When I recently asked for some input on Call of Cthulhu the RPG vs Arkham Horror the board game for a gaming purchase by yours truly, I fully called it. I said that I was very weak, and if I came across some good deals on any of this stuff that I would cave. Well I did, and I did.
I initially held off on the quick impulse buy for the one night alone at home that I was going to have, sans family, and decided to watch The Call of Cthulhu silent film by the HPLHS. That was very cool and was enough for me to make it through without buying anything for that activity. Good deal.
But, two days later on the return trip from the weekend getaway where I met up with my family after the night home alone, I stopped at an LGS on the way home. Well, I guess it's not really an LGS as it's not local to my home. But since it's local to where I was during my trip, we'll leave it at that.
Anyway, when I asked if they had any CoC stuff, they informed me that they had the rulebook but that was it. So I snagged that:
Call of Cthulhu (6th ed)
So that's it, eh? That's all they had? Nope. When I hit the shelves looking for anything else that might catch my eye I found these awesome little dudes:
Dunwich Detectives
...and this collection of brief encounters:
Minions
bad flash...bad!...and these additional supplements:
The Keeper's Companion 2
Secrets of New York
Then I saw the clearance section, which housed these two gems:
Eldritch Horrors & Occult Investigators counter pack
Elric! Gamemaster Screen
I also couldn't make it past the dice section where I noticed the sole 12-pc Gamescience set, which although highly overpriced (IMO) was still worth grabbing as I have always wanted a full 12-pc set of these. I have several 7-pc sets of Gamescience dice, both opaque and gem styles, but I have yet to find locally one of the 12-pc sets. So I snagged it too.
Gamescience 12-pc dice set
Did I mention yet that I was weak?
Now, as of this purchase I have discovered a somewhat-local GS that carries a few of the 12-pc Gamescience sets, but I think I will be strong and roll with this one alone. I will very likely never have a reason to even use any of the additional "5 unique shapes"...but still sometimes you just have to own something, ya'know?
Now back to the fack that I was weak. Ya' see, normally I wouldn't just plop down hard earned cash for supplements and other goodies for a game (CoC) that I don't even know if I will like or not. But in this case I trust the many opinions of the folks that commented on my initial post, and their high ratings, along with the fact that this store had all of this stuff marked down...waaaaay down in some cases. I just bit the bullet and grabbed it all.
If they would have had a copy of Arkham Horror in the clearance section, I'd be posting a pic of that too...ha! Maybe next time, eh?
Anyway, I'm not posting this stuff to be all "naner, naner, naner...look what I got!" Well, maybe a little. But really it's because most of us (if not all of us) geek out on this stuff, and I figured I'd let you in on a few goodies that I'm geekin' on and maybe you'd dig them too.
Also, I'm curious on opinions as to if these supplements are decent for the game or not. If you have any XP with any of the, please chime in on that. It's ok if something I just bought sucks. I'd prefer that it didn't, but again such a good deal was made on the lot, that I'd accept that is it was true. Regardless I looooove the minis (even if CoC doesn't call for them as much as other games), and I was going to snag the main CoC rulebook (6th ed) from another local source in a couple days anyway. I also think the Minions encounter book will be nice for me to use in trying out some CoC locally, if I can muster up a group. It looks perfect for some one-shots to try out the game. The dice set is a keeper for sure, and the counters pack and Elric screen were so cheap they were an automatic grab. I guess the Secrets of NY and the Keeper's Companion supplements are the two that may have been overkill and possible not worth the dough. I just don't see much 1920s CoC stuff around here (more '90s and Now) and that's the era I would prefer to run, if and when I finally do. It just seems right.
Ah well, I'll leave you with some pics of some fun I had dorking around with these Detectives, posing them on what I thought was a somewhat relative backdrop:
Yes, I am a dork. Apparently a very, very weak-willed one.
"Must...not...give...in! Must...not...spend!"
10 comments:
Ha ha, right on! You scored some great stuff. I love those minis!
Big call of Cthulhu fan form way back!
