RECOM MEN DED

LA REI N EM ARGOT
(Dir:P atriceChereau,France1995)
RecommendedbyJohnFoody
LaReineMargot(TheQueenMargot)concernseventsleadinguptoandresultingfrom
theSaintBartholomew'sDaymassacreof1572,wheretheHuguenots(French
Protestants)wherekilledbyrampagingRomanCatholicsinthestreetsofParis.Although
thisiscentralpointofthefilmthemainstoryconcernsMargotandherpoliticalmarriage
andthesubsequentintriguesintheFrenchcourt.ThefilmstarsIsabelleAdjani,Daniel
AuteuilandJeansHughesAngladeandissubtitled.
ForGMslookingtorunacampaignbasedinRoyalCourtsthisgivesexcellentideasfor
subterfugeandintriguenottomentionplentyofscopeforNobleNPCs.Everyoneisa
pawninsomeoneelsesgameandDeathisaviableoption.Shouldalsogivefreshideas
onbloodfeudsandreligiousbigotry.PlayerswithNoblecharactersmayalsofindafew
hintsonplayingtheirbluebloodedalteregos.

RAN
(Dir.A kiraKurosaw a,1985)
RecommendedbyJohnFoody
Kurosawa'sreworkingofKingLear.starringTatsuyaNakadai,Akira TeraoandMieko
Haradaamongacastofthousands.WhenapowerfulWarlordcarvesuphiskingdom
betweenhistwoeldestsonsleavingnothingtotheyoungestandmostloyal. Withthe
manipulations ofLadyKaedethekingdomfallsintochaos(Ran).Therefollows acivil
waronagrandscalewithsomeofthegreatestbattlescenesonfilm(howmany
bodyguards?)someofwhichcanonlybedescribedascolourcoordinated.
IndeedallofKurosawa'sfilms comehighlyrecommendedandnotjustbyme.The
hiddenFortresswastheinspirationbehindStarWars,whileTheSevenSamurai and
YojimbowereremadeasTheMagnificentSevenandAFistfulofDollars.
Bothofthesefilmscanotheragoodscenarioideaalthoughtheymaywellbeoverly
familiar.RangivesplentyofpointersforusingsubterfugeandIntrigueaswellaswellas
showingsomeoftheflowsofhowwarscanbestagedwithinagame.Attheveryleastit
maygivesomehelpforrunningnobleNPC's.

TalesofM ysteryandI maginationbyEdgarA llanP oe

RecommendedbyM artinOliver
(Pricevariesfrom99pforacutdowncollectioninbargainbookshopsto100+foran
illustratedantiquarianedition)
Thiscollectionofshortstoriescoversawholeplethoraofplotideas. Therearedetective
storieswithunexpectedtwists(MurdersintheRueMorgue),accountsofintroverted
noblesinGothiccastles(FalloftheHouseofUsher),travellerstales(ADescentintothe
Maelstrom),supernaturalplagues(MasqueoftheRedDeath),doppelgangers(William
Wilson),demons(SilenceaFable),alternativenecromancy(TheFactsintheCaseofM.
Valdemar),andtheterrorsofbeingburiedalive(ThePrematureBurial). Whatcantbe
purloinedasaplotcouldwellbebroughtinasarumouronajourneyorastoryina
tavern. Thequalityofthetalesvariesconsiderably,butevenwheretheatmosphere
falterstherearesomeexcellentideastobefound.
Ifpossible,tryandgetholdofaneditionwithHarryClarkesillustrations. Theseare
wonderfullyatmospheric,andcouldmakeexcellenthandouts. Alsorecommendedwould
beanygoodbiographyoftheauthor. Hisstoriesmayseemgothicandbizarre,butfor
him,truthreallywasstrangerthanfiction.

DraculabyBramStoker
RecommendedbyM artinOliver
Thisisthevampirestory,recountingintheformofjournalsandlettersthehorrorswhich
ensuewhenacertainTransylvaniancountdecidestovisitEngland.It'sarealgothic
classic.Theprolonged,deeplyfeltstruggleforLucy'slife,togetherwiththepainful
choiceswhichhavetobemadeafterherdeath,areanexcellentexampleofhowhorror
canbemadetragicandeffective.Renfield,the"zoophageous"(lifeeating)mental
patient,isagreatexampleofinsanityatwork.Manyplotscouldcomefromthe
persistent,invasiveandsubtleworkingsoftheCount.Inall,notonlydoesthismakefor
agoodread,it'salsoafontofgoodideasforbringingthosehorrorbasedscenariosto
life.Oratleast,toUndeath...

A nnoDraculabyKimN ew man
RecommendedbyJohnFoody
WhatwouldhavehappenedifDraculahadsurvivedtheeventsinBramStokersnovel?
ThisisthequestionthatKimNewmansetsouttoanswerandwhatcouldhavebeena
completefailureendsupassomethingquitebrilliantandperverse. Thisisabookthat
showsnorespectforanything.
ManyofyoumaybefamiliarwithKimNewmansWarhammernovels(asJackYeovil)and
indeedGenevievetheVampireturnsuphere. Newmanhasalsowrittenanumberof
othernovelsincludingasequeltoAnnoDracula.
SowhatdidhappentotheBloodsuckingcount. Quiteobviousreallywhenyouthink
aboutitHegoestoLondonandmarriesQueenVictoria. Eh! Togethertheybegina
reignofterror,throwingdissidentsintoconcentrationcampsandgenerallybehaving
badly.
Thenovelisobviouslywrittenverytongueincheekandwithgreatenergyandstyle. A
multitudeofcharacters(bothrealandfictional)arethrownintothemix. ForWFRPGMs
itshowshowamixtureofstylescanbemadetoworkandtheresevenasecretsociety.
Itshowshowfaryoucanpushaconceptandstillnotcompletelyloseit.

