Dethstrok9

This was interesting to think about actually...

In retrospect and after reading all chapters, Peru is one of my favorites. I would definitely play though it, it kindled my imagination in ways the others did not.

Just now, prinz.slasar said:

Yes, that's why I asked if you make another video regarding your new opinion which discusses your concerns.

Yes. I will reference the document and this thread, as well as the Q&A thread. 

1 minute ago, prinz.slasar said:

Will you make another youtube video about your new opinion regarding the BRP OGL? Because your first video is very praising and unintentional humouristic in the retrospective.

Highly likely actually, my first video was my opinionated first impression, I have been following the discussion for awhile and my opinions have changed. 

4 minutes ago, g33k said:

There's a couple of issues, it's worth not conflating them, I think:  "Chaosium BRP" vs "other branches" (e.g. Nash/Whitaker Mythras, Newport OQ), and "Extended BRP Family" vs entirely-different-mechanics (like dicepools of the Ghostbusters lineage, or d20 systems, etc).

Generally, I prefer the d100 "family" for most gaming.  Within that, I think Chaosium BRP is closest to my "ideal" d100 game (some mix of BGB mechanics).

No:  of course "type of dice" don't make a game (and as diceless mechanics show, you don't even need ANY dice (nor card-decks or other randomizers)...  Amber?  Nobilis?  Theatrix? ) .

BUT...

If I'm using a RPG engine to run the WORLD (as opposed to "narrative" engine RPGs, that run the STORY) then I want to have the mechanics work for the world... emulate/simulate the world, to a reasonable degree of accuracy (without bogging down into tabletop pseudophysics instead of role-playing).

d100, as a mechanic, has a large number of advantages.  I don't know of another system that offers as much.

Dice-pool systems have issues with calculating skewed odds, and weird interplays between  flat/linear +1/+2/+3/etc bonii (and -1/etc penaltii) vs. the nonlinear / bellcurve pool effect; +/-1 or +/-2 can be almost meaningless in the center of the curve, and a huge (dis)advantage out near the ends.

d100?  Linear AF, splitting neatly /25 /20 /10 /5 /4 (and /11 /9 /3  if I want them (or at least, close enough that I don't care about the 1% variance)) when linear gradation is desired.  PLUS It's so granular that I can closely-emulate a curve (any of several curves) with the 1-100 range.

d20 just isn't granular enough, IMHO/IME (and smaller dice-denominations obviously get even worse).

 

Bonus:  teaching d100 to n00bs, pretty much everyone gets a %ile score -- 20% is 20%, 75/25, whatever...  Incredibly intuitive.

Agreed, I am looking at a possible diceless system for the game I have in mind, but I too love the percentage based rolls for their ease of use and simple rules.

2 minutes ago, g33k said:

It hits the "d100 sweet spot," for me.\

Or it's the closest to the bullseye, at least.

I guess that makes sense, but that's just a type of dice. Dice don't make a game, and if you have a setting or story in mind, I would sacrifice the dice in favor of being able to create the story or use the setting I want. 

Just don't use the OGL. If Chaosium says publishers are lining up to use the BRP "OLG", then by all means let them make their games. If there is something better for everybody else, just use that. Do you really even want to use the BRP logo anymore after all this? That's the only real perk of this so-called olg, and it doesn't mean much to me. I was planning on using the OGL, but now I think I would be better off just making my own system or taking advantage of actual ogls. I don't think this move was intended for us, it is geared toward making sure something like OpenCthulhu never happens again. Its purpose is not for you to make a game, its purpose is to tell you "hey, we created (or simply own) ect. Don't pretend you have any legal right to use ect the way we do." We don't, and their move makes total sense, and they are telling us what we can do with BRP as well; which is nice. I don't like that they are disguising the fact, but if others will use this license to make something awesome, great for them:)

I just won't be using it myself.

Wow... Looks fancy:)

Which got the great honor of being first? Which are your top 5?

Can you SPOT number one coming?

This was awesome as heck!

5 hours ago, MOB said:

Use one of these backgrounds when playing online - Zoom, Google Hangouts, GoToMeeting, one of the VTTs (Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, Astral), etc, and share an image of it on social media with the hashtag #homewithchaosium.

That I will do mate:) Love these as they will go perfectly for my next Call of Cthulhu game on Zoom. 

Wtf am I seeing?

27 minutes ago, seneschal said:

😳

You dare to continue to breath? What, you're just staring at me? Thou shalt faceth mine vengeance for thy incompetenceth assumptions...

1 minute ago, Lloyd Dupont said:

Speaking of which...

I found this little spoken of segment of the life of Nyarlathotep!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyaruko:_Crawling_with_Love

Japanese! Am I right?!

 

Oh my goodness, don't even bring that up! No... It's more horrifying than the actual thing. I won't believe it...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOO OOO.

3 minutes ago, seneschal said:

We've got a Yithian possession going on here:  an apparent teenager expressing attitudes based on when the mind-swapping alien last impersonated a human being!  Stranger Things indeed.  Somebody call Chaosium, now!  The authorities will, of course, be useless.

Who'd have thought a mundane discussion of a popular author would endanger mankind!  Travern, are your bicycle tires still aired up?  What do you mean you sold your bike in a garage sale?  It's only been 40 years!  

SHUT UP MORTAL! I am Professor Deth reincarnate, and the Yith have nothing to do with it. My goal is to reanimate Lovecraft, and Chaosium already knows. You are meddling in affairs beyond your control, and I have your bike now!

2 minutes ago, Travern said:

 Can you appreciate how that might not be especially interesting to engage with, especially about 80s-era positions in Lovecraftian literary criticism?

