Chaosium Inc. - Newsletter #86

Lots of Call of Cthulhu news from Chaosium...
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#86 the straight scoop from the well of chaos... A first look at the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set... You might be aware we have a CALL OF CTHULHU STARTER SET ("all you need to enjoy horror roleplaying") coming out soon. This week our printers couriered us the finished boxed prototype for final approval. We approve - it's AWESOME! The Starter Box box includes three books: Alone Against The Flames, Call of Cthulhu Starter Rules, and Adventures; as well as five pregenerated Investigator sheets, blank investigator sheets, dice, a player handout. The adventures are Alone Against The Flames (solo), plus Paper Chase, Edge of Darkness, and Dead Man Stomp. MSRP is $24.99. Release in December. ...and the Miskatonic University Board Game! We recently received the finished final prototype of our Miskatonic University: The Restricted Collection board game from our printers too, for our final approval. And wow it's come up well! We gave the green light for printing, and we are on track to start delivery to backers towards the end of November, shipping and customs willing. Plus, here's the finished Masks of Nyarlathotep Slipcase... Our international air couriers have been busy this week: in addition to bringing us the finished prototypes of our Miskatonic University board game and the Call of Cthulhu Sarter Set, our printers also sent an advance copy the newly-published Masks of Nyarlathotep slipcase! Take a look... The rest are already on their way to our fulfilment warehouses (USA, UK, Australia) by ship, arriving next month... The slipcase set will be available in hardback (MSRP USD$129.99) and special limited edition leatherette. We'll announce the price details for the leatherette next month. Buy the Masks of Nyarlathotep PDF now from Chaosium.com and you will receive a coupon for the full price of the PDF off the physical slipcase when it goes on sale. Sign up to our Special Masks Preview email list and you'll know the moment the Masks Slipcase is available. Vale Greg Stafford (1948 - 2018)  If you have not seen the news yet, the gaming world has been deeply saddened by the sudden death of our beloved company founder, the "Grand Shaman of Games" Greg Stafford on October 11. The shock and grief the Chaosium family has felt at the news cannot be measured. There are many reports of Greg's passing and beautiful tributes appearing in the gaming media, as gamers everywhere grieve his loss and honour his life. Our notice of Greg's passing is here.  Condolence Thread on BRP Central for Greg Stafford The outpouring of grief and remembrance for Greg Stafford has been immense. The posts in the condolence thread at BRP Central are appreciated by Greg's wife and family. If you'd like to show your appreciation for Greg Stafford's life and legacy, or express your feelings, or pay your respects, you are most welcome: https://basicroleplaying.org/topic/8417-greg-stafford-condolence-thread Two new team members at Chaosium We are pleased to welcome two new people to the #Chaosium team! DAVID SCOTT (right) is our convention coordinator for UK/Europe and IT support specialist. David’s direct interaction with Chaosium began long ago, as one of the organisers of the Chaosium-orientated Convulsion convention in Leicester, UK, and before that as part of the Reaching Moon Megacorp, publishers of Tales of the Reaching Moon magazine. We also welcome ANDREW BEAN (below) as our convention coordinator for Australia, New Zealand and Asia/Pacific region. Andrew has been has been a long-time supporter, and his day job as an 'International Man of Mystery' has meant he's been found cheerfully volunteering at the Chaosium booth at conventions far and wide. As Chaosium continues to expand its presence and offerings at major conventions around the world, Andrew and David will work closely with North American convention coordinator ELLIE AKERS, and our director of organised play TODD GARDINER, to support the company's activities as an exhibitor. This includes marquee events such as Gen Con and Origins (USA), UK Games Expo (UK), and PAX Aus (Australia). The conventions team will also provide assistance to smaller conventions in their regions, including prize support and convention games. Chaosium at PAX Aus Melbourne Australia (Oct 26 - 28) There's going to be a strong Chaosium presence at PAX AUS this coming weekend (Oct 26-28)! Booth Chaosium is sharing a booth with our Australian fulfilment partners Aetherworks. We'll have a large range of recent releases for Call of Cthulhuand RuneQuest, and even a demo table for games of Khan of Khans, and one-shot 60 minute walk-up RPG sessions. Come find us at DT720/TT620 in the Freeplay Hall. RPG Sessions Over in the tabletop area, we have four dedicated tables which will running continuous Call of Cthulhu and RuneQuest sessions from 11.00am - 11.00 pm each day (4pm on Sunday). For that, we must thank the wonderful team of volunteer "Tabletop Teacher" Keepers and Gamemasters who will be running the sessions. Seminars We're also running two seminars, both of which will be well worth attending! CALLING CTHULU 7.30pm Friday 26th October, Galah Theatre “No swords. No wizards. Just regular humans, in way over their heads as they work to uncover the mind-shattering horrors of the