tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18758091749480684442024-03-15T04:37:44.529-04:0019th LevelRPGs, science fiction, fantasy, gadgets, and anything else that comes up.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.comBlogger555125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-10087791722457565172019-02-18T19:27:00.003-05:002019-02-18T19:27:54.433-05:00Stepping Away and a New Beginning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5niL0_eAtuWxgiSdA1XWb9ePeCaB2aHZGSS9pVuy9iFD24KYcuMyBr0z0wJpy6BMq9EytAKJ8zYlDTTR-MzH2pLT7nGt3RNiPhzjkK8HPmfxEgJdzVVE36CwhlbhuvsWR3RaHGf_3REc/s1600/shiprock_desert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1286" data-original-width="1600" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5niL0_eAtuWxgiSdA1XWb9ePeCaB2aHZGSS9pVuy9iFD24KYcuMyBr0z0wJpy6BMq9EytAKJ8zYlDTTR-MzH2pLT7nGt3RNiPhzjkK8HPmfxEgJdzVVE36CwhlbhuvsWR3RaHGf_3REc/s400/shiprock_desert.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
After maintaining this blog for nearly seven years (an eternity in internet time), I've decided to step away from it.<br />
<br />
When I first began I wasn't 100% certain what it would be about. For a while I thought it would be a blog related to OSR type RPGs but I found my own tastes not firmly rooted there. Looking at the history of the blog, I see a lot of <i>Call of Cthulhu </i>which is hardly surprising.<br />
<br />
However, some lack of consistency definitely made it tough for me find a defined niche and over the past few months I've been giving some thought to starting a new, more narrowly focused blog. The imminent end of Google+ played a part in these thoughts, with much of my traffic coming from that site. I write because I enjoy writing, but I do enjoy growing an audience.<br />
<br />
My plan to start a narrowly-focused blog took a turn when I had the opportunity to join the <a href="https://rollingboxcars.com/">Rolling Boxcars</a> blog. Talking with the contributors (one of whom I game with on Discord already) and going through their archives (some of which I was already familiar with) quickly showed a good match. Add to it a modest Patreon and a Discord Server with an interesting community and I was very pleased with what I found.<br />
<br />
I've already written my first article for that blog which will go live in March and I anticipate about 3-4 articles per month - a little bit less than me at my peak here, though that peak proved brutal to maintain. I'm not going to deactivate this blog and it is possible I might make an occasional update here if I've something of an extremely limited interest. I've also been giving some thought to trying some occasional writing on Medium for some politically related posts - something I've tried to stay away from on this blog.<br />
<br />
Thank you to everyone who read one or more of my posts, commented, and linked. Like I said, I'm not writing in pursuit of a massive audience, but it sure is nice to know some people enjoyed what I've had to say. I hope you'll follow me and others on the <a href="https://rollingboxcars.com/">Rolling Boxcars</a> blog.<br />
<br />
While I'm tempted to end with a <i>Hobbit</i> quote about roads, I find myself thinking about Stephen King and <i>The Dark Tower</i>. So I'll leave you with words of wisdom from that work...<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.</blockquote>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-83460827878783247052019-01-29T22:09:00.000-05:002019-01-29T22:09:11.163-05:00Call of Cthulhu Actual Play: Against the Cthulhu Cult of Boston<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1E8hrpGtvZ0EROX-A0lhSoOJKO6JksYDUsYYNBsxaBHgLTtWRaVXxmkd2q1GgibFwWAgpGTWO79ss_Y2g9cj4wGCROeIMxSuu-6s3JGRbXRJVajPWfN3q1EE7TrWbckGn3NBFUoeqwhs/s1600/The_Boston_Globe_Fri__Dec_25__1914_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1211" data-original-width="1600" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1E8hrpGtvZ0EROX-A0lhSoOJKO6JksYDUsYYNBsxaBHgLTtWRaVXxmkd2q1GgibFwWAgpGTWO79ss_Y2g9cj4wGCROeIMxSuu-6s3JGRbXRJVajPWfN3q1EE7TrWbckGn3NBFUoeqwhs/s400/The_Boston_Globe_Fri__Dec_25__1914_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I'll be making a small adjustment for this actual play. I'll be focusing less on what happened during play - though I will cover that - and more discussing the makeup of the adventure. I think that is probably more of interest to my readers.<br />
<br />
One of my players commented how she didn't recall any adventures actually involving Cthulhu. With our previous adventure featuring some Thralls of Cthulhu that seemed a great opportunity to make use of the worldwide Cthulhu Cult.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Adventure Notes</h3>
I started with the ending - I had a vision of cultists trying to rise R'lyeh in Boston Harbor. Yes, it's supposed to be in the Pacific Ocean but I decided to adjust that and say R'lyeh is an extradimensional place. It is perhaps easiest to rise from the Pacific, but if the stars are right, it can be risen out of any water. I knew they'd need a tome so I broke the adventure into two parts - the first concerning them acquiring the tome they needed and the second them making use of it.<br />
<br />
With that I needed a bunch of NPCs. I decided to make all the members of the Cthulhu Cult - very often I find it easy to make cultists into "orcs" - and I'm sure I'll do so again. One of the things I took note of from Lovecraft's classic "The Call of Cthulhu" was, horror of horrors, multi-ethnic and multiracial, things that horrified Lovecraft. So I had an idea for such a cult in Boston. In my markdown notebook I recorded the following people:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Jean-Claude Ristil - Haitian born, budding sorcerer, leader of the group</li>
<li>Agewe Baptiste - Haitian born as well, childhood friend of Ristil. Skilled with knife, very scarred</li>
<li>Finn Leary - 1st generation Irish-American, second-story man, good with gun</li>
<li>Pablo Torres - Puerto Rican immigrant, skilled rifleman</li>
<li>Ricardo López - Cuban revolutionary against Spain, older man - born 1860, making him in his mid-50s. Often field leader of this crew. </li>
<li>Thomas Greenshields - Scottish immigrant, intellectual, fond of pistols, engineering student. Given them access to more cultured places. Arsonist. </li>
<li>Fang Li - 2nd generation Chinese-American. Grandfathers both worked on transcontinental railroad, later settled in Boston. Fang family has laundromat. Li not a huge fan of that. Rails against the treatment of Chinese by American government. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<div>
We're not talking super-deep, multi layered characterizations. However, with these rough notes they all looked different and brought different things to the table. They were all men - though in the previous adventure the adversaries were both women (and they will likely appear again).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The first part of this adventure, a single session, then would need to deal with the cult getting noticed stealing the book. Enter roommates and lovers Dmitri Zadornoz and James Higgins. They recently came across and stole the 1850s tome <i>Adam Jones' R'lyeh, annotated by Rev. Thomas Miller</i>. Obsessed with the work, they wanted to share it with the world. The two worked at a jobber printer - a press for smaller jobs. On Thanksgiving, when the printer was closed, they printed a pamphlet with excerpts from the book - and their own ramblings. And they planned to do so on Christmas as well. But the cult has gotten wind of the book and wants it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What is the book? It's a book of my own creation. I created a companion for explorer Henry Hudson, Adam Jones. I posited that he had come across references to R'lyeh while on the Pacific Ocean. He wrote his own mad ravings about it and published a book about it in 1605. He became obsessed with finding a Deep One city - his calculations showing it to be beyond what is now known as Hudson Bay. His calculations were off - it was actually near modern Innsmouth. Along with Hudson, Jones was lost in the final 1610-1611 voyage of Hudson (as was Hudson, due to crew mutiny). In the mid-19th century the Reverend Thomas Miller came across Jones' work and modernized it - though the Presbytery of Boston had a fit when they saw what he'd been working on and the book was suppressed, with only a few copies surviving. I decided to give it a short study time, making it a rather valuable Mythos tome and one much desired. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
<i>Adam Jones' R'lyeh, annotated by Rev. Thomas Miller </i></div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Sanity Loss - 1d8</li>
<li>Cthulhu Mythos - +3/+7</li>
<li>Mythos Rating - 20</li>
<li>Study - 2 weeks</li>
<li>Spells: Mist of R'lyeh, Enchant Club, Call/Dismiss Cthulhu, Align the Stars, Summon Deep Ones</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div>
On the night of Christmas Higgins and Zadornoz were working on printing a new pamphlets. However, Ristil's cult struck. They killed Higgins and lit the press on fire. Zadornoz had stepped out and fled when he saw what happened. However, other cult members were waiting for him at his apartment - which they'd already hit, obtaining the book. Zadornoz escaped there as well, though he was shot and wounded. Disowned by his father, a rabbi, for being in a homosexual relationship, he was still on good terms with his sister - and his sister was engaged to a medical student who helped run an underground clinic to help defray the costs of medical school.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The adventure opened with police Captain McShane asking the investigators to look into the fire - remnants of the pamphlets made it clear what sort of strangeness was going on. I'd set things up so that I didn't need to worry about the investigators stopping the cult from getting the book - they already had it. But the characters had to learn about the cult - and have a chance of saving Zadornoz. </div>
<br />
Whether they succeeded or not, the second part of the adventure was about getting their own copy of <i>Adam Jones' R'lyeh</i>. I added details for them to follow Zadornoz's backtrail, including the book shop he stole it from - Dale's Rare Books, owned by Curtis Dale. Dale would be able to point them to other places the book could be obtained, included the libraries at the Miskatonic University and Harvard University. I did also note that the cult would likely be monitoring the investigators and try to interfere.<br />
<br />
I also dictated the book would specify the raising of R'lyeh would need to be done in parts. The initial spell had to be cast on a very foggy night so as to obscure the realigning of the stars. As it turns out, mid-January 1915 was extremely foggy in Boston. That would allow for the raising of a small island. If a proper sacrifice could be made to one of Cthulhu's starspawn, true R'lyeh could indeed be brought to our world. All hail Cthulhu. Iä Iä !<br />
<h3>
Actual Play Notes</h3>
<b>Setting: </b>Boston. Friday, December 25th, 1914 - Monday, January 18, 1915<br />
<b>Characters:</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Colin O'Connor: Civil engineer from Dunmore, Ireland. Employed as a civil engineer by the city of Boston.</li>
<li>Lola Diaz Azar: Archaeologist hailing from Puerto Rico, born of a Puerto Rican mother and Middle Eastern father. Agent of the New England Watch and Ward Society, specializing in occult tomes.</li>
<li>Nathaniel Quincy, MD, Captain, US Army (Ret.) Former army doctor, served in Nicaragua and the Philippines. Now working as a medical examiner for Essex County.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div>
The characters quickly gathered information at the burnt jobber press and found their way to Zadornoz and Higgins' apartment, driven by a Boston police officer. There they saw the place already ransacked but did find notes about Zadornoz's estranged family and they traveled to the family's modest home. While his father, Rabbi Yuri Zadornoz, was not helpful, his sister Susanna was - and was able to point out where her fiance David Kablukov ran a secret clinic. Unfortunately, the cult converged on the house. Baptiste, Torres, and Li attacked. It was not a fair fight and rapidly broke down into chaos in and around the house. Baptiste nearly killed Azar with his machete. O'Connor and Quincy struggled in battle with Li but eventually defeated him. Torres killed Yuri and their police driver. Baptiste and Torres left, gaining information and nearly running down Susana in their car. This proved an object lesson on the deadliness of combat in Call of Cthulhu. Quincy stabilized Azar and got her to the hospital. They tipped the police off to the location of the clinic but did not go there themselves - but they did hear tales of a horrifying police battle that killed two more officers with Zadornoz and Kablukov killed as well - with strange reports of zombies.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
With three police officers killed in one night, the city was enraged. McShane made sure they had the resources they needed to stop the cult. After Azar recovered they went to Dale's Rare Books and from there the Miskatonic University at Arkham. It was there that cultist Leary tried to run them down, badly hurting O'Connor. Azar and Quincy persuaded Henry Armitage to give them access to <i>Adam Jones' R'lyeh </i>which they read while O'Connor recovered - and learned some forbidden magic from the tome - especially of interest being a way to banish Cthulhu.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When the fog came on January 18 they scoured the waterfront and found a fishermen who described the strange people who paid a fortune to rent his boat - even if they never returned it he'd have enough to buy a new boat. Cults ready for the end of the world don't see much a need for money. The fishermen had a general idea where they were going and with some money, they rented another boat and he took them out.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Sure enough, there was indeed a new island, one that glowed green in the fog. And on it was a horrid, giant, winged octopus-like creature. Not Cthulhu but one of his servants. The ritual had begun. It was too much for O'Connor, whose mind snapped. He had no memory of how they had arrived. Meanwhile, Quincy and Azar chanted the banishing spell. Quincy had to stop as O'Connor started advancing towards the cult, confused. Quincy tackled him as Azar completed the spell. As Cthulhu's servant vanished the island sank. They all found themselves in the cold waters of the harbor. The investigators quickly made for their boat, hoping the cult (especially machete man) would not survive the experience.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-9198058110383056862019-01-23T20:35:00.001-05:002019-01-23T20:35:29.179-05:00RPG Review: Malleus Monstrorum for Call of Cthulhu<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
One of my favorite supplements for Chaosium's <i>Call of Cthulhu </i>RPG is <i>Malleus Monstrorum</i>. Though written for the 6th edition of the game, in my experience it can be converted on the fly to other editions. It is out of print, with physical copies selling in excess of $100.00. It is available digitally from <a href="https://www.chaosium.com/malleus-monstrorum-pdf/">Chaosium</a> and <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/82428/Malleus-Monstrorum">DrivethruRPG</a>.<br />
<br />
The book is about 300 pages long and is illustrated in black and white, as was typical for pre-7th edition Chaosium books. Regrettably the book is not bookmarked, something that would have been rather useful. The artwork is somewhat unconventional - a combination of black and white photographs, sketches, pictographs, drawings of statues, etc.<br />
