I. A Small and Fragile Thing

Wherein the Investigators are contacted regarding a delicate matter.

The Investigators have been contacted by Dr. Franklin Braziel, resident of the small Northern California coastal town of Wile’s Break. Over the phone, Dr. Braziel requests a meeting with the Investigators at a place of their choosing, saying only that it is a matter that only people of the character’s caliber can handle. At the meeting, Dr. Braziel informs the group that he is friends with, and doctor to, the Jacobson family. Over the past few weeks, Maggie Jacobson’s daughter, Sarah, has been struck with a fatiguing illness that no professional can pin down. The girl, once bright and lively, has become listless and gray. Barely able or even willing to eat, the only object that seems to give Sarah any sort of life is a coloring book that she stole from her day care center.

Maggie claims that Sarah’s health began to suffer a few weeks after attending the day care center, and she suspects that the coloring book may be the source of her daughter’s suffering. Unfortunately, she has no proof to back up her claim, and this has only served to exacerbate her frustration.

Dr. Braziel is deeply worried. He’s consulted many of the best doctors in the state, and no one has been able to come up with a diagnosis to what has been troubling Sarah. Moreover, Maggie is close to hysteria, seeing her child slowly whither away before her eyes. At this point, Dr. Braziel willing to try almost anything, and wishes the Investigators to check out the day care center, and it’s owner, Mrs. Janice Bentley. If they agree, he stresses that they must use discretion; Wile’s Break is a small, tightly-knit community, and Mrs. Bentley’s supporters are numerous.

II. Of Colors and Water

Wherein the background of Mrs. Bentley is revealed.

In Wile’s Break, Mrs. Janice Bentley has run the day-care center “Catching the Rainbow” for four years. The kids under her care range from one to seven years in age, and her class typically ranges from eight to 12 children. Mrs. Bentley is highly popular with the community, having a reputation for being incredibly kind and loving towards the children at her center; parents also note more disciplined behavior from their kids, as well as an increased scholastic aptitude after only a few weeks of attendance.

Alas, all is not as it seems in Mrs. Bentley’s center.

Janice is an avid worshiper of Great Cthulhu, her family having been part of a cult in nearby Half Moon Bay that was in league with a small colony of Deep Ones living off the coast. Her “husband” was a Deep One himself, and after their mating Mrs. Bentley gave birth to a son, Peter. Janice and her family were driven out by the community (the cult’s members, including Janice’s parents, were blamed for the disappearances of local children, later found mutilated), and they moved 150 miles north to Wile’s Break, where they could continue their degenerate practices in quiet. Mrs. Bentley’s hybrid son favored his father, however, and they took to the sea when he was still a teenager. As far as the town is aware, Mrs. Bentley is a widower since her husband and son died in a car accident several years ago.

Each year at Catching the Rainbow, about a month or so after the start of a new class, she gives coloring books to the children. Each child gets a copy of the book, Color As You Like. To the untrained eye, these books, made my Mrs. Bentley herself, appear perfectly benign, with black and white line drawings of bunnies, bright suns peaking through billowy clouds, race cars, dogs, cats, other children playing, and so on. But hidden within these pages are sigils and signs that, when unknowingly traced or colored in by a child, draw one magic point from the young artist into the book.

Mrs. Bentley installed a safeguard in the books so that only one magic point a week can be extracted from a child. Even so, Mrs. Bentley takes great care to monitor each student who uses a coloring book. When she first introduced copies to her kids she found the book a bit too powerful, and several of her students feel seriously ill at virtually the same time. No cause was pinned down by local doctors, who later attributed the sicknesses to some weird strain of the flu, but Mrs. Bentley learned caution.

At the end of each day, Mrs. Bentley collects the books from her students, and draws the magic points stored in the coloring books into herself. With these magic points, Mrs. Bentley plans on opening a gate to R’lyeh and awakening Great Cthulhu himself. This will take a phenomenal amount of power to achieve. But that’s okay. Mrs. Bentley is a patient woman.

And she has plenty of children to care for.

III. A Deadly Draining

Wherein details of the investigation are exposed.

Maggie Jacobson’s daughter Sarah has been attending Mrs. Bentley’s class for a little over two months. At first she did exceedingly well. Sarah has a keen desire for art, and when she was introduced to Mrs. Bentley’s coloring books she fell in love with them. So much so that she stole a extra book from class. That was six weeks ago.

Unfortunately for Mrs. Bentley’s plans, and for Sarah, children of an especially artistic and sensitive bent find themselves more adversely affected by the Colouring Book. In Sarah’s case, the stolen Colouring Book extracts three or more magic points per day. The child’s dreams have become more and more vivid, with an addictive quality. Subconsciously, Sarah understands that if she continues to use the coloring book, her soothing, quiet visions of seascapes and undersea life will never cease.

Since then, Sarah has been spending more and more time every night, drawing and coloring away, brow furrowed with concentration. And little by little, Sarah’s life force has been slipping away. Indeed, she has now deteriorated to the point where she cannot attend class anymore.

Maggie has had her daughter examined by some of the best doctors in the county, but no one has been able to deduce what is wrong with the child. Maggie has no money for expensive hospitals and is nearing her wit’s end.

Noting Sarah’s obsession with the coloring book, she examined it two nights ago. She found nothing physically unusual about the book, but felt an odd, queasy, pulling sensation when looking through the pages. Having no one else to turn to, she confided in Dr. Braziel, who in turn contacted the Investigators.

Questioning the Jacobsons

Maggie is a desperate mother, willing to do most anything to save the life of her daughter. She has done everything in her power to find a sane, explainable source to Sarah’s illness. Only because all of her other avenues have been exhausted has she has agreed to Dr. Braziel’s suggestion to bring in the Investigators.

Mrs. Jacobson works in town as a curator for one of the local art galleries, and is a part-time painting instructor; some of her own works are on display at the gallery, and she’s working on getting some of her pieces accepted at larger galleries in San Francisco.

If asked about her husband, she says his name was Benjamin and he died in a fishing accident three years ago.

Sarah herself was once a precocious, spritely child of six, but now appears listless and shrunken, a candle nearly snuffed out. She responds if spoken to or addressed directly but is otherwise quiet. Her skin feels clammy and emits a stale, musty odor. Her temperature is a constant 100 degrees, yet she cannot stand to wear anything less than several layers of blankets and clothes. She has been losing weight steadily.

Sarah does not spend all her time reading or coloring *Color As You Like,* but it is within per presence at all times. Investigators who attempt to take the book from her will be faced with an extremely upset child whose screaming and wailing will only be abated by the book being returned to her. The only time the Investigators can risk examining the Colouring Book without facing the wrath of Sarah is when she is asleep.

Trouble in Town

Probing the matter should be simple enough, but the Investigators are likely to run into several problems along the way.

Wile’s Break is a small town, where everyone knows everybody else. Slinging wild accusations towards Mrs. Bentley, who is held in high regard in the community, won’t go over well.

Actual physical evidence is scant at best. The Colouring Books themselves appear quite innocent at first. Investigators of an artistic or sensitive nature who examine the book experience the same slight feeling of vertigo that affected Mrs. Jacobson. (See the notes under “New Mythos Tome” for ways an Investigator can be affected by the book and may be able to decipher its inner workings.) On a roll of POW x3 or less, the sound of rushing water accompanies the out-of-balance sensation.

Some of the children in Mrs. Bentley’s care come from influential families where one of the parents is a policeman, shop owner, or councilperson. Families pay good money for the care and services Mrs. Bentley’s school provides. The Investigators meet powerful resistance from folks who are very protective of their kids—kids who are enamored with Mrs. Bentley.

Police officer Evan Ross pulls over the Investigators as they drive through Wile’s Break, citing them with a bogus traffic charge (running a stop sign, expired/obscured license plates, failing to stop for a pedestrian, etc.). Any resistance results in the driver arrested and tossed in jail. (“I’m sorry you feel that way, sir, but we take our public safety very seriously in this town. I’m not sure what you big-city types are used to, but we can further discuss this at the station.”)

The owner of the hotel suddenly evicts the Investigators from their room, citing an emergency fumigation. (“My apologies, sir. Rats again. Don’t wanna lose my license and have the place shut down, y’know?”) Attempts at booking rooms at other hotels will fail, with hotel managers all claiming that there are no vacancies.

Car mechanic Hubert Wright, at an opportune moment, attempts to sabotage an Investigator’s vehicle in some way, either to disable it completely (draining the engine oil or removing the distributor cap), or to give Officer Ross an excuse to pull the car over later (such as faulty tail/headlights or wheel alignment that causes difficult steering).

