Gangsters in Call of Cthulhu

Episode 223: Gangsters in Call of Cthulhu

We’re back and we’re trying to understand the attraction of these concrete boots. They’re not very stylish and even less comfortable. Apparently they’ll help us sleep with the fishes, but that’s how we got into trouble last time we were in Innsmouth. It’s a weird life being gangsters in Call of Cthulhu.

Main Topic: Gangsters in Call of Cthulhu

Our latest episode delves into the deadly underworld of gangsters in Call of Cthulhu. Given that the classic era of Call of Cthulhu coincides with the advent of prohibition and the rise of organised crime in the USA, gangsters have always played a large role in the game. In this episode, we talk about the influences we’ve drawn upon when presenting gangsters in our own games, as well as thoughts on how to use gangsters as protagonists and antagonists.

This episode has the unfortunate distinction of being our first standard release not to feature all three of the Good Friends. Matt has been very ill recently after contracting COVID. Happily, he is on the road to recovery and should be back soon. For this and the next episode, however, we have called upon our good friend Dirk the Dice to stand in for Matt. You will know Dirk from his marvellous podcast The Grognard Files, as well as our live recording of “The Necropolis”, with How We Roll.

News

Issue 8 of The Blasphemous Tome

There is still just time to secure a printed copy of Issue 8 of The Blasphemous Tome. This is the semi-annual fanzine we produce for our Patreon backers. Anyone backing us by the end of the year at the $3 level will receive a voucher for a print-on-demand copy at cost, and backers at the $5 level or higher will receive a copy printed and signed by the Good Friends. This latest issue features an all-new modern-day scenario by Scott, called “Night Bus”, that leans heavily into the weirder side of the Mythos.

Reissue of The Blasphemous Tome 1

Speaking of Tomes, we have recently reissued the first Blasphemous Tome. All backers can now download a PDF of issue 1 from our Patreon feed. Additionally, anyone backing us at the $3 level or higher before the end of 2021 will receive vouchers for print-on-demand copies of issues 1 and 7.

Issue 1 features a rare thing — a scenario written by all three of the Good Friends. “The Thing From the Shed” can be run using Call of Cthulhu or any OSR game, and involves plenty of icky body horror. Issue 7 features Matt’s sun-drenched scenario, “The Blue”, uncovering horrors beneath the crystal waters of Bermuda.

The Canterville Ghost on the Good Friends Discord

Following the success of last year’s reading of “A Christmas Carol”, Mike Perceval-Maxwell is organising another Christmas ghost story on the Good Friends Discord server. Mike will be joined by Dom Allen, John Casey, Scott Dorward, Rina Haenze and Sue Savage for a spirited rendition of Oscar Wilde’s “The Canterville Ghost”. We will read the story live over three evenings — the 13th, 14th and 16th of December, at 22:30. Each reading will take approximately 30 minutes.

If all goes well, we shall release recordings of each episode on the Good Friends podcast feed, for those who can’t make the live events.

“We Will Remember Them” on Spectre in the Fog

Our good friend Robin has been running an actual play of Paul’s scenario “We Will Remember Them” for the Spectre in the Fog podcast. This tense tale of heroism and body horror is plucked from the World War Cthulhu scenario collection Europe Ablaze.

New Arcs on Grizzly Peaks and How We Roll

And speaking of actual plays, two of the podcasts Scott appears on have begun new arcs recently. Grizzly Peaks Radio has just started a playthrough of a modified version of “Ghost Jackal Kill”, from an ancient issue of White Dwarf magazine, featuring the lovable old codgers from “The Surrey Enigma”.

Scott has also just started running “Inheritance” — chapter two of the Flotsam and Jetsam campaign — for How We Roll. Our all-star cast of Joe and Eoghan from How We Roll, Veronica from Cthulhu and Friends, and Seth Skorkowsky has grown! We have now been joined by special guest Adrian Tchaikovsky, who has volunteered to steer our investigators through the deadly streets of Innsmouth.