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.