From: "John & Christy Thompson" To: Subject: [The Chaosium digest] Chaosium Digest v38.3 Date: Monday, April 19, 2004 11:03 PM Chaosium Digest Volume 38, Number 4 Date: Monday, April 19, 2004 Number: 1 of 1 Contents: * Cthulhu Dark Ages (REVIEW) by John W. Thompson Editor's Note: "That is not dead which can eternal lie..." It's not been an eternity but The Chaosium Digest is back! Hopefully the string of NEW Chaosium material will spark imaginations and get our readers to once again provide us with some sanity-shattering submissions. As a refresher, submissions can come from anyone, should be in a text, word processor or email format of under 50KB. Submissions can deal with any current or former Chaosium-related property such as Glorantha, Pendragon, Cthulhu Live and Nephilim but only those dealing with current Chaosium properties (Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, Cthulhu Dark Ages and the Basic Role Playing system) are entered into the quarterly Chaosium Contest. At the end of each quarter that we receive qualifying submissions from at least two different people, one submission will be chosen and the author wins a $40 Chaosium gift certificate, provided by the good folks of Chaosium! Also note that since we don't pay for submissions, all submissions remain the property of the authors. By sending us a submission, you allow us to print the article in our email fanzine and on our website. Speaking of which, you can find the Official Chaosium Digest Archive by going to http://pages.prodigy.net/gobackstage and following the link from there. This issue contains a review of the first of these all new releases, Cthulhu Dark Ages! ANNOUNCEMENTS * The R'lyeh Report Volume 8, Number 4 April 08, 2004 Transmitted by the Leng Embassy, Silverton Colorado. Greetings Cultists! The R'lyeh report is here to bring you up to speed on many things Chaosium. For more Chaosium news check out our website at http://www.chaosium.com RPG.Net Feud Ends Chaosium's recent feud with Alan Sugarbaker of RPG.Net has ended. The companies have resumed normal relations. Said relations can best be described as jovial, if demented. Call of Cthulhu 6th Shipping Now All but 600 wayward copies of our Call of Cthulhu 6th edition have arrived at our California warehouse. We began shipping these books to distributors yesterday and will likely finish this initial "autoship" later today. Our distributors will be able to ship the books to retailers on April 13th. There is a good chance that your local shop will have them by Friday the 16th. H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands Update Our new edition of H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands is still on the press. Our printer assures us that the books will be finished next week, and will ship to Chaosium April 16th. So it looks as though Dreamlands will either release at the very end of April or the very beginning of May depending upon how long it takes the truck driver to drive to California from Michigan. These are the kinds of things that keep me awake all night. Chaosium to attend KublaCon 2004 Three of the four Chaosium staffers will be attending the upcoming KublaCon May 28 - 31st. The Con takes place at the Hyatt Regency at the San Francisco Airport. Charlie, Dustin, and Fergie will be at the Chaosium booth and we'll be running a Chaosium Unplugged seminar sometime over the weekend. If you will be attending KublaCon (and you should!) we hope you'll run a Call of Cthulhu, Cthulhu Dark Ages, or Stormbringer event. We'll happily provide you with some prizes for any Chaosium event you GM. We'll also invite you to our first annual KublaCon GM Pizza bash. For more information about KublaCon, to schedule a Chaosium game, see http://www.kublacon.com Chaosium.com Update Over the last week we've received the endearing "Baby's First Mythos." We've more goodies on the way. Swing by http://www.chaosium.com and see for your self. Release Schedule Update Please let your favorite local shop know you want these titles. The more copies we ship upon their initial release, the faster we can print our next books. April Releases 2396 Call of Cthulhu 6th Edition $39.95 HC Shipping Now. 2394 H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands $34.95 HC (Late April) May Releases 2397 Shadows of Yog Sothoth $23.95 - In final Layout & Editing 6023 The Yellow Sign & Other Stories $19.95 (reprint) - At the