Halloween and Horror RPG Sales on DriveThruRPG

Halloween and horror themed sale with many RPG titles, rules, accessories and scenarios at DriveThruRPG

http://bit.ly/DTRPGsales
(affiliate link)

Don’t forget to click on the pumpkins for treats! ;)
3 days left at time of posting.

Visit to friendly local gaming store: Weekend Warlords (UK)

I briefly visited the bricks n mortar site of Weekend Warlords today.  A well stocked store with many tabletop ranges (including, surprisingly, some RPGs) and a large tabletop game play area. Friendly staff.  Not bad for the town of Loughborough in the East Midlands.  ;)

My actual purchases were pathetically small, this was an investigation sortie and we live in frugal times. See photo.

 

I have yet to play the wonderfully simple Cthulhu Dice, but I am planning to beat a man to death with the large d20 (blue d10 added for size comparison) or just break his furniture by slam-dunk rolling the die in a game.

Links

Online Store

https://shop.weekendwarlords.co.uk

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/weekendwarlords/

https://www.facebook.com/pg/weekendwarlords/photos/

Cthulhu Mythos Sale on DriveThruRPG

Gahhh!  The tommy gun jammed.  The unpronounceable and indescribable thing was almost upon them.  If only they had foiled the cultist plot!  Bad accents and poison daggers had been nothing when compared to ... this ... hideous ... manifesting ... horror ...

Tentacles are being lopped off in the
Cthulhu Mythos Sale on DriveThruRPG

Ends: Sept 1st 2016  http://goo.gl/nCwmxb (affiliate link to sale page)

HB HPL !

It's HPLovecraft's Birthday Week again over at the DriveThru and RPGNow sites.  Some many genres and tropes facing the grim realities of Deep, Dark, Ancient and Tentacled Ones.

Lovecraft Birthday Sale on DriveThruRPG 

Reductions of scenarios and accessories for many things Cthulhu / Cthuloid.  

(affiliate link)

Sanity is for the naive! 

ENnies results 2015 (?!)

The ENnies as announced at GenCon Indy 2015 ...

One day I'm sure I'll eventually play Lamentations of the Flame Princess.  I never quite understand how Chaosium keep winning awards for rehashes when there are so many other publishers and quality games out there, I understand people voting for Paizo and WotC, but in the shops and in the online stores Chaosium are almost invisible.  Maybe my avoidance of kickstarters and love of small publishers means that I'm so far off the map and out of whatever loop that I literally have no idea what's in favour.  Aren't these the same games as last year? (I'm being rhetorical) I love the Achtung Cthullhu concept as much as the next man, new titles, I guess.  Oh well, as long as we can still buy shiny new dice I guess I'm happy.  Go Q-workshop!  (Not being sarcastic here, I genuinely love buying beautiful dice and have a nice set of steampunk Q-workshop polys)

Best electronic book? The WotC's D&D Basic? Definitely deserved being nominated as the best or important free book, maybe not winning, but as electronic texts go for looks and broswability it's far from the best over all.  In fact unless it's seriously improved and acquired illustrations, it's very far from the best.  Again, the PDF /electronic texts market has been totally sold short. 

Best accessory, a DM's screen? (Smacks head) So much for innovation.  

Oh well. 

_____

From 

http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/congratulations-to-all-the-2015-ennie-award-winners/

