Miskatonic University Podcast

Episode 100 has finally arrived! In this episode we have Call of Cthulhu Line Lead for Chaosium, Mike Mason. We talk about all the great new stuff that has been coming out, from 7th Edition reaching doorsteps around the world, to Pulp Cthulhu blowing up the digital venues. This episode was recorded on May 22, 2016.   Campus Crier The Campus Crier is brought to you by our new sponsor: Golden Goblin Press! 7th Edition backers have gotten access to the Pulp Cthulhu PDF! We cover both of these huge release with Mike in the main topic. There are about two weeks left at the time of recording for the Kickstarter for Age of Cthulhu 9: The Lost Expedition. Two stretch goals have been cleared: Backers will receive a special PDF booklet with guidelines for running The Lost Expedition with the upcoming Pulp Cthulhu rules from Chaosium. Plus they’ll receive a PDF with DCC stats for 10 Cthulhu mythos creatures. The very first round of delivery for World War Cthulhu Cold War is complete backers have received a copy of the core setting book in PDF.   In other news, The Miskatonic University Podcast celebrates its 100th episode, just 4 years after the show launched in March, 2012. Congratulations, Pods! And to mark the beginning of a new chapter in the show, we’re making a few minor changes to our program. For one thing, we’re going to try going to a weekly schedule. The plan is to make the shows shorter, around an hour long, but densely packed with news and topics. Yes, and speaking of topics, we’re going to need your help. A weekly schedule means we’ll burn through a lot of ideas fast. Please help us out, MU-Nation – and suggest scads of topics for us to tackle. We’ve got some in the pipeline, but listener ideas always tend to be top shelf stuff. Golden Goblin Spotlight- Dread Shadows in Paradise, Digital Stretch Goal Release! The day has come to receive your very first reward for this Kickstarter, the digital version of the fiction collection Dread Shadows in Paradise! Available in PDF, ePub and Mobi   Cryptocurium Spotlight- The contents of the June Parcel of Terror Creepshow box have been revealed.   Feedback We play voicemails from the following community members- Doctor Bob, EddyPo,  Gladius, and  “Gary in Vermont” Thank you all for calling in your thoughts! Card Catalog- Graham- Hi Guys. Found this art blog which features a number of interesting drawings of Lovecraftian beasties. The image of an Elder Thing solving Rubik’s cubes is well worth seeing. http://kurt-komoda.blogspot.com.au/ This page may be Dan’s favorite Nightgaunt ever!   Topic 1 7th Edition – what’s it like to see this thing in print? How has response been? The Good Friends of Jackson Elias reveal the secret history of Call of Cthulhu 7th edition in episodes 78 and 79. A Time to Harvest How did you react to the geek and sundry articles about Chaosium and then announcing that Call of Cthulhu was the best RPG of all time?   Topic 2 Pulp Cthulhu – holy crap, it’s (kinda) finished!   Questions from listeners for Mike: Sean wants to know if Mike fanzine “The Whisperer” might ever be available for public consumption. Is there anything in 7e that came out of those writings? Badger wants to know about plans for re-releasing the old Lovecraft Country series, and what kind of changes or additions might be included?   Discuss this episode on the Campus Forum]]>

This Campus Crier Catchup has all four hosts on it! Why is it only a Crier then? Well, episode 100 is featuring Mike Mason, Line Editor for Call of Cthulhu at Chaosium, and scheduling everyone with such large time-zone gaps has been an issue. This episode was recorded on May 16, 2016.           Campus Crier Friend of the show Brian Sammons and his long-time partner and cohort Jamie Jenkins got married on this past Friday, May 13!               Joshua Hoffine Horror Photography Book on Kickstarter Two new outdoor images and player character info from Call of Cthulhu: The Official Video Game. Geek and Sundry asks- The Best RPG of All Time Is… Call of Cthulhu? Lovecraft Tales is an upcoming adventure game set in Lovecraftian universe From Beyond The Beyond- YouTube short film by Chris Lackey and Greig Johnson https://youtu.be/MUuJ9RSViZ4 Keeper Jon’s Age of Cthulhu 9: The Lost Expedition now live on Kickstarter! From Oscar Rios of Golden Goblin Press regarding Heroes of Red Hook- The book is now 65% filled, with seven stories accepted. Budget and stretch goals are set. More are coming in all the time too. We hope to have at least 50K in accepted stories before the Kickstarter launches. Stretch goals include bookmarks, b/w interior illustrations, and 4 original novellas.  