Tales from the Loop: Horror Movie Mayhem, Part 2 of 2

Moral panic was widespread fear and social concern of a, usually hitherto unknown, evil that threatened society and preferably the innocent children. The fear was spread by ”moral entrepreneurs” as well as the mass media.

Often it related to new phenomena that young people enjoyed, such as heavy metal music, roleplaying games or video nasties. Moral panic could also be generated targeting groups that were seen as threats to social norms in a community, outsiders like mods and rockers or the LGBT community.

It’s good that we have gotten past this as a society… now it will never happen again.

Adventure: “Horror Movie Mayhem", Tales from the Loop, Fria Ligan
Music by: Gabrielle De Bourg, 
https://soundcloud.com/gabrielle-de-bourg

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KULT: Divinity Lost - Oakwood Heights, Act I

We are big fans of the wonderful people over at Encounter Roleplay who stream tremendous amounts of high quality roleplaying goodness every week, both in their own Twitch channel as well as the official DnD-channel. They also produce two top-class podcasts with a fairly similar tone to ours, "Turncloaks" and "Tomes & Tentacles", that we can heartily recommend.

We recently had the opportunity to do a collaboration with Josh and Tallsquall from Encounter Roleplay and our own DM extraordinaire Craig decided to take them to the lovely neighborhood of Oakwood Heights, Detroit in the year 2015. Enjoy!

"It is a grey and cold winter’s day in Detroit, as members of the public prosecutor’s office and police force shepherd the accused Franklin Mills around his crime scenes, located throughout the city. The objective is to attain clarity of what happened on that fateful day back in August, the motive behind the cruel murders, the child who disappeared, and whether Franklin Mills really lost his memory."

Adventure: “Oakwood Heights", KULT: Divinity Lost, Helmgast
Music by: Atrium Carceri

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What is hidden in the mind of a murderer?

Curse of Strahd 13: Heliophobia

In Bram Stoker’s "Dracula" the eponymous Count was weakened by sunlight, but it did not kill him. Trying to trace where the idea of vampires exploding in to a cloud of dust or catching on fire when in sunlight seems to lead to the 1922 movie "Nosferatu". In the movie, Count Orlok needs to sleep by day as the sunlight would otherwise kill him. 

One theory goes that this element was introduced in order to differentiate the story somewhat from "Dracula" which it quite proudly stole most of its plot from.

The attempts at differentiating were not enough however and the movie company Prana Film was forced to declare bankruptcy after Florence Stoker, Bram’s widow and holder of the estate, sued the company for copyright infringement and won.

Campaign: “Curse of Strahd”, Dungeons & Dragons
Music by: Metatron Omega, Flowers for Bodysnatchers & Wordclock

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Tales from the Loop: Horror Movie Mayhem, Part 1 of 2

We are joined by the talented Gabrielle De Bourg who GM's Hjalmar and Craig through "Horror Movie Mayhem", an adventure she has created for the game "Tales from the Loop" by Free League that is included in the module "Our Friends the Machines & Other Mysteries"

"It is the summer of 1988, 30 years ago today, and the Parent Teacher Association are about to hold a Culture Festival in the little society of Stenhamra on Mälaröarna to celebrate the fine culture offerings in the area.

But as soon as it has begun, notes are landing in the mailboxes and adults are going door-to-door. Because there is one type of culture that they think is dangerous. Everywhere they are talking about the Video Nasties and how it's making the children violent.

But is there something more hidden behind it all? Come along for an adventure about moral panic, LGBT and paranoia in Simon Stålenhags 80's that never was in this Horror Movie Mayhem."

Adventure: “Horror Movie Mayhem", Tales from the Loop, Fria Ligan
Music by: Gabrielle De Bourg, https://soundcloud.com/gabrielle-de-bourg

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Curse of Strahd 12: Hamartia

Hamartia is a term used to describe turns of events in dramatic literature and usually refers to the protagonists erring or having a fatal flaw, setting off a chain of events that reverses their fortunes and leads to their downfall.

In his treatise Poetics, Aristotle deemed hamartia to be necessary to create the optimal tragic hero and achieve catharsis. He wrote: "...the character between these two extremes – that of a man who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty. "

Campaign: “Curse of Strahd”, Dungeons & Dragons
Music by: Metatron Omega, Flowers for Bodysnatchers & Wordclock

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Curse of Strahd 11: Kresnik

Legends in Slovenia and Croatia speak of the "Kresnik", a shaman whose spirit wanders into that of an animal at night. It does this to protect the lives of the people of the land, fighting the evil powers that stalk the night. The Kresnik's nemesis is the "Kudlak", a vampiric animal that he hunts, said to represent the evil in the world.

