More Zatanna cosplay fun.
These are from all over the net.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Willow & Tara: Icons
I have been missing my regularly scheduled Willow and Tara posts. I posted everything for Season 1: The Dragon and the Phoenix and Season 2: Season of the Witch.
Season 3 was going to be more "supers" or even "anime" like. So I played around with Mutants and Masterminds and Big Eyes, Small Mouth quite a bit to get what I wanted, but I never quite got it there. The idea behind Season 3: Generation HEX was Willow and Tara would play a less central role as educators of the next generation of witches growing up in a world where everyone knows all about magic.
Again I never quite got it working. But the releases of Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Ed, as well as Bash, Icons and Villains and Vigilantes has got me thinking about it all again.
So here are the girls using Icons, plus some new Icons related supplements I picked up.
Icons
Icons is not really the game I would use if I were going to run a multi-year, multi-arc long game; that's what Mutants and Masterminds is for. But if I needed to run a supers game on a rainy afternoon or a convention or just something to have some fun with, then Icons is a great choice.
Icons though is perfect for trying out a couple of episodes. The biggest issues of "Generation HEX" is it lacked a bit of an identity. "Dragon" was a "Buffy Game", "Season of the Witch" was a "Ghosts of Albion" Game. So the best thing I think is to try out a couple of different "episodes" or "issues" in the various games that went to inspire the series. Now I had stopped work on "Generation HEX" long before Icons came along, but there are still things I can do.
Since I am experimenting I am used the the official module The Mastermind Affair as my test.
You can read my review of the adventure on DriveThruRPG's site.
Since I am rebuilding this season I also grabbed a ton of books on playing in High School and supers:
Willow Rosenberg
Prowess: 2
Coordination: 3
Strength: 2
Intellect: 7
Awareness: 6
Willpower: 7
Height: 5'3" Weight: 114 lbs.
First Appearance (Icons): Season 3, Episode1: We Could Be Heroes.
Powers
Wizardry (magic) 7 (Telekinesis, Blast)
Detection
Mind Control 4
Supersenses (magic, ghosts, astral [sight, hearing, touch]) 3
Telepathy 2 (4 /w Tara)
Specialties
Science, Occult, Electronics, Computers, Languages
Stamina: 9
Determination: 1
Aspects
Qualities
Connections, Motivation: "To learn more magic"
Challenges
Personal: Out Lesbian.
Relationship: Tara
Tara Maclay
Season 3 was going to be more "supers" or even "anime" like. So I played around with Mutants and Masterminds and Big Eyes, Small Mouth quite a bit to get what I wanted, but I never quite got it there. The idea behind Season 3: Generation HEX was Willow and Tara would play a less central role as educators of the next generation of witches growing up in a world where everyone knows all about magic.
Again I never quite got it working. But the releases of Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Ed, as well as Bash, Icons and Villains and Vigilantes has got me thinking about it all again.
So here are the girls using Icons, plus some new Icons related supplements I picked up.
Icons is not really the game I would use if I were going to run a multi-year, multi-arc long game; that's what Mutants and Masterminds is for. But if I needed to run a supers game on a rainy afternoon or a convention or just something to have some fun with, then Icons is a great choice.
Icons though is perfect for trying out a couple of episodes. The biggest issues of "Generation HEX" is it lacked a bit of an identity. "Dragon" was a "Buffy Game", "Season of the Witch" was a "Ghosts of Albion" Game. So the best thing I think is to try out a couple of different "episodes" or "issues" in the various games that went to inspire the series. Now I had stopped work on "Generation HEX" long before Icons came along, but there are still things I can do.
Since I am experimenting I am used the the official module The Mastermind Affair as my test.
You can read my review of the adventure on DriveThruRPG's site.
Since I am rebuilding this season I also grabbed a ton of books on playing in High School and supers:
- Smallville High School Yearbook (Cortex Plus)
- Hope Prep #0: Orientation (Icons)
- Hope Prep School Freshman Handbook (M&M 3)
- Mutants and Masterminds 2nd Edition Beginners Guide
Prowess: 2
Coordination: 3
Strength: 2
Intellect: 7
Awareness: 6
Willpower: 7
Height: 5'3" Weight: 114 lbs.
First Appearance (Icons): Season 3, Episode1: We Could Be Heroes.
Powers
Wizardry (magic) 7 (Telekinesis, Blast)
Detection
Mind Control 4
Supersenses (magic, ghosts, astral [sight, hearing, touch]) 3
Telepathy 2 (4 /w Tara)
Specialties
Science, Occult, Electronics, Computers, Languages
Stamina: 9
Determination: 1
Aspects
Qualities
Connections, Motivation: "To learn more magic"
Challenges
Personal: Out Lesbian.
