White Dwarf Wednesday #36

It's Christmas in Mega-City One!  Well at least that what you would gather on the is December 1982 issue of White Dwarf.  The cover, an article, an editorial and at least three and half pages of ads are devoted to the new game from Games Workshop, Judge Dredd.   It was through White Dwarf in fact that I first learned about Judge Dredd.  So to me this seemed like a "comic book" game.

Jumping ahead, Ian Livingstone introduces us to the new game in the editorial.   He also mentions that we will see more RPG material in 1983.
The article on Dredd talks about the design of the game. Or rather an introduction to Judge Dredd and what process the author and designer, Ian Livingstone (ah..see how that worked out) went through to make the game.  The process is actually not all that different than what we still do, or even what I did when working on Buffy and Ghosts of Albion.  I would have to say the game was a success since a.) it introduced me to Judge Dredd, b.) I remember people being very, very excited about it back then, and c.) I still catch people talking about it today.

What else does this issue feature?  We have an odd ad of the magazine "Pssst!", which only lived for less than a year I think.  So odd that I didn't even know what it was for  till I found the name off in the corner.

Fiend Factory is up, but only has one monster, the Loculi. It is like an 8-legged, sword wielding ankylosaurus. It's stats improve with age (like a dragon) and there is a lot things you can play around with with this creature.  Unlike the dragon though I don't find it interesting enough to want to use it.

Andy Slack is up with an Introduction to Traveller.  Part 1 is about players and characters.  I have mentioned that this about the time of my decline in interest in Traveller.  I still enjoyed reading about it, but I never did much more than that.

Letters is a fun bunch this time with people coming to Ken St. Andre's defense over Don Turnbull's letter in #34.  I didn't post anything about that here, but I really should have.  Turnbull felt that T&T was nothing more than a rip off of D&D.  People this month choose to disagree. Next month also promises to be good.

Microview is back and in this month Mike Costello has two BASIC Traveller programs.  He also mentions how greaat it would be to have a character creator software for RuneQuest or D&D.  The programs are simple, but you have to type them out.  I remember typing in EVERY program I saw in a magazine just so I had the practice of doing it.  I don't recall if I ever did these on my trusty TRS-80 Color Computer 2, but I am sure I tried them out on my Jr High's TRS-80 Model 3s.   These programs would have worked on the built in BASIC of the Model 3 (or was it Model III), since it had a Zilog 80 chip.

Our AD&D contribution is The Druid's Duel by Mark Byng.  I remember being quite excited about this since I was playing a druid at the time and gave this to my DM at the time and told him he now had something for my duel before I can advance in level.  Never went through it though.

Open Box has some reviews of classic products.  Nicholas J R Dougan gives The Warlock of Firetop Mountain a 10/10.  Up next is a product I really wanted back in the day and should see if I can find it.  Tollpak was all about playing Trolls in RuneQuest, but honestly you could port the ideas over to any game that has trolls.  It was one of the first "revisionist" books (and I say that with a bit a hesitance, "revisionist" has such negative connotations and I don't mean that here.)  We would see something similar for Orc/Orks in Orkwrold and eventually even goblins and kobolds.  But this was the first. Tim Moyse gives it a 9/10.  We also have Pirates of Plunder (10/10) and some long out of print Traveller books from FASA; Merchant Class Ships (8 or 7/10), Aslan Mercenary Cruisers (6 or 8/10), and The FCI Consumer Guide (9 or 8/10) ranked for Novices and Experts.

Simon Early has some Rules Additions for RuneQuest as this month's RuneRites. Mostly realted to SIZ and climbing.

Lew Pulsipher wraps up his A Guide to Dungeon Mastering with Part III: Some Conclusions.  Mostly this is advice on how to deal with high level characters.  Not to beat a dead horse here, but this material still works today.  This is another one of my choices for my own "Best Of White Dwarf".

Treasure Chest has More Necromantic Abilities for the Necromancer of the last issue.

A couple of pages of ads.   Nothing interesting in the classifieds.
As an aside: Did anyone use classifieds in a magazine to find other gamers?  Did it work? Have any good stories?

