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Author Topic: An Open Letter to the Esteemed Ladies and Gentlemen of Her Majesty's England  (Read 5646 times)

Ranmilia

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To all whom it may concern,

It is with no small amount of difficulty, dear readers, that I write about this matter at all, much less ask for assistance - but I fear I am over my head alone now.

No doubt you all recall the strange sound that echoed over London, some few weeks ago now?  It was a clap so loud as to nearly rattle the windows, as though from a cannon, and was followed by another identical noise several seconds later.  The police investigated, but could find no cannon or source capable of producing such a sound, nor were they able to even determine the location it might have emanated from, and like everyone else dismissed it as a curiosity within days.

However, my dear friend and lodging mate, being in a lull of work, was not so easily satisfied, and took to inquiring about the strange sounds himself.  If you have read my previous articles, I expect you are all familiar with him as well - none other than the famous detective himself, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!  Though he first pursued it as a way to pass the time, Holmes quickly became engrossed in the matter and related a few of his findings to me. 

It seems that not only the London area but the whole of southern England heard the double cannonade at roughly the same time, and the strange sounds may even have been audible across the Channel or further!  From this, he deduced that the noise was clearly not that of a cannon or anything man-made at all, but must have been the passage of some sort of meteoric or heavenly object, traveling through the sky above our country at some tremendous velocity!

Though I found this conclusion astonishing myself, Holmes sniffed and dismissed it as "elementary" when I expressed as much to him, and continued to reveal that he was more interested in the few accounts he had received that had NOT heard the same sounds.  According to his contacts in Devonshire, not two but three close reports had been heard in that area.  Holmes theorized, over dinner, that this was due to the impact of the strange object somewhere in that area, and that he had made arrangements to visit and attempt to find it the next day.

At the time, I thought of the matter as nothing but a diversion for my friend's unquenchable intellect, and, being busy myself with some patients at the time, encouraged him to pursue it as a hobby.  How I wish now that I had never spoken those words! 

Holmes returned from Devonshire in a dark, brooding mood, and confided to me that he had found what he believed to be the object's site of impact, but the object itself had been removed before his arrival, and he was having difficulties in tracking its location as it had become somehow entangled with the mysterious death of a farmhand, somewhere near the Baskerville Estate (which you will surely all remember from our adventures with Sir Henry there). 

Over the next week the detective dipped further and further into the case, as he usually does, but also seemed... different, somehow, less talkative and more agitated than normal.  He rebuffed all my efforts to sooth him or take his mind away from the matter, even for a minute, and began to receive strange packages and letters at all hours.  He showed me few of these, and only one that made any sense to me, a message from a man he knew in Bristol stating that they, too, had heard mysterious cannon-like sounds some weeks prior.  At last Holmes arranged to travel to Bristol, and from there to the villages of Midwich and Severnford in Sussex, where he suspected the mysterious object had been taken.  Or so he told me, at least - he also urged me not to come myself, and assured me that he would be back within the week.

It has been two weeks since, and Sherlock Holmes has neither returned nor been heard from.  Two days ago I received word from the manager of the Severnford Inn that Holmes had never even arrived there.  Yesterday, I confess I became anxious enough to examine his notes and correspondence, and found within them all manner of incomprehensible writings and jots pertaining to secret societies meeting in the parks of London, the alignments of the stars, cities of devilish beings in caves and reefs, gates to 'other worlds,' prophecies of doom, and all sorts of superstitious nonsense - but nothing in the manner of the scientific deductions my friend has been known to make in such cases.

I find myself at a loss, and so concerned for his safety that I have written to you all.  If anyone has information pertaining to this case, or is willing or able to assist me in finding Mr. Holmes and getting to the truth of this matter, I beg you to contact me at this address, giving your name, occupation and whatever connections to the matter you may have.  I have a dark feeling that whatever is happening may reach far beyond what I have found, but whatever comes, I will not shrink from it.

Most Sincerely,
Dr. John H. Watson

Ranmilia

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Signups for The Adventure of the Double Cannonade, an Arkham Horror game for ~8-10 players, are now open.  

This game will be using all the currently released official expansions, along with a lot (A LOT) of custom content and rules.  It will be more narrative and roleplaying based than the games previously seen on the DL.  Among other changes, investigators will have very involved custom personal stories, the players will know much less information than normal about the adversaries they face, and there will be quite a bit of focus on exploration and investigation rather than the usual "farm clue tokens, superglue gates shut" stuff.  I'll also say up front that some things may be winged by the GM rather than being 100% deterministic - think of it more as a short roleplaying campaign rather than a board game.  