Relationship: Tara
Tara Maclay
Prowess: 2
Coordination: 2
Strength: 3
Intellect:
Awareness: 7
Willpower: 6
Height: 5'5" Weight: 128 lbs.
First Appearance (Icons): Season 3, Episode1: We Could Be Heroes.
Powers
Wizardry (magic) 6 (Telekinesis, Force Field)
Aura 3 (supernatural creatures affected only, fear aura)
Blast 2
Emotion Control 2
Healing 4
Supersenses (magic, ghosts, astral [sight, hearing, touch]) 3
Telepathy 2 (4 /w Willow)
Specialties
Art, Occult, Psychiatry, Languages
Stamina: 8
Determination: 1
Aspects
Qualities
Connections, Motivation: "To protect the innocent"
Challenges
Personal: Out Lesbian.
Relationship: Willow
These are built assuming this is the start of Season 3 and the girls have quite a bit of experience. I like these builds, but I think I am going to need more practice in this game.
Icons has some great advice/hints/tips on making an archenemy, I think I am going to have to take that advice and figure out someone for the girls to battle.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Icons
I go in and out of moods for my games a lot. Gamer ADHD as it has been called.
I have been going through my Icons collection of late with the idea to revive my long dead Supers game.
I have already stated Justice for Icons, but I have not used it for Willow and Tara just yet. So here is my point of view on Icons. Some of this I mentioned before, but I wanted to pull it all together in one place.
Icons
I enjoy Supers games. I don't get to play them as often as I would like, but I enjoy them all the same. I had been playing M&M 2ed and just picked up BASH! so I was hesitant to also get Icons. But Icons comes with a pretty good pedigree. First it is written by Steven Kenson, who gave us Mutants and Masterminds and also worked on Silver Age Sentinels. Steve obviously knows his supers. It has Gareth-Michael Skarka of Adamant Entertainment and one of the minds behind "Hong Kong Action Theater". Walt Ciechanowski has a ton of game systems under his belt too including M&M, True20 and Victoriana (1st ed). And Morgan Davie, whom I'll admit I am not as familiar with. But he is one of the guys that wrote Icons, so that makes him good in my book.
Comics are a visual medium. Full of art and color and eye catching action. Icons is the same. It is a really good looking book, especially one that has such a "retro" or even "indie" feel to it. It lives somewhere between the free flowing cartoon fun of Cartoon Action Hour and the slick, high production values of Mutants and Masterminds. All three of these games are fantastic and their style really tells us a lot about what they are about. Icons is a comic book game that is close to a Saturday Morning Super Heroes cartoon. The art, which some people have disliked, I think sets the perfect mood for this book. It is simple art, but it is good art and has a earnestness about that I like. That is also true for the rules.
Icons, as you may or may not have heard, is powered by FATE. Though the typical FATE/Fudge trappings of naming the power levels is gone in favor of numbers (sort of a step backwards from the FATE perspective, but fine for me). There is the option for named levels too, and I think it would fit the style of comic book action, but I myself prefer numbers. The scale is pretty simple, 1 to 10, with 3 an average. So very similar already to a lot of games I play.
I have been going through my Icons collection of late with the idea to revive my long dead Supers game.
I have already stated Justice for Icons, but I have not used it for Willow and Tara just yet. So here is my point of view on Icons. Some of this I mentioned before, but I wanted to pull it all together in one place.
I enjoy Supers games. I don't get to play them as often as I would like, but I enjoy them all the same. I had been playing M&M 2ed and just picked up BASH! so I was hesitant to also get Icons. But Icons comes with a pretty good pedigree. First it is written by Steven Kenson, who gave us Mutants and Masterminds and also worked on Silver Age Sentinels. Steve obviously knows his supers. It has Gareth-Michael Skarka of Adamant Entertainment and one of the minds behind "Hong Kong Action Theater". Walt Ciechanowski has a ton of game systems under his belt too including M&M, True20 and Victoriana (1st ed). And Morgan Davie, whom I'll admit I am not as familiar with. But he is one of the guys that wrote Icons, so that makes him good in my book.
