MUP 077 - Feedback Paralysis

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Keeper Dan
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MUP 077 - Feedback Paralysis

Post by Keeper Dan » Mon Apr 20, 2015 1:22 am

Download the episode

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In Episode 77, Dan, Murph and Jon chat about breaking past Analysis Paralysis, from both player and Keeper perspectives. Then we pontificate on books we'd like to see available in the Mythos gaming sphere. Plus there's some news in the Crier, and lots of listener feedback!
This episode was recorded on April 19, 2015.


Campus Crier
  • Casablanca - "Miskatonic Graffiti"In case the title doesn’t make it a dead giveaway, Miskatonic Graffiti, the newest LP by the neo-classic rock outfit Casablanca, is a concept album. Not only that, the band describes it as “Ziggy Stardust meets H.P. Lovecraft in Twin Peaks.”

E-Mail Feedback!-
Hi, guys. Good to hear your riffs on the Commonplace Book entries. As WinstonP mentioned on the forums, others have also used the CB for ideas. I have a small catalog of them at http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~cje/mythos/cb.html, which includes artwork as well as fiction.

As for name-checking Eibon, in my 1998 bibliography and concordance, I found 63 separate stories mentioning Eibon-the-Wizard (versus the Book of Eibon). Don't have an accurate count of what it's up to today.

Chris


Hey Keepers!

I just wanted to shoot an email over to let you know I love the podcast. I began by stumbling across the live play feed and eventually turned to the regular podcast. You guys are great and always give out helpful information.

It is because of the podcast why I ran my first session of Call of Cthulhu (which is also my first experience with a role playing game period). I ran the opening scenario of “The Thing at the Threshold” because your live play sounded fun and like something I could handle as a new Keeper. The session went well and ended very similar to your live play. Upon seeing the ghost of Peter’s mom (I liked this addition during the live play), one character failed their sanity roll and began hallucinating. Once the Shoggoth formed in the middle of the cellar, the same investigator failed another SAN roll and rolled a 19 on their SAN loss roll. Taking another cue from the live play, I had him essentially begin worshipping the Shoggoth. Unlike Murf’s character, my player did not send his character into the Shoggoth. He did, however, take offense to his fellow player trying to kill his newfound god and filled him with rounds from a Thompson. Oddly enough, both characters survived. One ended up in the asylum and the other lost the use of an arm.

A quick question since I am new to the Call to Cthulhu scene: Can you briefly tell me the differences in the different systems (ie Trail of Cthulhu, Delta Green, etc)?

So thanks! You guys have helped me find a great new hobby to explore with my board game pals. Keep up the good work and Go Pods!

Keeper-In-Training Kent


Voicemails!-
Bret Kramer (WinstonP) left us a Speakpipe message regarding vampire scenarios.
Here's a link to a journal article about a skeleton found in Connecticut in 1994 that was likely exhumed due to "vampirism"

Keeper Ant UK left us a message advising that we may need a health warning for the show. I hope the lady found her dog...

He also mentions a UK vampire show called Ultraviolet.

Trailer on YouTube

Amazon US listing

Amazon UK listing


3 new iTunes reviews!-
By johnthenomad from USA on April 2, 2015

Go Pods!

I just realized I've been listening to this podcast for years... Either time flys when you're having fun or the Mi-go have altered my perception of time. In any event, this is a fun podcast for anyone who wants news and ideas for horror roleplaying.
By nicolas.afs from Chile on March 29, 2015

Call of Cthulhu RPG mayhem

Tug along with Keeper Dan and his gang of MUP keepers for a deep dive into Call of Cthulhu RPG (CoC) and lovecraftiana in general. Each episode has a main topic, catering to the interests of keepers just stepping into CoC and those already hardened by successive campaigns against the Mythos. Get a sense of what is happening around the Lovecraft-interested world with the Campus Crier and enjoy a good time with the Faculty members and their interviewees from different publishing houses. If you are into Lovecraft or into the Call of Cthulhu RPG, then the MUPodcast is your place to be. Go pods!!!
By BardKnight from USA on March 29, 2015
First stop for all things Call of Cthulhu

