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Chaosium Digest Volume 32 Number 06
Chaosium Digest Volume 32, Number 6
Date: Saturday September 9, 2000
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
* Cthulhu Live (REVIEW)
by John W. Thompson
Editor's Note:
Well, it's been a month since last issue. "Why's that?" Easy, I've not gotten
one submission this whole month. I'm also sorry to say that I've not heard
anything from Dustin as to the winner of last quarter's contest. I've sent him
an email in case he forgot about it with all the con activity and the Chaosium
move and such. As soon as I hear anything I'll pass the word along.
For the significant number of new subscribers we've had join this past month,
here's how submissions work. All articles in the Chaosium Digest come from
reader submissions. Just type up whatever you'd like, so long as it relates to
Call of Cthulhu, Elric, Nephilim, Pendragon, Glorantha, Mythos, or anything else
relateable to Chaosium. Chaosium has been sponsoring a quarterly contest for
submissions dealing with Call of Cthulhu, Elric and/or Nephilim for the past
three quarters. So far a copy of the new hardcover CoC book and the new CoC
Keeper's Screen have been given away. Last quarter's offered prize was the
upcoming CoC Keeper's Companion. As noted above, the winner has not yet been
announced by Chaosium nor has a prize for this quarter. I hope that Chaosium
will choose to keep offering a contest each quarter but, until I hear from them
officially, I can't guarantee that they will.
Not that it should really matter. The Chaosium Digest ran for six years before I
took the reigns and one year after Shannon passed me the torch without a
quarterly giveaway. Sure, it's great that Dustin Wright took an interest in what
we're doing last year and offered the quarterly contests. I thank him from the
bottom of my heart. Still, it's not what the Digest is about. It's about fans of
one of the cornerstones of the gaming industry, its products, sister companies
and spin offs, getting together to express themselves in an electronic
newsletter format. Our 1500+ subscribers come from all over the world and
include representatives from the companies whose products all of us love. All of
you aspiring writers couldn't ask for a better forum to get your work seen. In
addition, the only better way to let these companies know how much we love what
they do is to buy their books.
Even if you've never written anything before, give it a try. I'm looking for
adventure ideas (I prefer capsule summaries rather than fully fleshed out
modules), support material (new tomes, spells, creatures, skills, etc.), fiction
and product reviews as well as announcements and letters to the editor. If all
of our readers would just send one submission per year, the Digest would be
guaranteed of immortality.
This issue, I've got a review of Cthulhu Live from Fantasy Flight Games and some
news from Chaosium.
Enjoy.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
* From Chaosium
We Survived another Gen Con!
As Usual, Gen Con rocked our world. Thanks to all of you who braved the exhibit
hall and found our booth amongst the throngs of D3 buyers, Magic die hards, and
Pokemums.
CMT Strikes Again!
Once again the Cthulhu Masters Tournament Staff grabbed 36 lucky Cthulhu Gamers
by the figgens and rocked their worlds at Gen Con 2000. As usual, the event was
packed to the gills and there were
plenty of casualties. A big tentacled thank you to the CMT staff from the
Chaosium dudes: Michael Drennen, Peggy O'Connell, Vince Tranchida, Doyle
Tavener, and the EGAL Irregulars Brad Nordstrand,
Judd Luckey, and Troy Wilhelmson. May Cthulhu smile down upon your endeavors!
(but not TOO soon mind you). The CMT staff will be back next year to continue
the tradition of Kick A** Cthulhu gaming.
The ravaged remains of one Steve Camper won our 2000 Cthulhu Masters Tournament.
He evidently lost the remains of his sanity when presented with the coveted
Mi-Go Braincase award. You can see what's left of lucky Steve at
http://www.chaosium.com
NOS begins countdown to the End.
This years Novus Ordo Seclorum Tournament was a smashing success thanks to the
NOS 2000 staff: Jeff Carey, Don Coatar, T*** M******** (editor's note: name removed by owner's request), and other unnamed
entities. Next year the NOS tournament will be bigger than ever as the staff
counts down to the final NOS tournament in 2003. The winner of this years NOS
tournament was Jeff Rothecker of Cottage Grove, MN. We still owe you a prize
dude!
