by fezzwick

An item RPG Item: Champions (First Edition) has been added to the geeklist 2026 RPG Challenge: Run 5 RPGs New to You in 2026

by HiveGod

“I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary to me. It’ll happen to you!"

— Grandpa Simpson

by Eric R.

I've talked about Michel Gondry's crazy music videos before, so it only fits I should show the Sugar Water video too. You'll have to watch this video more than once to catch everything.

Youtube Video

by solomani

Related Item: Daggerheart

Ditto (Michael M). I have never played but know the basic idea from reviews/deep dives.

by Moonlight_Fox

I haven't encountered a full chase system I enjoy, though I'm open to be proven wrong, so probably a PbtA style "There's a Move for it that resolves the whole chase" or a simple (or series of) contested roll(s) based on the approach the players are taking.

by Ugavine

Never played one that I thought was particularly good. So whenever game I'm playing I just have all drivers make a skill test with some modifiers for the vehicle.

by Cheelara1

So I have Lowered both SB and BINS now. I forgot how to do the strike through if someone could help me out on that I will do that from now on. Some SB are lower than some games out there. I hope you will take the time to look since I am so far back , I have some really great games for sale. But I know everyone does. Thanks if you do, its ok it you don't.


Click here to view all my items available for sale

by Lowell Kempf

I cannot figure out what Brian Lumley's deal with Lovecraft was. 

On the one hand, when Lumley was writing Mythos fiction in the 70s, he demonstrated an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the Mythos. Not only was this back before the Internet was something ordinary people used, it was before Chaosium published Call of Cthulhu (the RPG, not the story) which served as what had to have been the earliest encyclopedia of Mythos stuff. (I'll get back to that) And not just of of Lovecraft's writing but other authors including Derleth and Belknap Long and Lumley's contemporary, Campbell. To me, that really indicates Lumley was invested in the Mythos.

However, as his Mythos writing went on, it feels like he started actively attacking the core concepts of the Mythos. And not in an interesting or fun deconstruction either. His protagonists became super powerful and able to contemptuously beat the Great Old Ones. (The phrase Mary Sue does come to mind but I view that as too easy an accusation to make) It comes across as mean spirited.

Mind you, Lumley has come across as a bit of a spoilsport to me a number of times. I'd read for years that he'd argued that Titus Crow's time Clock was actually older than the TARDIS, which confused me because the first appearance was eight years after Doctor Who first aired. Then I finally read that his argument was that the clock was from the 1934 Lovecraft story "Through the Gates of the Silver Key". Okay... But Lumley added that it was bigger on the inside than the outside and could fly around time and space, which makes his argument more disingenuous. It also had a laser that could blast Great Old Ones and their minions, which I admit isn't from Doctor Who but wasn't from Lovecraft either. (Lumley was English, which doesn't mean his claims of never hearing of Doctor Who in the 1960s and 70s not impossible but makes it less likely than if he was from a different country.)

He also apparently pitched a fit about the inclusion of his Mythos creations, like the Cthonions, in Call of Cthulhu, claiming that he never granted Sandy Petersen permission to use his work. Which might even be true. The early years of the RPG industry were copyright nightmares. However, I appreciate how much Sandy Petersen has done for the hobby and Mythos so, even if this is true, I'll personally overlook it.

When trying to research just what was going on with Lumley and Mythos, I read that August Derleth mentored him. I don't actually know if that's true. Derleth is, to put it mildly, a very divisive and frequently hated figure in Mythos culture. I think he had his good side (I actually enjoy his Solar Pons stories) but his interpretation of the Mythos really doesn't hold up to Lovecraft's. Much the way cotton candy doesn’t hold up to a power washer.

Three years ago, I read The Transition of Titus Crow. When I was done, my basic reaction was: What was that? and I was done with Lumley for a while. However, I decided to give the next book, the Clock of Time a try.

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The Transition of Titus Crow is the one where Lumley's psychic detective becomes a superpowered cyborg, befriends Cthulhu's good twin brother, gets an elf girlfriend and zaps Yog Sothoth with a super powered laser. There is a lot of room to deconstruct the Mythos but this really sounds like "My dad can beat up your dad" More than that, I can accept bad Mythos as long as it's not bad writing but the Transition of Titus Crow was a serious step down from the Burrowers from Below. Morbid curiosity made me pick up the Clock of Time.

And, look, the Clock of Time isn't great. But at least it isn't the Transition of Titus  Crow.

Part of why is it is better is because Lumley pretty much blew the wheels off the bus already in the earlier book. Titus Crow would have to grow to giant size and hogtie Cthulhu to get more extreme. Lumley jumped the shark. That ship had sailed.

The Clock of Time is also helped by being set in the Dreamlands which was Lovecraft wearing his Lord Dunsany hat. The Dreamlands are more fantastical than despair filled cosmic horror. Which I know from stories like The Taint that Lumley can write but he apparently wasn't in the mood when he wrote the Transition of Titus Crow or the Clock of Time. The Clock of Time is a swashbuckling pulpy tale of action from start to finish so the tone remains consistent. 

Henri Laurent de Marigny must fly the Time Clock to the Dreamlands to save Titus Crow and his magic girlfriend Tiania. Then they fight Cthulhu's incursion with the goal of corrupting the Dreamlands. The good guys win.

There were a couple of authorial choices I liked. Since Cthulhu is so linked with dreaming, having him try to invade the Dreamlands feels like a very natural choice. And when N'yarlathotep almost captures Titus Crow, it takes the direct intervention of the elder gods to save him, as opposed to Titus being tougher than a God. Yes, a blatant deus ex machina is improvement over the Transition of Titus Crow. 

At the end of the day, the book is still kind of a trainwreck, particularly as a deconstruction of the Mythos. I'm planning on rereading Roger Zelazny's Lonesome October which is definitely a cheeky deconstruction of the Mythos but has some story and substance. The Clock of Dreams feels like cotton fluff.

I do find myself going back to the idea that August Derleth mentored Lumley. Again, I don't know if that's true. However, Derleth definitely tried to reframe the Mythos as good versus evil as opposed to Lovecraft's never-ending existential scream.  Not that good always won but it was clearly there.  Lumley takes that philosophy to the next level.

by Laurence Gillespie

The only full-fledged module I've designed revolves around a chase (mostly on horses at first), so having a good chase mechanic is vital. It basically boils down to opposing tests but with exploding dice.

by timeteo316

An item RPG Item: Bunkers & Badasses Hardcover Sourcebook has been added to the geeklist BGG.CON Virtual Flea Market 2026

by Karkared

My 2p https://rpggeek.com/thread/1940578/article/28275498

by PzVIE

In most games I play(ed), it's simply an (opposite) test.
Pathfinder 1 offers chase cards (an optional rule) which extends this to some kind of a racing track with multiple tests. I find that very entertaining - for the GM and the players.