Five Dimensional Mirrors Into The Great Beyond For Your Old School Horror Campaigns

Five Dimensional Mirrors Into The Great Beyond

“I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then” 
― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

Introduction 
These mirrors reflect and change anything that they see. Each one opens to various times and places as well as having an intelligence and alien view point toward PC's that they encounter. No one comes away from them unchanged. These dark hued glasses show things through a glass darkly. Beware not to gaze into them to long for they will take more then your mere reflection.

Not Mere Treasure 

“No, no! The adventures first, explainations take such a dreadful time.” 

― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
 Each glass is a piece of art created to through a twisted combination of slaved spirit and foul twisted dimensional occult art. They may be encountered anywhere or anywhen. Each may dimensionally teleport without error once per week. They each regenerate as trolls and are neutral evil in every sense of the word. Once per day they may devour the soul of one living creature. And they may use one of the following powers. Cast an Illusionist spells  as a third level illusionist, create darkness, and  cause 1d4 points of damage by creating reflections of such upon the skin of their target. Saving throws apply though. 

1. Balakamm- This mirror is a notorious gossip and foul tongue wagger whose doors open into the realm of Hel from the pantheon of the Norse gods. She has been known to sing the praises of dead dreamers and adventurers whom she has killed. She loves to haunt families just starting to rebuild their lives after tragedy and violence  She has been known to gate into households norse undead warrior zombies of a dishoured aspect. These monsters are three hit points each and armed with weapons. They fight as 1st level fighters. She may be bribed with praises and chocolates of the most rare aspect. She may open doorways to the realms of the newly dead. 
2. Balirma- A priestess of Kali in life whose foul deeds in death earned her a place above the mantle piece of her hated enemies. She may open doors to any battle field in time and space. Her former goddess loaths her and will not answer her foul prayers. She may summon a minor demon or two to pester those where she dwells. She hates young lovers and frequently kills one or other of such. She feasts on the souls of those she kills. She often opens doors to strange underworlds not written about in traditional mythologies. She collects the small finger bones of her victims which become part of the strange reliefs of her frame work. 
3. Faulronazglron- A former angel and Watcher now trapped in the form of a mirror doomed to watch humanity he so lusted after. This foul being may open a doorway into any of the nine circles but must be bribed with a poem of beauty and a dream of love. His lust still prevades his actions and he will try to consume the souls of any comely male or female human he targets. He may summon a group of foul cupid like imps. 1d8 of these vile creatures will appear to do his bidding. Each is a 2 hit point monster armed with crude swords and shields along with nasty barbed arrows. He may also qoute any human law at a whim. He often reflects the secret foul desires of his victims in order to lure and seduce them into his grasp. 
4. Inglurtu- The cold grapser - This being is a twisted elemental of ice and snow bound in the glass of beyond. The monster will open doorways across the multiverse and send a doppleganger twisting after those he sends through. The monster will then kill his tolls. He loves to feast on the souls of heroes.  The monster my also open a doorway onto the planes of ice. The Elemental rulers hate this foul thing and love to torment it when he is found.  Foul being is also loathed by the courts of fairy and they have a standing reward for his revovery. Once per day this being may heal 1d4 points of damage with the incredible chilled breath his which purifies the very soul of any being. The side effect is that a small sliver of the soul of this creature is now bound to those he heals. They become is unwilling eyes and ears across the planes. 
5. Wegotuli - The Switcher - This being loves to change one thing into another and is addicted to the chaos it creates. He may once per day change flesh, gender, and even species. All the universe is a show for him and he the audience. He has wrecked worlds, cities, and many, many, places. He is the great trickster that no one likes. His jokes are the stuff of carnal carnage and chaos. He may open a door into any place of fairy land and beyond. He charges one change per trip and may change far more.
   Those who give him their souls are filled with the unclear power of this foul being. It is speculated that he is a mad fallen god of chaos. None no his secret for he is far too insane to reveal his secrets. He is the keeper of the secrets of his brethren. 

“I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, sir,' said Alice, 'Because I'm not myself you see.” 
― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

DYI Gring House Torg Setting - Across The 6th Dimensional Alternative - Actual Play- Second Game

Sunday evening had me jumping through hoops to go over to Larry's house to get the next part of the game revised. The public domain cult movie that I was going to use was no long public domain and I'm not about to rip anyone off. I had this whole alternative Earth  bit worked out and I was really excited about using it but couldn't ?! 

Fortunately my own blog came to my aid.  

I wrote about the "Yesterday Machine"  back in July of last year. You can find that HERE. The characters got the nomads back to the underground base of a group of renegade Glanauaethanians somewhere in the South western United States. The NPCs were taken in by the vault and given shelter. The skills of the nomads were needed for the vault. 

Meanwhile the PC's were hired to conduct a daring dungeon raid on a Nazi underground abandon base in the middle of Paris. Now a hell hole infested with zombie troopers. The PC's were to recover two "Great Race Time Engines".

This is how the game worlds stand at the moment. 

