Memories of A Red Planet - Phantasm 1979 Commentary For Your Old School Horror Campaigns

There are a few films that have changed my life forever. Hellraiser I & II respectively and the Phantasm movies.
 I saw Phantasm when I was nine years old and it was during the same year as Star Wars. It was pretty vicious for its time and remains a favorite of mine.
Wiki describes it ever so subtly - It introduced the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm), a supernatural and malevolent undertaker who turns the dead into dwarf zombies to do his bidding and take over the world.   Actually their used as exploited slave workers in another dimensional local referred to as The Red Planet. 

Major Spoilers AHEAD!
Here 's The Plot according to Wiki: 

Following the death of his parents and brother, 24-year-old musician Jody Pearson raises his 13-year-old brother Mike in a small town disturbed by the mysterious deaths of its citizens. Reggie, a family man and ice cream vendor, joins the brothers in their suspicions that the local mortician, dubbed the Tall Man, is responsible for the deaths. Mike relays his fears to a fortune teller and her granddaughter about the possibility of Jody departing and leaving him in the care of his aunt, along with his suspicions about the Tall Man. Mike is shown a small black box and told to put his hand into it. After the box grips his hand, Mike is told not to be afraid and as the panic subsides, the box relaxes its grip. The notion of fear itself as the killer is established and is what propels Mike toward his final confrontation in the film with the Tall Man.

Mike is pursued by minions of the Tall Man, alien dwarves (which are kept in a small room that houses a gateway device between the two worlds), who are made from the bodies of the recently deceased, and tries to convince his brother of what is happening.

After convincing Mike and Reggie, they find a strange white room with containers in the mausoleum; a gateway to another planet is also there that Mike enters briefly where he sees the alien dwarves that have hunted him being used as slaves. While trying to escape the Tall Man, Reggie is stabbed and appears to die while Mike and Jody barely escape. They devise a plan to lure the Tall Man into a local deserted mine shaft and trap him inside. After doing so successfully, Mike wakes with a start in his house, lying by the fireplace with Reggie sitting next to him.

Reggie tells Mike he was simply having a bad dream, something that has been a common occurrence since Jody died in a car crash. Mike goes into his room where the Tall Man is waiting and an alien dwarf pulls Mike through his bedroom mirror.

The Mega Dungeons of Morningside 

I used to pop this movie into the VCR up in Boston quite often. Often enough to drive the girlfriend of the time up the wall or the crew in the video store. Phantasm has become another "thought exercise" campaign.  The way I see it Phantasm is a coming of age story with horror, misery, grave robbing, the Tall Man, and puberty.
The world of Phantasm isn't our world at all. It's an alternative universe at the start of a Lovecraft alien invasion from another dimension.
This is a world on the razor's edge where the worlds of the dead, dreams, and power are colliding. This is a world on fire and its happening out in the middle of the Midwest. Right in the middle of Everytown USA and the implication is that this is only the beginning. 

 We get our first glimpse of psionic witchcraft with  the fortune teller and her granddaughter.There are overtones of "Dune" like psionics and its our first glimpse of such. It won't be our last in this movie. Countless times I've used the "Order of The Blue Star" in games. A spiritualist like movement that teaches the opening of the invisible eye the gate way to psionic or psychic powers. They usually use a blue star tattoo in the middle of their forehead or on their cheek.

The Morning Side Mega Dungeon  

The Morning side funeral home and cemetery boast a boatload of possibilities. This isn't simply one small dwarf infested funeral home with a space gate.  There might be an underground dwarf processing plant that we never got to see.
The whole of Morning side is covered by the "Tall Man's influence" and the psychic effects of them. He might me anywhere watching at any time.  

Another aspect that we don't get in any other movies is the succubus like "Lavender Lady" a demonic minion or aspect of the "Tall Man" collecting and seducing especially juicy mortals for "processing" or worse.
 The whole of Morningside wasn't explored at all in the film per say. There might be crypts of yellow blooded undead. Zombies, mutant things, and weird tech just waiting down in those vaults. 

Then there's the aspect that never really gets explained. What happened to Mike's cousin and the other girls at the end of the movie? Could they have warned the other locals before the shadow of the Tall Man engulfs them all? 

As I stated earlier the veil between dream and reality of this world is very thin and like all of the fiction of HP Lovecraft and the other pulp greats. The Tall man uses the collective human unconsciousness as a gate way to the past, present, and future.  Anyone messing with the Tall man should be send horrific dreams. And might even wind up in his clutches psychically. 

