N-Spiration: Gandahar

We speak of Time and Mind, which do not easily yield to categories. We separate past and future and find that Time is an amalgam of both. We separate good and evil and find that Mind is an amalgam of both. To understand, we must grasp the whole.

- Isaac Asimov

N-Spiration:
Gandahar

About Gandahar

Imported to the US in 1989 as "The Light Years," this originally French flop grossed a mere $370,000 on an over $5 million budget: despite assistance from the legendary Isaac Asimov assisting on the translated script. This performance is somewhat of a shame - however - as in it, we are presented with a truly masterful time capsule in science fantasy.

Basing itself out of the 1969 novel Les Hommes-Machines contre Gandahar, or - in English - The Machine-Men versus Gandahar, the film has seen a bouncy ride from its release: having been originally released in 1987, two years before the Miramax English dub, having been re-released on DVD exclusive to Europe in 2007, a second release to Korea, and then brought to new life by a small but dedicated cadre of fans at the Gandahar Restoration Project. Gandahar was the brain child of Parisian cinematographer René Laloux - the director behind animated adventure pieces Fantastic Planet and Time Masters - who served as both director and writer for the original adaptation. While adventure animation may not be the central focus of his career, it is without question a hallmark of his legacy - among which Gandahar stands a nearly lost testament.

Qualities of Note

Seriously - even the mountain their city is on has tits.

First and foremost... tits. 

Tits... everywhere.

While that's not something that would make a movie OSR or not - I am compelled to notify (or warn?) the potential viewer: perhaps as a byproduct of a more permissive time, perhaps having been animated in a more liberated place, but the Gandaharians - the people populating the title nation - are minimalists on clothing. Perhaps this may conform it to the "loincloth barbarian" esthetic that I had done podcast and video about earlier this year, a trend that waxed in the 1980s, but by and large - the Gandaharians, emblematic of liberty and peace, are particularly licentious regarding their attire. I could likely continue to wax about the implications: but in particular, it serves to forewarn about the contrast between Gandahar and the Men of Metal: who are uniform, jet black, and consider themselves a collective rather than individuals.

To continue on the topic of the Gandaharians - they are master bio-engineers: having manipulated living things to such an extent as to service their needs in a fantastic equivalent of the Flintstones vacuum cleaner: pets grown from pods in vines; docile herd animals - but also transportation: flying creatures capable of distance travel with rider, or also grand guardians: stone crabs, the purpose of which is to defend its creators, allowing them to soften. Further, they have mastered the use of plants, a mix of science fantasy perfectly fitting of Appendix N. The primary weapons of the Gandaharians are biological in nature: seed guns, for example, which - when embedded in flesh - grow rapidly into thorn bushes: killing and suspending the target; dancing shrimp creatures that likewise seed ground - creating barriers akin to hedgerows of the same material to control movement on the field of battle. This is in contrast to the Men of Metal - who are by nature industrial, technological; serving as the baseline for several philosophical contrasts in the film - which I will touch more on later.

The primary benefit to these technologies - they are ripe to steal for your OSR campaign: the purview of strange future druids or eldritch, alien beings - and also, the interplay between the steel-encased Men of Metal and these technologies. Because of their makeup - the men are immune to some weapons, but vulnerable to others. A war is waged between them - as the title of the original book may imply - and the tactics and technology of both sides of the conflict changes over time. The machines adapt and send different technologies - for example, turning the briars and brambles used to control their movements to stone so as to make them brittle: allowing hover-tanks to crush through them. Further, as the machines grow more advanced as the film progresses and Gandahar, itself, becomes more pressed: the Gandaharians become less advanced - reliant first on technology, then on ingenuity, and finally pressing their enemies with sticks and clubs: all other avenues being exhausted.

Interestingly - the Gandaharian military seems to prefer practical plate over more sensual or typical bikini armor (except once exhausted to sticks and loincloths, see above) but that's another conversation.

L'Oeil Du Dragon, La Sirène
Philippe Caza (1996)

The animation for the movie is Heavy Metal tier - and although it is plagued by random slow motion elements (perhaps intended to show dynamism), the art direction is fabulous: an extension of the creativity in the weapons, creatures, armor, and design for characters and their equipment. Presumptively, this is the result of the collaboration of the director Laloux, with Philippe Cazaumayou - professionally and publicly more widely known as Caza - an artist made famous for his contributions to Métal Hurlant, a French parallel to Heavy Metal magazine and one which appears to be available in digital form for those who can read it, beginning in 1975. His style is evocative and alien, borderline surreal in its use of color and contrast - which without doubt contributed to the stunning visuals that permeate Gandahar. The world is wildly imaginative - on par with Morrowind for its presentation of the unfamiliar as familiar to the audience and to the characters - making it ripe for picking inspirational material.

To Be Aware Of

As I mentioned before - the Men of Metal are presented in contrast to the Gandaharians: overtly in a "industry versus agrarian" contest, man and nature, and likewise freedom and tyranny - the individual and the collective: something that would have been pressing debate on the minds of an 1980s Europe. However, the film suffers from what I call "art house philosophy" - when an artist, caliber unmatched in the presentation of the visual, the musical, or what have you - presumes their right brain is a mirror to their left in cognition... erroneously. Lines like, "Can a god... be a murderer?" pepper the film - and concepts like kinship and loyalty are explored, but have little relevance to each other as the characters exploring them grow.

Some plot elements move forward for no reason apart from it makes sense in the narrative, moving the story along: for example, the Gandaharians - having genetically perfected themselves - produce an underclass of mutants - "The Deformed" - one which the protagonist, Sylvain, comes into contact with. He initially thinks them the enemy, but finds that they are loyal and friends. There is no reason presented for this - apart from their organic element (they are Gandaharian!) compared to the Men of Metal, who are not. Internal monologues, speculation on the nature of life and discerning our own role in the movement of fate, are somewhat haphazardly injected into the film: at times, advancing the plot, at times - not. Some strange decisions are made - like trying to reason with the Metamorphis before planning to kill it: something which doesn't make sense, as it can read minds and thus would know of the plot once conversation was engaged. This can detract from the movie for a discerning ear - but if you approach the film like an acid trip (which it would admittedly do well for) you will likely not be disturbed.

