Herber’s Notes, Kults, and Shoggoths

Some sample “Feed the Shoggoth” cards

A few items from the grab bag today:

• Paul of Cthulhu is selling off some of his CoC manuscript collection to raise money to cover server costs – Trail of Tsathoggua and Goatswood and Less Pleasant Places are both on the block.  I wish I had the spare change to grab the former.
• Speaking of manuscripts – Paul has also made available to Community Patrons at YSDC a glimpse of the various developmental material Keith gave him, including notes for Arkham Unveiled, Return to Dunwich, and several scenarios.  Really a delight to see it all.
• The Good Friends of Jackson Elias have released another episode, the second in their series about their favorite non-CoC horror games; this time they talk about Kult.  Fun fact, I played Kult once and only after figured out it was based on Gnosticism.  I thought it was just mopey because it was Swedish.
• Finally, the Kickstarter for Badger McInnes’ “Feed the Shoggoth” card game is getting closer.  Check out some preview material here on the Facebook page.

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‘Call’, waiting

Chaosium has announced that the release date for the Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition  has been pushed back to October, citing art delays. Here’s the main point of the latest Kickstarter update:

Thus, our initial estimate of 7th Edition delivery for late Spring has had to be pushed back. Which is something neither you or we wanted to happen, but given the circumstances, is something that cannot be avoided – unless we want to diminish the quality of the 7th Edition products, which is something we definitely do not want to do. So, our new estimate on shipping 7th Edition (Rulebook, Investigator’s Handbook and Keeper Screen Pack) is Halloween.

I’ve been publicly agnostic about the new edition – I’m not innately against it but I worry about too much change – and wasn’t part of the Kickstarter, but I’m sorely surprised that the book got pushed back so far due to late art. Surely there are other artists? Not that I’ve got a lot of room to talk, since the Arkham Gazette’s next issue was supposed to be out in February, but I’m doing that with only a small number of authors, for free.

Let hope Halloween is more treats, fewer tricks.

Beware the Flail Snail!

We All Live in Ulthar Now…

Sixtystone have released their first book of the year… Cathulhu

From the blurb –

Welcome to Cathulhu, the Call of Cthulhu alternative setting where feline sleuths investigate the horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Cats are mysterious, self-contained creatures. Both wild and domestic in nature, they are silent observers of all that goes on around them.

In Cathulhu, discover the secret life of the cat as a Dreamlands warrior and a Waking World sleuth. Cats are the secret allies of humanity in the fight against cosmic horror; confronting overlooked machinations orchestrated from the sewers, tracking down sorcerers and cultists in the Waking World, and taking the fight to Nyarlathotep’s minions in the Dreamlands with the Cat Armies.

Fully compatible with 6th Ed CoC. Catnip not included.

UPDATE : Dean Engelhardt, who laid out the book and provided much of the art shares more on the book, including some page previews on his blog.

(not to be confused with The Call of Cathulhu)

Catching up with the Good Friends, Crescent City News, and More

The aforementioned “Hot War”

I’ve neglected to mention the past few episodes of the Good Friends of Jackson Elias – Talking about Skills in RPGs, Scott Dorward waxes rhapsodic about “Hot War” (and “Cold City” as well), and interview said games’ creator Malcolm Craig.

The titular goblins of Golden Goblin Press have also released a few preview pages for Tales of the Crescent City, which looks to be progressing nicely.

Chaosium’s site upgrade is still ongoing.

Finally, I’m hoping to have the next issue of the Arkham Gazette finished soon. We’re at almost 25k words currently, with an estimated total length of 28k or 29k, depending how long my scenario runs. Soon, soon…

Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion news

To quote Paul of Cthulhu:

The completed/corrected/updated version of the Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion has just been delivered to my inbox.

It looks fantastic.

It is a beast.

It is an epic publication at over 600 pages. Giant “thank yous” and appreciation are due to everyone involved. Adam of Sixtystone Press has done a wonderful job tackling the layout of this great tome.

