Miskatonic University Campus

In this first show of 2014, writer and game designer Kenneth Hite joins us for a stuff-filled episode, in which we visit a myriad of "huts," including: Dangerous Mechanics, Chicago Rats and Other Horrors, The Nazi Occult, Batman, Supersmart NPCs, Ken's Media Diet, 7th Edition, Suppressed Transmission, Unknown Armies, Blurry Photos, WildClaw Theatre, Mythos Expeditions, Deathless China, Out of the Woods, and the Dracula Dossier. Plus way more!

Campus Crier
Our own Jon Hook's new book Starfall on the Plataea of Leng is up for pre-order from Goodman Games!

Backers of Chaosium's Horror on the Orient Express Kickstarter got PDF proof copies of the books, which will be going to the printers later this month. If you want to buy it, it’s also available on the site for $1,199.50.

We are also hosting a forum topic where any typos in he found can be shared so they can be fixed before print!

Backers for the Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition got the adventure Dead Light.

Feedback
We received a correction from Scott Dorward, and humbly offer an apology for the mistake:

One thing I should clarify: I'm only the line developer for World War Cthulhu, not The Laundry or Doctor Who (both of which come under the purview of Dominic McDowell). I hope to contribute to some of the other lines over time (I've already started writing some stuff for Cthulhu Britannica), but my focus is very much on World War Cthulhu.

If you haven't already, please check out the excellent podcast Scott co-hosts with Paul Fricker and Matthew Sanderson, The Good Friends of Jackson Elias.
We got a voice mail from Cody in Indianapolis with a generous offer for GenCon 1014...

We got an email from Wolf in Tübingen, Germany:

Shortly after I started playing a CoC campaign for the first time ever last May, I subscribed to your great podcast. Insightful, high production value, most of the time a good sound, nice hosts, pleasant voices and always good to understand - thank you very much for all of your time and work. This week, I listened to episode #35 from your back-catalogue and found you talked about movies which were inspired by HP Lovecraft. Last year, I pestered the kind guys of the Horror Etc Podcast, to do a show about the same topic - which they did. As I had provided them a (surely incomplete) chronological list of such movies. I'd like to send this to you, too, in case you might talk about this again, sometime. Best wishes and go pods! -- Wolf P.S.: Which kind of sport would the Fighting Cephalopods play? P.p.S.: One episode of "100 years of Horror" had demon and Lovecraft movies as a topic. [Note, the list of movies was omitted in the show notes for space, but we'd be happy to post it on the forum for further discussion!]

We got a voice mail from Keeper Angelo, in which he showers us with compliments (we take these very seriously, folks) and mentions the bizarre oarfish that was discovered near Catalina Island.

We chose a random winner from a list of nearly 50 voice mails from listeners for our drawing to win a copy of Missed Dues and Other Adventures, a Chaosium monograph exclusively offered during GenCon 2013. In a stroke of weird serendipity, Keeper Angelo takes the prize!

Card Catalog
Dan mentions a nice site for monster and myth inspiration called Creepy Pasta.

Ken mentions a good site for Greek mythology searches, The Theoi Project.

Cryptocurium
A quick mention this week for our irrepressible sponsor, Lovecraftian artist Cryptocurium. The 2014 Inner Sanctum has been released!

You can join an email list if you want to be notified of new items and specials.


Main Topic
We cover so much in this show, we're still working on links to all the things Ken mentions. To start out, here are some of the topics we covered, with some links to whet the cogs of your imagination.

A panel at Metatopia that Ken participated in called Dangerous Mechanics: Rules That Looked Good On The Surface

The Nazi Occult, Ken's now book about...oh you know.

Ken's Media Diet.

Ken mentions Slender Man.

Ken is currently GMing a SciFi game using Decipher's Coda system. They created the history using the Microscope system.

7th Edition, a topic on which he also shared some thoughts with Dean at Cthulhu Reborn.

Suppressed Transmission, an old project of Ken's from his tenure at Steve Jackson Games.

We also talk about his GURPS Horror book for GURPS 4th Edition. (Available in printed and PDF)

Unknown Armies, a modern occult game.

Tremulus, a Lovecraftian horror game based on the Dungeon World system.

Blurry Photos, a podcast about cool weird things. Ken was on episode 38 talking the Nazi Occult.

WildClaw Theatre's production of The Shadow Over Innsmouth, for which Ken served as dramaturge.

Mythos Expeditions, a forthcoming project from Pelgrane Press

Deathless China, another project in the works from Pelgrane Press.

The Dracula Dossier, a supplement for Ken's spy-vampire game Night's Black Agents from Pelgrane Press. This will be an improvisation framework for Night's Black Agents in the same way The Armitage Files is for Trail of Cthulhu.

And don't forget Ken's ongoing series- Ken Writes About Stuff, and his podcast with Robin D. Laws, Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff.

We also learn that Murf is the bane of comic book stores in East Texas.

Great episode! But dammit!!! I missed another episode!!!

To be honest, the episodes, (Glancy and Hite), were probably better without me in it.

Keeper Jon wrote:Great episode! But dammit!!! I missed another episode!!!

To be honest, the episodes, (Glancy and Hite), were probably better without me in it.

I highly doubt it if they would be better without one or more of the hosts in it, with both Adam & Ken, the main treat was giving them plenty of questions & thoughts then just getting out of the way to see how far they mentally charge through the topics & whatever side tangents they might come up with, also with #47 to just not fail all your dodge rolls from the humorously aimed jabs like they were at the end of the episode.

This might just give you enough incentive next time Jon to make it to the next episode with a guest but feel free to send Ken or Adam any questions (or post them here in MUP show notes) that you might have as I'm sure they'd be happy to respond.

