Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts

Thursday, October 13, 2022

October Horror Movie Challenge: Mausoleum (1983)

Mausoleum (1983)
I have not seen this one in years. While demon possession is on brand for me this year, this was not on my preliminary list, it came up as recommended so I thought I would check it out, see how my memory of it was.

Mausoleum (1983)

We start with the funereal of Susan Walker's (played quite memorably to my 14-year-old mind by Julie Christy Murray) mother.  She can't take and runs off to a...you guessed it, a mausoleum. Here she hears the voice of a demon and she uses her powers to kill a homeless guy.

Fast forward 20 years Susan Walker Farrell (now played by Bobbie Bresee) is now married and seeing a psychiatrist.  The 20th anniversary of her mother's death is coming and her friends are worried. She goes out with her husband, but while alone she is accosted by a drunk. He leaves, but she causes him to burst into flames in his car.  And the killings start in earnest. She seduces the gardener and then kills him. They get a new gardener and she kills him too.

She starts to levitate, get all weird looking, and her eyes glow green. A lot. 

Turns out Susan and members of her matrilineal line are all possessed by this demon. They learn how to expel the demon from her Grandmother's journal but not before she kills her husband Oliver and remembers she killed her own aunt.

So this one was much better in my memory than it was in my rewatch. I always liked the idea of a family demon, one attached to a particular family of witches. We saw this in the Anne Rice Witching Hour books and again in my post-Buffy campaign "Season of the Witch."

I remembered Julie Christy Murray well. She would have been about the same age I was at the time and I am certain that she was one of the influences of my earliest witches. By this time I had already created Marissia and more blonde witches would follow.

Julie Christy Murray

I had good memories of this movie, but it didn't quite live up to them.  That's too bad, but not a big surprise. Still. It was a fun trip down memory lane.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022
Viewed: 17
First Time Views: 13

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022


Wednesday, October 12, 2022

October Horror Movie Challenge: Witchcraft (1964)

Witchcraft (1964)
Not expecting much from this one, but it was such a late turn for Lon Chaney Jr. I just had to. Glad I did, I was treated to some nice British Folk Horror. 

The movie deals with the centuries-old rivalry between two British families, the Laniers and the Whitlocks.  The Laniers wanted the Whitlock's land so in the 17th century they accused Vanessa Whitlock (Yvette Rees) of witchcraft.

Fast forward to the 1960s Amy Whitlock (Diane Clare) and Todd Lanier (David Weston) fall in love. Much to the chagrin of Amy's stern (and oddly American) uncle Morgan Whitlock (Lon Chaney Jr.).

The Lanier's are developing parts of their land (modernizing) and accidentally stray onto what is left of the Whitlock's land. In the process uncovering the grave of Vanessa Whitlock.  Later that night Vanessa rises from the grave to exact her revenge! She really was a witch!

It drags a little but turns out the Whitlocks have been pagans since, well, forever and they and some of the locals participate in their rituals to seek revenge against the Laniers.

This all ends in a ritual to bring Vanessa back to true life, but instead the all get trapped in the mausoleum as it, the Whitlock estate, and all the Whitlocks (yes including poor Amy) die in the fire. 

Honestly, it was a great movie and had to be pretty scary for 1964. The practical special effects were quite good. Sure they can't compare to the one we have now 60 years later, but they were still great for the time. The actors all were great in their roles and everything had a great Folk Horror feel about it. The tale itself could be adapted to today without missing a beat really.

If there was any piece of this I felt it was off it was Lon Chaney Jr., he seemed so oddly mis-cast for this. He is just so...American...it is hard to believe his character would have ever not fought the Laniers more. I can't say it was because of lack of work before or after (aka a pity casting that happens to so many older horror icons) because Chaney worked solidly with a movie coming out every year from 1931 to 1971. Sure a year might be skipped, but for many years he had multiple movies in a single year. Plus he was, by all accounts, a great guy and easy to work with.

Regardless, this was a fun little movie and a treat.

Use for NIGHT SHIFT

I have spent a lot of time this month (and the summer) talking about witches and how they will all fit into my War of the Witch Queens.  In doing all of this I have also been thinking of an adventure that I am currently calling "Coda𝄌." The idea here is that one of the Witch Queens (or just witches) defeated by the PCs will come back to challenge the PCs of the modern era using NIGHT SHIFT.  This works best if the Players are all the same.

The premise is simple. One of the witches from back then is back and wants to claim her vengeance.  My witch would come back as something akin to a Zugarramurdi Bruja, and be the dark reflection of my Dark Druid adventure.  Who the witch will be is unknown right now. I want to choose the one the players have the most interaction. If she can be a witch from our world, all the better.


October Horror Movie Challenge 2022
Viewed: 16
First Time Views: 13

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022


Monday, October 10, 2022

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Witchmaker (1969)

The Witchmaker (1969)
Also known as "The Legend of Witch Hollow" this one is surprisingly risque for 1969. 

Someone is killing young women, draining all their blood, and leaving a "hex mark" on their bodies.  Into this "swampy nowhere" we get Alvy Moore (Mr. Kimball from Green Acres) as Dr. Ralph Hayes a psychic investigator along with him is a  crew of experts including "sensitive" Anastasia aka Tasha (played by German/Norwegian/American/Canadian bombshell Thordis Brandt) and reporter Victor Gordon (Anthony Eisley).  Here they are investigating the story that these murders may have something to do with a witch.

Our killer from the first scene, Luther the Berserk (John Lodge), cast some sort of "Spell of the Stones" on Tasha, but it only makes her scream. He is apparently a "Sabbat Master" so he summons Old Jessie (wow, that sounds SO familiar) played by Helene Winston to help he convert Tasha to their coven, which they pronounce like "k-OH-ven."  They make a deal together. Luther gets Tasha and Jessie gets to be young again (she is 200 now).

