Review: Van Richten's Arsenal, Vol 1

Ok. A bit of an odd one, but one I wanted to take time out to do.  I am still covering the 3rd edition era of Ravenloft, mostly published by Swords & Sorcery Studio. I didn't buy many of these books. After 10+ years of Ravenloft I was ready for something new. But I did buy a few in PDF. OR at least I think I did. I went back to DriveThruRPG and could not find ones I knew I had purchased. It was not until I plugged in my external drive of 3rd edition PDFs that I did find them and yes I had bought them on DriveThruRPG. No idea when (the file date is 2008), but they are all watermarked. 

As you can see with the cover to the right, the scan is not very good. Though my order number confirms it was purchased from DriveThruRPG (or maybe RPGNow). 

Van Richten's Arsenal, Vol 1

2002. By Andrew Cermak, John W. Mangrum, Ryan Naylor, Chris Nichols, Andrew Wyatt. Art by Jeff Holt, Brian LeBlanc and Talon Dunning. Softcover/PDF. 160 pages.

Of note, John W. Mangrum was very active in Ravenloft fandom during the 2e days. He was one of the main authors for the various Books of S___ produced by the Kargatane. Looking him up now I see he ended up with a few more official Ravenloft books under his belt. Happy to see that.

Ok. So why this book? Well it has a witch prestige class in it, so I had to buy it. 

Introduction: Like many of the "Van Richten guides..." this one works under the conceit of have been started by the eponymous hunter of evil and completed by his various protégés.

Chapter One: Stake and Silver. This chapter deals with variou mundane tools used to hunt the supernatural creatures of Ravenloft. 

Chapter Two: Faith and Fury. This covers new arcane and divine spells. There are quite a few good ones here too. Makes me wish this was an OGC book and not a licensed one. Spells are divided into offensive and defensive.

Chapter Three: Instruments of power. These are new magic items and other ways to enhance weapons.

Chapter Four: Bottled Lightning. Introduces alchemical devices and feats. It essentially gives us an alchemist class, or more to the point a way to build and alchemist out of any other class.

Chapter Five: Perilous Pursuit.  These are our Prestige classes. They include Alchemical Philosopher, Anchorite of the Mists, Avenger, Crypt Raider, Dirgist, Guardian Seeker, Hallowed Witch, Knight of the Shadows, Pistoleer, and the Stygian Attendant. The Hallowed Witch was why I bought the book but these all were very fun. In some ways I miss Prestige Classes. I did have a Dirgist at one point as an NPC. 

I should point out that this witch is again different than the witches that appeared in the AD&D 2nd Edition VanRichtens Guide to Witches. This witch for example HAS to be a spell caster first, and have both divine and arcane spellcasting. In 2nd ed the witch had to be anything but a spellcaster first.

This witch does have coven casting abilities too. 

Chapter Six: Tricks and Tactics. This covers how to plan investigation and battles with the supernatural, and extra-normal elements of the demi-plane. This includes dealing with the Vistani, and how to research. Some details on various monster types are also covered. Such as vampires, liches and lycanthropes.

DM’s appendix: NPC stat sheet and detailed background for Gennifer and Laurie Weathermay-Foxgrove (The Weathermay Twins), George Weathermay, Perseyus Lathenna, Lord Balfour de Casteelle, Agatha Clairmont, Toret Johann Severin, and Jameld of Hroth. Each comes with a background, 3e stat blocks and "Dread Possibilities" on how these good hunters of evil may have become corrupted. No witches though. Maybe I should stat up Goodwife B of Kartakass above. I am not sure if I remember HOW to do a 3rd Edition character. I would give her the minimums of cleric or druid for her divine spell casting and the minimum levels of sorcerer. She feels more clerical to me than druid to be honest.

I do still like this book, though I lament that it is no longer available on DriveThruRPG and print copies are more than I want to pay for just for a casual stroll down memory lane.

Advent-ure Dice: Day 25

 Day 25

Nice. An orange d8. 

October Horror Movie Challenge: Living Dead Night

 I can't say for sure that the zombies in the Monster Manual are based on the zombies from Romero's "Night of the Living Dead," but so many of modern zombie lore is based on them it would be very difficult to tease apart what was Romero and what is say voodoo myths.  So tonight I am doing the original Romero classic and the new unofficial sequel. 

