Bookhounds?

[Grafster]

I'm provisionally interested in starting a Bookhounds game; structured like a character driven TV show (i.e. a bit more driven by player background and desires and less by "we are playing this adventure").

Random Thoughts,I am doing it partially because I want to kick the tires on ToC (and there only seems to be one ToC game) -- There will be a learning curve since I've never played it yet myself. I am flexible about the tone of the game. I have biases but they are numerous and broad. However I don't have interest in deviating from the core premise of the setting, [u]the book hounds are somewhere between abjectly poor and just scraping by[/u]. Poverty and the threat of it (along with their [i]Drives[/i]) regularly drag them into the deep end. If we go Pulp think expect it to be Noir-ish. The far end of the scale that I could go --> the 1st 10 minutes of the 1st Indiana Jones movie (with a book instead of a whip). I love the idea of weird books and strange intersections of education and thought. I will try my best to come up with lots of weird/random books. I encourage players to do likewise. I am not huge into high magic for CoC PCs. I know it's floating around in Trail, Bookhounds and Rough Magics but I am not keen on seeing PC spell casting as a key theme). Everything is up for discussion; things I specifically want to discuss [*]Pillars of Stability? (like the concept, but I don't really want full on soap opera, I'd prefer the game to focus less on "my adorable cousin" and "my old grandmother who is a font of wisdom" and more on conniving book scouts and back room auctions. [*]Degree of anachronism -- I am fairly disinterested overtly limited gender/racial/culture roles. I have seen some really great atypical investigators in past CoC games (an Egyptian scholar, a Turkish Catholic Priest, etc) and I have limited appetite for the "you must play a white guy or you are at +2 difficulty to life". But I am open to discussion. [*]Level of PC power I am tempted to go with 55 points instead of 65 points (which is more thematic? and suggested by the book?) but I don't really know what that means in game terms. PS My preferred place to do this would be Google Wave (I hate having to play with HTML for 20 minutes just to make a readable post; as evidenced by the mess that is this post) but I think that is a non-starter.

If you are interested please fill out the questions below.

[Seon]

I would be interested.

[Grafster]

If you are interested please fill in the following questions
There are no "right" or "wrong" answers, just trying to get a sense of potential players backgrounds/interested.

Have you played CoC before?
Have you played ToC before?
Have you played PbP before?

Are you familiar with the bookhounds setting? (have you read the book?)
If you have read the book did you look at the adventure in back?

What are your expectations for a game?
How frequently do you think you will be able to post?

What kind of character are you interested in playing? (occupation? drives? etc)
What kind of bookshop would you like to run?

[Raiko]

Hi Grafster.

Good luck with your game. I've decided not to take part in any games as a player, at least until both of my own games are back at full speed.
But otherwise I'd definitely be interested. I own ToC, but haven't had chance to fully read it yet. I really want to spend a weekend reading through it sometime though, even if I just steal a few things for my BRP CoC games. (I'd also like to see some of the extra rules from the new French version of CoC).
I'm not familiar with the bookhounds setting at all though.

[Grafster]

R,

I'd be happy to hold a spot. I think I've already talked about how much I've appreciated/enjoyed Masks so I won't go on at great length.

And this is definitely a "kick the ToC tires" kind of enterprise.

Bookhounds is a "campaign frame". Like Delta Green and other popular CoC evolutions it is focused on explaining why characters might repeatedly encounter mythos elements. In this case the frame has some key elements

1. It's squarely focused around mythos tomes
2. characters are driven by poverty in the depression (they are book sellers specializing in rare tomes)

and thus it easily justifies the kinds of behavior that that characters in an rpg to engage in
a. Repeatedly encountering the supernatural
b. following people around, lying, breaking and entering

while still keeping their motivations relatively modest. (i.e. they aren't necessarily out to "fight crime" or a "globe spanning conspiracy").

I've followed Hite since his Out of the Box column way back and that's part of the interest.

I feel sure that there are a lot of great choices for characters in the setting.

[Dr. Bloodworth]

I'd be interested in playing this!

I've played CoC and both played and run PbP. I haven't actually played ToC as of yet, but I'm fairly familiar with the system.