A contest to win your very own Mattel Intellivision Advanced Dungeons & Dragons video game cartridge. The first six correct entries to their quick quiz will win.  Deadline December 15, 1982.

A few more pages of ads and finally another ad for Star Frontiers.  Described by the ad  as "the 'playable' one.  Certainly a dig at Traveller.

Remember when the future was silver lamé and hot pants? Well now it is big sunglasses/goggles.

If you are interested in how White Dwarf is doing in good old 2012, check out Lasgunpacker's post last night about the newest issue, http://lasgunpacker.blogspot.com/2012/10/new-style-white-dwarf-review.html

October Challenge: Le Frisson des Vampires (1971)

Le Frisson des Vampires (1971)

Oh. Jean Rollin, you tempt me so.  I enjoyed Fascination and was hoping for something similar here.

I did get something similar here, but this one was not quite as good as Fascination.
Also known as "The Shiver of the Vampires" or "Thrill of the Vampire" this movie features plenty of blood, nudity, lesbian overtones and implied incest. So everything you would expect from a Jean Rollin film.
The film follows the familiar ground of two young lovers coming upon a castle, in this case the castle of the young bride's cousins.  They hear the cousins are dead but go up to the castle anyway.  Here they encounter two servant girls that tell them their Masters will be along soon.  The cousins appear and oddly no one seems shocked.  But then again no one was shocked either at the supposed human sacrifice either.
Isla, the bride, is targeted by a vampire, Isolde that must have been the one that also converted her cousins (who were also former Vampire hunters).  The two servant girls spend most of their time naked or nearly so, oh and they are also lovers.

The movie itself has a lot of issues.  Consitent plot is only the minor one.  Frankly I found myself not really caring for these characters really at all.  Plus the story was a bit dull to be honest. The cinematography was odd with the constant spinning around, but the sets were very cool. Together it did give you the feeling of being somewhere else or even somewhen else.

Plus I was distracted on how much Sandra Julien (Isla) looks like Lily Cole.

Still though. I do enjoy a vampire flick.
You can see scenes from the movie over at this Jean Rollin blog.
http://requiemforjeanrollin.blogspot.com/2009/12/jean-rollin-thrill-of-vampires.html

Tally: Watched 19, New 15

What are you watching?

Back to the Dungeon

Just picked this up today.

I will let you all know how it is.

Monstrous Monday Roundup #3

Here are some more monsters for Monstrous Monday. We are at the half-way mark of October and the big day is just two-weeks away. By that I mean MONSTROUS MONDAY!

From last week at Hit Adjacent Ally, http://hitadjacentally.blogspot.com/2012/10/monstrous-monday-addendum-wax-mockery.html and http://hitadjacentally.blogspot.com/2012/10/monstrous-monday-addendum-charnel-ape.html

We also have,

• Over at my other blog we have Invisible Pink Unicorns, http://freedomofnonbelief.blogspot.com/2012/10/monstrous-mondays-invisible-pink-unicorn.html
• Super Parasites for the DC Adventures RPG, http://punverse.blogspot.com/2012/10/mastermind-monday-dcs-bloodlines.html
• Armor plated elephant thing that "teleports", http://www.savageafterworld.com/2012/10/savage-menagerie-ankylophant.html
• Japanese ghost heads, http://dreamsinthelichhouse.blogspot.com/2012/10/monstrous-monday-nukekubi.html
• Creepy one-eyed snakes, http://towerofthearchmage.blogspot.com/2012/10/new-monster-one-eyed-snake.html
• Cold men, http://sorcerersskull.blogspot.com/2012/10/cold-hands-cold-heart.html
• More Stick-men, this time the Terrible Two-Headed stick man, http://gothridgemanor.blogspot.com/2012/10/monsteorus-monday-savage-two-headed.html
• Tomb Harvesters for WaRP, http://madavid13.blogspot.com/2012/10/monster-monday-tomb-harvesters-for-warp.html
• Headhunter worm, http://talesofthegrotesqueanddungeonesque.blogspot.com/2012/10/monster-monday-headhunter-worm.html?zx=34f53957d54aa967
• Not sure if he is participating, but Zak has a great monster, http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/2012/10/warning-possible-outgrabe.html?zx=67eda53626bdedbf
• and one of my faves, the Succubus, http://daddygrognard.blogspot.com/2012/10/an-adventure-for-every-monster-succubus.html
• Jenny Haniver, Sea Clergy, and Morkoths, http://rolesrules.blogspot.fr/2012/10/monster-monday-jenny-haniver-sea-clergy.html
• Dragonette Swarm, http://thedwarvenstronghold.blogspot.com/2012/10/monstrous-monday-dragonette-swarm.html
• Zombie Cow! http://silverdivinityrpg.blogspot.com/2012/10/monstorous-monday-zombie-cow.html

