Tag Archives: Chaosium

by | April 1, 2021 · 2:20 pm

The real Crook’d Manse

Where you write is often what you write.

In 1983 I moved into a share house in Carnegie with my high school mate Brad and my university friend Leigh. Our landlord’s name was Walter Dodge. The joint was so easy to break into we didn’t bother locking it and just left the back door wide open. Leigh found a small ziplock bag of powder in the back of his wardrobe, around the time we learned from Walter that the place was once raided by the police for drugs. Naturally, Leigh sold it to a work colleague in a government department. We had no phone, but used to call parents from the public booth in a wide green park directly opposite, rendering us uncontactable in those days except by mail. It was an old house full of stories, and the plaster in the walls was cracking above our heads.

It’s still standing. The photo above was cribbed from Google Street View. The wonders of a close crop and a black and white filter to deliver faux history.

We played our first ever games of Call of Cthulhu by candelight in that house, so when I decided to write for the game, I only had to look up to get my inspiration.

“The Crack’d and Crook’d Manse” was my first scenario for Call of Cthulhu, written for Phantastacon 84. I rocked up in the morning hoping someone would be interested in playing, and the organisers said “you’ve got three teams booked in for 1pm, and more tomorrow”. So I cancelled the rest of that day’s bookings, instead grabbing four friends with the introduction “Come play this, you’re running it tomorrow”. Then I went home and typed all night so that they would have a legible outline to run from. That was the origin story of the Cthulhu Conglomerate, our crew of convention Keepers who ran events from 1984 to 1994, spawning a tomb herd of new scenario writers.

The scenario was fun to run. I was pleased with it then, and I still am now. The mystery is buried deep with a few layers to uncover, and I still like the reveal, and the solution. The end is always exciting. I’m a sucker for frenzied yelling at the players to really ramp up the tension while dice skitter all over the table.

Out of the walls and into print

I then wrote the scenario out in full for the local games zine Multiverse Issue 3 (1984) edited by Robert Mun, with maps and illustration by Brad. (Brad didn’t do the magazine cover, but I’m pleased to see an investigator in the lineup anyway. Investigators are always the doomed one.) I can’t for the life of me recall if this was a paid gig. Zines were always a labour of love, but I am unbelievably glad I did it, as it was a brilliant example to show to Chaosium when I first started pitching to them. They accepted my pitch for H.P. Loveraft’s Dreamlands, and in time they bought this scenario too.

It was published in 1990 for Mansions of Madness, a rather splendid collection of haunted house scenarios edited by William Dunn and Keith Herber. Keith always had an instinct for what would make a book useful and playable. (He also wrote the best house for the game in my opinion, with the unequivocal title “The Haunted House” in Trail of Tsathoggua). Mansions of Madness had five scenarios with a brilliant cover by Lee Gibbons, maps by Carol Triplett-Smith and layout and “more good ideas” from Zombie Ben Monroe.

Mansions of Madness Second Edition appeared in 2007, and included a sixth scenario, “The Old Damned House” by Liam Routt and Penny Love (of this very blog). Their scenario was “The Old Damned House” and it was also a Cthulhu Conglomerate tournament from 1992, so a nice circular inclusion. Liam was one of the stalwarts of our Melbourne scene, even sending back his scenario “The Haitian Horror” when he went off to the US to study in Chicago. I first met Liam while running AD&D at Phantastacon ’82, a notable event for so many reasons: our lifelong friendship, but also the AD&D tournament format was so utterly unlike why I loved RPGs that it inspired me to start writing in the first place. In those days roleplaying tournaments were more like wargaming tournaments, if the clock ran out you stopped mid dungeon. I craved a story with a beginning, middle and end, where characterisation was more important than tactical spell use. My first tournament “It’s a Living” featured six thieves on a heist. It’s no wonder I jumped ship to Chaosium games once I found them.

You can’t keep an old haunt down

Chaosium have published “The Crack’d and Crook’d Manse” again for 7th edition in Mansions of Madness Vol 1: Behind Closed Doors. I’m so happy about this. I think it works well as an introductory scenario, because it was written immediately after my first contact with both the roleplaying game and the Mythos at large, so I had just sponged up all that inspiration. For that reason, I think it’s closer to HPL than anything I’ve done since.

It is one of two scenarios included from the first edition, along with three brand new ones, so a great mix of classic scenario writing and more modern approaches. The new maps, art and handouts are incredible, the editorial by Lynne Hardy and Mike Mason is first rate, and the layout by Nicholas Nacario looks easy to use in the dark. I love so many things about it but the best by far is Lynne & Mike’s recasting the librarian and reporter characters as African-American, an obvious choice that this very white Aussie boy did not think of at 20 years of age. Scenarios really are better these days.

That difference of approach is right on the cover, once again by Lee Gibbons. Here they are, side by side. As per usual the investigator is doomed, but the new chap on the right is putting up a mighty fight and might just make it. At least he has backup, if you can call holding the torch and looking alarmed backup.

