Tranquillitas Ordinis

Dear people of good will, I was asked to prepare a 1-2 sessions scenario for camping with five friends, that happens in a few weeks. It is the first time I am doing this, so I would like to use your vast knowledge and ask for some recommendations/ advice. Firstly, do you know any CoC scenario that could fit particularly well the anticipated atmosphere of sitting around the campfire, in the night, next to a lake and a forest, under the bare sky with a full bloody moon, etcetera etcetera? So far I have looked at the convention scenario "Camp Sunny". Secondly, if you have ever done anything

Thanks to MOB the links work again.

Dear ajtheronin, The link for: Arkham/H. P. Lovecraft's Arkham (Mike's Post) Cthulhu by Gaslight (Mike's Post) Guide to the Miskatonic Valley (Mike's Post) does not work anymore, as an "Open letter to chaosium" topic has been hidden by a moderator, according to Mr. Trifletraxor (see topic below). I do not know why, but it happened soon after I asked there a question if Arkham & Guide are going to be separate books, and if they will have anything to do with "The Tales of the Miskatonic Valley". I hope it is not my fault.

I do not think this was moderator's decision to delete/hide the thread, since there was nothing outrageous posted there. It was a discussion about future Chaosium releases, with even company members adding their input. So I suspect it might be a bug, that some content can not be accessed by regular members, as David Scott pointed out.

I have a probably related problem: the "open letter to chaosium" thread has disappeared from the CoC forum. This link does not work, I just get a message "Sorry, you do not have permission for that!"

Dear Mr. Mason, I do not want to be too nosy, but will "Arkham and a Guide to the Miskatonic Valley" be one book, i.e. a continuation of Keith Herber's "H.P. Lovecraft's Arkham" with four scenarios, or two separate books "Arkham" + "Guide"? And will it have anything to do with the "Tales of the Miskatonic Valley"? I was considering buying these supplements on the Cthulhu Mythos Sale on DTRPG, but maybe I should wait for the newer editions? P.S. I have just found out that couple of days ago there was 130th anniversary of Lovecraft's birthday. It is really weird to realize how long tim

Thank you Mr. Mason! But I especially want to thank to all the members who were proof-reading the book and posting their comments here! Speaking from a perspective of a person that is relatively new at this forum, seeing such a devoted community of people who care about their favorite RPG was very edifying.

Dear alois8113, In the rulebook, in the "Cthonians" entry you can read: "Purported vulnerabilities include the Vach-Viraj Chant, the Elder Sign, and total immersion in a body of water." This would imply, that Cthonians can be affected by the chant. Also, the Awa Popeno entry says that he knows: Contact Yig, Summon Yig and Vach-Viraj spells. I do not know how the Vach-Viraj incantation works (I couldn't find it in the 7th ed. rulebook or in the "Grand Grimoire" and I do not own the Malleus yet). I would expect the Grand Grimoire to contain it, if it was described anywhere in the earli

Dear Phil Hendry, It is funny, I have completely missed that handout when running the scenario. However, I wanted to connect "Blackwater Creek" to "Amaranthine Desire" from the "Nameless Horrors" so I added one handout of my own. It is a letter of the Hawkins widow, that she had not been able to send to prof. McTavish, her lover from the undergrad (in my campaign McTavish is much older), before she was killed. Inside she explains the story of Cade and of the artifact from the "Amaranthine Desire" scenario. I am not sure how useful it might be to you, but maybe could serve as an inspiratio

Dear Atgxtg, I am stunned, as it seems to me you have clearly misunderstood what I actually did or meant. And you added some unnecessarily sarcastic comments, which is surprising as I have already agreed with you, and most of the time I was proving you right. My intention was not to have any argument (or game), just to have see if one can find a simple model of measuring a skill that could be applied to a RPG. Chess was the first thing that came to my mind because: a) you mentioned it, b) I love chess and know something about it. I agreed with that in my post. What

I have just noticed that one scenario (by A. Wiewiórska) from the Polish version (which has three adventures) was left out. Was there something wrong with it? It was actually the only one I have played, it was pretty enjoyable and had a crazy twist at the beginning. I think there were some holes in the plot but nothing that could not be improved. The story was set in a modern Scandinavian country and you played as a tired policeman. Anyway, it is nice to see Polish authors gaining some recognition. Believe me, there are some absolutely mind-blowing, artistically crafted scenarios in Polis

Dear Closterphobia, I do not think this is true. Of course that different players and groups like different things, and RPGs are for fun, and if they have fun then everything is ok. But it does not mean that rules should not be judged based on some objective criteria or common sense. Rules should increase fun, but also should be sensible. And rules matter—we all have these rulebooks for something, don't we? If I saw a sentence in a rulebook which says: "After each critical success Keeper buys ice cream for everybody and makes 100 push-ups and then every character takes 15 HP damage" I wou

Dear Atgxtg, This one paragraph was able to convince me. How did you know that I am a vivid chess lover? Indeed, the situation you describe does not look right—I was stupid not to think about that. But we can not just agree which each other and stop here; the best solution to the problem needs to be found. Therefore, I decided to do some research, trying to answer several questions: What is a reasonable skill measure/ scale, that allows to compare effectively characters of different skill level? Can "difficulty level" system be corrected to give more sensible outcome? If

This rating system is in every official Polish scenario. I think this was an original idea by the Polish publisher "Black Monk Games" and I personally like it. If you know you need a short/ long or easy/ difficult scenario for your campaign, it serves as a quick and quite accurate help to choose between them.

Dear Atgxtg, How can you not agree with me? This is outrageous! Anyway, you noticed an interesting thing. Players make decisions based on their understanding of what they believe will work. But what if CoC is a system where players should not believe even for a moment that what they think is correct? In some situations, even the fact that they have 90% skill means nothing. You might not like it, and I understand your position. I do not like it or dislike it, it is a rule and try to follow it due to my need of belonging. Also, if you have players who really know the rules, they will