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MOB

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Everything posted by MOB

  1. As Dicebreaker exclusively revealed late last week, following the release of Call of Cthulhu: Arkham this month, the next two releases for the Call of Cthulhu tabletop roleplaying game will be scenario collections. Quoting Dicebreaker: "[Arkham] will be followed by two adventure collections for Call of Cthulhu. The first will be Call of Cthulhu: The Order of the Stone, a new three-part campaign set during the 1920s. The Order of the Stone will be released this April. Following that, an currently untitled Call of Cthulhu scenario collection will make its way to the table in May. The previously unannounced anthology is billed by publisher Chaosium as a follow-up to its 2020 book Gateways to Terror, which featured three standalone adventures and four pre-made characters designed to showcase the game’s mix of horror, investigation and mystery in sessions that could be wrapped up in just an hour or so. The new scenario collection is similarly designed to work as a next step from Call of Cthulhu’s Seventh Edition Starter Set, allowing new players to take on the scenarios without requiring the RPG’s full core rulebook [Keeper Rulebook]. Each adventure will last around one hour." Read more at Dicebreaker!
  2. Ann Arbor MI, February 5th, 2024 — Today we are pleased to welcome Jenelle C. Risser O'Neill into the Chaosium team as Head of Sales. Jenelle brings extensive games industry sales experience to the role, having worked at Alliance Game Distributors for the past 26 years, the last four and half years as Alliance's Sales Manager for the MidWest. Based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Jenelle's career at Alliance began in the data entry department (originally under Chessex Distribution), but after volunteering to help with international sales, she added domestic sales to her role by the end of her first year. For the next 17 years she continued in US domestic and Canadian sales as the Sales Lead and Canadian Sales Specialist, then shifting over to the Purchasing Department for four-and-a-half years before taking up the Sales Manager role. “As we embark on an ambitious plan to improve and expand our distribution worldwide, we’re excited to have a sales professional of Jenelle’s calibre join us,” said Chaosium’s Director of Operations Michal Lisowski. Company Bio
  3. We were delighted to see our Stream of Chaos team appear in YouTube's celebration of the tabletop roleplaying community on January 26th. With over 300 million views of videos related to the topic of tabletop roleplaying games in 2023, YouTube changed their logo for 24 hours to spotlight the epic world of content crafted by Tabletop RPG Creators: Clicking on the logo took viewers to this 3 minute video, which in addition to the Stream of Chaos, featured Becca Scott and Good Time Society, Pixel Circus (playing their BRP game Salt and Serpent), Seth Skorkowsky, No Rolls Barred, Davvy Chappy and many other friends from the TTRPG community: YouTube have also put together a playlist, featuring Davvy Chappy's quick and helpful introduction to the game: And over on YouTube's official blog, their article Get in, role players, we’re tabletop gaming introduces newcomers to the concept, and recommends "if you’re just getting into TTRPGs, diving right in with a hyper-long game session, like this one of Call of Cthulhu (part one of three) allows you to see how lengthy these games can be and the unexpected twists they take along the way": If you enjoy our Stream of Chaos content, please do subscribe to the official Chaosium YouTube channel!
