden manages to single handedly piss off 2/3rds of all the world vampires.
Dracula is mentioned in the book and Harry also states that Stoker penned the "big guide on how to destroy vampires".  So I'd rather go that direction in my games.  Sure I'll take the idea from DtU-D and say one of the vampire hunters told Stoker their tale and 10 years after that he publishes the book in hopes of building a stage career out of it, but in reality the effect was that vampire hunters all over the world now know how to kill vampires better.
In any case this book was very good and the best one I have read this month.  I am on book 4 now and it is so far just as good.

Dracula: Chill

In keeping with this month's theme I am also posting some stats for Dracula for the various games I have played over the years.
I have talked about my love for Chill before and in particular the wonderful Chill Vampires book.  These stats are based on the ones found in that book, but tweaked after playing other horror games.

Dracula

BASIC ABILITIES
Strength 110
Perception 100
Dexterity 65
Willpower 120
Agility 80
Luck/EWS 150
Personality 70
Stamina 150
Fear 6*
*Fear Checks. Characters need not make fear checks if Dracula appears as a normal human.

Attack **/95%
**Depends on the form Dracula takes

Movement Sprint in human form without STA loss. 75 as gas. 225 as Bat or Wolf

EDGES & DRAWBACKS (2nd Ed)
Name CIPs Notes
Psychological flaw 1 Obsessions (find a bride)

SKILLS
Name Rank Score Calc
Dagger/Knife (M) 160
Anthropology/ Archaeology (M) 130
Art Criticism (M) 165
History (M) 165
Hypnotism (M) 140
Investigation (M) 145
Language, Contemporary [English, German, all Eastern-European languages] (M) 165
Legend Lore (M) 165
Modeling (M) 135
Disguise(M) 123
Filching(M) 138
Graphology/ Forgery (M) 140
Occult Lore (M) 120

Movement: Varies according to form: in human form, can sprint without Stamina loss; can move 75' per round as mist or fog, 225' as bat or wolf.

Disciplines: Animation of the Dead, Appear Dead (Self), Change Self (to large bat, large wolf, cloud of fog), Create a Feast, Darken, Dreamsend, Evil Eye, Flight1, Gnarl, Influence, Quiet, Slam, Sleep, Steal Memory, Summon, Swarm, Wave of Fog

Dracula can use Flight at night. To fly, he assumes the form of a cloud of sparkling moonbeams that dance in the darkness, then materializes when the flight ends. He cannot be destroyed while in this moonbeam form.

IPs: 3300

Characteristics
1. As a Common Carpathian Dracula cast no shadow or reflection and cannot be photographed or video taped.
2. Human blood excites and enrages him. He must make a Willpower check.
3. Does not die when exposed to sunlight. Sunlight dos weaken him and limits his use of EWS powers.

October Movie Reviews: Dracula AD 1972 (1972)

It's Disco Dracula! Well not really, but it is the first Hammer Dracula set in the 1970s.

This movie reunites Lee and Cushing as Dracula and Van Helsing for the first time since Horror of Dracula.

Dracula AD 1972 (1972)
We begin this one with Dracula and Van Helsing (oddly name Lawrence, but that is fine I think I see what they are doing here) fighting on a coach.  They crash and both die.  One of Dracs followers collects the Count and buries him near Van Helsing.

Ok a minor stop here.  Normally I don't quibble about continuity, especially one in a horror film.  But if this takes place in 1872 and the event of Dracula (the book and supposedly the movie) in 1897 then...ok, repeat to yourself it is only a show...

Fast forward 100 years (to the day-why does it always happen like that?) we meet up with hipster 70s teenage set, Jess (Jessica Van Helsing) and her friends which includes a Johnny Alucard.  Jessica is the grand-daughter of "Lorrimer" Van Helsing, who is in turn the grand-son of Lawrence.  Johnny proposes this new way to "get some kicks" (it's the 70s) and that is a Satanic rite (yeah, the 70's).  The rite brings back Dracula (of course) and the first victim is Caroline Munro.
Her body is found the next day and the police seek out Van Helsing on the matter since they think there may be a ritual slaying angle.

Soon Van Helsing is on the trail but not before we get a few more bodies.  Dracula is after Jessica of course, but wants to get Lorrimer too.   Big battle in the unsanctified Church and Dracula is killed, once again by Van Helsing.

Ok.
I have some issues with this movie.

First, it was not as bad as I was lead to believe.  Yes, it's not very good and the plot in not that different than what we saw in Taste the Blood of Dracula.  The count is still chasing after pretty girls, he is still hunting down people named Van Helsing and really all the is changed is the setting.
Speaking of which, I know it's 70's London, but did we really need the band going through TWO whole songs in the beginning?  It would have been ok if they had been someone, or even good, but we got a third-rate Sly and the Family Stone that I have never heard of before and doubt neither has anyone else.  edit: ok, they have their own Wikipedia page.

