Returning player looking for new game

[yockenthwaite]

Some time ago I played in the original "The Haunting" on this website, which was a lot of fun.

I'd like to join a new game, from the start, rather than join a pre-existing game and have to catch up with lots of plot etc.

So if anyone is thinking of running a new game (I'd prefer Classic or Gaslight, but would play just about anything) I'd be interested. I only have experience of Call of Cthulhu roleplaying so far, but would have a bash at Trail of Cthulhu if need be.

Thanks.

[Dave Syrinx]

Hi, Yockentwaite! Welcome back, then!
I´ve just recently launched a game set in modern time Arizona. Limited number of pregenerated PC´s and no grand plot to keep track on. The intertwining fates of the characters make the story, with the spice of the events presented by the keeper of secrets.

At the moment a couple of characters are available: Chuck Parker, KMTH radio manager, Rebecca Borgstrom, single mom escaping ex-boyfriend and sky-rocketing bills.

The presentation is at: ...I feel fine

To catch up on either of the characters there are about five posts to read.

Have a look and decide if you feel like joining!

[yockenthwaite]

Thanks Syrinx! Will check out the game.

[Mr. Handy]

Welcome back, yockenthwaite! I remember that game of The Haunting, and it was great! I played Juliet in that one.

Both of the games I'm running are in progress, but you'd be welcome to join either of them. Zombie Apocalypse requires no catching up if you create new characters, or if you wait for me to add pre-gens (probably between Chapters 5 and 6). Even though it's been almost four years of real time, in game time only about twelve hours have passed for the group that's farthest ahead, and one group has advanced less than seven hours. A quick couple of paragraphs will be enough to bring you up to speed. Space Oddity is still early on, and I could probably fit you in with a new character without any need to catch up.

I have plenty of ideas for new games, but I can't start another one while I'm running two already. Zombie Apocalypse looks like it will go on forever, but maybe when Space Oddity ends I'll start up a new one. That'll be quite a while, though. It's been nearly a year and we're still in the middle of Chapter 1. One idea I've been toying with recently is mixing Doctor Who and Call of Cthulhu with an adventure set in 1920s London. One player would play a Time Lord or Lady, one or more others would play companions from any era, and other players would play people local to the era who get caught up in events. These players could later possibly become companions if they survive and wish to participate in future adventures. I wish I could start running this now, but I have my hands full with both of my games as it is.

[yockenthwaite]

Nice to hear from you Mr Handy That Doctor Who idea sounds brill: I'm a huge fan of that series, and would greatly enjoy something crossing over with Call of Cthulhu. Actually I have a copy of the old FASA scenario Hartlewick Horror, which does that to an extent.

Anyway I'll check out your current games, but I suspect I'd rather wait for just the right new thing for me. Just have to keep checking on the boards regularly enough methinks!

[Mr. Handy]

Thanks! I've been a Doctor Who fan ever since I was little when I discovered it nearly 30 years ago. It had been years since I'd seen the original series, as they stopped airing it on public television when the new Doctor Who started, but I've started collecting and watching the DVD releases just this year. They're expensive, but I'm good at finding bargains (including the The Beginning boxset for only $15). I'm planning to watch all of the episodes from start to finish, and I'm currently most of the way through The Keys of Marinus, which was just released in the U.S. this year. I'm also going to "watch" the missing stories as much as possible, for the first time ever. I have the Lost in Time collection of orphaned episodes, and I watched a good recent reconstruction of Marco Polo on YouTube, which is also good for filling in the gaps in other stories. There are a bunch of reconstructions out there, plus I can find stories that aren't out on DVD yet. I also found the scripts of all of the completely or partially missing stories.

Doctor Who does have Lovecraftian undertones in some of the stories, so it's a great combination with CoC. I had a feeling the concept would go over well, and this idea is definitely next on my list of games to run. I'll have to keep Space Oddity moving relatively quickly. It may be a very long time, but when I do get a chance to run the Doctor Who adventure, you've got a seat reserved.

[Dave Syrinx]

OK. since you both are in to Dr Who, I wonder if you read the crossover CutterXXIII was part of at Play:Community Portal Wings of Icarus ? It was complete with TARDIS, Planetary (the comic book series) and Cthulhu mythos.

It was quite a good read, unfortunately the material is lost "out there". As you both are seasoned players you might have read it. Is that so?

My current game is nowhere near Dr Who, so I see it´s not even in the ball-park.

[yockenthwaite]

Mr Handy: I've been a fan for a similar time. The earliest time I can remember watching was in 1978, as a young child in Britain, in the Key to Time series with Tom Baker's doctor and Romana 1. But I may have watched it even earlier. I slipped away as a fan after 1989 when it was axed by the BBC, and even missed the 1996 TV movie. But come the announcement in 2003 that it was coming back to the TV the fandom hit me like a ten-tonne truck again! Thanks for reserving me a seat in your upcoming Who/Cthulhu game I'll be there like a flash.

Syrinx: no I haven't read that at all. It sounds as though it was a blast. Drat that I missed it.

