The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

It is 1991 - 2 AM on a warm summer night.

Flipping through channels - refusing to go to sleep - suddenly the infomercials and the offline messages part as AMC is playing its discount back catalog. Claymation monsters leap from the screen, heroic adventurers sail the sea and do battle with evil sorcerers! 2 AM is the time for adventure - high adventure! - and classics of folklore and literature are told half-truthfully to form through the aging celluloid broadcast over the airwaves.

Many such films have been made - many such films have engrossed the imaginations of young boys, going on to write and run campaigns and voyages of the mind about them - with the added enhancements of polyhedral dice. One such film - one which holds its value, speaking both to the target reader of the Basic and the Advanced sets - is Gordon Hessler's The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.

N-Spiration:
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

About the Film

Released in the United States on April 5, 1974 - following a December release the prior year in the United Kingdom - putting its development and release in parallel to if not just barely before the original publication of the Dungeons & Dragons game. It has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 75%, accompanied by an audience score of 64%, and was a commercial success at the time: starring John Phillip Law in the title role of Sinbad: whom discerning viewers may or may not immediately recognize from his more shaven role as Pygar in the 1968 classic Barbarella. The film pits Law against the wiles of Doctor Who Tom Baker in the role of Prince Koura: an evil sorcerer in pursuit of power, wealth, and youth. 

However - the most magical name that appears in the credits of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is that of producer and stop-motion special effects legend, Ray Harryhausen. Harryhausen was a staple in the world of cinematic special effects for decades: one whose signature films - The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts, One Million Years B.C., ... have formed staples of the imagination of countless young watchers - this watcher included. The hallmark of a Harryhausen is stop motion animation, which per his biography, he fell in love with after seeing King Kong in theaters. Stop motion, thus, is expected and delivered in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad: with monsters and minions large and small being nimbly manipulated and meshed in shot with live action sequences - forming the final product on the screen. These - combined with practical effects and on-location sets produce an immersive experience (albeit dated, tinted with nostalgia) which is consistent unto itself.

Fleshing out the film's surprisingly all-star cast are Hammer Horror veteran Caroline Munro, who would go on to star opposite Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me, and Douglas Wilmer: who would likewise appear with Roger Moore in a Bond project - Octopussy - but whose face might be more familiar to the reader in present context by his appearance in Harrythausen's 1963 Jason and the Argonauts: in which he played Pelias.

What's to Like

First and foremost, while the claymation effects provide - for me - a modicum of nostalgia above their presentation of verisimilitude, they provide an opportunity for the film to present multiple mythical or magical beings - great or small - in a manner interactive with the characters directly. That is, unlike - say - Godzilla - where the prop interacts with other props of the city and cut-aways to actors and military scenes imply their interaction, in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, the effect creatures are injected into the scene, interacting with the actors directly, in a manner consistent with how the magical creatures of a fantasy adventure game might interact: a first in film, if the American Film Institute is to be believed. You don't see the wood golem - you fight the wood golem. The wizard's familiar moves and thinks and does - and can be killed if the wizard isn't careful with it. The action in the movie proceeds like that of a fantasy adventure game - your workaday OSR expedition: dungeon and wilderness exploration, both included in the bargain. 

To build on the above - the practical effects being limited (there are no scenes where nothing but clay puppets and props take the stage) means that they tend to be in use only in a few places: the things that they represent are truly fantastic - and they tend to present unique challenges to the protagonists. Herein, we see player skill - demonstrated in the form of character ingenuity. When battling with a magical creation made from wood, Sinbad calls his men to attack it with fire. When fighting against a construct of bronze, Sinbad and his men have to figure out how to use the environment against it, as swords are largely useless - as well as flame, it would seem! So you see both successful ideas and unsuccessful ideas being attempted by various members of the group as the environment challenges them with enemies and foes alien to their expectations.

Which leads into the last main point that can be drawn from this film - it's a fantasy adventure film.

It does not linger on elements that don't advance the adventure; it does not put on airs about its literary references; and it allows the characters to build themselves through action rather than through exposition or implication. The protagonists do battle with evil wizards; the party treks through foreign lands, mapping as they go; and Sinbad has to think on his feet to figure out how to deal with the different challenges that stand between him and their goal. 

How do you fight a man, invisible? Stand in the water where his footfalls will be visible!

There are even puzzles to be had - verbal riddles provided by ancient beings to guide the party's next steps or visual clues hidden in treasure (treasure maps require Read Languages to decipher, maybe? Or perhaps a high level Thief to figure out?) to figure out the way to reach new and forgotten soils. In short - The Golden Voyage of Sinbad has all of the elements of an OSR D&D game: packaged and presented through the lens of the classic Arabian Nights ensemble.

