Miskatonic University Podcast

This little show of ours is done on a shoestring budget, and those strings tend to get frayed from time to time. We intend to get Murf, Chad and Dan to NecronomiCon Providence 2017, and we’re hitting the financial wall in a couple of areas. So we could use a little assistance from listeners who wish to help us get there. Many of our trip expenses are covered out of pocket, but we could use some help to make the trip easier on tight budgets. And here is what you get in return for your contribution! We’re doing this as a “ransom” fundraiser. We have a goal of $700 set. When that goal is reached, then we will release as a free download to the public (not just backers) a scenario written by our own Keeper Jon Hook. Here’s a preview of “For the Love Of”: Please note that this is not a part of the Patreon system. Being a Patron there does not go towards this as it is separate from costs for running the site itself. All prices are in US dollars. At this time, we are only able to take PayPal payment Thanks in advance to all who are able to contribute! [purchase_link id=”3331″ text=”Add to Your Cart” style=”button” color=”green”] As part of the NecronomiCon fundraiser, Oscar Rios is generously offering to run two online games for donors. For the price of $100, Oscar will run a 3-hour online demo of Cthulhu Invictus for up to a total of 4 players. This reward comes with one completely original pre-gen Invictus investigator for a team member. Only one such game is available. The 3-Hour Demo has been sold! Thank you so much for the support! For $250, he will run an original never-before played Cthulhu Invictus adventure set anywhere in the Roman Empire the donor chooses. The game session will last 4 hours. This game is also for a team of 4 players, and all will be provided with pre-gens. The donor will also get a preview draft of the “Tour of the Empire” chapter in the unreleased Cthulhu Invictus book to help them pick the province where they want the adventure set. Only one game at this level is available. These funds will also add to the total to meet the goal to release Jon’s scenario. The number selector above the checkout button is disabled. It will only select 1 regardless of the number in it. [purchase_link id=”5560″ text=”Add to Your Cart” style=”button” color=”green”]   Our own lovely Keeper Jon is also offering up online games! For $50 he will run a one-on-one online Age of Cthulhu game with the buyer. He has several one-on-one adventures that he has written, and the buyer can choose any one of them to play with the author. Buyers can choose from any one of these Age of Cthulhu One-vs-One adventures: Pickpocket – It’s the end of a long day, and as you thread your way through the heard of work-weary people, you feel a tug on your pocket. Quickly, you check, and your wallet has been lifted. You look up, and your eyes lock with a kid whose about to duck into a nearby alley. Thief! In this adventure, you meet a young man desperate to stay alive on the streets as he looks for his missing brother. Do you have the courage to help him? Picture in a Silver Frame – It’s been another difficult day. Your frail uncle desperately clings to life as his weakened body continues to break down. In one of his few moments of clarity, he’s asked you to clean out some of his belongings from his attic. As you do so, you come across a remarkable silver frame, and an old photograph that you’ve never seen before. You’re taken aback. The ancient photo in this beautiful frame is of you, full of life and vigor, as you are now! You’re standing in front of a home you’ve never seen before. What is this? Where did this picture come from, and what can it mean? In this adventure, you’ll question the flow of time as you seek to discover the secret of the silver frame. The Silent Clowder – Something strange is going on over at your neighbors house. Night after night, his yard hosts more and more cats. They’d be a damn nuisance if they were screaming all night, but not a single cat is making a sound. They just sit and stare at the house. What could they be doing? And come to think about it, it’s been a while since you’ve seen your neighbor. In this adventure, you discover how far you’d go for your neighbor. Suicide in the Stacks – It’s a fine day to browse through the library. It’s right as you round the corner into the next isle in the stacks when you find her. A beautiful young woman has taken her own life! You stand in horror as the last of her life ebbs from her open wrists. In this adventure, you seek to discover why this woman committed suicide. It is a dark day, and there is little hope of light returning anytime soon. And, depending on when Jon finishes writing it, you could be the first to play test a brand new Age of Cthulhu One-vs-One adventure titled The Smothering Black. The Smothering Black – You are recovering well after a car accident three months ago. It was pretty bad for a while, you were in a coma for three days, but you’ve pulled through and are on the mend. Unfortunately, your close friend just lost her father, and you have come to his visitation to pay your respects and give your friend, Dorothy, your condolences. As you approach the coffin, you look inside, and Dorothy’s father lays in repose, but his flesh seems to be covered in some kind of black stain. Every inch of his flesh and hair is covered in this stain; the black is so absolute, that you have a difficult time seeing the details of his features. What is it, and is this what killed him? In this adventure, you seek to discover the secret of the deadly “black” before it can kill again.  