PK Games

When I first came up with Berlin '61 it was as an adventure for CoC set during the cold war. In order to confuse my players into not thinking we were playing CoC, I concocted B61 as an entire setting for spy games from Chaosium (even did a mock up cover and everything). I told them it was a little known Chaosium game from the 80s. Well from there it became its own thing. Overall, it was for CoC, or when initially released as a CoC rip off for GORE (from Goblinoid Games). But in the most recent version as a Chaosium Monograph it was revised a bit to include rules and notes and ideas as just a setting for spies or supers or supernatural. When I get a chance to revise the three adventures sitting on my desk, I will send that up Chaosium as a proposed monograph and then maybe rework my idea for a Berlin '61 Companion, slowly moving it away from straight horror/lovecraftian spies to a more open setting.

Maybe they will redo D&D into a 5th Edition, and bring back 2E in it. It would make me happy LOL. Overall, I dont think this will affect D&D at all. D&D fans are loyal and are going to buy from them anyway. They will sale their PDFs through their web site, but only to members who have an account, so you will have to pay the $5 monthly to just shop with them. And it will make money. Overall, however, I really detest PDFs. Id actually rather carry 60 pounds of books and have them in my hands during a game then to carry lap top with the PDFs on them. Id rather get a little execise then strain my eyes and go blind by the time Im 50.

Are these going to be released in print at all? I would probably shell out some cash if the GM and Monsters were in one volume.

So we have 1st July for BRP Adventure Monograph and 1st August for Halloween Adventure contest. Hmm, two adventures to write. I best get to work.

OK, well I will have to find the files, find the printouts and edit the adventures. If I submit a new monograph it looks like it will be divided into 4 sections. Section 1: A Merry Berlin Christmas Section 2: The Wall Section 3: The Train Section 4: Encounters Manual Sections 1, 2 and 3 are full adventures and Section 4 is a selection of unique locations and pre-made encounters. I will contact Choasium and see if they are interested in a follow up monograph.

Im a bit torn between projects now. Between thinking maybe working more on B '61 to possibly finally finishing my obligations to seneschal (or at least helping get that work done). Always wanted to do my sci-fi space setting for a RPG and so far have run it with Alternity and D6, as well as XXVc. Maybe do it up for BRP? Also love pulp, and dong a Tales of the Gold Monkey style game would be fun. But most of my friends want me to do more on my supers setting, but that was with DC Heroes/Blood of Heroes RPG and that is a lot of conversions, though I do own all the art and words so far for my creations. So I guess I will have to ponder more.

As a follow up, is there any interest in further B61 material? I have 3 adventures tucked away to be worked on and still ideas on the overall conspiracy behind the setting.

Ill have to take a look at this issue when I get back home after this deployment. I dont have a dead tree version myself, but have the original pdf and publisher files, if there is an issue, I will correct it and resubmit it.

I was hoping to use it for a Tales of the Gold Monkey style Cthulhu campaign. The PCs are all adventurers, spies, magistrates and merchants/fortune seekers living out in the French Mandate of Pacific Islands and instead of the "Gold Monkey metal" as the McGuffin it would be some sort of Cthulhu icon the Axis powers seek. With a few Cthulhu style monsters and encounters added in, the game would pretty much be a Bring 'em Back Alive, Tales of the Gold Money, Indiana Jones and the Call of Cthulhu esque campaign. Probably use some of Pulp Cthulhu's ideas (if it ever comes out), with a modified use of Step 6 from BRP (+10 instead of +20 most likely) and so forth. Should be fun.

Thanks for the information, I was not aware of some of that. Now I am educated. Cool.

I really wish they had dead tree versions available for all the books on the site. Im sure it would take much for them to enter into an agreement with lulu.com for this function, in fact, it would be free overall and lulu would get their money based on sales, not from chaosium paying them. However, I am not a real fan of them selling PDFs at all. And here is why. When I submitted Berlin '61 to them it was with the understanding that I would get $250 for the work and another $250 after 500 copies were sold and another batch of books printed up. Now Im not saying B61 will ever sell a copy, let alone over 500 and to the point that they need to do a second printing of the book. But what I am saying, is nothing in my agreement has to do with PDFs. They could sell 10,000 PDF copies of B61 and I would never see another red cent. It just rings of a loop hole to me, one that I dont really care for. But that is just me I suppose.

Cool. Been wanting a copy of Cthulhu Rising for a while, now with a sourcebook its almost guarnatee I by that (along with Aces High and Outpost 19 and the BRP Adventures) as soon as they are all dead tree available.

Chaosium already has a fine system, its new settings were waiting for!

