Joined: Jun 17, 2003 Posts: 451 Location: Abecenwalde, Holy Roman Empire
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:17 pm Post subject: Quick Start CDA
To pick up some momentum after months of inactivity, I thought to myself let's start on something less daunting than "finish Pagan Call: Shadow Kingdoms" (a complex scenario). I stumbled accross Chaosium's "Quick Start Cthulhu" booklet and decided to transpose that to Dark Ages - in two baby steps:
1) Transpose the intro. Easy, it's 98% plagiarism + some copy/paste from CDA
2) Do some Dark-Age variant of "The Haunting" aka "The Haunted House"
Now (1) was easy indeed, I could finish it on the same evening that silly idea came to me. But (2) adds much more flesh to the Quick Start's bare-bones intro. You will probably agree with me that the "Tomb" scenario that ships with CDA is hardly a beginner's scenario, so CDA has always been missing that.
If I continued on my lazy trajectory, I could translate "The Haunted House" to 1000 AD in another evening to make - what? "The Haunted Priory"? Sure I could - but then the whole thing would be little more than a boring "exercice de style" no? I need think a little bit more about this one, coz wouldn't it be nice to have a new/original Dark Ages scenario (besides Deane's "Here Be Dragons" of course) that does to CDA what "The Haunting" did to CoC? Obviously I'm no Keith Herbert but still...
Bedtime.
Oh, I uploaded the quick start (intro) onto the CDA website, see my signature for the URL... _________________ Stephane "Cthulhu Dark Ages"
http://home.kpn.nl/gesbe000/
email: darkages (at) planet dot nl
Joined: Aug 03, 2005 Posts: 93 Location: Perth, Australia
Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 12:19 pm Post subject: CDA:QS
Thanks Stephane!
CoC:DA Rocks!
I've just watched Beowolf (again for the nth time) and am again all fired up to run CoC:DA after a 6 month break playing 1920's and Traveller.
Grendel can be a Mythos thingy. I'm not so sure about his mother though. Lilith? Another aspect of Nyharlathotep? That would be a laugh when the players found out that the beautiful "She-Demon" was actually a male Nyharlathotep!!! _________________ Its worse than that, he's dead Jim.
Joined: Jul 18, 2006 Posts: 2093 Location: Orlando FL USA
Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:53 pm Post subject: Re: CDA:QS
LordNodens wrote:
Thanks Stephane!
CoC:DA Rocks!
I've just watched Beowolf (again for the nth time) and am again all fired up to run CoC:DA after a 6 month break playing 1920's and Traveller.
Grendel can be a Mythos thingy. I'm not so sure about his mother though. Lilith? Another aspect of Nyharlathotep? That would be a laugh when the players found out that the beautiful "She-Demon" was actually a male Nyharlathotep!!!
Of course Nyarlethotep has several female avatars. And gender seems a dicey proposition with all the "deities" of the Mythos.
Grendel could be a particularly buffed Deep One and his mother could be Hydra, or close to it. I've long toyed with the idea that Dagon and Hydra were the First Ones and are so awesome because they are millenia old. In this view all Deep Ones are their progeny. And it may be that there are additional proto-Dagons/Hydras in the world. _________________ "Two in the head, you know he's dead." <heh-heh>
Joined: Nov 23, 2006 Posts: 630 Location: R'lyeh Beach
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:01 am Post subject:
I, too, am a HUGE fan of Cthulhu Dark Ages.
As (hopefully) many have heard, Miskatonic River Press has plans to support the line with Thrice Damned Dunbriar. Having played CDA in that setting, I'm looking forward to putting out the book.
Stephane, have you thought of approaching Chaosium about a new edition? Something to rekindle the line, perhaps? _________________ Tom Lynch
President & Managing Editor
www.miskatonicriverpress.com
As (hopefully) many have heard, Miskatonic River Press has plans to support the line with Thrice Damned Dunbriar. Having played CDA in that setting, I'm looking forward to putting out the book.
Stephane, have you thought of approaching Chaosium about a new edition? Something to rekindle the line, perhaps?
Excellent news! I've been hoping that licensed publishers might pick up the torch for Chaosium's neglected CDA setting. I just happen to be currently reading and enjoying my pre-ordered Our Ladies of Sorrow, I'm happy to hear that Miskatonic River Press is planning on supporting CDA.
I've always felt that Chaosium missed an opportunity with CDA, I've never felt more excited about a new CoC product than CDA, I think the setting has huge potential. But, after the book was released....not much. CoC is known for great scenarios and campaigns. CDA needs some love.
Last edited by Constantine on Sun Nov 08, 2009 6:54 am; edited 1 time in total
As (hopefully) many have heard, Miskatonic River Press has plans to support the line with Thrice Damned Dunbriar. Having played CDA in that setting, I'm looking forward to putting out the book.
Woo... this sounds interesting. ETA?
Quote:
Stephane, have you thought of approaching Chaosium about a new edition? Something to rekindle the line, perhaps?
Stephane, if this is something your considering, I'd like to put an alternate plan out there.
Make the pitch to Chaosium for "Torchlight". This would be essentially the CDA setting presented as a supplement for BRP. Mythos and Magic would be optional; it would be historical horror, with the option to turn it into a Cthulhu or fantasy game.
This would give the line a solid historical/historical fantasy setting that could be supported by the CDA crowd, a historical setting crowd, or someone who would like gritty fantasy.