There is no limit to how many of these are available, so if you want to sample every one of Jon’s One-on-One Call of Cthulhu scenarios, then you can buy this multiple times! We asked Jon if he wasn’t sure he wanted a cap, and his response was “I double dog dare the public to buy ’em.“ You heard the man… Are you gonna back down from that? [purchase_link id=”5562″ text=”Add to Your Cart” style=”button” color=”green”] ]]>

This episode, Chad and Dan are joined by Sean, a Keeper and Captain for an Extra Life team last Autumn. We talk about a slurry of topics that have been simmering in Sean’s mind lately.  This episode was recorded on, June 26, 2017, and is dedicated to the progenitor of MUP, Yog-Sothoth.com! We want to hear from you! By email: mup.feedback@gmail.com By phone: (401) 400-0MUP (0687) By Twitter: @MU_Podcast By Speakpipe: (Click the floating tab on the far right of this page) On our forum: mu-podcast.com/campus. Like what you hear? Please become a Patron! >> mu-podcast.com/patron << Campus Crier ♞ Big YSDC news: Some disappointing news on the Masks of Nyarlathotep Kickstarter campaign. The good news is that all backers are getting the stuff they were promised. Bad news: Paul unexpectedly had to give up a whopping 10,000 pounds of profit that was meant to keep YSDC running so that the rewards of the Kickstarter could be 100% fulfilled. It was due to a “miscalculation.” So only 3,000 pounds was left to actually benefit the site, after 10 years and tons of volunteer effort. Because of this, Paul of Cthulhu is selling off his entire Call of Cthulhu collection to raise funds to keep YSDC going. (He has stated a touching sentiment that since the joy he gets from the game is about friends and players and playing instead of “stuff,” this move is a positive way to focus his passion where it matters most.) ALL OF THAT SAID, Paul of Cthulhu has announced that to keep the website in good stead, he is selling off his entire Call of Cthulhu collection – which includes nearly everything ever made for the game, including rare editions and original manuscripts. As of release of this episode a week after recording, Paul has now sold his entire collection to a single buyer! He said he know it is going to a good home, and is please with the amount agreed upon. http://www.yog-sothoth.com/articles.html/_/main/the-fall-of-the-wall-the-greatest-call-of-cthulhu-sale-in-history >>Become a YSDC Patron<< >>Give to the YSDC Collection Box<< >>Let Us Know You Pitched In!<< ♞The Yellow King RPG from Pelgrane Press. Inspired by Robert W. Chambers’ influential cycle of short stories, YKRPG pits the characters against the reality-altering horror of The King in Yellow. This suppressed play, once read, invites madness. Or a visit from its titular character, an alien ruler intent on invading and remolding our world into a colony of their planet, Carcosa. Four books, served up together in a beautiful slipcase, confront your players with an epic journey into reality horror. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1721105501/the-yellow-king-roleplaying-game-from-robin-d-laws And they discuss the game on KARTAS.   ♞New Lovecraftian drama from Chris Lackey, and usual suspects, called Quiet and Bold. Said to be Kickstarted for an episode called “Bride of Innsmouth.” Below is The Scorned House. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6DKcDnFXXE   ♞Lovecraftian Horror Has Never Looked More Adorable Than It Does in This Animated Short (held over from E125)   ♞ Cthulhu Dark campaign concluded at a total of £71,835 (or $91,384) – with 1747 backers! Dorward’s campaign did not get unlocked, but Graham says it’ll be revived in some way down the road.   ♞New web and TV series re-tells the story of H.P. Lovecraft’s Re-Animator   Chaosium News- ♞CHAOSIUM APPOINTS LILLIAN COHEN-MOORE AS DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & MEDIA Writer, journalist and editor Lillian Cohen-Moore has joined the Chaosium team as director of marketing and media, it was announced today. “Lillian’s professional experience extends across the game industry and fiction sphere, particularly in the genres of horror and weird fiction. So she’s an excellent fit for what we do at Chaosium”, said Michael O’Brien, Chaosium vice president. Lillian’s extensive RPG writing and editing credits include releases for White Wolf, Paizo, Atlas Games, Catalyst Game Labs, and many others.   