At a restaurant, Tom’s Box Car Diner, at least one Investigator suffers food poisoning at the hands of the manager, Tom Tobolowski, unless he or she succeeds on a roll of CON x3. (“Goodness, is friend okay? Must be bad meat. Try fish instead, is local. I get towel.”) Failing the roll results in headaches and vomiting for 12 hours. If an Investigator is examined, a doctor (Dr. Braziel would be a good option here) can confirm the illness as being caused by rat poison.

The owner of the Wile’s Break Journal, Melvin O’Brien, assigns one of his reporters (Eddie Lawter) to conspicuously follow the Investigators, asking irritating questions about their personal lives and what they’re doing in town. He shows up at inopportune times, such as during a meal or an interview. Over the next few days, any Investigator reading the Journal finds front page articles detailing the Investigator’s actions, complete with photographs. They show where they’re staying, who they’ve interviewed, and perhaps most troublingly, who hired them.

Questioning Mrs. Bentley

If the Investigators decide to question Mrs. Bentley, they find her amenable and forthcoming. Yes, she has noticed Sarah’s decline in health. No, she can’t attribute it to anything going on in her classroom or school. Sure, there was a recent cold outbreak last month that affected the students and one of her two assistant teachers, but it seems to have run its course. Yes, she has noticed that one of her books has been missing; Mrs. Bentley supposes it was lost or else taken by mistake by the janitor. She loses track of at least one or two books a year. It comes to no surprise to her that yet another one has walked off on its own.

Mrs. Bentley comes across as a very pleasant, intelligent woman in her early 40s. She of course scoffs at the idea that she would want to cause harm to her kids; she loves them all very much, and besides, that would be a tad bad for business, now wouldn’t it? She has no problem allowing the Investigators to search her classroom or talk to the other children who attend the center. If Investigators request it, she allows them to view her accounting books. They contain nothing suspicious.

If accused of wrongdoing, Mrs. Bentley for her defense relies on her reputation among the community and her obvious love of the children. She has found those much more effective than nasty spells or groups of thugs. If townsfolk feel that the Investigators are harassing Mrs. Bentley, they may interfere. If played correctly, this can be tougher for Investigators to crack through than an army of nightgaunts. See “Trouble in Town.”

Only if she suspects that the Investigators are getting too close to the truth — they aren’t being dissuaded by the hostile town, and they’re on the verge of either convincing the public of the truth or attacking her physically — does Janice use spells or summon Deep Ones to distract them while she escapes. Mrs. Bentley would not be above casting Implant Fear at an Investigator driving a vehicle to cause a crash, or using Raise Night Fog to engulf Wile’s Break in mists to cover her tracks while she escapes town.

Mrs. Bentley stores her stolen magic points in an idol of Cthulhu that has been carved out of a piece of coral, given to her by her husband before he took permanently to the sea. The idol is kept in Janice’s house at the bottom of a large saltwater fish tank in her living room, partially wrapped in seaweed. If her house is ever searched by the Investigators, no fish food is found; the idol keeps the fish and seaweed in the tank alive magically.

IV. Keeper Information

Characters, spells and tomes

Mrs. Janice Bentley, age 43

Day-Care Teacher and Worshipper of Cthulhu

STR  8     CON 12     SIZ   7     INT  16     POW  15
DEX  10     APP  12     EDU  17     SAN 0     HP  09

Damage Bonus:  –1D4

Attacks: None

Skills: Art (Drawing) 55%, Astronomy 23%, Credit Rating 75%, Cthulhu Mythos 17%, First Aid 55%, Library Use 56%, Listen 65%, Persuade 80%, Psychology 47%, Read Children’s Books Aloud 78%, Spot Hidden 52%, Swim 63%, Wipe Dirty Faces 66%.

Spells: Contact Cthulhu, Cloud Memory, Contact Deep One, Create Gate, Implant Fear, Raise Night Fog, Siphon Children’s Laughter.

New Spell

SIPHON CHILD’S LAUGHTER: This spell comes in two parts: creating the medium (in this case, a colouring book) inscribed with sigils to extract the children’s life force, or magic points; and drawing the magic points from the material afterward.

Creating the material medium the caster to be within eyesight of the sea during an overcast night. The medium may be made from any material, but the sigils must be a be created from a mix of squid ink, the blood of a sea-faring mammal, crushed Deep One scales, and other such outre ingredients.

Creating the medium — the book — costs 1/1D6 SAN. Once the book is created, the spell does not need to be “cast” as other spells usually are. Instead, the “target” (in this case, the child or other person coloring the book) must trace or color in the book for at least 30 minutes. At that time, the child using the book must roll CON x 2 or lose one magic point to the Coloring Book. No more than one magic point in a week can be lost by a person in this way, due to the restrictions Mrs. Bentley has imposed on her copies of *Color As You Like.*

To extract the magic points, the caster merely recites a series of verbal incantations in the language of the Deep Ones. Each chant lasts about five minutes per coloring book.

New Mythos Tome

Color As You Like. English. SAN loss 0/1D3; Cthulhu Mythos +2 percentiles; average 1 hour to study and comprehend (but see below). Spell: Siphon Child’s Laughter.

Color As You Like is a 48-page, 8.5″ x 11″ coloring book for children one to seven years old, made with a full-color cover and filled with black line drawings. It is printed in local pressings of about 30 copies a year. The cover depicts a simply-drawn beach scene, looking out into the ocean. Fish, turtles, and sea birds are scattered about, and two dolphins leap out of the water. A rainbow arches over the top portion of the cover, containing the title of the book. Inside are outlines of various animals engaging in all sorts of activities; bear cubs playing baseball, whales bouncing rubber balls in the sea, dogs cooking in the kitchen, starfish making sandcastles, and so on. More than half of the pictures deal with scenes in or near the ocean. No other kind of location gets this much attention.

“Sam the Snake loves to play with the frogs that come from the sea! Sam loves all animals that live in the water!” — Color As You Like, by Janice Bentley

If a copy of the coloring book is examined closely, and the Investigator’s player makes a successful Spot Hidden rollor Occult roll, sigil-like runes will be found within the line work of the figures and animals of the book. If viewed for more than a minute or so by an adult (children are immune to this effect due to Mrs. Bentley’s careful crafting of the spell), the artwork appears to the Investigator to drop and fall within the pages of the book itself. The reader’s chest begins to feel weighted, as if from external pressure slowly but surely increasing its force on all sides. This sensation lasts for only a second or two but costs the Investigator 0/1 SAN. The next time the Investigator sleeps, he or she experiences dreams and visions of swimming through cool, deep water, surrounded by humanoid figures with elongated arms, scaled and finned skin, and large, bulbous, unblinking eyes. In the distance, an enormous, faintly-glowing city can be seen, composed of vast spires of corral and massive stone work.

What happens if an Investigator is foolish enough to begin coloring one of the books depends on the individual:

1) An Investigator who is not particularly artistically inclined and has no knowledge of the Mythos experiences a slight headache and loses 1 magic point. Lost MP recover normally.

2) An Investigator who has an artistic bent and/or is sensitive to dreams (more than 25% in any Art skill, or any points in the Dreaming skill) might become addicted to the coloring book. For every page colored after the first, have the player make a POW x 5% roll. Failure indicates the Investigator refuses to part with the coloring book and feels compelled to color in another page. The next day, the Investigator may attempt to discard the coloring book, but rolls at POW x 4%. Thereafter, the chance to break the compulsion decreases by x1 per day to a minimum of POW x 1%. Each night, dreams of Deep Ones haunt the Investigator, becoming more lengthy, detailed, and alluring.

3) An Investigator who is an accomplished artist (more than 50% in any Art skill) and has points in the Cthulhu Mythos skill is affected similarly, but the POW rolls start at x4. Each time that Investigator fails a POW roll, he or she also loses 0/1D2 SAN. However, after the first failed Sanity roll, the Investigator understands the inner workings of the coloring book and the nature of its effects on those who use it.

© 2013, Badger McInnes

The 39th Annual Origins Awards will be announced at the Origins Game Fair on June 15, 2013.

Achtung! Cthulhu: The Power of the Gods is a 128-page supplement for Achtung! Cthulhu. The first half, written by Godlike co-creator Greg Stolze, adapts the Talent powers of Godlike to the Call of Cthulhu rules, where deteriorating Sanity plays havoc with superpowers that are driven by the human mind.

The second half, written by veteran Godlike author Allan Goodall, presents a complete Achthung! Cthulhu adventure featuring Godlike’s Talents, with stats for both Call of Cthulhu and Savage Worlds. (Savage Worlds players will need the Savage Worlds Super Powers Companion.) Arc Dream’s Shane Ivey will oversee development and Modiphius will illustrate, design and publish the book.

Achtung! Cthulhu: The Power of the Gods was funded as a stretch goal for the fundraiser for the Acthung! Cthulhu! Keeper’s Guide and Investigator’s Guide. It blew past that stretch goal after only a day and the project is now on Arc Dream’s docket!

