#sword and sandal

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Spartacus - Movie poster art by Reynold Brown (1960)

#reynold brown #spartacus #movie poster art #sword and sandal #stanley kubrick #kirk douglas #gladiator movies #historical dramas #60s movies #sixties #1960

[stanningjay]

Auro, the God of Spring, turns to stone each year at his season’s end, only awakening the following year at its beginning.

For four hundred years, it has been a dreamless sleep for Auro.

This year, he knows he will dream of Alexios until he can walk the earth again.

🖼️ by @crossroadart-seabear

#writing #fiction #queer fiction #gay romance #original fiction #emmaline strange #indie authors #lgbtqia #queer art #support human artists #sword and sandal #greek mythology #ancient greece #ancient rome vibes #fantasy #legends #folklore

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hiya! Do you know of any good rpgs for fiction in the Sword and Sandal genre, or really anything that would fit a largely-historical game set in the ancient to late antique Middle East?

Thanks for everything you do!

THEME: Sword and Sandal

Hello Friend, I don’t think I found anything here that meets what you’re looking for exactly, but I think there are a few things here that are in the same neighbourhood of what you’re looking for. I’ve found a few Bronze-Age and Mesopotamian games that might interest you, as well as a setting in Ancient Egypt!

I know that there’s not a lot here that is likely to hit the mark that you were looking for, so I’m also hoping that folks who see this will add their own suggestions in the comments and reblogs!

Champions of Osiris, by Zadmar Games.

“King Osiris and Queen Isis once ruled ancient Egypt—until Set murdered his brother and usurped the throne. Isis was a powerful sorceress who used her powers to escape, but Set chopped his rival into dozens of pieces and scattered them across the land, preventing his resurrection.

With the aid of her sister Nephthys, Isis recovered the remains of her husband’s loyal bodyguards and retainers, imbuing their spirits with potent sorcery and granting them immortality. These fierce heroes began the formidable task of seeking out and gathering the lost pieces of their king’s corpse.

You are the “immortal champions.” You once swore to guard your king’s life with your own—and you did! Now you’ve sworn another oath: to destroy Set’s legacy and restore Osiris to the throne.”

The Tricube Tales System is a genre-neutral rules set that is meant to be easy to learn and great for short games. The designer has created countless scenarios for this system, with Champions of Osiris being one of them. Players receive karma tokens, which they can use to increase their chances of success, and gain by increasing their chances of failure. They also have a resolve track, which erodes with each failure, potentially removing a player from the scene if they aren’t careful.

This is definitely not a historical game, but it’s probably the closest to the “Middle East” inspiration that I was able to find during my search.

Into the Bronze, by Lantern’s Faun.

Into the Bronze is a RPG of sword, sorcery and sandals in Mesopotamia from the Bronze era.

The plains between the Tigris and Ephrates rivers hide silent, gloomy valleys where demons and lesser gods devise their evil plans. Defy the gods of Sumeria, behold the beginning of civilization.

This is a rule-set, but it doesn’t have much in terms of lore, which may be good if you have the kind of world you want to play in already in your head, but just need a framework in terms of player skills and dice resolution. Into the Bronze is inspired by Into the Odd, by Chris McDowell, renowned for its flexibility and simplicity. I think it would be very easy to take characters built in this world and then put them into a world like that of Undying Sands, which isn’t a game in itself but provides you with plenty of locations, encounters, and characters to fight, barter, and conspire with.

Fragments of the Past, by Dev9k.

Fragments of the Past is a rules-light roleplaying game set in a Bronze-Age world evoking the atmosphere of ancient tales and poems of the archaic Mediterranean, where conflicts are resolved on a roll of a d10 or a d100. 

Experience the great tragedies, deeds, and ambitions of larger-than-life characters, dwelling in a world of sacred places and untamed wilderness. Pray and live according to the ancient customs of long-forgotten civilizations, if you dare. 

