www.arcaneunderground.com/index.htmlNew Secretsenmatthewgrau@cthulhutech.comCopyright 2008 Matthew Grau2009-01-05T11:21:40-08:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:45:06 -0800matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2009-01-05T11:21:40-08:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/77a3924ee32ebed8bc580b57225e5bc2-17.html#unique-entry-id-17www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/77a3924ee32ebed8bc580b57225e5bc2-17.html#unique-entry-id-17here!

And here are the blogs:
Mad Brew Labs
Critical Hits
Kore Dice
Stan!]]>matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2008-12-30T14:20:42-08:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/624d4b8b69aa3da7b9dbf60b59bc8a1c-15.html#unique-entry-id-15www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/624d4b8b69aa3da7b9dbf60b59bc8a1c-15.html#unique-entry-id-15
The Atomic Array guys are cool dudes and it was lots of fun. I'll post the updated link here when it goes live!]]>matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2008-12-29T14:21:33-08:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/7ace2ced21ae71afcb0741ba0b728f91-16.html#unique-entry-id-16www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/7ace2ced21ae71afcb0741ba0b728f91-16.html#unique-entry-id-16
The idea is to have the product be something that's of use to everyone – players and Storyguide's alike. There are some things that immediately come to mind as reference for the screen, including the basic combat turn, where to find combat special situations and some abbreviations of those rules, weapons tables, insanity and fear tables, list of skills and governing attributes. I'm still brainstorming and getting feedback about it, so feel free to drop a comment here or put something over on the forums under the post.]]>matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2008-11-23T11:02:29-08:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/642dea075c441165af77bf4e646bf70b-14.html#unique-entry-id-14www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/642dea075c441165af77bf4e646bf70b-14.html#unique-entry-id-14CthulhuTech web site over to this site. I somehow spaced making sure it was included in the new site. Until I do, I wanted it to live somewhere. Enjoy!]]>matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2008-11-20T13:29:48-08:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/aa35a482ab001840170250edea073a38-13.html#unique-entry-id-13www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/aa35a482ab001840170250edea073a38-13.html#unique-entry-id-13
The two things I have seen consistently in all the surveys:
1. More posts, preferably a couple times weekly.
2. Art previews.

No sweat. I'm on it.

Just so you guys know, as of right now we are in between books. Dark Passions (the new version) is at the printer right now and I am in the middle of the Damnation View. The cover for the Damnation View has been contracted, so that will be the first thing I can provide sneak peeks at. Other illustrations will start coming in early to mid-December.]]>matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2008-11-17T12:16:38-08:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/a196d23e4e38c51b6cb4149a0c9180cd-12.html#unique-entry-id-12www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/a196d23e4e38c51b6cb4149a0c9180cd-12.html#unique-entry-id-12
The premise behind the game is the Shadow War. Players take on the role of Tagers trying to race around an arcology map, from neighborhood to neighborhood, and stop Chrysalis Corporation plots. They encounter all kinds of events, fight battles, and grow as characters as they fight against a ticking clock. The cool part about it is that the game is entirely cooperative – the players (up to 8) play against the board, not each other.

I'd love to say more, but let's wait until we've committed to making the game a reality before I do so. Any words of support you might have at this point will be useful!]]>matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2008-11-10T21:09:49-08:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/a88e5834ec251f38f1fbbc735a863023-10.html#unique-entry-id-10www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/a88e5834ec251f38f1fbbc735a863023-10.html#unique-entry-id-10
The goods news is that nothing will be changing in the short term. Catalyst Game Labs are a group of peeps who aren't stupid and their contract covers their butt.

No need to panic. Please return your seats to their upright and locked position. :)]]>matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2008-11-10T20:49:04-08:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/3dff63d45f2ca07f92f505ac2ecc7cd6-9.html#unique-entry-id-9www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/3dff63d45f2ca07f92f505ac2ecc7cd6-9.html#unique-entry-id-9CthulhuTech to be flexible so that you can do just that – within the reasonable parameters created by the setting.

But really, you bought the game, so play it however the heck you want. Just don't expect other players to agree with your changes, especially if they go against the published rules or the spirit of the setting and don't be offended when they don't agree with you.

