I collaborated with Shane Ivey (publisher of Arc Dream) and Toren Atkinson (The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets) to create a new Call of Cthulhu monthly podcast. We will talk about gaming in CoC, Cthulhu mythos related news and review games as well as interview notable designers and writers. We talk to John Tynes, one of the creators of Delta Green, in our first episode. Check it out here!
Does this mean there’ll be more Scott Glancy stories eventually?
And cultists being defenestrated?
Please?
About time Delta Green was given the sweet loving it deserves!
Ross Payton teams up with Shane Ivey and Toren Atkinson, both of which have affirmed themselves in the Cthulhu Mythos through writing or music. The guys work well together, with Ross acting as an energetic foil to Shane’s straight man presentation of information. Torren’s a bit reserved throughout the podcast, but steps in intermittently to expand on Mythos music, art, or his personal gaming experience. The group’s dynamic feels like Shane is the most experienced in writing for the Cthulhu Mythos, Ross is the cool new kid who has a good pulse on today’s gamers, and Torren is the artistic flourish to the group.
Great interview with John Tyne, the designer and co-author of Cthulhu publications like Call of Cthulhu D20 and Delta Green. Who knew that one of the figureheads for CoC saw Winona Ryder as an idol in his teenage years? Even more startling is that she lead him to starting the foundation for Delta Green. Mr. Tynes’s take on gaming and the Socratic Dialogue also brings up a good medium for discussion. Even though it boggles the mind to think that a tabletop gaming group sets the contemporary stage of a Greek amphitheatre, I guess even Plato would call foul if his kobold rogue was denied a saving throw. The only other thing I wish was expanded on, was Ross’ question about Mr. Tyne’s interviewing of Raven McCracken. He interviewed a man who threw gaming norms and reason to the wind – I would have loved to hear on how the creator of The World of Synnibar attempted to sell himself to Wizards of the Coast, especially since Mr. Tynes juxtaposed the man with another prospective employee who was thrilled by the idea of wearing his Star Trek uniform to work every day.
Ross also brings up a good point on the use of zombies in media. Zombies as a dramatic element instead of cannon fodder, explains exactly why some zombie movies suck. 28 Days Later, The Night of the Living Dead, Shaun of the Dead, along with some other movies managed to follow through with this idea. Unlike Uwe Boll’s The House of the Dead, or a good amount of the Resident Evil movies. Just thinking of them makes me die a litte.
At the very end of the podcast, Shane Ivey mentions a Spanish Translation of Delta Green, which has an expanded version of The Haunting. He talked about a cult to the Temple of Contemplation and a mad man who was involved in the dilapidated mansion. Wait. What? If Aaron’s telling of the story is true, the players were only meant to clear out a house of its rat infestation and then hurry to The Little Crusaders’ Pancake Jamboree. Cult? Mad man? Where?
All in all, I hope to listen to future episodes of Unspeakable! – the first episode was entertaining, informative, funny, and easy listening. The only suggestion I would have is to move towards a set discussion script. The show muddled a bit from one topic to another, without a set place marker for when a new section was about to start. I’m sure it’ll be fixed in the future, since this is just the first episode. Other than that, I like what I’m hearing.
this is gonna hafta wait til July when I stop feeling guilty about hearing English, but I’m definitely gonna be a monthly listener. I think the Mythos is settling as my permanent obsession.