Role Playing Public Radio » call of cthulhu

RPPR Episode 69: Critique of Cthulhu

Ross — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:45:45 +0000

News: The Killsplosion alpha rules are out! If you contributed to the ransom and selected playtesting as a reward, you should have them.

Also, we have a RPPR Minecraft server. Check it out on Jan 22 3 to 5 pm CST for our first RPPR Minecraft event!

Synopsis: Call of Cthulhu is an institution of role playing, but few gamers truly appreciate it for what it is. Tom, Caleb and I break down the game mechanics, meta-game issues and themes of the Cthulhu Mythos in order to explain the good, bad and ugly of this venerable game. Many players dismiss Call of Cthulhu as a very rigid and narrowly focused game, but it offers a far richer gaming experience if you know how to play and more importantly run this game right!. Tom also has a letter, shout outs and an anecdote!

Shout outs

Instant City: A study in urban sprawl, globalization and politics.
The Tunnel: Freaky horror movie with an urban exploration angle.
Maniac Mansion 2: A classic adventure game with a twisted sense of humor.
Horse ebooks: The funniest twitter account in existence. Too many horses. Throw a horse away.
Fake iphone text: Generate iphone conversations as a handout in games.
Parker: The Outfit: Hardboiled crime graphic novel. Great art and dialogue.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: IT IS RUINED FOREVER WTF
The Movies: A video game about making movies. ACTION
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Gary Oldman says so much in so few words. Brilliant spy movie.

Music: What A Friend We Have In Cthulhu by the Fump and Cthulhu is my co-pilot by Smart Bomb Radio

Unspeakable! A new podcast for Call of Cthulhu

Ross — Tue, 31 May 2011 21:27:30 +0000

I collaborated with Shane Ivey (publisher of Arc Dream) and Toren Atkinson (The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets) to create a new Call of Cthulhu monthly podcast. We will talk about gaming in CoC, Cthulhu mythos related news and review games as well as interview notable designers and writers. We talk to John Tynes, one of the creators of Delta Green, in our first episode. Check it out here!

Get Aaron to Gencon Kickstarter!

Ross — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:49:48 +0000

If you’re hungering for new AP episodes and want to find out how Aaron does as a CoC keeper, contribute today!

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Interview with Adam Scott Glancy of Pagan Publishing

Ross — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 20:50:28 +0000

Adam Scott Glancy is one of the co-authors of Delta Green and is the man behind Pagan Publishing. I talked to him over Skype about the newest Delta Green book, Targets of Opportunity, a collection of new DG antagonist groups and M-EPIC, a Canadian anti-mythos organization. We also talk about the resurrection of The Unspeakable Oath, the legendary Call of Cthulhu magazine, a scenario about templar zombies and their mastery of the Dewey Decimal system and advice for running Call of Cthulhu for new keepers. This is a long interview but well worth the listen.

RPPR Actual Play: Call of Cthulhu – Divine Fire playtest 2

Ross — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:11:27 +0000

A group of prisoners has been shipped to a remote laboratory in Nazi Germany during the final days of World War 2. But when they arrive, their guards disappear and they are left to their own devices. The lab is deep within the wilderness and a raging snowstorm makes escape on foot impossible. What happened to the lab’s personnel and what is still inside? Find out in Tom’s second playtest of Divine Fire, a WW2 Call of Cthulhu scenario.

RPPR Episode 36: Gencon 2009 Wrapup

Ross — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 03:56:07 +0000

We’re back from Gencon and we’ve gathered our thoughts. It was an exhausting, exhilarating and expensive four days but well worth it. We cover everything from the trip to Indy, hotels, to the actual games we played or ran and our purchases. Tom tried out a few official games while I ran seven games, including an after hours Call of Cthulhu game. Of course the big news is that we played in a 2 part, 12 hour WW1 CoC scenario run by Adam Scott Glancy of Pagan Publishing. It was suitably epic. On top of that, we have some tips for all you con-goers including a few of my hints on running games at a con.

Shout-Outs

Eclipse Phase: Transhumanist Sci-Fi Horror Rpg. Very awesome, very pretty and well worth a look.
Mecha & Manga: Mutants and Masterminds Animu setting book. If you want school girl ninjas and giant robots in M&M, try this.
Shotgun Diaries: John Wick’s zombie survival horror rules-lite rpg. No link because there’s no website for the game.
Shard: High-concept fantasy furry rpg.
Zombie Cinema: A story game about zombies, sold in a VHS box. Very cool.
Hills Rise Wild: Pagan Publishing’s Cthulhu Mythos board game.
Mysteries of Mesoamerica: A Call of Cthulhu 1920s sourcebook for central america and has 4 scenarios.
Hobocon: A documentary about some gamers trying to survive Gencon with no cash and no plan.
Dragon Magazine Annual 2009: A collection of some of WOTC’s best stuff from Dragon magazine. Great material on kobolds and more
Grim Wars: A new setting for Wild Talents written by Greg Stolze and Ken Hite.
Damnation City: A nWoD sourcebook for cities – building your own, pulling the strings and so on.
America the Audiobook: Hilarious audiobook from the Daily Show.
I’m America and So Can You: Another funny audiobook, this one from Stephen Colbert.

Music: Untitled song from Click Clack Kaboom.

RPPR Actual Play: Tom’s Call of Cthulhu WW2 playtest

Ross — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:26:39 +0000

Tom, the co-host of RPPR has long since been a featured player in the actual plays but the table have now been turned. In his first ever game of Call of Cthulhu, he pits a group of German soldiers against the horrors of a Nazi experiment gone wrong. In the winter. In a remote base. With little chance of escaping. Thanks a lot Tom.