Comics are a visual medium. Full of art and color and eye catching action. Icons is the same. It is a really good looking book, especially one that has such a "retro" or even "indie" feel to it. It lives somewhere between the free flowing cartoon fun of Cartoon Action Hour and the slick, high production values of Mutants and Masterminds. All three of these games are fantastic and their style really tells us a lot about what they are about. Icons is a comic book game that is close to a Saturday Morning Super Heroes cartoon. The art, which some people have disliked, I think sets the perfect mood for this book. It is simple art, but it is good art and has a earnestness about that I like. That is also true for the rules.
Icons, as you may or may not have heard, is powered by FATE. Though the typical FATE/Fudge trappings of naming the power levels is gone in favor of numbers (sort of a step backwards from the FATE perspective, but fine for me). There is the option for named levels too, and I think it would fit the style of comic book action, but I myself prefer numbers. The scale is pretty simple, 1 to 10, with 3 an average. So very similar already to a lot of games I play.
The rules themselves are really simple. It is a modification of the dF system. Use 2d6 with one as positive and one as negative, roll and add, apply mods. Easy. You can be up and running in less time than it takes to say "Meanwhile back at the Hall of Justice..."
Hero creation is unique for a modern game, it is random. Not that you couldn't do it as a "point buy" system, but the randomness is what I think sets it away from BASH which can fill similar needs.
I feel I must at this point call out the Character Sheet. Long ago I was a reader of Marvel and I loved their "Whos Who" of the Marvel universe where they would have bar charts to rank their heroes on various attributes. It was almost very game-like and I loved them. Icons does something similar and it really gives their characters a different feel.
I would be lying if I didn't see bits of pieces of Silver Age Sentinels or Mutants and Masterminds peeking out every so often. That is fine with me. That familiarity is a good thing in my mind.
Icons is not really the game I would use if I were going to run a multi-year, multi-arc long game; that's what Mutants and Masterminds is for. But if I needed to run a supers game on a rainy afternoon or a convention or just something to have some fun with, then Icons is a great choice.
Other Icons products:
Hope Prep #0: Orientation
Icons and M&M 3
Ever since the X-Men went to class and the Teen Titans went to their tower, being a super powered teen has always been popular in comics. It was popular before that too, but let's stick with high school. Hope Prep is another in a long line of Schools for .... you get the idea.
This book was written for ICONS, but I am certain that the same applies for other versions (M&M).
The idea here is a day spent learning about your new school, Hope Prep. A new bad guy organization is introduced, which I really liked and will use. And it works as a good introduction to supers roleplaying and the game systems as well.
Each scene is detailed well, but not in a way that tells the GM what everyone needs to do, but instead a framework of what is going on and how to move from one scene to the next. Very nice.
There is a starter map of the school grounds and some materials to print and give to your players.
All in all, a very fun intro and certainly makes want to get some more from this line of products.
5 of 5 Stars
Hope Prep School Freshman Handbook
Icons and M&M3
EDITED TO ADD:
I just found this awesome Character sheet for Hope Prep for Icons from the author's own blog.
http://www.meliorvia.com/2011/06/open-house-sale-and-icons-character.html
ION Guard
Bash! and ICONS
If you need a reason to buy BASH or ICONS then this is it. At just about 60 pages this supplement presents the Intergalactic Ordinance Network Guard or ION Guard, an intergalatic police force defending the universe from all sorts of bad guys.
Yes we have seen this before, but the the presentation in this book is so enduring you ignore the obvious DNA of this product and just pull on your ION Fist, say your Oath and protect the Galaxy. NPCs are detailed as well as bad guys for you to fight. The layout of the book is awesome and I honestly can't say enough good about it.
Dislike: would have liked to see more bad guys.
5 out of 5 stars.
Field Guide to Superheroes Vol. 3 (ICONS)
A hefty collection of archetypes for the ICONS game. Lots of familiar territory here with some standard comic book archetypes. What I came here for was the Magician, Occult hero and the Psychic.
In all cases an archetype is presented with some explanatory notes on how this character works in the comics and the game. Examples from comics are given and ways to use the character. Then we also get a full write up of a ready to use character, either as an NPC or PC for your own games. Usually 4 pages per archetype.
Very good book for the price and now I want to pick up the first two as well.
5 out of 5 stars.
Icons vs. Bash vs. Mutants and Masterminds
This is something I think I need address, but at the moment I don't feel qualified enough to do this. I think I am going to have to play some games and try them out to see which ones I like the best.
More on Icons tomorrow.
Hero creation is unique for a modern game, it is random. Not that you couldn't do it as a "point buy" system, but the randomness is what I think sets it away from BASH which can fill similar needs.