Spoiler alert - the main twist of the movie is that the Men of Metal are from the future: a time portal has been constructed and sent them from the future into the present to achieve the ends of the villain, Metamorphis, a millenium distant. The movie - thus - engages in a time paradox: where the protagonist attacks the enemy in the future so as to prevent the war in the present: and upon succeeding, the evidence of the conflict in the present slowly sinks into the earth. The war, itself, is not averted - damage is still done, lives still lost - but the future to the present is preserved by the destruction of the future-present to end its aggression. Confused yet?

Gandahar treats time not like a line, but more like - perhaps - fly tape: where different points in time interact, they get tangled - sticking to one another in a wad before allowing it to move forward, ever onwards into the future. It's interesting - the Deformed, mentioned earlier - their culture has no use for the present: instead, when referring to a present event or state, they refer to it sequentially in the past and future - I am not Clerics Wear Ringmail, I was will be Clerics Wear Ringmail. This rejection of the present and the treating of the past and future as interlinked, joining in our perspective, is unique to Gandahar - at least in my cinematic and literary experience - and I respect its assertion as to how time, interwoven with space, is implicitly paradoxical. It was one of the few elements of the movie that made me think - though, admittedly, not in a sophist sense, but in an, "I don't feel bad doing this in my campaign" sense.

How a proper casting of Call Lightning looks

The last note I would make on Gandahar - when it was translated for an English-speaking audience, the soundtrack was totally redone. In the original, Lebanese-French orchestral composer Gabirel Yared - known better for the Grammy he was awarded resultant from his work on The English Patient - was chosen to handle the score of the film. However - Miramax, under the supervision of the Weinstein brothers, re-scored the film, choosing progressive rock style music in an attempt to appeal to then-modern audiences. Thus, the music in the English version is very dated - with the classic synthesizers lending the film a distinct 80s vibe.

This may be a selling point to some - if you enjoy that vibe, then this will move into the "What I Like" heading for your own review! However I am a bit curious to see if I can acquire the French version - even if I don't understand the words - to compare the impact of one composer versus the other. It's a shame - still - that the notably timeless appeal of the orchestra was replaced by the guarantee of dating that comes with any contemporary style: as Laloux's intended experience and Andrevon's intended message will be irrevocably diluted for a great many of those who yet find it in this future to it.

Where to Find Gandahar

As of this writing, you can stream Gandahar on Roku or with ads on Prime Video.

There was a fan-dub version on YouTube - one which allegedly kept the French original material left out of the English official release - but this appears to have been taken down due to copyright complaint.

In Conclusion

While without question a product of its time - and without doubt shackled in some ways by editorializing and reaching for intellectual pursuits to which the authorship was not quite prepared - Gandahar would be a great addition to Appendix N. The imaginative monsters, the strange and innovative technology, and the curious interweaving of time with itself into a cohesive yet paradoxical whole is, at its core, on par with the science fantasy of Gary's time - and I would not be surprised if this film, having come out some years after the ever-classic B/X was published, was not influenced by it.

For these reasons - I recommend Gandahar - and rate it 2: Essentially OSR.

There are some sequences where the characters move about underground - including an intriguing concept where the underground dwellers can use a series of small cracks and crevices like a listening network: hearing but not seeing the movements and conversations of those who travel the crust of their domain. However there is nothing significantly dungeon-crawly about these sequences: and the movie falls prey to the typical adventure story necessity of having an overarching plot!

But that in mind - the story is intended to be epic in its scope - heroic rather than picaresque - which is really the only thing separating it from a perfect score.

Thank you for reading - delve on!

Gandahar written and directed by René Laloux and based on the novelizations by Jean-Pierre Andrevon, is the property of its respective owners and distributors, Miramax LLC and Acteurs Auteurs Associès. All images, quotes, and media therefrom presented in this article is likewise property of the aforementioned owners. Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, and all imagery or references thereto related are property of Wizards of the Coast. L'Oeil Du Dragon, La Sirène by Caza is property of the artist and was retrieved from MutualArt.com in December, 2024.

Clerics Wear Ringmail makes no claim of ownership of any sort to any of the aforementioned media, text, or images and includes references to or facsimiles of them for review purposes under US Code Title 17, Chapter 107: Fair Use.

The slide-in of Gary... I got from a meme.

The Night Land

 N-Spiration: The Night Land

"[I]t is yet one of the most potent pieces of macabre imagination ever written. The picture of a night-black, dead planet, with the remains of the human race concentrated in a stupendously vast metal pyramid and besieged by monstrous, hybrid, and altogether unknown forces of the darkness, is something that no reader can ever forget [...]"

- H. P. Lovecraft on The Night Land

About The Night Land

Published in 1912 by Eveleigh Nash, The Night Land is the most influential of the works left to us by William Hope Hodgson - soldier, sailor, personal trainer, and author native to Essex, England. More frequently authoring nautical yarns, Hodgson received critical acclaim for short stories such as Out of the Storm and The Ghost Pirates - both published in 1909. The Night Land - unlike those fantasies - is set in the far future, based on a theory of the time that the sun - powered by the gravitational collapse of the gasses that comprised it - has winked out: leaving all below in darkness. 

This theme, shared with Jack Vance and some others of Appendix N fame, sets it in an apocalyptic "dying earth" genre - and also similar to Vance, where lost technology and science mingle with the arcane and occult, The Night Land is a land where esoteric energies are observed and leveraged by what fraction of humanity remains after the onset of the long dark. The primary hero of the tale is an athletic and academically-minded 18th century gentleman (to whom the author bears a striking resemblance in several ways: in dedication and appearance, but not in fiscal success - an unfortunate theme shared by Conan the Cimmerian creator Robert E. Howard): one who, in his dreams, sees visions cast backwards through time from the far reaches of this dark far future.

While Hodgson, himself, would perish in 1918 in service of the British artillery, fighting in Belgium: his ambitious, titular keystone work - The Night Land - would survive in publication time and again in his estate, lending macabre inspiration to countless authors - Lovecraft, Gene Wolfe, Clark Ashton Smith, and Tim Lebbon to name only several.

