October Challenge: Succubus Hell Bent

I like succubi. But you might all know that by now. [1][2] And I love movies of succubi and Lilith.  So this was one I was really looking forward too.  Man, am striking out everywhere.

Succubus: Hell Bent (2007)

So simple story here.  Stupid rich kid with stupid best friend go on spring break to hook up with some girls. The rich kid, Adam (see what they did there?) meets a really hot woman, Lilith, and they go back to his hotel for sex.  She demands to be on top and then claws him up during sex. Then there is the whole gowing eyes deal.  It was kind of like watching a metal video from the 80s.
Anyway stupid rich boy goes back to LA.  And Lilith tracks him down.  She then goes about screwing him and killing all his friends.
We get a Lamas cameo and even Gary Busey makes a brief appearance as Sentinel  the Demon Hunter for Hire (who should get his own movie where he does nothing but talk to his sword).
Stupid kid finally manages to kill Lilith and then goes to jail for her murder.

I really wanted to like this one.  But the the plot is to weak and the editing was done by a blind guy I think.  There is a certain charm about this flick though.  Natalie Sperl is good as Lilith and plays the role with enough creepy-stalkerness and humor to make you root for her instead of stupid kid.  Plus she is easy on the eyes, which is never a bad thing.
The special effects are not too bad really.  I did like Lilith's demonic form.
Though we all know Lilith is a red head.

Here are a couple of links with longer reviews.  Both are good sites.
http://www.succubus.net/wiki/Succubus_Hell_Bent
http://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsn-z/succubushellbent.htm

Still searching for a really good succubus movie.

Tally 20 movies, 18 new.

Game content:  Gary MOTHEREFFING Busey as a demonhunter for hire?  Hell yes!

Trouble is we get so little of him that it is hard to know what any of his stats should be.  He is older, maybe washed up.  Has connections to the church and has a magical sword named Lucille.

October Horror Movie Challenge: Succubus (1968)

I thought for sure I had seen this movie.  It is a little earlier than my "sweet spot" of movies, but it is a Jesús Franco movie and it is about a Succubus (maybe). So yeah feels like something I would have seen.
Well not so much.

Succubus, also called "Necronomicon – Geträumte Sünden" has nothing to do with Lovecraft and maybe nothing to do with succubi.

The lovely (and almost 40 at the time) Janine Reynaud plays Lorna, the star act of a live S&M show at some seedy European nightclub. A voice-over by the club owner leads us to believe that Lorna here has sold her soul to the devil.  She is called "Faustina" at various points and  "the essence of evil... a devil on earth!"

Lorna manages to move through the movie is a semi-languid daze, that is when she is not killing people she almost has sex with.  There is plenty of nudity, drugs, and killings.  You are never sure if Lorna is possessed by a demon or just crazy.  Either could be true.

Since this is a Jesús Franco flick Jeanine Reynaud is front and center and spends more time undressed than dressed.  She is supposed to be a succubus after all.

The ending is also what should be expected. But it is still a fun romp. Very 60s.

Watched: 19
New: 13

Night Shift Content

I am thinking a longer post about Succubi in NIGHT SHIFT is in order.

Monstrous Mondays: Basic Bestiary Movement (& updates)

It has not only been a while (nearly a year) since I last talked about the Basic Bestiary, it has been a while since I have actually worked on it.  That is too bad really because while I have been sitting on my thumbs and doing whatever the hell else I have been doing others (at least three I can think of) have gotten their monster books out or into Kickstarter. And there is a lot of overlap in monsters here.  

Frankly, I could not be happier!

I love monster books. I have said this here a thousand times. And more monster books are always welcome. I'll spend some time with these other books later this week.

But I still want to get my own book out.

I am NOT going to do a Kickstarter for it. Nothing against it, but I don't want want to go there yet. So that means the art will be what I can buy when I can buy it with money from my other books. So that means it will be a bit longer.

I also believe that my monster book will be a value add to all the other monster books out there.  There are a lot of great monsters and monster books out there. Mine will be influenced by what I have read and played over the last decades. 

Also, instead of saying mine is "Labyrinth Lord" or "Swords & Wizardry" compatible or even the very popular "Old-School Essentials" compatible, I am sticking with my own "Basic-Era Compatible."  That might end up costing me some sales or promotions, but my stat block here is not something that is pure for any one system. In truth, I could very well put "Advanced-Era Compatible" on these books as well since I am designing the stat block to cover both systems, even if the style esthetic is going to be Basic-era.  I talked a bit about this in my "Detailing a 'Universal' Stat-block" post and that is where I want to go today.  All based on the question "how many miles per hour is that?"

Movement

One of the things that always tripped me up moving from Holmes Basic to Moldvay Basic and then to AD&D was movement rates.  Let's go back to my universal stat block breakdown and look at the movement rates for the Orc.

Holmes: 90 feet
Moldvay: 120' (40')
Mentzer/BECMI/RC: 120' (40')
AD&D 1st ed: 9"
AD&D 2nd ed: 9 (12)
D&D 3: 30 feet (6 squares)
D&D 4: 6 (8 while charging)
D&D 5: 30 feet

These speeds all are "per round" though what a round is can differ.  Holmes' speed is more in line with AD&D. D&D 3 to 5 are all the same despite different notation.

In my Basic Bestiary I note it like this:

Movement: 120' (40') [12"]  

With "AD&D" notation in the brackets. Note that my orcs then look faster. Rounds in Basic are 10 seconds and rounds in AD&D/D&D3-5 are all 6 seconds.  This means that my 120' movement rate orc in Basic has a different "Real-time" speed in AD&D.  My converted orc moves at 12" and not the 9" listed.  Is this a problem?  Actually, no. I don't feel that it is.

According to the Labyrinth Lord RPG book, 120' is the exploring speed per turn and 40' is the combat speed per round and 120' is the full running speed per round. So my question. How fast is this in MPH?

120' per round is 120 feet per 10 seconds or 720 per minute or 43,200 per hour or 8.18 repeating.  I opt to make the miles an easier 5400* feet to get 8 miles per hour.  So an orc can run full-on at 8 miles per hour. 
(*5400 is divisible by 2 and 3 so it gives me better numbers to work with.)

This brings up an interesting notion.  How fast can a particular monster move?

I looked at my entry for Archangel and see they fly at 360', which translates into 24 MPH. Not very fast from our point of view, but fast when compared to a mundane horse.  Maybe they have a Haste at-will spell and can fly at 48 MPH?  If it is a "Greater Haste" say at x3 then 72 MPH feels a little more respectable. Fantasy creatures don't always translate well into the real world.

Ideas like this have been helping drive my design philosophy.  When working on a monster I often ask "how do they relate to the PCs?" or "what sort of situations will this monster be in with the PCs?" since the Player Characters are the focus of all adventures.  Now I do also ask "How does this monster relate to Normal Humans?" and this has shifted my view on many creatures, in particular the undead.  There are consequences to both of these.