I feel I must at this point call out the Character Sheet. Long ago I was a reader of Marvel and I loved their "Whos Who" of the Marvel universe where they would have bar charts to rank their heroes on various attributes. It was almost very game-like and I loved them. Icons does something similar and it really gives their characters a different feel.
I would be lying if I didn't see bits of pieces of Silver Age Sentinels or Mutants and Masterminds peeking out every so often. That is fine with me. That familiarity is a good thing in my mind.
Icons is not really the game I would use if I were going to run a multi-year, multi-arc long game; that's what Mutants and Masterminds is for. But if I needed to run a supers game on a rainy afternoon or a convention or just something to have some fun with, then Icons is a great choice.
Other Icons products:
Hope Prep #0: Orientation
Icons and M&M 3
Ever since the X-Men went to class and the Teen Titans went to their tower, being a super powered teen has always been popular in comics. It was popular before that too, but let's stick with high school. Hope Prep is another in a long line of Schools for .... you get the idea.
This book was written for ICONS, but I am certain that the same applies for other versions (M&M).
The idea here is a day spent learning about your new school, Hope Prep. A new bad guy organization is introduced, which I really liked and will use. And it works as a good introduction to supers roleplaying and the game systems as well.
Each scene is detailed well, but not in a way that tells the GM what everyone needs to do, but instead a framework of what is going on and how to move from one scene to the next. Very nice.
There is a starter map of the school grounds and some materials to print and give to your players.
All in all, a very fun intro and certainly makes want to get some more from this line of products.
5 of 5 Stars
Hope Prep School Freshman Handbook
Icons and M&M3
The Freshman Handbook is a great product in the Hope Prep product line. Meant to follow from the Hope Prep Orientation book, this book expands what you know and provides more information.
Like the Orientation Book, this book is multi-system. I had no issue moving from the ICONS version of one to the M&M version of the other.
This book contains everything a new student will need to know about their new school. There are class schedules with information on the teachers (and their powers, listed in back). While there is a wealth of information here it's utility will vary form GM to GM. While somw may like know where the students are at any given moment of any given day, there are others that will hand wave this.
One thing I found a distraction was the multi-colored text of the two students, Maza and Kid Courage. While interesting and provided a good insight to what was "really" going on, I found the font choice and color difficult to read sometimes.
4 of 5 Stars
EDITED TO ADD:
I just found this awesome Character sheet for Hope Prep for Icons from the author's own blog.
http://www.meliorvia.com/2011/06/open-house-sale-and-icons-character.html
ION Guard
If you need a reason to buy BASH or ICONS then this is it. At just about 60 pages this supplement presents the Intergalactic Ordinance Network Guard or ION Guard, an intergalatic police force defending the universe from all sorts of bad guys.
Yes we have seen this before, but the the presentation in this book is so enduring you ignore the obvious DNA of this product and just pull on your ION Fist, say your Oath and protect the Galaxy. NPCs are detailed as well as bad guys for you to fight. The layout of the book is awesome and I honestly can't say enough good about it.
Dislike: would have liked to see more bad guys.
5 out of 5 stars.
Field Guide to Superheroes Vol. 3 (ICONS)
A hefty collection of archetypes for the ICONS game. Lots of familiar territory here with some standard comic book archetypes. What I came here for was the Magician, Occult hero and the Psychic.
In all cases an archetype is presented with some explanatory notes on how this character works in the comics and the game. Examples from comics are given and ways to use the character. Then we also get a full write up of a ready to use character, either as an NPC or PC for your own games. Usually 4 pages per archetype.
Very good book for the price and now I want to pick up the first two as well.
5 out of 5 stars.
This might well be the most awesome product I have ever paid under a buck for.
You don't get many pages here, but you get alot. A "ripped from the tabloids" personality that can be a snap to play. All the Icons stats you need, a background, awesome art and a little paper mini to use in your game.
All for less than you would pay for a Mt. Dew out of a vending machine.
I just don't want to see more like this, I want to see LiLo and all her awesome powers of...well something I am sure.
Worth it for humor alone.
5 of 5 Stars
Icons vs. Bash vs. Mutants and Masterminds
This is something I think I need address, but at the moment I don't feel qualified enough to do this. I think I am going to have to play some games and try them out to see which ones I like the best.
More on Icons tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Ghosts of Albion: Dinosauria!
This Gen Con I am going to introduce a new adventure for Ghosts of Albion. The first I have written in a while and I am quite excited.
The adventure is centered around the New Year's Eve 1853 party at the Crystal Palace. The characters are all invited to a most unique party inside one of the first ever models of a dinosuar!