Printer. June & Beyond. While it is perilous to look too deeply into the future, our Magic 8-ball said it would be safe to tell you the following. Secrets of Japan for Call of Cthulhu, The Abbey & other tales (working title) for Cthulhu Dark Ages , and a really swell Cthulhu for President 2004 kit are all in the works for this Summer. Rumors, Rumors, Rumors. The Chaosium website is due to switch servers any day now. No really. The Chaosium Missionary Program is coming along quite nicely and our plans for world domination are well ahead of schedule. We still need some COC demo GM's for Origins. The Leng Embassy Diplomatic Corps are still picking Ogre Flesh out from between their teeth. As always, we appreciate all your support. Here's to another 29 years! The Chaosium dudes. -- Dustin Wright- Chaosium Colorado "Leng Embassy" /|\_(@jjjj@)_/|\ http://www.chaosium.com 28 Years of Quality Mayhem and still counting... * A Humble Greetings All, The day when all sentient species must sacrifice approaches! Master Fergie is away, worshiping at secret fissures in earth's fragile crust along the mountains of eastern California. Wakabobo, his dutiful servant, here reports: . . . and speaking of approaching, dear ancestors, kith, and spawn: CALL OF CTHULHU sixth edition has shipped and will, somehow appropriately, be in stores on Sacrifice Day (April 15th). Featuring the award-winning layout from the 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION limited run, again reveals all manner of secrets of Mythos and humankind. CALL OF CTHULHU 6th ed.: http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=359 A COMPANY FAVORITE: We just added a wonderful little tome, BABY'S FIRST MYTHOS, a collection of alphabetized poems, Mythos oriented and very clever. Noted Mythos author C. J. Henderson and wife Erica Henderson have conspired this offering, Erica offering her talents to illustrate the book. BABY'S FIRST MYTHOS: http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=466 AUDIO MADNESS: With the addition of a couple CDs from DARKEST OF THE HILLSIDE THICKETS, we have now inaugurated our "Audio Madness" category. We're working to mine more disturbing sounds to bring your way in a near aeon. AUDIO MADNESS: http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=46 THESE JUST IN: Just before I began sharpening my nails to scribe this missive, a package arrived from HIPPOCAMPUS PRESS. Behold! Brand new copies of H. P. Lovecraft's COLLECTED ESSAYS, in two volumes and edited by S. T. Joshi (who was just in town for a book signing). COLLECTED ESSAYS, VOL. 1: http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=471 COLLECTED ESSAYS, VOL. 2: http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=470 KEEPER'S CORNER: For the historically-minded, we added several valuable guides in our FICTION & NON-FICTION section. Of special note is the DICTIONARY OF ANCIENT & MEDIEVAL WARFARE and a truly delightful book THE YEAR 1000, filled with the kinds of minutiae that brings your CALL OF CTHULHU game to life. Lots of small details, tid bits, and lore for inventive keepers. DICTIONARY OF ANCIENT & MEDIEVAL WARFARE: http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=472 THE YEAR 1000: http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=45&products_id=468 So, keep your weather-eyes open for anything you might think we should offer. We are DREAMing of new LANDS we might soon offer, so check back soon. Wakabobo, Minion to Fergie, the Shippin' Shoggoth fergie@chaosium.com ********************* Chaosium Inc. 895 B Street #423 Hayward, CA 94541 ph. 510-583-1000 * From Issaries Inc. PRODUCT UPDATES Just a quick note to let everyone know that a number of factors (including the site migration, delays in text and artwork, and other things) have caused a delay to both Gathering Thunder and Under the Red Moon. We'll keep you updated once we have more exact information about the release dates. However, the most excellent news is that the Spanish edition of HeroQuest should go to the printer sometime this week. We are very excited about this development, and wish our licensee Edge Enterprises every success with this venture. As if that was not enough, it seems that we will soon have a Japanese licensee once again! The situation in Japan seems to be settling out, and we expect to formalize a new contract in the next few weeks. BEST OF GLORANTHA Best of Glorantha suffered some delays because