If you would like to play, please PM me with the name, occupation and character concept of the investigator you wish to use.  Unlike normal Arkham Horror games, investigators will not be replaced if they are devoured or retired.  Your character is yours for the duration, live or die, so pick something you can have fun with!  Characters from Holmesian mythos are welcome and encouraged, Watson is open if someone wants to take him but Holmes himself is not for obvious reasons.  If you don't have any preference, consider the following list of people I have some ideas for already...

Edit - crossed off folks are probably taken!

John Watson, the Doctor
G. Lestrade, the Investigator
Mrs. Hudson. the Landlady
Professor Moriarty, the Mastermind
Col. Sebastian Moran, the Henchman
Irene Adler, the Aristocrat
Sir Henry Baskerville, the Lord
Mary Watson, the Ghost
Mycroft Holmes, the Advisor
Violet Hunter, the Governess
Jack, the Ripper
Door, the Lady
Arthur Dent, the Jerk
Edward Taylor, the Student

or whatever original characters you or I can come up with!

I'll take quite a few players, probably around 10, but it is likely that not everyone who wants to play will be able to.  I'm going to choose from signups on the basis of "how well can you RP" and "how likely are you to have to drop for some reason?"  People who don't get to play an investigator (or who get devoured) are still more than welcome to participate in other ways, I'll probably need management and writing help if anyone feels selfless!

Finally, apologies for the massive delay.  Hopefully this will be worth the wait!




« Last Edit: May 17, 2010, 01:40:23 AM by Sir Alex »

Ranmilia

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PS:  While signups should be PM'd, discussion should go here and you can paste signups/character ideas here if you want! 

AndrewRogue

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A brief round of questions:

1. Will we be able to take, somewhat, for granted that this game is rooted in the board game Arkham Horror? Which is to say, generally speaking, are we working towards the same final goal and, in a generalized manner of speaking, can we expect that the investigators will be similarly aligned in said goal? Can we expect that, for those of who know the game, that gameflow and concept will be the same? I suppose what the question I'm getting it is how much we're mutating more towards this being a Call of Cthulu-esque game as opposed to an Arhkam Horror game so that its possible to enter the game with the correct mindset.

2. I notice we're starting this off in merry old England in a slightly different time period. Are the boards being used as a manner of convenience, or shall we actually be heading off to the United States for our adventures?

3. I'm pretty sure this goes without saying, but we can cast aside our general expectations on how to play this game as a normal Arkham game (good spots for encounters, etc), right?

4. How much knowledge of the Holmes mythos is expected? Is it useful to have? Should we do our research?

5. Along with the generalized mechanics things, can we generally assume the odds of being devoured have been significantly reduced, or should we expect a short and brutal tenure, given all expansions are in play?

Kilgamayan

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This game should be run by the Queen Elizabeth account.


[22:28:39] <Edible> Mafia would be a much easier game if we were playing "spot the asshole"

Ranmilia

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1.  http://www.rpgdl.com/forums/index.php/topic,4206.msg89065.html#msg89065

Refer to that and resulting discussion.  Very much rooted in the board game.  I'd say about 70-80% Arkham Horror, 20-30% new crazy shenanigans.  Time is ticking down to DOOM via some big evil thing awakening, investigators all share a common goal of stopping DOOM by preventing the awakening or kicking ye reason to ye curb and winning ye combat should the thing awaken.  Gameflow and concept are generally the same but with some alterations to expand things a bit.  Think of it as a really awesome and involved Arkham Horror game.

While everyone is working towards the overall goal, investigators will also have involved personal goals that they want to accomplish, which may sometimes conflict with those of other investigators or "optimal play" for stopping the big evil thing.  The idea is to create enough choice and personal preference to go along with the flavor emphasis and get people to actually play their investigator like a character, communicating and negotiating with others when appropriate but not pooling into an Optimal Play Hivemind.  Ideally everyone will face a tough choice or two about what set of goals to pursue when.  For example, Inspector Lestrade might want to arrest Professor Moriarty, which would gain him a reward from Scotland Yard but impose quite some inconvenience on the Professor.  I do guarantee, however, that nobody is "working for the enemy."  If the world ends everyone loses!

