Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 19 July Dr. Seward's Diary (kept on phonograph)

Dr. Seward keeps us apprised of his patient and things are getting more dangerous.

19 July.—We are progressing. My friend has now a whole colony of sparrows, and his flies and spiders are almost obliterated. When I came in he ran to me and said he wanted to ask me a great favour—a very, very great favour; and as he spoke he fawned on me like a dog. I asked him what it was, and he said, with a sort of rapture in his voice and bearing:—

“A kitten, a nice little, sleek playful kitten, that I can play with, and teach, and feed—and feed—and feed!” I was not unprepared for this request, for I had noticed how his pets went on increasing in size and vivacity, but I did not care that his pretty family of tame sparrows should be wiped out in the same manner as the flies and the spiders; so I said I would see about it, and asked him if he would not rather have a cat than a kitten. His eagerness betrayed him as he answered:—

“Oh, yes, I would like a cat! I only asked for a kitten lest you should refuse me a cat. No one would refuse me a kitten, would they?” I shook my head, and said that at present I feared it would not be possible, but that I would see about it. His face fell, and I could see a warning of danger in it, for there was a sudden fierce, sidelong look which meant killing. The man is an undeveloped homicidal maniac. I shall test him with his present craving and see how it will work out; then I shall know more.

 

10 p. m.—I have visited him again and found him sitting in a corner brooding. When I came in he threw himself on his knees before me and implored me to let him have a cat; that his salvation depended upon it. I was firm, however, and told him that he could not have it, whereupon he went without a word, and sat down, gnawing his fingers, in the corner where I had found him. I shall see him in the morning early.

 

Notes

Moon Phase: Waning Crescent

Renfield is progressing to larger and "higher" life-forms. Seward sees this as a progression towards homicidal mania, and he is not too far off, both in terms of the story and real-world psychology.

We know that many serial killers progress from harming animals to later humans. Not that all who harm animals will be serial killers, some are just assholes, but most serial killers start out this way. 

Kickstart Your Weekend: The Mosidian Temple: D&D 5th Edition Conversion

 I just turned in my last bit of content for Thirteen Parsecs and finished up two other projects, so I am back at it today.  Almost.  I wanted to get you some reviews up of some adventures I bought recently, but time ran out. I'll do them next week. Make a week of it I think! 

One of the adventures I am going to review is David Flor's The Mosidian Temple. In the meantime, he is running a Kickstarter for the 5th Edition version of it and it is worth checking out.

The Mosidian Temple: D&D 5th Edition Conversion

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dlimedia/the-mosidian-temple-dandd-5th-edition-conversion?ref=theotherside

Like many of us, David Flor wrote D&D adventures as a kid. He happened to save this one, and honestly, from what I have read of it so far, it is a lot of fun.

This is the 5e conversion, so perfect for when the new Player's Handbook drops in a bit. 

It's fun. It's nostalgic, and you help out an independent publisher. 

Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 18 July Log of the Demeter

Log of the ill-fated Demeter.

18 July.—Varna to Whitby.

Written 18 July, things so strange happening, that I shall keep accurate note henceforth till we land.

 

On 6 July we finished taking in cargo, silver sand and boxes of earth. At noon set sail. East wind, fresh. Crew, five hands ... two mates, cook, and myself (captain).

 

On 11 July at dawn entered Bosphorus. Boarded by Turkish Customs officers. Backsheesh. All correct. Under way at 4 p. m.

 

On 12 July through Dardanelles. More Customs officers and flagboat of guarding squadron. Backsheesh again. Work of officers thorough, but quick. Want us off soon. At dark passed into Archipelago.

 

On 13 July passed Cape Matapan. Crew dissatisfied about something. Seemed scared, but would not speak out.

 

On 14 July was somewhat anxious about crew. Men all steady fellows, who sailed with me before. Mate could not make out what was wrong; they only told him there was something, and crossed themselves. Mate lost temper with one of them that day and struck him. Expected fierce quarrel, but all was quiet.