Where to Watch

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad - in addition to being available on DVD and Blu-Ray - is available to stream on your streaming service of choice - including Google Play Movies, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV - as well as on YouTube.

For further gaming, a referee intrigued by this and similar films may be wise to consider the system Seven Voyages of Zylarthen, as well. Although not a direct reference to the seven voyages of Sinbad, it draws intentionally from some of the same folklore as would have inspired The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and similar media.

In Conclusion

While The Golden Voyage of Sinbad was produced too late to be a true influence within Appendix N - the people involved in it were certainly known to the creators of the game: and without doubt, it fits into the genre as well as if not better than most of the Appendix N literature - presenting a protagonist getting by on skill and cunning, presenting evil sorcerers and wild locations, and featuring dungeons, caverns, mythical beings, puzzles, and hex-crawling. Not literal hex-crawling, of course, but voyages into the unknown: sailing to new and rumored places following what is effectively a treasure map and then trekking through unknown and rugged territory. For that reason, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, it is fair to say, is 1: Entirely OSR.

This film - and others like it - are kindling for the flame of the imagination. Though they have no connection to the game, as written, that gives them the distinct advantage of having been developed in its absence: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, like other material truly Appendix N that predates the release and rise of D&D as a game, is unshackled by the conventions of the role-playing genre: liberated to tell a story and for that story to take you across to the ends of the earth.

May your campaigns have half the breadth of the journeys of Sinbad - because even halfway, you'll have years of sessions to spare. Thank you for reading - delve on!

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, distributed by Columbia Pictures, produced by Moningside Productions, and written by Brian Clemens. All imagery related thereto is property of the owning studio. Portrait of Ray Harryhausen with several of his creations retrieved from and presumably owned by bloody-disgusting.com. 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 them for review purposes under Fair Use: US Code Title 17, Chapter 107. 

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

Cult Catacomb

Scale: 10 ft.
Click HERE for a PDF version of this adventure!

Suitable for 2nd to 3rd level.

•		A little keyhole icon in a door means the door is locked.
•		A little "S" through a door means the door is secret.
•		A little "J" through a door means the door is jammed (stuck) and must be forced open.

Art generated on Craiyon.com; for expedience.

Wandering Monsters

Wandering monsters, if encountered, should be rolled on the following table.

Note, if a 6 is rolled, the Evil Acolytes thus encountered will have with them a key: roll 1d4 to determine the number of the lock on the map which their key will open.

Cult Catacomb

R1 - Dark Altar

Five men - four Acolytes (B30) and 1 chaotic Vicar (4th level) burn incense before the statue of a man - part bird - standing on a pedestal in the western half of a room. One of the statue's hand is aloft, the other by its side: both hold a potion. One of these is a potion of Growth - the other, poison (Save vs Death) which resembles the first. Apportioned about the feet of the statue are 6,000 copper coins as well as 2,000 electrum pieces. Sitting atop this hoard is a shield - magic, +1 - turned upside down, like a saucer, in which gemstones have been piled:

• 6 carnelians (10 Gold Pieces each)
• 5 jasper (50 Gold Pieces each)
• 2 tourmalines (100 Gold Pieces each)
• 1 sizable peach moonstone (500 Gold Pieces)
• 1 teardrop-cut ruby (1,000 Gold Pieces)

The Vicar knows which potion is which; but the acolytes do not. He will use the shield and/or the potion if attacked and pressed.

R2 - Control Room

Wicker barrels - 40 gallon sized - line the rear wall. Between the two doors (which are obvious from inside the room) is a panel with two prominent knobs and a lever. When the party enters the room, a buzzing sound can be heard emanating from the panel.

• One of the knobs and one of the levers are straight-forward: the first knob - which is "off" to start - will lock in place the tree marked at H3 (although two concurrent "stuck door" checks will break the lock and re-engage the swivel). 
• The lever, currently "up", enables or disables the magnet trap in marked at H1. 
• The second knob, however, is a timer. It slowly turns downward and - after 1 turn, if allowed to persist - will touch the bottom: setting off a loud alarm: alerting the Clerics in R1 to the presence of an intruder.

The whicker barrels are largely empty - except one: which has a lockbox with 1,100 silver in it. In addition, underneath this lockbox is hidden a key: rolling randomly on 1+1d3 to determine which lock in the dungeon it will open.