I've checked out the Bookhounds setting, and I've glanced over the adventure, but I haven't really read it in-depth (so there'll still be surprises).

I'm on night work and currently we have a pretty insane scedule, so for right now I'll probably only really be able to post in the afternoons.

Character -- I'll have to think more on it as to specifics, but I believe I'd like to deal with Celtic mythology/folklore in some manner. Maybe some Celtic stuff in the bookshop.

[Grafster]

Dr. B,

Glad to have you on board. And academic specialty or interest(s) is practically a requirement. Celtic myth/folklore sounds great. I think the "bookstore owner" occupation (on vacation right now, can't easily refer to the books) can litterally pull random items out of the back of the shop (called "the squiz"?). That's one way to make sure you can have periodic access to a useful player defined (celtic-flavored) items.

There are other ways to pull that into the game; an academic (or a forger!) with a specialty would naturally find items headed their way.

I hope for regular posting but I'm not picky about the time. I probably will be on a daily schedule myself but things can be unpredictable.

If people aren't familiar with it I will probably weave in at least some of the adventure; I don't see that necessarily happening right away.

[andyw666]

Hey there!

I'd love to join if you have space. In short, have been playing CoC since the first edition was published, have been doing PbP forever but have not played ToC although I have the rules.

Have not read the Bookhounds rules but have access to them.

Umm, what else. I am really more character and atmosphere focused, and can post daily if need be but the current game I'm in is moving a bit slower than that.

Was thinking about something of an ex military officer, ex boy scout type, well prepared and resourceful but a bit rogue... However, I'm not wedded to the idea.

Andy

[Grafster]

The more that i think about it the more i like having characters with military backgrounds . 

I see several awesome areas having a military character opens up a) potential overseas experience (India, opium war(too far back?),) b) access to society without being of that social caste (maybe you saved someone wealthy, or infamous?) c) old comrades (great source of NPCs/adventure hooks) d) "war books" (there are a -lot- of books about war, military strategy, memoirs, military history, etc).

A retired book-loving military officer living on a modest pension, an unscrupulous logistics officer who illicitly acquired a stash of scrolls while serving overseas (or fighting in Europe), a foreign officer who skipped his own country to set up shop in a new life as a mild mannered book seller, etc are all very much "in genre". (IMHO anyway)
Those are just examples btw. You could play a character with one of those concepts or they could be contacts you have. 

So  military stuff is fertile with great hooks (and a big part of the history of the UK); also the Great War (! Huge!) however - while it depends on the players choices to some degree - bookhounds tends to swing away from guns 'n hard charging action. 

I do want to be clear (just because I've seen it once before in an online game) that just because a character has 8 points in "dynamite use" and 8 "weapons (katana)" doesn't mean it will be a game filled with dynamite and katanas; any more than a character with a naudical background will be sailing around on a boat every session. 

Obviously CoC doesn't typically cause that kind of confusion but just wanted to mention it. 
(sorry if that comes off poorly; there is nothing wrong with that play style it's just not the style I have in mind for this game...)

[Grafster]

Andy is probably already aware of this but just so I've mentioned it: the Preparedness stat does a brilliant job of helping to abstract the "my character might have had this kind of thing in his bag/car/house but as a player I didn't have time to keep track of everything. 

I am traveling right now so it's tricky to review the books but IIRC you bid and roll to "just happen to have X".

[Grafster]

Right now three folks have expressed interest

Seon
Dr. Bloodworth
andyw666

I would be willing to start with three people, but I'd like to spend a little bit of time talking about the game and characters before we launch. I will probably keep the game open for a while (potentially indefinitely) to allow new people to join.

And there are some "big picture" things I'd like to briefly review/discuss.

[Grafster]

Big Picture Stuff - for discussion

I prefer that the players develop the bookshop, at least partially. If Dr. B goes through with the celtic angle that is an element. The occupations chosen will also impact how it is developed. If a player isn't a Bookseller (occupation) I will have to develop the owner. If there are no bookscouts there will need to be some main providers of books (either way there will be minor characters doing some of that), etc.