Back at the swamp cabin, they try to get a fix on the location of the psychic emanations. Tasha reaches out and Jessie takes control of the vision and makes Tasha scream.     

Later Jessie makes Tasha lure poor student Sharon (Robyn Millan) out to the swamp where Luther kills her.  Her virgin blood now drained Jessie begins the spell to transform her back to youth (becoming Warrene Ott in the process). 

Warrene Ott

We get a lot of semi-academic exposition from Dr. Hayes that is not too bad really...if this was a documentary and not a horror movie. The acting here is not great though so it all comes off as a bad lecture. 

Luther and Jessie get Tasha to lure out Owen where they kill him and Tasha gets initiated as a witch. When later confronted about Owen's death she spontaneously casts a spell. Something that is ignored almost as fast.

The summoning of the witches and warlocks is really fun. The Luther stuff feels like a different movie to be honest. The cabin folk are so dull and all the witches are wonderfully animated and evil.  

The plan is subistiute wild pig blood for Maggie's blood so when the witches go to drink it, it is poison to them.  This way they take out all the witches except Luther. They manage to get him out into the swamp where the quicksand gets him.  

In the end Tasha turns the tables and kills Victor. She is a full witch now!

--

I am going to forego the usual game application notes here because...I think I already have. I think I have seen this movie. It had to be a long time ago but there is too much here that I vaguely recall.  For example, I always have used ogres and trolls as lackeys for Makava hags like Luther and Jessie. Speaking of Jessie, I used the same name with a slightly different spelling as the witch that introduces Larina to witchcraft in one of my earliest books. She also can change to a younger version of herself, much like the Jessie in this movie. 

Luther the Beserk would be called a Beserker in most D&D games. His good-alinged cousin appears as a Warden or even a Witch Knight in my books. 

There is also the "Tasha" connection, but that is pretty flimsy to be honest.

The posters for this are just too familiar to me.  I am sure I have seen it, but I am going to count it as a First Time View.

Witchmaker

Witchmaker


October Horror Movie Challenge 2022
Viewed: 14
First Time Views: 11

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022

 

Monstrous Mondays: Books of Vile Darkness

It is the spooky season out there and we need spooky material to work with. So today I am going to cover the two different Books of Vile Darkness for the D&D 3.0 and D&D 4.0 games.  But first a bit of an explanatory note.

Books of Vile Darkness

History

The Book of Vile Darkness was a magic item / semi-artifact found in the original Dungeon Master's Guide. It was a book of power for evil clerics. It raised your wisdom by 1 point and gave you enough XP to move up one level. Its counterpart for good was the Book of Exalted Deeds. 

For both reviews, I am using my physical copies and the PDFs from DriveThruRPG

Book of Vile Darkness (3e)
Book of Vile Darkness (3e)

PDF and Hardcover. 192 pages. Color covers and interior art.

This one caused a bit of a stir when it was first released. For starters, there was a warning label on the cover "WARNING! Content is intended for mature audiences only." There were discussions online about it before it was released, many thinking there was nothing but shock value here. It even took some hits from Dragonlance co-creator Tracy Hickman. The book does cover more than a few topics people might find distasteful and there is more nudity in this book than ever seen in an official D&D book.

The book however was less shocking than expected and it even received praise for the author Monte Cook.

The book is filled with all sorts of ideas and if you are planning to send your players to any of the lower planes then this is a book you should consider. 

The first six chapters are, briefly:

Chapter 1: The Nature of Evil. This covers evil as a very real force in the multiverse of Dungeons & Dragons. There are a few new evil gods, some purely evil races, and notes on creating evil villains and some examples. There is a very cool demon-possessed blue dragon, Enesstrere.

Chapter 2: Variant Rules. This short chapter has rules for possession, sacrifice, disease, curses, and aspects of evil. 

Chapter 3: Evil Equipment gives us torture devices, execution equipment, drug, magic, and quasi-magical alchemical items. 

Chapter 4: Feats and Chapter 5: Prestige Classes have our D&D 3.0-specific materials.  Some of the Prestige Classes are rather fun like Demonologist and the Diabolist. Many Devils also get a "Disciple of ..." prestige class.  Demons likewise get a "Thrall of ..." class.  I will note that the Thrall of Graz'zt on page 69 features art very reminiscent of the witch on the cover of Dragon #114. Not the pose mind you, but it could be the same character.

Chapter 6: Magic is exactly that. Spells and magic items of an evil nature. There are lot of spells here and quite a few evil magic items all the way up to evil major artifacts including the Ruby Rod of Asmodeus. 

Chapter 7: Lords of Evil and Chapter 8: Evil Monsters are the chapters that bring this book to my attention today.

Lords of Evil gives us a brief description of the lower planes and a bit of background on the Blood War. then it gets to the good stuff. Up first are all our Demon Lords. Most of the big names are here too, Demogorgon (before his Netflix fame, though I am not a fan of the art), Graz'zt, Juiblex, Orcus, and Yeenoghu. Arch-devils are also covered. Bel is lord of the First layer here, latest (well for 2003) in a line of lords of the First. Dispater, Mammon (looking like Geryon), the incestuous Belial/Fierna (if you look closely you can see she it flipping the bird in the art on page 152), Levistus, the Hag Countess as Lord of the Sixth (a new one for me back then), Baalzebul, Mephistopheles (now a master of Hellfire), and Asmodeus. Each one is listed with major servants, lieutenants, and followers.

Evil Monsters gives us a bunch of old favorites and some new ones. In particular, we got the new Eye of Fear and Flame and the reptile-insect monsters, the Kython.