Fragments of the Past is meant to emulate mythic and tragic stories from a world that could have been, a world with references to ancient mediterranean cultures, but its locations and peoples are uniquely named. This is a world where the Gods’ wills have visible effects on the world around them: this is most visible in Talismans - relics that became powerful because of their place in great stories and actions of heroes.

This is a game designed for long-form play. Your characters are built from a mix of quantifiable stats and descriptive abilities that point to the personality and narrative arc desired by the player. As the characters grow, they will primarily manifest new Epithets, which are specific areas of knowledge born from the characters’ experiences. When rolling to actively do something using an attribute, players pick up a d100. When doing something that involves luck, hubris or willpower, the player will instead pick up a d10.

If you want to check out this game before buying it, you can check out the free Quickstart, which has over 100 pages of lore and guidance to introduce you to the basics of this game.

AZAG, by Dank Dungeons.

"You must travel far, beyond the spider-haunted towers of Byzaron and the red mists of The Yielding Plain. The Sleeping Augur awaits, through azure pylons inscribed with sigils both beneficent and doomed.”

AZAG is a combination tabletop role playing game and five track instrumental album.  Featuring a rule system inspired by the likes of Fighting Fantasy and Troika! in a setting inspired by Lovecraft's Dream Cycle, Howard's Conan, and Smith's Hyperborea. 

Treat with strange entities, battle against weird magics, and explore a world of mystery and wonder!

Looking at the inspiration and references for this game, as well as the rule system it draws from (Troika), I have a feeling AZAG is going to be extremely un-serious. This is not a game of historical realism, but of sorcery, action, and storage gods. Based on its source material, I”m also guessing that character creation is going to be rather simple, and survival is going to depend on your creativity more-so than the luck of your rolls. If you like your games dangerous and a little over-the-top, you might want to try AZAG.

2400 BC, by ozmodeuz.

"…at dawn a black cloud came from the horizon; thunderous with wrath. The seven judges of hell raised their torches, lighting the land with their livid flame. The earth cried despair to the heavens as daylight turned to darkness and the land was shattered like glass. For six days and six nights the tempest raged and gathered fury, and poured over the people like the tides of war. All sense and hope was lost, and the gods cowered in heaven…"

2400 BC is a hack of Jason Tocci's 24XX about rebuilding community in the aftermath of an environmental catastrophe, thousands of years in the past. It was inspired by Mesopotamian myth, particularly the Epic of Gilgamesh.

2400 BC explores a recent tragedy, devastating your homeland and driving you to fight for survival. It’s a small game that makes extensive use of roll tables to help generate characters quickly as well as provide a GM with quick ideas as to what kinds of opportunities and problems your characters will face. The character generation tables have plenty of options for making characters that aren’t necessarily good people, so I have a feeling survivability is a bit low.

All in all, if you want a quick to pick up game about catastrophe hitting the ancient world, this might be the game for you.

#tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #game recommendations #dnd #asks #indie ttrpg #sword and sandal #historical

[pulpsandcomics2]

Reynold Brown

#reynold brown #movie posters #sword and sandal

[emstrange]

Leofric totally has NO idea how he ended up in this situation. None at all. And he’s going to fight his way out of Cosmo’s arms any second now.

#writeblr #writing #writers on tumblr #harmony of seasons #original character #gay love #queer books #lgbt art #gay books #enemies to soulmates #ancient rome #sword and sandal #the roman empire

[fitsofgloom]

“No man will ever penetrate my body with sword or with himself!”: Laurene Landon strikes a blow -- many blows -- for womankind in "Hundra."

