Mina reports there is nothing new to report.
Jonathan Harker’s Journal (cont).
16 October.—Mina’s report still the same: lapping waves and rushing water, darkness and favouring winds. We are evidently in good time, and when we hear of the Czarina Catherine we shall be ready. As she must pass the Dardanelles we are sure to have some report.
Notes: Moon Phase: Waning Crescent
No news is good news? Likely not, but Jonathan is oddly hopeful here.
So we have word now that Greyhawk has been "unlocked" on DMsGuild and prospective game authors can work in the World of Greyhawk. Maybe I'll contribute something. No idea yet, but the "Witches of Greyhawk" sound like an obvious choice.
In meantime Greyhawk's most famous witch Tasha/Iggwilv is getting a lot of attention. We got to see her "final form" as Zyblina in the 5e "Witchlight" adventure and an earlier version of her when she was still just Tasha in the more recent Vecna one. This means we are getting some great minis of her.
Here we have Tasha, Iggwilv, and Zyblina. Tasha and Zyblina are new(er) WizKids minis and my Iggwilv is a HeroForge one. I did a Tasha a while back on HeroForge too. Very similar.
I have to admit, seeing them like this, I am VERY tempted to go with a Maiden, Mother, and Crone thing with them. Iggwilv is the mother of both Iuz and Drelnza. This doesn't consider Iggwilv's "true" form, which is supposed to be very hag-like.
Maybe that is my DMsGuild book right there!
1994. Adventure Design: L. Richard Baker III. Editing: Michele Carter. Project Manager: Andria Hayday. Cover Art: Jennell Jaquays. Interior Art: Dan Frazier. 32 pages.
This review is considering the PDF file from DriveThruRPG only.
A couple of points about our creative team. First, more art from the legendary Jennell Jaquays. Rich Baker would go on to have a very good career at TSR and then Wizards working on D&D 3.x, D&D 4, and Gamma World. Andria Hayday, who does not often get mentioned (she is not even on the DTRPG page for this) would later go on to be one of the main developers of the Ravenloft: Domains of Dread hardcover.
I never owned this boxed set, but after buying it from DriveThruRPG, I really wish I had. It is, CD-Audio aside for the moment, a fun adventure for low level characters.
The task set before Richard Baker and his designe team was to created a low-level (levels 1-3, or possibly 4-6) adventure where the big bad was a vampire. A daunting task. A well-played vampire can wipe out a party of even mid level, and an exceptionally well-played one is a challenge to higher level characters, especially in what is now a Post-Ravenloft I6 world.
Baker gets by this issue by having some magic items available to the PCs to use. And even provides some rules for grappling and taking down a vampire en masse.
The adventure starts with a shipwreck trope, in which the PCs end up on an island off the coast of Karameikos. Now, there are a lot of ways to spin this; my choice? The shipwreck is not about the sea but instead the Mists of Ravenloft.
The adventure is a bit rail-roady and there are a LOT of NPCs to keep track of. The vampire-plot is reminiscent of the Strahd-Sergei-Tatyana tragedy so much that this adventure could be used as stand-in prequel to I6. Granted, there is a LOT more going on here. Namely all the NPCs, but an enterprising DM could re-mold it into this prequel. Great for heroes and players familiar with the tale of Strahd already in a strange time-travel adventure.
About the PDFs
Ah, the 90s. There was a lot of role-playing, and that often meant lots of handouts. The PDF allows you to print out all the handouts you want.
Plus, printing out the PDFs also allows me to edit them as I need. For starters I would make the PCs higher level and get rid of some of the aids given to them. The pages are all filled with color so
About the Audio Tracks
There are 72 audio tracks on the CD, which is not included with the PDF. BUT you can find them on YouTube.
The pros include proper pronunciations of the names of the various NPCs and some eerie background music.
