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Call of Cthulhu the Official Video Game now has a Fandom Wikia, with community-created pages about the game, its setting, and its characters; plus it has featured in some reviewers' retrospectives for 2018 which we liked: https://www.chaosium.com/blogunnatural-selections-18-call-of-cthulhu-video-game-fan-wiki-and-some-2018-retrospective-reviews

The poisoned darts are to disable choice herd animals rather than riders. The riders might not even know they've been and gone.

Please note, Chaosium extended Adam Scott Glacy's Horrors of War license for six months. He announced this in his last update on the Horrors of War Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/460966263/horrors-of-war-a-convenant-with-death/posts/2335768 We have forwarded your above comment on to him, and suggested he get in touch directly with you (and with others who are awaiting a reply).

Here's the story: http://rpgreview.net/mob/jaxontheborderlands.htm Relevant section (Jaxarte Whyded is surprised to learn that his half-brother Goslem is Duke Raus's chief of mercenaries): "I was roused early the next day by Gos himself , who on the ride to the village of Weis told his story. After dad threw him out seven years ago, Gos made his way to Casino Town. He soon blew the last of his remittance money. Broke and without a friend, he joined the Humakt cult, taking up the life of an adventurer. Gos should have known that getting mixed up with a foreign cult is trouble .....and it was: Gos won the lottery. Humakti lotteries are a characteristic example of Esrolian decadence (in architecture alone could Esrolian style be considered virtuous - oh to see the fabled City of Wonders with its mile-high walls of crystal!). Unlike our own war cults, Humakti accept gifts and geases from their god, much in the same way Yelmalios do. Perhaps the best of these "gifts" are those that bless the warrior's weapon. One makes the blade stronger; another increases the damage one does with a weapon against certain parts of the body, and so on. The lottery works like this: a group of candidates for initiate status band together, pool their resources, and buy a very fancy sword. Instead of blessing their own weapons with their initiation gifts, they all bless this blade to make it extremely potent. Then, a series of Humakti duels are fought to see who gets the prize. Thus the blade goes into the hands of one, but all must still abide by their restrictive geases. My brother won fairly, but his disgruntled comrades retained the right to challenge him for the sword. It didn't take Gos long to realise that soon enough he'd either be dead, or without the cherished blade. Neither prospect thrilled him much, and he decided to leave Esrolia, taking the mighty sword with him (it was only after he told me this I noticed it was chained to his wrist). There's no reason why Lottery Swords can't still be made. If the winner fairly earns the sword by winning a series of Humakti duels against all those who blessed it, I don't see why the big H would disapprove. The local Humakt temple might, for all the trouble it causes among the initiates. BTW, there is another variation where the last person left doesn't win the sword - instead the weapon is put into the temple treasury, to be claimed by the first participant to achieve rune lord status in the Humakt cult (lottery swords made for this method are usually iron). Yes, not a spell. As long as the Humakti who gave the gift stays true (and alive), the blessing remains, even if the sword is not in their possession. From the story, here is Goslem Whyded's Lottery Sword: Special Item: The Lottery Sword This is a finely-crafted enchanted iron broadsword, with a distinctive duck's head pommel. A fine but strong silver chain runs from the hilt to a wrist clasp. One of the eyes of the duck is a crystal that stores 17 magic points; the other socket is empty (it once contained a valuable gem, but Goslem was forced to pawn it). Fourteen Humakti participated in the lottery, of which nine remain faithful. Goslem won the right to wield the sword, defeating all of them in a series of duels. The sword is an extremely potent weapon, and possesses the following powers: POW 28 Sever Spirit strikes any participant who forswears the Oath taken at the outset of the lottery. 30 armour points. The sword does double damage, after armour is accounted for (this power is removed on the demise of "Stumpy": see Jaxarte on the Borderlands). The sword does quadruple damage (after armour) to the head, chest, right arm and left leg hit locations. The sword does quadruple damage (after armour) against trolls, humans and broos; and 8-times normal damage when striking these species in the hit locations specified above. Example: Goslem strikes a broo opponent in the left leg and rolls 1d8+1+1d4 for a total of 10 points damage. The broo makes its parry, and its already-notched mace blocks 6 points. Its soft leather leggings and its skin armour block another point each, leaving only 2 points to get through and into the broo. However, the lottery sword increases this damage eight-fold to 16 points. The GM rules that this is enough to take the limb clean off.

