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Glorious Gamehole Con

The YTCC crew traveled north to the frozen burgh of Madison WI, for the 2019 iteration of Gamehole Con. All were highly anticipating a weekend of running our unique Call of Cthulhu scenarios. The gang was warmly welcomed by Alex Kramer and his team, and presented with a secured private room where YTCC could freely use A/V equipment and props, and entertain with raucous role-playing. This year’s highlight for YTCC was the introduction of a new twelve-player Halloween scenario, Trick or Terror!

Trick or Terror was written by Michael, a veteran keeper who has numerous YTCC titles, and wove a holiday tale of frights and fun. Set in the small suburb of fictional Brenton, Arkansas, the early 1980s story follows the trick-or-treat evening of two rival neighborhoods. The players were escorted through a number of familiar tropes, heightening the excitement. Additionally, the YTCC crew crafted handmade masks by Wintercroft Designs, and gave one to each player as a special take-home gift. The event concluded with a fervor of positive feedback from players and bystanders.

Along with the Trick or Terror Halloween special event, YTCC brought a plethora of classic scenarios to the folk of Gamehole Con. Bob ran two wonderful scenarios, High Water and Beneath an Indifferent Sky. Perry and Jason wowed their players with The Traveling Dream and The Green Valley Incident. Rachel took us to summer camp with Sleepaway. Players visited Harlem with Josh, as they played through The Queen’s Got Your Number. Dave C took to the friendly skies with Flaming Star. Dave P ran players through Seven Virtues and The Grey Baby. Jake led a romp through Friendly Fields. Michael rounded out the games with a casino heist in space titled High Stakes.

This was YTCC’s second Gamehole Con.  The venue, the players, and the convention in general were fantastic. We all look forward to 2020 and driving more players insane!

Gen Con 2019!

Another glorious Gen Con is in the books. This year’s show was fantastic—we ran 28 total sessions with a 10-Keeper crew — and once again, our players really brought their best to our tables, keeping the energy high. Gen Con is our biggest event, and we put a huge amount of work into it. This year we debuted three new Black Letter qualifiers (The Grey Baby, Beneath an Indifferent Sky, and Friendly Fields). Fortunately all three of these were basically completed by Gary Con, in March! Having the work done early made a huge difference. Each of us was able to tweak our games, while the bulk of our summer efforts went into the Black Letter Event.

This year’s big event, Homecoming, was written by Dave C. He was the creator of the first two Black Letter Events, but had happily moved into semi-retirement. I was thrilled when he approached me last year, volunteering to do the 2019 game. The premise for the event was a comfortably familiar setting for most of the team: 80’s high school. Of course, this being Call of Cthulhu, and coming from the twisted mind of Dave C, the familiar quickly gave way to the bizarre. Players lost sanity with more than just math quizzes, Shakespeare readings, Presidential Physical Fitness tests, and school pizza! And the Senior Prom breakdance battle was an instant YTCC classic moment.

We also brought several old favorites back for new players, in our Classics track: High Water (a former Black Letter Event), Flaming Star, Last Days of Central State, Do Spirits Return?, Strangers, and the one that got it all started, a little child shall lead them. And we expanded with some additional new games: Descent into Avernus, The Queen’s Got Your Number, and The Lost and the Damned.

Along with our many games, we did get to spend some time with Chaosium’s own Mike Mason and Paul Fricker. Both great guys! We were extremely pleased to welcome Allan Carey from Type 40 to play in Michael’s High Stakes scenario. We also met Andrew Bean and caught up with Rick, Neal, and Jeff. 

It was a great Gen Con! I am 100% pumped up about next year, and am working on plans…mysterious plans. Who knows what fruit they might bear?

Did you game with us at Gen Con? Let us know how your session went, in the comments!

CoC Character Generator: Dhole’s House

Are you looking to get your Call of Cthulhu game up and running quickly — whether as a Keeper or a player? If you’re not already familiar, then we suggest you check out Dhole’s House, a fantastic online character generator with options for multiple CoC 7th Edition settings.

I’m about to start running some Down Darker Trails scenarios for one of my gaming groups, which usually leans more toward D&D/Pathfinder-style games. Character generators are always somewhat complicated, by necessity — but I think this one will help these dungeon-crawler types spin up their new investigators quickly.

