UK Games Expo 2012
Page 1 of 17 12311 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 243

Thread: Cthulhu By Gaslight Update

  1. #1
    Community Patron Lesser Servitor Pookie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Birmingham, UK
    Posts
    1,843
    Blog Entries
    10

    Cthulhu By Gaslight Update

    To quote:

    "Victorian England. The era of Sherlock Holmes and Dracula, and a horrific real-life mystery in the form of Jack the Ripper. Thousands of books, films, and stories have featured these characters over the past 120+ years -- Holmes and Dracula have become the most commonly-used fictional characters of all time. Little wonder then that this era, with its foggy atmosphere, gross social and economic inequality, and the vast history of England to draw from, should spawn a setting for Call of Cthulhu. For what is Call of Cthulhu if not the first truly great roleplaying game combining mystery and horror?

    In 1986, avid Sherlockian Bill Barton produced the award-winning first edition of Cthulhu by Gaslight. A second edition, with only slight changes, appeared two years later. Since then a handful of Call of Cthulhu books set in the Victorian era have appeared, and articles and scenarios still crop up from time to time. But it’s been over 20 years (!) since the Gaslight book itself was reprinted or updated.

    This new edition of Cthulhu by Gaslight has been thoroughly revamped, expanding the book by nearly 50% and adding new material roughly equivalent to the original book’s length. We have more thoroughly developed the Victorian England setting. Character creation has been reworked, with some new wrinkles added, and there are new articles on the Victorian world, crime, politics, personalities, and so forth. There are also extensive new sections on the Cthulhu Mythos in Britain -- creatures, cults, books, etc. -- including a précis of Ramsey Campbell’s Severn River Valley. Also included are tips on running various types of Gaslight era campaigns, a gazetteer of intriguing British myths and legends, a selection of friends and foes from Victorian fiction, and a lengthy new bibliography/filmography of suggested reading and viewing. Rounding out this new edition are a pair of new Victorian era scenarios -- one an urban adventure set in London, the other set in rural Dartmoor."



    http://www.chaosium.com/article.php?story_id=488
    --
    Pookie (pwca@blueyonder.co.uk) "Squeak damn you Squeak!!!"
    See http://rlyehreviews.blogspot.com/ for reviews & http://www.chorazin.org.uk/pookie/ for GURPS: Jorune etc

    "Home again, home again, Yiggety Yig...
    Goo-ood evening, Quetzalcoatl."

  2. #2
    Knight of the Outer Void
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Oxford, UK
    Posts
    111
    Blog Entries
    2
    Hooray! Hooray! Can't wait to get this.

  3. #3
    Administrator Lesser Servitor trevlix's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    1,857
    Blog Entries
    18
    I'm very excited by this too. Need to reread my copy of Shadows over Bakers Street.

  4. #4
    Master of the Silver Twilight HomoLupusDomesticus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    The Netherlands
    Posts
    639
    Blog Entries
    2
    Time for me to get into the 1890s English setting as well!
    RPGbericht (Dutch)

  5. #5

  6. #6
    Knight of the Outer Void
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Kokomo, IN
    Posts
    414
    Blog Entries
    1
    I can see this is going to be a summer of Cthulhu goodness.
    Mike Dukes

  7. #7
    Community Patron+ Knight of the Outer Void DrVincent's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Macau
    Posts
    234
    Blog Entries
    3
    Looks great, can't wait to get a copy. Its one of my favorite time periods
    We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity because our realtor was a lying, cheating, crazy, cultist jerk.

  8. #8
    Wonderful news. Hopefully, this will keep my Gaslight campaign feeling fresh when it restarts after this summer.

  9. #9
    Lesser Servitor Steff Worthington's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    The Kingdom of Tegeingl, UK
    Posts
    1,192
    (sigh) I'm really looking forward to this... but PLEASE don't tell me that's the font they're going for? That font is more suited to a modern urban/industrial setting than gaslight. They should've gone with something Edwardian.
    sorry. //rant
    im an MRP man. Heart and sticky cthulhoid soul.www.miskatonicriverpress.com

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by twilight View Post
    (sigh) I'm really looking forward to this... but PLEASE don't tell me that's the font they're going for? That font is more suited to a modern urban/industrial setting than gaslight.
    It is rather urban, isn't it? The subtitle is more fitting.

    To be fair, Victorian typography is difficult (as I'm finding, currently, with Stealing Cthulhu). Because it looks so formal, it's difficult to make it look exciting. I'm not surprised they went with something more grabby for the title.

  11. #11
    Lesser Servitor Steff Worthington's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    The Kingdom of Tegeingl, UK
    Posts
    1,192
    Quote Originally Posted by GrahamW View Post
    It is rather urban, isn't it? The subtitle is more fitting.

    To be fair, Victorian typography is difficult (as I'm finding, currently, with Stealing Cthulhu). Because it looks so formal, it's difficult to make it look exciting. I'm not surprised they went with something more grabby for the title.
    Typography from that era was more to look formal and respectable which, juxtaposed with mythos imagery, can look decadent and rank with decay. As they say 'location, location, etc'. The one difficulty I'd have said that typesetters would've had is making them bold enough. They didn't really do bold until it became fashionable in the 1920's.
    im an MRP man. Heart and sticky cthulhoid soul.www.miskatonicriverpress.com

  12. #12
    Master of the Silver Twilight HomoLupusDomesticus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    The Netherlands
    Posts
    639
    Blog Entries
    2
    Quote Originally Posted by twilight View Post
    (sigh) I'm really looking forward to this... but PLEASE don't tell me that's the font they're going for? That font is more suited to a modern urban/industrial setting than gaslight. They should've gone with something Edwardian.
    sorry. //rant
    Now that you mention it... I don't suppose that font can still be changed?
    RPGbericht (Dutch)

  13. #13
    Lesser Servitor Steff Worthington's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    The Kingdom of Tegeingl, UK
    Posts
    1,192
    Here's the mock I did. It's crappy but it gives you a better idea of the font I hope they 'finally' go with.
    http://deviantvoyeur.blogspot.com/

    (not to mention the unnecessary 'emboss' effect over Mr. Carrick's excellent cover. A single white stroke box would've done)

    These are all annoying (to me) glitches in what is sure to be an amazing book.
    im an MRP man. Heart and sticky cthulhoid soul.www.miskatonicriverpress.com

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by twilight View Post
    (not to mention the unnecessary 'emboss' effect over Mr. Carrick's excellent cover. A single white stroke box would've done)
    Yeah, I think the Pshop effects are a little heavy on some of the Chaosium covers.

  15. #15
    Community Patron Knight of the Outer Void Thomas Phinney's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Portland, Oregon, United States
    Posts
    124
    Quote Originally Posted by GrahamW View Post
    It is rather urban, isn't it? The subtitle is more fitting.

    To be fair, Victorian typography is difficult (as I'm finding, currently, with Stealing Cthulhu). Because it looks so formal, it's difficult to make it look exciting. I'm not surprised they went with something more grabby for the title.
    I half agree with you. On the one hand there is a lot if formal Victorian stuff. On the other hand, there is a lot of loud advertising stuff as well. How about Binner or Britannic? Or even Columbus, the original CoC logo typeface. One could take something bold like that, and optionally give it a distressed look as they did with their chosen typeface, and it could look quite nice, I think.

    Cheers,

    Typographer T

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •