Jump to content

MOB

Moderators
  • Posts

    5,077
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    474

Everything posted by MOB

  1. DOORS TO DARKNESS is DriveThruRPG's Deal of the Day: 60% off!Five scenarios written especially for beginning Call of Cthulhu Keepers and players, plus plenty of advice about how to run the adventures for best effect - guidance any Keeper, new or experienced, will find very useful.
  2. Three CALL OF CTHULHU luminaries have been invited to present at this year's ENnie Awards: the Master of Ceremonies is none other than MARK MORRISON (Horror on the Orient Express, Terror Australis, Reign of Terror, 'Dead Man Stomp', the list goes on); CHRIS SPIVEY of Harlem Unbound is one of the special guest presenters; as is the Great Old One himself, Call of Cthulhu creator SANDY PETERSEN. All three have won multiple awards and received critical acclaim for their work on Call of Cthulhu and other RPGs, and Chaosium is honoured to be associated with them. http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/2019-ennie-award-master-of-ceremonies-and-guest-presenters
  3. I have visited Tanna, the tiny South Pacific island where the John Frum cult is located. Tanna also has the Prince Philip Movement (having seen Prince Philip on an official visit to Tanna, they worship HRH as a living god: great when you have your deity's postal address and can even go visit Him, as some did in 2007. Apparently Prince Philip's adapt reply when asked "When will you return to Tanna to institute the Reign of Plenty?" was "I will return one day, but now the time is not right" which they were apparently very satisfied with). I would not describe these religions as "fake", at least from the worshippers' perspective, as they are completely sincere in their beliefs. Tanna was an amazing place to visit. As well as the unusual religions, it has an active volcano you can walk to the top of, and we went to a village where the women could summon a dugong by wading into the lagoon up to their waists and slapping the water and singing. It felt very magical. [BTW, I thought the feature film Tanna - nominated for best Foreign Film in the 2017 Academy Awards - was very Gloranthan in feel: Set on a remote Pacific island, covered in rain forest and dominated by an active volcano, this heartfelt story, enacted by the Yakel tribe, tells of a sister's loyalty, a forbidden love affair and the pact between the old ways and the new. Although the people who worship John Frum and Prince Philip live the "Kustom" traditional lifestyle, there are others who are Christians (Presbyterians, if I recall correctly). I love the scene in the movie where the two protagonists meet the proselytising Christians and look at each other and "These people are people are freaking me out, let's get out of here". I could see an Orlanthi saying that, meeting Lunarised compatriots.]
  4. The Shadow Over Providence is a new Call of Cthulhu scenario set in a venue that may seem strangely familiar to anyone who has visited Providence’s iconic Biltmore Hotel. The adventure was written by Jon Hook of the Miskatonic University Podcast, with with artwork and maps by Matt Ryan. It has been developed and published by Chaosium, to celebrate NecronomiCon 2019. We'll have a limited quantity of special print copies for purchase at NecronomiCon, where Chaosium's Mike Mason, Lynne Hardy, James Lowder, and Nick Nacario will be in attendance, and the Call of Cthulhu RPG is playing a key role in the convention's extensive gaming program. Afterwards, The Shadow Over Providence PDF will be available from Chaosium.com and DriveThruRPG. https://www.chaosium.com/blogthe-shadow-over-providence-a-new-scenario-to-celebrate-necronomicon-2019
  5. Although I am by no means asserting this religion is in any way fake, check out the previously unknown Indian Goddess Santoshi Mata - the Goddess of Satisfaction - who began to be worshipped after appearing in a low budget 1975 Bollywood film that really struck a chord. Santoshi is now sincerely venerated by millions in northern India, despite having no basis in Hindu scripture whatsoever.
  6. The Cult of Immortality is one such false religion. From the description of Maculus the Monitor in Strangers in Prax: Maculus' background is the most unusual of the Coders. He was bom in Tarsh over 130 years ago, when the region first fell under Lunar sway. Although many in Tarsh resisted Lunar influence, Maculus found the preachings of the Lunar missionaries curiously attractive. But before he could take the plunge and join the Seven Mothers, he fell prey to another cult which had slunk into Tarsh riding on the tide of the Imperial missionary program. This cult was the Church of Immortality, an insidious false religion that claims to sell the secret of eternal life. The Church of Immortality is essentially a pyramid selling operation, where hapless converts transfer their youth and money to higher members, in exchange for greater standing in the cult. Maculus became an enthusiastic zealot, recruiting a huge number of converts to the banned cult. When Maculus finally reached the top of the pyramid, he discovered that the religion he had spent the last 85 years toiling for was an empty, hollow sham, and this prompted a complete nervous collapse.