Best Adventure
Silver: A Red & Pleasant Land (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)
Gold: Horror on the Orient Express (Chaosium)
Best Aid/Accessory
Silver: Black Green Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition RPG Dice Set (Q-Workshop)
Gold: Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Masters Screen (Wizards of the Coast)
Best Cover Art
Silver: Achtung! Cthulhu: Terrors of the Secret War (Modiphius Entertainment Ltd)
Gold: Rise of Tiamat (Wizards of the Coast)
Best Interior Art
Silver: The Strange (Monte Cook Games, LLC)
Gold: Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast)
Best Blog
Silver: Gnome Stew
Gold: ConTessa Tabletop Gaming by Women for Everyone
Best Cartography
Silver: The Guide to Glorantha (Moon Design Publications)
Gold: Ninth World Guidebook (Monte Cook Games, LLC)
Best Electronic Book
Silver: Ken Writes About Stuff Volume 2 (Pelgrane Press)
Gold: Basic Rules for Dungeons & Dragons (Wizards of the Coast)
Best Family Game
Silver: Atomic Robo The Roleplaying Game (Evil Hat Productions)
Gold: Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set (Wizards of the Coast)
Best Free Product
Silver: 13th Age The Archmages Orrery (Pelgrane Press)
Gold: Basic Rules for Dungeons & Dragons (Wizards of the Coast)
Best Game
Silver: The Strange (Monte Cook Games, LLC)
Gold: Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook (Wizards of the Coast)
Best Miniatures Product
Silver: Pathfinder Pawns Inner Sea Pawn Box (Paizo Inc.)
Gold: Dungeons & Dragons Icons of the Realms Elemental Evil Boosters (WizKids)
Best Monster/Adversary
Silver: Achtung! Cthulhu: Terrors of the Secret War (Modiphius Entertainment Ltd)
Gold: Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast)
Best Podcast
Silver: Miskatonic University Podcast
Gold: Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff
Best Production Values
Silver: Horror on the Orient Express (Chaosium)
Gold: Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set (Wizards of the Coast)
Best RPG Related Product
Silver: Temple of Elemental Evil (WizKids)
Gold: Designers & Dragons: A History of the Roleplaying Game Industry (Evil Hat Productions)
Best Rules
Silver: MUTANT Year Zero The Roleplaying Game (Modiphius Entertainment Ltd)
Gold: Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook (Wizards of the Coast)

Best Setting
Silver: The Strange (Monte Cook Games, LLC)
Gold: A Red & Pleasant Land (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)
Best Software
Silver: HeroLab (Lone Wolf Development)
Gold: Roll20 (Roll 20)
Best Supplement
Silver: Pathfinder RPG: Pathfinder Unchained (Paizo Inc.)
Gold: Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide (Wizards of the Coast)
Best Website
Silver: Tabletop Audio
Gold: The Escapist 
Best Writing
Silver: D&D Player’s Handbook by Jeremy Crawford, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell (Wizards of the Coast)
Gold: A Red & Pleasant Land by Zak S (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)
Fan’s Choice for Best Publisher
Silver: Paizo Inc
Gold: Wizards of the Coast.
Product Of The Year
Silver: A Red & Pleasant Land (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)
Gold: Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook (Wizards of the Coast)

Zombie Week Shotguns and Credit Cards

One day and a bit left for the pre-Halloween Zombie Week sale on DriveThruRPG.
http://bit.ly/zombieweek
 
Two popular titles are… 

Savage Worlds Horror Companion
http://bit.ly/SWhorror

and

Achtung! Cthulhu: Three Kings
http://bit.ly/AchtungCth3K

Shotguns and credit cards at the ready! ;)

I promise to post something a bit more sophisticated than just links soon... right after I sort this invasion out <BLAM> <BLAM> <reload> <BLAM>  Ammo!

http://bit.ly/zombieweek

Pressies for Cthulhu

RPG PDFs Sale on DriveThru and other OBS sites in celebration of Lovecraft's Birthday

Achtung!Cthulhu and TrollsZine5

Achtung! Cthulhu 1
(Savage Worlds/
Realms of Cthulhu)
$9.99
http://bit.ly/achtungcthSW

The only good zombie is a dead NAZI zombie.  I'm not really into the whole zombie thing, but I enjoy the shear audacity of writers who mix-up bad guys in order to create the "ultimate" adversaries.  I reckon that shooting sluggish undead neighbours with a farmyard shotgun doesn't quite have the same thrill as sten-gunning Doktor Kammerstein's experimental Ungeziefer Zombies.   And that's just a very small part of Achtung! Cthulhu -Zero Point - 1: Three Kings. 

