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New comment on GeekList Solitaire Games on Your Table -- September 2026
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 12:41:14
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 12:41:14
by Albia
Excellent work on your table, Alex! Very neat to hear where it came from and that's it's stayed in your family for so long.
Reply: Masks of Nyarlathotep (5th edition):: Sessions:: Re: Masks of Nyarlathotep in MindLabs
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 12:36:25
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 12:36:25
Session #22: Inspector Barrington
September 17, 2026
Keeper:
Me (Pieter)
Players:
Jessie Miller: Mechanic (Merel)
Marco Perroni: Union Activist (Paris)
Richard Galton: Researcher (Marijn)
Sinclair Caldwell: Smuggler (Kiril)
Absent:
James Cleef: Farmer (Michal)
Joe Baker: Student of Medicine (Lisa)
The investigators started the new day by visiting the Yard. They asked to meet Inspector Barrington to discuss the Egyptian Murders with him. Barrington was willing to meet them. The investigators discovered that he was almost desperate to find new clues in the case, so he was willington to talk to pretty much anybody. The investigators shared some of their findings with him, trying to find out if there were links between the Cult of the Bloody Tongue and the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh. Barrington couldn't see any links, apart from both being cults. However, he doubted whether the Brotherhood was actually active, though it seemed that some gang used similar murdering methods as used by the Brotherhood in the past -- the weapon used to commit the murders was remarkable, but he did not give details as he had deliberately kept these out of the papers.
Barrington had met Jackson Elias, and because of Jackson's information had looked into Gavigan, the Blue Pyramid Club, and Zahra Shafik. He did not find anything obviously suspicious, but thought that Shafik was not completely forthcoming. He did not know about trucks leaving the Club, but would look into it. He also told the investigators that Munden had been killed by the same people responsible for the Egyptian Murders, which was obvious when Munden's body was recovered from the Thames. There was no link to moon phases as far as he knew.
The investigators spent some time in the afternoon in the British Museum. Richard got a pass to used the museum's library. They found several items on display which were on loan or gifts from the Penhew Foundation, but nothing that stood out as particularly notable.
The investigators decided that they needed to get more information. It was clear that some of the people they had met were hiding things. They decided to investigate Zahra Shafik, and found a room for rent which had a view of Shafik's shop (and living quarters), and the Blue Pyramid Club. They purchased materials, among which a bottle of chloroform and a crowbar. They waited in the room until they saw Shafik leave and enter the Club, after which Mario let Jesse help him into the alley next to the shop, and in the backyard of the shop broke open the coal shute and entered. In the knowledge that Shafik's employee Edjo was in the shop, Mario made noise in the coal cellar by pushing over a bed that was leaning against a wall (behind which he found another door).
Edjo came down to investigate, and was surprised by Mario who used the chloroform to take Edjo out. He then tied him up, and went into the shop to unlock the door, so that the others could enter.
Keeper thoughts
We continued playing after a 4-month break. I have to say: I needed that break because CoC is hard on the mind. I reread most of the England chapter. I concluded that the players were too cautious: there was a lot hidden, but if they were never going to investigate the Penhew Foundation, or the Blue Pyramid Cluib, or Shafik's shop, or Shipley's house, or the trucks leaving from the club, or the trucks leaving from the Foundation, how were they going to get deeper into the story. So I more or less heavily suggested that they would simply start taking some risks and infiltrate some places. They took up the suggestion, and since they suspected Shafik the most (evidently because she was too beautiful) they went for the shop. I looked on the map and saw that it was definitely possible to find a spot where both the shop and the Club could be seen from, so I gave them a room there.
Currently we have two players who are regularly absent. I don't know if they will ever return. I leave that open for now. Four players suffices, but if one of them has not time to play, then in general we should cancel. So I am open to get new players in.
September 17, 2026
Keeper:
Me (Pieter)
Players:
Jessie Miller: Mechanic (Merel)
Marco Perroni: Union Activist (Paris)
Richard Galton: Researcher (Marijn)
Sinclair Caldwell: Smuggler (Kiril)
Absent:
James Cleef: Farmer (Michal)
Joe Baker: Student of Medicine (Lisa)
The investigators started the new day by visiting the Yard. They asked to meet Inspector Barrington to discuss the Egyptian Murders with him. Barrington was willing to meet them. The investigators discovered that he was almost desperate to find new clues in the case, so he was willington to talk to pretty much anybody. The investigators shared some of their findings with him, trying to find out if there were links between the Cult of the Bloody Tongue and the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh. Barrington couldn't see any links, apart from both being cults. However, he doubted whether the Brotherhood was actually active, though it seemed that some gang used similar murdering methods as used by the Brotherhood in the past -- the weapon used to commit the murders was remarkable, but he did not give details as he had deliberately kept these out of the papers.
Barrington had met Jackson Elias, and because of Jackson's information had looked into Gavigan, the Blue Pyramid Club, and Zahra Shafik. He did not find anything obviously suspicious, but thought that Shafik was not completely forthcoming. He did not know about trucks leaving the Club, but would look into it. He also told the investigators that Munden had been killed by the same people responsible for the Egyptian Murders, which was obvious when Munden's body was recovered from the Thames. There was no link to moon phases as far as he knew.
The investigators spent some time in the afternoon in the British Museum. Richard got a pass to used the museum's library. They found several items on display which were on loan or gifts from the Penhew Foundation, but nothing that stood out as particularly notable.
The investigators decided that they needed to get more information. It was clear that some of the people they had met were hiding things. They decided to investigate Zahra Shafik, and found a room for rent which had a view of Shafik's shop (and living quarters), and the Blue Pyramid Club. They purchased materials, among which a bottle of chloroform and a crowbar. They waited in the room until they saw Shafik leave and enter the Club, after which Mario let Jesse help him into the alley next to the shop, and in the backyard of the shop broke open the coal shute and entered. In the knowledge that Shafik's employee Edjo was in the shop, Mario made noise in the coal cellar by pushing over a bed that was leaning against a wall (behind which he found another door).
Edjo came down to investigate, and was surprised by Mario who used the chloroform to take Edjo out. He then tied him up, and went into the shop to unlock the door, so that the others could enter.
Keeper thoughts
We continued playing after a 4-month break. I have to say: I needed that break because CoC is hard on the mind. I reread most of the England chapter. I concluded that the players were too cautious: there was a lot hidden, but if they were never going to investigate the Penhew Foundation, or the Blue Pyramid Cluib, or Shafik's shop, or Shipley's house, or the trucks leaving from the club, or the trucks leaving from the Foundation, how were they going to get deeper into the story. So I more or less heavily suggested that they would simply start taking some risks and infiltrate some places. They took up the suggestion, and since they suspected Shafik the most (evidently because she was too beautiful) they went for the shop. I looked on the map and saw that it was definitely possible to find a spot where both the shop and the Club could be seen from, so I gave them a room there.
Currently we have two players who are regularly absent. I don't know if they will ever return. I leave that open for now. Four players suffices, but if one of them has not time to play, then in general we should cancel. So I am open to get new players in.
Reply: General Role-Playing:: Re: QOTD SEP 19: How close to where you live would you want your favorites game convention to be? Would you attend it more or less often then? Would you want a game convention in your home town?
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 12:28:57
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 12:28:57
Living in Essen for SPIEL is definitely a boon😉
Have to fight fo public transport space as usual 🙂
Being two cities distance from RatCon (not sure it is still happening) is another one, Herne Spielewahnsinn is also two cities away and d driving distance to FeenCon is about an hour (one and a half if going by train).
Several smaller ones in the area to, it's just a bonus to life in the Ruhrpott (Ruhr area) 🙂
Ciao
Martin
Have to fight fo public transport space as usual 🙂
Being two cities distance from RatCon (not sure it is still happening) is another one, Herne Spielewahnsinn is also two cities away and d driving distance to FeenCon is about an hour (one and a half if going by train).
