umlauthuth

On 2/5/2022 at 12:23 PM, Qizilbashwoman said:

SS officer Wilhelm Landig would differ in your opinion about who invented it. Source: Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke 2002: Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity, New York University Press, page 3.

He would, but I don't trust Nazis about anything.  

EDIT: Although, checking the book, Goodrick-Clarke credits Erich Halik with making the SS-"Black Sun" connection (pg. 131) but mentions the sun as being "[a] roundel insignia carried by German aircraft in the polar region at the close of the war.3"  But then doesn't actually mention which squadron/unit/whatever so we can check to see whether Halik is talking about an actual roundel or just making it up. But it does imply that either way the answer lies in: 

On 2/6/2022 at 11:41 PM, The Ancient One said:

I was wondering why there were alternate names for the mythos creatures in the Fall of Delta Green book. Also is this why other companies have to go through Chaosium in order to get their Lovecraft-based game published, even if it doesn't use the BRP system? I read on Wikipedia's Call of Cthulhu article that other companies had to get the license from them in order to make their games, like Pelgrane Press with Trail of Cthulhu or Steve Jackson Games with their out-of-print Cthulhupunk.

Short answer: so it's not awkward when you're hanging out at GenCon.

Long answer: Trail uses a number of elements which are derived from non-public-domain sources (like Derleth, CAS, Bloch, Howard, and CoC books itself) so licensing via Chaosium is sort of a "one-stop shop" for all those "mythos" elements. Cthulhupunk came out in '95, before HPL was in the public domain in the US (and IIRC when Arkham House was still claiming copyright). And, in both cases, they're not just ground-up "Lovecraftian RPGs" but adaptions of Call of Cthulhu to different mechanics. 

Mögle-Stadel, who invented it, apparently spells it Schwarze Sonne. 

I have most of the scenarios, I think... 

Adding this In case my original question was not clear enough.

Here's the copyright section from the Keeper's Rulebook:

Quote

All material concerning Shudde-M’ell and the Chthonians, and all other inventions of Brian Lumley as portrayed in his works, speci cally e Burrowers Beneath, are used with his kind permission. J. Ramsey Campbell’s “Cold Print” ©1969 August Derleth. William Lumley’s and H. P. Lovecra ’s “ e Diary of Alonzo Typer” ©1970 August Derleth. Colin Wilson’s “ e Return of the Lloigor” ©1969 August Derleth. Frank Belknap Long’s “Hounds of Tindalos” ©1946 Estate of Frank Belknap Long. Clark Ashton Smith’s “ e Return of the Sorcerer” ©1931 Clayton Magazines Inc. Clark Ashton Smith’s “ e Nameless O spring ©1932 Clayton Magazines. Inc. e quotes from “ e Inhabitant of the Lake” are ©1964 by J. Ramsey Campbell and “ e Last Revelation of Gla’aki” ©2013 Ramsey Campbell. Clark Ashton Smith’s “ e Seven Geases” ©1934 Popular Fiction Publishing Co. Derleth’s “ e Dweller in Darkness” ©1953 August Derleth. Eddy C. Bertin’s “Darkness, My Name Is” ©1976 Edward P. Berglund. Bloch’s “Notebook Found in a Deserted House” ©1951 Weird Tales. Derleth’s “ e Gable Window” ©1957 Candar Publishing Co. Derleth’s “ e Lurker at the reshold” ©1945 August Derleth. Donald J. Walsh, Jr.’s “ e Rings of the Papaloi” ©1971 August Derleth. Derleth’s “ e ing at Walked on the Wind” ©1933 e Clayton Magazines Inc. Blish’s “More Light” ©1970 Anne McCa rey. Kuttner’s “ e Salem Horror” ©1937 Popular Fiction Publishing Co. Clark Ashton Smith’s “ e Treader of the Dust” ©1935 Popular Fiction Publishing Co. Derleth’s “ e Lair of the Star-Spawn” ©1932 Popular Fiction Publishing Co. Carter’s “Zoth-Ommog”©1976 Edward P. Berglund. Brennan’s “ e Seventh Incantation” ©1963 Joseph Payne Brennan. Henry Hasse’s “ e Horror at Vecra” ©1988 Cryptic Publications. H.P. Lovecra ’s works ©1963, 1964, 1965 August Derleth. Works within are quoted for purposes of illustration.

Now, IANAL, but the Misk Rep guidelines seem to be saying that anything in that section not copyrighted by Chaosium is included under license, right? The guidelines specifically call out the creations of Ramsey Campbell as prohibited: 

Quote

What types of content are prohibited?

