klecser

I know you may be asking for something concrete. My approach is always to maximize fun. So, is limiting it to once per month limiting the fun? And if not, roll with it. But, also consider that by allowing for more downtime, you potentially increase opportunities for fun.

49 minutes ago, ronin said:

I’m ready to pick up the slipcase set but haven’t received my code yet. Will these be sent soon? I’m hoping to get mine before they are out of stock

Dustin is really good at correcting problems like this lickety-split. Email him and he should get back to you ASAP. dustin@chaosium.com

I'm sure a lot of a CoC traditionalists might find our campaign "weird." We spent something like seven or eight sessions in the Dreamlands, with most of those as part of a crew sailing the oceans. 

RPG Imaginings' Children of Fear Reading Reflections continued

Chapter 5 second part

Just finished Chapter 5. I doubt I'm going to be able to read the whole thing before it goes to print. Professional duties and a bunch of life groin-kicks have gotten in the way. If you want to pay me to be a proofreader I could finish it in time. 😜 I did find zero typos in the second half of Chapter 5, so kudos to the first few passes!

1) There are two boxes in Chapter 5 that do a really nice job of helping Keepers stay engaged on over-arching plot points and mechanics.

2) This section of the text answers a key concern I had with motivation and plot. I don't want to spoil it here, but if you're wondering how the baddies are able to do a baddie thing that at first seems illogical or unlikely, there is a very elegant explanation for how it happens. Makes sense.

3) I like the ally/antagonist/friend of my enemy is an enemy dynamic in the latter part of the Chapter!

This shameless bump is brought to you by me.

See, ya'll joke about Trollball (and it is fun to do so), but I also find it to be completely on theme for the Uz and for Runequest. It was one of my favorite sections of the book. I think it is a prime example of a zero-constraints approach to supplement writing. DND books read like they were written in a Board room. Runequest reads like it was written by human beings.

Hey all,

I haven't posted on the Runequest forums in a long time. Sadly our Runequest game has been on complete hiatus since March. 

I am reading through Trollpak right now and absolutely loving it. Such a tremendous amount of creative energy (and a great sense of humor) went into this supplement.

That's it. That's the post.

A small portion of my brain power this week is continually being diverted to deciding between "regular" or leatherette for this set. And I'm thinking that I'm gonna go regular. After seeing Children of Fear, I think I definitely want to be able to have funds for a leatherette of that. Damn you Chaosium, and your attractive products!

1 hour ago, Loïc said:

Thanks !!

EDIT : can't find it in the Cult of Chaos Library ? Does one of you guys remember the link?...

I bet they removed it since it is currently in development as a scheduled release.

RPG Imaginings' Children of Fear Reading Reflections continued

Chapter 5 first part

1)      The use of dreams to continue to drive the action is a common and useful Call of Cthulhu trope. What sets this campaign apart from many scenarios/campaigns is the detail given in each Chapter to aide the Keeper in describing those dreams to players. Many scenarios will vaguely say things like “use dreams to keep the tension up for players” or something of the like. And in a short scenario, that may be perfectly adequate. But in a campaign of this size, the detail given to theming dreams as a cohesive whole while aiding Keepers with specifics is much appreciated.

2)      The campaign really (rightly) punishes groups that don’t take on the aide of a major NPC. I mean, I won’t ever tell a group what to do or how to play a specific subset of investigators. But if they elect not to take the aide of this character, they’re really hamstringing themselves. Personally, as a Keeper, I would do everything that I could to subtly encourage them to take his aide. The person I’m referring to is also a very interesting character for role-playing, and I feel like a running of this campaign would suffer by side-lining him. I’m curious as to how it play-tested, which groups kicked him to the curb immediately, and how they fared as a result. I mean, the campaign writes in detailed suggestions for what to do if this happens, but I gotta think that option is only for groups that are really deliberately golf-handicapping themselves. I don't think this is a flaw of the campaign. I think that CoC groups should always avoid alienating potential allies. I've played in enough Con games to know that a lot of role-players can't help but engage in self-sabotage. If it's in character, fine. Just not my style.