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

I have lost track how many times I have seen this movie. I mean, let's be honest there would be no "Walking Dead," no "Evil Dead," and certainly no "All Flesh Must Be Eaten" without this movie.

I don't think I really appreciated how much this movie had an impact. This is not even mentioning the casting of Duane Jones as Ben. You can see the DNA of this movie in nearly every single zombie/living dead movie made since.

The acting could be better, but it works. 

Festival of the Living Dead (2024) 

This one is billed as a sequel and an homage to the 1968 movie. It attracted me for a few reasons. First, it is a Tubi exclusive, so that is great. I love Tubi, and it has been great for me. Second, it was directed by the Soska sisters (who also make a cameo), and that is always a plus in my book. And it stars Camren Bicondova, who played Selena Kyle in the series Gotham.

This movie takes place 55 years after a huge zombie outbreak (that goes nameless). It is Ash's (Ashley Moore) birthday (and she seems related to Ben), and she wants to go to the Festival of the Living Dead with her boyfriend but has to stay home to babysit her little brother Luke (Shiloh O'Reilly). Her best friend Iris (Camren Bicondova) agrees to watch him. Ash goes to the festival with her boyfriend Kevin (Gage Marsh), his friend Ty (Andre Anthony), and twins Lindsey and Destini (Maia Jae and Keana Lyn Bastidas). Interesting that the Soska twins also hired another set of twins for this film.

Kevin drives but is doing drugs while the girls watch a livestream video of the festival where people are snorting metro dust. They nearly hit someone in the road, a zombie, it turns out, and they crash the car, and Linsey breaks her leg. 

Back at home Iris's friend Blaze comes over to get high and they decide to go the festival and use Balze's delivery truck to sneak in. 

Ash, Kevin, and Ty go to the festival to find help, but soon, it becomes obvious that there are more zombies. Some scenes are obviously inspired by the Romero movie, and even a couple that I swear was inspired by Stranger Things.

Iris, Blaze, and Luke find Destini walking on the road, and it is revealed that the zombie got Lindsey and bit her as well.

Zombies run rampant throughout the festival. Iris manages to find and rescue Ash. They all regroup in the medical building. 

Luke starts panicking and we find out he has lost his insulin, prompting Ash to go out to find some in an ambulance they saw on the way in. Iris joins her. 

Ty freaks out wants to kill Luke. Zombie Destiny attacks Kevin and Ty shoots him instead of her. Ty runs off and finds the glowing meteor. Zombies seem to avoid. Blaze grabs Luke and heads out. They are covered in zombie blood, so the zombies ignore them. 

More zombie craziness. Ash distracts the zombies so Luke, Blaze and an infected Ty can get to a and including Iris, leading all the zombies to the large burning man-like structure. Well. Buring Woman really. Ash saves Iris. 

Daylight comes and Luke, Ty, and Blaze manage to find the car, and zombie Lindsey.  She attacks Blaze and Ty runs off with Luke.  Ty drives off, but Luke grabs the gun and shoots Ty.  Lindsey bites Blaze, so he distracts the zombies so Ash and Iris can run away.

The army flies drones in to blow everything up. 

Ash, Iris, and Luke drive home. 

Okay, this was a fun flick. I wanted to see it because of Camren Bicondova, but Ashley Moore's standout performance was worthy of being Ben's granddaughter.  

Featured Monster: Zombies

Zombies in the Monster Manual are not as scary as the ones here. However, they are more akin to those in Night of the Living Dead, moving slowly.

The "living dead" of both movies and the ones in most movies are typically the "hungry dead" and more akin to ghouls. 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2024
Viewed: 36
First Time Views: 16

Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 24 October; Jonathan Harker’s Journal (cont)

 Updates from Harker and by telegram.

Jonathan Harker’s Journal (cont).

24 October.—A whole week of waiting. Daily telegrams to Godalming, but only the same story: “Not yet reported.” Mina’s morning and evening hypnotic answer is unvaried: lapping waves, rushing water, and creaking masts.

Telegram, October 24th.