[Mr. Handy]

You're welcome! I hadn't read it nor heard about it either. I first heard of Doctor Who back in 1980, when a teacher at school told me about it after I wrote a story featuring a phone booth with a secret entrance to an underground complex (actually more reminiscent of Get Smart, but I hadn't seen that yet either). I think I first watched it in early 1981. I'm not sure which one it was, but I'm pretty sure it was with Tom Baker, who has always been my favorite. I remember seeing his last stories when they were new. I also saw Planet of Fire at a convention in 1986, before it aired on American TV. In college I got to see a screening of Tomb of the Cybermen not long after it was recovered. I saw the 1996 TV movie when it aired, but it wasn't that great, so you're not missing too much. That's out on DVD in the UK with a special edition coming soon, but it will probably never be released in Region 1 (U.S. and Canada) due to licensing issues.

The Key to Time series is a great one. The first DVDs I bought were at a video store that was having a 50% off clearance sale because it was closing down, and they had Invasion of Time and 4 of the 6 Key to Time stories (I'm missing The Ribos Operation and The Stones of Blood). I found out later about the boxset, but I think I'll still have saved money after buying the two I'm missing if I wait for a sale. It'll take me over a year to get that far anyway.

Space Oddity is based on other UK shows I like, Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes. Unfortunately, those aren't for sale in Region 1. I would have bought them on Blu-ray if I had found them the last time I was in London, but I didn't.

The working title for my Doctor Who/Call of Cthulhu adventure is "The Terror out of Time." I'm still trying to put the plot together in my head, but it'll be quite a while before I'm ready to start it. It could also lead to other adventures in any era, and it would allow players from the first adventure to continue with their characters as well as allow new players to create characters in the new setting.

[yockenthwaite]

Thanks. I've seen the TV Movie: pretty dire, though I like Paul McGann as the Doctor, and loved his performances in the audio Dr Who stories Big FInish produce. Their "Chimes of Midnight" is one of my all-time favourite Who stories in any media. Indeed Paul McGann is probably my 3rd favourite Doctor because of those audio adventures, even if the TV Movie was pretty dire. Tom Baker was my favourite for decades, but David Tennant narrowly overtook him in the last few years.

It's funny the Key to Time is the earliest I can remember, though I'm pretty sure my Dad was watching the earlier Leela stories. But as a child I didn't remember those, or any earlier Sarah Jane stories, though I knew who she was when the BBC made the spin-off "K9 and Company" in 1981. I had annuals when I was young which would refer to earlier companions in the stories and comic strips, so I knew about the characters, but wasn't familiar with them. Managed to rebuy a lot of those annuals on eBay.

I watched the series solidly from 1978-1989 anyway, never missing an episode. And in the last few years I've watched lots of older stories, thanks to DVD releases, and repeats on some UK satellite channels, particularly of the early Tom Baker stories. It's such a shame so many Hartnell and Troughton stories were wiped, though I'm catching up slowly with the audio versions of them, for example Evil of the Daleks which I bought recently, and enjoyed greatly.

Curiously I'm not up to speed with the programmes that inspired Space Oddity! We didn't keep up with Life on Mars (though I caught some isolated episodes - including the last ones), and so haven't followed on to Ashes to Ashes. Bit of catching up to do! The latter series is about to return to the BBC again, in less than a week's time as well.

Anyway I can wait for your Dr Who adventure, and will be there in a flash. Meanwhile I'll keep an eye for new things coming up.

[Mr. Handy]

I also vaguely remember seeing a Leela story early on, though those aired before I started watching. Still, PBS ran older stories too in the 1980s, so it is possible. I recently saw the animated remake of Shada on the BBC website with Paul McGann as the Doctor (it also has Lalla Ward and John Leeson as Romana II and K-9). Some of the DVDs have Doctor Who annuals in PDF format. One of the ones I got has the first one, from 1965 (I think it's The Web Planet). I wish they had never wiped the Hartnell and Troughton stories too, but I'm glad they've been able to recover and restore as many as they have. As technology improves, fans will make better and better reconstructions and animations to replace the missing episodes, but it's not the same as seeing them for real. There are probably still some missing episodes floating around out there, but the pace of finding them has slowed considerably. Once my next order comes in, I'll have almost all the Hartnell and Troughton DVD releases there are (missing The Space Museum/The Chase, which comes out in July here, as well as The Seeds of Death and The War Games). It'll take probably take me close to a year to finish them. I also found a couple of used Pertwee stories cheap, so I have a headstart on picking them up when I get that far.

I'm looking forward to Series 3 of Ashes to Ashes. I know it premieres on the BBC on Friday. BBC America only aired shorter versions of Series 1, but I found the full versions of those on YouTube, as well as Series 2. I actually saw Ashes to Ashes before I saw Life on Mars, and I did my catching up last year around this time. The US series of Life on Mars is pants, as the British would say - especially the horrible ending. The UK ending was wonderful and a fitting way to wrap up the show.