  7. We're delighted to have received the following nominations for the 2019 ENnie Awards! There were 432 submissions from 241 publishers and creators this year, so it is an honour to receive this recognition. Voting commences on July 10, and the winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on August 2nd at Gen Con. Best Adventure Masks of Nyarlathotep, Chaosium Inc. Best Art, Cover Call of Cthulhu – Terror Australis 2nd Edition, Chaosium Inc. Best Art, Interior RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha Slipcase Set, Chaosium Inc. Best RPG Related Product Miskatonic University: The Restricted Collection, Chaosium Inc. Best Rules Call of Cthulhu Starter Set, Chaosium Inc. Best Setting Call of Cthulhu – Terror Australis 2nd Edition, Chaosium Inc Best Supplement The Glorantha Sourcebook, Chaosium Inc. And congratulations to our friends, licensees, and partners! Best Aid/Accessory – Non-Digital Masks of Nyarlathotep Gamer Prop Set, The H. P.Lovecraft Historical Society Inc. Best Electronic Book Fear’s Sharp Little Needles, Stygian Fox Publishing Best Monster/Adversary Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos for 5e, Petersen Games Hideous Creatures: A Bestiary of the Cthulhu Mythos, Pelgrane Press Best Online Content Seth Skorkowsky, Seth Skorkowsky Best RPG Related Product Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: Masks of Nyarlathotep, The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society Inc. Best Supplement The 7th Edition Guide to Cthulhu Invictus, Golden Goblin Press, Golden Goblin Press PRODUCT OF THE YEAR Masks of Nyarlathotep Gamer Prop Set, The H. P.Lovecraft Historical Society Inc. Congratulations and best of luck to all the nominees! https://www.chaosium.com/blogchaosiums-2019-ennies-nominations-
  8. Studio Deadcrows and EDGE France are official Chaosium licensees. Yes. What is released here is canon. Highly likely. The French edition will not (while we are happy to support and promote our licensees, unfortunately due to the complexities of such situations from a warehousing, inventory, tax and accounting point of view we typically do not sell licensee products on our website). You will have to get that directly from the publisher, or through distribution.
  9. Sensationnel! The crowdfunding campaign for the French edition of RUNEQUEST - ROLEPLAYING IN GLORANTHA has just ticked over €100,000! (USD$112K) https://www.gameontabletop.com/cf186/runequest.html
  10. Could quote an excerpt from that page of 'A Guide to Wargaming' (1980), but it's all pure #grognard gold... "A newcomer to the world of wargames is the field of fantasy. Wargamers are in two camps as far as fantasy is concerned. Some are definitely in favour, as it affords an outlet for their aggressions and personal fantasies, and an alternative to the standard battles between the British and Germans, etc.) No one objects to hacking an orc to bits (apart from the orc, that is), whereas many people now question the ethics of perpetuating wars long ended, some of which are best forgotten. Others say fantasy games are utter rubbish. They do have their point, in that many of the works on which fantasy games are based are pulp novels, with no real value, i.e. the Conan adventures et al."
  11. To summarise (using Jeff's responses): Q: Does Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, Magic World, the Basic Roleplaying system, Pendragon, or 7th Sea come under the provisions of an Open Game License (OGL)? A: No. Q: Is there a System Reference Document (SRD) for Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, Magic World, the Basic Roleplaying system, Pendragon, or 7th Sea? A: No. [Update: in March 2020 Chaosium released the official SRD for the BRP rules engine.] Q: Can I rely on the Mongoose RQ SRD to publish material? A: No. Mongoose’s license for RuneQuest was terminated in April 2011. At that point, Mongoose lost all rights to continue using the RuneQuest trademark, or to create and publish material derivative from the previous copywritten material, or to issue any sublicenses based on that agreement. Since Mongoose no longer had any rights to RuneQuest, it has no ability to issue a third-party license to that material (which is all an OGL is). For more information, see https://www.chaosium.com/fan-use-and-licensing-q-a Q: Isn't an OGL perpetual? Mongoose may have said its license was perpetual, but its license with Issaries was not perpetual. Mongoose did not have the ability to issue a perpetual license to Third Parties, only a license with a duration equal to its own right to use the IP. (Think of this like subletting a property you are renting on a monthly basis from another party. You might tell your subletter that their lease is perpetual, but if your landlord ends your lease, both you and your subletter are out.) Q: What about Mongoose's Legend? A: Legend is its own thing and not under license from Chaosium or Moon Design Publications. Mongoose was perfectly entitled to take their work, remove from it those elements that were derived from RuneQuest or Glorantha and give it its own name, and then do with it as they see fit. Legend is not RuneQuest or BRP or Call of Cthulhu, and nor does it purport to be. If Mongoose wants to do a OGL of their original work, that is not Chaosium's issue or concern. [wearing mod hat] we're closing the thread so that for anyone's future reference our summary is easy to find here at the end. If you would like to discuss this matter further on BRP Central, you are most welcome to start a new thread.