  4. Only SIX HOURS left to go! The Call of Cthulhu Humble Bundle ends at 11am PT / 2pm ET / 7pm GMT Just $25 gets you over $400 worth of digital Call of Cthulhu books - the starter set, the core rules, and years worth of gaming fun! Jump on board while you can and see why Call of Cthulhu has been the #1 horror TTRPG for over 40 years. $408.00 Value • Pay What You Want • Supporting the World Wildlife Fund https://www.humblebundle.com/books/call-cthulhu-chaosium-inc-books
  5. Out now in print: the RPG Writer Workshop RuneQuest Adventure Collection! This 124-page softcover book brings together six RuneQuest adventures created by the graduates of the Storytelling Collective's 2022 RPG Writer Workshop's Write Your First Adventure course, with a refreshed layout. Scenarios in this collection include: The White Upon the Hills, by Sacha Gauthier and Reece Dyer. "For many seasons, the White Blight has plagued the hunting grounds on Stael’s Hills. During the Great Hunt, the adventurers encounter the aftermath of a monstrous attack and the origin of the spreading curse. Tracking the monster, they find a magic strike-stone from an ancient hunting legend. If they intend to use it, they must retread the steps of a mysterious hunting god — to bind, slay and cleanse their prey." Died in the Wool, by Braeden Harpool. "In a small highland community in Sartar, a case of missing sheep has the villagers on edge, and a caravan of trolls and their strange beasts has recently arrived. Tensions rise to a boil, and as the investigation unfolds, the only answer to the conflict is revealed: Trollball." A Lamp for Esrola, by Sven Lugar. "Journey into the Troll realms of the Shadow Plateau to retrieve the Tears of the Only Old One! At a celebration to honor the rebuilding of the Temple of Esrola and her Grandson, Fufluns, an opportunity to bring the source of eternal light to the temple is presented to the Adventurers. Are they up to journeying to the Troll-lands around the Shadow Plateau and negotiating or stealing Tear-stones? The Indagos Bull, by Rob Marcus. "It is just before the Earth Temple High Holy Day, and the favourite bull for the blessing ceremony has gone missing! The Earth priestess is worried that the community will be affected. Contains details of the Pavic meat trade, farming in Prax, Hazia effects, and what happens when you tangle with a Hazia Elf." The Lottery, by Robert Stoll. "After weeks on the road with the Ravenhair family trade wagon, you've finally reached the Lunar Empire. Shortly after crossing the Glowline, you enter a village where a local ritual ensnares you in an ancient curse. The fate of your family, two villages, and an entire river valley are all in jeopardy. Can you save them all from a terrifying cult before it's too late?" An Orlanthi Wedding, by Ian Straus. "One of your group's male Orlanthi adventurers is getting married. The scenario's five acts should be interleaved with other adventures over several seasons, and culminate with an unexpected heroquest." If you are interested in writing your first TTRPG adventure, do check out the Write Your First Adventure Workshops at the Storytelling Collective! Chaosium is proud to partner with the Storytelling Collective in this program, which includes dedicated streams for both prospective Call of Cthulhu and RuneQuest creators, along with a general stream. See more examples of creations by Write Your First Adventure alumni in these digital bundles at DriveThruRPG. Vale Braeden Harpool (1991 - 2022) This print edition of the RPG Writer Workshop RuneQuest Adventure Collection is dedicated to the memory of Jonstown Compendium creator and RPG Writer Workshop alumnus Braeden Harpool, author of the adventure "Died in the Wool". Braeden died unexpectedly on December 30th 2022. Five copies have been sent to his family, who've told us they cherish that Braeden's creative work has been memorialised in print. They will continue to receive the royalties from sales of his work.
  6. Call of Cthulhu fans, make sure your gamer friends know they've got just over 24 hours to be part of our amazing Humble Bundle. If anyone you know is "Cthulhu curious", now's their chance! $404.00 Value • Pay What You Want • Supporting the World Wildlife Fund • This time it won't be extended! https://www.humblebundle.com/books/call-cthulhu-chaosium-inc-books
  7. Yes, Alex is a big Call of Cthulhu fan. We do plan to release The Macabre Joke in English in due course, but have no release date yet.
