MOB

RuneQuest Starter Set Design Diary #14: unboxing while we wait... By Jason Durall, RuneQuest creative director The Starter Set for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha is coming! Between now and its release later this year, RuneQuest creative director Jason Durall's Design Diary will share insights about the development of this exciting new boxed set which will introduce the RuneQuest RPG and Greg Stafford's mythic world of Glorantha to all-new audiences. Diary #1: What to expect in the RQ Starter Set Diary #2: Cover Art reveal, and what's inside the box Diary #3: The new adventurers Diary #4: More about the new adventurers Diary #5: Welcome to Jonstown, setting for the Starter Set (guest post by Jeff Richard) Diary #6: Creating the Jonstown City Maps (guest post by Jeff Richard) Diary #7: Printer's proofs are back! Diary #8: A Gateway to Adventure Diary #9: Beyond the Starter Set Diary #10: Take a look at an advance copy of the Starter Set (guest post by Rick Meints) Diary #11: The back covers make a map! (guest post by Michael O'Brien) Diary #12: Putting the SoloQuest in RuneQuest Diary #13: Writing the Battle of Dangerford SoloQuest (guest post by James Coquillat and David Naylor) We wish we could say we had a release date. The RuneQuest Starter Set is now in four of our five Chaosium fulfilment warehouses (US, EU, AUS, CAN) but we're still waiting to get it into the last – UK. The shipment to the UK is on the way, but the latest advice is it may take another 5-14 days to arrive, depending on UK customs and truck driver availability at the destination. In the mean time, we thank you for your patience. As Rick noted in his last Covid-19 Shipping and Fulfilment update, we were very confident we'd have the eagerly-anticipated RuneQuest Starter Set in all our fulfilment warehouses by the end of summer. Unfortunately, due to shipping delays out of our control, that was sadly not to be. If you'd like to get an email the moment the RQ Starter Set is ready to order, sign up here! RPG Imaginings has made an unboxing video with a comprehensive preview of what to expect when you finally receive your own copy of the RuneQuest Starter Set:

We have a release date! Great news! The RuneQuest Starter Set will be released world-wide on Wednesday November 10th 2021. It will be available to order from all five Chaosium fulfilment warehouses: USA, EU, AUS, CAN and (at last!) UK. USD$29.99 — Remember that you also get the PDF when purchasing the physical copy direct from Chaosium.com. The RuneQuest Starter Set contains everything you need to play an epic roleplaying game of gods, cults, magic, family, and fantasy! Sign up with the link below and by Issaries, you will receive an email as soon as the RuneQuest Starter Set is available to order on November 10th!CLICK THIS LINK TO SUBSCRIBE

