HYPERBOREA / Eldritch Tales: Lovecraftian White Box Role-Playing

**Posted by joseph** 8/22/2018 6:43 am

Me too Mabon, I already printed Jeff's most recent modules. Haha
Thanks for your interest!

Things I Worked On · **Posted by Ynas Midgard** 8/22/2018 11:38 am

Awesome! Will add it to the pile of thematic games I'm reviewing.

**Posted by joseph** 8/22/2018 12:44 pm

That would be great Ynas! Thanks!

**Posted by joseph** 9/02/2018 12:16 pm

For anyone on Google+, I wanted to let you all know that we've started an Eldritch Tales community there. Please sign up to receive speedy news and updates!

https://plus.google.com/communities/102708753717585764291

Last edited by joseph (9/02/2018 12:17 pm)

**Posted by mabon5127** 9/02/2018 3:23 pm

joseph wrote:
Me too Mabon, I already printed Jeff's most recent modules. Haha
Thanks for your interest!

Ok so I couldn't resist. I must say I am impressed with the translation of the Mythos to a White-box system. The look of the product is very nice. I like the very lite addition of Occupations and Skills with a very simple mechanism.

The background info on the 1920's is good with enough equipment to get a group started. The Adversaries and Mythos background are the right amount of "thorough" to start a beginning group in a journey of madness!!

I didn't read everything as yet but so far this is a great product!

**Posted by joseph** 9/02/2018 3:30 pm

mabon5127 wrote:
Ok so I couldn't resist. I must say I am impressed with the translation of the Mythos to a White-box system. The look of the product is very nice. I like the very lite addition of Occupations and Skills with a very simple mechanism.

The background info on the 1920's is good with enough equipment to get a group started. The Adversaries and Mythos background are the right amount of "thorough" to start a beginning group in a journey of madness!!

I didn't read everything as yet but so far this is a great product!

Thanks for the kind words Mabon! I'm happy to hear you like what you've read so far!

**Posted by Ghul** 9/03/2018 10:54 am

It is a fantastic project! I'm enjoying it, too, Joseph! Your team and you did a wonderful job.

**Posted by mavfire** 9/03/2018 7:13 pm

I have to say that, this project was a blast to work on with Joe. I was able to step outside of my Swords & Sorcery comfort zone and help him out (not only that but he treats his people well, that alone is worth it). The layout is absolutely fantastic, the game mechanics simple yet compelling, and the work he obviously put into it was a labor of love and it shows.

I have plans on running this and WWII: Operation White Box concurrently for my boys, as they love war history, and horror. Can you say Cthulhu Nazis.... It should be fun!

Congratulations, and thanks again Joe the book is very professionally done.

**Posted by mabon5127** 9/03/2018 7:25 pm

mavfire wrote:
I have to say that, this project was a blast to work on with Joe. I was able to step outside of my Swords & Sorcery comfort zone and help him out (not only that but he treats his people well, that alone is worth it). The layout is absolutely fantastic, the game mechanics simple yet compelling, and the work he obviously put into it was a labor of love and it shows.

I have plans on running this and WWII: Operation White Box concurrently for my boys, as they love war history, and horror. Can you say Cthulhu Nazis.... It should be fun!

Congratulations, and thanks again Joe the book is very professionally done.

That combo is a great idea!

**Posted by joseph** 9/03/2018 8:49 pm

Jeff - thanks for your kind words bro!

Del - always a pleasure to work with with you man, you're a fellow that creates quality art and can come through with some unique, exciting work. And in a pinch at that; not everyone has that kind of work ethic. Thanks so much for your help on this! Your WWII mash-up sounds great!