Happy to see so many cool monsters!

October Challenge: Red Lights (2012)

Red Lights (2012)

This one is a bit hard to classify.  It is certainly a thriller and has horror elements.  Plus just when you think it is all figured out, it gets turned on it's head.
I will say this though. It was a good flick and kept me interested till very end.  The cast is great,  Cillian Murphy is fantastic and Sigourney Weaver and Robert De Niro are equally good as opponents.  My surprise was Elizabeth Olsen, the "other" Olsen sister.  She is quite good as well.  Though I'll admit I didn't quite buy relationship between Murphy's character and hers.  Oh well.

The movie itself deals with a couple of paranormal investigators (Murphy and Weaver) and their attempts to disprove various claims of the supernatural. This eventually leads them into a confrontation with DeNiro's character a Yuri Gellar type coming out of retirement for another show.

I don't want to ruin the movie for you, except to say that it starts out as a paranormal movie (ala Paranormal Activity) turns into something else, and then again.

The question here is not is this a good movie (it is) it's whether or not it can be classified as horror.  I was ready to say no till I got to the very end and then changed my mind.  Your mileage may vary of course.

I think that since I am couple of movies ahead right now I will call it horror and pick up a couple of extra ones.  There has to be something from the 70s I haven't seen yet.


Tally: Watched 18, New 14

What are you watching?

The Awakened Golem

Golems are a big part of the D&D game.  Well. Maybe not a *big* part, but they have their part to play.  What is interesting about them though is the varieties of myths that were pulled together to make them.
The word Golem and the Clay Golem monster have their roots in Jewish folklore, horror and film.  The Flesh Golem is an homage to Frankenstein and his monster.
Other Golems come from a variety of places.  The Iron and Stone Golems seem to have basis in tales, but the most likely origin seems to be the films featuring the Ray Harryhausen monsters, in particular the giant statue from Jason and the Argonauts (whose fertile ground also gave us Skeletons).

The one thing that many of these stories have that the RPG monster does not though is the semblance of true life.  After all.  A Golem with no life that does it's business is no big deal.  But give it a spark of true life and suddenly you have horror.

The Awakened Golem then is a Golem that has been "Awakened", it has a spark of true life.  This is either by accident such as a word or letter is mis-coded in a Clay Golem, or the personality of the original body lives on in the Flesh Golem, or the animating spirit in the Druther overrides the witch's control, or even the golem becomes the vessel of some spirit of vengeance.  What ever the cause a living soul is now in procession of a body that it can only see as an abomination.

Different types of Golems have different chance of Awakening.  This percent is rolled when the golem is made or under special circumstance; such as a nearby tragic death, or a bolt of eldritch lighting hits it.
(These Golems have appeared in various editions of the game)

Statue (any golem made to be a statue):  2%
Iron, Stone, Amber, Silver, Mud (any non-living mater): 5%
Clay, Wood, Druther, Bone (formerly living matter): 10%
Flesh, Corpse (formerly a sentient being): 15%  +5% if body parts come a wrongly convicted murderer.
Plush (special Ravenloft golem): Plush golems and stuffed toys are better handled as an  Imaginary Friend or a Boogey.

In most cases the Awakened Golem will be Chaotic, or at best Neutral.  Some rare cases will occur when the awakened Golem will be Lawful.

The changes to the monster will be a greater intelligence (at least Average, often more) and a blinding hate for whomever created it.  The Awakened Golem, even Lawful ones, will be driven to write some percieved wrong.  An Awakened Golem might want to kill their creator, or kill everyone.  Or it might want to discover the killer of some innocent.  What ever  the motivation it should be tied directly to their origin story.