Much of the realms are now my own creation drawn through the filter of public domain grind house movies

1. Europe - Wasteland ruins ruled over by Nazi warlords and wizards. Some pockets of weird technology created by said wizards. OD&D monsters and mutants roam through through this landscape. 
2. Greenland and Iceland  - Realm of Dark Elven warriors/wizards among the volcanoes and green rolling hills. Drawn from Scandinavian mythology and cheesy fantasy movies. 
3. The UK - The Machine Realms - Weird Lovecraftian cybernetic technology 
4. USSR - The Shattered  Realms - Barbarian warlords,wizards, green skin humanoid tribes all drawn from Grind House Fantasy 80's movies. 
5. Canada - "The Inner Earth Invades" Realm - Paleo terror tears through the ruins of Canadian cities while Sasquatch mutants roam the wilderness. Some pockets of high inner Earth tech! 
6. United States -  A. East Coast - This Is Lovecraft country  - This is the pulp realm of New England. B. The West Coast -  A "Road Nomads style world" think 80's television like Airwolf, The Highway man, etc. with lots of Post Apocalyptic goodness! 
7. Mexico and South America - Lovecraftian Technological Nightmare realms - Forbidden gods, weird cults, and mythological nightmares 
8. China and India - Zombie Realms - Filled with Dark Magic, forbidden rites, and ancient wizards! This realm of zombie horror is one of the most dangerous. 
9. Australia - Dinoverse - A world where the dinosaurs evolved into humanoid forms. 80's and 90's technology with humanoid dinosaurs and awesomeness 
10. Japan and Indonesia - The Ancient Space Gods Return Realm - Where the ancient gods of space and time have returned to terrorize mankind! The rule of the saucer has begun 
11. Africa- The Realms of Interzone - The Realms of Naked Lunch and Pulp Africa 
12. Antarctica  - The "At The Mountains of Madness" Realms - Lovecraftian masters return to claim what is rightfully theirs. 
13. Glanauaethan - The Fallen Utopia - A realm of shattered high technology and decadence, this reality of survivors, mutant tribes, androids, and former space travelers  are strangers in a strange land. Drawn from countless PD science fictional movies . This group of rag tag survivors has come from an alternative Earth where a cosmic plague has ravaged most of humanity. This group of time traveling refugees uses its know of a possible future to recruit adventurers from across the realms to advance its own mysterious and some would say twisted agenda. 

Into the Ruins Of Paris 
The PC's were teleported into the ruins of Paris and immediately went to  work.They were able to get into the facility rather easily. They recovered several weapons, a bit of gold, and then got dumped into a pit trap full of rot grubs. Four PC's bit the dust. Terry's 6th level wizard and zombie bodyguard, Jason's 5th level cleric, and Ronny's 6th level Artificer/ Fighter. 

The PC's were able to recover the two Great Race Time Engines from the Nazi R&D lab. They defeated the Nazi necromancer/zombie master. Their own had been killed though and their way back to the USA and their employers was gone!
 Then in the same lab one of the Great Race time gate engines activates. The PC's are armed with machine guns and are ready for anything when a small non nondescript man enters.  A stranger in a monk's garb greets the PC's by name. He  was a "White Wanderer" a member of a class of psionic/wizards who wandered the wastes of infra-dimensional space.
 He explained that he was sent to pick the PC's for the recovery of the "Great Race Time Engines". The PC's were to accompany him back to  vault 42. He had a Plane Segrator near by in infra dimensional space. He had to take the PC's back to the vault and had another mission for them. He also had replacements waiting for the PC's fallen brethren and there would be compensation. 

Once back in the vault the White Wanderer went into details about his quest. 

The White Wanderer explained to the PC's "In 1944 Dr. Von Hauser got his hands on a Yithian time engine. These experimental devices allowed one to jump through the time lines & their alternatives. The technology had wide reaching implications & the good doctor had little restraint in the matter. 

Each of the yesterday machines not only created doorways into time but also into alternative time branches. The Dr.Von Hauser who was killed at the end of the Yesterday Machine might be only one version of the madman! There might be multiple versions of this dangerous psychopath rampaging through the time streams. There was reason to believe that a Dr.Von Hauser was hooking up with Nazi's within the Nazi After Waste prime line(a post apocalyptic nightmare created by the Nazi's that had spread to the party's world).  While another version of the madman had made contact with sympathetic Greys within the Bremuda Triangle's multi dimensional island. The Plane Segrator didn't have the power to reach the island. But with a batch of fuel and the installation of the extra Great Race Time Engine it shouldn't be a problem. The Player Characters Party 

1. Jason's 5th level Cleric - Pun'ra African Witch Doctor And History Professor  From Africa 
2. Terry's 6th level Wizard - Tarsha Zombie Master From The Far East And Yor Zombie Bodyguard 
3. Tom's 7th level Fighter - Jason Harrison And Pete - Telepathic Fighter and Intelligent Dire Wolf Companion From The Ruined South Western United States 
4. Betty's  Silva Nolton 6th level Cyborg/Fighter From London,U.K.  
5. Larry's 6th Level Hippie Druid Henry Sprocket From New Hampshire 
6. Gloria's 7th level Mutant Wizard Re're Shaw From Mexico Mistress Of The Void 
7. Mick's 6th/5th level Wizard/Thief -The Kathmandu Kid 
8. Ronny's 6th level Fighter/Artificer From Glanauaethan - Gygach The Wanderer 
9. A late addition - Jole running 5th level Fighter named Jason "The Warrior" Gazzani AutoFreak/Driver From Kansas.

Back at Vault Forty Two 

Back to the to the Vault

The PC's dropped the "Time Engine" off and then four new recruits were thawed from the suspended animation vaults of the Glanauaethan
. 