"The Ostrich Tribe might be one of the smallest in terms of numbers, but take great advantage of their mounts’ stealth, speed and viciousness to make lightning raids on weakly defended targets." The blow gun is a stealthy weapon. The Morokanth are vegetarians. Their bodies are naturally suited to eating vegetable matter. But they eat meat to demonstrate they won in Waha's Survival Covenant. Usually their meat consumption is restricted to ritual obligations, commemorating their status as among the Eaters, not the Eaten. The fact that they have to grimly pretend they're enjoying meat when feasting with other Praxians, and that it clearly doesn't agree with their digestions, is a big part of why other Praxians say they cheated in the Contest. (If the Morokanth are the hosts, they'll cheerfully serve the visiting Bison Khan and his band sizzling 20 ounce steaks, but if you look carefully, the Morokanths' own "steaks" are artfully made of chopped up grass etc.)

Wa-ha!

The first post for NEW GAMEMASTER MONTH is up!—"During New Gamemaster Month, we’re going to give you the skills and confidence to become a GM. We’ll guide you through the process of understanding the rules, the setting, and your first adventure, and by the end of it you’re going to run a game—and love it!" We're excited to be offering RUNEQUEST: ROLEPLAYING IN GLORANTHA as our featured game. Also on offer is Trail of Cthulhu by our friends at Pelgrane; Unknown Armies, by our friends at Atlas Games; and Numenera by our friends at Monte Cook. If you've never GMed before, come and give it a go! https://newgamemastermonth.com/2019/01/08/welcome-lets-get-started

Ticketing is now open for CARCOSACON in March, and places are limited. Chaosium is pleased to be the Strategic Partner for this event (we *love* conventions in castles!) https://carcosacon.com

There's a Gloranthan calendar in the Gamemaster Screen Pack.

Episode 2 of Dicestormers CALL OF CTHULHU STARTER SET actual play on Facebook. 10 copies of the Starter Set to be won by viewers! Watch the video on Facebook, and then: 1) Vote in the poll at the end of the video (must be on a desktop browser) 2) Put your suggestions for personal skills in the FB comments and 3) Enter the competition at the link!

The Chaosium Twitch TV Channel is about to launch! Chaosium's digital content producer Jamie Coquillat is leading the Twitch initiative. He said, "Our aim here is not only to promote Chaosium games and build up our content library, but also to engage with the Twitch and Youtube communities, and to reach new players - especially younger players who make video platforms their home. Each time we Stream, we will be uploading the stream, and a "best of" recut, to Youtube. We're beginning with a session of Horror on the Orient Express. Thank you to all those involved. Roll sanity, and let's go!" Tune in to https://www.twitch.tv/chaosiuminc next weekend for our first stream, a Call of Cthulhu live play game with Allan Carey (the master prop maker from TYPE 40) and his group of skilled investigators. Screening time on Twitch: US West Coast - Saturday, Jan 12 at 11pm PST UK - Sunday, Jan 13 at 7.00am GMT Eastern Australia - Sunday Jan 13 at 6.00pm EADT On the horizon are more games, live plays, interviews with Chaosium team members, friends and licensees; workshop sessions; cosplay workshops; and more. You can subscribe to the channel at the link. We'd love you to join us!

Chaosium is coming to Twitch TV! You can subscribe to the channel at the link. We'd love you to join us! https://www.chaosium.com/blogchaosium-launching-its-own-twitch-tv-channel

The CALL OF CTHULHU STARTER SET Launch Party was a blast at Meeple Perk in Newcastle, UK. Our assistant Call of Cthulhu line editor Lynne says the cake, by Beat Boutique Bakery, was amazing, and that FLGS Travelling Man wishes they'd bought more copies of the Starter Set because they sold out!