Listener Feedback We received a new Speak Pipe voice message from DM Cojo! Sanekdotes- Paladium: Beyond the Supernatural https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_the_Supernatural http://palladium-store.com/1001/category/Beyond-the-Supernatural.html DM Cojo appears as a guest on this podcast, called THAC0’s HAMMER DM Cojo on G+ Topics Saying “Yes” in a Mystery: I try very hard to say “yes” to players in most games I run but I have a bit of trouble doing so in CoC or similar games because there is an endpoint that has to be reached. It is even more problematic at a convention where time is a limiting factor. I’d be curious how others have handled this in games. The genesis of this musing is that I’m preparing to run the Dracula Dossier for my group, which is improvisational at its core – it isn’t a direct apple-to-apples with CoC but it got me wondering how much you could stretch Call. Immersion: When are game mechanics part of the fun and when do they prevent immersion? For example: I’ve run games at conventions where all I told the players was a general description of their character. The players then go into the game no worried about “gaming” their character stats but rather focus on “What could a police inspector reasonably do?  I’ve tried it where they roll and tell me the results and where I roll behind the screen (which leads to questions like “Hmm, am I not hearing anything because it isn’t there or because I failed my roll?”). [Note from Chad: I’ve also heard of some keepers only describing damage and only keeping track of hit points behind the screen.] You don’t have to become a Patron to support YSDC. You could just chip in a one time donation to YSDC’s Collection Box. Any amount will do! One dollar, two dollars, three dollars…guys I’m blanking on the names of other dollar amounts… And hey, bad Fund Drive pitches aside, do us a favor. If you do end up contributing something to YSDC, add a little Go Pods in the message box or Send a message to the MU Podcast thread on YSDC to let us know. We’re basically fishing for credit. It’d be nice to find what kind of support MU nation is able to send their way. Here are links to the Extra Life fundraiser that Sean was part of: MUP Interview – Extra Life  October 2016 MUP 113 – A Group’s 1-Minute Horror with Mayor McPain  November 2016 Discuss on the Campus Forum]]>

This episode, Jon and Chad talk to Max (a.k.a. Mahaffa on the forums), a regular Keeper and player on Skype of Cthulhu who also serves as President of Promethean Games Inc. We discuss a mélange of topics, including Chaosium’s new licensing structure, thoughts on Call of Cthulhu sanity mechanics, and the search for new ways to get investigators involved in scenarios. This episode was recorded on, June 12, 2017. We want to hear from you! By email: mup.feedback@gmail.com By phone: (401) 400-0MUP (0687) By Twitter: @MU_Podcast By Speakpipe: (Click the floating tab on the far right of this page) On our forum: mu-podcast.com/campus. Like what you hear? Please become a Patron! >> mu-podcast.com/patron << Campus Crier Chaosium launches new licensing policies. The licenses fall into three tiers: Fan-generated material for non-commercial use. A Limited License, which allows small publishers and individuals to sell fanzines, convention scenarios, and one-off books if the gross sales revenue does not exceed $2,000 per year. Significant: “You cannot crowdfund (e.g. Kickstarter) products covered under the Small Publisher Limited License.” Commercial License. This is for established companies with a proven track record, and is “very rarely” given to individuals. A change was made to the posted language for clarity: In general, Chaosium collects a percentage of gross sales as a royalty, and under certain circumstances may also require an advance on royalties. The exact percentage and dollar amounts are only negotiated after we have seen what a company is proposing to do,” the text now reads (bold added to emphasize what’s new). And a further clarification was made on YSDC and sent to us to share: “We have the advance on royalties as an option for licensees we haven’t worked with before, and for foreign language translations, particularly fiction. For crowdfunding e.g. Kickstarter, we require our royalties to be paid 10 days after the projects funds come through.” Some people we spoke with mentioned that Chaosium’s licensing specifications are more stringent than other publishers, and this could mean projects are taken to other companies. Some have also said that these conditions seem fair and appreciate the clarity. Not allowing small creators to do Kickstarters could mean less commercial experimentation in Call of Cthulhu, but also more control over quality. Dean Englehardt of Cthulhu Reborn