Tuesday, January 7, 2020

The Love Quarterly: Shawl of the Babushka

During the mid-1920s and early 1930s, Bessie Love was a popular movie star. Away from the adoring public, however, she led a secret life as the superhero Love Bug and defended Earth against supernatural evil. During her adventures, she collected a number of magical treasures. One of these was the shawl of the babushka. In this post, we reveal another of Bessie's secret adventures while describing this unique magical item in terms of the d20 System roleplaying rules.


THE SHAWL OF THE BABUSHKA
In 1946, Bessie Love (in her guise of the Love Bug) battled Baba Yaga to save children abducted from a village in eastern Ukraine. At the end of that adventure, she walked away with a shawl that Baba Yaga had woven and enchanted for her most loyal servants. At one time, 13 of these were known to exist; two were destroyed during the encounter that Love had with Baba Yaga and three witches, but ten more may still exist. The secret to making this item is known only to Baba Yaga
   The shawl of the babushka is a triangular piece of cloth that is roughly 3 feet wide and 7 feet in length. If subjected to detect magic, it radiates faint transmutation magic.
    The fabric is a red so deep that it is almost black. It is embroidered with flowery patterns in bright yellow and blue and green, but if those patterns are carefully studied (1d6+2 rounds) and a successful Knowledge (Arcane) skill check is rolled (DC20), it becomes apparent that mystic symbols of demonic origin are concealed in harmless-seeming floral motif. The purpose of the symbols isn't clear. (Only high-ranking demonlords and Baba Yaga herself know the meaning of the symbols, but see below for more.)



Powers of the Shawl of the Babushka
When worn, a shawl of the babushka grants the following protections and powers to its wearer:
   *Immunity to normal hot- and cold-weather conditions. The wearer is comfortable in the hottest and coldest places on Earth.
   *Immunity to be located by any magical means, except through the personal and direct actions of a god.
   * +4 bonus to saving throws made to resist damage from elemental magic.
   * Use charm person as a spell-like ability at 20th-level effectiveness twice per day.
   There is one final power that is not revealed by identify or anything short of a wish spell. It can only be explained by Baba Yaga, a demonlord, or learned through experimentation.
   * Become one of three different human females: A plump and friendly-seeming old woman; a bent, boney, hag-like old woman; and an extremely attractive young woman. Although the character using this ability retains all of his or her own statistics, levels, and class abilities, this transformation does not register as a magical one; for as long as the character wears the shawl, he or she is the woman that he or she has chosen to be. Aside from a vague similarity in facial features (Spot check of DC18 for anyone to notice), there is nothing else to give away the character's transformation. The transformation remains in effect until the character is no longer wearing the shawl.
   The transformation is brought about with a successful Willpower saving throw (DC12) and a full round action. Until the character realizes that there are three different forms that can be adopted, the woman that he or she changes into is rolled randomly on the following table:

Random Shawl Transformation (Roll 1d6)
1-2: Plump Old Woman
3-4: Withered Old Woman
5-6: Beautiful Young Woman


Drawbacks of the Shawl of the Babushka
The shawl of the babushka is a magic item made by Baba Yaga specifically for her most loyal human minions, typically witches. Wearers to whom she has gifted it wouldn't necessarily view these effects as "drawbacks".
   * Whenever the character uses the charm person spell-like ability, the GM rolls 2d6+1. On a roll of 4 or 13, Baba Yaga gains the ability to see and hear everything the character does for an hour, even if the shawl is immediately removed. She also knows exactly where the character is located.
   * Whenever the character transforms into one of the female forms, the GM rolls 2d6+1. On a result of 13, the character is physically replaced by a succubus for 1d4+2 hours. While the character is trapped in the demonic plane, no harm will befall him or her, but he will be warned against trying to cross Baba Yaga, as well as being offered the opportunity to gain the Chosen feat as a bonus, or otherwise makes offers to tempt the character to serve them. (Even if the character refuses all offers, the demons will always be cordial and polite to the temporarily planeshifted character; they will even happily explain everything about the shawl and its powers.
   The interaction with the demon generally takes place in a richly appointed, parlor with comfortable couches and easy chairs. If the character is rude or aggressive, the demons try to remain friendly and polite but they will leave him or her alone if the character persists. If the character attacks them, he or she is immediately transported to a sweltering, dark void for the duration to the swap.


  
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All text in this post is presented under the Open Game License and may be reproduced in accordance to its terms. Copyright 2020 Steve Miller.

Monday, January 6, 2020

Musical Monday with MØ

Welcome to another Musical Monday Morning at Shades of Gray!



This week's selection is by MØ, a Danish singer/songwriter who has been steadily growing in popularity in Scandinavia since the early 2010s, and even poked her head out into the rest of world with songs appearing in the Billboard 100 and UK top pop charts in 2017. (Click here to read more.)



Friday, January 3, 2020

Firearms Friday with Alexis Smith

It's the beginning of  a new year, and the beginning of a new post series! Every other Friday, there'll be a picture or two of a weapons-brandishing actress or model in this space.