You are invited by Mr. Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins,
and Prof. Richard Owens,
I'll be presenting some details for players here and the characters they can play.
Currently I have an immortal sorceress, a cowboy with golden bullets that he may have gotten from the devil, an Algonquin shaman, a faerie lady, and an American occult scholar.
Stay tuned.
The adventure is centered around the New Year's Eve 1853 party at the Crystal Palace. The characters are all invited to a most unique party inside one of the first ever models of a dinosuar!
You are invited by Mr. Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins,
and Prof. Richard Owens,
I'll be presenting some details for players here and the characters they can play.
Currently I have an immortal sorceress, a cowboy with golden bullets that he may have gotten from the devil, an Algonquin shaman, a faerie lady, and an American occult scholar.
Stay tuned.
15 Movies
Found this 15 Movies thing at The Girl with the White Parasol and at Defiant Success.
I watch a lot of movies so I figured what the heck.
Movie you love with a passion.
Hmm. Raiders of the Lost Ark is near perfect in my mind. But I also love the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Movie you vow to never watch.
I doubt I will ever watch Human Centipede. Not because it looks stupid (it does) I don't want to do anything that might encourage this sort of "money shot" film making. Basically this entire movie was built around one scene. I refuse to be a part of that.
Movie that literally left you speechless.
Monster-a-Go Go. It was just so monumentally stupid I couldn't say anything.
Movie you always recommend.
Anything by Hayao Miyazaki.
Actor/actress you always watch, no matter how crappy the movie.
Actor: I'll admit it. Nick Cage. He plays the same character in every movie, but that is ok.
Actress: Linda Fiorentino. I even watched Jade. Twice.
Actor/actress you don't get the appeal for.
Actor: John Travolta. I really just can't stand this guy.
Actress: Julia Ormond. Have no idea what people see in her. She bores me to tears.
Actor/actress, living or dead, you'd love to meet.
Christopher Lee. I bet he is just a font of knowledge.
Sexiest actor/actress you've seen. (Picture required!)
Wow. So many really. I am rather fond of Anne Hathaway.
Dream cast.
Another tough one.
Dream casts are tough since so much depends on the script. Sometime you get an Oceans 11 and sometimes you get an Oceans 13. ;)
Favorite actor pairing.
I was always a big fan of Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. I also like anything with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.
Favorite movie setting.
Anything horror. But I really like Victorian.
Favorite decade for movies.
Comedy/Coming of Age: 80's
Classic Horror: 50's and 70's
Chick flick or action movie?
Horror.
Hero, villain or anti-hero?
Depends on my mood.
Black and white or color?
Love old horror in black and white, but I see in color
I watch a lot of movies so I figured what the heck.
Movie you love with a passion.
Hmm. Raiders of the Lost Ark is near perfect in my mind. But I also love the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Movie you vow to never watch.
I doubt I will ever watch Human Centipede. Not because it looks stupid (it does) I don't want to do anything that might encourage this sort of "money shot" film making. Basically this entire movie was built around one scene. I refuse to be a part of that.
Movie that literally left you speechless.
Monster-a-Go Go. It was just so monumentally stupid I couldn't say anything.
Movie you always recommend.
Anything by Hayao Miyazaki.
Actor/actress you always watch, no matter how crappy the movie.
Actor: I'll admit it. Nick Cage. He plays the same character in every movie, but that is ok.
Actress: Linda Fiorentino. I even watched Jade. Twice.
Actor/actress you don't get the appeal for.
Actor: John Travolta. I really just can't stand this guy.
Actress: Julia Ormond. Have no idea what people see in her. She bores me to tears.
Actor/actress, living or dead, you'd love to meet.
Christopher Lee. I bet he is just a font of knowledge.
Sexiest actor/actress you've seen. (Picture required!)
Wow. So many really. I am rather fond of Anne Hathaway.
Dream cast.
Another tough one.
Dream casts are tough since so much depends on the script. Sometime you get an Oceans 11 and sometimes you get an Oceans 13. ;)
Favorite actor pairing.
I was always a big fan of Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. I also like anything with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.
Favorite movie setting.
Anything horror. But I really like Victorian.
Favorite decade for movies.
Comedy/Coming of Age: 80's
Classic Horror: 50's and 70's
Chick flick or action movie?
Horror.
Hero, villain or anti-hero?
Depends on my mood.
Black and white or color?
Love old horror in black and white, but I see in color
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The Lesbian Vampire: Villain or Victim? Part 3
Let's bring this back around to what this blog is about; RPGs.