has been vocal in airing concerns about how the new rules affect small publishers who would not qualify for a commercial license. In a YSDC thread, Dean argued: “The reason I find this an unusual policy decision is that it somewhat goes against the entire reason that Kickstarter and similar platforms exist — which is to allow people who don’t have a lot of starting capital to get a start. By taking that option off the table for people starting out in publishing, Chaosium are basically making people put up their own starting capital, get established as a company, and get a few titles out. After they are already established, KS is an option — but by that stage, the company should already *have* capital, so would have less need of it.” In the discussion, Chaosium President Rick Meints made this statement: “Most solicitations for licenses are simple emails that basically say “hey, I want too publish X, can I get your permission (or do I need your permission). They are mainly from individuals we have never heard of, nor worked with before. A few have good ideas, and many don’t. Chaosium only has so much time and resource to spend on licensing those sorts of things. We’re fine with individuals who want to do very limited things for little money, like a low priced PDF on DTRPG, or something they want to share for free. We make it simple for them to get a license. For more commercial efforts, we are investing our time and resources, mainly because we want our commercial licensees to be a success, and we have to pick and choose those more carefully.” You can watch Jeff Richards discussing the point about not allowing Kickstarters for small publishing license during his recent interview on ‘Legends of Tabletop‘. Cthulhu Dark update: New stretch goals:: a Cthulhu Dark mini-campaign in London 1851, by Scott Dorward, one of the writers for Call of Cthulhu Seventh Edition. It’s called Now We Are The Sons of God and it has three parts, all exploring different parts of Victorian London. Between Twilight and Dawn – did not fund. A post-script from Oscar on the updates thread: “What will happen to this collection? At the moment we’re not entirely sure. We’re taking two weeks to step back, work on other projects, and let the dust settle before making any decisions about the collection. We have every confidence that this is a great collection and one that deserves a moment in the sun, but the fates have spoken and that time is not now. Maybe one day, when the stars are right. To those who really wanted to see this book produced, we’re sorry it didn’t work out that way.” More Chaosium News, from Michael O’Brien: “Chaosium is working on a new Miskatonic University board game with German design legend Reiner Knizia. We had fun putting the prototype through its paces at the Chaosium booth at UK Games Expo last weekend. Highly positive reactions all round (“very Call of Cthulhu” was the unanimous consensus), and some useful feedback—our board games editor Susan is now working through some tweaks with Call of Cthulhu line editor Mike, and the designer himself Reiner Knizia. We’ll be Kickstarting this game later in the year…” Listener Feedback Matt Martinez on G+: Lamentations of the Flame Princess was mentioned in the “Sanecdotes” episode of the podcast, but it does not actually have sanity mechanics. In fact, creator/designer James Raggi has some particular feelings about them. “If you have any sort of sanity or fright mechanic that applies to player characters, your idea is already very bad. Throw it away and start over.” Trevor Hirst on G+ Roll sanity first! Gah! That is so smart. Great show today…. I don’t know if I heard it on a podcast, saw it in the rules, or what, but a cool thing to use the d100 random sanity table for is character creation. You pre roll insanity ( like eating dirt, or obsessive nose picking). The player has to describe what thing happened in his backstory that will make him want to eat dirt when he gets unhinged later during the game. Fun! Topics “THE SOUNDING BOARD,” with Max CORRECTION: Temporary Insanity results in CoC are not only about random tables. Sorry for misrepresenting at :53, :58, and 1:03 of Episode 124! WRONG! :53 “CHILL is kind of like Call of Cthulhu where you go with a random result.” WRONG! WRONGish! :58 “instead of eating dirt or random phobias that we see in Call of Cthulhu as a table, you’ll see things like random acts of aggression…” WRONGish! WRONGish! 1:03 “Makes more sense than someone encountering a monster and something unrelated happens off of a random table.” WRONGish! Sanity losses for various monsters. Do they make sense? Forum-posters Trevlix and Danial79 commented about this on our forum thread for last episode. Descriptive guidance on sanity losses. Thoughts on types of investigator hooks, and the search for new ground. accident or happenstance, inheritor, deeper investigation (mundane to Mythos). During the chat, we talked about using home made sanity cards as prompts. It turns out Chaosium already has as set of these, which we first talked about way back in Episode 37, when Mike Mason was discussing the development of these decks on his blog, the Angry Zoog.   Discuss on the Campus Forum]]>