What's to Like

Why is it that this story - the places, the figures in The Night Land - find so frequent a fixture in reference in modern media? I have personally lost count of the number of times "The Last Redoubt" - which is the name of humanity's greatest and last city in The Night Land - has made an appearance as a place (pyramidal or not) in various RPG media. Simply put - the answer becomes obvious even to the shallow read: Hodgson has a remarkable gift for imagination. Giant living stone beings - unknown to immobile, patient so long that their animation might yet be called to question: history, or academic histrionic? - or shrouded, silent figures standing, guarding a flat plain, walking a long road, with no rational motive evident to the human reader: malevolent? Indifferent? 

The work is totally full of the sort of creature, the sort of image, that sticks in the mind: almost like, in reading it, we enter into the dream of the author - whose experience we share in the same surreal grounds as one might recall in nightmares. The foremost element of the book the reader will note is the phenomenal imagination with which the whole exercise is rendered: an element that persists throughout the work: with the watchers of the early manuscript, the hounds or silent walkers of the middle, or the abhuman horrors of the later.

Further, in providing these memorable creatures, environments, flora, and science - the author introduces plot elements, descriptions and explanations, and terminology almost in passing: with a casual demeanor that ingrains a sense of verisimilitude. In modern vintage, when we talk about - say - a car problem or locking our keys out of the house, small details that will be evident to someone living the experience - a reference perhaps to a spider on the windshield at the time or perhaps popping the screens off windows to check for alternative ingress: in the same way, Hodgson references casually curious differences between the Night Lands and present Earth. Speaking to a generic assumption of the psychic listenings of the gifted - on a more fantastic perspective - or to the difference in air pressure at the top versus at the bottom of the Last Redoubt, something that in context makes total scientific sense but in execution introduces a parallel reminder of the great pyramid's indicated scale. This serves to draw the reader in - to bring the story to life in a way that less prosaic diction might never hope to accomplish.

What's to Be Aware Of

My copy of this book is entitled The Night Lands and Other Perilous Romances. Which makes total sense... when diving in to the first chapter. It begs the question: what was Hodgson thinking?

While we've established that the perspective of the book is an 18th century gentleman "remembering" the far future in the form of dreams projected from his distant reincarnation, the book takes thousands of words to set up this premise: one which could more concisely be illustrated even in the form of a single paragraph.

And that's not just a 21st century internet brain, addled by the immediacy of digital feedback - this is demonstrably the case...

...in that the author does indeed set this premise in a single paragraph at the start of the second chapter.

The first chapter of the book introduces our protagonist - but not as he appears for the rest of the story. 

The first chapter introduces our forever love interest - but not as she appears for the rest of the story.

While the characters become referenced, over and over, as a driving force for the narrative over the duration, the events and build-up that occurs through the first fifteen pages or so is immaterial to the story in its wider scope. My advice for any who read this book - seeking inspiration for a fantastic or sci fi adventure campaign or alternatively for pleasure - start on chapter 2.

Unfortunately, to continue with this trend, the author persistently over-states, over-includes, over-qualifies: the book, by all accounts, is in the vicinity of 200,000 words - for comparison, The Fellowship of the Ring, the longest of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is only 178,000 words. When compared to other works in Appendix N, one will notice quickly that The Night Land is quite verbose and thick: both in its verbiage (crafted by Hodgson to emulate a pseudo-archaic evolution of language) and in its page count. Though Unlike more pulp-y sources, however, The Night Land does not pack those pages with action.

A great deal of the book is a detailed travelogue - hour by hour, step by step, detailing the amount of time the protagonist is able to sleep, how much he eats or drinks, when he forgets to drink for some reason or other, inspiring him to drink a little extra at the next stop, and so forth. So heavily mired, it is, with this kind of excess prose - the genius elements of the work, the pieces that will make it into your home campaign or stick in the far recesses of your dreams in photogenerative recollection, are frequently eclipsed: the reader's mind becoming bored and wandering, missing the wheat for the endless chaff.

For light at the end of the tunnel - the beginning is better than the middle and end: which drag far more - so perhaps one might read the first half, skip the travelogue, and pick up Cliff's Notes for the ending.

In Conclusion

The Night Land is a phenomenal exposé of imagination and cosmic horror. It is weighed down, however, by heavy diction and superfluous recapitulation of elements trivial to the progression of the narrative. It follows the traditional arc of a romantic hero - one who sees the call to adventure, braves danger on a specific quest, and fulfills it. For that arc, it does not conform to the traditional understanding of OSR adventure - and so falls into a strange medium: where the inventive biology, evocative descriptions, and alien geography is highly inspirational, without doubt having influenced and inspired countless campaigns. 

It is not OSR - but it might be taken into an OSR setting, with little or no problem in contributing to its ambiance. For that reason, I've ranked it 4: Potentially OSR? - its wild excesses beautiful, its cultural implications intriguing: but its purple prose and its over-verbosity miring it like a gold vein: requiring its miners to produce a pool of acid in distilling the valuable ore.

The Night Land is worth skimming - and its contents worth mining - but it is not for the faint of heart. You have to enjoy Hodgson in order to enjoy Hodgson - and it may be a few hundred pages before you figure it out.

Delve on, readers!

The Night Land and Other Perilous Romances by William Hope Hodgson, as shown, is published by Night Shade Books, New York, and edited by Jeremy Lassen, and is copyright Night Shade Books, 2005. Portrait of the author, William Hope Hodgson, is sourced from WeirdLetter.blogspot.com and believed to be in the public domain. Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, and all imagery or references thereto related are property of Wizards of the Coast. 

Clerics Wear Ringmail makes no claim of ownership of any sort to any of the aforementioned media, texts, or images and includes references to or facsimiles of them for review purposes under US Code Title 17, Chapter 107: Fair Use. 

The slide-in of Gary... I got from a meme.

Climbing the Mythic Mountain

Play-Cast Name: Mythic Mountains RPG OD&D Actual Play Playlist System: Swords & Wizardry (White Box?) Where I Watched: YouTube

Chain & Shield

Thoughts and Review

A year or two ago - I became peripherally aware of Mythic Mountains RPG: a group of designers and players who shared a love of fantasy adventure and who regularly posted content - video, long-form, and social - about it. I would later be invited to join a community - one where I have been ungraciously inactive (for which, I hope, they will forgive me) - but since trying turn around, making an internet acquaintance into an internet friend, I found an 0e-compatible actual play refereed by none other than the primary voice of Mythic Mountains - at least, to whom I had spoken.