• Material included in Chaosium products under license.Licensed material not available for community use includes, but is not limited to, the Mythos creations of Ramsey Campbell, the Mythos creations of Brian Lumley, and Mythos fiction released by Chaosium under license. Please check the copyright statements in your Chaosium products to determine ownership and copyright. 

So, okay, Y'golonac is explicitly not allowed, and here's the copyright statement in the book: "J. Ramsey Campbell’s “Cold Print” ©1969 August Derleth." Okay, so that means Y'golonac is included in the Keeper's Rulebook under license from Derleth's estate, and that it is therefore prohibited content for a Misk Rep product. Straightforward so far.

But then you get to this: "H.P. Lovecraft’s works ©1963, 1964, 1965 August Derleth."

So here's my problem: There's no apparent distinction between Derleth's copyright on Campbell's "Cold Print" and his copyright on "H.P. Lovecraft's works" in total in the copyright information. The guidelines are telling us to check this copyright information to infer what, aside from the explicitly-mentioned Lumley and Campbell material, is prohibited. But this same process of comparison of ©s leads by that same inference to the apparent prohibition, by the Misk Rep's own guidelines, of anything by Lovecraft! 

And that's absurd, right? So where does Chaosium actually intend to draw the line, and how do I find that out other than by contacting Chaosium directly? 

42 minutes ago, Rick Meints said:

There is no simple list or answer we can provide. For example, take a look at the legal statements at the beginning of Malleus Monstrorum for how granular this gets, and that's just for creatures and such.

I’m not looking for a simple list, I am looking for a clear one, with all the granularity that implies.

EDIT: And at this point the 7e and MM lists are the ones we have to look at, and at least one of them appears to be saying everything is licensed. 

Anyone have any examples of using SCP/creepypasta material in their games?

Are there any jeweller's publications, trade journals, or for sale info that might exist in an archive somewhere?

EDIT: Not a lot of actual prices here, but there's something: https://www.jckonline.com/editorial-article/15-vintage-jewelry-ads-from-the-roaring-20s/

I was hoping to get some clarification on what is and is not okay for inclusion in a Miskatonic Repository. 

"Material included in Chaosium products under license.Licensed material not available for community use includes, but is not limited to, the Mythos creations of Ramsey Campbell, the Mythos creations of Brian Lumley, and Mythos fiction released by Chaosium under license. Please check the copyright statements in your Chaosium products to determine ownership and copyright."

So, I go to look at the copyright notice in 7e, and as far as I can tell from the copyrights listed "material included in Chaosium products under license" would include byakhee, fire vampires, Ithaqua, lloigor, Tsathoggua, Atlach-Nacha... and everything by H.P. Lovecraft? 

So what mythos elements are allowed in a Misk Rep submission? Is there a distinction between material licensed from Arkham House and material licensed from Lumley that I'm not seeing? 

Until there exists an ecosystem of open settings (explicit or implied) I don't know if we're going to have a good set of books aside from just core book after core book.

How do the damage types work in Borderlands? 

2 minutes ago, David Scott said:

You could also use the magic system in the BGB as the basis as it's not prohibited material.

If you want to use the Magic World system, I think it would make more sense to ask Chaosium to add that to the SRD themselves,

The BRP SRD currently lacks a generic magic/psi/powers system for authors of BRP SRD-derived works to use. In this thread I will be looking at where to start in writing up a generic magic system, post some rough notes, and hopefully provide feedback from the community, particularly GMs/new game authors, as to what will be useful in such a system.

This "magic" system is intended to exist solely as a game-mechanical procedure (a la FATE), which may be re-skinned by authors (or players, I guess) using it in various different settings. To that end, I'll probably include a number of variants that allow later authors to cut-and-paste the version they most prefer. I won't be addressing any "magical theories" of why it operates in-setting; just the assumption that it's a system for representing abilities PCs and NPCs have to affect themselves, others, and the world around them that are not covered by the usual rules for normal physical and social interactions. 

Starting Points

The SRD currently only has a few references to magic: 

• Power Points: Power points are equal to POW and are spent to use magic or other powers. When a character reaches 0 power points, they fall unconscious. All power points regenerate after one full day that includes a night’s rest.
• Projection (DEX×2): If powers (magic, super, psychic, etc.) are used in a game, this is the ability to direct a powered attack at a target.
• Knowledge (various) (05% or 01%): Familiarity with a specific branch of study. For characters from the modern or future eras, the base skill is 05%; for historical periods it’s 01%. Each type of Knowledge skill is a specialty. Specialties are numerous, and include Anthropology, Archaeology, Area (a region), Folklore, Group (an organization), History, Linguistics, Literature, Mythology, Occult, Politics, Streetwise, etc.