In this episode, the MU crew takes a closer look at Sanity mechanics in Call of Cthulhu and a whole slew of other other horror and Lovecraft related roleplaying games. Plus, sanecdotes and more. This episode was recorded on, May 29, 2017. We want to hear from you! By email: mup.feedback@gmail.com By phone: (401) 400-0MUP (0687) By Twitter: @MU_Podcast By Speakpipe: (Click the floating tab on the far right of this page) On our forum: mu-podcast.com/campus. Like what you hear? Please become a Patron! >> mu-podcast.com/patron << Campus Crier CORRECTIONS: Sean, who got a hat tip for the topic suggestion last time, is not officially a member of Skype of Cthulhu at this point. Chad said he is “of Skype of Cthulhu fame.” But he’s not. He is famous, however, because Jon interviewed him and Edwin about Extra Life charity events he was involved with last year. Speaking of Skype of Cthulhu faux pas(es) – remember when we talked about how we wished there was an Actual Play of Gatsby and the Great Race out in the world somewhere? Welp, there is. Skype of Cthulhu – you know, our sister podcast? Well they did one. A big one. To celebrate their 300th episode, in fact. Back around February 2016. Skype guys, we are terrible. Links to the four-part series are in our show notes. Gatsby and The Great Race Game One Gatsby and The Great Race Game Two Gatsby and The Great Race Game Three Gatsby and The Great Race Game Extra [caption id="attachment_5433" align="alignright" width="150"] Alan Bligh[/caption] Call of Cthulhu writer Alan Bligh passed away on May 26 after a brief battle with cancer. His credits include Edge of Darkness, Dead Light and Crimson Letters. Mike Mason posted a nice note about his passing: “Alan loved creating stories, be it fiction or roleplay, whether it involved storming a stronghold with a multitude of tanks on a battlefield or populating dark gothic worlds with which to terrify his friends (in a good way). Over the next few days, weeks, and years, if you find yourself reading or playing through one of Alan’s many works, please raise a glass to his memory. The world is a smaller place for his loss.” [caption id="attachment_5432" align="alignright" width="150"] Joan Stanley[/caption] Catching up on news we missed, Joan Stanley, the author of Ex Libris Miskatonici, passed away last year at the age of 71. She has an incredible career bio, was one of the first black female US federal prosecutors in the 1970s, battled arthritis for most of her adult life, and somewhat mysteriously penned this incredible catalog of “pseudobiblia” from the Cthulhu Mythos. She served on the Convention Committee of NeconomiCon back in the 90s, and on the back cover of Ex Libris Miskatonici, it says she “fell in love with Lovecraft’s writing by reading At the Mountains of Madness in 10th grade.To a life-long resident of Boston, those shoggoths pouring out of the cave resembled nothing so much as a speeding MTA streetcar coming out of a Tremont Street tunnel, or a subway train screeching through the Park Street Under.” She was also one of the early members of the Boston Star Trek Association and traveled as far as Australia to attend the World Science Fiction Convention. Friends quipped that she was as logical as a Vulcan in her approach to life.” Hat tip to Bret for the lead and some great background materials. Boston Globe article NecronomiCon 1997 details Speaking of Bret, thanks to the audio intervention of Keeper Chad, Sentinel Hill Press Patreon backers can now hear a long-lost interview with scenario author Ben Wenham. In the interview Bret and Ben talk about Ben’s scenario “The Bosworth House,” as well as his inspirations, and future plans, including his campaign “Stranger Still”. The interview will be part of an upcoming episode of The Sentinel Hill Presscast. The Cthulhu Dark Kickstarter is now underway! Hero Lab, a character management system, has added CoC 7th Edition to its list of supported systems. The HP Lovecraft Historical Society has a freaking storefront in Glendale, CA?! And they put out a call for people to play Call of Cthulhu with them on May 11?! They inaugurated their new Glendale headquarters earlier in May with a Call of Cthulhu game night. They played ‘Dead Light’, and Chaosium contributed some extra Call of Cthulhu swag for the players. The HPLHS’s new digs are at 1644 Victory Blvd., Glendale CA 91201\ Jordan Peele to Produce HBO Series ‘Lovecraft Country’ With J.J. Abrams, Misha Green Lovecraft-ian Cosmic Horror Conarium Arrives on June 6, 2017 The Call of Cthulhu video game will be shown at E3 …But behind closed doors.   