It had been a while since I had done an AP review - admittedly, I had lost a lot of love for the genre: they just didn't hold me like they use to. The luster was gone. But I gave this one a shot - I wanted to see if I just needed to dive back in: like a lone wolf finally attending a gathering and finding they liked the pack around them more than they thought. I like 0e - and Mythic Mountains was recently interviewed by my friend Kevin over at The Redcaps Podcast - so they can't be all bad. And what I found? I was not disappointed.

The Mythic Mountains RPG Original Dungeons and Dragons (OD&D/S&W/White Box etc.) YouTube playlist - a name I have abbreviated hereafter and heretofore for the benefit of pixel count - follows a continuing campaign: delving the depths of Rappan Athuk, Echoes from Fomalhaut, as well as several injections of interlude alternatives like Castle Xyntillan or Gardens of Ynn: critically acclaimed and well established OSR adventures and accouterments, well known to me by name if not by played experience. The player cast is fairly consistent and the schedule is unrelenting: a beautiful example of a campaign run right. I am forced to reminisce of how gaming use to be at my own home table, before the child-times in my own life, when food came first but adventure was a close second.

As a caveat for this review - I have not had a chance to listen through the entirety of the playlist. However, I've been through enough that I should think I have information sufficient for an opinion on it: and I continue to use it to fill the air at work or on the elliptical in the mornings prior to the start of my regularly scheduled day.

What I Liked

One of the most important things about actual plays - apart from their ability to retain an audience and be an enjoyable experience - the primary value that comes from actual plays is taking on the role of examples of play: where, in the past, one might observe and play with a group who had been playing the game already to get a feel for the experience - so also actual play casts can and should outline how the game works and feels. For the game they are playing - Mythic Mountains does a decent job. While I am not an expert on Swords & Wizardry, I have played several other games with the same 0e compatibility goal - and from there, as far as I can tell, Mythic Mountains does S&W correctly enough to learn a bit about the mechanics through osmosis.

In particular - of note in Swords & Wizardry, there is a shortage of some of the wargame aspects of the original edition: while Mythic Mountains (in my viewing so far) does not particularly engage in wargaming elements as part of the OD&D actual play playlist, they do include on regular basis overland travel - with use of a hex map for overland as well as smaller area maps when zooming in on smaller sections of the map. The inclusion of map exploration is in particular important - as while the evasion rules can get a low level party out of trouble, it's also essential - regardless of level - to include a retinue of hirelings: something that the party takes extra care to do: both in recruiting and in retaining them.

For Further Watching

As indicated, the 0e playlist is prolific, with over 100 episodes available to the general viewer. In addition to this - if you like the cut of the table jib - at the time of this writing, there are 30 additional playlists of different games and different systems - some of which being fewer and some of which matching the scale of the playlist under review.

They are all well-labeled:

...but as of this writing, I have only paid clear attention to the specific playlist linked and listed under review: thus, I cannot speak to the nature of their content. The reader is advised to enjoy as their own taste advocates.

Further - the playlist is long. As I have confessed to point, I have not watched all of the videos: making a judgement based on the ones I have seen along the way - both older ones and new. However, this is - in my estimation - understandable - as the OD&D playlist contains over 100 videos: averaging two hours in length each. And OD&D isn't the only game that is played on the channel! 

While I have not been on board for the whole of the campaign's duration - I have been aware of it for some time: and initially, I had been reluctant to write a review - in part because of the immersiveness of the actual play. They don't, offscreen, roll dice to hire mercenaries; they don't, offscreen, figure out buying/selling - instead, in session, on screen, they visit merchants, taverns, bürgermeisters - and role play the experience. This had been a turn off for me - the game is meant for dungeons! Why aren't they crawling? But in watching - in giving the AP a chance - I realized this is a selling point: not the opposite. This is the way most tables operate - sure, we joke about spending a whole session shopping, knowing full well we can't play again for two weeks: however the exaggeration derives from a real element of gameplay - one that I had, in the era of online gaming, myself forgotten. Starved of time, my own experiences tried to hyper-focus on the mechanics - doing all the "peripheral" activities in other channels prior to the game: "maximizing" the time spent at the table. 

But that's a characteristic of online tabletop; not real life.

By doing these things on screen, by exploring the world personally, Mythic Mountains shows the game as a new player to the OSR might actually experience it, might actually identify with it - if coming into our corner of the hobby from more modern ones. And so while this might have been an "Aspect to Note" in the first draft of this post - under further review, the call is reversed.

Aspects to Note

None of the players play Chaotic characters. This is intentional - the referee wants nothing to do with the inner-party implications nor the in-world implications of Chaotic player characters mucking about in the game campaign. This is - to my own experience - prudent: Chaotic characters tend to be disruptive to party dynamics and more prone to damaging the table experience when in mixed company. While I'm not personally against this style of play - nor against player versus player adversarial interaction - it has to fit the table in order to execute well: and at the Mythic Mountains table, the stage is set against it. 

Contact & Community

In addition to YouTube, Mythic Mountains RPG maintains a presence on FaceBook, X (formerly Twitter), and authors articles and posts related to gaming and gaming experience on Substack.

Further - Mythic Mountains has a small catalog of fantasy adventure gaming material published on Itch.io and DriveThruRPG - which I would normally claim to be the best way to support their endeavors, but the products appear to be mainly free to download - posted and shared for the love of the hobby.

Good on you, Mythic Mountain.

Normally, this is not particularly a noteworthy difference - but it does amount to some degree of Law-mongering: that is, one of the primary motivators for the party, and one that they use to hire hirelings, is the desire to abolish Chaos: which may distract some from the gold-loop associated with typical OSR design. Again - I am not opposed to Law-mongering (I tend to be a Law-monger myself, playing Clerics of course) - but it is something you will encounter during the playlist.

Next - something that usually does get my goat - character voices.