If all four novella stretch goals are unlocked they will be bundled into a whole new book, with an original cover by Ian MacLean. We expect to have the book written by the time the Kickstarter launches, and out before the holidays. So far we have… (in alphabetical order by author’s last name) Lords of Karma, by Glynn Owen Barrass Beyond the Black Arcade, by Ed Erlac Crossing the Line, by Tom Lynch A True Telling of the Terror that Came to Red Hook, by William Meikle A Gentleman of Darkness, by Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire The Guilt of Nikki Cotton, by Pete Rawlik Men and Women, by Oscar Rios The cover art is attached, and it’s by Ian McClean.  We hope to have it mocked up as a rough cover soon, and to include an ad for it in the back of Dread Shadows in Paradise. I am hopefully that book (Dread Shadows…) will be released to backers of Tales of the Caribbean next week, and available for purchase to non-backers before the end of the month.           A Time to Harvest month two has been released from Chaosium for the Cult of Chaos members! World War Cthulhu- Cold War has started releasing PDF versions to Kickstarter backers. Ep 100 did get recorded on May 22, so expect that next weekend! Discuss this episode on the Campus Forum]]>

Episode 99 features Keepers Jon, Chad, and Dan this time. People all around the world are getting their 7th Edition books, and Jon opens his on the air! We also discuss contacts that Investigators can use in scenarios, both pre-established and made up on the fly. This episode was recorded on May 2, 2016.   Campus Crier The Campus Crier is brought to you by our new sponsor: Golden Goblin Press! Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition book sets are arriving to backers all over the world! Keeper Dan got his on Friday, and it’s an amazingly well crafted book set. Keeper Jon unboxes his on the air! During the unboxing, Jon mentions a post by MOB that shows a beautiful leather satchel being produced by Pegasus Speil in Germany. With the CoC 7e books included € 299.00 Just the bag by itself. € 199.00 Building a Lovecraftian Video Game with Frogwares’ The Sinking City Article from Geek & Sundry- Cthulhu Company Kickstarted Itself to Death, Then This Happened. “Issue 0” of the Arkham Gazette is available on DTRPG, now with update CoC 7e stats! More Sentinel Hill Press news: Mike Mason Q&A about A Time to Harvest   Golden Goblin Press Release! Our next RPG Kickstarter is slated to launch in early February 2017.  It will be the company’s first campaign, seven scenarios set in 1932, with chapters in Arkham, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, the wilds of Hungary, and beyond. Entitled Children of the Black Stone (based on the classic story by R.E. Howard, The Black Stone). Authors attached to the project are Jeff Moeller, Dan Harms, Brian Sammons, Oscar Rios, and Adam Scott Glancy.   Cryptocurium Spotlight- The June Parcel of Terror will be the Creepshow box!   Topic – Use of investigator contacts. how to create them, use them, turn them against the player, etc. In both the 6e & 7e Investigator’s Handbooks, every profession has a list of common professional contacts. Contact rules are located in the 7e Keepers book, page 97 Social Security Administration Top names of the 1920s   Discuss this episode on the Campus Forum]]>

Episode 98  features Keepers Jon, Murf, and Dan. We talk about ideas for creating scenarios that are specifically modern in content or tone. This episode was recorded on April 18, 2016.   Campus Crier The Campus Crier is brought to you by our new sponsor: Golden Goblin Press! Golden Goblin Press Release! “We now have an independent fiction line, but remain committed to producing RPG’s. Our 1st independent fiction book is called Heroes of Red Hook, a collection celebrating diversity in the Cthulhu Mythos.  Kickstarter launches June 20th, 2016”   Google Plus post by Michael O’Brien, Apr 16, 2016- Congratulations to our friends at Cubicle 7 who have received an Origins 2016 Awards nomination for Cthulhu Britannica, the “ultimate guide to running games of Call of Cthulhu set in London”!   “The Dunwich Horror” (1970) and “Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1971) — have been paired in a new Blu-ray release from Shout! Factory   Gibbous – A Cthulhu Adventure A comedy cosmic horror point and click adventure made in Transylvania. Lucas Arts style, Lovecraft horrors, general insanity!   