Nineteen Seventy Five OD&D Campaign Movie Memories - 'The Equinox... A Journey into the Supernatural' 1970 For Supernatural Sunday

So last night I got together with my OSR systems guy ( you know that guy at the table who knows rpg & OSR systems back to front) and we started talking about the Evil Dead. Joe was surprised to learn that Evil Dead isn't as original as many folks think. The film was inspired by The Equinox... A Journey into the Supernatural'  Where the hell do I begin with The Equinox... A Journey into the Supernatural', I'm trying to think what year I had it plastered into my brain in a New York State ' Drive In' by baby sitter and her friends?  It might have been '74 or '75. First of all the this is schlock film with wooden acting, fantastic weird stop motion, and lots of action to keep the whole affair moving.  Is there a OD&D connection? Well for us back in 1975 yeah there was!



The Equinox... A Journey into the Supernatural' has a plot straight out of pulp magazines of the 1930's;"Equinox (also known as The Equinox... A Journey into the Supernatural, and released on home video as The Beast^[1]) is a 1970 American independent horror film directed by Dennis Muren and Jack Woods, and starring Edward Connell, Barbara Hewitt, Frank Bonner and award-winning science fiction/horror writer Fritz Leiber. The plot focuses on four teenagers having a picnic in the canyons of California who stumble upon an ancient book containing secrets of a strange world that exists alongside humans, and consequently unleash a plethora of evil creatures and monsters." Yes this sounds very familiar but the real stars of the film are the monsters, the special effects and the stop motion;"Made on a budget of a mere $6,500^[2][3] in 1967, Equinox initially gained a reputation as a midnight movie during its theatrical run, but has in later years been noted for its economical yet sophisticated use of stop-motion special effects and cel animation, which were provided by Dave Allen and Jim Danforth; the latter later worked on Flesh Gordon, in which he animated a giant monster similar to the ones in Equinox." 

For my dungeon master Jason way back in '77 this was an instrumental film as our party was called from beyond the gate to seal the unholy creatures and a crazy mix of Metamorphosis Alpha 1st edition & D&D was the result. It wasn't until years later that the first Evil Dead film hit the Drive In circuit that I recognized plot elements. But that's a post for another time, the film inspired the crew of Evil Dead in many ways;
Due to the similarities in their plots, Equinox is believed to have inspired Evil Dead, yet this has not been confirmed. It was seen by members of the crew of Evil Dead before production:

"I had seen Equinox at least twice in drive-ins before making Evil Dead. I don't recall having discussed it with [Evil Dead director] Sam Raimi, but the similarities are remarkable. I think they come from the low-budget nature of both films. That is, a few characters, an isolated, inexpensive location, and ambitious special effects. All in all, Equinox did inspire me to continue my goal of making movies. 'If they can do it...'" —Tom Sullivan, special effects and makeup artist for the Evil Dead movies, as quoted in the booklet included with the Criterion DVD set, "Backyard Monsters: Equinox and the Triumph of Love" by Brock Deshane.
For us we spent years in that campaign tracking Asmodeus and that damn book across the planes and wastelands. Characters were rolled up, ascended levels, only to die at the hands of that fiend. Yes it was a glorious campaign. It ended for me when my family moved back to Connecticut.

Years later I got to talk with Forrest Ackerman at a science fiction convention in '88 about The Equinox… A Journey into the Supernatural or as I knew it many years later as The Beast on VHS. He was happy that it had such an impact on a group of  young kids. 
Make no mistake this is a low budget cult film with lots of praise; "The film has been influential to the horror and sci-fi monster genres, receiving praise from filmmaker George Lucas and effects artist Ray Harryhausen;^[2] it was also noted as a main inspiration for Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead (1983).^[4] It was released on DVD by The Criterion Collection in 2006."
If you ever want to see this film grab the Criterion Collection which has both cuts of the film the original '67 student version and the recut theatrical version. "The audience to wonder if the story will ever continue and if Susan is still possessed by Asmodeus." yeah we didn't wonder we chased that aspect of that archdevil across the planes to get that book and we lost many characters along the way. As far as I know he's still out there & the Equinox might be breached at any time.

Five Cultclassic Movies As Inspiration A DCC Crawling Under A Broken Moon/ Crimson Dragon Slayer Rpg Mash up Campaign

I'm possibly looking into a mixed game of Crimson Dragon Slayer and Crawling Under A Broken Moon DCC game coming up. To this end I've been looking into some classic grade 'Z' films. Full disclosure I used to work in a video rental store back in the 90's. Not one of those new shiny Blockbuster places but a low rent place in a back alley in Boston at the edge of Chinatown. First up is an old favorite and really this one makes a pitch perfect addition to a DCC post apocalyptic game set against the demons and old school weirdness of both of these games.
Terrorvision from 1986 has all of the elements of the early Eighties, you've got cable television, heavy metal heads, dysfunctional families, firearms, and alien lifeforms.

