Miskatonic University Podcast

Campus Crier The Campus Crier is where we keep all the mythos related news and info for the podcast, this episode was recorded on August 16, 2021. I want to personally congratulate each of the Alumni of the Storytelling Collective’s Write Your First Adventure Workshop last month. The market has been flooded with over 50+ titles on the MR, Chaosium’s Community Creator Content hub. Ya’ll, I’m so proud of each and every one of you. These scenarios look amazing, the cover arts are BOSS, the Miskatonic Repository Creator’s Circle is buzzing, you’re being featured in Chaosium newsletters, and you’re making your first sales. I’m just– I’m just so proud of you guys. Congrats! Head over to the Miskatonic Repository and make someone’s day by checking out their newest creations!  Annnd speaking of the Miskatonic Repository, Miskatonic Repository Con GM Signups just opened up! This virtual con will be hosted October 15th – October 17th. We have 3 awesome panels and over 16 events already submitted! So, come play some 7th Edition Call of Cthulhu with us! A link to the TTE will be in the show notes… and you can email MisktatonicRepositoryCon@gmail.com to get in touch!  Innsmouth The Missing Child: A Gamebook is a choose your own adventure styled solo game book where you are an investigator brought in to find the whereabouts of a missing child amongst the odd and terrible inhabitants of Innsmouth. It has funded with $23k of a $1300 goal and still has 23 days left at the time of recording. The art looks sparse, but that’s what I would expect from a product of this type. You can get a PDF for as little as $9 and a physical starting at $17. Overall it looks pretty neat, and I’m trying to not back it. Free League has another Kickstarter out for two new products in their Forbidden Lands line, this time a bestiary of sorts called Forbidden Lands: Book of Beasts and a campaign called The Blood March. As we have come to expect from Free League, the art on display is absolutely gorgeous. And this seems to be a no brainer for any fan of the weird fantasy setting. You can get a pdf of both books for $35 or either individual book in print for $35. If you want both in print it will cost you $69. The project has already funded with $285k of a $12k goal, and will have another three days left at the time of this release. Good friend of the show and proprietor of The Old Ways Podcast, Mike Diamond, has officially announced a third campaign for their excellent live play series, but this time with a twist! They are currently accepting GM pitches for a new campaign run by a new Storyteller. So if you have a campaign in mind and have it well thought out put in your submission at the link in the show notes. You can also find Mike on our own Discord, where he is a mod, or over at The Old Ones Discord, or you can just email him at theoldwayspodcast@gmail.com  And finally, it is with great sadness that we have to say a final goodbye to RPG Legend Steve Perrin, who passed away earlier this month. Goodbye Steve, safe travels. https://www.chaosium.com/blogvale-and-farewell-steve-perrin-1946-2021/ The Discord Plug We have our MUP Discord and we are all there! We invite all of our listeners to come and enjoy the community of horror gaming and cute pet pics. A big birthday shout out to Zelda, the pup of patreon backer, Al Smith, who if you’re lucky enough to get a seat at this table, she’ll probably make an appearance. Also, good luck to the kitties, Spaghetti and Meatball, who are currently in foster care with one of our awesome listeners.  MU Discord server invite link: https://discord.gg/vNjEv9D  And thank you beaucoup to Murph for editing this episode. Patreon Plug We have a Patreon! To back us you can click the button on the sidebar of our website, mu-podcast.com or head over to Patreon directly at www.patreon.com/mup! One new backer!  Brolin Graham Just a reminder, we’re offering Patreon Backers a sneak peek into future episode guests! Back us for an opportunity to ask your favorite creators in the TTRPG circuit your questions!  And you can also help out the show by buying some merch from our Teepublic store!  Thanks to our backers so much for supporting the show!! Recent Gaming Bridgett – Pale Rider Playtest 2 MepaCon Man’s Best Friend by Jazmin Ospa Main Topic We create a monster from scratch! Campus Crier Have you guys seen The Birch on Facebook Watch yet? It’s a great horror story available exclusively on Facebook, and it’s produced in partnership with CryptTV, (who have a channel on YouTube). There are five episodes so far; each is about 18 minutes long. I like the way they are telling the story. Episode 1 introduces our main character and sets up the world she lives in. Episode 2 suddenly introduces whole new characters, (without explanation at first), but then we learn that this is the origin story of the monster. Episode 3 returns to the world of our main character, but we relive events from Episode 1, but from the antagonist’s POV… which was cool. Episode 4 is more of the monster origin, and then Episode 5 is back with our protagonist as her story advances from where we really left off with her from Episode 1. It probably sounds confusing as I describe it, but it’s plays really well on screen.  Robin D. Laws, Lynne Hardy, and Cat Tobin recently attended The Kraken convention, where they panelled the “Investigative Roleplaying Masterclass.” The panel is now available on YouTube; it’s a really great panel on structuring an investigative role playing game scenario. We highly recommend this video for anyone interested in writing an investigative adventure.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLO-wjBOBNc&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR0t7besCI_4Uc-hwUSv1nk8VsJIfrERZ2gBQbsCV7kfUCkA9P8RsMNmZ9E A Cold Fire Within and Berlin the Wicked City have both been released in the special leatherette edition both featuring gold stamped covers. They are available through the Chaosium website only for $90 and $95 respectively. There is also a very favourable review of Berlin The Wicked City that has been released over on RPG.net. The conclusion sums it up: “Berlin – The Wicked city doesn’t just present a new, impossibly alluring setting for original Call of Cthulhu adventures, but comes out as a treatise on how to write sourcebook/adventure books. It is well-targeted, thoroughly researched, evocatively written, and as useful for gaming purposes as a supplement can be. It will soon rake in the awards and be hailed as a classic; there’s no doubt about it.” Good friend of the show, and all around nice guy Dean Englehart has released the next segment in his popular Convicts and Cthulhu line called Ticket of Leave #15, Death Knells. It is written by Dean and Geoff Gillian and is available right now for free at the Cthulhu Reborn site. AuZtralia is an adventure/exploration board game by Stronghold Games for 1-4 players set in an alternate reality 1930s. Following the Restorationist war, the northern hemisphere lands lay poisoned and starvation was the norm. Intrepid adventurers set out to explore and settle new lands. Little did they know, after the war, the surviving Old Ones and their remaining loyal human armies made their way to the outback of Australia to lick their wounds. Riches from the land, mixed with darkness and insanity await you in the outback. Will humanity prevail or will the Old Ones wreak their revenge?  MU Discord server invite link >> And thank you so much to Sean for editing this episode! (Not Max, as we say repeatedly during the episode. Thanks to Max for editing other episodes that are not this episode.) Random Crier mentions Field Gun Competitions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnDqlVPnelU https://youtu.be/PoOeplWAJwU Graham’s Card Catalog Spotted an episode of the ‘Small Arms of WWI’ YouTube series you might like to watch. It covers the first semi-automatic rifle to enter full military service.  Quite the ‘steampunk’ gadget, goes into the background and how the rush nature of the design limited it to only being handed out to those best able to use/look after them. Although if pre-war plans had worked out you would have seen the classic 19thC ‘two lines of infantry’ using these things. And it looks like the designers of the Garand rifle might have copied from this… Here is the link to the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pMUb5Qufuc Listening Room And now we’re back in the Listening Room with a further installment of Mr. Tyler’s after school gaming club…lecture and powerpoint presentation. This afternoon, he’s got some more scenarios ideas spurred from Cthulhu Wars – this time covering a certain…tittering rodentia.   Topic Mining Short Stories for Scenario Ideas Chad — I Am the Doorway, by Stephen King  It was first published in the March 1971 issue of Cavalier magazine, but I found it in Stephen King’s 1978 short story collection “Night Shift.” The story opens with Arthur, the narrator, sitting on a porch talking nervously with his friend about something mysterious involving a body. We know he uses a wheelchair and that his hands are bandaged and itching. It turns out he is a former astronaut, and he recounts his two-person mission to observe Venus from orbit. There was an accident on re-entry that left him paralyzed from the waist down.  