Campaign Coins have released the Medallion of Ithaqua pulled from the pages of Horror on the Orient Express for only $30. Listener Feedback- Voicemail from Unknown- “Hello, Miska. Tonic university podcast. I don’t want you to lose your exciting providence area phone number, so I thought I’d leave you a voicemail. I enjoyed your episode recently discussing the shock appeal board, but I had a minor if not equipment, but a question. I know you don’t really want to go into spoilers, but I think it would have been helpful to discuss the origin of the Michael shay story that base as that story is pretty informative, and it’s been pretty heavily apologize so while it’s not everywhere most readers, specially the one who really wants to see the genesis of the shot record man wanted again to it. So that would be a suggestion or maybe talking about I can take it to scenarios with appear and courses that famous illustration with Mr. Shining, so I don’t spoil anything done and saying the name, but both would be you know maybe a little spoiler warning is good to have I’m running long so I let it go. go Todd”   Fat Face by Michael Shea (Kindle Edition) Mr Shiny image in question (I think) According to the info on the page, the Mr. Shiny image was a take on Sandy. Mr.Shiny Sculpt from a Kickstarter   Cryptocurium Spotlight- The May Edition of the Parcel of Terror has Nessie, who may in fact be Jack the Ripper! https://youtu.be/OlURaumkAA8     Topic – Idea from Mike Mason- Themes/topics/styles to use in modern day scenarios that aren’t specifically Delta Green. What sort of games would be cool for modern day.   Legs by Jim Phillips Free to download, play, and share!   I Survived the Zombie Apocalypse Guardian article on the show   The Lock-In, by Jon Hook In the book: Dead Leaves Fall   The Space Between, by Scott Dorward In the book: Nameless Horrors Discuss this episode on the Campus Forum]]>

We’re down two hosts tonight, so Keepers Jon and Dan are going simple with just updating our news so we don’t get as far behind as we had before. This episode was recorded on April 11, 2016. Campus Crier   The 7e boats have arrived!   In other Chaosium news from Mike Mason- Our friend Ben Wilson, has created a range of pre-generated investigators for a variety of occupations. You can download these from the Chaosium site in a zip file. Guidance notes are included for tailoring the characters. Link: http://www.chaosium.com/gm-resources/ In addition, Ben has created a range of Student occupation investigators (primarily for use with A Time To Harvest, but can of course be used for other Call of Cthulhu games too). These are available in a separate zip file here: Link:  http://www.chaosium.com/a-time-for-harvest/   Sherlock Meets Lovecraft in ‘A Study in Emerald’ Board Game Here is the Treefrog Games link with the rules   The Cancer of Superstition brings $28,000 The Cancer of Superstition manuscript written for Houdini by H.P. Lovecraft and C.M. Eddy sold today at Potter & Potter’s massive auction of Houdiniana for $28,000 (not including buyers premium). The auction estimate was $25,000 to $40,000.   From Dean over at Cthulhu Reborn– Terror From Down Under (Coming Soon) “Convicts & Cthulhu is a sizeable sourcebook (exact page count to be finalised, but probably 50-60 pages) which allows Keepers to run Call of Cthulhu games during the early days of Australia’s life as a British penal settlement. If this sounds like an odd time and place to set a Lovecraftian game, consider this: the early colonies of Australia were founded to be the dumping grounds for the most dark-hearted criminals to be found in Britain, and were overseen by guards who were not much better than those they guarded. In a land thousands of miles from civilisation, there are many opportunities for mundane cruelty and evil, but also for the darkness than men brought with them to flourish in unsuspecting ways. We hope to release Convicts and Cthulhu later this year … and there will doubtless be more blog postings to come which shine some more light on what we have planned.” Children of Lovecraft – graphic novel of short stories Howard Phillips Lovecraft’s stories shaped modern horror more than any other author’s in the last two centuries: Cthulhu, the Old Ones, Herbert West: Reanimator, and more terrifying nightmares emerged from the mythos of this legendary writer. Dark Horse teams up with Hugo and Bram Stoker Award-winning editor Ellen Datlow to bring you this anthology of original prose stories that are inspired by Lovecraft’s mythos. Features work by Richard Kadrey, Brian Hodge, A. C. Wise, Siobhan Carroll, Orrin Grey, and many more, with a stunning cover by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.     