Topic – Sanity Mechanics (Jon) Does anyone else think many of the suggested Sanity losses in Call of Cthulhu should be higher? (Chad) Command and control: totally random sanity outcomes vs. Keeper-dictated outcomes vs. player-driven outcomes. How do you guys do it? (Dan) Lost Expedition Sanecdotes? Other Systems: Trail of Cthulhu 1) Sanity is broken into two parts. 2) At the moment of fear, you have to make a gamble with resources 3) It’s tied strongly to character background “pillars” and “drives.” Delta Green 1) Focus on backstory elements (Called Bonds) are so crucial. 2) Sanity results brought forward to modern understanding of trauma. Cthulhu Dark 1) Suppressing the Mythos can bring the Insanity down. 2) The spiral of the d6 means you hover on the edge of madness for a long time, and things affect you easily in the beginning of the game. 3) There is incentive to risk your Insanity as a resource. CHILL 1) There is no permanent character death from loss of “sanity” (though they can have severely hampered rolls against psychological traits) 2) Granular horror gauges of Horror, Terror, and Revulsion (Stephen?) 3) Trauma recovers pretty quickly, though it could leave a “disadvantage” scar behind. Tremulus 1) the current value of your Shock comes with a verbal descriptor to guide role play. 2) The ability to call for a Shock check with no change in Shock status means the GM can pile on the horrors without driving the PCs completely crazy. Unknown Armies 1) Succeeding means you become tougher against the fear but also more distant from humanity / compassion. 2) Failure means an immediate reaction, but in a way it can save you from going crazy. 3) Five different scales of fear is very granular. GURPS 1) If you like granular tables and random results, this system works well. 2) with advantage/disadvantage systems, you can set up the character’s likely reactions to trauma during character creation. Read Hite’s GURPS Horror no matter what system you use! Don’t Rest Your Head 1) Madness is an important resource, and it gives you special powers in the game. 2) The game’s main stats determine “how” you are performing any particular feat, and Madness is one of the wells from which you can draw to do anything. 3) Madness is front and center for the PCs, not a side effect or a consequence. An incomplete list with some other traditional systems mentioned Sanecdotes is now a thing.   Discuss this episode on the Campus Forums.    ]]>

In this special report, Keepers Chad and Jon chat with Graham Walmsley, the creator of the rules-light Lovecraftian horror game Cthulhu Dark. He is currently running a Kickstarter for a new hardback print and PDF version of the game with lots of advice on creating and running investigative horror scenarios as well as four new settings that are specifically tailored for the Cthulhu Dark rules. NOTE: Jon’s audio drops out abruptly around the 50 minute mark. Just so you know he’s not rude or painfully shy. He just stopped existing after that point. For a taste of what playing the new Cthulhu Dark is like. Look for an upcoming Actual Play in Skype of Cthulhu with with Graham running the game for the SoC crew! Check it out on Facebook >> ]]>

In this episode, all four hosts talk about some of our favorite so-bad-it’s-good movies and tropes to winnow for game inspiration. This episode was recorded on, May 15, 2017, and is sponsored by Golden Goblin Press! Campus Crier Cthulhu Mythos Books from Dark Regions Press Graham Walmsley is going to launch the Cthulhu Dark Kickstarter on Monday, May 29. It’ll last for about a month. We have an interview with Graham that we will release during the campaign. Bagthulhu – The diabolically adorable Cthulhu Dicebag Pax Cthuliana – A Cthulhu scenario Srsly another MiniDisc release?? At the Mountains of Madness, by Allicorn! Oh, by the way, Ken Hite is doing the 5th Ed of Vampire the Masquerade Cthulhu Confidential is actually in print: Masks of Nyarly Companion is actually in print: The back-issue archive of Protodimension Magazine is available online again. http://www.darkconspiracytherpg.info/protodimensions-issues/ Chaosium News: Fiction editor announced – James Lwowder! Chaosium New Fiction Submissions Guidelines Released Big News! Chaosium releases new RPG submissions guidelines We’ve been missing these new items from Dean Englehart from Cthulhu Reborn, who is posting a lot of material for the Australian setting Convicts & Cthulhu. Podcast Promo Tangent…Brian Posehn’s Nerd Poker (On iTunes here). Dad DND podcast. (On iTunes) Winners of the Cult of Chaos scenario writing contest have been announced! Of the 11 finalist scenarios, Chaosium picked 6 that to further develop into fully laid out convention scenarios, to make available at conventions in 2017 and 2018. These winning entries are: Weekend in the Woods by Matt Ryan The Kids are Alright by Jason and Ann D’Angelo Those Within by Freddie Folds Midnight Masquerade by Ed Possing W00t! Searching for the Rhinegold by Benjaim Constantineau and Jean-Sébastien Boisvert Dansereau As the Leaf Withers on the Vine by Charles Perryman Congratulations! Runners up: Mark Platt, Morgan Hua, Jay Jong, Aaron Eskenazi, and Jason Michal. Gatsby and the Great Race at Nexus Game Fair on May 26th! Ed Possing, Jen Martin, her husband Mark Martin and Cory Welch are going to run Gatsby and the Great Race at Nexus. It’ll be a three table game with 18 maximum seats – we only 8 players right now, but we’d love to try and have it as full as possible. If it works for you to do a PSA, we’d love to get it on the MUP. 