On the PC-centric side, we get the Succubus/Whispering Demon issue I mentioned a while back when I covered the BECMI Immortal Rules.  To quote:

A Succubus in AD&D is a 6+6 HD creature (average hp 33), her physical attacks are not great, but her kiss drains 2 life energy levels. In BECMI a Whispering Demon has 15* HD and 70 hp! Oh and her AC is -6.

A 6 HD creature is more than enough of a challenge for normal humans, it is also a pretty good (and scary) challenge for low-level characters. But a 15 HD succubus? That is a challenge for many!  But I do notice that in nearly every movie or tale about a succubus the demon is defeated in the end.

6 HD is what you get when you aim for Normal Humans.  15 HD is what you get when you aim for PCs.

The Basic Bestiaries will take on the point of view of Normal Humans for the most part. So my succubi (I have a couple) will be more along the lines of 6 HD.  My Archangels however will likely be flying at 72 MPH.

October Horror Movie Challenge: Satanic Saturday

Staying in all day. Let's have a Satanic Sunday!

Jaws of Satan (1981)
Druids, Witches, Cursed Priests, and Satan.  It sounds like a great mix. And a young Christiana Applegate and her real-life mother to boot!  Well... the movie is not great, but for 1981 it is not bad.

Satan comes to terrorize a small town in the form of a snake.  Not a giant snake, just a regular-sized snake. But I guess it does some strange things to the corpses and moves really fast, so that is something right?

Well, the Devil-as-a-Snake controls all the other snakes in the area so that is kinda fun.  This is more of a snake movie than a Satanic one.  Though I am not sure what is worse though, the snake or the casual misogyny and racism.  Well, this is the danger I knew I would run when I decided to go through every horror movie in the "Basic Era" (1977-1981).

The priest does have a nice "magical" battle with the Satan Snake, so that is cool.  Something I would have loved my cleric to have done back in the days of Basic D&D.

Monster Idea: Demonic Snakes.

Demonoid (1980)
A mine in Mexico uncovers a Satanic cult long buried. The soundtrack is pure 70s, but the movie stands up to be honest.  Again, if you don't mind the casual racism and sexism (are nurses supposed to show that much cleavage?). The movie is not great mind you, but the basic premise is solid.   The movie doesn't really pick up until about a third of the way in.  At no point, however, do the events depicted in the poster actually occur in the movie itself.

Though I expected a little more emotion from the protagonist.  She takes the death of her husband and then him getting up and walking from his grave in stride.

I could not help but think about how this would be a good set up for any sort of evil hand-like artifact focused adventure.  The hand gives up strange powers but at a cost.  Combine it with a bit of the Doctor Who serial "Hand of Fear" and the Hand of Vecna.

Monster/Plot Idea:  Demonic Hands.

Evilspeak (1981 or 1982)
An evil priest,  Father Estaban (an almost unrecognizable Richard Moll), is excommunicated by other priests in Middle Ages Spain.  Estaban shows how evil he is by cutting off the head of a perfectly nice Spanish girl.
We come to the modern age where we meet Stanley Coopersmith, an orphan in a military-like school played by B-Movie stalwart Clint Howard.  Coopersmith is picked on by everyone, the other kids, the teachers, even the priest.  While cleaning the chapel he finds Estaban's diary.  The diary, of course, is full of Satanic fun.  Coopersmith in true early 80s fashion types it all into a computer and it translates it automatically.  He begins to put more information into his schools' Apple 2e and soon he has the power.  Not sure if this is first mix of Satanic rites and computer technology but I am hard-pressed to name something that would have scared the Religious Right of the 1980s more.  I do love the Atari 2600 sound effects though.

This movie follows a cliched formula of the odd kid getting picked on and the kid turning to evil to get revenge.  We saw this to better effect in "Fade to Black" and the trope turned completely around in the Harry Potter books and movies.

The ending though is really fun with Coopersmith getting revenge on everyone by summoning up undead pigs from hell.  Interestingly enough, in the end, Coopersmith was admitted to the Sunnydale Asylum.   I have to admit this one was a lot of fun.

Monster Idea: Devil Swine

Lorna the Exorcist (1974)
Ok, this one is fairly notorious even by Jesús Franco's normal standards.  When I did my Franco October series a while back I had heard about it, but could not find a copy.  This year I did and saved it for tonight.  After all, if  Hall of the Nephilim can make Succubus Sundays a thing, I can contribute.
So right out of the gate.  "Lorna" is not an Exorcist. Nor are there any exorcists in this movie.  I can only assume that the English name was used to capitalize on the recent "The Exorcist" movie.  The original title in French is "Les possédées du diable" or roughly "Possessed by the Devil".  That's a better title really.
There is another bit to get over too.  There are two versions of this movie, an 81 minutes NR version and a 99 minute X rated one.  The X rated one features some rather graphic scenes featuring Lorna (Pamela Stanford) and Linda (a very young Lina Romay).

The plot is basically Rumplestilskin with demons.  Patrick Mariel is an out of his luck man who makes a deal with a woman named Lorna. She will make Patrick wealthy, but in 18 years he must give her his daughter.   He doesn't believe her but becomes wealthy all the same.  Nearly 18 years later his daughter Linda is a wild teen and Lorna has come back to make her claim on the girl.
Lorna can only really be described as a succubus (that would also explain the green eye makeup).  She seems to invade Linda's dreams where the two have some fairly graphic sex.  Likely these are the part of the edited out 18 mins.  There are also a few other scenes that are fairly notorious like the crabs' scene and one between Linda and her father Patrick.  The most notorious has to be the one where Lorna finally claims Linda as her own.

There are plenty of Franco hallmarks in this. Gratuitous nudity, jazzy soundtrack, casinos, weird almost psychedelic cinematography, and Franco himself making a cameo appearance.   He once talked about how much he loved seeing Lina Romay (aka the future Mrs. Franco) in all these scenes and how much she enjoyed them herself.  I will give her credit in this one. She actually is putting forward a good performance.  There is a marked difference in Linda before and after Lorna.  It also seems to me that Lorna turned Linda into a succubus herself.
There is also a bit with a madwoman, who I took to be a former lover of Lorna who still seems connected to her.
Franco is hit or miss, and mostly miss, to be honest, but this is one of the better ones I have watched.

Monster Idea: Succubus

Watched: 19
New: 14

Q is for Quareen

Qareen, or qarīn, are another demon from Islamic literature.  They are kind of an interesting idea.  I think they have some origins of the idea of a personal daemon like the Greeks talked about, but I have no data to support this.

In a game I would treat them much like another demon I created a while back called the Never Was. Though I would give them a much darker edge.