Then we learn that his hands are bandaged to cover up eyeballs that broke out on his fingers a while after the mission. And those eyes seem to be the remote organs of an alien species, probably from Venus, that are observing Earth through his eyeball hands. He also sees through their eyes a bit when the bandages are off. Because of that, he knows that they view humans as horrifying monstrosities which they fear and hate intensely. Then the aliens take control of his body and cause him to kill a boy by exploding his head with alien powers. He buries the body, but when he goes with his porch-friend to dig it up, it has been moved. Through Arthur, the aliens summon a storm and kill his friend with a bolt of lightning. To try to get his humanity back, Arthur douses his hands in kerosene and sets them on fire. He lives, gets prosthetic hands and the alien presence goes away for seven years. But then the eyes appear again in a circle on his chest, and the story ends with him about to kill himself with a shotgun.  Jon — Black Bargain, by Robert Bloch  Summary — A man desperate for wealth and power conducts a ritual to make a pact with an unnamed entity. The price for his wish is that the man would have one rival for his accumulated wealth and power. That rival turns out to be his living shadow. The shadow eventually swaps lives with the man.  The story was originally published in Weird Tales, May 1942 (vol.36, no.5). My copy of the story is in a Bloch anthology of short stories titled, The Living Demons.  Murph — The Pool, by Daphne du Maurier https://www.mu-podcast.com/scenario-seeds-from-the-pool/ Sound Credits deep bass rtkrb1 4.wav by ERH | License: Attribution Noncommercial Climactic Boom.wav by lagomen | License: Attribution Amen Break F (180 BPM) (16 BARS) by Kevcio | License: Creative Commons 0 Cold_3.wav by Flick3r | License: Attribution Subby Kick.wav by Walter_Odington | License: Creative Commons 0

Campus Crier The Campus Crier is where we keep all the mythos related news and info for the podcast, this episode was recorded on August 16, 2021. I want to personally congratulate each of the Alumni of the Storytelling Collective’s Write Your First Adventure Workshop last month. The market has been flooded with over 50+ titles on the MR, Chaosium’s Community Creator Content hub. Ya’ll, I’m so proud of each and every one of you. These scenarios look amazing, the cover arts are BOSS, the Miskatonic Repository Creator’s Circle is buzzing, you’re being featured in Chaosium newsletters, and you’re making your first sales. I’m just– I’m just so proud of you guys. Congrats! Head over to the Miskatonic Repository and make someone’s day by checking out their newest creations!  Annnd speaking of the Miskatonic Repository, Miskatonic Repository Con GM Signups just opened up! This virtual con will be hosted October 15th – October 17th. We have 3 awesome panels and over 16 events already submitted! So, come play some 7th Edition Call of Cthulhu with us! A link to the TTE will be in the show notes… and you can email MisktatonicRepositoryCon@gmail.com to get in touch!  Innsmouth The Missing Child: A Gamebook is a choose your own adventure styled solo game book where you are an investigator brought in to find the whereabouts of a missing child amongst the odd and terrible inhabitants of Innsmouth. It has funded with $23k of a $1300 goal and still has 23 days left at the time of recording. The art looks sparse, but that’s what I would expect from a product of this type. You can get a PDF for as little as $9 and a physical starting at $17. Overall it looks pretty neat, and I’m trying to not back it. Free League has another Kickstarter out for two new products in their Forbidden Lands line, this time a bestiary of sorts called Forbidden Lands: Book of Beasts and a campaign called The Blood March. As we have come to expect from Free League, the art on display is absolutely gorgeous. And this seems to be a no brainer for any fan of the weird fantasy setting. You can get a pdf of both books for $35 or either individual book in print for $35. If you want both in print it will cost you $69. The project has already funded with $285k of a $12k goal, and will have another three days left at the time of this release. Good friend of the show and proprietor of The Old Ways Podcast, Mike Diamond, has officially announced a third campaign for their excellent live play series, but this time with a twist! They are currently accepting GM pitches for a new campaign run by a new Storyteller. So if you have a campaign in mind and have it well thought out put in your submission at the link in the show notes. You can also find Mike on our own Discord, where he is a mod, or over at The Old Ones Discord, or you can just email him at theoldwayspodcast@gmail.com  And finally, it is with great sadness that we have to say a final goodbye to RPG Legend Steve Perrin, who passed away earlier this month. Goodbye Steve, safe travels. https://www.chaosium.com/blogvale-and-farewell-steve-perrin-1946-2021/ The Discord Plug We have our MUP Discord and we are all there! We invite all of our listeners to come and enjoy the community of horror gaming and cute pet pics. A big birthday shout out to Zelda, the pup of patreon backer, Al Smith, who if you’re lucky enough to get a seat at this table, she’ll probably make an appearance. Also, good luck to the kitties, Spaghetti and Meatball, who are currently in foster care with one of our awesome listeners.  MU Discord server invite link: https://discord.gg/vNjEv9D  And thank you beaucoup to Murph for editing this episode. Patreon Plug We have a Patreon! To back us you can click the button on the sidebar of our website, mu-podcast.com or head over to Patreon directly at www.patreon.com/mup! One new backer!  Brolin Graham Just a reminder, we’re offering Patreon Backers a sneak peek into future episode guests! Back us for an opportunity to ask your favorite creators in the TTRPG circuit your questions!  And you can also help out the show by buying some merch from our Teepublic store!  Thanks to our backers so much for supporting the show!! Recent Gaming Bridgett – Pale Rider Playtest 2 MepaCon Man’s Best Friend by Jazmin Ospa Main Topic We create a monster from scratch! The Campus Crier The Campus Crier is Miskatonic U’s student paper. Here’s where we go through Mythos related news and feedback to the podcast. Check out Keeper Jon on the Into The Darkness video podcast on YouTube as they play The Shadow Over Providence, a new scenario published by Chaosium, written by Keeper Jon to celebrate the Necronomicon 2019 convention. The series of videos is only three episodes long. The first two episodes are already available on YouTube, with the third and final episode coming very soon. Ep. 01: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-TOd08syBo&list=PLJQ7JbI3-ZhI7EllbO7gv8bYb0kJndVDa    Ep. 02: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwB9PJ2hV3w&t=2s  Chris Spivey’s Haunted West Kickstarter has been wrastling up the stretch goals after meeting its 10,000 dollar goal  in less than three hours. It has pushed past the 35,000 mark at the time of recording, which means our own Charles Gerard will be writing that Mythos chapter add-on that we mentioned last show.    https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1881168175/haunted-west-a-historical-weird-west-rpg-corebook/description On October 10th, Chaosium released The Lightless Beacon for Call of Cthulhu, a short introductory scenario by Leigh Carr with Lynne Hardy for their We Are All Us campaign in remembrance of Greg Stafford. You can check out this and the other free scenarios released for the campaign on their website. The Lovecraft Country Holiday Collection from golden Goblin Press almost doubled its funding goal by the time it closed out for a total of more than 22,500 dollars. It knocked down nine out of ten stretch goals, including more scenarios, more art, more maps, more stuff. It’s closed now so you can’t have any of that. But if you didn’t back it, keep your eyes peeled for this book to reach book racks of various kinds soon.  Stygian Fox put out a pack of maps for Lovecraft Country that bears checking out. It includes interesting stuff like a poverty map of Arkham, and maps of all the classic Lovecraft Country settings plus some less covered sections.  This October, Bret Kramer is doing what he is calling “Book-tober.” For the month of October he is featuring one short horror* story that has influenced him in some way, wherein he talks about his relationship to the story, how it impacted him, what others have said regarding the story, and links to the story itself (for reading and adaptations of it) so readers can experience it for themselves. https://sentinelhillpress.com/2019/09/30/welcome-to-book-tober/ Chaosium’s “Cthulhuween” “Julia, our ‘merc of merch’, has just declared the month of October as Cthulhuween. She’ll be adding a new piece of haunting artwork from Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu RPG line to the Chaosium Redbubble merchandise store every day this month. Check them out for wall-art, clothing, home decor, and more!”  