New Chaosium Events bring thrills & chills
Chaosium also hosted plenty of Miskatonic University Madness with our Terror
101, Horror 102, and Insanity 103 events as well as a gibbering hoard of You Too
Can Cthulhu Demos. These events wouldn't
have been possible without our steadfast MU staff, Lisa Kenison, Frank Russell,
and Mark Richardson. You folks went above and beyond the call of duty and
friendship again. Thank you! The MU staff will
be back at Origins and Gen Con next year to chill and thrill ya. Watch out for
these folks, they just became a new tradition.
Did You Eat of the Pikachu?
Those of you who attended the 2000 Gen Con Cthulhu for President Rally and
survived know that mere words cannot do justice to the horror and majesty of
this event.
Mr. Shiny, Claudia Smith, a dozen frothing acolytes, and several hundred
screaming cultists made this the best Cthulhu for President event to date. We
like to thank the CFP rally staff, participants, and Cheap Ass Games for
providing those cool Cthulhu for President Buttonmen we gave away to the 2000
Elder Party Delegates. (We gave away all the limited buttons BTW, so we don't
have any here for sell.
Sorry)
More CFP news coming soon to the Chaosium Webpage.
Plans are already underway for next year's Friday night Chaosium event!
Want to be a part of next year's Summer of the Squids? Drop me a line to become
part of the Chaosium staff at Origins, Dragon Con, or Gen Con. We're always
looking for volunteer staff to help us support our fans. Send an email to
dustin@chaosium.com to become part of the 2001 Chaosium team.
Gen Con UK
Preliminary reports from the Eurolog dudes indicate that the Cthulhu UK
Nationals were a smashing success, despite high casualties. We'll have more Gen
Con UK news on the Chaosium web page once the UK staff have been able to catch
some sleep and file a report.
Austin Heat takes Toll
The Leng Embassy Staff has taken refuge within their air-conditioned offices as
a brutal heat wave continues to afflict Austin Texas. Officially, we 110
degrees yesterday. Thermometers here at the
Embassy reported 112. The staff is now seriously considering moving to Colorado.
If you live in or around Fort Collins CO, drop us a line. For that matter, if
you live in a small Colorado town and would
like Leng as your neighbor (and who wouldn't?) drop us a line. Bonus points and
special considerations to anyone willing to lease a home to Leng for Chaosium
books. :)
RECENT RELEASES (CHAOSIUM)
>The Yellow Sign & Other Tales
THE COMPLETE WEIRD FICTION OF ROBERT W. CHAMBERS
6023 $19.95 ISBN 1-56882-126-3
by Robert W. Chambers
http://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu/fiction/6023.shtml
UPCOMING RELEASES (CHAOSIUM)
SEPTEMBER:
At the printer and expected within four weeks.
>CALL OF CTHULHU KEEPER'S COMPANION
Blasphemous Knowledge, Forbidden Secrets, and Handy Information for Call of
Cthulhu Role-playing.
CHA 2388 $23.95 (1-56882-144-1) 208 pp.
http://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu/rpg/2388.shtml
The Call of Cthulhu Keeper's Companion is an invaluable resource for GM's. New
material includes advice for new keepers, a lengthy study of Mythos artifacts, a
learned discussion of many occult books, an up-to-the-moment description of
every facet of forensic medicine, a thorough revision and expansion of the game
skills (including nearly two dozen new ones), and the augmented text of the
Keeper's Compendium, somewhat updated--forbidden books, secret cults, alien
races, and
mysterious places. Additional short essays and features round out this book-more
than 100,000 words! The best-selling Keeper's Compendium appeared in 1993, but
has been out of print for more than
two years.
OCTOBER:
Reprint of the Call of Cthulhu Hardcover (5.6)
This book has been doing so well, we're having to reprint it a second time this
year. It sure is good to know there are thousands and thousands of Call of
Cthulhu players out there. Thanks for the
support!
NOVEMBER:
>Unseen Masters
Modern CoC adventures against hidden powers
2384, $23.95 ISBN 1-56882-120-4 208pp
by Bruce Ballon
http://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu/rpg/2384.shtml
Three mini-campaigns set in modern New York City lead investigators through
serial murder investigations, madness, and into an ancient conflict between
bitter rivals. Along the way
investigators will be aided by Mysterious allies, face [the] Cult of the Sacred
Light and the Black Brotherhood, and confront immortal horrors beyond time and
space. These three scenarios can be combined to form a NY City campaign.
