VHS Era Old School Post Apocalyptic Gaming Campaign - OSR Commentary

I haven't been happy for a while now with certain aspects of my DYI OSR gaming more specifically the lack of post apocalyptic & cult classic horror table top gaming. A work has been taking its toll on my life in certain aspects in a positive direction. We've gotten busier & busier in the home sewing machine repair realm. That's a great thing but its left me with a bit less time to blog & enjoy myself but today I decided to put down some of my thoughts on my corner of the OSR. The fact is that since about last Thursday or so I returned to Gamma World & Mutant Future. Yes I love both games go figure. But I like a much softer apocalyse then what's been presented in both of those game systems. Truth be told I add in bits of Fantastic Heroes & Witchery with Adventurer,Conqueror, King's rpg system to get the right balance of domain level play. Also my players weren't comfortable with the gun rules of Fantastic Heroes & Witchery's gun rules so we went with ADK's Guns of War.
Two things right off I don't care if certain authors  or designers don't get along that's not my problem. Second I've paid for these games & under the games terms of fair use I'm going to use them at my table as I see fit. If my players are happy then I'm happy. So don't bother telling me that me that you got a problem with what I'm writing behind the scenes I don't have time for OSR pissing contests. You've got to understand that there's going to be damage adjustments & other system considerations using Labyrinth Lord & Labyrinth Lord Advanced's monsters & also a fair amount of Realms of Crawling Chaos.
So over the weekend I got a chance to view some cultclassic VHS era horror films that I love. Ghosthouse a horror film from 1988 has pretty much almost everything I'm looking for to kick off a campaign.
"Ghosthouse (Italian: La Casa 3) is a 1988 Italian horror film directed by Umberto Lenzi and produced by Joe D'Amato. It co-starred Lara Wendel and Donald O'Brien.
Its plot focuses on a deserted house where the visions of a ghostly girl and her haunted doll wreak havoc on those who enter it."
The film is the unofficial sequel to Evil Dead II.^[1] In Italy, The Evil Dead was released under the title La Casa (The House), and Evil Dead II became La Casa II. "

So basically this isn't our world at all. About 1920 or so the rise in interest in the occult & the supernatural reached a fever pitch. The occult was a fringe hobby along with a part time religion. The 'Dark Forces' of the world gained a toe hold. Events escalated in the Depression allowing Hitler and his cronies to gain in power but in 1940's both the Axis & Allies employed dangerous time & dimensional continuum shattering experiments. The Fifties saw the first mutants among mankind & the rise the giant monsters.
The early Eighties saw the beginnings of the 'Little Wars' small scale atomic & dimensional warfare allowing even more supernatural seepage into our world & the rise of the mutant front organizations. The Cult of Cthulhu has been working its way into the foundations of society opening doorways for their masters. Meanwhile technologies have become incredibly dangerous as the US government & other world powers use agents, adventurers, and others to try curtail the advancing monsters destroying society from within.
This is a world with a slightly higher technological level built upon the backs of genetically modified apes & other mutate animal species after finding the secrets to this genetic fount head out in the fringes of reality.

VHS tape by Tumi-1983

All is not well in society as the major religions are calling for the end of the world as NASA & other governmental organizations stock pile caches of technology, relics, and more in bunkers all over the world & the USA. Riots of mutate workers & servants have happened in several major world cities and these are on the increase even as strangely garbed travelers wander into our home towns & other cities from Elsewhere.

Much of this came from reading through the Mutant Future Wiki Gamma World Entry over the weekend & taking a look deeper into the first Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Gamma World Conversions again for the billionth time.





More coming up very soon

The 'Pay What You Want ' OSR Resource Magazine - Brave the Labyrinth - Issue #5 (PDF) From Small Niche Games

 Garb It Right
HERE

'Brave  The Labyrinth' is one of those OSR zines with so many varied uses its not even funny. I admit I haven't kept up with the zine as much as I should. In point of fact I haven't kept up as much as I should with as many of Goblinoid Games as I'd like to. This is one hell of a nice little resource zine and of exceptional quality  with some great and varied content for the Labyrinth Lord game and 90% of the retroclones out on the market. This is a really packed piece of OSR gaming zine right here. 
But what's in this issue of awesomeness? According to the blurb from Drivethrurpg : 

Brave the Labyrinth is a quarterly fanzine published by Small Niche Games for the Labyrinth Lord™ roleplaying game community. It consists of fan-created material designed to cover all types of Labyrinth Lord™ and Advanced Edition Companion™ gaming.

In this Issue you get: 

-a new demon lord - This is a really nice variation on the lords of the Abyss and a good contribution to a region where you can really vary the enemies. 

-new elf variations - Yet more of these pointed eared PC favorites, these are always welcome and very nicely balanced. 

-an amazing map of Andrel Castle - Sold map of a very cool adventure location 

-sainted icons of the Church of Law and Order -Finally! Some very nice minions of the powers of Law! Very useful for my games. 

-tools, keys, and magic items for thieves - Thief themed items that tie directly into the class. Very nicely done. 

-three (3) new monsters - Monsters are always welcome and these are nicely balanced. 

-a green wizard who sought to cheat death - Very cool. 

-a review of the Caves of Ortok - A really nice overview of an adventure module that needs more spotlights on it. Hoping my players don't get a chance to read this overview because I so want to run it. 

-artwork contributions by by JV West and Jim Wampler- Really nice pieces of artwork and old school inspiration. 

