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I was a young enlisted man serving in the US Army in Germany when the Twilight: 2000 game came out way back when rocks were still soft and fire was this new hippie thing that would never catch on. The game became instantly popular in the barracks for several reasons, but the main one was that we had all the toys immediately to hand or knew somebody we could ask about them. I mean, our wall lockers had our helmets, web gear, and 'go' bags on top of them. The motor pool was full of M1 tanks, a Bradley IFV or two, and other bit of military mayhem machines. But this was also the age Rambo and Chuck Norris movies. At every table there was that 'one guy' whose characters always carried an SMG, a M16 /203 [an M16 with a 40mm grenade launcher under the barrel] AND a sniper rifle and believed down to the bottom of his soul that could wear a flack vest, a full rucksack, and every piece of ironmongery he owned and STILL jump through a window, execute a combat roll, and come up ready to fire an 'aimed shot'. After awhile it got to be a real pain in the ass to argue with guys like this every week. Then the GM [my buddy Russ] came up with a solution that was not only elegant, but freaking hysterical as well.... He instituted the Get Your Shit On Rule, or GYSOR. If Joe Knucklehead wanted his character to do some seriously Dolph Lundgren type ninja-hero shit, he would be challenged to Get His Shit On. This meant that he had to go to his wall locker and put on his helmet, flack vest, and his 'go' bag rucksack and do something physically challenging. Examples included jumping over a chair without tripping and falling, or running up and down the barracks stairs 3 times and then writing his General Orders legibly, or something similar. If Joe Knucklehead successfully completed said maneuver, then the Uncaring Buddha of War smiled upon Joe's character and whatever idiotic stunt Joe previously described was executed to perfection. If Joe failed in the task, his stupid idea failed... spectacularly. The only single guarantee was that the character wouldn't out-and-out die. I hope you all enjoyed my little trip [pun intended] down memory lane, and I highly recommend such a rule when you have such a person at the table.

In many games with modern-ish settings a great many players choose to generate characters with military backgrounds, especially ground military backgrounds that give access to high-end weaponry skills. This can sometimes be a problem when there's a veteran or 'gun nut' at the table [and depending on personalities it can orders of magnitudes worse those are combined in the same person]. The constant litany of "Grunts don't think /act /do that way!" gets pretty annoying after the 731st rendering and derailing the game for the sake of gun or military minutiae is boring as all get out for everybody else at the table. As a lifelong gamer and US Army veteran, I thought I would address this problem by writing an article that gives a civilian some tips on How To Think Grunt. I had input from Commonwealth and German veterans and am very well aware of how much service life has changed between now and when I got out of the military, so I have done my level best to make this article generic, short, and as anecdote-free as possible. I sincerely hope that you folks enjoy the article and it will prove to be of some use at your table. Military Life In Games Final.pdf

On the release of the new edition of MANSIONS OF MADNESS, accomplished Call of Cthulhu writer Mark Morrison (Terror Australis, Reign of Terror, Horror on the Orient Express) reminisces about the inspiration for his famous scenario 'The Crack'd and Crook'd Manse', which appears here, updated and revised: https://www.chaosium.com/blogyou-cant-keep-an-old-haunt-down-reminiscing-about-the-crackd-and-crookd-manse

Chaosium/Type 40 photoshoot with the brilliant cosplay photographer Leigh Hyland (#Steamkittens) The Moroccan-inspired bar added a perfect Call of Cthulhu backdrop for what was a really fun morning being investigators and, in the case of Jamie and MOB, cultists.

I recently started looking into the live-action RPG system Call of Cthulhu LIVE, is it good? Well-written? Worth the price, work, or time?

Hi guys. I am working on a game using the Big Golden Book, but I have always found the Cthulhu mythos fascinating, and my game is heavenly inspired by the mythos. Anyways, I have at least three groups of cultists to work on before I begin my game so, looking for inspiration, I would love to hear about the most interesting and unique cults and cultists that you and your players have encountered in your games and what you liked about them. Thanks

Hi guys, I have had this idea for a long time now, and I have searched all over the internet, but I have never really found anyone talking about it. What if the Mythos was not actually all it was made out to be? What if, while certainly powerful cosmic beings, the great old ones were not all powerful. What if all the talk the cultists make about the Elder gods being so powerful and invincible, was just that, all talk; cleverly designed to demoralize their enemies. What do you guys think about this idea? Would it make a great game?

Going by the title and cover (which I couldn't find a full version of or I'd attach it), it looks like 'Alone Against the Wendigo' finally getting update to Seventh Edition as 'Alone Against the Frost' and is next on the release docket. I'm glad to hear that we will now have all three of Chaosium's published Solitaire adventures in Seventh. https://rollingboxcars.com/2019/09/13/editors-desk-chaosium-announces-the-impending-release-of-alone-against-the-frost/

Goodman Games Gen Con Annual II—A review of the Goodman Games Gen Con 2014 Program Book, for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, Dungeons Crawl Classics, Xcrawl, and Metamorphosis Alpha. http://rlyehreviews.blogspot.com/2019/08/goodman-games-gen-con-annual-ii.html #reviewsfromrlyeh #rpgreview #rpgreviews #CoC #DCC #postapocalyptic #fantasy #cthulhu

I saw this on drivethrurpg and it looked interesting. I read three reviews about it and two of them were complimentary but the last one was much less so. Anyone run or play it? Anyone with opinions?

I'm working on an adventure set in Ummayad-era Damascus circa 725 CE, and I'm trying to make sure I have brought the era to life while also making sure to provide answers to common things the Investigators (and the players) would want to know or ask questions about. I'd also like to write this up for other Keepers, so I have to cover the problem that no one knows exactly what you know, so a different Keeper might only be working with whatever I am able to write up for them. Here's my rough idea so far: Some "boxed text" type descriptions that the Keeper can read for the Investigators as a prelude (what you see when you approach Damascus for the first time, for example) and whenever they enter a new area or scene. Then a list of flavorful "encounters" that a Keeper can drop into the background or add to another scene to help it feel more grounded. I have a historical background for the Keeper to fill in basic ideas and themes about the city and setting. I also have a rough timeline of historical and Mythos and adventure background. I also have a lot of pictures and I'm working on several maps. I have a list of common and nonexistent things (that I believe was in the 6th edition rules for the 1920s?) like "coffee hasn't been developed yet!" "backgammon is popular!" etc. Common player/Investigator knowledge or areas of curiosity: How does trade work? How is knowledge recorded? What weapons/tech are common? How do people travel? What does art look like? What are science levels, particularly astronomy, and how does the government/religious groups view it? What are medicine levels and how is it viewed? What are superstitions? How multilingual is the society? How is the society balanced economically? What are the roles of the sexes? What are the interactions of religions? What are the interactions of minorities? What food is common? (I'm not sure I can answer all that but I'd like to know if I missed any important areas! Or if you have a good source for 8th Century Middle Eastern cultural history!) What has worked best for you as Keepers to help you feel grounded in bringing a historical era (1920s or whatever) to life? As an Investigator, what did you need to know to feel like you could play in a different era? thanks! -jared