Episode 181: Making a Monster

https://blasphemoustomes.com/2020/04/28/making-a-monster/

We’re back and we’re heading up to the laboratory to see what we can throw together. There are some leftover eyeballs in the fridge, and an assortment of horns, fangs and claws in those crates in the corner. We seem to be running short on hides, however. Maybe we can mix up a protoplasm cocktail instead. Admittedly, we still need to find a new lab assistant after the last time we tried that…

Main Topic: Making a Monster

This episode is a discussion of how we go about creating new monsters for Call of Cthulhu. Is it enough (or even safe) to reskin a Deep One or a shoggoth? How do you decide how deadly your monster should be? What kind of stats should you assign? What is the monster doing in your scenario in the first place? And why not just pick something out of the rulebook rather than going to all this trouble?

Handily enough, Mike Mason, the line editor for Call of Cthulhu, is on hand to help us with these deliberations. Mike is in the last stages of putting together the new Malleus Monstrorum, and has been giving a lot of thought to such matters. He offers sage advice and helps us brainstorm some new creations.

This is the first standard episode we’ve recorded during the lockdown. It’s taking us a little while to get used to doing everything remotely, but we hope the episode still sounds decent. In terms of sound quality, that is. Otherwise, we’ll have no truck with decency.

Links

Things we mention in this episode include:

• “Fungi From Yuggoth” by H P Lovecraft
• Dagon (2001)
• The Two-Headed Serpent
• The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H P Lovecraft
• Call of Cthulhu subreddit
• Dagon ‘zine
• “You in Your Small Corner” by Andy Bennison
• Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

News

Convention Updates

In our last episode, we discussed upcoming conventions we were planning to attend. How quaint all that seems now! The best advice we can offer is to check the websites for Continuum and UK Games Expo to see if they will be postponed, cancelled or moved online.

Backer-Only Specials

During this lockdown period, we’re releasing extra episodes of The Good Friends of Jackson Elias to help you pass the time. These Patreon backer exclusives are going out on the weeks between normal episodes. At the time of posting, we’ve released two, discussing horror films and books we’ve enjoyed recently. If you want to access these and the upcoming episodes, simply back us on Patreon at any level.

News From Chaosium

Mike shares details of some exciting Call of Cthulhu publications and actual play recordings from Chaosium.

• Harlem Unbound 2nd edition PDF (print coming soon)
• Cthulhu Dark Ages 3rd edition PDF (print coming soon)
• Malleus Monstrorum 2nd edition, coming soon
• Chaosium’s Twitch channel
• The Dead Within on Chaosium’s YouTube channel
• A Cold Fire Within on Chaosium’s YouTube channel