New PC's included : 

1. Jason's Deodanth 6th level Fighter/Artificer Shatack The Mighty 
2. Terry's 7th level wizard  Zombie Master From The Far East Greari The Dreaded And Tor zombie bodyguard. 
3. Ronny's 6th level barbarian/lycanthrope Tella The Mighty from a post apocalyptic world 
4. Betty's  Silva Nolton 6th level Cyborg/Fighter From London,U.K.  although her biological body was killed she had bought a golden download from her experience points. Enabling a cloned body with cybernetics to be thawed. 

The PC's watched as the "Great Race Time Engine"   was installed on the plane segrator and within moments they were floating between the infra dimensional spaces. The segrator didn't have the juice to reach the triangle's island nexus. So a short side quest was needed.

The Derelict 

 Sailing the seas of forever is a craft that is part planar ship and part sailing vessel of alternate worlds. This vessel sails between the planes forever more. The craft has on board a cargo hold full of treasures from a million worlds left behind by castaways and those lost to the dimensional tides. She is crewed by no man or alien life form but millions have set foot upon her decks.
Among her cargoes was a load of plutonium that the PCs needed.
The plane segrator set down on the Seas of Forever and the PC's made their way on board. They were attacked by a dimensional shambler! The PC's all of them attacked the thing and drove it off after a heated battle.
Within the cargo hold a several of the PC's almost got nailed by infra dimensional parasites! They recovered the cargo and left the ship!
More Next Week! 

Source Material And Links 

Much of the material on this was made up and some of the source material came from the best damn book about multiversal locations that never gets mentioned!
Maps Places of Legend has been my go to source from Flying Buffalo for years! 

 Steve Crompton's illustrations and the text are spot on! 

MAPS 2: Places of Legend. Provides maps, details, and adventure ideas for such legendary places as Camelot, Atlantis, King Soloman’s Mine, Capt. Nemo’s submarine base, Lemuria, the 13th Floor, Bermuda Triangle, OZ, and others. More art, adventure ideas for every place & crossover scenarios included. 96 pages. $11.95
 Another source for stuff was the LEJENTIA CAMPAIGNS BOOKs 
 Especially this one which will be used for some of the action coming up. 

You can find all of the catalyst books over at Flying Buffalo right over HERE

The Deodanth came from the mind of Dave Hargrave and Bloody Arduin's influence once again found its way to my table tonight. Big thanks to Emperor's Choice games for this book again which saved my rear.

 You can find their fine products right over HERE

Finally to run this whole game tonight came the back system which has gone from straight swords and wizardry to the more bold old Lovecraftian Marvelous Barbarian feel of Crypts and Things! 

This wonderful backbone of my gaming table can be found right over HERE .

The grind house source of the "Yesterday Machine" can be seen right over

"Gothic" Movie 1986 For Your Old School Horror Campaign

There are films that seldom get mentioned today that are out there and weird and this is one of them. 1986 was one of those years where the bizarre was in the air. Back in the 90's this one was on rotation through the video store late at night.
Plenty of T & A in this one. What actually sets it apart is the imagery and the birth of something or nothing.
Plot according to IMBD  - 

"Story of the night that Mary Shelley gave birth to the horror classic "Frankenstein." Disturbed drug induced games are played and ghost stories are told one rainy night at the mad Lord Byron's country estate. Personal horrors are revealed and the madness of the evening runs from sexual fantasy to fiercest nightmare. Mary finds herself drawn into the sick world of her lover Shelley and cousin Claire as Byron leads them all down the dark paths of their souls."

This is basically the house that Lord Byron build with his guests and relatives visiting. They take tons of drugs, have sex with one another, and give birth to the modern horror story as we know it. 
Your host for the evening and he's just dying to give us a great time. 

Ken Russell gives us some twin peaks levels of weirdness in this one. Psycho sexual imagery, weird encounters, bizarre mechanisms, boobs with eyes, and more mental psycho hi jinks make this one a weird adventure of a film.
Did I mention Thomas Dolby did the sound track. Yes "Mr.She Blinded Me With Science" did the sound track. 

Timothy Spall  is Dr. Polidori, commissioned to write a biography of Byron. He's brilliant in this movie and really knows how to chew the scenes up as this character. He's such a strange mix in this movie that's its really hard to know where he begins and the strangeness ends. Then again he's a great actor. 

"Gothic"  Movie 1986 For Use With Your Old School Horror Campaigns


 Need a ritual for your next old school campaign and the birth of a monster? Then see this movie. Need a sound track for your next Solomon Kane style romp? Then use the sound track. Mine the characters as NPC's and really go to town this is a perfect film to use. 

Dolby is a qualified genius when it comes to creating an atmosphere of decadence and strangeness. The soundtrack has graced everything from Ravenloft to the recent Tales of the Grotesque And Dungeonque books  I've been toying with.
Gothic really has other uses though, for a Kult campaign the house and tale became the background for a series of trips through the very core of unreality. The mechanisms of Dr.Polidori proved more then enough magical items to cause the PC's all kinds of headaches.
They came away with his journals and a gender switch. The monster following close on their heels. The bottom line about Gothic. The movie is mostly unknown, unappreciated  and dismissed. This makes it the perfect fodder for a DM to really expand on it. 

 

Nosferatu: Plague of Terror Review & Commentary Part II For Your Old School Horror Campaigns

Here's Part one of this short series HERE.
 