Interview by Brian Holland. Cults of Cthulhu is the hottest upcoming release for Chaosium’s world-renown horror role-playing game, Call of Cthulhu. Despite the ever-present threat of the titular Great Old One, not much is known about Cthulhu and those who worship it – that is, outside of their desire to see the tentacle-maw of their god consume all of humanity. I sat down to talk with Mike Mason (shown right), line editor for Call of Cthulhu here at Chaosium, about the upcoming title, and why now is the best time to release a book exploring the secrets of the seminal Cthulhu cult. “The book’s concept had been in my mind for some years.” Mike told me. “Notably, in a game called Call of Cthulhu, there’s few opportunities to interact with Cthulhu and its minions - in terms of previously published scenarios. “Much of the time, authors tend to focus on anyone but Cthulhu!” Mike laughs. “Or, when it does crop up, it is focused on the Deep Ones. Given how the Cthulhu Cult is presented in Lovecraft’s seminal "The Call of Cthulhu" story, it seemed to me that there was unplumbed depths to the cult that could be realized in game.” Humans make great opponents If you’ve spent any time playing or running games of Call of Cthulhu, you’ll know that eldritch beasts from beyond space and time have a tendency to bend and break the minds of player characters. One thing that can sometimes be forgotten are the (very human) forces that allow these monsters to roam free. “Humans make great opponents,” Mike said. “We understand humans far better than eldritch horrors, so there’s more room to work with when creating plots. “With the idea in mind, I approached Chris Lackey, who is well known as being a co-host on the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast, and asked if he would like to work on a book about the Cthulhu Cult - looking at the human side of Cthulhu worship. “Chris jumped at the chance and we developed the book together.” An air of mystery An old adage in the horror genre is that things remain scary the less you know about them. I was initially apprehensive about the idea of having the secrets of the Cthulhu cult revealed to me. I asked Mike if the book still allowed for an air of mystery and unknown terror to cling to the cultists of Cthulhu. “There is no canon in Lovecraft’s Mythos stories,” he said, “and not much of one developed by the writers in his circle or those who came later. This is also true in the game. While certain aspects of the Mythos are codified in terms of presentation, these are sometimes deliberately vague or contradictory, as we want each Keeper and group to tell their own Mythos stories. “Thus, what is presented in the book is mutable and each Keeper can use and take from it as they need.” Mike assured me. “Some Keepers want a ready-made cult to drop into their games, while others will use the material as inspiration for villains of their own design, taking what they like and discarding the rest. “We go to some length in the book to advise Keepers that what Cthulhu ‘dreams’ may not be the same as what the cultists ‘hear.’” Mike said. “There is much room for interpretation and this ensures no one is confined when it comes to their own games and how they wish to portray Cthulhu’s minions. “Another important factor is this - understanding the motivations of alien beings is difficult, their alienness makes little sense to human minds.” Mike explained. “Whereas human cultists are human! With understandable motivations, weaknesses, and personalities, which makes them easier to present and easier to develop plots about them. “While the cults presented have their secrets revealed in the book, these are just that cult’s secrets. There is plenty of room for more secrets and we encourage Keepers to build on these to flesh out more mysteries.” New mechanics Cults of Cthulhu isn’t all history and world-building, either. The book contains new mechanics that you can use across any of your Call of Cthulhu games, as Mike explained to me. “In helping to add further character to cultists, I wrote about Cthulhu’s Blessings, which are special powers or abilities that can be bestowed on Cthulhu’s favored followers.” He said. “There’s a range of these in the book, allowing Keepers to further tailor their villainous character concepts and flesh them out to make them suitable foes for investigators. “Along with Cthulhu’s Blessings, Chris developed some new monsters, allied to Cthulhu, which we hope will surprise, delight, and scare investigators!” Five complete Cthulhu Cults One of the main draw cards for die-hard Mythos fans is the five complete Cthulhu cults on display on Cults of Cthulhu. Each one offers in-depth backstory, motivations, and positions for the cult, serving as both plug-and-play antagonists, and seeds of scenarios of your own design. While we couldn’t cover the details for all five in a single interview, I asked Mike which of the five was his favourite. “It’s hard to choose between them,” he said, “as each offers a different tone of play. We have the classic Esoteric Order of Dagon, but also newly created cults, like the Society of the Angelic Ones, which is located in California. I’m fond of the latter, as at its heart is a great villainous cult leader, who is very human and who possesses human weaknesses. “Chris did the initial work on describing and creating the cults.” Mike told me, “as each is located in a different era, he adapted them to fit the milieu of the period, whether it be a secretive ‘gentlemen’s’ club in the heart of Victorian London, full of upper class types devoting their time to magical experimentation, or a modern-day cult using marketing and technology to recruit new members. “The idea was to build the cults so they ‘fit’ the time period they are operating in.” New rules for creating your very own Cthulhu Cult Cults of Cthulhu isn’t just a book about existing cults and their motivations. One of the most exciting things about the upcoming release is the new rules for creating your very own cult! “The chapter on designing a cult is a toolkit to help Keepers think about different types of human cults and how they influence the style and tone of the game.” Mike said. “There’s lots of questions and ideas, from considering who runs the cult and its goals, right down to how it’s financed and where the 'weak links’ are in the cult, and who makes up its lower ranks. “We also discuss things like artifacts, spells, and also how a cult interprets the ‘messages’ from Cthulhu - are they really getting directions from Cthulhu or vague impressions that they are translating into action?” For those of you who are keen to expand the building of nefarious mortal antagonists into the realm of the other Mythos deities - Mike has good news! “The information in the book, while focusing on Cthulhu cultists, is easily adaptable for the cultists of other Great Old Ones and Outer Gods.” He said. Three scenario across different period settings If you’re the kind of Keeper who is always looking for new scenarios to inject into your ongoing campaigns, or perhaps to use as a one-shot this Halloween, Cults of Cthulhu contains three full scenarios. Unlike many releases for Call of Cthulhu, however, the scenarios in Cults of Cthulhu all have different period settings! “Given the insidious nature of Cthulhu cults,” Mike told me, “I wanted to present the cults in different time periods, which also meant the book could be additionally useful for Gaslight, the classic 1920s, and modern-day eras, which are three of the most prominent settings in the game. “Each scenario can be played standalone or be incorporated into a group’s own campaign. Additionally, the way the scenarios are set up, they can each be used to start a new campaign, where the cult in question becomes a long-running foe for the investigators. The idea was to make [the scenarios] as versatile as possible. “Some groups, however,” Mike went on, “might like to play all three as a sort of campaign - unconnected in terms of the investigators (no time jumping, just using different sets of investigators). For this, we added a small ‘thing’ that loosely connects the three - it’s more of an Easter egg that the investigators can discover as they play through.” Brian Holland Cults of Cthulhu releases as a 368 page PDF worldwide on October 31st. When purchasing direct from Chaosium.com you’ll receive a coupon for the full cost of the PDF off the price of the hardcover physical book when it releases in early 2022.

