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Survive the Con – Origins 2023

Posted on Keeper Doc

Origins became an annual pilgrimage for me starting in 2019. It feels like a dozen lifetimes have passed since my friend Augur and I enjoyed an assortment of games. Some standouts included Survive the Night’s “Carnage at Camp Ojibwe” with its creator Brian Crenshaw and the now classic Call of Cthulhu con scenario “The Shooting Party” with Matt French. These were the days of yore in the Rogue Cthulhu era, pre-COVID, back before I gave in to the Keeper’s compulsion…back when I actually went to cons and played games. My experiences with conventions and gaming have evolved substantially over the last several years, and this trip to Origins nicely encapsulates those shifts.  Though I wish

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Cat Links Keeper Tips, MoN - Keeper

Adding “Swamp Song” to Your Campaign

Posted on Keeper Doc

The latest edition of MoN includes the Peru Prologue to introduce Jackson Elias before his inevitable demise at the Chelsea Hotel. This addition helps form a bond between the investigators and their ill-fated quest-giver. Our Miskatonic Repository scenario, Swamp Song, aims to deepen this Peruvian connection and offer the investigators a chance to save Elias’ bacon at least once. The scenario contents also aim to foreshadow, provide resources, and lay some groundwork for future campaign events without altering the plot. Here, we intend to elaborate on our goals and provide some notes on integrating Swamp Song into your MoN campaign, even if you’ve already moved beyond New York! WARNING: SWAMP SONG SPOILERS BELOW Timing: The

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Cat Links MoN - Keeper

Returning to the 4th Edition, part 2

Posted on Keeper Doc

We return to our review of the fourth edition of Masks of Nyarlathotep to survey the Kenya, Australia, and China chapters. As the campaign moves further away from America, a lot of the poorly-aged choices and depictions become more apparent. The intent is not to belabor them in great detail but point out some of the more salient decisions made in the latest version. Once again, we engage the older edition with an open mind and an eye for discarded components that could be re-incorporated or further modified to augment your campaign.  Kenya: “Expect massive Sanity loss in this chapter. Don’t be squeamish in applying it.” Previously Kenya served as a near-direct path to a

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Cat Links Conventions

Chaosium Con II: Totally Mad(Re)cap

Posted on Keeper Doc

Disclaimer: Advance apologies. I wrote this on a 9-hour flight after four amazing, sleep-deprived days in the company of mind-blowingly fantastic people.  Thanks to anyone correcting my errors. Last year, even with the pains of COVID and minor first event hiccups, Chaosium Con stood out as my spring highlight. I anxiously awaited the announcement of the sequel. In the meantime, I resolved to spend just a little less time at the gaming table, attend the auction, hit some of the great panels, and slowly peruse the vendor hall next time. The moment the dates dropped, I had my schedule blocked, the vacation requests in, and spousal approval pending review.  As the convention schedule rolled out,

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Cat Links Keeper Tips

Inside the Mind of a Convention GM with Matt McCloud

Posted on Keeper Doc

On the eve of Chaosium Con II, we sat down with veteran Keeper Matthew McCloud, the chief organizer, hype-man, and dark heart of Lurking Fears, a collective of dedicated gamemasters offering “the very best in horror and grimdark roleplaying.” In addition to offering some of the finest Call of Cthulhu events available at conventions across the United States, they have grown an impressive assortment of relationships with companies like Free League, Mongoose Publishing, and Bloat Games to name a few. Players can expect a wide and constantly growing variety of incredible games in a Lurking Fears room with an equally impressive array of GMs. Lurking Fears will be running games at Gen Con for Chaosium

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Cat Links MoN - Keeper

Returning to the 4th Edition, part 1

Posted on Keeper Doc

The creative team behind the latest edition of Masks of Nyarlathotep brought some great changes and a wealth of useful information to Keepers tackling this epic adventure. This version is far and away the best version of this campaign, but it stands atop four phenomenal earlier editions. In this process of growth, some interesting pieces of the campaign fell away. Some things changed for the sake of balance, consistency, and inclusion. We particularly appreciate the presence of Zahra Shafik over Tewfik al-Sayed.  Others alterations stand out as creative choices. A few, surprisingly represent a loss of granularity, for better or worse. We will tour some of the smaller differences between the fourth and fifth editions

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Cat Links MoN - Keeper, New York

Masks and the Half Moon

Posted on Keeper Doc

This post is brought to you by Steve Reynolds and Jose Manuel Caballero as an abridged excerpt from their ongoing herculean work The Unpleasant Complement to Masks: New York.  Warning: Contains Secrets of New York spoilers Secrets of New York (SoNY), a 6th Edition publication, provides an excellent supplementary resource for any Call of Cthulhu campaign set in the Big Apple. Being the world’s largest city in 1925, the thriving metropolis is well-served by having a wealth of period material to draw upon when the investigators venture far afield or wish to spend more time exploring the city. This sourcebook pairs quite nicely with Harlem Unbound in crafting a detailed depiction of 1920s New York.  

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Cat Links MoN - Keeper, New York

Masks of Harlem Unbound – Part 2

Posted on Keeper Doc

This post is brought to you by Steve Reynolds and Jose Manuel Caballero as an abridged excerpt from their ongoing herculean work The Unpleasant Complement to Masks: New York.  Warning: Contains Harlem Unbound Spoilers This is the second installment from the Unpleasant Complement to Masks: New York providing suggestions and options for incorporating Harlem Unbound’s scenarios into the New York Chapter. For an introduction and information about “The Contender” and “An Ode for the Lost” see Part 1.  YOUR NAME IN THE BOOK This historical scenario set in Dutch Haarlem brings the investigators into contact with the Black Man avatar of Nyarlathotep. This journey back to 1680 provides early direct contact with the campaign’s titular

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Cat Links MoN - Keeper, New York

Masks of Harlem Unbound – Part 1

Posted on Keeper Doc

This post is brought to you by Steve Reynolds and Jose Manuel Caballero as an abridged excerpt from their ongoing herculean work The Unpleasant Complement to Masks: New York.  Warning: Contains Harlem Unbound Spoilers Harlem Unbound is Chris Spivey’s wonderful supplement for Call of Cthulhu, currently in its second edition. In addition to incredible historical detail and game tools, this outstanding sourcebook contains brilliant and often heart-wrenching scenarios. If you have the time and inclination to include them in your MoN campaign, you can expect these adventures to enrich everyone’s experience and bring 1920s Harlem into the well-deserved spotlight. This is the first of several excerpts from the Unpleasant Complement to Masks: New York, in

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Cat Links China, Tomes

Mythos Tomes – Secret Mysteries of Asia

Posted on Keeper Doc

Location: Madam Lin’s Collection in the House of Quiet Repose, Shanghai Physical Description: Handwritten in purple ink, bound in cloth-covered board, and embossed with Lin Yenyu’s personal seal Author: Gottfried Mülder, original author. Translated to Mandarin by an unknown party.  Publication History: A rare text, originally published in Leipzig in 1847 almost three decades after a year-long trek into the heart of China. Contains a painstakingly detailed recollection of conversations and revelations compiled by Mülder, a German occultist, following the violent death of his close friend and eccentric colleague, Friedrich von Junzt. Labeled seditious, blasphemy, nearly all copies were seized and incinerated by King Frederick Augustus II in 1848 shortly before he dissolved parliament. This

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