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<i>Malleus Monstorum</i> is essentially a "Monster Manual" for Call of Cthulhu. It is divided into various classifications, such as servitor races, independent races, gods, animals, etc. It has a lot of creatures from the works of HP Lovecraft, August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smith, Frank Belknap Long, HG Wells, Brian Lumley, Ramsey Campbell, etc. Some of the species presented are quite surprising, like Wells' Martians and their Tripods from <i>War of the Worlds</i>.<br />
<br />
Not only are the main deities of the Mythos included, but many of them have multiple avatars presented for them - with several for Cthulhu and even more for Nyarlathotep.<br />
<br />
The book has a number of appendices - one of the more useful ones is advice for adapting creatures from other sources, such as creatures from <i>Doctor Who </i>and <i>Star Trek</i>.<br />
<br />
The most logical 7th edition book to compare this with would be<i> S. Petersen's Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors</i>. That work is a much more gorgeous book but is also more narrowly focused - it is more of a spotter guide with a much smaller number of creatures.<br />
<br />
I greatly enjoy the <i>Malleus Monstorum</i> both for its game stats and as an inspiration. It is great to have stats for most every creature one could want for the game all in one place. I personally have a tendency to use these stats as a starting point, adjusting them to fit the needs of a given scenario. I'd love to see Chaosium release a version of the book for Roll20 - it'd be great to have a library of stats available for online play.<br />
<br />
<i>Malleus Monstorum </i>is also a great book for inspiration. The non-traditional artwork, while not dense, serves as a great source of ideas, as do the sheer number of creatures. The descriptions of the creatures are also great for mining for scenario ideas. I've had many scenarios originate from spending some time with this book, coupled with contemplating interesting ways to use the beings within.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-9198159559889300662019-01-15T20:37:00.000-05:002019-01-15T20:37:02.239-05:00The Great Molasses Flood in Call of Cthulhu<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
Today, January 15, 2019, marks the 100th anniversary of the Great Molasses Flood in Boston. On that day, around noon, a massive tidal wave of molasses flooded the North End neighborhood. Supports for elevated trains were damaged, buildings toppled. Twenty one people died and around 150 were injured. I've written of this before in my review of Stephen Puleo's <i><a href="https://19thlevel.blogspot.com/2014/12/non-fiction-review-dark-tide-great.html">Dark Tide</a></i>, the best (and one of the only) source of information for this disaster.<br />
<br />
I find Boston of the 1910s to be a fascinating period in history and have been running a <i>Call of Cthulhu </i>campaign set in 1914 - it's about to reach 1915. They might eventually merge with a previous campaign, one that began in France at the end of World War One - but whose second adventure was about the Molasses Flood.<br />
<br />
What makes the era so fascinating? It was a time of extreme tension. Immigrants were pouring into cities and traditional power bases were being disrupted as the immigrants found their voices. It was also a time of extreme hardship, with brutal work conditions and few worker protections. When examining old <i>Boston Globe</i> archives from that period I found an advertisement for Grape Nuts Cereal - and it suggested eating them would keep you healthy, helping you avoid missing work and losing your job due to illness.<br />
<br />
In this period were a number of new movements - in the United States these included communism and anarchism - often linked together though they had very different desires. Anarchists were quite terrifying to Americans of the day - and understandably so. There was reason for the caricature of the bomb-throwing anarchist. Many heads of state were killed by anarchists, including US President McKinley. Anarchists blew up a Boston Police Station. They made use of mail bombs.<br />
<br />
When a great tank of molasses spilled 2.3 million gallons of molasses onto the city streets, the initial assumption was it was done by anarchists. This isn't surprising. Anarchists had threatened the tank as it was used in the production of industrial alcohol, essential for the munitions of the Great War. It was built in a hurry to take advantage of the economic opportunity provided by the war - with poor quality. It often leaked onto the streets.<br />
<br />
One of the things I dislike in my own <i>Call of Cthulhu</i> games is having the Mythos responsible for events in human history. It's something that can work if used sparingly but it is very easy to overdo - and can get very tasteless. For example, I would consider it offensive to say "the Holocaust was all for a magic spell that Hitler was casting that required the deaths of millions". However, if one's group were comfortable with the subject matter (and I'm not certain I would be), I could see having an individual Nazi sorcerer taking advantage of the horrid circumstances.<br />
<br />
For the Great Molasses Flood, it was such a major event that it would seem a great opportunity for inclusion in a historic game. When I ran an adventure during the Flood, I had it kill a cultist of Tsathoggua in his basement shrine- which unleashed a Formless Spawn no longer under his control. This Spawn was able to easily conceal itself in the molasses that covered everything in the area for days after.<br />
<br />
Should our current game reach this point, I'd probably not repeat the same adventure - unless something happens to force a divergence, I consider them taking place in the same universe, so I'd say that was happening in the background. However, there are a number of other possibilities that come to mind. I've taken advantage of the criminal connections that anarchists of the era had and have had cultists often integrate with such groups - some as true believers, some just taking advantage of them.<br />
<br />
It is quite likely that some cultists will be displaced by the Flood. The North End was a crowded immigrant neighborhood. One might have been killed by the Flood, leaving his trove of artifacts unprotected - causing a cultist war, if one supposes multiple sorcerous factions in the city. One can easily imagine the early investigation centering around known anarchists, possibly causing a cultist to accelerate his or her plans. One might be arrested, causing followers to attempt a break-out.<br />
<br />
Also consider the possibility of using the Flood as a great opportunity to bring investigators together. People struggled to survive and help with rescue efforts. They might even wind up rescuing a cultist...<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-72398701204561782952019-01-06T21:29:00.000-05:002019-01-06T21:29:13.574-05:00Call of Cthulhu Actual Play - Still Waters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Though based in Boston, the investigators do make occasional forays. When an opportunity to acquire a forbidden tome in Biloxi, Mississippi arises, the Watch and Ward Society sends one of their agents and her allies. Professor Victor Davies was willing to donate the <i>Vishakhapatnam Fragment</i> to Harvard University in return for access to some of Harvard's restricted texts. Not a perfect deal, but the chance to take the Fragment out of circulation could not be ignored.<br />
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Based on the adventure "Still Waters" by L.N. Isynwill and Doug Lyons from Chaosium's <i>The</i> <i>Great Old Ones</i> book.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Setting:</b> Boston. Tuesday, October 13 - Wednesday, October 14, 1914, Davies Landing, Mississippi.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Cast of Characters:</b></h3>
<h4>
<b>Investigators:</b></h4>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Colin O'Connor: Civil engineer from Dunmore, Ireland. Employed as a civil engineer by the city of Boston.</li>
<li>Lola Diaz Azar: Archaeologist hailing from Puerto Rico, born of a Puerto Rican mother and Middle Eastern father. Agent of the New England Watch and Ward Society, specializing in occult tomes.</li>
<li>Nathaniel Quincy, MD, Captain, US Army (Ret.) Former army doctor, served in Nicaragua and the Philippines. Now working as a medical examiner for Essex County.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div>
<b>NPCs:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Victor Davies, bibliophile and historian</li>
<li>Philippa Davies, Victor's daughter. Former classmate of Lola</li>
<li>Claude Lareen - Townsperson in Davies' Landing</li>
<li>Raymond Brown, Davies' butler</li>
<li>Adele Brown. Raymond's wife</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<h3>
Summary</h3>
<div>
As the investigators prepped for their train ride, Lola received a telegram from Philippa, a former university classmate, looking forward to seeing her again and telling her there would be a car waiting to take them to Sunset Hall, their modest mansion, on the evening of October 13.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
They completed a long train ride, with a transfer in New Orleans, and reached Davies' Landing on schedule. It was a cold, drizzly evening - unseasonably chill. There was no car waiting for them. No one got off with them. The small town was not electrified - a small dangling light bulb at the platform was powered by a gasoline generator. A little after 7 PM, the sun had set and the last remnants of twilight were fading.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
They worked their way into the small town, with all the windows dark. Sunset Hall was perhaps three miles away - certainly walkable, but not a pleasant walk in the rain and with their baggage. Dogs noticed their arrival and barked - and barked, and barked. Eventually one of the houses opened to them, owned by Mr. Claude Lareen. Claude lit his stove and made the investigators some coffee, offering to take them to Sunset Hall. His wife was less than thrilled, worried about "Old Bill" - supposedly a giant alligator that preys on animals and people - a legend Claude assured them - a small donation helped smooth things over - for the church of course.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The ride was not by automobile but by horse drawn wagon. Reaching the estate they saw the garage doors open and the garage empty, with tire tracks showing there was normally a vehicle there. A generator provided electricity to the estate. </div>
<div>
<br />Within they found some horrors - Raymond and Adele Brown both dead, their internal organs removed and piled neatly. An investigation by Nathanial estimated they'd been dead for perhaps a day. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
An investigation of the house did not turn up the Davies. It did turn up some interesting and disturbing clues however:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>A number of minor Mythos tomes in the library. </li>
<li>Acquisitions logs showing willingness to steal and kill for getting new books.</li>
<li>A truck in a barn (but not the Davies' Packard).</li>
<li>An obsession with competitors - competitors supposedly based out of the supposedly Rosethorne Mansion, only a few miles away.</li>
<li>An obsession with the Rosethorne family - Patricia and Nathaly, twin sisters, were supposedly the last of them. Brody Rosethorne was a slave trader and then a prominent Klansman after the Civil War. He and his wife died in 1875. The twins then lived with distant relatives in Florida and are recorded as having died of typhoid in 1879.</li>
<li>A spell to quicken mental faculties - requiring incestuous activities - which photos indicate did take place between the two Davies.</li>
<li>A record for a copy of a key to the Rosethorne Mansion.</li>
<li>A memo to ready the <i>Fragments</i> for pickup - they were indeed expected.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Claude went to summon the sheriff while the investigators got the truck running (it was in mediocre shape) and drove to the Rosethorne Mansion, arriving around midnight.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Near the mansion they found the Davies' Packard, hidden in the woods. In the trunk of the Packard were the <i>Fragments - </i>a series of metal plates with Sanskrit writing. They parked by it and approached the mansion. It was nearly empty but in a fireplace they found a hidden stairwell down, requiring two people to open the door. On an iron tablet made visible by the door were a pair of inscriptions:</div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dedicatory To Our Flesh: Daughters, look once upon this and preserve. A Great Power gives your dying parents leave to ward back<br />Death at a price paid gladly, for the clay is cold and wormy. Now taken from this place, yet you shall return when the years are right.<br />We mark our path for you. There is life below, as you shall know, and in the still waters, and in the sea. We shall meet again.</blockquote>
<div>
Around the Dedicatory flowed a different script in Roman letters:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh<br />wgah’ naglfhtagn</blockquote>
Descending the steps they found living chambers - with the Davies at a table, dead and mutilated, nailed in place. On Victor was a paper saying "I Liked Books Too Much" and on Philippa a note saying "I Am A Naughty Book Grabber!".<br />
<br />
Then they were visited pair of hideous, squid-like women. Patricia and Nataly, alive and... somewhat well. They weren't like the fish-men from Innsmouth they had seen, they were more... alien. The sight of them was too much for Colin who found himself enamored of all things of the sea. He pledged himself to them. Nathaly charged at them while Patricia played a alien-sounding organ, singing songs of their imminent death.<br />
<br />
Nathaniel tried dragging Colin away, without much success, as he dodged the non-human claws of Nathaly. Lola fled to their vehicles and grabbed a gasoline can, igniting the place on fire. That broke the spell for Colin, who allowed himself to be dragged away. The sisters fled deeper into the basement.<br />
<br />
The fire damaged the mansion, but did not destroy it, owing to the rain. Returning to it they discovered the sisters had an escape route - a tunnel leading into the river - and an emptied out library. They also learned a yacht departed Davies Landing in the early morning of the 14th, after the fire - the <i>Nathaly</i>. The squid-women were free and at sea.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless they took some solace in obtaining a number of tomes and removing them from circulation.</div>
<h3>
<br /></h3>
<h3>
Adventure Notes</h3>
<div>