A really enjoyable podcast with all things Call of Cthulhu, as well as a few other general horror and lovecraft related materials. As a total novice to the mythos, this has been a wonderful introduction to them and inspiration for putting together a game of my own.
Global iTunes reviews supplied by https://mypodcastreviews.com/

We have Patrons!
In the two weeks since announcing it on episode 76, we have three backers bringing us over the initial goal of $20 a month!
I have already started sharing the large sized show art starting with 76. Any backer, gets the bonus stuff along with whatever your level may grant you.


Cryptocurium Spotlight
Packet of Terror Ectoplasm Edition!

Listener Segment-
Janitor John provides our first new listener recorded segment!
John talks about avoiding being a "Tackle Tart", and using simple tools to help engage with your players.

Side Topic Discussion:
Analysis paralysis -- how to break through it.

"When in Doubt Have a Man Come Through a Door with a Gun in His Hand" --Raymond Chandler?

Perfect is the enemy of good enough.” --Voltaire?

Main Topic
"What is each host's dream book or project for horror RPGs that doesn't already exist. Could be a setting, an era, a campaign, a book of scenarios under a theme, etc."

Jon - Gothic horror in American revolutionary period, particularly influenced by the comic series Revere.
Comic Book Resources page on Revere

Archaia page on Revere

There's a new edition of Terror Australis on the way



Murph - High Fantasy RPG with mythos tie in. High Fantasy with SAN loss?

Also First Law series by Joe Abercrombie



Dan - More location based source guides for mythos. American North west, Canada, South America, and there's a LOT of Africa untouched.

More future sci-fi mythos gaming

There was a mention of Western themed CoC stuff, and we recalled Chaosium's Devil's Gulch for BRP and the fiction anthology Frontier Cthulhu.
Keeper Dan of the Miskatonic University Podcast


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Re: MUP 077 - Feedback Paralysis

Post by zombielord » Thu Apr 23, 2015 10:44 am

Just thought I'd chime in on 2 horror themed books based on early America.

Colonial Terror
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Colonial Gothic
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Re: MUP 077 - Feedback Paralysis

Post by fox01313 » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:10 am

Also glad to hear new keepers having fun with Thing at the Threshold & once I get the group around here for local gaming, I'll look to that one to start off with if going in Call of Cthulhu (versus the Shadows over Filmland & Armitage Files in Trail of Cthulhu).

Love the Janitor John segment with lots of good ideas, one addition to his selections is if you have a journalist/writer in the group, have them jot out outlines/headline ideas if they decide to document the game sessions.

From one of the recent Unspeakable Oath podcasts, to deal some with the paralysis beyond the good idea of using an npc to point stuff out is when you don't want the dice creating some randomness in the game, don't use them. Pick when to have them find some details without dice & let them roll on finding out how it goes together, how they now have someone else after that clue, how screwed they are once the pieces are together or getting out of the area alive with that clue. Avoid the pitfall of letting the core clue getting lost in a missed die roll. Also congratulations, you found this thing (clue), roll SAN. Hard to miss a clue when it should be avoided but you can't to see things.

For the zombie game, my suggestion is to have a hazmat person get hurt in such a way, die near the players with some clues to help them understand the problem, that or kill the ways of escape.