I have stated up and discussed a number of lesbian vampires based on all the movies I have discussed and even delved into why they do what they do.
Here are the links
- Elizabeth Bathory
- Fran and Miriam from Vampyres
- Ivy (and Rachel!) from the Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison
- Even a Vampire Tara, Unisystem and Cortex
- (And not to forget Madame Vastra and Jenny. They are not vampires, but they are awesome.)
So here she is for the Ghosts of Albion RPG.
Here is a description of Carmilla from the text:
She was slender, and wonderfully graceful. Except that her movements were languid--very languid--indeed, there was nothing in her appearance to indicate an invalid. Her complexion was rich and brilliant; her features were small and beautifully formed; her eyes large, dark, and lustrous; her hair was quite wonderful, I never saw hair so magnificently thick and long when it was down about her shoulders; I have often placed my hands under it, and laughed with wonder at its weight. It was exquisitely fine and soft, and in color a rich very dark brown, with something of gold. I loved to let it down, tumbling with its own weight, as, in her room, she lay back in her chair talking in her sweet low voice, I used to fold and braid it, and spread it out and play with it. Heavens! If I had but known all!
So based on that I think the perfect choice for casting is Anne Hathaway.
Countess Mircalla Karnstein, aka "Carmilla"
Vampire
Strength 6
Dexterity 4
Constitution 5
Intelligence 3
Perception 3
Willpower 5
Qualities
Age (2)
Attractiveness (3)
Cloak of Beasts (Large Cat)
Emotional Influence
Fast Reaction Time (Vampire)
Hard to Kill 3 (2 from Vampire)
Mesmerize (See Me, Hear My Voice)
Natural Weapon (Vampire)
Reduced Damage 2 (Vampire)
Regeneration (6 Life Points per hour) (Vampire)
Sunlight Immunity
Vampire
Drawbacks
Adversary (1)
Bloodlust
Home Soil (Burial Shroud)
Love, Tragic
Emotional Problems, Emotionally Dependent (victims) (1)
Mental Problems, Covetous (Lechery) (1)
Minority (lesbian woman) (2)
Special Diet (only young women)
Useful Information
Initiative
Actions 1/1
Observation 1d10
Fear +5
Skills
Armed Mayhem 2
Art 0
Athletics 2
Crime 2
Drive / Ride 2
Engineering 1
Fisticuffs 1
Influence 4
Knowledge 4
Languages 5 (English, French, Latin, German, Romanian)
Marksmanship 0
Notice 3
Occultism 0
Physician 0
Combat
| Maneuver | Bonus | Damage | Notes |
| Dodge / Parry | +6 | - | Defence Action |
| Grapple | +7 | - | Defence Action |
| Bite | +5 | 6 | Slash / Stab, needed for blood drain |
| Punch / claw | +6 | 12 | Bash / slash |
The Countess Mircalla Karnstein was one of members of the notorious Karnstein family, a family well known for it's depravity and dabbling in occult practices.
Mircalla was one of their lesser evil members, preferring to be left alone so she could dally with the serving girls of the castle. Though sometime after 1698 the young Mircalla suffered the same fate as many other members of her family, she was turned into a vampire. Like all members of the Karnstein vampire clan she must retain her burial shroud in order to keep her undeath. Loss of it will not allow her rest and she may be killed by the removal of her head.
Mircalla, like many vampires, can only alter her name in the form of an anagram or something that sounds similar; i.e. Carmilla, Millarca, Marcilla and so on.
Unlike other members of her family Mircalla has found a way to survive in the in the inhospitable world of science and reason.
Mircalla's favored victim are young women. Her curse is to prey only on the same sorts of women she loved in life. She can't help but fall in love with her victims, knowing all too well that she will be the cause of their deaths. Her compulsion to only use anagrams of her own name might be part of some desire to be discovered and put out of the constant pain she must be feeling, but her vampiric nature drives her ever forward to continue on and looking for the next victim.
If there are other survivors of the Karnstein clan, and there is at least some reason to believe this, then Mircalla does not enteract with them at all.
What we know about Mircalla and the Karnsteins comes from a variety of sources, most notable was the recollections of one of Mircalla's victims (published as a work of fiction no less) and the reports of the most excellent occult scholar and expert on vampires, Professor Hieronymus Grost. Grost has recorded a number of instances of encounters with the Karnstein clan.