 

On 16 July mate reported in the morning that one of crew, Petrofsky, was missing. Could not account for it. Took larboard watch eight bells last night; was relieved by Abramoff, but did not go to bunk. Men more downcast than ever. All said they expected something of the kind, but would not say more than there was something aboard. Mate getting very impatient with them; feared some trouble ahead.

 

On 17 July, yesterday, one of the men, Olgaren, came to my cabin, and in an awestruck way confided to me that he thought there was a strange man aboard the ship. He said that in his watch he had been sheltering behind the deck-house, as there was a rain-storm, when he saw a tall, thin man, who was not like any of the crew, come up the companion-way, and go along the deck forward, and disappear. He followed cautiously, but when he got to bows found no one, and the hatchways were all closed. He was in a panic of superstitious fear, and I am afraid the panic may spread. To allay it, I shall to-day search entire ship carefully from stem to stern.

 

Later in the day I got together the whole crew, and told them, as they evidently thought there was some one in the ship, we would search from stem to stern. First mate angry; said it was folly, and to yield to such foolish ideas would demoralise the men; said he would engage to keep them out of trouble with a handspike. I let him take the helm, while the rest began thorough search, all keeping abreast, with lanterns: we left no corner unsearched. As there were only the big wooden boxes, there were no odd corners where a man could hide. Men much relieved when search over, and went back to work cheerfully. First mate scowled, but said nothing.

 

Notes

Moon Phase: Waning Crescent

Something is going on aboard the doomed ship Demeter.  I have not watched "The Last Voyage of the Demeter" yet (I know, I am behind) so it will be interesting to see how it fits with the novel. 

More Updates

 Still a crazy time here with the day job and trying to get Darker Stars done. 

I have been getting a bunch of behind the scenes updates done here as well. Getting my #RPGaDay posts sorted. Getting my October posts figured out, not just for my horror movies, but also various reviews and posts for the RPG Blog Carnival.

When I have some free time (which is never) I am also poking around trying to update and modernize this old TRS-80 computer.

As you can see I have not gotten very far.  But I think everything I need is there. It is an upgrade from 64k to 16g. That is an increase in memory of 250,000 times. Not too bad, really. 

A few other projects I still have going.

My Forgotten Realms exploration continues. My oldest is currently running what we are calling "It's Always Sunny in Waterdeep." The PCs have gained the deed to a bar and are in the process of building it up and going on side quests to fund it. Of course, this isn't "Cheers," so the side quests usually involve something illegal. 

I am helping update the classic "A Paladin in Hell" to be a sequel to "Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus" and calling it "A Barbarian in Hell."  Everyone in his group has played Baldur's Gate 3, so they are all very eager to go to Hell and rescue Karlach.

Under 5e A Barbarian in Hell is a killer adventure. I am expecting more than one death here.

I'll have to let you know how it all goes.

Kickstart Your Weekend: Fantastic Quest of Whimsical One & Lost Tomb of Mummy Lich

 More Maximum Mayhem adventures from Dark Wizard Games!

Fantastic Quest of Whimsical One & Lost Tomb of Mummy Lich

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/marktaormino/mmd-10-fantastic-quest-and-mmd-11-lost-tomb?ref=theotherside

I mean by now you should know what these are all about.

The Fantastic Quest of Whimsical One features art from Erol Otus, so that is a nice added feature. 

Both of these fit well with my idea of a long campaign for B/X or OSE. And they look like a lot of fun!

No 5e versions this time around though.

Quests from the Infinite Staircase

 I picked up the new D&D 5 adventure omnibus, Stairway to HeavenQuests from the Infinite Staircase yesterday. It looks like it was well done.

The back cover has a "50" logo on the back which is nice, but damn, Wizards is really dropping the ball on this 50th Anniversary.

The adventures are some classics.

I have not looked to see how well this new version of the Lost City compares tot he Goodman Games version out a few years ago. I know there are a lot of tweaks to the older adventures in this new version.

The Expedition to the Barrier Peaks looks down right scary, which is great as far as I am concerned. 

The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth is an old favorite of mine and this new version looks like a lot of fun. 