The word Kresnik may have been derived from the Slav word for “resurrect”, making the Kresnik the “resurrector”.

Campaign: “Curse of Strahd”, Dungeons & Dragons
Music by: Metatron Omega, Flowers for Bodysnatchers & Wordclock

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Curse of Strahd 10: Valravn

According to Danish folklore, when a chieftain was killed in battle but never found, ravens would come and eat him. The ravens that ate the chieftain’s heart would gain human intelligence and supernatural powers. They would also become malicious and evil, leading wanderers astray. These ravens were known as "Valravn", "raven of the slain".

Other accounts speak of the Valravn as a restless soul flying through the night as a raven. One tale tells of a Valravn that helps a maiden find her lost betrothed in return for the life of her firstborn. The maiden agrees and the Valravn flies off…  returning years later when the couple has had their first child. It then asks the maiden if she has forgotten her promise, proceeding to rip in to the chest of the child and drinking the blood from its heart.

According to the story the Valravn then turned in to a knight, presumably having been returned to its former life.

Campaign: “Curse of Strahd”, Dungeons & Dragons
Music by: Metatron Omega, Flowers for Bodysnatchers & Wordclock

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Western: The Baron of Barbary Coast, Part 3 of 3

The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was the beginning of the end for the Barbary Coast. The district was heavily damaged by the quake and the subsequent fires. Reconstruction did happen and it did see a brief revival as a somewhat cleaned-up entertainment area.

In 1913, and the fervor leading up to the prohibition of alcohol, the mayor of San Francisco, a man knows as "Sunny Jim", began a crusade against the moral decay that The Barbary Coast was the embodiment of. He was backed up by Randolph Hearst's news empire and there was little that could stop the crusade from succeeding. The last brothel closed in 1917.

So ends the tale of the hive of scum and villainy that was The Barbary Coast.

Adventure: The Baron of Barbary Coast, Western, Åskfågeln. Part 3 of 3.
Music: Phonothek
Recorded at: GothCon

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Interview with Fredrik Malmberg

We are happy to announce that we had the pleasure and great honor of welcoming a true legend in the Swedish roleplaying industry, Fredrik Malmberg, on the show.

Fredrik was one the founders of Äventyrsspel / Target Games, the company who made KULT, Drakar och Demoner, Mutant and many more back in the day. Today he is the CEO of Cabinet Entertainment, which owns the KULT license as well as the licenses of old Äventyrsspel games like Mutant, Mutant Chronicles, Warzone, Doomtrooper and Chronopia. Cabinet Entertainment also owns the IP’s created by the author Robert E. Howard, like Conan the Barbarian, Solomon Kane and others.

We spent about an hour speaking about the history of Swedish RPG's, the company he founded, the creation of and controversy surrounding KULT as well as his views on the development we have seen in the roleplaying industry over the last few years.

Music by: Atrium Carceri

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A Swedish legend.

Curse of Strahd 09: 4'33

Four minutes, thirty-three seconds is a composition by the American composer John Cage from 1952. The score instructs the performers not to play their instruments for the duration of the piece. It is effectively, four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence…

But not complete silence.

Because there is always the sound of the environment where the piece is performed. For Cage 4’33 epitomized his idea that any combination of sounds can be music.

Campaign: “Curse of Strahd”, Dungeons & Dragons
Music by: Metatron Omega, Flowers for Bodysnatchers & Wordclock

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Western: The Baron of Barbary Coast, Part 2 of 3.

The Barbary Coast was San Francisco's red light district during the latter part of the 19th and early 20th century. It featured dance halls, saloons, variety shows and brothels.

It was the California Gold Rush of 1849 that had given birth to the district, giving the tens of thousands of miners that had arrived something to spend their gold on. The area was mostly lawless and it was only vigilante justice that kept the Barbary Coast from descending into total chaos.

Adventure: The Baron of Barbary Coast, Western, Åskfågeln. Part 2 of 3.
Music: Phonothek
Recorded at: GothCon

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A hive of scum and villainy.

Curse of Strahd 08: Tastevin

The color of the wine is one indicator of how mature it is. As wine is stored and aged in dark cellars, Burgundian winemakers in the Middle Ages created the tastevin, a shallow saucer-like cup made of silver. The shiny inner surface would allow them to see the color of the wine even in candlelight.