Alexis Smith was a dancer-turned-actress whose career in movies and on television spanned more than 40 years. She is perhaps best remembered for "Day and Night (1946), "Undercover Girl" (1957), and a recurring role on the TV series "Dallas" during the 1984 and 1990 seasons.


Thursday, January 2, 2020

'Rocketeers' is something of a misfire

Tom and Jerry: Rocketeers (1932)
Starring: Anonymous Voice Actors
Directors: John Foster and George Rufle
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Tom and Jerry build an experimental rocket intending to go to the Moon. After the rocket misfires, out heroes instead find themselves exploring a strange world at the bottom of the sea and frolicking with mermaids.



The title made me excited for this one, and I hoped I was in for surreal sci-fi weirdness similar to "Astronomeous" or "The '?' Motorist". Instead... well, let's just say I was disappointed. This Tom and Jerry installment has the crisp, fluid animation that I so love in this series, as well as a hefty amount of the cartoon physics and physical transformations that I love in many of the cartoons from the late 1920s and early 1930s, but I just couldn't enjoy this one.

I can't really point to something that made me cringe or that I found boring--I just wasn't engaged with the one I the way I've been with some of the other "Tom and Jerry" installments. Maybe it's because I can't watch it through th eyes of a 6 year-old, and so I couldn't get past the notion of Tom and Jerry surviving, not to mention singing and dancing and playing the piano, on the bottom of the ocean as easily as they would on land. Maybe it's because the music wasn't as good in this one as in some of the others. I don't know... I just couldn't get into this one the way I did with "The Piano Tooners", for example.

That said... "Rocketeers" did contain both the most horrific scene I've ever encountered in a cartoon, as well as one of the cutest. The first involves Tom and Jerry merging into a single, singing creature, while the second is them dancing and singing with mermaids. The unbridled insanity of cartoons from the late 1920s and early 1930s is both the stuff of dreams and nightmares...

Why don't you take a few minutes out of your day and check out "Rocketeers" for yourself? I've embedded it below for your convience and viewing pleasure. I would also love to hear your opinions!

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

The Epic Tales of Buster & Sybil!

Looking for something a little different to build a couple "movie nights" or "watch parties" out of? Permit us to suggest watching the five films that Buster Keaton and Sybil Seely made together between 1920 and 1922. Don't watch them in the order they were made, but but the order in which they combine to form two different story arcs that relate The Epic Tales of Buster & Sybil!


TALE #1
Buster is an up-and-coming man of business, Sybil is the daughter of a prison warden, and they are in love. Upon getting married, they are gifted with an empty lot build-it-yourself house as a wedding present, and its construction proves to be the first test of their marriage. Several years and two sons later, Buster builds a boat in the garage and then sets out to take the family on a cruise.
   This epic is told in three parts. Click on the links to each film, as well as my comments.
   Convict 13 (1920)
   One Week (1920)
   The Boat (1921)



TALE #2
Buster woos a farmer's daughter. After being wed on the run, the two move to Alaska to make a new life. But Buster's dark side emerges, and this marriage is not a happy one...
   This epic consists of the book-end films from Keaton's and Seely's collaborations: The very first film they made together, and the very last.
   The Scarecrow (1920)
   The Frozen North (1922)


All five films can be found online (as is obvious from the posts linked to above), or, in DVD or Blu-Ray collections like the one that we've linked to below. The ones found on disc are generally sourced from better quality--and there's no risk of the link I provide in the posts becoming invalid.


Happy New Year! Welcome to the '20s!

Like Janet Leigh, we're bursting into the New Year with joy and excitement!




And we hope you'll join us in sharing a toast with Vera Ellen!


It may be a New Year, but we'll be up the same old stuff here at Shades of Gray, as we launch into the second decade of this blog's existence!

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Monday, December 30, 2019

Musical Monday with Ghostly Kisses


"Ghostly Kisses" is the name under which singer/songwriter Margaux Sauvé releases her music. The video below's got beautiful music and arresting visuals... just what you need to get the last Monday of 2019 off to a good start!

Touch (2019)
Starring: Margaux Sauvé and Chelsea Keefer
Director: Eddie Grams
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars





Sunday, December 29, 2019

'An All-American Toothache' is agreeable nonsense

An All American Toothache (1936)
Starring: Thelma Todd, Patsy Kelly, Mickey Daniels, Johnny Arthur, and Duke York
Director: Gus Meins
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Thelma (Todd) tricks her co-worker Patsy (Kelly) into having her wisdom tooth pulled by an incompetent dental student (Daniels) who also happens to be the star player of the local college football team--but who will be barred from the big game if he doesn't show himself proficient in his field of study.


"An All-American Toothache" is one of the better films that Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly made together. It's not the funniest, it's not the sweetest, nor is it the cleverest... but it is perhaps the best-structured and tone-consistent of them all. It delivers a complete story--with a beginning, a middle, and end--and while that story is complete nonsense, it is steeped in the nonsense from beginning to end, embraces the nonsense, and the characters even say "yeah, this makes no sense, but let's go with it!"