of the migration, but we now have the results available (they should be posted to the web site any day). Congratulations to all of the winners: BEST GLORANTHA VISUAL ART Map of Dragon Pass, by Wesley Quadros (in Dragon Pass - Land of Thunder) BEST HEROQUEST OR HERO WARS SCENARIO Fish Rain, by Greg Stafford and Mark Galeotti (in HeroQuest) BEST HEROQUEST OR HERO WARS DESCRIPTION Crime & Punishment in the Lunar Empire, by Mark Galeotti (in Moon Rites) BEST GLORANTHA WEBSITE lokarnos.com BEST GLORANTHA IN PRINT - ENGLISH HeroQuest by Issaries, Inc. BEST HEROQUEST OR HERO WARS HOUSE RULE Super Hero Wars, by Bruce Ferrie BEST GLORANTHA PLAYING AID OR ARTICLE Dragon Pass - Land of Thunder, by Issaries, Inc. BEST GLORANTHAN FICTION The Widow's Tale, by Penelope Love. BEST ISSARIES INC. PUBLISHED PRODUCT HeroQuest BEST LICENSED PRODUCT The Widow's Tale, by Penelope Love BEST GLORANTHAN MINIATURE Minaryth Purple, by Lance & Laser SPIRIT OF GLORANTHA Various new stories on Oliver Bernuetz' Mything Links web site BEST OF THE BEST OF GLORANTHA 2003 (selected from the above winners) HeroQuest, published by Issaries, Inc. Greg Sez: "HeroQuest has been selected as Best of the Best because... well, without it there would be no best, no worst or in between, there would be no contest, no currently working and living Glorantha, no community, and no Issaries. And because it is the best Gloranthan game ever made!" SELECTED AS GLORANTHAN TREASURE King of Sartar, by Greg Stafford. Greg Sez: "King of Sartar was the first published Glorantha fiction. This epistolary novel is a primary source for Dragon Pass background, Orlanthi mythology, Heortling culture, and both past history and future events. Cheers, Stephen Stephen Martin Issaries, Inc., publisher of HeroQuest, Roleplaying in Glorantha P.O. Box 272914 Concord, CA 94527 Phone: (925) 680-8897 See our extensive web site at * Issaries Press Release Concord, CA March 29, 2004 ISSARIES LICENSES HEROQUEST GAME ENGINE TO FIREBIRD PRODUCTIONS Since the release of the HeroQuest roleplaying game last year, its powerful rules system has not only led to an explosion of interest in its setting (the fantasy world of Glorantha), it has also been used by players to explore a multitude of other settings, from Middle Earth to comic book superheroes. With its free-flowing rules and its capacity to be adapted for play at any level of power, from barroom brawls to the epic clashes of gods and demons, it has proven flexible and popular. So far, these adaptations of the HeroQuest engine have been limited to fan ventures. Now, however, Issaries Inc. is pleased to announce that it has licensed Firebird Productions to use the engine in 'Mythic Russia.' Written and produced by Mark Galeotti, an academic expert in Russian history, this standalone book will adapt the core HeroQuest rules to roleplaying in the ancient Russia of legend and folktale. Players will adventure through this land of glittering onion-domed churches and dark, dangerous forests, home to heroes and fiends -- and the flame-feathered firebird. Mark is also one of the developers of HeroQuest, acquisitions editor for Issaries, Inc., and the author of the Imperial Lunar Handbook supplement. "I waited twenty-seven years for HeroQuest, the perfect system to bring Glorantha to life," says Greg Stafford, president of Issaries, Inc. "I am delighted that it won't take nearly that long for the game engine to bring magic and adventure to other settings, too." Mark Galeotti adds, "For me this is a labor of love, at last finding the system that will allow the kind of the superhuman heroics and mythic weirdness you find in Russian folk epics. However, I see this as just the tip of the iceberg: HeroQuest is so versatile and fun that I expect others will choose to adopt it to open up other genres and settings." Mythic Russia is scheduled for a winter 2004/2005 release. See the Firebird Productions website at for more information, or contact Mark Galeotti at . For information on HeroQuest, see the Issaries, Inc. website or contact Stephen Martin at . Stephen Martin Issaries, Inc., publisher of HeroQuest, Roleplaying in Glorantha P.O. Box 272914 Concord, CA 94527 Phone: (925) 680-8897 See our extensive web site at * TENTACLES NEWS POST Volume 5, Number 2, March 2004 ~~ S l u r p F o l k s ! ~~ Welcome to the March Tentacles News Post, featuring all the latest Tentacles news and views. Feel free to forward