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CTHULHU!!!

It’s been a long time since I kept the tradition of running a Call of Cthulhu game on Halloween. I decided to re-up the tradition, but in spades. A four part story, each chapter in a different Era, all linked by a single element, starting on the first Friday in October, ending on Halloween night.

I’m too sleepy to do a full write-up, but Part 1 went off amazingly well. Out of the four characters, three died (each and every one killed by a fellow PC) and the fourth one went insane (he tried to kill himself).

The Man in Black made an appearance and… I’ll just leave it there. I’m completely drained. I had forgotten how much Cthulhu demands from me.

But they were all happy and eager to play the next chapter. Their characters were slaughtered–by each other–and they’re eager for more.

Ia! Ia! Cthulhu ftagn! I have a great crew.

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HotB Sales for the Quarter

For the Fall Quarter, Houses of the Blooded sold better than I ever expected.

The PDF sales alone were amazing. Over 400 people paid five bucks to look at my game. How many more have copies of the PDF… we can only speculate.

I’ve gone through 4 print runs of the core book and with numbers as they are at IPR, it looks like I’ll need to run another one. With GenCon, IPR sales and private sales (carrying around boxes of books in my trunk), I’ve sold over 500 copies in just 90 days. No marketing, no distributors. Just me and my book.

I’m having trouble keeping up with the print runs. This is a very good problem to have.

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HotB: The Blood Opera Suite: Available at IPR

When scholars write about No More Roses (one of Shivon Mwrr’s last operas) most call it one of his "mediocre masterpieces." Mwrr wrote it in a time of mourning for his lover, the unamed "Lady V."

His heart broken by grief, Mwrr made three aborted attempts to compose the pieces, finally completing it five years after he began. He wrote, "Finished, and rightly so." It was one of his last pieces before his lost swan song, Shadows and Love.

These tracks are what remains of his original work. Long thought to be a complete Opera, recent researches have discovered Act 3 to be a forgery, leaving us with an incomplete picture of Shivon Mwrr’s masterpiece of tragedy, love and revenge.

The Blood Opera Suite is an atmospheric soundtrack for your Houses of the Blooded game. Over an hour from the long-lost No More Roses opera, The Blood Opera Suite is a perfect sonic weapon for your Houses of the Blooded games.

OVER AN HOUR OF MUSIC.
FIVE BUCKS.

 

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Hey Brother, Can You Spare…

(delivered via [info]savageplanet )

> I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG. Instead, I’m in favor
> of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.
> To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide
> U.S. Citizens 18+. Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting
> every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at
> adults 18 and up.
>
> So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals
> $425,000.00. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We
> Deserve It Dividend. Of course, it would NOT be tax free.
>
> So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%. Every individual 18+ has to pay
> $127,500 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.
> But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500 in their pocket. A
> husband and wife has $595,000.
>
> What would you do with $297,500 to $595,000 in your family?Pay off your
> mortgage – housing crisis solved.
> Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads
> Put away money for college – it’ll be there
> Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs
> Buy a new car – create jobs
> Invest in the market – capital drives growth
> Pay for your parent’s medical insurance – health care improves
> Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean – or else
> Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks
> who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is
> cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces. If
> we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it…instead of
> trickling out a puny $1000 ( ‘vote buy’ ) economic incentive that is
> being proposed by one of our candidates for President.
>
> If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult
> U S Citizen 18+!| As for AIG – liquidate it. Sell off its parts.| Let
> American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real
> estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it
> up.
>
> Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t. Sure it’s a crazy
> idea that can ‘never work.’ But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block
> Party! How do you spell Economic Boom?
>
> I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion We
> Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington
> DC. And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because
> $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.
>
> Ahhh…I feel so much better getting that off my chest.
>
>
> PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it’s either good for a
> laugh, or a tear or a very sobering thought on how to best use $85
> Billion!!
>
>
> Now do the math with 750 billion

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Love Poem (via joemorf)

They call it Proposition 8 in California.
They call it Proposition 102 in Arizona.

I call it "legalized gay bashing."

If someone can make a non-religious argument against same-sex marriage, I’m willing to listen. Otherwise, keep your goddamn book out of my Constitution.

Thanks to joemorf  for the video. (He’s in there!)

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On the Issues

Instead of reading what other people have to say about McCain and Obama, why not read what they have to say about themselves?

Here’s McCain’s stance on the issues.
Here’s Obama’s stance on the issues.

This is what they want you to know. May as well read it.

Read for yourself. Make up your own mind. That is all.

NOMORESPIN
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RinCon 2008: Guest of Honor

I’m one of the Guests of Honor at RinCon, an Arizona game convention that takes place over Halloween weekend.

I’ll be there with Houses of the Blooded as well as some special surprises.

(Wait till you see the booth. I’ve got two words for you. Ven. Library.)

I’ll also be running games and possibly testing the LARP rules. If you’re all good little boys and girls.

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FactChecking Debate No. 1

(from Factcheck.org)

Facts muddled in Mississippi McCain-Obama meeting.

Summary

McCain and Obama contradicted each other repeatedly during their first debate, and each volunteered some factual misstatements as well. Here’s how we sort them out:

  • Obama said McCain adviser Henry Kissinger backs talks with Iran “without preconditions,” but McCain disputed that. In fact, Kissinger did recently call for “high level” talks with Iran starting at the secretary of state level and said, “I do not believe that we can make conditions.” After the debate the McCain campaign issued a statement quoting Kissinger as saying he didn’t favor presidential talks with Iran.
  • Obama denied voting for a bill that called for increased taxes on “people” making as little as $42,000 a year, as McCain accused him of doing. McCain was right, though only for single taxpayers. A married couple would have had to make $83,000 to be affected by the vote, and anyway no such increase is in Obama’s tax plan.
  • McCain and Obama contradicted each other on what Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen said about troop withdrawals. Mullen said a time line for withdrawal could be “very dangerous” but was not talking specifically about “Obama’s plan,” as McCain maintained.
  • McCain tripped up on one of his signature issues – special appropriation “earmarks.” He said they had “tripled in the last five years,” when in fact they have decreased sharply.
  • Obama claimed Iraq “has” a $79 billion surplus. It once was projected to be as high as that. It’s now down to less than $60 billion.
  • McCain repeated his overstated claim that the U.S. pays $700 billion a year for oil to hostile nations. Imports are running at about $536 billion this year, and a third of it comes from Canada, Mexico and the U.K.
  • Obama said 95 percent of “the American people” would see a tax cut under his proposal. The actual figure is 81 percent of households.
  • Obama mischaracterized an aspect of McCain’s health care plan, saying “employers” would be taxed on the value of health benefits provided to workers. Employers wouldn’t, but the workers would. McCain also would grant workers up to a $5,000 tax credit per family to cover health insurance.

  • McCain misrepresented Obama’s plan by claiming he’d be "handing the health care system over to the federal government." Obama would expand some government programs but would allow people to keep their current plans or chose from private ones, as well.

  • McCain claimed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower had drafted a letter of resignation from the Army to be sent in case the 1944 D-Day landing at Normandy turned out to be a failure. Ike prepared a letter taking responsibility, but he didn’t mention resigning.

For full details, as well as other dubious claims and statements, please read our full Analysis section.

Note: This is a summary only. The full article with analysis, images and citations may be viewed on our Web site.