Weird Detective – 5 issue mini-series By Fred Van Lente, and Guiu Vilanova The streets of New York have been plagued by a pattern of crimes too weird and bizarre for the average detective. Lurking in the evidence are shadows of loathsome horrors from beyond space and time, seeking to usher in the unimaginable evil of the Old Ones. And the only man capable of fighting against the unspeakable terrors isn’t a man at all. Detective Sebastian Greene is one of them-it takes a monster to catch a monster.     Brian Sammons and Glynn Owen Barrass new book: I am very proud to announce the new anthology from Glynn Owen Barrass and me that will be published by the wonderful PS Publishing. Called THROUGH A MYTHOS DARKLY, it is a collection of Lovecraftian horror stories that take place in alternate history worlds. It was a lot of fun to put together and we got some amazing tales for this one from some truly amazing authors. In the show notes are the Table of Contents. The Roadrunners By Cody Goodfellow Scrimshaw by Jeffrey Thomas Sweet Angie Tailor in: Subterranean Showdown By John Langan An Old and Secret Cult By Robert M. Price Stewert Behr – Deanimator by Pete Rawlik To Kill a King By Don Webb The Last Quest By William Meikle Fate of the World By Christine Morgan Red in the Water, Salt on the Earth By Konstantine Paradias The Night They Drove Cro Magnon Down By D.A. Madigan Sacrifice By Sam Stone Get Off Your Knees I’m Not Your God By Edward Morris Excerpts from the Diaries of Henry P. Linklatter By Stephen Mark Rainey Plague Doctor By Tim Waggoner Amidst the Blighted Swathes of Grey Desolation Lee Clark Zumpe Cognac, Communism, and Cocaine By Nick Mamatas and Molly Tanzer Kai Monstrai Ateik (When the Monsters Come) By Damien Angelica Walters More info when we can share it but yeah, this is going to be a good one. Discuss this episode on the Campus Forum]]>

Episode 97 brings together Keepers Jon, Murf, Dan and special guest, Keeper Badger! We cover news and a Bestiary where we talk about the charismatic side of the squidgy goop monsters, the Shoggoth Lord! This episode was recorded on March 28, 2016. This episode is a long time coming. We originally had 97 in the can back in February, but that audio was completely hosed. Then we had scheduling issues to get back together for re-recording. We’re still not completely free of the gremlins, as you’ll hear in the audio half way though. New hardware is being appraised to fix this. Chad was actually on the original recording with Badger, but sadly he was unavailable for the re-do. But Murf was able to come in and make it a cast of four on this one.   Campus Crier   Chaosium joins Free RPG Day 2016 with a new Call of Cthulhu scenario by Sandy Petersen! The H.P. Lovecraft Birthplace Marker has been placed near the location where HPL was born. The 7e boats are on the way! Australia – CMA CGM VERDI as arrived in Sidney! Canada/United States – SEATTLE EXPRESS has arrived in Vancouver! United Kingdom – NYK HERMES should reach Southampton this coming weekend!   Long-lost Lovecraft manuscript penned for Houdini found. The manuscript for The Cancer of Superstition, requested shortly before escapologist’s death, is discovered in memorabilia collection. This collection is to be auctioned off on April 9, 2016   Meet Me ‘At the Mountains of Madness’ March 25 on Steam   The Things We Leave Behind Kickstarter is progressing well, with Badger doing the book layout.   Keeper News- Jon has a new book he didn’t tell us about! The big jerk! Age of Cthulhu 9: The Lost Expedition Deep in the Gobi Desert, the investigators discover a strange artifact amidst primordial fossils. The alien device is a gateway to a conduit to travel throughout the cosmos, known as The Great White Space. The investigators are then propelled to an alien world ruled by the Elder Things, a strange alien race of macabre scientists. Desperate to find a way home, the investigators must survive a hostile and alien world filled with mutant dinosaurs and the Elder Thing’s amorphous and putrid slave-beasts, the shoggoths! Rules Set: Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition Feedback- We hear back from our buddy Brian in MA!   Cryptocurium Spotlight The April Edition Parcel of Terror is a blind box!   Topic Bestiary – Shoggoths… oh how we like the living slime! Things that were mentioned in the rambling discussion… Shoggoth Lord Drug Lords! Phantoms by Dean Koontz Phantoms- The woefully inadequate film adaptation of the novel.   Discuss this episode on the Campus Forum]]>