However, I just spent the last hour and half managing a post on our forums where there are players insistent that you can have Tager mecha pilots and para-psychic Engel pilots and all that. I don't see why. It all just sounds like power gaming to me, like wanting a half-Troll/half-Blood Elf warlock/paladin who is also a werewolf. The broad character types in CthulhuTech are designed to be fun and interesting all on their own. If you're a mech pilot, you live in a cool world filled with a variety of death machines. If you're an Engel pilot, you live in a weird world of cybernetic monsters that you get to pilot. If you're a soldier, you live in a world where you fight monsters on a personal level. If you're a sorcerer, you live in a broad magical world. If you're a para-psychic, you live in a oppressed world of mind powers. If you're a Tager, you get to do cool Tager stuff. If you mix a bunch of them together, you dilute all of them in an attempt to give your character access to a bunch of power right off the bat. I know some people say they've got a compelling backstory to make their character that way and I don't doubt that. It's just not the spirit in which the setting was designed.

Please just dig fully into one at a time and see the variety that comes from each. I've found in my playtest group that it takes a while for a player to fully get into the nuance of playing each of these different types of character. If you take on two that aren't supposed to go together (or god-forbid more), you won't get into the nuance much, if at all.

In the end, so as not to offend, I say again – you bought it. Play it however the heck you want. Just please don't expect me to endorse some of your more eccentric ideas.]]>matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2008-11-06T14:45:55-08:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/b224cafb0fcad79ad285badb2915c7b5-8.html#unique-entry-id-8www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/b224cafb0fcad79ad285badb2915c7b5-8.html#unique-entry-id-8matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2008-10-29T18:46:28-07:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/084e95948cdcbe95d98ffb204bcbe221-7.html#unique-entry-id-7www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/084e95948cdcbe95d98ffb204bcbe221-7.html#unique-entry-id-7CthulhuTech Core Book and Vade Mecum are on shelves. What a relief. These editions are what I always wanted them to look like. Even though the electronic version of the book are easier to search when we're gaming, I still use my hard copies because they are more beautiful and fun to hold.

If you're waiting to go buy your copy, don't wait around and see. Do it now. Catalyst is all about keeping the books in print. The new edition of Dark Passions goes to press on Friday for a January release. I've been writing in Damnation View every day because that's due to come out in April. The line is real and it is being supported and now is the time to jump in with both feet.]]>matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2008-09-22T19:12:11-07:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/d323e1437f0aad82d5e7eb7f86323438-6.html#unique-entry-id-6www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/d323e1437f0aad82d5e7eb7f86323438-6.html#unique-entry-id-6Core Book and Vade Mecum are in the country and shipping to distributors. We've put the official release date at the third week in October, but it might be even earlier. Brilliant. Can't wait to have this edition in regular distribution and can't wait to hear what you guys think of it.]]>matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2008-09-05T19:25:16-07:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/4e8f4e10ffb31fdbaa16a8737df2b6cb-5.html#unique-entry-id-5www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/4e8f4e10ffb31fdbaa16a8737df2b6cb-5.html#unique-entry-id-5
So what have we got planned for rest of 2008 and 2009? More CthulhuTech obviously:

• You'll see the super-cool Catalyst re-release of the Core Book as well as the release of Vade Mecum in October.
• We are re-releasing Dark Passions in January, this time in full-color and probably with some additional content. We're having to colorize and re-commission artwork, because the book was never in color in the first place.
• April, just in time for GTS, should see the Damnation View, our first story (metaplot) book.
• August, just in time for Gen Con, should see Mortal Remains, exploring the inner workings of the New Earth Government and the Migou.
• November, just in time for the holidays, should see Ancient Enemies, exploring the inner workings of the Eldritch Society and the Chrysalis Corporation.

We are also in the preliminary discussions about a couple other things, including a possible fiction anthology and maybe even a board game. But as far as you know, those are just rumors. ]]>matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2008-09-05T19:01:58-07:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/6b53a220c94e6121d910068b58d56134-4.html#unique-entry-id-4www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/6b53a220c94e6121d910068b58d56134-4.html#unique-entry-id-4
The end of July was ComicCon in San Diego, which is always nuts. 160,000 people crammed into downtown San Diego with probably a quarter of them all on the exhibitor hall floor at any given time. Don't dare try and stop to look at anything – you may end up consumed by the mob. That isn't to say I didn't succumb. Dan Brereton was there and I am a sucker for the Nocturnals, so he got a couple of my hard earned dollars. But that's not why I was there. I was there to have meetings to make a CthulhuTech comic book real. It looks like we will be doing comic books sometime next year, the only question being our publisher. We have options and are pushing to have more options, so we'll see.