"After convincing Mike and Reggie, they find a strange white room with containers in the mausoleum; a gateway to another planet is also there that Mike enters briefly where he sees the alien dwarves that have hunted him being used as slaves. While trying to escape the Tall Man" 

Well the heart and "soul" of the cemetery of Morning Side is going to be the Space Gate.
 The Spheres guard it and they will come for anyone trying to break into the place.

Playing In A Version Of The Phantasm Universe 

I've been using this movie for years and the best source for a phantastic timeline of events from the movie is Phantasm Movie Archive. 

Francisco Gabaldón (aka The Spanish Phan) has valiantly written a broad chronicle of Phantasm history to help make sense of it all.Continue reading to traverse his completed timeline. You can find it right over Here

Alright gaming in the first movie universe is going to require a game like Call of Cthulhu or simply a game of "Mutant Future"with all human PC's.
The locals are just starting to wake up to the Tall Man's influence and are forming cells. You can expect a very high body count with PC's as well.
It has been suggested that for a game like Dark Conspiracy that the Tall Man is simply another alien Dark Lord of tremendous power.  In Torg I've used him as a Highlord of incredibly psionic potential who uses telekinesis throughout the film.
In Kult he's a forgotten god hell bent on taking back his  own portion of the illusion.
With D&D I've made him a death god in his own right and given him some psionic abilities. I also had him connected with the Mi Go as a god of theirs.
 Recently ,The Field Guide To Doomsday blog had a phan write up of the spheres In The Mutant Future Supplement Spawn of Devastation Drive In. A free download available right over HERE.

I'd like to thank The Phantasm Archives for their awesome site.
Right HERE
And of course The Official Phantasm site right HERE

This blog entry is for entertainment purposes and as phan discussion only. This is not meant as a challenge to the trade mark or copyright of the phantasm movies or their trademark holders. Opinions expressed are the authors.
Thank you. 

The Many Bloodlines of "The Bat" For Your Old School Horror Campaign

 The Bat is play that has weaved its way through the folk lore of America like a cancer. The play concerns not a hero but a killer looking for his ill gotten gain from the jaws of Hell itself.
 According to wiki: 

 The film is based on the 1920 mystery play The Bat, written by Avery Hopwood and Mary Roberts Rinehart.

The Bat premiered as a Broadway play on August 23, 1920, at the Morosco Theatre in New York City. The melodrama mystery was produced by Wagenhals and Collin Kemper, who also staged the show. The play closed in September 1922 after 867 performances.

Two Broadway revivals of The Bat soon followed. The first of these opened on May 31, 1937, at the Majestic Theatre, and closed that June after just 18 performances. The second of these opened on June 20, 1953, at the National Theatre, and closed on February 7, 1953, after 23 performances.

The first version of the play was filmed in 1926 and has many of the elements of the hit play intact.
The second version of the film according to wiki :"Director Roland West remade his film four years later in 1930 as The Bat Whispers, which starred Chester Morris and Una Merkel."

The plot remains the same throughout the films and the original play(well mostly with slight variations and twists as well as turns on the theme.)
The plot according to Wiki: A mysterious criminal by the name of "The Bat" eludes police and then finally announces his retirement to the country, while a wealthy Cornelia Van Gorder takes up residence in the estate of a famous banker. Along with her maid Lizzie, her niece Dale, and a bank teller disguised as a gardener, she is terrorized by a series of strange events seemingly set in motion by the mysterious bat. Possible suspects include a doctor, an elderly police lieutenant, a butler, a handyman, and a big-city cop.

Here is a trailer of  "The Bat Whispers" cut into the style of the Dark Knight Rises and it illustrates where I'm going with this.
 My favorite version is the 1959 film with Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead
Agnes Moorehead was no stranger to the world of the macab and eerie in her own right. She was a star of the Orson Wells Mercury Theater and was a character actress of no small repute with numerous plays,radio dramas, film and television credits to her name before the days of "Bewitched".
 


The Plot According to Wiki : 

Cornelia Van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead) is a mystery author who lives in a town terrorized by a mysterious murderer known only as "The Bat". The Bat is said to be a man with no face who murders women at night by ripping out their throats with steel claws. Early in the film, The Bat enters Van Gorder's house and releases a bat, which bites van Gorder's maid Lizzy (Lenita Lane). With Lizzy in a panic, fearing she may now have contracted "the rabies", an outbreak of which local papers have reported, Van Gorder calls her doctor, Dr Malcolm Wells (Vincent Price), who is conducting research on bats.