this newsletter to friends, allies and sworn enemies. If you do not want to receive this newsletter or have a new email address please send notification to: fabian@tentacles-convention.de T e n t a c l e s A r i s e ! More games, more drinks, more fun! The Immortal Heroband is forming, games are being prepared on practice quests and events are being summoned! Only 20 more gamers and Tentacles is booked out! So hurry up veterans and newbies! ~ Tentacles Monstrous ~ 28th - 31st May 2004 HeroQuest, Call of Cthulhu and Eternal Champion Game Fest Castle Stahleck, Germany The price for residential membership is 90 Euro and includes bed, breakfast and dinner. Residential membership is available at this price until 31st March 2004. After this date we will charge a late fee of 10 Euro. Non-residential membership is 25 Euro for the whole event. Sign-up here: http://www.tentacles-convention.de/regis.htm Travel hints: http://www.tentacles-convention.de/source.htm Here the news... ~ T h e I m m o r t a l H e r o b a n d ~ S t a f f o r d, Greg The Godfather of Glorantha is sorry to n o t be able to attend this year. But he sent the ancestors with gifts and blessings that will help us to summon and strengthen the Glorantha Tribe Wyter! H u g h e s, John We are proud to have the feet of this Gloranthan Veteran (from Down Under) touch continental Europe soil the first time for Tentacles! John will heroform Greg Stafford for us this year! John is t h e heortling law speaker of the tribe, co-author of 'Thunder Rebels', Wyter of Glorantha Con VIII., Editor of 'Moonrites', 3D artist and poet from the Far Place. He will kick-start our Glorantha/HeroQuest programme! P e t e r s e n, Sandy Tentacles is deeply in love with this Great Old One and he loves us back! The bald mastermind behind Call of Cthulhu will be back and again hurl more games and fun at us then we will be able to digest! Last year Sandy could not recharge his gameboy for his flight back home so he decided to write a Call of Cthulhu FreeForm for us instead. We will proudly host his 'Evil High Priest'! Watch out - this time he will bring his family! W h i t a k e r, Lawrence Loz almost a legend, true Eternal Champion, a Straw Dog and good friend will be back! Hozzah! Loz will spearhead the Eternal Champion events and games at Tentacles! Loz wrote a fresh Hawkmoon scenario for us called 'Skay'ana's Tears'! We will of course ply him with enough drinks again to get him to read some of his latest works as well. B r a y, Simon Simon is alive and kicking despite having a real job and being father, husband, author, artist and editor of far too many great Glorantha material and one of the nicest guys on the face of the earth and under the sun! Simon will host his new Glorantha FreeForm 'Harem Nights' which will put Fonrit back on the map! D u n h a m, David David was Producer, Designer, and Programmer for 'King of Dragon Pass'. He edited the 'Enclosure' fanzine, and created the popular 'PenDragon Pass' rules variant. He maintains an extensive Glorantha web site. John will run a 2nd age Jurestal HeroQuest game for us! B r o o k e, N i c k Infamous scourge of RuneQuest, Gloranthan and HeroQuest mailing lists, Megacorp author, convention guest, wit, raconteur and singer. Nick will be hosting his Singalong and a fresh game. Nick is co-founder of the Lokarnos.com website. S c h u e t t e, Steffen Tentacles is delighted to host Steffen Schuette this year. Steffen is one of the great legendary German RPG authors. He wrote the stunning CoC-Supplement 'Froschkönig-Fragmente' back in the Golden Laurin Age and the still unpublished Stormbringer campaign 'Arioch's Kinder' that started most of our staff playing Stormbringer. Steffen continues to write CoC-Material for Pegasus Press as well as fantasy novels. He will of course host a panel and run a game for us! S c h i e m i c h e n, Wolfgang T h e famed and feared German CoC gamemaster, teacher, actor and phantomist clown will be around again and unleash horror at random victims and the usual subjects! ~ M o n s t r o u s F r e e F o r m s ~ E v i l H i g h P r i e s t a Call of Cthulhu FreeFrom by Sandy Petersen Madness fills the void. Monolithic non-Euclidean doors open and a vast green corpulence oozes forth. Amorphous colossi of horror descend from the skies. Insane cultists intone ancient rituals of despair and destruction as humankind's brief reign draws close to its end. The stars