Using Arkham Horror App as inspiration

As a addicted iPhone user and a boardgame geek I couldn’t resist the lure of FFG’s app for Arkham Horror. Only recently I started to wonder if I would ever be using it as I still like the cards and bits and pieces. I toyed around with an idea of a Call of Cthulhu scenario/campaign in Arkham but it seemed kind of pointless.

Then an idea occured to me. One of the main points WFRP (way back when 1st edition was published) was to create a Call of Cthulhu game in a fantasy setting. Nowadays the game has pretty much moved on though an odd cultis plot pops up every now and then when the skaven aren’t behind it all… But for me it was one of the points that made the game so dear to me and it’s still the main idea behind my game mastering.

So I wondered – why not use the app for random effects in Warhammer? Sure the setting is pretty different and there’s no “gate bursts” in the Old World. Or is there?

WFRP is kind of an action packed monster hunt these days. At least if you look at the published material. So how actually hunting monsters from another dimension would fit in quite nicely.

This kind of use would demand some extra effort from GM as the events in Arkham Horror are designed for a boardgame. But as all GMs (at least to my knowledge) are pretty creative it shouldn’t be that big of a problem.

“A gate appears” – does it mean a passage to skaven tunnels, an actual portal to Chaos Realm, a transfer to encounter mode or something else? The GM only knows. And if he doesn’t he can always “draw” a new encounter that could possibly be better suited to the current situation.

This is all just ramblings of course as I haven’t even tried it myself – yet. But it still should point out that interesting sources of inspiration can be found anywhere!

One-sheet Challenge for all GMs

The deal maker for me with the Game Master’s Toolkit were the Episodes included. I’m not big on large written scenarios as they tend to trail of and include a huge number of features I don’t need and make it impossible to run them without alteration. The Episodes however give nice piece of adventure to be expanded and used as needed.

Therefor I’d like to challenge you all to make (at least) one one-sheet.

One-sheets should be just that – an episode in one sheet that can be used as a small encounter, cameo, adventure or even an campaign.

I’m “pro-all editions” I would like to see one-sheets that are stripped from game data (necessary rolls, stat lines etc.) as I believe GMs can decide when needed.

I can also promise to put all one-sheets to be downloaded from my blog Daily Empire (cursed linking isn’t working so check my sig.) if they’re send to me at doc_cthulhu (at) hotmail (dot) com or I’m given the permission to add them to the list. I’m not however in a position to promise anything more than some publicity and (hopefully) a large number of one-sheets as a price for doing this.

A new sub-page for DOWNLOADS was created for one-sheets. You can find my first one-sheet Smugglers in the Sewers there as an pdf and in open office format.

The thread for discussion can be found from FFG’s official forum.

Vision of Chaos

As can be seen in the sidebar I’m currently coding my GM tool “Visions of Chaos” (check downloads page) with javascript to insert it to this page. It’s still very much work in progress but works quite nicely even now so I decided to leave it on. I aim to integrate it on its own page and possibly doing a plainer version for hand held devices (as I’m iPhone user myself) but until I get there it work in as a widget. Each time you reload this page it generates a different  NPC (the current variables give already over 100 000 different outcomes).

Preview of the incoming Norsca map

Warhammer community newer ceases to amaze me. Current example of the skills of the fans of WFRP is the incoming map of Norsca. Jackdays has been on this project for ages and now the updating is almost finished. The Daily Empire got an early sneak preview and the permission to publish this part of the map – the Northern Bretonnia.

The amount of detail is quite stunning. It’s filled with ruins, land marks, town and castles to inspire GMs and players alike.

I think I’m speaking for (at least almost) the whole community when I say: “Excellent work! When can we see more?”