The second installment of the Flotsom & Jetsom Organized Play scenario was released by Chaosium today. It is called “Inheritance;” it is written by Matthew Dawkins and it is available now for download from the Cult of Chaos forums in the BRP Central forums.  MU Discord server invite link: https://discord.gg/vNjEv9D Trick or Treat, by Scott David Aniolowski Listen to the episode to hear Keeper Murph, Keeper Chad, and Keeper Jon discuss way to run this amazing scenario at your table during the spookiest time of the year. And, to help run the scenario with the current Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition rules, we asked Chaosium for permission to write-up and give to you, the listener, updated 7th Edition write-ups of the monsters, investigators, and spells. “Trick or Treat” scenario and characters copyright 1990 Chaosium Inc., all rights reserved, used with permission.” You can purchase a PDF copy of Blood Brothers from Chaosium’s website: https://www.chaosium.com/blood-brothers-pdf/ 7th Edition Conversion Notes ~ When the investigators attempt to bash-in the closet door in Jeremy Wolfe’s apartment, a Hard STR roll successfully breaks down the door. ~ The Sanity loss for the discovery of the extended family members seems high. Keepers might consider reducing those losses to 1/1D3, but keep the Sanity losses dictated for the discovery of the investigator’s friends who have been murdered by the scarecrow. ~ The discovery of Tierney’s car should not be a whole series of rolls. Have a Group Luck roll — with any failed roll, it takes 3 hours to find the car; with a standard success, it takes 2 hours to find the car; with a hard success, it takes 1 hour to find the car; and with an extreme success, it takes 30 minutes to find the car. ~ The Keeper may consider making any one or two of the pre-gen investigators Wiccan characters who know spells. As the pre-gen characters are originally presented, only one character is a Wiccan who knows spells. This might be difficult if the game has less than six players, and that investigator is not used in the game. The Oak Tree STR  200                CON  1000           SIZ  300                POW  150 HP  130                 MP  30                  DB  +5D6 Weapons: Branches & Roots 40%, 1D6 striking or piercing Entangling Mnvr: 25% to entangle with roots and vines, crushing victim on subsequent round for 5D6 damage. Entangled victims need an Extreme STR roll to escape, each person helping adds on Bonus Die, for a maximum of two bonus dice. Once a victim is dead, the tree hurls the corpse at the other investigators. Armor: 2 pts of thick bark Animated Corpses   STR CON SIZ DEX POW HP DB Sex Archetype 1 70 60 65 30 5 12 1D4 M Salesman 2 60 70 60 35 5 13 0 F Housewife 3 75 60 80 40 5 14 1D4 M Farmhand 4 65 70 65 45 5 13 1D4 M Hobo 5 75 65 65 25 5 13 1D4 F Teacher   6 60 50 50 45 5 10 0 M Pastor 7 90 75 85 20 5 16 1D6 M Mechanic 8 70 65 70 35 5 13 1D4 F Reporter   Move: 6 (each) Weapons: Maul (tooth & nail) 35%, 1D3+1 + DB damage  Remember the Outnumbered rule on pg.108 of the Keeper’s Handbook The Scarecrow STR  100                CON  75                DEX  30                 SIZ  95                   INT  80                  POW  180 HP  17                    MP  36                  DB  +1D6              Move  5 Weapons: Claws 60%, 1D6 + DB damage; Scythe 45%, 2D6 + DB damage Armor: 1 pt. of hard wood. Impaling weapons do minimal damage, and fire causes only 2 pts of damage per round while the scarecrow has magic points available. If the scarecrow’s magic points fall to zero, then it can be harmed normally by weapons. Magic always does normal magic damage. Spells: Bring Pestilence, Call Lightning, Command Plant, Control Elements, Create Storm, Enchant Scarecrow, Implant Fear, and Nightmare SAN Loss: 0/1D8 Karyn Basianti, Veterinarian (27) STR 25                   CON 65                 SIZ 40                    DEX 65                 APP 75                  INT 90                   POW 75                EDU 90                 SAN 75                  LUCK (3D6) HP 10                    MP 15                   DB -1                     Build -1                 Move 8 Fighting (Brawl) 25% (12/5), Dodge 32% (16/6) Firearms (Pistol) 35% (17/7) Skills: Charm 40% (20/8), Credit Rating 25% (12/5), Fast Talk 25% (12/5), First Aid 50% (25/10), Library Use 30% (15/6), Medicine 65% (32/13), Other Language (Latin) 35% (17/7), Ride 25% (12/5), Science (Pharmacy) 35% (17/7), Science (Zoology) 50% (25/10) Weapons: .45 Revolver (1D10+2 dmg) Quote: “Make my day.” Karyn is a quiet woman, although known for her sharp wit when provoked. She is very intelligent and her love for all animals prevents her from harming or being part of any harmful acts to animals. While small and quiet, she does know how to use a rather powerful weapon! Alek Burnett, Artist (20) STR 40                   CON 85                 SIZ 45                    DEX 75                  APP 80                  INT 80                   POW 65                EDU 70                 SAN 65                  LUCK (3D6) HP 13                    MP 13                   DB 0                       Build 0                  Move 8 Fighting (Brawl) 55% (27/11), Dodge 40% (20/8) Firearms (Pistol) 20% (10/4) Skills: Anthropology 10% (5/2), Art/Craft (Draw) 55% (27/11), Art/Craft (Paint) 45% (22/9), Art/Craft (Photography) 40% (20/8), Drive Auto 20% (10/4), Fast Talk 60% (30/12), History 25% (12/5), Library Use 30% (15/6), Listen 35% (17/7), Navigate 20% (17/7), Mechanical Repair 25% (12/5), Occult 40% (20/8), Sleight of Hand 25% (12/5), Stealth 20% (10/4) Weapons: .22 Revolver (1D6 dmg); Pocketknife (1D3 + DB dmg) Quote: “You think this is some kind of Halloween costume? This is a way of life!” Alek is a talented and creative artist. He often has realistic and bizarre dreams on which he bases much of his work. These dreams are psychic or precognitive at times. He is moody and while small, he does not run from trouble and can, (at times), be antagonistic. He dabbles in the occult. Alek is known for his auto mishaps! Jeromy Wolfe was a very close friend. Alek tries to make a statement in the way he dresses and wears his hair – he is seldom seen without his pin and stud-covered leather coat and his black hair is often spiked up and colored with streaks of white. Tim Coniff, Doctor (30) STR 65                   CON 70                 SIZ 80                    DEX 50                  APP 65                  INT 75                   POW 70                EDU 90                 SAN 65                  LUCK (3D6) HP 15                    MP 14                   DB +1D4               Build 1                 Move 7 Fighting (Brawl) 45% (22/9), Dodge 25% (12/5) Firearms (Pistol) 25% (12/5) Skills: Credit Rating 50% (25/10), First Aid 50% (25/10), Law 20% (10/4), Medicine 60% (30/12), Occult 20% (10/4), Other Language (Latin) 30% (15/6), Psychoanalysis 30% (15/6), Psychology 40% (20/8), Science (Astronomy) 10% (5/2), Science (Chemistry) 10% (5/2), Science (Pharmacy) 30% (15/6), Spot Hidden 30% (15/6) Weapons: Scalpel (1D3 + DB dmg); .32 Automatic Pistol (1D8 dmg) Quote: “This won’t hurt a bit.” Tim is a good-natured soul who goes to any length to help people. He is reserved and unobtrusive by nature and sometimes awkward around strangers, not being a really social person. He is a very good young doctor. His best friend is Nathan Hennings, and the unlikely pair spend a great deal of time together. Nathan Hennings, Dilettante (25) STR 80                   CON 80                 SIZ 65                    DEX 65                  APP 70                  INT 80                   POW 70                EDU 70                 SAN 70                  LUCK (3D6) HP 14                    MP 14                   DB +1D4               Build 1                 Move 8 Fighting (Brawl) 55% (27/11), Dodge 32% (16/6) Firearms (Rifle) 45% (22/9) Skills: Climb 75% (37/15), Credit Rating 65% (32/13), Drive Auto 60% (30/12), Listen 30% (15/6), Navigate 15% (7/3), Other Language (Any) 10% (5/2), Persuade 15% (7/3), Pilot (Sm. Aircraft) 60% (30/12), Science (Archeology) 20% (10/4), Science (Botany) 20% (10/4), Spot Hidden 30% (15/6), Swim 30% (15/6), Track 50% (25/10) Weapons: 30-06 Bolt Action Rifle (2D6+4 dmg) Quote: “Did I ever tell you about the time…” Nathan is very good-natured and friendly, and always has some tall tale to tell. He seems to know a little about almost everything. He is active, a survivalist and adventurer. Everyone likes Nathan, even with his endless bits of trivial information and fabulous stories. He owns a small plane which he keeps at a private airfield a few miles south of Lockport. Michael