It even has stats (as it should) for my old girl-friend Drelnza.

Of all of these , Beyond the Crystal Cave is the only one I have not run or played in. As you can see, my old copy is a bit worse for the wear. 

I also picked up the Thirteenth Doctor sourcebook for the Doctor Who RPG. It also looks great.

Larina Nix and Malcear for Quest of the Ancients

 The other night my oldest son Liam and I were going to continue our AD&D 2nd Ed game in the Forgotten Realms. I got to talking about about some of the NPCs of the Realms and mentioned the strangest one I knew was Raven of Raven's Bluff.  Which got me on the topic of Quest of the Ancients in general and what a Fantasy Heartbreaker was. He asked if I had stated up Larina for it already, and too my utter shock I saw I had not.

Instead of playing some AD&D 2nd Ed, we rolled up characters for Quest of the Ancients. I built Larina and he did his human/demon-hybrid assassin Malcear. 

I do want to extend my public thanks to Vince Garcia. I told my wife there was a game developer out there who was as obsessed with witches and Stevie Nicks as me, and she didn't believe it.

Larina Nix
13th level Human Witch
Female

Armor rating: 0 / 0
Tactical move: 10'
Stamina points: 36
Body points: 10

Stats
St 9 (Dmg. +0, L/N/H/VH Load 18/45/63/90, Max lift 180)
Ag 12 (AR att +0)
Cn 12 (Rest 7, Stamina/Body recovery 1/1)
IQ 20 (memorization time 1)
Ch 19 (Reaction +15%)
Ap 18
Lk 7

Attack 1
Combat phase: 4
Dmg: 1D4+1 (dagger) or by spell
Ethics: I
Size: 5'4", 125#

Witch Abilities
A: Create Focus (wand)
B: Additional Combat Skill Slot (2 for 4 total)
C: Create Potions and Elixirs
D: Form Coven

Skills (200 pts)
Language: 50 (read/write 10)
Courtliness: 15%
Danger Sense: 4%
Herbalism: 60%
Music: 10%
Nature Lore: 10%

Spells

Rank 1: Beguile, Control Fire, Disenchantment, Evil Eye, Magic Dart, Read Magic Script, Skull of Flame, Slumber, Trick, Whisper, Witch Warrior
Rank 2: Cure Wounds, Enchant Bracers, Fire Darts, Jack-o-lantern, Moon Sigils, Witch Wand, Witch Wind
Rank 3: Babble, Charm, Charm, Electric Arc, Energy Blast, Hand of Glory, Sheet Lightning, Starburst, Witch Mark
Rank 4: Bat Swarm, Death's Eye, Hex, Shooting Stars, Time Vision, Witch's Eye
Rank 5: Candle Magic, Cauldron of Magic, Moon Web, Witchfire
Rank 6: Aura of Fear, Enflame, Pentagram of Protection, Starfire
Rank 7: Ethereal Whirlwind, Witch Ward

Malcear
1st level Human (demonic) Assassin
Male

Armor rating: 1 / 1
Tactical move: 10'
Stamina points: 36
Body points: 10

Stats
St 17 (Dmg. +1, L/N/H/VH Load 34/85/119/170, Max lift 340)
Ag 20 (AR att -5)
Cn 15 (Rest 6, Stamina/Body recovery 1/1)
IQ 15 
Ch 12 (Reaction +0%)
Ap 13
Lk 10

Attack 1
Combat phase: 1
Dmg: 1D6+1 x (short sword) 
Ethics: I
Size: 5'8", 175#

Assassin Abilities
Disguise: 40%
Information Gathering: 37%
Stealth: 45%
Climb: 67%
Concealment: 40%
Detrap: 40%
Lock Pick: 40%

Skills (150 pts)
Blindsight: 30 pts
Danger Sense: 24%

--

Ok. Not bad. The system was not really enough to keep Liam's attention, so we did not try to play it. I am thinking I have extracted pretty much everything out of this game I can get. I think this one is moving to the lower shelves now.

Unlike some other games I have tried out over the last couple of years, I do not recommend this one as a D&D 5 replacement.