[Q&A] Quentin Bauer (Raiders of R'lyeh)

[19:04] <+Quentin> My name is Quentin Bauer. I’m a writer and illustrator, and I am making a game called Raiders of R’lyeh.
[19:05] <+Quentin> Raiders of R’lyeh is a stand-alone roleplaying game set in the years leading up to the Great War
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[19:06] <~Dan> (Howdy, Sil!)
[19:07] <+Quentin> It is a “Cthulhu” based game, but it is also very rooted in the history, adventure and exploration of the 1900-1913 period
[19:08] <+Quentin> And it uses a d100 system
[19:08] <+Quentin> (done)
[19:08] <~Dan> Thanks, Quentin!
[19:08] <~Dan> Any questions to start us off?
[19:08] <~Dan> (I'll give them a moment before starting with my own.)
[19:08] <+Quentin> Sounds good.
[19:09] <~Dan> Actually, I'll go ahead and throw one out there...
[19:09] <~Dan> A two-parter, I suppose.
[19:09] <+Quentin> I hope it is impossibly difficult to answer
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[19:09] <~Dan> Why 1900, and why can't it be done with "standard" CoC?
[19:09] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Jerzy!)
[19:10] <~Dan> (Jerzy, here for the Q&A?)
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[19:11] <&Silverlion> Allo
[19:11] <+Quentin> The Edwardian is an untapped era, and we’re leading up to the Great War
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[19:12] <+Quentin> It is also a great era for setting a horror and adventure setting
[19:12] <+Quentin> (if you want to move the game to more of a gothic feel, which is what we are doing)
[19:12] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Andre!)
[19:12] <+Andre> (thx)
[19:13] <~Dan> (Here for the Q&A, Andre?)
[19:13] <+Quentin> You don’t have the technology that you do post-WWI, so there is a sense of greater isolation
[19:13] <+Andre> (yep)
[19:13] <~Dan> (Under way, as you can see. Fire away with any questions! :) )
[19:14] <+Quentin> the colonial politics are fascinating
[19:14] <+Quentin> and by the late Edwardian the safe assurances of the colonial powers are coming to a head
[19:15] <+Jerzy> Quentin, I love your B&W art. Judging by the look of it, it's mostly vectorial, right? What software(s) do you use?
[19:15] <+Quentin> People are living in this “endless summer” that is eroding away
[19:16] <+Quentin> There is also a resurgent interest in the occult, spiritualism
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[19:17] <+Quentin> Anarchy, revolution, conspiracies....and a general sense that the world is approaching a great precipice
[19:17] <+Quentin> It is also a period where the “bad guys” are difficult to discern
[19:18] <+Quentin> But instead the world is a tapestry of powers all vying for power
[19:18] <+Quentin> And secret societies moving beneath the surface trying to pull it all apart
[19:18] <+Andre> Quentin, are you planning to visit some of the sites found in Lovecraft's (or Others) stories (for exemple Dunwhich Before the Horror, Innsmouth before the Raid)?
[19:18] <~Dan> (Welcome, Guest! You can set your name with the /nick command.)
[19:19] <~Dan> (Question pause after Andre's question, please.)
[19:19] <+Quentin> The Edwardian comes to head like an actual mythos story (a secret society brings about a world catastrophe)
[19:20] <+Quentin> To sum up, it is a fantastic time and place for a mythos-based game, and it is largely untapped...two qualities that make it very appealing as a game designer and a world builder
[19:20] <+Quentin> Your second part: about standard “CoC”
[19:21] <+Quentin> We could attach any system to the world we are setting
[19:22] <+Quentin> But we are establishing our own canon, and our own interpretation
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[19:23] <+Quentin> So there are two factors involved in picking the right system
[19:23] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, UmbertoOcto!)
[19:25] <+Quentin> One: we want something that recedes into the background
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[19:26] <+Quentin> The idea of a percentile for skills is very easy to grasp. My wife can pick up the system and instantly “get” Pistol 55%
[19:26] <+Quentin> And I think for what we are doing (adventure and horror), the system should be subservient to the setting
[19:27] <+Quentin> The second factor is freedom
[19:27] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, JulieGuest96!)