You can reserve it now as part of the PDF Master Bonus Level for £35 (about $54), which includes a vast amount of Achtung! Cthulhu resources. Or you can reserve it in print as an add-on for  £15 + shipping. The fundraiser ends April 2, 2013. Move fast.

The Unspeakable Oath 22 cover by Matt Hansen

Arc Dream Publishing is proud to present The Unspeakable Oath, a more-or-less quarterly digest of tools, scenarios, and reviews to make your Cthulhu Mythos games more terrifying than ever.

The Unspeakable Oath 22 includes:

“The Dread Page of Azathoth,” an editor’s column. Guest columnist Kenneth Hite pays tribute to Lynn Willis.

“The Saffron Book,” a Mysterious Manuscript by Bobby Derie.

“Malyutin’s Nightmare Matryoshkas,” an Arcane Artifact by Daniel R. Robichaud.

“China Dolls: Children of Madam Yi,” a new monster by Jo Kreil.

“Die High,” a scenario for Call of Cthulhu, Trail of Cthulhu, or Cthulhu Dark, by Greg Stolze.

“The Found Phone,” a Tale of Terror by Greg Stolze.

“St. Michael’s Gate,” a Tale of Terror by Adam Gauntlett.

“Starting Your Call of Cthulhu Campaign,” a feature by Daniel Harms.

“Bargain Hunting,” a Tale of Terror by Adam Gauntlett.

“Atlas of Arkham 1911,” a Mysterious Manuscript by Bobby Derie.

“Remember, Remember,” a Trail of Cthulhu scenario by Adam Gauntlett.

“Smedley House,” a Tale of Terror by Ben Riggs.

“Alphonse’s Axioms for Agents,” a Directive from A-Cell by Adam Scott Glancy.

“The Thing In the Box,” a Message in a Bottle by Ross Payton.

The Eye of Light and Darkness, with reviews of:

• Blood! The Roleplaying Game of Modern Horror, a game by James “Grim” Desborough, et al, reviewed by Matthew Pook.
• The Book of the Smoke, a Trail of Cthulhu sourcebook by Paula Dempsey, reviewed by Chase Beck.
• Building an Elder God: A Game of Lovecraftian Construction,a game by Ben Mund, reviewed by Matthew Pook.
• Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land, a video game by Tomas Rawlins, reviewed by Matthew Pook.
• The Dance in the Blood, a Trail of Cthulhu scenario by Graham Walmsley, reviewed by Matthew Pook.
• Live at the Gilman House, an album by Ogham Waite and the Amphibian Jazz Band, reviewed by Brian Sammons.
• Pickman’s Muse, a film directed by Robert Cappalletto, reviewed by Brian Sammons.
• Tatters of the King, a Call of Cthulhu campaign by Tim Wiseman, reviewed by Matthew Pook.
• The Whisperer in Darkness, a film directed by Sean Branney, reviewed by Brian Sammons.

The Unspeakable Oath 22 is illustrated by Vicente Silvera Catalá, Matt Hansen, Robert Mansperger Jr., and Bradley McDevitt. Cover art is by Matt Hansen. It is edited by Shane Ivey with Adam Crossingham, Dan Harms, Greg Stolze and John Scott Tynes.

The Unspeakable Oath 22 is sponsored by Atlas Games,Miskatonic River Press, NecronomiCon Providence 2013,Innsmouth Free Press, Chaosium Inc., the Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia, and Pagan Publishing. If you like the Oath, thank them and buy their work!

Event registration begins on May 19, 2013. Arc Dream’s events sell out fast, so be sure to register as soon as they let you.

Read more about event registration here.

Here are the events that we have planned. Times and dates are still tentative. The final schedule will be posted in early May.

Seminars

One Roll to Rule Them All: Arc Dream Publishing and the One Roll Engine

Game System: Seminar
Time: 8/16/2013 11:00:00
Event Code: SEM1344117
Host: Shane Ivey

The One Roll Engine has powered Godlike, Better Angels, Reign, Drachenritter, Monsters & Other Childish Things, and more. Talk to the developers about the game system and what’s coming next. Panelists: Dennis Detwiller, Shane Ivey, James Knevitt, Greg Stolze.

Delta Green: The Roleplaying Game

Game System: Seminar
Time: 8/17/2013 19:00:00
Event Code: SEM1344144
Host: Shane Ivey

The legendary modern-day Call of Cthulhu setting DELTA GREEN is getting its own RPG. Come ask the designers about the new game and their approach to Cthulhu Mythos gaming. Panelists: Dennis Detwiller, Adam Scott Glancy, Kenneth Hite, Shane Ivey, Greg Stolze.

Games

The Enemy of My Enemy Is My … What the Heck Is That?!?

Game System: Godlike
Time: 8/15/2013 8:00:00
Event Code: RPG1342422
Host: Keith Klee

The Allies want to end war diplomatically. The Germans, desperate to win, want to release an otherworldly creature to change the course of the war. It’s Godlike meets Cthulhu.

Dr. Nova’s Going Away Party

Game System: A Dirty World
Time: 8/15/2013 9:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344091
Host: Ross Payton

In the far future, a ticket on a ship out of the solar system is a ticket to glory. What will you do to get yours? Audio may be recorded for a podcast.

Colonial Marines – Operation Flytrap

Game System: Wild Talents
Time: 8/15/2013 9:00:00
Event Code: RPG1343088
Host: Josh Chewning

Priority Orders Received: Recover Dr. C Morrow, alive. Current Location: Weyland-Yutani “Avery Island” Research Facility (LV-232). Expect heavy resistance and bioweapon threats. Good Hunting, Marines.

Fox Hunt

Game System: Godlike
Time: 8/15/2013 14:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344092
Host: Kevin Pezzano

The Allies are landing on the beaches of Normandy, but you won’t be there. Instead, your Talent commando team is going behind the lines. Your mission: Capture Erwin Rommel.

To You I Give the Sky

Game System: Drachenritter
Time: 8/15/2013 14:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344093
Host: James Knevitt

The empire stands on the brink of collapse. Its ancient enemies gather. Tyrants make only war and the grandeur of the past is forgotten. Bloody-minded wizards have overthrown the old strictures and developed a taste for horror. Will your dragon-riding knights be the last lights of honor — or stormcrows to herald the new dark age? Audio may be recorded for a podcast.

The Best of All Possible Evils

Game System: Better Angels
Time: 8/15/2013 14:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344094
Host: Greg Stolze

Thanks to a demon, you have superpowers. Can you be supervillainous enough to keep the demon happy without losing your soul forever? Audio may be recorded for a podcast.

The Hunger

Game System: Call of Cthulhu
Time: 8/15/2013 19:00:00
Event Code: RPG1342205
Host: Jason Fritz

Four students at the UIC campus were found dead in their dorm, all partially eaten. A fifth student is unaccounted for. O Cell gets the call, ready for another night at the opera?

Delta Green: Convergence

Game System: Call of Cthulhu
Time: 8/15/2013 19:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344095
Host: Christopher Spivey

A group of DG agents investigate a young man that seems to have near superhuman strength. As a rash of strange lights are spotted in skies of a southern town.

Rebirth

Game System: Reign
Time: 8/15/2013 19:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344098
Host: Mike Wallace

Society has crumbled due to the undead uprising. You need to survive, help your community grow, or take personal advantage of the situation. How you advance those agendas affect all those around you.

Delta Green: The Live Well Institute

Game System: Call of Cthulhu
Time: 8/16/2013 10:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344103
Host: Peter Nielsen

The Live Well Institute is a private medical facility catering to the extremely wealthy. You must find an agent who conducted an unsanctioned investigation there. What is going on at the Institute?

St. Lo

Game System: Godlike
Time: 8/16/2013 10:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344109
Host: Kevin Pezzano

The invasion of Normandy threatens to stall as the Germans dig in at the village of St. Lo. Your Talents must help crack the city open — and rescue a French spy who has crucial intelligence before the Nazi supermen can destroy her.

Delta Green: Operation Eyesdown

Game System: Call of Cthulhu
Time: 8/16/2013 14:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344121
Host: Ross Payton

When an informant tips off Delta Green about a company up to no good in Picher, Oklahoma, they send out a team of friendlies to investigate. Audio may be recorded for a podcast.

To You I Give the Sky

Game System: Drachenritter
Time: 8/16/2013 14:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344122
Host: James Knevitt

The empire stands on the brink of collapse. Its ancient enemies gather. Tyrants make only war and the grandeur of the past is forgotten. Bloody-minded wizards have overthrown the old strictures and developed a taste for horror. Will your dragon-riding knights be the last lights of honor — or stormcrows to herald the new dark age? Audio may be recorded for a podcast.