No other skills relating to magic are included, although a couple (like Martial Arts and Fly) might be important to remember for potential powers. 

Drawing on Other SRDs

To streamline the system design process, it may be a good idea to look at and borrow (or, you know, copy and paste) elements from other extant open game content. Prime candidates for this are: 

- 3e SRD (including spell seeds, incantations, and psionics) 

- 5e SRD.

- Pathfinder Occult Magic

- The Psychic's Handbook (not available as an SRD, but released as OGC by Green Ronin)

I'd like to include the D6 System in this list but I'm having a hard time finding a "primary source" of Gibson releasing it as OGC. 

I mention these first because they come from systems where many of the basic concepts (HP, skill rolls, rechargable-resource management) are similar to BRP. Things like the WaRP SRD are potentially useful, but are coming from a slightly different place design-wise. 

4 hours ago, Jeff said:

Just don't use what is listed as Prohibited Content - so don't repackage the RQG magic system for example. If you want to play around with the ideas in the BGB, go forward!

Can you give us some more specifics about what you consider to be the "substance" of the magic systems? Paying MP to power spells? Rolling to cast? Specific spell descriptions? 

The Yithians lack the “literally they’re just nephilim tho” angle that Dunwich Horror has. 

Are the nephilim sympathetic, or is the game material just written from a nephilim-centric viewpoint?

On 9/14/2019 at 10:25 PM, Ian Absentia said:

*cough* Call of Cthulhu *cough* Lloigor *cough*

!i!

If I were to make a specific CoC connection, I’d probably take the Nephilim to be offspring of Yog-Sothoth a la Dunwich Horror. 

I have a weird urge to run a kind of reverse-Nephilim game where the PCs are working for the Fraternitas Saturnii or the like, hunting Nephilim. Really hit the gnostic themes. 

You could tie them in to the Chapel of Contemplation from the Haunting and Unspeakable Oath 18, and from there link back to the Starry Wisdom church remnants.

On 7/30/2019 at 10:31 AM, midwinter said:

I haven't seen stuff like that enough to call it a cliché. Is it in books or movies?

I find it hard to believe someone posting in a subforum for Call of Cthulhu is claiming ignorance of the last 150 years of archaeological pseudoscience and occult narratives of prehistory. 

1 hour ago, midwinter said:

Ok, then let's hope for an epic 17th century Chaosium campaign in the near future where Abel Tasman and crew is attacked by a bunch of warclub-wielding, blonde Norwegians paddling their canoes in Golden Bay, New Zealand. It could have happened. Norwegians were always great sailors and daring explorers. Maybe they got stranded there earlier? Regardless, it could have happened.

“X was built/inhabited by a lost civilization of Scandinavians” is a pretty cliché bit, though

1 hour ago, midwinter said:

You'll have to give me some kind of reference here then.

Rasmussen's narrative of the Fifth Thule Expedition, pg 46-48 of the 27 edition. As the passage indicates, by 1900 even otherwise "remote" areas of the world had been integrated into the global economy, and with that integration comes the movement of labour.

EDIT: I do think that's kind of a distraction from the point, too, since even a scenario set in Arvidsjaur will, unless it's a one-shot, be written with the presumption that it's about 3-6 Americans coming there.

2 hours ago, midwinter said:

It's a fascinating life story, but in Arvidsjaur in the early 1900s? Nope, not a chance. And any writer/artist creating a black character in that setting is just doing it for the sake of being inclusive, with no regards to real history. It's like putting a norwegian viking in the 9th century kingdom of Silla (in Korea). Cool, perhaps, but believable? Nope.

I think you're dramatically underestimating how much people in 1900 got around in search of a buck. Try reading the Fifth Thule Expedition bit about black Inuit. 

On 7/26/2019 at 12:06 AM, midwinter said:

Because this is what you unintentionally get with jolly green and tentacles. Look at it and tremble:

Given some recent events the chibi cthulhu might come back around to being a more potent symbol of horror than Eddie... 

4 hours ago, Vitae Drinker said:

And  he is merely trying to hold the business he invested in accountable. As an investor, you have the right and even the responsibility to verify the status of your investment and to ask for updates and explanations of delays.

A Kickstarter project is not an IPO, nor do the backers of a KS own shares in a gaming company. That’s good for you, because otherwise you’d have to sell off your KS backing at a loss instead of getting the full refund available to you.

And I'm trying to gracefully introduce you to the idea that when wrangling a bunch of freelance artists eighteen months is well within a reasonable timeframe.