3)      I think Chapter 5 illustrates why a balance was struck for overall campaign locations. Anticipating travel between three locations, when the players can take them in any order, gets real complex real fast. People like things in threes. A fourth location would really increase the complexity. There is a lot of dense travel information in Chapter 5, but it would have to go somewhere. The decision was clearly made to arrange Chapters according to a “typical” route, which I think was the correct choice, with Chapter 5 including the “flex travel info” needed depending upon individual group choices. When needed by a Keeper, this information would be key.

Page 190, "An Age of Exploration" section, a little over halfway down: "A determined explorer could gain access to the country with relatively little difficulty, trusting
to good fortune that afterward, they would not be caught and expelled before they reached their goal." 

I find this to be a bit of an awkward sentence, largely because if you remove the middle portion, the first and last clause does not read as a complete sentence. I'm not an editor, and I will always defer to editors, but it seems like a little work on it would fix that.

Page 193, first column, last paragraph. This "paragraph" is just one long epic sentence with a lot of commas. I think it could be broken up?

The following paragraph also begins with one long sentence.

The last paragraph of this page likewise has a long sentence with lots of clarifiers in parentheses. Once again, I'm not an editor by trade, but I've also been taught that it is always better to split up these long sentences. As a reader, it is a challenge to juggle a sentence of that length in one's head. I think wherever there is a clarifier, it might be prudent to just start a new sentence after it?

I defer to professional editors in regards to these issues.

47 minutes ago, Lynne H said:

Hope that helps! (And your comment about the praise sandwich did make me smile - I remember having to write those for my biomedical and A-level Biology students back in the day)

L.

I'm a science teacher and a Professor of Teacher Education and measurement and feedback is my area of specialization.  You made a lot of decisions that make sense and I suspected that, as you said, it was more for realism and background info than travel utility. Thanks for adding the paragraph to clarify. I think it can only help Keepers to get further insight on design decisions. Game enthusiasts need to (in my opinion) recognize that authors are human beings and that they frequently need to make challenging "right vs. right" decisions in text. 

Thanks for your detailed response. I really value the willingness of CoC authors to engage with the public!

Fun fact: I also passed 666 subs on RPG Imaginings this week. It's like...the stars are aligned.

You didn't screw it up. You SAVED me! Thanks Bill!

Steak knives? Jelly of the Month? A sanity-splitting visit from a Great Old One?

What do I get? 

If you are here from a Chaosium Tweet, note that I've compiled all of the entries in this blog post for ease of reading: 

RPG Imaginings' Children of Fear Reading Reflections continued

Chapter 4 reflections:

I really enjoyed this Chapter and it was a quick read.

1) <compliment sandwich> I have many reasons for loving and playing CoC, and an opportunity to learn world and local history is one of the big ones. This Chapter is REALLY scratching my itch for that. There are dimensions of Buddhist and Hindu culture that are likely to really challenge some Western readers. And I think that is great. We grow when we are challenged. I'll give an example that I think is prescient. Some cultures feature genital mutilation as a rite of passage. These practices are (rightly) highly controversial, debated, and sources of activism in Western culture. But it is an incredibly challenging discussion because of the Western history of colonization attitudes, manifest-destiny policies, and aggressive attempts to covertly and/or overtly supplant indigenous religion. I'm not saying that to debate it here, but rather draw an analogy. The point is that there are aspects of culture here that are certainly likely to make Western players squeamish. I applaud Lynne for challenging readers.

