So I guess there is some Marvel movie out this weekend.
All I know is it isn't the Justice League!
All snark aside, I was never a big Avengers fan. To me they spent as much time fighting each other as they did the threats attacking from outside. Not that the JL was perfect mind you, but I still liked them better.
That all being said, I can't not post today and not at least mention the Scarlet Witch.
So for today here is a special Scarlet Witch edition of Zatannurday!
Welcome back to Friday Night Videos! Supers Edition.
I have been thinking a lot about supers this last week or so. I have a big "deep dive" I want to do this summer with supers and of course the Summer movie season starts tonight with The Avengers.
This got me thinking about 2003-2005 (well that and a post at Age of Ravens that I will get too later) when I was working on a big Supers/Supernatural crossover. Not Supernatural the show, but rather a world, or two worlds, that were "light" and "dark". The dark world was my regular WitchCraft/Buffy/Ghosts of Albion game. The light world was a world populated by Super Heroes. Characters in one world had a counterpart in the other.
It is from this effort that I began working up a number of different versions of Willow and Tara and it gave birth to Justice. Of course I had a soundtrack.
"Heroes" was not just the centerpiece of this time period, it became the name of the first adventure. Honestly, there is very, very little about David Bowie's singing and song writing that doesn't inspire me.
Heroes always reminds me of the 1977 movie "Heroes" that starred Henry Winkler, Sally Field and Harrison Ford. The movie was not about supers, but about a soldier from Vietnam and the loss of his dream. I remember seeing this movie dozens of times. But what always, always got me in the end was when the credits closed in on a broken Henry Winkler (he came to the reality that his friend was dead) and a crying Sally Field was "Carry on Wayward Son" by Kansas from their prog-rock classic Leftoverture. I put this in my top 20 of all time favorite songs. Like the movie I always felt that this song was what the characters and situations I were working on were about; Noble, but deeply flawed heroes. The fact that it is use every year for Supernatural only cements it's credibility for my games.
What I wanted to say about my next song was "Fuck you P!nk is my jam!" but you all deserve much better and more than that. P!nk is freaking fantastic. I bought Missundaztood for my wife and I promptly left it in my car where I listened to it everyday. "Just Like A Pill" is not about supers. But it did give me an idea on an old comic/cartoon trope, the drug-addiction episode. Plus if I am going to mix supernaturals with supers then drugs seem like a no brainer.
What became something of a theme song to my later Buffy games, this also captured something I wanted to capture in my own games. These characters, these supers are as removed from humanity as the monsters they fight. I wanted to capture what is was to be human.
Rob Zombie may not have the answer, but in "More Human than Human" from White Zombie's Astro-Creep: 2000 he knows what question to ask.
It's a wicked world we live in. It's cruel and unforgiving. No one raps it better than The Transplants in "Diamonds and Guns".
If you need a theme song for an end of the world Armageddon event then you can do worse than Disturbed and their cover of Genesis' "Land of Confusion" from Ten Thousand Fists. The video was animated by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, so it also has "street cred". If I need to write an adventure about destroying the world I put Disturbed on first.
Mixing Supers and Supernaturals is the Reese's Peanut Buttercup of campaigns for me; mixing two different things together to get something that is better than either on their own. Or at least something new and exciting.
EXACTLY like "Bring the Noise" by Public Enemy and Anthrax. Rap meets speed metal. This gets me pumped. Just like Chuck D says "these lines are dope".
In truth I could do an entire night of rock/rap crossovers and talk about how they influenced my horror writing.
This month I only got a couple of books in. Been very busy with work and the A to Z Bloghop. But I got two quality books!
The Mist-Torn Witches Series by Barb Hendee
I took on the first two book of Barb Hendee's Mist-Torn Witches. I had heard a lot of good about this series and the author so they had been on my TBR pile forever. I am glad I finally grabbed them and got into them.
Here we are at the end of our blogging challenge for another year.
Today let's return to the "home" of vampire legends and myths, Romania and pay a visit to the Zburător.
This creature is somewhat similar to an incubus, a male demon, but it is a vampiric spirit inhabiting a male body. It preys on young girls (particularly virgins) and widows. They always appear as stunningly handsome young men with dark eyes and black hair. It will find a woman and prey on her nightly till she is dead. It will typically charm the woman before hand and then gain an invitation to her home. Once there he will come to the woman's bed and drain her blood while having sex. This results in the loss of 3 Constitution points per night. Typically no one survives more than three encounters with a zburător. Women killed become vampires under the zburător's complete control.
Despite being very fast and very strong the zburător is a stereotypical "lover and not a fighter" they will flee if faced with violence or great numbers. If forced to attack the creature will use a weapon or attempt to charm his way out.
The zburător is a shape shifter. It can become dust, mist, or flame to escape capture. It can also fly.
Though different than other vampires, the zburător has large bat-like wings that grow out of his back that he can hide when needed. These wings are strong and can carry the vampire and his victim. This creature can also teleport (as per the spell) back to his lair once per night. Additional spell like powers include the ability to charm person, hypnotize, cause fear and phantasmagoria.
Like many vampires the zburător is destroyed by sunlight, is repelled by garlic and holy items, casts no reflection or shadow and can only be harmed by silver (or magic) weapons. Additionally garlic or wolfsbane can be spread on windows or made into garlands or wreaths to hang on windows to keep it out.
Zburător AKA: Zemu, Zmeu Frequency: Very Rare No. Apperring: 1 Size: Man-sized (M) Armor Class: 3 [17]1 Movement Basic: 180' (60') / Fly: 210' (70') Advanced: 18" // Fly: 21" Hit Dice: 9+4 (45 hp) % in Lair: 50% (coffin by day) Treasure Type:
Weapon + Blood Drain Damage: Weapon + Blood Drain Special Attacks: Per Vampire; Blood Drain Special Defenses: Only killed by silver or magic weapons or sunlight Save As: Magic-user 92 Magic Resistance: 25% Morale: 53 Alignment: Chaotic evil Level/XP: 9/4,250 + 12/hp
1 Descending and [Ascending] Armor classes are given. 2 This is used for Basic games, and S&W. Also for monsters that I think need to save a little differently than others. 3 Morale is "Basic" Morale and based on a 1-12 scale. 4 Have not decided yet if I want to use 3.x style undead Constitutions or not. (15) Reflects what their Con would be if I do use it. I might just put a number in () like I do for Ghosts of Albion. 5 obviously more reflective of personality and character than looks.
The zburător is the prototype of the "suave, sexy" vampire.
I have seen these type of vampires in other mediums, sometimes called "Dark Angels". While they are better looking than other vampires and typically do not fight, they do prey on weaknesses; young girls looking for a 'dream lover' and widows longing for a companions touch. They still leave a trail of bodies where ever they go.
They are still popular enough to have a recent film made about one. "Ultimul Zburător" or "The Last Incubus" focuses more on the "Dark Angel" aspect of this creature.
