Chaosium's new campaign A Cold Fire Within is out

jhkim · September 30, 2019, 07:44:26 PM

Quote from: Gagarth;1106746Chaosium's latest crop of pregens for a scenario set in 20's Providence, RI

What module is this from?

yancy · September 30, 2019, 08:51:03 PM

Quote from: jhkim;1106854What module is this from?

It looks like 'The Shadow Over Providence'. I'm basing this on the the fact that the images say 'The Shadow Over Providence.jpg'.

Looking at the quality of the limited amount of writing on display here, I get the feeling that whatever political BS is interjected into the scenario, is gonna be the least of its problems.

jhkim · September 30, 2019, 09:05:15 PM

Quote from: yancy;1106862It looks like 'The Shadow Over Providence'. I'm basing this on the the fact that the images say 'The Shadow Over Providence.jpg'.

Looking at the quality of the limited amount of writing on display here, I get the feeling that whatever political BS is interjected into the scenario, is gonna be the least of its problems.

Thanks. I found the scenario. The given description is:

QuoteAugust 25th, 1928: Providence, Rhode Island.

The Milton Hotel cordially invites you to view the fantastical traveling exhibition "The Kingdom of Fire--Egypt's 18th Dynasty." All the way from the British Museum, London, England, come see these wonders of ancient Egypt, rare and priceless items from a time long ago. Learn about their history from Dr. Caitlin Bronson, the exhibition's curator, who will be on hand to answer all of your questions. Marvel at the treasures of Tutankhamun and Hatshepsut, along with the star of the exhibition, the mysterious canopic jar of Ibnhotep the Mad! Tickets are limited and going fast--and you don't want to miss out on what promises to be the most talked about exhibition of the year!

With an invitation like that, how could your investigators possibly refuse? Be they historians and scholars, or even those who ply the blackmarket trade in illicit antiquities, this is a rare opportunity to learn the secrets of the distant past outside of a museum. And what possible danger could there be in going to see the mortal remains of someone called "Ibnhotep the Mad"?

The Shadow Over Providence is a new Call of Cthulhu scenario set in a venue that may seem strangely familiar to anyone who has visited Providence's iconic Biltmore Hotel. The adventure was written by Jon Hook of the Miskatonic University Podcast, and developed and published by Chaosium, to celebrate NecronomiCon 2019.

Source: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/286946/The-Shadow-Over-Providence?manufacturers_id=2

I haven't read it yet. But it seems to me the post about the characters is missing a key point that the PCs are connected to an Egyptian traveling exhibition, rather than being random locals of Providence.

Gagarth · October 01, 2019, 06:25:50 AM

Quote from: jhkim;1106869Thanks. I found the scenario. The given description is:

Source: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/286946/The-Shadow-Over-Providence?manufacturers_id=2

I haven't read it yet. But it seems to me the post about the characters is missing a key point that the PCs are connected to an Egyptian traveling exhibition, rather than being random locals of Providence.

Wrong. Four of the other characters are from Providence and the other is from New York. Only one of the characters is from outside the U.S, the devout Muslim woman who is from a small rural town in Morocco. Here is some more background of that Credit Rating 30% character.

QuoteAs a reward for a life well-lived, full of devotion and service to her children, grandchildren, and late husband, Iman now takes great pleasure in traveling the world so she may capture it with her paints. She is currently touring a region in America known as New England - a beautiful land filled with hills and trees.

Upon reaching Providence, Iman packed her latest canvases up to be shipped back to her home in Morocco, then refreshed her artistic supplies ready for the next leg of her trip. She chose to stay for a couple of days in Providence in order to enjoy the sights of the city’s historical buildings. Iman checked into the Milton Hotel, and was intrigued to see an exhibition of Egyptian artifacts is currently on display there. After her evening meal, Iman elected to view the exhibition, centered on Eqypt’s 18th Dynasty; it is titled “The Kinqdom of Fire.”

It is obvious that the activist game companies, Like Nu-Chaosium, have a Lena Dunham style Inclusion Rider dictating what NPC's and Pregens they are creating.

