Masks of Nyarlathotep update: The Fate of the Carlyle Expedition

[dracopticon]

On ‎2017‎-‎12‎-‎08 at 10:33 AM, MOB said:

This is what various reviewers have said about Masks over the years. Click on the links for the full account of what they say.

"...widely considered one of the best RPG adventures ever made" —Gizmodo."

...

I totally agree that the published works/editions of MoN is very good and have gotten great reviews, nobody denies that. But still ANOTHER version? Is that really necessary? I'd say further physical reprints of the MoN companion would be better (not just PDFs!). And why not make companions for every greater campaign, like one for Horror on the Orient Express, one for Spawn of Azathoth, and one for Beyond the Mountains of Madness and so on. Players would certainly buy that!
 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2017 by dracopticon

[MOB]

11 hours ago, dracopticon said:

I totally agree that the published works/editions of MoN is very good and have gotten great reviews, nobody denies that. But still ANOTHER version? Is that really necessary? 

Yes - Masks is long-of-out-print but in great demand. There are many CoC players who'd like to own a physical copy of this campaign but can't.

11 hours ago, dracopticon said:

I'd say further physical reprints of the MoN companion would be better (not just PDFs!). 

The MoNC is not a Chaosium product; it was produced under license by Sixtystone Press. To encourage people to fund the project, the MoNC Kickstarter stated that the physical book would only be made available to backers (plus a certain number of extra copies, now all sold). This means further reprints are unlikely, but that is up to the MoNC creators. 

12 hours ago, dracopticon said:

And why not make companions for every greater campaign, like one for Horror on the Orient Express, one for Spawn of Azathoth, and one for Beyond the Mountains of Madness and so on. Players would certainly buy that!

Certainly an option if/when these campaigns come back into print!

[dracopticon]

11 hours ago, MOB said:

Yes - Masks is long-of-out-print but in great demand. There are many CoC players who'd like to own a physical copy of this campaign but can't.

The MoNC is not a Chaosium product; it was produced under license by Sixtystone Press. To encourage people to fund the project, the MoNC Kickstarter stated that the physical book would only be made available to backers (plus a certain number of extra copies, now all sold). This means further reprints are unlikely, but that is up to the MoNC creators. 

Certainly an option if/when these campaigns come back into print!

Good answers there all over, MOB. And yes, things are out of print, new players must get their hands on the goody stuff, just as I have. But puh-lease, Chaosium (not that it's a BIG chance you'll be reading this) make sure the new version(s) are all extensively play-tested and exposed to meticulous proof-readings to detect potentially unnecessary material, like I feel a lot of the new material was in HotOE 2nd ed...

Quantity is often a poor replacement for quality.

Edited December 20, 2017 by dracopticon

[Aldaron]

Okay...this may be a dopey question. We play "Eldritch Horror", and I was thinking about getting the MoN expansion. However, I'm also ramping up to run the actual MoN once the new 7th Ed/Pulp version comes out this year. Does the EH expansion contain big spoilers for the RPG campaign? I'm imagining it would!

 

[Bilharzia]

On 08/12/2017 at 9:22 AM, dracopticon said:

Sorry but I don't feel OK with this. This is somewhat of a "disease" today, when size and glossy coverings is more important than the actual content. I am gamemastering ("keeping") the Horror on the Orient Express 2nd ed these days, and I have a lot of complaints about it, compared to the first edition. Almost all the extra material/scenarios is subpar or present such a large step-off from the main story that they only represent unnecessary obstacles to getting the campaign underway and in a flow. It's a lot like when Peter Jackson decided to make the Bilbo movie in three parts. It didn't make the film better IMO, quite the opposite.

There's too much focus on the size and not the actual writing.

There are multiple audiences. GMs/Keepers would be perfectly happy with a ring binder and plain text, maybe with some maps and handouts, in fact I think they'd prefer that. Most people who will buy this will never run it, but they want it to look purty, it's the glossy souvenir, concept art book, programme, from the main feature.

[mvincent]

On 2/15/2018 at 8:48 AM, Bilharzia said:

There are multiple audiences. GMs/Keepers would be perfectly happy with a ring binder and plain text, maybe with some maps and handouts, in fact I think they'd prefer that. Most people who will buy this will never run it, but they want it to look purty, it's the glossy souvenir, concept art book, programme, from the main feature.

I'm the opposite: I've run MoN (to conclusion) several times and it was precisely because I had access to 'purty' stuff like from the French version of MoN, MoN Companion, fan made handouts, etc.  Same with HotOE. These things improved the quality of what I was able to present to my players.

I'm a tactile/visual person. Pure text does very little for me. I grok that some people are wired more for text (especially among CoC Keepers), but the majority of the populace is not like that.

 

[dracopticon]

Each to his or her own.

Edited February 21, 2018 by dracopticon

[Numtini]

Given the graphic complexity is challenging for a lot of tablets and lower end laptops, it might be nice to save the PDFs layered, so we could turn off the backgrounds.
Overall though, I think the books coming out right now are fantastic. I definitely don't want to go backwards.

[mvincent]

7 hours ago, Numtini said:

Given the graphic complexity is challenging for a lot of tablets and lower end laptops, it might be nice to save the PDFs layered, so we could turn off the backgrounds.
Overall though, I think the books coming out right now are fantastic. I definitely don't want to go backwards.

I read that some of Chaosium's recent releases (like "Petersen's Abominations" and"Down Darker Trails", but not "Doors to Darkness"), were indeed created with the "PDF layer" option enabled, allowing you to turn backgrounds off.

As much as a love visuals (maps, handouts, diagrams, etc.) when running games, I agree that readability is still very important. Backgrounds do nothing for me except detract from that.

Edited February 26, 2018 by mvincent