While I’ve only ever used the Classic method (pictured below), there are also Point Buy and Freestyle options. I just mash the Roll Again button until I get some stats I like for the character I have in mind, then pick an era (Modern, Classic 1920s, Gaslight, Old West) and occupation — the site knows how many points I have to spend and what skill sets are available, depending on those choices. Hats off to the database designer; having conditional selections takes the hard work out of your hands, and will make it so easy for my band of looty gunslingers.

The PDF that’s generated is pretty good; pictured below is an Old West sheet (this example is one starting iteration of my Madam character, the proprietress of Priscilla Parker’s P—y Palace). It does not circle the starting values for HP, SAN, Luck, MP (and you’d have to go back to Dhole’s House to note your Luck number), but otherwise gives the standard 7th Edition data clearly. [Edited to add: Please see the creator’s comment on this post, for information on why those numbers can’t be circled. Makes sense!]

You can return to your account and access your saved characters at any time. I’d created an earlier version of Priscilla Parker, before the Old West era was an option (so I used Gaslight, at the time); she’s in here too. It’s handy to have all these people in one place!

And while I’ve only created 7th Edition characters, there is an option to create Pulp Cthulhu heroes, starting with one of 22 archetypes. I look forward to exploring that soon; I’ve long been a fan of the pulp adventure of Hollow Earth Expedition, and think it’ll be a blast to play up that style in a Cthulhu game.

So whether you’re a Keeper in need of some pre-gens, or a player looking for a quick way to spin up a Call of Cthulhu character, Dhole’s House is a fantastic resource. It’s free, although the creator welcomes donations; please join us in supporting this project, if you can.

A Return to the Witch House

Inspired by the awesome-looking figures being produced by Workhouse Games, I decided to revisit one of my favorite Lovecraft tales, Dreams in the Witch House. I honestly cannot recall when I last read it, but it has some great characters that the Kickstarter is bringing to life.

I decided to approach this in a couple of ways. I would listen to the Dark Adventures Radio Theatre audio drama version from our friends at the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, and read the story. I thought about also watching the Masters of Horror version of it, but I recall not being wowed by that, so I’ll forego that.

The story starts off introducing Walter Gilman. He’s student at Miskatonic, a gifted mathematician and folklore dabbler who is troubled by a brain fever and the dreams it causes. Or did the dreams cause the fever? Like Lovecraft, Mr. Gilman does not strive to maintain his health. There are frequent mentions of the need to visit a specialist, but Gilman never quite makes time for that appointment.

The dreams bring about some weird, trippy visions which are called indescribable but are nonetheless described. They are subtle and suggestive, and sometimes Lovecraft’s prose gets in the way. However, it’s rewarding to carefully sift through the vast gulf of adjectives to see what’s hinted at.

The witch in the witch house is Keziah Mason, described as a mundane old woman who suddenly and inexplicably becomes a mathematical genius. This is shocking and the intolerant people of Arkham turn against her, suspecting some pact with dark powers. In their defense, if I were to suddenly demonstrate mathematical genius, most people who know me would (perhaps rightly so) suspect the same thing.

Keziah is delightfully menacing. However, the real treat is Brown Jenkin, her awful human-faced rat familiar with human hands for paws. Keziah and Brown Jenkin are some of the evilest characters in Lovecraft’s works, right up there with Wilbur Whately.

The story itself concerns the seduction of Gilman, initially through his exploration of esoteric mathematics and its potential for opening paths through space and time. In this he is drawn along by Mason visiting times and places, encountering strange beings along the way. (I was delighted by the appearance of the Elder Things, something I had either missed entirely or forgotten from my earlier readings.) This less malignant journey evolves into darker business later in the tale.

I found the second half of the story more enjoyable than first. The dreams themselves were a bit of a slog for me. The cleaner, more realized scenes later on were more enjoyable. As a character, Gilman was heroic in his efforts, if not in his results. All in all, it was a very enjoyable read.

Listening to the HPLHS Dark Adventure Radio Theater (DART) audio dramatization around the same time I was reading the story allowed for some fun comparing and contrasting between the two depictions. The audio drama adds life to many of the characters mentioned in the story. All of this helps to enhance the enjoyment. The narrative element which the audio drama necessitates adds to the experience. This is well done with this particular addition to the DART series. Just enough was added to the story to enhance things. I would have liked to have heard a few more things from the final portion of the story related to the fate of the Witch House itself, but more attention was paid to the characters. This is a quibbling thing. All in all, the production was rich and added to the experience.

