-== What is it? ==-

Trail Of Cthulhu (TOC) is a horror RPG based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft and the investigation based Gumshoe rules system from Robin Laws. The book focuses on the 1930′s but this can easily be adjusted by the GM. It was written by Kenneth Hite and published by Pelgrane Press in 2007. With a pedigree of Robin Laws and Kenneth Hite my expectation for TOC are very high. I consider these two gentlemen to be some of the best RPG authors in the business.

TOC has a color cover and a three color interior. The interior text is black and white but there is dark green shading to add atmosphere. The hardcover version of TOC is 8.5” x 11” and is 248 pages in length. I am reviewing a print copy that I bought from Pelgrane Press. I ran six sessions of TOC using the Purist rule set as part of my Armitage Files campaign. (Watch this very blog for a review of the Armitage Files.)

-== What I Like ==-

TOC uses the Gumshoe system previously presented in Esoterrorists but skins it for Cthulhu. The primary enhancements are the addition of rules for Stability/Sanity loss, spell-casting, and tomes. In these areas the product does a pretty good job. My group had little issue with the Stability rolls and seemed to take to them quickly even though as a GM I had some minor issues with them (see below). I do not plan on discussing the Gumshoe system in detail. If you want to read more about it you can check out my Esoterrorist review here.

The TOC rules cover two styles of play. There is a Purist mode and a Pulp mode. Purist mode is straight horror similar to that found in the Call Of Cthulhu RPG. Pulp mode is two guns blazing against deep ones. For my campaign I used the straight Purist mode.

The rules presented in TOC are very fast. I think pushing role-playing over gameplay works well for the horror genre. You don’t get caught focusing on strange rules you move along quickly. The game enforces this aspect of play really well with the Scene card mechanic. After all of the major clues are uncovered the GM holds up a card with the word “Scene” written on it. This lets the players know that they have all of the critical information related to the investigation. There could be details gained by further research but the major important clues are out. The Scene card worked great because it never seemed to distract from the role-playing. In fact I plan to steal the idea for other campaigns that I may run.

The investigative engine present in Gumshoe is a perfect fit for the Lovecraft horror genre. Often the research about a particular nasty is more important than your shotgun. The system naturally supports the style of gameplay that you want to evoke at the table.

I really liked the way the Drive statistic is used to provide character motivation. When creating their characters players pick a motivation, or Drive, for their PC. For example, Curiosity. If they go against their drive they can incur a Stability loss. The mechanic worked well and the players enjoyed the interaction that Drive had on our gameplay.

I really like the artwork and layout in TOC. Even though there is dark green shading behind the text it is not distracting. The artwork can be dark but it really evokes the setting. Jerome Huguenin also knocked it out of the park with a fantastic cover.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

One of my players pointed out that there are several “influencing people” skills without clear boundaries. I agree. I made some subtle changes in my campaign that really helped. I removed Flattery and rolled it into Reassurance. I removed Interrogation and rolled it into Intimidation. I flat out pulled Oral History. Those changes worked pretty well for us. It cut down on complaints and confusion quite a bit.

Several of the players did not like the fact that in TOC Purist rules investigators do not earn experience. I came up with something that is not as open as the Pulp play style but is similar. Here is what I did.

• For each session that a player attends his PC gets 1 ep.
• This ep can be spent to get +1 on a General Ability.
• 5 ep can be traded in to get +1 on a Investigative Ability.
• The rules say that points can be redistributed during the course of a campaign.  I allowed this initially.  After the 5th session I did not allow point shifts.
• Per the rules ep cannot be used to increase Credit Rating, Cthulhu Mythos, or Sanity.
• Stability or Health can generally not be raised unless approved by the Keeper.

The way General Ability pools work in the Gumshoe system was something that my group could not accept. Lets say a PC has 9 points in Firearms. A tough bad guy might need a 4 to hit on 1d6. That means I can spend 3 and automatically hit. So for the first 3 rounds of combat I will hit every time. Once my pool is gone the PC all of a sudden becomes a lousy shot. It just does not make sense. This was by far our biggest issue with TOC.

The chances for a PC to lose Sanity are very hard to achieve.  Every PC in my game had 8 to 10 Stability.  You don’t lose Sanity unless Stability is knocked below 0 and it is a Mythos attack.  Getting attacked by a horrible beast only loses you 5 Stability max.  Not sure the math plays out unless the GM whittles away at the Stability before that last encounter quite a bit.  I started trying this but I am still not comfortable with it.

The way Investigative Abilities work when involved with the persuasion related effects is not wonderful. If I have Assess Honesty I cannot be fooled unless the other person is an actor or trained then it does not work at all. If two Investigative Abilities play against each other there is literally not a mechanic for resolving the situation. It the call of the GM. I think rules are needed for this situation.

-== Summary ==-

I found this TOC review particularly hard to write. The reason is because I am a huge fan of Ken Hite and Robin Laws. I consider them both master RPG designers . At DunDraCon this year Ken mentioned that he and Robin have learned a lot about making the Gumshoe system easier for folks to “grok”. After every Gumshoe release the system clarifies. Me and my players could use some of that clarification. We actually switched from TOC to Call Of Cthulhu after 6 sessions. This is a product with some standout concepts that is brought down by a few severe problems.