are right! The Old Ones return in power and all their hideous glory! Can heroic investigators stop this awful catastrophe! DON'T BE SILLY! This time we get to be the BAD guys! Yes, it's the final Grand Conventicle to decide the fate of Earth. Which of the various horrendous Forces from Beyond will be able to take control of the world for its own nefarious lusts? And who will be the all-powerful minions of that conquering force? Will it include the degenerate Tcho-Tchos? The dreaded Silver Twilight Lodge? Or the loathsome cult of the Deep Ones? You decide as we meet in an all-villain game of gibbering madness written by the Great Old Bald One Sandy Petersen himself. Play as Wilbur Whateley, the Shoggoth, or even Great Cthulhu itself! H a r e m N i g h t s a Glorantha FreeForm by Simon Bray In the bazaar the storytellers and fakirs are chanting that the old world is dying and that Garangordos the Great Founder is returning to carve out a new one. The songs of the wise women who preach of new ways, new constellations and new moons drown their voices. In their towers and temples the sorcerers and priests prepare their potions, spells and prayers, new magic is being born into the world and they all seek to control it. In the harem the courtesans whisper of the worries of their masters, as they anoint the brow of the bride to be. Her husband to be sits faraway waiting for his conquest to come, this wedding will change Fonrit and make him powerful and in Fonrit power is everything. In the courtyards a blue skinned eunuch watches the rooftops, ever vigilant, ever mindful of his masters welfare. The great masarin lords sit upon their jeweled thrones counting their slaves and treasure, plotting against the changes to come. Above the streets of the cities sit the great royal palaces, each countries ruler plots the downfall of the next, whilst trying to retain the stability of their own country and defend against the outside world. But the outsiders are coming, in the shadows lurks the thief, the assassin, the rebel and the pirate all-waiting for their moments to create havoc and destroy Fonrit. To the east the dark jungles of Laskal beat to a different drum, the White Bear Warrior who came from the North has carved his empire, and now has departed leaving only his rapacious followers who look at Fonrit's treasure with envy in their eyes. In the elf forests to the west the replanting has begun, the Umathelans and the Elves are on the march, expanding east into decadent Mondoro. To the north the seas churn, the monstrous malasp mermen rule the waters, their taxes grow stronger, their retributions worse. To the south the Nargan desert burns more deadly, and spews forth chaos, the people of Jolar, ancient enemies of Fonrit begin to move north, but in some cities they do not stand guard, but instead open their arms as if to welcome old friends. This is Fonrit, a land of slaves and masters, where powerful tyrants dominate a huge underclass of impoverished slaves. It is a land of sowuks, bazaars, palaces and harems. It is a land of decadence that is about to crumble and be reborn; can you shape the new world to your own desires? T h e W o n d e r o f C l a n k i n g C i t y a Glorantha FreeForm by Ingo Tschinke and Helge Reuter Two Mostali workcrews have dug a tunnel into the Clanking City to search for the eternal grease. Both Mostali foremen want to be the first to sink their hands into the eternal grease but they have to co-operate in order to achieve their goal. Will they be able to upgrade their Mostali workers to cope with the obstacles in the Clanking City? More games will be added soon! ~ M o n s t r o u s G a m e s ~ S k a y ' a n a ' s T e a r s a Hawkmoon Scenario by Lawrence Whitaker Kyrus is free from Granbretan's tyranny, and the adventurers, as part of the liberating force, are hailed as Heroes by the Kyriot people. It is natural, then, for the villagers of Bogazi to turn to the adventurers for help in a matter that troubles them deeply. Three years ago, their village was almost devastated by the Plague; now, their people are dying once more and, to the villagers' horror, the Plague-dead return to life. But the villagers have, by miraculous fortune, captured a demon that is surely the root of Bogazi's troubles. They have no experience of such things, and look to the adventurers help them to take the Right Course of Action and free Bogazi from its torment. But is the