While I would not buy this for the monsters alone, it is worthwhile for the Lords and the magic chapters.

Book of Vile Darkness (4e)
Book of Vile Darkness (4e)

PDF 128 pages. Two soft-cover books 96 and 32 pages. Color covers and interior art.

This one is a bit different. The physical edition comes in two softcover books in a cardstock slipcase/sleeve.

The 32-page book is a replica of the Book of Vile Darkness on outside (great to show players) and on the inside has character options (in line with the original BoVD). This includes character themes, of the Cultist, the Disgraced Nobel, Infernal Slave, Reaver, and my favorite the Vile Scholar. Paragon Paths include the Blood-Crazed Berserker, Contract Killer, Demonlogist, Idol of Darkness, and the Vermin Lord. We get one Epic Destiny, the Exemplar of Evil. 

The 96-page book covers many of the same topics from the 3e version. This includes the nature of evil and running evil games. But does not go into the detail that the 3.0 version did.

There are some monsters here, but not a lot. There are Fallen Angels, something new to this book. A demon, a devil, and a new type of hag.  So not as dark as its predecessor. 

Still, it is one of the 4e books I have held on to because there are some good ideas here. 

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

October Horror Movie Challenge: Enter the Devil (1974)

Enter the Devil (1974)
1974 is a sweet spot for cheesy Italian Giallo horror. I don't think I have seen them all, but I have seen a lot.  

This one is also known as "L'ossessa" and "The Eerie Midnight Horror Show" (complete with Rocky Horror-style lips) it revolves around a religious statue of crucified Jesus purchased by Danila (Stella Carnacina). Luisa (Lucretia Love) It is obvious from the start that the "statue" is an actor (Ivan Rassimov) in heavy makeup but that is fine.

It is 1974, so the Exorcist is on EVERY Horror filmmaker's mind and this movie is no exception. 

Danila is some sort of art expert so she is working with the statue.  But while at a party she watches her mother,  in some sort of S&M affair with a younger man she leaves to go back to work. There she is all alone with the statue.  When he starts to move it is no surprise, but I wonder what the audiences in 1974 thought?  Likely they saw the same things we do now.   Eventually, the statue transforms into a human and in one stroke rips off ALL of Danila's clothes (neat trick that) they have very enthusiastic sex while the place burns...or not. It could all be in Danila's mind.  But she does keep experiencing things and no one believes her.   

Naturally, she is possessed and tries to seduce her own father. They bring over a psychiatrist whose professional opinion is that she is unduly affected by her work. They head out to the country ("Better than any medicine" according to the medical professional) but they get a flat and Danila wanders off into an "Etruscan temple to Baal" where she sees an ancient ceremony to Satan.  In mid-hallucination, she is back in her own bed again freaking out. When the doctor examines her she does have the stigmata wounds inflicted on her in her hallucination.

I give the movie credit, they try really hard to make this a serious movie about an exorcism.  They get a priest in and I can't help but notice her room is set up similar to Regan's in The Exorcist.

The later half is basically Danila going crazy and various priests trying to exorcise her and it sorta falls apart here. 

Still, a neat idea even if not executed as well as the filmmaker might have liked.

Use for War of the Witch Queens

I love the idea of the old statue coming to life and the "Etruscan temple to Baal" just screams Orcus to me for D&D use.

Use for NIGHT SHIFT

All I could think of while watching this one was I need to figure out a way to do a psychiatrist or psychologist in NIGHT SHIFT.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022
Viewed: 5
First Time Views: 4

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022

Monday, October 3, 2022

October Horror Movie Challenge: Witchouse (1999)

Witchouse (1999)
My "soft theme" this challenge is "films with pentagrams on the cover." Silly I know, but I have subscribed to a few streaming services and I was adding a bunch of movies and noticed many of them had pentagrams on the covers. So I decided to just kept going with it.

Tonight I am already questioning the logic of this plan.

Witchouse (1999)

This comes to us from 1999 and Full Moon Features. Now I love Full Moon. Their movies are short, silly, and usually fun. You can expect some kids to get themselves into stupid situations and usually dying in dumb ways.

Our plot concerns Elizabeth LaFey (yes that is her name) inviting a bunch of her old high school friends to her new house for a party. The house has a "dark history" as does LaFey.  It also has copies of "Le Necronomicon." The characters are less than characters and really little more than clichés. But that is fine because you are not really supposed to be relating to them as characters but rather as relatable archetypes. The stoner, the football player, the cheerleader, the hot girl who doesn't know she is hot, the juvenile delinquent, the nerd, and so on. 

Elizabeth plans to sacrifice her friends on May 1 to resurrect her ancient witch ancestor.  Nothing shocking or surprising here really, but it was still kind of fun. The acting, for the most part, is pretty terrible. Honestly, it looks like it was filmed in a single night. 

This one has been on my list for a bit largely just based on the name. 

Directed by David DeCoteau, responsible for, I have no idea how many Full Moon movies.  This one even features scenes from Dark Angel: The Ascent. Actually, the scenes of Hell here have been in at least two other movies.


October Horror Movie Challenge 2022
Viewed: 3
First Time Views: 2

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022

Monstrous Mondays: Fiend Folio (3e)

Fiend Folio (3e)
Welcome to October. If there is any time of year to remind me of my love of monsters it is now. Watching horror movies (or "monster movies" as my dad and I used to call them when I was little) is so deeply tied into my love of both Halloween and D&D that it is hard to tease them apart.  

This month I want to cover some horror-themed monster books for review. My ultimate goal here is to get a good feeling of what makes a monster book "good" and what doesn't. Or maybe what makes them good for me. All year I have been focusing on D&D monster books of all sorts. My second goal is to wrap up this process before 2023 when I do something a little different.