Quareen

These creatures are lesser Jinn also known as Personal Demons.  Occult scholars suspect that everyone has at least one, maybe even several.  Unlike other demons, the Qareen rarely if ever manifest in our world as physical beings.  They influence their host by goading them on to do evil. The Qareen are also unique in that they work with nearly any demon.  If a succubus has targeted a particular mortal in order to steal his soul, his Qareen will aid the succubus in the temptation by suggestion.  The succubus gains the soul on the death of the victim.  It is unknown what the qareen get. They seem motivated by evil for evil’s sake.
If the qareen is made manifest (some rare magical books detail how this can be done) they have the same stats as the person they belong too.  Killing the qareen doesn’t affect the person, save for making them feel “good” and want to do good. Sooner or later another qareen will take over.
A carefully worded remove curse spell can remove a qareen, but they usually return when the character is faced with temptation again.

Game Stats:
The Quareen uses the same stats as whatever person it is attached to. They can't normally attack and do not physically manifest.  Though the days when a Qareen is most active the character must make a Wisdom-based save (or Will or Magic with Wisdom mods) to avoid giving into temptation.

V is for Vampires vs. Demons

Instead of doing stats today (sorry Vepar!) I thought I'd discuss some of the issues with research.

When doing research for this blogfest and for my game books in general the first thing you notice is that the myths of the world do not organize themselves in nice logical units.

This could not be more pronounced when trying to figure out what the difference is sometimes between a Vampire and a Demon.

Game books and novels that feature both often make pretty clear lines.  This is a vampire and they do X, Y and Z.  This is a demon and they do A, B, and C and sometimes D.  But go to the myths of the world and then you find creatures that do X, A, B and D but never C, Y or Z.

When getting ready for this I was also researching various vampires.  This was almost an A to Z of Vampires (maybe next year).  what some cultures call a vampire another call a ghost and another a witch and another a demon.  Sometimes with the same names.  A lot of creatures from China, Japan and the Philippines are like this.

The Succubus and most of what I call the Lilim are a great examples.  While they are classified as demons they have a lot of vampire like qualities.  In some games a "Succubus" is even just another type of Vampire (World of Darkness and WitchCraft).  Yet in others a Vampire is a type of demon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

Even is games where the distinctions are really, really clear there can still be a lot of overlap.
The succubus is one good example, but so are the Nabassu. Nabassu, also known as Death-Stealers, are described as demons that are close to undead.  They even look like the true form of the vampires from Lifeforce and the Red Court Vampires from the Dresden Files.

Looking at them it is hard to tell which one is the vampire and which one is the demon.

So the issue for writers putting mythological creatures in their books (novels, stories, games) and that is what sort of creature is this?

Have a look at the Mayan god Camazotz.  His name is roughly translated as "Death Bat".  In a book he could be a god, a demon or a very powerful vampire.  Lilith is another great example. Is she a demon, witch, vampire or just a human.  Of even the Baohban Sith, is she a faerie or a vampire.

Of course the one other option is "All the Above".  Creatures that blur the lines a little are nice to have.


EDITED TO ADD:  Other vampires from today
http://coffintreehill.tumblr.com/
http://r-moran.blogspot.com/2013/04/v-is-for-vampire.html
http://noreecosper.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-z-blog-hop-vampires.html

October Movie Challenge: Demon Hunter (2005)

Continuing the "Hunter" vibe I also picked up Demon Hunter starring Sean Patrick Flannery in the role of the "brooding loner with a chip on his shoulder and a dark past".  The movie is predictable, but it has some nice features.

Billy Drago stars as Asmodeus. Basically he is playing the same character he did on Charmed only now he surrounds himself with more naked women.  Drago chews up scenery as a slimy bad guy like no one else save for maybe Eric Roberts.

Tania Deighton plays his succubus lieutenant.  She has the look, but I can't tell if her fake fangs make it hard for her to talk or if she is just a bad actress. Her succubus looks really cool. The wings were a nice touch.  Yes, she is also featured on the Succubus.net website.

The movie though is predictable, even to the "surprise" ending.  But it has some good moments.

This movie has me curious though.  Here Asmodeus is played as the Demon of Lust as he is depicted in many older texts and not so much as the King of Hell.  I wonder why Gary picked him as the ruler of hell and devils in D&D?  Was it because of him being described as the King of Hell in some books?  Curious. The classic "Politics of Hell" notwithstanding I am curious about his rise over other names like Baalzebul or even Mephistopheles.


Stats
18 Watched / 13 New

One Man's God: Basic Demons (BECMI Demons, Part 2)

Last week I cover the topic of Demons in BECMI D&D and Basic Era D&D in general.  I want to expand on that a bit today. Again, this is a bit of a different tone for One Man's God, but it does get at the heart of what OMG is about.

One of Basic D&D's features vs. Advanced D&D is its alignment system of Law vs. Chaos with Neutrality in the middle.  Now a lot of ink and pixels have been spilled over the pros, cons, and everything else about alignment. I am not going to go into that here.  Although I am currently rereading Søren Kierkegaard for the first time since college and he is "still stuck on Abraham," so I wonder if I am going to do a proper talk on demons I might need to go back to the basics and address alignment someday.

So my discussions on demons in BECMI were covered in my Immortals Set Review and One Man's God: The Immortals and Demons of BECMI. 

Writing so much about witches you can't help but have to read about and write about demons.  The two subjects have been conflated for so long that "witchcraft" and "demonology" are either synonymous in some circles or so tied up together that separating them is difficult. 

Demonic Families and "The Usual Suspects"

One of the Usual Suspects. ePic CG

For the "Basic-Era" demons were introduced in the classic D&D (OD&D) Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry.  Here we get what I call "The Ususal Suspects" of demons; Type I to Type VI, Succubi, Orcus and Demogorgon.  The same group appears in the AD&D Monster Manual (with some additions and some names) and then again in the D&D Immortals Set under new names again.  The AD&D game introduces Devils as a separate type of fiend.  Though it should be noted that D&D 4 looked over all the fiends and moved some around.  Notably, the Succubus became a type of devil, due to some machinations of Asmodeus in the "Brimstone Angels" novels.  They became an "independent" type of fiend in D&D 5.

Despite all of that, there is a good reason to include Demons (a chaotic evil fiend) into the milieu of D&D and its cosmic struggle of Law vs. Chaos.   Devils?  Let's save them for AD&D.  Besides, the division is artificial at best.

This division became more pronounced in the AD&D 2nd ed era when TSR caved to the Religious Right and pulled demons and devils.  

Tanar-what? Baate-Who?

One of the Unusual suspects, ePic CG

Demons and Devils would return in Planescape with the bowdlerized names of Tanar'ri and Baatezu respectively.  I remember at the time I was very disappointed in TSR for caving to the pressure of what I felt was a fringe group of religious nutjobs.

While I disapprove of why TSR caved, I approve of what became of it. "Demon" became a generic term to describe any evil outsider.  The "Tanar'ri" were now a specific group of Evil Outsiders that also happened to be chaotic and inhabited the Abyss.  They certain features, such as resistance to various magic and other attacks and certain vulnerabilities too. They were a family of creatures related by certain phenotypical descriptors. Now we have different demonic "families" of fiends. Add Yugoloths/Daemons and Demodands to the official rosters.  We don't have to be limited by "demon" or "devil" alone.  