More power to you if you enjoy them - but I don't like character voices. They are not poorly done, they distract me a little, but don't take me out of the moment - and if you are neutral on them, they won't bother you either. It's not professional voice acting - but it's also not intended to be: arguably, this is how use of character voices would work at a home game that a new player might join - so in that sense, it's beneficial: an accurate depiction of the hobby. Thus, again - something of which to be aware.

On a particularly low note - and truthfully, the most stand-out element that one must be conscious about prior to entering in to this playlist... the epic wizard hat worn by the referee.

In character, yes - appropriate to the genre, of course: but man... your cranial attire will never be as epic as this. 

Setting everyone else up for disappointment in their home campaigns, Ross.

In Conclusion

Mythic Mountains RPG's Original Dungeons and Dragons playlist, primarily composed of S&W White Box as the system of choice, is a solid entry into the ever-growing library of OSR actual plays. It encompasses the breadth and width of the ruleset - which encompasses the common experience of OSR tables. S&W is not perfect - namely, S&W emulating the home table of its original author, does not contain elements of domain and overmap conflict - but that's OK. The number of tables at which I have played that incorporated those elements of play over my own experience can be counted on one hand. For that reason, I've personally rated it Chainmail, with Shield. It's a good showcasing of a good game - with pacing, experiences, and assumptions all consistent with actual game experiences.

Delve on, readers.

N-Spiration:

The Spine of Night

About the Film

Written and directed by Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King, two obscure but not unknown screenwriters, animators, and Frank Frazetta enthusiasts, The Spine of Night is the full-length sequel to a short film, Exordium, written and rotoscoped by King and made publicly available on his YouTube channel. Gelatt - having seen Exordium - saw also potential: approaching King to spark a collaboration in homage to greats of the genre and of the medium. A work of passion - The Spine of Night is truly a letter of devotion to the world of sword and sorcery cinema: strung along on a shoe-string budget and the aspirations of its creators over the course of seven long years, resulting in the production of a true classic of novel independent cinema: one which, if engadget is to be believed, almost wasn't - as a software update caused the only machine on which the final film had been put together to fail in recognizing its video drivers.

Starring some surprisingly heavy hitters - including recognizable names Lucy Lawless, Joe Manganiello, and Richard Grant - as voice actors in its leading roles, The Spine of Night is an adept modernization and simultaneous shameless homage to the pulp fantasy of the golden age running through the '70s and '80s - one which is relentless in its adherence to the spirit of the genre, but seamlessly finds a way to make itself feel new, feel fresh - taking a shot to the tastes of 2021 and entirely knocking it out of the park.

The Spine of Night is a sprawling epic - a river, meandering, yet relentless and strong as it flows from its springs to the sea - one which any aspiring Dungeon Master would not want to forgo.

Be Aware

First and foremost:

I didn't say it - Google said it.

On Amazon, it's rated "18+" and on IMDB, it's listed as "not rated" - but before learning anything else about this movie - be aware: it is not family friendly. There is not that much profanity, as I recall - but there is pervasive, graphic violence throughout; abundant, persistent nudity - inclusive, masculine and feminine; and a fair dose of what I would consider body horror. While - to be fair - nudity and violence are hallmarks of many classic sword & sorcery films: The Spine of Night turns it up to 11: if you are of more delicate sensibilities about either of those two tones, you may want to strongly consider whether or not you want to experience this movie.

What's to Like

Holy rotoscoping, Batman!

While the quality of the rotoscope, itself, might not be on par with 70's classics a la Don Bluth or Ralph Bakshi, it is still easily on par or above A-tier pieces like A Scanner Darkly in terms of its color and presentation. Further - the fluid motion and the particular character of the technique give The Spine of Night an acute nostalgia and feel: one evocative of an earlier era of animation. Further - no expense was spared on the backdrops: meaning that the characters breathe and move against a stunning and dynamic backdrop - wildfires, snowfall, smoke and mist - or against a dynamic and colorful firmament. The film is beautiful - even if the watcher does not have the same affinity and affection for rotoscope as this particular reviewer - and the artwork, coupled with the design and variation of the world-building, will inspire even the most no-photo-blue, official-product exclusivist.

Which brings up a second point - world-building and scale.

The film begins in a somewhat localized scale, with a single warlord and party or a single tribal unit, and then builds upwards - into guilds and organizations - into armies conquering cities and empires at war. The story is contiguous, but not entirely congruous: flowing through generation upon generation, chronicling a span of ages rather than a span of years. Why is that OSR? Simply - the main character is the campaign, itself. Yes - there are driving characters: these would be our player characters - but the game continues - the movie, in this context, continues - with or without them: time presses on, the world evolves, some characters come, some characters go, and the world continues turning: itself untroubled by the fate of its temporary inhabitants. Outside of the gaming language - too - the film does a good job of illustrating a cosmology, its impact and its evolution in a human social environment: hinting at the beyond, interpreting the beyond - in a refreshing way: something that could be adapted to a campaign world as multiple approaches to a similar core belief rooted in forgotten truth.

Throughout this change in scale, as well, the quintessential element of OSR gameplay is present - the dungeon crawl! Two in particular come to immediate recollection: the first of which being more traditional - with an acolyte of a temple devoted to knowledge delving in the deeps to retrieve forgotten books. In any other genre, this would pass for Magic-User behavior! Further - deeper into the film - the world building takes a turn and displays its capacity for the gonzo, introducing a city under siege in which Mad Max bird-men (or, warriors clad in bird-like Dark Sun bondage wings) stow away on an airship, which they then must commandeer before descending on the palace of an evil wizard-priest: whose defeat (if they can manage it) might save their city! Trudging through the airship, eliminating potential threats and eliminating the chance of capture or identification, and then charging into the sanctum of the enemy? It doesn't get more pulp fantasy than that! 

