Caleb is a mad genius (or Yet Another Fan Club Thread)

[Gorkamorka]

Caleb is on another recorded Panel from GenCon 2015
Here: http://www.genesisoflegend.com/2015/08/episode66/

[CADmonkey]

Caleb is on another recorded Panel from GenCon 2015
Here: http://www.genesisoflegend.com/2015/08/episode66/

I do have to disagree with one thing that Caleb said on that panel.  I think that a The Back Of The Turtle Fate rpg could be interesting.  I could try playing Sonny: Wham! Wham!, Hammer! Hammer!

[Jacko]

I wanted to give my gaming group a little taste of Stokes goodness before we dive into a Red Markets playtest so we're doing The Dangers of Fraternization and it's been a hit so far.  They're loving the ADW system and the horrible people their characters are. 

[Morbid]

Office hours were slow so I combined a saying that Caleb mentions on GDW (very relevant for grad school as well as game design) with a somewhat related cover image.

http://imgur.com/Shm3Nda

[trinite]

God's Teeth Chapter 1, Go Forth just dropped. It should remind everyone again of who the master of horror gaming is. Hats off to you, sir.

[The Lost Carol]

God's Teeth... Good God, God's Teeth. I wanna talk spoilers, but don't know if this is the place. The only thing I'll say is I thought I came to the scariest thing, then Caleb kept elevating it. The only game that scared me was Preemptive Revenge, but this just sits with you afterwards. And we're only a third of the way in. Instant classic.

I wonder if he has pitched this to Arc Dream? I know Red Markets is the main burner, but even only one ep in and this seems to be the perfect way to introduce Delta Green II. The (deserved, no matter what the posters on the AP site say) trigger warning I can understand why it might be questionable, but this game is what DG is all about.

[Kemlin Dragos]

This and Lover in the Ice are two great ways to initiate new players and PC's into Delta Green. So fantastically well written.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Twisting H]

Just finished Red Thoughts.  Fantastic series.  Well roleplayed by all and the primal concept will be churning in my mind for some time.

I am reminded of another roleplaying book that had a different take on teeth and hunger from a primal perspective.  In the Old World of Darkness (yes I know you have very good reason to run screaming from the thread Caleb) there was a book Kithbook: Redcaps from the Changeling the Dreaming line. It was written by Rich Dansky.

As a bit of explanation, in Changeling the Dreaming, players chose a character who was both human and had a faerie soul.  Essentially this means they had a physical body but they could also interact with a dimension called "the Dreaming" sort of like a virtual reality overlay on the physical world.  The Dreaming dimension was created by the hopes, dreams, fears and nightmares of humanity.   The faerie soul of each Changeling was created in the antediluvian past by the same forces of human belief.

Redcaps were one type of faerie ("kith" thus "kithbook") that traced their lineage from stories like the hungry Giant in Jack in the Beanstalk, river hags, legends of cannibal Picts and entities like Rawhead Bloody Bones.

Mechanically, Redcaps had the ability to eat and digest anything no matter what material if they spent a point of magic. Roleplaying wise, except for one round after the use of this consumption they were always hungry.

Kithbook: Redcaps begins with the following piece of fiction.

A Memory of Teeth

Being a Tale of How the Redcaps Got Their Bite...In a Way.

"What can you remember?" asked the old man of the boy. He was ancient, the old man was, with arms like oak driftwood that had been too long at sea. He had a beard, ragged and white, that spilled down from his long chin like a waterfall, and he had strong hand that looked like they could wring tears from a stone.  His mouth was wide and his smile was cold, and he wore a battered hat the color of rust on his head.  He sat on a boulder in on of the wild places of the world, looking out over a valley carpeted in trees wearing red and orange leaves, and his gaze passed over the boy like the brush of a forgetful ghost.

The boy sat at the base of the boulder and looked up at the old man.  He was small and wiry, and had the same cruel features that the old man on the stone did.  He, too, had strong arms and strong hands, but his cap was bright and new.

"I remember my birthday," the boy said, "When the other childlings came to play with me, and the duke cut my cake with his sword, and let me have the first piece.  There were musicians there, and dancers.  I remember that, and I remember they gave me a songbird as a gift.  They asked me what I had done with it later, and I told them that I had set it free.  They believed me."

The old man nodded, once. "That's good, that's a fine start. But that's what you remember, Alaric. You-as-you-are-now. What do you remember?"

The boy Alaric looked thoughtful for a moment. "I remember when I when I was small," he said, and shifted where he sat. "I was always hungry. Never cold, but always hungry. I learned not to cry, though.  It never helped to cry.  Instead, I learned to wait."

The old man flicked a piece of moss from the stone, the only sign of his impatience. "Impressive," he said, "but not what I am asking. Go past who you are, Alaric.  Think about what you are.  Think about where you came from, why you are what you are now.  Where did those teeth come from, Alaric? Who game them to you?" And with that, the old man smiled a crooked smile that showed a palisade of crooked fangs.