I'm not ashamed to say that just reading the title makes me grin from ear to ear.  ACHTUNG!!  The setting is tense, cinematic and perhaps intentded to be played straight (almost), but I can imagine that role-playing the PCs (pre-gens included!) and NPCs could also be enjoyed as period-parody.  I'm reminded of Castle Wolfenstein, the Colditz boardgame, the beginning of Hellboy, and the occult-curious Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark -not to mention films and comic strips depicting derring-do raids on enemy bases in World War II. 

Achtung! Cthulu 1
(Call of Cthulhu)
$9.99
http://bit.ly/achtungcthCoC

It's the sort of PDF that I wouldn't mind owning a book (printed) copy of.  Even the "printer friendly" (white background) copy is lushly presented.

I've been reading the Savage Worlds ("Realm of Cthulhu") edition, and I was going to post that it probably wouldn't be too hard to adapt to Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu mechanics, but the nice people at Modiphius have already provided a separate edition with CoC stats and rules.  For the undecided amongst you there's a special bundle including both products at a reduced price: $15 for both PDFs on DTRPG  http://bit.ly/achtungcthbundle. 

It may be worth pointing out that this product tends towards the more pulp style of play where players may encounter fearsome horrors directly and have access to wartime hardware and weaponry, but there's still enough conspiracy, back-story and a special forbidden tome to place this scenario firmly in the spirit of Lovecraftian gaming.  Pockets of horror and terror overlap with, and are contextualised by, real historical events in central Europe, meaning that material is very accessible, whilst being broad enough to allow for flexibility in campaign planning by the Referee. 'Three Kings can be played as a standalone adventure or as the first part of what may become a really fabulous series. 
 
Mein Gott in Himmel ... Shoggoths fur das Furhrer!
... and so on. ;)

FREE! on DriveThruRPG
http://bit.ly/trollszine5

A very quick word of praise for the superb free offering from the folks at the Trollbridge (endorsed by Flying Buffalo).  This new edition of TrollsZine puts some of the more expensive professional products to shame, since this 92 page PDF is utterly packed with wholesome Tunnels & Trolls goodness created by a community of writers and artists -and given to the gaming world for free.  Although many of the articles are tailored for T&T7/7.5, players of 5th edition will find that they are still in very familiar territory.  There is a move to standardize the format of this magazine, and the editors encourage new submissions, with the intention that TrollsZine will be appearing at a more rapid rate than in the past.  To be honest, with content is of such a high standard, being entertaining and applicable to most T&T players/appreciators, I'd be happy to wait between issues - even it was out only once a year.  This stuff is that good - it's Christmas in June, any more than this and we'll be feeling spoilt!
 
Okay, there's a little bias from me here because I happen to know that the Trollbridgers are a lovely talented bunch and also I'm honoured to have my very own piece of troll art featured on the editorial page (in a magazine which is hosting some real quality line-art!)

TrollsZine #5 -An entertaining resource for a very popular fast-play-friendly system.  

Did I mention that it is FREE?



Sleep well, lucky dice and all that.

Too much Mythos revelation in sci-fi games? -Eldritch Skies (Battlefield Press)

My spooky nightime reading at the moment is a perusal of the alternative history background in Eldritch Skies by Battlefield Press -

Versus...?

Eldritch Skies is roleplaying game in it's own right, projecting the Lovecraftian world of horrific monsters into our space travelling future.

I must say I'm finding it hard not to superficially compare this setting to the one in CthulhuTech - which I now know is about as existential as freshly baked muffins in Sunday School (see this post where I claim the opposite).  So far I'm finding Eldritch Skies easier to follow in terms of setting and game mechanics, maybe it just looks more like a more traditional role-playing game.

I'm loving the well thought out background regarding the humanity's unfortunate overlaps with the utterly uncaring cosmos of Cthulhu and other denizens, but there's something missing from the horror and wonder of the original stories or Chaosium games.  Many sci-fi game settings are quintessentially post-apocalyptic or cyperpunk where the human race have adapted to a new world, with modifications or gadgets, in an almost fatalistic but laissez-faire attitude to culture shock.