2.  The boards are structurally the same but everything on them (on Earth, that is) has been renamed and some location abilities have changed.  Thank Hal and Photoshop for this and don't ask how long it took.  The Arkham Board is now the London Board (hey, Westminster Abbey is on Baker Street!  Who knew?), Dunwich has become Devonshire, Kingsport is Bristol and Innsmouth is Sussex.  

3.  For the most part, yes.  Encounters and mythos have also been revamped (seriously don't ask oh god I'm insane (and winging some with a decent sized library of custom cards and then some others I'll just change the names on)).  The "feel" of locations is largely preserved and common sense stuff still applies - eateries are good places to recover stamina and sanity, libraries deal in tomes, spooky locations offer more mythos-related rewards but also more risk of Unpleasant Things Happening, you know.  But don't try to game the system or look up your exact chances of a retainer at the newspaper or whatnot.  The "commonly get X here" icons on the boards can be pretty much disregarded (like anyone paid attention to those anyhow).  One major change Arkham players should be aware of is that the red and green symbols are no longer 100% reliable; gates and monsters can and will appear in most green locations, but at a considerably lower chance than red locations.  (The main reason for this is making KingsportBristol not a completely boring place to be.)  

4.  Holmes mythos?  About as much as Cthulhu mythos knowledge is useful in a normal Arkham game.  Which is to say, it can be fun but is not really required at all past the obvious cultural osmosis level.  There are a fair number of references but you don't need to get any of them to have fun with the game.

5.  This is probably the biggest change from normal Arkham stuff.  Although all expansions are in play, their negative effects are significantly reduced.  The doom track is pretty long and people won't get devoured too easily (although I do expect one or two people will get chomped somehow.)  In terms of difficulty you should think more "relaxed four player base game", not "oh god high player count all expansions win in three turns or else".  AH veterans would probably find the setup extremely easy if they knew all the details... which is one of the reasons details are going to be hidden.  But in general, relax and take it easy, it's not a meatgrinder game.

Sierra

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This game should be run by the Queen Elizabeth account.

*Victoria

Shale

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*The Great Old One royalty from that Holmes/Cthulhu crossover Gaiman wrote
"Sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology."
-Ponder Stibbons

[23:02] <Veryslightlymad> CK dreams about me starring in porno?
[23:02] <CmdrKing> Pretty sure.

Taishyr

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The main thing I'm noting is that with investigators needing to stay alive (lest "Town" lose a player), healing will be a necessity to try and work out, one way or another.

Ranmilia

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The conditions for getting devoured haven't changed, just hitting 0 sanity or stamina will send you to the asylum or hospital as normal.  (and injuries and madnesses are in too should people opt for them). 

Taishyr

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Sure. The risk of that 0 San/Stam is still present, and far more risky this time around, though.

EDIT: For all that the odds of it actually happening are very low. I'm just paranoid.
« Last Edit: May 15, 2010, 04:08:51 AM by Taitoro »

Ranmilia

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Okay, playerlist so far:

El Cid - Moriarty (got his PM in first)
Alice/bofh - Lestrade.  (G. Lestrade.  Shaken, not stirred.)
Andrew - (the ghost of) Mary Watson
Tai - Dr. Watson (I presume?)
Carthrat - Irene Adler (the woman)
Soppy - ORIGINAL CHARACTER DO NOT STEAL (hasn't sent me any details yet)
Magetastic - Colm McDuff; (the semicolon is vital, deposing Calm Macbeth not so much)
Nitori - Richard A. Eddington (man of the sea)
HY - Jack (the Ripper.  NO ONE ELSE WANTED HIM.  somehow.  except Tai but we need TaixAndrew.)
Strago - ?????? WILD CARD

Annnnd that's ten that's enough you need to bring me your torch the tribe has spoken, I think.  Gonna call it there for now, thanks folks, will be getting with you all for setup if you don't get with me first!

#rpgdlarkhamhorror for the folks not in there!

Taishyr

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I originally sent in my PM asking for either Moriarty or Watson, on the presumption everyone would rush -Jack-. >_> Which made me feel like a fool when Alex wondered why no one chose him yet.

Strago

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Am playing Mycroft Holmes now, for the record. Indolence and brilliance for the win!