The Best of All Possible Evils

Game System: Better Angels
Time: 8/16/2013 14:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344124
Host: Greg Stolze

Thanks to a demon, you have superpowers. Can you be supervillainous enough to keep the demon happy without losing your soul forever? Audio may be recorded for a podcast.

You Broke It, Now You Defend It

Game System: Drachenritter
Time: 8/16/2013 19:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344127
Host: Peter Nielsen

Your dragon-riding knights must assault and then hold a mighty fortress to protect your fledgling kingdom.

Rebirth

Game System: Reign
Time: 8/16/2013 19:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344128
Host: Mike Wallace

Society has crumbled due to the undead uprising. You need to survive, help your community grow, or take personal advantage of the situation. How you advance those agendas affect all those around you.

Night of the Pegasus

Game System: Godlike
Time: 8/16/2013 20:00:00
Event Code: RPG1343677
Host: Jason Fritz

D-Day, 0016 – You and your fellow British Talents have been attached to an airborne division to take part in Operation Tonga. Objective: the Caen Canal Bridge.

The Man With a Thousand Faces

Game System: Call of Cthulhu
Time: 8/16/2013 22:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344130
Host: Christopher Spivey

A world-famous actor turned recluse in his Hollywood estate. Your investigators are sent to see if everything’s all right. It very, very much is not. From the pages of THE UNSPEAKABLE OATH.

Delta Green: The Live Well Institute

Game System: Call of Cthulhu
Time: 8/17/2013 10:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344131
Host: Peter Nielsen

The Live Well Institute is a private medical facility catering to the extremely wealthy. You must find an agent who conducted an unsanctioned investigation there. What is going on at the Institute?

St. Lo

Game System: Godlike
Time: 8/17/2013 10:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344133
Host: Kevin Pezzano

The invasion of Normandy threatens to stall as the Germans dig in at the village of St. Lo. Your Talents must help crack the city open — and rescue a French spy who has crucial intelligence before the Nazi supermen can destroy her.

The Good, the Bad, and the Hunky

Game System: Better Angels
Time: 8/17/2013 14:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344134
Host: Christopher Spivey

Thanks to a demon, you have superpowers. Can you be supervillainous enough to keep the demon happy without losing your soul forever? Audio may be recorded for a podcast.

To You I Give the Sky

Game System: Drachenritter
Time: 8/17/2013 14:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344136
Host: James Knevitt

The empire stands on the brink of collapse. Its ancient enemies gather. Tyrants make only war and the grandeur of the past is forgotten. Bloody-minded wizards have overthrown the old strictures and developed a taste for horror. Will your dragon-riding knights be the last lights of honor — or stormcrows to herald the new dark age? Audio may be recorded for a podcast.

Delta Green: Blacksat

Game System: Delta Green
Time: 8/17/2013 14:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344140
Host: Greg Stolze

Two civilians are going into space under dubious circumstances. Can the Right Stuff overcome Things That Should Not Be? Uses the Call of Cthulhu-based rules of the new DELTA GREEN roleplaying game.

You Broke It, Now You Defend It

Game System: Drachenritter
Time: 8/17/2013 19:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344141
Host: Peter Nielsen

Assault and then hold a mighty fortress to protect your fledgling kingdom.

Rebirth

Game System: Reign
Time: 8/17/2013 19:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344142
Host: Mike Wallace

Society has crumbled due to the undead uprising, so your agenda and the decisions you make affect all those around you.

Fox Hunt

Game System: Godlike
Time: 8/18/2013 10:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344145
Host: Kevin Pezzano

The Allies are about to land on the beaches of Normandy, but you won’t be part of the biggest seaborne invasion in history. Instead, your Talent commando team is going behind the lines. Your mission: Capture Erwin Rommel.

Evil? This Is Kid’s Stuff!

Game System: Better Angels
Time: 8/18/2013 10:00:00
Event Code: RPG1344146
Host: David Karlin

De-aged villains must neutralize the sidekicks and reverse the Dual-mode Emitter of Age Gluon Energy Ray (D.E.A.G.E.R.) Gun before they can wreak their vengeance on the Sunshine Squad!

Sign up here for your GenCon user id.

Delta Green: Eyes Only features extensive chapters on the conspiracies of the Fungi from Yuggoth, the occult syndicate called the Fate, the devastating aftermath of U.S. military teleportation research in Project Rainbow, details on tradecraft issues that many Delta Green player characters face, and three nightmarish adventures dealing with the Mi-Go, the Fate, and the technology of Project Rainbow: “A Night on Owlshead Mountain,” “Holy War,” and “Artifact Zero.” Delta Green: Eyes Only is written by Dennis Detwiller, Adam Scott Glancy, and Shane Ivey.

Delta Green: Targets of Opportunity presents five all-new organizations to threaten (or perhaps aid) Delta Green investigators: Black Cod Island, an isolated and secret-choked community in the Pacific Northwest; M-EPIC, a Canadian agency dedicated to supernatural investigations; the Disciples of the Worm, a gruesome cult devoted to immortality at an awful cost; the DeMonte Clan, an inhuman family in the corrupt heart of New Orleans; and the Cult of Transcendence, a world-spanning conspiracy of conspiracies, all of them insane and shockingly dangerous.   It also includes extensive new options and tools to add depth and horror to modern-day Call of Cthulhu games. Delta Green: Targets of Opportunity is written by Warren Banks, Dennis Detwiller, Adam Scott Glancy, Kenneth Hite, Shane Ivey, and Greg Stolze.

These are not scans of the books — they were created from the original design files for top digital quality. Both PDF editions are fully bookmarked for easy reference.

Delta Green: Eyes Only and Delta Green: Targets of Opportunity were produced by Arc Dream Publishing and published by Pagan Publishing in limited hardback editions in 2007 and 2010, respectively. Eyes Only is also available in paperback in stores through major retail distributors. Pagan Publishing’s Adam Scott Glancy has said he expects to hold a Kickstarter project to fund a paperback print run of Targets of Opportunity in large enough quantities to make it available to stores worldwide.

‘Delta Green: Targets of Opportunity’ in PDF

‘Delta Green: Eyes Only’ in PDF.

‘Delta Green: Eyes Only’ in paperback.

The Unspeakable Oath 22 includes:

• Arcane artifacts, tales of terror, mysterious manuscripts and other horrors by Bobby Derie, Adam Gauntlett, Jo Kreil, Ben Riggs, Daniel Robichaud, and Greg Stolze.
• A Message in a Bottle from Ross Payton.
• A new Directive from A-Cell for Delta Green by Adam Scott Glancy.
• A feature article on launching long-term campaigns by Dan Harms.
• A Trail of Cthulhu scenario by Adam Gauntlett.
• A modern-day scenario by Greg Stolze with notes for running it in Call of Cthulhu, Trail of Cthulhu, and Cthulhu Dark.
• Reviews by Chase Beck, Matthew Pook, and Brian Sammons.
• The Dread Page of Azathoth by Shane Ivey.
• Illustrations by Vicente Catalá, Matthew Hansen, Rob Mansperger, and Bradley McDevitt.
• A cover painting by Matthew Hansen.
• Page design by Jessica Hopkins.
• Editing by Shane Ivey, Dan Harms, Greg Stolze, and John Scott Tynes.

The Unspeakable Oath 22 cover by Matt Hansen

Take The Unspeakable Oath 22 in January 2013.

Call for Submissions

The Unspeakable Oath wants your best and most terrifying ideas for any and every Cthulhu Mythos roleplaying game. Scenarios, feature articles, short features, microfiction, reviews — if your idea is great, we want to publish it.

Read our detailed submission guidelines online, and contact shane.ivey@gmail.com if you have any questions.

An infinity of terrors looms all around us. Send yours to the Oath.

Arc Dream Publishing is a Premier Event Group at GenCon, and in recent years we’ve had the luxury of having all our events in the same dedicated space. We want to make an even bigger splash in 2013.

To sign up, please email shane.ivey@gmail.com.

GM screens are optional.

What You Get

As a registered Arc Dream GM you’ll get “store credit” at the Arc Dream Publishing booth in the exhibit hall. That means free stuff! For each event ticket that you collect from a player in your game and turn in at the booth, we’ll give you $5 in credit. So if you run two games for six players each and turn in all 12 tickets, that’s worth $60 in Arc Dream games and books! (“Store credit” must be used at the booth at GenCon 2013.)

If you run at least three games, you’ll also get a free GenCon badge.

Requirements

Check In: You must check in at the Arc Dream Publishing booth at the exhibit hall. We’ll give you some promotional supplies to hand out to the players at your event, such as coupons they can redeem at the booth or at our online store.

Collect Tickets: You must collect event tickets at the game and turn them in at the Arc Dream Publishing booth in the exhibit hall. This is important! To maintain our Premier Event Group standing we need to turn in all tickets from our events.