By David Larkins, Pendragon line editor. A new edition of the Pendragon RPG is coming! The intention of this series of design journals by Pendragon line editor David Larkins is to trace the path of development, starting in the early 1980s and culminating with the forthcoming new edition of the Pendragon RPG, which will be first to be wholly published by Chaosium in a quarter-century. Pendragon Design Journal #1: Where It All Began Pendragon Design Journal #2: Bringing the Light As hinted at in last month’s Pendragon Design Journal, this time I’m going to talk a bit about one of the key concepts behind the new edition: accessibility through modularity. Full disclosure: I started my personal journey with the game with 4th edition, a massive tome crammed full of character options, setting detail, rules for magic, and much more. As excited as I was to begin my Pendragon journey, I initially bounced hard off that brick of a book, as it were. Eventually, I managed to dive in and haven’t looked back, of course. When The Great Pendragon Campaign came out, I immediately started using it in my then-current game. Here, again, was a weighty tome, almost challenging the Gamemaster to attempt to run the whole thing—a monumental and, for many, intimidating task! We’re excited about bringing Pendragon to new audiences of gamers, and we understand that although most everyone in the English-speaking world (and many beyond) have heard of King Arthur and the Round Table knights, most folk don’t know very many details about this world, much less how to approach gaming within it. Large books, like those I just mentioned, make the game a harder sell than it should be. That is why, for the new edition, we’re presenting Pendragon in a much more approachable format by breaking it down into leaner, more accessible books as much as possible. The 6th edition Core rulebook will be a complete role-playing game, of course, presenting rules for character creation, combat, Traits and Passions, the Winter Phase, and enough information about the setting that any group could run Pendragon campaigns using nothing but this volume. But it is also intentionally easy to pick up and learn, accessible to newcomers and intended for use as straightforward table reference during a session. The companion Gamemaster’s book goes into much greater detail, both in terms of the setting during the Boy King Period—the nominal starting Period for 6th edition—but also things like tournaments, feasts, hunting and falconry, big battles, diplomacy…and that’s not even counting the chapters presenting statistics and details on famous knights and ladies of Arthur’s realm and the many foul beasties that lurk in darkened woods and on lonely moors! With this book and the Core Rules, the enterprising Gamemaster has everything they need to craft their own Arthurian adventures for years to come. Some groups want more, and the third volume of the core set presents that, with rules for estate management and castle-building (as well as sieges), more detailed rules for tracking your characters’ extended families and entourages, and various ranks and titles to one day attain. This is the book for the would-be barons and warlords in the group, as well as those who enjoy a bit of world-building in their game. Whether buying just the Core Rules, or two volumes, or all three, you are guaranteed a rich Pendragon game experience. — ABOVE: some of the pregen characters from the Pendragon Starter Set, currently in development. Art by Mathilde Marlot and Laurent Miny.

Ann Arbor – 26 October 2021 Moon Design Publications, the Ann Arbor-based majority owners of game publisher Chaosium (Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, Pendragon, 7th Sea, etc), have announced a partnership with European game publisher Black Monk Games, based in Poznań, Poland. A new company, The Chaosium Group, is being formed to manage the joint assets of Moon Design Publications and Black Monk. Speaking to Chaosium and Black Monk staff in Poland, Moon Design Publications President Neil Robinson gave an overview of the great benefits of this new arrangement including more employee opportunities, faster production delivery flow, better operational processes, and enhancing an expansion into Europe and new markets. “The Chaosium Group partnership will enhance Chaosium’s presence in Europe and lead to new co-developed opportunities. Existing Black Monk and Chaosium customers should not notice any difference as we will continue fully supporting both brands”, said Daria Pilarczyk, operational manager of Black Monk and one of the directors of the new Chaosium Group. CONTACT INFORMATION THE CHAOSIUM GROUP Michael O’Brien, director. mob@chaosium.com chaosium.com blackmonk.pl ###