Aside from the move to an earlier period (from the 1920s to 1914), I found the geography a bit odd. Biloxi was listed as the closest city but the adventure also was on the Chickasway River - I assume that's fictional, though there is a Chickaswhay River (slightly different spelling) but it does not reach the Gulf. I decided to move this to the Biloxi River.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-40642634012189880712019-01-05T22:33:00.000-05:002019-01-05T22:33:19.846-05:00Film Review - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse</i> is easily my favorite Spider-Man film, one of my top superhero films, and one of my top animated films. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">It’s a rare film - one that takes a lot of chances and wins. My younger daughter, aged 13, is a superhero fan, though more in the DC camp, loved it. She chose to see it a second time over an <i>Aquaman</i> viewing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">So what about it is so awesome? I’m going to go into some spoiler territory here, though I’ll try to keep it mild for those who haven’t seen it (go see it). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I’ll start with the animation/style. <i>Into the Spider-Verse</i> feels like a comic book made into a film. It features text captions, comic books, multiple panels on the screen at once, etc. With multiple Spider-beings from different universes, it gives them all their own art styles - Spider-Man Noir, from an alternate 1930s, is in black and white. He literally cannot see color. And where he goes the wind follows. And it smells like rain. Peni Parker and her SP/dr suit are presented in a quasi-anime style. Spider-Ham (yes, he is in this film) is in Loony Toons style. The city environment of New York was gorgeous. It felt like a New York.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">From that paragraph you’be an idea of the chances the film took. It could have been laughable - and there were some laughs to be sure - but really it had a high chance of falling into farce and deftly avoided that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">We’ve also got Peter Parker. He breezes through his origin story - a story that is essentially the Rami <i>Spider-Man</i> trilogy, with upside-down kissing, stopping of trains, and emo dancing. But he goes beyond that. We see Peter Parker’s life go south. He gets married to Mary-Jane but the marriage goes south. Eventually they split up and we are treated to a going-on middle-age, getting a little chunky, depressed Peter Parker. I think this was an essential decision. The Spider-Man films struggle allowing Peter to be anything other than a high school, maybe college, student. For most of his career in the comics he has been beyond that. This Peter could have been played for laughs - and again, there are some deliberate laughs, but there’s some real genius here. Though a bit burnt out and defeated by life, this Peter Parker still has it. He’s still a genius, he’s still a hero. He’s still filled with compassion, though it may take a little poking to get to it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">We also get a Spider-Woman - Gwen Stacy, from another universe. She was an absolute joy to experience. Like the main Peter Parker, she’s taken some beatings from life and while heroic, she is distant, not wanting to get hurt by losing more people she cares about. It goes without saying, that every Spider-Being has their own “Uncle Ben” equivalent. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Finally there’s the main Spider-Person of the film, Miles Morales. In a film with over half a dozen Spider-Beings, he is never overshadowed. It is his movie. He is a young Afro-Latino boy who is attending a boarding STEM-type school. He has a good family life. He has a bit of an awkward relationship with his father (not wanting rides to school on Mondays from his dad - in a police car, with his dad a cop). He is especially close to his father’s estranged brother, his Uncle Aaron. Aaron isn’t quite on the right side of the law but the two nevertheless clearly love each other. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The film shows us Miles getting bit by his own radioactive spider and the treat of him discovering his powers (“it’s a puberty thing”). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Much of the film is spent with the Spider-Beings meeting each other. Rather than avoiding origin stories, the film gives us one for each of them - breezing through them, but not holding back. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">We know that Peter’s great challenge was learning that with great power comes great responsibility. That’s not quite Miles’ challenge. Miles is plunged into a world of super-beings with no warning and is in dire circumstances. And he is, quite frankly, terrified. It doesn’t totally paralyze him - he wants to do the right thing. But he can’t quite control his powers - he has trouble unsticking to walls and can’t consciously control some powers he received beyond the traditional ones. I hope I’m not giving away anything when I write his whole arc is getting to the point where he masters those powers. But is is beautifully done. The best dialogue in the film is between Miles and Peter. Miles wants to know when he’ll be ready - when he’ll really be Spider-Man. ”You won’t. It’s all it is, Miles. A leap of faith.” That is Miles’ “with great power comes great responsibility”. And the payoff is one of the most beautifully done superhero scenes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Gwen and Peter are the other main Spider-Beings (though all were given some great moments and felt fully realized). And they had their own arcs. Gwen needing to be able to open up again. And Peter moving past his mistakes and repairing his life. Peter is especially sad - in my opinion there’s some scenes that show him slipping towards suicidal tendencies. But mentoring Miles allows him to see he still has stuff to offer - there’s no guarantee he won’t mess things up again - for him to, moving forward will be a leap of faith.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The music was fantastic - a combination of an instrumental score and a lot of hip-hop and rap. Sometimes played together to great effect. </span></div>
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The voice acting was great - they made some great decisions on who they chose to do the voices and the actors delivered. It was poignant having one last speaking Stan Lee cameo - one that drives the plot (and touchingly, the film ended with a dedication to both Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, both of whom passed away in 2018).</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The film ends with the possibility of sequels - of many sequels. Amazing Spider-Man 2 was designed for the possibility of creating a “cinematic universe” for Spider-Man. It failed pretty spectacularly. Into the Spider-Verse pulled it off fantastically. I want to see more of all of these Spider-Beings - together or separately. I especially want to see more of Miles Morales.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-71451615122788193142018-12-16T21:15:00.000-05:002018-12-16T21:15:20.720-05:00Call of Cthulhu Actual Play - A Mythos Love Story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihGaEPCKDdJo2gdlMNOdgWo1njlsbFsYqds6LFuXOuyctvoewi9rOD3UD6Sj3Y11u1UBjrn2rGlTlUW2-1_9Uwj-729BxsTZdi84BAME8xAeatQgLamfXYpYiPa68hYiCZSdV0IKH2kAE/s1600/Boston_reflection_na.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="650" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihGaEPCKDdJo2gdlMNOdgWo1njlsbFsYqds6LFuXOuyctvoewi9rOD3UD6Sj3Y11u1UBjrn2rGlTlUW2-1_9Uwj-729BxsTZdi84BAME8xAeatQgLamfXYpYiPa68hYiCZSdV0IKH2kAE/s320/Boston_reflection_na.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
Not all tales of the Mythos involve a world-shattering threat. Some are mysteries as to why people become someone they weren't previously. Sometimes this answer is more than the questioner can handle.<br />
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Inspired by the adventure capsule "People Change" from Chaosium's <i>Escape from Innsmouth</i> adventure.<br />
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<br />
<b>Setting:</b> Boston. Friday, August 14, 1914. A drizzly cool day.<br />
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<b>Cast of Characters:</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Investigators:</li>
<ul>
<li>Colin O'Connor: Civil engineer from Dunmore, Ireland. Employed as a civil engineer by the city of Boston.</li>
<li>Lola Diaz Azar: Archaeologist hailing from Puerto Rico, born of a Puerto Rican mother and Middle Eastern father. Agent of the New England Watch and Ward Society, specializing in occult tomes.</li>
<li>Nathaniel Quincy, MD, Captain, US Army (Ret.) Former army doctor, served in Nicaragua and the Philippines. Now working as a medical examiner for Essex County.</li>
</ul>
<li>NPCs:</li>
<ul>
<li>Jonathan Longstreet: Civil engineer. Widower. Working on building the Dorchester Subway. About 50 years old. Fought in Spanish-American war.</li>
<li>Jessica Longstreet: Jonathan's daughter. About 21 years old. Attending Smith College. Got engaged this June. Will be returning to campus over in September for her senior year.</li>
<li>Adam Wilkes: Jessica's missing fiancé. Harvard student. Engaged to Jennifer. Bit of an elitist snob, a bit shook up when he learned his ancestry.</li>
<li>Margaret Wilkes: Singer, performer, has married up. Likes the money, not crazy about husband but likes the access to stuff he gets her.</li>
<li>Emilia Wilkes: Teen age sister of Adam. A bit spoiled but an ok kid. May be a good source of info - she doesn’t know everything but she does know of Adam’s true parentage from a relative who talked too much.</li>
<li>Ethan Wilkes: Wealthy investor. Finances a number of moving picture production companies in New York City and Las Angeles. A bit distant.</li>
<li>Vic Martin: Deep One hybrid. Once had a rather torrid affair with Margaret Sullivan that continued into early days of her marriage. Used to look a bit like Ethan. Now could only pass for human in extremely low light or at a distance. Occasionally goes to Innsmouth still. Had done business for Innsmouth outside the town when he looked more human.</li>
<li>Ruby Merritt: Chauffeur, general "get things gone" person for the Wilkes. Older middle-aged, willing to get hands dirty.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
<b>Plot Summary:</b></div>
<div>
Police Captain McShane asked the investigators to look into some weirdness - what seemed to be a burglary had some weirdness beneath it. Jonathan Longstreet's Cambridge apartment had been robbed. Much of his daughter Jennifer's jewelry had been stolen - jewelry she had received from her fiancé who had been missing for the past year.</div>
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Interviewing Jonathan and Jessica they learned the jewelry had originally been to Adam from his mother. They were very strange, having an alien look to them - the closest analogue being Polynesian, but that was a rough approximation. Adam had vanished about a week ago and requests to his family went unanswered - they were Boston Brahmins and less than pleased at his being engaged to a middle-class woman. Two days ago the Wilkes chauffeur and all-around troubleshooter came by to collect the jewelry. Jessica refused, saying she would return it only at Adam's direct request. Yesterday the house was robbed, with all the jewelry save the engagement ring and necklace she had been wearing. Jennifer indicated that Adam had not been doing well since mid-July - coming down with a nasty rash and flaking skin.</div>
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Beyond the strangeness, the police were not particularly eager to go agains the wealthy Wilkes family. The investigators paid a visit to their Back Bay home. There they managed to secure an interview with his mother Margaret and his teenage sister Emilia. They had walked into some family conflict with Emilia eager to spill some dirt - she'd learned that Margaret had been having a relationship with a Vic Martin of Innsmouth at the time she married Ethan, with Vic being Adam's birth father. He'd left the scene shortly after, but not before leaving some notes and jewelry behind for Adam which he might need should "the time come". She'd thought nothing of it until recently, with Adam coming down with the same skin condition that Vic had had before his departure. (Note - this was <b>not</b> a pleasant conversation, much at the instigation of Ms. Azar...)</div>
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Looking at the notes, Doctor Quincy was able to piece together it was some sort of "ritual" to call "Deep Ones" to the shore with an offering of the strange alien jewelry. Adam was at their small boathouse on Turtle Island, one of the smaller Harbor Islands.</div>
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The investigators chartered a fishing trawler that was idle while waiting for spare parts for its winches to take them to Turtle Island. Upon arrival they found Adam - looking very scaly (and naked) as he completed his Deep One summoning ritual. They took a small launch to the island where they made contact with Adam - who was not looking well, with unblinking eyes, webbed hands and feet, and a generally scaly appearance. Doctor Quinn was able to confirm a metamorphosis was indeed going on, one he could not stop. And then about a dozen Deep Ones arrived - strange, fish-like humanoids. Including Vic Martin, who had been living under the sea for twenty years now. Vic croaked an explanation that they had their own undersea civilization that should be left alone - unless the surface world wanted to learn just how numerous they were.</div>
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Knowing that Jessica and Jonathan were unlikely to believe this strange tale, Colin O'Connor studied the ritual Adam had used and performed it so that Jessica could see for herself what Adam had become. She was horrified - though Adam did indicate he had learned that pairings with humans were not only possible but encouraged... </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-37712606182526225222018-12-15T19:23:00.001-05:002018-12-15T19:23:29.337-05:00Turtledove's Timeline-191<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvg9YIM6JKw8eeEIsWsOr8PRmpMS-r8AAMl1LUdm0SjADkiUkl8KRyawR9l9rFaFZuc0wp5mrJzR8Q8DTW6L88CdKllio8DQY0ivDyKz22Nxx7aqWYfxmxGhBKFF0ui_yV29YRjlB6c0/s1600/how_few_remain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="305" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvg9YIM6JKw8eeEIsWsOr8PRmpMS-r8AAMl1LUdm0SjADkiUkl8KRyawR9l9rFaFZuc0wp5mrJzR8Q8DTW6L88CdKllio8DQY0ivDyKz22Nxx7aqWYfxmxGhBKFF0ui_yV29YRjlB6c0/s320/how_few_remain.jpg" width="195" /></a></div>
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In the American Civil War, Confederate General Lee's Special Order 191 fell into Union hands, providing Union General McClellan with the location of the Army of Northern Virginia. This allowed for Union victory at the Battle of Antietam which provided President Lincoln with the proper conditions to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, making the Civil War a war against slavery. This prevented France and the United Kingdom from recognizing the Confederacy.<br />
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This is a common point of divergence in alternate history fiction. On its own, the rebelling states did not have a chance of victory if the Union chose to fight until victory. Their only real chances was to either convince the Union that victory was not worth fighting for or to secure foreign assistance. Harry Turtledove posited in this series that if the orders did not fall into Union hands, France and the UK would recognize the Confederacy, forcing an end to the Civil War.<br />
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The first novel in this series, <i>How Few Remain</i>, featured the Second Mexican War. In it, the Confederacy purchased the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua from Emperor Maximilian (a European puppet who in real history was forced out of power for a variety of reasons, including that of the reunited USA not being very happy with him). The USA declared war in response to this expansion but again found themselves alone against a Confederacy with strong European allies. It also featured a still alive former President Lincoln, blamed for the loss of the Confederacy, splitting progressive Republicans out of their party into a Socialist party.<br />
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While <i>How Few Remain</i> featured historical characters as viewpoint characters, starting in the <i>Great War </i>trilogy, the viewpoint characters became purely fictional, though they often interacted with historical characters like Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, Al Smith, Louis Armstrong, etc. After the conclusion of the Great War, Turtledove quickly covered the 20+ years between wars, with analogs of the Great Depression and an American version of the Nazi party taking over one of the American governments, complete with a Holocaust on American soil.<br />