Im not a big savage worlds fan, but did get the Solomon Kane game last year at Origins and must say its a much better game/setting then Paradigm's Witch Hunter is. I also enjoy the setting for Hollow Earth Expedition, but think both games would be better BRP. I would put BRP as my third favorite system currently. 1. DC Heroes/MEGS 2. Dark Hereys/WFRP 3. BRP 4. D6

That is very much true, I remember as a young lad suffering through Palladium's system for years mainly because my FLGS carried their products, they had a wide range of settings and the rules were essentially all the same. Now I look at some cool D20 3E settings (Fading Suns, Dragonstar) and want to play them with BRP, and I look at Dark Heresy stuff and think "These rules are very BRP related, but different enough to have a different feel. But similar enough that I can merge certain aspects of the games together." However, hearing that Chaosium wants submissions gets my "I want to write RPGS too" juices flowing. If I only had the time. Maybe its time to dust off my old Pantheon Transcripts from college!

Ive noticed they publish way too much Cthulhu short stories

I dont know, I am a bit skeptical at this point. Its been about 8 months since the book was released. And while the monographs (except Berlin '61, which just sucks LOL) are cool and fun and all, and help fill the void of what osme people see as missing releases, these are fan made materials and a very cheap and stingy way for Chaosium to publish books. How hard would it really be for Chaosium to raid what rights they have to their previous published Stormbringer, Elric!, Elfquest, Cthulhu Dark Ages and other "fantasy" settings for them to create a BRP Fantasy book? Or Ringworld, Future World to make a BRP Sci-Fi book? And a BRP Monster book is also a fast make. But alas, its not like I get to play games as it is, what with my time in Afghanistan at the moment. But I look forward to just sitting down one of the weekends I am back home and just playing a multi verse BRP game and just drawing from all the books as I grab them off the shelf. I remember in the 90s mixing CoC and SuperWorld, and a GM once ran Stormbringer with a Mythos twist at the end.

If only we had a BRP GMs Screen that held all these dodge/parry charts on them.

Actually, for me, it is too late already. It would have to be a hell of a new book with hell of a good follow up and a decent line of support for me to say otherwise. Case in point, FFG bought the rights to Dark Heresy last Feb. It took them about a year and now we have been informed of roughly 7 books for Dark Herey/Rogue Trader due this year. BRP should have had two or three books prepared for simultaneous or near simultaneous release as the core book. Such as an adventure(s), a equipment by genre guide, GMs Screen, an encounters book and maybe even a campaign setting. Unfortunately BRP is falling under the same problems as WEG D6, great systems (two of the bests in my not so humble opinion) but no real support. And honestly, I think a lot of people may just rather invest in MRQ books (I know, I know, the heretical nature you all see in that) as they have a wide range of books and support and settings. CoC I will still support, I am looking forward to its pulp book and getting a chance to break out Morocco. Unfortunately, Im still down range (STILL) and dont even have the time to fulfill my obligations to Seneschal. Let alone work on my own settings and OGL stuff.

Unfortunately when I did Berlin '61 I didnt have the new BRP rule book, it wasnt out yet. I was writing it for GORE OGL which in turn was based on MRQ OGL. And it was my first real foray into the subject, so it was kind of like spelunking with a blind fold on. If I did it over again I would focus on atmosphere first, setting second and then make it more like Cthulhu, but with more spy-centric/level characters or something. The new stuff I am working on, and the old stuff, as I have lots of stuff I tend to start and then stop as missions get in my way, I lose focus and bam totally forget about them or lose intrest, I am now focusing on just getting the background perfected and then work the rules into the frame work, not vice versa. But I have a serious Dark Heresy Addiction and am jonesing bad. Damn Afghanistan!