Um... I'm 16:)

Just now, Ian Absentia said:

Nyarlathotep & Me: A Story.  Now I'm really interested.

!i!

I would need to come up with my own deity, but I have a couple that could fit the purpose. I am currently in the midst of 4 projects, a collection of short stories where this idea would go perfectly, a screenplay called the Game Master (working title), a RPG system which was originally going to use the new "ogl" but it retrospect I will make a unique system instead, and finally a bundle of CoC scenarios for DriveThruRPG. I've actually got some incredible artists working with my to get some color into my work. But I digress...

Anyway, another problem with all these posts is an assumption that people have any idea who Lovecraft was. We won't ever know his thoughts on whether or not Derleth did well 'cause he's no longer alive (the avatar of Nyarlathotep has passed on). In fact, he's actually a terrible role model and I wouldn't want my works to be knock offs of his works. My opinion on writing horror or cosmic horror will not be swayed by others opinions, I was just wondering the reasoning behind Travern's comments. It's all subjective my friends:)

5 minutes ago, Ian Absentia said:

You mean like the Book of Job?  In all honesty, I love that story, but it's still not cosmic horror.  Job's stuck piggy-in-the-middle between God and His QC analyst, and he doesn't understand why any of this is happening, but he still understands his place in the divine hierarchy.  And then there's that inexplicable happy ending.

And yes I was thinking along those lines, but subverting it to be the opposite. The ending would be favorable in the god's eyes, but the human's mind would break... What would make it interesting would be that the god genuinely likes the MC and haughtily considers the "special treatment" as something good and just, but in reality it ruins the humanity of the MC and there's nothing he/she can do about it.

1 minute ago, Ian Absentia said:

It's a matter of where the author (and reader) chooses to draw the line, yes

That was indeed my point.

2 minutes ago, Ian Absentia said:

Providing an exit strategy is like tacking on a happy ending -- some feel that it undermines the integrity of the "horror".  Cosmic catharsis, maybe, but not "horror".

Oh but now my gears are turning with that story idea, and there would be no happy ending or escape...

1 hour ago, Travern said:

No, but one must suspend ones personal beliefs in, say, some kind of benign deity or human significance if one is going to engage in cosmic horror, where they have no place.

What about a story of horror where the god believed they were working toward the greater good (and was therefore benevolent), but the actions they took were horrifying? What if a god wanted what was best for you, and by that token tested you in ways similar to Jigsaw from SAW, but the god's goal was "helping"? That still fits the bill you spoke of, toward how cosmic horror works (note this is purely hypothetical as I already outlined that I as you say "suspend my beliefs" when writing cosmic horror). It seems as though one would be putting a subgenre in a rather narrow box with these generalizations.

2 minutes ago, Augusto Antunes said:

I'd avoid IT or the Dark Tower saga as a starting point, as they demand a little more commitment.

Heheh... My bookshelf has broken down many tines over by the overwhelming weight of content. I read constantly, but I will still take your advice and start smaller to see if I like it.

2 minutes ago, Travern said:

And King retroactively decided to start linking everything together in a grand design.  That's just the sort of authorial intent I'd advise ignoring.

Um, interesting perspective... I personally love the idea behind that though, linking everything together. But just my opinion, maybe it'll change when I actually read it:)

I liked your idea of the players joining or forming a militia, similar to the driving idea behind Delta Green, it makes sure they have a stake in the investigation and aren't just there randomly. That way, the players can be whatever they want as former background, but they are all together. In fact, I would stress the point during character creation and let the players know the reason behind it. 

Some other occupations could be a Bounty Hunter, Police, Family to the Victim, or oppressed minority trying to change the world.

I think you've got a pretty awesome campaign shaping up:)

If I begin reading King, what should I start with? I've heard that they all go together somehow... Is there a chronological order?

I loved running Crimson Letters (which is found in the Keeper Guidebook) but it seems as though you specifically want Hastur the Unnameable... 

Ripples from Carcosa is a great one (or so I've heard) for the infamous Yellow King!

The description reads as follows:

O do not seek to learn or even ask,
What horror hides behind...The Pallid Mask!
--Lin Carter, Litany to Hastur

OF ALL THE VARIED and mysterious Great Old Ones of the Cthulhu Mythos, few ensnare the imagination as easily as Hastur. The image of the silent, deserted city beside a dark, foreboding lake where sinister things lurk is one that stays with the reader. Many of us have walked the twisting streets of that dead alien city in our minds, finding our way into the tall towers to stand before an ancient throne. There sits the King in Yellow, the Lord of Carcosa, who gazes at us from behind his Pallid Mask. It is a journey many of us have taken, whether alone in our dreams or around a table rolling dice with our friends. It is a journey we are about to take again.

Ripples from Carcosa seeks to expand upon the mythology of He Who Should Not Be Named and it gathers much of the varied material on Hastur into one place. The first chapter reviews the Great Old One Hastur and his various avatar forms. It examines the Yellow Sign, the play The King in Yellow, the Mythos tome of the same name, and the effects these things have on the human mind.

Within these pages are a trio of adventures pitting the investigators against Hastur and his human worshippers, playable as either stand-alone scenarios or as a linked campaign, called Ripples from Carcosa. Each scenario focuses on a specific time period: Roman Invictus, Dark Ages, or the End Times of the far future. Pre-generated investigators are provided for each scenario, although keepers should feel free to incorporate existing player investigators if so desired.

Across space and time, the King in Yellow reaches out... Dare you look upon his pallid mask?

Here's the link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/138396/Ripples-From-Carcosa?term=king+in+yellow&filters=44826_0_0_0_0 

The PDF is $10:95 and 130 pages of content. I think you could reskin the scenarios to be different times if you wanted, happy Yellow King hunting:)