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Over the past few months I've been rereading books in this series. In all honesty, I'm going to have to describe the writing quality as... ok. There's a lot of repeated facts and descriptions. I think the term "zinc oxide" is used a few hundred times as we are treated to repeated descriptions of a fair-skinned American sailor's battles with sunburn.<br />
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With that caveat, it's a series with some pretty awesome ideas. It shows both the United States and Confederate States becoming more entangled with European alliances as they jockey for power - with some predictable results upon the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. I'm staying a bit clear of spoilers in this discussion, but we learn at the start of the Great War series that Woodrow Wilson is indeed president - of the Confederacy - with Theodore Roosevelt as president of the USA.<br />
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In this timeline, the Republican party is a very minor power in the USA, with a strong Socialist party taking their place against the Democratic majority (of which Theodore Roosevelt is a part). The Confederacy is not able to hold onto slavery for very long due to the objections of their European allies - however black Confederates are not citizens, they are "legal residents" with far fewer rights than the ruling whites. Under this backdrop, the oppressive whites of the Confederacy find themselves dealing with a "black red" revolution, as many of its black residents embrace communism. <br />
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The USA is less oppressive towards blacks, but that isn't saying much. Many whites in the USA blame them for the War of Secession (as the Civil War is called). Blacks attempting to flee to the USA are typically sent back to the CSA.<br />
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Border towns and cities prove interesting places - in several novels, Covington, Kentucky is a major location. It is a Confederate city across the Ohio river from Union Cincinnati, Ohio. It is a major battleground and changes hands multiple times, with numerous underground organizations.<br />
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One of my pet peeves with RPGs set in the Old West is they so frequently resort to having a victorious Confederacy. Sometimes this is done with a painful ignoring of many of the historical facts of the Confederacy. I really like the Deadlands RPG but I find its "and just like that the Confederacy decided racism was bad" to be extremely jarring. However, Turtledove's portrayal of the two nations strikes me as a lot more believable. The Confederacy is extremely dependent on both having European allies and Union ineptitude. By the 20th century, the Union has its own allies and has become extremely militarized. The novels do not portray every white in the Confederacy as a raging racist, but it does portray it as a racist government - and aren't much kinder to the United States.<br />
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One thing the novels do really get across is how fortunate the United States is to have emerged from the Civil War a single nation. It's difficult to imagine history flowing so similar to our own with such major changes, but it is difficult to imagine those nations as being friendly with each other. But as a thought exercise I find it quite compelling. As far as if one would enjoy such reading such novels, I find people tend to discover early on if Turtledove's writing style works for them.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-8766624276816005032018-12-05T21:33:00.000-05:002018-12-05T21:36:26.409-05:00Fiction Review: 14<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoo0B-u09wsFGyB7-oIfTI6PqHpOwBR_0vOuk2jNzfIqL01CXrDuuWOLYlIuNr-bB0ygLW7RhCJXAY-MF4hMNjVITGQEECOlJ3GHxwkIuRHOqDtIhdAhoq1NiIRQdUUlxkOs2sj9UotA/s1600/14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoo0B-u09wsFGyB7-oIfTI6PqHpOwBR_0vOuk2jNzfIqL01CXrDuuWOLYlIuNr-bB0ygLW7RhCJXAY-MF4hMNjVITGQEECOlJ3GHxwkIuRHOqDtIhdAhoq1NiIRQdUUlxkOs2sj9UotA/s320/14.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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This July I started a new job. Beyond the cool work, free food, and awesome headquarters, there's a ton of interesting social groups that meet physically and/or on Slack. One group I'm in is a reading group which has introduced me to fiction that is of interest to me but that I might not have otherwise read.<br />
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Earlier this year we read Peter Clines' <i>14.</i> It is a book about a group of people in a very strange Las Angeles apartment building. The rent is very cheap but it's never advertised - people always hear about it via word of mouth. The apartments are weird and unique. One is always very cool - the same constant temperature, no matter what. Another has a kitchen where any light bulb is always extremely dim. Another has a layout where nothing is directly connected to a wall - power outlets are on the floor, kitchen counters are a few inches away from the walls, etc. And is is two stories tall for some reason.<br />
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Our main protagonist is Nate, a data entry temp (who has been at the same place for years) at some minor Hollywood trade magazine. Many of the other characters are odd - religious zealot, weird artist, recently divorced older dude who seems to be good at everything.<br />
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Published in 2012 it really evokes its time. It's at the tail end of the Great Recession, and none of the characters are well-off. Many work for some Hollywood-related industry, though none are actors.<br />
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Nate is obsessed with the weirdness of the building. He wants to understand why it is the way it is, who owns it, etc. He also really wants some purpose in his life. He hates his job. Uncovering the mystery of the building becomes that purpose. Others in the building join him, becoming a "Scooby gang".<br />
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I'm hesitant to give many more details, but it has a strong Lovecraftian influence, along with some strong doses of weird science - the Tesla seen in <i>Atomic Robo</i> and <i>The Prestige </i>would be right at home here. There is a lot of weirdness here. I'd call it "Lovecraft Lite" - I don't mean that in a bad way, rather a lot of weirdness, a lot of danger, some horrible fates and cosmic horror, but the possibility of something resembling a happy ending - for some of the characters.<br />
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I enjoyed reading this. Some people in my reading group compared it to <i>Lost</i> - I never really got into <i>Lost </i>so I can't speak to that. I was pleased that the mystery built up but much of it was explained as the book progressed. I was also able to predict some plot developments - areas where Clines dropped some hints beforehand. I also enjoyed his realization of Las Angeles - being a New Yorker originally and having been in the Boston area for over two decades now, I kinda consider anything west of the Hudson River to be "the west". But Clines' LA seemed real - not the glitzy Hollywood version, but the one in which many people live and work.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-38528569768222453492018-12-03T08:51:00.000-05:002018-12-03T09:38:48.039-05:00Ripping from the Headlines - Raiding Old Newspapers for Call of CthulhuOne of the challenges I found in setting a <i>Call of Cthulhu</i> campaign in Boston was in understanding what the city was <i>really</i> like around a century ago. Sometimes I find it easier to do things in a fictional city or in one I've never been in than as opposed to one some 25 miles away from me - a city I go to regularly and which is the cultural center of my area.<br />
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I've found raiding <i>Boston Globe </i>archives to have been an awesome exercise. Check out the following weather forecast from August 14, 1914.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjcON7cuREx45aGMAuIS209aif7cKNd_PWcOieo2N-EFAlz0WJrddETVl4QKBOPNkNWnG6_UnJfmVWdoW_mWNKsK2Z754fU_qQreMTj7ZBfTYQ90qaNF0k0Z1Yatzzy-phBahllQc87DM/s1600/The_Boston_Globe_Fri__Aug_14__1914_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="694" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjcON7cuREx45aGMAuIS209aif7cKNd_PWcOieo2N-EFAlz0WJrddETVl4QKBOPNkNWnG6_UnJfmVWdoW_mWNKsK2Z754fU_qQreMTj7ZBfTYQ90qaNF0k0Z1Yatzzy-phBahllQc87DM/s640/The_Boston_Globe_Fri__Aug_14__1914_.jpg" width="276" /></a></div>
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So what's interesting to me? First, as someone who is obsessed with details, it's nice to have. To be honest, if an adventure would work better with different weather, I'd happily use the different weather and get it "wrong". A heatwave instead of the modest temperatures in this forecast wouldn't cause a game to self-destruct.</div>
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But what really got my attention was "The Temperature Yesterday at Thompson's Spa. Going through the archives of 1914 it seems every issue gave that as the baseline for the weather. And I found myself wondering "what was Thompson's Spa". Apparently in New England "spa" became used as a soda fountain. The first reference to it seems to be from a Pennsylvania newspaper article in 1895 about Boston - "In Boston, Thompson’s Spa, the greatest soda resort at the Hub, easily clears for its owners 50 thousand dollars a year" (<a href="https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2018/05/22/why-are-some-boston-area-convenience-stores-called-spas">Why Are Some Boston Area Convenience Stores Called Spas?</a>) From some more browsing I've discovered Thompson's Spa was an incredibly popular soda fountain/restaurant. It was also in Newspaper Row, right across the street from the Boston Globe, per this January 2, 1917 <i>Globe </i>article:</div>
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These sorts of insights are great for background. The papers are also great inspiration for adventures. Consider the following minor story from the August 14, 1914 <i>Boston Globe</i>. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzz3_N-mt9lkt01wmTVz16h9ChrkR3PqCp2oaY1HnxvOqTtVBrDt2MkOMZ1hYiVwIMm3H_JjpqPnPcFEZiH_KFxE3cghrW3FJP-_7nXr4JiZfb_Fd_bPf5ahrtZ07mlvy3dJ-llAQsHfc/s1600/The_Boston_Globe_Fri__Aug_14__1914_highlight.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="232" data-original-width="730" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzz3_N-mt9lkt01wmTVz16h9ChrkR3PqCp2oaY1HnxvOqTtVBrDt2MkOMZ1hYiVwIMm3H_JjpqPnPcFEZiH_KFxE3cghrW3FJP-_7nXr4JiZfb_Fd_bPf5ahrtZ07mlvy3dJ-llAQsHfc/s400/The_Boston_Globe_Fri__Aug_14__1914_highlight.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I didn't find any follow-up to this. So stolen jewelry? The little article is rife for Mythos implications. Perhaps the jewelry is the type favored by Deep Ones. Or sacred to the King in Yellow. Was the owner aware of their significance? Did he come by it legitimately? Or did he steal it and it was stolen back? I find I like these types of articles, rife for being filled in. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-31162694608701340322018-12-02T21:03:00.000-05:002018-12-02T21:03:16.173-05:00Call of Cthulhu Actual Play - Ashes of the FeastThe world doesn't know it yet, but the shots which will trigger the Great War have just been fired. In Boston, the Hub of the Universe, massive construction projects are underway, building the infrastructure which will serve the city for the rest of this century and beyond. However, that construction has unearthed a hidden evil...<br />
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<b>Setting:</b> Boston. Monday, June 29, 1914<br />
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<b>Cast of Characters:</b><br />
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<ul>
<li>Colin O'Connor: Civil engineer from Dunmore, Ireland. Working on the Dorchester Tunnel.</li>
<li>Lola Diaz Azar: Archaeologist hailing from Puerto Rico, born of a Puerto Rican mother and Middle Eastern father.</li>
<li>Nathaniel Quincy, MD, Captain, US Army (Ret.) Former army doctor, served in Nicaragua and the Philippines.</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiIYrfsLOQV1vbI7XX0BnQoLNEIO-voyHeegM4gsRM9aJetqavf6uWgfvBV_stBmySb57kGKMR-3Wbu93JQznzz_NtFE72AuYRfANJPm98IE4gtWBDR3aR9dxgyzsueWNiJXrgxvmkFo0/s1600/house_moving.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="1336" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiIYrfsLOQV1vbI7XX0BnQoLNEIO-voyHeegM4gsRM9aJetqavf6uWgfvBV_stBmySb57kGKMR-3Wbu93JQznzz_NtFE72AuYRfANJPm98IE4gtWBDR3aR9dxgyzsueWNiJXrgxvmkFo0/s400/house_moving.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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The three investigators had assembled at a home in South Boston on Summer Street. With the Dorchester tunnel extension to the Cambridge Subway being built a number of homes were being moved. Under one of them the house movers had found a hidden chamber of horrors. The three had special skills. O'Connor was an engineer working on the tunnel. Azar had worked with O'Connor before when the Tremont Street Tunnel uncovered ancient fishweirs. Doctor Quincy had treated a number of the injured from the construction - and handled his fair share of corpses.</div>
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The house had belonged to Finn O’Riabhaigh, who was killed in an apparent power struggle in his anarchist organization back in 1910. He was also apparently the "cannibal killer" who had terrorized Boston and surrounding area in the noughties and early 1910 - apparently operating in the basement of his anarchist publication. He had at least one accomplice - Sergey Baranov, who oddly enough was in the newspaper headlines today, though less prevalently than that of assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary.</div>
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Unfortunately, the basement was discovered on Friday and over the weekend a guard had been killed - his throat slit - and some items likely removed from the basement.</div>
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Relevant articles found in the newspaper included:</div>
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<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>May 11, 1910</b></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter Semibold",serif;">ANARCHIST HORROR IN
SOUTH BOSTON</span></b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter Semibold",serif;"></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter Semibold",serif;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;">CANNIBAL
KILLER SLAIN, ACCOMPLICE IN COMA</span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;">Responding
to reports of a struggle, police found a gruesome scene in the basements of an
anarchist newsletter headquarters. In the basement of the “Universal
Brotherhood”, the organization’s leader, Finn O'Riabhaigh was found dead, with
his throat slit. He had apparently been in the act of consuming a human corpse,
that of Mister Rocco Altieri, a southern Italian immigrant. This bizarre murder
matches the modus operandi of several unsolved murders over the past five years
in the city and surrounding communities.</span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"> </span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;">Also
found was Sergey Baranov, with both a similar wound to the throat and a gunshot
wound. At the time of this writing Baranov was in surgery with an unclear
prognosis.</span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"> </span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;">O’Riabhaigh
was editor and publisher of the anarchist newsletter, the “Universal
Brotherhood”. He had previously been charged with a variety of misdemeanors.
