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Chaosium Digest Volume 35 Number 10
Chaosium Digest Volume 35, Number 10
Date: Saturday, March 16, 2002
Number: 2 of 2
*Lance and Laser to Release Hero Wars Miniatures
ISSARIES, INC. PRESS RELEASE
Oakland CA and Columbus OH
March 1, 2002
Lance and Laser Models, Inc. and Issaries, Inc. are pleased to announce the
release of a range of licensed Gloranthan miniatures. Lance and Laser is
known for their outstanding miniatures figures, including the Warchest,
Living Legends, and Pendragon lines. Issaries, Inc. is pleased to work with
Lance and Laser to produce the only line of official Hero Wars figures.
These brand new miniatures are cast from lead-free pewter and sculpted by
leading artists. Many are inspired by artwork in current Hero Wars
publications.
The first group of figures are planned for release by the end of March 2002.
Additional figures are in the design stage and will be released as they are
available.
The first release contains these figures:
03001 Prince Argrath 2.95
03002 Harrek the Berserk 2.95
03003 Gunda the Guilty 2.95
03004 the Red Emperor 2.95
03005 Jar-eel the Razoress 2.95
03006 Fazzur Wideread 2.95
03007 Rjorni the Grim 2.95
03008 Guy of Nolos 2.95
03009 Lunar Warriors (3) 6.95
03010 Lunar Warband (3) 6.95
03011 Dark Troll Fighters (3) 6.95
03012 Dark Troll Specialists (3) 6.95
03013 Trollkin Fighters (4) 7.95
03014 Trollkin Specialists (4) 7.95
03015 Troll Command Group (4) 7.95
For more information, or if you have any questions, please visit the Lance
and Laser web site at <www.lanceandlaser.com>.
For more information about Glorantha, please contact Issaries, Inc. at
<administrator@glorantha.com>.
Ordering Information
If you are a distributor, you can order Lance & Laser products through
Wizard's Attic.
If you are a retail store, visit the Wizard's Attic site at
<www.wizards-attic.com/Distributors.html> for a list of their distributors.
If none of these distributors serves your area, you can order directly from
Lance & Laser.
If you are an individual customer, Lance and Laser Models, Inc. encourages
you to visit your local game store and purchase our products there. This
helps to promote and support the gaming industry. Go to
<www.lanceandlaser.com/stores.html> for a list of local retail stores that
carry their products.
If you don't see a store in your area, you can order Lance & Laser products
online from:
Discount Hobby, Inc.
<www.discounthobby.com/>.
The Siege Cart
<www.realtime.net/~pixel/warchest/>
If you prefer, Lance & Laser also takes traditional mail orders via postal
mail or fax. Print out a customer order form from
<http://www.lanceandlaser.com/orderform.htm> fill it out, and send it via
fax or postal mail.
Fax Number
(614) 294-5424
Mailing Address:
Lance & Laser Models Inc.
P.O. BOX 14491
Columbus, OH 43214-0491
* Edge Entertainment to produce Spanish Hero Wars
ISSARIES PRESS RELEASE
Oakland CA
March 1, 2002
Issaries, Inc. is pleased to announce that they have licensed Edge
Entertainment to produce the Spanish language edition of Hero Wars. Edge
Entertainment is a Spanish company dedicated to producing role-playing
games. Among the other games they have published under license are Feng Shui
and Zombie: All Flesh Must Be Eaten.
Issaries is very happy to be working with such a distinguished group of
colleagues. "We are excited to have the Spanish Glorantha Tribe join the
great Gloranthan nation," says Greg Stafford, president of Issaries, Inc.
"Edge Entertainment shall lead the birth of the Hero Wars across Iberia, and
perhaps spread it back to the New World as well! We welcome them to the
international community that is Glorantha." Edge Entertainment already has a
built-in fan base in the GloranthaHispana, one of the most active on-line
role-playing game discussion groups in Spain, which has been dedicated to
the world of Glorantha for nearly two years.
Edge Entertainment will release their translation of Hero Wars 2nd edition
later this year. Once the core rules are released, they will be publishing
other books in the series, possibly including some of the books originally
released in English for the 1st edition of Hero Wars. Watch
<www.herowars.com> and <www.edgeent.com/hero/wars.htm> for more
information, including a calendar of releases.
For more information, or if you have any questions, please contact Edge
Entertainment at <edge@edgeent.com>. For sales and distribution information,
contact Jose M. Rey at <jmrey@edgeent.com>.
For more information about Glorantha or Issaries, Inc, please contact
Stephen Martin at <administrator@glorantha.com>.
For information on the GloranthaHispana discussion group, go to
<groups.yahoo.com/group/GloranthaHispana/>.
Edge Entertainment
Sta. Clara 35 2B
41002 Sevilla (España)
* From Shannon Appel
The last few years have been a time of plenty for readers of the Mythos. I'm
not entirely sure when I last wrote, so here's some of the Mythos books seen
since the start of the 21st century.