Have you thought about GMing—maybe always wanted to give it a shot—but haven’t quite taken the plunge? What if we told you that by the first week in February, you could be an honest-to-goodness GM—and it’ll be easy! New Gamemaster Month gives you what you need to run your first game: Inspiration, advice, and a step-by-step process that guides prospective GMs up to and through their first game. Each January Monte Cook Games runs a month-long seminar in the form of twice-weekly posts. This year, Chaosium is one of the four companies taking part. Our featured system is RuneQuest! Each session will take you through a step or two in the process, with a brief lesson on an aspect of GMing followed by some quick, enjoyable activities that actually get you ready to run your first game. It’s not all academic, by any means—this is a hands-on seminar. By the end of the program, in early February, you won’t be a “prospective” GM any more: You’ll have GMed your first full-on RPG session, running it without a hitch and having a great time doing it! How Can I Get Started Now?

On the other hand, in RQG the RP/L (and initiate) are getting Rune Points back rather than specific Rune Spells they sacrificed for. Far more flexible and useful and MGF than how it works in RQ 2/3, in my opinion. And it makes magical/mythic resonant sense to me that a RL/P needs to wait for the right day of their deity to replenish.

Eldritch icing! A sneak peek at tomorrow's Call of Cthulhu Starter Set Launch Party cake - at Meeple Perk in Newcastle, UK. January 6th, 10am - 4pm at MEEPLE PERK: 89 Clayton St, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 5PZ, UK

Call of Cthulhu Starter Set - Dice Stormers are underway with ALONE AGAINST THE FLAMES!https://www.facebook.com/watchparty/730959897288111Watch and suggest where to go next...#CallOfCthulhu #rpg

Chaosium has teamed up with our friends the Dicestormers, who'll be playing their way through the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set, and giving away 10 copies as they go! Enter the competition here: https://gleam.io/C9Bvc/call-of-cthulhu-starter-set The first adventure is Alone Against the Flames is a Single player experience, but the Dicestormer's Murray will be playing it via Facebook video on the Dicestormers Facebook Page, with the help of all of YOU... Winners will be notified at the end. The first episode starts tomorrow, good luck!

Please be advised we have told Éditions Sans-Détour to cease all presales of Les Masques de Nyarlathotep (Masks of Nyarlathotep) and Le Jour de la Bête (Day of the Beast) on their website. Chaosium has already publicly assured existing backers of the Masks/Day of the Beast Ulule crowfunding campaign that ESD will not be prevented from fulfilling their obligations to them (although we ourselves have not been paid). Chaosium unilaterally extends this special limited license to those who have already unwittingly made a presale purchase from ESD. More details at the link: https://www.chaosium.com/blogupdate-about-ditions-sansdtour-regarding-preorder-customers

Now available in the FREE STUFF section at Chaosium.com: —"The Marriage of Count Roderick", a Pendragon 5.2ed adventure by Greg Stafford & Veli-Matti Pelkonen—Pendragon 5.2 Character Sheetshttps://www.chaosium.com/free-stuff

Our dear friend Fabian, organiser of The Kraken convention, has shared this with the permission of Greg's wife Suzanne. They said, "We are both convinced that the many friends and fans of Greg will find some healing in it" #WeAreAllUs

The original maps of Balazar and The Elder Wilds from RQ2's legendary sandbox campaign GRIFFIN MOUNTAIN are now available at Redbubble. As posters, scarves (read: 'adventure maps'), wall tapestries, and even duvet covers: https://www.redbubble.com/people/chaosium/works/36040388-map-of-balazar-griffin-mountain https://www.redbubble.com/people/chaosium/works/36040687-the-elder-wilds-map-griffin-mountain