#hundra #laurene landon #sword and sandal #1983

[bitter69uk]

“Not surprisingly, Mickey played Hercules, well-oiled and wearing what seemed to be a very short skating skirt adorned with leather suspenders. Unlike any other male in the movie, Mickey is tanned and greased and so muscle-bound that he can’t walk with his arms at his sides but looks like some kind of great, jerky mechanical bear. The plot, very sketchily, has Mickey’s first wife murdered. He sets out to seek revenge, meets a black-haired tribal queen and falls in love in nine minutes. The black-haired queen is played by Jayne, wearing a black wig and a padded bra. It was some kind of gravitational miracle that she didn’t fall over with all that frontage on her. At any rate, she and Hercules have to overcome a lot of obstacles to their love, including the murderous impulses of the red-haired Amazon queen who captures Hercules. Jayne plays the Amazon queen in a different wig but the same bra. The movie is dubbed in a variety of accents so that Mickey delivers Shakespearean English, Jayne West Coast American and the others sound indigenous to locales between Los Angeles and London … Jayne’s dual roles were an object lesson in male fantasy. She gets to play the demanding, emasculating woman men fear and the demure, passive woman they want.”

/ From Jayne Mansfield and the American Fifties by Martha Saxton, 1975 /

Released in Italian cinemas 63 years ago today (19 August 1960): “sword-and-sandals” peplum film The Loves of Hercules (aka Hercules vs the Hydra) starring fabulous fame-crazed husband and wife duo Mickey Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield, made in Cinemascope at the height of the “Hollywood on the Tiber” era. In the UK at least, this movie is seemingly impossible to see. Over the years some scratchy, faded versions have surfaced on YouTube – but always dubbed exclusively in Italian! Where oh where is the 4K restoration English language director’s cut Blu-ray?

#the loves of hercules #hercules vs the hydra #jayne mansfield #mickey hargitay #peplum film #sword and sandal #lobotomy room #bad movies we love #bad movies for bad people #sex kitten gone berserk #kitsch

[kadalsaurus]

Spear and fang (primal)

#illustration #character art #aesthetic #animals #art #digital art #illustrators on tumblr #dinosaur #sword and sandal #prehistoric #gendy tartakovsky #primal #paleoart

[supermen-with-black-hair]

May Zeus bless

whomever made this gif...

٢٣٠٣٢٥

#lou ferrigno #massive pecs #massive masculinity #bulletproof pecs #male perfection #hercules #sword and sandal

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

AND THE INTERNET AWARD FOR GREATEST FAUX CRITERION COVER GOES TO...

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on custom and/or faux Criterion Collection cover art for the 1960 Sword and Sandal epic "Spartacus," directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 4K/Blu-Ray Steelbook cover inspired by 1974 theatrical re-release German poster art by Lutz Peltzer.

Resolution from largest to smallest: 2205x1289, 1141x1289, & 1000x1500.

FILM OVERVIEW: "Stanley Kubrick directed a cast of screen legends —including Kirk Douglas as the indomitable gladiator that led a Roman slave revolt—in the sweeping epic that defined a genre and ushered in a new Hollywood era. The assured acting, lush Technicolor cinematography, bold costumes, and visceral fight sequences won "Spartacus" four Oscars; the blend of politics and sexual suggestion scandalized audiences. Today Kubrick's controversial classic, the first film to openly defy Hollywood's blacklist, remains a landmark of cinematic artistry and history."

-- CRITERION COLLECTION, c. spring 2001

Sources: www.reddit.com/r/criterion/comments/olrjb4 & Limited Runs.

#Spartacus #Spartacus 1960 #Steelbook #Kirk Douglas #Sixties #Old Hollywood #1960 #1960s #Spartacus 1960 Movie #Sword and Sandal Epic #Spartacus Film #Classic Hollywood #60s #60s Cinema #Poster Art #Movie poster #60s Movies #Sword and Sandal #Lutz Peltzer Art #Spartacus 1960 Film #Criterion Collection #Faux Criterion #Graphic Design #Criterion #Lutz Peltzer #Cinema #I am Spartacus! #Woody Strode #Third Servile War #Steelbook 4K

[atomic-chronoscaph]

The Arena (1974)

#the arena gif #pam grier gif #margaret markov gif #sword and sandal #joe d'amato #steve carver #peplum #gladiator movies #70s movies #seventies #1974 #gif #chronoscaph gif

[vintagegeekculture]

Chelo Alonso. 