Sometimes the constraints force us to be more creative.

Later in D&D 3rd Editon era we would get the official Obyrith and Loumara families of chaotic evil demons.  In Green Ronin's Armies of the Abyss and then later Paizo's Pathfinder then added Qlippoth, the OGC version of the Obyriths. Mongoose Publishing gave us the Tzaretch family.  Back at the end of 2nd Edition, I made the Lilim family.  In my Eldritch Witchery (use the link to get it at 50% off!) I introduced the Calabim and Shedim families and the Baalseraph, which is sort of like a family.  In my various Warlock books, I also added Eodemons, or dawn demons. My take on the first of the demonic families.

The scholars can then argue who belongs where.

Spend any time reading demonology text you will soon figure out that these "learned scholars" were just pulling things out of thin air. Sure sometimes you see the same names or even some descriptions that are similar, but otherwise, there is no more validity to the Ars Goetia of the Lesser Key of Solomon than there is to the Monster Manual II when it comes to naming and categorizing demons.  For me, the "key" to unlocking this was the demon Astaroth.

Astaroth and Astártē

What really got me going was what Christian demonologists did with the Goddess Astarte.  Astarte, also known by many other names including Astoreth, was Goddess of love and lust (sex), fertility, and war.  She was obviously connected to Ishtar, Innana,  Isis, and maybe even Aphrodite. She appears throughout the Middle East and even makes an appearance in the Hebrew texts and even in later Christian writings.  But her transformation from fertility goddess to nature goddess to a demon is odd, but not uncommon.  Early Christian writers saw any other god or religion as demonic or even devil worship.  Early Jewish scholars usually never had an issue with other gods. So it is conjectured that when Christian writers and scholars saw Astarte/Astoreth and her crescent moon horns she became a demon.  And a male demon, Astaroth, at that.  It is the primary example for me of how "one man's god is another man's demon." 

Often who was on what list of demonic entities depended on who was writing it and when. One can claim to "go back to the research" but when you are researching what is essentially a completely made-up topic it is not difficult to find something to support your claim.   

For me, that leaves only one satisfactory conclusion.  

Classify these creatures as I like. 

Demons In Basic-Era Games

Do demons belong in (my) Basic-era games?

I figure I have witches, vampires, all sorts of fey creatures, and other monsters.  So yeah there is no good reason to keep them out. 

So there are "demons" in the sense as the world defines them. And there are "demons" as I plan to use them here or, more to the point, have been using them here.  

Translation: Some devils are now demons in my game. 

I have been doing this with the lesser devil types like the barbazu, cornugon and gelugon.  They are all part of the Shedim or demons of rage.   Erinyes remain fallen angels, so technically I suppose that makes them Baalseraphs.

One thing that came up in my review of the Immortals set was how powerful the BECMI demons are vs. their AD&D counterparts.  My idea is to scale them back down.  I like to think of all creatures as being Normal Human focused since that is the world they are in. Player Characters are the rare exceptions. So when a succubus drains life levels with her kiss then it needs to be scaled so that if she chooses a normal human the kiss can still be deadly, but not always so.  I mean someone needs to survive to tell their priest/cleric so it can be written down in a demonology somewhere.

Every version of the game has translated these creatures somewhat differently.  Though there are more commonalities between them than say Medieval demonologies from the so-called experts.  

Demons are legion and defy classification attempts, but that is exactly what I am trying to do.  Essentially make my own "Demonomicon of Iggwilv."

I think if I pursue this idea more I would have to come up with my own demonologies and groupings.  I like the ones I have been using so far, maybe a couple of others might be nice too.   Could be a fun exercise.

Maybe even come up with a witch to do the authoring of it.  I can't really use (nor do I want to use) "Demonomicon" or "Iggwilv." Plus someone new would be fun for a while.

What do you do? Do you have Demons in your Basic, not advanced, games?

In Search of Nocticula

I want to introduce what I hope will be a new semi-regular feature here at the ole' Other Side.  

"In Search of" will delve into odd, esoteric topics from my games in search of their origins and their relationship to myths, legends or even just a good story.  The obvious tribute to the old 70s-80s TV series "In Search of..." featuring Leonard Nimoy.  I am going to go back and retag some posts with this new "In Search of" label since this is not really a new idea for me.  My hope here is this takes the place of "One Man's God" in my rotations of posts.

Let us start my first In Search of looking for a demon who captured my attention back in the 1980s.

Back in the Monster Manual II days, we were treated to a long list of demons that were also powerful members of the abyssal Hordes. These included a few demon lords (L) and oddly enough some that were tagged as being female (F).  It seems odd to call that out now, but this was the 1980s.  

But that is not why I am posting today.  I was cleaning up some minis the other days and noticed one in particular.  Maybe because I have been thinking of various monsters and monster books I decided to go back to an old search.

Who Is Nocticula: Part 1 History

This is the mini and an entry in question.

Originally she was obviously some sort of demon related to the night.  She is not listed as a "Lord" so we assume she must be of higher rank along with Lolth and Zuggtmoy. 

Obviously, the name caught my attention then as it does now.  Though there is almost nothing about her in any products outside of the MMII. 

She does get name-dropped in the 1981 made-for-TV horror movie Midnight Offerings. When I saw it back in 2019 I wondered at the time if Gygax/TSR got the name from the movie. Though now it seems likely the name came from various occult books from the 1970s.

It would not be until the 1990s that I would run across her again.  

My first encounter with her was during the Netbook craze of the Pre-OGL Internet.  While many people were still blissfully unaware of what the Internet could do AD&D players were on LISTSERVs on Bitnet sharing "Netbooks."  These fan mad creations often lacked any sort of editorial control, art, or often even playtesting. But they made up for all of that in pure enthusiasm.  If you were lucky you found one that had been formatted like a "real book" in Microsoft Word 2.0.  One such book was "The Complete Netbook of Demons and their Relatives." This ancient and dusty tome was full of new demons.  It was a great little treasure, to be honest.  It did have an entry for Nocticula and Socothbenoth (I'll get to why that is important later).  Their entries were:

Nocticula(F)-a patron of witches. Could only find one reference on her.
...
Socothbenoth-Another female (harem) like deity turned into a male demon.

That obviously had my attention. So I was already doing deep dive research into witches at this point for my "Netbook of Witches and Warlocks" so I added her name as one to be on the lookout for.  Now keep in mind that at this time people were very, very wary of being sued by TSR for any copyright violations.  So I had no real plans to use Nocticula in my books, I was just curious about her.