You can get copies of TOC at Noble Knight Games at this URL for $25. Amazon has copies for $39.99 at this URL. You can get the PDF from DriveThruRPG at this URL for $24.99.

I give it 6 out of 10 paws.

In 2012 Atlas Games came out with a list of 31 RPG related questions that they wanted people to answer. I will tackle them in small bite sized morsels to make them a bit easier to swallow. Here are the next set of questions.

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #11: Have you ever played a character that was morally gray, or actually evil? Why or why not? If yes, did you enjoy it?

I’m primarily a GM so I often play morally gray or downright evil characters. Some of these characters I have been played over extended periods (i.e. recurring villains). At times I have played characters that are very twisted. A few years ago I ran a campaign set in Victorian times that had Cthulhu overtones. In one particularly memorable session I used a fantastic published adventure called Sacraments Of Evil. The villain was a God fearing man who twisted Catholicism into something that was quite insane. The final scene was terribly tough to play but carried so much impact that the players sat stunned for a few seconds. Was this villain “fun” to play…yeah, as I GM I relish giving my players reason to pause…but I don’t think that says anything about me as a good Catholic person.

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #12: Do prefer collaborative or competitive games? What do you think that says about you?

I far prefer collaborative games. I really like it when everyone is having fun. On rare times when playing competitive games people who lose can be put off by the situation. Why meet with friends then have something happen like this? Boo hiss. I’m also a big lover of teamwork. Cooperative games really enforce teamwork. This is another reason why I love RPG so much. The GM may oppose the players but the goal of an RPG is to have fun telling a story as a group.

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #13: Who’s the best GM/storyteller/party leader you’ve ever had? What made him/her so great?

This one is really hard…I have played with a lot of really wonderful GMs over the years. One of my favorite GMs is Derek Hiemforth. Derek does a lot of things right as a GM. He makes sessions build in excitement then hammers home a great ending. Derek has a nice way of laying out mysteries. He lets out clues at just the right rate and mixes in encounters to keep everyone on their toes. Derek does a great job playing NPC. Often I end up laughing along with the other players at an NPC.

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #14: What kinds of adventures do you enjoy most? Dungeon crawls, mysteries, freeform roleplaying, or something else? What do you think that says about you?

I really love high-adventure gaming sessions. When I can swing from the chandeliers, jump from moving cars, and ride on the back of dangerous monsters I am a happy camper. Sometimes if my dice are against me this can be a dangerous proposition but that is part of the fun. I think loving high-adventure sessions says that I need to escape from my mundane world every so often. It also says that I have wild impulses that I like to play out in a safe environment. I’m a very tense person…this is my release.

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #15: People often talk about the divide between what happens “in game” and “in real life.” Do you maintain that divide in your own play, or do you tend to take what happens to your character personally? Why?

I definitely do not take things that happen to my character personally. So often things happen in games that are really bad or unintentional. At times the mood of a session can affect me afterwards but this is not an example of “what happened in the game affecting my real life” it is “what happened in real life affecting my real life”.

GAME ON!

-== What is it? ==-

Busy, Busy Airport (BBA) is a family board game by I Can Do That Games. It is marked for ages 3 and up. It takes roughly 30 minutes to play.

The product is comprised of a sturdy colored box, 4 cardboard airplanes with plastic stands, a control tower dice tower, 4 cardstock destinations, 16 cardboard passengers, 16 cardboard souvenirs (4 sets numbered 1 to 4), and two custom dice. The dice are marked with passenger or destination with values of 1 and 2. I have played BBA many times with my kids.

-== What I Like ==-

The gameplay in BBA is very simple. Each player starts with an empty plane. The bottom of the box is configured to hold the passengers and the dice tower. Around the house the 4 destinations are placed. On each destination 4 souvenir cards are placed face down. The first player rolls the dice using the fancy control tower. He picks the one dice that he wants to use. Initially players want to get passengers for their plane. Each passenger has a specific destination. After getting up to 3 passengers the player uses a destination roll. For each passenger that is dropped off the player takes one of the face down souvenir cards. They place these in the cargo slot in their plane then return to the game board. This repeats until there are no more passengers. Once the last passenger is taken each player gets one more roll then the game is over.

The cardboard planes in BBA are very nicely decorated. They include funny pilots and plane parts. The planes are made of thick cardboard which makes them durable. The only problem we have had with the planes is actually with the stand. The stands start to bend apart after some use. Applying a bit of scotch tape to the plane resolves the issue. The other issue with the planes is with the cargo slot. I really wish it could hold all of the cargo that you might collect over the course of the entire game. Right now you have to return to the airport and empty out the cargo slot. This is really only a minor issue.

The control tower dice tower is really fun. The kids love clattering the dice down into the box.

The artwork for the airport (i.e. bottom half of the box) is very well done. It is full of Busy Town characters doing their normal chaotic things. The outside edge of the BBA box is decorated like a boarding gate for each plane. This makes a nice touch as the kids like to sit in front of their boarding gate.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

There are a LOT of small pieces to this game. During the course of a BBA session the planes, passengers, and souvenirs are carried all over the house. Imagine small cardboard pieces that travel all over the house. You guessed it! It is really easy to lose these suckers. In fact I have nicknamed this game, “Busy, Busy Run All Around The House And Pickup The Little Pieces”. The cargo cards as especially troublesome as they are small and made of very thin cardstock. These can easily get blown off of target destinations. The passengers tokens are a better size and heavier cardboard but these start to fray at the bottom edge when getting placed in the planes. Pressing them together or peeling off a layer of cardboard seems to address the issue.

My kids loves to place the destinations all over the house when we play BBA. This means they are often alone when picking up their souvenirs. It did not take long for my conniving…I mean clever…8 year old to start cheating. He goes to a destination then takes the highest numbered tokens for his passengers. This is really hard to prevent during game play.

As the dice determine if the player can pickup passengers or visit destination it can be quite frustrating to younger players. My two boys often want to keep rolling until they get a result that they desire. There is also a lot of randomness in picking up the souvenirs. Overall BBA does not have too much strategy.

The rules in BBA are VERY short. In my opinion they infer that a player is not supposed to count the values on their souvenirs until the end of the game. As the souvenirs are placed in the plane it is hard to avoid glancing at their values. In fact looking at the cargo values does add a teeny bit of strategy to the game. If for example I know that 3 and 4 are gone from the City I might pick passengers from a different destination when filling my plane. This tactic is a bit tricky for younger players to grasp.

-== Summary ==-

After playing Busy Town Eye Found It I was really hoping the Busy, Busy Airport had similarly wonderful gameplay and components. I would actually give the product a much lower score except my kids still love to play it. I guess that is more important than pleasing the adults. If you are looking for a fun game with toy airplanes you could pickup BBA. If you are looking for a great family game pickup Busy Town Eye Found It.

Amazon has copies at this URL for $21.95.

I give it 6 out of 10 paws.

This year I got to attend DunDraCon for the entire weekend. Thanks go to my beautiful bride for allowing me to recharge my gaming battery. Here is my report of the seminars that I attended this year. The ratings are of course in my humble opinion.

Kids and Gaming – Tools, Tips, Tricks, and Resources

Saturday, 9:00 AM for 1 hour
Presenters: Louis Contreras, Michelle Contreras, Alicia Contreras, Snev Ar
Description: Insight into gaming for fun and educational values from the family that plays together. Special Guest member from the Kids Room.

My Take

My only gripe with this seminar was that in my opinion the seminar had only a little to do with the Title. The Title led me to believe that the topic would be on tools, tips, and tricks to use when playing games with kids. Instead the focus was almost entirely on an organization that the presenters were pushing that puts games into schools and after-school events called SAGE (Society for Altruistic Gaming Enthusiasts). Various panel members spoke about the benefits of gaming with kids and the power of the organization. All great stuff but it felt like the topic was “preaching to the choir”. Saying all that SAGE is an organization that I do plan on contacting. I think Evan’s school could try out some of their services with me as a representative. The only real tips I got were to restrict player-versus-player conflict, overcome instead of kill, and to link adventures to lesson plans. I admire the passion of the presenters and I completely agree with everything they said…it was just not enough of what was promised in my opinion.
5 out of 10 paws.

What’s New With Hero Games

Saturday, 10:00 AM for 1 hour
Presenters: Jason Walters
Description: Hero Games general manager Jason Walters talks about Hero Games plans for 2013.

My Take

Jason divided his talk into three sections. He first talked about products that Hero has a commitment to release. These included the following:

• Champions Complete – He mentioned that Hero has sold roughly 1100 copies. Jason says a good goal would be to try and sell 3000 copies by the end of 2013.
• Monster Hunter International – MHI is done and in layout. The cover is also finished. Jason mentioned that he should be posting the cover online when he returns home.
• Hero Dice – They will be ordering 2000 sets of 6 dice. The dice will be blue with gold numbering. This new set of Hero Dice will be just like the black and green dice but blue and gold.
• MHI Dice – Hero will be producing a set of dice with a MHI logo of some type on one face.

Jason’s list of things that Hero MAY do included the following:

• Fantasy Hero Complete – Essentially Fantasy Hero with the complete Hero rules in one book. Jason mentioned that he has contact several distributers about the idea and they like it. Steve Long would be doing the writing.
• Adventure Context – Jason has seen other companies do adventure contests and he thinks Hero could do something similar.
• Champions Complete Free Mini-Campaign Settings – Hero GMs can submit short Champions Complete Mini-Campaign settings that Hero would post for others to download.
• Looking At Licenses – The success of MHI has inspired Jason to look for other licenses that Hero could pursue. Although finding lots of “red tape” Jason is still contacting writers.

Finally Jason went over some people who have asked for Hero licenses in the last year. This list included the following:

• David Pulver got a license. David has a lot of games under his belt including BESM, Game Of Thrones, and many others.
• Charlie McElvy who does Watchguard got a license. This is a natural fit.
• I think Jason said a guy named “Tanon” got a license to work on a Hero System Combat Manager. This would allow for tracking speed, stun, body, etc. He has met with Dan Simon who is cool with the project.
• Dale Robbins has asked for a license. He is the author of the intriguing Meriquai Falls Champions setting that was presented in several issues of Digital Hero.
• Legendsmiths have asked for a license for Narosia. The last Jason heard Narosia was written. They will be working on divine intervention cards soon.
• Dean Shomshak got a license for “The Silvestri Family Reunion”. Sounds like something from his Arcane Adversaries book.
• Blackwyrm got a license as well. Jason said to go to the their seminar for details. My faithful readers can just scroll down in this very article.

Jason finished talking about kickstarters, Bits & Mortar, and a survey about iPad or Android applications. Overall the seminar came through with flying colors.
9 out of 10 paws.

City Building – Public Accommodations and Other Subjects

Saturday at 3:00 PM for 2 hours
Presenters: Anders Swenson, Mike Blum, Ken Hite
Description: City Building is the seminar where we explore the urban experience as it is translated for the many times and cultures found in our RPGs. This year, we will address a number of issues, including these possible topics listed below.

• Criminals and Enforcement: how does the city find criminals and catch them? What escalation happens when criminals (player-characters, heh) become too tough for the lowest level of public order enforcers to handle? What are some criminal groups besides the usual “Thieves’ Guild”?
• Public Accommodations: probably 75% of RPG encounters happen in places where the public can gather and have a conversation — taverns, bars, and so forth. What sort of places might these have been in various past cultures — how large, what do they offer besides shelter from the weather and a place to talk?
• Transport: so you’re in a city — how do you get around? Are there buses, sedan chairs, magical carpets? In a future city with routine teleportation or antigravity, will there even be roads that we would recognize?
• Declining and dead cities. The seeds of many adventures lie in the past, and many cities and even dungeons are built of layers of outdated past construction. Why do neighborhoods and cities decline? What are the effects and consequences?

My Take

Here are some highlights from my notes. These are in a very short form. Each of these was discussed and examples were presented to drive home the topic.

Criminals & Justice

• Early justice was enforced by religion.
• Constables appeared in 1850. Vigilance committees. People with power are out on committee.
• Germans would pull people in front of a committee of nobles who would rule on their own affairs.
• Similar to Japanese samurai era. May have a form of law but it is not necessarily just.
• Law and punishment are not the same for each class.
• Long standing property owners often drives laws in a city. Shopkeepers, etc. If one of these elite gets accused then often can push off their crime to scapegoats. Ken told the story of a tavern owner who had a lot of power.
• How much leeway do the characters get?
• How effective are officials at law enforcement?

Criminal Groups

• Clan based. Larger based on money available. Often family is critical.
• Gang based. Bigger and tougher than anyone else. Russia mafia is example of gang based.
• Thieves under the law. Enforce will on lesser criminals. Gangs fracture back into clans. Hire someone to do the dirty work.

Public Accommodations

• Travel and money in the country drive presence of inns. Idea of a trade fair.

Transportation

• Roads and conveyance. Need to maintain roads. Good use for criminals. Turn fallen building into a road. Heavily crowned so refuge will slide into gutters.

Declining & Dead Cities

• Discussed reasons why cities decline.

Overall I was very happy with this seminar. Ken always knocks this topic out of the park and he did not disappoint. I was not bored during any of this 2 hours seminar. Excellent information for just about any genre.
8 out of 10 paws.

What’s crawling out of the depths of Chaosium

Sunday, 9:00 AM for 1 hour
Presenters: Charlie Krank, Ben Monroe
Description: Chaosium’s mastermind reveals sanity-bending glimpses into the nefarious plots of Those Whom Cthulhu Favors. And Ben Monroe reveals the secrets of BRP: Magic World!

My Take

Charlie and Ben started off by discussing Magic World. Magic World is a rebirth from Worlds Of Wonder which was released in 1982. The new version will be similar to the new Elric material. It is being released as a tribute to Lynn Willis. Magic World is currently at the printer. It will be 272 pages, perfect bound, color cover, with black and white interior. It will also have a fold out map. Follow up releases to Magic World will include a bestiary and an advanced sorcery book. It should be out next month.

Chaosium is also planning move more into fiction. They will broaden the focus to sci-fi. They are hoping to use this to recover from the card game collapse.

Horror On The Orient Express will be the Gen Con release. It has a lot of new material.

When asked about Call Of Cthulhu 7th Edition Charlie discussed their various playtest rounds. He talked about a luck mechanic and a potential change to how contested skill rolls would be performed. The contested skill change sounded wonderful to me. In fact I may try it out with my current Call Of Cthulhu campaign.

Charlie finished by talking about third party licenses. Stuff he has heard about include BRP Rome.

I really enjoy listening to Charlie talk about Chaosium. He is so old school and really wants to make great products that people will love. You could tell that Charlie lives and breathes Chaosium.
8 out of 10 paws.

What’s Cool

Sunday 10 AM for 1 hour
Presenters: Bruce Harlick, Ken Hite
Description: Long time Grognards Ken Hite and Bruce Harlick talk about all the cool games on the shelves right now!