All members, save the youngest, of the Karnstein Vampires are immune to the effects sunlight. They do need to keep their burial shroud with them in order to rest. Without it they are vulnerable and my be killed by beheading. A stake will only immobilize them, not permanently destroy them. The Karnsteins also have differing tastes in their prey and once chosen they rarely diverge from it. In Mircalla's case she must feed only on young women.
Mircalla can mesmerize her victims into thinking her feedings are nothing but bad dreams. Like other vampires she cannot enter someone's home without permission, but she rarely has trouble getting that.
Mircalla can also appear as large cat, either a large black house cat or a small panther-like cat. No reports are given whether this is a trait she shares with her family or unique to her.
Using Mircalla in Ghosts of Albion
Mircalla could very well be drawn to London in search of new prey. A metropolis the size of London would easily hide one lone predator. With the rise of the affluent middle class and "working rich", Mircalla would have plenty of chances to engage in society to bring her closer to her favored victims.
Mircalla is not a fighter. She will not engage in combat unless it is a last resort. She preys on her victims and gets out as soon as she can. If faced with destruction her choices are usually flee or fight in that order. In any case once discovered she will attempt to flee.
Using Mircalla in Buffy/Angel/Army of Darkness
In modern games Mircalla will be continuing her modus operandi. However she will have one additional level of Age (and corresponding skill points). If playing a high-school game, then Mircalla will often take on the guise of an exotic foreign exchange student who surrounds herself with the most popular girls in school. There will be no indication of anything amiss till students begin to complain of nightmares and a new wasting disease will hit the school, effecting only the young women and girls.
The Lesbian Vampire: Villain or Victim? Part 2
Today I want to continue the topic of the lesbian vampire trope in film. Why this trope and say not the homosexual vampire in general? Well the easiest answer is of course I am most familiar with this one. While there are examples of male homosexual vampires in film, using the same sub-text as the lesbian vampires, and both sub-genres do have a history of literature behind it, the lesbian vampire seems more prevalent.
The obvious reason is that male film makers tended to see women more as victims and a vampire has a sexual element to their predation. Also the vampire is the ultimate other, someone so far outside that they are nolonger alive, no longer a person. This the same history that many gays and lesbians (and African-Americans and Jews and Hispanics and....just pick an era) have also felt. Naturally the two have become related.
The male homosexual vampire though can also be summed up in one name; Lestat. Watch the movies, read the books and then come back. That is all great and everything, but Lestat does not have the presence in film history as Dracula or Carmilla. Though as the 70's wore on and Hammer was feeling the pressure to do more and more we got a new set of lesbian vampires.
Daughters of Darkness (1971)
I spent a week back in 2009 talking about Elizabeth Bathory. Now I will contend, just based on the reports as we know them, that Bathory was not a lesbian but rather a sexual sadist that happened to have targeted young girls.
There is nothing really subtle here. Stephan is portrayed as a useless thing that later can only consumate his marriage by beating Valerie. When he kills Ilona in an accident in the shower he is portrayed as incompetent and something to be discarded. All the while Elizabeth holds court and seduces Valerie away. The ending is jarring, more "Celluloid Closet" style vengeance maybe? Valerie, with Elizabeth's voice is now off picking up a new couple to continue her immortality with.
There are traces of we will later see in The Hunger here. The cool, sophisticated, European, woman. She might have some royal blood in her somewhere (pardon the bad metaphor) and she is certainly worldly. She has companions, maybe male and female, but it is in her female companions she lavishes the most attention on even if I dare say it, the most love. This is not the rampaging monster of Dracula or even Orlock. Carmilla, Bathory and later Miriam Blaylock are exotic creatures almost unique to themselves.
Of course there is still the issue of sex.
Vampyres (1975)
This movie could very well be prime example of this troupe and cliché in action. Innocent women are killed by an unknown gunman to come back from the dead to kill others. It is almost textbook Dead/Evil Lesbian Cliché. Almost. While it certainly falls into cliché it also subverts it just a little. From the movie you get the feeling that Fran would rather not kill these men. Miriam of course only cares for Fran. The novelization of this film makes this clearer, but we should go by what we have on screen.
Despite my enjoyment of this film and the material it has given me for my various games it is not a great film and as a film about lesbian vampires it is no Carmilla to be sure. While I felt sorry for these women and felt they were trapped in an existence they never chose for themselves, I am not sure that is the intent of the film maker. I see two tragic figures. José Larraz saw two pretty girls that he got to film naked. Now to be fair there is some good in this movie. The actresses, while not great, certainly have enthusiasm for their roles and they can pull of the tortured vampires well. It is a cult classic for a good reason and I still enjoy watching it.