  8. -- David Waldron receiving the prize at the awards ceremony in Melbourne, Australia -- Congratulations to Miskatonic Repository creator David Waldron, whose Call of Cthulhu creation William Bailey's Haunted Mansion is a winner at the 2023 Victorian Community History Awards. This commendation for the History Interpretation Award, recognising "projects which use unique formats of historical interpretation", was given in a ceremony in Melbourne, Australia today by the Royal Historical Society of Victoria in conjunction with the Public Record Office Victoria. First presented as a live actual play production at the Ballarat Heritage Festival in May 2023, William Bailey's Haunted Mansion was published as a one-shot adventure on the Miskatonic Repository, Chaosium's platform for independent Call of Cthulhu creators at DriveThruRPG, in October 2023. Set in the turbulent 1890s of the historic city of Ballarat in Victoria's Goldfields, Australia, the scenario explores some of the places, figures and legends in that folklore and the machinations of a real but today largely forgotten cult which operated in western Victoria in the late 19th century; the New Lights or Stephenites, named after their ruthless and charismatic leader Stephen. Chaosium vice president Michael O'Brien said, "William Bailey's Haunted Mansion is a masterclass of showing how you can deftly concoct a (fictional) Cthulhu Mythos tale out of real historical happenings, bringing in known locations, authentic artefacts and documents, and actual people who lived at the time. We congratulate David Waldron and the talented players and musicians who brought the story to life at the gaming table, and have now published the scenario and received recognition with this award." William Bailey's Haunted Mansion is available in PDF and print (POD) formats at DriveThruRPG.
  9. They will go sale very soon, hopefully early next week.
  10. Esteemed horror writer and Mythos creator Brian Lumley, who passed away in early January, was not a player of the Call of Cthulhu TTRPG himself. But he did once have nice things to say about the Call of Cthulhu fans he'd interacted with. This was in the pages of the seminal 1980's Dagon, which played an important and influential role in both the horror gaming and literary scene of the era. Dagon #13 from 1986 was the "Brian Lumley Issue", and in it, as part of a lengthy interview, Dagon editor Carl T. Ford (who in 2017 also sadly left us) asked the question: DAGON: "I would now like to turn to the subject of role-playing games, and in particular, Call of Cthulhu. Have you ever had any role-playing experiences? And do you feel this sort of thing lends itself to Lovecraftian Lore?" BRIAN LUMLEY: "I've never played. From what I've seen of fans of CoC, however, I'd say it must have something. I mean, these are intelligent blokes; mainly young, very switched-on lads. I know several of them poisonally (sic): people like Guy (the Cowled One) Colishaw, and James (the Felpham Foulness) Simmons. When I first met these blokes, I thought: "animal, vegetable, or mineral?" But now that I know them better ... I still wonder! Seriously, it seems to me that the Mythos is admirably suitable. The guys who've contacted me through Dagon, for books, or stories or information, all seem decent, well-educated, nice sorts of blokes. Tentacled, but OK."
  11. No, print and PDF will be released together. The player's book is full color hardcover and the Grey Knight is full color softcover.
  12. To keep things authentic, we're experimenting with vellum. Our team of scribes are dipping their quills as fast as they can to make the release date.
  13. As exclusively revealed yesterday by Dicebreaker, King Arthur Pendragon, the epic fantasy RPG of questing knights considered by late RuneQuest creator Greg Stafford as his “masterpiece”, returns with its first full new edition in nearly two decades this April. The Player's Handbook releases in April, along with The Grey Knight, an updated edition of the classic adventure by Masks of Nyarlathotep creator Larry DiTillio. These April releases will be followed by the Gamemaster's Handbook and the Noble's Handbook later in the year. Other Pendragon titles are in development, including a new, updated edition of the Great Pendragon Campaign, Greg Stafford's acclaimed multi-generational campaign covering eight decades of game time. Considered one of the greatest tabletop roleplaying game designers of all time, Chaosium founder Greg Stafford considered Pendragon his "masterpiece". He had been working on his "Ultimate" version of the game for more than ten years up to his passing in 2018. “As I see it, Pendragon was so far ahead of its time the hobby is just now catching up to Greg’s innovations from nearly 40 years ago, so there really wasn’t much need to change things mechanically in any significant way,” Pendragon line editor David Larkins said to Dicebreaker. For more details about the history of the Pendragon TTRPG, the new edition, and an in-depth interview with David Larkins, see the articles at Dicebreaker: ‘The hobby is only just catching up to what Greg did 40 years ago’: Pendragon 6E, ‘ultimate’ edition of an RPG legend’s masterpiece, reclaims its crown. Exclusive first look at Pendragon 6E’s Player’s Handbook and The Grey Knight, fantasy RPG’s biggest update in almost 20 years Pendragon Player's Handbook cover by Mark Smylie The Grey Knight cover by Loïc Muzy