The Greg Stafford Memorial Award for Gloranthan Fandom was established in November 2018 in memory of Chaosium's revered founder and original creative visionary Greg Stafford. With the blessing of Greg's family Chaosium will occasionally and irregularly present the award to recognise a significant and exceptional contribution to Gloranthan Fandom in a current year. This month marks the third anniversary of Greg Stafford's passing, and we are pleased to present the 2021 award to the artist Katrin Dirim. Katrin is an artist from Ankara, Turkey specializing in fantastical, historical, and mythological pieces inspired by artstyles from antiquity and the middle ages. After discovering Glorantha only in the last several years, Katrin's work has appeared in the best-selling Jonstown Compendium releases The Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass and The Corn Dolls & Fortunate Son, and is soon to feature in a number of official Chaosium RuneQuest releases, including The Cults of Glorantha and the Gloranthan Prosopaedia. Her art will also feature in the new edition of Pendragon, currently in development. Chaosium's Jeff Richard, whose creative director role encompasses all things Gloranthan, praised Katrin's work: "Katrin’s vibrant art captures the essence of mythology - be it real-world or fantasy - like few other artists I’ve ever known. She brings details and symbolic meaning that brings these myths and stories together far better than words can ever do!” On receiving the award Katrin said, "While I sadly never got to meet Greg Stafford, I believe the world he created speaks for him. Glorantha is magical and alive, and it embraces a worldview shaped by the lived experiences of diverse people rather than mandating a universal truth. In discovering Glorantha I also found art that is colourful and inspirational, and a community that I have found to be kind and supportive. I’m honoured to receive the Greg Stafford Memorial Award for 2021, and thankful to Greg and all the artists and community members who created a world that has had a stronger impact on my life than I would have thought any fictional setting could have." Previous winners of the Greg Stafford Memorial Award for Gloranthan Fandom are: Lev Lafayette (2018), the driving force behind successfully bringing back RQ Con Down Under after a hiatus of twenty years Martin Helsdon (2019), author of the monumental fan work The Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass, based on Greg's writings Nick Brooke (2020), for his passionate advocacy of the Jonstown Compendium, Chaosium's community content platform for Glorantha on DriveThruRPG.

As announced earlier this year, our HeroQuest tabletop roleplaying game is being rebranded as QuestWorlds. While the rules (game mechanics) themselves will remain unchanged, QuestWorlds line editor Ian Cooper is working on a new edition of the game, exploring new genres and with new play examples. Here's one of them, evocatively illustrated by French artist Lionel Marty. In Jack’s Age of Miracles game, Lightning Strike (Halima) confronts one of the Burning Men in a tenement block... “Standing in front of you is a tall man, wearing a silver flameproof suit,” Jack says. “It’s hard to see his face because it is covered with a mask. But what you can see is the M9 flamethrower strapped on his back, and he spins and levels the wand at you.” “What do you do? “Is there electricity here, that I can use,” asks Halima. “Sure, the block still has power,” Jack replies. “I summon lightning from the power sockets—a big jolt to knock him down,“ Halima says. “Let’s go to a contest,” says Jack. “Your tactics are both to use violence against each other. The prize is whether you get to stop him burning down the building. There is a risk of Lightning Strike being injured here.” Jack thinks for a moment. This is the first encounter the Municipals have had with a Burning Man, and he wants to emphasize the threat that they pose. He knows that in the superhero genre, the supers often struggle in their first encounters against a new threat. “Going up against a flamethrower is going to be a ‘Punishing’ resistance at 5M.” “Oh great,”says Halima. “What is your ability rating,” asks Jack? “I have 15 in my Electrokinesis, “says Halima. “Can I spend some improvement points to push it to 5M?” “If you have the points, you can pump an ability by up to 10,” Jack replies [see Assign Ability Ratings, p.89]. “Great, I’ll do that,” says Halima, “that puts Lightning Strike on 5M too.” Lightning Strike defeats the Burning Man with one degree of success. Jack narrates the outcome. “Electricity leaps from the power sockets into the Burning Man. The arc of lightning strikes him square in the chest, paralyzing him before he can squeeze the trigger on his flamethrower and lifting him backward into the air. His jaw clenches tight. Then he crashes against the wall, hurled by the force of the strike, out cold.” Jack thinks about any additional benefits, but decides that there are no long lasting benefits to Lightning Strike beyond knocking the Burning Man out.