Gagarth · October 01, 2019, 07:51:58 AM

Pregens from part one of Nu-Chaosium's latest organised play series Flotsam and Jetsam

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3880[/ATTACH]

yancy · October 02, 2019, 02:20:31 AM

Well, I did read the first couple pages of this 'Shadow Over Providence' thing, and it's uninspired, and cookie-cutter, and generally low quality all around in ways that aren't limited to whatever reflexive PC tendencies the writer has (the stuff about 'Shoggoth Lords' actually pissed me off more than those pregens.) So with those Flotsam & Jetsam cards, I'd say it's a coin toss whether they're being PC, or just cheap and lazy. Or I guess I guess they could be killing two birds with one stone.

You aren't paying them for this stuff, are you? And WTF is a 'Shoggoth Lord?' It sounds like some crap from either a collectible card game, or a video game.

jhkim · October 02, 2019, 04:42:38 PM

Quote from: jhkim;1106869I haven't read it yet. But it seems to me the post about the characters is missing a key point that the PCs are connected to an Egyptian traveling exhibition, rather than being random locals of Providence.

Quote from: Gagarth;1106998Wrong. Four of the other characters are from Providence and the other is from New York. Only one of the characters is from outside the U.S, the devout Muslim woman who is from a small rural town in Morocco. Here is some more background of that Credit Rating 30% character.

Fair enough. I did say I hadn't read it yet. When all you posted was her picture, this wasn't clear. If the PCs had been connected to the Egyptian exhibition, then this could have been fine in my view. But with the added information, I agree that it sounds ahistorical, which is something I generally dislike in CoC adventures.

Quote from: yancy;1107170So with those Flotsam & Jetsam cards, I'd say it's a coin toss whether they're being PC, or just cheap and lazy. Or I guess I guess they could be killing two birds with one stone.

Is the issue that the images on the character sheet are a woman's head? That's the symbol for the 1920s era. It's not supposed to be a character image. Having a flapper as a symbol for the 1920s goes back a while for Chaosium. Below on the left are the 5th edition symbols for the eras (1890s vs 1920s), versus the more recent symbols for the eras.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3883[/ATTACH]

yancy · October 03, 2019, 12:51:30 AM

Indeed, they used the flapper all over the place long before 5th edition. I don't recall exactly how they typically handled 'generic portraits on pre-generated characters.' I mostly remember that the character sheets had a blank space for you to draw something in :/

Coincidentally enough, I also remember 5th edition being the time when I started noticing a tendency for nagging PC lectures creeping into the product ('Dead Man Stomp', etc.), as well as a trend towards diminishing product quality ('Dead Man Stomp', etc.). That's hardly 'Nu Chaosium' so if it's evidence of proto-wokeness, that crap started a long long time ago.

I'm not sure when the Shoggoth Lord entered the mix though.

Spinachcat · October 03, 2019, 03:33:09 AM

If you're loving what Nu-Chaosium is producing, you should definitely give them more money!!

Without your money, they won't know how much you love their new products!

TNMalt · October 03, 2019, 08:24:11 PM

The core books, I'm good with. Published adventures are always hit and miss. My current GM put up his CoC books when the starter adventure told him where to kill a player. He didn't need no stinking help in killing us. We gave him all the opportunity on our own.

RPGPundit · October 03, 2019, 09:15:09 PM

I'm a bit confused as to why this is in the Pundit's forum and not the main forum. Was it originally in the main forum?

TNMalt · October 04, 2019, 07:47:24 AM

An excellent candidate to be moved. Everyone that has posted here, roll a 1d6/2 SAN loss as thread is moved to the proper board.

Gagarth · October 04, 2019, 09:06:16 AM

This is the same sort of ideology that fuels Nu-Chaosium https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a29335604/lord-of-the-rings-actress-gandalf-woman-amazon-tv-series/. Queue Jkhim's defence of the idea.

Spinachcat · October 04, 2019, 05:39:58 PM

Quote from: Gagarth;1107540This is the same sort of ideology that fuels Nu-Chaosium https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a29335604/lord-of-the-rings-actress-gandalf-woman-amazon-tv-series/. Queue Jkhim's defence of the idea.

They forgot the gender queer non-binary hobbits? And I won't watch unless I get a non-white trans Aragorn!

Tofu and carob for elevenses!

nope · October 04, 2019, 05:44:32 PM

Quote from: Spinachcat;1107644They forgot the gender queer non-binary hobbits? And I won't watch unless I get a non-white trans Aragorn!

Tofu and carob for elevenses!

Yes yes, a trans Aragorn is all well and good, but what about my female Gandalf?