Finally, to touch on the magic in the world - there exists, through the progression of the movie, a sort of progression of the ages. We go from a primitive iron age to what appears high medieval - then into a technological, almost diesel-punk renaissance: but the consistent theme throughout is a strange blue garland - called somewhat cryptically "The Bloom." A taste of this bloom can work wonders - having grown from the corpse of a chthonic god - and one who knows how to use it can wield wonderful (or terrible) power. The magic system is thus varied and flavorful - some effects being subtle, others being flashy and obvious: some appearing to change the flesh, to warp the corporeal to suit the whim of the spirit so recently confined to its skin-cage; at other times, summoning back the shades and corpses of the dead and damned. This balance fits with the theme of an uncaring universe - it becomes to the user what the user is within himself - and the visual effects to support it are nothing short of iconic.

Where to Watch

The Spine of Night is available for digital rental or purchase on Prime Video - where I watched it. I was afterwards relieved that it was rentable - as I would not want my young children, impassioned by the likes of Thundarr and of Fire and Ice to mistakenly play this one as an analog! In addition, it is available on Apple TV as a rental or on AMC+ Shudder to stream under subscription: although a trial is available for those not keen on yet another recurring cost. 

Further, it is allegedly free to watch on Hoopla: which part of me wishes I had figured out before renting - but at the end of the day, I am glad to have supported this project. 

There is nothing like this film being made today - which is a loss for culture and something I would gladly spend the $3 or $4 pittance I did in to change.

An official listing of places and prices where the film can be viewed online is also provided by the production team on the official Spine of Night website.

In Conclusion

I desperately want to simply state that The Spine of Night is OSR-AF and leave it at that. You are truly missing out if you have not seen this movie. It is the bastard love child of Heavy Metal and Weird Tales left to marinate in distilled Brom. On top of the art direction and world building, however, it also contains several key elements of OSR game play - including dungeon exploration and mass combats - and intentionally includes the mentioned use case of "zooming in" to leverage the skirmish mechanics of the game to influence the wider outcomes of the campaign world. 

So - for the subjective qualities mentioned at first coupled with the objective OSR components present in the script and experience - I can unabashedly justify claiming The Spine of Night to indeed rate as 1: OSR-AF.

While having heard that Gary, himself, was a Jehovah's Witness - he might have shied away from this one due to the graphic, pervasive, and nonstop adult content, to be fair, I was never able to meet the man: so I have no idea what he would have liked or disliked anyway! With that caveat, however, I don't think I am out of place in saying The Spine of Night would be a welcome addition to any Appendix N: as its scope and scale, you can find a sequence that jives with your preferred tone, and in that sequences arising from that campaign in the future would easily be made richer by the inspiration this film provokes.

Thank you for reading - and delve on!

The Spine of Night, produced by Gorgonaut and Reno Productions and distributed by RLJE Films and Shudder in the United States, or by Yellow Veil Pictures internationally, and all imagery related thereto is property of RLJE Films. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons & Dragons, and D&D and all imagery or references thereto related are property of Wizards of the Coast. Clerics Wear Ringmail makes no claim of ownership of any sort to any of the aforementioned media, texts, or images and includes references to or facsimiles of them for review purposes under US Code Title 17, Chapter 107: Fair Use. 

The slide-in of Gary... I got from a meme.

Solo Dungeon Crawler - LBB Dungeons & Dragons (with Chainmail!)

Play-Cast Name: Solo Dungeon Crawler OD&D Solo Campaign System: Original Dungeons & Dragons Where I Watched: YouTube

Chainmail (Because he's using it!)

Thoughts and Review

Two years ago now - I saw an announcement on X (then Twitter) - that a new solo play for original edition was being broadcast: hosted on YouTube in video. While not an uncommon occurrence - actual plays come and go with some degree of regularity - an uncommon note, one which has since become much more common, was that this new AP was to incorporate Chainmail into its execution! Of course, naturally, I was intrigued.

Solo Dungeon Crawler - our host - introduces himself modestly, if his PayPal tip-jar is to be believed, as Tom Garner from Leeds: a nondescript and inviting informality which aligns well with the atmosphere of a wargaming club - taking time after the "real" gaming is complete to try out this new and different skirmish scale adventure game. After - recognizing his voice - I would find that Tom is also the host of a well-storied Karameikos campaign: one which I had listened to in years past and which, as a solo game, has - in audio format - dozens of episodes spanning several years.

Credibility having been established - I spent the next few months listening live as episodes were released: but only recently had the thought - with 0e and Chainmail again on the wax, to bring attention back to this under-appreciated product.

What I Liked

A Note on Reviewed Content

As of this writing, Solo Dungeon Crawler plays and publishes multiple OD&D content elements: including a second 0e AP, almost a sequel to the first, the Castle of the Quest. The scope of this review is for exclusively the first season: and while the viewer is not discouraged from watching (or listening or otherwise consuming) the second, this review does not speak to the virtues of those other playlists: as the content is different from series to series, though the game (and host) remain the same.

As a long-standing proponent of Chainmail both as a stand-alone game and as an accouterment to your D&D experience, it made me very interested to see an 0e actual play which utilized the Chainmail game. However - like many clones and 0e-analogs (Wight Box and Delving Deeper v4 (or in print) come to mind) - he does not substitute out Chainmail for the combat resolution system: instead, he injects Chainmail where the text indicates Chainmail should be (such as when a monster is listed as behaving "as in Chainmail") or where a rule in the LBBs is absent (such as rules regarding combat initiative, turn sequence, or when and how to roll morale). 

Arguably - unlike my own attempt - this is how 0e was supposed to be played: with, as Tom puts it, the words in the 0e booklets overlaid on top of Chainmail - covering them, supplanting them, in the same way that the changes in Chainmail, itself, regarding Man to Man or Fantasy Combat replace corresponding default rules, as pertaining to mass combat. While I admit to deviating in the sense that I have historically tried to treat the alternative combat system as entirely alternative - leveraging Chainmail instead - the approach mentioned above where 0e is overlaid to replace elements of Chainmail is a better way to introduce people to the original game (three brown books, expressly): it's familiar enough with the d20 and hit points and all that jazz to be comfortable, but foreign enough with universal d6 damage, different hit dice quantities per level, and absent Thief class to appeal on novelty. This is, of course, in addition to his exploration of the rules.

The second point I planned to raise about the Solo Dungeon Crawler OD&D campaign was actually going to be a point of contention on first draft. I consumed this content as it came out - one episode at a time - and as such, I watched this unfold in regular action: the author was learning. He makes mistakes - he makes rulings where rules exist: and while I was watching at the time, I fumed over where his interpretations differed from my own!