Meanwhile, the whole town is searching for a million-dollar stash of looted bank securities that were recently stolen. Dr. Wells discovers the location of the treasure when the thief confides in him. Wells then murders the thief in cold blood, presumably so that he can take the treasure for himself, which he believes to be hidden in van Gorder's house.

A series of break-ins and murders by The Bat brings the local chief of detectives, Andy Anderson (Gavin Gordon) to the Van Gorder house. The Bat then murders two people in the Van Gorder house, Mark Fleming (John Bryant) and Judy Hollander (Darla Hood). Anderson attempts to determine the identity of The Bat, suspecting both Wells and Van Gorder's new butler, Warner (John Sutton). Wells is removed from suspicion, however, when he is murdered by The Bat in his lab.

Miss Van Gorder cleverly manages to capture The Bat inside the secret room in her house.

The Full Film Right Here

Using The "Bat" For Your Old School Horror Campaign

Mining the bat is fun and easy. I've used these movies for horror games numerous times and every time the PC's never saw it coming. 

The "Bat" isn't a figure of good like a certain Dark Knight instead he's a figure of utter mystery and horror whose been operating  from 1920 till 1959. A murdering psychopathic killer taking lives and loot where he wants. He's a vile figure of horror in the grand tradition of the pulps.
A mysterious criminal by the name of "The Bat" eludes police and then finally announces his retirement to the country. This of course is a ruse and allows our "Bat" to move through the years with a series of grand thefts,flashy murders, and a trail of broken bodies in his wake. Van Gorder's house is a perfect megadungeon of horror right here in good old New England. This is only the latest in a series of lairs of the "Bat". In the Van Gorder's house I built in a series of underground passages, weird rooms, and horrid hellscapes for the players to stumble upon. 
Each and every time the "Bat" need to elude police another dupe was used to take the real one's place. 
For over 2 years the "Bat" appeared in The World of Darkness, Call of Cthulhu, Kult as an awakened killer trying to shock people into dealing with the reality of Metropolis. 

I've used the Bat though out history as a sort of family tradition passed along bloodlines throughout history and every age. Dr Malcolm Wells doesn't acknowledge the family curse that stalks him and his kin through the ages but its there. Always lurking in the background and rearing its ugly head in every generation.
How many more will feel the claws of the bat that faceless killer who strikes from the shadows. A man with no face who murders women at night by ripping out their throats with steel claws.
 In Call of Cthulhu I created the Cult of the Bat. A family who worships " The Haunter In The Dark" taking their victims by ripping out their throats with steel claws. 
This same cult appeared in AD&D and OD&D quite often bedeviling a paladin in my games with regularity. 
 The sound track of the Bat is also very moody and eerie setting the stage for a great night's entertainment.

DIY Grind House Torg Setting Take Three - The Dungeon Master

Mestema: "In a future reality I shall destroy you!" 

Paul: "I reject your reality and I substitute my own.

There are bad and then there's Richard Band bad of movies. Back in the 90's I got into a number of his movies. The name is known among trashtastic,cult movie goers,video store owners and like. You can read more about Band right over Here

After reading the Torg rule book one night on break at the video shop I thought of this old movie. Flipped it into the VCR and hit play. 

The Plot according to Wiki : 

Paul Bradford is a skilled computer programmer who lives with his girlfriend, Gwen, and "X-CaliBR8," a quasi-sentient personal computer that Paul programmed and which he interacts with via a neural interface. Gwen is jealous of Paul's unusually close relationship with X-CaliBR8, to whom Paul has given a female voice, and fears that their relationship will be destroyed by Paul's reliance on X-CaliBR8 for his various day-to-day activities.

One night, Paul and Gwen are both transported to a Hellish realm presided over by Mestema, an ancient, demonic sorcerer who has spent millennia seeking a worthy opponent with whom to do battle. Having long defeated his enemies with magic, Mestema has become intrigued with technology, and wishes to pit his skills against Paul's, with the winner claiming Gwen. Arming Paul with a portable version of X-CaliBR8 (which takes the form of a computerized wrist band), Mestema begins transporting Paul into a variety of scenarios in which he must defeat various opponents. Most of the challenges involve Paul using his X-CaliBR8 wristband to shoot people, monsters, and objects with laser beams.

After Paul completes Mestema's various challenges, the two engage in a final battle, which takes the form of a fist fight in which Paul kills Mestema by throwing him into a pit of lava. After Mestema dies, Paul and Gwen are transported back to their house, where Gwen expresses her acceptance of X-CaliBR8 and suggests that she and Paul get married.