Then the final chaos of switching from Mongoose to Catalyst and getting our butts to Gen Con. I barely had time to get all the demos put together, amongst the other stuff we had to have for promotion. One red-eye flight later and I was in Indianapolis helping Catalyst set up. I have to say, it's nice to meet the people you're in business with face to face. Everyone at Catalyst is delightful – I didn't meet single person on their crew that I didn't genuinely like. Plus, they do good business and had a hell of a booth and a hell of a show. I would like to especially thank Loren, David, and Heather for giving us such a wonderful new home (or as I put it in the new Core Book, for finding us still pretty after the divorce). But I digress.

True to their word, Catalyst had 100 copies each of the Core Book and Vade Mecum for the show. They look just the way I always wanted them to look. The hard-covers are beautiful, the binding is perfect, the paper stock is awesome, everything is perfectly color-corrected, and even the spine bands match (that little piece of fabric that protects the top and bottom of the spine in a hardcover, if you look right down on the book). If there hadn't have been so many people poking me or asking me what I thought, I probably would have cried. Then came the opening of the exhibit hall on Thursday. We'd agreed to hold back 10 of each for key opinion makers (distributors, retailers, reviewers, etc.), while selling 25 of each on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with the remaining 15 on Sunday. On Thursday, most people didn't know we were with Catalyst, but came to the booth seeking out Shadowrun or Battletech. Then they saw the giant CthulhuTech banner above the booth and went "Oh!" It took about an hour for Vade Mecum to sell out for the day and about 90 minutes for the Core Book. The other days it averaged about 20 minutes for Vade Mecum and about 40 minutes for the Core Book. Needless to say, the buying public and fans are more than happy with the new editions and buzz about Vade Mecum is great. We even ended up selling six of each of the books we had held back on Sunday, because demand was so high. I don't even want to speculate how many we could have sold if we'd had a full print run at the show, but it would have been a lot.

We ran a bunch of in-booth demos just designed to get you familiar with the IP and the rules and a series of short storytelling games on the normal gaming track. The events were great and people really enjoyed them. In fact, everyone who played either had already bought the book or was ready to go and buy the books once they'd played.

We also had our first CthulhuTech seminar called Strange Aeon Talk. We had about eight people, which from what I've been told is a stellar turn-out for a first year seminar. We talked about all kinds of stuff, got feedback for what we should be producing next, and even revealed some secrets from upcoming books. If you want to find out more about that, you'll have to check out our forums to talk to the guys that were there.

It was incredibly rewarding to talk to our fans. I've spent as much time as I've spent bringing CthulhuTech to life because I wanted to give the game enthusiast something to be excited about again. Talking to you guys and hearing what you think is vital to what I do. Seeing the smiles on your face and hearing your excitement is the reason why I do it.

And then I was home for a few days before I went to Burning Man, for the eighth time. Some of you may have seen the news reports – we got pelted with a couple brutal dust storms. I hit the first one after I'd just set up camp, while I hadn't slept in like two days, and it lasted for more than 12 hours gusting up to 60 mph. The second hit on Saturday morning, same speeds, longer hours. My girlfriend and I slept in our rented cargo van, and for the first time in almost a decade I really got that you can die out there. Seriously.

Now I'm home again, for at least a few more days, and I'm working out the product release schedule for the next 18 months. Catalyst is keen we create something real and stick to it, which is encouraging. I'm sure I'll be talking more about that in days to come.]]>matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2008-07-31T13:48:07-07:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/07d29f5862aac7e76d6c4137b0ecc448-3.html#unique-entry-id-3www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/07d29f5862aac7e76d6c4137b0ecc448-3.html#unique-entry-id-3
The first is that the Core Book has been out of print for more than six months. This is due to a bunch of reasons, most of which required my attention. Which rolled into us switching publishers, which required me to redo a bunch of stuff in all of our books. And it's this publisher change that it having me post again. (For the full story, go to the official web-site.)