 Major spoilers ahead Plot according to Amazon  : A chilly draft from doomsday... The vile plague of Baron Orlock, The Nosferatu, stretches across history from Dark Ages Europe to modern day Manhattan in this compelling prelude and sequel to the legendary F.W. Murnau film, Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horrors. No vampiric figure is more iconic or terrifyingly memorable than Nosferatu...a cadaverous monster with a calculating glint of utter evil in his hellish eyes who feasts not just on human blood but human souls. This classic of undead horror is reimagined by best-selling SF author, Mark (James Axler) Ellis, Rik (Captain America) Levins, Melissa (The Everything Ghost Hunting Book) Martin-Ellis, Richard (New Warriors) Pace and Frank (Nightstalkers) Turner

The night has teeth and they are long and deep. Count Orlok and I have a very storied history when it comes to gaming.  The comic series ends in a conflagration in which both Orlock and Longsword are killed but the curse of the Nosferatu is passed onto an innocent, as it was to Longsword ten centuries before. The series was notable for presenting a vampire character drawn from European folklore rather than the refined Anne Rice model that was in vogue at the time.
And this is where I picked up the series as a tool box for my own campaign. The cycle of the plague of vampirism begins its descent upon New York city during the height of the summer of '87 in the abandoned cathedral in contemporary Brooklyn.
A cult arises around the new Messiah of Vampirism and the rats begin to swarm. The PC's are employed as hunters and things start to go down hill from there. The illusion begins to tear around certain neighborhoods as the plague continues. Thousands die and the hunt is on.
 The game that suited all this madness? Kult of course.


The players tracked down the new messiah and well. That's a story for another time. 
The plot of the comic book limited series is epic in scope and quick for players to grasp but there are very few people who have actually bothered to watch the original silent film and grasp some of the concepts that lurk in the background. 

The other connection from the silent film and this series is the  fictional city of Wisborg,Germany.There is a megadungeon that is still in Germany . At the end of both the comic book series and the movie several locations of Orlok remain.What happens to those?  In a Vampire the Masquerade game the locations were explored by a mix group of PC's. PC's who explored the locations trying to determine the cause of the plagues which always followed in the wake of Orlok's appearances. 

 The locations were also used in a Dark Ages Vampire game and the machinations of the Count as well as the appearance of Longsword. 
 Orlok also appeared in several CoC Delta Green adventures in India and Vietnam. Orlok's influence echoed throughout time in those locations. 

The comic book series opens this link up further with various lairs, hideaways, and weird locations.

The Evil of Orlok 

"Orlock isn't simply some random horror monster. He's a disease vector moving across the face of Europe who must be stopped at all cost. His very presence seems to warp reality around him."  The vampire is an unholy thing that should not be and the very fact that his bite not only corrupts anything it touches. It links the victim with the predator and his disease telepathically for all time. Exploit this fact as a DM relentlessly and use it to draw the players into the clutches of the vampire and his progeny. This is a vampire that makes other vampires dread and filled with horror. A reminder of a darker time in our human history when prehuman nightmares stalk the night.
There is no mistaking the claw marks that Orlok leaves throughout his comings and going of history. 

Nosferatu: Plague of Terror is one possible origin point for this thing that travels through history leaving his mark across time,death, and victims.

 Where does the evil of Orlok end? Well I personally think that it never actually ends only infects and cycles through history like an untreated boil and pox upon the unfortunate and unlucky. 

 The Nosferatu In Your Old School game 

It seems that the evil of Orlok runs in cycles and immortality is a curse rather then the blessing as its portrayed in movies, literature, and the dreams of me. 

Orlok is just the sort of the horror that would fit right into a game like Lamentations of The Flame Princess. Plague, rat swarms, corruption of the soul, and much more. Orlok is not so much a sexually transmitted disease as he is a complete rape of the human soul. Just the type of Gothic corruption the game needs. 

Larythn Lord is a perfect breeding ground to test the mettle of players advanced and basic where the race to banish the vampire is perfectly suited for that kind of game. The real fun comes in when throwing in the Advanced Companion. Where players can go toe to toe with the nastiness. 

Swords and Wizardry has some of the customizable elements that allow a DM to really exploit the system to create the atmosphere of Nosferatu: Plague of Terror and the movie in dark and deep locations. 

Mutant Future doesn't seem like type of game that could sustain an adventure like Nosferatu. Because of the elements of the plague of vampirism begins its descent upon New York city during the height of the summer of '87 in the abandoned cathedral in contemporary Brooklyn. The monsters reach could extend past a holocaust into a world of mutants and vampires. Where the players meet a new Long sword type of character. 

 Its on sale right over here at Amazon HERE

The Venus Complex By Barbie Wilde Review And Commentary

The Venus Complex isn't a nice book at all. Its a psycho sexual journey through the mind of a mad man whose in control of his actions and knows that the journey into his soul has begun.  I'm not going to gush about the character here or tell you that its a good read. 

Its a great read. And I've come back to the book four or five times already. This book really is a journey into the mind of a man whose coming apart as the days roll on. The book is written in the style of a journal and its extremely well written.
 Barbie Wilde is a perfectly nice person and a great writer but her characters are not. This is a book about a psycho sexual predator of the worse kind. The book deals with him on his own terms with all of the dirty and grime of the soul and sin that one expects within such a mind.
The book moves rapidly allowing the reader to get into the character, his motives, methods, and movements. The whole book is timed out rather like a Swiss watch.
Make no mistake this guy isn't Dexter or Hannibal. He's a rather interesting person and not one that I'd want to meet at all. The writing of his life hearkens back to the serial killers of the past. The language is modern but the horror of the killings  is brutally well done. There's some deep motives in his mind and the soul of this rather twisted individual.
 