Using The Dungeon Master 
The idea of a party being challenged by a minor demon lord/alien sorcerer appealed to me. Cross dimensional adventurers going at it balls to the walls against inter dimensional invader warlords and their minions. This was the chance for the PC's to get back some of their own against a minor inter dimensional warlord.
 The basic plot was "The Dungeon Master Part II". Mestema, an ancient, demonic sorcerer who has spent millennia seeking a worthy opponents with whom to do battle. After letting Paul get on with his life Mestema plots and begins going through his collection of pocket universes. 

Basically my version of Mestema is a demonic conman passing himself as "Satan" and selling tickets to his "games". Each of which takes place in a different pocket dimension.
He's got a few minor demon overlords at his command and a few "Empire of The Petal Throne"pocket universes to play with. 
 Rat Spit minor acolyte of Orcus and major pain in the rear. Commands 1d20 zombies at a time. 
 The situation lends itself to using any number of players getting zapped around these "dead planes" and getting themselves in huge amounts of trouble.
As a dimensional warlord  Mestema is a bit of a mid level threat.
 
He's conquered a few universes but he's small time. He's the perfect foil for a party as an introduction or as a huge threat. He's going to use demonic legions at his command. Use something rolled up from the Appendix D  "Random Generation of Creatures From The Lower Planes" page 194 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. A bit of irony there.
Let me restate here the idea .

The idea here is that the world is invaded by various realms each controlled by a Highlord.  First this is going to be a grind house version of Torg. In other words "B" movie versions of the standard rpg trope worlds. The worlds have changed slightly. 

1. Europe -Stormbringer The Young Kingdoms with touches of Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings. Nasty weird faced orcs, goblins, giants,trolls,etc. stalking among the ruins of France. 
2. Greenland and Iceland  - The Melnibone realms - Decadent pleasure palaces of the fallen Elven warriors/wizards among the volcanoes and green rolling hills.
3. The UK - The Great Britain of the future of Dorian Hawkmoon with an overlap of the Amerika of Jerry Cornelius. 
4. USSR - Crypts And Things With touches of Fire and Ice Ralph Bakshi Realm 
5. Canada - The Super soldier reality of Underground 
6. United States -  A. East Coast - Realms of Crawling Chaos - This is the pulp realm of New England. B. The West Coast - post apocalyptic world of Mutant Future/Metamorphosis Alpha. A "Road Warrior style world" think 80's television like Airwolf, The Highway man, etc. 
7. Mexico and South America - The Empires of the Petal Throne 
8. China and India - Carcosa reality 
9. Austrilia - The Talaslinta realms 
10. Japan and Indonesia - Cyberpunk 2020 
11. Africa- The Naked Lunch Realms - Over The Edge -  
12. Anarticia - The "At The Mountains of Madness" Realms 
    
    So if this was going to be a mid level game and we were using one of the various retroclones to deal with this type of campaign. I'd go with Mutant Future And Labyrinth Lord. Add pocket universe setting of your choose. 

I first watched it as a kid, and was blown away by the utter cheesiness of this fiasco. The highlight was seeing WASP in one of the "vignettes" complete with the requisite rocker dudes and aqua net babes...what can I say, I found this movie again at a store for $5.00 last week, and could not resist.
 I've always thought of Mestema  as an evil version of the same race as the Dungeon Master from the AD&D cartoon. Each week causing the PC's more demonic grief and problems. 
The group of players I had at the time last two months through this fiasco of a campaign and its only now a thought exercise. If you really want to piss a group of Kult or Call of Cthlhu players put them through this one. 

Dead Men Walk Movie 1943 For Your Old School Horror Campaign

I actually like Dead Men Walk a vampire yarn from 1943. The movie is incredibly flawed but I've used it numerous times for  Call of Cthulhu convention games. It lends itself quite easily to a party of New England adventurers blundering into the situation. 

 The plot according to wiki :

The story involves a kindly small-town physician Doctor Lloyd Clayton (George Zucco), who attends the funeral of his twin brother, the evil magician Elwyn, whom he has secretly murdered because of the latter's deep involvement in the occult sciences. Evil Elwyn's hunchback assistant Zolarr (Dwight Frye) suspects the good doctor of doing away with his master and confronts him on this matter, but the doctor swears that he only acted in self defense when his brother had become a danger to society. Unfortunately, the evil twin brother had gone too far meddling with the dark arts before his demise, and with the help of his assistant he returns to life as a vampire. The doctor and his beautiful young niece, Gayle Clayton (Mary Carlisle) soon discover that evil forces still are at work even after Elwyn's funeral and are horrified to learn that the resurrected Elwyn is set on a gruesome revenge against his brother and his niece.^[1]

Full Movie 

Dead Men Walk Movie 1943 For Your Old School Horror Campaign 

 So there is actually quite a bit to mine here. We've got an entire cast of NPCS here.
There are a few differences between the vampires of Dead Men and many other movies. 