Have you thought about GMing—maybe always wanted to give it a shot—but haven’t quite taken the plunge? NEW GAMEMASTER MONTH gives you what you need to run your first game: Inspiration, advice, and a step-by-step process that guides prospective GMs up to and through their first game. Each January Monte Cook Games runs a month-long seminar in the form of twice-weekly posts. This year, Chaosium is one of the four companies taking part. Our featured system is RUNEQUEST! New GM Month kicks off on Jan 8th - more on how to take part at the link: https://www.chaosium.com/blogrunequest-is-part-of-new-gamemaster-month-kicking-off-on-january-8th

Shannon Appelcline's Designers and Dragons 'Year in Review' for 2018 includes an In Memoriam for Chaosium founder Greg Stafford: "...Greg may have been even more important for his reimagination of the roleplaying form. He brought RPGs out of the dungeons, imagining games centered around our religions, our families, and everything else that makes us human." https://www.rpg.net/columns/advanced-designers-and-dragons/advanced-designers-and-dragons24.phtml

Happy New Year 2019 and Sacred Time Greetings from The Chaosium We have had a remarkable 2018 at The Chaosium, our successes made bittersweet by the death of our beloved founder Greg Stafford in October. We're so pleased Greg got to see the publication of the new Chaosium edition of RuneQuest, and also that he knew that King Arthur Pendragon - the game he considered his masterpiece - was returning to the stewardship of Chaosium (something that Nocturnal Media and Chaosium had agreed to, but not completely finalised until after he passed). We're proud to be the bearers of Greg's legacy, and we've had a fruitful year. 2018 saw the physical release of: Call of Cthulhu Starter Set. Masks of Nyarlathotep Slipcase and Leatherette. Petersen's Abominations. Alone Against the Dark. Scritch Scratch. Reign of Terror. RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha (above, Greg on seeing the physical book for the first time, at Gen Con 2018) The Eleven Lights. 13th Age Glorantha. And the following releases out in PDF: RuneQuest Gloranthan Bestiary (physical version early 20190 RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack (physical version early 2019) Terror Australis (physical version in 2019) The SoloQuest Collection. Griffin Mountain. We also crowdfunded the Miskatonic University: The Restricted Collection board game, with 3697 backers on Kickstarter (delivery imminent). Plus, under license, Call of Cthulhu the Official Video Game, the Cthulhu Chronicles, and Six Ages were all released for various electronic platforms; Khan of Khans was released in Japanese; and we announced new editions of Call of Cthulhuin Polish, Swedish and Russian, and RuneQuest in German. Our friends at the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society launched their Masks of Nyarlathotep Gamer Prop Set, and our friends at Syrinscape released their Masks of Nyarlathotep Sound Sets to augment your playing experience. Our many other licensees also brought out excellent products of their own. Compared to last year, we've seen a 40% increase in visitors to Chaosium.com, with website orders up by more than 50%. We've had similar increases at DriveThruRPG (including the introduction of community content on the Miskatonic Repository), and in FLGS distribution too. We're happy to see many newcomers are picking up Chaosium games, and we appreciate the continued loyal support of the Chaosium tribe - many thanks! We're also delighted to brought new members into the Chaosium team in 2018: Kalin Kadiev (staff artist), James Coquillat (digital content producer), Ellie Akers (North American convention coordinator, and merchandising coordinator), David Scott (convention coordinator for UK/Europe, and IT support specialist), and Andrew Bean (convention coordinator for Australia, New Zealand, and Asia/Pacific). We have exciting things planned for 2019, and look forward to sharing more of our mythic stories with you as the year unfolds! As the Sacred Time ceremonies conclude and we all head into the new year, we would like to again share the final words from the obituary by Greg Stafford's family: To honor Greg’s memory the family requests, in lieu of flowers, that you strike up a conversation with someone you don’t know, go somewhere you haven’t been, face a personal challenge head on, read about something new, and enjoy life. We are all us." #WeAreAllUs. —from everyone in the Chaosium team. https://www.chaosium.com/bloghappy-new-year-2019-and-sacred-time-greetings-from-the-chaosium-