Sardonski, Author (38) STR 70                   CON 85                 SIZ 60                    DEX 75                  APP 55                  INT 85                   POW 60                EDU 80                 SAN 60                  LUCK (3D6) HP 14                    MP 12                   DB +1D4               Build 1                 Move 9 Fighting (Brawl) 25% (12/5), Dodge 37% (18/7) Firearms (Shotgun) 35% (17/7) Skills: Drive Auto 35% (17/7), First Aid 35% (17/7), History 40% (20/8), Library Use 45% (22/9), Mechanical Repair 30% (15/6), Occult 65% (32/13), Other Language (Gaelic) 30% (15/6), Other Language (Ogham) 25% (12/5), Psychology 45% (22/9), Spot Hidden 35% (17/7), Stealth 20% (10/4), Track 20% (10/4) Weapons: 12-Gauge Shotgun (4D6/2D6/1D6 dmg); Wood Axe (1D8+2 + DB dmg) Quote: “Wait a minute, why do you want me to drive?” Michael is a talented writer who has had several horror novels published by a small firm in California. He is friendly and a good person but known for his pessimism and paranoia. He is a team player, but ultimately looks out for number one. He has a very sharp wit and a cutting sense of humor. Although close friends, he and Karyn Basanti would appear to be arch enemies – they continually throw barbs and insults back and forth… all in fun, of course! David Scott, Chef (28) STR 75                   CON 80                 SIZ 80                    DEX 50                 APP 65                  INT 75                   POW 80                EDU 70                 SAN 80                  LUCK (3D6) HP 16                    MP 16                   DB +1D4               Build 1                 Move 7 Phobia: Acrophobia – Fear of Heights Fighting (Brawl) 30% (15/6), Dodge 25% (12/5) Firearms (Pistol) 25% (12/5) Skills: Accounting 15% (7/3), Art/Craft (Cook) 80% (40/16), Drive Auto 25% (12/5), First Aid 35% (17/7), Listen 30% (15/6), Occult 50% (25/10), Other Language (French) 50% (25/10), Persuade 25% (12/5), Spot Hidden 30% (15/6), Stealth 15% (7/3) Weapons: .38 Revolver (1D10 dmg); Butcher Knife (1D6 + DB dmg) Spells: Cast Circle, Chant of Thoth, Command Animal (Bird), Healing, Levitate, Power Chant Quote: “What’s the point?” David is friendly, yet very moody, known for his sudden and unexplained mood swings. He has a very dry sense of humor and a quick wit. He is a Wiccan – a modern witch, although only Alek Burnett knows this as he keeps that part of his life very private. While large and relatively strong, he would be the first to avoid violence. He is afraid of heights, although flying does not bother him. His best friend is Alek, to whom he is teaching Wicca. Spells Other than Enchant Scarecrow, all of the other spells in this adventure can be found in The Grand Grimoire of the Cthulhu Mythos, which is also available from Chaosium’s website: https://www.chaosium.com/the-grand-grimoire-of-cthulhu-mythos-magic-pdf/ Enchant Scarecrow Cost: 5 magic points; 1D8 Sanity points   Casting time: 30 minutes   This spell creates a living scarecrow that can follow complex commands. Such enchanted creatures slowly amble with a speed of Move 5. They have limited INT and POW but are strong and menacing servants. The animated scarecrow has 1 point of POW, 1D4 INT, 2D6 DEX, 3D6 CON, and 3D6+3 STR and SIZ, and it obeys the spell caster totally until destroyed. Deeper magic: This spell can also be used to prepare the scarecrow to host a human soul after mortal death. The caster must expend 10 magic points, 5 POW, and 1D8 Sanity points, and it takes two hours to complete the ritual. Once completed, the enchanted scarecrow becomes animated and functions exactly like the standard version of this spell until the caster dies. Upon the caster’s death, his soul is transferred to the prepared scarecrow. An enchanted scarecrow with a human soul retains the INT and POW values from the caster’s human body, but all of the scarecrow’s physical attributes remain unchanged. Alternate names: The Knight of Samhain, All Hallows Eve Sentry, Hellfire Guardian

Discord server invite link >> Campus Crier Berlin the Wicked City is available now in hardback direct from Chaosium – stock is now available warehouses in the US, UK, and Australia. You can read a blog post on David Larkins about the making of this book and what it meant via a link to the Sir Larkins site. The latest Call of Cthulhu Organized Play campaign has been launched; it is called Flotsam & Jetsam. If you’re a member of Chaosium’s Cult of Chaos, you can download it now and run it for your players. Congrats to friend of the show, Christopher Smith Adair as the Pulp Cthulhu campaign, A Cold Fire Within has been released in hardcover! We have links available in the show notes. Darker Hue Studios also has a Discord server! The invite link is here >> And thank you so much to Edwin for editing this episode! Topic This episode we speak with Chris Spivey about several projects in the pipeline, including: Haunted West, a Historical Weird West RPG Corebook Scion: Masks of the Mythos  Harlem Unbound, Second Edition Free Harlem Unbound Char Sheets >> Superhero campaign for Pulp Cthulhu (which Dan and Chad play tested) – interview on ENworld Dr. Who, from Cubicle 7 The art of Jabari Weathers… http://jmwillustration.com/ Hounds of Tindalos Original story by Frank Belknap Long here >> Read about Randonauts here… https://theoutline.com/post/7881/i-became-a-randonaut-to-try-to-glitch-the-simulation-and-all-i-got-was-a-bottle-of-pee?zd=1&zi=wincnczj

This episode, Jon and Murph talk with Oscar Rios about his Kickstarter for a book focused on holidays in Lovecraft Country, and together they each recap highlights of their time at NecronomiCon 2019. This episode was recorded on September 12, 2019. Discord server invite link >> Campus Crier October 10th marks the 1 year anniversary of Chaosium’s Greg Stafford passing. And to honor him they are asking people to play a game in his memory in the month of October. To that effect, Chaosium will be releasing a free scenario for each of the main RPGs in their catalog on October 10th (CoC, Runequest, Pendragon, 7th Sea, and HeroQuest). Big updates were announced on Chaosium’s Central Asia game, Children of Fear. Lynne Hardy posted on the Chaosium website that “all the art, maps, and handouts are in progress, and the final stages of editing are almost finished.” She has also re-confirmed the mid-2020 release date. The post also includes sneak previews of the art that will be in the book, and it looks really, really good. Link in the show notes. The new addition of Masks of Nyarlathotep has won at DragonCon this year, bringing home a Dragon Award for Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures/Collectible Card/Role Playing Game. Congratulations to Chaosium! Chris Spivey took to Twitter on 2nd of September to announce that The Haunted West kickstarter will be going live in October. You might well remember that this is a Weird Western RPG that uses a new system developed in house at Darker Hue. And just like Harlem Unbound it “features people of color as protagonists… [highlighting] the people of color who are often overlooked in stories about the Old West.” https://twitter.com/darker_hue/status/1168529387681173506?s=12 Hypergraphia #2 is now available! This is a digital fanzine of dark horror gaming for multiple systems including Call of Cthulhu and Cthulhu Dark. This issue covers “the use of doorways, portals, and gates in your horror games. We bring you a plethora of NPCs, artifacts, and scenario seeds about entries, thresholds, and openings. Included is Goodcliffe, a short Cthulhu Dark scenario, wherein your players will plumb the depths of a depressingly dismal mine. Contributions from members of the Miskatonic University Podcast, Skype of Cthulhu, Weird Works, and Squamous Studios. The second issue of another Mythos fanzine, Bayt al Azif, has been released on DrivethruRPG. Within you will find: 3 adventures dual-statted for CoC 7 & GUMSHOE  An overview of every Cthulhu Mythos RPG release of 2018 A review of the history of Masks of Nyarlathotep An interview with Lynne Hardy And much more! More news from Chaosium as they deal with the fallout of Critical Roll’s Shadow of the Crystal Palace’s detrimental impact on their North American supplier. They have announced that anyone ordering a physical product from them in the month of August will have a choice between a free PDF of Alone Against the Dark, or a $10 coupon if your order was over $20. The nice thing is that offer applies to anyone globally, even those unaffected by the North American shipper. Mysterious Creatures Field Guide by Eli Libson — This is an amazing book of fantastic fantasy creatures with awesome painted illustrations of each creature. It feels like the Wayne Barlow book of alien creatures. This would be perfect to populate the Dreamlands with these creatures.  Topic This episode we speak with Oscar Rios about his latest KickStarter, The Lovecraft Country Holiday Collection. And we have a NecronomiCon 2019 Recap in a slightly different format from the ones of the past.