All in all this to me is a really nice issue of Brave The Labyrinth and a pretty solid old school resource. There are several articles and entries here that tie directly into some of the campaigns I'm running. I think that this is well worth your time and energy to take a look into if your a DM with any interest in old school gaming. Small Niche games has consistently put out some quality products in the past and this is certainly among those in my opinion. Throw these folks a few gold pieces and get to using some great old school material. 

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

Five Infernal Devices For Your Old School Horror Campaigns

1. The Talhoursor Device - This strange amaglam of gears, electronics, and tubes draws it energies from the Outer Void. When activated by the primitive set of switches. The device creates a field of loose gravity waves in the form of a bubble. The device causes all who are within the 20 foot radius of the field of the device to react as if subject to a spell of true seeing. The device itself weights 27 pounds and enables those within its field to be able to cross into nearby dimensional space. There is a 30% chance of a random planar demon spotting those within the field and following them with the intent of killing and eating them later. 
2. The Browning Instrument - This odd musical instrument is a wood wind flute type device with a strange ivory coloured end. The device once played will draw "things" from the nearby astral. These might be anything from a demon to an elder god. The user must continue to play the device lest the monster cross the dimensional fold. The device may also summon 1d8 ghosts from the nearby realms of the dead. These ghosts are free willed and there is a 40% of a specter or ghost being within the the midst of the dead who hover around this device. 
3. Tesla's Golden Coil - This dimensional powered gate way leads to hundreds of worlds. The device only a one way trip and trap for those who use nasty device. The golden coil can easily beam any energy weapon discharge to any point in the known universe. The device is only good enough for eight jumps before burnout and in need of a replacement part. The device also has a separate observer from the Great Race who may recruit the character or PCs for an assignment. They may use the device to kidnap a character from any point in history. 
4. The Demon Engine - This amalgam of demon and human flesh shot through with electronics and wires. The engine can be used for a one way trip into the Abyss. The engine once its turned on will summon 1d8 demons per round. There isn't any way of shutting this thing down. More demons will arrive all the time and over run the PCs if possible. The engine will also make the general populace react in fear to anyone exposed to the fumes from the engine. 
5. The Clock work of Trow - This device is a collection of golden gears created from the gathered tears of angels. The device summons 1d6  angels and the host that comes with them. The clock work will also spout off a prophecy that has a 10% chance of accuracy. Should the device be monkeyed with it will sumon 1d4 angels to deal with PCS. The device is often found in the middle of important happenings and battles waiting for some fool to activate it. 

Five Mirrors Of Terror For Your Old School Horror Campaigns

Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it.
Ernest Holmes

 Five Mirrors Of Terror

1. Etulariaelago's Glass - This intricate piece of bronze and glass seems almost warm to the touch. Created in Germany in the 1600's this wonderful piece not only reflects the owner but their hidden desires that seem to dark right out of the corner of their eyes. The piece contains a "phantasmal force entity" - This 4 hit point monster will do the owners bidding for a time but after 1d4 months the beast will tire of the current owner and look for a more malevolent master. The thing travels through the mirrors or reflective surfaces of world carefully choosing it's moment to strike. The thing's claw of light and hate wounds for 1d6 points of damage and most of its kills are arranged to look as if accidents. 
2. Glandurchilkor's Vision - This cheap five and dime creation from Japan is actually the work of a gifted street shaman from the 60's. The glass shows the reflection of the person gazing into it and the state of their soul. A Pit fiend of the most cunning type has been bound into the thing and wishes the most secret desire of the holder and how to carry out these cunning plans. The demon will offer more and more twisted tid bits of wisdom but there is a price. There is always a price. The mirror can't be destroyed, it heals as if a troll. The glass has many twisted bits of plastic and brass along its edge giving some insight into its history. 
3. Hael The Travelers  Friend - This glass will take a user between this world and the four other dimensional locations or alternative worlds its connected with. Getting back requires luck, blood, and enduring the horrors found between the worlds. This piece was created more then one hundred years ago by a mad optician using bits of his own mind. The piece has a wicked sense of humor as well. 
4. Korgogbar's Goblin - This incredibly expensive piece of brass, polished glass, and stone work is actually the body of Hans Korgobar who was twisted into this amazing work. Hans stumbled upon a goblin magician and for his troubles became basis of this piece. The mirror reflects not only the user but the darkest aspects of the world of faerie as well. They see you and you see them. The mirror bestow's a twisted version of the "fey sight" but only allows one to see the darkest aspects of that world. Only a quest of the highest horror always one to gain the full sight but madness may claim you by then. 
5. Loduguli The Lake's Surface - This glass reflects no only the roadway upon which it sat but also the lochs, lakes, and bodies of water around the world. The mirror however has a price for those gaze into its surface. A water spirit of the darkest stripe takes the dearest one of the owner of this piece of road way glass. 
   The glass allows the owner to see and hear all going on around each and every lake this piece is connected to and travel to those places almost instantly. The glass will take a person sometimes randomly every 1d8 months. It is a very hungry piece. 
   