Great job interviewing Mr. Hite, guys.

Nice podcast.

I believe The Cephalopods were originally the University swimming team (my memory suggests that the Miskatonic U Graduation Kit was first to mention them). I have seen reference to them being the rowing team. That they are connected to water makes more sense.

Wow...amazing podcast. Ken Hite is one of those people I would love to sit down and pick his brain.

Loved the mention of Creepy Pasta. A lot of great seeds and folklore has come out of that, including Slenderman (which Mr. Hite mentioned). May I also recommend the following links for similar stories/inspiration:

http://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/
http://www.scp-wiki.net/
http://www.reddit.com/r/shortscarystories/

Keep up the great work!

Jon, you were missed and I reject the premise of your self-deprecation. Puh-lease.

Just wanted to circle back on a minor point surrounding MU mascots. I said that the Badgers mascot was originally meant to be for the high school, but now I'm pretty sure that's not true. I once heard something about Lovecraft suggesting the name Badgers for MU (or maybe the high school?), but I haven't been able to dig anything up on that. If anyone out there has intel, please share. Is there an HPL letters scholar in the house?

As far as Chaosium game canon, in 1987 the company released a Miskatonic U Graduate Kit, authored by Sandy Petersen and Lynn Willis, that includes a bumper sticker of the Fighting Cephalapod as the university mascot, and the phrase "Go 'Pods!" It was a monograph that amounted to a collection of props and fun little goo-gahs, and it was meant to be contemporary 1980s materials. It even got an Origins Award for design.

Then in 1990, the 1920s sourcebook Arkham Unveiled seems to curiously omit references to the university's team name, though there are entries for the ethnically diverse East Public High School, whose team name is the "Musketeers," and the slightly more stodgy Arkham Public High School, whose athletes are known as the "Commanders."

Then, in 1995, Chaosium released the 20s-era Miskatonic University sourcebook. In it, "Badgers" and "Lady Badgers" is listed as the mascot, under Social Life > Sports, pg. 53. The winning entry for the 1920 cheer competition is "Go go go! Dig dig dig! Go go go! B-A-D-G-E-R-S, TEAM!" It was the only entry. Hilarious.

Anyway, I just wanted to correct myself and outline what's in the game materials. Personally, I enjoy the whimsy of the "Go pods!" spirit on the podcast, and I LOVE Ian's logo -- but when running the game in the 1920s I guess I'd use Badgers if I needed a team name. Is my two pence.

Dr. Gerard wrote:Jon, you were missed and I reject the premise of your self-deprecation. Puh-lease.

Just wanted to circle back on a minor point surrounding MU mascots. I said that the Badgers mascot was originally meant to be for the high school, but now I'm pretty sure that's not true. I once heard something about Lovecraft suggesting the name Badgers for MU (or maybe the high school?), but I haven't been able to dig anything up on that. If anyone out there has intel, please share. Is there an HPL letters scholar in the house?

As far as Chaosium game canon, in 1987 the company released a Miskatonic U Graduate Kit, authored by Sandy Petersen and Lynn Willis, that includes a bumper sticker of the Fighting Cephalapod as the university mascot, and the phrase "Go 'Pods!" It was a monograph that amounted to a collection of props and fun little goo-gahs, and it was meant to be contemporary 1980s materials. It even got an Origins Award for design.

Then in 1990, the 1920s sourcebook Arkham Unveiled seems to curiously omit references to the university's team name, though there are entries for the ethnically diverse East Public High School, whose team name is the "Musketeers," and the slightly more stodgy Arkham Public High School, whose athletes are known as the "Commanders."

Then, in 1995, Chaosium released the 20s-era Miskatonic University sourcebook. In it, "Badgers" and "Lady Badgers" is listed as the mascot, under Social Life > Sports, pg. 53. The winning entry for the 1920 cheer competition is "Go go go! Dig dig dig! Go go go! B-A-D-G-E-R-S, TEAM!" It was the only entry. Hilarious.

Anyway, I just wanted to correct myself and outline what's in the game materials. Personally, I enjoy the whimsy of the "Go pods!" spirit on the podcast, and I LOVE Ian's logo -- but when running the game in the 1920s I guess I'd use Badgers if I needed a team name. Is my two pence.

While I love the Pod logo & that mascot, maybe in the Miskatonic U sourcebook, the students were hosting another team with the Badger as a mascot & promptly failed their SAN rolls at the sight of it & were suddenly thinking Miskatonic's mascot was a badger, that or the badger mascot got eaten shortly after that appearance. Still need to get the Miskatonic U & Arkham sourcebooks to be next on the list as well as hunt around online to find some reviews to see if they're worth it.

The Arkham Unveiled and Miskatonic U. (current one...the older one wasn't much) Sourcebook are both worth their weight in Dunwich Gold.

Also- I heard Ken's opinions on 7e. I've been running currently with 7e and I can understand his old school reservations, but as a Keeper, I think 7e makes my life a little easier and more enjoyable. I really like the new wounds rules, pushing and bonus/penalty die rules.

Yeah, I think all three of us hosts were ready to defend 7e rules because we have really enjoyed using them, but I want to respect the concerns of traditionalists who are reluctant to mess with a time-tested recipe.

It occurs to me that no matter what position you take on the changes, the way that we present our views is going to determine whether it divides the community. In my own conversations with gamers who are skeptical about the changes, I have found that "it still feels like the same game" or "these are not big changes" are not helpful positions. On the other side, arguments like "these rules are not time tested" and "this isn't my game anymore" are equally dismissive.

We've got to keep mind and ears open to opposing viewpoints on all sides here, and think carefully during these conversations. It was great to get Ken to talk about his viewpoint, because he's the sort of person who expresses things thoughtfully.