In my reading, I came across "Mastering Witchcraft: A Practical Guide for Witches, Warlocks, and Covens" by Paul Huson, 1970.  Nocticula is mentioned many times. Likely as a "dark aspect" of Hecate or Habondia (or Habundia). That name is not in my "Dictionary of Classical Mythology" by J.E. Zimmerman. Huson adds that Noctiula is "Ruler of the Dead and Warden of the Tower Adamantine" and she walks at night.  He also claims that the title of "Nocticula" meaning "little night" comes from the 12th century.

I do have to admit that the paperback cover of Mastering Witchcraft makes for a good depiction of Nocticula. 

Gerald Gardner, the father of modern Wicca, even mentions her in his "Witchcraft Today" (1954). He also associates her with the figure of Bensozia. I guess that removes the fear of copyright issues, but I was still hesitant to use her preferring to come up with my own.

While all this is going on I got a copy of Dungeon #5 and found the adventure with Shami-Amourae, the demon queen of Succubi. She, along with Nocticula and Malcanthet have all been contenders for the title "Queen of the Succubi."

This bit didn't last long really and with the publication of Green Ronin's Armies of the Abyss and later the Book of Fiends we get a new look on Nocticula. 

Part 2: Green Ronin & The d20 Years

Green Ronin brought Nocticula into the new Millennium with the various fiend books. Chris Pramas had worked on a few Planescape and devil-related books for Wizards of the Coast in the waning years of TSR.  So he was in a great position to bring all of that knowledge to Green Ronin during the d20 boom.  Armies of the Abyss (2002) covered demons and introduced us to a new Nocticula. Or rather, gave us Nocticula since so little detail had really been published about her so far.  (Note. I am coming back to the Armies of the Abyss later in this series.)

Here she is demon lady of night yes, but also of women, dark fey, the natural world, psychotropic drugs, and earthly sensuality.  Known as the Princess of Moonlight she revels in all things pleasurable, earthly, and chaotic. She very much is the patroness of "living deliciously."  The description of her followers can only be described as "witches."

She has a twin brother, Socothbenoth, the demon lord of perversion, with whom she has an incestuous relationship with. Socothbenoth is basically the mind of Aleister Crowley in the body of Lord Byron and the sexual appetites of both.

I have used him before as a witch's patron based on the movies Byleth: The Demon of Incest (1972) and Il Sesso Della Strega (1973).

She only gets a mention in Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss, a little more than what she got in the MMII nearly 20 years prior.  She gets the title "The Undeniable" and her concerns are "Night" and she makes her realm on the 72nd layer of the Abyss called Darklight.

Part 3: Pathfinder

Our Queen of the Night fares better in her Pathfinder version where she is a major Demon Lord.  Her history is largely that of what was seen in the Green Ronin books. Indeed all of that is kept to the extent the OGL will allow. However, she is taken further in Pathfinder when she is given the ability to kill other demon lords. This gives her a connection to assassins.  

Here she appeared in a number of Pathfinder products, in particular the Book of the Damned, which covered the demons and devils of the Pathfinder game.

At some point, she grew tired of killing demon lords and sought out redemption as the Goddess of Artists. I am not sure I completely like this idea, but hey Pathfinder can do what they like really.

Now to be fair, Pathfinder added a ton of material to Nocticula, and a lot of it is good. I could easily use any amount of it, to be honest.  

Part 4: Nocticula in my World

I have a lot of great information and details. But not all of them are great for my games. So. How can I rebuild Nocticula for my games and in particular my War of the Witch Queens campaign?

Part of her background is she was one of the first Succubi. That's fine and all, but I feel there is a tendency to make a female demon a type of succubus. Sure I get it and her background supports it to a degree, but it feels lazy to me. I mean there are SO MANY "first" Succubi. There is Malcanthet, Shami-Amourae, Xinivrae, and Lynkhab. Do we need Nocticula to be a succubus? Not really.

I do like keeping Socothbenoth as her brother/lover. I like keeping them both as being fairly depraved as well. They are demons after all.  I even like the assassin idea from later Pathfinder books. Given her name I would like to get back to her association to the night and things of the night. In some ways the evil counterpart to my Nox.

In this, Nocticula is the demon lord of Night. She is honored by witches, warlocks, prostitutes, and assassins. Anyone committing an evil act at night will say a benediction to Nocticula. She is the daughter of Nox by Camazotz, the demon lord of bats and vampires (or maybe Orcus?). She is the twin sister to and lover of the demon lord Socothbenoth (the demon lord of perversion). 

Given that her first "D&D" appearance was in the Monster Manual II from 1983, I would draw on sources from 1982 and before for my influences on her. 

Obviously, I would need to write her up for AD&D 1st Edition.  I would use some of her Pathfinder details (what is allowed under the OGL) and go back to the earliest ideas about her. 

--

NOCTICULA 
FREQUENCY:  Unique (Very Rare)

NO.  APPEARING:  1 
ARMOR CLASS: -2
MOVE: 18" / 24" (MC: C)
HIT DICE:  13+39 (97 hp)
%  IN  LAIR:  0%
TREASURE  TYPE:  Q (x10), U
NO.  OF  ATTACKS:  2
DAMAGE/ATTACK:  Whip 1d6+1d4 (fire) (x2)
SPECIAL  ATTACKS:  Witch spells
SPECIAL  DEFENSES: +2  or  better weapon to hit
MAGIC  RESISTANCE:  25%
INTELLIGENCE:  Genius
ALIGNMENT:  Chaotic Evil
SIZE:  M  (6')
PSIONIC ABILITY:  See below
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: IX/8250 +  18/hp (9,996 xp)

Nocticula is the Demon Lady of the Night. Witches, warlocks, assassins, and all those who make illicit trades or bargains under the cover of darkness are her followers. She hears their prayers when none of the gods will. She is also the patron of creatures of the night like vampires, shadow creatures, and even alu-demons and succubi.

She will always appear as a very attractive member of the gender and species the observer prefers. In a mixed company, she will attempt to provide as many attractive qualities as she can.  She can do this via a limited form of telepathic awareness that is not quite ESP.  It is a subtle power, like many of her gifts, and can only be blocked by magic or psionic ability specifically designed to do so. It also gives her the ability to speak any language known.

Nocticula is a lover, but also a capable fighter. She wields a whip of fire that she can attack with twice per round. The whip will do 1d6 points of damage and the fire an additional 1d4.  She can cast spells as a Mara Witch of the 13th level. 

She also has the following spell-like powers.

• At will: Detect Good (Law), Detect Invisible, Detect Magic, Darkness 10' Radius, Glamour, Telekinesis (250 lbs / 25,000 GP weight), Tongues.
• 3 times per day: Astral Projection, Charm Monster/Person, Read languages, Read magic, Shape change, Teleport without Error, Trap the Soul.
• 1 time per day: Gate, Polymorph any object.