[19:27] <+Quentin> We have created a system that we want and we know other people will want
[19:29] <+Quentin> And ultimately it was more appealing to us have complete freedom with the system from the ground up, and to offer the system as an open license framework for others to use
[19:30] <+Quentin> But we can get into specifics of the system (or differences), Dan, if you would like, as my answer may be going long...
[19:30] <+Quentin> (done)
[19:30] <~Dan> Thanks, Quentin! I do have some follow-ups along those lines, but Jerzy and Andre have been awfully patient with us. :)  Did you see their questions?
[19:31] <+Quentin> Yeah
[19:31] <+Quentin> Let me look really quick
[19:32] <+Quentin> if I miss one, please let me know, though
[19:32] <~Dan> No problem!
[19:34] <+Quentin> Jerzy: I use a lot of vector (but also try to change any ink work to vector as it scales well for printing). For work done in vector I will use Illustrator and Flash (but I also use Photoshop extensively)
[19:34] <+Quentin> Andre:
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[19:34] <~Dan> (Welcome, Julie!)
[19:34] <+Quentin> You asked about visiting locations “before” they happen in the stories (Innsmouth and so forth)
[19:35] <+Quentin> We are definitely playing with this idea. The Baron Frenczy expansion is an example of this.
[19:35] <+Andre> Yes
[19:35] <+Quentin> This is a great question
[19:36] <+Quentin> Because it is another answer to the “why 1900” question
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[19:36] <+Quentin> We are visiting locations before they happen (in Lovecraft’s stories)
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[19:37] <~Dan> (Howdy, tech!)
[19:37] <+Quentin> For example: how did the Necronomicons get into the libraries established in Lovecraft’s fiction?
[19:38] <~Dan> (The librarians were fooled by Necronomicon-men, of course.)
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[19:39] <~Dan> (Welcome, bamse!)
[19:39] <+Quentin> (or players are involved in retrieving one for the museum)
[19:39] <~Dan> (Or that, yes.)
[19:39] <+Quentin> The Dunwich Horror will be referenced tangentially
[19:39] <~Dan> Now, your website mentions that the system is based on RuneQuest. How is it tweaked for your purposes?
[19:40] <~Dan> And how does it differ from CoC, for that matter?
[19:40] <+Quentin> Meaning: Yog-Sothoth is very active in our setting (and there may be other “hybrids” being created in the world)
[19:41] <+Andre> Sub-question: Are you limiting yourself to Lovecraft work or will you also look in Mythos from other Writers...say R.E. Howard "The Back Stone"?
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[19:42] <+Quentin> Andre: we are not limiting ourselves to Lovecraft. Our play test will be referencing other works, as one example
[19:42] <+Quentin> And the black stone actually gets referenced there
[19:42] <+Quentin> Dan:
[19:44] <+Quentin> We looked at Mongoose Legend, Openquest (based on MRQ1), and then wrote a system in the same vein (rather than tweaking)
[19:44] <+BlasterKyubey210> Ah
[19:44] <+Quentin> So it mechanically will look like familiar, but it was created anew from the concept that we needed
[19:45] <+Quentin> So, let me try to go through a list of differences (I am looking at our character sheet right now by the way, which will be added to our Kickstarter wall VERY SOON)
[19:47] <+Quentin> We have a new skills list
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[19:48] <+Quentin> And we have some new attributes that work very differently
[19:48] <+Quentin> CHA instead of APP for one
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[19:49] <+Quentin> CHA affects quite a few things: how a cult leader holds sway over his subjects...
[19:49] <+Quentin> How a team leader holds his team together under stress...
[19:49] <+Quentin> A sorcerer’s presence...
[19:50] <+Quentin> We have an attribute for Social Class, which is very much tied into the setting
[19:50] * ~Dan nods
[19:50] <+Quentin> And affects not just access to wealth, but the kinds of contacts one has access to during an adventure
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[19:51] <+Quentin> Social Class also ties into Patrons
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[19:51] <~Dan> (Howdy, Ettout, BPIJonathan, jcfiala!)