The main cast all have their moment in the spotlight, and they all play well with and off each other. Thelma Todd is once again relegated mostly to the role of "straight man" while Patsy Kelly gets to play the fool, but there isn't the sense of underlying contempt from Todd toward Kelly's character that tainted other films. This picture also benefits from the fact that instead of featuring several ill-conceived, badly rehearsed slapstick routines--something that plagued the Todd-headlined films even when she was teamed with ZaSu Pitts in the early stages of the series. Instead, it contains one single all-out brawl between dental students and the football team, with Thelma, Patsy, and a professor caught up in the melee.

"An All-American Toothache" would be the last film Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly would make together. Todd's life was tragically cut short in December of 1935, and it wasn't released until after her demise. It's also the very last film Todd can be considered appearing in. She had a large role in the Laurel & Hardy feature film "The Bohemian Girl", but producer Roach had her scenes cut and reshot because of her death. (If he had been able to foresee the morbid obsession with Todd's mysterious passing that continues to the very day, he might have left the film as it was.)

Mythos Madness: The Balls of Yog-Sogoth

This may or may not be the first post in an irregular series (which will also appear at the NUELOW Games blog) detailing mysteries of Lovecraft's Elder Gods Universe in terms of the d20 System roleplaying game.


THE BALLS OF YOG-SOGOTH
The Balls of Yog-Sogoth are a pair of perfect spheres of a smooth, white, semi-translucent crystaline substance. One can be comfortably cradled in the palm of an average adult male human's hand. Each glows softly with a white light that originates from the orb's center. Legend holds that the balls were dropped from the elder god Yog-Sogoth itself, and so they are highly sought after by the cults devoted to the various aspects of the entity. No one really knows their true origin, however.

A cultist handling a Ball of Yog-Sogoth

POWERS OF THE BALLS OF YOG-SOGOTH
If subjected to a detect magic spell, the Balls of Yog-Sogoth radiate faint alteration and divination magic. No other magic short of a wish spell will reveal any additional information about the mysterious spheres. Seekers of knowledge must discover the power of the balls through their own experimentation, or by recovering and reading sacred scrolls possessed and jealously guarded by obscure cults, or perhaps an Immortal or two.
   To use the Balls of Yog-Sogoth, a user must old them in their hands. The balls function in different ways, depending on whether a user is handling one or two of them.
    One Ball: While cradling a single of Yog-Sogoth's balls, the character will receive a mental image of a magical item that is in his or her possession, or in the possession of a friend or ally. The charcter comes to know everything about the item as if he or she had cast an identify spell upon it. It takes 1d6 rounds for the vision to materalize. Once the user has realized this use of a ball, he or she can mentally picture specific items and gain information as if he or she had cast identify upon them.
   Drawback: For each item past the first that the user identifies within a 72-hour period, there is an increasing chance (10% on the second item, 30% on the third item, 50% on the fourth item, 70% on the fifth item, 90% on each additional items) that the user will collapse into a deep coma that lasts 1d6+1 days. Upon regaining consciousness, the character must roll a Fortitude save (DC18) or feel weakened to the point of suffering a -4 penalty to Strength and Constitution scores for 24 hours.
   Two Balls: While holding one of Yog-Sogoth's balls in each hand, the character can either envision a historical figure well-known contemporary figure, or someone with whom the character is personally acquainted, be it a friend or foe. After concentrating on the mental image of the person for 1d6+1 rounds, the character receives one of the following vividly detailed visions, as if he or she was present for the events and experienced them as the person did. (Roll 1d6 to determine which kind of vision.)

   1. The happiest moment of the person's childhood.
   2. The proudest moment of their youth.
   3. Their greatest achievement during their lifetime.
   4. The place the person felt most comfortable/spent most of their
        leisure time (if dead); where the person will be in exactly one day
        (if alive).
   5. The place where the person spent/spends the most time with the person
        they loved/love the most, as well as who that person is.
   6. The single event or secret that the person wants to keep hidden forever.

   Drawback: If the user tries to have more than one vision within a 72-hour period, there is an increasing chance (10% on the second vision, 30% on the third vision, 50% on the fourth vision, 70% on the fifth vision, 90% on each additional vision) that the user will collapse into a deep coma that lasts 1d6+1 days. Upon regaining consciousness, the character must roll a Fortitude save (DC18) or feel weakened to the point of suffering a -4 penalty to Strength and Constitution scores for 24 hours.
   Each additional vision within the 72-hour period is determined randomly, just like the first. If the same scene is rolled more than once, the user sees it from a different angle, perhaps even experiencing the scene as someone else did/does. Each reiteration reveals new details.

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All text in this post is released under the Open Game License and may be reproduced in accordance with its terms. Copyright 2019 Steve Miller. (If you find this material useful or interesting, please purchase some of our actual products. It will encourage us to make more!)