Like all demons, she is affected by acid, iron weapons, magic missiles, and poison, (full).  Cold, electricity, fire (dragon, magical), and gas (half). She has 25% magic resistance, but this does not apply 

She has wings, but these can be hidden away. Despite her appearances and appetites, she is not a succubus or any sort of Lilim. She does have many succubi attendants and servants.  Her preferred servants though are humans and some elves and fae. She may gate in 1d6 Succubi or 1d8 alu-demons to aid her. These are from her personal retinue and not easily replaced. She can also summon 2d8 shadow demons to do her bidding. Either of these can be done once per day (1/day). She can compel any vampire she encounters (as a charm-like ability they are not immune to) to do her bidding, but she can't summon vampires.

Rumors of her always appearing nude when summoned were created by clerics and scholars who rarely left their scriptoriums. However, to approach her in her layer in the Abyss one must be completely unclothed. This includes armor and weapons. 

Relationships

Nocticula has the best relationship with her brother and lover Socobenoth, the Demon Lord of Perversion. It is a good relationship as far as two chaotic evil demons can have.  She respects Lilith, the Demon Queen as the two are fine as long as they remain out of each other's business. Her rivalry with, and enmity of, Malcanthet is legendary. Equally so is her distaste of the demon Lord Graz'zt but none remember how this all began. Her relationship with Camazotz is one of pure hatred and each hates the other's claim as the demonic patron of vampires.  A hatred she does not extend to Lilith or even Orcus, whom she refers to as "Grandfather." Whether this is an acknowledgment of paternity or an honorific is unknown.  Orcus also extends this recognition to Nocticula. 

Unknown to most, Nocticula is an assassin of demon lords and even a minor god. She has discovered that when she kills them she can take on their powers. She successfully assassinated Vyriavaxus, the former demon lord of shadows. Now shadow demons begrudgingly show her patronage.  Presently Nocticula sits and carefully plans her next kill.

--

Looking forward to seeing what I can do next in my new In Search Of feature.

--

Links

• The Greyhawk Wiki
• Nocticula
• Malcanthet
• Shami-Amourae
• The Succubus Wiki
• Nocticula
• Bensozia
• Malcanthet
• Shami-Amourae
• Xinivrae
• Lynkhab
• Pathfinder SRD
• Nocticula
• Pathfinder Wiki
• Nocticula
• Socothbenoth
• Shamira

Monstrous Monday: Sennentuntschi

This particular creature has been on my list to do for a bit.  I had read about this creature in connection to the succubus many years ago but never could find anything else about it.  Mostly I think due to my inability to remember how it was spelled. 

Thankfully I now have the movie to help me out. 

Sennentuntschi
Medium Construct (demonic) 

Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 1 (1)
Alignment: Chaotic [Chaotic Evil]
Movement: 120' (40') [12"]
Armor Class: 9 [10]
Hit Dice: 3d8+3*** (23 hp)
To Hit AC 0: 14 (+5)
Attacks: 1 fist or by weapon
Damage: 1d6+2 or by weapon+2
Special: Charm, illusion, immune to mind-affecting magic, immune to poison and gas, only harmed by fire
Save: Monster 3
Morale: 12 (12)
Treasure Hoard Class: None
XP: 125 (OSE) 170 (LL)

Str: 16 (+2) Dex: 16 (+2) Con: 18 (+3) Int: 14 (+1) Wis: 14 (+1) Cha: 18 (+3)

Sennentuntschi, which is believed to mean "shepherd's wife" or "herdsmen wife," is a type of construct inhabited by a demonic spirit. The creature is created by making a life-sized doll out of clothes, straw, and whatever is on hand and then animated with the demonic spirit. 

The sennentuntschi, once animated, will act as the "wife" of the shepherds who animated her.  She will cook, clean, and even share their bed at night.  She cannot speak but casts a powerful charm and illusion effect on all around her.  The men who created her automatically fail their saving throws. To them and all others who fail, she will appear as a beautiful young woman.  If the save is made, then she will appear as a grotesque collection of rags and straw in a human shape.  Clerics of pure and good intent (Lawful, Lawful Good) gain a +3 bonus to their saving throw against this charm.

The goal of the sennentuntschi is to kill the men that animated her and return to her native plane with their souls. She can't though just kill them outright. The men must first commit an act of violence against her. This can be as simple as one of the men slapping her, though usually, the violence escalates from there.  Each of the men that animated her, typically three, must commit this act. Once that is complete she will seek to kill them or have them kill each other.  As a construct, she is immune to all mind-affecting magic but is vulnerable to fire. Cold, electricity, gas, or poison has no effect on her.

If anyone attacks the sennentuntschi anyone charmed by her will do anything to protect her including killing others.  If the sennentuntschi is destroyed then the charm is broken. It is rumored that if a sennentuntschi is created and no violence is perpetrated against it for the season then the magic holding it together dies and no souls are damned.  This is a very rare occurrence.

Animating a Sennentuntschi:  A sennentuntschi can be animated by a folk magic ritual (0 level Witch spell) known to the shepherds and herdsmen of the mountains. 

Create Sennentuntschi
Witch Ritual Level: 0
Ritual Casters: Three shepherds
Duration: One Season, typically Summer
Range: One Sennentuntschi poppet

The ritual to animate a sennentuntschi is typically handed down from older shepherd to younger in the form of a story about how the first sennentuntschi was animated.  All that is needed is a life-sized poppet to house the sennentuntschi spirit and the three men to summon it.  

Typically this is an older shepherd, a younger one, and a boy; each representing the stages of life for a man. The ritual is then performed, usually with the imbibing of much alcohol, and the spirit is summoned.

Many occult scholars believe that the demonic spirit inhabiting the poppet is akin to the succubus or other Lilim. 

Character Creation Challenge: Darlessa for Wasted Lands

I meant to do this character earlier and kinda forgot. Well, today is the day I fix that. When it comes right down to it, no character really represents my shift from D&D to Wasted Lands quite as well as Darlessa the Vampire Queen.

Of course, everyone here knows Darlessa. She has been featured here many times and I already did her witch stats for Swords & Wizardry and her vampire stats for Basic-era D&D. She is also the central antagonist of my Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen. She is responsible for the death of my first character, Johan, and ultimately, the cause for him to be elevated to a Saint. She even has (or had) her own Dark Domain, Arevenir.

I am using the Night Companion again for her so I can get the rules for making her a vampire. She has always been a witch, but a good case could be made for her to be a Spirit Rider, too. Maybe I'll give her a level in that later on, but today, I wanted to compare apples to apples: my OSR witches vs a NIGHT SHIFT witch.