[19:51] <+Quentin> Patrons (and their Factions) are the powerful guys (aristocrats, industrialists, financiers, crime syndicates, and so forth) that may have a stake in how the mythos is affecting the world
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[19:52] <+Jerzy> Will base percentages for untrained skills be based on attributes (as in Legend) or rather have fixed values (as in CoC)?
[19:52] <+Jerzy> Also, could you list the skills?
[19:52] <+Quentin> Great Old Ones act as types of patrons as well
[19:52] <+Quentin> (but they aren’t called that)
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[19:53] <+Quentin> We have a different sanity system
[19:53] <+Quentin> that taps into the Edwardian worldview
[19:54] <+Quentin> And we have a completely different magic system (and use for the Dreamlands)
[19:54] <+Quentin> Dan, I am just scratching the surface, and we can go deeper, but I dont want to miss other questions.
[19:54] <~Dan> No problem!
[19:54] <+Quentin> Should I keep going with yours, or do you want me to come back to this at the tail end?
[19:55] <&jcfiala> Can you go deeper on the sanity system?
[19:55] <~Dan> Yup, why don't we go with jcfiala's question, Quentin.
[19:56] <+Quentin> OK, and Jerzy asked about base percentages. Percentages are attribute-based.
[19:56] <~Dan> (Good to know. I much prefer it that way.)
[19:56] <+Quentin> Sanity (jcfiala)
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[19:59] <+Quentin> Sorry for the delay. I was going to paste in actual wording from our rules on Sanity but my computer is a mess of tabs and notes right now
[20:00] <+Quentin> We have a stat for Willpower and for Rationality. Willpower is used for various things (one of which is how much emotional and psychic trauma a hero can withstand momentarily)
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[20:02] <+Quentin> Rationality reflects the Adventurer’s longterm worldview carefully constructed over a lifetime, one in which the intuitions of a darker reality are repressed by civilized assumptions, institutionalized education, hope, and — in the Enlightened mind — denial
[20:02] <+BPIJonathan> Im sorry I was late and I am probably asking something that has already been answered, but the game setting is Earth during the Edwardian period?
[20:03] <+Quentin> Rationality is what gets eroded slowly over time (and does not replenish except under very rare circumstances)
[20:05] <+Quentin> We distinguish between different forms of trauma.
[20:05] <+Quentin> There is the shock to morality (such as what one witnesses during war, the kind of horror that man commits against man)
[20:06] <+Quentin> There is horror that challenges one’s beliefs about reality (witnessing a shoggoth, or a deep one), but can be rationalized away with some effort
[20:07] <+Quentin> And there is cosmic terror
[20:07] <+Quentin> The kind of experience that shrinks the self, annihilates the ego
[20:09] <+Quentin> This system connects with our magic system as well
[20:09] <+Quentin> Willpower is at the center of an occultist’s work
[20:10] <+Quentin> And Willpower is more central to certain creatures than Hit Points
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[20:13] <+Quentin> BPIJonathan: yes, Edwardian and Earth
[20:13] <~Dan> Could you segue into the magic system?
[20:13] <+Quentin> Sure
[20:14] <+Quentin> First of all (and I hope the Pundit can make it), the “real world” occult work that was going on during this period is absolutely terrifying
[20:14] <+BPIJonathan> Thanks Quentin.
[20:14] <~Dan> (Oh, was he going to try to show up?)
[20:15] <+Quentin> Yes, he said he was
[20:15] <~Dan> (Cool.)
[20:15] <+BPIJonathan> Ok, Im sold...where do I give my money?
[20:15] <+Quentin> If he can. So let’s hope
[20:16] <+Quentin> One, we do include Occultists (and Occult Detectives) as playable archetypes in the setting
[20:16] <+Quentin> But magic is not a superpower
[20:16] <+Quentin> And it is extremely dangerous
[20:16] <+Quentin> And will probably get people killed
[20:17] <+Quentin> It is less likely that someone in your party will pick up a Necronomicon, and in one week, learn the correct spell that will dispel the antagonizing agent
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[20:18] <~Dan> Welcome back to #rpgnet, RPGPundit!
