Upcoming material and gamer input.

I’m currently working on the notes for the chronicle setting Tearfall City and I could use some input.

1) Would it be useful to include small tables under each city area which describes the cost of living (rent and such)?

2) Would it be an okay idea to mention approximate police response time by each city area/block?

1) I´d say yes, as it´s sometimes difficult to set that kind of balanced number as a GM. Rent is a perfect way to put some stress on the players and forcing them to do questionable things, while in the mean time uncovering wicked sects and fighting gigantic cthulhu´s. Encourage the GM to think about what the homeowner might do when rent is late and he has the keys, what if he might come stumbling in, in a VERY inconvenient time? Or maybe he just drops by and steal something he finds valuable?

2) As long as it´s not read by the players, although I usually let them hear the sirens when it fits the situation. But that´s me, it might be useful to others. It´ll also show how the somewhat corrupted police prioritize calls and alarms. WHY be there in 5 min and have ANOTHER shootout in the ghetto? You want my daughters to be fatherless?!

Thanks for the input. Good catch on the police priority issue, this might elevate the grittiness of the city.

Im wondering what new features can be found in this edition?
How different is it from the second edition to which I am a huge fan.

Is it just translated to english and with different lay-out and pictures or has it even more to offer for old fans?

A lot has changed. The basics are still in place though (2D10s). However, damage and combat, mentality, one-shots, investigative mechanics, magic/psychic system and a lot of other things have been updated, changed and completely rewritten. For example, the magic/psychic mechanics uses a set of seven cards in the third edition. Combat can be played out using the more narrative Duke Mode and one-shot characters can be assigned Cast Types and Trouble Traits for easy pick-up games (this can easily be used to emulate slasher flicks and a bit more “easy-going” horror). We have changed and updated a lot of stuff. We have tried to put together a system that’s more in tune with the setting in order to support the gameplay better.

We have also tried to make the mood more personal and “in-your-face”. There are a lot of medical reports, morbid snippets of diary entries and reports scattered throughout. Some new minions have been added, while some old ones have been excluded or revised. Hopefully we have been successful in our pursuit to create an even more entertaining and captivating game. All in all, I think old fans of Noctum have a lot of new stuff to explore in the third edition.

Then there’s Vivisection, which will come out in June. More nasty creatures, relics and story frames will be presented here. Keep an eye on our blog; there we’ll update you on all developments

Hi Mischa! Is there a possibility we could get some Noctum wallpapers in the future? I think that would be great!

Hmm...I should have two or three (experimental) of these on my drive...might be able to make them available next week.

Cool!

Hey,

Picked up the UK version of the game at my local games convention. Really like the mechanics (especially the one shot rules) and the backround story. Some great advice scattered through the book, like the role play within the roleplay, which I'm going to make use of next time.

Roleplay in roleplay can be a quite powerful tool to employ and can really act as a catalyst for player immersion. And just the other week we played through a zombie apocalypse scenario using the one shot system. I’ve been playing Left 4 Dead for a while now and decided it was time to set up a similar scenario in Nocum. We even developed a special system for dealing with hoards of undead. Instead of different weapons dealing damage as such, a weapon could take down a number of undead each round and each clip had a number of “kills” in them instead of counting bullets. It was a successful gaming night of mindless fun

Using the one shot system for something like that, or maybe an AvP-R type scenario really works well. No one gets too invested in their characters, and everyone has a blast, esepcially if you can use Duke to really make it cinematic and a little OTT (in a good way).

The mentality rules seem great, a better version of Cthulu's SAN and the WoD morality type rules.

The roleplay within roleplay is just such a cool idea, especially within a long running campaign, means that everyone gets the chance to play a different character, different type of character.

Do you still get to game regularly Mischa?

Gaming is a part of the job when testing out new mechanics and so on. Most of the time when I game it’s actually work related, but in some cases I get to game without it being a part of a test-run

Hi Mischa!

I bought Vivisection probably a week ago already! To my surprise my gaming store in Cologne had it really fast and for a good price, too! I had several exams in the last weeks, so I couldn't read everything up to now, but I like what I read so far.

I especially like the Injectors, Spine Blossoms, Tesla Wraiths and the Behemoth! I have already story ideas for them!

But could explain how to use the Purger rating again, please? You roll a 2D10 and when you get 21 or more the Purger is attracted to the relic. How is the Purger Rating of an artifact used? Is it subtracted from the difficulty, so that I would for example need to roll a 20 for the dog yielder or 18 for the old typewriter?

The Purger Rating of relics are added together when relics are amassed in one place (and in the possession of certain individual or individuals). Let’s say you have gotten your hands on the Zippo Lighter (Rating 2) and the Old Radio (Rating 4). At this point the total Purger Rating would be 6. When checking if a Purger is attracted to them roll 2D10s and add the rating (6) to the roll as it would be a skill. If the final result is 21 a Purger has homed in on the relics. The creature will then appear within 1D6 days or hours (depending on your preference and pace) to do its thing

By the way, good to know that you found the creatures useful.

Thanks for the explanation, Mischa!

Yeah, I will use an injector in my next story. You know, about the drug dealers and the vigilante.

About the others ones I'm not sure how I can use them in my chronicle right now. I was planning to go into the direction of The-devil-is-behind-it and they don't fit quite in there. But we'll see!