Dawn and dusk on Glorantha look exactly the same as here on earth. How and why that happens is entirely different, and to me that's the point.

Every time we do reprint we ensure the files sent to the printer are updated for all corrections previously noted.

For the special Call of Cthulhu 40th anniversary Keeper Rulebook we've included a new preface section, along with the classic scenario, The Haunting, which can be found at the end of the book. Contributing to the preface section are Call of Cthulhu creative director Mike Mason; founder of the Cult of Chaos and stalwart Chaosium team member Dustin Wright; Call of Cthulhu associate editor Lynne Hardy; Call of Cthulhu 7th-edition co-author Paul Fricker; long-standing Call of Cthulhu writers Mark Morrison and Penelope Love; Stephen R. Marsh, one of the initial playtesters of the game, and friend of Sandy Petersen who had encouraged him to contact Chaosium about writing for us in the first place; Fred Malmberg, another of the early playtesters, who then went on to found the Swedish RPG industry; and the original creator of the game himself, the Great Old One Sandy Petersen. All these introductions have never been published before. Here are some choice snippets: "Call of Cthulhu became a huge hit among other game companies. In the mid-1980s, I was told by the employees of TSR that it was the only roleplaying game they played there. TSR was, of course, the then publisher of D&D, so in a sense, I’d gone full circle. I got my start in roleplaying with D&D and now, the company that made D&D was playing my game." — Sandy Petersen. "I think I had never experienced game sessions like the playtests for Call of Cthulhu. I recall they were held in the lower floor of the house, which was cozy and cramped, and filled with gaming paraphernalia. When Sandy would go into Lovecraftian descriptions at particular moments, it was clear that this was not any regular D&D session. You rolled up a character only to wait for them to go insane, which was groundbreaking at the time, but quite enjoyable." — Fred Malmberg. "Looking back, I am not surprised that forty years later the game is still popular and using rules pretty much compatible with that first edition." — Stephen R. Marsh. "That classic Gene Day painting on the box of Call of Cthulhu seized our imaginations, even before we two had met each other. This wasn’t Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Who were those people, what was that word (Cth-huh?) and, good god, what was in that house? ...Forty years. We’re sad we cannot celebrate with Greg, Keith, or Lynn as they have already gone before us, but their vision lives on wherever friends gather around a guttering candle to scare the living crap out of each other. Death may die but stories are forever." — Mark Morrison and Penelope Love. "The appeal of Call of Cthulhu, for me, lies in the mystery. I don’t mean the string of clues that the investigators might follow, step by step, in the game. I don’t mean a mystery that you can solve. I’m talking about the mystery that provokes a sense of wonder. That sense of mystery was there in “Pickman’s Model,” and it was there in “Paper Chase” too. It appears to me, that we humans want there to be more than what there seems to be in this earthly life. We crave mysteries that science can’t fathom. As long as people have existed, they have sought comfort in the belief that there is something beyond what we can see. Some people find that sense of wonder in a belief, or a church, or up on the silver screen. But I found it in my school canteen. I found it in this game and in the stories of H. P. Lovecraft." — Paul Fricker. "The Cthulhu Mythos is an immense collaborative world, which adds to its appeal for me and, I suspect, others. In keeping with that spirit of collaboration, the game has brought me many great friends, given me the opportunity to visit some wonderful places, both as a convention attendee and guest, and allowed me to work with some phenomenally talented people—writers, artists, and everyone else who works hard to produce our books. As well as Keepers and players from all over the world. As the latest in what will hopefully be a long line of Lynn(e)s working on the game, here’s to the next 40 years!" — Lynne Hardy. "So, what can I, a simple fool, say about Call of Cthulhu here to mark its 40th anniversary? I think, perhaps, what I’d like to do is express my gratitude. To all of those who predated me to build the company I would come to devote my life to—thank you! To all those I worked alongside in Oakland during the Mythos boom and bust, I miss you— thank you! To those that joined the company in 2015 and finally righted the ship so we could keep the core rulebooks in print for the first time in 15 years, pay our contributors, and produce enough new books a year to finally maintain forward momentum—thank you! We proved Call of Cthulhu was far bigger than most people realized." — Dustin Wright. "Call of Cthulhu has always been my favorite game. Nothing else comes close to the wonder and terror to be had. As I said, it’s all about the stories. So, if you too have been on this ride for all or even just part of its forty years, raise a celebratory glass with me to this game we know and love. I hope Call of Cthulhu gives you as much pleasure and fun as it has for me. Cthulhu Fhtagn!" — Mike Mason.