"I remember..." the boy said uncertainly, and stopped.

"Yes?" the old man breathed, barely audible. "Tell me, boy, tell me what you know deep in your bones."

"I remember the dark," Alaric said.  "I remember the dark and the cold of the tower, and looking out of the one window.  There was a ladder made of rope, but it had rotted away and I couldn't leave. So I had to call them up." Alaric's breathing was shallow, and the voice he spoke in had a rasp to it like a battered hacksaw, drawn across stone.  His eyes were open, but they didn't see the old man.  "They'd find a way. They'd always find a way."

"And then what?"

"And then...I don't remember."

The old man shook his head.  "You don't want to remember, that's what it is, boy. Deep down you know, though. Deep down you know. So go back again," he said. "Further."

The boy's breathing was labored now, and old man's wheeze.  His eyes had gone pure black, without pupil or iris. "I remember the old times.  We were in the rivers, then, and we'd reach up to grab the children by their ankles.  Their mothers had told them not to play near the waters, that the rivers were hungry, but they didn't listen.  We'd reach up from the weeds and clutch at them, and if we were lucky we'd snatch them away like they'd never been there.  Some of them screamed, but not for long." He paused for a moment, and looked almost thoughtful.  "You can't scream for long, down in the weeds."

"Further," the old man breathed. "You're almost there, boy. What does it feel like where you are now? When you are now?"

Alaric whimpered. "It's dark..."

"It's supposed to be dark, boy! It was all dark then, except right up close to the fires. Everything else was shadows under the eaves, and we were there, weren't we? Weren't we?"

"Yes." The boy's voice is quiet, almost inaudible.

"What was that?"

"Yes, oh yes, I see now."

"Good." The old man leaned in close. "What do you see?"

"I see the firelight, and men sitting around in it. Their backs are to the fire, and they watch the shadows because they know we are there.  They know that if they go into the shadows, the claws will tear and the jaws will catch and they'll vanish.  They know there's something waiting for them in the forest, something that will swallow them and hunger for more.  They know that the forest and the darkness can devour everything they are, everything they can be, and they are afraid.  That's why they stay close to the fire.  They know that this place is older than they are, old and terrible. They know they're not welcome in this world, and that it will swallow them up as if they never had been. The wild places want them. We want them."

The old man nodded slowly, daring only to breath the word "further." If the boy heard him he gave no sign, but he clutched his arms to his sides and shivered.

"It's cold," he said. "We're cold. We are the cold. Snow is everywhere. Snow and ice. There is a old man, telling stories. He looks like you do, grandfather.  He has your eyes.  The others sit around and listen. I can't see myself here. I can't see any of us, but I know we are here. They know I am here, too.

"The old man who looks like you is looking at me. He is telling them about the wind. The wind has teeth, he says.  It will devour them, so they must seek shelter. They must keep moving towards the sun, or the wind will chew the flesh from their bones.  He is looking at me, grandfather.  He knows we are here.  The others are looking too, now, but they do not see me.  They believe, though. They believe. Every word he says makes us stronger, and they believe."

With a cry, the boy pitched forward.  The old man made no move to break his fall, but merely sat, and watched, motionless.  At some indeterminate point in time, a squirrel chose to investigate the motionless tableau a little too closely.  At first it would barely venture onto the rock before darting back, but as the long minutes past it lost its fear of the two unmoving figures in front of it.  With a jaunty strut, the squirrel stepped out onto the boulder, and surveyed the scene.

The old man reached out, fast as a striking snake, and caught it.  The squirrel chittered in fear for a moment as he regarded it, then without a word he tore off its head with his teeth.  Blood spurted onto his fingers, the stone and the still unmoving Alaric, but only for an instant. Without hesitation, the old man opened his mouth impossibly wide and swallowed the rest of the squirrel, whole, then almost daintily licked his fingers clean.

At his feet, the boy stirred.  "About time, boy," the old man said. "When I did that, it took me half as long to get my sense back. You're keeping us here," and he gestured out over the valley, vaguely, "with the sun going down. We don't want to be caught out here after dark, do we?"

Alaric sat up and grinned that same impossible grin his grandfather wore. "We've been out in this dark for ten thousand years, grandpa. What's one more night?"

Off in the distance, something moved under the trees.  There was a flash of color, dim in the twilight. It could have been a deer, could have been a bird, could have been a backpacker trying to make a few more miles before sundown. 

Alaric didn't care. Neither did his grandfather.  Together, they loped off in the appropriate direction, swiftly. After all, they were still hungry.

[FlexyCarlos]

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the standard and premium editions of No Soul Left Behind on DriveThruRPG?  I'm possibly being stupid but I can't seem to see anywhere that tells me.