demon all that it seems to be? Could the vile sorcery-science of the Dark Empire be at work? Or is it something far stranger, far older and far, far more dangerous? U p o n t h e W a l l s o f W h i t e w a l l a HeroQuest Episode by John Hughes A band of fearless Orlanthi heroes defend the walls of Whitewall during a foul lunar night assault. B a d B o o n R i s i n g, B e a k N o E v i l a two session, two team HeroQuest Episode by John Hughes and Friends A sort of beer-and-pretzels affair, though distinctly lacking in pretzels. Play fweedom-loving Heortling ducks! Play Imperious Lunar baboons! Match one band against the other (shudder) in a ruthless battle where only the Narrators walk tall! For ten players and two narrators, with live action bits, tabletop bits, and all the gwubs you can eat. T h e O p e n S e a a HeroQuest Episode by David Dunham The Middle Sea Empire lays claim to the oceans, but much work remains to be done. After the Battle of Tanian's Victory, Fire has conquered Water. Second Age God-Learner shenanigans with David Dunham. More games will be added soon! ~ M o n s t r o u s E v e n t s ~ Heortling Poetry Slam, Beer cards, 'The Siege of Whitewall' Seminar, Random Infoshrine Madness, Illumination of the Castle, SFX, Auction, Trollball, John reads Greg, 'Heroes In Hall' Heroband Seminar Singalong, Loz reads, Tentacles Group Photograph 4, Card- and Boardgames, Independet Glorantha Panel, Horror Lottery, MiB in Action... Fabian -- ~ Tentacles Monstrous ~ 28th - 31st May 2004 HeroQuest, Call of Cthulhu and Eternal Champion Game Fest Castle Stahleck, Germany Sign-up here: http://www.tentacles-convention.de/regis.htm * From the Strange Aeons mailing list Yes there is an [Cthulhu: Dark Ages] errata. Details may be found at the following URL under the link to 'Patch': http://ad1000.cjb.net/ Also, the official(?) Dark Ages forum may be found on the site www.yog-sothoth.com ;) Cheers. Peter. ----------------------- Cthulhu Dark Ages (REVIEW) by John W. Thompson Cthulhu Dark Ages is Chaosium's English publication of Stephane Gesbert's work which was original published in German in 2002. It weighs in at 176 pages with a price tag of $23.95. For that price, Cthulhu Dark Ages offers a complete game and setting outline plus an interesting adventure and numerous plot hooks. In this day of $40 core rulebooks, Cthulhu Dark Ages offers quite a bit of bang for the buck. The first 52 pages cover the essential BRP game mechanics and Dark Ages character creation. Anyone familiar with classic CoC won't find anything surprising here. The only real difference is found in some of the starting skill ratings, which have been altered to better represent an individual from the period of A.D. 950 - 1050, and period equipment lists. After that, 20 pages cover the physical setting of Dark Ages Europe. Over all, the information is fairly cursory. However, there are excellent sections on period social history, covering what people wear, what they eat and what they do day in and day out. The political history of who ruled when, etc. is left to the timelines. There's enough information here for a start, though those groups and GMs with a need for greater detail will have to put in some research time. Pages 74 - 123 cover the Mythos in the Dark Ages. While there are many of the classic stand-bys: Deep Ones and Mi Go for example, there's also quite a bit of new beasts, many new spells and a great section on Spirits and Limbo. The later is where this section really shines. Limbo is presented as the spirit realm and the home realm of Yog Sothoth. Finally, the book wraps up with an interesting adventure set on the German/Hungarian border. The adventure provides a good start to a campaign and has numerous hooks that can be built upon to produce a good campaign. Even if one is not planning a Dark Ages game, there's much material to be mined from this book. Also, cross pollination of material would be easy between such games as Ars Magica, Pendragon and Stormbringer. Over all, I'd rank Cthulhu Dark Ages as a good buy for any fan of the Mythos. With Chaosium having a supplement already on the way, I think Cthulhu Dark Ages is poised to join the Roaring '20s, Modern Day, and the Victorian Era as a great setting for Mythos investigations. _______________________________________________ Chaos-digest mailing list Chaos-digest@chaosium.com http://www.chaosium.com/mailman/listinfo/chaos-digest