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In Episode 18 we have some news from the Campus Crier, an MU History “Field Trip,” a visit to The Bestiary, and this week’s centerpiece: advice for Keepers who are just starting out.
News:
● Time’s running out for our ongoing contest: Celia’s Cilia Giveaway
In honor of Keeper Jon’s new daughter, Keeper Celia, we’re holding a baby Mythos art contest.
But after the first two weeks, we have only received one single entry! Whaat? Does no one seriously want this lovely copy of the Book of Cthulhu II??
Stories by Laird Barron, Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette, Caitlín R. Kiernan, W.H. Pugmire, Molly Tanzer, Fritz Leiber, Livia Llewellyn, Michael Chabon, Ann K. Schwader and Molly Tanzer. Did we mention Neil Gaiman?
To enter, all you have to do is send us your sketch of a baby Mythos creature – Little Cthulhu, Toddler Formless Spawn, Infant Rat Thing – whatever seizes your imagination.
-Or-
Send us your version of a Mythos creature, as drawn by a child. Crayons and scribbling outside the lines encouraged, but not required.
We’ll pick the top three, and post them on our forum for a final vote from fans.
So, send in your entry (scanned copy, cell photo, etc.) to: contest@mu-podcast.com
Deadline is November 12th
● We’re also announcing Miskatonic University Radio, our live streaming and on-demand service. Drop in on our station as it plays a random shuffle of all of our content 24/7, or select specific show segments like the History Lecture Series, the Special Collections, Bestiaries — and look out for streaming-only bonus material we’ve got in the pipeline.
● Another shout out to Aethercon, a free online gaming convention coming up right around the corner from November 16 to 18. The event uses the Roll20 system to bring gamers together at a virtual table. Poke around for a game to join! The organizers are still looking for help with Call of Cthulhu character tokens, so get in touch with them if you’re able to contribute a little artwork. You can read more in the Ice Cream Parlor on the Campus forum about this.
● Keeper Jon joins us a little late in the podcast (after taking care of something he mysteriously calls “burping time”), and we talk about places to find good mug shots to use in your games, including the archive of Australian mug shots at the Justice and Police Museum, which are curated in an easier format to find here. Keeper Jon mentions the BBC show Coppers, which has a nifty app that will turn your picture into an old-timey mug shot.
● Some clarification about the Non-Disclosure Agreement for the 7th Edition rules and playtest we’ve been doing behind the scenes – we’re allowed to talk about the rules, but we can’t release them. So we’ll start to mention our thoughts on some of the rules changes on a regular basis – starting with this show!
● Jumping right in, we talk about the new 7th Edition mechanic for bonuses and penalties to a skill check – instead of spelling it out here in the notes, listen to the show for details. All three hosts give this particular new mechanic a hearty thumbs-up!
This week’s Miskatonic University Lecture is another Field Trip, this time from MU graduate student H.G. Bukowski, reporing from Texas on the mysterious Saratoga Lights.
This week’s Bestiary covers the amorphous, brutish and deadly shoggoths – the hired thugs of the Mythos world.
Keeper Dan cleverly ties the flavor of licorice to the Mythos, and Keeper Jon posits that “10 percent of a shoggoth is Pine Sol.”
You’ll have to listen to the show to find out why.
We play a mysterious recording of what might be the call of a shoggoth…
Keeper Dan mentions a shoggoth-like creature in the Dean Koontz novel Phantoms.
Keeper Chad mentions the Shoggoth Lords, which are explored in a Michael Shea novelette called Fat Face.
Keeper Jon proposes a Lava Shoggoth, which would be like Horta from Star Trek.
Our main show topic this week was inspired by a forum post by Cthulhugh, who asked for some basic advice for new Keepers who are facing their first sessions from behind the screen.
Keeper Jon suggests that since Call of Cthulhu is a story-based game, new Keepers in particular should make sure that player characters will be a good fit for the adventure at hand.
Keeper Chad suggests asking players who insist on playing unusual character types (tribal fishermen of the world, you know who you are) to define for themselves how their concept fits with the story. Veto if needed.
Keeper Dan suggests providing a framework within the story to unify characters, like an investigative group or a family connection.
We talk about working with your group on how strike the right tone in the game, working with players’ preferences and tastes. Jon says in con games, there’s only so much customizing that can be done, so it’s good to set the tone in a blurb for the conference sign-up site or catalogue, so the players will self-select for according to their interests.
Jon suggests that new Keepers play Call of Cthulhu at conventions with experienced Keepers to get a feel for how to run a game. Keeper Chad mentions a scenario he played in at RinCon in Tucson run by Jason Corley from Pulp Gamer, which helped to re-ignite his interest in running horror scenarios.
The encoded message that Dan mentions has been found and can be seen here: 
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!
Here is the discussion thread on the Campus forum, and this is the discussion thread for this podcast posted on the Yog-Sothoth forums.]]>