We are talking about a company that sells 60% of its products which are written as Monographs, where the writer has to do the art, layout and editing on their own and then Chaosium will make it a PDF, charge way too much for it and not pay the author the meager $250 its promised them in a contract (online) that doesnt even mention PDF formats. A company where very few of its works are actually worth buying cause they are just not as good as they use to be. They may have an excellent system, and I would love that system to flourish, but with a lack of support for that system I am left with two options. Buy whatever BRP related product I can or not buy any BRP products at all. As it stands, there are not real support books for BRP at date. I love BRP, it is my second favorite system to date that is currently active (Dark Heresy is my god). But liking a system does not mean I have to support it or its company anymore then liking a comany and a person does not make me have to support their game. The guys at Paradigm Press were very polite, nice and open last year at Origins, I enjoyed thier company and talking about their products. But I will never run or play in Witch Hunter cause the system is bogus and the product not very attractive. I love the Solomon Kane savage worlds book, it is beautiful, informative and a well done book. But the system is crunk and the people at the booth were obnoxious and annoying. I would love to get into Exile Studios' Hollow Earth Expedition setting and game. The system is a bit wanky and the setting a bit off from the pulp I crave, but the books are beautiful, the staff incredibly nice and the web site open and enjoyable. But there is a lack of support for the system so I steer clear if it. BRP doesnt have the support, despite Charlie and Dustin being very polite, nice and approachable chaps who are mostly honest. The book wasnt a beautifully presented as it deserved (better layout, font, art and a hard cover would have been nice) and the system overall rocks. So any new books made for BRP need to be damn right amazing for me to actually purchase. I saw similar things happen to WEG with its D6 license, which is a shame as D6 is one of those classic, effective systems that should be a power in todays gaming world. But lack of imagination, proper releases and support and communication with fans and freelancers/contracted workers let the D6 systems fall through with only a handful of sourcebooks for each one being released. Chaosium is going to go the same route. Obviously Deadworld didnt see the BRP system as the end all of games for their setting, but thought they had a decent bargain/deal to make their setting a game for BRP, until they ran out of options with BRP's owners and are now shopping for a new system. We should all hope it isnt with D20. No, Im affraid MRQ is currently the superior system, as THEY support THIER game. Chaosium wants our support, they need to show us we have thiers.

I said I had certain BRP/CoC products I still wanted to buy and will buy, but unlike earlier when I would just buy anything to help keep Chaosium open and floating, to show my support I just cant give them that support. I really want Pulp Cthulhu, so regardless I will buy that. But other monographs and books that I thought were interesting but not necessary will never get purchased by me now. I cannot support a company that does not support its workers. Saying go ahead and buy the stuff so maybe they will pay thier dues is too much like extortion to me. "Buy this, and maybe we will pay Jason"

Im sorry, Im not going to feel bad or sorry for Chaosium that they cant make ends meet. It took them 3 months to pay me for B'61 and that was only at my lawyer advised me to let them know I had seen my lawyer about it. And that was just for a monograph. BRP was a contract job for Jason I assume. Meaning he probably got a page or word rate and a written contractual agreement. This book as been out in two forms since he entered into that contract and has sold copies that Chaosium has received payments for. They are legally obligated, and required, to pay him to the best of thier ability, and at the very least to contact him with reasons why the can not pay him, not ignore him. I know we are in economic turmoil currently and Chaosium is on hard times with staff and editors and work load, but these are the times that prove if they deserve to be around any longer. They have been a part of the industry for 30 years and it would be a shame for them to go, but by avoiding fan concerns, not paying authors and ignoring the mess as the fans and freelancers see it they are losing support and trust. They could contact me tomorrow to write them a book and I probably would turn it down, for fear of not getting paid. Other games have no problem getting thier material out in these times of hard economic down turns. FFG is still producing a crap load of material monthly, and its Dark Heresy continually sells out, as does it WFRP material. Perhaps what Chaosium needs is new investors or new partners and to get back to basics of releasing good solid products with support lines. I am definately getting Pulp Cthulhu cause that is right up my alley. If Supernatural Western is ever released, I will also get that. But overall, I see no need to give these people my financial support anymore as other games during these trying financial times are more honest, open and productive. To me, BRP is more or less, dead again.

Im pretty much done with BRP as a whole. I still love me some BRP and CoC is one of my all time faves, but if they wont support the fans, I wont support Chaosium. Truth be told I have plenty enough BRP based/themed rules as it is and can cover all the range of events, ideas and settings with what I have. Its a shame there was never a good sci-fi setting for BRP (Cthulhu Rising is IMHO good, but not great as it is only an extension of CoC and not really its own thing, again IMHO). BRP Pulp would have been nice, BRP Sci-Fi and so forth. But we have Elric/Stormbringer, ElfQuest, RuneQuest (old school) and Cthulhu Dark Ages to cover the fantasy/sword and sorcery stuff. CoC and its variant settings to cover more modern settings. Super World for Superheroes. Sci-Fi lies somewhere in that combination. As Seneschal likes to remind me, there is always GORE and as I like to say MRQ looks better and better day by day to me, as the systems are very similar and the OGL provides more open publication. I will use Jason's definitive BRP as the core of a BRP game I run, but after Pulp Cthulhu, Chaosium isnt getting another cent out of me.

That blows. Any other systems in particular? Perhaps you can do it as a MRQ OGL book? I hope someone picks this up, I really want to buy this game.