  14. Today we learned of the sad news of the passing of Brian Lumley (1937–2024). Brian was the recipient of a World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writers Association. Coming to the fore with his Cthulhu Mythos fiction in 1971 with The Caller of the Black, published by August Derleth’s Arkham House, Brian went on to write important contributions to the Mythos. Indeed, Brian’s take on Mythos entities like Azathoth and Nyarlathotep were challenging, inventive, and inspirational. Brian’s Dreamlands cycle of novels, beginning with Hero of Dreams (1986) built and expanded upon Lovecraft’s foundational stories with added zest and a dash of swashbuckling. Brian’s creations found their way into the Call of Cthulhu TTRPG, notably in the monstrous Chthonians, Shudde M’ell, and Yibb-Tstll, as well as some fan-favorite tomes of lore like the Cthaat Aquadingen, G’harne Fragments, and Unter Zee Kulten. Brian’s short story “The Running Man,” also graced the pages of the now out-of-print Green and Pleasant Land, a British-based Call of Cthulhu supplement produced under license by Games Workshop in 1987. Brian’s “The Mirror of Nitocris” could also be found in the pages of Imagine magazine’s issue 13—wherein much content was dedicated to the Call of Cthulhu TTRPG. Brian moved away from Lovecraft’s mythos and created his own vampire mythos, starting with the Necroscope (1986) series, which in turn inspired the creation of a Necroscope tabletop roleplaying game in 1995. Thus, Brian’s creations were instrumental in not just one, but in two roleplaying games. In addition to his novels, Brian’s varied and insightful short stories and novellas have graced a legion of anthologies and collections. Somewhat in the vein of Robert E. Howard’s heroes, Brian’s characters tended to be capable and strong, and more likely to laugh rather than faint at the sight of Cthulhu. In my teenage years, as I began my journey delving into the Cthulhu Mythos, I somehow managed to contact and share some correspondence with Brian. Helping me to secure some of his early books, Brian was the consummate gentleman and both a delight and inspiration. I would later go onto meet him at FantasyCon in the UK in the late 1980s, where, in person, he was equally a delight to encounter. His stories, like “Return of the Deep Ones,” The Burrowers Beneath, and “De Marginy’s Clock” made a deep impression on my young mind and, in a pre-internet world, his encouragement and stories inspired me to write both fiction and roleplaying scenarios. Thanks Brian. Rest well. Mike Mason 29 January 2024
  15. Happy 50th birthday Dungeons and Dragons from Chaosium! Chaosium's own first TTRPG RuneQuest (1978) was dedicated to D&D creators Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, "who first opened Pandora's Box". Everyone playing, creating and working in tabletop roleplaying games today appreciates that audacious first step which has now grown into a hobby enjoyed by millions. And with Dungeons & Dragons celebrating its 50th birthday this month we thought we'd retell the tale of the first-ever copy of the game sold. Fifty years ago that copy was bought for none other than Greg Stafford, who would go on to found Chaosium the following year. In the words of Greg himself... The First Dungeons & Dragons Game Ever Sold "I'd like to share one tale about D&D, from way back when. After high school I used to work for Bergamot Brass Works, a belt buckle company out of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Real hippie job. I'd take buckles, hitchhike around the country and sell them to shops. After a while, though, I moved to California and stopped doing that. My friend and business partner, Jeff Platt, remained in the Midwest, selling buckles (we were called Buckle-itis). Through the various circumstances described elsewhere, I'd decided to publish my first board game, White Bear & Red Moon, on my own. As I was finishing up work on it, I got a package in the mail from my old partner Jeff. His cover letter said, “I was picking up my catalogues from the printer the other day and there was this guy waiting for his stuff. I asked what it was, and he said it was a fantasy game. I said, ‘Hey, my buddy in California is doing one too! Can I buy one from ya?'" Of course the guy was happy to, and so Jeff sent me this strange little box called Dungeons & Dragons. Later on I wondered, “Heck, I wonder if that was the first one ever sold?" Well, I asked Gary Gygax if he remembered this incident and he did, and confirmed that it was the first one ever sold. Man, do I ever now wish that I'd not lent it to my DM! I never got it back!"