R3 - West Tomb

Four pits carved into the floor house three Ghouls (B35) - held in this room after having been enthralled by the Vicar in R1. The effect has since worn off - but a successful Turn check on his part will re-establish it.

In the fourth, unoccupied hole is a corpse - strangely preserved. Under this corpse can be found a hollow in which 400 gold pieces and two prize garnets (200 gold pieces each) are hidden.

R4 - East Tomb

Four graves mark the space - three of which are covered by stone slabs. The room is entirely covered in spider webs. Hidden overhead are two Black Widow (B43).

Inside the last grave is a fresh corpse wearing the garb of a cultist. He carries 200 silver pieces and a decorated skull-dagger worth 40 gold pieces to a jeweler or other collector.

R5 - Old Armory

Three racks designed for holding armor are positioned around this room. Further, a wooden table and stool - decayed to the point of being unusable - are propped near the secret door.

The locked door marked with #3 can be unlocked from inside the room without a key.

R6 - Master's Grave

A single sarcophagus - stone - is raised in the northern portion of this room. The floor around it is tiled with black marble. The sarcophagus is remarkably difficult to open - but could be, by a determined party. Inside is a skeletal corpse wearing a necklace (400 gold pieces) and carrying a mirror and pouch with 200 silver pieces in it.

R7 - Room of Bowing

This room is richly carpeted - with tapestries of dark-clad men hanging on the wall: none of which have faces except that on the south wall - which looks down towards the door menacingly. If the party enters the space, there is a chance they will activate a poison gas trap (Save vs Death): spraying from behind the hanging pieces and begin disseminated around them: affecting all persons in the room.

The gas is lighter than air - and as such, clears somewhat rapidly - and any character which crawls on hands and knees can avoid it entirely. Halflings and Dwarves may be granted a bonus on their saving throws by a generous referee as a result of their stature.

R8 - Mess

Two heavy wooden tables flanked by three heavy wooden benches run north to south, occupying most of the room. Torch sconces on the wall are present, but empty.

R9 - Pantry

A party of Mediums (B39) - four in number: apprentices led by a Conjuror (3rd level), who is seeking alchemical secrets. They are resting among some discarded iron implements in the hidden hall: having by chance discovered the secret way in from the hall. There is a 50% chance they have a key in their possession: rolling 1+1d3 to determine which door in the dungeon it will open.

The locked door to this room leading to R8 can be un-locked without a key from inside the room.

R10 - Laboratory

Tapestries hang on the north and south wall of the space - on the north side, obscuring the secret door. In the center of the room is an alchemical lab - antique, but looking used in the somewhat recent past. There is a 25% chance that a key has been left on the table: rolling 1+1d3 to determine which lock in the dungeon it will open.

Hall Hazards

H1 - Magnet Trap 

The floor and walls of this space harbor wide metallic strips. A character which passes through and wears ferrous armor or which carries a fair amount of ferrous gear - say, 100 coin weight worth - may activate a mechanism. A loud humming is heard and a powerful magnetic field causes the affected character to stick to the walls or ceiling. Doffing the gear or armor which has been attracted by the magnet is necessary to escape - and the effect will persist until the hazard is disarmed via the lever in room R2.

H2 - Foreshadowed Blade

The corpse of an adventurer - Dwarfish - is hunched against the wall in a pool of blood. He carries some basic equipment alongside 800 silver pieces. He had fallen victim to a hidden swinging pendulum trap - which any character moving through the space at this point (or interacting with his corpse) may likewise trigger. The trap rolls to hit with a THAC0 of 18 and deals 1d8 damage on hit.

H3 - Tree on the Dais

A circular pedestal - 15 feet across - takes up most of the space of this junction. In the center is the likeness of a dead tree, sculpted from shale, with branches disappearing into a circle inlaid in the ceiling, mirroring the dais on the floor. There is a hollow in the tree, inside which a red gemstone can be seen. If one grasps the gemstone, it cannot be removed, but will rotate: which will cause the platform on which the tree sits. Based on the direction the gem is oriented - north, south, east, west, and the non-cardinal directions between - stone walls rise and fall, changing access points in the dungeon. These are labeled A, B, C, and D and marked by dotted lines on the map.

Walls are retracted and thus passable or closed and thus impassable as follows, based on the tree-gem's orientation.

The referee is encouraged to roll 1d8 randomly to determine the initial angle of the tree.

H4 - Pit Trap

Here can be found a pit trap with spikes. A character which falls into the pit suffers 1d6 damage from the fall plus a further 1d6 damage from the spikes.