Ranmilia

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Gonna post sheets here as I work on them



« Last Edit: May 20, 2010, 10:59:19 AM by Sir Alex »

Ranmilia

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Also major rules changes that people should know about beforehand and maybe discuss, some open to debate:

Information Hiding

- Personal stories aren't going to be publicly posted, though of course investigators are free to talk about them with each other.  Some (most if not all) of them will also evolve as the game goes along too and not be 100% known to the player at the start of the game.  This may also extend to investigator powers, though I think Jack's the only one affected by this out of the ones chosen.  (Easy to make his sheet at least...)

- The Great Old One's sheet is completely hidden.  Even the Doom Track.  (Especially the Doom Track.)  Details about the nature of the threat you are facing can be discovered as the game progresses, sort of like clue tokens.  

- Two locations are marked as ?? ? ?? on the boards at the start of the game.  What could they be?  Go and find out, if you're feeling courageous!

- Many monsters will only be shown as ? until someone encounters them.  Basically everything except huge monstrosities or obvious boardwide effects.  A Star Spawn shambling around is pretty obvious, a Ghoul in the alleys not so much.   Flying monsters are revealed in the sky.


Large Game Checks and Balances
(because ten players is a lot)

- Combat no longer automatically completely ends movement.  Instead each round of combat costs one movement point, if you had any left.  Particularly open to feedback on this one.

- The Mythos cards are basically torn up into separate components for me to randomize.  Gates can open and monsters can appear on green locations as well as red ones, but at a considerably lower rate (debating between 2/3 or 3/4 red).  In addition to all the unpleasant mythos effects you're used to like gate bursts, a new effect may rarely cause two gates to open at once.  (This will still only add one doom token.  Probably.)

- Investigators who end their movement in the same location together may choose to take a single encounter jointly, instead of separate encounters, sharing both the challenges and rewards of whatever happens.  ("Pass a Will check to find a spell" -> everyone gets to attempt the check, if anyone succeeds the spell is found.)  This even applies to Other World locations, but only if the investigators enter the same gate together at the same time.


AndrewRogue

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I recommend being wary of the movement thing. I think your rule should be enough of a cap, especially with a multi board spread, but I played a few games under the mistaken belief that combat did not end movement way back when. It was BRUTAL for the game. One movement point should keep it under control. But... are we anticipating enough monsters for this to be necessary with 10 players?

Everything else sounds fine at first glance.

Ranmilia

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There will certainly be monsters.  The idea is to help deal with the problem of "Okay this investigator is the combat monkey, so they spend all of their turns cleaning the wimpy trash mobs off the streets so everyone else can actually go places (but they never get to go anywhere themselves)."  Philosophy here is that going to locations is funner than ending turns in the streets.  I'm less concerned with "will this brutalize the game" and more with "is this more fun?"

Shale

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I'm less concerned with "will this brutalize the game" and more with "is this more fun?"

I salute you, sir.

Edit: Also, the idea that Mycroft doesn't have to roll to figure out the clues, just to care, is cracking me up.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2010, 03:59:21 PM by Shale »
"Sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology."
-Ponder Stibbons

[23:02] <Veryslightlymad> CK dreams about me starring in porno?
[23:02] <CmdrKing> Pretty sure.

Taishyr

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Saluting seconded. Makes for more interesting dynamics (and if this means more monsters to deal with, so be it).

Strago

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I'm less concerned with "will this brutalize the game" and more with "is this more fun?"

I salute you, sir.

Edit: Also, the idea that Mycroft doesn't have to roll to figure out the clues, just to care, is cracking me up.

Seconded on both counts.

Magetastic

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Question about the combat thing: Is it 1 point of movement for each monster, or for each actual round of combat? (meaning that one monster could, potentially, take up all of your movement points to fight)
<%King_Meepdorah> roll 1d999 for "It was beauty...that killed the mage"?
* +Hatbot --> "King_Meepdorah rolls 1d999 for "It was beauty...that killed the mage"? and gets 999."12 [1d999=999]
<%King_Meepdorah> ...
<+superaway> ...Uh oh.
<+RandomConsonant> ...
* +superaway shakes head.

Ranmilia

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Actual round, so yeah your movement pretty much gets eaten unless you're oneshotting whatever you're fighting.  Which is the point.

And yes I am still working on this, apologies, inexcusable I know.

Carthrat

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You've got a weird definition of inexcusable, that's all I wanna say <_<
WHAT BENEFITS CAN ONE GET FROM SCIENTOLOGY?