Running a bookshop,The bookshop is its own entity. Mostly that means it has it's own credit rating, which affects the characters. But characters can also "use" its credit rating for certain things, it's "book stock" rating for other things, and have abilities that trigger off of it. (I.E. The Bookseller can only find a squiz if he can go into the back room). If the group makes choices that would make the shop successful then it can potentially increase it's credit rating. Reversals are always possible too.

Mood and Theme,Bookhounds potentially covers a lot of ground. While I don't want to run a gloomy/mopey game I do expect to have a gritty element. Characters should expect to find themselves in tricky spots. There won't necessarily be "right" answers . I am not sure where the game will land in terms of the arabesque / sordid / technicolor things that Hite discusses in the book. Probably not very sordid; since I feel like that goes a long way and/or gets predictable quickly. Characters will probably help set the default settings and after that the game will go where it may.

Changes/Additions to Core Rules (from the Bookhounds book)

Credit Rating = Social standing,My understanding of bookhounds is that you can only interact effectively with NPCs in and around your credit rating. (so 3s get along well with 3s and reasonably well with 2s and 4s. more or less than that and you struggle to interact effectively). This is an attempt to mimic the caste system. It's interesting enough that I am keeping it. I am also planning on keeping the [b]effective cap of 4[/b]. You can be of a higher credit rating socially (which is something toyed around with in the bookhounds book) but it's a bit of a tough life. I.E. as someone who has fallen on hard times but still maintains your old idea of self you struggle to interact with your "new" peers, while you are shunned by people you know from your old life. I.E. I'm willing to allow characters who have "higher" CR than 4, but it will only be available for social purposes. You can't spend points (past the cap) they just exist for roleplaying purposes.

Bookhound Occupations,The assumption is that characters are bookhounds, or at least most of them are. The New Bookhound Occupations are Bookscout -- a book "finder" (which could be illicit or just sneaky) Bookseller -- manager or owner of a bookshop Catalogue Agent -- fixer, gobetween, also good at auctions Forger -- specifically a book forger, (I particularly like the "last word on" Special ability) Occultist -- more of a social class than a spell caster, per se Typical Occupations from in the Bookhounds Frame Antiquarian Criminal Dilettante Tramp (renamed Hobo) Private Investigator Also Possible Occupations Artist Author Clergyman Professor Military* - provisionally [url=http://www.callofcthulhu.org.uk/viewtopic.php?p=117235#p117235]see post[/url]I wouldn't expect to get much use out of the special abilities though.

.

Drives,The new drive is "greed" and the older drives are opened up to allow more non-heroic type motivations. I will gleefully use drives whenever possible to get people tangled up in things. Be sure to think carefully about yours and ask questions if you aren't sure what the impact will be.

New Skills,Auction: Available to Antiquarians and Dilettantes as an Occupational ability. Bibliography: Available to Antiquarians, Authors, and Journalists as an Occupational ability. Document Analysis: Available to Antiquarians and Police Detectives as an Occupational ability. Forgery: Available to Criminals as an Occupational ability. Textual Analysis: Available to Antiquarians, Authors, and Journalists as an Occupational ability. The Knowledge:Available to Criminals, Journalists, Police Detectives, and Private Investigators (and to Tramps (p. 11)) as an Occupational Ability.

Pillars of Stability?,I see the game having a lot of contacts, which is more interesting that pillars of stability to me. But I could be persuaded if people feel strongly.

[Dr. Bloodworth]

Here's a quick character idea I threw together, didn't actually develop him mechanically. BTW, the Llewellyns are a family I've played several members of in CoC games, both as PCs and NPCs, along the lines of how HPL had his families like the Whateleys and the Marshes and such.

Anthony T.E. (Terence Erasmus) Llewellyn
Drive: In the Blood
Born: July 20, 1913 (age mid 20s)

Anthony is the wayward member of the Llewellyn family of West Anglia and Wales. In 1930, his family sent him to University College in London, and he later moved to that city on a permanent basis, getting himself a townhouse on Cumberland Terrace, on the outskirts of Regent's Park. However, he soon fell in with the criminal element, using his great wealth, trustworthy exterior, and extensive web of contacts - both criminal and legitimate - to aid in the illegal book and knowledge trade. Eventually, he will inherit his family's ancestral estates near Aldwick, Somerset, and his father secretly hopes this may help redeem Anthony.

