Another campaign on the event horizon

I've waited for this parcel for a long time. But my waiting is over. My Arkham Advertiser from 1928 is at last in my hands. Dean Engelhardt made such a wonderful handout and built around it so many adventures that it will be a nice base for an Arkham-based campaign. For now, it will wait a bit, for the right time, but I will run it sometime in the future. You should check Cthulhu Reborn definitely! There are great scenarios there and other, sometimes free stuff!

Here is the sourcebook.

Here is the handout itself.

Library Update (8)

 After a couple of games of Call of Cthulhu in which I die after only 6 paragraphs (my personal record!), my mailman brought me another book. This time is a campaign for Call of Cthulhu from Polish publisher - Dwie z Tysiąca (Two out of a Thousand). I'm just starting to reading it, but after the blurb on the last page I know, that everything is set in Egypt and also ties with the Mask of Nyarlathotep campaign (ss if that campaign needs more materials...). So I'm delving into that for now. Maybe it will be my next big campaign? IT is of course smaller than the aforementioned Masks or Horror on the Orient Express, but I can somehow glue to it Death in Luxor or other Egypt adventures. If I could have this campaign when I was running Pulp Egypt it would be a different, bigger experience. I will ask players what they want to play next. Maybe I will go back to Heroes of Rura-Tonga. And then the survivors will come to Egypt? So many options! As a side note: I'm reading it parallel to A means to freedom - Letters of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. Lots of good reading ahead of me for a time being.

RPG Update (22)

Warning! This blogpost includes spoilers for the Horror on the Orient Express campaign!

My last entry about the Horror on the Orient Express campaign I run for some time now was one month ago exactly - on the 7th of February. After this time I can say, that I was so wrong! But let me explain.  I said that the Trieste chapter was one of the most enjoyable parts of this campaign. Well, the Zagreb and Belgrade chapters were even more fun and scary at the same time. First on its heavy dreamlands style with Ligottis touch. And at the same time, I've received Thomas Liggoti's book, the first print in Poland "Songs of the dead dreamer" with the story on which this chapter was based on. 

So it went well. The great atmosphere from the beginning and increasing pace during the climax of this adventure were very pleasing. One of my players lose his scull in Zagreb, but we play in Pulp mode, so he lost lots of Sanity points, but he is traveling further. 

Then, after a short train trip, my players landed in Belgrade. From my perspective, the city part of this chapter was not so exciting. But after players went to the bazaar and buy the whole coffin (for Simulacrum) of Rakia, well that evening was... Interesting. After that came Orasak with Granny and her house. It was one of the most enjoyable parts of this campaign to date. I know, I know, I'm repeating myself. But what can I do? It is true! So now I'm prepping for Sophia's chapter. It will be wild!

RPG Update (20)

Ah! The last two Sundays we ended with Horror on the Orient Express sessions. This time our group went to Trieste. What an adventure! What a city, what an atmosphere and what excitement! We used for the first time the Medium skill of one of our Player Characters here, to make contact with one of the plot points (no spoilers). So we eventually almost recreated a seance! Then we move up with the story. The abandoned villa, the caves... The shrieking Bora wind! I know, I know, too many exclamation marks. But it was one of the most enjoyable parts of this campaign to date. Cannot wait to run another chapter! 

Library Update (6) - Christmas Haul

In Poland, we have Christmas Eve, when we sit with our families eating sumptuous supper and find presents under the Christmas tree. This is a magical time for all of us and in the light of the whole year 2020, it is something calming, that we can meet with our family around the table in good health. This is a privilege which not everybody has. So we gather and celebrate and thanks for that. After that time there is a moment for presents. This year I found many things that make me smile on my face. 

Cthulhu Gloom! At last!

Nightmare Tales from H.P. Blavatsky

The Comming Race by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Songs of a Dead Dreamer by Thomas Ligotti 

...and 10 adventures for one Keeper and one Player for Call of Cthulhu!

I must say I've got one problem. Big problem. I do not know what to start reading first. And this is a problem I can live with! Hope You only have such problems!

Marry Christmas Everyone!