#peplum #sword and sandal #italian cinema

[dailyadventureprompts]

If you'd be so kind, may I request a sword and sorcery styled romp? Ancient forbidden magics, treasure, evil cults, etc~ I plan on trying this out for a potential upcoming session

Mini Campaign: The Bastard's Wish

Whether it ends in triumph or ruin, it’s of no doubt the bards will sing of this tale till the end of their days.

Our story begins in a wholesome and peaceful kingdom, entertaining an embassy from a neighboring land to discuss terms of trade and potential alliance. The party play as significant figures (champions, courtiers head knights, children of ruling monarchs) who have been enlisted in recent years by a knindly wizard known as Edarth the Enduring to use their influence to mend the rift between these two quarreling nations.  These are fine days full of promise for a brighter future, at least until a shadow comes creeping in: an army of marauders led by Malzaat Felhand, a warlord of the forsaken lands who has decided today of all days to lay siege to the party’s home.

The warlord has taken the kingdom’s defenders unaware by opening a hellmouth on the outskirts of a nearby village, marching his soldiers through this living portal of fire and fangs to march on the fortress where the embassy was taking place. Malzaat’s goal? the Wizard Edarth and the staff of ancient power he has guarded since the fall of the previous age, which he hopes to turn to some foul and disastrous purpose.  The party rallies, but with innocents and nobles to protect and only a small garrison to support them they are stretched too thin to prevent the warlord from cutting down the wizard and retrieving his prize.

A horn sounds and the marauders retreat carrying off what valuables and hostages they can, tired and blooded the party creep through the wreckage to find a number of their friends and loved ones slain, and their mentor soon to join them. In his dying moments, Edarth entrusts the party to seek out Malzaat and retrieve his staff, break it if need be, for the power it commands could lay waste to kingdoms or let the warlord set himself up as a tyrant. With this last request and a few whispered words of goodbye, the wizard sets the party to their quest, and leaves the fate of their homeland in their hands.

Adventure Hooks:

To travel to the forsaken lands, the party must venture out past the outskirts of their kingdom, over a haunted mountainside, and through a swamp of ancient magics, all the while overcoming the hazards of the wilderness and the supernatural dangers lurking in their path.

The closer they get to Malzaat’s home the more they must contend with his spies and agents: desperate souls who would seek a reward from the warlord, or beasts bewitched by him to serve as his eyes. Being discovered in their task means having Malzaat throw more obstacles at them through more hellmouths, just marauders at first but later various monsters dredged up from the depths of the swamp or raised from the pits of hell. 

Throughout their travels the heroes begin to receive visions of a youth beset by phantasmal demons, thrashing as one would in a nightmare and calling out for aid. Through dreams and vision pools, the youth calls out to the heroes, giving them advice on where they must go, and cryptic hints to overcome the challenges they must face.  This youth must be one of the captives taken by the marauders, using some psychic gift to reach out to the heroes for aid. 

Setup: Malzaat’s mother was once the general of a great kingdom, exiled to the forsaken lands along with her loyalists after committing unspeakable cruelties in an attempt to win the war she’d been tasked with fighting. Filled with wrath and regret over her apparent “betrayal”, her darkening soul attracted the attention of a demon of the wastes, who offered the fallen general power enough to carve out her own little kingdom, if only she would do so in his name. 

Neither expected this compact to eventually become a dalliance, or the birth of a half-fiendish child to follow, but between them the two had a cruel, villainous sort of love that seemed suited for the forsaken lands they made their home in.

Their child however did not have such a happy existence, brought up by his mother to glorify strength and hate weakness, the young Malzaat grew to detest his mortal half, wishing he could be a full fiend like his immortal and oft-absent father. It took decades for him to gather power, first serving as his mother’s right hand as the captain of the marauders her loyalists had become, then leading them himself after her death. With a small army at his beck and call, Malzaat roved far and wide, gathering more and more power but always searching for a means to overcome his mortality.