The Hunger (1983)
Ah the Hunger. I swear this movie is just as responsible for the whole "Vampire sub-culture" as Vampire:TM and Lestat. Bauhaus, David Bowie, Catherine Denueve. No wonder Poppy Z. Brite once described this as "the mandated first date movie of lesbian goths". Based on the book by Whitney Strieber (when he wasn't writing about aliens) this is a very interesting tale. First. The word vampire is never said (that I recall) in the movie. It is also never said in the book, but I could be wrong on both counts.
David's years catch up to him and Miriam sets about to turn Sarah. The scene where Miriam plays Sous le dôme épais might very well be one of the best seduction scenes in any movie, let alone a horror movie and never mind that is also between two women. Sarah is introduced into a new world after her sexual encounter with Miriam. Death later follows, Sarah's boyfriend Tom is the first to feed Sarah's new hunger and then Sarah herself. The ending of the movie is not the same as the book and frankly I never quite "got it". So let focus on Miriam and Sarah.
It is easy to feel Miriam's loneliness here. A scene in flashback of Miriam in Egyptian dress feeding in what must be the first time, gives us an idea of the passage of years and the number of former lovers she keeps in her attic. The Hunger's lesbian overtones have been talked about at length by Susan Sarandon in the DVD commentary and in the movie The Celluloid Closet. The Hunger does owe a lot to both Carmilla and Vampyros Lesbos in terms of visual style and how they wished to portray the characters. The question is now is Miriam sympathetic enough to avoid falling into a cliche where she needs to kill, however slowly, her lovers? The novel handles this better by making Miriam a seperate species. She is looking for a cure that might help her and her future lovers and thinks Sarah is the one that will discover it. It is not particularly a feminist movie or statement, but more about loneliness felt by one person that happens to also be female and bisexual and able to kill anyone she needs.
The Clichés
One thing we need to look at seriously is the potential of clichés in these movies.
In nearly every case the story is this. "A female vampire seduces a younger, more innocent female victim in order to bring her into a life of vampirism like herself." Now replace the word vampire with lesbian and read it again. Are we seeing a subversion of an ugly stereotype or a reaffirmation of one? Can be both.
The Female Vampire as The Other
The female lesbian vampire is the ultimate Other. Outside of life, outside of "male normality" and outside of conformity. Zalenska, Carmilla, Bathory and Miriam Blaylock are all European royalty, they do not have to conform to society. Their victims are more common place women, each with (largely ineffectual) men in their lives, but are seduced away. Away into what? Well that is what we should ask ourselves. Is this a subconscious reaction to the fear of The Other? Or from my point of view are the film-makers purposefully making us feel for these character because they have no choices? Is that just as bad? I don't hate you because you are a monster, I feel bad for you. Frankly I'd rather be hated than pitied.
Jumping across the race and gender divide let's look (breifly) at Blacula. I have mentioned before that Prince Mamuwalde is a sympathetic character. He was destroyed by Dracula only share in his curse. Here despite being a Prince himself, he is reduced in status by Dracula because of his skin color. Plus Blacula is such a sympathetic character probably in no small part due the acting ability of William Marshal who got this role from playing Othello.
Which leads us to the oddest conclusion. Vampyres, from José Larraz (who admits all he wanted to do was make a vampire film with pretty girls in it) might be the most "feminist" movie in the lot. The girls, Fran and Miriam are already together and in love then they are killed to come back a enact some vengeance. There is no seducer and victim between them they began and ended as equals to each other.
The Dead/Evil Lesbian Cliché
Are these movies part of the dead/evil lesbian cliché? By definition any vampire is dead. And if they have to kill to live on for themselves then they are also by definition evil.
Details of this cliché are listed here: http://thekittenboard.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2539
At some level they are all guilty of this. Again, Vampyres takes a different route by showing yes the women were murdered because they were together, but they came back to get revenge on their murderer. This puts it closer to The Crow and other revenge movies. Dracula's Daughter and in some cases Carmilla and The Hunger show that our vampire is conflicted, even feeling she has no choice or is trapped in this life/unlife. The lines start getting a bit blurry. In the end I give them a barest of passes only because of the times in which they were made and the fact that most of these are B movies. I would naturally expect better from any movie coming out now.
For a good example of what we can get now, even though it is not a vampire, we have Madame Vastra (a Silurian) and Jenny (her human lover) from Doctor Who.
Come back later as I wrap this up and bring it back around to RPGs.
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