The Plot :
A man rises out of an abyss of frustration and rage and creates works of art out of destruction, goddesses out of mere dental hygienists and beauty out of death. It's also about the sickness and obsession that is LOVE. Enter into Michael's world through the pages of his personal journal, where every diseased thought, disturbing dream, politically incorrect rant and sexually explicit murder highlights his journey from zero to psycho.

 Further Thoughts 

The Venus complex clocks in at 232 pages and its a pretty interesting  and entertaining book. As I sat in the diner reading through the mind of  Michael it was easy to see the journey from zero to psycho killer.
The book drew an odd look from the waitress wanting to know what I was reading? I told her straight up I was doing a review of the book. The conversation went from Hannibal to Dexter. Then to Michael the character of the book.
She wanted to know what was different about The Venus Complex and my answer was quick and simple. The main character is complex and well written.
If you don't think that there isn't a table top rpg tie in here, well just give me a quick moment.
Michael is a perfect example of what can be done with well written, mature, and complex NPC. His evil isn't out in the open or his perversion evident for all to see. In fact there are times when he seems quite likable. And that's  the ticket here.
The Venus Complex creates a blue print for a mature and engaging character.An NPC that the players wouldn't suspect. A DM with the balls to could grab the idea and flesh out his own serial killer and build around him from there.  A campaign lasting months could be done./
 My prime choose for this style of game would be Kult or perhaps the World of Darkness. However with the right tools and group of players a OD&D game could be easily done in a "realistic" setting.
So why haven't I mentioned that Ms. Wilde played the Female cenobite in Hellraiser II? It's simply because I think of her as the writer of the Venus Complex and a great writer on her own merits.

 Support 

Everything Barbie Wilde Including the Venus Complex
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Buy The Venus Complex At Amazon Right
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Swords and Wizardry Appreciation Day: Special Discount at Frog God Games Today Only

Frog God Games has discounted their entire line of Swords & Wizardry products for 1 day only in celebration ofSwords & Wizardry Appreciation Day (April 17th 2013). The discount is good for 25% off S&W Products but you must use the coupon* code: SWApprDay on April 17th 2013 at check out. 

*The coupon excludes items less than $1, S&W Cards, Pre-Orders, and Subscriptions. You can also use the code: SWAD252013 over at the D20PFSRD store

Sales at both online shops help support the SRD sites: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/ andhttp://www.d20swsrd.com/

"I Eat Your Skin" 1964 Movie For Your Old School Horror Campaign

My favorite Bug eyed Zombie Cheap Schlock flick!
 I used to slip this one in the VCR when things got slow at the video store and watch the crowd gather. The usual response was "WTF is this movie?"
Its one of my old standbys folks! 

Here's another film that I've used at conventions and local old school horror games for adventures. Chill,Kult,WoD,and many others. This isn't a mere trashtasic film no this is a trashtastic classic! Harris, a playboy author of adventure books that read more like trashy romance novels, is invited to accompany his agent to Voodoo Island in the Caribbean-it would make a great setting for his next novel, he is told. 

So he takes the most rickey prop plane in the universe down to Voodoo Island.  There he is attacked by our first zombie . Then he puts the moves on the local scientist's daughter. 

Seems the local "Voodoo" cult   Necromancy cult has been messing around with the scientist's latest cancer drug. Here's the actual plot according to wiki:

William Joyce. An author en route to the mysterious Voodoo Island crashes on a desolate beach, but soon discovers he's not alone-the island is filled with bikini-wearing zombies, a mad witch doctor and radioactive snake venom ! 

It gets better from there.  The local cult leader has been using the bug eyed zombies to  murder anyone who gets in his way.  Be warned this is a terrible tiki torch dime store movie with all the charm that it entails! 

Here's a trailer for the movie. If your into this sort of Grind House movie then watch the full movie. 

This is without a doubt, my favorite bug-eyed zombie movie!

There isn't any skin eating in this movie at all. 

The Full Movie 

Using I Eat Your Skin For Your Old School Horror 

Alright right off the bat here I'll admit that I used this entire movie as a gate way drug for numerous campaigns. There's just too much to mine in this one. Alright lets start at the top. Del Tenney was either a mad man or genius depending on how you look at it.   William Joyce, the hero of the film is a tough, macho, sex maniac, and later becomes the head of a pulp publishing company which churns out endless Men's adventure novels in my campaigns.

 

  Voodoo Island has been the start of a local zombie plague out break in the Chill rpg. The last remains of a cult of Stygian necromancers in Marvel Super Heroes. The beginning point for another zombie outbreak in Kult where the process of death is breaking down and the hiding place for a Death Lord. 

In Dark Conspiracy,  Voodoo Island is the starting point for an investigation into the trepidation of a local Dark Lord. 

 The scientist and his radioactive snake venom have been the source of numerous zombie plagues across the world. Darkest Key West has provided the origin point for super heroes, mutants, and other PC's throughout Connecticut! 

Voodoo Island has also shown up in every retroclone around. Its origin hasn't changed one bit accept that the alchemist is seeking a cure for the black plague. The witch doctor and company stays the same. 