Obviously the question once again becomes that of the topic title. “Where can I get it?” – we’ll have more information on that in a little while as we sort out exactly how we mean to deliver the Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion: Bloody Tongue Edition (and provide printed copies).

So do please stay tuned (and allow a little forbearance) as we begin to conclude this seven year project.

You’ll excuse me while I do a little dance.

A New Jerusalem (for C:DA)

Looking for a Cthulhu Dark Ages scenario? How about one by Adam Gauntlett… for free?

Odds + Ends

I’m trying to hop back on the regular posting train so excuse the brevity.

Modiphius have release a PDF only scenario – Kontamination – for Achtung! Cthulhu. As they describe it:

Kontamination is a standalone adventure for both hardened Achtung! Cthulhu veterans and newcomers alike, set in late 1944 as the Allies press their advantage and make for the German border. It is the second of our new standalone ‘Adventure Series’ for Achtung! Cthulhu that will be released as a compilation in late 2014. Keeper advice includes how to set the adventure at different times and different fronts in the war to provide flexibility for including it in your campaign.

The Miskatonic University Podcast have released episode 54, wherein they discuss cults, among other things, this time with much less semantic debate.

Also the MUP website has been wonky of late, due to server issues. They’ll be having a fund-raiser next month to help cover their costs. We’ll post more news when it is available.

Speaking of websites, Chaosium‘s is being redone, so is currently unavailable.

Finally, I’ve posted a link to a helpful resource about Native American place names in New England on the Sentinel Hill Press page, to tide you over before Issue 2 is released.

A return to abnormalcy

The downside of a just-for-kicks blog is that when those times arise when you are kick deprived or even kick deficient, you have to let things slide a while. I’m hoping no one was too badly put out that my updates have been quasi-monthly of late.

In a nutshell – the whole of the the Tomes in Progress crew (i.e. me, the homunculus, and the mother of the homunculus) have moved westward, in a manner not wholly unlike the narrator of “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” (i.e. from New England to the Midwest, though thankfully no ichthyoid transformations have occurred). This took a couple of months to arrange, enact, and recover from. Leaving behind friends and family, as well as a home you’ve lived in for close to a decade is trying. It is only now that we have that wonderful conjunction of technology and time which allows me to, hopefully, restart blogging on a more regular basis. I fear though that the black squirrels that control my lawn are not my friends…

A bit of my gaming work has suffered, as is to be expected with a low (or no) pay sideline. My scenario for the forthcoming London Boxed Set had to be dropped. While I’m happy I got to make a small submission to that really excellent looking project, I wish I’d been able to wrap that up. I want to offer my thanks to Cubicle 7 and the magnanimous Stuart Boon in particular for being more than understanding. It may see the light of day somewhere, someday. Keep your fingers crossed.

The Arkham Gazette has been slowed but not stopped. The nice thing about working on a magazine is that there are lots of little projects that can be done, even in very short bursts. I’ve posted about the next issue’s status and sincerely hope to finish it up before the month is out. We’re still taking submissions for future issues, of course, with issue 3 most likely going to be focused on witches and witchcraft in Lovecraft Country.  I may talk the Miskatonic University Podcast crew into interviewing me about the next issue as well.  (By the way – their new ;yearbook’ Cephalophobia is beautiful.)

As for near term gaming news, aside from the Arkham Gazette I’ve got a couple pieces submitted to the Unspeakable Oath so I hope to have something in the next issue, which is supposed to be released shortly. A recent Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff episode spurred me to start yet another piece for the Oath as well. I hope to have news about the Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion print release soon as well. Watch this space… and Yog-Sothoth.com, since they get several order of magnitude more readers than I. There are one or two other long-dormant projects that have begun to quicken recently as well, though I cannot say more… yet.

I think the list of new Lovecraftian RPG products is up to date, at least it will be once I sort out the PDF dump the Modiphius crew put out recently. If I’ve missed something, let me know.

Speaking of which, if I owe you an email or a call, bear with me a little while longer or feel free to remind me to do so. Hopefully the stars will remain rights for a while.