Priority Deadline: February 8

The deadline for early submissions — those get priority placement, so they are a big deal for us — is February 8th. That means you need to sign up and work out all the details with us at least a couple of days before then, so we can make sure everything is correct in GenCon’s system.

Final Deadline: March 15

The final deadline for event submissions is March 15. We’ll still welcome events by then, but it will be even better if you send them ahead of the February 8 deadline.

What to Run

We need GMs for any and all of our games and settings. The first few, in bold, are the highest priority for us because they tie into newer products.

A few of those are so new that they’re not yet available to the public, or they’re set to debut just before GenCon. In those cases we will make materials available to you ahead of time.

In most cases you can run a scenario of your own or something we’ve already published, whichever you like. (Exception: For The Unspeakable Oath we’re keen to have players run adventures that appeared in the magazine.)

• Delta Green (Call of Cthulhu)
• Better Angels
• Drachenritter
• Godlike (especially Bloody Omaha and The Courtyard of Hell)
• Call of Cthulhu scenarios from The Unspeakable Oath
• Trail of Cthulhu scenarios from The Unspeakable Oath
• A Dirty World
• Monsters and Other Childish Things
• Reign
• eCollapse (Wild Talents)
• Grim War (Wild Talents)
• Progenitor (Wild Talents)
• This Favored Land (Wild Talents)
• The Kerberos Club (Wild Talents, Savage Worlds, or FATE)
• The World Gone Mad (Wild Talents)
• Nemesis

Sign Up Now

To sign up, please email shane.ivey@gmail.com ASAP.

Please send us this information:

• Game system.
• Scenario title.
• Your email address as listed in the GenCon events system.
• A brief summary for the website (3-4 sentences).
• An even briefer sumary for the program book (1 sentence).
• Which days and times you are available to run the scenario.

If you prefer to register the event in GenCon’s system yourself, that’s fine too! Just send us the event title and number by the deadline and we can get GenCon to count it as an official Arc Dream event.

Thank you!

Spoiler alert for “Die High,” a scenario appearing in The Unspeakable Oath 22! Seriously, for about a minute starting at 00:51:00 we give the whole thing away.

Unspeakable! episode 7 is hosted by Ross Payton of Role Playing Public Radio and Zombies of the World, Shane Ivey of Arc Dream Publishing and The Unspeakable Oath, and Adam Scott Glancy of Pagan Publishing.

Our guest today is John Scott Tynes, who produces games and helps run the Imagine Cup competition for Microsoft — and who founded The Unspeakable Oath and Pagan Publishing and created Delta Green. His book Delta Green: Strange Authorities is now available from Arc Dream Publishing and he is developing his seminal RPG Puppetland for a new edition.

Subscribe to the Unspeakable! podcast feed at http://theunspeakableoath.com/home/?feed=podcast

Or subscribe at iTunes.

And please remember to rate us!

Show Notes

00:00:00 INTRO.

00:00:23 WELCOME. Here is the sound of our voices. About John H. Crowe III’s living conditions as Scott’s roommate at Pagan House. Ross’ announcer voice: time to commit? Jonathan Turner needs to step it up.

00:03:30 SPONSORS (AND ANECDOTES ABOUT THEM).

• Atlas Games with Cthulhu 500 and the Ars Magica videogame.
• The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Los Angeles (in October) and Portland, Oregon (in March, if there is one).
• Innsouth Free Press with Fungi, a fungus-themed collection of Lovecraftian horror.
• Miskatonic River Press with A Season in Carcosa, edited by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., now in ebook (thanks, Ross!) as well as print.

00:13:30 THE DOOM THAT CAME WITH SANDY. Good luck, eastern seaboard! We mourn a storied sailing ship. The Elder Sign works on shoggoths.

00:16:45 VOTE!

00:20:40 PLEASE RATE THE PODCAST AND THE MAGAZINE. It matters a lot.

00:22:10 YOU SHOULD HAVE OATH 21. If you don’t, contact shane@arcdream.com. We love the cover art and if Todd doesn’t then he’s wrong. Also: “Sukakpak,” a cross-platform scenario by Jason Morningstar. Ross has played Cthulhu Dark and the players made it not dark enough. Player vs. player vs. an uncaring, haunted universe. Also, Unaussprechlichen Klutzen, a playset for Fiasco. “Man With a Thousand Faces,” by Richard Becker, which like his past scenario “Dog Will Hunt” got expanded and polished mightily after a ton of playtesting and has gotten huge accolades. A new “Directive From A-Cell” by Scott Glancy, with a related one coming in Oath 22: Alphonse’s Axioms for Agents.

00:45:05 ALSO IN OATH 22.

• “Die High,” a modern scenario by Greg Stolze. The value of playtesting except when (or especially when?) Blair Reynolds is involved. Spoilers for “Die High” from 00:51:00 to 00:52:10.
• Adam Gauntlett’s Trail of Cthulhu scenario “Remember, Remember,” featuring Guy Fawkes Night in 1930s London, which ties nicely to Bookhounds of London.
• Dan Harms explores building a long-term Call of Cthulhu campaign.

00:56:60 NEWS.

01:30:45 QUESTIONS FROM LISTENERS.

• Will there be a reprint of Realm of Shadows? 
• Everybody loves John Scott Tynes’ “Convergence.” Listen to the original digital audio files John prepared as clues in his game. In fact, download here: The Message, before decoding and after decoding — but for maximum impact make the players use software to decode it themselves. (Spoiler alert from 01:37:30 to 01:38:20!)
• John’s dream RPG project, his lost college Yellow Sign campaign.
• Miscegenation and Lovecraftian horror.
• The staying power of Delta Green: verisimilitude, campaign frameworks, tragic heroism, honor and violence, and the worldwide allure of the American Old West.
• Rehabilitating Lovecraft’s Dreamlands. (Spoiler alert from 01:51:10 to 01:53:30 for The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.) 
• Also, “The Hound” and the competitive indie RPG it ought to be.
• Recovering horror in your game.
• The design of the D20 edition of Call of Cthulhu that Pagan Publishing produced with Monte Cook for Wizards of the Coast: Burn it all and let every Keeper start over.
• The mysterious Cowan in in Tynes Cowan Corp.
• John’s favorite parts of Delta Green that he didn’t write. How Wackenhut made Shane miss the infamous London encounter at the beginning of Countdown. We love Graeme Price so hard.

02:22:38 INTERVIEW.

Dan Davenport hosted a live online chat with Dan Harms, author of the

[19:04] <+DanHarms> I’m Dan/Daniel Harms.  Of immediate interest to RPGnet people, I’m the author of the Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia, an editor for The Unspeakable Oath and (past) Worlds of Cthulhu, and a writer of source material and scenarios for the Call of Cthulhu RPG.

[19:04] <+DanHarms> I also have written books on the Necronomicon, Pennsylvania German folk magic, and other stuff.

[19:05] <+DanHarms> You can ask me about any of that.  Plus, I’m soaking my ball python, Yig, because she’s getting ready to shed, so I might vanish for a couple minutes to wrap her in a big fluffy towel.

[19:08] <+Snake_Eyes> Hi DanHarms! I was wondering how confusing is the Cthulu mythos to the professionals? Was there anything that took a while to grok for yourself or your peers?

[19:09] <+DanHarms> Not horribly confusing, once you manage to track down the original authors and recognize what goes where.  When I wrote the book originally, that was quite difficult.

[19:09] <+DanHarms> Now, you can get most of the stories in paperback through Amazon, but many of the Bloch, Campbell, etc. books were OOP at the time.

[19:10] <+DanHarms> The only part I found tricky was that I came in form the Call of Cthulhu RPG.  By the second edition, I was starting to recognize what was original to that (e.g. Dark Young), and what was a re-interpretation or adaptation of what came before.

[19:11] <+DanHarms> After I got that, it was pretty easy sorting out the rest.  One has to be willing to read the stories as they come, and not try to drop a layer of interpretation on top of them.  Once you have that mindset, it becomes much easier. (done)

[19:10] <&Le_Squide> Ok, this might be a bit heavy to start out with, but an accusation I see leveled against a lot of Mythos-based RPG stuff and associated writings is that the idea of a coherent and/or itemized Mythos really removes a lot of the original Lovecraftian elements from Lovecraft’s own creations, and makes other stuff purloined for use in the Mythos (like the King in Yellow/Hauster/Carcosa stuff)…

[19:10] <&Le_Squide> …become sort of homogenized when they become part of the ‘greater’ body of the Mythos. I wanted to know your take on this, especially given this particular undertaking.

[19:12] <+DanHarms> LeSquide:  It really depends upon how it’s used.  On one extreme, you have Lin Carter’s stories, where every deity fits into a family tree and has its own servitor race in lengthy lists.