FrankensteinbyM aryShelley
RecommendedbyKathyBaker
MaryShelley'sclassicnoveltellsthestoryofVictorFrankenstein,ayoungscience
studentwhobecomesobsessedwiththeideaofcreatinglifeand,usingthebodiesofthe
dead,buildsaman...
Predictably,whenahumantakesonhimselfthemantleofaGod,disastermustfollow.
TheinstantFrankenstein'screaturecomestolife,Frankensteinisovercomewithhorror
atthethinghehascreated.Thestoryturnsintoanallconsumingpursuit,duringwhich
themonster,desperatelyunhappybecauseofhisrejectionbymankind(andhis
abandonmentbyhismaker)systematicallymurdersFrankenstein'sfamily.
Readitfor:Pursuittheobsessive,desperate,allconsumingchasewhatitfeelsliketobe
boththehunterandthehunted.Themutant'sviewfeared,despisedandrejectedsimply
becauseofhisappearance,itisFrankenstein'smonsterthatyoureallysympathisewith.
(Worthrememberingnexttimeyougohuntingchaosmutants!)

TheTerminatorandA lien
RecommendedbyM artinOliver
It'slikenothingyou'veevendreamedof.It'sfaster,tougher,andmoreversatilethan
youare.It'sunstoppable.Andit'scomingtogetyou.
Withbothofthesefilms,it'stheatmospherethatreallymakesthemmemorableboth
plotsarereallyratherstraightforwards.Withthese,it'sthisatmospherethatshouldbe
borrowed.Yes,it'stensewhenyouwatchithappentosomecharacteronthescreen,but
takethosesameelementsandtargetthemonaplayer,andeverythingbecomesthat
muchmoreintense.Realhorrorisnotbeingabletolookoveryourshoulderbecauseyou
knowthatsomethingiscatchingupwithyou.

W atchmenbyA lanM oore& DaveGibbons&

Batman:TheDarkKnightReturnsbyM iller,Janson& Varley
RecommendedbyJohnFoody
Twooftheleadingcomicbooks(eachavailableinacollectededition)thatformedpartof
thegenre'smideightiesrenaissance. Bothdealtwithsuperheroes,newonesinthecase
ofWatchmen,whileTheDarkKnightReturnsstartswitharetiredBatman. Eachbookis
brilliantlywrittenandatmosphericallydrawn.
Moore'sWatchmenisbasedinaselfcontainedworld,similartoourown,butforever
changedbythepresenceofaninvinciblesuperbeing. Theplotstartswiththemurderof
oneofthesuperheroes(or'masks')andtheuncoveringofamaskkiller. Whatmakes
Watchmensospecialisthepureattentiontodetailandtheexcellentcharacters. Itisa
bookthatbearsnumerousrereads.
FrankMiller'sTDKRistheworkthatreinventedBatman,makinghimfardarkerand
intensethanpreviously. Allthestandardcharactersareherebuttheirglorydaysare
behindthem,withBruceWayneretiredfortenyears. Thebookisreallyaswansongfor
Batman,imaginingwhatwouldhappenattheend.
Bothtitlesmaketheirheroesintohumans,andsometimesantiheroes. Whiletheyfight
crime,eachcharacterhas(sometimesodd)reasonsfordoingso. Manyare
indistinguishablefromthecriminalstheyfight. Verylittleisblackandwhiteinthese

stories.
ThesebookswerebothreleasedinthemideightiesatthesametimeasWFRPanditis
interestingtoseethesimilarityinthewaybothtreattheirheroes. Nolongerwerethe
worldsroamedbycleancutallAmericansuperheroes/shiningpaladinsbutsomething
morethreedimensional. Partofthischangewasthatthingsbecamedarker. Although
writershaddonethisbefore,itwasatthispointthattheseideasbegantomoveintothe
mainstream. Nowantiheroesarethenorm.
AlsohighlyrecommendedisVforVendettabyAlanMooreandDavidLloyd,andBatman:
TheKillingJokeagainbyMoore(withBrianBollandandJohnHiggins).

FleshandBlood(P aulVerhoven1985)
RecommendedbyZenoCollins
StarringRutgerHauer(notasaneman!)andJenniferJasonLeigh. CentralEurope
(probablyItaly/Austria)1501,agreedynoblebetraysandrefusestopayhismercenaries
afterthey'vejustcapturedacityforhim. Ahalfdozenmercenariesandtheircamp
followers,ledbyHauer,kidnapthefiancofthenoble'ssoninrevenge.
Thefilmcontainsextremelybloodyandrealistictreatmentofmedievalwarfare,very
goodcostumesandweaponsfromtheperiodWFRPissetin. Therearegoodcharacters,
mainlyplayedbyunknownactors,butallportrayedverywell.RonaldLaceysfanatic
priestisbrilliantandnotamanyouwanttobestuckinacastlewith. Theuseofa
plagueinfecteddog(suitablydiced)andawellisparticularlygruesomebutrealistic. It
showswhatbattles,warfareandsiegesintheWFRPsettingmightbelike. Averygood
filmtogivethefeelforWFRP.