[20:18] <+RPGPundit> Thank you. Got here as soon as I could.
[20:18] <~Dan> We were just starting to discuss the magic system.
[20:18] <+Quentin> Perfect timing
[20:19] <+Quentin> Almost occultic in its prescience
[20:20] <+Quentin> Pundit, I was just writing that the magic system (and your notes on the occult) is absolutely terrifying
[20:21] <+RPGPundit> I hoped they weren't that bad!
[20:21] <+BPIJonathan> He said they were horrible, so bad that he lost some sanity while reading them :D
[20:22] <+Quentin> I think your chapter on the 1910 occult world is going to be a major highlight of the book
[20:22] <~Dan> Do you distinguish between Mythos magic and "regular" magic?
[20:23] <+RPGPundit> Well thanks, but you haven't seen all of it yet!
[20:23] <+RPGPundit> I trust people will find it useful, though.
[20:27] <~Dan> Also, how flashy is RoR magic?
[20:28] <+Quentin> Dan, magick operates like “mythos” magic, so the boundary will be very difficult to discern.
[20:28] <+Quentin> An occultist will spend years training to understand the underlying “networking” of reality, but will inevitably get something wrong
[20:29] <+Quentin> So, on one hand an occultist will be studying some outlying boundary of the mythos (but most likely not realizing this)
[20:30] <+UmbertoOcto> Would failures in a magickal process themselves cause /something/ to happen, even if it isn't the intended result?
[20:30] <+BPIJonathan> (if I drop off suddenly and dont come back its because we have as storm hitting the area)
[20:30] <+BlasterKyubey210> So Casters walk a very delicate line... with the price of failure being very big?
[20:30] <+Quentin> He may — with great cost and time — be producing some results, but not fully understand what it is he is tampering with
[20:31] <+Quentin> UmbertoOcto: yes
[20:31] <+Quentin> Pundit, do you do want to tell them about malicious egregore, or should we just leave it for the book?
[20:32] <+RPGPundit> I think it should be pointed out, first of all, that 90% of self-styled occultists don't do anything at all, in terms of "real magic" in the setting.
[20:33] <+RPGPundit> And even of that 10% that practice "regular" magick of some sort, most of them don't end up going far enough to do anything really important.
[20:33] <+RPGPundit> quentin: I think its up to you
[20:34] <+Quentin> I think it would be safe to say that the occultists that do have some working knowledge would be very dangerous (in reference to the egregore)
[20:34] <+Quentin> And these occultists may very well be antagonistic to the heroes
[20:36] <+Quentin> UmbertoOcto: a failure could result in something dangerous happening, yes
[20:36] <+Quentin> (how many people are googling “egregore” right now?)
[20:37] <~Dan> (*chuckle*)
[20:37] <+Quentin> Dan, what do you mean by “flashy”
[20:38] <+Quentin> (an Occultist won’t be using magic in combat, if that is what you mean)
[20:38] <~Dan> Well, I mean, can it produce obvious effects like... ah, okay, that's part of what I meant.
[20:38] <~Dan> Does the same apply to NPC sorcerers?
[20:39] <+RPGPundit> no "fireballs".  But there could be certain things like talismans and obviously servitors
[20:39] <+Quentin> They get a bit of a leg up (but I dont know if it would be “flashy”)
[20:40] <~Dan> You mentioned the Dreamlands earlier. To what extent does the core book cover them?
[20:40] <+RPGPundit> The famed Golden Dawn magician Alan Bennett (who later became one of the first Europeans to be initiated as a Buddhist monk, and led the first Buddhist mission to England) was renowned for having a wand called the "Blasting Rod".  Just touching people with it could knock them off their feet and leave them stunned.
[20:40] <+Quentin> A sorcerer may create a rolang, or ascertain secrets from a corpse...