" Voodoo Island Zombie "

 

Armor Class: 8(11),7(12)with trash can shield 

Hit Dice: 2 

Attacks: Weapon, Strike(1d6), or Infectious Bite (1d3)

Special: Immune To Sleep and Charm, Carriers Of Zombie plague 

Move: 7 

HDE/XP: 3/30

 The creation of an unholy combination of mad science and sorcery these zombies are quick moving and carriers of the dread zombie plague. Those bitten must save vs death or slip to the tragic plague like zombie undeath state.
A necromancer of greater then 2nd level may take command of these vile things and give them simple commands.They may be turned like any other undead.
They still remember their dim humanity and may use simple weapons and some tools. These unholy undead things will feast on the living as the various stages of zombification begin to affect their minds and organs. They are immune to all mind effecting magic except the blackest of necromancy.
After the atomic wars these monsters have been seen roaming the ruins of South America and Florida as well as parts of mexico. Like any other zombie a head shot will kill these monsters.

Voodoo Island Notes
 

Voodoo Island is one of those mythical locations that crops up from time to time in super market tabloid news  papers and upon the scream sheet apps. The place has a vile history among the natives of Key West and refugees from Cuba.
The history of the place goes back to the time of slaves when weird rites were reported by Missionaries to the island. They reported a vile strain of Voodoo unrecognizable among any other African or Congo peoples. This is because the cult upon the island is one of the last bastions on Earth of the hated Stygian Witchcraft. This once healthy and very dangerous cult has cropped up no where else in the entire world. 

The arrival of the snake venom research during the 60's and the mutation of the drug research allowed the return of horrid necomantic rites long thought of extinct. It is said that there is an actual supernatural agency at work upon the island. This however has been dismissed by many.
The island itself is said to be haunted and there are reports of the place seemly to vanish off of the displays of radar and surveillance  images.  There have been numerous disappearances of boats, planes, and other craft within the vicinity of the island.  Magnetic disturbances abound with a five mile radius of the place. 

The Island has been seen as an even more dangerous in many time lines and alternative worlds where the zombie plague has run a muck. Mutated animals, hordes of zombies, and the occasional mutated giant spider have been encountered.
A visit to Voodoo Island should only be done by the most intrepid of adventurers armed with the most heavy fire power allowed by modern law. 

DIY Grind House Torg Setting Take Five - Actual Play - The First Game

This campaign idea went from being a thought exercise into a full blown game tonight after three of my friend Larry's players came down with colds. Their regular Grey Hawk campaign which has been running for twenty seven years is at a critical juncture. So without these players something else was needed to take their place.
 The DIY Grind House Torg Setting became that adventure tonight. I changed the material extensively because apparently there are a number of players who read this blog. For the former Grind House Torg stuff go Here
We used Swords And Wizardry for the back system for this game. 
Here are the changes to the realms. Much of the realms are now my own creation drawn through the filter of public domain grind house movies

1. Europe - Wasteland ruins ruled over by Nazi warlords and wizards. Some pockets of weird technology created by said wizards. OD&D monsters and mutants roam through through this landscape. 
2. Greenland and Iceland  - Realm of Dark Elven warriors/wizards among the volcanoes and green rolling hills. Drawn from Scandinavian mythology and cheesy fantasy movies. 
3. The UK - The Machine Realms - Weird Lovecraftian cybernetic technology 
4. USSR - The Yonya Realms - Barbarian warlords,wizards, green skin humanoid tribes all drawn from "The Prisoners of The Lost Universe" 
5. Canada - The Inner Earth Invades Realm - Paleo terror tears through the ruins of Canadian cities while Sasquatch mutants roam the wilderness. Some pockets of high inner Earth tech! 
6. United States -  A. East Coast - This Is Lovecraft country  - This is the pulp realm of New England. B. The West Coast -  A "Road Nomads style world" think 80's television like Airwolf, The Highway man, etc. with lots of Post Apocalyptic goodness! 
7. Mexico and South America - Lovecraftian Technological Nightmare realms - Forbidden gods, weird cults, and mythological nightmares 
8. China and India - Zombie Realms - Filled with Dark Magic, forbidden rites, and ancient wizards! This realm of zombie horror is one of the most dangerous. 
9. Australia - Dinoverse - A world where the dinosaurs evolved into humanoid forms. 80's and 90's technology with humanoid dinosaurs and awesomeness 
10. Japan and Indonesia - The Ancient Space Gods Return Realm - Where the ancient gods of space and time have returned to terrorize mankind! The rule of the saucer has begun 
11. Africa- The Realms of Interzone - The Realms of Naked Lunch and Pulp Africa 
12. Antarctica  - The "At The Mountains of Madness" Realms - Lovecraftian masters return to claim what is rightfully theirs. 
13. Glanauaethan - The Fallen Utopia - A realm of shattered high technology and decadence, this reality of survivors, mutant tribes, androids, and former space travelers  are strangers in a strange land. Drawn from countless PD science fictional movies . This group of rag tag survivors has come from an alternative Earth where a cosmic plague has ravaged most of humanity. This group of time traveling refugees uses its know of a possible future to recruit adventurers from across the realms to advance its own mysterious and some would say twisted agenda. 

The ruins of Europe 

The Player Characters Party 

1. Jason's 5th level Cleric - Pun'ra African Witch Doctor And History Professor  From Africa 
2. Terry's 6th level Wizard - Tarsha Zombie Master From The Far East And Yor Zombie Bodyguard 
3. Tom's 7th level Fighter - Jason Harrison And Pete - Telepathic Fighter and Intelligent Dire Wolf Companion From The Ruined South Western United States 
4. Betty's  Silva Nolton 6th level Cyborg/Fighter From London,U.K.  
5. Larry's 6th Level Hippie Druid Henry Sprocket From New Hampshire 
6. Gloria's 7th level Mutant Wizard Re're Shaw From Mexico Mistress Of The Void 
7. Mick's 6th/5th level Wizard/Thief -The Kathmandu Kid 
8. Ronny's 6th level Fighter/Artificer From Glanauaethan - Gygach The Wanderer 
9. A late addition - Jole running 5th level Fighter named Jason "The Warrior" Gazzani AutoFreak/Driver From Kansas.  

