More thoughts on Is it Secret? Is it Safe?
over 10 years ago
– Tue, Oct 20, 2015 at 11:53:59 PM
I've been thinking about the Is it Secret? Is it Safe? for a while now, and I've got more thoughts that I want to outline so we can keep working on this.
So the aspects of this that seem the most unique and fun are the scavenger hunt bits. In other scenarios there's a bit of this going on, with the main distinctions being that there you have to make checks to find them and there aren't that many things to get, and so one way to set this scenario apart would be to make it so it's just an action, no ability check, to pick up a piece, and that there are more pieces to find.
I think it would probably be good to make the true translation be split among a few pieces, say 3, so that it definitely takes multiple actions to acquire the whole thing (somebody finding the single true translation on the first turn would be anticlimactic). Plus this adds to the teamwork aspect. What do you think?
I think that the translation fragments should be something like this: true piece A, B, and C, each of which has a negative like "gain 3 Horror" or "you must reroll Bads instead of Weirds", and then a few that function as pieces of the Elder Sign, and then perhaps some more that just have bad effects. What do you think?
I'm envisioning the Academic goals as being something along the lines of this: A1: Assemble a complete Elder Sign. B1: Assemble the complete Necronomicon translation. AB2: Get the Elder Sign and Necronomicon translation in the same room. AB3: Maybe do some sort of ability check?
I want there to be something the Cultist can use the translation fragments for. In addition, we haven't really come up with anything for the Cultist to do when they reveal themselves - do you want to associate this with any particular story or stories? Do we want to keep the standard Cultist goal "kill all the Academics" or have it be something else, like "make sure the Academics don't solve things before the Star Chart reaches a certain level" or "carry around the completed translation for X number of turns"?
Once I get some feedback from y'all about this, I'll formalize it into the standard scenario format and then get to some playtesting!
The shipping should be fixed now
over 10 years ago
– Fri, Oct 16, 2015 at 10:10:18 PM
It should only be charging you the proper $35 for shipping outside the US and Canada instead of $50. Let me know if it's not working for you!
BackerKit update
over 10 years ago
– Wed, Oct 14, 2015 at 06:14:57 PM
A few of you had some issues with BackerKit, and I think I've got them sorted out. Namely the two issues were that folks who pledged $5 weren't getting their $5 credit, which should be fixed, and people couldn't upgrade their pledge level, which should also be fixed.
If you were having either of those problems, please give it a go now and see if it's working! If you have any other problems, or if it's not working yet, please let me know, I want this to work for everybody.
BackerKit Surveys
over 10 years ago
– Sat, Oct 10, 2015 at 10:10:47 PM
Hey everybody! Thank you again for your support, it's been really magnificent. I'm positively ecstatic I get to make this game and send it to you.
I'm using BackerKit for this campaign, and it's my first time using it. Basically, it's a much more feature heavy version of Kickstarter's survey system. If for some reason you're not comfortable using BackerKit, I understand and I can gather your information the old fashioned way; just message me. It would make things a lot easier for me if you did, though!
I'm sending out surveys right now for the folks who are getting Professor Pugnacious. I'll send out the other surveys later, when it gets closer to time to ship them. In the meantime, please go check out and add to the Is it secret? Is it safe? scenario!
The votes are in! And the winner is...
over 10 years ago
– Sat, Oct 10, 2015 at 12:10:25 AM
Out of 140 votes cast (and three blank ballots), the winner, with 48 votes, is Is it secret? Is it safe? as suggested by Oscar F'n Wilde. Here's the description:
Miskatonic University holds several fragments, many bastardized translations, of the mad Arab's work, the Necronomicon. Recent work by Miskatonic's expert scholars have translated a fragment that unleashed a terrible secret. So terrible that it killed the men and women working on it.
The translation lays complete among a dozen scattered tomes. Can the Academics find it in time and work together to close the gap to other worlds? Or will the lurking cultists use it to bring upon dread Hastur of Shub-Niggrath?
Academics Goal: Find the translation of the Necronomicon and bring all the Academics together to seal it. There should be placed a number of tomes equal to the number of players +2.
Cultist Goal: Find the translation and carry it for five rounds or until the effects of the tome consume them.
Most of the tomes will have minimal, unpleasant effects when read (these are Necronomicon translations, of course). You check the cards in secret, and the Academics must decide who it is safe to reveal the Necromicon translation to. As long as any one player carries the tome, they take an additional bad thing to happen per round. To win, all the academics must be in the room with a player holding the book to seal the rip between worlds.
I'm hoping this scenario can add a slightly different take on the working together group. Some players will choose not to look at any tome to guess who the cultists are, but you can't win without looking into them.
My thoughts are in the comments.