[19:13] <+DanHarms> On the other, you can take out a piece and do some crazy, beautiful things with it, e.g. Don Webb’s stories, or John Tynes’ work on The King in Yellow.

[19:15] <+DanHarms> I think it’s best to see the Mythos as a toolkit assembled by Lovecraft and those who came afterward.  Sure, you can say that people are misusing the toolkit, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth using.

[19:16] <+DanHarms> I’ll take the King in Yellow as an example.  Does it do Chambers justice to shoehorn the King into the Mythos?  Perhaps not.  Then again, if not for Lovecraft’s usage of Chambers in his work, we probably wouldn’t have ANYTHING creative having to do with the King in Yellow.  It’d just be some long OOP 1895 book by a romance novel author that nobody reads.

[19:16] <&Le_Squide> (Is Lin Carter where those silly elemental associations came from, BTW?)

[19:16] <+DanHarms> (Derleth)

[19:17] <+DanHarms> (done)

[19:17] <+Snake_Eyes> DanHarms, do you have a favorite Dungeons and Dragons module to run or play? And why?

[19:17] <+DanHarms> Ooh.  Tough.  It’s been a while since I ran D&D.

[19:18] <+DanHarms> My first module was Keep in the Borderlands, from the Basic set.  I’ve always had a fondness for it.

[19:19] <+DanHarms> I think I did try to run some classic modules a while ago – Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, for instance.  And I can say I’ve played every edition of D&D since Basic, at one point or another.

[19:17] <~Dan> So is the Encyclopedia an official CoC book, and if so, does it include stats?

[19:20] <+DanHarms> The Encyclopedia has always sat outside the Call of Cthulhu official canon.  It overlaps considerably, but you simply don’t want to bring in everything from the Mythos, because you end up with elementals and people getting in shouting matches with Cthulhu and superheroes.

[19:21] <+DanHarms> It did have stats in the Chaosium versions, largely because people asked and I got tired of it.  So there are stats for Mythos lore, sanity loss, use as an improvised weapon, how long it can serve as a torch, etc.

[19:21] <+DanHarms> Those aren’t in the most recent versions, as the book has parted ways with Chaosium, but past editions do have them.

[19:22] <~Dan> How far afield do you go for entries? Do you include Brian Lumley’s stuff, for example? Like Cthulhu’s sparkly happy brother?

[19:22] <+DanHarms> (Re. Chambers:  I think Lovecraft’s response on discovering The King in Yellow was to basically say, “Did you know that hack turned out something good?”  That’s hardly a direct quote, but that’s how I’ve read it.)

[19:23] <+DanHarms> Lumley went in, because it’s really hard to ignore him.  This is a guy who’s been writing for decades, turning out probably ten books’ worth of Mythos stuff.

[19:24] <+DanHarms> I’ve really tried to hit the most available, most popular stuff.  The first lesson I learned when writing the book is that, if you start judging the quality of the material that goes in and making decisions by that, you’re lost.

[19:24] <+DanHarms> I might think some of Bloch’s early stuff is horrible, for instance, but if I’m writing a book for Mythos fans, it’s not appropriate to draw a line based on personal tastes.

[19:25] <&Le_Squide> The Burrowers Beneath is a great lovecraftian story until Titus Crow shows up.

[19:24] <~Dan> So I’m guessing you didn’t try to determine what’s “canon”?

[19:25] <+DanHarms> In the later editions, I did – but in terms of webs of associations.  You start from “The Call of Cthulhu”, take the fictional elements therein, and work your way out.

[19:26] <+DanHarms> It helped to keep me honest – I had to prove that something did connect back to CoC to include it, which cuts down on the subjective factor somewhat.

[19:26] <~Dan> See, that’s the thing: some authors (like Lumley) directly contradict others, including Lovecraft himself. How do you make all the contradictions “fit”? Or do you even try?

[19:26] <+xyphoid_> Do you cover Stross’s stuff?

[19:27] <+DanHarms> Some of the early stuff of Stross.  Most recent work therein is THE JENNIFER MORGUE.

[19:28] <+DanHarms> If I can find an elegant way to handle a contradiction, I’ve addressed it.  Otherwise, I just state that “the sky is blue, the sky is destroyed by Cthulhu, opinions differ.”

[19:29] <+DanHarms> Even Lovecraft’s work contradicts itself, and most people just ignore that and move on.

[19:29] <~Dan> To what degree do you cover the Dreamlands?

[19:30] <+DanHarms> I try to work in a good amount of Dreamlands material.  I don’t go full bore into it, but it overlaps enough with the “regular” Mythos stuff that it needs to be included.

[19:30] <+DanHarms> The idea is that you can pick up the book and figure out just about any prominent Mythos reference you come across.

[19:31] <+DanHarms> I made that call after the first edition, and that’s when much of the Dreamlands material went in.

[19:32] <+DanHarms> Plus, much of the Dreamlands stuff wasn’t actually IN the land of dreams to start.  HPL decided it should be in “Dream-Quest,” and most of us just went with it.  It’s not clear that “The Doom that Came to Sarnath” is in the land of dreams, I don’t believe.

[19:33] <~Dan> To what extent do address magic in the Mythos, and do you treat it as “real” magic, weird science, or something else altogether?

[19:33] <~Dan> (do you address, rather)

[19:35] <+DanHarms> I don’t directly address it, because it’s another contradictory area.  Lovecraft does at times try to dress up magic as advanced science, but I never could really buy that.

[19:36] <+DanHarms> Stories like “The Dunwich Horror” and “Charles Dexter Ward” are really about magic in the sense of incantations and charms, no matter how much subsequent authors have tried to assert otherwise.

[19:37] <+DanHarms> On the other hand, CoC RPG goes straight for that interpretation, so you have spells that are cast with funky components and the like, with alien science on the side and not quite connected.

[19:37] <~Dan> Well, personally, I always felt like HPL treated “magic” as “the science of the way the universe really works.

[19:38] <+DanHarms> I’d go with that – but his vision of it strikes me as humanocentric nonetheless, in some ways. (done)

[19:37] <&Le_Squide> What’s your favorite Mythos game supplement, by the way (CoC or otherwise)?

[19:38] <+DanHarms> Favorite supplement?  Hmm…

[19:39] <+DanHarms> In the sourcebooks category, I really like H. P. Lovecraft’s Arkham, followed by the Cairo Guidebook.  I really liked Dunwich until I started running it.

[19:40] <+DanHarms> As for adventures – Masks, of course.  I also like Day of the Beast, because it was the first campaign I bought for the game, and there’s a lot of fun stuff in it.

[19:40] <+DanHarms> Also, Delta Green, of course.

[19:40] <~Dan> Really? What was wrong with Dunwich?

[19:40] <~Dan> (I’ve never run it, but it always seemed well-designed to me.)

[19:40] <+DanHarms> Exactly!

[19:41] <+DanHarms> That was my view as well.

[19:41] <+DanHarms> Now that I’m running it, it’s got a lot of interesting characters and neat stuff going on, and yet… it doesn’t always work together.

[19:41] <~Dan> Hmm. Interesting.

[19:42] <+DanHarms> The connections among the various parts could be stronger.  I started to run it out of the box, just to see what would happen, and the group and I had to conclude that it wasn’t working.

[19:42] <+DanHarms> Now, we’re having fun with it anyway.  Well, we were until last session when the group accidentally unleashed the Horror again.

[19:43] <+DanHarms> It could have benefited from a clue trail, I think – “X and Y lead to revelation Z, which brings you to A.”

[19:43] <+DanHarms> I’ve done that with scenarios in the past, and it can often illuminate problems before they emerge.

[19:44] <~Dan> What do you think of the overall design scheme of that one; i.e., “Here’s where everything/everybody is, and here’s a timeline of events. Go nuts.”?

[19:44] <+DanHarms> That doesn’t mean that Doc Herber wasn’t an absolutely wonderful author, by any means.  One of my great missed opportunities was to meet him at iCon in Long Island, and he passed away a few days beforehand.

[19:45] <+DanHarms> I really have a lot of respect for him and what he did, as my list of favorite supplements shows.  Dunwich, though, I can’t quite get to work. (done)

[19:46] <+DanHarms> I think that’s a structure I like, but it needs to have stronger personalities involved and more of an agenda.  I threw in a sorcerous lawyer from Boston into the mix, who’s exploiting one of the Dunwich townsfolk.  I think with some elements like that, it can work.

[19:47] <+DanHarms> In a sense, it’s a sandbox, and I’m coming to appreciate sandboxes more as I go.  This one has some elements that don’t quite come together, but a creative Keeper who’s aware of that can definitely get some good mileage out of it.

[19:50] <~Dan> So you’ve written for Delta Green?