Lovecraftian mythos. That's the promise of the Call of Cthulhu RPG, and over 30 years later we're still coming back for more" (Gizmodo). A panel of leading Australian game writers and developers discuss the phenomenon that is Call of Cthulhu and its influence on bringing the Cthulhu Mythos into the mainstream popular imagination. Panelists: MOB, Mark Morrison, Penelope Love, Allan Carey. Moderator: Richard Watts. THE ETHERNOMICON: GAMING ON THE BLOCKCHAIN 3.30pm Sunday 28th October, Ibis Theatre Chaosium, publishers of the famous Call of Cthulhu tabletop roleplaying game, have joined forces with a team of recent Software Engineering graduates from Monash University, Australia to create ETHERNOMICON, the crypto-asset trading card game on the Etherium Blockchain. This panel discusses the genesis and development of Blockchain gaming, the exciting potential of this new gaming ecosystem, and the role in this that existing game companies and their IP can play. Panelists: MOB, Dr Christopher Betts, Scott Thomson, Dr Robyn Mcnamara, Software Engineering Grads Cthulhu Game Day at PAX Aus (Oct 27) To celebrate the release of Call of Cthulhu the Video Game our friends Good Games Australia are holding a Call of Cthulhu Game Day at PAX Aus. Win a copy of the new computer game, and additional prizes from Chaosium! Chaosium at Essen this week (Oct 25 - 28) Chaosium will be at EssenSpiel next week (Oct 25 - 28) with team members Rick Meints, Jason Durall, and Jeff Richard, plus awesome assistants Claudia, Andrew, Daffi and Julia.  Want to get the new RQG and not pay for shipping?  Want to ask Jason or Jason questions?  Want to play in a RQG demo? Then come to the Chaosium Booth at Essenspiel! 4-C124! Chaosium's Jeff Richard will be at Malta Comic Con, Nov 3-4 Chaosium creative director Jeff Richard is a special guest at the 10th Malta Comic Con, coming up on November 3 - 4 at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre. Jeff will be giving talks on Fantasy, Mythology, and the Appeal of the Superhero and Cthulhu Mythos and Popular Culture, as well as running Chaosium RPG games. Plus no doubt checking out Malta's megaliths and cyclopean ruins for #gloranthafuel! Chaosium is major sponsor of Arcanacon Melbourne Australia January 25 -26 Arcanacon, Victoria Australia's the longest running RPG convention is coming back - bigger and better, at the Melbourne Convention Centre (same location as PAX Aus) in January 2019. Chaosium is proud to be the major sponsor. Sign up through the Convention Kickstarter now for discounted early bird tickets! Chaosium's MOB says, "Arcanacon II in 1984 was the first RPG convention I ever attended, and I got to play (and win!) in Mark Morrison, Penelope Love & crew's epic Kree Mountain con scenario for RuneQuest. Little did I know then that a mere 34 years later I'd be teeing up Chaosium Inc.'s sponsorship of Arcanacon XXXIV and organising to bring the amazing Sarah Newton as guest of honour. Check out the con's Kickstarter at the link!" Save 31% on selected Chaosium digital content at DriveThruRPG's Halloween Sale Save 31% on selected Chaosium digital content at DriveThruRPG's Halloween Sale. 193 titles on offer! Halloween Sale on at DriveThruFiction too (29 titles). Halloween Sale runs for another 11 days. Licensee Focus   Arkham Gazette Bundle for Halloween Our friends at Sentinel Hill Press are offering a special Halloween Print Bundle of the first set of issues of the Arkham Gazette for just $45 at DriveThruRPG. That's a saving of 20%. The Bundle consists of issues #0, #1, #2 and #3 of the gazette. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/240397 Prince Valiant and King Arthur Pendragon for 2019! CHAOSIUM is very happy to announce that we will be distributing Greg Stafford's Prince Valiant and King Arthur Pendragon RPGs for our friends at Nocturnal Media, starting next year. Originally published by Chaosium many, many years ago, these new editions from Nocturnal Media will be available in early 2019, along with Stewart Wieck's Story Path & Whimsy Card Decks. More details at the link. Call of Cthulhu the Video Game to include Dedication to Greg Stafford Call of Cthulhu the video game is coming out at the end of this month (October 30). Our friends at Focus Home Interactive are including a dedication to Greg Stafford in the credits. Get a taste of the press’ first impressions of CALL OF CTHULHU in the latest trailer. We love that PC Gamer said, "I felt like I was in a tabletop Call of Cthulhu adventure". "A fitting memorial" RPGNet says "Greg Stafford's supreme creation brought fully up to date with the presentation it deserves and tremendous added depth. A fitting memorial. STYLE - 5/5: Chaosium is producing some of the best-looking books in gaming right now, and RuneQuest Glorantha is not only probably the best of the best, but also both a superb representation of its setting and a fitting tribute to it. SUBSTANCE - 5/5: Can it go higher than 5?" RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha is available from Chaosium.com in Hardcover + PDF and PDF DriveThruRPG in PDF And your FLGS. If they don't have it, ask them to order it!

For Greg, from Sandy Here's what long-time creative colleague and friend Sandy Petersen has said about losing "the most creative person I have ever met": 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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