[clockworkjoe]

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the standard and premium editions of No Soul Left Behind on DriveThruRPG?  I'm possibly being stupid but I can't seem to see anywhere that tells me.

I believe that refers to the print quality of the book.

http://support.drivethrurpg.com/entries/23834863-What-is-the-difference-between-Premium-Color-and-Standard-Color-

[FlexyCarlos]

I believe that refers to the print quality of the book.

http://support.drivethrurpg.com/entries/23834863-What-is-the-difference-between-Premium-Color-and-Standard-Color-

Cheers Ross. I'd never even thought about it being a Drivethrurpg print option. I thought I might be getting something extra :-)

[Jace911]

God's Eyes is a great update on one of Lovecraft's running themes: that the relentless, often oblivious march of technology can expose man to things he might wish to remain ignorant of. Fucking love it, that's definitely going to inspire my scenario ideas from now on.

[Twisting H]

God's Teeth released on the 16th and now this on the 24th!

Several fossilized teeth from a prehistoric Megaladon shark have washed up on a beach in North Carolina.

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/10/24/prehistoric-shark-teeth-washes-up-beach-pkg.witn

Signs and symbols Caleb, signs and symbols.

God's Eyes is a great update on one of Lovecraft's running themes: that the relentless, often oblivious march of technology can expose man to things he might wish to remain ignorant of. Fucking love it, that's definitely going to inspire my scenario ideas from now on.

Really good point.

[The Lost Carol]

For Kickstarter backers The Lover in The Ice Delta Green 2 edition dropped today. It's awesome to see the story back in it's natural habitat.

Also, I thought I was one for dropping Easter Eggs! There's some lovely ones; hopefully referencing things to come. Still no parrot though 

[Twisting H]

God's Teeth discussion. Spoilers Ahead








My guess for what was going on in Go Forth was totally off the mark but it might be useful if someone else wants to run a Go Forth/Red Thoughts scenario with an alternate resolution.

Initially I was pretty convinced that the notorious half-melted Hello Kitty folder was the VHS tape from True Detective Season 1, with the same contents.  Also I thought that the Wayfinder's children's home was eerily like the Skoptsi. 

The problem to me was that there didn't appear to be any signs of a Shub-Niggurath cult. The unnatural bloated woman could have been a lot of things. Obviously I missed clues but bear with me that's what I was thinking.

So I was trying to deduce what the cult was doing. We knew it involved children with an unnatural attachment to animals, very unnatural behavior by animals, video tapes and documentation of something, and a bunch of dead bodies.  Also the thing I couldn't figure out is why did the Delta Green contact order that the children be removed?  That implied that the children were some sort of vector or infected or dangerous in their own right.

But if the children or the cult were an imminent threat, then Delta Green would have dealt with it themselves. It would not be the crusade of one lonely Delta Green handler. Why not rescue the innocent victims unless they were fundamentally toxic?

Then Wesley Young pointed out that Caleb was referencing the story "Sredni Vashtar".  So I hopped off to read it.

http://faculty.tnstate.edu/lpowers/Short%20Story/Saki%20Shredni%20Vashtar%20Bull%20Open%20Window.pdf

Great weird fiction story by the way Caleb. How did you come across it?

My interpretation of the "Sredni Vashtar" story was that a child under dire threat, summoned or created a God. Then I thought the name "Wayfinder" children's home was a clue.

Was the cult's purpose to bond a child with an animal only done for psychological control? Was the cult actually using the children as test subjects? In fact trying to make each child suffer so much that they replicated the "Sredni Vashtar" protocol and that each child would eventually generate an Outer God?  Was "Wayfinder" the literal goal of the cult, finding a way to breech what ever barrier existed between desperate human faith and deity generation? 

Was the cult actually a factory? This would explain the bodies under the snow. Failed experiments. Failed children. It would also explain the tapes and photographs.  Instead of the darkest of human sins, did the tapes simply contain unholy scientific documentation and refinement of the process?

That would explain why Delta Green didn't consider them an immediate threat. No slithering horror had been generated yet, the Sredni Vashtar protocol was still being refined. And this would (in my mind) somewhat explain the unnatural woman/cult leader. Only an immortal (a guess) unnatural cultist could oversee such a long term project.

And maybe that would explain too why the victims were scene as vectors.  No Lesser Outer God to serve and pipe in Azathoth's court had been generated yet but the procedure was close and the children's very presence did terrible damage to the membrane of reality (which would explain their unnatural behavior and localized effect on the animals) and thus the Delta Green handler gave the order to remove the vectors.

And somehow teeth, and semi-sentient black ichor, and a pile of rat skulls fit into this terrible plot someway but I wasn't sure.

I totally missed the mark, but perhaps someone will find this fun tangent of speculation useful!