The PC's were brought together to retrieve a group of survivors who had run afoul of a group of Templars out in the South Western United States by the Glanauaethan. I pulled the survivors from the Desert Nomads Set One from Fish Wife games. The Nomads were carrying a valuable cargo for the Glanauaethan. 

The templars and their tricked out vehicles were closing in the Desert Nomads. Jason "The Warrior" Gazzani was driving a "Battle Truck" loaned to him by the Glanauaethan. Everything was going quite well for the party until the Templars opened up with a solid wall of machine gun fire and then the party discovered that they had a wizard working for them. 

That's when the shaggoth showed up and almost ate the entire party. The machine gun fire managed to keep it at bay as the PC's risked life and limb to save those survivors.  The PC's managed to drive the templars off for a bit and were able to retrieve some awesome loot from the templars car along with some ammo. The templars made good their get away while the party had to contend with a shaggoth the size of a bus. 

After an extensive fire fight the party was able to track down the templars to their headquarters and the raid went off with two PC's grievously injured. The party did manage to get the nomads despite the close calls. 

More next week! 

 

 If your curious about Waste Land Nomads check out the information below. 

A Motley Group Of Post Apocalyptic Travelers..

The highways and byways of the post apocalyptic wastes are full of different bands of ragtag travelers. Some of these nomads are merely groups of survivors trying to seek out a better life while others are gangs of thuggish brutes with no qualms about terrorizing others for kicks and personal gain. In between are even more groups that contain a combination of good and evil personalities.

 In the interest of providing a Game Master (GM) with a variety of interesting characters for their post apocalyptic settings, the Wasteland Nomads series of products provides a fleshed out, detailed group of nomads with each set. Some of these nomadic groups may find their selves forming an alliance with the player characters while others might become formidable enemies. The information provided in each set contains an overview of the group as whole, with basic shared goals and a brief history. Some groups will have an identified name while others will not. Named groups are especially common amongst roaming gangs of thugs. The group members are then presented with a descriptive block of text. Within this text you will find the character's name, identified role, personality notes, weapons, worn attire (and armor), and notable gear. Information regarding vehicles (if one is used/possessed) as well as pets (if the character has one). In the interest of making this product more game system generic, attribute and character statistics are not included. In addition, the characters provided are more or less "normal human" in nature. If the GM wishes to do so they may want to further apply mutations or cybernetic components to the characters provided. Furthermore, the GM should feel free to modify the characters' storylines, descriptions, and gear if the GM so chooses.

Set 1: An Unnamed Group Of Survivors

The first set of nomads in this series is an unnamed group of 15 different post apocalyptic survivors. Originally compromised of a handful of folks merely seeking out a peaceful, resource rich location to settle down in and call home, the group has grown to include a number of unsavory characters with greedy, lustful, and/or bloodthirsty intentions. Led by a man named Jonas, the nomadic pack wanders the major highways as they seek out resources and hopefully a permanent location to settle down into.

Pages: 8

You can get Desert Nomads Set 1 for 1.00 right over at DriveThruRpg right over HERE

Nosferatu: Plague of Terror Review & Commentary For Your Old School Horror Campaigns

Way back in the annals of time when comic book shops were just starting to become legit. I came across a series called Nosferatu A Plague Of Terrors.
Here's the wiki piece on the series:
Nosferatu: Plague of Terror was a four-part comic series released by Millennium Publications in 1991-92. Conceived as both a prequel and sequel to F.W. Murnau’s silent film, Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horrors, it was written by Mark Ellis, designed by Melissa Martin, with art provided by Rik Levins, Richard Pace and Frank Turner. The storyline presented a more complete story of Graf Orlock, the Nosferatu, separate and distinct from the Dracula legend.
The shadow of this vampire is long indeed and follows on the heels of its silent movie predecessor. Here's the full movie. 

At the time of the release of this series I was just getting to know White Wolf games back then. OD&D was still at the top of my list. But this series was really appealing to me and became the basis of four different old school games 

The plot of the series according to Wiki with MAJOR Spoilers ahead : 

Returning from the Crusades in the eleventh century, English knight Sir William Longsword stops at the castle and finds the nuns dead or dying of plague. Longsword’s squire, seeking treasure, inadvertently frees Orlock who kills the man. He bites Longsword but does not turn him into a vampire—rather, he becomes immortal for reasons known only to Orlock. The series tracks Orlock throughout history as he perpetuates his evil, instigating wars and bringing down plagues. Longsword tracks him through 19th century India and the madness of the Vietnam War and finally catches up to him in an abandoned cathedral in contemporary Brooklyn.

The final chapter ends in a conflagration in which both Orlock and Longsword are killed but the curse of the Nosferatu is passed onto an innocent, as it was to Longsword ten centuries before. The series was notable for presenting a vampire character drawn from European folklore rather than the refined Anne Rice model that was in vogue at the time.