[20:40] <+RPGPundit> So stuff like that might be possible.
[20:41] <+Quentin> The Pundit knocks me off my feet
[20:41] <+Quentin> just saying
[20:42] <+Quentin> We’ll fit as much Dreamlands as we can into the core book (enough that people will get how it fits into our magic system and core mythology)
[20:42] <~Dan> Does it differ from what we've seen before?
[20:42] <+RPGPundit> The way Quentin plans to handle the dreamlands is very different from regular CoC's treatment of it, btw
[20:42] <+Quentin> But we have big plans for the Dreamlands
[20:43] <~Dan> How so, Pundit?
[20:43] <+RPGPundit> I always thought Chaosium's dreamlands were kind of lame. They just treated it like a kind of fantasy setting.  When really, it should be the full spectrum of the planes of existence, dimensions of reality beyond the material.
[20:44] <+RPGPundit> It should be the kind of things you see in the visions of the Qabalistic Tree of Life, or the Enochian Aethyrs as detailed in "The Vision and the Voice"; at the lowest level, places where you can find anything that fits within human imagination...
[20:45] <+RPGPundit> and at the higher levels, places beyond human rationality. Very dangerous for anyone not properly prepared.  The different levels should also have barriers, and guardians.
[20:45] <~Dan> Interesting.
[20:46] <+RPGPundit> On the whole, any attempt to "map" them (including the real-world occult cosmologies I mentioned above) should be totally inadequate to the experience of the real thing. Those can, at best, give you a kind of very vague lifeline of landmarks to aim for.
[20:46] <~Dan> So does your Dreamlands discard the usual locations from the stories?
[20:46] <+Quentin> No, not all
[20:47] <+Quentin> Those are one server node on the network
[20:47] <+RPGPundit> Those should be there too; they should just be one tiny little pocket in a gigantic ocean of non-rational reality
[20:47] <+Quentin> I’ll put “network” in quotes
[20:47] <+Quentin> Also, think about what the people in Inception were doing
[20:48] <+Quentin> That could be a very small human-inhabited node in the network
[20:48] * ~Dan nods
[20:49] <+Quentin> Move outside of that to where you start crossing paths with nyarlathotep, and other alien minds
[20:49] <~Dan> How large of a bestiary does the game feature, and does it include non-Mythos monsters?
[20:50] <+Andre> What are the plan for RoR after this Kickstarter?
[20:50] <+Quentin> We are treating the mythos like the original authors, full of possibilites
[20:50] <+UmbertoOcto> Sounds like a Dreamlands from Terence McKenna channeling HPL.
[20:51] <+Quentin> We are incorporating elements of the historical occult world
[20:51] <+Quentin> Machen, Blackwood, M.R. James, Hodgson
[20:52] <+Quentin> but treating them as part of  the same landscape (if that makes sense)
[20:52] <+THAC0> so who else is looking at the playtest packet
[20:53] <+Quentin> We are also including variations on monsters (so players won’t be able to know the stats of the shoggoth, for instance, just by reading its stats)
[20:53] <+Quentin> And a monster generator for making your own abomination
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[20:54] <+RPGPundit> Quentin, I'll mention if you haven't glimpsed at it yet, you should take a look at Crowley's "Vision and the Voice"; which was the record of his astral travel through the Enochian Aethyrs (easily the most "mythos-like" part of real world occultism) that he did in 1909 in the north african desert.
[20:54] <~Dan> Do you use the hit location system from RuneQuest?
[20:54] <+RPGPundit> Anyone who thinks real-world occultism isn't "weird" enough for Mythos-fodder need look no further than that.
[20:55] <+RPGPundit> The monster generator is an awesome idea!
[20:55] <+Quentin> THAC0: the playest packet goes to backers this month, but we’ll get to the public soon after
[20:55] <+Quentin> We aren’t using hit locations, Dan
[20:56] <~Dan> A good decision, IMO.
[20:56] <~Dan> Do you have Fate points or any other nods to cinematic action?