2) For those of you who think I'm just a Chaosium yes-man, I do have a gripe at this stage. And it could just be my own ignorance of Eastern geography that is the real problem. There is a LOT of geographic territory covered in this campaign, much of it that Western readers may not recognize. That's fine, but I think there are aspects of the text that could do a bit of a better job of helping a Keeper out with locations. I recognize that this isn't likely to change before publication. Specifically, there will be sections that will talk a lot about specific routes that investigators could take in between locations. A lot of the time, half of the names don't appear on the maps. And maybe that is ok, because the intent is just to name the options without mapping it out for the sake of red-lining expediency. I'll reference the page 158 section "Getting to Sitavana" as an example. This is an example of a section in which a lot of locations have been mentioned before, but the maps of the immediate area in the Chapter don't mention half of the locations presented. This could be a problem for me in that I am simply a visual learner, or because I just need to accept the fact that the descriptions are simply "performance aides" for the Keeper to sound like they know the region. I just personally prefer text mentions of locations to be over-represented in maps. I recognize that there is an aesthetic variable of not making maps too busy. When I balance all those variables I end on the "frustration" side as a reader/Keeper, and that makes it worth mentioning to me.

3) I love the table on 168. It may be my favorite use of Luck as an investigator stat in anything I have read. He he he. In addition, given how important "ritualism" is in CoC, I think this particular table is a really good model for a general mechanic for any Keeper to use in setting investigators on a task to prepare effectively for a ritual. Ritual components do not just have to be a binary (you have a component or you don't). The quality of the component can and should matter. From a metagaming perspective, it is just another way to reward players who are careful and intelligent in how they solve problems. </compliment sandwich>

4) Full credit for use of the word "susurrations." #OxfordEnglishDictionary? 😜 

5) I find Handout: Bones 5 to be interesting. It's good to have for Keepers needing expediency and could be ditched entirely by Keeper's wishing to have the teaching by the lama be a role-playing set piece that require players to carefully learn their role for the ritual. Different groups will value different approaches, and any could be successful here. A lot depends upon the prior choices players make earlier.

6) Suggested manias and phobias for a Keeper in specific situations are always appreciated. As is the Keeper aide provided on page 180!

It is now time to bust out an overview book I have on world religions and delve more deeply into Buddhism and Hinduism. I think it may actually help me to appreciate the campaign even more!

Page 159, second paragraph, line 5: "It may prove to easier" should be "it may prove to be easier"

Page 171, fourth paragraph of first column, line 6: "should conducted" should be changed to "should be conducted"

page 171, second column, last paragraph, line 7: "a pathological belief than one has sinned" should be "a pathological belief that one
has sinned."

Page 178, second column, Keeper note section, line 5: "it is suggest that" should be "it is suggested that"

Page 181, sidebar, first column, paragraph 2, line 8: "should ask each investigators for an INT roll" > investigator should be singular

Page 181, sidebar, first column, paragraph 2, line 15: "fumbled and failed pushed roll" should be "fumbled or failed pushed roll" ?

Page 184, second column, "attacks per round" section in middle of page: "club as soon as soon as she is"

Hey everyone,

@Max_Writer, Miskatonic Repository Creator and fan of both Runequest and Call of Cthulhu, is facing a difficult surgery. I have his permission to get the word out. I don't know if this thing is allowed, even here on the Inn, but I thought I'd try. Mods, feel free to delete if this violates the Forum rules.

Can you help him with the cost of his surgery? I know things are tough right now with Covid for everyone. Anything you can contribute would help. Help us spread the word?

gf.me/u/y8qdtr

4 hours ago, bloodybull said:

This hurts - I was already planning on getting Masks, Malleus Monstrorum and the Grimoire in December (I'm a new Keeper) and now I see this.

The reviews and @klecser reflections have me sold! is there an estimate on the timeline for the print copy? Obviously with the state of the world a lot of things are up in the air but should I expect 3 months or a year?

I think four to five months is a safer bet, usually, but I don't know how the holiday season affects it.

And thanks for the shoutout. I'll be diving into Chapter 4 tomorrow as there is no prep or travel for US Thanksgiving needed this year.