1d11 Dark Alchemist Random Encounter Table For Your Old School Horror Games

1d10 Dark Alchemist Random Encounter Table 

1. Hela And Her Twisted Children - This doll maker and ancient alchemist steals the breath of children imbuing their very souls into her little children. She moves among the midwives and lower classes "helping" where she can. Hela is infact an ancient lich from Greece who has survived for thousands of years a dark and twisted thing. 
2. Dr.Ilagwet - guru and cult leader this dark alchemist moves among the circles of London's power elite dispensing advice and information while gaining the souls of his clients to be twisted into undead things after death. 
3. Kamminglartu The Loner - This Romanian national has survived being burned alive three times and creates incredible steam powered minions to despense his twisted brand of justice to those he deems worthy. A very dangerous alchemist and magus of the highest order. 
4. Kaniako- The mad draper of Japan - This madman creates his minions in twisted swaths of fabric, blood, and machinery. These 6 hit point works of twisted demonic art move and are the rave of the art world. Little do those who encounter them know of the 1d4 damaging blades that will pop out for murder and mayhem. 
5. Languntundrth- The terror of Iceland, this mad killer of men has passed beyond the caring of humanity after murdering 33 people within the vacation spots of Iceland.His wind up creations of flesh, bone, and vice simply watch and report of the next set of victims to their master. He's become something dark, twisted, and dangerous. Existing in this world and the dark beyond of someplace else. He works with his tools and his power. 
6.  The Escort Nalialae- She has so many names and they all resemble the most perfect models of the runway. She is a dark almagam of flesh, clockwork, and bits of the most "perfect" flesh she can mold into herself. It is said that each and everyone of her victims is a part of herself some of which are their willingly. She moves among the one percent of the jaded,rich, and wealthy. 
7. Ndron- A lord of the cemetary and beyond. His roots start in the United Kingdom and have extended deep into the family backgrounds of Europe and America. His criminial empire provides him with the raw fodder for dark and twisted creations of clockwork, soul, and spirit willing to show others the wonders of the other world. 
8. Rcae- A mad monster working within the deep bowels of the richest of the abandon cities of China where he sews immortality into flesh. A student of the flesh tenders of Leng this mad man releases his fantastic creations of soul and clockwork as weapons of incredible destructive power upon the enemies of the state.They vanish and move among the rubble finding new "materials" for their master. He or rather it has become a dark twisted thing of nightmare and undeath. 
9. Rthabara- The Death of Calcutta, the Butcher of Needle, the worker of the skiens and souls of mankind. It has so many names but evidence of its work moves among the night in a whirl of clockwork, death, destruction, and murder. This twisted assassin is highly paid but is money its real modivation? Its presence is merely a whisper on the winds of police blotters, international crime watches, and the occasional conspiracy website. 
10. Shiring- The creation of some made Dark Alchemist centuries ago this thing has taken up its master's old ways or is it infact as some speculate its old master. It is a twisted creation of dark alchemy, spite, and murder that moves through the Dutch countryside spreading its evil of clock work, and carrion with abandon. It has killed fifteen police officers with its traps that it leaves behind. 
11. Vatualur- The Canadian Killer of Men or the Death Weaver - This thing has so many names that its spiderlike frame can contain them all. It sews up its victims into amalgam of flesh, bone, and clock work and sends its minions on errands of horror. The thing haunts families through the centuries harvesting those it deems worthy of its dark gifts. The thing black mails the elite for "favors" playing a twisted game of chess and murder. A game that shall last centuries on and on. We are merely insects caught in its web.
    

Roll 1d10 as per normal for your players but let there be one more horrific encounter that simply happens to pop up at the end.

Happy Gaming 

Ten Artifact Hearts For Your Old School Horror Campaign Just In Time For Valentines day

Ten Artifact Hearts 

1. The Heart of Aloth -This heart belonged to a butcher who preserved it in brine. When placed within the chest of a the victim the heart removes all emotion but grants the user a sort of undead eternal life. The heart is empowered by the powers infernal. 
2. The Heart of Chalirdetural- This ancient Aztec jeweled heart is a thing of beauty and grants the user "fertility" and abundance in life but the user must sacrifice one victim every two weeks. The user grows more and more blood thirsty with each passing day. The owner will be under a berserk spell when the heart is found. Others will desire to possess the thing because of its beauty.  
3. Dulrugb's Heart - This brass heart belonged to a barrow king who wanders the Earth searching for it. The heart allows the owner to regenerate as a troll. Any damage is passed on to the ancient barrow king who experiences all of the pain and the ower has the ability to pull from the memories and experiences of the great warrior 
4. Duroba's Promise - This heart allows the owner to become Duroba The Great King of ancient Africa. The user gains +3 on Wisdom and Charisma and becomes a paragon of the manily virtues. He gains infravision as his eyes become windows into the soul of the great king. Eventually the user becomes a vessel for the great king.He gains the infernal blood lust and demonic taint that marked the reign of lust and blood of this ancient monarch. 
5. Farina- This jeweled heart of glass and steel is a modern masterpiece of art. It belonged to mad genius homeless man whose art career was marked by bloodshed and madness. The user gains +1 intelligence and +3 wisdom as the user gains access to the Outer Darkness realms and his mind becomes twisted by the Old Ones. The user gains vast insights into twisted vistas of reality. 
6. Fauavaro's Heart - "The mad medical student of Berlin"  Fauavaro owned this heart and used it on his female victims who were brought back to a mockery of life and undeath. Within the heart dwells the spirit of an ancient twisted Lovecraftian succubus waiting for the next corpse. She will communicate with the owner telepathically, tempting them with the most depraved sins and pleasures. The user gains +2 to intelligence as he becomes a vessel for the forbidden medical secrets of the Mi Go and this ancient evil's cult. -2 wisdom. 
7. Gliaeroturi's Desire - This ancient wood heart belonged to a strange twisted Russian cult and has passed from hand to hand. It has a series of unusual religious drawings carved into it and allows the user access to many 4th level spells twisted by the Old Ones. The user gains no knowledge of them as the heart uses the owner as a mere vessel for them. The user's skin and organs are converted into wood as he uses the spells. After 1d4 months he will be nothing more then a life like wooden doll. 
8. Goror's Guardian - This heart is often placed in corpses by twisted cults. The heart animates the corpse into a demonic vessel. The heart draws its strength from the negative planes and is made from the coldest iron of ancient forbidden nether realms. The vessel gains 4 hit dice, regenerates as a troll, and the heart produces a foul acidic poison so the touch of the monster does 1d4 points of damage 
9. Hendungotu- This ancient heart of glass has passed through the hands of many foul cults and made its way to many places. The Hendungotu is implanted in the chest of its owner and grants access to 10th level spells. This is a whore's promise. The heart is actually the vessel of an ancient Greece lich who takes over the corpse of the user. The heart's energies are such that it will burn out the corpse with 1d4 days of implantation. The lich's higher memories are gone and it is easily molded by whomever owns the heart. Its afterlife has been a blur of cults, bloodshed, and ancient forbidden unrealized promises. There was a girl but the memory is gone. 
10. Kororoth - This wooden heart belonged to Kororoth a fierce warrior of the Lovecraftian tribes of Asia. The heart grants blood lust, bravery, and the sort of false immortality that comes with the Mythos. The owner must sacrifice an enemy each new moon or the heart will curse the user with a berserk spell for 1d4 rounds. The owner must find someone to love him by the time of the full moon.  The heart will twist him in mind as well as body with pain if he should fail. The heart will keep its owner in a state of minor undeath until these conditions are met.