I don't have minions but i've got a ton of other CoC books. Let me know if there are other titles you are interested in.
btw Arkham Horror can be played by with one player!
Great finds! I am going to have to get a set of those minis. Thanks for sharing.
@Christian:
Thanks bro. I too love those minis. IMO, they are really nice and era specific, and the paint jobs are great. They are also pewter, which is big bonus for the price-point. With the usual plastic pre-painted figs on the market, these really seem cool to me.
I may get some more, later. That company (eM-4) makes a couple sets of these investigators and some other gangsters, monsters, etc.
Anyway, glad you liked them too.
@Swinebread:
Cool! I wish I would have been exposed to Call of Cthulhu back in... well you know. ;>]
We focused mostly on D&D/AD&D, some Gamma World, some Star Frontiers, and Top Secret. A little dabbling here and there in others, but never any CoC....weird.
I was a big horror/monster fan back then too - Famous Monsters was one of my mags of choice, along with some Eerie, Creepy, etc, and I loved good old-school horror flicks (still do), so I'm kinda surprised that we never tried Call of Cthulhu back then. Ah well.
I will hit ya up for some other CoC books/titles if I get into it enough. Thanks!
And yeah, the main reason I even brought Arkham Horror up as an option was the solitaire play option. That is kinda key as of late, sadly. I can play 4e with a group locally every freakin day of the week if I want, but I can't get anyone to signup for some B/X D&D or Call of Cthulhu.....ugh! I have been dorking with the solo/solitaire thing a little bit because of that.
I'm gonna have to hit up the online/skype quest soon. Need to at least have some real-time interaction with other humans...heheh.
@P. S. Mangus:
Yes, I highly recommend them. They are very good quality sculpts, and very nice paint jobs. I might have chosen a different fig than that photographer, if I saw them sold individually, but as a pack I really do dig them. Hope you have success getting some.
BTW, they do make other figs for CoC (and other related gaming). They have some more investigators/detectives, some gangsters, and some big baddies.
Check them out, I bet you'll become weakened as well...ha!
BTW, I just checked out (and began following) your blog yesterday. "Sword and sanity?" Very, very cool!
We played CoC back in '88 and '89 if I remember correctly... I loved the game, for we had a great GM and horror always works for me... Only back drop was, that always after few sessions our dear detectives were all insane (thanks for those impossible insanity rolls :)) Shouldn´t look through that key hole dude..!
Anyway great times and great games...
Now I just bought a 878 pages of H.P. Lovecraft, in form of "Commemorative Edition Necronomicon". After reading few stories, I´ve decided to buy the game too... If I can still find it here in Finland (There´s always e-bay)
Thank´s for shearing your weakness :)
@Alexander Man:
Shouldn´t look through that key hole dude..!
Hahahahah! Yeah, insane in the brain!
Crazy stories, for sure. I'm also reliving some reading of my youth, with some old paperbacks of the great H.P.Lovecraft tales. I honestly can't believe that I read these eerie stories when I was so young! Maybe that explains a few things...ha!
Glad to hear about your gaming past with Call of Cthulhu and very happy to share my weakness with you here. A round of weakness for everyone...there's plenty to go around. ;>]
Oh gosh, I always blunder into these things too late. Is it too late to take Minions back for a refund? Because it's not, er, very good, alas. You're better off running the scenarios in the core rulebook, honestly.
That said, I bought Minions when it first came out, and I was an inexperienced GM. I might be able to drag something worthwhile from it now, so you probably could too.
@kelvingreen:
Heheh...no biggz getting here late bro. Heck I'm late to my own post replies, sorry 'bout that too.
At any rate, I probably could return the Minions book, but it's quite a drive to do so, and the deals that the shop had on all RPG goods, especially some of the items I walked out with, combined with the cost of gas to go back there, really wouldn't make much sense. So, I'll be keeping it. But thanks for the personal take on it as CoC material anyway. I really do appreciate that.
As far as you being an inXP'd Keeper when you tried it, well let's just say you can't get any more newb than me at this point. So, wish me luck...ha!
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