Many investigators have gone into the house over the decades, and a few have actually come out. My favourite moment when running actually took place nowhere near the house. A friend was playing Call of Cthulhu for the first time, and he visited the graveyard to do some research. I described the dead trees as I pressed play on my go-to spooky soundtrack at the time, Name of the Rose by the late great James Horner. “Nope” he said, and got straight back into his auto.

Here’s some trivia for you; I didn’t realise until I was getting the books out to reminisce about good times in dangerous buildings that the French edition from the 1990s flipped the artwork, cropped it closer and lightened it up. All that extra detail just adds to the doom. (The gatefold for reference is from the inside of the new edition, because Chaosium books are full colour on the inside now too.)

A visit to the manse

A wonderful aspect of nowadays is actual play of Call of Cthulhu scenarios, which acts as both entertainment and also example. Filmed play wasn’t around in 1984, when we had to read books and make it up. Chaosium have the weekly #StreamOfChaos on the Chaosium Twitch channel, and the redoubtable crew of Art, David, Jackson & James have just started playing it; you can catch the Stream every Friday night/Saturday morning depending where you are, and Episode 1 is already up on YouTube. I happen to know that the plaster in the room that Jackson plays in is starting to bulge, so history repeats itself.


Here’s an earlier and more anarchic form of actual play, and honestly one of the highlights of my writing career: Zack Parsons and Steve Summer of Something Awful played the scenario as a text transcript as as part of their D&D, WTF?! series. Contains spoilers and unbridled wit.

Click the link above to read and enjoy, but here’s a sample:

THE CRACK'D AND CROOK'D MANSE In which the investigstors explore the usual sinister house, only to find a distinctly unusual resident. Zack: Unusual resident, eh? I am betting horse. Steve: That doesn't seem unusual to me. I've seen horses all the time. Zack: Yeah, okay, you see horses hanging out in barns and fields. This is inside a house. That would scare the shit out of me to walk into somebody's house and...BOOM! Horse! Zack: "Welcome to our house. Here's our house horse." Steve: "Does it give rides?" Zack: *Looking nervously at each other and the horse* "I don't think so..."

As to whether there is indeed a horse or not, you’ll have to read, play or watch the scenario.

I’m so pleased that this peculiar literary parallel of my first share house is once again open for visitors. Wipe your feet and leave a will.

HERE BE SPOILERS

For fun, here’s a map comparison: Multiverse (Brad’s redraw of my original sketch), Carol Triplett-Smith in 1990, and the latest version by Miska Fredman. One of the many joys of writing is seeing your words transformed into images. Get the flashlight, let’s see what’s inside…

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by | February 2, 2020 · 6:04 pm

A Most Bloody, Horrid and Lamentable Account of a Popish Plot Against James I of England and VI of Scotland, with many curious Particulars

After writing Call of Cthulhu scenarios in the 1890s, 1920s and the French Revolution I decided to explore a new historical period. I’ve long had a fascination with Restoration London (1660s) probably thanks to my father who spent of the latter part of his life on a definitive volume of the works of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, and favorite of King Charles II. I have read and re-read Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe, and I have a deep and abiding fondness for the period diarist, that old rogue Samuel Pepys – nor am I alone, see the wonderful @samuelpepys where internet snark meets 17th century morals.

Samuel_Pepys

Portrait of Pepys in 1666 by John Hayls (1600–1679)

My first scenario set in Restoration London has the brief – for the period – title “A Most Bloody, Horrid and Lamentable Account of a Popish Plot Against James I of England and VI of Scotland, with many curious Particulars” (on the grounds that Particulars are all the more Curious when Capitalised). My playtesters created an intrepid family of investigators, Kentish apothecaries who farmed the medicinal Romsey Marsh leech and were keen to bring their strictly scientific leech-based cure to the London.  Here’s a sample of some of the other medicines from the time:

  • MOSS – Dried and powdered moss grown on the skull (used in many pills);
  • SNAILS – to remove warts, take three snails and gash them, then take the liquor that comes out of them and anoint your warts.
  • SIR DIGBY’S WEAPON SALVE – if wounded rub this salve upon the weapon that hurt you and your wound will be cured; also an infallible remedy for toothache.

I disinterred Black Dog Court and Seething Lane, long buried under the ashes of the Great Fire and the skyscrapers of modern London, as a setting for the investigators to rent their new house in.

Chaosium ran the scenario for Arcanacon in Melbourne and I’ve had good reports all round – my favorite response was the anguished cry of a 17th century apothecary, “It’s science but not as we know it!’.

We’ll be running the scenario again for CarcosaCon in Czocha Castle, Poland, in March and Chaosium Con DownUnder in May. I look forward to seeing how it is received and to writing more scenarios for this fascinating time, so no spoilers for now, except for a quote from Defoe:

Another ran about Naked, except a pair of Drawers about his Waste, crying Day and Night… this poor naked Creature cry’d in the streets O! The Great, and the Dreadful God! And said no more, but repeated these words continually, with a Voice and a Countenance full of horror, and no Body cou’d ever find him to stop, or rest, or take any Sustenance…

Finally, this long view of London etched by Wenceslaus Hollar in 1647 is a Keeper’s screen waiting to happen. (You can download it in its full 72 MB high res glory here.)