This episode is our 2019 NecronmiCon live show in Providence, when The Miskatonic University Podcast and The Good Friends of Jackson Elias girded for a battle royale that will pit Host vs. Host in a “lightning debate” format over a passel of divisive topics. Hosts: Charles “Keeper Chad” Gerard, Scott Dorward, Paul Fricker, Jon Hook, Brian “Murph” Murphy, and Matt Sanderson. This episode was recorded on August 23, 2019. WARNING: This episode contains explicit language, and nothing was bleeped. Discord server invite link >> Topics MUP and the Good Friends of Jackson Elias convened at NecronomiCon in Providence on August 23, 2019 for the second combined live show after the inaugural in 2017. We decided to try a “lightning debate” format, and after gathering suggestions from listeners and brainstorming for a few weeks, landed on some very silly prompts to tussle over. Sadly, Keeper Dan was not present. But stay tuned for a rousing audience-generated “thank you” to the MUP mastermind. “Lovecraft’s stories would make terrible Call of Cthulhu scenarios.”FOR: Chad, Jon, Matt…and Murph as an accidental turncoat. AGAINST: Scott, and…Mike Mason as pinch hitter.Paul serves as referee. “Sometimes, you just have to fudge dice rolls.” FOR: Murph, Matt.AGAINST: Chad, Scott and Paul.Jon serves as referee. “An Army of Deep Ones would beat an army of Mi-Go.”FOR: Paul, ScottAGAINST: Jon, Murph, MattChad serves as referee. “Historical scenarios are better than modern or contemporary scenarios.”FOR: Matt, JonAGAINST: Scott, Paul, MurphJon serves as referee. Audience-suggested topic #1: Professor Armitage, hero or villain?HERO: Paul, JonVILLAIN: Matt, Chad, Scott Audience-suggested topic #2: Wilbur Whately vs. Harry Potter?POTTER: Matt, Scott, Murph, PaulWILBUR: Chad “August Derleth was the best thing to happen to the Cthulhu Mythos.”FOR: Matt, Jon, MurphAGAINST: Scott, ChadPaul serves as referee.

This episode, all four hosts are back for a rare quorum, and we’re taking sci-fi tv shows and Mythosifying them. This episode was recorded on August 15, 2019. This is our brief-brief-brief pre-NecronomiCon episode, before we get together in Providence. A big thank you goes to Golden Goblin Press for sponsoring this episode! Campus Crier First thing – a huge thank you to Murph for a Herculean and almost Sisyphean effort to revamp, redesign, spackle and patch the MU forums as well as the website. This was a huge rabbit warren of tasks that started with a barrage of spam posts on the forum, too many details to list here, but we’re talking about full days of work to get us up and running again as well as updated, secure and pretty. Thank you, Murph. Chaosium has announced the release of Flotsam and Jetsam, a new four part series of scenarios for the CoC Organized Play Campaign. The scenarios will be released monthly to Keepers of the Cult of Chaos. Friends of the show Brian Courtemanche and Anthony Lee-Dudley are the authors of the first and fourth scenarios respectively, Congratulations to them both. WEIRD TALES IS BACK! The magazine that never dies has returned — with Bram Stoker Award-winner Jonathan Maberry leading the way as Editorial Director. You can find more info at their website. Chaosium’s Masks of Nyarlathotep has been nominated in the 2019 Dragon Awards in the Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures / Collectible Card / Role-Playing Game category. Check out the link in the show notes for voting details. By the way, the video for the ENnies award ceremony is back up now. Discord server invite link >> And thank you so much to Edwin for editing this episode. Sponsor Thanks to Golden Goblin Press for their sponsorship this episode. We appreciate it! Listening Room This time, Oscarious Tabularis brings us the fourth installment of this season’s Glimpses Into the Empire. This one is called “A Haunting in Athens.” Topic “A “riff” of our own on Space Horror settings. We take sci fi movies or books or TV and turn them into space horror. We gave a time limit of 4 minutes. Chad failed to meet that utterly. Chad – Lost in Space Jon – TOS Star Trek Murf – StarGate-SGU Dan – Space: 1999 Space 1999’s Top 10 Scariest Moments

This episode, Chad, Dan and Murph are casting spells to conjure scenarios. A big thank you to Golden Goblin Press for sponsoring this episode! This episode was recorded on August 1st, 2019. Campus Crier Correction one. Some foreign correspondents have expense accounts. Vanishingly smaller numbers over the last few decades, but yes, it is a thing. On big stories, normally you get a budget for reimbursement, and it’s usually paltry, and you have to show receipts for everything, even when you are a full-time correspondents. It has been like that for a very long time. Correction two. Listen. Vampires are horror. Yes. No argument there. Choose Cthulhu – from Sans Detour… So last year Chaosium said the French company Sands Detour was was extremely late in payment of royalty fees for their licensed material. Chaosium decided not renew their Call of Cthulhu license. They ended their relationship with Chaosium on a sour note, with two large books owed to Kickstarter backers. The deal struck with Chaosium allowed them to finish fulfillment of those KS’ers, but thereafter revoked their right to make licensed CoC material. But recently they announced that they were about to launch another KS for a brand new Cthulhu-related product under a system-free set of game books. They have been told by Chaosium that the latter believe this new KS is a breach of Chaosium IP. Critical Roll has started their Call of Cthulhu campaign Shadow of the Crystal Palace and after just 24 hours, it has almost 240,000 views! This is a pivotal moment for CoC and it comes in just days after a report from Roll20 that lists Call of Cthulhu as the third most played system on their platform behind Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder. So congratulations Chaosium! Discord server invite link >> And thank you so much to Chad for editing this episode. SPONSOR Thanks to Golden Goblin Press for their sponsorship this episode. We appreciate it. And congratulations to the whole GGP team for your ENnies Award! Listening Room Oscarious Tabularis brings us the third installment of this season’s Glimpses Into the Empire. This one is called “People are Strange.” More info on Pliny the Elder on Blurry Photos >> Mr. Tyler is finally out of detention hall, and this time he’s launched an after school gaming club that’s a little short on budget, but long on bloviate. How to Play Cthulhu Wars – by Geek and Sundry Hey, by the way Bret Kramer mentioned that the magic book in Mr Tyler’s segment last time was released in a critical academic edition by Dan Harms. Bret actually did a little gumshoe fact checking on that book, and ended up in some kind of antiquarian society library. Feedback Hey guys, I recently began listening to and enjoying the M.U. podcast, including the huge back catalog of episodes. The interview with Mike Mason from back in March 2018 stood out. Having myself published on the Miskatonic Repository, and looking at publishing a second module in the next couple of months, I’m wondering if you’ve considered focusing on the Repository in another episode, something along the lines of the state of the Repository one to two years in, as well as what some of the products or scenarios posted have contained that you’ve enjoyed, what you think is lacking, and any improvements that could be made to the Repository. Additionally, is M.U. hosting or running any events at Necronomicon? I’ll be attending together with Randy Partain of the Cosmic Indifference Postcast (https://cosmicindifference.org/), and it would be great to get to see all of you in person. Finally, apologies if this is already in episodes of yours I have yet to hear. As I said, only recently started listening. Go pods! Best regards,HDM Gentlemen: I’ve been listening to the podcast for some time, I think since episode 152 or so. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to it popping up in my playlist. Because you guys seems to know everything about mythos-related gaming, I figured you’d be the best people to ask this question. Has there ever been a setting for Call of Cthulhu in space? There’s been one supplement for Traveller — that I know about — with a mythos theme (Cthonian Stars), which kind of gets to the goal by pasting H.P. Lovecraft into a game set in space, but I was wondering if there was anything that went the other way: going into space and finding THEY HAVEN’T COME TO OUR WORLD! WE’VE GONE TO THEIRS! Keep up the great work and Go Pods! Dan in Illinois Greetings Keepers! I have been a big fan of your podcast since its incarnation, and from time to time will chime in with a comment or question regarding my favorite tabletop RPG. Last time I sent an email, it was regarding The Raid on Innsmouth scenario and making it work for Pulp Cthulhu. Needless to say, we have just wrapped up the campaign and it was a great success, piloting subs, firing .50 cal machine guns, having “Deep One flambeau” with flamethrowers, and finally using torpedoes and artillery fire to take down Father Dagon in the nick of time! With some bumps, bruises, and some sanity loss for the lucky ones, while others now suffer from ichthyophobia (fear of fish, the sea, etc, ) or have met their demise from a Deep One’s coral trident (definitely not a great way to go!). Now that this is over, I set my eyes on a new campaign, The Masks of Nyarlathotep. My main problem, and the reason I’m writing you is how I can incorporate this adventure in the timeline we are currently in, which is 1929. I have always tried to incorporate little nuggets of history that happened back in that time, and nothing bigger coming up than Friday, October 29th or Black Tuesday. With the amount of despair that rocked the US (and the world, honestly) at that time, I thought it may tie in very well with this campaign, as well as their ties with the government, which ended amicably. After skimming through the adventure, it seems like I can just “bump up the dates” to fit my timeline (right now, it’s mid February 1929 ), but is there something crucial in the adventure that needs to stay within the written timeline in the story? Or is it flexible enough that I can go ahead, start with the Peru adventure and adjust to fit? Or should I set my eyes at something “less epic” to coincide with the time period? Sorry for rambling on and throwing so much at you, but your expertise in this would be greatly appreciated! Go Pods!!! Keeper Mike Topic Turning random spells into scenarios!

This episode, Murph, Jon and Chad are digging up some non-Cthulhu material from other games, to practice the fine art of ripping things off. A big thank you once again to Type40 and Golden Goblin Press for sponsoring this episode! This episode (most of it) was recorded on July 18, 2019.  Campus Crier A quick minor correction. There is actually already a Foreign Correspondent profession outlines in the Investigator Handbook, page 80. “Foreign correspondents are the elite of news reporters. They work on salary, enjoy expense accounts, and travel the globe. In the 1920s, the correspondent may work for a large newspaper, a radio network, or a national newsgroup. Modern-day reporters might also work freelance or be employed to file reports for a television network, an Internet news provider, or international news agency. The work can be very varied, often exciting, and sometimes hazardous as natural disasters, political upheaval, and war are the primary focus of the foreign correspondent.” As of this recording, NecronomiCon Providence 2019 is only 5 weeks away. When we recorded at first the daily schedule of gaming events and panels had not been finalized, But now it is! NecronomiCon Panels Link Cthulhu 1968: Black Sun Tabletop Skirmish Game — Just like the title says, this is a 28mm scale miniatures wargame. It looks like it is set during the Vietnam War; it has a US Army faction, a Deep Ones faction, a strange (maybe lost relic holdover) WWII German faction that has allied with Ghouls, plus a weird Bug faction and a Golem faction. Looks cool painted. They’re about halfway funded with another 20 days to go as of this recording. Link here! Modiphius has started their Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Organized Play Campaign. The first scenario will be the upcoming Fall of London which they expect to have out in PDF before Christmas. Sign up here The Yellow King RPG from Pelgrane had some bumps in the road. There were delays in shipping, and Simon managed to track down the Managing Director of the company at UK Games Expo. Their print liaison had left the company rather suddenly due to mental health issues, leaving a lot of money owed and contracts breached, in his wake. They discovered that the books were all printed, but had been put into storage, with no understanding of who they were for or what was to be done with them.TL;DR – they are hoping to be able to start shipping everything in early August. The MU Discord server invite link is here And thank you so much to Max for editing this episode! Sponsors Thanks once again to Type40 for sponsoring this episode! Type40 makes a maker of all manner of high quality gaming props and items, lots of them specifically for Call of Cthulhu. This time we highlight the Disk of Rlyeh. So check these products out and more at the Type40 website, which we will have linked in large font in the show notes. Check that out and more on the Type 40 site here >> And once again remember that if you are going to GenCon, Type40 is planning to be right there at the Chaosium booth, where you can catch Allan Carey and chat about Call of Cthulhu and immersive props. More from Type40 here >> Thanks also to Golden Goblin Press for their sponsorship this episode. We appreciate it. He’re a recorded message about the Cthul Invictus line. Listening Room First up, Oscarious Tabularis is back! We have our second episode of Season Three of Glimpses Into the Empire. Settle in to this origin story of a known hero. Next up, Mr. Tyler once again talks about what he wants to talk about. Check out this third and final chapter of his series on witchcraft in Pennsylvania. Hex novel >> Documentary Topic Using your old non-Cthulhu modules in Call of Cthulhu… Jon: Gamma World’s — Legion of Gold (GW1), by Gary & Luke Gygax and Paul Reiche III Chad: Flashing Blades https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/585/Flashing-Blades https://www.geeknative.com/50/flashing-blades/ “Combatants choose attack methods (such as sword thrusts and lunges, or dirty fighting techniques like tripping a foe and then stomping on him), along with defensive actions such as parries, sidesteps and dodges. When your character scores a hit, you choose a body location (such as the chest or an arm) and roll twice on a hit location table. The closest result to your chosen area is where your character actually hits. These mechanics really do make a change from the usual roll-to-hit, roll-for-damage variety of many other RPGs.” https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/12491/Knights-and-Musketeers-Swashbuckling-Adventures https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/185462/7th-Sea-Core-Rulebook-Second-Edition?src=also_purchased Murph: SuperNormal the Cultist Revamp https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eUVOfhBeB2vs7zs1cKxeqGv08k_muME_15NQRAc_PWM/edit?usp=sharing https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/281709/Supernormal?term=supernormal