Joined: Nov 23, 2006 Posts: 630 Location: R'lyeh Beach
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:31 pm Post subject:
Constantine wrote:
Excellent news! I've been hoping that licensed publishers might pick up the torch for Chaosium's neglected CDA setting. I just happen to be currently reading and enjoying my pre-ordered Ladies of Sorrow, I'm happy to hear that Miskatonic River Press is planning on supporting CDA.
I'm glad you're enjoying the book! We're quite proud of that one. Yes, supporting CDA has been a plan since Doc was still with us, but his passing changed the order of our lineup, and pushed some books back. As a result, in answer to:
Myrddin wrote:
Woo... this sounds interesting. ETA?
Right now, it's planned for 2011. Our lineup is pretty full for 2010. More details on this release can be found here.
As to Myriddin's idea of doing an update/supplement as "Torchlight," that sounds like a really good idea. It gives Chaosium support for their BRP line, with the added bonus of more goodies for CDA. I *likes* it! _________________ Tom Lynch
President & Managing Editor
www.miskatonicriverpress.com
Joined: Jun 05, 2003 Posts: 1492 Location: Greensboro, NC
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:13 pm Post subject:
Myrddin wrote:
Make the pitch to Chaosium for "Torchlight". This would be essentially the CDA setting presented as a supplement for BRP. Mythos and Magic would be optional; it would be historical horror, with the option to turn it into a Cthulhu or fantasy game.
SDLeary
Isn't that the format used by Val-du-Loup? If so, maybe that could be used as a template for other regional books. _________________ Lovecraft themed gear and other stuff!
Want to keep up to date on Cthulhu Invictus? Follow me on Twitter.
Isn't that the format used by Val-du-Loup? If so, maybe that could be used as a template for other regional books.
Could be, I don't have my copy yet. If it is, then yes; Torchlight being the core setting book that would suggest the basics of the worlds and optional rules such as mythos and magics, with regional books ala Val-du-lup.
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 12:48 pm Post subject: Useful
This has come about at just the right time for me as I am thinking of running a play by post game of CDA and it'd save me having to do a conversion doc for players who don't own CDA.
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:43 pm Post subject: Quick start content
The quick start is useful, but I would have liked to have a couple of the occupations described, so I might still have somethings to do for my play by post game.
Joined: Jun 17, 2003 Posts: 451 Location: Abecenwalde, Holy Roman Empire
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 8:38 pm Post subject: Re: Quick start content
MonsterMash wrote:
The quick start is useful, but I would have liked to have a couple of the occupations described, so I might still have somethings to do for my play by post game.
MonsterMash,
No problemo, I can add a few exemplary occupations in the quick start - which ones would you like to see included?
Regards, _________________ Stephane "Cthulhu Dark Ages"
http://home.kpn.nl/gesbe000/
email: darkages (at) planet dot nl
Joined: Jun 17, 2003 Posts: 451 Location: Abecenwalde, Holy Roman Empire
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:02 pm Post subject: Thanks and...
Lord Nodens, Tlynch, Constantine, Myrddin,
First thanks to you for your continued interest! Here are my bundled answers to your questions or suggestions:
- No I have not approached Chaosium in quite a while. I kind off feel the way you guys do about the lack of continued support after the rulebook came out. As far as I'm concerned, I'll simply go back (time allowing) to produce material not with publishing in mind, but for free release, e.g. through the CDA website. If Chaosium is interested, they know where to find me
- Having said that, Pegasus (the German publisher/license holder) had communicated their wish -a while back mind you, to do a CDA v 2, expanding my original scope to the broader Middle Ages and adding more background material. Not sure if those plans are still alive. Remember too that Chaosium were "fast followers" wrt CDA, i.e. they expressed interest in publishing CDA only after Pegasus' success on the German market with the supplement ("Cthulhu 1000 AD"). I guess that it may take another German example to rekindle Chaosium's interest - we'll see.
- Myrddin, CDA did start as a supplement for CoC, that's the way I've always seen the project. Pegasus' Cthulhu 1000 AD was the German translation of my original English text, indeed a supplement. It was Chaosium's idea to turn CDA into a stand-alone game, with some of the issues we know - seams showing, etc. In passing, my subtitle for CDA was indeed "Cthulhu by Torchlight". If a CDA supplement would come out, I would take the original, add some of the stuff I put in my "patch" (see website), prop up the background/reference material to help keepers and players, and also one or two "basic" scenarios besides "The Tomb".
- To finish on that note, the scenario I now have in mind for the Haunting CDA style, takes place in the Harz region of Germany (which I know quite well), and which is infamous for... well, let me hold on to that thought a bit longer...
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:56 pm Post subject: Re: Quick start content
DarkAges wrote:
MonsterMash wrote:
The quick start is useful, but I would have liked to have a couple of the occupations described, so I might still have somethings to do for my play by post game.
MonsterMash,
No problemo, I can add a few exemplary occupations in the quick start - which ones would you like to see included?
Regards,
I think one clerical/scholarly one like Scholar, a martial one like Mercenary or (Free) Warrior would probably be useful examples.
The other thing I notice is that quick start has roll for stats as character generation while the rule book uses point allocation (100 points over 8 stats), as I prefer rolling up this isn't a problem but lacks consistency. _________________ My blog
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