My Take

The What’s Cool seminar is almost always my favorite seminar at DunDraCon. I entered the seminar this year with some trepidation as one of the stalwarts, Darren Watts, was not in attendance. The good news is that Bruce is really knowledgeable about all kinds of games and presents with a lot of passion that comes off in a genuine manner that is really great. After a brief intro they started rolling into various products explaining why they felt the product was “cool”. After going over the products they brought they looked in my direction as they know that I always come with my own list of what I think is “cool”. Here is a list of the products that were discussed.

The letter signifies who brought up the item: k = Ken, b = Bruce, j = John, s = Steve Perrin.
The * signifies that I purchased the product based on the review in the seminar.
The o signifies that I already own the product.

• Nights Black Agents – k o – Bourne series if Tredstone were vampires. Ken Hite’s latest gem.
• King Of Tokyo – b – Garfield design. Fast. 6 people. 8 up. *
• Remnants – k – Mecha combat RPG. Simple.
• Murder Of Crows – b – Spell out murder. $15 *
• Cthulhu Fluxx – k – Baker design.
• Netrunner – b – Rerelease with no CCG aspect. 2 player. Garfield design.
• Cosmic Patrol – k – Pulp sci-fi. Low buy in…FREE!
• Atomic Age Cthulhu – k – Stalin and Cthulhu. Salmons is the author.
• Village – b – Euro style game. Resource management. 12+.
• Terror Of Skies – k – Cthulhu supplement.
• Space Cadets – b – Bridge crew. Great for kids. 8+.
• Artemis – b o – Bridge crew. iPad and PC game.
• Dungeon World – k o – Old school fantasy. Based on Baker’s Apocalypse World.
• Bhaloidam – b – Storyteller RPG. Artsy fartsy.
• Supercrew – k – Superhero RPG in comic form.
• Operation Fallen Reich – k – Occult Nazi game from Sweden. Boy this one sounds neat…but REAL expensive and hard to get in the states.
• Iron Kingdoms – k – Warmachine RPG. $60
• Escape The Curse Of The Temple – b – Kids.
• Tempest – b – Courtier, Mercante, Dominare, Love Letter (quick).
• Project Hope – s – Drat…the kickstarter is over.
• Durance – j – Jason Morningstar at Bully Pulpit – Prison planet trying to survive.
• Interface Zero 2.0 – j – Update of the 1.0 material.
• Better Angels – j – Greg Stolze
• Deadlands Noir – j – Pulp noir Deadlands.
• Streets Of Bedlam – j – Sin City using Savage Worlds
• Mythender – j – Free god killer game from Ryan Macklin

I won’t beat around the bush…again my favorite seminar of DunDraCon XXXVII.
10 out of 10 paws.

What’s New with Pelgrane Press?

Sunday 11 AM for 1 hour
Presenters: Ken Hite
Description: Permanent Pelgrane contractor Ken Hite lays out the projected publications of Pelgrane Press for products like the Dying Earth, Gumshoe, and more.

My Take

Boy…Ken talked about a huge list of very cool stuff. Here are the notes that I recorded.

• Esoterrorists 2.0 – Will include most of the Fact Book plus other new stuff. Probably hardcover. Boy Estoterrorists needed an upgrade…great news.
• Trail Of Cthulhu – 2nd edition. Use keeper resources version of sanity rules. Rough Magicks added into the core. No ETA.
• Eternal Lies – Hindmarch & Tidwell – HUGE Trail campaign book.
• Mythos Expeditions – Nine locations for Trail. Gauntlet. White. Young.
• Deathless China – Ken will be doing this one. China 1930. Pulp flavor. Early next year.
• Ashen Stars Expansion – Gear, planets
• Gaen Reach – RPG based on the Jack Vance books. Gumshoe with Skullduggery.
• Hillfolk – Drama System engine – Emotional change is the focus. Lots of GREAT plug-ins will be done by many wonderful RPG authors.
• Drama System and Gumshoe will be open license.
• Double Tap – Nights Black Agents Expansion book. Big list of guns. Later this spring.
• Dracula Dossier – Armitage Files for NBA. Based on classic Dracula story. Gareth and Ken.
• Dying Earth – Ken does not have any news. See Prismatic Spray.
• 13th Age – I complained about the massive delays in 13th Age. Ken took the message. Gen Con is their goal.
• 13TH Age Bestiary – 52 monsters. Ken is directing effort.

Overall a great review of Pelgrane stuff in the pipe by Ken. In my mind Pelgrane has put out some stellar products in the last couple of years and 2013 looks to be more of the same.
8 out of 10 paws.

What’s New With Blackwyrm Games

Sunday 2 PM for 1 hour
Presenters: Jason Walters, Dave Mattingly
Description: Blackwyrm Books and Games owners Dave Mattingly and Jason Walters talk about their publishing plans for 2013.