Many of these items will be found within the lairs of various cults across the planes. They may also turn up with the evidence rooms of police stations, museums, etc. Some of these items are things of beauty and twisted artwork they float down the stream of eternity. They bring misery and deviltry wherever they are found. Even though they are curse they sometimes fetch thousands of dollars to collectors of such things and other times mere paltry sums. The road to the lower realms are littered with treasures such as these.
Because of the aura of the supernatural associated with these items they will often rebuild themselves if damaged. Many times there will be a guardian monster who will look after the well being of such things. They have been known to track down those who would destroy such items. These monsters will be exceptionally twisted examples of their race and have max hit points. 

5 Magic Items Lost Between Worlds For Your Old School Horror Campaign

1. "A twisted piece of plane wreckage in the shape of a wand" -  This piece of twisted wreckage from a downed military craft of unknown origin seems to bleed during the new moon. It may be used by a necromancer to summon 1d4 shades of the dead who have died in air related accidents. When tucked under a pillow this item grants dream access to alien skies on ancient horror filled worlds. The item will disappear if taken aboard a plane with terrific scream 
2. A Brass Key - This key opens the dreams of madmen and the not quite sane. The user inserts the key into the ear of the victim. The victims dreams will appear in cloud like visions above the fool's head. A wisdom check is needed to access the correct dream and there is only a 20% chance of finding out anything useful. The victim will be unhurt by the experience but will suffer from horrifying nightmares of jailers and demonic locks for 65 days after the experience. The key must be stroked regularly or it may send these visions to the user. A certain nightmare demon is looking for this key. 
3. "Piece of a door frame made from a piece of rusted metal"  -This door frame opens a door to hell when it is inserted into a broken door frame. The doorways will be open for 1d4 rounds and the trip is one way. The piece has a history of stranding users in hell. The frame will also grant one vision of hell per new moon and whispers the torments of the damned on Sundays 
4. "A simple locket and lock with a twisted chain of gold" This odd item belongs to a member of the high court of fairy who used it as a tool to woo and drive a victim insane. The locket contains the poor woman's soul and her ghost will serve the owner without fail for 1d4 days. The lock contains her dreams and her will. When opened it will grant an illusion of such beauty that those who experience it will be held as if charmed for 1d4 days. The chain of gold when put upon the neck of a lover or would be lover will act as a dominion spell. There are agents of both death and fairy who are searching for this item. Should the fey catch up with the owner they will strip him or her of their most precious dreams. The agents of death need this item to make the girl's soul whole again. There is a 60% that they may punish the owner by cutting up the owner's soul instead. 
5. A Crystal Ball - This crystal ball contains the soul of the gypsy fortune teller who owned it. After a fierce battle with the demon Orcus the demon lord trapped her soul in this bauble and cast it into the void.
    The ball has the following powers: Darkness, charm, minor lightning strike ofr 1d4 points of damage 20' range and Show Dark Fate. The ball will show future events but only the most vile aspects of them. The ball will cry and bleed when its powers are used. There is a 20% of the spirit of the ball possessing the user. There is a 10% chance of Orcus knowing that the ball is being used and seeking out the owner.
   

Note that there agents from across the planes searching for these items. They may stay with the owner temporary only to seemly to move on to another owner. These items seem to have an evil  streak about them and cause mayhem and woe to those who possess them. 

1d10 Deep One Random Finds For Your Old School Horror Campaign

" After the latest raid on the lonely Island of Esbrook off the coast of  Maine. Our party found "things" left behind never created by the hand of mortal man. The marines drove them off but the price in man power was incredible. For some reason the sea seems to sing to me this evening. That damn strange flute even now sits on the desk. Its angles seem to glint and dance in the light like the luxuriousness of certain fish in the Abyss of the Atlantic." 