Darlessa, the Vampire Queen

Class: Witch (Persona)
Level: 13
Species: Human Vampire
Alignment: Dark Evil
Background: Sorcerous

Abilities
Strength: 18 (+3) (+2 from Vampire)
Agility: 18 (+3) (+2 from Vampire)
Toughness: 18 (+3) 
Intelligence: 15 (+1) N
Wits: 14 (+1) N
Persona: 22 (+5) A

Fate Points: 1d10
Defense Value: -5
Vitality: 75
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +6/+4/+2
Melee Bonus: +2 (base) +2 (touchstones) 
Ranged Bonus: +2 (base) +1 (touchstones)
Spell Attack: +7 (witch) +1 (touchstones)
Saves: +7 to Spells and Magical effects (Sorcerer & Scholar), +3 to Wits (vampire) +1 to All (touchstones)

Witch Abilities
Arcana, Arcane Powers (5): Succubus (6d6), Shadow Walking, Telekinesis, Beguile, Subtle Influence

Sorceress Spells
First Level: Arcane Darts, Black Flames, Chill Ray, Glamour, Object Reading, Armor of Earth
Second Level: Conjure Flame, ESP, Invoke Fear, See Invisible
Third Level: Clairvoyance, Create Zombies & Skeletons, Curse, Fly
Fourth Level: All-Seeing Invisible Eye, Black Tentacles, Improved Invisibility, Kiss of the Succubus
Fifth Level: Commune with Deeper Dark, Create Undead, Shadow Armor
Sixth Level: Instant Death, Zone of Death
Seventh Level: Wave of Mutilation

Heroic/Divine Touchstones 
1st Level: Additional Spell: Armor of Earth
2nd Level: +1 to Melee attacks
3rd Level: Spirit Guide: Undead Raven, "Lucifer"
4th Level: Favored Enemy: Lawful (Light) Good Clerics
5th Level: +1 to all attack rolls, defense rolls, spells, and saves
6th Level: Glamour at Will

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Power

Gear
Dagger

Wasted Lands Vampires

Ok! This Darlessa is much more powerful than previous versions. This is due largely to proper rules on how to make a character a vampire and how that adds to the character's power. But also Witches in NIGHT SHIFT and the Wasted Lands are a bit more powerful. Lets not forget those divine/heroic touchstones. Those add a LOT of power to the character. This is a version of Darlessa that should properly terrify a group of characters. 

Vampires in the Wasted Lands are also more akin to Akivasha of Robert E. Howard's tale The Hour of the Dragon than they are of Stoker's Dracula. Indeed, Darlessa is cut from the same cloth as Akivasha. Well same cloth, but dyed in the same dyes as various Hammer Horror vampires. 

But in native Wasted Lands, the world envisioned by Elf Lair Games' Jason Vey, vampires are more dangerous and closely tied to the powers of the Deeper Dark. This works fine for me since I have always seen Darlessa as shedding bits of her soul for power to whatever demon would grant it to her. Now, for a pure Wasted Lands game and for the publication of the Tomb of the Vampire Queen, I might go with a different name and slightly changed background. But it will be Darlessa all the same really. 

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.

October Movie Challenge: 1970s Collection

Women, Warlocks and Weirdos...

Here are few I have seen over the last week that I have not had the time to review properly yet.
All are 1970s flicks (with one exception) and most have to do with Satanism or the Occult.  All of these have been on my "too watch" list for sometime.

La plus longue nuit du diable (1971)
Also known as "The Devil Walks at Midnight" and "The Succubus".  A cursed woman returns to her father's home and proceeds to kill everyone seven deadly sins style long before "Se7en".  She is described as a Succubus, but she seems to be a cursed woman.  I saw this one originally on VHS many, many years ago. Right around the same time I first saw "Vampyres", so it had to be mid 80s. Been looking for it for years.

Status: Seen

A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973)
NOT part of the "Living Dead" movie franchise nor really about zombies.  In truth it would not be Halloween if I didn't watch a Jesús Franco movie.  He even appears in the cast as a weird servant that can only utter gibberish.  I have to admit I enjoyed that.  This movie actually has a little in common with my next two movies.  A woman arrives at a castle in England after her father has died only to be drawn into her weird uncle's family of living dead.  Like some of Franco's work it is surreal at times, but this was still a fun movie with some nice surprises.

Status: First Time View

Evil Heritage (1976)
Also know as "Satan's Slave".  This time, the girl comes to her uncle's home and they are Satanists instead of the living dead. Yes her parents are both dead in this one too.  This one features Micheal Gough as the evil uncle and a young Barbara Kellerman who will later play the White Witch of Narnia on the BBC.  This one also has a nice twist on the ending.

Status: First Time View

Black Candles (1982)
Ok, not the 70s, but it does have that late 70s feel to it, though the hair and clothes are very much 1980.  Stop me if you have heard this one before.  A girl travels to England on the death of her...brother this time.  Here she met by her sister-in-law who also happens to be the high priestess of a Satanic coven.  Her boyfriend gets pulled in and well, wackiness ensues.  I liked the ending of this movie the least.  I am a little surprised what they got away with in this movie. Depictions of incest, bestiality...it makes the ritual killings look so passe.

Status: First Time View

Moral of the story here?  If a family member dies and leaves you a castle...just sell it and keep the money instead.

Stats
26 Watched / 20 New

Vampyres: WitchCraft RPG

Vampyres for the WitchCraft RPG
I am going against my own self-imposed rules here and converting a movie to WitchCraft (as opposed to Buffy or Ghosts of Albion). I justify it by that the vampyres of the movie are more along the lines of WitchCraft’s vampyres, and not just in spelling. For example, neither are show with fangs, “game faces” or anything like that. Fran and Miriam do seem to be more like essence vampyres with blood thirst than the vampires of the cinematic games. They are not portrayed as being super strong, or turning into mist, dust, or even bats. Larraz himself in the commentary mention he was more interested in telling stories about interesting characters and humans than about monsters.
Plus there is also a book out of this, published almost 30 years later by Tim Greaves, a “Vampyres” expert, and his descriptions of the girls’ powers match the game power of WitchCraft a little better.

Fran and Miriam as ESP Succubi
Eden Studios Presents (ESP) #2 details an alternate type of vampire commonly referred to as a “succubus” by Peter Trueman. While I don’t really care to use “succubus” in this context (I like my succubi to be demons), I can’t ignore that Fran and Miriam could use some of the ideas Peter puts forth. They certainly like to give their victims pleasure, but they seem to enjoy the brutal kill as well. Miriam has the Wake by Day Quality and both use Manipulations of the Flesh to appear more attractive and to subtly change their appearances. They keep fangs hidden till feeding, and even then Fran still prefers to use a sharp knife.


Fran
Played by Marianne Morris
Vampyre Survivor

Strength 5 Dexterity 4 Constitution 4
Intelligence 3 Perception 4 Willpower 7

Life Points 55
Endurance 0 Speed 16 Essence 62

Qualities and Drawbacks
Attractiveness 2, Charisma 2, Covetous - Lecherous 1, Cruel 2, Hard to Kill 3, Increased Essence Pool 3, Nerves of Steel 1, Resources Quality 2, Vampyre

Skills
Acrobatics 3, Acting 4, Beautician 2, Brawling 2, Dancing (Disco) 1, Fine Arts (Painting) 2, First Aid 2, Intimidation 2, Language (French) 1, Language (Spanish) 1, Lock Picking (Mechanical) 1, Pick Pocket 1, Seduction 5, Smooth Talking 3, Streetwise 2, Survival (Forest) 2, Trance

Metaphysics/Powers
Bloodthirst 1, Manipulate Emotions 1, Manipulations of the Flesh, Mirage 1 (alter time perception), Nightmare 1, Wake by Day 1

Small Knife, Damage D4(2)x(Strength-1). Damage Type Slashing/Stabbing.