My Take

I went into the Blackwyrm seminar expecting to hear about a lot of fiction but very little gaming. I certainly called that one wrong! Here is a list of the items that I recorded. This does not include TONS of conventions that Blackwyrm will be attending around the country.
Fiction

• This week Blackwyrm offered 15 free ebooks for the Kindle.
• Blackwyrm has a GREAT deal for authors. Authors do not make money until Blackwyrm covers their costs. When that happens they split 50% of the profit with the author.
• Jason will be releasing Nakba, a novelized form of his story from Posthegemony, in April or May. It is the first of a trilogy.

Gaming

• Vinyl maps for various games. The first serious are spaceship maps by the same guy who did the Serenity RPG maps. Large $50. Small $30.
• Imaginary Friends – 250 to 300 pgs. Imaginary friend appears in the real world. Currently in the editing process. Sean Fanon is doing the cleanup work on it.
• Fires Of Heaven – Sweeney. Grand political space setting akin to Babylon 5.
• The Sands Of Time – Phil Masters.
• Attack Of The 50′ Bride
• Laser Squid Nemesis – XDM – Underwater fish combat.
• Folk Hero – Mythic America – Surbrook. Think Paul Bunyon.
• Folk Hero – Larger Than Life – Modern folk heroes. Thin Elvis.
• Enemies Unleashed – Ross Watson.
• Kazei 5 Upgrade – Surbrook.
• Fearsome Critters – Fantasy folklore monster book. Surbrook.
• Ghost Ghouls Goblins – Fantasy movie monster book. Surbrook.
• Martial Madness – Surbrook. Lots of MA characters.
• Gold Rush Games – This one was funny, “Oh yeah, we are also going to be printing all of the Gold Rush Games material.” This one surprised even Jason! So awesome to get this material back in print. San Angelo will soon be available again!

A Hero feast!!!
9 out of 10 paws.

Rogues – Underworld

Sunday 3 PM for 1 hour
Presenters: Bruce Harlick, Randy Angle
Description: Explore the dark side of role-playing with seedy locations, nefarious factions, intrigue and corruption. Many scenarios involve crossing the law, but few player characters are prepared for what they find when they go there. Third in the series of multi-media roguish seminars by Randy Angle. This one covers the streetwise skills, gangs, guilds and secret societies of rogues and how player characters and game masters can interact with them during adventures.

My Take

This seminar is actually the third in the series. The first session was at DunDraCon XXXVI. (See my post from last year for a review.) The second session was on Friday during my Champions Complete game so I missed that one. This session of Rogues focuses on the Underworld and groups of baddies. Randy always does a wonderful presentation with funny graphics and such. This year was no exception. The pair covered gangs, cults, and criminal organizations from a bunch of angles. They finished it up with some video clips of famous criminal organizations. Overall the material was fine but I would have liked to have 10 minutes or so at the end to ask questions and maybe some statistics or a deeper discussion of a historical gang.
7 out of 10 paws.

What’s New With Indie Gaming?

Sunday 4 PM for 1 hour
Presenters: Ken Hite, Carl Rigney, Jason Walters
Description: Ken Hite, Carl Rigney, and Jason Walters discuss what is new in the world of micro-published and self-published tabletop games.

My Take

This is another of the panels that is a favorite of mine. I love to hear the panel talk about products that they feel excel. Several of the entries appeared in the earlier What’s Cool seminar.

The letter signifies who brought up the item: k = Ken, c = Carl, j = Jason.
The * signifies that I purchased the product based on the review in the seminar.
The o signifies that I already own the product.

• Daughters Of Verona – j – GMless. Actors in play.
• Nights Black Agents – c o – Ken’s latest masterpiece.
• Cosmic Patrol – k
• Solar Circuit Racing – j – Car Wars in space.
• Champions Complete – c o – Glad Carl brought up Champions Complete.
• Dog Eat Dog – k – Liam Burke. Colonialism in Pacific Islands.
• Steal Away Jordan – k
• Bhaloidam – j – Storytelling game.
• Durance – c o – Jason Morningstar’s latest gem.
• Mythender – k o
• LOTFP – j – Old school fantasy goodness. The God That Crawls and The Magnificent Joop Van Ooms -k – Two adventures that Ken says are really great. Joop Van Ooms sounds so neat it might be worth picking up for another setting.
• Hillfolk – c – Focus is on the tension between characters.
• Hellas 2nd Edition and a new Hellas Supplement – j – The Supplement has gear and a cookbook! Honestly! Real recipes for your own Greek space feast. Fantastic production values on these books.
• Dungeon World – c o – Old school fantasy. Again…nice pull Carl.
• Hoodo Blues – k – PC are immortals. Similar to Deadlands feel.
• Spookybeans – j – Gothic girls. Based on a webcomic.
• Tenra Bansho Zero – c o – JRPG of crazy action. [John bows to Carl's greatness at this point.]
• Alas Vegas – k – PC wake up naked in Vegas desert with no memories.
• Colonial Gothic 2nd Edition – j
• Monsterhearts – c – Essentially a Twilight RPG. Carl’s pick for best game last year. High praise!!!
• Spooky – j – Book on horror in RPGs. This one looked interesting to me.
• Chronicles Of Skin – c – Draw banner.
• Sweet Agatha – k – Highly recommended.
• Our Last Best Hope – c – Mark Diaz Truman At Magpie Games – Classic disaster movie.

