MUP 111 - Drove Our Clown Car to the Lebbey but the Lebbey..

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Keeper Dan
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MUP 111 - Drove Our Clown Car to the Lebbey but the Lebbey..

Post by Keeper Dan » Mon Oct 24, 2016 3:10 am

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In this episode, a skeleton crew of Dan and Chad talk about a couple of our favorite investigator groups and how to use them. This episode was recorded on October 17, 2016.


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An update on the MUP 2016 “One Minute of Horror” contest:
No submissions yet. Sad trombone. (Actually, since recording we have gotten one submission.) Send yours in now!

Announcing prizes:
1st Place: Print copies of Island of Ignorance and Nameless Horrors (equivalents negotiable).
2nd Place: Print copies of Arkham Gazette #3 and an Age of Cthulhu book of your choice.
3rd: A print copy of The Things We Leave Behind (any previous offer to give away Murph's Unwashed Fez is retracted and / or never happened and you can't prove it).

All three places will get cool swag including MUP dice AND a Dropbox link that will include downloadable copies of old history segments, some re-mixed, along with other audio terrors.

Five Points is available for purchase - Five Points is a game of urban horror in America’s first melting pot, the Five Points neighborhood of New York City. Set in the 1840s and 50s against a backdrop of the Cthulhu Mythos, Five Points is powered by Dark Streets from Cakebread & Walton. Players take on the roles of runners or advisors for the Bowery Street Runners, an homage to the Bow Street Runners from London’s past, fighting against the terrors of the night. Can you stop them before the stars are right?

Hudson & Brand, Inquiry Agents of the Obscure - Kiskstarter has only a few days to go!

Sun Spots Kickstarter is done, reaching all stretch goals! $15,972 pledged of $5,000 goal

Canageek sent in this cool arcticle from Nerdist: Watercolor Horror Movie Posters Are a Nightmare of Awesome

Extra Life 24-hr game-a-thon interview - check it out if you haven't already.

Chaosium News:

The license was cancelled for the ill-fated Masks of Nyarlathotep Prop Set Kickstarter. There is also a mention of the failed Cthulhu for FATE campaign.

Plans to fulfill the rest of the 7e Kickstarter have been announced, with apologies. Backers will not receive several of the items originally promised, including dice and dicebag, bookmarks, backer pins and t-shirts and Innsmouth Gold coins. A PDF copy of Doors to Darkness has been offered instead.
Chaosium has learned the difficult and painful lesson of straying from its core strengths. We are a game company, and need to focus on the games we make, not producing t-shirts, jewelry, mugs, and other similar items.





Card Catalog
From The Graham Special Collections wing of the Orne Library:
Stumbled across a site that covers Radioactive Quack cures of the Classic era, all the pills, potions, water 'energizers' and toothpaste(!) that's good for what ails you.

Topics
Investigator Groups - or how to manufacture plausible reasons for characters to do all this crazy stuff!

Investigator companion- page 122 of the 7th Edition rulebook.

Here is an excellent thread on YSDC about general classes of investigator groups.

Here's a bit about "Humbug," the X-files circus episode mentioned during the show.

The circus off-season towns of Peru, Indiana and Gibsonton, Florida are mentioned.
Keeper Dan of the Miskatonic University Podcast

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Re: MUP 111 - Drove Our Clown Car to the Lebbey but the Lebb

Post by Koakai » Mon Oct 24, 2016 7:16 am

But my horror segment is just a minute of crickets chirping, so it sounds like you already have that covered.


Oh and before I forget to mention it. Check out 'The Unmarked'. Excellent actual play by the guys from the gamers with jobs podcast who are just wrapping up their story shortly. Circuses play a vital role.
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Re: MUP 111 - Drove Our Clown Car to the Lebbey but the Lebb

Post by Graham » Mon Oct 24, 2016 1:56 pm

As the keeper of the Special Collection a little enhancement of the card item.

First up, a selection items branded after various forms of radiation.

http://www.orau.org/PTP/collection/bran ... dnames.htm

Includes, Radium Cigarettes, Cigars and Beer. X-Ray Soap and Atomic Razor Blades! (Warning: Radiation not included!)

A poster from the 1980s that has scenario possibilities. It seems that at some point in the 1930s someone made jewelry from melted down Radon-222 'seeds' (Used to treat cancer.) by the 1980s the authorities were looking out for these items as they were considered a health hazard. Move this back to the 1920s and you have a great excuse for strange people to turn up and ask to inspect peoples jewelry and then take it away with them...

http://www.orau.org/PTP/collection/hppo ... ewelry.htm

Another thing to keep in mind is that prior to WWII the main use of uranium was actually as a coloring agent in certain types of glass and potter (Most notably Fiesta Ware).