Hollar_London_1647

Wenceslaus Hollar’s view of London 1647

 

 

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by | March 11, 2019 · 7:54 pm

The Blog of Many Covers

This is the story of how books can go strange, far places, change their covers and yet stay the same.

In 2016 I was lucky enough to have a story included in She Walks in Shadows, the first all-woman Lovecraftian anthology, edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles of Innsmouth Free Press. If you don’t have a copy of this you can get the e-book by supporting Silvia’s Patreon at the $2 level. Bargain.

She Walks in Shadows

She Walks in Shadows

Silvia started the project because people were wondering about the paucity of female writers being published in Lovecraftian anthologies. You can read her musings on the reasons on her blog page. Two years after publication the stories that stay with me are ‘Eight Seconds’, by Pandora Hope, which shows just how long a mother’s love needs to last, and ‘The Thing in the Cheerleading Squad’ by Molly Tanzer, a terrific retake on ‘The Thing on the Doorstep’. Silvia was a really wonderful editor who has gone out of her way to keep us in touch with the project as it moved through its various incarnations.

My story, ‘Turn Out the Lights’ was a speculative tale on the life of Sarah Phillips Lovecraft, Howard’s mother. The story is available as a free sample. She Walks in Shadows went on to win the World Fantasy Award for best anthology 2016, edging out Chaosium’s King in Yellow anthology, Cassilda’s Song, edited by Joseph S. Pulver.

She Walks in Shadows was reprinted in America (same stories, different cover) as Cthulhu’s Daughters.

Cthulhu's Daughters

Cthulhu’s Daughters

The anthology has has now been translated into Turkish, and has yet another very cool cover. But, no I don’t know what ‘Golgede Yuruyen Kiz’ means either. I’m assuming it means She Walks in Shadows but Google Translate confidently tells me the word in the middle means ‘Screaming’. So let’s not go there.

She Walks In Shadows, Turkish Cover

She Walks In Shadows, in Turkish.

However perhaps 2019 is Chaosium’s year as they are releasing Sisterhood, edited by Nate Peterson. Sisterhood includes my story, ‘Unburdened Flesh’, a strange tale of a Venetian nunnery during time of plague. It was inspired by the alternative history which we created for Venice in Horror on the Orient Express, and explores the history of the outre Brotherhood of the Skin.

Sisterhood

We’re all sisters, under the skin.

I’ve been in quite a few anthologies, but Mark’s favorite cover is from Tales of Cthulhu Invictus by Golden Goblin Press. The collection features stories set in Ancient Rome and the cover is a re-imagining of the classic ending of ‘Call of Cthulhu’ but with Cthulhu menacing a trireme. And for my part, I’m quite pleased with my story too, ‘Magnum Innominandum’, about a patrician noblewoman dealing with a little slave problem. Suffice to say it ends with madness, death, despair and toads.

Tales of Cthulhu Invictus

Cthulhu is not amused.

 

In other literature-related news, another of my Horror on the Orient Express co-authors is also writing fiction. Geoff Gillan, who masterminded the plot for the entire campaign, has just started self-publishing his own new series, The Man from Z.O.M.B.I.E. This is the undead Cold War spy thriller you’ve been dying to read – just like the lead character.

The Man from Z.O.M.B.I.E.

The Man from Z.O.M.B.I.E.

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by | January 14, 2019 · 10:08 pm

An Australian in Trieste

Our friend and collaborator, Russell Waters, who wrote ‘Cold Wind Blowing’, the Horror on the Orient Express chapter set in Trieste, visited the city recently and has sent back an account of his travels. Until Mark & I finally reach the city this wonderful description will have to suffice. Be warned, if you are planning to play in the campaign there are spoilers in this post!

Now, over to Russell to tell of his journey…

 

In Trieste

Outside the Postojna Caves. (Note the T-shirt!)

Upon arriving in Trieste we checked into our hotel, which overlooked the waterfront. As we were there in September, we didn’t have to contend with the bora, although as we arrived and wove our way down from the surrounding hills and through the narrow streets leading leading to our hotel on the waterfront, I’d been delighted to note that some of the streets, (mainly those that were steeply sloping) did have chains strung between poles. Whether this was to assist pedestrians struggling against the blast of the bora, as I’d read in the 1920s era Baedekers that formed my original research for ‘Cold Wind Blowing’, or whether it was to prevent pedestrians stepping off the narrow pavement onto the roadway was less clear.

Trieste (which I discovered is pronounced in three syllables: tree-est-uh) is still a pretty town, at least in the area near the harbor, where there are still many old buildings. There is a single canal, of sorts, which runs inland from the harbor and ends at the church of Sant Antonio Turmaturgo and gives a Venice feel to the immediate area.

Trieste

Not Venice, Trieste!