I was blown away by this seminar. So many GREAT things on this list! I was particularly impressed by the entries from Carl. He hit some really wonderful stuff that I would have brought up if he had not already done so. The bookend to What’s Cool does not disappoint.
10 out of 10 paws.

Some real winners again this year! The seminar track at DunDraCon XXXVII never disappoints.

Date At Start Of Game: September 12th, 1935

[Author's Note: This is the log for the 9th session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be in the exact order that they occurred during play.]

Tracking Down The Tears Of Azazoth

After the chaotic melee in the basement with the byakhee the PC evaluate the situation and try to determine what happened. Archie checks out Tredge’s wounds then tries to calm down the hobo who is paralyzed in fear. Detective Keegan calls for backup and for an ambulance. Father Nunzio enters the basement holding his head. He entered the church proper and found Pastor Murphy in a pew reading a strange black book. When he asked the Pastor for some help in the next room he did not respond. When Father Nunzio grabbed Pastor Murphy’s arm he struck him in the back of the head sending him sprawling. At this point Father Nunzio takes the hobo under his arm and adjourns to another room to console him. The PC begin to search the house in an attempt to find more clues. In Pastor Murphy’s room they find some butcher paper that has been tied with twine. It must have held the Tears Of Azazoth. On the outside handwriting says “p. Murphy $50″.

At this point the PC call Professor Cuttling to help them go over their clues. The trio considers all options and thinks that the best course of action is to head to head to Boston to try and find the “Jahraus” house where the circus performers stole the Tears Of Azazoth. Maybe the owner is trying to get it back?

Boston Murders

As the trio heads to Boston to start their investigation Detective Keegan calls ahead to the Boston Police Department (PD). He tells them that he is investigating a murder in Arkham and would like to speak with the Boston PD about someone named “Jahraus” who is likely from a wealthy household. To his surprise the Boston PD puts on one of their homicide investigators, Detective Harrison. Detective Harrison informs Detective Keegan that he is working on two strange murders that happened the previous night in Boston. After brief exchange the pair realize that they are working on a related case. They decide to meet to discuss details.

Detective Harrison, a tough looking old-school cop, pulls out his files and start to go over the details with Detective Keegan and his associates. In Boston there were two murders that happened within two hours of each other. The first is an antique dealer. He was killed in his bed. A paralyzing look of fear was on his face. His eyes were rolled back into his head. The victim’s throat was torn into with a razor sharp implement in an oval shaped pattern. The second is a pawn shop owner. He was also killed in his bed. He had the same sign of fear but had only minor scratches on one arm. It appears that he had a heart attack. At this point Detective Keegan explains select details from the murder of Pastor Murphy. He relays his suspicion that the murders are the result of a robbery gone terribly wrong. After going over the details the two police detectives decide to head over to the Jahraus house to see if they can come up with any clues. Detective Keegan asks that some officers go back to the crime scenes to grab receipt books or paperwork that may show transfer of ownership of a black book called the Tears Of Azazoth. He explains that this book may be the motivation for these strange murders.

First Visit To The Jahraus Household

The PC with Detective Harrison driving pull to the Jahraus house. The house is in a nice neighborhood but is not that well kept. There are some weeds in the lawn and the paint is chipping on most of the window and door frames. The group then ascends the creaky front porch and knocks on the door. A frazzled older woman in her late 50′s opens the door. With a thick German accent she says that her name is Marta. Detective Keegan says that they need to speak with Fred Jahraus. After wiping her hands on her dirty apron she escorts the PC into an adjacent front parlor then goes to fetch Fred. The PC can hear several children playing in rooms near the back of the house. The front room is very well kept and includes a curio cabinet, two plush chairs, and a bookshelf. Inside the curio cabinet is an award for Fred Jahraus for his work at Lien Fung. Lien Fung is apparently his place of employment.

Fred Jahraus enters the room followed by Marta. Fred is a handsome blonde man with long mutton chop sideburns. He is wearing a button down shirt and slacks. As Fred shakes the hands of the PC a large but false smile adorns his face. The PC then begin to question Fred. They ask about a robbery which he denies. They then ask about a book called the Tears Of Azazoth. Although he puts on a great show Detective Keegan believes that Fred Jahraus knows about the Tears Of Azazoth and is covering it up. After some conversation Detective Keegan asks his associates (aka Archie and Leo) to examine the house.

As Archie and Leo move to the back rooms they see 5 kids ranging from 4 to 14. The children are a bit dirty and seem a bit scared. Archie and Leo then proceed to search the upstairs bedrooms. In Fred’s room they find several newspaper clippings. The clippings are mostly related to a tiny political organization that Fred Jahraus chairs called the American Preservation League (APL). The APL pushes for stricter immigration laws and a strong isolationist policy. Apparently Fred took over leadership of the organization when his father passed away. His father, Dieter, was killed 15 years ago at his place of work (a clothing manufacturer known as Lien Fung) by, “an assault with a deadly weapon.” Most of the articles are related to the support of white victims from colored assailants. Common tactics including picketing and attendance at local political functions. One recent article talks about how two APL members attacked a black neighbor who moved next door and trespassed. The victim claims that he was on his own property.