Elwyn doesn't seem to need as much blood as other vampires perhaps because of his "Satanic" origins, He's quite psychically powerful  and has a few additional powers. He can remotely view anyone within the small town telepathically should he concentrate on them. He's able to fade in and out of shadows remotely traveling, can project nightmares into his victims, and cause all kinds of trouble with his knowledge of black magic.
He's got quite the Alester Crowley aura about him. He also seems to an anthropologist or an adventurer in his own right. He's traveled the world in his search for black arts texts and artifacts. Even after his destruction at the hands of his brother there could still be hidden caches of books and artifacts just waiting to conjure up all kinds of trouble. 

 His hunchback assistant Zolarr is another interesting case. He must be his master's acolyte and might have the based of  black magic knowledge. His master didn't share any real secrets and must have been holding back on him. At most he manages the day to day business for Elwyn. However there was something of the savage psychopathic murderer about him. He might have been doing far more then being a mere servant and might have been a closet serial killer in his own right. He might have been stashing some loot in hidden places.
 

The Doctor Lloyd Clayton had his own secrets behind his claim country exterior. He may or may not have murdered Elwyn. There are some real cagey secrets about this man. He comes from money, is very well educated and seems to know a bit about the dark forces on his own. Growing up with his brother must have prepared him for the final encounter. It didn't take much to push him into the position of believer of the occult. Does his soul rest easy these days after the final push with Elwyn?

The doctor and his beautiful young niece might be the perfect foil for adventurers should the vampire ghost of Elywn return. Both of these nice folks have had more then a brush with the supernatural and the dark forces of Hell itself. As patrons,doctor, and more these folks are perfect for victims or as assistance to a small town New England party. 

Could there be more then mere blood in the veins of Gayle Clayton? Perhaps her grand daughter or grandson has an unhealthy interest in the dark forces of the occult? Perhaps he or she might be a force for good against the Mythos or the dark forces of Satan? 

Ten Reasons To Use Dead Men Walk 

1. The movie isn't well known at all. Its perfect for an introductory game of Call of Cthlhu because of its slower pace and low level menace. 
2. The movie's plot has more then a few lead offs for other adventures. 
3. The movie's monster is an individual who doesn't conform to the usual vampire tropes and could throw a party with some of his abilities. 
4. The movie's small town location is a nice change of pace from the busy 1920's or 40's CoC city. 
5. The menace has a dark fiery ending but leaves possibilities behind. 
6. Are the Clayton's cursed? Could there be more then mere chance in the bloodline? Are Satanic forces still surrounding the family?  Your party needs to find out
7. The setting of the film lends itself to many other venues. 
8. Dark forces of Satan are still out there and only our party can help. 
9. Was the doctor sure he got all of the treasures that his brother had? Could there be a "Satanic"coven even now plotting to bring Elywn back from beyond the grave even now? 
10. There are some things man wasn't mean to know Dead Men Walk wasn't one of them. 

Happy Gaming and enjoy! 

DIY Grind House Torg Setting Take Two - City Of The Walking Dead aka Nightmare City

Friday night mean gaming and I'm thinking back to the 90's when I lived in Boston and worked during the week and had a part time job on the weekend working in a video store. The store was in some back alley. It was a place with neon signage in the front and porn in the back with lots of seedy customers. It also had the very best horror/sci fi section in the entire city. My girlfriend hated it and so I was in heaven.
I saw a metric ton of movies from best to the crap. I worked from Saturday evening to the wee hours of Sunday.
 It was a crap job but I didn't care and besides I got to read White Dwarf,Dragon, Challenge, or whatever magazine was handy. It was Torg that really was my drug of choose back then. But Torg never lived up to its promise. Cross dimensional adventurers going at it balls to the walls against inter dimensional invader warlords and their minions. 
I'm thinking about this post on Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque about DIY Torg again. You can read this marvelous post right over Here 
 Again for those of you not familiar with Torg; here's a brief overview of Torg according to wiki:"Torg is set in a near future setting, known officially as "the near now." At the games's starting point this world has been subjected for several months to a year, to a pan dimensional invasion by a series of "High Lords" who have changed the natural laws of large swaths of Earth to reflect those of their home dimensions. The players assume the role of "Storm Knights", people from Earth and the various invading realms, who possess limited reality altering abilities, and who oppose the plans of the High Lords."