Given I have some D&D 3.x books still cover and five Mondays in October I am going to cover some of these or at least the ones that have the most horror elements to them.

Up first, the Fiend Folio.

Fiend Folio (3e)

PDF and Hardcover. 226 pages. Color covers and interior art.

This is the third "Fiend Folio" we have gotten for *D&D over the last 20+ years.  Like the first one for 1st Ed AD&D, this one is a hardcover book. Like the second one for 2nd AD&D, this one expands the list of monsters. 

This Fiend Folio lives up to its title a little bit more by giving us a lot more fiends. There are demons and devils here as well as the demodands (originally from the AD&D Monster Manual II). Here they get the alignment of "often Neutral Evil."  There are plenty of new demons and devils here too.

There are some Fiend Folio "repeats" here, or my updates is the better term.Just eyeballing it there is the Blood Hawk, Caryatid Column, Dark Creeper and Stalker, Death Dog, Disenchanter, Flame/Fire Snake, Fossergrim, Huecuva (now a template), Iron Cobra, Kelpie, Necrophidius, Skulk, Slaad, Yellow Musk Creeper, and Zombie.

No flumphs though. 

There are also plenty of new monsters too, like the Bacchae and Feytouched which are fun. All in all 167 monsters for D&D 3.0 (3.5 is still a couple of months off).  We are a point in the 3.x development cycle where the monsters still run from one to the next, like the original Fiend Folio. 

This book also includes some Prestige Classes, some Grafts and Symbionts, 

There was a free "Web Enhancement" back when this was new called Fiendish Fun which extended some of the ideas in the Fiend Folio. It is still out there thanks to Archive.org.

This is one of the books I consider central for a D&D 3.x horror campaign. The rest, well that is what the rest of this month is for. 

Sunday, October 2, 2022

October Horror Movie Challenge: Hagazussa (2017)

Hagazussa (2017)
This one had been on my radar for a bit. Described as a "gothic folk tale" I knew I had to check it out. The name of the movie also comes from the old German word for "Witch."

Hagazussa (2017)

Told in four acts with very little dialog we see how the local villagers treated a goat-herding woman and later her daughter, Albrun, as witches.

In the first act young Albrun begin to menstruate, but before she can even talk about it with her mother all sorts of strange things happen. They are accosted one night by men wearing masks. Soon after Mother comes down with the Bubonic plague.

While attending to her mother Albrun is sexually assaulted by her mother, who is losing her mind.  At some point, Mother runs out of their cabin and dies in the night. Alburn finds her dead mother the next day covered in snakes. 

Act 2 takes place 15 years later. Alburn is still living in her cabin and now how has a baby of her own. She lives alone and is a little strange now. She is treated as a pariah in the local town where the local boys pick on her, and the local priest gives her the decorated skull of her mother.  She befriends another local woman, Swinda. But when Swinda sees the skull of Alburn's mother set up on an altar. Swinda later takes Alburn up into the mountains where they encounter a man Swinda knows. Swinda holds down Alburn while the man rapes her.  In revenge, she takes a dead rat and blood and poisons the water supply.

Act 3 Alburn comes to town with her baby and sees a lot of people dead and dying. She walks into the woods and eats some mushrooms. She begins to hallucinate and accidentally drowns her baby. 

Act 4 Alburn wakes up and discovers her baby is dead. So she cooks the baby in a stew and eats it. She gets sick. Her hallucinations come back as she hears her mother talking to her. She wanders outside and catches fire in the rising sun.

The horror of this movie is the abuse of Alburn from her childhood to her adulthood. She would be considered a witch or hag in the legends of the local village and that is the tragedy of this tale.  It is not a feel-good movie. 

Use for War of the Witch Queens

This movie has something of a timeless feel about it. It takes place in the 14th century or thereabouts, so it would be a good background for any sort of lower-level witch. To quote the TV show Magicians "magic is pain" and Alburn knows pain.  From this, you can assume there is really no such thing as a happy witch.

It is also a good example of how others treat these women, outside of outright hate. 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022
Viewed: 2
First Time Views: 1


October Horror Movie Challenge

Saturday, October 1, 2022

October Horror Movie Challenge: Day Shift (2022)

Day Shift (2021)
Starting off the Halloween October Horror Movie Challenge with a brand new one.  

I watched this for the Monster Movie Fun Time Go podcast. You can hear it all here

So I am not sure whether to consider this as part of the challenge or not. I am going to count it as a "Previously Watched" for today.

The premise is simple. Jamie Foxx plays Bud Jablonski, a divorced father who works as a pool cleaner. In truth, he is a vampire hunter who had worked for The Union. He kills vampires and sells the teeth on the black market to Troy played by the always fantastic Peter Stormare.

Now I have this sort of love/hate relationship with Jamie Foxx. Typically he is playing the exact same character in every movie he is in. This is not really that big of a deal. I mean it worked for Bruce Willis. Here is playing that same character. But I do have to remind myself this is the same guy that played Ray Charles and was amazing.  So here, he is good.

So the only way Bud is going to get all the money he needs for bills and his daughter's braces is to rejoin The Union that kicked him out. He gets the help of his friend, and vampire hunting legend, "Big" John Elliott, played in scene chewing wonder by Snoop Dogg. 

They let him rejoin and he is saddled with desk jockey Seth played by Dave Franco.  

Turns out the vampire Bud kills in the opener was the daughter of this higher-up vampire in LA, Audrey San Fernando played by Karla Souza.  We know Audrey is not at the top of the Vampire hierarchy (seriously has White Wolf completely saturated all Vampire mythology these days??) but she is striking out on her own to control as much of LA as she can.