A Nosferatu: Plague of Terror compilation in graphic novel format was released by Millennial Concepts in October, 2009.
The series was very grind house in and yet had an epic feel as history seems to weigh down on the characters who are passing through the graphic novel. 

Ellis and company do a nice job of creating a tight plot, quick easy going writing, adding something slightly different to the grand legend of Count Orlock. There are some really interesting twists that are in the series. 

Using Nosferatu: Plague of Terror  For Your Old School Campaign 

There wouldn't appear to be a lot to mine in this series but actually there is quite a bit to gain from this centuries spanning epic. 

Orlock is of  course the  "Nosferatu",  a living corpse also known as "The Bird of Death".
 The series can be used as a framing device for a party or parties encountering Orlock throughout history along with his immortal adversary. 
There is a ton of material to use from the original silent film in which the character is akin to a walking disease of undeath rather then a figure of romance of any kind.
This is the essence of the series. This thing is nothing more then a walking abomination.
If we use the original plot like of the silent film as a jump off point and combine it with this series. The DM is left with a world spanning campaign of death, disease, plague, and undeath.
Here's the original film plot according to wiki:

Count Orlok dwells alone in a vast castle hidden among the rugged peaks in a lost corner of the Carpathian Mountains. The castle is swathed in shadows, and is badly neglected with a highly sinister feel to it. He is in league with the housing agent Knock, and wants to purchase a house in Wisborg. Local peasants live in terror of Orlok and never venture out after dark. Thomas Hutter scorns their fears as mere superstition, and ventures to the decrepit castle, however the coach-driver will not take him over the bridge. A black-swathed figure in a black coach (Orlok in disguise) drives him the rest of the way. He is greeted by Orlok, who claims as it is past midnight all his servants have gone to bed, and the two dine together and discuss Orlok's purchasing of a house in the fictional city of Wisborg,Germany. Hutter accidentally cuts his hand when slicing bread and Orlok is barely able to control himself from drinking from Hutter's wound. After Hutter collapses in a chair, Orlok feeds off of him, but this is not shown on screen: Hutter discovers two bites on his neck the next day but is unaware that his host is a vampire.

Hutter only realises the horrific truth later in his chambers after further reading from "The Book of the Vampires", and he discovers that he is trapped in the castle with the Nosferatu. Orlok advances upon Hutter, and Hutter's beloved wife, Ellen, senses through telepathy that her husband's life is in mortal danger; she screams for him and somehow Orlok is powerless to touch him. The next morning Hutter searches the castle, and discovers to his revulsion that Orlok is "sleeping" in the basement in a filthy coffin filled with earth. Hutter then witnesses Orlok loading a cart with several coffins filled with soil, one of which he then hides in and they are driven off to be loaded on to a ship headed for Wisborg. This soil is later revealed to be unhallowed earth from Orlok's grave; according to "The Book of the Vampires", all Nosferatu must sleep by day in the unholy earth from their graves to sustain their power.

On board the ship, he kills every crew member until only the captain and his first mate remain. Later when the first mate goes to the cargo hold to investigate, Count Orlok rises from his coffin, terrifying the first mate who jumps overboard in fear. The captain ties himself to the wheel of the ship when Count Orlok creeps up on him and kills the captain. His journey by sea spreads plague all over Europe.

Upon his arrival in Wisborg, Orlok infests the city with rats that sleep in his coffins, and countless people fall victim to the plague, forcing the local authorities to declare a quarantine and provoking hysteria among the citizens. Rather than come back as vampires, however, his victims simply die. Ellen and Hutter know the causes of the plague but fear they are powerless to stop the vampire. Ellen watches sullenly as lines of coffins are carried through the empty streets, and she realises Orlok must be stopped. Ellen learns from "The Book of the Vampires" that - rather than a stake through the heart - the Nosferatu can only be vanquished if a woman pure in heart willingly allows him to feed off her long enough to prevent him from seeking shelter from sunrise. Ellen coaxes Orlok to her room and lies in bed whilst he drinks from her neck. The sun rises, and Orlok is burned away in a cloud of smoke. Knock is able to sense Orlok is dead. Ellen dies soon after. 
There are several things to remember about Orlok. 

1. He is a disease and as evil as any age old Lovecraftian horror. This monster is a force of nature and nothing more then animated corpse of legend. His presence brings the plague because he is that plague embodied in unliving flesh. 
2. "The Book of the Vampires" is a tome that appears over and over in the film. I've used it as a plot device in several games including Call of Cthulhu as the Necronomicon of vampires. 
3. There is a megadungeon that is still in Transilvania. At the end of both the comic book series and the movie several locations of Orlock remain. What happens to those. Does evil simply vanish once the vampire is dead? There are always lesser evils that accompany the grand vampire. Things that must be put down. The comic book series opens this link up further with various lairs, hideaways, and weird locations.
   
4. The comic book series does a good job conveying the evil that is Orlock and how he comes to impact on the world in no small way. This impact is something that the DM can exploit. Exploit it ruthlessly. 
5. Orlock isn't simply some random horror monster. He's a disease vector moving across the face of Europe who must be stopped at all cost. His very presence seems to warp reality around him. 
6. The fact is that with the presence of Orlock evil itself seems to crawl through the atomphere of the movie. The comic series also presents this fact in stark detail several times throughout the series. 
7. The comic book is certainly worth getting into and considering the scope of the work, very well written and concise. 
8. Using the comic as a jump off point a DM should view the movie and read the comic to get the feel of the entire story.
   You can order this wonderful book right over HERE