MU Podcast 062 – Under the Gun – Miskatonic University Podcast

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In this episode, we field lots of questions from listeners, we walk a high-wire line between Monte Hall and Killer Keeper. And for the main topic, flintlocks, revolvers and javelins, oh my!

Campus Crier

Horrors of War, A Covenant with Death, a new Kickstarter from Pegan Publishing
Cthulhu Reborn announces, coming soon: Geoff Gillan and Dean Adelaide’s “Machine King”
Today we are incredibly, INCREDIBLY happy to be announcing the next title in our line of free scenarios for Call of Cthulhu, Geoff Gillan’s incredible “almost lost work”, The Machine King
Shadow Bound: A Lovecraftian web series is now free to watch, (as reported by the Lovecraft eZine)
Check out the Lovecraft eZine site for episodes of this web series. It won a Peoples Choice Award at the Melbourne Web Festival in Australia.
The Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition proof version has been released! This includes both the core rulebook and the players guide.
GenCon updates:
A company called Oomba is going to be at GenCon Broadcasting the entire con live for the first time ever via Oomba.tv and Oomba.com
They are using tournament organizing software to run the Settlers of Catan National Championships, among other Mayfair and Cryptozoic games, and to make an attempt at the World Record for largest tournament of Rock, Paper, Scissors ever — though they’re using the doing Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock expansion rules.
Warpo hold their own panel at the con. Look for SEM1466980 on Sunday at 9:00 a.m.
The company was also recently featured on the podcast for Boing Boing, called “Gweek.”
A reminder: Be sure to pick up your tickets for any seminars (like ours) at the Will-Call counter. It’s open 24 hours a day starting Thursday.
We’ve started a separate Twitter account for GenCon. Follow us at @mupgc to see frequent updates.

Listener Feedback

Mawdrigen writes:

Hi there, Mawdrigen here from thecultofteaanddice.net, just dropping you a quick line to say I’m really enjoying your actual play of Masks although it’s making me worried for my planned horror on the orient express campaign, when it gets released. I was intending on having each player roll three characters, but I may increase that to five. Do you ever find that it’s difficult to get player buy in for the horror elements of call of Cthulhu? In the past I’ve had heard of some groups (and ran one) who tried to turn it into a pulp action game. This usually results in the expected death and mayhem, but tends to be destructive to leads (and pcs, for example leaping from a window to land crotch first on an iron railing…) which can derail campaigns. Also, how do you deal with characters dying with important information? Keep up the good work — Mawdrigen, Chief cultist of the cult of tea and dice.

Gareth Writes:

Hey there guys, Gareth here, calling from the great Kingdom of the Zulus. First off, thanks for a GREAT podcast! I started listening to it just after I started playing the game a couple of years ago and it’s got me into being the keeper of pretty much all the games we play. Best. Fun. Ever! So I’m working on writing my first scenario. I’ve got quite far with planning the plot and laying the game out inside my head. I’ve got a few notes and am going to do my first play test next week – eek! Looking forward to it as it’s the first thing I’ve come across set in an historical South African setting – flintlock rifles, sabres, leopards and ox-wagons! Oh, and sanity-blasting monsters – almost forgot about them. However, my question is this: do you guys have a particular method or framework that you follow when actually putting words onto paper for a scenario. I really want to try and get this published when it’s done as it seems to have a lot of potential. From reading other scenarios I’ve run, they seem to be divided into player information and keeper information for each particular scene, but I’m not sure if this is the correct approach to take; if this is only organized at publication time or if you start from this framework right at the beginning. I am used to writing a bit of prose fiction, which is fine, but a lot less structured it seems. Any advice for a budding new scenario writer with some good ideas, but no idea where to start really? And finally… VIVA PODS, VIVA! VIVA MISKATONIC UNIVERSITY, VIVA! VIVA CTHULHU, VIVA! (err… wait… what?) May your dice roll low! Gareth >;,;<

Cryptocurium Spot

Lovecraft Birthday Celebration Is On The Way! Mark your calendars for Wednesday, August 20th for our 3rd annual “Lovecraft Birthday Celebration”! Cryptocurium honors the Old Gent himself with a website wide 50% off sale as well as a new limited edition item all for ONE DAY ONLY! More details to come! And don’t forget to pre-order your Cthulhu scarf for the coming Winter. LIMITED EDITION OF ONLY 50 PIECES Knitted in high-quality acrylic wool and emblazoned with dual images of Great Cthulhu himself as well as the immortal phrase, “CTHULHU FHTAGN”, this custom made garment will keep you warm as flee into the peace and safety of a new dark age! Each Knitted Cthulhu Scarf measures 60″ x 7″ THIS IS A PRE-SALE. SCARVES WILL SHIP IN MID SEPTEMBER.

Side Topic

E-mail from TheStoryteller

Ia! Keepers, I’m listed as TheStoryteller on the forum, as I just joined yesterday. I am truly impressed by the excellent, high-quality podcast you guys do. Keep up the great work. Although I have been playing and running games for many, many years, I wanted to ask a few questions to get your opinions on some thoughts I’ve recently had. First off, do you guys prefer “Storyteller”, “Keeper of Arcane (Forbidden) Lore”, or something more contemporary, like “GM”, “DM”, etc.? Secondly, I have often been inspired by things around me with ideas for game scenarios, characters, events, etc. Lately, my muse has been struck by an anime, Fullmetal Alchemist. Given the story and events within the series, it is easy to see several classic themes of horror, and indeed Lovecraftian Horror as well, despite the source being an animated program. My question in this case is “What are some of your most unexpected sources of inspiration for horror gaming, particularly Call of Cthulhu?”. If need be, this could be expanded to a full segment on your show, to include more common sources of inspiration, and examples of inspiration gone horribly awry as well. Thirdly, Can you guys walk me through the techniques and processes you use in creating a complete campaign, as opposed to a one-shot, or Con game? Lastly, what tips can you offer people who are new to running games, as well as experienced ones like myself, on balancing “Monty Haul” vs. “Evil GM” sessions, with emphasis on horror games such as Call of Cthulhu? What signs can you think of that say you’re going too hard on players, or that they’re having too easy of a time in a given adventure? I look forward to hearing more amazing episodes from all of you. Wishing you guys the best, this is TheStoryteller, and I’m enrolled at the Miskatonic University Podcast! Go PODS!

Let’s Make a Deal – 1985 Episode with Monty Hall