**Posted by joseph** 9/14/2018 6:02 am

Quick update.
Early supporters who purchase the PDF before Print release day will receive a discount for Hardcovers purchased through OBS! See my blog post for details...

https://ravengodgames.blogspot.com/2018/09/eldritch-tales-hardcover-discount.html?m=1

**Posted by rhialto** 9/15/2018 9:56 am

Joseph, can you provide a few details on the game? Since it's "White Box" I assume attribute bonuses range from +/-1? Class abilities are few, and the same for every member of a class? How are skills handled? The preview on RPGNow doesn't give any clues, but WB does imply some things. Thanks!

**Posted by joseph** 9/15/2018 10:19 am

Hi Rhiato,
I can do that!
Attributes are +/-1 as you say, but also have an "Attribute Feat" associated with them. This is basically an attribute based test on a d6, which helps to determine success or failure on character actions, skills, spells.

There are four classes representing pulp archtypes - Antiquarian, Combatant, Opportunist, Socialite - each with a handful of abilities. And all members of a class have the same abilities. Each class grants some skills.

Skills are limited and do not represent everything a character can do; Class Skills give a bonus to Attribute Feats.

Optionally, referees may allow each character to roll or choose an Occupation, so that while the classes are not very customizable, Occupations can greatly expand character types - a Combatant (Sailor) would likely be quite different from a Combatant (Writer). [Occupations can be entirely ignored to speed character creation or maintain a more WB feel]

Spellcasting system is entirely revamped and includes classic spells and Lovecraftian spells. An insanity system tracks a characters fall into madness. Lots of Mythos monsters, tomes, and items.

Let me know if you have any specific questions!

**Posted by rhialto** 9/15/2018 11:31 am

Perfect, thanks for the quick overview!

**Posted by joseph** 9/15/2018 11:39 am

Sure thing!

**Posted by Caveman** 9/16/2018 4:29 am

Hi Joseph...

Just got the PDF of Eldritch Tales and am very happy with what I see.

I started with OD&D, as with many folk here on his site 42 years ago and I had also got the 1st edition CoC box set when it first was being sold, so this is a great combination...

Few things: Yes; think it good, low level, 6 max, think that will stop power characters and scary having few hp.

Yes: I will be using Occupations, think it adds structure to character and make it more interesting (before they are torn apart, hence no more structure).

Hmm, think there should be a spell list, looking through spells, love it, getting a shiver through my spine, this will do great. I actually been looking for something new over last week, I think this could be it!

I sure there more good stuff, enjoying the monster descriptions, etc. good stuff...

Cheer Joseph, will be looking for future adventures for this game!

Neil

**Posted by rhialto** 9/16/2018 5:42 am

Bought, skimmed through it yesterday: very well done, and I look forward to a deeper read. I did notice that the "Architect" in the professions section on p.57 uses "Engineer" in the descriptive text, though.

**Posted by joseph** 9/16/2018 6:30 am

Thanks guys, happy to hear that you are enjoying the book!

Son of a gun! I'll make sure that "engineer" gets fixed, thanks!

**Posted by Caveman** 9/17/2018 5:10 am

I a bit sad Joseph, that I noticed the PDF is locked, I use my Laptop 99% of the time for any RPG now and I can save a lot of time copying stuff from PDFs to files for quick reference and gameplay. Is there any chance you could change this so I can copy stuff?

Spend most of yesterday reading Eldritch Tales and I am very happy with game. My first rolled Character: Doctor Miles Oscar Durham: Str 4, Dex 7, Con 10, Int 15, Wis 16, Cha 14, (placed as rolled; by rules) and a lucky rolled 6 hp, reminds me of Harvey Walters from CoC, so it is amusing me!

Cheers

Neil

**Posted by Blackadder23** 9/17/2018 11:40 am

Caveman wrote:
I a bit sad Joseph, that I noticed the PDF is locked, I use my Laptop 99% of the time for any RPG now and I can save a lot of time copying stuff from PDFs to files for quick reference and gameplay. Is there any chance you could change this so I can copy stuff?

It's a little tedious, but you can always do screen shots, open the screen shots in a graphic program like Paint, and copy and paste the parts you want.