Chaosium Inc. Newsletter

An understandably 'Glorantha: the Gods War' Kickstarter themed newsletter from Chaosium...

#25 the straight scoop from the well of chaos...

THE GODS WAR IS LIVE! Sandy Petersen's epic successor to Cthulhu Wars is live on Kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1816687860/the-gods-war THE GODS WAR is a fast-moving game combining asymmetric strategy with fantastic plastic figures. It's set in legendary game designer Greg Stafford's mythic universe ofGlorantha, famous for the RuneQuest RPG and King of Dragon Pass video game.  The Gods War Kickstarter campaign funded in less than an hour, and runs until September 15. Geekdad.com reviews The Gods War: "a brilliant and immersive strategy game with a rich and textured lore... given the look and feel of the Cthulhu Wars miniatures these will be well worth the price of the game." Three days days in, and The Gods War Kickstarter has raised almost $350K! If you loved Sandy's Cthulhu Wars, you'll love this game. If you're are a fan of Glorantha, you need to check this out. If you are curious about that mythological setting, it is certainly worth a look! What's more, if you want to play The Gods War, and don't want to wait until the game is released, our partners Petersen Games have a gift for you - you can download the Print and Play for free and start playing now! The Print and Play is the full core game, with enough content to play with up to 4 of your friends.  The figures, are of course, on standees and the resolution and size of everything has been shrunk so it is easy to download, but it is still a great way to experience the awesome gameplay of The Gods War! Let Sandy walk you through the print and play in this new video.  Call of Cthulhu nominated for inaugural Dragon Awards Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition has been named as a nominee for Best RPG at The Dragon Awards, a new Science Fiction and Fantasy awards celebrating Dragon Con's 30th anniversary as the USA's largest fan-run convention. Anyone can vote (you don't have to attend the con) but you do have to register by August 26th. Register to vote here, and support Call of Cthulhu! http://application.dragoncon.org/dc_fan_awards_signup.php Legends of Gaming converge at Chaosium's Gen Con booth Gen Con 2016 was a great success - in the exhibitors' hall the Chaosium booth was a constant hive of activity, and we came perilously close to selling out of our available stocks of Call of Cthulhu (fortunately the second ‪#ShipsOfCthulhu‬ shipments have now arrived). It was great to show off the manuscript of the new RuneQuest, and our new Reiner Knizia boardgame Khans of Khans. Greg, Sandy and the rest of the Chaosium crew also enjoyed interacting with Chaosium fans old and new - and it was heartening that many people said they were glad to see Chaosium back on its feet. Legends of RPG world were frequently seen at the booth, Greg Stafford and Sandy Petersen (of course), along with Mark Rein-Hagen (Vampire The Masquerade - that's him talking to Greg in the pic above) and co-author of the original RuneQuest, Steve Perrin, catching up with Greg below: Another legend of gaming spent some time at the Chaosium booth - it was so busy that morning Frank Mentzer graciously even helped us out for a while during the rush. Did people buying Call of Cthulhu and RuneQuest know the guy selling it to them was the guy behind basic edition D&D? Chaosium ran 76 gaming sessions of Call of Cthulhu and RuneQuest, and gave prize support and assistance to others running Chaosium games. Todd, our director of organized play reports: "Gen Con was a big hit for us! Chaosium had an amazing crew working hard to give players an creepy Call of Cthulhu experience... the GM volunteers were phenomenal. The feedback from players that visited the booth was entirely positive and the two-hour session length allowed us to reach hundreds of players over the course of the event. But, as much as we appreciate these Keepers for helping out, let me also shout-out to the players that kept these events sold out and fun for everyone at the table. No game exists without players and meeting these new people is what makes these conventions so special." There's still an incredible unmet demand for Call of Cthulhu and other Chaosium games, so we're already planning an even bigger Gen Con next year! Mythic Iceland 2nd Edition - Manuscript Completed! ENnie award winning Pedro Zivani's manuscript for the second edition of Mythic Iceland is now in the hands of Chaosium for editing and art direction. Pedro says, "It’s been wonderful to be given the chance to work on this new edition and to improve on the original book. I’m very happy with the new content, and the final shape of the rules system. Play testing has gone smashingly well. It’s great to see Mythic Iceland as a self-contained, complete game". Below is a brief summary of what’s new in Mythic Iceland 2nd Edition: Complete rules included, based on new RuneQuest and BRP Essentials rules. More character creation options, many examples included. Completely reworked god allegiance system - more options, more flavour, more cool powers, and easier to use. Rune Magic system has been streamlined while keeping all the flexibility from the previous edition. New Seiður Magic system that is simple yet deep, and based on how seiður (a form of shamanism) appears in the Icelandic Sagas. It's got a very distinct flavour from rune magic. New rules for ship handling and naval chases. New rules for repairing damaged weapons and damaged ships. New rules for running a Viking raid from beginning to end, based on risk/reward balance, includes tables for loot, opposition, and town design. Two new adventures included - the first adventure is heavy on the mythical and follows a scripted design. The second adventure is a murder mystery sandbox that plays like a tragic Viking Saga story featuring greed, love, and death. A set of ready-to-play characters so you can get gaming right away. Lots of rule tweaks and added setting details. No chapter was left untouched. Mythic Iceland 2nd Edition will also feature new full colour internal layout and art. It is slated for release in the first half of 2017. Chaosium announces end of Magic World product line Chaosium has no plans to do anything further with the "Magic World" product line, it was announced earlier this week. Magic World, published in 2012, was a reworking of earlier Chaosium RPG rules based on the Basic Roleplaying engine including Elric!, The Bronze Grimoire, RuneQuest Third Edition, and Sailing on the Seas of Fate. Statement by Jeff Richard, Chaosium Creative Director: "Chaosium is a small company with two main product lines: Call of Cthulhu and the Glorantha setting (HeroQuest, RuneQuest, 13G, etc). Anything else needs to be carefully chosen - it either needs to be something we think can financially support itself or be something we internally have a great artistic desire to produce. Unfortunately, Magic World does not fit into either category. We are far more interested in projects that push the artistic and creative envelopes than generic fantasy projects. That being said, we know that Magic World has a small but devoted following, and we have no issue with Magic World continuing on as licensed/fan-produced product. And we will continue to sell existing Magic World releases at chaosium.com and DriveThruRPG. We have written to authors working on speculative Magic World projects advising them of this decision." What is Ab Chaos? (...from Ab Chaos #7, May 31 1992) Ab - Latin "from" Chaos - (1) Any condition or place of total disorder (modern vernacular); (2) the disordered state of unformed matter which preceded creation (since Milton, Paradise Lost); (3) the dark, empty space which preceded creation (Greek Mythology); (4) the [formerly] Californian roleplaying game company. Ab Chaos is an informal newsletter for Chaosium fans. Through our history we have tried to serve the players and gamemasters through craft and art as well as (and sometimes at the expense of) marketing and moneymaking. We appreciate your loyalty, and offer this communication to those who are curious about us, beyond the mere "product". It is planned to be informal and irregular. We are, after all, not the Orderium.

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