klecser

8 minutes ago, Merudo said:

To paraphrase Sid Meier, “a good game is a series of interesting decisions”. When there is ambiguity or uncertainty regarding the rules, the results of decisions become more arbitrary (GM fiat) and thus less interesting. Hence, easily remembered, explicit rules are more fun than ambiguous or not defined rules.

That's your opinion. And that's fine. Not everyone feels that way though. I find open-to-interpretation to be more fun. I find mechanics get in the way of my enjoyment. At the end of the day, game designers cannot be expected to "officially rule" in a way that fits all perspectives. Don't like Mike's response? Rule it the way you want it. 

I think it is important to always emphasize for role-playing game players that rules are guidelines. They are not definitive solutions to every problem that arises. I'm concerned that rules-heavy games have trained role-players to believe that any situation can/should be arbitrated by unequivocal rules.

I promise anyone that your games will be better if you focus on the fun and the story-telling. 

I'm 42 and I've had this level of vision since I was 8. And my story is really common. This isn't just an "older person" issue. Many of us are visually impaired. We often find it difficult for people with good vision to understand that this affects people of all ages. So, @Mike M, know that it affects your whole marketing demographic.

Incidentally, I handed my 20- and 30-somethings the handout and they squinted. And then, a few seconds later I handed them the typed text and a sense of relief spread over the room. Not complaining. Just saying that my Keeper gut instinct was correct.

Keeper's choice. Many published adventures grant Luck as a reward for scenario consequences in lieu of Luck improvement checks. There are lots of ways to do it. It is less about the "right" way and more about what is best for your group.

Much fun was had tonight in honor of Greg Stafford. We greatly enjoyed The Lightless Beacon!

New cover art. Don't anyone tell Chaosium they don't listen to fans!

Some questions that came up last night:

1) Vasana's Bison: Her Lance attack (on the version of the sheet my player has) has +2D6 damage at the end. That is only if she charges with the Bison, correct? A stationary attack does not do that bonus damage?

2) How do you determine hit locations for an unmounted person attacking a mounted rider?

3) Does Multimissile happen concurrently with an attack or before an attack? The text seems to imply that you cast Multimissle FIRST, and then do your attacks at a later time. Generally you only cast one spell or make one attack in a round. So, the "procedure" for Multimissile is to cast it one round and attack the next round?

On 10/19/2019 at 3:29 AM, Mike M said:

It's always a knife-edge  - trying to deliver an authentic realistic handout (usually a handwritten letter/journal) versus readability. We'll endeavor to keep this in mind as we go forward.

@Mike M, I do VERY MUCH appreciate efforts made to make handouts look authentic. Please don't stop doing that! That has been one of the best visual design decisions of 7th, in my opinion. But, I know that page count is a factor as well, and splitting this one across two pages may have lead to confusion.

Thanks for releasing this free scenario into the wild! Definitely not complaining. This release is a great way to honor Greg.

They are working on a Middle Ages setting that will expand upon Dark Ages. If you do some searches for Con interviews you'll find a source. I don't remember at which Con it was revealed.

Deadlight is a good choice to showcase the game. I'll watch this over the next few days and learn a lot about Roll20!

59 minutes ago, Cloud64 said:

Looks like ‘Lousy rat’ to me. 

LOL, in hindsight that makes total sense. Thanks. Happy to help. Yeah, it is less the font and more the size on the actual page that I struggle with. Visually-impaired unite!

Update: 

In prepping my game, I've found the text for Handout 2 to be very difficult to read due to the text size and font and my personal vision limitations. No offense intended to the artist/writers or Chaosium. In a game situation, there is always the chance that players get frustrated not being able to read text, especially tiny cursive text in a darkened room. I understand that there is some mystique to struggling to decipher clues, but sometimes it just leads to frustration. I typed out the text from zooming into the PDF to have handy as a backup if I see players getting frustrated. Transcript updated from feedback.

Here it is in case anyone else may find the typed text to be useful as a resource:

February 13^th, 1926

I found something on one of my walks. A coin! I kept walking and found another and another! I know it’s gold. Found some mechanical parts as well. Looks like it might be from a ship. Must have gone down recently, but I don’t recall hearing anything about no wreck of late. Unless it went down in last night’s storm when the light was out.

I better keep this quiet. Don’t want the other two here to get a slice of the action. I will keep this journal as a means of documenting my findings. This has to be worth a mint!

February 16^th, 1926

That coin catalogue I bought in Folly Point is useless. One thing I know is that the coins are old. Real old.

I’ve asked if I can stay on for as long as I can until I’m sure there’s nothing left here for me to line my pockets. And I have to find a good lead on these coins and go where the money takes me. Maybe I should write to some of my old “colleagues” to see if they can help. Should probably try some of those fancy antique stores in Rockport while I’m at it.

March 10^th, 1926

The coins are getting hard to find. The two new crew members aren’t helping matters. Makes it difficult to search without being noticed. Hope they don’t cause me any trouble. Even so, I’ve filled a small purse which I keep on me at all times.

April 3^rd, 1926

I’ve got a good lead now. I’ll be sending one more letter to Innsmouth then. I’m confident I can get off this stinking island for good.

April 11^th, 1926

Smith said he will leave the lighthouse tomorrow morning. He says he doesn’t care if it voids his contract – he’s had enough of this island and everything on it. Least that’s one less pair of eyes watching me. Still stuck with that sneak, Michael, though.