** THE LUMLEY COLLECTIONS
TOR has followed up on the success of their three Titus Crow
books--originally named _Titus Crow_, _Titus Crow, Volume Two_, and _Titus
Crow, Volume Three_--with a series of Brian Lumley short stories
collections, featuring many of his Cthulhoid stories. Largely, these seem to
be rehashing of his British NEL and Roc collections of a half-decade
ago--_The Second Wish and Other Exhalations_, _Dagon's Bell and Other
Discords_, and _Return of the Deep Ones and Other Mythos Tales_--but since
those are probably out of print by now, the new editions are well welcome.
_The Whisperer and Other Voices_
ISBN: 0-312-87695-5
TOR, 2001
Snarker's Son
Aunt Hester
The Whisperer
No Sharks in the Med
Vanessa's Voice
The Statement of Henry Worthy
The Disapproval of Jeremy Cleave
The Luststone
The Return of the Deep Ones
_Beneath the Moors and Other Darker Places_
ISBN: 0-312-87694-7
TOR, 2002
David's Worm
Dagon's Bell
The Sun, the Sea, and the Silent Scream
The Second Wish
A "Thing" About Cars
Rising With Surtsey
Big "C"
The Fairground Horror
Beneath the Moors
** THE CHILDREN OF CTHULHU
It's a bit of a surprise nowadays to see some of the big-name publishers
coming out with Mythos books. _The Children of Cthulhu_ it the newest. It's
published by Ballantine Books with an ISBN of 0345449266 and features all
new stories by a variety of authors.
** NUMEROUS REPRINTS
Ballantine and Random House have also been reprinting some classic
collections, among them:
_Shadows over Innsmouth_
ISBN #0345444078
A reprint of the Fedogan & Bremer largely original collection.
_Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos_
ISBN #034542204X
A reprint of the classic Arkham House collection.
_Cthulhu 2000_
ISBN #0345422031
And Arkham House's more recent Cthulhu collection.
** CHAOSIUM BOOKS
Not surprisingly, Chaosium has been busy in the same time period.
_Nameless Cults_
ISBN #1-56882-130-1
The collected Mythos Fiction of Robert E. Howard.
The Black Stone, by R.E.H
Worms of the Earth, by R.E.H
The Little People, by R.E.H
People of the Dark, by R.E.H
The Children of the Night, by R.E.H
The Thing on the Roof, by R.E.H
The Abbey, by R.E.H & C.J. Henderson
The Fire of Asshurbanipal, by R.E.H
The Door to the World, by R.E.H & Joseph S. Pulver
The Hoofed Thing, by R.E.H
Dig Me No Grave, by R.E.H
The House in the Oaks, by R.E.H & August Derleth
The Black Bear Bites, by R.E.H
The Shadow Kingdom, by R.E.H
The Gods of Bal-Sagoth, by R.E.H
Skull-Face, by R.E.H
Black Eons, by R.E.H & Robert M. Price
The Challenge from Beyond, by Robert E. Howard, et al.
_The Song of Cthulhu_
ISBN #1-56882-117-4
The Music of Erich Zann, by H. P. Lovecraft
The Dark Beauty of Unheard Horrors, by Thomas Ligotti
In the rue d'Auseil, by Fred Chappell
The Plain of Sound, by J. Ramsey Campbell
The Last Show at Verdi's Supper Club, by Stephen Mark Rainey
Water Music for the Tillers of Soild, by Tom Piccirilli
Shallow Fathoms, by M. Christian
How Nyarlathotep Rocked Our World, by Greg Nicoll
Listen, by James Robert Smith
Mud, by Brian McNaughton
Paedomorphosis, by Caitlin R. Kiernan
Intruders, by Hugh B. Cave
Chant, by Robert Weinberg
Ghoul's Tale, by Robert M. Price
The Next Big Thing, by Rob Suggs
The Flautists, by Edward P. Berglund
Fall From Grace, by D. F. Lewis
Drums, by William R. Trotter
The Enchanting of Lila Woods, by E. A. Luystig
Yog-Sothoth, Superstar, by Thomas F. Monteleone
I've also been quite pleased to see that Tani Jantsang's _Other Nations_ and
_The Book of Eibon_ are now appearing on the forthcoming content lists for
Chaosium's Cthulhu Mythos. I read both a few years ago, and was very pleased
& am glad to see they're finally making their way to the public ...
--
Shannon
* Brichester University Press is proud to announce the imminent arrival of
the first issue of The Black Seal. The Black Seal is a magazine dedicated to
expanding the gaming possibilities of modern day Call of Cthulhu gaming,
including both the Cthulhu Now and Delta Green settings for the game.
The first issue has articles on the UK's mental health and firearms laws,
leylines and Lloigor, a shadowy government conspiracy controlling Britain's
archaeology, the dangers of dabbling in black market weapons, a full
campaign introduction and starting scenario, the latest case of Prof. Grant
Emerson (last seen in Delta Green: Countdown), adventure seeds, interesting
NPCs, dangerous places, all new British occupation templates and reviews of
the latest material for Call of Cthulhu.