😉 Nexus Game Fair is at the Hyatt in Milwaukee, WI, Memorial Day Weekend, May 26-29th – the whole holiday weekend. We’re going to run Saturday, May 27th from 6 PM until midnight. Listener Feedback Voicemail from Ritterton regarding episode 120. iTunes Reviews StormsEnd from USA on April 12, 2017: Awesome Podcast These guys do a great job. The format is great, its just like sitting around with your friends talking about RPGS. I love listening to the debates and bouncing ideas off each other. My games have gone from ok to spectacular. Keep up the good work. The Farquhar from Canada on April 7, 2017: Greeting from the Great White North I was recommended this by someone on the Yog-Sothoth website and I’m very glad they did. Currently trying to catch up from ep 85. Keeper Dan’s laugh is so infectious I can’t help but join in. I don’t play Call of Cthulhu RPG (unfortunately) but I do love the mythos itself and its other game variants. I’ve been listening to your podcast as I write for our horror/mystery games using the old Supernatural RPG system (by Margaret Weis Productions); its helps to keep me in the right frame of mind as I take a break here and there or hit a snag. Please consider a Go Pods! Fighting Cephalopods car decal. Keep up the great work and GO PODS! Harbaugh87 from USA on March 29, 2017: So Awesome, You Will Need To Make a SAN Check! This podcast is the real deal. If you like CoC or are even remotely interested in Lovecraft, you will love this podcast! Keep up the great work, guys. Go Pods!! Topic “Breaking down bad horror movie tropes and mining them for good scenario ideas” – Hat tip top Sean for the suggestion. Here is a great site for exploring tropes: TV Tropes A link to a list of horror movie survival rules as outlined in Scream. Chad Category 7: The End of the World Dark Night of the Scarecrow Dan Avalanche (1978) The Descent (2005) Island Of Terror (1966) (Trailer here) Sharktopus Aberration (1997) Mutant– 1984 Strange Things – 11 Movie Collection Murph Frankenhooker (1990) Blood Sand (Here on IMDB) The Host Dreamscape Darkman (1990) Pontypool Cabin Fever The Green Inferno (2013) Avenged (2013) Landmine Goes Click Jon The World Beyond (1978 TV movie) Tropes: Psychic Sensitive person, & magically created mindless monster Trilogy of Terror (1975 TV movie) Tropes: Animated doll, & solitary victim The Stuff (1985 movie) Tropes: alien monster, & human transformation into monsters   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olEbwhWDYwM https://youtu.be/kGTJ4Cv5ktE Discuss this episode on the Campus Forum.]]>

Miskatonic University Podcast Actual Play Presents: Ebon Eaves, a semi-improvised adventure for Tremulus, the Lovecraft-inspired horror role playing game based on the Apocalypse World engine. The game and playset are by Sean Preston. This is a behind-the-scenes post script with some of the background discussion players had about the rules and the challenges of a system that is based on improvisation. We begin with a chat that immediately followed our first session (Episode 1), which mostly covered character creation and world building. Then we skip ahead in time to a discussion that followed the conclusion of the scenario in Episode 3, when Randall gives us a peek behind the veil to discuss what it was like to use the Tremulus mechanics to unfold the semi-improvised plot. Learn more about Tremulus here >> Our players: Randall as Keeper Jim as Doctor Franklin Woodward Max as Travelin’ Jason Freeley EddyPo as Detective Tommy Stone Chad as Antiquarian Peter Strand And Rob as Professor Grant The theme song, “Come Out And Play,” by DesperateMeasurez, is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.]]>

Miskatonic University Podcast Actual Play Presents: Ebon Eaves, a semi-improvised adventure for Tremulus, the Lovecraft-inspired horror role playing game based on the Apocalypse World engine. The game and playset are by Sean Preston. Learn more about Tremulus here >> Our players: Randall as Keeper Jim as Doctor Franklin Woodward Max as Travelin’ Jason Freeley EddyPo as Detective Tommy Stone Chad as Antiquarian Peter Strand And Rob as Professor Grant The theme song, “Come Out And Play,” by DesperateMeasurez, is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.]]>