Other things on the Cthulhu roleplaying games for new people
*Auctung Cthulhu is pretty much BRP done in World War II with the Cthulhu mythos though there is a Fate Core & Savage Worlds ruleset translation for this setting so you can take Cthulhu into these systems if you don't want to try other settings for them.
*Realms of Cthulhu is the Savage Worlds ruleset for doing Cthulhu gaming though I think it might be more pulpy.
*via Gurps Horror 3rd+ edition (written by Ken Hite who also wrote Trail of Cthulhu) you can input the mythos into Gurps
*Cthulhu Dark, a simple more party based system of light hearted terror using a d6 to where you can play a scenario & try to stay away from going insane
*sidenote goes to Eclipse Phase which is sci-fi though while the game is a bit dense in technology, it has a simple hit points & sanity mechanic for all kinds of future horrors to drive you insane, not Call of Cthulhu but a skilled keeper can hit a lot of mystery, horror & cosmic dread with this setting

(to new players & keepers, Chaosium as well as drivethrurpg is your friend on finding many gaming pdfs/books/games)

You guys hit the Trail explanation really good :) I think you're ready to play that system. :cthulhudance:

Here's the bonus episode from One Shot Podcast where Ken Hite explains the basics of Gumshoe for the setting of Night's Black Agents (vampires vs burned spies).
http://www.oneshotpodcast.com/one-shot/ ... planation/

After playing and/or listening to a ton of games, with the simplicity of Chaosium BRP d100% system & the Gumshoe system (Trail of Cthulhu, Esoterrorists, Nights Black Agents & more) those work the best with horror & mystery games & there's plenty of good things using them.
"That's funny, usually the blood gets off on the second floor." -Mr. Burns in The Shinning episode (Treehouse of horror V)

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Re: MUP 077 - Feedback Paralysis

Post by trinite » Sat Apr 25, 2015 8:13 pm

Murph's idea about a mythos-influenced high fantasy game made me think of something that might be exactly what he's after: Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

Rules-wise, it's basically a 1st edition D&D clone. But all of the setting and adventure materials are extremely tilted toward weird fiction, and Lovecraft in particular. There are adventures like "The God that Crawls" and "The Monolith from Beyond Space and Time" that are intentionally designed to be D&D with mythos-style action. There's also a sourcebook for adventuring in Carcosa (as an alien planet filled with weird, horrific magic), "Scenic Dunnsmouth" and other explicitly Mythos stuff.

You can see most of their products here: http://www.rpgnow.com/browse/pub/2795/L ... e-Princess
And here is the publisher's own website: http://www.lotfp.com/RPG/

I would say that LotFP also has a tendency toward over-the-top splatterpunky violence that might not be everyone's cup of tea. It's a very metal take on weird fantasy. But even so, it could be a good jumping-off point for playing mythos high fantasy games.

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Re: MUP 077 - Feedback Paralysis

Post by KeeperMurph » Mon Apr 27, 2015 10:09 pm

The other mythos influenced high fantasy I should have mentioned is the obvious Warhammer Fantasy. I really need to play that soon.
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Re: MUP 077 - Feedback Paralysis

Post by caddy1071 » Tue Apr 28, 2015 4:44 am

KeeperMurph wrote:The other mythos influenced high fantasy I should have mentioned is the obvious Warhammer Fantasy. I really need to play that soon.
Good point and most definitely. I have some gaming buddies that have been big fans and played WFRP over the years. Played 2nd Ed and a few years ago tried 3rd Ed... Reading their game material and fiction, they definitely have a Lovecraftian aspect which can't be denied - weird horror, insanity and corruption, and widespread futility against the weird forces of evil. (Guess it deviates from HPL a bit on that point. :p )

Third Ed was a lot of fun, but linking it to special dice and cards was a bit questionable - artwork and craftsman ship are AMAZING, but having a "character box" may be a red flag that it may not be too sustainable. :p I think we played about a year and got a bit tired of it - actually, on of my players when I ran tried my own run for a bit just threw in the towel because he wasn't wasn't getting the system with all the cards and tokens... Personally, I think we could have had some fun if we kept to it, but... :p I really did like the dice mechanic - really appreciated the influx of disaster or righteous success mixed in with the dice rolls. Which I guess in turn made it pretty difficult for any online play without at specialty clients... But I digress....

