MU Podcast 16- Brain Jars and Jackson Elias

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Keeper Dan
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MU Podcast 16- Brain Jars and Jackson Elias

Post by Keeper Dan » Sun Oct 14, 2012 11:01 pm

Episode 16 has a new voice mail, a Lecture, and some time with our favorite buzzing surgeons, then we dive into warping and twisting published scenarios to your will and your game.

Call of Cthulhu 7e playtesting is under way. Rules have been sent out, and Keepers are running their games.

Horror on the Orient Express Kickstarter ended with $207,804
There are going to be a lot of people playing HotOE next summer.

Don't forget about the TWEET RPG VS ACHTUNG! CTHULHU THIS MONTH
Modiphius, the publisher of Achtung! Cthulhu is teaming up with a site called Tweet RPG to try a new type of online roleplaying.

This October 2012, Twitter fans had better brace themselves as Tweet RPG launches WWII-themed adventure Kontamination, set in the Lovecraft-inspired world of Achtung! Cthulhu.

Visit theTweet RPG Press Release for the full details.

Aethercon, the world-wide online RPG convention. November 16-18, 2012
http://www.aethercon.com/

The convention is being powered by Roll20, but they don't have any character tokens that are not fantasy or modern military, and no Mythos monsters at all.
Any artists interested in helping to correct this lack would be very appreciated. Roll20 is a great game platform, but it needs tokens for more genres of gaming.
There is a post in the Ice Cream Parlor on the Campus forum about this.

We got a voice mail from Mike. He's enjoying the Campus forums and the occasional background visit from Host Spawn.

We then have a new lecture from Dr. Gerard at the Miskatonic University History Department -- on the topic of 'Tuyul'.
Dr. Gerard is looking for interested parties to record Lecture Field Trip segments. Anyone interested can contact him on the Campus forum.

The Bestiary goes into discussion on our favorite buzzing fungi, the Mi-Go.
The HPL story Whisperer in Darkness can be read here at the HP Lovecraft Archive, and we mention the HPLHS film Whisperer in Darkness.
Jon is reading Ghouls of the Miskatonic from Fantasy Flight Games fiction line. There are some great Mi-Go scenes in there.
Dan mentions the RPG CthulhuTech, which has a lot of Mi-Go involvement (though it's spelled Migou in this game).

Main Topic:
Optimizing published adventures.

Murph mentions a book called The Burrowers Beneath, by Brian Lumley. He thought Dans' Miskatonic University Paranormal Society group was inspired by the Wilmarth Foundation from that book. MAPS was actually ripped off from TAPS.

We would also love to hear your ideas for topics for us to talk about. Send us a note directly, or go to the Campus forum with your ideas!
Keeper Dan of the Miskatonic University Podcast

vladsee
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Re: MU Podcast 16- Brain Jars and Jackson Elias

Post by vladsee » Fri Oct 19, 2012 2:07 am

Great show! I think the gaming advice here will be helpful to any keeper and player.

I am most interested in Dr. Gerard's lecture about Southeast Asian mythical creatures/monsters. It was fascinating to hear about my Asian neighbor's version of a "demon" baby. It is correct that here in the Philippines, we have the tiyanak , which closely resembles that of the tuyul. The tiyanak is believed to be the corrupted and evil form of the babies who died in childbirth. Later on when the country converted to Catholicism or Christianity, the belief in this mythical creature still held up but was further qualified as babies who died in childbirth but were not baptized or were aborted in modern times.

They are known to transform back and forth from regular babies to their monstrous form at will. They will appear first as regular babies who are lost and abandoned in the woods or city (depending where you are located) to attract the unwitting passersby and tug at their heart strings. Once picked up, these devious monsters will usually remain cute and cuddly to the foster parent while spreading fear and misfortune by feeding on the family and friends instead. When disovered, the tiyanaks will turn on the foster parent themselves. Despite their infantile form, these creatures are incredibly strong for their size and are wily creatures. If memory serves, these creatures can be physically harmed or destroyed and are repelled by Christian symbols and objects. (notice the catholic/christian influence).

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Re: MU Podcast 16- Brain Jars and Jackson Elias

Post by Dr. Gerard » Fri Oct 19, 2012 3:13 am

vladsee wrote:Great show! I think the gaming advice here will be helpful to any keeper and player.

I am most interested in Dr. Gerard's lecture about Southeast Asian mythical creatures/monsters. It was fascinating to hear about my Asian neighbor's version of a "demon" baby. It is correct that here in the Philippines, we have the tiyanak , which closely resembles that of the tuyul. The tiyanak is believed to be the corrupted and evil form of the babies who died in childbirth. Later on when the country converted to Catholicism or Christianity, the belief in this mythical creature still held up but was further qualified as babies who died in childbirth but were not baptized or were aborted in modern times.