Whilst I was keen to visit some of the 1920s tourist sites in Trieste I’d read about in Baedekers, we’d been recommended to visit Castello Di Miramare, which lies a short distance from town. Built for the Austrian Arch-duke Ferdinand Maximilian (Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico), the castle was completed after his capture and execution in Mexico, so he never actually lived in it. I found his bedroom most interesting; Maximilian had been a successful navy officer, and his bedroom had a lowered artificial ceiling and wood paneled walls to make it more like a ship’s cabin. The ceiling of the dining room has a compass rose and an indicator linked to a wind vane on the roof so that the diners can know the wind direction at any time!

Back in town we visited the Cathedral and the Castello, both sitting on top of a hill and named after San Guisto. Johann Winckelmann was buried at the Cathedral, although the actual site of his grave is unknown. The Castello has an interesting museum that features a range of medieval weaponry and is adjacent Roman ruins which, according to some old photos we saw, have been a popular place to promenade and even picnic since the early 1900s.

One of the things I really wanted to see was the Johann Winckelmann monument, which features in ‘Cold Wind Blowing’ and provides the Investigators with their first inkling that “looking up Johann Winckelmann in Trieste” may be more difficult than they thought. Ironically, we fell foul of one of the obstacles I’d set up for Investigators; the Museum in which the monument is situated closes between 13.00h to 16.00h! Fortunately, our weather was fine, so we were able to spend some time at the Cathedral and then exploring nearby streets until it reopened.

The monument has its own building at the end of L’Orto Lapidario, the lapidary garden accessed from the museum. As well as the monument, the building houses an exhibit about Winckelmann and some statuary, including a torso missing head, arms and legs, which aroused my immediate suspicion. Some early designs for the monument apparently included a scene of Winckelmann’s murderer being broken on the Wheel (as actually happened) so perhaps it is a good thing that they eventually went for something a little less confronting!

Johann Winckelmann monument

Note suspicious torso on the right

Whilst in Trieste, we also saw (but didn’t travel through) the tunnel formerly used by the local tram service (now automobiles only); a tramcar (the trams were not running at the time due to an accident back in 2016 which had still not been repaired) and pleasingly, a Roman amphitheatre. I say pleasingly because the Investigators visit a cellar in which one wall appears to be part of a buried amphitheatre, and the amphitheatre we saw was not excavated until the 1930s!

Clues found in Trieste lead the Investigators to the caves at Postumia, now Postojna in Slovenia. Because Marissa and I were not following the Orient Express route, but coming into Italy from Austria via Slovenia, we had actually visited Postojna before Trieste, but I’m mentioning it now to better fit the Horror on the Orient Express chronology.

Entrance to Postojna Cavern

Cavern entrance

Even back in the 1920s the caves were a big tourist attraction in the area, and our visit reflected this, with large tourist groups being sorted by language so that multilingual guides can then lead their groups on the tours. The caves extend for about 24 km (about 14.5 miles), but the tour only takes in part of this. As was the case for tourists in the 1920s, we initially took seats on a train which traveled 2.5 km (1.5 miles) into the caves before disembarking and walking another few kilometres. There were plenty of signs of underground waterways, but generally the caves were mercifully dry and we didn’t have to go wading at all, or find any dark lake with mysterious stalagmites dotting its shore. To my great delight, we did see some olm, which were kept in a dimly lit aquarium/terrarium (having no natural pigmentation, bright lights distress them). The specimens we saw were about 20-25 cms (6-8 inches) long; not too threatening at that size. The olm are a real feature of the caverns, and are used as a mascot/logo by the cave operators.

Olm

Olm decoration at Postojna

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by | January 8, 2019 · 6:58 pm

In with the new year and out with the old

2018 was certainly a stellar year for us.

First things first. Reign of Terror was published. We originally developed this scenario as a secret history, a prelude to the Horror on the Orient Express campaign, back in 2013.  Over the years the book grew and took shape as intrepid writers Darren Watson  and James Coquillat contributed additional background history, scenarios and scenario seeds to fully flesh out the experience of horror role-playing during the French Revolution. We were incredibly honoured to receive the 2018 Gold Ennie for Best Supplement for the book.

Reign of Terror hardcover

Then the PDF of the new edition of Terror Australis was launched (with the book itself due in 2019). This is a whole new edition of the first Call of Cthulhu project we ever worked on in 1987. It has new scenarios, new background, and all new scares! Dean Engelhardt of Cthulhu Reborn did a wonderful job assembling this new version, and it has great new writing from our longtime Aussie mates Marion Anderson, Phil Anderson, Geoff Gillan, John Hughes, Richard Watts and others.

Terror Australis

Do you think it might be friendly?

Just in time for Halloween, the official Call of Cthulhu computer game arrived from Focus Home Entertainment. Mark had wicked fun coming up with ideas for the story line with the clever folks at Cyanide Studio in Paris.

og_image

Finally, Mark’s scenario ‘Dead-Man Stomp’ was included in the new Call of Cthulhu starter set. He has always loved this jazz-fused scenario co-written with Lynn Willis, and this new 7th edition version is with a new co-writer, his friend Chris Spivey, who wrote the incredible supplement Harlem Unbound. In fact, “Dead Man Stomp” was Chris’ gateway to the world of Cthulhu, so this collaboration is especially meaningful.

