Horror on the Orient Express

[yellowish haze]

Has anyone read "Horror on the Orient Express" (Cthulhu roleplaying game scenario which won Academy of Adventure Game Art & Design Award for the Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1991) wherein one chapter is (to some extend) based on The Journal of JP Drapeau by TL?



It also seem that TL has contributed to that chapter (please correct me if im wrong)

[The Silent One]

Being the starter of the Ligotti thread at Yog-Sothoth.com, I really should know. It was written by another guy, but said person gave credit to Ligotti for the story itself.

[bendk]

Slawek,
I have been curious about that myself. I even tracked the game on eBay for a while to see if I could pick up an inexpensive copy. No dice. This game usually sells for between $75 and $125. My guess is that it is the same scenario, or a modified version of, "In a City of Bells and Towers A Call of Cthulhu Scenario" by Mark Morrison. This originally appeared in Dagon No. 22/23. I know this is based on "The Journal of JP Drapeau."

[The Silent One]

There's a PDF version out there for twenty odd dollars. DriveThruRPG.com, methinks...

[Aetherwing]

I owned this game supplement, pre-tornado (I really hate tornadoes...). It is one hell of a scenario, and yes, the chapter "In a City of Bells and Towers" was written by Mark Morrison as HIGHLY Liggottian.

As the Investigators wander the streets of Dream-Zagreb, they come upon loose pages from J.P. Drapeau's journal, which they are instructed by the Keeper to read aloud.

I ran this adventure one time. Our own Doc Locrian was one of the players, so HE was who I had read the pages...Easily one of the most atmospheric moments in a CoC adventure.

Overall, the scenario is very worth a read, and really difficult to survive. The Investigators must survive the assaults of an ancient vampire, the Baba Yaga, a cult called the Brotherhood of the Skin (really nasty magics!) and an avatar of Nyarlathotep.

-Aether

[yellowish haze]

Quote

The Investigators must survive the assaults of an ancient vampire, the Baba Yaga...

Baba Yaga and the Cthulhu Mythos...?

Hmm, this doesn't sound like a good mixture. However, I remeber being very scared of this ugly woman when I was little. She is quite famous over here, you see...

[Dr. Bantham]

Quote Originally Posted by Aetherwing";p=&quot

I owned this game supplement, pre-tornado (I really hate tornadoes...). It is one hell of a scenario, and yes, the chapter "In a City of Bells and Towers" was written by Mark Morrison as HIGHLY Liggottian. As the Investigators wander the streets of Dream-Zagreb, they come upon loose pages from J.P. Drapeau's journal, which they are instructed by the Keeper to read aloud. I ran this adventure one time. Our own Doc Locrian was one of the players, so HE was who I had read the pages...Easily one of the most atmospheric moments in a CoC adventure. Overall, the scenario is very worth a read, and really difficult to survive. The Investigators must survive the assaults of an ancient vampire, the Baba Yaga, a cult called the Brotherhood of the Skin (really nasty magics!) and an avatar of Nyarlathotep.

As both Aetherwing and Dr. Locrian are aware, I too am a fan of the Call of Cthulhu RPG. My two greatest collections of all natures are Ligotti works and CoC publications. In fact my first and only other web site endeavor was Dr. Bantham's Journal. The site still exists, though it was abandoned by my efforts years ago. There are several inoperable sections and I consider the construct as painfully amateur in presentation, but it was my first effort, after all. Yog-Sothoth.com towered above my efforts and it was painfully obvious that no one was visiting the site.

As for HOTOE, I own a copy still wrapped in cellophane. Though tempted to slit the shrink, I have refrained thus far since my sessions have been going so well of late. I sold my opened copy some time back, but I do have an home-brew PDF compilation of the work. I have uploaded the chapter "In a City of Bells and Towers" to the Downloads section of TLO. If there is any interest, I can upload the subsequent chapter which includes the encounter with Baba Yaga. Sadly, I have never played through this scenario as Keeper or Player, but there is an exhaustive campaign diary (Written by Mike Cresswell & Paul Scholey) accessible from the splash page of my old CoC site.

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

[Aetherwing]

It never occurred to me that we had a member who had a more personal knowledge of the Baba Yaga, Slawek. Then, upon reading your post, i recall you hail from Polonia.

Yes, it does seem an odd mixture of mythoi. Let me clarify that that terrible Hag has no connexion to the Mythos, per se. In the adventure, she has stolen a sacred site of Shub-Niggurath's, and the investigators are compelled to try to take it back from her...

She is very, very horrible, and one really does NOT want to face Her.

Baba Yaga also features in games from White Wolf Publishing. She is a major foe in Vampire: the Masquerade & Werewolf: the Apocalypse. Again, she is quite horrible and a foe one would NOT wish to face.

Thanks for the uploads, Brian. Very cool to see that chapter again.

[darrick]

i heard from various people that Orient Express was a sucky CoC book. guess those guys were wrong. any other roleplaying game scenarios directly inspired by Ligotti?

the closest i've found is a rpg supplement for Sorcerer called Sword and Sorcerer. this book includes a quote from Masquerade of a Dead Sword. i was very pleased and weirded out by seeing it.

also, my own self-published rpg: Empire of Satanis draws some inspiration from Lovecraft and Ligotti while still trying to be its own thing.

also... i had the unique pleasure of playing in a couple CoC scenarios run by that weird bastard New Nonsense. he directly set his adventures in a couple Ligotti stories.

DDD
666

[Aetherwing]

Hey, ignore those nay-sayers, Darrick. Remember, there are no sucky adventures: only sucky Keepers!

Seriously, OE is awesome. It requires some serious prep time, but run properly, and played well by the PC's, it is very fulfilling. You'll like it.

Now, those on the business end of the campaign may protest. While not as bad a character-killer as MON, SOYS, or "Lurker in the Crypt", its a wild ride, and a sanity blaster.

Enjoy!
-Aether