They are known to transform back and forth from regular babies to their monstrous form at will. They will appear first as regular babies who are lost and abandoned in the woods or city (depending where you are located) to attract the unwitting passersby and tug at their heart strings. Once picked up, these devious monsters will usually remain cute and cuddly to the foster parent while spreading fear and misfortune by feeding on the family and friends instead. When disovered, the tiyanaks will turn on the foster parent themselves. Despite their infantile form, these creatures are incredibly strong for their size and are wily creatures. If memory serves, these creatures can be physically harmed or destroyed and are repelled by Christian symbols and objects. (notice the catholic/christian influence).
Awesome! I was going to ask you about that! I badly butchered the pronunciation on tiyanak -- I think I said tiyan-yak. Such a great monster. You also have a version of the penanggalan, the vampire who detaches its head and floats around dragging its guts hanging from the neck. Do you know the menanggal? I have a stylized mask of the Balinese version (leyak) hanging in my living room. I was going to do an episode about it at some point.
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Re: MU Podcast 16- Brain Jars and Jackson Elias

Post by vladsee » Fri Oct 19, 2012 6:12 am

Yes! There is a such a creature - the manananggal (a tongue twister to pronounce!). The root word itself means "to remove" or "to separate". These monstrous creatures are usually female who can separate their upper torso from their lower torso. The upper torso grows batwings and flies off to find its prey, which are usually defenseless people. Its favored targets to attacks are pregnant women and babies. You can usually hear their flapping wings and hideous laughter as it approaches. After killing and feasting on its prey, it usually re-attaches to its stump and goes back to its "normal" living back in society unknown to people.

Its weakness is its "stump" - the lower torso from the waist to its feet. Before the creature separates, it tries to hide the stump in a secluded/hidden location. Once found, it is said that pouring salt on it will destory the creature. There are variations of how this creature is defeated from province to province. I've heard some say that pouring salt on the stump will merely destroy the stump leaving the flying creature free but unable to re-attach and become a "normal" woman again. The flying creature can be killed normally but with great difficulty but as long as the stump is there it will eventually re-grow the upper torso. :cthulhu2:


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Re: MU Podcast 16- Brain Jars and Jackson Elias

Post by Dr. Gerard » Fri Oct 19, 2012 2:39 pm

vladsee wrote:Yes! There is a such a creature - the manananggal (a tongue twister to pronounce!). The root word itself means "to remove" or "to separate". These monstrous creatures are usually female who can separate their upper torso from their lower torso. The upper torso grows batwings and flies off to find its prey, which are usually defenseless people. Its favored targets to attacks are pregnant women and babies. You can usually hear their flapping wings and hideous laughter as it approaches. After killing and feasting on its prey, it usually re-attaches to its stump and goes back to its "normal" living back in society unknown to people.

Its weakness is its "stump" - the lower torso from the waist to its feet. Before the creature separates, it tries to hide the stump in a secluded/hidden location. Once found, it is said that pouring salt on it will destory the creature. There are variations of how this creature is defeated from province to province. I've heard some say that pouring salt on the stump will merely destroy the stump leaving the flying creature free but unable to re-attach and become a "normal" woman again. The flying creature can be killed normally but with great difficulty but as long as the stump is there it will eventually re-grow the upper torso. :cthulhu2:
Very cool. Yeah, that's a little different from the Indonesian version, which detaches its head but it is said to be a beautiful woman during the day and becomes one of these things by black magic -- or it could be a midwife who violates dietary rules according to culture. And a Balinese Leyak is a whole other story that even has dances associated with it. Man, you can't beat Southeast Asia for richness of ghost and creature traditions.

BTW -- did you know that the Penanggalan was actually once in the D&D Monster Manual?
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Re: MU Podcast 16- Brain Jars and Jackson Elias

Post by Keeper Jon » Fri Oct 19, 2012 2:42 pm

Dr. Gerard wrote: BTW -- did you know that the Penanggalan was actually once in the D&D Monster Manual?
Was that the head with bat wings that was also trailing intestines as it flew?

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Re: MU Podcast 16- Brain Jars and Jackson Elias

Post by Dr. Gerard » Fri Oct 19, 2012 3:05 pm

Paul Carrick did a painting for the cover of a novel called Night Light that features one of these creatures.

http://www.amazon.com/Night-Light-Chris ... 1453725385
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Re: MU Podcast 16- Brain Jars and Jackson Elias

Post by trevlix » Sun Oct 21, 2012 4:52 pm

Great discussion once again! I love listening to you guys talk. Makes me wish I had time (and people) to just sit down and discuss Call of Cthulhu. Also I get lots of ideas for scenarios when I listen to you.

The Migo discussion was great. Once quick factoid, did you know there is a coffee thermos company named Migo? Hmmm...look kinda like brain cases to me.
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Re: MU Podcast 16- Brain Jars and Jackson Elias

Post by Cthuhugh » Sun Oct 21, 2012 11:47 pm

I echo the above sentiments,very enjoyable show.The discussion regarding The Haunting was very timely and informative for me-yet another reminder to get over my performance anxiety-get my arse into gear and Keep my first game.

Keep up the good work with the show notes Dan,I invariably forget names to things that sound cool so the links are very handy.Good to hear the southern hemisphere getting some love from the good Doctor.
Steve Highfield in the Call of Cthulhu "No Man's Land" scenario. Fenton Beanland in the Call of Cthulhu "The Inheritor " scenario.

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