Several smaller ones in the area to, it's just a bonus to life in the Ruhrpott (Ruhr area) 🙂
Ciao
Martin
Reply: The Tavern:: Re: What have you been listening to lately?
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 12:13:44
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 12:13:44
by fatandy
Kim Weston - Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead '45
Reply: Play by Forum:: Re: Geekroller and Call of Cthulhu rolls with bonus or penalty dice
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 11:51:17
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 11:51:17
I went a bit further with this, and made some actual calculations.
Let's say that you have to roll N dice, and calculate the chance to fumble, if a fumble happens on 96-100.
If you roll with N d100s , if you roll with bonus dice you take the lowest result, and if you roll with penalty dice you take the highest result. If you roll according to the CoC system, you roll the "ones" die only once, but roll the "tens" dice N times, and then, again, take the lowest result if you roll with bonus dice, and the highest result if you roll with penalty dice.
The chance for a fumble in the d100-system if you roll with penalty dice is
So you can see that the chance for fumbles slightly smaller in the CoC system when you roll with penalty dice.
The chance for a fumble in the d100-system if you roll with bonus dice is
So you can see that the chance for fumbles is considerably higher in the CoC system when you roll with bonus dice. E.g., with just one bonus die, the chance for a fumble in the CoC system is 10 times higher than in the system where you simply roll two d100s.
I also took a look at critical successes where I compare the d100s system with the CoC system. These are affected quite a lot. For instance, when you roll with one penalty die, the chance for a critical succes in the d100 system is 0.0001, whereas in the CoC system it is 10 times higher. It is still pretty negligible, of course. However, similar effects would be seen on extreme successes, which become a lot lower with the d100s system when penalty dice are used. I have not made calculations as it depends on the cut-off for extreme successes, but I may look into this later.
Let's say that you have to roll N dice, and calculate the chance to fumble, if a fumble happens on 96-100.
If you roll with N d100s , if you roll with bonus dice you take the lowest result, and if you roll with penalty dice you take the highest result. If you roll according to the CoC system, you roll the "ones" die only once, but roll the "tens" dice N times, and then, again, take the lowest result if you roll with bonus dice, and the highest result if you roll with penalty dice.
The chance for a fumble in the d100-system if you roll with penalty dice is
1-0.95^N. In the CoC system it is
0.5*(1-0.9^N). This gives the following results for fumble chances:
Penalty Dice d100 CoC
0 0.05 0.05
1 0.0975 0.095
2 0.142625 0.1355
So you can see that the chance for fumbles slightly smaller in the CoC system when you roll with penalty dice.
The chance for a fumble in the d100-system if you roll with bonus dice is
0.05^N. In the CoC system it is
0.1*0.5^N. This gives the following results for fumble chances:
Bonus Dice d100 CoC
0 0.05 0.05
1 0.0025 0.025
2 0.000125 0.0125
So you can see that the chance for fumbles is considerably higher in the CoC system when you roll with bonus dice. E.g., with just one bonus die, the chance for a fumble in the CoC system is 10 times higher than in the system where you simply roll two d100s.
I also took a look at critical successes where I compare the d100s system with the CoC system. These are affected quite a lot. For instance, when you roll with one penalty die, the chance for a critical succes in the d100 system is 0.0001, whereas in the CoC system it is 10 times higher. It is still pretty negligible, of course. However, similar effects would be seen on extreme successes, which become a lot lower with the d100s system when penalty dice are used. I have not made calculations as it depends on the cut-off for extreme successes, but I may look into this later.
S15E01 - Eye of the Tiger
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 11:06:56
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 11:06:56
A new episode has been added to the database:
S15E01 - Eye of the Tiger
Prequel Nissel and the Halfling
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 11:05:53
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 11:05:53
A new episode has been added to the database:
Prequel Nissel and the Halfling
New comment on GeekList Solitaire Games on Your Table -- September 2026
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 11:05:41
Posted: Sun, 20 Sep 11:05:41
by Daemonsson
Awesome that you are making the effort to keep it useful.