Rufus Smith, Lloyd’s, London, to Lord Godalming, care of H. B. M.
Vice-Consul, Varna.

“Czarina Catherine reported this morning from Dardanelles.”

Notes: Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent

Harker letting us know that nothing new has happened in a week. A telegram lets us know the Czarina Catherine has been spotted.

Review: Ravenloft Masque of the Red Death d20

Ravenloft was doing well from what I can recall so it was only natural that Sword & Sorcery Studios would eventually want to take on Ravenloft's other setting, Gothic Earth. So in 2004 they published the new Ravenloft Masque of the Red Death.

Ravenloft Masque of the Red Death d20

2004. by Jackie Cassada, Claire Hoffman, Carla Hollar, Harold Johnson, Rucht Lilavivat, Nicky Rea, Andrew Scott, and Peter Woodworth. Art by Talon Dunning, Jeff Holt, Marcio, Fiorito, Brian LeBlanc, Jeremy McHugh, Claudio Pozas, and Beth Trott. Cover art by Ron Thompson. 288 pages. Hardcover.

There is no PDF option for this title at DriveThruRPG. So, for this review, I considering only my hardbound copy. 

I LOVED Gothic Earth for Ravenloft AD&D 2nd Edition. To me, it felt like a bold attempt to try something brand new. Plus, I love Victorian Gothic Horror, so it was an easy win. But despite all of that, some of the things in Masque of the Red Death for 2ne Ed just really didn't work. The "new" Masque of the Red Death for the d20 rules fixes some of those problems. But does it measure up?

The background is largely the same, or at least I didn't see anything jump out at me as very different. 

Chapter One: A History of Gothic Earth

This all feels very similar to the AD&D 2nd Ed version. I can't find anything here wildly different.

Like the original, there are sections of "Forbidden Lore" spread throughout the book. 

Chapter Two: An Atlas of Gothic Earth

This chapter covers all the continents in a very brief manner. There is more here than the AD&D set, or at least it is presented with some more information. They still use a "Western" or even "British Empire" point of view here. I feel that this is the right way to do this. Why? The British Empire was at its zenith now, and this was the time when "the sun never sat on the British flag" so coming from this point of view works here. Plus why not add in the horrors of colonialism to it all as well. 

I feel more lip service is paid to the Domains of Ravenloft here, but I am not able to quantify it in any meaningful way. 

Chapter Three: Character Creation

This naturally has the most changes over its predecessor. It also has some changes over the D&D 3.x/d20 Modern rules. The six core classes are Adept, Athlete, Intellectual, Mystic, Sleuth, and Tradesman. For me this is the biggest improvement in these rules. The classes have be redesigned with an Earth-like world in mind. This is much better than trying to fit the AD&D classes into an Earth-shaped hole. 

Each class also has a few sub-classes or specializations. I would recommend keeping a tighter hold on the subclasses. Most can be accomplished with the parent class and some roleplaying. But that is up to individual game masters, really. In truth, all the classes are good fits, and there is plenty of choices here.

Skills are expanded/shifted to cover a 19th-Century Earth environment. Same with the Feats. 

Chapter Four: Money and Equipment

Re-read Dracula, esp. the last third of the book to see how important this is for a Victorian game.  This is not a long chapter but it is an important one.

Chapter Five: The Magic of Gothic Earth

Magic on Gothic Earth is different. It is less powerful and more dangerous to the practitioner than it is in other D&D/d20 worlds.  A bit of history is given, providing the background on why magic works and what is happening when the caster calls on these powers. 

Spells from the D&D 3.x and the Ravenloft Player's Handbook 3.5 are listed for the new classes and some new spells are also detailed. 

Gothic Earth is a magic-seeped world, but that doesn't mean mortals can or even should control it. There are no arch-mages here. Not anymore.

Chapter Six: Combat

Covers the sorts of combat that the PCs are likely to get into. Most importantly this covers the guns of the time.

Chapter Seven: Madness and Mystery

This chapter covers how the supernatural effects everything in the world of Gothic Earth, in particular magic and how people deal with the supernatural. This includes "insanity" rules. Now, I typically have a lot of issues with how games deal with sanity, madness, and psychological trauma. One nitpick here, they use "insanity" instead of madness. I typically prefer madness or even lunacy when doing Victorian-era games since that was the more common term. Thankfully we do not get a long list of mental illnesses here. I would rather see none than horribly wrong lists. 

