Demons of Darkness

When I first started playing D&D I had not read much in the fantasy genre, other than Tolkien, and I had a tough time putting the game in a familiar context and wrapping my head around what it was all about.  Consequently, a lot of my early gaming was influenced by mythology, and by my love of Ray Harryhausen movies, particularly Jason and the Argonauts, and the Sinbad movies.

One of the most influential of these cinematic frames of reference was The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, which helped me to visualize what a D&D adventure should be like.  This movie pretty much had it all: a fragmented treasure map, a sinister sorcerer, fearsome monsters, fabulous treasure and, best of all, one of the hottest slave-girls in cinema, played by Caroline Munro of Hammer Films fame.

I just watched this movie again yesterday, for the first time in years, with my five-year-old daughter, and I was  amazed to find that it still embodies many of the things I love in a D&D game; particularly the dark and sinister nature of magic much like my favourite pulp sword & sorcery novels.

This is something that I've always felt has been lacking from D&D magic.  Even as a kid, D&D magic never really resonated with me, mainly because I'd never read the works of Jack Vance, and I had no literary or cinematic context in which to place it.  I still haven't read Vance, but I recently order the Tales of the Dying Earth omnibus so that shortcoming will soon be rectified, and maybe I'll finally gain a greater appreciation of D&D magic.

Nonetheless, magic as a sinister force is a well-entrenched convention in my favourite sword & sorcery novels, but it was interesting to see how my early exposure to The Golden Voyage of Sinbad influenced my perception of magic users, since I was only introduced to S&S fiction after having played D&D.

At the beginning of The Golden Voyage we are introduced to the evil sorcerer, Koura, a swarthy, and charismatic figure whose very demeanor implies power and menace.

Right from the get go, we know that Koura is a powerful man not to be trifled with, but that power comes at a cost.

We first see the toll that magic takes on Koura when he is forced to create a new homunculus familiar to replace the one that burst into flames after Sinbad caught it spying on him.  As Koura prepares to animate the new homunculus, his henchman begs him not to weaken himself, but Koura replies that the demons of darkness will not be denied and proceeds to slice his arm open and let his blood drip down onto the homunculus, bringing it to life.

Notice how much older Koura looks at this point?  One the really cool things about this movie is how he very gradually becomes aged and weak as the price for his magic.  In the latter half of the film he looks seriously worn out, with red-rimmed eyes, greying beard, and withered hands.

Each spell ages him a little more until, at the end he is withered and frail, with barely the strength to crawl the last few feet to the Fountain of Destiny.

This is great stuff, and I've always wished that the D&D spell system included some mechanic to represent the physical or spiritual cost of trafficking with the "demons of darkness." For the past couple of years I've been tinkering with rules to accomplish this, but with an option for truly evil magic users to make human sacrifice to avoid paying the cost themselves, which is another classic sword & sorcery convention (and also provides the characters with a steady stream of slave-girls to rescue).

Another thing I love about The Golden Voyage is the nature of Koura's magic.  It's subtle and relatively low-key.  He doesn't go around flinging bolts of arcane energy, immolating his enemies with fireballs, or frying them with lightning bolts.  Instead, Koura delves into his chest of spell components to animate the figure head of Sinbad's ship to steal his chart of Lemuria, collapse the entrance to subterranean caverns trapping Sinbad and his crew, and finally animating a statue of Kali to gain the loyalty of Lemurian savages, then pitting it against Sinbad in a dramatic fight.

Thus, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad remains one of my favourite cinematic examples of the sword & sorcery influences in D&D.

What is especially interesting is how closely Koura's homunculus familiar resembles the Find Familiar spell of AD&D.  He uses the familiar to spy on Sinbad, and is able to see and hear what it does.  There is also an obvious physical link between Koura and his familiar, and he cries out in pain when the homunculus is killed.

This is such a great and iconic magic user spell, that no sword & sorcery campaign should be without it.  Since Swords & Wizardry Whitebox has no Familiar spell, here's my one of my own:

Bind Homunculus
Spell Level: M1
Range: Near caster
Duration: Permanent

Once bound, a homunculus becomes the caster's familiar, serving as a spy, scout, and guardian.  It can converse with its master with whom it shares a mental link allowing the caster to see and hear what the homunculus does.

The magic user must craft the homunculus out of materials costing no less than 100 gp.  The magic user may sculpt the homunculus in any form he desires, but they are often given wings, allowing them to fly.

To animate and bind the homunculus the magic user must complete a one-hour long ritual that culminates in the caster sacrificing 1d4 hit points to bring it to life.  The homunculus has a number of hit points equal those lost by the caster.  The magic user heals this damage normally, but should the homunculus be killed he immediately loses those hit points permanently.

Homunculus
Armour Class: 7             Special: n/a
Hit Dice: <1 (1d4 hp)     Move: 9/15 (if flying)
Attack: Bite or claw        HDE/XP: <1/10 xp