Mark Morrison, author of such Call of Cthulhu masterpieces as Horror on the Orient Express, Terror Australis, and Reign of Terror, invites you to join him a celebration of the game's 40th birthday on Twitch: "Forty years of Fhtagn! I'm celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Call of Cthulhu with Cuppy, Danny & Rina from the Ain't Slayed Nobody podcast by running my scenario "Landscrapes" first published in Dagon fanzine by the late great Carl T. Ford, back in 1987. I can't be at GameholeCon this weekend, but thanks to the magic of Twitch, that won't stop me playing there. Huge thanks to Alex Kammer for the invite, and to KC Rift for producing. If you like to watch, join us Sat 9pm Madison time, or a leisurely 1pm Sunday arvo here in Australia: https://www.twitch.tv/gameholecon. Library Use: "Landscrapes" was originally written as a 1920s scenario, but Lynn Willis published it in At Your Door as a Cthulhu Now scenario in 1990. It's weird to me that the 1980s now is as quaint as the 1920s was then. Anyway, I'm running the original version, because I like an age where cars start with crank handles, that is, unreliably."

Community ambassador Bridgett Jeffries talks about the business end of Chaosium's community content publishing portal, the Miskatonic Repository. Part of our Chaosium Interviews series on YouTube with James Coquillat.

A gathering of wisdom, advice, and tips from Keepers for Keepers of the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game. Imagine, if you will, that you are sat with a group of experienced Keepers, each sharing ideas drawn from their experience of playing and running Call of Cthulhu. Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Call of Cthulhu, this handy pocketbook is aimed at anyone—whether veteran or novice—who plays this well-loved tabletop game, but is particularly aimed at those who run games and potentially craft their own scenarios. What’s Inside? Advice From The Veterans Tips, essays, and contributions from experienced and diverse Call of Cthulhu Keepers, including: Scott David Aniolowski - Call of Cthulhu writer (Malleus Monstrorum, etc.) Sean Branney - H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society Allan Carey - TYPE40, creator of the 'Seeds of Terror' range (Miskatonic Repository) Jason Durall - BRP and RuneQuest creative director Paul Fricker - co-author of Call of Cthulhu 7th edition, co-host Good Friends of Jackson Elias podcast Bob Geis - Keeper, You Too Can Cthulhu Lynne Hardy - Call of Cthulhu associate editor, The Children of Fear Bridgett Jeffries - Miskatonic Repository community ambassador, co-host Miskatonic University Podcast, cast member on The Calyx Jo Kreil - Call of Cthulhu writer (The Unspeakable Oath, etc.) David Larkins - author of Berlin the Wicked City, Pendragon line editor Mike Mason - Call of Cthulhu creative director Keris McDonald - Call of Cthulhu writer (Cthulhu by Gaslight, etc.) Mark Morrison - Call of Cthulhu writer (Horror on the Orient Express, Reign of Terror, etc.) Thom Raley - Keeper, Into the Darkness Matthew Sanderson - Call of Cthulhu writer (Grand Grimoire, Dead Light and Other Dark Turns, etc.) Becca Scott - Twitch streamer and Keeper on The Calyx Seth Skorkowsky - Fantasy/horror novelist and YouTube personality All of the contributors have provided what they consider to be their most useful and insightful advice.Their collected wisdom is aimed to help you get the most out of Call of Cthulhu! All Topics Covered The advice in Keeper Tips is spread across a wide range of topics, including preparation, gameplay, inclusivity, designing scenarios, combat, monsters, horror, sanity, and much more! Transferable Skills While the advice in Keeper Tips is specifically geared towards Call of Cthulhu, much of the information is transferable to other games as well. The knowledge in this book is easily ported over to games such as RuneQuest and King Arthur Pendragon! The stars are right on November 13th, 2021 Keeper Tips releases in PDF worldwide on November 13th, 2021—the day in 1981 (a Friday) copies of Call of Cthulhu first edition were delivered to the Chaosium offices. The 128 page leatherette physical book will hit the shelves in early 2022. Remember, as always, when you buy the PDF at Chaosium.com, you’ll receive a coupon for the full price of the PDF off the hardcover when it releases!

Chaosium Unveiled take a quick look at our 40th Anniversary Keeper Rulebook. Available now from all five Chaosium fulfilment warehouses via Chaosium.com: US, EU, AUS, CAN and UK. Price includes PDF.

