October Movie: All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006, 2013)

Another one on my list to watch, this was the newest one to make the list.
I'll admit. I like watching Amber Heard.  She is not a terrible actress and maybe one day she will even be good.  But until then there are films like this.

Ok so what is this movie?  Er well. it's Friday the 13th with a twist.  No seriously.
We have been over this ground many times. I suppose there is the twist of Mandy herself, but I was spoiled early on and did not see it as big surprise.

Still though. Good fun teenage slasher flick.

Tally: Watched 34,  New 30

What are you watching?

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Review: The Shrine of St. Aleena

Once upon a time there was a boy and a girl.

The boy was just getting started out in his new life as an "adventurer". He didn't know much, and the girl even asked him if knew about clerics at all.  But theirs was not a story to fill long epics or sagas. Her story ended then when she was murdered.

The Shrine of St. Aleena is an adventure in the lands where that boy who never forgot that girl would later become a man, settle down, raise some kids and erect a 20 ft tall statue in honor of the saint she became and the girl she was.

The adventure "The Shrine of St. Aleena" is another act of devotion.  Maybe by a similar boy, now 30 years later a man. Sorry, I don't know Peter C. Spahn personally.  The adventure is designed for beginning level characters, levels 1-3, around the the eponymous shrine.  Just like the old days there is a dungeon crawl and the surrounding environs where monsters can be fought and sometimes even NPCs can be befriended.

The central plot is that the minions of "The Infamous One", the wizard that killed that poor girl, are attempting to defile this most holy of places.  It is up to this generation of heroes to once again stop his plans.

This could have come off as a ham fist attempt at nostalgia, but there is an earnestness about it and honesty that instead it comes off as loving tribute.  The art, descriptions and some situations all have thinly-veiled references to things going on in the 80s in gaming that if you are the right age then you will find them very amusing.  But if not, no worries, they still work in the adventure.

The plot is thin at best, but it's still more plot than most of the old-school adventures from the time when the Saint herself was still alive.  So really, that is feature not a bug.

There is a great table of rumors (d12 though not a d20), plenty of random wilderness encounters (yeah a d20 table!) and of course that awesome site of the 20 ft statue of the saint.    In true old-school fashion there are a lot of save or die encounters here, so you are warned.

The objective is easily defined, but there is a lot here to keep the party busy.  A dedicated party could complete in one (longish) session.  Most parties though will take more.

The only thing I think missing in this is some information on what the shrine is like after the defeat of the Spawn.  Personally I think drinking from the pool grants a Cure Light Wounds once in a character's life time or maybe even a Bless enchantment.  Another random table! d6 for random benefit!

d6 Roll	Benefit (only once per character)
1	No effect!
2	Cure Light Wonds
3	Bless +1 on next d20 roll
4	Remove Poison
5	Remove Paralysis
6	Reverse Turn to Stone

In the end I really enjoyed this and plan on inserting it into my regular game as a "Side trek".  That's pretty serious for me. I was limiting all my adventures to modules made in the 80s only.

Well worth the money paid.

Emirikol the Chaotic for Eldrtich Witchery

A while back I did stats for Emirikol the Chaotic for 4e.  Though lets be honest. Emirikol is an old-school bad guy.  The oldest.  Even before Bargel became Public Enemy #1 in the hearts and minds of D&D players, Emirikol was blasting people in the streets just because he could.

Here he is as a bad ass Eldritch Witchery Warlock.

Emirikol the Chaotic, Weaver of Chance, Harbinger of Doom
Human, 19th Level warlock (The Goetic Lodge)

Strength: 12
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 15
Intelligence: 19
Wisdom: 14
Charisma: 17

Hit Points:  66
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral (evil) (yeah I know, not a proper S&S alignment)
AC: 6 (talisman of protection)

Occult Powers
Arcane Blast: 1-3 hp, 19x per day
Hex
Familiar: Fire Elemental Horse
7th level: Summon Lesser Elemental (Chaotic)
13th level: Summon Demon (Type I or II)
19th level: Summon Greater Demon (Type III, IV or V)

Spells
First: Black Flames, Chil Ray, Detect Spirits, Fey Sight, Ghostly Slashing, Minor Fighting Prowess, Silver Togue, Sleep, Spirit Dart
Second: Agony, Broca's Curse of Bable, Death Armor, Discord, Ghost Touch, Levitate, Mind Obscure, Phantasmal Spirit, Spell Missile
Third: Astral Sense, Cause Fear, Fly, Ghost Ward, Haste, Lesser Strengthening Rite, Liar's Curse, Protection from Normal Missiles, Speak with Dead
Fourth: Charm Monster, Confusion, Dance Macabre, Instant Karma, Phantom Lacerations, Spiritual Dagger, Tears of the Banshee
Fifth: Bad Luck, Death Curse, Dreadful Bloodletting, Feeblemind, Teleport, Wave of Mutilation
Sixth: Anti-magic Shell, Death Blade, Disintegrate, Mass Agony, Primal Scream

While it could be argued that he is a Wizard or Warlock, I think this works well for him.

October Movie: Mama (2012)

I had to wait till everyone went to bed for this one.  Glad I did cause this is one creepy ass flick.
This was another Must See on my list for this year.