But then he adapted. 

Then he changed.

And then he came back and played it by the book where before he did not see the words as written.

He even comes back and talks about the "change ability scores" vs "use ability scores" debate over prime requisite! He does not ret-con previous episodes - which empowers the emerging narrative to continue developing, something appropriate for an actual play: half the appeal of which is to serve as entertainment - but does change the way he plays as he gets better at the rules to adhere to them: experiencing the game as it is written and, to the best of his ability, through eyes uncontaminated by other editions of the game. He is not perfect - some mistakes go uncaught and uncorrected: e.g., a character falling into the water, but not rolling for drowning (which is, interestingly, corrected in his second playlist, Castle of the Quest - linked below); the use of dungeon speed, scale, and procedure in the outdoor environment; etc. - but you the viewer, as you watch his adventure unfold, will learn with him: as a lesson from error often sticks more readily than a lesson from success. So I have since changed my opinion on this: where originally this was a "be wary" point - instead, having waited through the duration of the first series, having watched him evolve: this element of the AP, from my point of view, becomes instead a selling point.

For Further Listening

For listeners whose fancy is tickled by the Solo Dungeon Crawler in their exploration of the recommended LBB fantasy campaign, additional amterial is available for consumption by the same author - and thus, may tickle further fancies, according to taste.
As of this writing, I am aware of the following additional OSR content produced by the Solo Dungeon Crawler:

• Tales of Mystara (Solo BECMI Campaign): Video / Audio
• Castle of the Quest (Allegedly solo LBB Campaign, but wrought with procedure and advice): Video
• Solo Dungeon Crawler Podcast (musings & advice): Video / Audio
• Solo Dungeon Crawler Blog (musings & advice): SoloDungeonCrawler.blogspot.com
• Solo Dungeon Crawler X / Twitter

Note, I have not read, listened, or watched all of these - nor of the ones I have read, listened, or watched, have I finished the whole of avaialble content. As such, I cannot speak to the nature of said content as I have spoken in this review of the OD&D Solo Campaign playlist.

In terms of procedure - in an act absolutely essential to working with the original booklets, sans supplements - he applies procedures and rules in inventive places: rulings, perhaps, but rulings leveraging the rules that the situation calls for. Everyone is familiar with the classic OSR saving throws - "Do I roll for Wands? Or would this be more a Petrification???" - but in a more interesting, inventive example, Tom uses the "does the trap go off" chance-in-six to determine if a given damaged platform gives way. It's not a trap, but it is a hazard - and thus can benefit from the trap rules where no rules exist for a rotting wooden floor. This is a fine trick and a good practice: one which I likewise adopt when the opportunity presents itself.

Lastly, the host takes a great deal of effort to create a retro esthetic. The maps looks like pencil and paper, the audio cracks like an analog recording, and the video has intentional distortions in it akin to aging film. This inspired me in running my own 0e-compatible solo AP, which - despite. being much shorter and in woeful need of a new episode - takes on an analog appeal. 

The attention to artistry in the visual presentation of this AP makes me want to play D&D - namely, it makes me want to play it at a table: ideally, my mom's fold-out table in the basement of our old house: or on the family ping-pong table, net removed, of the buddy in the neighborhood up the way who introduced me to D&D in the first place all those years ago when TSR was still king.

Aspects to Note

One thing of which old school editions are undeniably guilty is their unforgiving challenge. The goal is to produce better players: your first character will not be your last - and as you get better at the game, get better at understanding the table, your characters will survive better. However - in this AP - Tom squeezes the orange a bit hard on this note: intentionally making bad (or at least, sub-optimal) decisions that appear to make the game more difficult than it is. For example, in the creation of characters, he assigns their classes prior to seeing what the other characters' ability ranges are: in one instance in particular, a 16 natural Intelligence - eligible for a 10% XP bonus for a Magic User - is wasted: being used to trade for a 12 Strength - offering no bonus whatsoever - on a Halfling Fighter so as to "represent the full diversity of classes"... with a 12 Strength and 13 Intelligence naturally rolled! For those following at home - to assign the former his Halfling Fighter and the latter to his female Magic User would result in a marginally better Halfling (as at least it would have a bonus language) and a markedly better Magic User. He does the exact same thing with a Cleric character - opting for a quite average Cleric (all abilities between 8 and 12) over a stat range which could be eligible easily for an XP bonus - which he acknowledges, saying "But we already have a Cleric, so..." he trades Wisdom 3 for 1 to make a Dwarf with no bonuses!

While the math has been done - and we know that in LBB D&D, the ability scores don't matter remotely as much as they do in future editions - it's frustrating to see this and other, in-game instances of "in-character" sub-optimal decision making artificially inflate the lethality and hazard of the original edition.

Finally - one other element which might concern a potential viewer - the host was actually severely injured (an outside event which he mentions in an explanation for hiatus), which brought his 0e adventure to an unexpected halt. While he does pick it up again in a subsequent attempt, the original characters, the original party, doesn't survive the jump - a new party, a new story begins. This is totally understandable, based on events - but it does also mean that the story doesn't wrap up as cleanly as some of the storylines in other podcasts, other playlists, and other APs that Tom produces.

In Conclusion

The delivery is a bit disjointed - and the playlist is not as long as some of his other work - but Solo Dungeon Crawler's Solo OD&D Campaign is worth your investment. Tom learns as he goes, incorporates house rules where necessary, but by and large, stays within the RAW - making the learning process valuable to someone looking to get into the original edition.

Further, his exposition on why Chainmail is necessary is the most insightful and most comprehensive argument for Chainmail that I have yet seen - one which I have linked otherwheres many times. For that reason - a bit of tongue in cheek appropriateness - I've rated this playlist as Chainmail as well.

Delve on!