The idea here is that the world is invaded by various realms each controlled by a Highlord.  First this is going to be a grind house version of Torg. In other words "B" movie versions of the standard rpg trope worlds. The worlds have changed slightly. 

1. Europe -Stormbringer The Young Kingdoms with touches of Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings. Nasty weird faced orcs, goblins, giants,trolls,etc. stalking among the ruins of France. 
2. Greenland and Iceland  - The Melnibone realms - Decadent pleasure palaces of the fallen Elven warriors/wizards among the volcanoes and green rolling hills.
3. The UK - The Great Britain of the future of Dorian Hawkmoon with an overlap of the Amerika of Jerry Cornelius. 
4. USSR - Crypts And Things With touches of Fire and Ice Ralph Bakshi Realm 
5. Canada - The Super soldier reality of Underground 
6. United States -  A. East Coast - Realms of Crawling Chaos - This is the pulp realm of New England. B. The West Coast - post apocalyptic world of Mutant Future/Metamorphosis Alpha. A "Road Warrior style world" think 80's television like Airwolf, The Highway man, etc. 
7. Mexico and South America - The Empires of the Petal Throne 
8. China and India - Carcosa reality 
9. Austrilia - The Talaslinta realms 
10. Japan and Indonesia - Cyberpunk 2020 
11. Africa- The Naked Lunch Realms - Over The Edge -  
12. Anarticia - The "At The Mountains of Madness" Realms 

 Since this is a thought exercise the PC's have advance a couple of levels. They're ready for a bigger challenge. A city that has been over run by hordes of radioactive undead from beyond the grave. 

I'm not going to pretend that this is a great movie. Its a crap fest but it makes a great location to loot and lots of undead slaughter. 

So this is your standard zombie flick with nothing new. Not quite.

        Warning! Trailer contains gore and boobies. Not Safe For Work.

The plot according to Wiki: 

The American television news reporter Dean Miller (Hugo Stiglitz) waits at an unnamed European airport for the arrival of a scientist that he is about to interview regarding a recent nuclear accident. An unmarked military plane makes an emergency landing. The plane doors open and dozens of zombies burst out and begin stabbing and shooting the military personnel outside. Miller tries to let the people know of this event, but General Murchison of Civil Defense (Mel Ferrer) will not allow it. Miller tries to find his wife Anna who works at a hospital as the zombies begin to overrun the city.

Miller and his wife escape to an abandoned amusement park that is also overrun with zombies. The two climb to the top of a roller coaster and are about to be rescued by a military helicopter. Miller then wakes up revealing the whole situation to be a dream. Miller also learns that today he is about to meet a scientist at the airport. When he arrives a military plane makes an emergency landing.

Using  City Of The Walking Dead aka Nightmare City

The movie is a real downer as the break down of civilization is shown in all its low budget zombie glory. Alright so its a real downer unless your sending in a competent team of PCs. One of the things I used to love was how Torg had adventurers going after relics, antiques  artifacts.  

There's almost no reason that this same formula couldn't be used again. There are museums  antique shops,stories, banks, etc. All waiting for group of players to teleport in and begin raiding and kicking butt. 

There are some exceptions to the usual zombie rules with this one as well. The zombies are fast moving, semi intelligent, they use weapons mostly blades. Knives, tools, etc. for the most blood and gore. They have the regeneration abilities of trolls in OD&D.
They are fast,deadly, hungry, and mutated. 
Each time they see blood there is a 60% chance of the monster dropping everything and chowing down on the nearest corpse. 