[19:50] <+DanHarms> A little here and there.  I was responsible for the King in Yellow Tarot in COUNTDOWN, which garnered me a whole 1.5% of an Origins award.

[19:51] <+DanHarms> Mostly, I just read and play Delta Green.  Creating DG material usually means knowing more about espionage, law enforcement techniques, etc. than I can muster.  Seriously, I’m one of those people who would probably make a game with the gun options being “Revolver,” “Rifle,” etc.

[19:52] <+DanHarms> Yet I really enjoy it, and I greatly appreciate the creativity and knowledge that goes into making it.

[19:52] <~Dan> I’ve always felt that modern-day Cthulhu lacks something… That today’s world isn’t a very likely future for HPL’s 1920s-30s. Any thoughts on the subject?

[19:53] <~Dan> (This, as compared to Eldritch Skies, which has an alternate history that builds toward a sci-fi future, incorporating HLP’s stories directly.)

[19:53] <+DanHarms> In the sense that R’lyeh has yet to rise and destroy everything, yes, I can see that.

[19:53] <~Dan> Well, not just that… I mean that it seems like by now, we’d have found out enough to drive us back into the dark ages, to paraphrase HPL. We’d have discovered too much.

[19:54] <~Dan> HPL’s contemporary stories seemed like we were this close to overstepping. The Deep Ones were just offshore, for example.

[19:54] <+DanHarms> Yet I agree with Sandy Peterson – if Lovecraft were still alive today, he’d be writing stories set in the 2010s.  There’s nothing sacrosanct about the Twenties for me.  It’s often a fun era, until people start asking me if their car has a trunk that locks.

[19:54] <~Dan> Oh, that’s certainly the case.

[19:55] <+DanHarms> I can see the point, but it doesn’t particularly bother me when it comes to being creative.  I think there are some specific problems to address, e.g. the Mountains of Madness, but if you put it in the context of the inability of the human mind to correlate its contents, maybe it’s not so odd.

[19:55] <~Dan> I’m thinking mainly about taking the 20s as the background for, say, Delta Green or Cthulhu Now. As opposed to just ignoring all that and just introducing the Mythos in the modern day, if that makes sense.

[19:55] <~Dan> True.

[19:56] <+DanHarms> Humans do what they’ve done for millions of years – ignore it, downplay it, look at something shiny.  I can see a case being made for what you’re talking about, and maybe it would work better to bring in the Mythos in a modern setting, but creatively it’s never something that’s bothered me.

[19:56] * ~Dan nods

[19:55] <&Le_Squide> What’s your least favorite Mythos gaming product?

[19:56] <&Le_Squide> (I’m thinking of straight-shooting stuff here, but if something like Pokethulhu gets your goat, that’d be interesting to hear as well)

[19:56] <+DanHarms> Let me look at my shelf really quickly here.

[19:57] <~Dan> I should mention here that I’m just talking about my personal Mythos tastes. I don’t mean to suggest that Delta Green is badwrongfun.

[19:57] <+DanHarms> No, that’s cool.  And I wouldn’t tell anyone they had to keep with a Twenties Mythos if they wanted to do something different with it.

[19:57] <+DanHarms> As an author and Keeper, you have to go with your sensibilities.

[19:58] <+DanHarms> I see much more on my shelf that I like than that I don’t, so that’s a good start.

[19:58] <+DanHarms> Problem areas:  Much of the TOME stuff, the Age of Cthulhu line.  Both have their high points, but neither really has a great grasp of the rules or the setting.

[19:59] <+DanHarms> I rate Age of Cthulhu lower, because TOME came out with its books very early in the cycle and couldn’t be expected to know better.

[19:58] <+CRKrueger> The “secret occult history” of the world idea is a lot more complete and thoroughly explored now then it was when HPL was writing.  It can make the Mythos seem a little primitive compared to something like Kult/WoD etc.

[20:07] <+DanHarms> On the “secret occult history,” I’d disagree, and that’s as someone who’s enjoyed Kult, the WoD, Nephilim, etc.  Lovecraft might not have the same level of complexity as those do, but he’s got a very different feel.  Which becomes apparent when the authors of other systems start trying to pull him back into them.

[20:08] <+DanHarms> He does something that they don’t do.  That’s not to say they don’t do what they do very well, of course.  (done)

[20:07] <+Snake_Eyes> How has editing rp such as Nemesis worked with your personal projects, such as the Cyclopedia? Do you think of it as an editorial role as much as a writer’s role?

[20:09] <~Dan> Speaking of Kult, do you prefer cosmic or humanocentric horror? Or is it an apples-to-oranges question to you?

[20:10] <+DanHarms> You really have to keep the editor’s role separate from the writer’s role.  As an editor, I’m enabling someone else’s vision, and as a writer, I’m expressing mine.  I’ve learned a great deal about writing from editing, because you often get to see different ways of handling things, right or wrong.

[20:10] <+DanHarms> But getting them mixed up is a recipe for ticking off writers and other editors. (done)

[20:11] <+DanHarms> Cosmic to humanocentric – I prefer cosmic, but I can get into humanocentric.  I think the trouble comes when people don’t make a distinction between the two.  If there’s a good group of players out there, I’ll play pretty much anything.

[20:11] <+DanHarms> My longest running local group (now defunct) usually played nothing but GURPS.  Middle Earth GURPS, Japanese GURPS, superhero GURPS, etc.  I played them all, and I enjoyed them all.

[20:11] <~Dan> Yeah, I’m with you there. I always thought the comparisons between CoC and Kult were really strange.

[20:12] <~Dan> What are some of the CoC products you’ve written, Dan?

[20:13] <+DanHarms> Let’s see… much of what I’ve written hasn’t actually been published yet!  I revised Doc Herber’s excellent work in The Keeper’s Companion, for one, and I’ve had various articles published in The Unspeakable Oath and Worlds of Cthulhu.

[20:13] <+DanHarms> We did a whole series of articles set in CAS’s Averoigne, in Worlds, and I was particularly happy with it.

[20:13] <~Dan> What is Worlds of Cthulhu? I’m not familiar with that one.

[20:13] <+DanHarms> I’ve got a Ghouls book that’s with Sixtystone (no release date as of yet), and a full-length modern campaign call FURY OF YIG.

[20:14] <+DanHarms> Worlds was the English version of the German Cthulhu magazine Cthuloide Welten.  I was an editor and a writer for it, and it was great fun.  I wrote a whole piece on the cult of Tsathoggua, for instance.

[20:15] <+DanHarms> I also wrote a scenario in Miskatonic River Press’s upcoming book TALES OF THE SLEEPLESS CITY, to be released soon!

[20:15] <~Dan> So how extensive is the ghoul sourcebook you mentioned?

[20:16] <+DanHarms> All aspects of ghouldom, with the exception of some of the latest material.  Society, religion, biology, etc.  Last I heard they were starting to round up scenarios for various eras.

[20:16] <~Dan> Does it go into their connection with the Dreamlands?

[20:16] <+CRKrueger> How much gaming content is referenced in the Encyclopedia?

[20:17] <+DanHarms> Gaming content in the Encyclopedia:  It goes into a good deal of it.  After all, the game is popular, and I wanted it to be a reference for players and Keepers.  Even I use it from time to time.

[20:17] <+DanHarms> Dreamlands – yes, it’s got material on that, along with notes on how they fit in with that mystic land.

[20:18] <+DanHarms> The Dreamlands are fun.  I have run a picaresque Stormbringer game set in the Dreamlands a couple times.

[20:19] <~Dan> Now, I see you’ve written for Trail of Cthulhu?

[20:20] <+DanHarms> No, I just review it.  But I’ll add that to my list.  This is better than when I’m accused of membership in secret cults or heroin trafficking.

[20:21] <+DanHarms> I’ll cop to The Black Seal, that strange German piece (a translation from Worlds), the Unspeakable Oath, and Diggin’ up the World.

[20:21] <+Snake_Eyes> can I ask who are the people that had the most personal influence on you Dan

[20:21] <+Snake_Eyes> Harms in getting into the rpg writing scene, and did it influence you in choosing cthulu?

[20:22] <+DanHarms> Honestly, I picked up Call of Cthulhu because I thought I could use it as a D&D supplement.  No joke.  I think that Lynn Willis was really great when starting out.  My relationship soured with Chaosium later on, but he was always helpful in getting me started.

[20:22] <+DanHarms> After that, I fell into writing for Cthulhu because that’s what I knew and what I was passionate about.  Much of the game writing I just kind of found my way around on my own.