For hundreds of years it was simply a tool for winemakers but around the year 1700 it became fashionable for affluent Frenchmen to carry the tastevin in their pockets as a status symbol. Made by master silversmiths the tastevin would be engraved with the wearer’s name and be highly prized possessions.

This changed with the French revolution when opulent displays of wealth, like carrying a silver cup around wherever you went, fell out of fashion

Campaign: “Curse of Strahd”, Dungeons & Dragons
Music by: Metatron Omega, Flowers for Bodysnatchers & Wordclock

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Western: The Baron of Barbary Coast, Part 1 of 3

Cornelius Doubleday, the fiancé of the wealthy and highly successful businesswoman and estate owner Anne Rutledge, has gone missing during his charity work in the west. The last word from him was a request for a large sum of money, which made Anne wonder what exactly was going on out there. Now, with Cornelius's disappearance, there was nought to do but for Anne to set out on an expedition to find her fiancé and get some answers. 

With her she has her trusty butler, John A Bellinger, her dog Bessie, and two hired Pinkerton agents, Dexter Colby and Cedric Valentine, with a third agent, the local Jessie Tremaine, set to meet them at the San Francisco train station. 

Rupert Rutledge, Anne's spoiled dandy of a brother, has also come along on Anne's request. But does he perhaps have his own reasons for wanting a word with Mr Doubleday?

Adventure: The Baron of Barbary Coast, Western. Part 1 of 3.
Music: Phonothek
Recorded at: GothCon

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Curse of Strahd 07: Wallachia

The area known as Wallachia is a historical region of Romania that, under the leadership of the legendary voivode Radu the Black, broke free from Hungary in 1290. As the years passed the Ottoman Empire was growing rapidly on the southern border and came to dominate much of the Balkans, including Wallachia which was ultimately forced to become a vassal of the growing empire in 1417.

Accepting this status caused an internal crisis in the country that its leader, Vlad II Dracul, had to navigate carefully. The Ottoman Empire, knowing that Vlad had been a member of the ”Order of the Dragon”, a group of noblemen who opposed the Ottoman invasion, demanded Vlad II hand over his sons as hostages. He reluctantly accepted this and continued to rule an increasingly unruly nation.

In 1447 Vlad II was assassinated by Wallachian noblemen. To avoid the country spiraling deeper in to chaos the Ottoman Empire released Vlad’s son, Vlad III Dracul, to take the reins of the nation. Vlad III put the conspirators to death and brought order... but did so with an iron fist that spared no cruelty to those that challenged him. He earned the nickname “the Impaler” because of his favored method of execution.

Campaign: “Curse of Strahd”, Dungeons & Dragons
Music by: Metatron Omega, Flowers for Bodysnatchers & Wordclock

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Curse of Strahd 06: Métis

The French word Métis is derived from the latin mixtus and refers to a hybrid or someone of mixed ancestry. The term is most commonly used for Canadians with dual Indian-White ancestry, typically tracing their lineage back to unions between European trappers and traders and Algonquian women.

After the fall of New France in 1763 a distinctly unique identity began to foment among the Métis and they even formed their own nation. This Métis nation resisted the colonization efforts of Canada, a country that didn't exactly offer equality. 

This culminated in the North-West rebellion, an uprising by the Métis and a few other aboriginal groups against the Canadian state. The uprising was crushed... but today the Métis are recognized within the Canadian constitution as an ethnic group with their own culture and given special aboriginal rights.

Campaign: “Curse of Strahd”, Dungeons & Dragons
Music by: Metatron Omega, Flowers for Bodysnatchers & Wordclock

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Curse of Strahd 05: Alfr

In the Prose Edda, a book written in 1220 by the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson, two kinds of elves are described. The Ljósálfar are the light elves, fairer than the sun to look at, dwelling in the heavenly Álfheimr. Then there are the Dökkálfar, dark and swarthy and living underground.

The light and dark elves have been interpreted to be Sturluson taking the Christian stories of angels and demons and incorporating them in to Norse mythology.  As the "Elucidarium", an encyclopedia of Christian stories had been translated to Icelandic in the previous century it is believed that this could have served as an inspiration for Sturluson.

While the duality of light and dark, good and evil, are not unique to Christianity, it is still believed the stories of the light and dark elves may be one of few early examples of Christian stories being "paganised".

