Library update (9)

Last week I've received a parcel from one of my Yoggie fellows with OST from The Call of Cthulhu movie. Already listened to it countless times. Such a good, moody soundtrack.

In companion with that, yesterday I've received a parcel with Chaosium's second edition of Hastur Cycle. So this two will be splendid together someday. With little time I have now, many books I've purchased and was given to me, sometimes even forget about some of them, I've created "The List of Shame" where I catalog every book I own and didn't read. Now I can more easily choose my next reading.

Update. This post took me several days from writing it to posting it. In the meantime, I've received another parcel. This time with the first time of Disciples of Cthulhu from Chaosium also. Another one to "The List of Shame" I'm afraid. 

RPG Update (26)

The last couple of days was a whirlwind at Our house. It was because on the second of July our son was born. So, for the time being, we cannot play with other people, we've got so many more important things to do like changing diapers and so on. But Our hobby is strong with us and we love to create and expand what we do. As You know, now we are taking hiatus from the Horror on the Orient Express campaign also, but when we come back and play it to the last session, last death, last breath, I want to give something as a souvenir for my players. This is such a fun and interesting campaign, with everything we do to make it more immersive, that I decided to buy special USB sticks. Here they are, and on them, there will be every part of this campaign.

RPG Update (25)

Last two weeks I've run an adventure written by John Wick himself. It is "Temple of Bloody Goddess" (roughly translated) from the "Face to face" sourcebook of adventures for one Player and one Keeper. I've run it for two of my players (separately of course). It is a nice little scenario, last in the book but the first that I wanted to run. It is set in pirate times (what do You expect from John Wick himself?!) and is very nice in pacing and deadly as hell. So I'm going to run it one more time and then move to another one from this book.

The second RPG event for me is Sprawl Goons Upgraded - a little cyberpunk system I've encountered lately. Simple elegant and easy to learn. With the Augmented Reality sourcebook and two other expansions (I need to buy them yet), it is a very interesting alternative for coming in the Polish language Cyberpunk Red. Hope to play in this game in the next couple of weeks. 

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 (24)

 As an ending of my last cycle of gaming, I've run a beta test of the Miskatonic Repository scenario - The Black Tree of Cold Springs by talented Diego Batres. The great classic scenario for Call of Cthulhu. I do not want to spoil anything, so let me just say, that I've run it during 3 sessions, and it went well. The scenario has a good setup, is tight with the timeline, and has plenty of good sketched NPCs to interact with. The story is interesting, and suggested PCs are a nice change from typical Cthulhu PCs.

For the next cycle of gaming, with less time to prep for adventures, I've come up with the idea to run one on one adventures from a Polish scenario book I've mentioned earlier in my last year's Library Update - Twarzą w Twarz (Face to Face). So for the next three months, I will run a scenario for each of my players. I'm starting with The Temple of Blood Goddes, by no one other than John Wick of 7th Sea fame. What's in it? Pirates, monsters, lonely islands! Madness! Cannot wait to put my single players thru this. But for now, starting to preparing for this adventure. 

Library Update (7)

 As You may know, I'm a fan of solo playing. I'm trying many different styles of games for solo play, like board games (Arkham Files are one of the best for solo plays) also role-playing games, like Alone Against the Dark from Chaosium (cannot wait for translation into Polish language other adventures in that line - Alone Against the Frost and also Alone Against the Tide). As You can see my interest is rather narrow, so when I find Choose Cthulhu books on the Kickstarter couple of years ago, I just sighed and hope for some publisher to pick it up in Poland. My prayers to the Cthulhu and his kind were answered this year. Blackmonk Games just released the first book in this series - based on the most important for many of us tale by H.P. Lovecraft - Call of Cthulhu. Here it is in its blasphemous glory:

Now I just need to find time to read/play/create it for myself.

RPG Update (23)

It is almost a month since I started writing this post. So maybe now I will have the time and clear mind to do that.

 I think, that this post will be somewhat long. For my standard blog posts. It is about the Horror on the Orient Express campaign. But for the full view of the situation, I must go back in history for more than two decades, even to the earlier century. 

When we first play in this monster of a campaign, my Keeper invited one of my friends. But he didn't join that particular game. Years later he told me, that he was supposed to be Andre Coty - an art dealer from Paris, but in secret, he was supposed to be Comte Fenalic - one of the NPCs from that campaign. So this idea stuck with me for almost two decades. 

Back to last year. This notion of secret identity was so strong, that when I planned the new Horror on the Orient Express, I decided that every player has to have some secret. Something that will be nice to reveal during the game. When we created the character, we also created the secrets for them. During this 9 months-long campaign, some of them see the light of the day, another not yet. Doesn't matter. 

When I was planning the campaign, I also decided to have a core group of Investigators - 3 of them. 

My wife - she created Maria Francesca Ludewika Stefania Masseria - a NY socialite and law student, but in fact a daughter of one of the mob bosses of this city Mafia. Her father arranged her wedding, she was not so keen on this idea, so with nothing left to lose, she runs away. Then in London, she met with old friend prof Julius Smith. Her secret - being the daughter of a mob boss.

Maria Francesca Ludewika Stefania Masseria

One of my first players - he created a William Henry Rowlinsan character, a professor of archeology, loosely based on real professor Rowlinsan. His secret is being a member of the secret society of people who know the world isn't what is at a first glance. He also knows the professor.

William Henry Rowlinsan

His wife - she created a Russian medium - Tamara Diatlowa, who in secret is a lost daughter of Car Nikolaj. Living in London quiet life since escaping from Russia. She knows professor Smith since coming to this country. 

Tamara Diatlowa

But  I also invited others to join the game as a more support cast (using tv language). From the start, I decided to plan their role and told them about that. Everyone agrees with that idea. Firstly I invited the original player from long ago, he eventually had a chance to play Andre Coty (aka Comte Fenalik), the second of my friends agreed to play a role of a NY mob boss son (in the hunt for one of my core group investigators - You know who). Andre joins after the Paris chapter and disappears in the Venice chapter.

Andre Coty

 In the Trieste chapter, our heroes are joined by Frediano Buratti (second of my players).

Frediano Buratti

So... last Sunday during the Sofia chapter couple of these secret side stories come to a very enjoyable climax. Only girls in the core group told each other their secrets. So when Frediano joins the group, Maria and he have an affair.  When everything is going great in Sofia, when they obtain the head of Simulacrum and find lost in Venice chapter Andre Coty and get on the train nobody expects what happened next. I talk before the session with both support players, laid out my plan. So the son of the mob boss needs to confirm the origin of his mistress and then kill her. But at the same time, Andre Coty (Comte) listens to everything and joins the couple. Everything went just like in clockwork. Firstly in the steamy scene, Maria reveals her secret to Frediano, and he attacks her - stabbing her with a knife, then, when she screams everyone comes running to her compartment. Andre is at the scene first and attacks with abnormal strength and speed, ripping Frediano apart with bare hands. He says a couple of words and disappears in front of the two remaining players. The shock and surprise on everyone's faces were one of the most enjoyable experiences in my whole RPG life. I think that this will be the most memorable moment of this entire campaign. 

Uch! I hope You understand what I was hoping to write here. And here I am: 

Sinister Keeper waiting for my players to arrive!