Here are some reasons to use "City of the Undead"

1. The zombies are fast, moving and players aren't going to be expecting these bastards to use weapons. 
2. The film isn't well known at all. The city provides endless megadungeon zombie action. 
3. The city's location is flexible. It might be Milan, Rome, or some city between Spain and some other 80's European hot spot. 
4. What about that military presence in the movie? The bunker where the generals are holed up in might contain any number of secrets. 
5. The zombies seem to have the standard tropes of OD&D zombies except they regenerate as trolls and their flesh looks like burnt and melted wax. 
6. There will be a random 1d20 zombie horde each time the PC's stay in one location for more then 1d4 rounds. 
7. The location boasts low scale early 80's technology with decent weapons. 
8. The "Rot world" vibe 70's/80's style runs throughout the film. There's also the possibility of radiation contamination when visiting. For every 1d3 days there is a 40% chance of picking up stray rads depending on your table top rpg system of choose. 
9. There's some weird metaphysical stuff happening in the background of the movie and its perfect for adding a bit of low level magic to the setting. 
10. To run the game I'd be using Mutant Future with a strong Labyrinth Lord overtone to the system. 
11. Remember the zombies use weapons and seem to have a knack for really planning the maximum pain to deal  a party of adventurers. 
12. Fast zombies that can use weapons, even guns, and are capable of intelligent thought. They plot a strategic offensive to take over the city, hitting the airport, then the TV stations and the power plant. This is going to throw players and you bet that these guys are going to plan traps for the player. 
13. The usual head shots for taking out one of these monsters continues to work. Body shots are almost useless. 
14. There's a weird metaphysical aspect to the movie. This world might be a low level magical plane or could a world moving into an era when the Old Ones or the Chaos gods return. 
15. With the undead mutating further who knows what the characters might run into. Think the Resident Evil games here or something similar. 

Apparently there's been a "take down" order of this movie. You can find it in the bargain basement dollar sections of drug stores, pawn shops, etc.  
CITY OF THE WALKING DEAD is a stone cold hoot that every zombie-film enthusiast needs to see at least once and makes an excellent mid level adventure location for a Grind House Torg game.

The Anniversary of The Death Of HP Lovecraft

Rest In Peace Mr.Lovecraft.

'That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die'.

"H.P. Lovecraft died on the morning of March the 15th, 1937. He was 47 years old and worth about 500 dollars"

FREE Vancian Magic Supplement PDF And Quick Commentary

 Gorgon Milk has collected a number of very cool and insightful variation on the FREE Vancian Magic System that he's been working on. As a DM we all need more variations into the magic system that is the basis for our hobby. Also we need more weirdness and utter insanity even in OD&D. This is a good start. Also its free.

 The Contents : 

The ZIP contains...

92-page printable PDF booklet

8.5" x 11" PNG cover

SUPPLEMENT CONTENTS

"Turjan of Miir" and "Mazirian the Mage" by Jack Vance

Four articles on Vancian Magic by Gary Gygax

Complete six-level Vancian spell lists by Shadrac MQ

This suppliment is a great start. The finished version with all corrections will be available tonight! In the meantime you can take a look right over HERE

The Legacy OF Hyde -Dr. Jekyll And Mr.Hyde John Barrymore 1920

 

This story of split personality, has Dr. Jekyll a kind and charitable man who believes that everyone has two sides, one good and one evil. Using a potion, his personalities are split, creating havoc.

Full Movie 

The Plot According To Wiki : 

Henry Jekyll (John Barrymore) is a doctor of medicine, but he is also an "idealist,philanthropist." When he is not treating the poor in his free clinic, he is in his laboratory experimenting. Sir George Carew (Brandon Hurst), the father of his fiancée, Millicent (Martha Mansfield), is "piqued" by Dr. Jekyll. "No man could be as good as he looks," Carew says.

John Barrymore (right) as Mr Hyde with an uncredited Louis Wolheim as a dance hall owner

Following dinner one night, Carew taunts Dr. Jekyll in front of their friends, Edward Enfield (Cecil Clovelly), Dr. Lanyon (Charles Lane) and Utterson (J. Malcolm Dunn) proclaiming "In devoting yourself to others, Jekyll, aren't you neglecting the development of your own life?" "Isn't it by serving others that one develops oneself," Jekyll replies. "Which self? Man has two - as he has two hands. Because I use my right hand, should I never use my left? Your really strong man fears nothing. It is the weak one who is afraid of experience. A man cannot destroy the savage in him by denying its impulses. The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. With your youth, you should live - as I have lived. I have memories. What will you have at my age?"

And thus the seed is sown, and Jekyll begins his experiments. As he observes, "Wouldn't it be marvellous if the two natures in man could be separated - housed in different bodies? Think what it would mean to yield to every evil impulse, yet leave the soul untouched!" Finally, Jekyll develops a potion that turns him into a hideously evil creature that he calls Edward Hyde. As this creature, he is not recognizable as Dr. Jekyll, and, so, to facilitate the comings and goings of Hyde, he tells his servant, Poole (George Stevens), that Hyde is to have "full authority and liberty about the house."