There is no new ground covered here, the fear of loosing a parent or a child too soon is so visceral, so deeply implanted into our DNA that any portrayal is going to touch a nerve.  Maybe more so because I am a parent. This was no exception and it happens to be a very scary movie.

This movie works on all the primal fears. Husband loosing it and killing the family. Mother dead. The Thing in the woods. The girls left alone and of course the fear of inescapable fate.

I am not going to say too much about this one.  Chances are I'll be up in a few hours anyway!
But I also don't want to spoil any of it.  If you have not seen this, please do.

This movie has Guillermo del Toro's name on it, but he acted as Executive Producer.  The director is Andrés Muschietti and I am expecting some big things from him in the future.

Tally: Watched 33,  New 29

What are you watching?

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What is Spellcraft & Swordplay?

One of the questions I have been getting a lot this week is "How does Spellcraft & Swordplay play" followed by "What is Spellcraft & Swordplay".

Spellcraft & Swordplay is Jason Vey's old school game based on the Original edition of Dungeons & Dragons.  It is a retro-clone, or more precisely a "near clone".

The feel of S&S is extremely old-school and when I played it with my son when it first came out it reminded me so much of OD&D that I wanted to make it my old-old-school game of choice.
You can read my original review here if you like. But there some things about it that I would like amend.
Just like you can't judge a game by reading it, you get a totally different perspective when you write something for it.  Somethings I now like more than I did then.

Here are some quick tips to help you learn about S&S.
- Saving throws are based abilities. So you can make a Dexterity save to avoid getting hit with something, or a Constitution save to avoid the effects of a poison.  Keep in mind S&S did this YEARS before it became the newest feature of D&D Next.
- The die mechanics are based on a 2d6, not a d20.  Need an 18 to hit something? Better hope you have pluses because you can only roll a natural 12 at best!  This makes everything grittier.  The 2d6 produces a near normal curve (ok a pyramid) so it means you will roll a lot of 7s and almost no 2s (snake eyes) or 12s (box cars).  This by the way was the original mechanic used in D&D, the d20 is the alternate method.

While there some differences S&S is one of those systems that become systemless after a while.  The focus is less on rolling dice and more on adventure and roll playing.  For that reason I find anything written for OD&D, Swords & Wizardry or Basic D&D can be translated and used in a snap.
In fact, as much as I enjoy Swords & Wizardry I find Spellcraft & Swordplay closer to OD&D in terms of game play and feel.

If you want to try out Spellcraft & Swordplay for free, there is a "Basic Set" available and a free character sheet.
If you like that then the Spellcraft & Swordplay rules can be had for cheap.

I even have some character write-ups if you like:
Asa Vajda
Dracula
Elizabeth Bathory (monster stats)
Hex (from Skylanders)
Red Sonja
Sir Gannon and Del The Necromancer
Xena & Gabrielle
Hope you enjoy this game as much as I do.

October Movie Challenge: Weekend round up

Bunch of movies under my belt this weekend.  Though all disappointed me or fell short.

The Witching (1993)
This one gets my vote as the worst movie I have seen this entire challenge.  And I was on a Jean Rollin kick.
Awful.  Going after the acting in this one is a cheap shot...but I am doing it anyway. The actors where not just terrible I have seen better work from High School plays.
The plot such as it is concerns a 300 year old witch locked away in Limbo with demons and her pet demon dog-rat "Scully".  The gate to Limbo opens up in this guy's refrigerator.   Some one really liked Ghostbusters.  It is listed as Comedy/Horror. It's neither.

R.I.P.D. (2013)
Another gate opening and dead things coming back.  This time it's sorta-cooked, but all dead cop played by Ryan Reynolds and even more dead "law man" played by Jeff Bridges.  Cliches all over the place. Kevin Bacon (who should know better).   The only performance I liked was from Mary Louise Parker.
If you have seen Men in Black then you have seen this one.

The Countess (2009)
This on the other hand was a very good film. Julie Delpy wrote, directed, starred and produced this bio-drama about Countess Erzsébet Báthory.  Everything about this movie was good, save for my expectations of it.  There was little to no blood, and no horror save for the psychological kind. The film even makes a credible case that all the stories of the "Blood Countess" were nothing more than rumor and political power plays.  Which could be true.  Or not.  The film still retains the infamous scene where a maid pulls Erzsébet's hair and the Countess strikes her so hard that she is covered in blood.  The countess proceeds to bleed her for her precious virgin blood.
There is no vampirism. No allusions to Dracula. This is a historical piece and frankly a nice change of pace.

Interestingly enough Julie Delpy was 39 when she made this movie.  Delphine Seyrig was also 39 when she played Báthory in Daughters of Darkness (Ingrid Pitt was 34 when she was in Countess Dracula).

I kind of hoped to finish up this weekend, but I feel I need to see a few more, just to make sure I saw enough real horror.

Tally: Watched 32,  New 28

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Lazy Sunday

This is really more of Twitter post than a real blog posting.

Checking out blog posts from around the gaming blogs.

So much cool stuff going on!  Just great fun stuff.

More thoughts later, making more more coffee and reading more.