His attempts were less than successful, culminating in a ritual bastardized from blood-stained scrolls he’d stolen while looting a temple. Malzaat did manage to cleave his mortal essence from himself but the end result left him as a half-there thing, wraithlike form and malicious intent. Diminished but unwilling to return to mortality, Malzaat set about looking for a means of true transcendence, which eventually led him to a marvelous palace where dreams becomes take physical form, at least within its illusion choked grounds. Using  Edarth’s staff, the warlord hopes to turn these phantasms tangeable, to make his idealized, all powerful fiendish body a reality even if he has to break a part of the world to do it.

Should Malzaat’s plan succeed, it’s not only an incarnated greater demon the realms will need to worry about. With staff in hand and possessing the ability to bring his imaginings to life, the warlord would create ever more dangerous weapons and warriors until he ruled all the realms or shattered reality under his feet. This is a scenario the heroes must avert at all cost.

Challenges & Complications

If they anger him enough, Malzaat will ride out to challenge the party himself, potentially opening a hellmouth and stranding them in some desolate realm buying himself time as he forces them to fight their way back to the mortal world. The tide may turn however and as heroes manage to cut the villain down, only to see his wraithlike form begin to recorperate over a matter of minutes, angrier than before, seemingly unkillable. This turns any confrontation with the half-fiend into a game of keepaway, putting as many barriers and as much distance as possible between them and the murderous shade as possible before they manage to tire.

Malzaat’s mortal essence didn’t just disappear, as the ritual he used was originally intended as a means of excorissm fiendish influence from a person’s body. And so there is a boy, perhaps thirteen years old, the embodiment of all Malzaat’s weakness, frailty, innocence, and anything else the warlord hated about himself. The half-fiend would have long disposed of him, save for the fact that any harm done to the youth is felt by his wraithlike form, leading him to fear that should the boy die, his blackened soul would depart right along with him.  The boy, Taz, sleeps, not having strength to wake save for small periods, but as he does so his mind blends with the dreaming essence of the palace that is his prison, allowing him to reach out into the unconscious minds of others, growing clearer as they near the palace itself. He tries to warn the heroes of Malzaat’s seeming immortality, and tells them of a secret weapon hidden within the warlord’s fortress that they can use do permanently defeat him. ...... It turns out selflessness is one of those qualities Malzaat left with his better half, as Taz is aware that his death might be the only means of stopping his other-self’s wicked plans. He’ll keep the party in the dark for as long as possible until they manage to fight or sneak their way to his chamber, at which point he’ll explain the grim necessity that will allow them to save all the realms without having to fight Malzaat directly.

Far older than he seemed, the wizard Edarth was once a student of a titan named Tourmal, from whom he inherited his staff after the giant was slain by another. Tourmal’s other students took a far darker path, becoming a coven of blood-mad oracles that the party will doubtlessly stumble over the course of their quest.  Should the coven learn of their mission ( and why wouldn’t they, they’re oracles after all), they’ll offer to provide insight to the party provided they swear a binding oath to give the staff over to them once they’ve retrieved it. They’ll also warn them about a bit of subterfuge on the old wizard’s part: Breaking the staff will unleash its power, annihilating the one who did it as well as anyone standing nearby.  Wouldn’t such a dangerous object be better out of the hands of the ignorant, and in the hands of those who’s only goal is to look further and further into the future?

Art

#campaign #Campaign start #mid level #villain #Sword and Sandal #sword and sorcery #dnd #dungeons and dragons #adventure #5e homebrew #homebrew adventure #adventure compendium #rescue mission #bandits #fiend #wizard

[zukriuchen]

Kirk Douglas and Silvana Mangano during the shooting of Ulysses (1954)

#kirk douglas #silvana mangano #american actors #italian actors #italian film #behind the scenes #mario camerini #movies #sword and sandal #50s movies #50s actors

[pulpsandcomics2]

movie posters

#movie posters #peplum #sword and sandal

[number1milfloislover]

Iron Warrior, 1987.

#80s movies #sword and sorcery #sword and sandal #80s #1980s #movies #iron warrior #SO GOOD! #action #action movies #italian movies #thank u Italy #Italians do it better