As part of the 40th anniversary celebrations for the Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, we're running free two hour games on Roll20 for 24 hours over the Friday and Saturday of the Halloween Weekend (October 29-30). If you or your friends have never played Call of Cthulhu but are Cthulhu curious, here's your chance! The Keepers (Gamemasters/Dungeonmasters) for this event are part of our Cult of Chaos organised play program. 'The Necropolis' is one of the scenarios in our Call of Cthulhu release Gateways to Terror. The Necropolis What ancient horrors lie slumbering in a newly discovered tomb deep in Egypt's Valley of the Kings? Are you allowing local superstitions and the unfortunate events surrounding the opening of Tutankhamen's tomb to play on your mind as you wait to step down into the darkness… The Necropolis is a one-shot introductory scenario designed as a demonstration game to give a taste of the game's core motifs—mystery, investigation, and horror. It's ideal for newcomers to Call of Cthulhu or even tabletop RPGs in general, and we'll supply everything needed, including player characters. No experience needed! We have two hour sessions running from 10pm GMT on Friday October 29 through to 10pm GMT on Saturday 30th. This is a world-wide event, so those times correspond to: BST – 11:00PM 29th - 11:00PM 30th PDT – 3:00pm 29th - 3:00pm 30th EDT – 6:00pm 29th - 6:00pm 30th AEDT – 9:00am 30th - 9:00am 31st Book your session on Warhorn – it's completely FREE! Play your own game of The Necropolis on Roll20 Our friends at Roll20 are joining us in our Call of Cthulhu 40th anniversary celebrations. Until October 31st 2021 redeem this code for your free copy of 'The Necropolis' on Roll20 (usual cost USD$6.99) 85VX3-Z6EPE-YYD5E Redeem the code here: https://marketplace.roll20.net/coupon

Come and learn how to Write, Produce, and Publish your first one-shot tabletop roleplaying adventure in this one-month-long, self-paced workshop! Calling all aspiring Call of Cthulhu writers! : the Storytelling Collective is back with their Fall 2021 Write Your First Adventure Workshop. Once again, we're officially partnering to feature a dedicated Call of Cthulhu path, designed by co-author of Call of Cthulhu 7th edition, Paul Fricker. By the end of this workshop, participants will have written, produced, and published a 3,500-word adventure for their favorite TTRPG game system. The Call of Cthulhu path covers important areas such as: The Idea of Cthulhu (clarifying the idea for the adventure) The Guide of Cthulhu (becoming familiar with the rules and guidelines for publishing a Call of Cthulhu adventure on the Miskatonic Repository at DriveThruRPG). The Structure of Cthulhu (taking an adventure idea and giving it a structure) Research (using research to enrich the adventure) Creating NPCs (writing effective Call of Cthulhu NPCs for the adventure) The Language of Cthulhu (communicating your adventure to the Keeper, and through the Keeper to the players) The Way Out of Cthulhu (exploring techniques that can be employed when the writing process grinds to a halt The Handouts of Cthulhu (give due consideration to the player-facing content) Register for the Fall Workshop here. And check out the Call of Cthulhu adventures written by alumni of the first Summer 2021 RPG Writer Workshop in these bundles.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Call of Cthulhu. To mark this special milestone in tabletop RPGs we've produced a Special Limited Edition Keeper Rulebook.This limited edition features a magnificent new leatherette cover and dust jacket design. Additional material inside includes personal accounts by some of the early creators and contributors to the game, new endpapers, and the re-inclusion of the 'The Haunting', the classic scenario that had been in all editions of the game up to 7th edition and has been something of a rite of passage for untold thousands of Call of Cthulhu fans.Available now from only from Chaosium.com! Leatherette with dust jacket, price inc PDF: $99.99 PDF: $35.99 The Stars are Right Celebrate the 40th anniversary of Call of Cthulhu with this limited edition, red and black leatherette hardcover. What's Inside? The 40th Anniversary edition of the Call of Cthulhu Keeper Rulebook contains the core rules, background, guidance, spells, and monsters of the game. It is everything you need for Call of Cthulhu at your fingertips. One-of-a-kind Design The 40th Anniversary edition of the Call of Cthulhu Keeper Rulebook is presented in a pristine black leatherette cover, with red embossed sigils and designs. This is a limited edition of a premium collector’s item, suitable for the centerpiece of any library! 40th Anniversary Essays A never-before-printed collection of essays, forwards, and musings from a wealth of Call of Cthulhu writers including Penelope Love, Lynne Hardy, Mike Mason, Mark Morrison, Paul Fricker, and more. Return to the Corbitt House In addition to the scenarios Amidst the Ancient Trees and Crimson Letters, this 40th Anniversary Edition includes the scenario The Haunting, in which the players are recruited to investigate a supposedly haunted house in 1920s Boston.