Call of Cthulhu starter set

Sure let’s visit this spooky old house. What could possibly go wrong?

However we are not ones to rest on our laurels. You want more? We have a stellar line up for 2019!

For starters, we’ll be running two new scenarios from the upcoming Reign of Terror 2  as well as my 1920s Samoan scenario ‘Curse of Aforgomon’ at Arcanacon 2019 on 26 & 27 January here in Melbourne. The new 18th century scenarios are by Kelly Grant (Parisian investigators are sent to recover animals from a former aristo’s menagerie), and James Coquillat (a cold snap turns deadly, and then gets worse). So you can go mad in Revolutionary France or perish miserably in Samoa, you choose. Tip: avoid coconut palm groves! And Madame La Guillotine. And don’t get the two confused.

Arcanacon 2019

Crash landing in  a tropical paradise was only the start…

Mark has been invited to Poland in March 2019 as a special guest at CarcosaCon, a Call of Cthulhu convention in a genuine Polish castle. The Czocha Castle is located in Sucha village in Poland, and was nearly burned down in 1793, the same year as Reign of Terror…

Carcosa-con 2019

One previous owner… how do you spell that again? D-R-A-C-U-L-A.

And we have even more Revolutionary Horror to come, with Reign of Terror 2 in the pipeline. This features our scenario, Love Eterne, in which our citizen investigators thwart an aristo’s attempt to flee Paris and find themselves facing a horror worse than even Madame La Guillotine, as well as the new scenarios from Kelly and James, and a longer scenario from Darren Watson about a most peculiar investigation.

What’s that you say? You want more? We continue working on our Cthulhu by Gaslight campaign, Curse of Seven, and I have contributed a scenario, ‘Market Forces’ to the new RuneQuest relaunch, so stay tuned!

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by | November 28, 2018 · 9:29 pm

The Train Rolls On

In May 2018 we filled in some missing stops in our original Horror on the Orient Express train tour of Europe. This time we headed from Geneva to Lausanne along the shores of Lake Leman and then on to Milan.

In St Peter’s Cathedral in Geneva, in what would become a theme, we first descended to the basement, where an archaeological excavation had uncovered an intriguing well. Get out of this one investigators. Mark remembers the well on the cover of the original Call of Cthulhu Companion, they’re best avoided.

The Well St Peters

It must be an Extreme Climb roll

Then we climbed the bell tower, past the monsters carved upon the pews.

Wood carving - St Peters

We don’t know what it is but it’s looking at us funny

Atop the tower we gazed out over the Old City where once a certain Dr Frankenstein studied, and speculated which alleys his monster roamed.

We then boarded our iron steed and headed off, passing exquisite lakeside villas as we left the town. Now which was the one that that nice young couple, the Shelleys, and Lord Byron regaled each other with ghost stories?

Train to Laussanne

Train to Laussanne

In the 1920s Switzerland was considered a cheap destination for British tourists, with the pound sterling strong against the Swiss franc. Alas no more. The Swiss franc is eye-wateringly expensive against the Australian dollar. It says something about affordability in Switzerland that during an excursion across Lac Leman into the medieval French town of Yvoire we found the prices (in euros) delightfully affordable.

Yvoire wall and roses

The roses in Yvoire made me nervous

By coincidence, or sinister design, a sumptuous masked ball paraded through Yvoire during our visit. We remained at a cautious distance from the revelers in case a mask should be accidentally let drop by the incautious claw to reveal the inhuman features beneath.

Yvoire Masked Ball Procession

A Strangely Sinister Procession

We also had a side jaunt to the walled town of Gruyere in order to eat our bodyweight in fondue and visit the Giger bar, an appropriately Gothic launch for our Horror on the Orient Express tour.

Giger Bar-Gruyere

Is this bar weird or have we drunk too many Mojitos?

The Giger Bar at Night, Gruyere

Perhaps best not go in there at night

Or you might meet one of these.

Gruyere at night

And Redcap was never seen again…

We stopped off in the lakeside town of Nyon. In the enchanting Museum of the Lake we found a strange wooden figure, allegedly an old life saving manikin, but we feared a more sinister purpose.

Life Saving dummy Nyon

Simulacrum in Nyon

Then we visited the castle, which had been used as both a prison and asylum. We found something rather …. odd … in the attic.

The attic in Nyon was not normal

The attic in Nyon was not normal

Perhaps, after all, we needed one of these.

Old straitjacket

Old straitjacket

We hurried back to the safety of the train and only left once we reached Laussane. There we had booked into the most expensive hotel of the trip, as recommended by our 1920s guidebook, in an effort to soothe our jangled nerves. The Chateau D’Ouchy was a magnificent and luxuriant pile by the lake, whose cosy cocoon we reluctantly left in order to  take the funicular from the shore to the top of the town.

