Petersen Field Guide Update

Gladius · Post by **Gladius** » Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:31 pm

Will just post it here. While it sounds like a cool book, prepare for blood boil if you're a backer.

Dear Dedicated Cultists of Cthulhu,

Nick has been going all out to get S. Petersen's Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors done and he has succeeded! While it was originally referred to as a pair of Field Guides, we have combined both 64 page tomes (Cthulhu Monsters and Dreamlands) into a single horrific hardcover full color 128 page book. It is gorgeous! The art commissioned by our French colleagues at Sans Detour captures these horrors perfectly (even the invisible ones). The printed book will have a retail price of $34.95.

We will be sending out a download code for the free PDF of S. Petersen's Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors no later than Friday this week to the backers who are getting the hardcover or leatherette Investigator Handbooks. We will also be selling the PDF on our website very soon, with a retail price of $17.95.

One final clarification on S. Petersen's Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors. The "one" that will be awarded as specified in the 300K and 350K stretch goals is the free PDF of the book, not the physical book itself. We realize that chaos and confusion clouded this information, and we regret this situation, so we are making the following special offer to all backers who are getting the hardcover or leatherette Investigator Handbooks: You can purchase a printed copy of the 128 page full color hardcover S. Petersen's Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors for the discounted price of $19.95, which includes shipping. This is a limited offer we will be sending out to those backers via email later this week. The Guide will ship with the initial backer shipment going out this year. To be clear, though, it will not be in the slipcase, choosing instead to creepily cling next to it.

PirateLawyer · Post by **PirateLawyer** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 12:18 am

I'm not impressed, but I can't say I am wholly surprised.

I'd say this merits further discussion.

To me, it looks as if the new Chaosium is trying to skate on by and save some money on dubious grounds. I recognize that they are trying to keep the company solvent; but this is a pretty blatant breach of promise.

toddwo · Post by **toddwo** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 2:00 am

I don't recall there being any "confusion or chaos" involved here. The chart on the campaign page made it abundantly clear that some backers were to receive print copies, and the verbiage on the level descriptions suggested this, as well. Frankly, I'd have been much less disappointed had Chaosium simply announced that they couldn't fulfill this portion of the campaign. Any reasonable person who has followed the campaign knows that there are serious financial problems. However, this maneuver casts real doubt on the new managment's integrity. Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining!

PirateLawyer · Post by **PirateLawyer** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 4:40 pm

Well, that was a prompt and interesting update. A rapid back-pedal, and it confirmed to me the extent of Chaosium's plight.

Anyone got anything nice to say about the previous regime? They sure wasted a lot of money, or worse yet misappropriated vast sums.

Nvision · Post by **Nvision** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:12 pm

Between "Horror on the Orient Express" and the 7th Edition Kickstarter, Chaosium accrued approximately $769,640. The fact that they state there was $10,000 in the Chaosium coffers at the time of acquisition raises some serious questions about exactly where the remaining $750,000 went...

I double-checked the wording for each of the guide stretch goals and it doesn't actually state either would be a printed book, only that they would be presented in full-colour, and you'd receive one if you backed at the appropriate levels. However, the chart at the bottom lists BOTH a PDF and printed copy of the guide separately. I had assumed, based on the chart, that we'd be getting a paperback version of both books. I've been trying to roll with the punches on this, but it's getting harder.

PirateLawyer · Post by **PirateLawyer** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:21 pm

Nvision wrote:Between "Horror on the Orient Express" and the 7th Edition Kickstarter, Chaosium accrued approximately $769,640. The fact that they state there was $10,000 in the Chaosium coffers at the time of acquisition raises some serious questions about exactly where the remaining $750,000 went...

It's not just that they were down to 10K in the bank, it's that none of the missing money had been used to pay for 7E CoC printing costs that is even more damming.

And they had significant debts well above 10K.

I am cautiously optimistic about the new executive leadership at Chaosium, but there's little doubt the previous update was a mis-step. Either they can't read a chart, or they were trying to avoid fulfilling a Kickstarter item that will doubtlessly set them back a fair amount of money when they can ill afford it.

There is little doubt the previous regime was incompetent; whether there were financial improprieties is a mystery to the public and shall likely remain so.

Gladius · Post by **Gladius** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:55 pm

I can easily imagine that a lot of that went to pay for art, layout, printing and shipping HotOE. That box was HEAVY and must have cost a ton to ship, even in the US.

WinstonP · Post by **WinstonP** » Thu Oct 08, 2015 4:31 am

Keep in mind that Kickstarter and Amazon between them take about a 10% cut from the total of the Kickstarter, followed by Federal, State, and possible local taxes - I'm not sure what a Kickstarter counts as tax wise, but let's assume they're paying something.

Now, does that mean they should have ended up with barely enough money to buy a used Nissan Sentra? No. I hope they were hiding gold in Turkey on that "research" trip...

UndeadDomain · Post by **UndeadDomain** » Thu Oct 08, 2015 1:05 pm

The unfortunate thing about the whole Kickstarter is that the money was mishandled and that the one most likely responsible is no longer with the company. Those who took over can really only pick up the pieces but there is only so much their finances can handle. If 7th Ed is gonna come out at all, some concessions will undoubtedly have to be made. The only alternative is that Chaosium goes under and No One gets anything. I have no doubt people are gonna be pissed about not getting their stretch goals and add ons but remember, it not this Chaosium's fault. Also remember that kickstarter is by NO MEANS a guaranteed return for your funds. At least you'll get your 7th Ed. Maybe after it comes out they can trickle the add ons and stretch goals but this won't be fixed until new Chaosium is actually making a profit and going back to regular books. The longer you harp on the extra stuff and the longer Chaosium caters to those people, the longer it will take for them to get back on their feet. I advise giving them a break. Its not their fault, its the previous Chaosium's fault.

Gladius · Post by **Gladius** » Thu Oct 08, 2015 8:44 pm

I'd gladly sacrifice my mugs, stratigraph, tshirt, and backer pin for credit in the store for existing gaming stuff (or even PDFs). I know others don't feel the same and argue that the reason they backed at a certain level is because of the add-ons, but personally I wanted the actual books.