In CthulhuTech I feel that there's a sense of empowerment in fighting the Mi-Go and other beasties from the safety of mech suits, or charging up with Shadowrun-style occult energies.  It's all a bit of a Manga-meets-Lovecraft mash-up (and the authors admit this).  At least in 1920's Call of Cthulhu, a last resort shotgun firing randomly at shadows in the sewer has a sense of suspense.  Finding a lost forbidden text in a library can be a big deal in CoC, that alone could incapacitate a character with a chronic mental health condition.  Eldritch Skies, at least in the introduction, tries to instil awe and wonder at the human race's  contact with interdimensional horrors.  But I'm beginning to wonder, that apart from character fear in remote space colony settings, that too much of the Mythos has been revealed and mankind is (disappointingly) still relatively sane -if not richer for it by actually exploiting the energies from the dark.

How Eldritch Skies plays as a game, I'm not sure, but like many Cthulhu settings and scenarios, it's a lot of fun to read - but then I reckoned that the Keeper always had the most fun in Call of Cthulhu.  If I come to a useful conclusion on this from reading later chapters, I'll let you know. ;)

It's a cool read so far, though!  No doubt, the fear will come later ... with the knowledge ...

Eldritch Skies
John Snead, Battlefield Press

DTRPG/RPGNow $15

http://bit.ly/eldritchskies

Free Cthulhu Battlemap (Lord Zsezse Works)

Battlemap - Way to Cthulhu -
FREE from Lord Zsezse Works on DTRPG

Two of my favourite words "Cthulhu" and "floor-plan" - or in this case "Battlemap". 

It's atmospheric, spooky and free!

Battlemap - Way to Cthulhu - FREE from Lord Zsezse Works on DTRPG
$0 (46 MB Zip file - PDFs and JPGs)

Trailbrazers solo, Cthulhu Japan, Sussurus Tomb Battlemap

Age of Cthulhu 6 A Dream of Japan $8.99 DriveThru http://bit.ly/dreamofjapan	Trailblazers! T&T Solo $1.57 DriveThru http://bit.ly/TTsoloTB	Battlemap Sussurus Tomb $4.95 DriveThru http://bit.ly/SussTomb

Stuart Lloyd is changing the way we play Tunnels & Trolls solos and he is changing the way I look at T&T as a whole.  (Stuart is also reporting daily from the front lines of a gamebook renaissance and revolution, but I don't have time to go into that right now)

Rather than moping back to Edition 5 of T&T (which would be my primary instinct when writing a solo game)  Mr Lloyd takes 7.5 with all it's suggested talents, he embraces the opportunities for customised skill checks (SRs), adapts to the new types/classes and tackles in-book spell-use head-on.  Text sections provide options to perform "stunts" which make even the most mundane encounter memorable to play.  The situations in Trailblazers! are refreshingly original.  The plot can switch from the lowly to the epic - from scrambling around about to saving the day - of this stuff heroes are born.

There's a sprinkling of humour and chagrin, very much in the style of older T&T solitaire games, so T&T old school regulars will like this.  The replayability factor is very high.  (Do not be discouraged by the charming public domain art!  This is high class content! High-production values of the mind!) - I should also add that his solos are easy on the ink cartridge and his PDF prices are kept extremely low.    Play Trailblazers! as part of series - pick up the first two booklets from his range on DriveThru.

I do feel obliged to say that I'm honoured for his thanks in the foreword - although I'm not sure for which favour owe this gratitude - I'm just backing the winning team here! ;)
 

Trailblazers! T&T Solo $1.57 DriveThru

http://bit.ly/TTsoloTB

I'm bursting to draw your attention to A Dream of Japan from Goodman Games, partly because (as you may know, dear reader, I'm a sucker for good line-art)  Brad "BKM" McDevitt adorns this adventure with some exquisite point-of-view pictures (think D&D Tomb of Horrors player pull-out). His Deviant Art page has a snippet of sample art.