Chateau Douchy

Chateau D’ Ouchy

There we climbed the ancient bell tower of Notre Dame Cathedral pausing to admire the historic pews with medieval carvings. During the Renaissance the works of the ancient Greeks were rediscovered and spread through Europe. The devout custodians of Notre Dame were not impressed by the ungodly works of Aristotle so carved a picture of the philosopher being ridden by ‘the maid Phyllis’, on the side of the pew. This was the Renaissance equivalent of a sick burn.

Aristotle being ridden by the maid Phyllis

Take that Aristotle, you heathen

Finally we located a certain café near the theatre, le Chat Noir.

Le Chat Noir in Laussane

Where did that Skinless One sticker come from?

Fortunately no unearthly visitors disturbed our rest that night, and there were no taxidermy shops listed in the business directory, but we did find this sweet Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits model train carriage which now adorns Mark’s desk.

Orient Express in miniature

A tiny train in direst peril…

The next morning we were back on the train and off to Milan. That’s a tale for another blog…

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by | October 31, 2018 · 6:36 pm

Zaraz bedzie ciemno! (It will be dark soon)

It’s Halloween, and Mark is happily downloading the Call of Cthulhu computer game from Focus Home Interactive. He wrote part of the storyline for French game studio Cyanide.

But, meanwhile in Poland, there are more dark things happening on 31 October…

That’s the cover for Zew Cthulhu, aka Call of Cthulhu 7th edition. The Polish crowdfunding campaign starts today, and Mark is contributing a scenario.

Back in May 2018 we were guests at Pyrkon 2018 in Poznan, Poland. We were hosted by our lovely friends from CUBE Factory of Ideas, so a big shout out to Magda, Nutii and Anya! We originally met them and made friends through their work with Polish dice company Q-Workshop.

The first night of Pyrkon was the Convention dinner, held in a convivial traditional restaurant. Brief nerd moment, I got to sit like two people away from Robin Hobb, and I passed her the butter.

Convention Dinner Restaurant

Restaurant where I sat very near to Robin Hobb but was, like, totally cool about it, and didn’t even get a photograph.

Poznan has had an epic history, but now it is a tranquil and beautiful town that certainly knows how to run a great convention. The town mascots are the two goats on their city hall clock and Pyrkon has taken those goats to heart. They are caprine cosplay heroes!

Pyrkon Poster

Pyrkon Poster

Role-playing arrived in Poland rather late, owing to the Cold War making life a little difficult. RPGs were sheer Western decadence and banned from import. So in the old days people had to smuggle the games in (making them kind of secret and cool) and then be able to read the rules in English, a rare combination of nerddom and heroic resistance. It also meant Pyrkon had an overwhelmingly young crowd, much younger than you’d find in a US or Australian convention where the RPG scene is more mature. However, what the players and keepers lacked in experience, they made up for with enthusiasm. It was a fun-loving and engaged crowd with some Polish quirks – for example people were able to camp on the floors of one of the big halls, turning the whole convention into a kind of sleepover for gamers.

We checked in with Daria and Michal of Black Monk Games, who are the publishers of Zew Cthulhu.

Daria Pilarcyk and Mark practice their Cthulhu faces

Zew Cthulhu with Mark and Daria practicing their Cthulhu faces

For Arkham Horror, Mark got to try a full body pose.

Horror w Arkham Gra Karcianna

Horror w Arkham Gra Karcianna

Meanwhile the dedicated team oat Q Workshop RPG University were running games to introduce Call of Cthulhu to Polish gamers.

Q Workshop RPG University

Sadly their dedication has driven them … MAD!

In an effort by us old stagers to show these new kids on the block how it’s done we turned up with John Coleman’s scenario, Black as Coal, which was first run at Cauldracon in 1985 in Melbourne. We ran it for those intrepid few who felt brave and linguistic enough to be scared in English, and relocated the titular coal mine from backwoods US to backwoods Poland. Our players kindly taught us many new words, such as the most popular name for Polish dogs (Azor) and the expression, ‘That’s so Polish!’ The scenario ran perfectly, leaving a trail of dead and mad investigators in its wake. Black as Coal is now going to be part of the Zew Cthulhu so it will be in print again after 35 years, proving that good horror translates into all languages.

Mark's players saved Poland but lost their minds

Mark’s players saved Poland but lost their minds

I ran a great game for some of the hard working Q Workshop RPG University team. We ran it after hours because they were working through the day, and it was in a tent in the middle of the convention centre courtyard.

Inbside the Tent of Doom

Inside the Tent of Doom

As the sun went down, we gamed on by the feeble glow of my mobile phone and what you can’t see from the picture is that the loudest doof-doof party in Poland is carrying on just outside those canvas walls. Those Polish convention goers sure can party! However, such was the power of communal story telling that we were all drawn into the magic circle and I don’t think one of us noticed the noise until the game finished.

The Tent o Doom

The Tent o Doof doof

Mark ran a live play of our new French Revolution scenario Love Eterne for a crew of fantastic Polish players, Andrzej, Władysław, Andrzej & Marysieńka (aka Merry, who is one of the translators of Zew Cthulhu). Once again the hidden horrors of La Revolution took their toll. When will the terror end? Only Madame La Guillotine truly knows.

