Quote from: Mankcam;1110776I could not give two craps whether there is liberal or conservative views interspersed in this product. The fact that there may be a Nazi link is fine for a 1930s Pulp Cthulhu campaign.

What puts me off is the cover artwork:

Since I was curious, here's the two covers. I totally agree, The Two-Headed Serpent artwork is far superior. Personally, cover artwork isn't a big deal for me, but I can clearly see the contrast.

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Have you read The Two-Headed Serpent, and did you have any thoughts on the content?

I'm with Mankcam, don't really care about all this political whinging.  The artwork in recent Chaosium releases has really dropped in quality however.  It's unfortunate, because you get something like their recent Starter Set, which is one of the best introductory box sets and should be a model for the whole industry, but they slap some weirdass faces over a neon green house on the cover.

As for Two-Headed Serpent, it's a quality adventure.  I ran it for a group last year.  Thoughts on on my blog here if you're interested.

I'm with Mankcam, don't really care about all this political whinging.  The artwork in recent Chaosium releases has really dropped in quality however.  It's unfortunate, because you get something like their recent Starter Set, which is one of the best introductory box sets and should be a model for the whole industry, but they slap some weirdass faces over a neon green house on the cover.
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As for Two-Headed Serpent, it's a quality adventure.  I ran it for a group last year.  Thoughts on on my blog here if you're interested.

Here is a straight up admission that Nu-Choasium practices activism despite Jeff Richards stating otherwise.

QuoteWe also try to make sure our investigators and NPCs are as diverse as they can be, because everybody deserves to see themselves represented in gaming. The world is not just straight white people, so neither should be those you meet in a game. The world of Call of Cthulhu is a reflection of our world, so we try to show that in our books - in the characters, the history, and in our guidance.

Lynne Hardy (Nu-Chaosium's politcal Commisar) Bayt al Azif #02

Everyone is a crank about something.  By crank, I mean outraged at something that doesn't bother many other people.
Wyzard is horrified that we have a sleazy carnival barker for president.
Darren Kelley thinks the center of all evil in the universe is a HERO character generation function.
Gamedaddy sees Pedophile recruitment in certain RPG settings.
Me, I think Getmo was an excellent reason for impeaching Bush the younger (It's nice to know that now that we have latino internment camps, others question the idea of just rounding up people for the lulz).

Quote from: Gagarth;1110501Pregens for Nu-Chaosium's  The Quest of the Red Blade for Pendragon

Male Roman Christain Knight from Eburacum
Male Irish Christain Knight from Estergales
Female Lesbian Christian Knight from Wuerensis
Male Gay Christain Knight frmom Benoit
Female pagan Knight from Lothian
Male Berber Saracen Faris (Knight)

Which brings me to Gagarth's problem with the political slant of recent Chaosium products.  Y'know what?  I agree.  As I said above, I'm not interesting in fighting the ghost of Lovecraft and his times.  Jackson Elias in now Black?  Interesting wrinkle, but I'm not sure we need more complications in MON.  MON:NYC is expanded to include a framed Black man?  The NYC chapter could use some expansion.  And the scenario can be used as a direct link to the Harlem Sourcebook.  But...l am not interested in role playing the lives of second class citizens a century ago.  So I don't.

Here's my retake on Gagarth's post:
Knight from Eburacum
Knight from Estergales
Knight from Wuerensis
Knight frmom Benoit
Knight from Lothian
Saracen Faris (Knight)
As a general rule, I am utterly disinterested in the ancestry, sex, or sexual preference of my characters.  Religion is of more importance, given the setting, but all of these are roleplaying hooks to be worked out between me and my players, nothing more.

It did strike me in the CoC starter set, not only were the iconic characters in the artwork a diverse set, which is par for the course these days, but that there was a clear hierarchy in the level of prominence/agency of the characters: 1. White(ish) female 2. Black man 3. White man. This is apparent from their depictions not just on the cover but through all the art.

Quote from: The_Shadow;1111335It did strike me in the CoC starter set, not only were the iconic characters in the artwork a diverse set, which is par for the course these days, but that there was a clear hierarchy in the level of prominence/agency of the characters: 1. White(ish) female 2. Black man 3. White man. This is apparent from their depictions not just on the cover but through all the art.

Those pregens didn't bother me at all. They are all built using the array, so if some players want to use the pregens and some don't, it will still be fair for everyone. I don't intend to play the pulp variant, but am curious if those characters use the array or not.

For those that don't play CoC, you can generate characters by rolling (3d6 x5 for some stats and 2d6+6 x5 for others), point buy with 460 points, or use an array that adds up to 460 points.

The pregens in Masks of Nyarlathotep were not built with the same considerations. There are two African American guys and one Indian guy and those 3 are more powerful than all the rest (520, 535, and 550 points worth of stats). Contrast that with the white "Marlboro Man" character who has the "normal" 460. The 6 other characters are between those extremes.

This sort of thing isn't exactly new. Back in the day, no one wanted to be Flint or Tanis when they could be Caramon with his vastly superior stats. Still, you have to wonder what this is intended to accomplish.

My solution was to just roll my eyes and make my own set of pregens using the array, as several of my players like using them. Pick the one you like the best and you'll be roughly on par with everyone else. Rest assured, I've got women and minorities in the mix! Still, kind of irritating.

Sounds like Masks has it's version of Caramon then with those two. And pulp Mythos tends to be a bit more Howardian the Lovecraftian. So a more diverse group makes since, since well the players are underdogs against some horrid elder horror. If you're pulp.

Quote from: Conanist;1111620The pregens in Masks of Nyarlathotep were not built with the same considerations. There are two African American guys and one Indian guy and those 3 are more powerful than all the rest (520, 535, and 550 points worth of stats). Contrast that with the white "Marlboro Man" character who has the "normal" 460.

How much more activist can you get than that. I would not be surprised if the next Pulp Cthulhu product was  inspired by HBO's Watchmen.

Quote from: Gagarth;1090430From Reading it, it is obvious they are using the League of Forgotten Men as an allegory for Trump and his supporters.

Thought Jeff Richard did a pretty good job of clarifying the source material drawn upon to create this campaign which has nothing directly to do with Trump, I think it is only natural that people find parallels between early 20th-century fascism and modern-day Trumpism (or neo-Bonapartist patrimonialism).

As with German Nazis and Russian Communists, I fully expect that in 10-20 years Trump and his supporters (or an unnamed carbon copy) to be a common enough foe in all sorts of media, be it movies, video games, books, or even RPGs.

Personally, I think a modern-day personality cult is the perfect source material for a future Delta Green campaign.