  16. "Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil, as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave..." Graveyards of Arkham premieres on twitch Wednesday, February 7th 6:30pm ET/9:30pm PT, running weekly for six weeks. With Keeper Mark Meer, and investigators Lucia Versprille, Patrick Logan, Noura Ibrahim, and Josephine McAdam. How to Watch Watch Graveyards of Arkham on twitch.tv/chaosiuminc - follow us there and you'll get notifications and reminders about us going live! VOD to follow weekly on the Chaosium YouTube channel.
  17. Thanks to the incredible response to the Call of Cthulhu campaign, Humble Bundle has extended the offer for one more week! Just $25 gets you over $400 worth of digital Call of Cthulhu books - the starter set, the core rules, and years worth of gaming fun! Jump on board while you can and see why Call of Cthulhu has been the #1 horror TTRPG for over 40 years. $408.00 Value • Pay What You Want • Supporting the World Wildlife Fund https://www.humblebundle.com/books/call-cthulhu-chaosium-inc-books
  18. Thanks to the incredible response to the Call of Cthulhu campaign, Humble Bundle has extended the offer for one more week! Just $25 gets you over $400 worth of digital Call of Cthulhu books - the starter set, the core rules, and years worth of gaming fun! Jump on board while you can and see why Call of Cthulhu has been the #1 horror TTRPG for over 40 years. $408.00 Value • Pay What You Want • Supporting the World Wildlife Fund https://www.humblebundle.com/books/call-cthulhu-chaosium-inc-books
  19. The time will soon come to unveil the secrets of the haunted city... Call of Cthulhu: Arkham is coming in February.
  20. Rick's new 'Out of the Suitcase' post outlines how the current Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine originally stems from 16 pages of introductory material explaining the wonderful world of role-playing games, a mere 44 years ago... https://www.chaosium.com/blogout-of-the-suitcase-48-good-old-burly-bob-a-basic-history-of-basic-roleplaying/
  21. Alone Against the Static is our latest Call of Cthulhu solo adventure. It is designed to be played alone - no Keeper needed. But here our Stream of Chaos team show you how it can actually be played using a traditional Keeper and Investigators format. The same approach can be used with all our solo adventures! Get your copy of Alone Against the Static today! Full colour hardcover: $29.99 (price includes PDF) PDF: $14.99 PDF also available at DriveThruRPG.
  22. It's another brilliant cover reveal from our friends Aconyte Books! The Shadow on the Glass is the first Cthulhu by Gaslight novel in a series of brand new fiction Aconyte is creating and publishing in collaboration with Chaosium. Following the cover reveal of Cath Lauria's Secrets and Sacrifices, the first Regency Cthulhu novel, to be released on April 2nd 2024, comes Jonathan L. Hoawrd's The Shadow on the Glass, to be released on June 2nd 2024. London, 1891. Elizabeth Whittle and William Grant enjoy scalping London’s bourgeoise, taking on the persona of grand spiritist Cerulia Trent and her agent to connect the living and the dead. When a detective arrives, sniffing out fraud with a scientifically minded spiritualist society, the duo decides to take one last job before escaping to the continent. However, their final séance ends horrifically… and soon Lizzie isn’t Lizzie anymore. William, desperate to banish whatever monster they summoned, is soon embroiled in an electrifying eldritch mystery where he makes a deal with the devil to save his friend and stop an even greater evil from transforming the known world. For more details and to preorder see the Aconyte Books announcement.
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