I've been skim reading the adventure and I'd say it comes pretty close to being a perfect CoC mystery.  My only issue is that, like with nearly all CoC adventures, it needs a fairly resourceful Keeper to usher the investigators along the right path.  However, in this adventure there is a fail-safe - the investigators have been manipulated, possibly since birth (!) by unseen forces, so the Keeper now has a licence for contrivance.

This adventure is a perfect opportunity to plunge the players into a superstitions world, that's just alien enough (the Orient) to make the investigators paranoid about every lucky penny they find.  This adventure looks like it has the makings to be a classic - and perhaps even a whole campaign.  It has some really nice twists, great art (the maps are good too).  Designed for Chaosium/BRP Call of Cthulhu (5) but could be easily adapted or sourced for other games set in the '20's.

Age of Cthulhu 6 A Dream of Japan (Goodman Games)

$8.99 DriveThru

http://bit.ly/dreamofjapan

In Zseze's World The Sussurus Tomb Battlemap the quality of the computer art is arrestingly beautiful.  Make sure you print onto something glossy which does these tiles justice!  The sections in the PDFs have wide margins which is always a good thing if you don't want to fiddle too much with print settings.  Extra poster size jpgs will be ideal for use in computer programs, tablets, and for your own modifications.

Slick professional, eye-bleedingly good.

Zseze's World The Sussurus Tomb Battlemap
$4.95 DriveThru

http://bit.ly/SussTomb

Right.  Those will keep us all busy for a while!

Happy Easter and all that.  Alien eggs all around. :)

*Face-hugger squeal...*

Impaling my eyes today: Cthulhu by Gaslight (3e), Steam Craft, Palladium Fantasy GM Kit and Friday Freebie

Can't process information ... too many visuals ... not enough money .... or time ... but want ...

Cthulhu by Gaslight
  3rd Edition
"Good God Holmes, it's a
Ts' ... T..so ... Pth...
...some sort of monster"
http://bit.ly/CoCGaslight

EDIT 3.4.12
I've now seen a review copy of
Cthulhu by Gaslight.  The
PDF file has serious display issues!
This is a real shame, and I'm appealing to
Chaosium to fix the problem.

The actual text looks great, but missing
illustrations and missing parts of
player's hand-outs mean that this product
is currently "broken" and not worth
the $20+   
 (You have been warned.)

EDIT: 5.4.12
Chaosiun have now fixed the display issues!
This product sparkles  pretty line art,
and now also includes a large "pull-out"
map of London (jpg file) along with a
separate Victoriana-styled character sheet
for printing. 5/5 stars!

 

Something big and steampunky
this way cometh...
(Full RPG %r ules)
http://bit.ly/SteamCraft

Palladium Fantasy GM's Kit
- for GMs!
http://bit.ly/PalladiumFGMK

Okay, I'm less sure about this
one - mainly tables, character
sheets, NPCs, some old maps
and posters - but it's currently
very popular on the Small Publisher
lists on DriveThru. ($5)

---

Friday Freebie Product on DriveThruRPG

If it's still Friday 30th March 2012*
and you are strange enough
to want to download
this (sock-based RPG)
product for FREE:
click here

*Edit 31.3.12:
Apparently the offer is good for the
whole weekend. Yay for sock kind!

Product Description on DTRPG:
Argyle&Crew
Adventures in the Land of Skcos

Inked Adventures Savage Cellar Floor Plan Tile (PDF)

Cross posted from my other bloggies, in shameless self-promotion.  ;)

The Savage Cellar Floor Plan Tile  is now available on all good Onebookshelf sites (DriveThru, RPGNow etc.)

Suitable for fantasy and horror, this two-level room will be ideal for those interdimensional  encounters!




Incidentally this old-style plan was originally designed for an encounter using the Savage Worlds system in a forthcoming issue of Savage Insider Premium published by MTE.


On DriveThru:
http://bit.ly/IAcellar
(Going for a song!)

H.P. Lovecraft Original 1936 Astounding Stories Magazine Competition -Red Wasp Design

It'll turn your nails black!