The title comes from the shift Bud is assigned to; the safer, and less profitable, Day Shift.

The vampires here were all played by Cirque du Soleil acrobats and contortionists who were out of work due to the pandemic. The result is some really fun fights with the vampires as they bend, flip, and generally look inhuman.  We also learn there are different vampire clans (there you go again) and finding a nest full of vampires from different clans is something that concerns our heroes.

The movie is fun, but not great. It has all the tropes of horror but none of the scares. It leaves a lot of room for sequels.

In a scene that pays homage to Lost Boys, Snoop's Big John says "That's what I love about LA. All the damn Vampires!" 

"Welcome to the motherfucking Night Shift!" - Bud Jablonski

This movie is tailor-made for a NIGHT SHIFT game. Freelance vampire hunters working for a mysterious organization is the stuff of great roleplaying games. Exploring the vampire hierarchy and even the history of the Union would be fun.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022
Viewed: 1
First Time Views: 0* (but it was new to me just last month)

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022


Friday, September 30, 2022

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022

Today is the last day of September and that means tomorrow is the first day of Halloween, er...October.

And you know what that means here! Yes, the start of the October Horror Movie Challenge!

I have been doing the October Horror Movie Challenge for years now.  I am not doing anything wildly different than in previous years, and I am largely following the rules as set out by Krell Laboratories.

You have 31 days, October 1st to October 31st, to watch 31 Horror movies. At least 20 of these need to be first-time views.  

I am largely going themeless this year. I have a few I want to hit, a few brand new ones, and a few leftovers from last year.  If I have a theme so far it is "movies that have a pentagram on the cover."

Some Movies

I have learned over the years that if there is a movie you want to watch and it is on a streaming service you need to watch it right away.   So yeah, I have a lot of "witch" movies. 

Again I am hoping to have content for NIGHT SHIFT, my Monstrous Mondays, and more. 

If you want to join me here is a banner image to use.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022

Let the Spooky Season begin!

Friday, July 15, 2022

Kickstart Your Weekend: MONSTERS!

It's a monstrous weekend for Kickstarters! So let's get to it.

Twilight Fables

Twilight Fables

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1693797308/twilight-fables?ref=theotherside

Really looking forward to this one. It is for 5e and it looks AMAZING.  Rod was the mastermind behind Chromatic Dungeons, so you know the quality is good, but he has upped his game to the next level on this one. In addition to a Print on Demand version, there will be the ubiquitous PDF and Print friendly PDF, there will also be an accessible RTF file.  There is also an option a glossy offset print if the stretch goal is made.

Additionally you get a zip file containing tokens and markdown files of every creature, as well as dozens of printable images of the monsters. To be used at your table or virtual table. 

The book has a ton of monsters from myth and legend and more to the point the book is already done. That's correct, there might be some minor edits here and there, but the book is done, art is in place, and you will get your digital rewards (PDF, RTF, tokens) as soon as the funding is done.

That's the way to do it honestly.

It's not live just yet, but that link will get you there. 

A Folklore Bestiary for 5E and OSE

A Folklore Bestiary for 5E and OSE

This one also looks great and I love I can get it for my two current favorite systems. We are getting some folklore monsters but I am expecting them to be different than what I have seen so far. In any case, more monsters are always better. 

The value add here for me of course is getting a 5e and an OSE version of each book. One for me, one for my kids to use. Everyone is happy.


FRIGHT NIGHT CLASSICS

Fright Night Classics

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1866071445/fright-night-classics?ref=theotherside

And adventure module for "Percentile-based horror RPGs" or CryptWorld and Chill.  This one really captures the feel of old horror comics and Tales from the Crypt in particular. 

It looks like an absolute ton of fun and I hope it gets the backing it needs.


Exclusive Vampirella Giant 4” Enamel Pin

Exclusive Vampirella Giant 4” Enamel Pin
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hollyg/exclusive-vampirella-giant-4-enamel-pin?ref=theotherside

Holly G and husband Jim Balent are good friends of The Other Side and I love sharing their Kickstarters.  Today is Holly's turn with her take on her all-time favorite character, Vampirella.  

The vampy pin is fun and would look great on my gamer bag, but I am here for the add-ons and the stretch goals. If you get a chance to check out her comic VampFire then please do.  She was doing vampire slayers long before any chick named Buffy came around.


Thursday, July 7, 2022

Mail Call: Call of Cthulhu Classic Edition

Drive-by today. I backed the Call of Cthulhu Kickstarter a while back and received my books in the mail a few days ago.

I am rather pleased with what I got to be honest.

Call of Cthulhu boxed setCall of Cthulhu boxed set

The box is thick and sturdy.

Call of Cthulhu boxed set contents

Call of Cthulhu boxed set contents

Call of Cthulhu boxed set contents

Call of Cthulhu boxed set contents

Call of Cthulhu boxed set contents

Call of Cthulhu boxed set contents

There is enough material here for a life-time of play.

It also works nicely with my leather Anniversary edition from a couple years back.  

Call of Cthulhu boxed set and anniversary editions

The dice that came with the boxed set even match my leather edition.

This works out well for me.  My son is all about Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition. He has a ton of material for that. I get all the pre-6th edition material.  Sure they are still largely compatible, but it makes for a nice cut.  Plus this is the edition I like to play Cthulhu by Gaslight with.

Friday, March 11, 2022

Crowdfund Your Weekend!

Today's weekly KickstartCrowdfund Your Weekend looks at projects beyond Kickstarter. 