Next up is Cyborg with Jean-Claude Van Damme, imagine if, 'The Kickboxer" ,"Mad Max" and the first  Highlander movie got together and had a baby in the post apocalyptic wasteland? Cyborg might just be the result. Many of the locations, weird elements, cheesy special effects, and other bits could be recycled into your favorite bits of a post apocalyptic mission for a party of adventurers.

So what happens if in the wasteland not only are your adventurers the only ones coming across weird stuff but there are other time travelers and dimensional wanderers? Zone Troopers 1985 might just be the result of such an encounter between WWII Allied and Nazi forces as well as your own adventurers!

Hands of Steel from 1986 has everything you might want in a near future quasi post apocalyptic Tex Mex cyborg Eighties awesomeness including John Saxon. This film has great potential as adventure fodder including Eighties tech, lots of action and the potential for cybernetic horror in the wastelands of your favorite games!Its a movie  about a cyborg who is programmed to kill a scientist who holds the fate of mankind in his hands. Starring Daniel Greene, directed by Sergio Martino. That's mostly the entire film in one take, the locations, the action and the entire package can easily be slipped right into the backdoor of Crimson Dragon Slayer; it just has that vibe to it.

The final offering in this cultclassic list is 'The Vindicator', I couldn't find a trailer for it but basically a cybernetic warrior is created by a government think tank in 1986 after one of the scientists gets caught in an industrial accident. Think about some warlord in a city state with such a program simply using the resources he has on hand and one of his cybernetic troopers running amok and you've got a perfect set up for the style of game that we're talking about here.

Vindicator might offer PC's a look into the dangerous and highly dubious world of warlord's laboratories on Thule in the worlds of Crimson Dragon Slayer. Or the wastelands of your favorite post apocalyptic settings such as 'Merica.



Essential Material For Putting Together
A Crimson Dragon Slayer & Crawling Under A Broken Moon DCC game
Campaign

The one issue that is going to come in really handy for this sort of a campaign is going to be the Crimson Dragon Slayer Rule book and Crawling Under A Broken Moon fanzine issue #7 contains the Cyborg PC class and there's enough meat on the bones of this issue to put together a kick ass adventure from there. Your also going to need the DCC rule book for the funky rules and rolls that come with this sort of a campaign. Lots of outside the box situations always seen to arise in post apocalyptic campaigns and the more elements you add in the more weirdness can happen. But then again that is part of the idea with this sort of a wasteland campaign. Don't be afraid to go gonzo and in point of fact part of the fun is to embrace that aesthetic and own it during your gaming. Zombies are another often seen parts of these adventure campaigns but seldom talked about. Odd mixes of PC types are going to happen and given the set up your going to see very,very,weird mixes of parties of adventurers.


The real issue here is to use the juxtaposition of the world of the Eighties and the post apocalyptic goodness of these two games. Much of the Eighties nostalgia strangeness that these two games pull from fits the movie fodder quite well. But there's lots of potential for a dungeon master to veer off into their own direction by taking their ques from these movies. More to come as it develops.

Commentary on Ash vs The Evil Dead's Trailer and Featurette For Your Old School Campaigns

Listen up you primitive screw heads, just in case you've been living under a rock and haven't seen the trailers for Ash vs The Evil Dead let me enlighten you. Bruce Campbell is back as Ash and kicking undead ass and we're due to see this coming out very soon. In fact right around Halloween night on Starz! So as an Evil Dead fan this has had my attention right from the first announcement. So what the hell does this have to do with OSR role playing? Well, besides the Halloween season and the classic movie tie in that seems to ignore the horrid 2013 remake (well sort of). This series states something that's been floating in the back of my mind for quite sometime. Just because your PC has reached a high level doesn't mean that they're any less of an every man jerk.

Ash isn't interested in saving the world, he wants to get on with life and party on. But circumstances of being a hero and fate just won't let him this is a situation that we see time and again in classic mythology from the legend of Beowulf to Odysseus's journey back to Ithica. Fate never let's a hero rest and often the journey is picked up long after the end of the tale. Here we've got Ash causing the Necronomicon Ex Mortis to release its energies and summon back to the world the corruption of the Evil Dead.

This new show adds a few new ripples into the crowded universe of Evil Dead, you can zip over to here and check out the cast of characters in the Evil Dead films right here.  

