V - Valley, Vanishing, Vandals, Volume

Valley of the mists is an adventure/supplement for the FGU game Bushido. I have not looked inside this item in years and maybe only once the entire time I have owned it. Way back when I had a friend who was of Japanese heritage so when he discovered the game Bushido existed he wanted us to play it. I ended up finding a copy and had everyone create characters and I think we played it all of three times before everyone else was onto something else. We tried a lot of different games back then. Just so you can see it here is the product description.

"Come visit Hida Province in the land of Nippon. Be wary though, for all is not well. The ruling clan is not as secure as they would wish. Enemies surround them on all sides and, perhaps, even lurk within their domain. Mystery, magic, and menace await the bold adventurers who shall eventually descend into the Valley of the Mists. "VALLEY OF THE MISTS is the first adventure pack for use with BUSHIDO. This is not a complete game. Fantasy Games Unlimited's BUSHIDO is necessary for play. It contains three inter-related adventures which take place in and around Hida Province. Background material concerning the province is presented as well. Special bonuses include several new Legendary Beings and a new form of magical skill: Tea Magic." 

Movie:


Vanishing on 7th Street will be a movie you have most likely never heard of and very few people have probably seen. It had a limited distribution for theaters and the only reason I saw it was because you could see it using On Demand while in the theaters via my cable system. It has a fairly well known cast but the acting was not the best. I think it might have been the script but who knows. With all that aside the premise and story were pretty spooky. I think anyone running an Urban Noir or modern era game will be able to appreciate this and take ideas from it. It could also be of use as an idea for a post apocalyptic game setting. This should be available in video stores or through Netflix etc. I would suggest watching it just don't pay too much and please forgive me if you hate it as it may not be everyone cup of tea. Let me know if you get a feel that someone liked a Stephen King story too much as well!

Plot:

Vandals have been striking church and shrines to a minor deity in the local area. They have also been destroying businesses operated by followers of the deity. The issue is that the Baron over the region is coming for a state visit and they are a follow of the deity and a fervent one at that. Having the shrines and church targeted by vandals will not set well with the Baron. There has been a fairly large reward offered for anyone determining who the culprits are, stopping the acts and bringing them in. The baron will be arriving in less than a week so there is not much time. One can only hope the Baron does not sue this as a reason to replace the governor who he has never liked with his nephew which he has been itching to do for some time and has been looking for a reason to do so......

Magic:

Volumes of Research will be moderate size collections of tomes and scrolls prized by those doing research in general and magical research in particular. This applies to alchemists, sages and even wizards research new spells or trying to craft new magic items. These tomes/scrolls send emanations out through a number of different planes and possibly alternate prime material planes. These emanations will detect written materials connected with the researched subject and copy themselves onto the pages of the  tomes, These writings will persist until the research is done at which time regardless of the success or failure of the research they will fade away waiting to begin again. The Volumes will grant a 1%/day of use additional chance of success to the research up to 90%. If this is being done for spell research the bonus is divided by the level of the spell being researched and magic items will be treated as the highest level spell effect or 6th level in general. These items are not with their drawbacks though. The emanations have a cumulative 5% chance per week used of attracting an unwelcome guest of some nature. This will most often be connected with what is being researched in some manner though pulling a powerful being from an alternate Prime Material is not unheard of.