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game, our friends at TYPE40 are giving away a set of digital gamer props for use in your games! The props themselves are highly detailed, fully rendered 3D objects depicting some of the most eldritch and mysterious artifacts in Call of Cthulhu. Players can download the first set of props for famed campaign Masks of Nyarlathotep for free right now! "Call of Cthulhu and the flagship campaign, Masks of Nyarlathotep, are inspiring works and I could not be more proud to bring them both into the digital realm as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations." — TYPE40 Director, Allan Carey The Free Peru Pack comes with a set of digital Keeper reference cards that include a QR code, allowing players to view and inspect the prop on their mobile device and in augmented reality, no matter where they are in the world. "Masks of Nyarlathotep is already long-considered the greatest RPG campaign of all-time, an experience gamers talk about for years afterwards. And now, with online TTRPG play surging, TYPE40's digital props raise that quality bar of Masks even higher." — Chaosium vice president Michael O'Brien For those looking to expand their collection, the full prop set for Masks of Nyarlathotep is available for purchase on the TYPE40 webstore.

Servants of the Lake at PAX Aus Online – now available on YouTube. With Mark Meer, Bridgett Jeffries, Jess McDonell, Alex Caton, and Brian Holland

As the release of the RuneQuest Starter Set approaches, Chaosium's Jeff Richard reveals in detail to James Coquillat what can be found inside, then shares his best tips about how to get started and play.

In his latest 'Out of the Suitcase' post, Chaosium president president Rick Meints goes back to the founding of the company and earlier to try to discover why our iconic dragon logo, usually facing left, sometimes faces to the right... https://www.chaosium.com/blogout-of-the-suitcase-23-facing-the-facts-of-a-chaotic-past

Discussed here: https://support.drivethrurpg.com/hc/en-us/articles/209936943-What-is-the-difference-between-B-W-Premium-Color-and-Standard-Color-

*** UPDATE 12 OCT 2021 *** Large public events are still not possible in Australia due to restrictions on gatherings and travel, and regretfully we have had to shelve the idea of an Australian Chaosium Con indefinitely.

AN INITIAL FAQ ABOUT CHAOSIUM CON Why In Ann Arbor, and not X or Y? We know the area, it is close to several of our team, and is near a major international airport (DTW) and several major highways. Sure, there are MANY other places we could host this event at, including many overseas locations, but we have to start somewhere. What about future Cons in other places? That's certainly possible. This first con is sort of a proof of concept. Based on the success of the event and what we learn from it, we may have similar cons at different times and places, including overseas*. Why April, 2022? It's a decent time of year weather-wise in Michigan and not during peak travel season, so hotel rooms are more available and flights aren't as expensive. It also isn't competing with too many other cons. Will a lot of the Chaosium team be there? Yes, many of us already have it on our calendars. We are still working on the Guest of Honor list, but it will certainly include a number of people you think of when you think of Chaosium. What kind of events will the con feature? The focus will be on all of Chaosium's games, past, present, and future! Lots of games, freeforms, and seminars. It's your chance to meet many of our authors, artists, and editors. Feel free to contact us with event suggestions, especially if you want to help run them. Will Chaosium be selling products and merch there? YES. Rick is saving up POW to create a Great Market, as well as a special Chaosium collectables auction hosted by Mason & Meints. More than that? Other vendors? We'll see. Badge and Hotel Costs? Transportation? More on this soon. How can I find out more? Please sign up for our con mailing list: http://eepurl.com/hKCjgr *What happened to Chaosium Con Down Under? We intended to hold Chaosium Con Down Under in Sydney, Australia in May 2020 but unfortunately it had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. That event was going to be our first 'proof of concept' for a Chaosium convention, but we've now shifted that focus to Ann Arbor. Large public events are still not possible in Australia due to restrictions on gatherings and travel, and regretfully we have had to shelve the idea of an Australian Chaosium Con indefinitely.

The Stars will align next year: that's when the inaugural Chaosium Con is happening: 8-9 April 2022. Save the date! The location for Chaosium Con 1 is the Ann Arbor Marriot Ypsilanti at the Eaglecrest Golf Resort and Convention Centre, 17 miles west of Detroit Metro Airport (DTW). More information to come! Sign up here to receive updates about Chaosium Con: http://eepurl.com/hKCjgr