This episode, we catch up with Chris Spivey of Darker Hue Studios to talk about Harlem Unbound and upcoming projects. Then we riff a bit on how to pull Mythos ideas from TV shows. This episode was recorded on March 15, 2018.

Campus Crier

Golden Geek Awards have been announced for stuff released in 2017, and Tales from the Loop got best RPG. It also got runner up for Best Artwork & Presentation. That’s the most notable horror-adjacent winner on the list. Check out the rest of the winners on the RPG Geek website – we’ll post a link in the thingy. Jon talks about a new ‘zine about Dungeon Crawl Classics that is available on DriveThruRPG called Crawl-thulhu. This ‘zine is written and produced by John Potts, and introduces a Sanity mechanic and DCC stats for 1920s firearms. It also includes an adventure titled “A Horrible Day at the Dunwich Fair.” This is all DCC compatible. If playing Call of Cthulhu with DCC rules interests you, then go check out this ‘zine quick. The advertised cover price is $8, but at the time of this recording it is on sale for $3. Chaosium has announced winners of the Cult of Chaos Scenario Writing Contest – there are seven of them and we’re not going to read them all, but there are two notable winners from MU Nation, including David Larkins for Wailing Woman for Down Darker Trails, and Shannon Mac for The Search for Brian Boru, Cthulhu Dark Ages scenario. Congratulations to all of the winners! There is a Kickstarter in progress for is a horror detective comic based on the works of HP Lovecraft called Hellcraft. The blurb reads: “Private investigator Hank Hellcraft must contend with a troubled family past, while becoming engulfed in mysteries that reveal indescribable horrors hidden just beneath the surface.” Check it out! Adam Crossingham posted some updates about SixtyStone projects on YSDC. The SixtyStone website is currently down, so after some speculation about the fate of the company, Adam posted updates on the forums. He says his top priority is getting the MONC KS finished, he’s still converting Colonial Mythos Country to 7e, the next two Investigator Weapons books have gone back to “Hans” for 7e integration, there are a lot of corrections to make on the Cthulhu by Arclight layout files, and he hasn’t decided whether to convert it to 7e or to DG. Other books will basically be done when they get done. More details are in the conversation thread on YSDC. Golden Goblin Press is holding a Spring Cleaning Sale, so you can get 20% off all physical items, an 30% off orders over $60 in for physical items. That includes RPG and fiction material. That sale runs until April 15th. The discount code is: G0blin$pr1n6. The Brazilian-Portuguese version of Call of Cthulhu successfully Kickstarted back on February 2 at about $71,000 (231,000 Brazilian Real). Behold: “Chamado De Cthulhu”! Chaosium has released Petersen’s Abominations in PDF and Hardback. As always, the PDF is free with a Hardback purchase. These are five of the modern-day con-games that Sandy Petersen runs at conventions each year. And a BIG THANK YOU TO MAX for editing this episode!

Card Catalog

We wanted to salute MUP’s resident librarian, Graham, and thank him for keeping the Card Catalog fully stocked. He recently sent in links to an amazing list of naval ships that are listed as fictional, though many are historical ships with fictional names. This is an amazing list of vessels broken down by nation and Year. Part I: Fictional Warships 1850-1899 Part II: Fictional Warships 1900-1945 – Section A-GB Part II: Fictional Warships 1900-1945 – Section Gr-Y Part III: Fictional Warships 1945-2020 Nations A-I Part III: Fictional Warships 1945-2020 Nations J-U Part IV & V: Fictional Warships Fictional Warships 2025-2100 & Non-State/Alternate Universe Warships 1850-2100 Appendix I/II/III: Fictional Aircraft/Weapons/Electronics

Feedback

Since we want to catch up on some of the lost feedback backlog we got over the last year, we’re going to roll the dice and read one now.

Hi Keepers! I’ve been running Call of Cthulhu again after a year and a half off. My first few games have been for new to Call of Cthulhu players with other RPG experience. As they got more comfortable with the system, they began to make Sanity rolls all on their own when they encountered anything weird. It was a bit weird to me but not really annoying. That is until they reached the final portion of the scenario (Amidst the Ancient Trees) and had very little SAN left. Two of the three players went insane before (avoiding spoilers) the end was revealed. The other ran away. So I didn’t get to finish the scenario, really. I’ve also been listening to a lot of live plays where players are voluntarily losing SAN without rolls. I was just wondering your thoughts on player initiated SAN loss and rolls. Thanks for the great show! Goooooooo Pods! – Keeper Kent

Segments

Three listeners have graciously submitted segments for us to enjoy this episode. Thank so much to each of you for the hard work and the richness you’re adding to the show. To the rest of you, if you still have ideas for segments simmering, it’s not too late to send us a pitch at mup.feedback@gmail.com. Introducing the second episode of Glimpses Into the Empire: we take a trip back to ancient Rome for “Episode Two – Omens.” (by Oscar Rios of Golden Goblin Press) Next, we have the first installment of a little segment called “Detention with Mr. Tyler” – this episode is called “Earth to Earth.” [Play Earth to Earth] (by Samuel Tyler) The link is for my Blog, Skullduggery in the Smoke https://skullduggeryinthesmoke.blogspot.com/ And finally we travel to the Land of the Rising Sun for a segment about “Stigmatised Properties in Japan” [Play Stigmatised] (by Jonathan, also known as flashbackj)

Topic

Chris Spivey and Darker Hue Studios! Below are some reviews and responses to Harlem Unbound: R’lyeh Reviews (Pookie) Gnome Stew Rolling Boxcars The Esoteric Order of Roleplayers Reckoning of the Dead During the discussion, we mention the X-Card, a concept first proposed by John Stavropoulos. X-Card. Chris also has a Patreon account that’s well worth supporting. If you want to see Chris’s advice about how to add depth and accuracy to the New York chapter of Masks of Nyarlathotep, check the community section of his Patreon page here.

Riffingness

What TV show plot could you rip off for a Cthulhu scenario or campaign? Chris – Life on Mars- the Cthulhu Campaign Chris – Ashes to Ashes (spin-off from Life on Mars) Jon – Misfits Dan – X-Files (Tombs episode) Chad – Dallas, the Roll Playing Game (designed by war-gaming superstar James F. Dunnigan – a review on RPG Geek here.) Murph – River Shout out to Anyone Comics in Brooklyn!

Audio Credits

Dry Thunder3.wav by juskiddink | License: Attribution
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