Anyway, just giving WFRP a definite +++ for weird fantasy and dark horror - excellent material to play and pull from!

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Re: MUP 077 - Feedback Paralysis

Post by Shimmin Beg » Mon Feb 22, 2016 8:14 pm

Just been catching up on this episode, and Murph/Jon's segment on analysis paralysis when planning and writing struck a chord. As someone who cares about fleshing things out, I find it very easy to waste ages preparing NPCs, locations or explanations that never see use, in case the players ask. Often this is easier to work on than making the actual plot make sense, and that's partly why I retreat to it.

Because you can't predict what players will do or ask, writing for other people to use is particularly prone to this. You want to make sure the Keeper will know what you intended. A scenario I plan to run myself might just be a few pages of notes, NPC names and stuff I think would be cool (although I tend to format stuff up anyway). The scenario I'm probably finished writing and really hope to publish if anyone ever opens for submissions... is currently 60 freakin' pages. There's setting details people might not understand, and you have to explain NPCs in a lot more detail for someone else to use them.

Sometimes I wonder how much of this is necessary. Then I remember that in my beta-reading, someone wanted to know exactly which "_th Rifles" the stereotypical retired Colonel belonged to. And digging into military history was easier than racking my brain wondering how to cram in extra clues for the readers who said their players would run out of ideas, so I actually worked it out. The game and the source material favours interweaving real and fictional history, and in some ways that puts pressure on the writers.

I'm kind of doing the same thing right now, since I spent the last hour researching who might plausibly have the papers of a C17th Welsh-speaking scientist by the Gaslight era, but haven't yet worked out what the second half of the scenario is. And a long while before that pondering the exact in-game rationale for extradimensional horrors to work in a particular way mechanically. There's loads of decisions to make building plots, and because you're always cutting off possibilities, that feels dangerous. Much easier to titivate the descriptions, write a couple of handouts and leave the plot for later...

EDIT: wait, there's more, he just won't shut up!

Moving on... the section on "would like to see" stuff was cool. When it comes to covering new locations, one of the issues is always handling things sensitively. It's safe enough doing scenarios based on Lovecraft's work, British and American mythology, European classical mythology and so on because those are part of our culture and also nobody's really concerned about them. Writing about Africa, Asia, South America, even parts of Europe is more challenging because there are fewer writers who have the knowledge to handle the places, people and mythology accurately, and it's easy to come out with stereotypes and wild inaccuracies, or even genuinely offensive.

Native cultures in colonised places are even trickier, because drawing on those sources is often seen as cultural appropriation. The people best-placed to write sourcebooks about traditional American or Australian themes would be people with a strong personal connection to those cultures, who could do it most accurately - but whether they'd want to is another question. If your traditional culture is important to you, I can see being reluctant to turn it into gaming fodder for (let's be honest) a load of white folks, and particularly if that involves twisting traditional spiritual ideas to make them fit the Mythos. If anything you might be more inclined to write games that work with the traditions as they stand, and perhaps aimed at locals rather than at some guy in the UK.

And then there's the question of what you do about traditional beliefs and practices: decide they're irrelevant to maintain the Lovecraftian feel? decide it's game-mechanically valid at the cost of weakening the Lovecraftian feel? try to strike an awkward balance?

I'm not saying nobody else could write cool and evocative scenarios set in these locations, inspired by traditional ideas; but whether those would feel at all authentic to the locals is a different matter. In a very very minor way, it's like how some stories set in the UK (okay, London, it's always London) by American authors are cool, but also just bizarrely wrong - and vice versa I'm sure. Except there's so much British stuff out there that it's not doing any harm, and also my culture isn't historically oppressed.

That being said, I do think it would be amazing to have sourceboooks that covered topics well enough to play local people outside the Western world, encountering Mythos issues in the context of their own cultures and beliefs, along the lines of how Invictus works. A Pacific Islander take on Cthulhu would be fascinating.

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