[20:56] <+RPGPundit> Dan, your question almost made me break your "no profanity" rule
[20:57] <+Quentin> We don’t use any kind of Fate-style points
[20:57] * ~Dan nods
[20:57] <~Dan> Heh.
[20:57] <+Quentin> I feel like I missed a question
[20:58] <+Quentin> If I did, please let me know.
[20:58] <~Dan> Not one of mine.
[20:58] <+RPGPundit> There'll still be a "Luck" mechanic but different from the old CoC idea... it's something that will be more for desperate "Hail Mary" type situations
[20:58] <+Andre> Yes mine:  What are the plan for RoR after this Kickstarter?
[20:58] <+RPGPundit> good question!
[20:58] <+Quentin> That’s it
[20:58] <+Quentin> By the way Andre, I really appreciate your support on this project
[20:58] <+RPGPundit> personally, I plan to be able to sleep again.
[20:58] <+Quentin> You have been amazing
[20:58] <+Andre> (you're welcome)
[21:00] <+Quentin> Andre, are you asking about the time table for delivering on this first book, or about future expansions?
[21:00] <~Dan> Quick aside: While we're bumping up against the end of the official Q&A time, you both are welcome to stick around and field questions as long as you like.
[21:00] <+Quentin> I’ll stick around for a bit if people have questions
[21:00] <+Andre> I'm wondering about Future expansions. What can we expect to see in the future
[21:00] <+RPGPundit> Me too. Now that I'm back from my little soi-ree with The Wench, I've got lots of time.
[21:01] <~Dan> Do you consider RoR to be more of a high-adventure, high-action setting than default CoC?
[21:01] <+RPGPundit> I do.
[21:02] <~Dan> Does anything reinforce that in terms of the system?
[21:02] <+Quentin> Dan: yes, but not as pulpy as a Savage Worlds setting. I think Robert E. Howard had it right with the El Borak stories. Those almost felt like Hemingway heroes in a Lovecraft setting (my English professors will be yelling at me for that answer, by the way)
[21:02] <+THAC0> what is "backers"?
[21:02] <+Quentin> Correction: El Borak was not mythos
[21:03] <+THAC0> oh wait
[21:03] <+THAC0> I meant the D&D next playtest
[21:03] <+Quentin> Andre:
[21:03] <+THAC0> I thoguht everyone would know since it dropped this afternoon
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[21:05] <+Quentin> if this is successful (and I think we have this at this point), then a Dreamlands and Great War book are planned. Also: RED BLOOD, YELLOW ICHOR (which is our Western expansion)
[21:05] <+RPGPundit> Dan, I think that the system is not radically different, its not something ultra-pulpy, but one of the big changes is in the use of Archetypes in place of regular 'occupations'.   This does a lot to change the tone.
[21:06] <~Dan> Can you say a bit about how that works? (re: archetypes)
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[21:06] <+RPGPundit> Quentin, wanna field that one?
[21:07] <+Quentin> Dan, should I answer the system-action question, or the archetype question?
[21:07] <~Dan> The former, then the latter, if you don't mind.
[21:07] <+Andre> (Love the Great War Book Idea)
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[21:12] <+Quentin> System-wise, heroes are very mortal. There are no fate points, or narrative mechanics, or pulpy setups. But we will include some additional tactical rules for using the environment, using explosives, using machine guns...
[21:12] <+Quentin> we have a special focus on wilderness, exploration...
[21:13] <+Quentin> I would say that the adventure tone is expanding the system to be able to include soldier and mercenary types (rather than just bookish, nebbish types)
[21:14] <+Quentin> who know they are going to most likely die, but jump into the fray anyway
[21:14] <+xyphoid> expecting a PC meatgrinder for this?
[21:14] <+BPIJonathan> Did I miss this, what is this compatible with?
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[21:15] <+Quentin> Players can take on other mortal adversaries (and there are interesting adversaries in an Edwardian setting). Not so much against Cthulhu...