RPPR Episode 32: Show and Tell – Maps and Minis

Ross — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:38:34 +0000

Inspired by our recent 4th edition D&D campaign, Tom and I discuss the usage of maps, miniatures and other props and gimmicks in tabletop games. While some games like Dungeons and Dragons nessecitate at least using some of these add-ons and others like Call of Cthulhu practically drown players in handouts, so where should you draw the line? How much is too much and when do they take away from the game instead of enhancing it? We also talk about our Gencon 09 plans and the New World Primer. Funny thing, we record this episode before the primer came out. Instead of a letter, Tom reads some stuff written by his friend Andy and we have the most insane anecdote ever…The Chaplin Incident as related to us by Adam Scott Glancy of Pagan Publishing.

Favorite RPPR Forums Threads:

Shout Outs

M-51 Engineer’s Bag - a neat bag suitable for hauling gaming materials like maps and minis
Henry Rollins Show: Season One – Tom wuvs Henry Rollins.
The Burrowers - a twisted western horror movie that asks the question: what’s worse – man eating predatory monsters or us?
Black Adder Complete Collector’s Set – Nerd out to great brit comedy about war, politics and history.
Splinter - another new and freaky horror movie with a horrific and original monster besieging 4 trapped survivors.
Level Up Magazine - 4E gaming goodness for only 2 bucks an issue.

Music GooTube Conspiracy by Nalts

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RPPR Actual Play: Call of Cthulhu – Wrath of Cthulhu Game 73

Ross — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 02:44:48 +0000

For the last year, I have been writing and running a massive Call of Cthulhu campaign. I have not breathed a word about it so I could unleash it to the world in one massive release. However, everything fell apart in the last session. I will post this as a warning to never give the players what they want. I deleted all of my notes and game recordings in a fit of rage so don’t bother asking about them either.

P.S. Check out the New World Campaign Primer Ransom if you haven’t already.

RPPR Actual Play: Call of Cthulhu – A Murder of Crows

Ross — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 23:34:47 +0000

There is trouble in Bethlehem….

Thousands of crows have taken roost in the woods surrounding Bethlehem, NH, mercilessly attacking anyone who tries to enter the forest. The human population is outnumbered more than ten-to-one, and the birds are growing more bold every day. Can the investigators solve the mystery behind this unnatural infestation? Can they save the town of Bethlehem from a disaster of biblical proportions?

Murder of Crows contains everything a Call of Cthulhu group needs for an evening’s worth of Mythos-inspired fun, including pregenerated characters. It is the first in an innovative new series of Call of Cthulhu scenarios and supplements from Super Genius Games.

This scenario was recorded at ShaunCon, so it’s a bit noisy. Fortunately our Zoom H2 recorder managed to get most of the voices of the players fialry well.

Keeper: Jon Hook

Buy the scenario at RPG Now

Actual Play: Call of Cthulhu – Dig to Victory!

Ross — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:31:02 +0000

Trench warfare in World War 1 was horrific. Millions died from disease, chemical weapons, barbed wire, machine guns and other forms of industrialized death. However, the British tunnelers dug massive underground systems to support the soldiers and to undermine German trenches. In this scenario, a few men from the 117th tunneling company found themselves tunneling to something far more dangerous than the Germans.

This is a playtest for an upcoming book by Pagan Publishing and was run at Gencon 2008.
Keeper: Adam Scott Glancy
Players: Greg Stolze
Ross Payton
Tom Church
Allan Goddall
Kevin Pezzano

RPPR Episode 19: Gencon 2008 Wrapup

Ross — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:24:25 +0000

We’re back from the best four days of gaming! We talk about everything from the new games premiering at Gencon to the awesome people we met to the games we played or ran. It was a blast and we look forward to next year. Some of the highlights this year include meeting Dave Arneson and getting a first edition of Blackmoor autographed, interviewing quite a few game designers and writers, playtesting a new Call of Cthulhu scenario from Pagan Press (which we recorded and will post to the podcast! stay tuned for that) hanging out with gamers and podcasters, sleeping very little and eating less and running Monsters and Other Childish Things. We will post our interviews on a regular basis for the next month or so.

Games and books mentioned:

Monsterpocalypse
Monsters and Other Childish Things and my supplement for it: A Curriculum of Conspiracy now in print!
Mutant City Blues
GUMSHOE/Trail of Cthulhu/Esoterrorists/Fear Itself
Freaky Creatures
Pirates of the Burning Sea
Hunter the Vigil
Goodman Games’ new 4E modules
Beneath Flanders Field: The Tunnelers of WW1 1914-1918

Music: The Sword of Fire by Studiomig.

Actual Play: The End of the World as we know it?

Ross — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:54:33 +0000

Call of Cthulhu One Shot: The End of the World as we know it?
Game run by Ross Payton

Players: Tom, Jason and Paul

Synopsis: This is a bit of an experimental game. Instead of the PCs being heroic investigators trying to save the world from evil, they are the leaders of a Midwestern city as the Apocalypse starts. Can they save civilization from rampaging cultists, ghouls, and other disasters? Will they trust the rag tag band of investigators who claim they alone know the secret truth and rave about gods and demons? Will they make stupid jokes at my expense? Find out in The End of the World as we know it.

Actual Play: Delta Green Eyes Only – A Night on Owlshead Mountain

Ross — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 20:20:58 +0000

Keeper: Ross Payton
Players: Tom Church, Jon and Katie Carter, Matt Howell, Meriam, and Paul

You are cordially invited to a night at the opera.

“A Night on Owlshead Mountain is a Delta Green adventure that pits investigators against the deadly, lingering aftereffects of Mi-Go activity in rural Vermont.

The long awaited Delta Green supplement, Eyes Only is finally out. The RPPR crew tries out one of the scenarios as a one shot session.

Be seeing you.