RPG Update (16)

Well, well, well... For the first time ever, my session counter is showing me 100 sessions since the start of this year. This is the first time in my gaming history, that I achieve such a big number. I've got big plans for this year. First I wanted to play in Cyberpunk 2020 for the whole year, but the first lockdown created a vacuum I filled with the session so after the first 4 months of this year I've got enough. For the next two months, I run a couple of Delta Green adventures and played in some, then I've got three beautiful months with Call of Cthulhu in a 1920s setting before I and my group went back to Cyberpunk 2020 again to celebrate this very special for this game year. I've also started playing in some solo RPG that I counted also for this matter, some Viewscream and some Dungeon and Dragons. I've also started the elephant in the room - Horror on the Orient Express. So the year isn't over yet, I've got 100 sessions under my belt and I know it will take another world-spanning disaster to recreate that number. Or maybe not? Don't get me wrong, I hate what happened, not happy about it. But it changes so many things in Our lives. Maybe it changes our hobby also? Maybe online RPGs are the future from now on? It is a more convenient way of playing for some people. I miss the meatspace games, the face to face roleplaying. But for now, we cannot do this. So we play online. For the foreseen future. 100! Wow! One friggin hundred sessions! Maybe for some of You, this is nothing unusual, but for me, this is an achievement, that I never thought I achieve. That's it for now. I'm now prepping the Venezia chapter of Horror on The Orient Express. The in the coming weeks of 2020 I will end my story arc of Cyberpunk - Bielitz City 2020 and then... We will see! Stay strong! Stay safe!

RPG Update (12)

Since my last post, We played many games. But unfortunately, I've got new work hours and they are killing my desire to write something here. Today is the first day with relatively more free time.  So I've jumped back to this space.

First of all, we played in 5 sessions of Our Cyberpunk corner of the Earth - Bielitz City 2020. This is Our most successful campaign. We've got always a minimum of 3 players. But mostly 4 or even 5. The story is my own and its pacing is slow but steady.  Cannot wait for the
next session!

Since the last post, we played in 2 sessions of Horror on the Orient Express. Players in this pulp campaign just exit dreaming Lozanne and now are going to board the train. Next stop Mediolan! Cannot wait to play the next session also. Almost 20 years ago this was the last stop for the earlier group. 

For Hell-o-ween, as we called it, we played in Viewscream RPG. This time with 6 players, but one of them was a ghost. The scenario was for five players but we modified it a little bit. It was spooky to the end, but all the players were happy after the session.

Depending on when the lockdown occurs in my country we will see what happens next. Stay safe, stay strong everybody!

100!

If the blogger site is right, this is Our 100 post! Wow! 100 already! Hurray! It is a special occasion, very special to be honest because I never thought that I will be so determined. Also, I never thought that I will have so many things to write about for every one of these 100 posts! Thank You to everyone who visits this blog!

In other news, I recently (just last week) ended my three months set of Call of Cthulhu roleplaying. I ended my Three Kings mini-campaign with one group. It was a bloody massacre in castle Karlstein. Yep, they survive but barely.

Another closing moment was when I run the second part of  Picture in a Silver Frame from John Hook. This great scenario is a good closing adventure for many reasons, but for me is also good goodbye (for a time being), with developments form this game, in the future one and only Player Character will be something new in my Call of Cthulhu games. I will not spoil it here. You have to trust me on this. 

(I know that my scenario should be named Picture in a Golden Frame)

Now I'm planning another three months of playing. This time it will be Cyberpunk 2020. The year is appropriate, so how can I not to prey on it? So for the next three months, it will be all neon, cybernetics, retro-future (We are playing using old rules), and of course synthwave music. Yeah, Choombas!

In Our boardgame front, we just recently buy Cthulhu - Death May Die, and it is a monster of a game in any meaning of this word. It is big, it is deadly, and hard to win. Just like a game with Cthulhu in the title should be. Here are pictures from unboxing.

The second and the final purchase is DOOM The  Board Game. First time in a long, long time we bought game where there is PvP mechanics. So this will be the only place and I say the only where will be a doomestic violence in Our home.  

One thing that is making me shiver is the number of minis to paint...

So that's it for now. 100 posts from now. Wonder in what We will be playing. But for now. Stay safe!

RPG Update (10)

 It is almost a month and a half since I wrote something here. During that time I spend three weeks renovating my new flat, then I stared new work and my child started her first class. It was a tumultuous time. With not so much free time for me. But I've managed to squeeze some time for RPGs.

Achtung! Cthulhu continued with one session, during that game they move from the resistance base to the forest where they look for Father Andrzej. Cannot wait for the next time we will play, maybe next week. There is a chance for a big finale. 

My Horror on the Orient Express campaign started nicely. I'm shocked by the pace of this game. Players are so good and foresight that the manage to move in extra pace from London to Paris and now they are leaving Paris. They manage to not delve in any additional stuff but they run straight to the most important events. It is pleasure to run this game. On the blog front, I will start Our page in the second half of this month.

I've got a chance to run two additional adventures for two different players. Two scenarios from John Hooks extras from the last Age of Cthulhu Kickstarter. They are superb scenarios.

After I wrote this up I thinking that it wasn't so bad after all. But back to normalcy is even better.

RPG Update (9)

Last week's second session was the first part of Act 2 from Three Kings.  Do not know why, but it turns out more in the vein of Inglorious Bastards then anything else. Even if I wanted to make it more gritty and down two earth, actions of my players created this kind of over the top, pulp, bloody episode. It was much fun, but for our next session, I need to take them somewhere much darker. So maybe it was necessary to give them something lighter in tone? Cannot wait to unleash on them the true horror of Castle Karlstein!