Notes: Can move about in the daylight, but is very weakened. When sleeping or in her crypt she appears to be dead. Uses her Mirage power to alter the perception of time and space to confuse her victims.



Miriam
Played by Anulka Dziubinska
Vampyre Survivor

Strength 6 Dexterity 6 Constitution 5
Intelligence 3 Perception 5 Willpower 6

Life Points 60
Endurance 0 Speed 22 Essence 66

Qualities and Drawbacks
Attractiveness 3, Charisma 1, Covetous - Lecherous 1, Cruel 1, Hard to Kill 2, Increased Essence Pool 3, Minority 0 (Lesbian)*, Resources 2, Vampyre

Skills
Acrobatics 3, Acting 4, Beautician 2, Brawling 3, Dancing (Disco) 1, Fine Arts (Painting) 2, First Aid 1, Intimidation 1, Language (French) 1, Language (Spanish) 1, Magic Bolt 1, Seduction 4, Smooth Talking 3, Streetwise 2, Survival (Forest) 2, Trance

Metaphysics/Powers
Bloodthirst, Manipulate Emotions, Manipulations of the Flesh, Mirage, Nightmare, Semblance of Life, Wake by Day 2 Kick, Damage D4(2)x(Strength+1).

Small Knife, Damage D4(2)x(Strength-1). Damage Type Slashing/Stabbing.

Note: Miriam can move about in the daylight better than Fran and she waken from her torpor easier (Wake by Day from ESP 2).

*Lesbian in this case is a zero point drawback. In the book Miriam openly flaunts her preference for girls. When she was alive she was seen with a different beautiful young woman every week. It did however get her killed.

October Horror Movie Challenge: Made for TV Movies

Yesterday's Midnight Offerings made me want to search a little more a movie that has been "haunting" me forever.  This movie is about witches and the occult; satanism in particular.  It was on TV on Halloween night. It had to be between 1977 and 1982, I know a huge time frame. I think it was a made for TV movie. The movie had a girl with psychic powers or witchcraft; they were often synonymous in the late 70s.  There is a scene near the end of the movie of a girl (not sure if it is the same one) lying on an altar.  Either she about to be sacrificed OR this is supposed to give her powers.  All I can remember was there a long progression of cultists going up a circular staircase up in a tower and each one put a drop of blood on the girl's forehead.  That is the clearest thing I remember.

For the life of me, I can't figure out what the movie was.  But I have been trying.

So I spent the day searching and here are the fruits of my labors.

Spectre (1977)
First up is Robert Culp, John Hurt, and Majel Barrett in Spectre a great little tale of Asmodeus and Lilith in modern times. Culp plays a criminologist who now studies the occult.  Gig Young play Dr. Hamliton; Watson to Culp's Holmes.  He gets attack by a succubus, whom Culp manages to send back to hell. This leads to an investigations of the Cyon family in England where we get to see a young John Hurt.  Turns out the family are cultists and they are playing to sacrifice the daughter, whom the succubus had taken the form of, to Asmodeus.
We do get a scene of cultists and a woman being sacrificed.  But that is about as close as we got.
The movie comes to us from Gene "Star Trek" Roddenberry. I guess it was supposed to be a pilot movie for a new series.  It might have been fun to be honest.  The story is good and the acting fine but somehow it just doesn't come together right.  Ah well.

Verdict: Not the movie I was looking for.

Stranger in Our House / Summer of Fear (1978)
Our next choice is a Linda Blair starring TV movie Stranger in Our House, based on the book Summer of Fear.  A housekeeper, inhabiting the body of a suspected dead cousin (Lee Purcell) is taken in by Rachel's (Blair) family and strange things begin to happen.  How do we know Julia is a witch?  Her penchant for black flimsy dresses and her white and red eyes.
This was Linda Blair's next movie after the critically panned Exorcist II.  This one in truth is not much better, but I have soft spot in my heart for Blair.  Still we get a decent enough Wes Craven film here.  I had forgotten how much cars exploded all the time in the 70s. Actually, this is something my dad and I always watched for when we would watch these terrible movies together.   Near the end of the movie Julia's car explodes before it is even half-way down the mountain.  The whole thing has a serious Stephen J. Cannell vibe about it.

Verdict: Not the movie I was looking for. The fact that it premiered on Halloween night 1978 on NBC I was sure this was the movie.

Moving on.

Alison's Birthday (1981)
On paper, this sounds like it is it.  Girls playing with an Ouija board and discover that a strange fate meets Alison on her 19th birthday.  It even has an evil coven of witches.  I had high hopes for this one but a couple of things let me know right away that this was not it.  First, the movie is Australian. I am not sure about a lot of things when it comes to this vague memory but I think I would have remembered that.  Plus I am also sure this was not a made-for-TV movie.
Now there is a scene at the end with cultists, but no girl with psychic powers to speak of.

Verdict: Nope. Not the movie I was looking for. Some of the elements are right, but not enough of them.

Invitation to Hell (1984)
Let's see.  It's 1984 and I need an attractive TV actress to paly a hell-spawn.  That's right! It's All My Children's Erica Kane, aka Susan Lucci playing Jessica Jones (!!) in Wes Craven's next made for TV film, Invitation to Hell.   It starred Robert Urich (one of those actors you never heard a bad word about) and Joanna Cassidy as a couple moving into a new town. Here they join a new Country Club but discover it is actually a doorway to Hell.  Which makes it like most Country Clubs I have dealt with.

Soon Matt's (Urich) wife and son become posessed and he has to put on a space suit to get them from Hell.  You read that right.  This also features Soleil Moon Frye, aka Punk Brewster, as the daughter.

Anyway, the movie is kinda all over the place and fairly forgettable.  I'll admit to nodding off a couple of times to rewind it.  But Urich saves his family in the end.  No one was going to win any Emmys for this one though...oh sorry Susan.

Verdict: Not the movie I was looking for. But I also suspected it wasn't.  It's a little outside of the time frame I was thinking it should be in and this movie is solidly 80s.  Hell, it looks like it was filmed in the same suburb as Poltergeist.

While I am thanking my Roku for all these gems. I am getting blind here staring at my TV screen.  Plus these are all beginning to blur in my memory now even as I write this.

Maybe I will continue my search next week.   Maybe I can also find some good witches for a change.

I think with these four though I have some good ideas for the Cult of Asmodeus I was working on.

Watched: 15
New: 10