The Awakend Golem gains HD over their non-awakened counterparts. Better AC and attacks.
Despite their origin and/or appearance, Awakened Golmes are not undead.  They are still immune to the effects of mind affecting spells, sleep, charm and hold.  They do not need to eat (but might do it out of habit) and can not be healed.  Awakended Golems regenerate 2 hp per round, even if reduced below 0hp.  Only fire can completely destroy them since they do not regenerate after fire damage.

Awakened Golem (Flesh Golem)

Armor Class:  0 [22]
Hit Dice: 10d8+15* (60 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 (fistsl)
Damage:  2d8/2d18
Special: immunities, regeneration
Movement: 30’ (90')
No. Appearing: 1
Saves As: Fighter 12
Morale: 12
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 2800

The Creature (as he is know) is an Awakened Flesh golem. He stands over 7 feet tall and has greenish cadaverous skin. Despising what he sees  himself to be he killed his creator and terrified a nearby village. He currently lives in a cave where he prefers to stay in peace, reading books on philosophy.
If he is disturbed though he will fly into a violent rage and kill anyone that disturbs him. He will not though attack children.
The Creature has been killed many times, only regenerate from the smallest scraps.

OGL Section 15 The Awakened Copyright 2012 Timothy S. Brannan.
All text is Open under the terms of the OGL.
Links are not considered part of this entry and are not under the OGL.

How I learned to stop worrying...

and like the Realms.
(I don't quite love them yet)

I have always been a Greyhawk fan. Some of my very first games were looking for ancient Suel mysteries or exploring the dirty streets of the Free City of Greyhawk.   While I ran my adventures in the Known World of Mystara, I played in Oerth and Greyhawk.

For years I even combined the two into one world, and that worked out pretty well.

I remember reading about the Realms in Dragon Mag and I was never impressed.  The increased fetishization of the Drow and Drizzt worship turned me off as well. I can't tell you how much I despised "Lloth", it's LOLTH goddamn it. Any way. I saw the Realms as an upstart to Greyhawk and not even a good one to be honest.   This oddly enough was right around the same time I played my first game of OD&D set in Greyhawk.  To me Realms fans were snotty little kids with delusions of adequacy.

My opinions have softened since then.

This weekend before last I was at the Games Plus game auction.  I was able to pick up the Forgotten Realms books for 1st and 2nd Ed. AD&D.  I picked up the 3rd ed stuff a while back and had the 4e stuff from Half-Price books.  All in all I was able to get all these books for under 50 bucks total.

The 1st Ed box is in fantastic shape, minus some shelf wear.  The 3 and 4e books are in mint condition.

I have been using the Realms for the 4e game I am running and I have been enjoying it.
Sure, I am still using elements from the Points of Light campaign that 4e is built around, but all of it is in the new version of the Realms.  There are lot of things that came together nicely for this for me really.  In the 4e game I am running the kids are going to go after Orcus.  Much the same way as the old H1-4 Bloodstone series a while back.  That was set in the Realms, so it is kind of fitting really. Plus it would help me flesh out some of the 4e Orcus arc (HPE series).  Not sure how I'll fit Hell into it all, but I might not have to worry about it.

I love the gonzo feeling of two worlds mystically crashing into each other.  I like that the place has some history to it.  Plus I really liked the 3e Realms book. This might irritate some long time Realms fans, but I think the Realms fits better with 3e and 4e.  Greyhawk is better for 1st ed and the like.  At least in my mind.

So maybe it's my age or something, but I feel I can finally sit back and appreciate what the Realms really are and not what I think or thought they were.  I have the main books/sets (for the most part) for all four editions of the game.  Honestly I think that is enough. People have done far more with less.

Here are my other thoughts in my introduction and use of the Realms.
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/12/could-my-answer-be-in-realms.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/03/drow-should-be-lawful-evil-among-other.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/06/new-game-new-world.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/07/gods-of-new-game.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/01/church-of-lolth-ascendant.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/07/nothing-like-sun.html