Evidence collected in the basement linked him to several other killings. A
search of the building revealed the newsletter’s mailing list to be missing. No
such list was found in </span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter", serif;">O’Riabhaigh's</span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"> home on Summer Street. Police Lieutenant Brian
McShane indicated this horror was further evidence “of the anarchist depravity
infesting Boston”.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"></span><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p><b>May 14, 1910</b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<o:p> </o:p><b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;">Baranov Charged as Accessory</span></b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"></span></b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;">At his
hospital bed in Boston City Hospital, police Lieutenant Brian McShane formally arrested Sergey Baranov as an accessory to the murder of Rocco Altieri.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;">Unable
to speak due to a severed larynx, Baranov gave a plea of not guilty in writing.</span><o:p> </o:p></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><o:p></o:p>December 6, 1910</b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;">Sergey Baranov Found Guilty</span></b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"></span></b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;">After
a two-week trial and only four hours of deliberations, a jury found Sergey Baranov
guilty of being an accessory to the murder of Rocco Altieri. Baranov remained
silent as he heard the verdict – as he had throughout the trial – not only did
he not testify in his own defense, he remains unable to speak due to his larynx
having been damaged beyond the ability of his doctors to repair. Judge Charles
Jenney had agreed to allow Baranov to testify with pad and paper should it have
been necessary.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"> </span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;">Attorney
General Dana Malone had also unsuccessfully pursued a charge of first-degree
murder.</span><o:p> </o:p></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><b>December 13, 1910</b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;">Sergey Baranov Sentenced</span></b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"></span></b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;">Sergey
Baranov, convicted accomplice in the Anarchist Cannibal Killings, was sentenced
to 25 years as an accomplish to murder. He began his sentence at Charlestown
State Prison.</span><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<o:p></o:p><b>June 29, 1914</b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;">Sergey Baranov Seriously Ill</span></b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"></span></b><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter",serif;">Notorious
participant in the Anarchist Cannibal Killings, Sergey Baranov was transferred
to the Charlestown State Prison’s infirmary yesterday, having contracted an
unknown disease with symptoms similar to that of malaria.</span><o:p> </o:p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Though the police had been unable to find the anarchist member list, the investigators did - in the hidden basement. They also found signs of cannibal activities here - a holding cell, tables with manacles, and lots of blades.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Interestingly, the anarchist member list was in alphabetical order by first name, aside from the first two names - his two main lieutenants perhaps?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Y912l81B39QDSrTv8LAdn6ATStp5MSIHUgXrDG27oKcUQbZbwy222UljSpa45MrkOOyv43KuLJd4cLnVzfRyk0b7yWmFR_nVsXB-fwjLoK8ZVLSVdBLuuMbmwYAHFXiy0nOGNDPOQEw/s1600/addresses.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Y912l81B39QDSrTv8LAdn6ATStp5MSIHUgXrDG27oKcUQbZbwy222UljSpa45MrkOOyv43KuLJd4cLnVzfRyk0b7yWmFR_nVsXB-fwjLoK8ZVLSVdBLuuMbmwYAHFXiy0nOGNDPOQEw/s640/addresses.png" width="494" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The second name was the accomplice, Baranov. Perhaps Gallagher would be a name worth checking. Research indicated it was indeed a worthwhile name to look into:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0gCjEkp6P5QriUY-XwfUxjgUdfwj9HZjwQmXEmEoS3mNerzmBxJFOv7XujddDN10TQdE0QRz9UuXyrgfbPM8jlPRqGmItEK736Yzg9u6HgbwpmU_hkNMH88rnOh02ix7Tdm433ynNjI/s1600/Globe_3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1193" data-original-width="1201" height="634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0gCjEkp6P5QriUY-XwfUxjgUdfwj9HZjwQmXEmEoS3mNerzmBxJFOv7XujddDN10TQdE0QRz9UuXyrgfbPM8jlPRqGmItEK736Yzg9u6HgbwpmU_hkNMH88rnOh02ix7Tdm433ynNjI/s640/Globe_3.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boston Globe, January 10, 1911</td></tr>
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<br /></div>
During this investigation, their liaison with the police, Brian McShane, now a captain, informed them that former Attorney General, Dana Malone, had been taken to the hospital - suffering from the same mysterious illness that Baranov had.<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
They paid a visit to Easmon Gallagher's Back Bay house - failing to break into it or bluff their way in they wound up entering via the roof after gaining entry to a neighbor's house. Unfortunately, they were quickly discovered by Gallagher, holding a deadly looking knife, He cheerfully acknowledged he was a member of the Universal Brotherhood - and through communion with human flesh, would live forever - as well as having the power to infect others with horrid diseases. To illustrate his power (and insanity - he was not a quiet type of insane cultist) he called upon "the great fist of Yog-Sothoth", and with a wave of his hand, Azar flew off the stairwell balcony to the floor below, screaming in pain as her ankle fractured. He waved off bullets from Quincy's guns although he and O'Connor were able to eventually stop him - though fatally, as he fought like an insane maniac. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In Gallagher's library they found <i>The Book<span id="goog_1545225628"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1545225629"></span> of the Flesh. </i>It was a bit of a horrific tome, talking about how to eat people for eternal life. It also discussed diseases. Quincy and O'Connor couldn't comprehend it but Azar finally was able to understand it well enough to use it to reverse the effects on former AG Malone - though it was too late for Baranov - no great loss.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Captain McShane and Dana Malone were able to shield the trio from major legal consequences of their actions, though they all found themselves out of jobs - and soon working for either the state or the city in various functions - so as to be on hand should similar eldritch horrors plague the commonwealth...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Keeper Notes</h3>
<div>
This was the kick-off of a new game. It was inspired by a picture of a house being moved as part of the construction of the Dorchester Tunnel extension to the Cambridge Subway - today's Red Line. Though the picture is now in the public domain, I found it in <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009CD17ZI/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1">Boston's Red Line: Bridging the Charles from Alewife to Braintree (Images of America)</a></i>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The anarchists in question are quite fictional, though in the early 20th century anarchists were the terrorists of the day. Boston was a major location of anarchist activity, attracting the attention of anarchist leaders such as Luigi Galleani, </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Captain McShane is fictional, However, Dana Malone was a real person, having served in the Massachusetts legislature and was District Attorney for the Northwest District and Attorney General of Massachusetts.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-85630136324144002392018-11-18T19:43:00.001-05:002018-11-18T19:43:54.380-05:00SJWs, Alt-Right, and Fascists, Oh My! Real World Horrors in RPGs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
There's a lot of controversy going on with the latest incarnation of <i>Vampire: The Masquerade</i>. Apparently, in the new Camarilla book Vampires are posited as being behind the Chehen anti-gay purges - somehow related to hiding the true threat of Sharia law or something. To be honest, I found the editing of the text a little hard to follow.<br />
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White Wolf's owners, Paradox Interactive, has announced they are recalling a pair of books with such offending text as well as exercising greater control over White Wolf and no longer developing products in-house.<br />
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The backlash has ranged from "about time" to "they're not really taking responsibility" to "they are caving into social justice warriors".<br />
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I'm thinking a bit about what I would consider to be, at best, a horribly clumsy attempt at including real-world horrors into an RPG. At worst, it was an act of ill intent, trivializing the real suffering of LGBT people to push an agenda I find abhorrent. Truthfully, I'm not familiar enough with the particulars to judge. It's something I've really only seen at the periphery. I do know that I'm not fond of a number of people involved in the 5th edition - but I'm not certain as to their current status.<br />
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I also know that when I was most familiar with Vampire:the Masquerade, in the early to mid-1990s, the audience was a very diverse group. I knew a number of women who were fans of the game. Ditto many people of LGBT identity. Lots of goths. When I attended a Nine Inch Nails and David Bowie concert in 1995 there were a lot of Vampire: the Masquerade t-shirts in the audience.<br />
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I'm a proud "social justice warrior". I've protested Trump's anti-immigration and refugee policies at Copley Square. I've attended Pride parades in Boston. I fall pretty much on the side of "WTF were they thinking?" I've friends of a variety of politics. I freely acknowledge that it is possible for people of good conscience to disagree with each other. I was once a Libertarian-leaning Republican who is now a liberal Democrat. But I draw the line at people who embrace hatred and cruelty. Much to my shock and horror, I've encountered a few actual, "Hitler was right" fascists. And there I don't have tolerance.<br />
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There's a lot real-life horrible stuff happening in Chechnya, particularly to people of LGBT identity. A horror game will likely find itself face to face with real-world horrors. But what does one do about it? I get the argument that a game - or fiction - is not obligated to ignore such horrors. And I'd understand people not wanting to read or watch them. But if such horrors are included, I believe they need to be done with care and sensitivity that was clearly not shown here. Again, assuming no ill intent.<br />
<br />
Where I think White Wolf went wrong is turning acts of real-world horror into "a vampire did it". When I play historical games I avoid making supernatural beings the causes for real-world horrors. In my opinion, it cheapens them. It takes away from the fact that real people chose to perpetrate horrors such as the Killing Fields, the Holocaust, American slavery, Native American genocide, Armenian genocide, trench warfare, etc.<br />
<br />
I find fiction works better when they keep that maxim in mind. For example, the recent <i>Wonder Woman </i>film rejected the notion that Ares, god of war, was behind World War I. He took advantage of the war, but humanity caused the war without any divine help. In <i>Atomic Robo</i>, Baron Heinrich von Helsingard allied himself with the Nazis to be able to use their resources, but he was not behind their atrocities. He was a monster of a human being who had no problem dealing out death and destruction. But he was not some man behind the shadows causing the Third Reich so as to have a smoke screen for his work.<br />
<br />
I want to touch on the "snowflake" pejorative. Not wanting one's entertainment to be filled with real-world horrors does not make one a snowflake. You're not weak if you are triggered by something horrible. I've family who deal with PTSD - they're not weak for avoiding things that trigger them. It's reasonable for a parent of young children to not want to play a game that features the death/kidnapping of children. With an LGBT player in my group, I don't believe I'd use an adventure that involved the killings of such people. I'd exercise an abundance of caution about introducing things that might trigger friends and family. And if as GM you shove such things down your players throats, knowing such sensitivities, that makes you an asshole.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-68552180291346319252018-11-15T20:30:00.001-05:002018-11-15T20:30:28.219-05:001910s vs. 1920s United States in Call of Cthulhu - A Quick Overview<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The default era in the <i>Call of Cthulhu </i>RPG is the 1920s. The 1930s, a common era for pulp campaigns, is another well known era. I've kicked off a 1910s campaign. One of the things that I'm working on is making the period stand out differently. This is an incredibly brief, stream of consciousness capsule - any of these paragraphs could be an entire post - or book! This is a fairly US-centric blog post.<br />
<br />
What are the important differences? Let's start off with the my starting year of 1914. Very quickly, immigration is going to drop off. The Great War helps bring about a drop-off, with European nations occupied with war. However, immigration laws in 1921 and 1924 will do even more of a job in slamming the door on immigration, specifically targeting "undesirable" immigrants such as Italians, Slavs, Poles, and Jews from Eastern Europe. It also reinforced bans on Asian immigration.<br />
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Politics are a bit different. The German, Ottoman, Russian, and Austro-Hungarian Empires will all fall as a result of the Great War. A variety of new nations will emerge from these empires.<br />
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One thing about 1920s characters is it is easy to explain any previous military experience - having served in the Great War. The United States was officially neutral in the Great War until 1917 and did not engage in earnest until 1918. Prior to that it had a fairly small military. With that caveat, there are some military conflicts the United States was involved in. 1898 saw the Spanish-American War, giving the United States an empire. Many of these acquisitions were no happier about being part of the United States than they were as being part of the Spanish Empire. The military was actively involved in suppressing rebellion in places like the Philippines and Cuba. The United States occupied Nicaragua in 1912, an occupation lasting until 1933 (with a brief break). The US also backed the independence of Panama from Colombia to facilitate the building of the Panama Canal. The United States became involved in the Mexican Revolution, including a 1916 Punitive Expedition (which is an important aspect of the 1920s <i>Trail of Cthulhu</i> adventure <i>Many Fires</i>).<br />
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Economically, the Great War introduces rapid inflation which continues after the war. A dollar in 1914 is worth $1.16 in 1917 and $1.37 in 1918. It peaks in 1921 with a 1914 dollar worth nearly twice that of a 1921 one - $1.94. It dips a bit as the decade continues - in 1928 dollars, a common starting year for Cthulhu campaigns, it is worth $1.73. Economics seems boring from an RPG perspective, but it caused quite a bit of pain, especially in cases where payroll did not keep up with inflation. This was a major contributing factor of the 1919 Boston Police Strike, with Boston's police officers living on poverty wages. While employment was good during the war, after the war the US economy struggled to absorb returning veterans. There was a brief recession from August 1918 to March 1919 followed by a more severe one (sometimes considered a depression), from January 1920 to July 1921. After this the Roaring Twenties kicked off, economically speaking.<br />