And a final little thing in the form of the hottest pair of dice you're likely to see, two D6s made from depleted uranium...

Image

http://www.orau.org/PTP/collection/cons ... dudice.htm
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Re: MUP 111 - Drove Our Clown Car to the Lebbey but the Lebb

Post by Nickthulu » Mon Oct 24, 2016 4:14 pm

Great episode guys.

For inspiration, regarding the history of medical quackery - I can recommend the true crime novel: Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock. It's a quick read, and covers the history of John R. Brinkley "America’s most brazen con man who introduced an outlandish surgical method for restoring fading male virility; transplanting goat testicles into male subjects to make them young again). The book also talks about other oddball medical and surgical trends back in the day - all of which are great inspiration for Call of Cthulhu.

Keep up the good work -


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Re: MUP 111 - Drove Our Clown Car to the Lebbey but the Lebb

Post by Nvision » Fri Oct 28, 2016 4:07 pm

Another excellent episode, gents!

One group of investigators I'd love to cobbled together would be based on researchers or staff from the Stargate Project. You've got a potentially diverse range of professions to draw from, already involved in parapsychological research. Perhaps there were other reasons why the project was shuttered in 1995? Did one of their remote viewer see something they shouldn't have? It also fits nicely in a classic Delta Green setting.

Another would be to have a group play as a local chapter of the Skeptics Society. Again, you have diversity in backgrounds, and a group of people who are interested in discovering scientific explanations for possible supernatural events. Testing the level of their skepticism in the face of mythos threats (are they actually true skeptics, or simply staunch disbelievers?) and applying scientific method to investigation might make for some great group dynamics.

If I can ever get a stable group together again I'll try one and let you know how it goes :p

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Re: MUP 111 - Drove Our Clown Car to the Lebbey but the Lebb

Post by aka_fatman » Tue Nov 01, 2016 7:50 am

Re: Having a circus as an investigator group.

There's a great short story by Michael Chabon that can be found in "The Book Of Cthulhu II" (edited by Ross E. Lockhart) called "The God Of Dark Laughter" where there is a murdered clown and ancient rival cults. Having found a von Junzt book in the library, the main character finds that followers of Yê-Heh - the God of Dark Laughter - are being hunted down by the followers of Ai, the God of Unbearable and Ubiquitous Sorrow. A great starting point if you want to have a circus-based investigation.

Also, there is a book called "Circus and Carnival Ballyhoo: Sideshow Freaks, Jabbers and Blade Box Queens" by A.W. Stencell that goes into the history and lifestyle of circus folk:

https://www.abebooks.com/Circus-Carniva ... 7282286/bd

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Re: MUP 111 - Drove Our Clown Car to the Lebbey but the Lebb

Post by Dr. Gerard » Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:39 pm

aka_fatman wrote:Re: Having a circus as an investigator group.

There's a great short story by Michael Chabon that can be found in "The Book Of Cthulhu II" (edited by Ross E. Lockhart) called "The God Of Dark Laughter" where there is a murdered clown and ancient rival cults. Having found a von Junzt book in the library, the main character finds that followers of Yê-Heh - the God of Dark Laughter - are being hunted down by the followers of Ai, the God of Unbearable and Ubiquitous Sorrow. A great starting point if you want to have a circus-based investigation.

Also, there is a book called "Circus and Carnival Ballyhoo: Sideshow Freaks, Jabbers and Blade Box Queens" by A.W. Stencell that goes into the history and lifestyle of circus folk:

https://www.abebooks.com/Circus-Carniva ... 7282286/bd
Awesome, awesome leads. Thank you so much!
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Re: MUP 111 - Drove Our Clown Car to the Lebbey but the Lebb

Post by fox01313 » Wed Nov 02, 2016 12:48 am

A few existing books for the circus & police groups you mentioned. So if you want to play it & not run it, SPOILERS!, I'll just list the books :science:

*Curse of the Chthonians
*Bumps in the Night by Pagan Publishing
*Arkham Detective Tales in Trail of Cthulhu


I love the idea of the characters as the same overall profession but they all have individual specialties. And definitely would recommend the soundtrack for Carnivale, the show on HBO had a good start so season 1 is great but I fell off somewhere in season 2 but it's good inspiration for Call of Cthulhu or Trail of Cthulhu. Again, check out the soundtrack & calliope music as it gets rather surreal at times.