Jekyll thus begins to live his double life. Hyde sets up a room in one of the seediest parts of London. He brings in a girl from the dance hall, Gina (Nita Naldi), to live with him there and frequents opium dens, dance halls, and bars - any place that satisfies his evil desires. Although Jekyll has developed a potion that will also return him to his original appearance and character as Dr. Jekyll, each time he takes the potion to become Edward Hyde, he worsens. He not only looks more evil, he becomes more evil, as well.

Millicent Carew is worried about the absence of her fiancé, so Sir George goes to call on Jekyll to see what is the matter. Although Jekyll is not home when he calls, Sir George encounters Hyde in the street just as he knocks a small boy to the ground injuring him. To make recompense for his actions, he goes and gets a check which he returns to the boy's father. Carew notices that the check has been signed by Dr. Jekyll. He confronts Poole who tells him the story of Edward Hyde.

In the meantime, Hyde/Jekyll has returned to the lab and, after drinking the potion, returns to his original self. Sir George finds him in the lab and demands to know his relationship with "a vile thing like Hyde?"

"What right have you to question me - you who first tempted me?" says Jekyll. Sir George angrily retorts that unless Jekyll is forthcoming with an explanation, he must object to his marriage to Millicent. This angers Jekyll to the point that he suddenly becomes Hyde, right in front of Sir George's eyes, without benefit of the potion. Sir George runs into the courtyard where Hyde catches him and clubs him to death with his walking stick. Hyde runs to his apartment and destroys any evidence that may link him to Jekyll. He eludes the police by only minutes and returns to his lab where he is able to drink the potion that restores him as Jekyll.

In the ensuing days, as Millicent grieves, Jekyll is tortured by his misdeeds. Soon, the drug needed to make the potion that will return him as Dr. Jekyll is depleted and cannot be found in all of London. Jekyll stays locked up in his lab fearing he may become Hyde at any moment. Millicent finally goes to see him, but just as she is about to enter the lab, he begins to transform into Hyde. Jekyll consumes the poison in the ring he took from the Italian dancer before he opens the door, fully transformed into Hyde. He lets her in, locks the door and grabs her in his arms. Suddenly, he starts convulsing. Millicent runs from the lab and when Lanyon comes in, he finds Hyde sitting in a chair, having just died, and his appearance returned to that of Dr. Jekyll. He discerns that Jekyll committed suicide, and calls the others (Poole, Utterson and Millicent) in, but declares to them that Hyde has killed Dr. Jekyll. In the final shot, Millicent is grieving next to the body of Dr. Jekyll.

Mining Dr. Jekyll And Mr.Hyde John Barrymore 1920 For Your Old School Horror Campaign 

 There is a metric ton here to mine. The silent era film makes a great jump off point for a Gaslight Cthlhu game. The loose ends of the film allow a DM to weave his players in and out of the action as the descent of Jekyll begins. 
There are a few loose ends as the movie progresses. For example,  He brings in a girl from the dance hall, Gina (Nita Naldi), to live with him there and frequents opium dens, dance halls, and bars - any place that satisfies his evil desires. There is the Italian dancing girl that Hyde has living with him. The implication that she might be pregnant is slightly staggering. Imagine the Jekyll and Hyde formula racing through a baby's body and the implications of a child growing up under its influence. 

Then there's the laboratory of the good doctor at the end of the film. Does it hold the secret to this weirdly menacing formula? What sort of soul wrenching spiritual transformation might this do in the wrong hands. 

There's also the clinic with its wide array of potential NPC's just waiting for someone to flesh these characters out. They're still going to need help no matter what. So what's the connection? 

There was something weird and slightly sinister about the meetings that the various older gentlemen that had business with Jekyll. They seemed almost like a secret society and more on the higher end of the scale of weird conspiracy cults. 

 Then there's Hyde's apartment  in the Soho section of London. What weird secrets does this place hold. Could a copy of the formula be hidden in some secret compartment or a hidden floor board along with a stash of drugs and supplies. 

 Then there's the little matter of that will of Jekyll's and his other hidden lairs throughout London.  Could the other professionals that Jekyll knew even to the very end know more then they're telling? 

The megadungeons of the opium dens of London. The weird mazes of drug hazed strangeness where Hyde had his meetings with fellow sinners. Could Hyde have met up with cultists and other esoteric types and shared his secrets of  "things men wasn't meant to know".  It seems to me that this film could well be a jump off point for an entire campaign. This film might be the be legacy for a whole pack of horror trouble for your game.