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This era saw much more anarchist activity and the socialist party was very active. 1910 saw the first socialist elected to the US Congress, with the election of Victor Berger as a Representative from Wisconsin. He ran afoul of the Espionage Act in 1919 and was blocked from his seat. Socialist Eugene Debs ran for president several times, getting 6% of the vote in 1912 - and was arrested in 1918 for violating the Sedition Act.<br />
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Race relations were not particularly good during this era. (Nor were they good in the 1920s for that matter). President Wilson was racist, even by the standards of the day. He introduced segregation to the Federal government - as a result of Reconstruction, the Federal government was actually integrated far more than society at large. Wilson also fired 15 out of 17 African-American supervisors within the Federal government. The Great Migration began in 1916, with many African-Americans moving out of the rural southern United States. 1919 unfortunately saw the "Red Summer", with many race riots. To quote W.E.B. DuBois's poem "Returning Soldiers":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We <i>return</i>. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We return <i>from fighting</i>. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We return <i>fighting</i>. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Make way for Democracy! We saved it in France, and by the Great Jehovah, we will save it in the United States of America, or know the reason why.</blockquote>
Not all states allowed women to vote in the 1910s - prior to 1910 only four did. Voting rights were inconsistent - none in some states, presidential elections only in others, primaries, in others, etc. It wasn't until 1920 that the passage of the 19th Amendment granted women nationwide full voting rights.<br />
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The technology isn't radically different but there are some highlights. There is no consumer radio. The best that can be done for portable music is the 78 rpm disc record - often no more than 3 minutes in length per side. The automobile is present but not to the dominant levels that the 1920s will see. Movie studios began moving from New York to California in the 1910s. Longer films ("feature length") came to prominence in this decade and it was the 1910s that saw actors getting credit for their roles.<br />
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This is a stream of consciousness post so it's hard to think of a good way to close, as I jump from topic to topic. But one thing which comes to mind - Americans loved to drink. As I've been diving through 1910s <i>Boston Globe</i> issues on line, I've been seeing a lot of advertisements for beer and spirits - some on the front page. Some fortification is probably in order before facing a shoggoth...<br />
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Photo Credit - Tremont Street, Boston, circa 1910. Boston Public Library.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-84769813780088103552018-11-11T22:38:00.000-05:002018-11-11T22:38:02.310-05:00Introducing Cthulhu Boston: 1914<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After mulling over a few options for gaming this autumn and winter, I'm kicking off a game set in Boston of 1914. The First World War has been in the news a lot lately, with today being the centennial of the armistice. I came across a quote by Lt. Colonel William Murray which struck me - "No more horrors. No more mud and misery. Just everlasting peace."<br />
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I don't plan on setting the bulk of the game in Europe. It is set in Boston. Here in the United States we sat out much of the war, joining it in spring of 1917 and not being in Europe in earnest until near the end of the conflict.<br />
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I've been looking through old newspapers - our game will be starting on June 29, 1914 - the day after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. It is noteworthy that while this was certainly seen as a major event, there was no clue that the spark which would ignite the world into war had just gone off. You see that in the papers over the next few days, with the story fading until the saber-rattling began to get obvious.<br />
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I've been doing a lot of research on Boston of the 1920s for my regular <i>Call of Cthulhu</i> game. I was surprised how much the years prior to the 1920s caught me. It's not that the 1920s in Boston were boring - far from it. But the 1910s spoke to me - screamed at me really, with ideas for adventures. Physically, Boston was "under construction", with elevated trains and subways rapidly expanding. A story about a fish weir being discovered in 1913 as part of the construction of the Boylston Street Tunnel caught my eye - .Deep Ones perhaps?<br />
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Boston was also home to a lot of political unrest, with Boston being a hotbed of the anarchist movement.<br />
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As the timeline moves forward I've a number of ideas. My initial inclination was, should the game make it to 1917, have the characters spend some time in Europe. That's still on the table, but I've also been learning about the home front and there was a lot going on, with America rapidly mobilized - and not welcoming dissent at all, with the remnants of John Adams' Alien and Sedition Acts being re-weaponized. Not everyone was caught up in the draft, with many eligible Americans being viewed as essential on the home front. Could not investigators find themselves recruited into investigating why Innsmouth is ignoring the draft?<br />
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I've a number of inspirations for this era. First, I need to point out Dennis Lehane's novel, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Given-Day-Novel-Dennis-Lehane/dp/B002SB8P56">The Given Day</a></i>, set in post-World War 1 Boston. It covers the Influenza Epidemic, the Molasses Flood, anarchist terrorism, and climaxes with the Boston Police Strike of 1919. From a non-fiction perspective, I've been slowly working my way through David Kennedy's <i><a href="https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B003FK5PVQ&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_.hp6BbER8H2JV">Over Here: The First World War and American Society</a></i>. It's a little dry at points, but it gives a nice overview of World War 1 America. I managed to snag the six-volume <i>Our Times</i> by Mark Sullivan, written in the 1930s and covering America from the 1890s to the the 1920s. It's a bit too long for me to commit to reading from start to finish but I'm finding it a nice reference with a contemporary perspective, giving insight as to what the people who lived through the era considered important. I've also been raiding the Images of America series - for example, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bostons-Red-Line-Bridging-Briantree/dp/1531606741/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1541993238&sr=8-3">Boston's Red Line: Bridging the Charles from Alewife to Briantree</a></i> is loaded with inspiration. A picture of a house literally being moved to make room for the digging of a subway tunnel gave me an idea for an adventure. Way back in 1996 I watched the PBS/BBC production <i>The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century</i>. It's never been made available for streaming or DVD, tough two years ago I stumbled across a DVD version of questionable legality.<br />
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As far as official materials for the RPG go, it's a fairly untapped era. Chaosium did do a single adventure, <i>No Man's Land</i>. Pelgrane Press has a number of Great War adventures for <i>Trail of Cthulhu</i> that could conceivably be adapted. And there are a lot of 1920s scenarios that could be moved a decade earlier without any ill effect. I do have a bit more free time than I did a few months ago, allowing me to flex my creative muscles a bit more than I have in quite some time.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-9434376275597019402018-10-28T20:31:00.000-04:002018-10-28T20:31:13.522-04:00Summary of my 1920s Call of Cthulhu Campaign<br />
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Going over my notes I'm a little surprised to discover I've had a <i>Call of Cthulhu</i> campaign that's reached a decent length. It seemed reasonable for my own purposes to summarize and it might be of interest to others... The more recent adventures have writeups at this site, the older ones have rougher writeups I might post at some point.<br />
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<h3>
No Man's Land Parts 1-2</h3>
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<b>Setting: </b>October 2-4, 1918; Argonne Forest</div>
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<b>Investigators</b>: Radford Brown, Jonathan Clark, Eli Cornish, Antonio Manzi, Fredrick Tardiff </div>
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American soldiers vs. Illoigor</div>
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<h3>
Under the Black</h3>
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<b>Setting: </b>January 19-20, 1919; Boston and Arkham</div>
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<b>Investigators: </b>Radford Brown, Jonathan Clark, Eli Cornish, Pietro Gorgonza, Antonio Manzi, Kirk Schroeder (RIP), Fredrick Tardiff</div>
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The Great Molasses Flood provides slays a cultist and unleashes out of control Dark Spawn.</div>
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<h3>
The House on the Edge</h3>
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<b>Setting: </b>March 21-24, 1919; Kingsport</div>
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<b>Investigators:</b> Radford Brown (RIP), Eli Cornish, Pietro Gorgonza, Antonio Manzi, Fredrick Tardiff</div>
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A mystical house is occasionally on the edge of the bluff over Kingsport.</div>
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<h3>
The Trail of Zhothaqquah Parts 1-2</h3>
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<b>Setting: </b>April 1-May 5, 1919; Greenland</div>
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<b>Investigators:</b> Bjorn Ericsson (RIP), Pietro Gorgonza (Retired), Antonio Manzi (Retired), Grant Oil, Fredrick Tardiff </div>
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A sanity-blasting adventure in Greenland tracking an ancient civilization.</div>
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<h3>
<a href="https://19thlevel.blogspot.com/2017/06/call-of-cthulhu-actual-play-haunted.html">The Haunted Landscape of Ka'tori</a></h3>
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<b>Setting: </b>June 15-20, 1920; Kingsport and the planet Ka'tori</div>
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<b>Investigators:</b> Grant Oil (Retired), Fredrick Tardiff</div>
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A painting contains a gate leading to another planet.</div>
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<h3>
<a href="https://19thlevel.blogspot.com/2018/01/actual-play-art-of-madness-part-1.html">The Art of Madness Parts 1</a>-<a href="https://19thlevel.blogspot.com/2018/02/actual-play-art-of-madness-part-ii.html">2</a></h3>
<div>
<b>Setting</b>: December 1, 1920; Boston</div>
<div>
<b>Investigators:</b> Earl Crowley, Jordaine Furst, Fredrick Tardiff</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Students and a professor go missing from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts leading to the discovery of a city of ghouls beneath Boston.</div>
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<h3>
<a href="https://19thlevel.blogspot.com/2018/03/actual-play-tell-me-have-you-seen.html">Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign Parts 1-3</a></h3>
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<b>Setting: </b>January 28 - February 5, 1921; Boston, New Orleans, and surrounding areas</div>
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<div>
<b>Investigators:</b> Earl Crowley, Jordaine Furst, Fredrick Tardiff</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The investigators confront a cult dedicated to bringing the King in Yellow to our world.</div>
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<br /></div>
<h3>
<a href="https://19thlevel.blogspot.com/2018/04/actual-play-one-in-darkness-part-1.html">One in Darkness Parts 1</a> - <a href="https://19thlevel.blogspot.com/2018/07/actual-play-one-in-darkness-part-2.html">2</a></h3>
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<div>
<b>Setting: </b>April 20-21, 1921; Boston</div>
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<b>Investigators:</b> Earl Crowley (Retired), Jordaine Furst, Fredrick Tardiff (Retired)</div>
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<div>
<br />The investigators help the police dealing with the Crimson Gang</div>
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<h3>
<a href="https://19thlevel.blogspot.com/2018/07/actual-play-spawn-part-1.html">The Spawn Parts 1</a> - 2</h3>
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<b>Setting: </b>June 20 - July 2, 1921; Copperstown, New Mexico</div>
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<b>Characters:</b> Jordaine Furst, Dora Martin (RIP), Liam Maguire</div>
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A labor dispute in Copperstown is revealed to conceal underground horrors. Note - I've not had an opportunity to do the writeup for part 2. In brief, they escaped from the mansion with the help of servants. Professor Freeborn took them to a dig which revealed the threat - underground beings (known as Cthonians in the literature but never referred to as such in the adventure). They also learned of the need to use water to defeat them. They were able to do this but in the process Dora and Jose fell in battle.</div>
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<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Cast of Characters</h3>
<div>
We've been playing for a while, with some characters who were only in one or two adventures. Going as far back as 1920 they are:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Earl Crowley - Antiquarian from Arkham. Retired after nearly going insane upon meeting a minor avatar of Nyarlathotep.</li>
<li>Jordaine Furst - Young woman from the Alsace-Lorraine region of France. Spy during the Great War against the German Empire.</li>
<li>Liam Maguire - Former Boston police officer turned private detective after losing his job when all striking police officers were fired in 1919. </li>
<li>Dora Martin - Investigative reporter. Died in battle with Cthonians.</li>
<li>Grant Oil - Low-level troublemaker from Harlem. Served in the Great War. Showed talent as a librarian and researcher. Spent some time as a librarian in Arkham. Returned home to Harlem with his sanity intact.</li>
<li>Fredrick Tardiff - Artist. Longest survivor of the original group which assembled in France during the Great War. Has settled in Boston after initial residence in Kingsport. His studio serves as an unofficial headquarters. Retired after sensing his luck had just about run out after encountering a minor avatar of Nyarlathotep.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Thoughts</h3>
</div>
<div>
Looking at this summary, that's about sixteen sessions of play, plus some time for character generation and other tasks. It certainly pales in comparison to eight decade long Pendragon epics but I'm pleased with how it's gone. We've done other games - including other Cthulhu campaigns - thrown in with this but the classic era does seem always fun to come back to.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's interesting to see how deadly a game Call of Cthulhu is - a lot of fatalities and a lot of characters forced to retire. Most of our adventures have been either in Lovecraft Country or Boston, with occasional sojourns to New Mexico, France, and Greenland.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-54325098694552296942018-10-21T19:42:00.001-04:002018-10-21T19:42:30.428-04:00Banned in Boston and the Cthulhu Mythos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6qENSvMow5X6XwZ73m8Pt4YYc5MJbkG78rj_OpS7PjZ3FQV-_jyvX4IrrIxqgTnc3ABoNQhA5lEDsk8pzdsFPqDMOwp135rD_idkV98SLRl-5vxJFCp30-SrlAzcUP0LNAQ3SQ-KsMMw/s1600/banned_in_boston.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6qENSvMow5X6XwZ73m8Pt4YYc5MJbkG78rj_OpS7PjZ3FQV-_jyvX4IrrIxqgTnc3ABoNQhA5lEDsk8pzdsFPqDMOwp135rD_idkV98SLRl-5vxJFCp30-SrlAzcUP0LNAQ3SQ-KsMMw/s320/banned_in_boston.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