Under a Dark Sun - Eleven Foot Pole

Play-Cast Name: Eleven Foot Pole: Dark Sun Actual Play System: 5e Where I Watched: YouTube Where I Listened: Spotify (Audio Only)

Bone-Mail Bondage Bikini

Thoughts and Review

Eleven Foot Pole is a (now defunct) tale of high adventure run by a Dungeon Master by the name of Glen. Alongside a catchy name, Eleven Foot Pole has two playlists: one, older, playing Dolmenwood; and the other, newer, playing a very unique approach to Dark Sun: specifically, adapting the content of the Wizards of the Coast module, Rime of the Frostmaiden from the frozen reaches of Icewind Dale to the burning sands of Athas. 

Having been partial, myself, to Athas - Dark Sun being the primary example within my own experience of the campaign I never got to play - this caught my attention. Having some idea of what lies within the Icewind Dale from watching Dungeon Musing's Legacy of the Crystal Shard actual play series, the ten towns could theoretically be mapped out and adapted to the city-states of the Sorcerer Kings or to the free places around their periphery.

So, out of curiosity, I gave this a try.

What I Liked

I am always partial to actual plays which utilize physical media. It's a beautiful mixture of the digital and the analog - bringing to life memories of how we use to play before online video streaming was feasible for the technology we had or the bandwidth of our connections at the time. Eleven Foot Pole - in this actual play - utilizes paper minis (a cost effective alternative to painted ones) alongside thematic terrain, set in a light box streamed to the players live as they adventure.

This reminds me of some of the heavyweights I've rated in this series - like Lord Gosumba or Matt Finch - and harkens to an experience I've never been able to pull off: if only for lack of time. It's refreshing to see miniatures on a table, dice in a tray, even if the players are remote and connected via video conferencing. The terrain, theme, and tone of the AP match well to how I imagine Athas - and while watching, I felt like I was almost there.

Further, while I claim at the top that I watched on YouTube, I found this originally as its playlist on Spotify: listening through three episodes in the car while traveling alone for work. Glen and his players kept me company on a long cruise through Georgia - and as someone who will spend a lot of time listening, either in the car or in the gym in the morning, I truly appreciate the extra effort to put up an audio-only edition of the AP: as many people with limited data plans or who don't have time to sit and watch video for hours on end are enabled to participate in the event by it.

Lastly, I appreciate the unapologetic representation of the setting. The different races and species of Dark Sun are present and serving the narrative purpose in the campaign that they were intended to convey in the print material; the relationships between the desert folk and the city folk influence the direction of play, and while the players do banter - that banter does not take away from the experience, the ambiance: the quintessential elements that make Athas, Athas.

Oh - and it's complete. The story, while not wrapped up (the DM had other things come up in life which were priority and has had to take his leave from streaming/recording) - when you get into this AP, you aren't in for endless continual play. If that's something that appeals to you - the bounded nature of the AP: you have about a dozen episodes for this one - which will be sufficient to sate your thirst or perhaps inspirational to dive into the channel's other content.

Aspects to Note

One element of the AP that I found a tad tiresome - it is obvious that the DM is aware of YouTube's algorithm preferences.  There are no soy-jack faces, no tonsil-shots, which I appreciate - but it feels in some places that the game is trying too hard to be a spectacle. It is a home game - and it runs like a home game - but its a home game that is being crafted and run in such a way as to seem entertaining. 

Is there anything wrong with trying to appeal to a mass demographic? No - but if over-reaction, if over-emoting, puts you off, there will be some episodes where you will skip ahead a tad. In particular, the DM will pretend to be adversarial - complaining that the players didn't take enough damage, expressing glee when they are making a bad decision: it's obviously show - it's obviously part of the banter and dynamic of the friends who are sitting around the Zoom/Discord/Skype call: but it is a bit over the top for my personal tastes.

Apart from that... one of the key elements of OSR play is resource management: where combat is an option and often inevitable, it is something to be approached with caution and planning. Don't pick a fight you can't win - and retreat from fights where the cost isn't worth the progress said cost purchases.
Technically unrelated to the AP...
but NGL: I really enjoyed these
comics when they came out. By contrast - in this AP, combat is essential - combat happens every episode, typically, and can take a bulk of said episode to resolve. It's not really the fault of the campaign - per se: but a feature of the system. Because they are playing WotC D&D compared to TSR D&D, the focus of the game is more on skirmishes and exposé of character powers: so as long as they are playing 5e, that's going to be a part of the experience. Which, truth be told - leads us into the main concern that readers of this article will likely have:

The elephant in the room - which I might should have been more conscious of up front - they are playing 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons. 

While there is nothing expressly wrong with 5e, the entire purpose of the OSR was to reject the changes made to the system, and more so to the changes made to the focus of the game that result from the changes to the system, that Wizards of the Coast brings. So in order to truly facilitate Dark Sun, a lot of changes would need to be made either to the system - making it less useful to learn from - or to the setting: making it less authentic to its 1990s roots. Further - recall, AD&D 2nd Edition came out in 1989: Dark Sun, published two years later expressly for the new system. Defining the OSR as being a movement harkening to the Gygaxian tradition - the first 10 years of the game, prior to his ouster from TSR - the system and setting don't really lend a nod to the OSR ethos. Nothing about this playlist is OSR - and although I did enjoy listening through it, to you - the readers of this article - I recognize that posting about it might have been somewhat of a betrayal in terms of the tone of everything else I tend to do.

Why then, if it's not OSR, did you watch it? Well - like I mentioned - the group did have an Old School Essentials playlist set in Dolmenwood: so I assume that the group and DM must have some old school chops - or at least old school tendencies - which might be of use or value when converting 5e players into the old school mindset or of use to add new elements to an OSR game: as Dark Sun, as a world, absolutely could be run with 1st edition.

If they have a Dolmenwood/OSE playlist, why didn't you write a post about that one? Good question, actually.

In Conclusion

Eleven Foot Pole is a home game using a setting I hold in regard, but doesn't necessarily present the old school feel or old school mechanics that would typically appeal to your workaday grognard. The setting and the feel is right - so if you were jonesin' for some edification of Dark Sun and how it would handle in the current edition? This is for you.

As such, I am rating this Bone-Bikini: it's not really an armor class ... because this AP isn't really OSR ... but it's tonally appropriate. And who knows - after an episode or two, maybe you'll let Eleven Foot Pole keep you company for a long drive across Georgia, too.

Delve on!