In Marta’s room the PC find two things of interest. The first thing they find is an old picture of Marta. It is the same picture that the PC found with Document 1 except the face is not yet burned out! On the back it lists 1898 as the year. On a whim Archie scratches one corner. They also find a small jewelry box that contains the black onyx ring found in the picture.

After finding these artifacts Archie and Leo devise a plan to watch what happens immediately after the group of police officers leaves the house. They carefully rig one of the upstairs windows so that they can break in later. While rigging the window they notice scratches from what appears to be a small crowbar. This confirms that the house was broken into by the circus performers and for some reason the Jahraus family is hiding it. If they get lucky the Jahraus family will reveal the location of the Tears Of Azazoth. On their way back to the front parlor Leo asks to get a drink of water. In the kitchen the other children watch him with quiet serious stares. Leo gets a feeling that something is not right with the children but he cannot put his finger on the reason why. It sends a chill up his spine. As the group leaves Leo rounds the corner and quickly climbs the drain pipe so that he can watch the upstairs hallway.

After the PC leave Leo sees Marta and Fred walk into the upstairs hallway. In the hallway they have a silent conversation. Fred appears to be trying to comfort his Mother who is very upset by the visit from the police. After first calmly brushing her arm Fred gives Marta a deep kiss of the type that is not proper for a family member. Before climbing down Leo also hears commotion in the backyard. The two eldest children, a girl and boy, are opening what appears to be a root cellar in hushed tones. At this point Archie climbs down and returns to the group. Detective Harrison suggests looking at another avenue as he does not see evidence that the Jahraus family has done anything illegal. After parting with Detective Harrison the PC compare notes. When Archie explains what he witnessed in the hallway Leo realizes why the children seemed creepy. They all have bone structures similar to Marta and Fred. They must be inbred. At this point Archie also call back to Miskatonic University to ask about the picture. To his horror the picture is scratched with the mark that he made!

Second Visit To The Jahraus Household

After having dropped off Detective Harrison at the Boston police office the PC head back to the Jahraus house. When they return they decide to sneak into the root cellar to check out what the two kids were doing. Archie leads the way. Leo and Detective Keegan carefully search the root cellar. In the floor they find an engraved symbol that looks like an eye. Under the symbol they find a green painted box. The box has some German writing on the side which they careful write down. The trio then opens the box. Inside are paper shreds that are being used as packing material. It is readily apparent that this box once held the book. After leaving the cellar the trio hears an argument happening in the front parlor. Archie sneaks over to listen while Leo and Detective Keegan hide behind some bushes in the backyard. In the front yard is a blue sedan that Archie does not recognize. He quickly writes down the license plate number. Archie hears some crying coming from a woman’s voice that he does not recognize. He then hears her talking in a loud voice, “Mother how could you!?! I can’t believe it.” After a short pause Marta speaks up, “When your Father left I was lost…and Fred…Kate I…” At that point the front door slams open and a blonde haired woman in a nice dress leaves the house. She gets into the blue sedan and drives off. Fred comes out on the porch behind Marta and says, “Do you think she will do anything about with what she has learned? I bet it was that fiancé of hers that put her up to this…” As Fred grabs his jacket Marta says to him, “Don’t do anything rash Fred…please…she is your sister.” Fred storms out to the garage and takes off.

At this point Marta returns to the family room with the kids. A few seconds later the two eldest Jahraus children leave from the back door of the house and head into the root cellar. The girl goes under the swing near a tool shed and pulls up a board. From under the board she removes what appears to be a dead cat. Holding it by the hind legs she enters the root cellar. Archie sneaks over to listen. As he sneaks up he trips on the garden hose and makes a noise. When the cellar door opens with the Jahraus boy Archie clocks him then runs to the bushes with the other PC. When Archie reaches the other PC they hear a crash and five byakhee explode from the root cellar! After hovering for a moment they take off.

Killing Kate

Quickly the PC return to their car and race towards Kate Jahraus’ house. With some fancy driving the PC arrive at the scene before the byakhee. After arming up they head towards the front door. When the approach they can hear Fred Jahraus yelling. Archie breaks open the door while Detective Keegan takes the lead. Inside they see Fred with a handgun yelling at a man they assume to be Martin. Martin is shielding Kate with his body telling Fred to leave. Detective Keegan tells Fred to freeze and to drop the gun. As Fred lays down the gun and backs off Archie and Leo see byakhee approaching. Three are approaching from the front door and two are coming from the back. At this point combat ensues! The PC start blasting at byakhee with shotguns and a pistol. Fred cowers behind a couch. Martin grabs a kitchen knife and tries to defend Kate. It quickly becomes apparent that the creatures are trying to get to Kate. As Martin falls Archie defends Kate. With some powerful blows he takes out the last byakhee.

After the byakhee threat is over Kate runs to check on Martin but he is dead. She sobs and cries out in anguish…

Date At End Of Game: September 13th, 1935