The Oval Portrait (band) The Oval Portrait (band) The Oval Portrait was an American rock band from West Paterson, New Jersey active in the early-to-mid-2000s. Their name was taken from a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. They released the LP "Life In Death" on Eyeball Records in 2003. The band's musical style contained an eclectic mix of influences ranging from post-hardcore and post-punk to psychedelic rock and experimental metal. The lyrical imagery on many songs contained bleak, unsettling subject matter and numerous literary references. "Life In Death" featured guest performances by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance on the songs "Barnabus Collins Has
Masque of the Red Death and Other Tales setting's fine, but it's a sidebar to the system overhaul. "Masque of the Red Death" makes a persuasive case for reality-based role-playing, where wits count more than muscle and a shotgun packs more punch than a fireball. Endearingly human, these are the only "AD&D" game characters I'd consider using as investigators in a "Call of Cthulhu" game or, for that matter, as adversaries in a "Vampire" campaign. And nitpickers who've been clamoring for a streamlined, skill-based "AD&D" game ought to be dancing in the streets. "Masque of the Red Death" doesn't qualify as the Third Edition of the "AD&D" game,