Sammons, Submissions, and a plea to John Crowe.

“Reiterpistolelefthand” by Memecry2 – Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

There has been a new episode of the Miskatonic University podcast.  This time their guest is Brian Sammons, who talks about a number of upcoming projects – editing World War Cthulhu (a fiction anthology), the scenario collection Doors to Darkness, and his campaign A Time to Harvest (about which he says very little, but consider my interest piqued).  I kind of wished they had asked about his work in the 7th Ed revamp of Arkham Unveiled, but I suppose that will come eventually…  They also talk about guns (auto-fire, shotguns, and ‘howdah pistols’ specifically) but, inexplicably, don’t mention Sixtystone’s outstanding Investigator Weapons vol. 1.  I guess I know what I’m getting them for Christmas…

Protodimension magazine still needs submissions for its next issue.  This is something I am particularly attuned to working on the Arkham Gazette; I’m checking my folder of half baked ideas seeing if I have something they might find useful.

After some discussion here in our comments section, I’ve decided to lower my pledge (temporarily) for Pagan’s Horrors of War scenario collection Kickstarter to $1 to show my support for a PDF release of the book.  I may not work, but I truly do think the lack of a PDF option is holding the project (which I have been eagerly awaiting for many years now) back.  (For example, the Feng-Shui 2 Kickstarter, which I’m sure is a fine game but one I am utterly indifferent to despite Robin Laws all but leaping from my iPhone and insisting I buy a copy, has hit $30,000 in under 24 hours.  Golden Goblin Press’ Horrore Cosmico Kickstarter is closing on $17,000 after less than a week.  Please John Crowe, reconsider a PDF option.)

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What a year (part 2)

Continuing on…

Innsmouth House Press
The Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion {PDF}

I edited all of and wrote much of this titanic project. Hopefully I will be able to announce a print version soon.

Miskatonic River Press
Tales of the Sleepless City

MRP’s swan song (not counting the delayed “Punktown”), Tales was bittersweet; a great book but one that marked the end of a publisher. Unlike the forgettable scenarios included with Secrets of New York, it managed to wed the Cthulhu Mythos to its New York setting in a way that would no doubt driven Lovecraft from Brooklyn even faster. If you are running Masks of Nyarlathotep or want a change of pace from remote places or rural New England, give this book a look.

Modiphius
The Trellborg Monstrosities {PDF}
Achtung Cthulhu: Keeper’s Guide to the Secret War {PDF}
Achtung Cthulhu: Investigator’s Guide to the Secret War {PDF}

As per my comments about World War Cthulhu yesterday, while I’m very glad that Modiphius has had great success, this series simply didn’t capture my imagination. Perhaps some day I’ll pick up a copy and be swayed.

Pelgrane Press
The Final Revelation

I’ve read (and enjoyed) all but the framing scenario when they were published previously, but I wanted to have a reading copy so I can keep my limited edition Dragonmeet copies up on the shelf. I should probably read that framing scenario…

Eternal Lies {PDF}

Time for another confession… I can’t get into this. There is something so clinical about most Trail of Cthulhu scenarios that they simply are not, unlike Call of Cthulhu ones, fun to read. It’s like reading a grocery list merged with a horror story. Maybe it was the overall plot (which reviewers have appropriately avoided spoiling and I will do likewise) but I’ve still not finished it despite making a couple attempts. I should read it since it is Trail’s first campaign and I’m curious to see how they handle an on-going game.

Sentinel Hill Press
The Arkham Gazette #0 (PDF)
The Arkham Gazette #1 (PDF)

Wrote and edited most of these two. Give them a read!

Sixtystone Press
Lost in the Lights (PDF only)

An interesting, well-written and attractively presented modern scenario. Wondering why it still hasn’t come out in print.

Investigator Weapons, Vol. 1 (Classic era)

Essential for any Classic era game. Hans knows his stuff but this isn’t a dry catalog of weapon stats and damage tables. This presents weapons as historical artifacts that enriches your game, not just adds nifty kill machines, by giving you the context to the weapon and a deeper understanding of how they function. If you’re like me and aren’t someone with a lot of experience with weapons (reading that polearm table in Unearthed Arcana counts as experience, yes?) this is fascinating.

Solace Games
Fungi Mine (PDF)

I tend not to read PDF-only release. I may pick this up at some point, but I am in no rush.

Tomorrow, Chaosium and perhaps additional comments.

2012: The year in Lovecraftian RPGs

It’s that time again… time for my year-in-review recap of 2012’s Lovecraftian RPG releases.  I suppose the first thing I should mention is that caring for the homunculus is rather time intensive and my free time for reading has greatly diminished. I find that books sit on my nightstand longer and longer and my desire to sacrifice sleep to finish another scenario shrinking. C’est la vie. Without further ado (and with apologies for the delay), let’s get started —

Sixtystone births a(n e)book!

Good news on the Call of Cthulhu gaming front- Sixtystone Press (who I’ve gently mocked for not having yet published anything yet) has unveiled their first book The Investigators Weapons Volume 1: The 1920s and 30s.  Huzzah!

Written by Hans-Christian Vortisch (who kindly contributed to the Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion) and with a cover by Chris Huth, this is the first of a three-volume series, in this case for the Classic era (the 20s and 30s) that provides-

“a comprehensive collection of weapons available to stalwart investigators of the Cthulhu Mythos and their crazed cultist opponents.

Investigator Weapons covers handguns, rifles, shotguns, submachine guns, machine guns, flamethrowers, melee weapons, explosives, and special ammunition; and gathers together all the spot rules for injury, environmental conditions, and firearms combat in one place, as well as introducing many optional rules for enhanced play.”

I’ve had the pleasure of reading it and give it an enthusiastic thumbs up.  Go out and buy two.  Hopefully the print version will follow soon after, so I can happily put it up on my shelf.