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[21:16] <+RPGPundit> It depends, you know.  I expect it will be high-mortality in the same way a lot of old-school D&D games are high mortality; but I want to bury the notion that in a "real Cthulhu" game everyone has to be 'investigators' who are just doomed from the start, or that PCs should never ever try to fight a mythos infestation with guns.
[21:16] <+xyphoid> i mean how's playtesting this sandbox thing gone
[21:17] <+Quentin> Archetypes relate to patrons and factions
[21:17] <+xyphoid> have you had a lot of TPKs
[21:17] <+THAC0> I thoguht that was every Cthulhu game ever played, board or RPG
[21:18] <+RPGPundit> we should give quentin time to catch up with explaining archetypes
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[21:18] <~Dan> Yup. (Question pause.).
[21:18] <+Quentin> By the way, we are 85% funding as of a few minutes ago! (Link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1375282718/raiders-of-rlyeh-horror-adventure-rpg-and-mythos-s)http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1375282718/raiders-of-rlyeh-horror-adventure-rpg-and-mythos-s
[21:18] <+Quentin> “funded” not “funding”
[21:19] <+RPGPundit> So, did anyone here just contribute??
[21:19] <+RPGPundit> If so, stand forward and give Dan and #rpgnet chat due credit!
[21:19] <+BPIJonathan> No. But I am thinking very hard about it.
[21:20] <+BPIJonathan> And its based solely on this chat.
[21:20] <~Dan> :D
[21:20] <+Quentin> Thank you Dan!
[21:20] <~Dan> My pleasure!
[21:20] <~Dan> I should also mention that I'm a reviewer, if you happen to be interested once the game comes out. :)
[21:21] <+Quentin> Okay, what I am answering...archetypes?
[21:21] <+RPGPundit> BPIJonathan: you were asking "what is this compatible with"?  Its a d100 system, and should be very compatible with any d100 system (renaissance, CoC, BRP in general, Openquest, etc)
[21:21] <+UmbertoOcto> I was already a backer, but this chat has told me a few things that will add to my contribution...
[21:21] <+RPGPundit> yes, archetypes
[21:21] <+Quentin> UmbertoOcto, thank you (also for the support you showed in several forums)!
[21:22] <+UmbertoOcto> My cephalopodic pleasure.
[21:22] <+Quentin> patrons are the big power brokers in the setting
[21:22] <+BPIJonathan> Yes, wasnt sure it it was CoC or something of your own design. I couldnt really tell from the KS page. Also, not that I will stick with this... but what is the minimum I need to have to use the material? Can I run the game without both books?
[21:23] <+Quentin> BPIJonathan...donate 5 bucks and get the play test coming out this month. If you want the awesome print edition, go for the 39 (plus shipping) option...
[21:24] <+Quentin> The print edition will go up most likely after the Kickstarter (because the shipping is so crazy right now)
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[21:24] <&egyptian> Evenin'!
[21:25] <~Dan> (Welcome, Guest! You can set your name with the /nick command.)
[21:25] <~Dan> (Howdy, egyptian!)
[21:25] <+Quentin> Each archetype is connected with one or more patrons (and their factions)
[21:25] <+BPIJonathan> Do I recall reading that the $39 edition will be a hardcover?
[21:26] <+Quentin> BPIJonathan: yes, we upgraded to hardcover (and these will most likely be getting stamping and gold foil when all is said and done)
[21:26] <+Quentin> Also, Smyth sewn binding!
[21:26] <~Dan> I'd better head out for the evening, guys, but please feel free to stay as long as you like!
[21:27] <~Dan> I'll send you the link once I have the log posted.
[21:27] <+Quentin> So if you live in my hometown, you can drive your bigwheel truck over the book and it will survive
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[21:27] <~Dan> Have a great evening, folks!
[21:27] <+Quentin> Dan, thank you so much. This has been really fun.
[21:28] <+RPGPundit> See you later, Dan
[21:28] <~Dan> Please come by any time, Quentin. Authors are always more than welcome to hang out with us, to discuss their products or not.
[21:28] <~Dan> Thanks for coming by, Quentin and RPGPundit!