Mistletoe Massacre - Horror Comedy Slasher Film

Mistletoe Massacre

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mistletoe-massacre-horror-comedy-slasher-film#/

I love Indie horror movies and this one looks like a lot of fun.  They are crowdfunding, which is also fun.  I have participated in crowdfunded projects like this before and it is cool to see your name on the screen under "thanks!"

Seriously though, check this out and give what you can.  I know a lot of you love horror films as much as I do. So help them out, get a fun new horror flick and some memorabilia too!  The signed poster looks nice. 

Bundle for Ukraine

Bundle for Ukraine

https://itch.io/b/1316/bundle-for-ukraine

Another RPG Bundle from Itch.io.  This time they are raising $4M+ for aid to Ukraine.

For $10 you get $992 pdfs/games from 733 creators.  That's a hell of a deal.


Both of these are very worthy so check them out!

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

New NIGHT SHIFT Content from Elf Lair Games

Night's Companion
My *other* publisher, Elf Lair Games, has been putting out some great free content for all of February in support of the new Night Companion and I would be remiss if I didn't share or point some of it out to you all.

Click on the links below for more information.

The Order of the Dragon

This is a holy order of knights set to defend Christianity from Muslim incursions.  Vlad Dracul was a member, but when he became a vampire the order shifted focus to destruction of all vampires and hunting of the supernatural. 

The Divine Order of the Sisters of Orleans  

A sister organization to the Order of the Dragon created by and in the name of Jeanne d’Arc.  They have also survived to the modern day to fight supernatural threats.

Folk Horror

Jason gives some advice on adding Folk Horror to your NIGHT SHIFT games.  This part was left out of the core rules. 

The Mandragora Book Store

Our old friend from the Eden days Derek Stoelting has been part of NIGHT SHIFT from the start.  He is up with more information on the location mentioned in the Quick Start Kit

Supers

A couple of good posts on Supers including how to create street-level supers in NIGHT SHIFT using the Inventor class.  Followed up by adding supers to a fantasy style RPG, with NIGHT SHIFT as the translator.

This naturally branched out to and from the next two topics.

Cyberpunk and how NIGHT SHIFT, or more accurately O.G.R.E.S. is a great Rosetta Stone for all sorts of old-school play. 

Finally we get some discussion on the Fighter class.

I also have more NIGHT SHIFT goodness for you all coming up including some more weirdness from Valhalla, AK and a new feature I am working on called From the Editor to support my Weirdly World News NIGHT WORLD from the Night Companion, and GenHEX from the NIGHT SHIFT Core Rules.

So keep an eye out here and on the Elf Lair Games blog for more material for Jason, Derek and myself.

Friday, December 10, 2021

Kickstart Your Weekend: Vaesen RPG – Mythic Britain & Ireland

There are few things I love more than Creepy Folk horror and one of those things is creepy Gothic Horror.  I was quite pleased to see that Free League Publishing of Sweden was doing a horror Mythic Britain and Ireland, you know it has my attention.

Vaesen RPG – Mythic Britain & Ireland

Vaesen RPG – Mythic Britain & Ireland

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1192053011/vaesen-rpg-mythic-britain-and-ireland?ref=theotherside

I picked up Vaesen based on solid recommendations while I was at Gen Con this past year.  The game is gorgeous, but I have yet to play it.  But this?  This looks like it was tailor-made for me.

Once again the art looks amazing and the game itself?  Well, I am hooked and already thinking of a game I could run with it.  

Check it out and throw them a Krona or two.

Friday, November 12, 2021

Kickstart Your Weekend: Horror in Many Forms!

I have some great-looking Kickstarters for your consideration going into the weekend.  So's let get at it!

SURVIVE THIS!! Dark Places & Demogorgons RPG Hardcover

SURVIVE THIS!! Dark Places & Demogorgons RPG Hardcover

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ericfrombloatgames/survive-this-dark-places-and-demogorgons-rpg-hardcover?ref=theotherside

This is not for a new book but rather a hardcover option for the fantastic Dark Places & Demogorgons RPG. For this the original red hardcover art from the first Kickstart is available and the blue softcover art in hardcover format.

I have the blue in softcover and the red in hardcover, so I have to admit that the blue hardcover is very, very tempting. 

Moonlight on Roseville Beach

Moonlight on Roseville Beach

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/r-rook/moonlight-on-roseville-beach?ref=theotherside

Now this "Queer Game of Disco & Cosmic Horror" has my attention.  I have known the designer, Richard Ruane, for many, many years. We have worked together in our days jobs at various companies for a while. He does great work.  He was one of the developers for White Wolf and worked a lot on their Mummy line. 

From the Kickstarter:

Moonlight on Roseville Beach: A Queer Game of Disco & Cosmic Horror is a tabletop roleplaying game that brings together the supernatural investigations and monster hunting of the weird fiction tales of the 20s and 30s from pulp magazines like Weird Tales with the queer romance and adventure of the 50s, 60s, and 70s novelists like Ann Bannon and Joseph Hansen.

I would like to say "I was there" when Richard came up with this idea.  He was talking a lot about Ann Bannon online so I asked about her stories.  As per our normal conversations, the topic went to RPGs.  

In any case, I backed this one and threw in some extra cash so copies can be donated. 

Red Shoes: An Urban Fantasy Novel

Red Shoes: An Urban Fantasy Novel

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/red-shoes-an-urban-fantasy-novel#/

This is not a game, but a new book Satyros Phil Brucato one of the lead designers (or really THE designer) of White Wolf's Mage. 

From the Indiegogo page.

After a friend’s mysterious death, Genét Shilling delves into the world of Red Shoes, a drug whose effects alter time, space, and form. That journey challenges all she thought she knew about herself and reveals how strange her world truly is.

