g026r wrote:King Arthur Companion

This book's existence plays on what makes RPGs interesting: it blurs the line between fantasy & reality, thus creating a trans-dimensional portal for the movement of otherworldly entities.

It was the intriguing aspect of it all to me as a kid in the 1970s. What exactly were these new RPG books showing up in hobby shops? They seemed to refer to events happening in the game as if they were really occurring on the material plane.

By 1983 that element had faded, but publication of The King Arthur Companion was a step in the right direction. The fact that it's appeared since in a non-gaming edition keeps the line nice & blurry, pretty much the way I like to approach reality in general.

Similar philosophies are found in 4th ed. Co'C. A few real-life books such as the Kabbalah or Frazer's Golden Bough are among the Mythos canon, resulting in sanity damage when read [or enlightenment, depending upon your perspective].

5th ed. dumbed it down- only reading the entire out-of-print 13 volume edition of Frazer would affect sanity, & then only for the frustrating time spent on it rather than true Mythos material.

Fools! Fools & unbelievers! The truly wise [or insane] know it's only by excising the obsolete psychological analyses that the work becomes a simple long litany of sacrificial practices, a ritual incantation of what is pleasing to our Lord & Master.

Oh wait I guess I've drifted off topic [sanity damage will do that to you] & should really phrase this as a question for Mr. Stafford. Here goes: which activity produces more real-life Cthulhu Mythos understanding- reading a modern edit of Frazer while contemplating mayhem, or reading a modern coffee-table volume of Kabbalah while listening to Madonna?

red_bus wrote::lol:

Personally I think spending time in a dull office job should lose you d10 SAN each year.  Plus a POW drain...

I think that you could make an argument for having different professions within an office environment.
In some situations specific individuals would be the ones draining the POW.  

No Dice wrote:
Thanks greatly for the info about Questworld. I've run a campaign there for 23 years and it's wonderful to hear some history behind that world.

Wow! What a thrill I got to hear that. Thanks.

For anyone interested in more history of Chaosium,  I have begun to write my recollections and post them at

http://weareallus.com/chaosium/chaosiuminc.html

The site is under construction (I'll get pictures of the games on there, and fix those links that don't quite work, etc.)

But there is a fair amount of information about the earliest years, and about board games, already posted.

Enjoy!

red_bus wrote:
I recently won this version of the Book of the Manor, which now it has arrived I have had a chance to read...


** expired/removed eBay auction **


And it is great.  If this is what you are releasing, bravo!!

Lucky you! That is a pre-production version that was made, t be sold in support of the th Chimeriades convention.

The one I am selling has the same content, but is much more handsome and professionally laid out.

Hi Greg,

I was wondering about the Chaosium logo.  If I'm not mistaken, William Church did both the old version (c. 1978), which some people have described as a Wyvern, and the new, more heraldic version (c. 1980), which is maybe a griffon?  The griffon version appears enlarged on the Basic Role-Playing booklet, which begs the question what was the original, the logo or the artwork for BRP.  And was the logo all Church's idea, or did someone give him a suggestion?

grubbiv wrote:I was wondering about the Chaosium logo.  If I'm not mistaken, William Church did both the old version (c. 1978), which some people have described as a Wyvern, and the new, more heraldic version (c. 1980), which is maybe a griffon?

Both are dragons to me.
We got the new logo when we incorporated.

The griffon version appears enlarged on the Basic Role-Playing booklet, which begs the question what was the original, the logo or the artwork for BRP.  

The logo. We had the color cover commissioned afterwards.

And was the logo all Church's idea, or did someone give him a suggestion?

The suggestions were from me, originally. The execution was William's. I've got some alternatives to the first on around somewhere. If I can find them I'll post them on the site.

grubbiv wrote:I was wondering about the Chaosium logo.  If I'm not mistaken, William Church did both the old version (c. 1978), which some people have described as a Wyvern

It's sometimes called the 'Wyrm' logo.

Does Corporal Zen serve with General Apathy, Major Boredom & Private Parts?