1 hour ago, soltakss said:

In any other game, I would say that the GM and Players want to keep the Adventurers alive, so why question attempting First aid several times?

However, this is call of Cthulhu, where Narrators and Players expect Investigators to die or go insane, so that impetus is simply not present.

Depends on the group. Not every Keeper or Player enjoys a death-likely game. No matter what game we're talking about, even horror, players tend to get attached to their characters. Also, many people run "spooky" campaigns in which the Mythos is not always in somebody's face and there are just shadows of what is occurring. The investigators are always early or late to the action and are forced to piece together what might or did happen. Any Keeper should run First Aid according to their table.

RPG Imaginings' Children of Fear Reading Reflections continued

I just finished Chapter 3. Yes, I know. I'm slow. I'm a teacher and this is our worst year of our careers. I don't have  a ton of time to read and focusing is a struggle right now.

Thoughts: 

1) Chapter 3 wasn't what I expected. It was better than I expected. The quandary that the investigators are faced with in obtaining a campaign McGuffin is complex and has many potential solutions. It screams "Classic 1920s CoC challenge for academics." I could see any group of players coming up with a unique solution to the problem.

2) The section headed "Missing Pieces" made me laugh out loud. I said to myself: "That escalated quickly." Players may not be able to succeed in their McGuffin-finding. No worries. The "solution" to their failure is dark. And I can imagine a major NPC nonchalantly explaining to them, with a straight face, what they would need to do. Good stuff.

3) I can't help but think of Dr. Hardy's scenario Scritch Scratch when reading this Chapter. @Lynne H, can you confirm that you are a fan of a particular terrestrial mammal?  

Mike will eventually respond when he gets a chance. You will get an official answer.

My gut says that the strict adherence to vocabulary that is common in many RPGs isn't what CoC is going for here. And that flowery vocabulary was just used to make the text more fun to read, and not as a mechanics giveaway. I would interpret sacrifice and spend as equivalent. As always, I'm prepared to be wrong if that isn't the case. @Mike M 

1 hour ago, greger said:

As a follow-up for my novice investigators (an inventor, a missionary, a museum curator and an archeologist), whom all survived "Edge of Darkness", I decided to do the newly released scenario "Test Subjects" by Michael Fryda.

For preparations I had do to some modifications to also move this whole thing to be fit in Norway.

(Spoilers after this line)

The scenario spans quite a bit of distance, about 2000 kilometers, by my measuring. And while Norway isn't a big country, it is long.
So, starting off in Oslo, my investigators, while sitting at a cafe, discussing what to call their investigator organisation they are starting up, with money inherited from the equivalent of Rupert Merriweather for this purpose, spots the ad in the paper, wanting to hire competent people to investigate some tunnels under a house.

They were immediatly intrigued, sent of a telegram, spent more time discussing a name (spoiler: they haven't decided yet), and already started stocking up on equipment they thought the might need. While waiting for a yes/no to get the job, they did nothing related to the scenario. No investigation into the person they communicated with, or the property which they had an adress to. I would have thought they would, but, oh well.

This is an interesting aspect of scenario design. I decided to include this section because many Call of Cthulhu players "expect" to do some pre-research in a scenario. But the information isn't "required" to progress the story here. The advantage of doing the pre-research would simply be to get some early clues into "what is strange here," and it is always fun to see how players interpret vague info.

When I play-tested...my group knows me. And they did the pre-research and concluded: "It's gotta be frickin' Serpent People." Actual quote. LOL To be fair, that is a huge focus of our campaign. I'm not sure that the scenario itself immediately suggests that. My intent was to be "annoyingly vague" in the text.  

Quote

One of the things they got, which I would never had thought of myself was... a canary in a cage. They all failed their initial climb roll, but they all passed the dex check, so no damage done.