Propelled by wide-eyed attitude and inspired by its author’s experiences with music, dance and metaphysical subcultures, Red Shoes presents an urban fantasy tale set in the Appalachian town of Riverhaven, where magic hides just out of sight.

Time warps. Modern bards. Sexual confusion. Grief and revenge.  

A dance begins.

The dance of Red Shoes.

It sounds fantastic. 

LYLITH & MARA Comic Book

LYLITH & MARA Comic Book

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/620209721/lylith-and-mara-comic-book?ref=theotherside

Now this is right up my alley!  

From the Kickstarter:

“LYLITH & MARA” are twin sisters and the original Vampire and Succubus from who all other vampire races were evolved from. Born and raised in “The Dark”, their destiny seemed clear cut until on the age of their “becoming” when something within them stirs. A conflict between power and desires struggles with a morality of a soul they didn’t realized existed.

This also looks like a lot of fun.  Sure some of the cover art is cheesy, but I think it is cheesy, or cheese cakey, on purpose. So that is fine.

It looks like something that would work well with my Mara witch book.

Thursday, November 11, 2021

Plays Well With Others: Modern Occult Horror Games

Been thinking a lot about all the modern supernatural games I have (and I think I have all of them) and in particular the ones that have come out from the Old-School gaming scene.  These games all cover roughly the same sort of topics and themes but they all do them in different ways that I keep thinking they would all work great together. 

OSR Modern Occult Horror RPGS

In other words, it sounds like a perfect topic for a Plays Well With Others

So the games I am talking about are Dark Places & Demogorgons, We Die Young, Dark Streets & Darker Secrets, and my own NIGHT SHIFT.  These are the big modern supernatural, occult horror games from the OSR. 

I have reviewed these games in the past.

Obviously, I have not reviewed NIGHT SHIFT. Reviewing your own game is incredibly tacky and remarkably dishonest. 

I have covered many of these games in other Plays Well With Others too.

With the addition of Dark Streets & Darker Secrets to my occult library, I wanted to revisit some of these ideas. Though I want to take a different approach today.

With this Plays Well With Others, I am going to mention each game and talk about what can be used from that game in any of the other three.  In some cases, this is easy like moving from Dark Places & Demogorgons to We Die Young which are essentially the same system.  In others, it will be converting characters from one system to the other. 

At the core of all four games (three systems) is the old-school, the OSR, design.  All of these games have the same "godfather" as it were in Original or Basic D&D.  They have the same uncle (mother's brother), the d20 SRD. And their mother is all the D&D games we all played and the supernatural, occult, horror and urban fantasy media we consumed when not playing. 

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets
Dark Streets & Darker Secrets 

This is the newest game, for me, and the one on my mind the most.  Thankfully it is also the one that has the most to offer all the games.  

For starters, the classes can be imported rather easily into the other three games.  In particular the Tough, the Nimble, and the Smart can be used as subtypes of the Veteran or Survivor in NIGHT SHIFT or as a class in We Die Young.  Maybe not so much for DP&D since those are supposed to be kids. The Gifted of DS&DS is similar to the Supernatural in NS.

The real gift of DS&DS is all the tables.  Someone online described the game as a great toolkit game. Some of the best ones to use in all games are the Complication table (p.20), Weird Items (p.32- 33), almost all the Gear. The Magic and Psychic backlash tables are also fun. ALL the artifact tables. The various "signs" in Chapter 7.  In fact, pretty much all of Chapter 7 to be honest.

Survive This!!

Both Dark Places & Demogorgons and We Die Young from Bloat Games use the same Survive This!! basic rule system, so right out of the gate they are compatible with each other.   Dark Places & Demogorgons focuses on kids in the 1980s and We Die Young on young adults in the 1990s.  So there is a continuum there for any that wish to use it.  There are plenty of "classes" in both games that can be used and mixed and matched.  Like DS&DS there are a lot of great toolbox-like tables and ideas that can be imported into another game.

I can easily see a game then of people in their 30s in the 2000s with large chunks of DS&DS mixed into the Survive This!! system.  Would this game be called "Survive This!! Dark Streets" or "Dark Streets, Dark Places, Darker Secrets & Demogorgons?"  I don't know, but I LOVE the idea of kids experiencing weird shit in the 80s, taking a bunch of drugs to forget them in the 90s (both DS&DS and WDY have these) and finally having to deal with this shit all over again in 2000-2020s as older adults.  Very "It" if you think about it.

Dark Places & Demogorgons We Die Young

The jewel though in the Survive This!! (and there are many) though HAS to be the DP&D Cryptid Manual.  DS&DS takes a toolkit view on monsters.  NIGHT SHIFT has a minimalist view (a very OD&D view if I can add) on monsters.  But the Cryptid Manual gives us a proper monster book.

Of note. Both DS&DS and We Die Young use the newer D&D5-ish Advantage and Disadvantage mechanic. Albeit in slightly different ways.  I have been using this in NIGHT SHIFT as well and find it works better for me than a simple +3 or +5 to rolls

Also, both games have a Madness mechanic.  I like the one in We Die Young much better.  Bits from DS&DS could be added to this, but in general, I think I'd use the one in WDY. 

We Die Young also has some really cool races that can help fill out the "Gifted" of DS&DS.

Don't forget you can get the new Hardcover version of Dark Places & Demogorns on Kickstarter now.

NIGHT SHIFT: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars
NIGHT SHIFT: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars

I talk a lot about NIGHT SHIFT here and with good reason, I am quite proud of the work I have done it.  It fills the void in my life left by the Buffy RPG and everything I wanted from all three editions of Chill, but never exactly got (no slight on Chill, fantastic game), a little more approachable and less nihilistic than Kult, and none of the baggage of The World of Darkness (though I do get the urge to play that again.  My oldest want to give it a try sometime).

