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sdaniolowski

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Everything posted by sdaniolowski

  1. I can assure fans that there are things afoot for the 40th anniversary. Can say no more, lest an angry shoggoth rip out my tongue and devour my typing flingers...!
  2. Well, this whole project had it's genesis way back in Keith Herber's first Keeper's Companion. I did an article on a half dozen new monsters. That I later expanded into a short book, Ye Booke of Monstres, for Lynn Willis. Lynn wanted a second volume so eventually Ye Booke of Monstres 2 came along. Later the two volumes were combined into The Creature Companion. The next progression was the original Malleus Monstrorum. There had been talk of re-organizing the CoC rulebook and taking out all the monsters, so a bestiary would be needed. So I took everything from the rulebook, as well as everything from the Creature Companion, added some other new stuff, and viola, The Malleus Monstrorum was born. With the new 7th edition CoC a new, compatible version was needed, and that's where we are now. We took my original manuscript (and the manuscript to Malleus Monstrorum 2, of which a few entries made it into the new MM) and Mike Mason and his team converted everything to 7th edition and added loads of great material to expand upon what I'd done. I consider the project my magnum opus, and it is truly a lovely thing in it's new color, hardcover edition. But to address your comment about my inclusiveness of monsters... I made up my mind early on that I was going to be as encyclopedic as I could be. That meant including some things that I really didn't personally like. Dozens of authors have contributed to the Mythos since HPL, and there has been a lot of sub-par, fanzine-level material over the years. But I included some of that stuff, anyway (and took some ribbing for it from some of my co-authors at the time) because everyone's tastes differ, as do everyone's CoC campaign. I just wanted to give the broadest possible choice of beasties for Keepers to choose from. And I have found over the years that certain things I thought were silly or not so great have turned out to be fan favorites. So there you go!
  3. I can give you some answers from the proverbial horse's mouth... Yes, Kevin knows that I have never been asked to participate in the marketing of the new MM. While I have thought it odd never to have been asked, I also have never offered, so perhaps Chaosium assume I'm not interested? I can say I certainly do not feel ENTITLED to anything. I also don't think Kevin feels entitled to anything, and was just asking a question based on a personal observation. As to the amount of work I put into the project, well, I wrote the manuscripts (besides the original Malleus I also sent Mike Mason my manuscript for the follow-up Malleus Monstrorum 2 and I believe he used some of that in this volume). Mike Mason and friends converted my work to 7th edition and from what little I've seen so far (my author copy literally JUST got here and hasn't yet been opened) added interesting bits of additional information about the various beasties. And of course, Mike handled assigning art, layout, etc. putting the whole thing together. As for any of the "Old Guard" feeling entitled, I can't speak to that as I don't think I've ever encountered it, and I know I, again, certainly don't feel entitled to ANYTHING. I understand that in order to survive a company must evolve and seek new markets. Stagnation results in nothing but irrelevance and becoming little more than tragic nostalgia. As someone who has worked for Chaosium since the mid-80s I can offer some insight into my personal take on the company. The original or "Old" Chaosium was sort of a "hey gang, let's put on a show" company. They were the stereotypical California free spirits and didn't seem to have a real solid direction. They were a great bunch, fun to work with but business did not seem to be the priority. Eventually, for various reasons, things got rough and there was a long period where contributors weren't getting paid or if they were the checks were bouncing (back in the days before PayPal). Things got dire. Things got so bad that Greg and Sandy returned to get things back in order. That's where "New" Chaosium came in. These new folks came on board with apparently a very solid business plan, cleaned up the mess and slowly but surely began to honor floundering Kickstarters and put out new, really great-looking books. Now working for Chaosium is very business-like and professional. There are detailed contracts and payments are made in a timely fashion. And now fans are getting beautiful hardcover, full-color books in line with what the other big gaming companies like Wizards and Paizo have been doing for years. New Chaosium is now a force to be reckoned with in the gaming industry, as the venerable company should be. So as a contributor, yes, things are very different, but it's nice to know that I will be paid for my work in a timely manner and it will see print in a beautiful edition. If it weren't for the new folks and the new direction, I don't believe Chaosium would be here now, and Call of Cthulhu would either be a dead game or be produced by one of the other big names in whatever direction they chose to take it (in any event, it likely wouldn't be the same CoC anymore). As for Yog-Sothoth, well I have not been on the site in a very long time. I quit participating in the site many years ago and other than a very occasional quick peek, I don't go over there these days. If you encountered such rudeness there I'm sorry. It used to be a great place for fans of the game to gather and discuss various topics.
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