"Original 1936 Astounding Stories, H.P. Lovecraft Magazine is Up for Grabs!
Red Wasp Design, the developers of the new Cthulhu-mythos horror/strategy RPG ‘Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land‘ have announced a competition where you could win an original 1936 copy of a pulp fiction magazine featuring the writing of H.P. Lovecraft."

http://redwaspdesign.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/call-of-cthulhu-the-wasted-land-competition-win-a-piece-of-horror-history/



For all those who do not wish to sleep soundly at night. ;)

Just Out: Into the Fray Core Rules (Moss Games), CoC Wasted Land on iPad (Red Wasp)

Very quick post.  I should be finishing some map composites and oh-em-gee it's February already! :o


Into the Fray - Core Rules (Moss Games)  In this set, which currently free (Free? The fools! Free I say!) you receive beautiful stat cards, a primer, rules, tables, template markers and everything you need to play this tabletop fantasy war-game (not bad when compared to Warhammer).  No, wait: "... in order to play Into the Fray you will have to purchase at least one (if not both) of the faction starter packs."  Naturally, if you like Mr Mossman's figure style you can buy the potentially massive army packs - or just go for the price reduced bundle straight away (on DriveThru).

His figures are colourful, original, well shaded, packed with poise!
Keep checking in with this publisher, he'll be one to watch for new figures gaming products.

(Incidentally Inked Adventures showcased some of his Woodwold Boskers figures in the  EL3 Forest Ambush pack)

 

Quick shoot the Bosh!  By Jove, since when did Jerry have tentacles?  We need need more Tommies!

Out this week on iPad, it's World War I and the Cult of the Awakened are up to their dirty tricks again.  In the trenches there's more than just armed johnny-foreigners ...

This strategy based horror for mobile platforms, has been launched for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch (hopefully out for Android soon).

I'm still only on one of the early levels, but already I have learnt the usefulness of a pigeon, when in need of artillery.  Yes, that's right, a rifle, maybe a bayonet and ... a pigeon - oh yes, I'm so ready to take on those cultists and monsters!  I think arcane magic will be added to my arsenal soon, by the gods, I hope so ...
(Previous Wasted Land news, Tags: Cthulhu)

Screen shots:

 

 

He just wants a cuddle
The Faithful Will be Eaten First
Wasted Land by Red Wasp
(iApp Store)

Hot off the altar ... CoC Wasted Land Jan 30th 2012 ... LotR Lego

Ooh shiny baubles ...
....New Screenshots of Call of Cthulhu Wasted Land for iPhone, iPad, Android...

./START/..
... Telegram from Red Wasp Design:

'Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land' Screenshots HD Released,

Launch Date Announced as 30^th January 2012

After much chanting and summoning of dark forces, indie developer Red Wasp Design today announced that the stars will be right for the release of Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land on the 30^th January 2012. To seal this pact with expectant gamers they have accompanied the date announcement with a slew of never-before released High-Definition images.

Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land is a turn-based strategy RPG based around the works of cult horror writer H.P.Lovecraft. The game is set in the midst of the First World War and pits a team of soldiers and investigators against an insidious cult intent on using the slaughter of the Great War to open the doors to an invasion of eldritch horrors.

Announced in May this year and set to launch initially on iPhone and iPod (both SD and HD versions), Red Wasp Design then later plan to infect other platforms such as iPad, Android, PC and consoles with their World War One themed turn-based strategy horror. The game has been developed in co-operation with Chaosium, the purveyors of the cult horror role playing game based on Lovecraft's work, Call of Cthulhu. The much loved RPG marked it's 30th year of publication in 2011 and continues to grow in scope and reputation.

Red Wasp Design can also be followed on Facebook, Twitter (@redwaspdesign) and on their site at redwaspdesign.com
.../END/..

LEGO of the RINGS

Lego Frodo and his
massive ring

Random "Other News":

Facebook and the blogs this week are alive with curious excitement over Lego acquiring the rights to make models (and games?) of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit(s).