Love Eterne Lifeplay heroes

The Love Eterne Liveplay heroes of La Revolution survive their encounter with an unearthly foe

After the show was over, Magda and Nutti took us on a whirlwind tour of Polish history in one day, a tour that took in the evocatively named Castle of Blood Evil which had poppies growing wild, vivid as dr0ps of blood, and World War 2 bullet holes in the walls.

Poppies at the Castle of Blood Evil

Poppies at the Castle of Blood Evil

However I shall close with this post with the visit to the fabulous steam train museum at  Wenecja.  I got to show off my best ‘Look out below’ impression from Charles Dicken’s spooky ghost story, ‘The Signalman‘.

Look out below!

Look out below!

And Mark got to practice his insane face while pretending to drive a steam train.

Wenecja

Thank you Wenecja Steam Train Museum for allowing Mark to fulfill a lifelong dream

And so the train rolls on.

Train Rolls On

She couldn’t see anything unusual but then the window was quite small.

 

 

 

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by | October 17, 2018 · 11:13 pm

Vale Greg Stafford

Greg Stafford

Greg’s back

Last Friday night, a top bloke by the name of Greg Stafford went into his sweat lodge and never came out. Greg was a huge influence on us because he founded Chaosium and without him there would be no RuneQuest, no Pendragon and certainly no Call of Cthulhu, three games we have played and written for all our lives. These games we loved, and they have led us many places, gifted us many friends, introduced us to each other (we met running the RuneQuest tournament Kree Mountain at Arcanacon in 1984). I even wrote a Glorantha novel, The Widow’s Tale (published by Tradetalk but now out of print). So these games have given us so much pleasure and meaning. This all comes back to one inspired dreamer with a vision, the worlds he created, shared and mentored, and the crazy little company he founded.

Greg was one of the few people I met with a natural 18 Charisma. Another late and lamented friend Keith Herber told us of how when he first joined Chaosium, Greg took him to the Golden Gate buffalo park and encouraged him to jump the electric fence and give those mighty bison a mighty good scratch. These were not cows, you understand, they were large unpredictable wild animals, not noted for high intelligence even by their best friends, and with the capacity, ability and sheer mean minded cussedness to stomp you to death. Keith followed Greg’s lead, jumped the fence and scratched, which kind of gives you the idea of Greg’s powers of leadership, oratory, and just plumb California crazy.

Golden Gate Park bison

He doesn’t think much of you either

I like to think that Greg did not die, simply strode out through the door of consciousness and charged out off across the Spirit Plane. So I will keep an eye out for any bison in my dreams over the coming days, months and years, and should one appear and tell me to jump that fence I will gladly do so.

Though should that bison give me the sword Excalibur and tell me to chuck in the lake I shall not obey, no I shall mount my trusty and well-beloved palfrey, a giant wombat, and charge off to have adventures of my own. For that is the gift that Greg has given us, the gift of crafting our own story.

What do I feel about Greg stepping through that sweat lodge door?  Well, as a rather long winded chap by the name of Tennyson put it in Morte d’Arthur:

The sequel of to-day unsolders all
The goodliest fellowship of famous knights
Whereof this world holds record. Such a sleep
They sleep—the men I loved.

Or as another chap by the name of Chaucer put it more succinctly,
‘He was a veray parfit gentil knight.’

Translated into modern Australian, that means he was a top bloke.

Vale Greg!

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by | July 5, 2015 · 2:29 pm

Nominations and other celebrations

ENnies 2015 Nominee

I’ve thrown down some Saltes and raised up our blog today to talk about a few cool things happening for Horror on the Orient Express.

The big news, we have been nominated for four ENnies Awards!

The ENnies recognise the best roleplaying publications of each year, so it’s a huge honour to be considered among the best of 2015. A panel of judges selects the short list of nominees, and then gamers everywhere vote on the winners.

Every single nomination delights me:

  • The Best Adventure nomination honours all of the writers, too many to list here (hi everyone!) but particular kudos to Geoff Gillan, who first dreamed of our iron nightmare in 1989;
  • The Best Cartography nomination honours Stephanie McAlea, who created stunning and meticulously researched maps, in both player and keeper versions;
  • The Best Production Values nomination honours Meghan McLean, who oversaw every detail of art and layout, with help from Charlie Krank and Nicholas Nacario;
  • And, the Product of the Year nomination honours both the Kickstarter backers who believed in us, and the memory of our mentor Lynn Willis, who commissioned and edited the original project in 1989, and taught us all to be better writers, and better people.

We encourage you to vote! Whether or not Orient Express makes it onto your final ballot, there are some amazing nominees, all worthy of your acclaim.

After attending last year’s awards for the first time I am such a believer in the ENnies that as Campaign Coins I have become a sponsor; we will be providing the ENnies medallions this year, from a great design by Daniel Solis.