Fear, Horror, and Madness are all dealt with as a subset of the Will Save. Which actually works well for me.

Chapter Eight: A Practical Guide to the 19th Century

This is a great guide for any Victorian-era game. While Gothic Earth is mentioned, this is fairly system—and setting-free. The timeline of inventions (real) and popular books and music of the 1890s is quite fantastic. 

We get into some "setting" details with the section on Clubs and Cabals. Some are real, and some are invented for this setting.

The "Language of Flowers" section is great addition. If you know your Victorian-era then you know how important this actually is. 

Appendix I: The Villains of Gothic Earth

Ahh...The Usual Suspects! This is the crunchiest part of the book so far and that is expected. Featured here are Dracula, Imhotep, Frankenstein's Monster, Professor Moriarty (still a Rakshasa, not my favorite choice), Xavier Von Tuerin, Madame Delphine LaLaurie, and Sarah Winchester (of the Winchester Mansion). 

Appendix II: Monsters in the World

A brief monster section on creatures unique to Gothic Earth. 

Appendix III: Lairs of Evil

Covers what I would call "Sinkholes of Evil" and their effects. Some specific examples are given. 

Appendix IV: Adventures in Gothic Earth

Covers how to run adventures in Gothic Earth and what makes them different. Several adventure ideas and seeds are given.  One of my favorites is the "Ghosts of Salem."

There is a good index in the back to wrap it all up.

Comparing the Two Masques

Both editions of Masque of the Red Death are wonderful to have. There is a lot more detail for AD&D Second Edition (a boxed set and two more books) compared to the single book for 3.x/d20.

The 3.x/d20 edition "feels" like a better fit for the world. 

What I can't tell is this. Do I like the AD&D 2nd Edition version because of the impact it made on me when I bought it and the 3.x/d20 version pales in comparison to that? Or is the 3.x/d20 quantifiably lacking in something? 

I don't think it is, especially considering that I can use the additional AD&D 2nd ed Gothic Earth books with the 3.x/d20 version. I can also use other supplements like d20 Past, Gaslight, and many other Victorian OGL titles. Not to mention all the Victorian games I already have.

I really need to come back to this world sometime.

Advent-ure Dice: Day 24

  Day 24

Dark purple d20

October Horror Movie Challenge: Kill, Baby... Kill! (1966)

 I hate it when I queue up a movie to watch, only to discover I had already seen it. I mean, I should have guessed, really. Mario Bava directed and starring Erika Blanc. It just didn't show up in my search here. But yeah, I have seen this one.

Kill, Baby... Kill! (1966)

Also known as Operazione paura (Operation Fear) and Curse of the Living Dead. Dr. Paul Eswai (Dr. Paul Eswai) is summoned to a 1900s village in the Carpathian mountains to perform an autopsy on a girl suspected to have been murdered. He gets help from local nurse Monica Schuftan (played by the always wonderful Erika Blanc). He soon runs into a village full of superstitious locals who all fear the Baroness Graps and a strange ghost girl named Melissa (we later learn is Melissa Graps).

There is also a village witch, Ruth (Fabienne Dali) and her lover the local Burgomeister Karl (Luciano Catenacci), who tries to protect those targeted by Melissa. 

We learn that Melissa died while trying to get help and has since cursed the village with her dying words.

The sightings and the fear continue and people die all over the place. Monica wants to get out, but Paul is still convinced there is a logical reason for everything.

We learn that Monica is also Baroness Graps' daughter and Melissa's younger sister. Ruth confronts the Baroness Graps and kills her for allowing Melissa to kill her beloved Karl. Monica, the new Baroness Graps, leaves with Paul.

Well. I was hoping for a new one, but not tonight. But seeing Erika Blanc is always a treat. It was also nice seeing the village witch as someone everyone went too for help.

Featured Monster: Ghosts, Spectres

One of those. Melissa is a vengeful spirit. She will keep killing until the conditions of her undeath are met.  In this case the death of the medium, her mother, who summoned her back from the grave.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2024
Viewed: 34
First Time Views: 15