Corporal Martino USS Ulysses missing off the coast of Maine 1925 last diary entry 

1d10 Deep One Random Finds

1. Deeply pittied sacrfical knife with odd glyph symbols that glints in the light. Wickedly sharp and looks to almost be a boning knife. +1 Knife of sharpness 
2. Hooks and chains with barbed ends. 300 yards of chain that could be used for something of tremendous size. The ore that it is made from is oddly bluish green and its rusted at odd places. The hooks have bits of dried flesh, ichor, and something less identifiable on them. Wickedly sharp, black in places, and broken at certain points the barbs do 1d4 points of damage. 
3. Effigy of Mother Hydra - This +1 war club of a heavy iron material sings with the spell "Call Deep One" when held. One nights of the full moon it will call 1d8 Deep One warriors to the user. 
4. Odd Blue Green Coins - Made from a weird semi luminous material these slightly radioactive coins are used in the rites to call a shaggoth or Father Dagon to the those who pay the price. The coins are deeply pitted and rusted in places. There is dry human blood on them and they are also slightly radioactive. 
5. Deep One Cross Bow Bolts - These wicked barbed weapons have bits of dried human flesh on them and other things. They are a +1 weapon but must be modified to work on a human cross bow. They are made from iron and something else that is alien and they have an oily sheen to them. 
6. Weird Gill Flute - Made from fish bones, dried whale flesh, and twisted metal. This flute echoes with the song of Cthulhu when held. It may call a 1d4 hit point storm/elemental when played. There is a 20% of the deep ones noticing the user playing this item and attracting their attention 
7. Figurine from Beyond - This multi-armed monstrosity conforms to no known human god. The thing is 4 inches high and is covered from its multiple heads to its pedestal in glyphs. On the nights of  the full moon it whispers and sings three spells of 2nd level to the user. On nights of the new moon it sings a song of insanity. 
8. A Necklace of Human Teeth And Finger bones - This necklace rattles when danger to the user is nearby and threatens the user. 1d20 ghosts follow the owner. They will wait for the user to show weakness and then tear the owner apart. 
9. The Frog Glass - A lump of molten glass with a single inhuman eye  floating in it.The thing shows various Deep One cities. When you hold the item it sings the praises of madness and the Old Ones. There is a 60% chance of a shaggoth or worse noticing the user. The thing automatically allows the breath water spell once per day. 
10. The Spell Staff of Depravity - This twisted staff of coral and human bone allows the user to transform into a Deep One once per day. It has the following spell like powers : Darkness, Charm person, Mass illusion, Field of the Eel 1d4 points of damage 20 foot radius, and call Shaggoth. All powers usable once per day. There is a price for the power however. The second the owner picks up the staff their genetic structure becomes one with the Deep Ones and is polluted forever more. Using the powers of the staff marks the soul of the user as the property of the Great Old Ones and all that comes with it. 

1d10 Random Uncanny Ghostly Encounters Table For Your Old School Horror Campaigns

1d10 Random Uncanny Ghostly Encounters Table

1. This tragic lady phantom needs a party to avenger her death and is willing to exchange knowledge of the other side for the favor. There are however complications.
2. A former crime boss has ill gotten gains that he wants to share for a price. 
3. An ex hit man's ghost needs to protect his son from himself. Can you help?
4. The spirit of a little old lady needs to be put to rest. Her killers must be brought to justice lest her monstrous spirit kills again. Can you help? 
5. The ghost of a snitch has some damned secrets to tell and they've been driving men mad for the last 13 days. 
6. The specter of a janitor knows all of the secrets of his former building including the treasure of gold that they killed him for. Can you help put him to rest? 
7. The wraith of a call girl needs the help of some heroes. Her killers are still at large and are going to kill her sister upon the next full moon. 
8. That ghost you saw out of the corner of your eye is actually the daughter of a wealthy socialite. She's not dead yet but will be soon. Her spirit is already haunting her killers. Namely you and your crew 
9. A group of ghostly former adventurers needs help in tracking down their own killers. They appear to be getting very hungry for human souls. Can you help?
10. A magic sword that used to devour human souls has been broken and it has released 1d10 of the most dangerous specters from history upon the city. Only your party can help put them to rest. 

1d20 Spicy Thieves, Rogues, And Poisoners Random Table For Your Old School Horror Campaign

1d20 Spicy Thieves, Rogues, And Poisoners Random Table 

1. This male prostitute leads a double life as foreign agent selling secrets from within his bag of tricks. He also keeps several enchanted knives in the bag as well. 
2. This actress has a hidden agenda and a dark secret in her past that forces her to sell information to the highest bidder 
3. This information broker is a respectable jeweler by day and a serial killer by night. He knows many dark secrets he is willing to impart to the right bidder
4. This man works as a janitor and knows the hidden tunnels that run throughout the city. He'll show you for a price. 
5. This man is a map maker with a taste for forbidden flesh and a professional forger. He keeps a secret diary of his jobs and day to day activities. 
6. This woman is a cat burger with a family secret involving the local mob. She's willing to trade favors 
7. A local prostitute who works for both the police chief and a local bounty hunter but now he's in deep trouble 
8. A second story man who works the docks and is a cultist looking to get out. 
9. A watch maker who repairs gear for the local thieves guild and various adventurers. Cut rates on his work 
10. A poisoner who poses as a food inspector who likes blondes and is looking for a new racket 
11. A cabinet performer who works for a kidnapping racket and is selling secrets 
12. A stripper whose brother works for the mob and needs a favor 
13. Lady accountant who works for the city and the mob. She's selling numbers on both to the highest bidder. Looking for romance 
14. Bail bondsman/lawyer who gets adventurers out of jams. He's an old perv with a cute daughter 
15. A good for nothing former adventurer who runs a bar specializing in hot leads for get rich quick schemes. He's on the level but in deep trouble with the mob
16. A kindly hobo who spins yearns about the locals. Actually a master thief looking for an apprentice. 
17. A nun dealing second rate poisons from her habit and nunnery  Very slick and dangerous to cross. 
18. Ring dealer and junk jewelry dealer whose actually a master alchemist for hire. 
19. Kindly mature teacher whose actually an import/export smuggler dealing in jewels 
20. A former mob boss who now runs a local bar and needs help with his daughter. A wild hellion whose actually a master assassin involved with the cult of Cthulhu
    
    

Carnival of Souls For Your Old School Horror Campaign

Carnival of Souls is a cult classic movie that can be used to enhance an old school horror campaign. Carnival is a perfect mid campaign event/adventure that can have PCs wondering and horrified. Here's a trailer of this cult classic released in 1962.

Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) is riding in a car with two other young women when some men challenge them to a drag race. As they speed across a bridge, the women's car plunges over the side into the river. The police spend three hours dragging the murky, fast-running water without success. Then Mary miraculously surfaces. She cannot remember how she survived.

Mary then drives to Utah, where she has been hired as a church organist. Odd things happen along the way. At one point, she can get nothing on her car radio but strange organ music. She passes a large, abandoned pavilion sitting all by itself on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. It seems to beckon to her in the twilight. Shortly thereafter, while speeding along a deserted stretch of road, a ghoulish, pasty-faced figure (The Man, played by director Herk Harvey) replaces her reflection in the passenger window and stares at her. When The Man suddenly appears in front of her, she swerves off the road. At a gas station, the attendant tells her the pavilion was first a bathhouse, then a dance hall, and finally a carnival before shutting down

In town, Mary rents a room from Mrs. Thomas; John Linden, the only other lodger, wants to become better acquainted with the blonde newcomer, but she is not interested. That night, she becomes upset when she sees The Man downstairs in the large house and retreats to her room. Mrs. Thomas, who kindly brings her some food, says she did not pass anyone.

Soon, Mary begins experiencing terrifying interludes when she becomes invisible and inaudible to the rest of the world, as if she simply is not there. When The Man appears briefly in front of her in a park, she flees, right into the arms of Dr. Samuels. Samuels, though he acknowledges he is not a psychiatrist, tries to help her.

Her new employer, the minister (Art Ellison), is a bit put off when she declines his suggestion of a reception to meet the congregation. When she practices for the first time, she finds herself shifting from a hymn to eerie music. In a trance, she sees The Man and others of his ilk dancing. The minister, hearing the strange music, denounces it as "profane" and insists upon her resignation.

Terrified of being alone, Mary agrees to go out on a date with Linden. When they return home, he talks his way into her room, but when she sees The Man in the mirror, she becomes upset and tries to tell him what has been happening to her. He leaves, believing she is losing her mind.

After talking with Samuels again, Mary believes she has to go to the pavilion. There, however, she finds no answers.

Other ghouls join The Man. Mary tries frantically to escape, at one point boarding a bus to leave town, only to find that all the passengers are ghouls. Then she wakes up, showing that she dreamed this sequence at least. In the end, she is drawn back to the pavilion, where she finds her tormentors dancing. A pale version of herself is paired with The Man. When she runs away, they chase her out onto the beach. She collapses, and they close in.

The minister, the doctor and the police are baffled. Her bare footprints in the sand (the only ones) end abruptly, but there is no trace of her.

In the final scene, the car is finally located and pulled from the river. Mary's body is in the front seat.

Lost By Ways Of The Carnival of Souls 

The Carnival of Souls represents a brush with the other world. The ghouls and the man are a perfect plot device to throw at PCs. They're implacable and utterly indestructible because they're already dead. The "Man" and his ghouls might well appear  to a group of PCs who have had a brush with death and not escaped. 

For a game of Call of Cthulhu the man and his ghouls could be a nice change of pace. The PCs have a brush with death or a client whose not escaped the clutches of the supernatural. "The Man" comes to claim them and the PCs become ensnared in the events. 

For a game of Kult the Carnival and its patrons may be mechanisms of the Illusion that are still working and still in play. The man may be an agent of the Death angels or something even more sinister. 

For a post apocalyptic game such as Mutant Future, the Carnival may be a sad reminder of the forces of the supernatural still functioning in the wake of the apocalypse for all eternity. For a retroclone game the Carnival may be an echo of the fight between Order and Chaos.  Death being the final balance between the two forces.

For a game of post future horror like Dark Conspiracy, the Carnival may be a protodimension of death and the "Man" may be its Dark Lord. The Carnival makes a perfect location for the recovery of an artifact that has fallen into the hands of one of its victims. 

The  "Man" avitar of death,relentlessness, and entropy 

Unleashing The Trollenburg Terror - Actual Play

Sunday I was roped into running a game over at my friend Larry's place because his regular game of AD&D Greyhawk had been ripped apart by the flu. This meant that I had to come up with something fast.
There are movies that I've always thought of as rpg adventures and wanted to run as one. The Crawling Eye aka The Trollenburg Terror makes a fantastic adventure if used in the right way. 

First a bit of background on Crawling Eye aka the Trollenburg Terror according to Wiki:

The Trollenberg Terror is the title of both a 1956 "Saturday Serial" ITV UK television programme and a better-known 1958 black and white science fiction film. The latter is also known as The Crawling Eye, Creature from Another World, The Creeping Eye, and The Flying Eye. Both versions are directed by Quentin Lawrence and featureLaurence Payne as journalist Philip Truscott, who investigates unusual accidents occurring at a Swiss resort. The film also stars Forrest Tucker as United Nationstroubleshooter Alan Brooks. Peter Key wrote the story for the serial, and Jimmy Sangsterscripted the film version based on Keys' story. It was the final film to be produced by Southall Studios, one of the earliest pioneer film studios in the UK.

The plot with major spoilers ahead 

One of three student climbers is mysteriously killed on a mountain, his head ripped off. Two sisters are on a train to Geneva. Anne faints as they pass a mountain and on waking, she now knows all about the town and that there is something wrong with the mountain. She decides they should get off at the next stop, Trollenberg. She was part of a mind reading act in London.