One of Anthony's chief scams is to finance an "expedition" led by fake archaeologists (having their papers forged, if necessary, to make it seem more legitimate), then to create false copies of "artifacts" they've supposedly found; these copies are then sold at a high sum to some unsuspecting university or museum (preferably smaller local ones, which can't afford authentication).

The Llewellyns have had a disturbing number of run-ins with the weird and supernatural over the years, and Anthony fears he is to be no different.

Contacts: Phil Simpson (forger of false academic degrees), Prof. Gordon Welleston (Celtic historian at the British Museum)

[Grafster]

Dr. B,
I prefer "non mechanical" initial character development, especially in something like bookhounds, so I am fine without stats.

That is a great character concept, very much in the genre. In the blood is a particularly "bookhounds" drive; if you choose to take it in lieu of a more personal drive it will probably be very much like a curse, hounding him constantly. Love the "lineage" element.

If he's due to inherit the family estates what drew him to the criminal elements?
Does he hate having to wait for the money?
Does he just like tricking people as an intellectual challenge?
Just a way to stave off boredom?
Thrill of adventure?
An almost irresisable desire to lie for lyings sake (an almost genetic predisposition towards lying, one might say)?

In terms of his scams and their relationship to the game it can go two ways (broadly speaking)
1. Background -- Anthony's schemes are going around mostly off camera, you got a squiz as a result of a scam, you need another PC to help you forge or validate something for your current target, an old mark/relative of a mark/betrayed coconspirator/con man angling for the same mark is coming after you
2. Foreground -- other players are key participants in the scams, the bookstore is an element of them (and is effectively primarily a criminal enterprise in terms of where it's operating revenue comes from)

[Dr. Bloodworth]

I figure it's probably just boredom. I think of something similar to how the Hellfire Club/fake Satanist types took off... so bored they'd just do anything for a thrill. And I'd think most of his schemes would be in the background.

[andyw666]

Outstanding! Give me a day or 2 longer and will present something a bit coherent! - Andy

[Grafster]

(sorry for being off for a bit, cold+work)

Dr. B.,
Boredom is very in genre. Background offers more opportunity for the group to play what they want.

With regard to Background... I'd like to think about having the scams have an impact on play, if the most recent scam has gone poorly a general die pool might be lower than it's full value at refresh. If it has gone well you might have a "free" squiz, etc. What do you think?

I see your character playing the planner/mastermind role for a small group of confederates (who also do their own thing) less of a gang and more of an ad-hoc Oceans 11 type thing. Does that match what you have in mind?

Andy,
Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

No response from Seon so s/he is probably out. We have a some development work to do (bookshop, contacts, etc) so I think we are fine with proceeding and planning on picking up another person or two before we launch.

[andyw666]

Hey there!

After looking a bit more at the Bookhounds rules, am thinking I'd quite like my PC to be a Book Scout. Here's my general idea:

Capt Jory Penhalligon

Jory's family were once well to do Cornish gentry, but had fallen into scandal, disgrace and poverty many years ago. In desperation, Jory's father took a low paying but socially acceptable position as a Colonial Officer in India, far from gossiping tongues. Jory's childhood was largely spent in the exotic British Raj. A naturally curious child, Jory became an accomplished explorer, and adopted the style of General Baden-Powell's new Scouting movement, to always be prepared. Jory was also exposed to and became fascinated with Indian mysticism and its multitude of religions.

Managing to wangle a scholarship to Cambridge, Jory returned to the Mother Land, but by the time he had completed his degree (in some species of English Lit), the Great War was well underway. Jory was able to obtain a commission, perhaps more by unscrupulous skills than honest means, but his strengths in preparation and observation served him well, and he finished that terrible war as a captain (possibly a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps?).

Jory remained in the Army until the mid 1920s, serving back in India, until his more exotic and unusual interests and curiosity started to cause the spread of rumour. Rather than risk real disgrace, Jory resigned with his reputation not too harmed, but very limited funds.

I see Jory's Drive as Curiosity but am not wed to it. Greed would also work (and is, of course, good).