Smith says the radio busted again half way through talking to the bosses. Said he’d fix it before he leaves.

Counted my coins just to be sure he didn’t lift any off me in my sleep.

I’ve seen Michael peering out the window, spying my daily walks. I’ll have to be a bit more careful.

April 12^th, 1926

Smith left without a word. Me and Michael didn’t even see him go. Didn’t take his paintings with him, which is a bit odd. Lousy rat didn’t even repair the radio before he left. I’ll get to it later tonight.

Michael has gone to check something outside. Seems paranoid. Think there’s more than just tobacco in that pipe of his. At least I get more time to write. No word from

19 hours ago, Thelebk said:

I'm sorry MOB but why would we want to buy this video game? NOT ONE of the reviews you posted says it is a role playing game, or that is provides a simulated CoC tabletop gaming experience. They merely state it was "inspired" by CoC from Chaosium. It appears to be nothing more than an adventure game, and there are many CoC adventure games already on the market which provide an interesting distraction, but are not meaningful, and have no replay value. The industry does not need another title like that. Please find a video game partner who is committed to making an actual Chaosium style CoC full role-playing experience. That's what your fans want to buy. I will pay $100+ for such a title.

At some point you're going to need to understand that not every gamer has the same tastes as you, and not every product is marketed to you.  Joining a board just to complain that a product isn't targeted at you isn't going to get you what you want.

That said, Call of Cthulhu is not a stat-driven role-playing game. It is an atmosphere-driven role-playing game. Having played both the topic game, and the role-playing game for many years now, the game definitely captures the feel of the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game. Opinions will vary. Opinions varying doesn't inherently compel specific development and marketing choices. If you want to affect change, you get involved. 

My group will be playing this Halloween Night 2019. Rest in Peace, Greg.

The sound design is what has impressed me the most so far. Sound is so important in a horror setting and the game nails it.

There are people here who are chasing people away from the hobby.  I'm betting that they don't even realize they're doing it. And no, it isn't me.

People have always done this. It isn't unique to this forum. But it's here. You can deny it all you want. It's here.

"You're totally welcome in gaming! That is, so long as you don't talk about anything that makes me uncomfortable, or that I define as "politics," (and therefore completely unacceptable to speak about) or that is important to you, but not to me and my circle. You know, so long as I get to deny what is important to you, you're welcome here."

That isn't welcoming people. It's snide, disingenuous, and exclusionary.

You either want to stop it, because it is bad for the hobby, or you don't. And you enable it. 

What kind of site do I want for BRP Central?

I'd like to think one that actually welcomes gamers, no matter how diverse and different their views are. And if that isn't what the rest of you want, that's fine. Keep the hobby a Good ol' Boys Club.

I will never be a part of that club.

On 9/30/2019 at 1:03 PM, Trifletraxor said:

This is a RPG site, so real world politics and religion really have no place here.

Except that there are issues of politics and games that DO intersect. All of the examples you gave are good examples of ones that should be off a forum.

But I have a real problem with people making political statements like: "products that acknowledge the humanity of people I don't like shouldn't be in games." That is a political statement. It is the politics of excluding people. Granted, it's small-group politics. But it is still politics. And it has been made several times by various members. Some of us have objected to statements like that, as being both political AND bad for a gaming forum, and then essentially been told that we have brought politics into it. There are some small-group politics that affect the efficacy of the hobby. Like inclusive mindsets.

So, do I want discussions about political leaders and fights between religions? Of course not.

But I also don't appreciate people making politicized statements about who "belongs" in games and objections to those statements being treated as if they are the problem. Because this is an issue central to games, and if we can't discuss it or defend inclusive gaming, then it's only a matter of time before society leaves the Forum behind. This hobby is predicated on welcoming people.

No matter what the answer to this is, I think it is important that we keep in mind that Chaosium is a business. Part of being a business is finding markets to tap. Sometimes we are not part of a targeted market. That doesn't mean that the market doesn't exist. It doesn't mean that a market should be denied a product just because we would't like or use it.

My understanding of the latest news is that Dark Ages is being rolled into a broader Middle Ages setting. 

2 hours ago, Realmprotector said:

Is this only sold through your website? I’m not finding it anywhere online not Cool Stuff not Miniature Market not Game Nerds etc

Chaosium opens up sales of their own products on their own website first.  The benefits of ordering through Chaosium are: 1) supporting the publisher directly, and 2) you get a free PDF with your purchase!

Smashed...that...order...button.

I've found that Pulp Cthulhu and Classic Cthulhu are great inspirational material for each other. Characters and situations can be easily ported from one to other. Stats are easily altered.

What a scumbag. Artists in all media need their work protected and honored if we expect to continue to get art. Everyone deserves to be able to make a living and piracy in all forms just steals that ability from people. Boo.

Adobe Acrobat Pro. Failing that, there may be free PDF programs that allow you to trim pages. You can also ask them not to read the scenario. If they can't follow your request, they may not be a good group to game with. Also, you could slightly alter the scenario so that, even if they did read it, they wouldn't know everything.

Yep, MOB posted on it already:  

12 minutes ago, Redmoongodess said:

okay, cool ghoul but none of that answers my question about if parts of the cancelled "companion" is going to be part of this book at all.

Chaosium isn't obligated to reveal information about unpublished products. I also think that the manner in which people ask questions influences whether they will get an answer.