The cons include audio tracks putting words into the PCs mouths and it doesn't always jive with the adventure itself. It's not a perfect fit. For example the PCs are treated as well known heroes in the tracks. At 1st to 3rd level this is not really likely. Also, there are some spoilers in the audio tracks. Personally, I would listen to them all first and be a little more selective. That is if I used any of them at all.
Despite the shortcomings, this is a rather interesting adventure with a lot of potential. It also satisfies my desire to use Ravenloft and Mystara together.
The layout and trade dress are very good and bright, which is typical of the Mystara products of the time. I rather love them, to be honest. It is a shame everyone was fighting online (at the time) about Forgotten Realms this or Greyhawk that while Mystara fans were off on their own enjoying some really fun products.
I think my FLGS might have a copy of this in the store now that I think about it.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
This movie follows Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) now the host of a ghost reality show. She is still dealing with her stepmother, Delia (the always amazing Catherine O'Hara who can do no wrong in my mind), and her estranged daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega). The death of her father, Charles (formerly played by outcast Jeffrey Jones, now played by a combination of actors, creature effects, and old photos), brings them all back together at their old home.
In the meantime, our old friend Betelgeuse (the still fantastic Michael Keaton) is still in the afterlife, working as a bio-exorcist and still pinning for Lydia. In another part of the afterlife a janitor (Danny DeVito in a surprising cameo) accidentally freeing a soul sucker and Betelgeuse's ex-wife Delores (in another bit of great casting, Monica Bellucci). She sucks out DeVito's soul, making him dead dead, and proceeds to go on the hunt for Betelgeuse.
A lot is going on here, and all of it is fantastic. I loved this movie, and it was a worthy sequel.
I don't want to get too much into it since it is so new, so it has spoilers, but Willem Dafoe (Wolf Jackson actor turned Ghost Detective) and everyone were just great.
I loved seeing Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega interact. After all, without Winona Ryder, there would not have been Jenna Ortega. How? Well, Christina Ricci was in Mermaids with Winona Ryder. She based her performance of Wednesday Addams on Ryder's Lydia. Ortega, in turn, based her Wednesday on Ricci's. We honestly missed a great opportunity to see all three together.
But still, this movie was a treat. Loved seeing all these characters and actors again.
Featured Monsters: Ghosts, Spectres, Zombies... and maybe a Succubus
Lots of undead here. Betelgeuse himself is described as a "demon," but in AD&D terms, he is more likely something like a Spectre. Bob and the other shrunken heads could be considered Zombies. Monica Bellucci's Delores was a witch in life and seems like a succubus. The line between demon and ghost is a little blurry here.
October Horror Movie Challenge 2024
Viewed: 22
First Time Views: 12
Our hunters arrive in Varna.
Jonathan Harker’s Journal.
15 October, Varna.—We left Charing Cross on the morning of the 12th, got to Paris the same night, and took the places secured for us in the Orient Express. We travelled night and day, arriving here at about five o’clock. Lord Godalming went to the Consulate to see if any telegram had arrived for him, whilst the rest of us came on to this hotel—“the Odessus.” The journey may have had incidents; I was, however, too eager to get on, to care for them. Until the Czarina Catherine comes into port there will be no interest for me in anything in the wide world. Thank God! Mina is well, and looks to be getting stronger; her colour is coming back. She sleeps a great deal; throughout the journey she slept nearly all the time. Before sunrise and sunset, however, she is very wakeful and alert; and it has become a habit for Van Helsing to hypnotise her at such times. At first, some effort was needed, and he had to make many passes; but now, she seems to yield at once, as if by habit, and scarcely any action is needed. He seems to have power at these particular moments to simply will, and her thoughts obey him. He always asks her what she can see and hear. She answers to the first:—
“Nothing; all is dark.” And to the second:—
“I can hear the waves lapping against the ship, and the water rushing by. Canvas and cordage strain and masts and yards creak. The wind is high—I can hear it in the shrouds, and the bow throws back the foam.” It is evident that the Czarina Catherine is still at sea, hastening on her way to Varna. Lord Godalming has just returned. He had four telegrams, one each day since we started, and all to the same effect: that the Czarina Catherine had not been reported to Lloyd’s from anywhere. He had arranged before leaving London that his agent should send him every day a telegram saying if the ship had been reported. He was to have a message even if she were not reported, so that he might be sure that there was a watch being kept at the other end of the wire.