Dark Places & Demogorgons makes some assumptions in the game that makes it what it is.  The characters are kids and there is also the Jeffersontown setting, all of which are central to the game and make it work.

Dark Street & Darker Secrets is on the other end of the spectrum with no assumed setting other than "The City" which also works fantastic for this game and one of it's great strengths.

In between those two, we have NIGHT SHIFT (and We Die Young, but I'll get to that).  NIGHT SHIFT does not have a default setting. There are different levels of difficulty you can configure the game in, Cinematic, Realistic, or Gritty.  DP&D would be Cinematic, DS&DS is the poster boy for Gritty, and WDY is around Realistic.  So I would use ideas from those games to inform my choices in the three levels of NS and vice-versa. 

What NIGHT SHIFT has to offer these other games are our "Night Worlds" or mini-settings.  Any of these can be used in any of the other games and the other games can be used to add more details.  Jason's "The Noctnurmverse" can be supplemented either by or used in DS&DS.  The "City" in DS&DS becomes the Noctnurmverse's Pittsburgh.  Or dialing back the Way-Back Machine use it with We Die Young in the 1990s.  My own "Generation HEX" benefits from the ideas on playing kids in DP&D.  You could even take Generation HEX and play it as a DP&D setting if you wanted.  My "Ordinary World" can be used in DS&DS IF you ever decide to move out of the city into the suburbs. 

I already talked a lot about how NIGHT SHIFT and Dark Places & Demogorgons can be used together.  The same logic applies when adding in the other two games.  In fact one place where this might work great is my own Sunny Valley, OH game of the Buffyverse in the 1980s rather than the late 90s/early 2000s.  This works well since a.) NIGHT SHIFT was made to fit the "Buffy-shaped" hole in my life and b.) DS&DS takes a lot of cues from and was influenced by Buffy in all media.  I might just be the best melting pot for all these games. Or crucible. Time will tell.

Putting it All Together

Honestly, there are just too many ways to combine these four games into something you can use.  Start with one and add what you need.  Start with two and be pickier about what you add from the others.  One of the ways I am using it is in my Life-Path Development ideas. Each game represents a different point the characters' lives and each is used to model that time.  The obvious reasons are that DP&D takes place in the 80s with kids, WDY in the 90s with younger adults, and DS&DS and NIGHT SHIFT go beyond that.  To go with personal experience, I was living in Chicago proper in the mid to late 90s and then in the suburbs after that.  To use my ordinary world example my progression would look like this:

DP&D (high school, small town) -> WDY (college, college town) -> DS&DS (grad school, city) -> NIGHT SHIFT (adulthood, suburbs).

In a weird way, it makes sense to me.  But I am not stating up myself. I don't live in a magical world, I live in this one.  BUT I do have my Drosophila melanogaster of these sorts of experiments, Willow and Tara.   I have done stats for them for Dark Places & Demogorgons and NIGHT SHIFT.  Doing ones for We Die Young and Dark Streets & Darker Secrets would be easy enough.  BUT.  Those are not the same characters really. They fall under my "Alternate Reality" versions rather than "Lifespan or Lifepath Development."   Though doing DS&DS versions of Willow and Tara should be in my future.

No for this I need a character that has been around for a while, for that I am going to have to turn to my Iconic Witch Larina.

Larina Nix

Fortunately for me, the witch is one of the few character classes/archetypes/concepts that can be found in all these games (the weird psychic is as well, but witches are my thing).  So building a witch feels right.

I worked up all the sheets and this is what I ended up with.  Purple is the color of all of Larina's sheets. Click for larger. 

Dark Places & DemogorgonsWe Die YoungDark Streets & Dark SecretsNIGHT SHIFT

Dark Places & Demogorgons

It's 1984 and Larina is 14 and 4th level.  She lives in a small town where her mom runs a spice shop and her dad is a Professor of Anthropology and teaches music.  She is called "creepy girl" by the kids in school.  At this point, she is shy and can't quite understand why others can't see the strange things all around them. 

Most of these adventures are of the "Scooby-Doo" sort; short ones that are resolved by the end.  Easily Monster of Week sorts.

We Die Young

We are moving to the early 90s now and she is 7th level. Larina is in grad school and is now Larina Macalester. She was married at age 19 but obviously, it is not working out well.  She is living in Chicago while her estranged husband is still living in Ireland. Her stats nudge up a little but she largely is similar to her 1DP&D version.  There are some differences between the two types of Witch classes (and DP&D still has others) but nothing I consider earth-shattering.  I did get to add her two tattoos. One is a protection tattoo (a large Triple Moon Goddess on her back) and one on her left wrist that allows her to cast a magic bolt. 

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets

Things are getting darker.  Larina is now 35, 10th level, and back to going back to using "Nichols" as her last name.  Her complication is she is hiding from her ex-husband who was in the IRA.  (NOTE: I actually played through this back in the early 2000s.  The big twist was that while she was hiding out, her ex had moved on and was living his own life with his new wife.)  I wanted to use my new idea for Sanity by having it as Intellect +  Willpower /2. BUT for Larina here both scores are 17 giving me an average of 17. 

NIGHT SHIFT

Here is the one closest to my heart, obviously.  She has more spells, but this is expected at 13th level. 

As expected the powers don't always match up right and I could have taken more care in aligning the spells with each version. But I figure that these changes can be chalked up to learning and experiences.  I do feel that all versions reflect the character at the time well.   

Looking forward to trying this with other characters to see how they work out. Also, I am keeping all of these books together to use as needed.  By themselves, they give me a wonderful experience. Together they give me an epic experience.