This episode, all four hosts are in the house to talk about “experience packages” for your investigators. Plus we go over ENnies nominations, news updates, Listening Room segments, and more. This episode was recorded on July 4, 2019. This episode was proudly sponsored by TYPE40 and GOLDEN GOBLIN PRESS. TYPE40 has an Official Chaosium Call of Cthulhu Investigator’s Notepad with an Elder Sign embossed on the cover. Or, you can protect yourself from the Mythos with a classic Elder Sign embossed leather key fob. Or, you might consider a hand made Chaosium Call of Cthulhu leather document wallet. Check out these amazing products, (and more), at the TYPE40 website. And remember, that if you are going to GenCon 2019, TYPE40 is planning to be right there at the Chaosium booth, where you can catch Allan Carey and chat about all of their Call of Cthulhu immersive props. GOLDEN GOBLIN PRESS was honored with an ENnie nomination, (more on that later), and GGP President, Oscar Rios, honored the Miskatonic University Podcast by sponsoring this episode which features the Season 3: Episode 1 of Glimpses Into the Empire, by Oscarious Tabularis! Take a listen HERE! THE CAMPUS CRIER  The first big news item is that the ENnie nominations have been announced!  For the sake of keeping this focused, we are going to stick to stick to horror- and lovecraft-related role playing games. Sometimes it’s hard to tell exactly what should count as horror. Sorry in advance if we stuff that up. We’re also going to skip over the lists of authors or creators unless there is a clear single creator named. We’ll have a link to the whole nominations in the show notes, along with the link to Chaosium’s announcement post, which covers some nominations for Glorantha, Runequest and other non-horror games. And we’re skipping over categories that have no noms in our range of coverage. So….  Best Adventure Masks of Nyarlathotep, Chaosium  The Persephone Extraction, a campaign for Night’s Black Agents by Pelgrane Press Best Aid/Accessory – Non-Digital Masks of Nyarlathotep Gamer Prop Set, The H. P.Lovecraft Historical Society Inc. Best Art, Cover Bluebeard’s Bride: Book of Mirrors, Magpie Games — Artist: Rebecca Yanovskaya Call of Cthulhu – Terror Australis 2nd Edition, Chaosium — Artist: M. Wayne Miller KULT: Divinity Lost, 4th Edition of KULT – Core Rules, Helmgast AB — Artist: Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme Best Art, Interior KULT: Divinity Lost  Best Cartography  Lamp’s Light Sanitarium: A Horror Campaign for 5e, Saturday Morning Scenarios — Cartographer: Toby Lancaster Best Electronic Book Fear’s Sharp Little Needles, Stygian Fox Publishing Best Free Game / Product Die Laughing, Sliced Up, NerdBurger Games — Author: Craig Campbell Best Game  Mothership: Player’s Survival Guide, Tuesday Knight Games (a great space horror game) Best Layout and Design  Bluebeard’s Bride: Book of Mirrors, Magpie Games – Miguel Angel Espinoza (another great game)  Best Monster/Adversary  Hideous Creatures: A Bestiary of the Cthulhu Mythos, Pelgrane Press Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos for 5e, Petersen Games Best Online Content  Seth Skorkowsky  Best Podcast Asians Represent! Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Plot Points Red Moon Roleplaying She’s a Super Geek Best RPG Related Product Bluebeard’s Bride: Book of Lore, Magpie Games Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: Masks of Nyarlathotep, The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society  Deven Rue Map Weights Set, Campaign Coins (not horror) Miskatonic University: The Restricted Collection, Chaosium  Best Rules Call of Cthulhu Starter Set, Chaosium Mothership: Player’s Survival Guide, Tuesday Knight Games (space horror game) Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Core Rulebook, Cubicle Seven Entertainment (but is is horror??) Best Setting Call of Cthulhu – Terror Australis 2nd Edition, Chaosium The Fall of DELTA GREEN, Pelgrane Press Best Writing KULT: Divinity Lost  Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Core Rulebook (but is it horror??), Cubicle Seven  Product of the Year  Masks of Nyarlathotep Gamer Prop Set, The H. P.Lovecraft Historical Society  Mothership: Player’s Survival Guide, Tuesday Knight Games Best Supplement, (making an exception to the rule of not reading full lists of creators) The 7th Edition Guide to Cthulhu Invictus, Golden Goblin Press Authors: Oscar Rios, William Adcock, Stuart Boon, Chad Bowser, Charles Gerard, Jon Hook, Mike Mason, and Jeffrey Moeller Awards will be announced at Gen Con on August 2nd at 8:00 PM Eastern at the ENnies Ceremony at Union Station in Indy. Tickets are free via Gen Con event registration, and the ceremony will be streamed on the ENnies YouTube channel. In Other News… Chaosium and Adam Scott Glancy announced in a statement that the Call of Cthulhu license for Horrors of War, which was Kickstarted in 2014, will remain expired indefinitely. Stygian Fox had launched a new Kickstarter for something called Innsmouth 86, a set of Call of Cthulhu adventures for 1980s in that Lovecraft Country town, much in the spirit of Stranger Things. Consumers filed complaints to Kickstarter about Stygian Fox launching a new Kickstarter while they still had six previous funded projects not yet fulfilled. Kickstarter rules require creators to fulfill all previous projects before launching new ones. In a message to Stephanie MacLea, Kickstarter announced it has suspended Innsmouth 86. Read the update here. DISCORD — Be sure to join the conversations happening on MUP Discord Server! LISTENING ROOM  In addition to the start of a new season of Glimpses Into the Empire, we have Mr. Tyler’s latest session of detention. Mr. Tyler continues his series on Pennsylvania witchcraft. TOPIC  The Optional Experienced Investigators rule on page 61 of the Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition: Investigators Handbook is a novel way to “load” newly created investigators with some prior experience either in their current career, or it could reflect experience from a previous career. The key to using these experience packages is to first determine the age of your investigator, and then apply any age modifications to the investigator’s characteristics, and any additional skill points earned through EDU advancements. Once that is completed, the player can add-in the character modifications from the experience package.The Investigators Handbook includes a War Experience Package, a Policy Experience Package, an Organized Crime Experience Package, a Medical Experience Package, and a Mythos Experience Package. So the hosts decided to make their own experience packages, and we present them to you here…Jon created… Dreamer Experience PackageThe investigator is an experienced dreamer and has traveled to the Dreamlands. Discuss with the Keeper the extend of the investigator’s travels and experience in the Dreamlands. The investigator should already be a “believer” in Mythos magic and lore. Based on the investigator’s level of experience as a dreamer, increase Cthulhu Mythos skill to a level agreed with the Keeper (from 1D6+3 as a beginner, up to 1D12+5 as a veteran). Deduct SAN equal to amount of Cthulhu Mythos skill gained. Add two of the following to the investigator’s backstory: Injury/Scar, Phobia/Mania, or an Encounter with Dreamlands Entity. Distribute between 25 (beginner) to 45 (veteran) bonus skill points among the two Dreamland skills: Dreaming and Dream Lore. Distribute 30 bonus skill points among the following skills: Art/Craft (any), Charm, Climb, Fighting (Sword), History, Jump, Listen, Natural World, Ride, Swim, Throw, and Track. Spells – with the Keeper’s permission – the Keeper will determine what spell(s) the investigator has access to. Pulp Thrill Seeker Experience PackageThis hero lives to push the boundaries of human experiences, but in that quest has also seen the edge of inhuman existence. This hero has had a glimpse of the Cthulhu Mythos, and hungers to see even more. Choose a starting age of 25 or over. Deduct 1D10 from SAN and add that same amount to Cthulhu Mythos. Add two of the following to the investigator’s backstory: Injury/Scar, or a Phobia/Mania associated with a daredevil activity. Distribute 60 bonus skill points among any of the following skills: Art/Craft (any), Charm, Climb, Diving, Drive Auto, Fast Talk, Jump, Mechanical Repair, Navigate, Pilot (any), Ride, Stealth, Survival (any), Swim, or Throw. Add 1 insane talent; roll on Table 12: Insane Talents, from the Pulp Cthulhu Chad created… Spy Experience Package The investigator has been involved in espionage of some kind in the past. Since this is an experience package, that most likely means they are burned or retired spies. If it fits the game concept, keepers and players could also craft a background together for an “active” spy from a foreign government. Remember that even allies frequently spy on each other. Starting age of 30 or over. Suggested Contacts: A former handler or agent, plus one or two strong contacts within the network they operated, like an informant, a