Alan, who was on the train with them, goes to an observatory a little way up the mountain, where Professor Crevett asks for his help. He is told that despite many accidents, dead bodies are never found on the mountain and a radioactive mist cloud is always on its south side. Similar incidents took place in the Andes three years earlier before suddenly vanishing without a trace. It is thought the monsters come from a very cold planet and make their own atmosphere, a rarefied mist.

Anne is giving a mind-reading exhibition at the hotel when she sees the two men in a hut on the mountain. Dewhurst is asleep when the other, under a mental compulsion, walks out. She faints again. Alan phones the hut and finds out Brett has in fact left. The cloud has moved down to where the hut is and the other man hears a noise outside. Something horrible and unseen kills him. The cloud moves back up the mountain.

An expedition from town goes to look for the two men. Anne back in town is uneasy and says the men should stay away from the hut. The hut is locked on the inside and everything is frozen. A body is found under the bed with its head torn off. Anne decides to investigate herself by cable car as a spotter plane arrives to search the mountain area. A man is spotted on the mountain but when the first rescuer gets there, all there is a rucksack. When he looks inside, he sees the man’s severed head. He is then attacked by a madman (Brett) with a mountain axe who kills the second rescuer.

Anne feels a compulsion to climb the mountain but they stop her going past the observatory. Later Brett arrives back at the hotel, behaving weirdly, then tries to kill Anne but is knocked down. He hits his head but there is no blood from a wound. This was similar to incidents in the Andes where a man killed an old woman who had powers similar to Anne's, being able to receive thoughts. They arrived ten minutes too late to find him dead, as in dead for 24 hours.

Brett kills a man and escapes from the room he was locked in and goes looking for Anne with a knife but is shot and killed by Alan. News is that the cloud is now coming down the mountain toward the village. They decide to retreat to the observatory by cable car; the observatory is heavily fortified to withstand avalanches and so should provide a measure of protection from the monsters.

A monster arrives in the mist at the hotel. As people begin piling into a cable car, a mother suddenly realizes her daughter is not there, and Alan goes to rescue the child in the hotel. He does so and narrowly escapes the monster. They make the cable car and head up the mountain but the delay has given the mist a chance to reach the cable car platform; the motor and cables start freezing and the car starts jerking but it manages to get them to the observatory and four clouds now start heading towards them. They have one hour.

Hans, who tried to get out by road, turns up and they let him in but he has the symptoms of being a puppet of the monsters and goes looking for Anne. They manage to stop him from strangling her, and kill him. The monsters climb towards the observatory, where the men are making Molotov cocktails to combat the monsters, who prefer intense cold. An aerial fire bomb raid has been ordered on the observatory which it should survive, having three-foot-thick concrete walls.

Philip hits one with a Molotov cocktail, which sets it burning, but he is caught by a monster on the roof. A Molotov cocktail from Alan persuades the burning monster to let Philip go. Later, Philip does the same for Alan when a monster manages to break through the thick wall to try and get at Anne. The plane arrives to begin its bombing raid and the monsters burn.

The classic film 

Unleashing The Trollenburg Terror

There are several key factors that bother me about the movie and have for years. United Nations Inspector Allen Brooks has more power then many world leaders. There's also the fact that he knows more then what's going on. Professor Crevett has dealt with Allen before and this has all the classic ear marks of an operation gone horribly wrong.

 Allen Brooks doesn't look like your classic hero instead there's something vaguely sinsister about him. "A smoking man" quality that one finds in the old classic  X files villain. 

There are actually two stories within the Trolleburg Terror.From Wiki: "Similar incidents took place in the Andes three years earlier before suddenly vanishing without a trace. It is thought the monsters come from a very cold planet and make their own atmosphere, a rarefied mist." 

Professor Crevett knows something is going on. He's got unlimited funding and an observatory that seems more aka to a cosmic duck blind then it does a complex to study cosmic radiation. Many years later we would see a similar phenomena come into being with Project Arrow Head. The "aliens" had come not from another planet but another dimension.

 

The players basically came into Trollenburg years later and on the trail of a rogue Allen Brooks. Accidents were starting on the mountain once again and Professor Crevett's son Hymric  was now in charge of the observatory. The events of Trollenburg had been hushed up and for the good of humanity.
There were 6 players
3 Trouble shooters of the United Nations "Project Smoke"
And  3 Psychics from the shop.
The whole crew were lightly armed with hunting rifles, a pistol or two, and several shot guns.

After a quick investigation and a trip up to the facility via cable car. The whole place seemed in working order except a strange cloud on one of the nearby peaks.
The PCs ordered a fly by and it was an ordinary cloud.
It wasn't until the party uncovered the fact that Trollenberg is part of a series of special ley lines that run throughout the mountains. The party climbed the summit of a nearby peak and found a neo lithic pylon and a series of human bones along with some very nasty looking ice crystals.  

