Hooray! The Raiders of R'lyeh playtest has launched!

I decided to put up this thread so that backers involved in the playtest can bounce some ideas around. This is the place to discuss mechanics, post links relating to the Edwardian period, and so forth!

First of all, I'd like to share two bits of mechanics I've discussed with Quentin:

• A result of "00" on 1d100 is 100, not 0. This'll be on the next iteration of the rules.
• The Archetype-related Knowledge rolls are not included in the playtest. My suggestions for this are as follows:
• Dilettante Detective: 1d6+10
• Edwardian Exile: 1d6+10
• Mercenary: 1d6+8
• Antiquary: 1d6+10
• Gentleman Thief: 1d6+8
• Academic Adventurer: 1d6+12
• Gentleman's Gentleman: 1d6+8

And now for some links regarding the setting. I intend this to be frequently updated with your suggestions.

Useful links
Wikipedia
A particularly notable 1911 Gräf & Stift Double Phaeton
Ashurbanipal
Bartitsu
Edwardian Era
First Sino-Japanese War
Nicholas II
Mexican Revolution
The Lee-Enfield rifle

Other
The 3rd Military Mapping Survey of the Austro-Hungarian Empire of 1910 <== some amazing maps there!
A kind of a cheat sheet page for the decade 1910-1919, from an American perspective
Photos of 1910 Cairo
Scientific American's 1910 Handbook of Travel

I have a couple of useful links to add:

The 3rd Military Mapping Survey of the Austro-Hungarian Empire of 1910
Scientifican American's 1910 Handbook of Travel
A kind of a cheat sheet page for the decade 1910-1919, from an American perspective
The Mexican Revolution
A particularly notable 1911 Gräf & Stift Double Phaeton



I've got some others I'll post when I have a bit more time.

~*~

One concern I'll voice now (I'm not quite done re-reading the playtest, so I'll hold back on other commentary for a bit) about the skill "Decrypt Glyphs". While I really like the streamlined skills, for historicity, I must point out that this skill seems too all encompassing. I understand the core book will almost certainly address this in more detail, "Glyphs" could be taken to mean any pictographic language (of which, there are actually very few). Although Egyptian Hieroglyphs had been deciphered almost a century before RoR is set, the key to reading Maya Glyphs was a difficult and elusive task that was not cracked until the 1950s (as detailed in fascinating account by Mayanist, Michael D. Coe).

I'm wondering if this a deliberate anachronism in the setting?
Does it refer to "mythos" glyphs?

Overall, the playtest book is great, albeit infuriating brief.

~UO

From the Gentleman Thief archetype: "Deacadents and criminals puppeteer thrones like chess pieces and mortar their chateaus with the blood of innocents."

That's top draw writing. I'm very much looking forward to the full book if this is a sign of its quality.

A few more links about the era:

Mary Proctor discusses fears about Halley's Comet, May 8, 1910
Црна рука, Crna ruka, The Black Hand

And there's this trio of videos that detail the 1926 expedition to Vanavara/Podkamennaya to investigate the Tunguska Explosion of 1908:
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

I think this is useful for both players and Keepers because of its details concerning how a party travels through wilderness areas after railways and roads end. The makeshift resources and length of time for travel are particularly notable.


EDIT:
Carl Sagan discusses the 1910 appearance of Halley's Comet.
[forward to the 13'18 mark in the video]


~UO