Campaign: “Curse of Strahd”, Dungeons & Dragons
Music by: Metatron Omega, Flowers for Bodysnatchers & Wordclock

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Symbaroum: Lost in the Deep II / II

"In the ruins of Symbaroum a dream sight revealed
a well, a cauldron, a sinkhole.

Out of its depth a blightling came sidling,
filth forged in flesh, cruelty carved in bone,
a decoction of the World Serpent's marrow.

The blight beast ogled me hungrily
and in its burning eyes I saw the death of all"

Adventure: Lost in the Deep, Symbaroum. Part II of II.
Music: Iron Pact Orchestra, Sjellos and Halgrath

There is right now a Kickstarter going for the campaign module "Yndaros: The Darkest Star" for Symbaroum and you can make your pledge here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/449518387/yndaros-the-darkest-star-award-winning-symbaroum-c

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The ruins.

Curse of Strahd 04: Cartomancy

Not long after playing cards appeared in Europe, around the 1400’s and 1500’s, they began to be used for fortune telling and divination. The tarot deck of playing cards especially became widely used for this purpose.

There were theories that the practice originated in ancient Egypt and the mysteries of Isis. The French priest Antoine Court de Gébelin even asserted that the name Tarot came from the Egyptian words "Tar" (road) and "Ro" (king), and translated to ”The Royal Road of Life”.

Other authors took this further and connected the use of the Tarot with the Romani people and asserted that, not only was the Tarot of Egyptian origin, so were the Romani people. 

The mistaken belief that Romani are in fact Egyptians is the etymology of the word “Gypsy”. That word, as well as connecting the Romani with the Tarot in popular culture, is something still very much alive today.

Campaign: “Curse of Strahd”, Dungeons & Dragons
Music by: Metatron Omega, Flowers for Bodysnatchers & Wordclock

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The future is in the cards.

Symbaroum: Lost in the Deep I / II

There has been a breach of one of the ancient taboos. Uldo, a young goblin from the barbarian village of Lobaram, has in an attempt to prove himself worthy decided to guide a group of Ambrian explorers into one of the ancient ruins in the forest of Davokar. 

Knowing that these ruins are grounds tabooed by the Huldra, his older brother, Uhuglas, who has been honored with title of the chieftain's personal guard, is very ashamed of his brother's actions. He, along with the village witch, Algaya, has decided to take things into their own hands in order to try and stop Uldo… before it's too late. 

Together with Algaya's fierce animal familiar, the boar Mortia, they have traveled for a few days in to the depths of the forest. However, there has been no sign of the rascal Uldo and the Ambrian company. Now Uhuglas, Algaya and Mortia are standing at the outskirts of the ruins, the ancient grounds where no one from the tribes have set foot, with the risk of suffering heavy corruption from whatever dark force might be lurking in there.

There is right now a Kickstarter going for the campaign module "Yndaros: The Darkest Star" for Symbaroum and you can make your pledge here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/449518387/yndaros-the-darkest-star-award-winning-symbaroum-c

Adventure: Lost in the Deep, Symbaroum. Part I of II.
Music: Iron Pact Orchestra, Sjellos and Halgrath

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Taboo.

Neotech Edge: Rentacops 02 / 02

The year is 2070. The world is ravaged by climate disasters, class division and war. From a devastated countryside and nations swallowed by the ocean a flood of refugees pours in to the bustling megacities. They become part of the kaleidoscope of subcultures that are constantly fighting to assert themselves in the overwhelming media buzz.

Automatization and AI bring prosperity to a new genetically modified social elite while the masses accept a corporately sponsored universal basic income and stream artificial happiness straight from the Layers right in to their optical nerves. The System, a symbiosis of AI-controlled corporations and states surveils and herds the masses to the temple of mass consumption. But in a world where everything is connected, hacking has become a new form of magic. The movement Anon is linked together through darknets where the System is beginning to be turned against itself.

It  doesn’t matter if your posse is made up of tech-savvy Anons, the Nomo environmental radicals, spaced out Orbitals, hardened Krims or glamorous Nymphets. The world is anyways rushing towards collapse… or towards a new post-singularity paradise.

Neotech Edge is being Kickstarted (Swedish only currently) right now and you can make your pledge here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/helmgast/neotech-edge-reboot-av-det-klassiska-cyberpunk-rol

Adventure: Rentacops, Neotech Edge. Part 2 of 2.
Music by: protoU, album "The Edge of Architecture"

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2070.