The Dyer Sketches- Species Unknown

This is another of the sketches from "At the Mountains of Madness", this time focusing on the five-fold anatomy of the Elder Things. Just click through for the higher res version.



Another wonderful piece from Danny Cruz.

Prop Skulls

The subject of prop skulls came up in a discussion thread on game atmosphere at Yog-Sothoth. For years the standard in the haunt industry has been the 4th quality "Bucky" skull, a mis-molded version of conventional, high-quality anatomical models. Now there are a few more options, including this very nice one-piece skull produced by Mr. Skeleton, the same vendor that handles "Bucky" production.



You can find their full range of products at the Mr. Skeleton website.

The Hellraiser Puzzle

Over the last couple of weeks I've been involved in an interesting email discussion involving ways to more closely integrate props into both tabletop and live-action gaming. One of the ways to do that is to make the prop itself, in particular a prop document, a clue that moves the story along.

This is, I think, an intriguing example of that idea. About ten years ago I was heavily into the "Hellraiser" mythos and produced a number of prop parchments purporting to be folio pages from the design book of Phillip LeMarchand, the original creator of the puzzle box featured in the first few films. I eventually quit offering them when a dealer scanned the whole lot and was offering bootleg prints for far less than I could afford to make them, but before I gave it up I produced one final design. I still think it was probably the best prop I've ever produced. Why? Because the entire thing was a puzzle.

Below you'll find a picture of the parchment's artwork, crude as it was, so you can take a crack at it if you're so inclined. Hidden within this final folio page is a date in the 1700's when a particular ritual was performed, at least according to the backstory I developed for it. Over the next few days I'll post some clues to figuring it out before I give out the final solution, but I've put a few pointers in the text below to help you along. Click on the picture to view the full-sized version.

Pointers (Highlight to read)

1. The puzzle uses a cipher appropriate to the 1700's.
2. It also uses a cipher wildly inappropriate to the 1700's.
3. Look to the stars.



Update: In response to a few emails, no, this isn't an April Fools joke. Although it would be pretty damn cool if solving the puzzle actually did open the gateway to Leviathan's realm. "Ha ha, April fools," he said, as razor sharp hooks whipped through the air.

There are also some anachronisms in both the language and techniques of the puzzle, as well as some outright errors in the French. These days I would spend more time vetting things like that.

Some more pointers (Highlight to read)

1. The first word is the key.
2. Telegraph for Mr. LeMarchand!
3. You can spend a lot of time trying to decode something that means nothing.

Update: Some pretty hefty pointers (Highlight to read)

1. Leviathan has the faculty of discovering arcane secrets in all the courts and council-chambers of the world; he also unveils the most sublime mysteries.

2. Lpg ronynrjw wmgbu fezq ope usapv wpv Lxa tup xmivxslrc wzmkbug xysrtewne fpif inmhrrd wkqct gaatec ilmhrs sehil tud flhvtmxsix zrz ifmlr nysopek hljlcn zembratrb bo moe opkdvnbug gz fzoig hgntr Gmt moez nspvt epkr frow tal hbfvn wf t jlbno azof ahr doteakk pbtroqnz oaao xj ehxye gsidz ptahf wmfm rtfs scsh bhx zua nvjas moe vyrzz rbugf xemsew iy owsjl Awk tupwz vufieed xjoemoee es yqsvvvrc xcm chbng zj tmakz Hbysm bhx difosh wf lwipl ft tetynvyk ope vvuae sa uogahf zr ope yprfe pzo oy fohc njcrgly gsimm tal cbfro wf whyf zr ope ypnnw pzo

3. Vigenère

Kickin' It Out Ol' School

I wanted to draw your attention to A Rust Monster Ate My Sword, an entertaining blog about ol' school gaming and stuff written by a fellow denizen of upstate New York. I spent a couple of hours getting all nostalgic about the old days with it yesterday. Then I went out on my front porch and yelled at kids to get off my lawn.

It felt so...right.

Home Is Where The Heart Is

My jade Cthulhu idol enjoying it's new home:



I'm hoping to start working on his replacement in a day or two when the shoulder heals up. On the bright side, I'm actually feeling pretty great thanks to the daily stretching exercises. They're not only helping with my shoulder, but with a mysterious back pain that has been bothering me for a couple of years. It turns out the flaming iron spike that would occasionally impale me was probably caused by my hamstrings being as tight as guitar strings.

It's a revelation when you find out most of your health complaints can be solved by, literally, loosening up.

Oh, The Pain

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I blew out my shoulder joint again last week. Once the injury heals, helped along by the liberal application of ice packs and pain killers, it looks like I'll have to start doing a daily regimen of stretching exercises to prevent it from happening again.

Blank 1920's Era United States Pilot's License

This United States pilot's license was in use from 1926 to 1934. Just print it out on some manila cardstock and you'll have a reasonably accurate recreation of the original. Click through on the pictures for the high resolution versions.

License interior, with trimming guides



License cover


One of the source photographs, for comparison.



If you have any suggestions for improving the accuracy of this prop document, or additional reference materials that might be useful, please drop me a line.