So what does this say about high level D&D & retroclone PC's? Quite a bit, we've got a characters who even though they reach the upper end of their adventuring careers still fall prey to fate and the forces of the supernatural. That's one of the things that get's me about the D&D and its tropes, the dark forces of the supernatural are eternal. They'll wait for the PC's guard to drop and then move in for the kill. These forces can also be set in motion by the PC's themselves after all they're messing around in ruins, tombs, and dungeons where the forces of darkness and the damned multiply. The Evil Dead films has a great example of an artifact or relic that ties the entire franchise together in the form of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis. The Evil Dead is a great example of a series that can adapt to circumstances or genre as required.


For a DM this is just the sort of adaption that will enable a dungeon master to twist and bend adventure elements as they see fit into OSR adventures. So if we take something Marvel Super Heroes or the like there's Marvel Zombie vs The Army of Darkness limited comic book series. This series of evens is far, far, outside of normal Marvel and Evil Dead continuity allowing a DM to bend adventure elements to their whim. This is the way it should always be, never ever be a slave to a series or game's continuity.


High level campaigns don't make things any easier in the long run and in point of fact it puts far more pressure on the heroes. PC's are going to be drawn into the clutches of fate regardless of their circumstances and the Evil Dead films have proven that the forces of weirdness & darkness are uncaring as well as relentless in their drive to destroy the hero and all he holds dear. Several retroclones take full advantage of this fact but Lamentations of the Flame Princess has done this in spades even at low level PC adventures. In point of several of Task Boy Game's adventures including The Manse on Murder Hill  &  Tranzar's Redoubt
using the Lamentions rpg system evokes the sort of echoing the creepy weird sentiments of Ash & The Evil Dead. So I can't wait till this premiere's on Staz to see where this series is going to take an older ASH and his crew of adventurers into the machinations of the Evil Dead. 

1d10 Random Deep Wastes Post Apocalyptic Finds Table Inspired By Cult 80's Horror Films For Your Old School Post Apocalyptic Campaigns

Deep in the wastelands when the wind grows colder and there comes a chill to the air. Old and ancient things stir from long forgotten nightmare borne corners of the wastes. Places where God himself hasn't shown his face in eons, it is from the funk of the preholocaust horror filled nightmares of ages past. Artifacts and items wash into the cheese cloth reality of the wastes. Here are a few of those classic horror movie artifact finds to tease, curse, delight, and horrify your mutant adventurer PC's. 

1d10 Random Deep  Wastes Post Apocalyptic Finds 

Table Inspired By Cult 80's Horror Films 

1. Razor bladed demon possessed glove, this +1 weapon is a cursed item and has a miasma of depravity, terror, and perverse horror about it. The owner will be open to a special dream demon god that feeds upon the souls of children and his victim. 
2. A machete that belongs to a demon possessed hockey mask hill giant sized undead lich thing. The owner is of this +2 weapon is open to possession by a special demon. This weapon is cursed as well. The lich thing killer is drawn to its weapon and acts of teenage lust draw it to the kill. 
3. A Necomonicon in the original Sanskrit and Babylonian with illustrations drawn in blood will call down an evil essence of the Outer Void god in charge of a demon possessed undead army. 1d8 Deadite zombies and skeleton warriors will be created when passages of this book are read allow.
4. A toxic waste drum with a horridly decayed form of zombie inside. If freed this horror will go on a rampage eating the brains of anyone it catches. Any destruction of this monster will spread the infection within a 1d10 yard radius. 
5. A gray metal stone one foot rock, this egg like object will hatch releasing 1d6 intergalactic invasive alien species known as Crites.  
6. A beautiful  ornate music puzzle box that if solved releases 1d6 demon like creatures with all the minor powers of demons known as cenobites. These horrors will take back the solver and 1d4 people present back to their version of Hell for rites of pleasure which will reduce the victim to a flayed and shattered form of special wight. 
7. A small chest containing 1d4 pounds of gold, this gold is cursed and guarded by a twisted evil undead leprechaun. This thing will stalk and kill anyone whose seen its gold. 
8. Small soap stone statue of some long forgotten Great Old One. This thing radiates evil and anyone touching it must make a save vs death or have their soul consumed by the horror of the  ancient god thing. There is a 20% chance of summoning the thing merely by handling it. 
9. A black toxic waste barrel with a strange window cut into the top. The barrel contains a dwarf like undead zombie dwarf creature  which has Hill Giant strength and it will try to kill anyone opening the barrel's lid. There is a 10% chance of the undead lich god being  being summoned by the opening of this barrel and the releasing of its contents. 
11. A humanoid wolf statue of black stone and strange aspect. The owner of this statue will be afflicted my an extreme form of lycanthropy and cursed as a werewolf in the service to the werewolf demon lord's service for eternity. They shall be doomed to wander the face of the Earth for eternity service in the service to the cycles of a broken moon.