That's when they encountered their first

 Crawling Eyes

No. Enc.: 1d8

Alignment: Chaotic

Movement: 120' (40')

Armor Class: 6

Hit Dice: 13

Attacks: 1

Damage: Special, Tentacle lash 1d4 points of freezing damage 

Save: L9

Morale: 9
Mutations: Psionic possession, Gas generation,  Animate Dead (special)

Hoard Class: III, IV, IX, XXI
The crawling eyes have been sneaking into our dimensions for eons. These horrors from beyond the Outer Darkness move to invade our realities through rends in the cosmic fabric. They are not the Great Old Ones but a foul independent race of monsters. Many psychics can tune into the alien thoughts and foul plans of these creatures. The door of these transmissions is two way and the foul beasts will know of the psychics. They will bend every effort to eliminate the threat to their plans.
These foul diseases upon the multi-verse are related to both the Brain Lashers of Mutant Future and the Mind lords.
They will decapitate anyone that they come across and feed upon their blood in many instances.
These foul beings will drain certain beings of their blood and coat the flesh in a bio organic ice crystal matrix. This enables the monsters to psionically animate the victim as an intelligent zombie. Hand eye coordination will be reduced and the nerve damage to the victim will be in evidence. Any skill check will reveal the possession of the victim by the Eye. Flame attacks on the victim will cause degeneration and complete destruction of the zombie.
These zombies are often used to eliminate any psychics or psionically active individuals.

The party was killed to a man by a cult of "crawling eye zombies"! They vow revenge next Monday with another United Nations Team being sent in! 

The Beast From Haunted Cave For your Old School Horror Campaign

This is the sort of late night cable fest movie that I would have watched when I was living in Boston. The movie has the finger prints of an early Roger Corman effort. 

The movie makes an excellent horror/gangster mash up adventure set in the modern era. . Filmed in South Dakota at the same time as Ski Troop Attack, it tells the story of bank robbers fleeing in the snow who run afoul of a giant spider that feeds on humans.
The movie actually comes off with a decent plot according to Wiki:

A group of criminals, led by the ruthless Alexander Ward (Frank Wolff), hatch a plan to steal gold bars from a vault in Deadwood, South Dakota. Ward sends one of his henchmen, Marty (Richard Sinatra), to set an explosive in a nearby gold mine, the detonation of which will act as a diversion for their heist. Although Marty, accompanied by a local barmaid (Linné Ahlstrand), succeeds in setting the explosive, he encounters a beast (Chris Robinson) in the mine. The beast kills the barmaid, but Marty escapes with his life.

The next morning, the explosive goes off as planned and Marty and his gang succeed in stealing gold bars from the vault. They set off to a remote cabin, led by a local guide named Gil Jackson (Michael Forest), where they hope to be picked up by a plane. Gil is initially unaware of their plans, but he becomes suspicious when he hears reports of the robbery on the radio and discovers that they're carrying handguns. They reach the cabin without incident, but once there, a violent snowstorm delays the plane's arrival. Marty's "secretary," Gypsy (Sheila Noonan), is taken by the young Gil and tells him that Marty plans to kill him once the plane arrives. Gil and Gypsy take off back to town together.

Marty, who still carries unpleasant memories of his encounter with the beast, has all the while been concerned about being followed. He encounters the beast again during the trip to the cabin, but his companions think he's losing his mind. Eventually, however, they become convinced of the beast's reality when they see it attack the other of Marty's henchmen, Byron (Wally Campo). Despite their fears of further attacks, the gang is set on tracking down Gil and Gypsy before they reach town, so they head to a nearby cave. Another snowstorm forces Gil and Gypsy to take shelter in the cave as well, which turns out to be the lair of the beast. In the final struggle, the beast kills the remaining gang members, but Marty shoots it with a flare gun before he dies. Gil and Gypsy are left to watch as the monster is burned to death.

Using The Beast From Haunted Cave For Your Old School Horror

The movie has a lot to offer a DM for any number of game systems. For a game such as Dark Conspiracy the plot can be stream lined and the creature is another  horror awakened by the coming of the aliens. There are a few monsters already in the game that can be adapted as the beast and perhaps the cave system is actually a small proto dimension.
The plot and movie elements can easily be transported back to the 1920s or 30s for a complete night's adventure. The follow up to the murders of all these people as well as the loot will certainly attract bounty hunters, treasure seekers, and who knows what else. The beast itself could be a child of Atlach- Nacha simply gathering its sacrifices and feeding until the stars are right again. 

For a game like cult the beast simply a creature of Gaia who broken through the illusion and has its own agenda. The beast could gather a cult about itself and furthering its own plans in the area. 
 For any of the OSR games such as Mutant Future the creature presents a unique hazard to the plans of adventurers and a dangerous post apocalyptic encounter. Who knows how long the beast has been active? The cave system could be a ruined temple or megadungeon that has been operating for thousands of years. Adventurers could destroy the beast only to have their modern descendants dealing with the same horror again.

The Beast From The Haunted Cave
 

Spidery Horror From Beyond 

No Enc: 1d3 (1d3) 

Alignment : Chaotic 

Movement: 120'(40') 

Armor Class: 5 

Hit Dice : 6 

Attacks: Claw or Bite 

Damage: 1d4 Claw or Bite 1d8, poison

Save : L2 

Morale : 8 

Hoard: VI 

 Mutations
Telepathy
Humanoid
Regenerative Capability
 Illusion Generation Telepathic (Weak)

This horror has lived within its extensive cave system for thousands if not millions of years. This spidery like humanoid horror operates quite successfully from within its labyrinth maze like  cave complex. Many have been murdered by its claws. The monster lures its victims with illusions of past victims to its den. There the monster webs its victims and lays its eggs within the flesh. The victims are slowly drained of blood and finally feasted upon by the young.
 

The Megadungeon of the Beast
 

Tales are told by the ancients of extensive caverns filled with ancient treasures from beyond the time of the Apocalypse. The beast spreads these tales among the natives of the hills to lure the desperate  the adventurous and the stupid to its clutches! There the beast feeds on the flesh of any who venture into its claws. The caverns seem to extend for miles in many directions.  The place has not be entirely mapped or cataloged. Many black mages come to collect one of these horrors as their own or worship it.