DECEMBER:
>The Three Impostors and Other Stories
The Best Weird Tales of Arthur Machen vol. 1
CHA 6030 $13.95 ISBN 1-56882-132-8 pp. 320
http://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu/fiction/6030.shtml
Some of the finest horror stories ever written. Arthur Machen had a profound
impact upon H.P. Lovecraft and the group of stories that would later become
known as the Cthulhu Mythos. This first volume of
Chaosium's Arthur Machen collection begins with the chilling "The Three
Impostors" in its complete form, including the rarely seen sections "The
Decorative Imagination" and "The Novel of the Iron Maid." Rounding out the first
volume are "The Great God Pan," "The Inmost Light," and "The Shining Pyramid,"
All are excellent tales. Introduction by S.T. Joshi.
2000 BOOKS
We have plenty of books lined up for 2000 of course. But I'm limiting myself to
only talking about the next three months. This industry is still too much of a
roller coaster to predict anything four months in
advance. You just never know what will happen next.
---------------------------
Cthulhu Live (REVIEW)
by John W. Thompson
This past week I had some extra cash on hand and so picked up the second edition
of Fantasy Flight Games' Cthulhu Live and a couple of the supplements to be
reviewed later. I must admit, I was quite impressed.
The book is a comfortable to hold 8.5" by 5.5" and a bit over 200 pages. It is
well organized and easy to read with some nice photos and illustrations
throughout.
Chapter One features a simple character creation system that only takes 22 pages
including the list of skills. The games uses only four stats: Education,
Dexterity, Constitution and Power to define characters. Skills are handled as
either the character has the skill or he doesn't. How good the character is at
anything is based on one of the four stats.
Chapters Two through Four weigh in at a total of 34 pages and cover all the
necessary game mechanics including Combat and Magic. As in the tabletop game,
Cthulhu Live uses the Keeper to moderate and judge actions and outcomes. The
game mechanics are easy enough to use that they could even be adapted to a
tabletop game should one want a simple, diceless system.
For basic skill resolution, such as knowledge of an esoteric subject or repair
of a damaged vehicle, the Keeper compares the character's appropriate stat to a
difficulty number that only the Keeper knows. Not having the appropriate skill
increases the difficulty or renders the task impossible at the Keeper's
discretion. The more the character beats the target number, the greater the
degree of success.
Combat is handled by the players moving through their characters actions in slow
motion with the Keeper's assistance to determine the outcome. The old standby of
Rock-Paper-Scissors is only used as an optional system for use without the
moderator. The system is very smooth and elegant and helps greatly to maintain
suspension of disbelief. Something the constant Rock-Paper-Scissors of another
well known LARP system, in my opinion, has trouble maintaining.
Magic requires the player to actually recite some of the tounge-twisting,
consonant heavy syllables that are the norm for Lovecraftian "spells" with
penalties assessed by the keeper for stumbling pronunciation. This again serves
to maintain the suspension of disbelief during the game, though it's recommended
that such be kept out of sight of anyone not participating in the game.
Chapter Five focuses on Creatures, providing game stats for all the classics as
well as hints and instructions on how to construct nice, inexpensive costumes
for all listed horrors.
Chapter Six covers the job of the Keeper and his/her support staff, should such
be used.
Chapter Seven covers setting up the play area, costumes, props and special
effects with ideas on how to work on a limited budget. Also included are ideas
for adapting Call of Cthulhu adventures to Cthulhu Live.
Chapter Eight contains Keeper reference sheets and a blank character sheet.
While the last sixty or so pages feature two adventure scripts to get new
players started.
I haven't had a chance to play the game yet, though I'm already thinking about
an annual Halloween game if I can get enough friends interested. Having played
in a few sessions of "that other supernatural LARP", I believe that Cthulhu Live
is a much better system. In addition to three published supplements with one
more on the way, Fantasy Flight offers extensive online support for Cthulhu Live
at www.cthulhulive.com on the web.
Over all, I think Cthulhu Live is well worth its $19.95 cover price for any
Cthulhu fan with even the slightest interest in Live Action Role-Playing.
--