The Satanic angle was interesting, but un-needed,  Dracula is evil enough on his own without worrying about being upstaged by the Devil.

Like the Universal movies before it the Hammer Dracs are beginning to show their diminishing returns with sequels.  Granted Lee never had the indignity of facing off against the comedic duo of the time like Lugosi eventually did, but taking out a group of English Mods is almost as bad.

What I do like is the idea that Van Helsing family has been doing this for years. There is room in my games for a Lawrence, Lorrimer, Jessica, Abraham and even Rachel Van Helsing.  Not so sure about a Gabriel though.

In the end this movie was a disappointment in terms of lost potential.

October Movie Reviews: Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)

For my October Reviews I continuing the Hammer Horror Dracula Collection with the first entry of the 1970s..

Christopher Lee has returned in the next Hammer film and it starts as the previous one of completing.  Dracula is struggling on the cross he was impaled on and  soon dies, leaving his cloak, ring, and blood.  A passerby witnesses this and we are off an running.

Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)

This one begins as Dracula has Risen From His Grave ends. So timeline wise we are still just around 10 years from Van Helsing's destruction of Dracula.  A passerby, Weller, sees Dracula die so he collects Dracula's clothes and blood.  We switch to a church scene where we meet the principle families.  The father, Mr. Hargood scolds his daughter later for "flirting" with a young man before he heads out for his end of the month "charity work".  In reality he, and the other men from the church, Paxton and Secker, have formed a small club where they partake in prostitutes.  Now here I want to point out that while Dracula's castle seems just down the raod a bit, this all looks like 1890s London.  I know I should not quibble.
Anyway they meet up with a disgraced Lord who plans to show them all sorts of pleasures.  He purchases Dracula's blood and makes a drink of it using his own blood.  The others do not drink and it kills the Lord.  Later Dracula rises up, transforming the dead body into his own.  Neat trick that.
Dracula vows to kill those that have killed his servant.
He attacks Hargood first, convincing his daughter to beat him in the head with a shovel. He get's Paxton's daughter and she kills her father and likewise with Secker and his son.  Dracula is about to get rid of Alice Hargood when her boyfriend shows up, now armed with knowledge left to him by her father, to destroy Dracula.  He puts a cross in the door (Dracula should really get that door changed, people keep doing that) and blesses his coffin.  Dracula falls from a balcony and lands on alter turning to dust.

This was a more interesting movie for a few reasons.  One, Dracula manipulates others into doing his killing for him, though he is not above doing some himself.  Plus this movie is the first that has Hammer pushing the boundaries some more.  While there was always beautiful women and sex-appeal, this is the first of the Dracula films with some nudity in it and explict references to sex.  It was 1970 afterall, but I think this was more due to the fact that audiences, now fat on American movies and American sex and violence, wanted more and Hammer needed to fill the seats.  So this does feel more like a "slasher flick" than some of the previous movies.
This was yet another movie where Lee nealry didn't reprise the role of the Count, but in the end he must have gave in.  This was also one of the last of the Victorian era Hammer Dracula movies (as far as I can tell).  After this (and Scars of Dracula, which I don't own) we move on to Dracula 1972 which sets it in the modern age.

I know I had never seen this one before, others I might not be clear about, but this was a first time viewing.

October Movie Reviews: Dracula has Risen From His Grave 1968

For my October Reviews I continuing the Hammer Horror Dracula Collection.

Dracula has Risen From His Grave (1968)
This film takes place one year after the events of Dracula Prince of Darkness and the villagers still fear Dracula, though he is dead. An accident though causes a priest to bleed into Dracula's tomb and just like that he is back.

Though we spend the first 45 minutes or so dealing with the Monsignor and his family (his sister in law and niece).   We don't even get a victim till then.  That being said Dracula has still spoken more lines here than in the last movie.  The movie centers around Dracula's revenge on the Monsignor and getting his niece.
This movie did something very cool in it, Dracula was staked and before the hero could do anything else about it he pulled the stake out of his own chest.

I saw this movie, so long ago now that all I can recall of the movie the end scene where Dracula was impaled on the cross.  Though in the back of my mind I must have remembered the scene with the stake since I made an allusion to it in the Ghosts of Albion game.

In the end there was not much to this movie.  No creepy assistant, only one death due to draining by Dracula and two incidental deaths unless you count the girl in the beginning. No Van Helsing either.
Dracula didn't even burst into flames when he is impaled on a cross.  He just sorta died.

Certainly the weakest of the Hammer Dracula's so far.