In summation, Dreams in the Witch House is a fine story. I encourage you all to crack open your copy of the story and give it an another read. The minis from the Workhouse Games Kickstarter help to visualize the characters brilliantly. Finally, the HPLHS DART audio drama rounds out the experience by giving voice to the characters you meet along the way. Pleasant dreams!

Viva Gary Con!

We have made it through another fabulous Gary Con!  This show is just something else.  I treasure the experience tremendously.

For those of you not familiar, Gary Con is a convention honoring the father of Dungeons and Dragons and roleplaying gaming, E. Gary Gygax. It takes place in March in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, at the Grand Geneva Resort and Spa.  It’s winter in Wisconsin, so it’s a great time to stay indoors and play games.

This year marks our 4th Gary Con.  The first year we didn’t know what to make of the show, and they didn’t know what to make of us.  However after that awkward first date, it was a true love and ever since then things have only gotten better.  This year we are proud to say that every seat in all 16 sessions was filled.  Our attendees have evolved as well.  In the early days it didn’t seem there were as many Cthulhu players, but now there’s a steady supply.

Besides for running games the crew was able to actually do some gaming.  I played in a Down Darker Trails Call of Cthulhu game- As the Leaf Withers from the Vine.  It was a really fun experience and I enjoyed being a player for a change. 

One of the best things about the con is the table side dining service from a menu with special entrees such as the Chainmail Bikini Pizza and Hell Hound Bites.  The Grand Geneva staff comes to the table, takes orders, and delivers tasty food right to you.  It’s a huge benefit; a hungry gamer is a scary prospect.  There’s also the satisfying aspect of having the staff say “Here’s your Mindflayer.”

This year I also got to meet the Crown Prince, Luke Gygax, who’s the chief organizer of the convention.  He’s a super nice guy.  In addition to Luke, the YTCC team filled an entire session of Skip Williams’s ongoing DnD game. 

The glow is fading from this year, but we’ll be back next year for sure. Viva Gary Con!

Just in time for Gary Con…

Beneath an Indifferent Sky (BIS), my first Call of Cthulhu game set in the Old West, is done. It’s been a very fun experience writing this game, but not a particularly easy one. In fact, as late as Christmas, I was ready to scrap the game and just run one of my old scenarios this year. I’m not sure what exactly allowed me to break through, but it all came together very nicely, and I am excited about running it!

Beneath an Indifferent Sky, a new original You Too Can Cthulhu scenario by Bob Geis, premiering at Gary Con 2019

Obviously, Down Darker Trails was a big inspiration. I’ve always loved the idea of the Weird West, and enjoyed playing Deadlands–in fact, my first published game, Legion Publishing’s Beast of Fire, was for that setting. DDT is a great book, and has a lot of source material. I am also a big fan of Western movies, it being one of my favorite genres. Finally, I love the American West itself. I have visited many times, and yearn to go back.

Layer my love of history on top of that, and I have a lot of different influences muddying my brain as I try to come up with a scenario that will run neatly in 4 hours. BIS has a lot in it. The entire second act is a sandbox where the players can go in a lot of different directions. This is what I’m looking forward to the most. It’s going to be a lot of fun reacting to what they do, and weaving things together as the game moves on to the conclusion.

The game involves a group of settlers from the East, the Godfrey family: Esau, his wife Hannah, and their daughter Loretta. The Godfreys are journeying west to the settlement of Redemption in the eastern foothills of the Bighorn Mountains, to join Esau’s brother Silas and make a new beginning in their lives. The family is joined by associates of Esau, friends from his time in the Union Army, who are charged with escorting them through the untamed country.

The game is set in 1871, an interesting time in Wyoming. Following their shared victory in Red Cloud’s war, the Cheyenne controlled the land where I’m setting the game. This make sense narratively, since Silas Godfrey is a bitter expatriate who renounced his citizenship in reaction to the excesses witnessed during Reconstruction. The Cheyenne play a big part in the scenario, and I really enjoyed doing research on them.

Of course there are Mythos elements, but I am going to be silent on that part. I have a playtest lined up for the Tuesday crew later this month. Based on that, I’ll do some polishing, and then be ready for Gary Con.

YTCC’s Bob, Two Degrees of Separation from Jackson Elias

I guess you could say we’re friends of friends of Jackson Elias, because YTCC’s own leader Bob was a featured guest on a post-Gen Con episode of The Good Friends of Jackson Elias podcast. Check it out and hear what Bob had to say about our con, our group, and our players. This episode also includes an interview with YTCC alum Chris Spivey, author of the Ennie Award-winning Harlem Unbound.