  12. That was a project that came out 26 years ago, under completely different management, editorial, and production processes (and completely different people too). My comment about how we work with licensees relates to current practice. We are by no means perfect, but we are striving to have processes that ensure our products (and those of our licensees) are announced and then later released in a timely fashion.
  13. That extension expired yesterday (June 30th). On the Horrors of War Kickstarter, Adam Scott Glancy's most recent update (April 1st) said this: Unfortunately, we have heard nothing from him. In fact, we have had no contact from Scott at all since we granted the most recent extension, back in November last year. This project is now 4 1/2 years past its original estimated delivery date (February 2015). At Scott's request, from August 2017 Chaosium has graciously extended his license three times (to August 2018, then to 31 Dec 2018, and then to 30 June 2019), on undertakings from Scott that completion was in hand, which we took in good faith. We understand and appreciate that Scott has had various family and work-related challenges getting this project done. But in this time we've also been contacted by unhappy backers about the lack of progress, the lack of communication and updates, frustration at seeing Scott on social media talking about newer projects he's involved with, and asking us about refunds - all matters out of our control, although our company and the Call of Cthulhu name are linked to the project. In the absence of anything from Scott, it is time for us to definitively review our options.
  14. The license Nocturnal Media secured with the owner of the Prince Valiant IP has expired. We hope to be able to renew it, but in the mean time the Prince Valiant line is unavailable.
  15. We talk to all licensees at the conceptual stage to ensure projects don't overlap or compete with stuff being done or planned by other licensees, or by Chaosium itself. This is pretty standard practice everywhere, and is to everyone's benefit and protection. Usually this is just a brief discussion with the relevant line editor. Note: an exception to this is community content (the Miskatonic Repository, and soon, the Jonstown Compendium). There you can literally do what you want, and there is no approval process whatsoever - we don't view, vet, or approve anything in community content before it goes live. Just follow the guidelines.
  16. A young Vingan runelord has stopped to ask the way from a settler of Sartarian heritage from Zola Fel valley.
  17. Carcosa Con 2020 has announced its first guest of honour - Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu maestro Mike Mason.
  18. Exciting news! - our friends at Critical Role are doing a Call of Cthulhu one-shot in July! As announced in Critical Role's Summer Programming Schedule: On Monday, July 29th, Critical Role's Taliesin Jaffe is stepping behind the screen once again as the Keeper of Arcane Lore for a special Call of Cthulhu one-shot, sponsored by our friends at Chaosium. Investigators Travis Willingham, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Ashly Burch, Phil Lamarr, and Erika Ishii will attempt to survive Taliesin’s harrowing scenario, which is set in a decadent 1890s London. We’re incredibly excited to explore this classic RPG of cosmic horror through a fresh lens. VOD will be available immediately for our Twitch channel subscribers and will be available on our YouTube channel on Wednesday, July 31st. The Keeper of Arcane Lore is Taliesin Jaffe @executivegoth. The Investigators are @WillingBlam, @VoiceOfOBrien, @Marisha_Ray, @ashly_burch, @phillamarr, & @erikaishii
  19. Over at our Redbubble store we've just added new maps to our Gloranthan Cartography collection: New Pavis, the Big Rubble, the River of Cradles, and more. https://www.redbubble.com/people/chaosium/collections/586570-glorantha-cartography And right now, they (and everything else) are 20% off: use the code DEAL20.
  20. Great news - Windows and Mac versions of Six Ages, the 'spiritual successor' to King of Dragon Pass, announced and on the way... https://www.gog.com/game/six_ages_ride_like_the_wind
  21. "Each year before Gen Con we always had a face-to-face board meeting with Greg at Chaosium HQ in Ann Arbor. Sadly, this will be the first year that doesn't happen. But we are very fortunate to have Suzanne Stafford and Alisha Hammer joining us on the board. In what turned out to be his final years, as company founder Greg was delighted to see Chaosium returning to its creativity, artistry and craftsmanship of old. Suzanne and Alisha are as keen to honour, sustain and build on Greg's legacy as we are." #WeAreAllUs https://www.chaosium.com/blogchaosium-board-of-directors-meets-for-the-first-time-since-greg-staffords-passing
  22. Our newest Call of Cthulhu release Berlin: the Wicked City is due out in hardback next month*, but there's already been a lot of interest in Loïc Muzy's beautiful and evocative cover art. This image is now available as wall art, clothing, accessories and more at Chaosium's Redbubble store. *buy the PDF now and use it straightaway, and you get the full price of the PDF off the physical copy when it is out.
×
×
  • Create New...