Jory is something of a Can Do man. Although his background was that of the gentleman, he has always been prepared to do what it takes, within some loosely defined bounds.

Let me know how that suits.

Cheers,

Andy

[Taavi]

Hi there,

I'd like to introduce Luke Carse as a character for your consideration. Luke falls somewhere between PI, Catalogue Agent, and Criminal - he is a transatlantic Book Smuggler, aka "Booklegger".

It's not always appreciated that liquor was far from the only thing banned during Prohibition by the cousins across the pond. Thanks to organisations like the New England Watch and Ward Society and the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, and the related Comstock Laws, the US's east coast states could neither buy nor mail order vast swathes of publications; not just pornography and erotica, but also controversial modernist and jazz age literature such as Joyce's Ulysses, the works of Oscar Wilde, Cabell's Jurgen, etc. These publications have occasionally been banned in Britain as well, although their printing in France tends to circumvent such bans quite quickly.

This has created a thriving underground market, in which East Coast quality will pay premium prices for discretely sold, unbowdlerised European editions of these books and other, more explicit, (and sometimes occult) works. More generally, the American rich and bourgeoisie are still aping J.P. Morgan and attempting to become known as collectors of great and historic literature, creating a further market for antique European literature - or at least, things that look like antique European literature.

Luke’s freethinking politics, British literary education, and War Veteran tough-guy poise have enabled him to carve out a niche in this odd market: high culture at one end, low pornography at the other, and a profit to be made between. He works to ensure that his American clients - upper class, lower class and outright criminal - get what they want, without getting their names in the papers or any undue problems with the Customs authorities. He is motivated by a sense of adventure, also by his libertarian and nihilistic beliefs, but mainly by greed, or at least survival.

Personal background: Luke is a WWI veteran of the 1917-18 campaigns, who made a few American friends from the wrong side of the tracks during the North Russia Intervention and Operation Polar Bear. After the war he was able to access a scholarship scheme for WWI veterans to gain entrance to the University of Brichester, where he began to study law and literature; however, the Geddes Axe budget cuts of 1922 saw his scholarship and studies cut short. He later bribed a university clerk to obtain a fake B.A. degree, which hangs prominently on the wall of his place of employment. Despite having moved to the Smoke, he still maintains some connection to Brichester: Brichester's seedy Ultimate Press provides him with some of the more lurid publications requested by the American market, and the books he brings back on the return trip he usually sells to American Books Bought and Sold, a Brichester bookshop specialising in American literature.

Further reading: Gertzman, Jay A. Bookleggers and Smuthounds: The Trade in Erotica, 1920-1940, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999

PS: In answer to your questions:
CoC: Very familiar: ToC: have read the rules; Bookhounds: Have read the manual, including the adventure, sorry! Wanted to run it myself but my group opted for something different. Would probably be able to post every two or three days. Since I'm in Australia I doubt any real-time play would be possible for me.
Type of bookshop: one that makes money by working both sides of the law.

[AndrewTBP]

1. Have you played CoC before?
2. Have you played ToC before?
3. Have you played PbP before?
4. Are you familiar with the bookhounds setting? (have you read the book?)
5. If you have read the book did you look at the adventure in back?
6. What are your expectations for a game?
7. How frequently do you think you will be able to post?
8. What kind of character are you interested in playing? (occupation? drives? etc)
9. What kind of bookshop would you like to run?

1. Yes, since the 1980s.
2. Yes, both as an Investigator in a PbP game and as a Keeper in a face-to-face game and a PbP game.
3. Yes, both as an Investigator and as a Keeper.
4. Yes, I've read the book repeatedly.
5. Yes, I've read the sample adventure. I've read all the ToC adventures.
6. I expect the game to be atmospheric, diverting and mysterious.
7. I think I can post once a day, usually late Sydney time.
8. I don't mind being a Bookseller and running the shop, but I've played that, so something different like Author, Journalist or Professor is more fun. A drive like Scholarship or Thirst for Knowledge sounds fun.
9. Something fairly seedy. Credit Rating 3 at most, in the City, the fringes of Covent Garden, or Soho.