Prior to this epic announcement, there's been some amazing Lego fan constructions of scenes from LotR, it'll be hard to see the Danish brick builders' own sets top those. ;)

Lego has flirted with the fantasy-medieval genre in the past and currently, but maybe new Lego sets will bring us more weapons and fantasy garbs for our minifigs!  Maybe Legolas and Gimli can be imported to our Heroica Sets ... ooh the possibilities!

BrickQuest!!  brickquest.com

Of course it would be wrong here not to mention BrickQuest.  :)  I mean your Lego D&D games may be greatly improved by official LotR merchandise!

Whilst you're on the Lego site check out the "Lego Universe to Close" Press Release.  Apparently the kids didn't have access to Dad's credit card, after all. ;)

(No wait, I shouldn't make assumptions about age groups - especially rereading my last paragraph)

 

Happy reading, gaming, collecting, playing! :)

20% Off Code on DriveThru -Happy Holidays and all that

Man, I hate Christmas.  Man, I almost hate December as much as I hate Christmas.  I hate Winter almost as much as I hate December (and so on...)

As I sniff back the mucus from this seasonally-related head-cold-flu-bug, I have to remind myself how special this time is for us Shoppers and Worshippers of Capitalism - how we all come together share how spending joy in the shopping centres, who are eager to bless and receive our hard earned credit, as we desperately placate the technologically jaded children and loved ones.  Here, after last year, very few folk are hoping for a "White Christmas", when slightly more snow than normal fell in this almost-northern European island, and shut the country down.

All I want for Christmas is CthulYOU!

Naturally, I blame Canada - if only because they are smart enough to have chains for their tires and are generally unfazed by "big" weather. They probably sent a whole load of weather our way, in revenge for the Monty Python Lumberjack song, or something like that.

"But the faces of the happy children!" I hear you cry.  Yeah, yeah, light in the midwinter darkness.  Yadda, yadda... ;)

Forget all that.  Treat yourself to some cool RPG downloads!

Lots of companies are running special offers and bundle deals - so remember to have a good shop around. 

DriveThruRPG are providing a 20% Off code (that's like a whole fifth off) which is valid for all of the following products:

Adventure Companion (FantasyCraft) [Crafty Games]
Age of Cthulhu 5: The Long Reach of Evil [Goodman Games]
Smallville: The Watchtower Report [Margaret Weis Productions]
Huxtropy (D&D 4E) [Silent7Seven Games]
Shambles [A Terrible Idea]*

The code to use at checkout is

HolidayHooplah2011

Expires: January 18th, 2012.

* Man, this is a strange looking game:
"Shambles is an RPG in which you explore life as a Zombie. 
One day you just woke up dead. 
Now you just want to get on with your life, such as it is.
But walking around as a Zombie just isn't that simple."
(Clicking the picture will take you to the Shambles page
on DriveThru, check out the description on the author's site:
http://aterribleidea.com/shambles/ 

Gift Certificates are also available, I'd say "encourage a relative to buy you one", but then they have to register with site first - which some non-gamers may find a chore, but it's always worth a try!
Shorter copy-friendly link: http://bit.ly/DTRPGgiftcert


May the season bring you what you desire, be it a cappuccino-toaster or Zombiepocalypse.
Happy Holidays, as they say.

Thanks for reading!

Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land -Red Wasp Design- Screenshots

Call of Cthulhu:
The Wasted Land
by Red Wasp Design
(Chaosium link here)

I still think that World War I is an absolutely fabulous setting for encounters of the Mythos kind (previous post on CoC:The Wasted Land).  The disposability of mankind in the First World War is subject which still which disturbs most people who take the time to reflect, especially upon the sheer statistics of death involved.  Artists during and after the Great War questioned social structures, their supposed superiors and even religion.  Self doubt and nihilism is futile ground for the cultists of the mighty Cthullhu and his brethren.  This was a period of unparalleled voluntary and compulsory sacrifice for crown and country.  Discoveries and scientific invention was perhaps encouraged on all sides.  Mustard gas and machine guns, the mud and death.  Who knows what secrets there still are sealed in vaults and hidden in mass graves, what really happened to the platoons that disappeared in the mud?