RPG Update (8)

Another week comes with another nice game of classic Call of Cthulhu. This time two of my players decided to delve into Arkham secrets. For the first time since one of my friends gave me Miskatonic University sourcebook - many, many years ago, I've rediscovered little adventure on the back of the book, called "A little knowledge". It is a simple scenario, but different in some points from other adventures in this haunted town. It is easy to do prep and heavy on the roleplaying aspect of the game. Inside You can find references to two H.P.L. stories and during the game, I made another one. It was a fun little adventure for one session, but You could easily make it longer. Below I show You NPC portraits from this adventure.

RPG Update (8)

On 16 of this month, I've got a pleasure to run a little adventure for one of my players. It was the second scenario from John Hook's Kickstarter for Age of Cthulhu IX.  It was first published but I choose not to use it as the first adventure in our new little campaign based on Arkham and area near this haunted town. 

Spoilers for Pickpocket by John Hook

My friends PC - Dr. Ruppert Price is healing from the recent encounter with Cat from Saturn (scenario The Silent Clowder). But after coming back to work he has more clients than ever before. After very long and stressful day, he goes to Anthon's Restaurant. After good supper, he chooses to walk home, and on the street, he became a victim of a pickpocket. Following this little urchin to an abandoned factory he catches him and sees that is something wrong. The boy is worried about his older brother, who went missing in nearby sewage. Dr. Price decides to help little boy...

This adventure may end up in many ways. One of them can even generate another adventure, but this time in Valley of Pnath in Dreamlands! Unfortunately, my friend didn't go that way. So we stick to good old Arkham. But in this case, I can use all of my Arkham materials, like maps and big old supplement by Keith Herber! It was a good little game...

These are those two little urchins...

RPG Update (7)

So yesterday I've run the first act of Three King's adventure for Achtung! Cthulhu. It was fun and ended in a good cliffhanger, so my players will be waiting for the next session eagerly. For some Achtung! Cthulhu fun I have waited a couple of years, but now, with a group that likes military history, only time is a limit!

Spoilers for Three Kings below!

The first act was short and sweet. They meet up in Section D headquarters, where they meet with their boss and with the representative of Czech Military Intelligence. After this briefing PCs went to pack for the mission. Then they went to a military airport, they got into the plane and fly over the Karlstein area. Then they parachute themselves off the plane and land in the woody area without any trouble.

After night first encounter with Heer soldiers, they hide deeper in the woods and wait till morning. But early in the morning, they heard something. It was a group of Heer soldiers with some prisoners. The situation was dire for these prisoners, so our group had to decide to stay undetected or let these innocent people die. They choose to throw a hand grenade into soldiers. The grenade went off! This was the end of the first session.

Do not why, but this adventure reminded me Wolfenstein games, especially Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Wolfenstein from 2009 and of course the granddaddy of all FFPs - Wolfenstein 3D. Maybe somewhere they meet some other agent? Called B.J.?

RPG Update (6)

After almost three months of nonstop playing we got ourselves a week off. After that, I run the last part of "The Last Equation" for one of my groups and for another solo player recreated "Bestow" by Ross Payton of RPPR fame. It was a cool farewell for the Delta Green universe for some time. To keep with my schedule of playing in one game for three months in a year. Why You ask? The answer is simple - not to become bored with one world we play at. With some exceptions of course (Masks of Nyarlathotep!). So we decided we should play some classic Cthulhu. We didn't play in the Classic Period in a long, long time. So...

For one player I've run "The Silent Clowder" by John Hook. This scenario was a part of the Age of Cthulhu IX Kickstarter, but I never use it anywhere. But after this episode... What can I say? It was a glorious comeback to Arkham. We used first time maps of this haunted city from 7th edition Kickstarter. We had a great time. Looking forward to running another of these scenarios, I've got three more and then maybe Monophobia?

For two players who are more military-oriented, I dig up an Achtung! Cthulhu scenario Three Kings - so we are starting next week with this adventure. Hope to have some WWII action finally! One other scenario in that period I've ever run was The Colony for Delta Green. So I'm very excited about this game.

What about Heroes of Rura-Tonga? I've got to postponed it to next year probably. I will create other handouts for this campaign, but for now, I've got to concentrate on another endeavor. After some talks with one of my first players and my wife, we decided to recreate a campaign we played some twenty-one or two years ago! We never close this campaign, but after so much time we are ready to start it anew. So my experience from creating so much fun handouts for Heroes will be put in good use starting prepping for Horror on the Orient Express. I will use one and only Polish translation of this campaign from more than 20 years ago. Real Life commitments create opportunities to play in it only once a month. So the bigger and surely better last edition is not for us, with all these addon scenarios. But we are playing in a classical period wardrobe. With that in mind, we decided to create another blog dedicated to this topic. It will be in English and Polish language. Hope we can drive from London to Istambul with our friends. We will see!