While Boston has a modern reputation as a liberal bastion (though it pales next to its neighbor, the People's Republic of Cambridge), embedded in its history is a strong undercurrent of conservatism. One example of this is the crusade launched by Anthony Comstock and embraced the New England Watch and Ward Society. Under this regime, books, plays, films, music, etc. of objectionable moral character would be banned in Boston.<br />
<br />
Some of the works banned in Boston include:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i>Leaves of Grass</i> by Walt Whitman</li>
<li><i>The Sun Also Rises</i> by Ernest Hemingway</li>
<li><i>Oil! </i>by Upton Sinclair</li>
<li><i>Strange Interlude</i> by Eugene O'Neill</li>
<li>Stran<i>ge Fruit</i> by Lillian Smith</li>
<li><i>A Farewell to Arms</i> by Ernest Hemingway</li>
</ul>
<div>
When I was a kid, the Howard Johnson's restaurant chain was still popular, though by the 1990s they were undergoing a rapid decline and the chain no longe exists today. However, its initial success is due to the Banned in Boston movement - in 1929 the play <i>Strange Interlude</i> being unable to be performed in Boston so it relocated to nearby Quincy. The play was five hours long with a dinner break intermission. Across the street from the theatre it was performed in was the first Howard Johnson's restaurant - giving it a massive boost.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
One thing I find myself wondering is what this movement would mean for the tomes of the Cthulhu Mythos. One can certainly say these tomes are of objectionable material. Now the Watch and Ward Society was primarily concerned with in-print works and ongoing productions, so it's unlikely they would visit Brattle Book Shop to search for copies of the <i>Necronomicon. </i>At least the core of the organization would not be likely to.</div>
<div>
<br />I could see members of the organization using it as a pretense to finding such tomes - a bit like the <i>Bookhounds of London</i> campaign for <i>Trail of Cthulhu</i>. Perhaps they are cultists trying to find such tomes. Perhaps they are player investigators trying to keep humanity safe from such works. Perhaps someone like Henry Armitage from Arkham feeds the organization information about such books.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Neil Miller's book <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Banned-Boston-Societys-Crusade-Burlesque/dp/080705111X">Banned in Boston: The Watch and Ward Society's Crusade against Books, Burlesque, and the Social Evil</a></i>, pictured at the top of this post, is a great resource for this activity and a good glimpse of late 19th century and early 20th century Boston. Obviously it doesn't delve into the Cthulhu Mythos...</div>
<div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-30371978392893701082018-10-17T22:03:00.000-04:002018-10-18T09:32:58.432-04:00Hooray, I Have Time for a New Campaign<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
The past few months and years have been busy and I'm finally starting to see things loosening up. I've completed my last graduate class and endured a mercifully brief bout of unemployment.<br />
<br />
I'm at the point of feeling able to actually plan out a bit more ambitious game. Most of my thoughts are in the Chaosium-family of games.<br />
<br />
The most likely is probably a continuation of my ongoing <i>Call of Cthulhu</i> game, which began at the end of World War I and has reached mid-1921. I've some of the original players but, as is typical for <i>Call of Cthulhu</i>, none of the original characters are active. One is still around but after sanity and luck-blasting adventures, has retired from active adventuring. I've toyed with a global-spanning campaign like <i>Masks of Nyarlathotep</i> but find myself thinking a lot about focusing the game on Boston - certainly with forays into the wider world as appropriate.<br />
<br />
Frustrated with the lack of an official Boston supplement for <i>Call of Cthulhu</i>, I've been doing a ton of research on Boston of the early 20th century and I'd like to start putting that to use.<br />
<br />
In the back of my mind is actually something a little bit earlier. The latter half of the 1910s were rather eventful for Boston, with events like a police station blown up, a molasses flood, and a police strike. <i>Cthulhu Dark</i> with its focus on the downtrodden seems a possible tool for such a game.<br />
<br />
<br />
Leaving the world of Cthulhu I've been thinking about other settings. <i>Pendragon </i>has long been on my bucket-list. I find myself wondering if I could pull off a multigenerational game ranging from Uther's reign to the death of King Arthur. One of my kids has joined us and she is fascinated by paganism, giving me ideas on focusing on the different religions of the era.<br />
<br />
There's a few possible twists to that idea. Escaping from the legend of King Arthur but keeping the same rules set is <i>Paladin</i>, set during the reign of Charlemagne. One could keep the Arthurian setting but lighten up the rules with the <i>Prince Valiant</i> game - a game I recently picked up and am fascinated by. As a kid, I remember my grandfather and the funny pages. He loved <i>Dick Tracy</i> and <i>Prince Valiant</i>.<br />
<br />
Going for a totally fictional setting lies a final option, adventure in the world of Glorantha. The new <i>RuneQuest</i> borrows a lot from <i>Pendragon</i>, with passions, family lineages, etc. It makes for a more mythic experience than previous versions of the game in my opinion.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-48579641154304732142018-10-13T17:58:00.002-04:002018-10-13T17:58:40.044-04:00Remembering Greg Stafford<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
Greg Stafford passed away on October 11, 2018.<br />
<br />
He was a giant in the gaming industry. He created the world of Glorantha. He founded Chaosium and Issaries. He created or co-created countless role-playing, board, and computer games. Among these are RuneQuest, Ghostbusters, Prince Valiant, Pendragon, and HeroQuest. He helped boil down RuneQuest into its essentials, creating the Basic Role-Playing game. As head of Chaosium, he published the first Call of Cthulhu RPG and made the decision to publish Mythos fiction.<br />
<br />
That's an amazing resume. So many of his games are noteworthy. Ghostbusters, written by Chaosium for West End Games, was the origin of the D6 System which went on to power Star Wars - and was a superb game in its own right. RuneQuest was a new way of looking at fantasy RPGs, being entirely skill-based, with no character classes or levels. It is most people's introduction to Glorantha, a world infused with myth and magic. Pendragon was unique in being a generational game - in a successful game, your knight would die and you would take over with his heir. And with his grandchild in all probability.<br />
<br />
He was also responsible, together with Sandy Petersen, for the Chaosium renaissance of the past several years, returning to take back ownership of it. It was through these efforts that Call of Cthulhu 7th edition was finally released as well as RuneQuest returning to Chaosium after a long journey away from it.<br />
<br />
In the 1980s, it was difficult for me to get ahold of RPGs. I always loved games from Chaosium. It was like unearthing a treasure trove. I always enjoyed his personal web page, where he wrote of his history in the gaming industry.<br />
<br />I can't claim to have met with him and I don't believe I ever corresponded with him - unless he participated in a message board thread I was involved in. But he played a huge role in my favorite hobby and through his efforts brought me and so many others countless hours of enjoyment. He took us beyond searching for treasure and into worlds of heroism and myth.<br />
<br />
Greg Stafford was a practicing shaman and I'll close with a quote of his from <i>Pagan Paths</i> - "In Shamanic activity the mythic is experienced, and the impossible can be felt.We must be prepared to feel the impossible."<br />
<br />
Thanks Greg for all the myths.<br />
<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-25601317457288689322018-10-11T21:52:00.000-04:002018-10-11T21:52:02.774-04:00Meditations on Lankhmar Gaming<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
I recently took my backer draft copy of the DCC Lankhmar set out for a few adventures. It's been fun - I find DCC to be a pretty good system for the setting.<br />
<br />
This got me thinking of my own history with Lankhmar - an experience which, judging by articles and interviews, is similar to DCC Lankhmar author Michael Curtis'. I first encountered Nehwon, the world of Lankhmar, in the pages of AD&D's 1st edition <i>Deities and Demigods. </i>It gave stats for Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, the gods of Nehwon, various creatures, and gave an extremely high level overview of some of the organizations to be found there. It also mentioned the books these stories could be found in. Books I could not find.<br />
<br />
A few years later TSR came out with a <i>Lankhmar: City of Adventure</i> supplement for AD&D. I loved it - a guide to Lankhmar and Nehwon. Lots of new rules for PCs. Looking back it did have the oddity of re-skinning white magic to be clerical magic and black magic to be standard magic-user magic. It greatly hobbled such characters with much longer casting times. But I really liked the idea of a low-magic setting for adventurers. Unfortunately I still couldn't find the darn books.<br />
<br />
In the 1990s White Wolf began publishing hardcover editions of the Lankhmar novels. I was finally able to read the books. I did indeed enjoy them for the most part - they were uneven, with some fantastic stories and some that were... ok. Overall I really enjoyed them. I was pretty spoiled from having read the TSR sourcebooks but I still enjoyed the reading. I was a bit surprised by some heavy doses of BDSM in some of the stories. I think, overall, I enjoyed the fun the two had in their adventures - and misadventures. They messed up a lot - they lost their trueloves while they were making a drunken raid on the Thieves' Guild. There was an undercurrent of the protagonists doing what they wanted to be doing, something I didn't always find in swords and sorcery fiction.<br />
<br />
Lankhmar has a bit of a mixed record in RPGs. I liked the AD&D Lankhmar, especially for non-magic characters. When Mongoose Publishing had the RuneQuest license they published some Lankhmar material. I think RuneQuest is a great fit for Lankhmar but I found the Mongoose lacking in quality. Pinnacle has done a series of Lankhmar books for Savage Worlds - I'm not intimately familiar with them but they seem to be of good quality.<br />
<br />
Overall, I probably consider DCC and RuneQuest the best possible matches for Lankhmar. DCC is awfully close to what I'd consider the perfect system for Lankhmar out of the box - it doesn't require extensive modification. It does include rules for luckier and more bad-ass characters, dispensing with the zero-level funnel. It also makes it easier for characters to heal without the benefit of clerics. Adventures are designed for parties of varying sizes, including very small parties of two or three characters, very much in keeping with the setting.<br />
<br />
There's a few things that I've found a bit rough with DCC Lankhmar. It's been a lot harder on PCs than I'd've expected. There's been no fatalities yet but some pretty major/permanent style injuries. The rules do have some options for a bit less deadly game. I'd glossed over them, deciding to try the rules as written, but I think should we do some more adventures I might try them out.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-35878019220680374702018-10-09T17:35:00.001-04:002018-10-09T17:35:19.911-04:00Fiction Review: The War of the Worlds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
My first encounter with H.G. Wells' classic <i>The War of the Worlds</i> was as a broadcast of the 1950s film version of it - on WPIX Channel 11 in New York I believe. I later read the novel for a high school book report and greatly enjoyed. It remains a favorite of mine to this day - every few years I find myself rereading it.<br />
<br />
The novel tells of the invasion of then-modern England - the suburbs around London in the late 19th century - by Martians. It is told by an unnamed narrator, a journalist by trade, and how he and his wife dealt with the invasion. It also gives a view of the invasion in London from the perspective of the narrator's brother, a medical student.<br />
<br />
The Martians arrive in meteor-like cylinders which serve as small bases of operations for their invasion. The Martians march across the landscape on nimble tripods. These tripods carry various weapons - most notably a heat ray and "black smoke" projectors - a type of poison gas. Red weeds from Mars proliferate wherever they go. We also get glimpses of the Martians themselves as they toil under Earth's greater gravity. We learn the Martians do not eat but rather exist in a vampiric existence - taking nutrition by blood transfusions - and they have a taste for human blood it seems.<br />
<br />
We see the British army confidently standing up to the Martians - and getting their collective arses kicked. We see civilian populations fleeing as the invaders approach - with many dying from poison gas. These types of scenes that would become all too common in the real-world wars that were to come.<br />
<br />
There are moments of heroism. British artillery manages to bring down one tripod and in the Thames, <i>H.M.S. Thunderchild </i>boldly rams a tripod, allowing refugees to escape - and providing a name for a starship in <i>Star Trek</i>. But for the most part the British military and civilians don't stand much a chance. The narrator is trapped in a house partially destroyed by a cylinder landing for two weeks, much of that time spent with a curate he comes to despise. He also meets a surviving artilleryman who concocts bold yet unpractical plans for generations of resistance. In the end the Martians are defeated by bacteria - it's not that they have no immunity to Earth's bacteria specifically but rather they have no immunity to any bacteria.<br />
<br />
<br />
Why do I find the novel so appealing? I find it offers a lot - and what one gets out of it in one reading may be different from other readings. There are many mysteries to it - and finding one's own answers can be part of the appeal. Why, for example, is the invasion centered around London? Did the invaders recognize the United Kingdom as the primary world power and decide to knock it out first? What sort of commentary is intended? For example, what is to make of the negative portrayal of the curate and the animosity the narrator feels towards him?<br />
<br />
The novel is a great source of inspiration. It's been adopted as a famous radio play and has had multiple movies made about it - my favorite easily being the classic 1950s one. And there have been numerous expansions of it. Alan Moore's <i>League of Extraordinary Gentlemen </i>has a storyline taking place around the invasion and dives into the Martian biological vulnerabilities. There is a great <i>Elseworlds</i> Superman story which features Superman facing up against the Martians. They appear in various RPGs. Chaosium has included them in one of my favorite 6th edition supplements, <i>Malleus Monstrorum</i>. There really is something Lovecraftian about uncaring aliens that invade the Earth and view humanity not with hate but rather as a food source. <i>Golden Age Champions</i> makes stopping the Martian invasion of 1938 a potential storyline to bring about a superhero team.<br />
<br />I think Wells would like his creation being used in RPGs, considering he created one of the first (if not the first) wargames, <i>Little Wars</i>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-58385193338908072202018-09-09T21:48:00.000-04:002018-09-09T21:48:57.616-04:00Actual Play: The Madhouse Meet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With my degree pursuit entering the home stretch, posting has been pretty anemic. But I wanted to give a very brief write-up of our first adventure playing with DCC Lankhmar. This is our playing of <i>The Madhouse Meet</i> from the 2016 Free RPG Day book from Goodman Games. </div>
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<b>Cast of Characters:</b></div>
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<ul>
<li>الموت (Almawt) - Daughter of Lankhmarts who settled in the Eastern Lands. Abandoned her designated role as a squire to study magic under Sheelba of the Eyeless Face. </li>
<li>Ганзориг (Ganzorig) - Unlucky and dim-witted Mingol warrior, deadly with his battle axe. Challenge to speak with given his lack of speaking the common Low Lankhmarese. </li>
<li>Phlegm - Lankhmar-native. Smuggler, independent thief who has reached an accommodation with the Thieves' Guild of Lankhmar.</li>
</ul>
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<b>Summary: </b></div>