specialist, or a rogue from another agency. Remember that bridges usually burn when the spy is burned, and making contact again could be a serious violation of protocol. Another contact might be one other burned spy (from any agency, including rival) who you like to swap “war” stories with. Deduct 1D10 from SAN – and explain what mundane horrors caused this. While there may be some trauma from “wet work” violence associated with spy experience, assassins and are not the majority of spies. Remember that many are desk-jockey diplomats or mundane professionals that simply target high-power sources of information. Interesting non-murder types of spy trauma include: Getting caught and exposed in a sketchy situation. What’s the spy’s “getting burned” story? Kidnapping and/or torture. Loss of close colleagues. Indirectly causing death or injury to innocents (intentional or not). Exposure to scary mundane “truths,” such as ubiquity of black market nuclear weapon sales, state enemies with greater power than publicly perceived, or horrible operations/conspiracies carried out by a home agency, etc. Add a Injury/Scar or Phobia associated with espionage work. Distribute 60 bonus skill points among the following (consider the type of spy you were): Accounting, Art/Craft (Acting), Disguise, Firearms, Listen, Other Language, Spot Hidden, one interpersonal skill (Charm, Fast Talk, Intimidate, or Persuade), Psychology, Sleight of Hand, Stealth. Immune to sanity losses from seeing corpses or human cruelty. Foreign Correspondent The investigator either worked as a freelance correspondent or was posted abroad by media organization (newspaper, radio, TV if 1950s or after, digital if about 2004 or after) in their home country. Starting age of 25 or after Deduct 1D10 from SAN OR 2D10 from Luck as an option. For SAN loss, describe what mundane horrors caused this. Interesting types of Foreign Correspondent trauma include: Their story did harm to people inadvertently. Witnessing in close contact the human cost of natural disasters, effects of war, genocide, epidemics, harmful policies, cruelty, injustice. Maybe even write the story. Immune to SAN loss from corpses or cruelty. Distribute 60 bonus skill points among: Accounting, Art/Craft (Photography), two interpersonal skills (Charm, Fast Talk, Intimidate, or Persuade), Library Use, Own Language, Up to two Other Languages, Survival, Psychology, First Aid Lots of cool examples from history to model your characters on. Vincent Sheean, (alfred hitchcock made a documentary about him), Mary Roberts Rinehart who covered the Belgian front in WWI, Louise Brooks who covered the Russian front, Carl J. Murphy who covered World War I from Germany for an African American newspaper in Baltimore that his father founded, and Earnest Hemmingway was a foreign correspondent in Paris in the 1920s. Murph created… Bookstore Owner Experience Package — A Purveyor of Fine Books (Non-Mythos / Base Package)This experience package is crated with those investigators in mind that have spent their lives deep in their own personal libraries. The knowledge is vast, branching out to many subjects. But it is not their knowledge that they are known for. These Investigators, these bibliophiles, are adept salesmen. They are able to read a person when they come in and work them little by little until a sale is made. The Investigator has owned and operated a successful bookstore for a number of years. Starting age must be at least 35. Distribute 30 bonus skill points among the following skills: Accounting, Appraise, Charm, Library Use, Spot Hidden, Fast Talk, Persuade, Psychology, Own Language Distribute an additional 30 points to as many diverse skills as possible. This represents the vast knowledge that the Investigator has gained by reading the tomes that has passed through his hands. Impose a 7 point limit from this pool of points to each skill. Conversely, more flavor can be added to the package in terms of a Specialized Bookseller. Specialized Booksellers would only sell books and ephemera associated with one or two genres. Perhaps place more than half of the points in those two appropriate genre skills (Nature or Crafts/Photography for example) but leave some left over to place in some new skills not yet known. Reduce the Investigator’s SAN score by 1D6 points. There are some really disturbing books in the world, even before we go looking for the Mythos. Bookstore Owner Experience Package — (Mythos Package)Follow the rules above but exclude the SAN loss and instead add the following steps. As a side note, there are no Specialized Booksellers that deal with the Mythos, therefore you cannot choose that option and then claim Cthulhu Mythos is your genre’s skill, but it was a nice try.) Before proceeding you must determine if the Investigator is a True Believer or not. If they are a believer in the almighty power and sanity-blasting terror of indifference that is the Mythos, then proceed as normal. If you decide that the Investigator has read all of the books but has chosen to ignore the mounting piles of evidence that he deals in on a regular basis, then add the normal amount of points to the Cthulhu Mythos as below. Then make a note, and inform you Keeper of the amount of SAN that should have been lost. That SAN will now be banked and will be lost all at one time for the Investigator when they are presented with facts that obviously prove the Mythos is real, good luck. Also, Non-Believers will not have access to spells as described below. Add 1D10+3 to the Investigator’s Cthulhu Mythos skill. I’m pretty sure we know why we are doing this. Remove the same amount of SAN from the Investigator that they gained in Cthulhu Mythos skill above. With your Keeper’s input, determine if the Investigator can have spells at the start of the game. If so work with them to determine 1D4 spells that the Investigator knows from reading the forbidden knowledge of his own back room.

This episode we’ll be looking at our game shelves and asking – can I use a board game for my role playing game? And we have Edwin joining us on the horn to help us out. Thanks to Type40 for sponsoring this episode. This episode was recorded on June 20, 2019. Campus Crier Our Crier was a little short this week. We’ll be back with more next show. The NecronomiCon Providence convention is only 60 days away, (as of this recording), and the list of panels is now available for fans to review. So if you’re going to be in Providence in August, check out the list to figure out what panels you’d like to attend. Check out our Discord server here >> Thank you to Edwin for editing AND guest-hosting the show! Sponsor Thanks once again to Type40 for sponsoring this episode! Type40 is a maker of all manner of high quality gaming props and items, lots of them specifically for Call of Cthulhu. One kind of tempting item they make are their campaign journals. They are bound in leather, and they have designed stamped or tooled into the covers. So you have one for The Dunwich Horror, with a Miskatonic University shield on it, you have one for At the Mountains of Madness, an official Chaosium one, with detailed art work from the HPLHS. They’re selling a set of them now signed by Mike Mason. Check out Type40’s whole catalog when you get a chance via the link in the show notes. Type40 By the way, Type40 is planning to be at GenCon this summer, so for any of you planning to be in Indy this year, stop by the Chaosium booth. Allan Carey is a veteran Call of Cthulhu player so swing by for a chat, because he loves to talk about his passion for immersive props. Listening Room This week we’ve got Episode 3 of “The Journals of Laura Logan!” Once again Kerrie TC is available for voice over work if anyone has leads, please send them to kerrietcrpgs@gmail.com. Next up, Mr. Tyler is back with a new installment of his detention hall diatribes. Let’s crack open our text books and turn to page…witchcraft. Topic Board games as RPG inspiration! 1. Games that can help with setting and world building. 2. Board game (or card games) that have mechanics that could be used for horror RPGs. Mentioned in episode: Fury of Dracula Firefly Eldritch Horror Risk/Axis & Allies Tannhauser Illuminati card game Flux Pandemic