Heroes of Rura-Tonga (6)

Last week we were changing flats. So there was pure chaos for more than a week. To this day I cannot find some stuff. But the Rura-Tonga box is safe and sound. With not much time on my hand, I decided to create something little but fun and useful. Let me say some backstory for this particular piece of handouts.
During our very first Pulp Egypt game sole PC in the mids of battle with two alive statues, reminded himself that he knows two spells. One simple Voor Sign, but the other named Create the Barrier of Naach-Tith was a powerful defensive spell, that saved him and others around him, many times. This was one of the things that Mike learned while fighting with minions of Nyarlathotep. I've run Masks with Pulp Cthulhu mechanics so I decided that PC can and will probably learn some spells. So in that first tomb, we stop the action and started looking for these two spells in The Grand Grimoire of Cthulhu Mythos Magic and in Call of Cthulhu Rulebook and in my old edition of Masks of Nyarlathotep. So this time I said nevermore! I took the spells from the book and printed them o one side and on the other, I created a quasi-old page that can contain the text of the spell. So it will be in possession of my wife's character. Every time she will use one of them, she just takes it and read it. Consequently, with other spells I will do the same. A simple method for not leaf through rulebooks during a game. How do You like it?

Frontpage with quasi original pictograms.

Second page with the real mechanics of things.

Heroes of Rura-Tonga (4)

With all this social distancing around us, some of my plans go to hell. One of them was printing big maps for upcoming Heroes of Rura-Tonga pulp campaign. But being lockdown in my home gives me too much time and too much opportunities to delve into some handcrafting handouts. First of all, I've created the cover for Heroes box:

Nothing fancy, but it will separate it from other boxes. Then I started to think about maps. In Sourcebook and additional adventures got them nice and clean. But for my game, I want something different. More maps style with grid and worn down look. So I use my MSPaintFoo to create these maps. Of course, I created an old paper with tea and coffee, then printed on it. So with no furder ado:

The box is getting somewhat crowded.

Map of Rura-Tonga.

Another map

and another map

and another...

So I think that James "Sparky" Jones will have cartography skills. Or maybe somebody else from the crew or from town? Maybe You can tell me? And maybe someone will know how to make it even more realistic? Till next time!

I was so wrong!

Last year I said that it was maybe a peak of gaming in this little post. How I was wrong! Last week I run 4 sessions (3 of Cyberpunk 2020 - year oblige to run some scenarios in that world/system, 1 of Call of Cthulhu splendid free scenario Lightless Beacon). Some players joined me for the first time in years, others got a chance to first time encounter truly Lovecraftian Horror on Beacon Island. If there is a good side to this difficult situation, You may say, that online gaming is going strong these days. For better or worse it will change how we roll eventually.

P.S. Works on Heroes of Rura-Tonga are going well!

Heroes of Rura-Tonga (2)

I'm slowly reading scenarios. Very slowly because I want to make first notes from them, sometimes go some rabbit hole, with the subject of the scenario. So it is a long but very enjoyable process. I've also extracted maps from the main pdf and from adventures. So in a week or so I will start working on them too. Here is the current status of my Rura Tonga Box:

Everything I'm currently working on is on this pen drive, with some inspirational music. Especially this little bit: Abyss - Adventure Music. For me, it is going to be the main theme of this campaign. Anyone got other inspirational music I can use? I will gladly listen to it! And the second two additions to my little box are:

Two Citadel Paints and two toothbrushes? Wait, what? No, sadly I'm not going with my one player to Rura-Tonga. This is for something I've got in mind after reading the first chapters of the main book. So... Stay tuned for more!

Waiting for Angel

Last year we play in the Pulp Egypt campaign, but after that, I've got one more scenario to run, but it didn't happen. This is one of my favorite scenarios from the past. It was in Fearful Passages by Chaosium, but for me, it was first truly Pulp Experience some 25 years ago. I'm talking about Armored Angels adventure. I've run it a couple of times back in the day, but for a long time, I forget about it. After a splendid review from Seth Skorkowsky, I've decided to tie in this scenario as part of the history of my wife's Pulp Hero - Mike. In Mike's timeline this will be after the end of Pulp Egypt campaign, but before Waiting for The Hurricane (form Pulp Cthulhu book). But what is a game without a good handout? I find on the net the paper model of an armored car that Mike will be using in this adventure and creat it. Lately, We get a lightbox for macro pictures, so here it is in all his armored glory:

P.S. Exciting news about Heroes of Rura-Tonga in the near future.