And shocked none of this was mentioned so here's a bunch of fun.
Something Wicked this Way Comes (1980s trailer so it might spoil some stuff as it goes a little long), also READ A BOOK! Book's great too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMZ_WodQtYY

-

Midnight Syndicate & Nox Arcana have done themed albums on this subject.
http://www.noxarcana.com/carnival.html
http://www.midnightsyndicate.com/produc ... al-arcane/

-

So you can have rival carnivals as a scenario idea, you have the town with the players then you get something like the traveling darker show from Something Wicked to take over. Great idea as it gives the players some time to try circus/skills (or theater/performance) to try to win the crowds over. Alternatively there's some dark secret in the circus so when the players retire, they're forced to come back to settle something or find someone.

Too late to trim this as it's one of my more favorite topics of the sideshow history though by no means an expert. Here's some more:
Freak Like Me (Real, Raw & Dangerous): Inside the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow by Jim Rose (who along with Jigsaw was in the Humbug episode of the X-files)
He's done a few performances on dvd & think it's on Netflix, fun to see in action & there are a few other sideshow performances on dvd too.

There are a lot of other good books on the sideshow performers who were closer to Lovecraft's time with the early movie from the 1930s, Freaks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzoKz5EsUro

And can't forget Dr. Caligari, modern one from 2006 is good too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vheUoyU2KUQ

-

If wanting more inspiration on the circus, there's always the Candle Cove game from Role Playing Public Radio using World of Darkness
http://actualplay.roleplayingpublicradi ... ndle-cove/

-

The people who did the Repo: The Genetic Opera also recently did the Devil's Carnival. Trailer below but the first link is a good loop track to listen to though while writing as it's good background music. However, singer & violinist Emile Autumn is quite stunning so she's rather distracting :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69hrUi7zBPI

trailer (a bit of a fable with rock music) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2hqUqsxe9w
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Re: MUP 111 - Drove Our Clown Car to the Lebbey but the Lebb

Post by Dr. Gerard » Wed Nov 02, 2016 3:53 am

fox01313 wrote:A few existing books for the circus & police groups you mentioned. So if you want to play it & not run it, SPOILERS!, I'll just list the books :science:

*Curse of the Chthonians
*Bumps in the Night by Pagan Publishing
*Arkham Detective Tales in Trail of Cthulhu


I love the idea of the characters as the same overall profession but they all have individual specialties. And definitely would recommend the soundtrack for Carnivale, the show on HBO had a good start so season 1 is great but I fell off somewhere in season 2 but it's good inspiration for Call of Cthulhu or Trail of Cthulhu. Again, check out the soundtrack & calliope music as it gets rather surreal at times.

And shocked none of this was mentioned so here's a bunch of fun.
Something Wicked this Way Comes (1980s trailer so it might spoil some stuff as it goes a little long), also READ A BOOK! Book's great too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMZ_WodQtYY

Great additions to the carnival idea!

Midnight Syndicate & Nox Arcana have done themed albums on this subject.
http://www.noxarcana.com/carnival.html
http://www.midnightsyndicate.com/produc ... al-arcane/

-

So you can have rival carnivals as a scenario idea, you have the town with the players then you get something like the traveling darker show from Something Wicked to take over. Great idea as it gives the players some time to try circus/skills (or theater/performance) to try to win the crowds over. Alternatively there's some dark secret in the circus so when the players retire, they're forced to come back to settle something or find someone.

Too late to trim this as it's one of my more favorite topics of the sideshow history though by no means an expert. Here's some more:
Freak Like Me (Real, Raw & Dangerous): Inside the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow by Jim Rose (who along with Jigsaw was in the Humbug episode of the X-files)
He's done a few performances on dvd & think it's on Netflix, fun to see in action & there are a few other sideshow performances on dvd too.

There are a lot of other good books on the sideshow performers who were closer to Lovecraft's time with the early movie from the 1930s, Freaks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzoKz5EsUro

And can't forget Dr. Caligari, modern one from 2006 is good too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vheUoyU2KUQ

-

If wanting more inspiration on the circus, there's always the Candle Cove game from Role Playing Public Radio using World of Darkness
http://actualplay.roleplayingpublicradi ... ndle-cove/

-

The people who did the Repo: The Genetic Opera also recently did the Devil's Carnival. Trailer below but the first link is a good loop track to listen to though while writing as it's good background music. However, singer & violinist Emile Autumn is quite stunning so she's rather distracting :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69hrUi7zBPI

trailer (a bit of a fable with rock music) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2hqUqsxe9w
Keeper of the Cthulhu Dark "Secret Everest Expedition" PbP scenario
Rip Wheeler in the Call of Cthulhu "No Man's Land" scenario
Plays for Keepers

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