The Black Seal's web site - http://www.theblackseal.org - has previews, a
downloadable teaser PDF of the first issue and ordering information. The
first issue of The Black Seal is A4-sized, 84 pages, and has a full colour
cover.
The first issue of The Black Seal should be available in all good UK games
shops in the week ending March 22nd or 29th. Alternatively UK residents can
purchase the magazine direct from Brichester University Press.
Distribution deals for Europe and North America are currently being pursued
but overseas customers may wish to purchase the magazine via Leisure Games
(http://www.leisuregames.com) in the meantime.
Three of the contributing authors contributed material to Pagan Publishing's
Delta Green: Countdown. Another two of The Black Seal's authors contributed
to Delta Green: Countdown's International Agencies Templates section. One
author is also the author of a forthcoming GURPS supplement.
The Brichester University Press is a small British amateur gaming imprint
dedicated to publishing quality material for modern day Call of Cthulhu.
--
Adam Crossingham
Was, Is, Will Be: The Black Seal - March 2002
E-mail: info@theblackseal.org
Any opinions expressed in this e-mail are those of the individual
----------------------
I whipped up a quick use of the Godlike die-rolling mechanics to add
suspense and dramatic "cinematic role-playing" to a Call of Cthulhu game and
figured I'd submit it for the Digest.
For a summary of the Godlike mechanics, see:
http://www.godlikerpg.com/tutorial.shtml
Thanks,
Cedric.
*****
Godlike: Mechanics for Call of Cthulhu
Something I definitely like in Godlike is its ability to run cinematic
roleplaying. That is, build up suspense in quick die rolls whose results can
be interpreted for the situation. Furthermore, Godlike has a definite
advantage in that different actions can be resolved simultaneously in its
die-rolling system.
Godlike's "Example of Play" gives a good combat example of this, but after
watching the climax of "The Mummy" on DVD, here's an all too common
situation encountered in Call of Cthulhu. Specifically, it's the one where
characters have to do a critical non-combat action during combat!
Let's take care of the Skill conversions first. Each 10% of skill in Coca
translates to one die in Godlike. At 10% skill, you need to roll a 1 to
succeed; your Width x Height is, of course, 1x1. Simple. Other mechanics are
kept, including the Sanity roll.
So here's the scene. John, with his Read Egyptian of 30%, is trying to read
an inscription off the book he's carrying to control a nasty undead thing at
tacking Amanda. Amanda's Dodge is 50%. The nasty undead lady thing attacking
her with a knife is... GM proprietary information! (:
Round 1:
John: Rolls three dice, scores 1x8 so fails.
Amanda: Rolls five dice, scores 2x5.
Undead: Rolls X dice, scores 2x3.
GM: "Amanda, you dodge out of the way, but the thing just grazes your arm."
Amanda: "Aieee! John, did you translate the inscription yet?"
John: Looks at the 8 he rolled. "No, but I can read part of it!"
Amanda: "Aieee!"
One problem I've noticed in percentile systems is that they're quite
Boolean. Either you succeed, or you didn't. You can announce that you've
succeeded by some percentage; that works, though I prefer Godlike mechanics.
Also, to adjust difficulty, does the GM halve or otherwise take a fraction
of character ability, or subtract an absolute percentage? Godlike doesn't
bother with this question. Its mechanics tell you right then and there who
did better and by how much. Let's return to Amanda, John, and the ghastly
undead horror, shall we?
Round 5:
John: Rolls three dice, the dice roll under the table. Klutz.
Amanda: Rolls five dice, with lots of low numbers.
Undead: Rolls X dice, scores 2x7. Uh-oh.
GM: "Amanda falls back, tripping over a rock. The slavering beast tears at
her throat!"
Amanda: "Aieee!"
John: Picks up dice, rolls them again, and rolls 2x9. Huzzah!
GM: "But just before that, Johnathan reads the inscription, and the thing
stops!"
John and Amanda: "Whew."
GM: "And then the high priest begins his chant as five more of the things
rise of out their coffins."
John and Amanda: "Aieee!"
One suggestion, though, is if a player (or really important GM villain)
rolls more than one success, these successes should be kept. Brandon, with
his sword of 80%, handsome devil, has finally entered the room and starts
swinging.
Round 11:
Brandon: "I go after the priest, swinging at anything that comes near me."
Brandon: Rolls eight dice, scores 2x8 and 2x6.
Undead thing from coffin: Rolls X dice, scores 2x7.
Priest: Rolls five dice (for his 50% summon), scores 2x9.
GM: "Well, the good news is that you slice the undead thing before it has a
chance to reach you, and you cut off the high priest's arm."
Brandon: "And the bad news?"
GM: "You cut off the wrong arm and the priest is finished reading from his
book."
Brandon, John, and Amanda: "Aieee!"
--
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