[20:23] <+Snake_Eyes> I dont find that very surprising, esp if finding lovecraft through legends and lore (deity and demigods, cant remember)

[20:23] <+DanHarms> I never felt I was important enough to be hanging out with Kevin Ross and guys like that.  Now, it’s different.  I turned down Kevin Ross’s last phone call.  To be fair, I didn’t want him paying for calling me in Paris!  No, Kevin’s a great guy, and I wish I’d talked with him and Doc and others much earlier.

[20:23] <+luc> DanHarms, You mention using it as a reference for Keepers, and I always think it’s interesting to see what writers choose to compliment their work. What reading material, reference or otherwise, do you recommend for helping Keepers along? Similarly for ‘G/DMing’ in general?

[20:24] <+DanHarms> To run Call of Cthulhu, I’d suggest picking up Lovecraft stories.  Also, Graham Walmsley wrote a great book called STEALING CTHULHU which I’ve been reading and highly recommend.

[20:25] <+DanHarms> General advice is harder – maybe ROBIN’S LAWS OF GOOD GAME MASTERING?  I’ve been running games for twenty years now, so I’m not the best person to ask.  “It’s easy!  Now, just calculate the resistance table in your head!”

[20:25] <~Dan> Speaking of Trail of Cthulhu, have you tried playing a Mythos-based game with one of the several non-BRP-based games out there?

[20:25] <~Dan> I’m thinking Cthulhupunk, Cthulhutech, Eldritch Skies, Trail of Cthulhu, Realms of Cthulhu, etc.

[20:26] <+DanHarms> No.  I really like what TRAIL does, as the overall quality of writing is high and it’s often doing something different than CoC.  When it comes to other Lovecraftian games, I don’t see the point.  I’ve got one of those, and I don’t need to memorize a new set of rules to play it.

[20:27] <+DanHarms> Now, that doesn’t mean I think Call of Cthulhu is perfect, by any means.  They originally wanted to write a 1920s simulation game with horror elements, instead of a Lovecraftian horror game.  If I found one that worked well for that, I might be tempted to try it.

[20:26] <+CRKrueger> What the best and worst recent Cthulhu fiction you’ve read?

[20:28] <+DanHarms> I haven’t read much recent Cthulhu fiction, but I’ve particularly been enjoying Don Webb’s works, especially collected in WHEN THEY CAME.

[20:28] <+DanHarms> If something is bad, I just stop.  Otherwise, it’s a waste of time.

[20:27] <+Silverlion> Have you tried Cynthia Celeste Miller’s Macabre Tales?

[20:28] <+DanHarms> Silverlion:  I’m afraid not.

[20:28] <+Silverlion> Ah well. She’s a friend, but I haven’t read it myself, just heard good things of it, which was why I asked.

[20:28] <+luc> DanHarms, Any particular literature from outside the Mythos that you’d like to see integrated? For instance, I’m a fan of Davidson’s ‘A Dictionary of Angels’ for names and the like for mythos entities.

[20:32] <+DanHarms> Literature from outside?  All sorts!  One of the great aspects of the Mythos is that you can work in all sorts of angles to make new, more terrifying situations.  My current projects are in the field of magic, so I’m out there on the cutting edge, learning things man was not meant to know.  I’m just concerned about preventing my life from becoming a

[20:32] <+DanHarms> Mythos story.

[20:32] <+luc> “Tread lightly in your dreams, they might come true tomorrow”

[20:28] <+DanHarms> My last big read of Mythos literature was for the Encyclopedia, and I’ve been reading other stuff since.  An unfortunate side effect of writing the Encyclopedia and thereby contributing to the Mythos boom is that I can’t keep up any more without substantial purchasing!

[20:28] <~Dan> Have you seen the movie version of The Whisperer in Darkness?

[20:30] <+DanHarms> Whisperer in Darkness:  Yes.  It was great for the first two acts, and kind of lost me in the third.  Nonetheless, I’d encourage people to see it.

[20:29] <+Silverlion> What story elements do you think Lovecraft horror can be best conveyed by current games?

[20:30] <+DanHarms> Silverlion:  I’m working my way to you.  Could you please rephrase?

[20:30] <+Silverlion> Are there things perhaps, that the games available “do right,” from your point of view?

[20:33] <+DanHarms> What games do right:  Even if I am critical of aspects of CoC, it sets the power level low, creates characters that work in a particular world, and has the long slide of Sanity to look forward to.  Trail brings in connections to the world around and approaches matters from a different angle.

[20:34] <+DanHarms> Cthulhu Dark – a new system by Graham Walmsley – is very bare bones and can be used to compose chilling tales.

[20:34] <+DanHarms> Other games do other things well, but of those I know, they do the best jobs of catching that flavor.

[20:35] <+DanHarms> I can give it a few more minutes.  I’m just glad nobody asked me about the new Delta Green RPG, because I would have lied outrageously.

[20:35] <+Silverlion> That would be awesome. Tell me about it?

[20:35] <~Dan> Wow… I didn’t even know there was a new one.

[20:35] <+Silverlion> I forgot about it actually.

[20:36] <+DanHarms> The new Delta Green game is in development by Arc Dream.

[20:36] <~Dan> How different will it be?

[20:36] <+CRKrueger> Are you involved in writing it?

[20:37] <+Silverlion> ..I just hope it isn’t ORE.

[20:37] <+DanHarms> It deals with the big questions:  Will your heiress bereft of her fortune choose the lusty farmhand with the heart of gold, or the mysterious stranger with the compelling eyes?

[20:37] <+DanHarms> So, quite different. 

[20:38] <+Silverlion> With “before cthulhu eats him?”

[20:38] <+DanHarms> I know little about it other than what’s been discussed at various cons.  It’s a new system modelled on BRP, it includes a few different organizations for different styles of play, and it’s set up for both fans of espionage books and newbies.

[20:38] <+CRKrueger> Last week Stolze mentioned he was working on Delta Green stuff, didn’t realize it was a new game, thought it was supplements

[20:38] <+Silverlion> Cool.

[20:38] <~Dan> Yeah, same here, darnit.

[20:38] <+DanHarms> No, it’s a new game.  Stolze, Ken Hite, Glancy, Detwiller… a bunch of people.

[20:38] <+CRKrueger> We could have put his feet to the fire if we knew

[20:38] * +luc puts some money by in preparation.

[20:39] <~Dan> Ah, well. We have more of your Arc Dream cohorts scheduled to grill about it.

[20:39] <+DanHarms> I’ve just sent them notes a few times, and encouraged them to keep it newbie friendly.  Which they very much want to do.

[20:40] <+CRKrueger> Hopefully they toss in all the good stuff from UA and Trail, yet keep it basically BRP

[20:40] <+luc> DanHarms, Don’t blame a guy for trying, what kind of ball-park ETA could we be looking at?

[20:40] <+DanHarms> You’ve got two Delta Greens, as best as I understand it – the cowboys with which we’re familiar, and a revamped version of Majestic 12.  Glancy assures us that both will screw you over thoroughly.

[20:40] <+DanHarms> No clue as to ETA.  Soon, I hope.

[20:40] <+DanHarms> I really want to see this, as I think it’ll be great.

[20:42] <+DanHarms> It should be compatible with CoC, so that shouldn’t be an issue.  I gave them a little guidance near the beginning on what Mythos elements are “public domain” and what they need permission for, but that’s about it.

[20:42] <&Le_Memnon> Huh! So MJ12 is going to be a default playable faction?

[20:43] <+DanHarms> Not quite.  If you’ve read Detwiller’s novel THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY, it gives you a better idea.  Most of the leadership of MJ-12 is gone, and it’s now been partially co-opted by a couple former DG guys.

[20:44] <+DanHarms> You’ve got backers and official clearance, but your bosses are up to Bad Stuff nonetheless.

[20:45] <+DanHarms> I think they also knocked out the Karotechia, and probably Saucerwatch.  But the Karotechia was designed as a group your group could knock out.

[20:47] <+Snake_Eyes_> how is your snake? can we get a photo of it in a towel?]

[20:47] <+CRKrueger> hey now

[20:47] <+Snake_Eyes_> actual snake he was washing before CRKrueger

[20:47] <&Le_Memnon> Not Saucerwatch!

[20:48] <+DanHarms> The snake is sulking in her little cave.  I won’t get a picture, because she’s endured enough indignities today.

[20:48] * ~Dan chuckles

[20:48] <+Snake_Eyes_> fair enough i had a good giggle at her prediciment

[20:48] <+DanHarms> It is quite funny, in its own way.  She is not amused.

[20:49] <+CRKrueger> What kind of snake is it and what’s a proper sacrifice to the avatar of Yig

[20:49] <+DanHarms> Ball python.  Three years old, three feet long.  She accepts sacrifices of rats and being left alone.

[20:49] <+Snake_Eyes_> thanks for answering all my questions, Ill def look out for your kickstarter projects.. have a great day

[20:49] <+DanHarms> You’re welcome!