In this episode, Dan, Jon and Chad are joined by Beast of Editing Brian Sammons to discuss an upcoming Golden Goblin Press fiction anthology “Between Twilight and Dawn,” a collection of Lovecraftian horror stories that begin at twilight and end at dawn. We discuss the book and ways to use horror fiction to inform your horror gaming, plus some other projects underway and a few questions from listeners. This episode was recorded on May 1, 2017 and is sponsored by Golden Goblin Press. Campus Crier An update on Into the Cold Waste, a new album by YSDC musical virtuoso Allicorn on…minidisc. Why minidisc? Because Paul is a silly. You can hear more about it on a recent News From Pnakotus Check out this article about Guillermo del Toro on ‘At the Mountains of Madness’ and a Hard Lesson Learned. There’s a new teaser out for “Call of Cthulhu – The Official Video Game.” Mike Mason was a guest author at Fantasy Grounds’ FG Con Listen to guest author Mike Mason of Chaosium talk about Call of Cthulhu, Chaosium and Pulp Cthulhu at FG Con 10. The Bloop: An Underwater Mystery That Took Nearly 10 Years to Solve The sound of bursting of glacial bubbles, or “Breath of Ages” was also mentioned. Here’s a first look inside the printed Grand Grimoire of Cthulhu Mythos Magic, new supplement for Call of Cthulhu Ongoing Campaign Updates: A Forest: Lovecraft based “choose your own adventure,” where half the profit will go to cancer research. A Cthulhu based interactive horror novel that develops differently based on your decisions. Here’s a look at the hallucinogenic text the Scott Dorward found promoting a fake PF copy of The Two-Headed Serpent. Westminster is the Arab. Thereby viscid settee was being authentically Pulp Cthulhu about the stockholder. Signwriter uncloaks through a joannie. Togs is the epichthyolite. Family is munificently The Two-Headed Serpent toward the bane. In posse aforethought license is the nicholle. Thrillingly afghani slowpoke is a intension. Arabick enoch extremly implacably gets around snarkily for the stagnantly unsophisticated furfur. Sootflakes were the modishly jurassic episcopes. Transrhenane frazzle was decadently boring. Personable jana can round up. Misleading arman can mingle. Serial methadone must plead from the splintered possessorship. Neoprenes can bloat. Pulp Cthulhu is the handsomely deplorable gaiety. Unspoilt reselection infixes. Bearably unvarnished jarrod has quipped from the gastronomic foraminifer. Superfluous aborts were the threnetic multivalves. Concussive spaniel can unfetter per the synthetically drony yardage. Sigil & Sign update – the Cubicle 7 game where you play a cultist. Sweet Dreams Cthulhu: A Lovecraftian Bedtime Board Book The Book of Contemporary Magical Things from From Stygian Fox – 100 pages of modern, seemingly mundane, items that are imbued with magical power. Archive: Historical People, Places, and Events for RPGs – Archive is the sequel to a book successfully Kickstarted five years ago: The GM’s Real-World Reference. Between Twilight and Dawn – A collection of Lovecraftian and cosmic horror stories that begin at twilight and end at dawn. This episode is sponsored by Golden Goblin Press with an eye to getting the word out about this fiction Kickstarter, though it is still covered as Crier news). Topic In light of the upcoming Kickstarter for Between Twilight and Dawn, we talk with Brian about how to use fiction or films to spur horror gaming ideas. “We are interested in having Brian Sammons on to talk about the project and other things, such as the difference between fiction and scenario authors and authors who do both, and our fiction companion line (fiction collections supporting RPG projects). Kingsport scenario he is about to start Writing for us, part of the 1 week kingsport themes KS we are running next year as a Sequel to Cold Warning.” A Year In Kingsport – Brian’s scenario is tentatively called- Prisoners of the Escape Tails of Valor – Cat stories RPG book Tails of Terror fiction anthology Next Anthology book will be Lovecraft Country- Then and Now. Sam Gafford- The House of Nodens – Dark Regions Press Questions from listeners and MU luminaries: Bret: Why is Kingsport awesome? Sean: Best non-Cthulhu book you read in the last year. A Head Full of Ghosts Bret: What movie would you like to see make into a scenario? The Taking of Deborah Logan Max: What is your best horror gaming moment? He took the novel “The Scream” and made a campaign out of it. Discuss this episode on the Campus Forum.]]>

Miskatonic University Podcast Actual Play Presents: Ebon Eaves, a semi-improvised adventure for Tremulus, the Lovecraft-inspired horror role playing game based on the Apocalypse World engine. The game and playset are by Sean Preston. Learn more about Tremulus here >> Our players: Randall as Keeper Jim as Doctor Franklin Woodward Max as Travelin’ Jason Freeley EddyPo as Detective Tommy Stone Chad as Antiquarian Peter Strand And Rob as Professor Grant The theme song, “Come Out And Play,” by DesperateMeasurez, is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.]]>