We had dinner and went to bed early. To-morrow we are to see the Vice-Consul, and to arrange, if we can, about getting on board the ship as soon as she arrives. Van Helsing says that our chance will be to get on the boat between sunrise and sunset. The Count, even if he takes the form of a bat, cannot cross the running water of his own volition, and so cannot leave the ship. As he dare not change to man’s form without suspicion—which he evidently wishes to avoid—he must remain in the box. If, then, we can come on board after sunrise, he is at our mercy; for we can open the box and make sure of him, as we did of poor Lucy, before he wakes. What mercy he shall get from us will not count for much. We think that we shall not have much trouble with officials or the seamen. Thank God! this is the country where bribery can do anything, and we are well supplied with money. We have only to make sure that the ship cannot come into port between sunset and sunrise without our being warned, and we shall be safe. Judge Moneybag will settle this case, I think!
Notes: Moon Phase: Waning Crescent
We are getting nearer to Dracula's home. This is also where we picked up the story, more or less, with Jonathan at the start of our tale.
So we know that our heroes traveled on the Orient Express. We also know that from Thomas Cook European Timetables, that the Orient Express ran from Paris to Varna ONLY till 1894. After 1894 it went from Paris to the Black Sea coast via the Fetești Bridge. But never on to Varna after that. I will add this to the pile of evidence that the events of this novel are to have taken place in 1892, or at least prior to 1894 and not 1897 as so many adaptations claim.
Harker says they left London and arrived in Paris the night of October 12. There they secured their passage on the Orient Express to arrive in Varna on the 15th. According to the same time tables The Orient Express left Paris at approximately 7:08 PM on Tuesdays and Fridays. In 1892, October 12 was a Wednesday. Could they have left at 7:00pm on Friday, October 14, and made it to Varna in 24 hours? Not likely. Even the modern Orient Express takes about 60 hours to make the same trip. So this is evidence against my 1892 date.
1888 could work. October 12 is a Friday, and then they leave on that night's train and arrive late on Monday the 15th. Cutting it close. For similar reasons 1886 also works.
Stoker obviously didn't have access to the same tools that I have at my disposal, but he was a lot closer to the times, and by all accounts, his research notes for Dracula were quite exhaustive and very comprehensive.
One other thing in 1886's and 1888's favors over that of 1892. There is the epilogue at the end that takes place seven years later. If we are to assume the fan theory that Harker told all of this to Stoker and Stoker wrote it all up then he would need time after 1893 and 1895 (respectively) to get the book together for an 1897 date.
I should go back and look at all my data again. There are personal reasons I like 1886 as well.
It's Tuesday and that means time to see what new release has caught my eye, and today's is close to home.
Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age Fate Deck
Wasted Lands is on its way to becoming my Fantasy RPG of choice. One of the things I love about it is the Fate Point system. Well, Elf Lair Games just released a new set of Fate Cards as a supplement to the game.
From the DriveThruRPG page:
This deck of Tarot-sized cards includes 72 special effect cards designed for the Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age RPG, but intuitive to use with almost any RPG, especially those designed for OSR or the World's Most Famous RPG. Also included are two double-sided cards with guidelines on using the deck, how it can complement or replace Fate Points or other Player Agency mechanics in your game. Add some dynamic excitement and surprise to your game with the Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age Fate Deck!
This deck is also 100% compatible with other Powered by O.G.R.E.S. games, including Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars and Thirteen Parsecs: Beyond the Solar Frontier!
I can't wait to get these myself!