When they got to the first portal, they right away noticed something was up, because they were quite actively using their lights to check out the cave walls, and noticed something was not right. I had previously done a thing where, when magic points are spent, the characters get a somewhat feeling of accomplishment, which of course happened when the first person went through the portal. She thought that was so strange, that she was ready to call it quits for the day. Went back through again, and started getting headaches. A second person also did the same, and they were ready to go home. Luckily, the last two investigators were not having it, so they marched on.

The object is to induce paranoia, of course. I'm glad that came through. I love the "canary in a cage" idea. That happens to fit seamlessly into the consequences of the Gate travel. Too bad Tim had to pay the price!

Quote

They got out of the caves in "the other house" in Oslo, were quite confused by that, as they had travelled 5 km very quickly. And decided that it needed further investigation. They figured out that there were two more portals from that place, naming it "the hub". Taking one of the tunnels and crossing the portal, the canary had had it, and decided to die during the crossing (RIP Tim).

They came into a small hole in the ground, as a dug out little cellar, and found a box there with some seal pelts, and a polar bear pelt. Before they stuck theirs head above the ground, they had guessed that they had ended up on Svalbard. That's when the cogs started running in their heads, about how they could exploit these portals to transport supplies and stuff for people who wanted to be at Svalbard to do research or hunting or whatever. They had no idea exactly where they were, so they took pictures, nothing time and shadows and all that, so that they could figure out the location of the hut, later.

Please correct me if I'm wrong...Svalbard Seed Vault didn't become a thing until much later, correct? But there has been scientific research conducted there for a long time? It's great that you made the scenario your own for your play group.

Quote

Going back down the hole, a few of them were starting to think that it might be best to go back home, and rest for the night. But one of the guys decided to march on to the next portal, ending up somewhere in Finnmark, while the rest waited. He explored that location for a bit, then went back down, talking to the others through the portal. He told them that he had seen their own traces throught the other portal in that location, so they all decided on taking the shorest routes possible back to the  hub.

This happened in the play test as well. But the consequences were pretty dire for doing this as that character had a low POW score and got to the point where they had to take physical damage to get back to Boston.

Quote

That is when one of them found the glass disc, and they all decided to get the hell out of tunnels (for now). I decided to let Lo’thysss thank them over the PA, then blow up the portals down below (thought the investigators only heard noise, and don't know exaclty what happened.)

Now, that is about where we ended last night, I was trying to hint that there wasn't much more to this scenario, but they are not having it, and are now set on starting their investigations into this more. They will try to head back into the tunnels, and are dead set on finding out more.

So, I now have till next Tuesday to come up with a continuation on this scenario-turning campaign. From what I have read, I am thinking that maybe an adaption of "Darkness Beneath The Hill" might work. Or just come up with something by myself altogether.

Also thinking that maybe this could in some way be tied together with the sarcophagous from Edge of Darkness.

All good ideas. Perhaps the explosives in one location weren't quite set properly, resulting in either only a partially blocked tunnel, or opening up a new pathway that opens up Darkness Beneath the Hill! And S'syaa H'Riss becomes Lo'thysss, or you add the Serpent Sorcerer to the mix! And maybe Serpent Science comes up against Serpent Sorcery??? The Investigators ally with one against the other, or both Serpents are already in league with each other?!? Tons of possibilities. And that's the idea here. I want Keepers to be able to do whatever their group would enjoy, springing off from a weird underdark experience.

Quote

But I am also now certain I need to make it a bit more dangerous for them, cause again, they all managed to stay quite sane. I am also quite new at being a keeper, so I sometimes forget stuff I can do, and I guess that also lightens it for them. But, we are having fun, so, that's good.

Exactly. Even though you are new, you clearly have an open mind and know that fun comes first. I'm glad it worked out!

Quote

Oh, btw, for the handout of the glass disc, I decided to make a 3d model in Blender, and then share that with them through a webviewer for 3d objects.

 

NICE! That's a great idea.

Thanks for posting a detailed report! And remember Keepers, you can get Test Subjects for the low, low price of 3 USD here:  

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/333222/Test-Subjects?term=test+subjects