Ye Gods! :o Now I just want to play some happy 1920's jazz...  It's Sunday.  Talking about the monstrous grimness of the Fields of Flanders seems to come easy on a Sunday, whilst I wait for the pounding guns of Monday work to start.  Anyhow, I think it would be a good idea to set Cthulhu somewhere around 1914-18.  In a role-playing context the players could be in the 20's but they have to role-play flashbacks to hideous encounters they'd actually blacked out from memory.  Shell-shock may not have just come from shells. ;)  Of course, it might be a less than the sedate style of CoC game where dissembling cultists and dusty libraries preside; and more the shotgun-blam-blam flavour of game where the corpses of dead soldiers becoming zombies, controlled by other beings, feeding on the horror that's already in the trenches.  So think tentacles, mud, gas and rifles that jam.

Captain Hill faces off against the
Dark Young

Under agreement with Chaosium, Red Wasp Design, who specialise in games for portable devices, have done just that, set CoC in the Great War.  I haven't seen much back-story yet, but without reading too much into the press releases and feeds all of the basic background elements for a believable scenario are there plus perhaps a little taste of conspiracy.  The infer it's point and tap shooting-crawl through many richly designed locations.

Naturally, it would not be Lovecraftian gaming unless fear itself was a applicable factor for characters.  It's relief to read it's not just a straightforward shooter:  "As the characters fight these legions of horror they will have their sanity eroded away"

Death or Madness?!  Which will prevail first?  Mwhahaha.

A Dark Young, twisted offspring
of the deity Shub-Niggurath

“Lovecraft and his peers created really iconic monsters that tap into our deepest fears. As huge fans of his stories, we've worked really hard to transfer the essence of these alien horrors into a game form. We're blending the core ideas of the classic role-playing game along with our experience of gameplay design all wrapped in our new 3D engine to craft what we hope is a gaming experience of malignant evil!”

- Tomas Rawlings, game designer, Red Wasp Design

The investigators are surrounded by
cultists and the undead

The screenshots here (sent courtesy of Red Wasp Design) are taken from the Standard Definition (SD) iPhone version of the game.  I've taken the liberty of doubling the dimensions to make them blog friendly, since some contain text of interest.  Higher definition versions of the game on other platforms may also be available later (but I could be wrong about this, because the press release was mainly focussing on the iPhone at this stage).  I'm guessing that since that this game is in development certain graphical aspects may change (again, please note that I've enlarged the screenshot graphics - click on thumbnails)

If you're a fan of the new Pelgrane Press Trail of Cthulhu, or own the Chaosium editions of the RPG, this game may make a welcome distraction for those commuter blues  -as get off the train and turn up to work with a long stare, muttering about the "dreaded corpses of the Bosh" and how you're nearly insane from blasting the fearsome "Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath".  I'm guessing no-one will offer to make you a coffee for a while.

A weapon information screen

On the other hand, you may like your Mythos to be mysterious and distant, or perhaps prefer your Lovecraft to stay firmly on the printed page.  In that case The Wasted Land perhaps will seem a little overbearing.  However, there just might be a kernel of campaign source material in there.

I see you in that pen-n-paper games library you've built, next to the forbidden secret tomes you found in that strange shop which went out of business straight after you bought them, .... I know you're curious!

Curiousity is good, right?  What harm can befall a person who merely seeks to expand their knowledge and experience?  Surely sanity is not such a high price to pay...

More Screenshots - (click on thumbnails)

Moving a unit in-game .

A character information screen .

A player unit shoots at an attacking German

An animated corpse, undead creatures made from a 'Reanimation' serum
(they probably just want a hug to stave off war-provoked existialism)

A final release date, pricing and other information has yet to be announced by Red Wasp Design, but you can be kept in the loop via Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/redwaspdesign ), Twitter (@redwaspdesign) and on their site ( http://www.redwaspdesign.com )