ENnies medal (designed by Daniel Solis, made by Campaign Coins)

ENnies medal (made by Campaign Coins)

The ceremony is held in the Grand Hall in the historic Union Station in Indianapolis, as part of Gen Con. I cannot image a more fitting place to raise a glass to the Orient Express. Many attendees suit up and frock up to make it a glamorous occasion; last year I had a great chat with Dead Scare author Elsa S. Henry who looked totally ready to board the overnight train to Lausanne.

Elsa S. Henry

Author Elsa S. Henry at the 2014 ENnies

Penny & I will both be at Gen Con this year, so be sure to say hello! Come visit us at our Campaign Coins booth #529, just down the aisle from Chaosium.

In other news, today is the last day to back the Sedefkar Simulacrum Kickstarter, from artist Delphes Desvoivres. The project is fully funded, and full of amazing things: for just 5 Euros you can get the sensational postcard of Comte Fenalik, drawn in the style of the 18th century, and posted from the Louvres where it hangs in the campaign. It is my favourite ever depiction of the Comte. I’m also excited about the new period style poster for Aida at La Scala, starring Caterina Cavolarro.

Best of all of course is the simulacrum itself, now available in the original deluxe size, but also a new smaller size, with magnetised limbs. Delphes had the absolute inspiration of adding a female torso and head. This really will be a beautiful and creepy centrepiece for your campaign, but be quick, the Simulacrum is disappearing today!

Sedefkar Simulacrum female and male torsos

Sedefkar Simulacrum female and male torsos, by Delphes Desvoivres

Meanwhile, the train goes on. We are really happy to read that backer copies of the campaign have now reached most of you across the world, and folks really seem to be appreciating the amazing (and award nominated!) production values that Chaosium brought to the project. We know it was a long wait, but we hope that you believe that it was worth it.

There have been some changes at Chaosium over the last month, so we’d like to take this moment to acknowledge our friend Charlie Krank for inviting us to revisit the train. Without him, we never would have had the chance to do this all over again, and in such style.

May all your journeys be safe ones!

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by | December 3, 2014 · 9:09 pm

The Last Post

Horror on the Orient Express is at last pulling into its final destination. The first copies have arrived in backers’ houses generally with a resounding ker-thump, and a twinge of sore backs. You are warned, folks, the Thing on the Doorstep is actually a brick.

It was a two year journey, and far longer and stranger than any of us planned. To stretch the analogy, possibly to breaking point, we have dug the train out of snow-drifts, left friends stranded at out of the way stations, and scattered a trail of lost toothbrushes, odd socks and broken suitcases in far and foreign lands. However all these travails are forgotten as at last we hold the Brick  in our hands (and always remember, folks,  when picking it up keep your back straight and bend at the knees).

Stack of books - from Games from the Front blog

Stack of books – from Games from the Front blog

We already have a photo blog of the formal Unwrapping of the Campaign Box by Ty Snouffer from the Games from the Front blog, and a nice review on The Escapist by Adam Gauntlett (“Where the reprint expands on the original scenarios, it’s almost always for the better.”)

The short story collection Madness on the Orient Express, overseen by the all-seeing editorial eye of James Lowder, will be out by the end of the year. The PDF is already available. Two of the original Horror on the Orient Express crew, myself and the erudite Geoff Gillan, have stories included in the anthology, along with a host of luminaries. It has an evocative cover, perfectly capturing that moment when one must confront the tentacled monstrosities that have taken over the dining car.

Cover art for Madness on the Orient Express

Cover art – Madness on the Orient Express

Like the people on the train above, this is our stop. But as our Kickstarted journey is ending, someone else’s is beginning: Bret Kramer of the splendid WordPress blog Tomes in Progress is crowdfunding the Third Issue of The Arkham Gazette, a magazine all about Lovecraft Country. If your investigators refuse to set foot on the Continent again after Orient Express, Bret will give them plenty of things to fear back home in the Americas.

Don’t be a stranger on the train. You’ll find Mark over at Campaign Coins. He also has his personal Twitter feed, more to do with our writing projects. If you want to haunt us, start there.

One more round of thanks before we go, first and foremost to the much lamented, redoubtable Lynn Willis, the original editor and visionary.  To Charlie Krank and Meghan McLean and Nick Nacario and Mike Mason and everyone at Chaosium who kept the dream alive, and took the reprint to heights we would never have dared dream. All the other writers, those who came back, those who joined us, and those who wished us well: Bernard, Carl, Christian, Darren, David, Geoff, Hans-Christian, Marion, Matthew, Michael, Mike, Nick, Oscar, Paul, Paul, Phil, Richard & Russell.

Most of all, we thank all you lovely Kickstarter backers, who kept faith in this ambitious project. Georges Nagelmackers could not have dug the Simplon Tunnel without help from his backers and without you this mighty tome would be but an unsavory gleam in a cephalopod eye. Together we have arrived at our destination, and now, alas, we part. This is our last stop on the journey of this blog. Our last post. Our last words, our last hurrah, and our last point of Sanity.

Good bye all, and thank you. It has been one hell of a ride.

 

Georges Nagelmackers and his train

Georges Nagelmackers, and his train, depart

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