Our relationship with Mongoose Publishing has ended. I thank Matt Sprange for giving us the space and support to birth CthulhuTech. However, in the long run it seems like the best move for us to move under the aegis of Catalyst Game Labs, who publishes Shadowrun and Battletech. I'm not here to start any rumors. Mongoose Publishing is up to their thing (and will be for many years to come, as they are soundly managed) and we're up to our thing and right now those things didn't match up. Catalyst Game Labs is excited about our vision for CthulhuTech and is ready to rock and roll, in full color.

Right now, you should be able to find the black and white version of the Core Book and Dark Passions at local stores or at on-line retailers. It's in regular distribution, but frankly it's going fast. Unlike previous printings of the Mongoose edition of the Core Book, this version is solidly bound and printed, so you don't need to worry about your book falling apart on you or having that weird white stripe along the cover edge. Catalyst is going to have a limited number of Core Books and the long awaited Vade Mecum available at Gen Con 2008. They're going to properly color corrected, full-color, and solidly printed. We haven't decided yet if we're going to sell them first-come, first-served, or do a batch of books every morning the dealer's room opens. Either way, if you want to be the first on the block to have copies of these books, you'd better head straight to the Catalyst Game Labs booth bright and early on the Thursday morning of Gen Con.]]>matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2008-01-30T00:15:39-08:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/69d11f43af46ca72189b21f08cfd24c7-2.html#unique-entry-id-2www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/69d11f43af46ca72189b21f08cfd24c7-2.html#unique-entry-id-2matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comBackground2008-01-18T14:33:11-08:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/8ffe0ba317b0058dfb50ed37e821d024-0.html#unique-entry-id-0www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/8ffe0ba317b0058dfb50ed37e821d024-0.html#unique-entry-id-0CthulhuTech and have decided that despite the hard work and personal money I've put into the project that everyone should have it for free.

You've probably heard it all before, but let me lay it out in simple terms that most pirates just don't get.

1. When you purchase something, you cast your vote with your dollars. That simply means that when you buy something, the retailers, suppliers, manufacturers, etc. all get the message that you like it and you want more of it. When you pirate something, no one in the entire marketplace knows that you like it. The more people pirate something they like, the less chance they have of getting more of it or of it staying around.

2. When you pirate something, you actually do hurt somebody. In my case, I am a small businessman. So small, in fact, that I and my partners do this part-time. We're not even making money off of it yet. So every copy of CthulhuTech you pirate is one copy closer to us being out of business. I put thousands of hours of my own free time into developing this world and system, not to mention thousands of my own hard-earned money. I don't relish the idea of you liking CthulhuTech, but thinking my effort and money aren't worth anything.

3. Pirates live in a world of justification. Justification is making something right so you can live with it, even if it isn't. Most pirates justify stealing by saying that they are sticking it to the man, that the gigantic companies they steal from won't feel the impact. What they fail to realize is that not everyone they steal from is a gigantic company. Some of them are people just like you and me, small business people with dreams of one day succeeding to the point where they can quit their day job and just do what they love. Piracy kills that and there's no amount of justification you can give that makes that okay.

4. Pirates most often fail to take responsibility for their actions. If you're a pirate and you really like something and that something goes away or that company goes out of business, you contributed to that. You didn't singularly cause it, but you cannot stick your head in the sand and pretend that you had nothing to do with it.

5. If you're the kind of pirate that thinks that you shouldn't have to pay for anything you can get for free and to hell with the people who are getting screwed, think of it this way. You go to work and work your butt off for a month. At the end of that month, your boss comes to you and tells you that he's not going to pay you because he doesn't think he should have to. How do you feel?

In short, please buy CthulhuTech if you want to own it, even if you illegally downloaded a copy to see if you liked it first. Otherwise, poof, CthulhuTech's gone.

And that's that. Getting off it now.]]>matthewgrau@cthulhutech.comAdministrative2008-01-18T14:12:04-08:00www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/4918b1bdf7d13cac16953eb96bc30bb5-1.html#unique-entry-id-1www.arcaneunderground.com/page6/files/4918b1bdf7d13cac16953eb96bc30bb5-1.html#unique-entry-id-1CthulhuTech go out of business so that it will be open source."

Not happening. That's not the way copyright law works. Unless I voluntarily give up or sell the rights to CthulhuTech, I own the intellectual property until I die and then some. Just because a publisher goes out of business or isn't doing anything with a property doesn't mean it's public domain. Somebody still owns it.]]>