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<div>
The trio did not meet in a tavern. They were however all captured from the same tavern, the Heavy Lion, in the slums near the Marsh Gate of the Temple Quarter. The wizard Tulmakiz had been experimenting on transients in the slums but he needed some heartier subjects for his foul experiments. He drugged the drinks of Almawt, Ganzorig, and Phlegm and had his hairless goons drag their unconscious bodies to his base, a long-abandoned insane asylum.</div>
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<div>
Almawt and Ganzorig awoke in the same cell, chained to the walls - Almawt, identified as a wizard, was also gagged. As was her familiar, a psuedodragon. A goon fed them some gruel and departed - with the wizard Tulmakiz watching.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Ganzorig was able to break them free of their chains and bash the door open. Though they could barely understand one another, they clearly had a common purpose - escape. They wandered their way past vacant cells into their jailor's quarters - they caught him by surprise and were able to slay him - Ganzorig wielding his chains as weapons and Almawt invoking deadly icy magic missiles.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Before working their way upstairs they encountered the thief Plegm who had also been making his escape. They also found their weapons and other gear in their jailor's quarters.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Upstairs they explored, defeating a cook, a goon, and looting Tulmakiz's quarters. They found Tulmakiz in his laboratory, planning to do all manner of vile experiments upon them. After defeating him, his nearby guards fled, though they did need to do battle with a final quartet of guards who blocked their passage to the smelly streets of Lankhmar's slums.</div>
<div>
<br />Though they'd met through misfortune, it had been a profitable meeting. Perhaps it would be worth adventuring together in the future.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Loot of Note</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Silver smerduks - 127</li>
<li>Gold Rilks - 132</li>
<li>Eevamarensee Green Coins - 11, worth 20 gold rilks each</li>
<li>Silver Thieves' Guild Dagger</li>
<li>Parchment written to the Overlord's Chief of Spies detailing the movements of the minor noble Baron Nayari</li>
<li>Scrolls detailing Eevamarensee pain sorcery, including Mouse's Painful Suffering</li>
<li>Four vials of Eevamarensee slumber powder - contact or ingested, DC 15 Fortitude save of sleep 2d6 hours</li>
<li>Healing ungent</li>
<li>Three vials of Eevamarensee liquid fire</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-49005071315323296692018-08-06T21:06:00.001-04:002018-08-06T21:06:57.987-04:00The Elder Gods Reign Supreme in the 2018 ENnie Awards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
Taking a look at the <a href="http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/2018-ennie-winners/">2018 ENnie Winners</a>, it seems the Mythos kinda kicked ass.<br />
<br />
By my count, products in the Cthulhu family won a dozen awards:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Best Adventure (Silver) - Delta Green: A Night at the Opera (Arc Dream Publishing)</li>
<li>Best Art (Gold) - Harlem Unbound (Darker Hue Studios)</li>
<li>Best Electronic Book (Gold) -Delta Green: A Night at the Opera (Arc Dream Publishing)</li>
<li>Best Game (Silver) - Delta Green: The RPG (Arc Dream Publishing)</li>
<li>Best Monster/Adversary (Silver) - Down Darker Trails (Chaosium Inc.)</li>
<li>Best Podcast (Gold) - Miskatonic University Podcast</li>
<li>Best Production Values (Gold) - Delta Green: The RPG (Arc Dream Publishing)</li>
<li>Best Rules (Gold) - Delta Green: The RPG (Arc Dream Publishing)</li>
<li>Best Setting (Gold) - Harlem Unbound (Darker Hue Studios)</li>
<li>Best Supplement (Gold) - Reign of Terror (Chaosium Inc.)</li>
<li>Best Writing (Gold) - Harlem Unbound (Darker Hue Studios)</li>
<li>Product of the Year (Silver) - Delta Green: The RPG (Arc Dream Publishing)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In addition, Chaosium collected a number of awards not related to <i>Call of Cthulhu</i>:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Best Family Product (Gold) - Khan of Khans(Chaosium Inc.)</li>
<li>Best Free Product (Gold) - Runequest: Quickstart Rules and Adventure (Chaosium Inc.)</li>
<li>Best RPG Related Product (Gold) - Khan of Khans (Chaosium Inc.)</li>
<li>Fan's Choice, Best Publisher (Silver) - Chaosium Inc.</li>
</ul>
<div>
An impressive performance - it's interesting seeing how the ENnie awards have evolved from what used to be very d20-based. I'm regrettably unfamiliar with Harlem Unbound beyond a fairly high level - though I've just remedied that via a purchase. Everything I've heard about it is superb - I love the culture of the Harlem Renaissance and also love the idea of playing African Americans in Harlem facing the Mythos - it has a certain appeal giving HP Lovecraft's own attitudes towards race. Matt Ruff's <i>Lovecraft Country</i> did something similar.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Seeing Chaosium perform so well is also satisfying - for so many years they were a company that could get out a single product per year if they were lucky. And Arc Dream took a big chance making their newest version of Delta Green a standalone RPG as opposed to a supplement for Call of Cthulhu. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-69134961062384802642018-08-05T22:04:00.002-04:002018-08-05T22:04:36.810-04:00Prepping an Old-School Call of Cthulhu Scenario<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As a dad, software engineer, husband, and grad student, the amount of time I have to make my own adventures is sadly limited. I'm currently in my last class so I'm hoping the fall will bring more time both for this blog and for me to prep my own adventures. However, for the time being I've gotten great mileage out of pre-made scenarios.<br />
<br />
One nice thing about <i>Call of Cthulhu</i> is there are a lot of such scenario out there. I especially like that there are a lot of scenarios suitable for one or two sessions of play - I love long campaigns, but right now such a style isn't quite suitable for me. It is also nice that you can take an scenario written for the old editions of the game and use it with the newest ones without any difficulty.<br />
<br />
One thing in most <i>Call of Cthulhu</i> scenarios favor is they don't typically force a certain course of action for the investigators. I've had sessions where I'm pretty certain the author would barely recognize his or her scenario. Typically, <i>Call of Cthulhu </i>scenarios present the current situation, a hook, a bunch of locations, and a bunch of NPCs and monsters.<br />
<br />
However, one challenge I've found, especially with older scenarios, is it is often a bit of detective work for the keeper to understand all the pieces. Over the years I've developed a bit of an informal system for prepping my scenarios. I usually have them in PDF format so I pull them into Acrobat on my iPad Pro where I can mark the up.<br />
<br />
What am I looking for? Typically I want to make certain I understand:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>What do the investigators need to do to have a chance to succeed? </li>
<li>Who are the NPCs and how are they connected? Are there any potential allies?</li>
<li>What will happen if the investigators do nothing?</li>
<li>Are there any adjustments to make to my campaign? For example, any NPCs from previous adventures to reuse? Any changes needed due to our game taking place in a different year?</li>
<li>Are there any aspects of it that show great potential for wiping out the investigators? This isn't to say I'll change it - but at the very least I want to make certain I'm aware of it if possible.</li>
<li>What course are the investigators likely to take?</li>
<li>Are there any easy to miss clues or discoveries? Are any of them vital?</li>
</ul>
<div>
That last bullet point is a biggie, especially in older scenarios. Indeed, it is the main reason that the game <i>Trail of Cthulhu</i> was created. <i>Call of Cthulhu</i> is a dangerous game and I think it is at its most enjoyable when success is not guaranteed - but I don't want to penalize players if they ignore, for example, a bartender, who turns out to be the only source of a vital clue. Again, that's not to say that failure should be impossible - but I do prefer there being more than one path to success. So I might tweak scenarios, either on the fly or during prep time, to have additional ways of getting required information. It's a balancing act - I don't want to play a game where every bit of information is fed to the investigators.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
I may have made this sound a bit more "scientific" than it really is. But perhaps the greatest tool I have for this prep work is a pen and something to write on, whether physical or virtual. The odds of my players taking the "expected" course tends to be low - which I greatly enjoy. But I'm best able to give that freedom when I better understand the scenario we are playing.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-87051925148067399522018-07-29T21:58:00.000-04:002018-07-29T21:58:08.956-04:00Actual Play - The Spawn - Part 1Based on the adventure of the same name by Harry Cleaver, contained in the Chaosium anthology <i>The Great Old Ones</i>.<br />
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<br />
<b>Setting:</b><br />
Boston, Mass. to Coppertown, New Mexico. June 20 - June 26, 1921<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Characters:</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Jordaine Furst - Strasbourg-born Great War spy for France</li>
<li>Liam Maguire - Former Boston police officer turned private investigator after the 1919 strike</li>
<li>Dora Martin - Journalist determined to understand the truth</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At Fredrick Tardiff's art studio in Boston some new investigators had gathered. Dora Martin had reported on the Crimson Gang and had determined there was more to it than the official story So had former police officer Liam Maguire.</div>
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Dora had received a letter from a former colleague of hers, a labor organizer and general rabble rouser, José Green.</div>
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<br />
Prior to leaving they did some research on the mines:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>The Beasley Mining Co.</b></li>
<li><b>Offices: </b>28 Main Street, Coppertown, New Mexico.</li>
<li><b>Officers:</b> President William Beasley, V.P. Edward Beasley.</li>
<li><b>Incorporated:</b> May 19, 1912 in New Mexico.</li>
<li><b>Capital:</b>about $5 million (no shares).</li>
<li><b>Property:</b> 20 unpatented claims and 1 mill site, about 560 acres of land on the N. side of Devil’s Mountain, 5 miles from Coppertown, New Mexico.</li>
<li><b>Development:</b> main developments are two claims, Broad Vein and the Copper Lady, both incline shafts cut into porphyry copper deposits</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Taking the train to small town they arrived on the evening of Saturday, June 25. They checked into La Casa Royale, a hotel run by local Mexican-Americans. They ate at the nearby Silver Spur. There they made the acquaintance of the young Professor Tyler A. Freeborn who told them fascinating stories of how the local Indians had abandoned their mountain dwellings around 1300 A/D/ and settled in flat river valleys. He'd broken his arm finding a strange temple in the mountain dwellings and was eager to return.<br />
<br />
They also met with José Green who talked of the strangeness - how the Copper Lady mine was far more productive through mined by lower paid Mexican and Mexican-American workers - whereas the primarily white-worked Broad Vein was paid much more but produced far less. The workers there were happier though - and better paid. The better pay was not unusual given they were white but the fact that they were paid so very high was - as was the happiness, despite the unusual number of fatalities, even in dangerous work like mining. The bosses had refused help from the Copper Lady miners in rescuing Thornton and some of his fellow miners from a cave-in in Broad Vein. He never had a chance to see the bodies.<br />
<br />
Given the next day was Sunday, very early in the morning they snuck into the Broad Vein mine to check it out, entering through an air shaft on the side. They worked their way past the cave-in and going further down they found... a sacrificial chamber, with a smooth tunnel leading from it. Exploring it they went deep into the mountain. After over an hour of travel they decided to turn back - only to discover a tentacled horror following them. Opening fire their guns did minimal effect and they ran - deeper into the mountain. They eventually passed a curtain or blanket and entered... a torture chamber... Breaking down the door they found a staircase leading to the Beasley Mansion...<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1875809174948068444.post-33324748192817827862018-07-21T23:21:00.000-04:002018-07-22T08:11:51.343-04:00Reflections on the Past Several Months and Looking Forward<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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While my blog has avoided going into hiatus, it has gone from double-digit posts per month to just a few. Suffice to say, the past few months have not been boring.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Last September and October weren't too bad for the blog - a little bit of a slowdown but not too bad. Then on October 31st my younger daughter was hospitalized. As any parent no doubt knows, there's nothing so horrible as a threat to one of your kids. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I've also been busy with grad school. I've been pursuing my master's degree in strategic analytics since September 2005. It's been a long slog - while the material hasn't gotten more difficult, I've found keeping at it more and more difficult as time goes on. I've managed to do so though and have just begun my 10th and final class. If all goes well, I will finish the program in the end of September. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My professional life was upended this summer, as I was laid off from my job in mid-June. I'd first joined EMC all the way back in 2002 after the startup I'd been worked out went under a little over a month after the birth of my first child. I'd not planned on staying so long but I had the opportunity to wear a few gazillion hats and further my career and skills in many ways. The silver lining is my job search went extremely well and I'll be starting a new job next week - one I'm really looking forward to. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I had to miss some convention opportunities as a result of all this - I was unsure I'd be able to make it even when I was employed due to school - once I knew I was losing my job, I couldn't justify such expenses.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
With all of this, time for hobbies has been greatly reduced. I managed to keep gaming fairly regularly, though I do appreciate the opportunity to have played instead of GM-ed when I felt my creative energies at a nadir. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I imagine the next two months will be a bit tight as well as I begin my new job and work my way through this final class. Hopefully not quite as tight as the past two have been. I'd really like to bring the frequency of updates to this blog back up. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There have been some good things going on in life. We've been teaching our eldest daughter how to drive and she's started her first part-time job. Our youngest has joined in gaming - she loves <i>Call of Cthulhu</i>. She'll be traveling to Japan for two weeks in October as part of a cultural exchange program (and her parents will do their best to avoid being constantly worried during those two weeks).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There's been a number of games coming out of late that I'd love to get the change to play - so many games, so little time. I've not had time to digest it fully yet, but the new <i>RuneQuest</i> looks wonderful. I've received the backer previews of Goodman Games' <i>Lankhmar</i> and I don't think I've ever seen the setting handled better. While it's not new, I recently received the Fantasy Flight Games' reprint of the West End Games 1st edition <i>Star Wars </i>RPG.<br />
<br />
I am hoping that life get a little more boring going forward. Or that it be exciting in good ways. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301894021722065249noreply@blogger.com0