My newest ttrpg The Invisible College is now available on Amazon; but not on DTRPG yet. Find out why in this video, and find out what the Invisible College OSR game is all about!
Interesting....
Pundit, I just searched Amazon for "The Invisible College RPG"; and it didn't show up. Have you been shadow-banned already? Just kidding....
I then searched for "The Invisible College OSR RPG", and Gloomhaven popped up. Evidently, Amazon doesn't know what the OSR is?
Quote from: Jam The MF on June 14, 2021, 11:08:52 AM
Interesting....
Pundit, I just searched Amazon for "The Invisible College RPG"; and it didn't show up. Have you been shadow-banned already? Just kidding....
I then searched for "The Invisible College OSR RPG", and Gloomhaven popped up. Evidently, Amazon doesn't know what the OSR is?
When I search "The Invisible College" it's the 4th result. Seems the problem is with the "RPG".
Looking forward to getting my mitts on this.
It's live on Drivethru.
Quote from: Steve Dubya on June 14, 2021, 01:39:08 PM
It's live on Drivethru.
Ta' for letting us know.
Bought! And it's a big one at 432 pages! :)
Just got the PDF seems very cool. My only recommendation so far would be a version of the PDF where the background is a layer you can turn off.
Quote from: PencilBoy99 on June 14, 2021, 02:22:01 PM
Just got the PDF seems very cool. My only recommendation so far would be a version of the PDF where the background is a layer you can turn off.
I was just looking through it too.
Looks great... But I'd agree, the background it a little distracting and it would be cool if you could turn it off or there was a black and white version without the underlay.
Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on June 14, 2021, 02:30:22 PM
Quote from: PencilBoy99 on June 14, 2021, 02:22:01 PM
Just got the PDF seems very cool. My only recommendation so far would be a version of the PDF where the background is a layer you can turn off.
I was just looking through it too.
Looks great... But I'd agree, the background it a little distracting and it would be cool if you could turn it off or there was a black and white version without the underlay.
I wonder how that background will look on the printed version (where there obviously can't be an option to turn off that layer). Is it Secret of Ziran level of distracting?
Quote from: HappyDaze on June 14, 2021, 02:58:46 PM
Is it Secret of Ziran level of distracting?
Of course not.
I'm downloading it now. I'm curious how it compares with Mage and Nephilim.
The file is very large and is taking longer to download than usual. Have you optimized it for digital distribution?
Reading it now. Frustrating that it seems to be only scanned images rather than clean electronic text. That explains the file size.
Yeah, the statement about the heroic Invisible College bringing social and technological advancements definitely runs counter to what Mage proposed. That game presupposes that all such advancements were part of an evil conspiracy to control humanity.
Okay, on page 344 it basically provides rules on how to become a D&D lich, complete with a phylactery. I know the trope goes back to Koschei and Dorian Grey, but the use of the term "phylactery" in such a way comes from D&D and not any real magical tradition to my knowledge. This is because in the earliest editions of D&D the phylactery was a literal phylactery (a prayer box used in Hebrew traditions). It makes no sense to call it a phylactery in-universe unless the PCs are D&D players.
EDIT: Actually, the section on false immortals reminds me of the false immortals section in Palladium's Mystic China. Was that an influence here?
Quote from: Steve Dubya on June 14, 2021, 01:39:08 PM
It's live on Drivethru.
Yes it is now on Drivethru though so far only in PDF, which is annoying.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/359585/The-Invisible-College (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/359585/The-Invisible-College)
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on June 14, 2021, 08:17:15 PM
Reading it now. Frustrating that it seems to be only scanned images rather than clean electronic text. That explains the file size.
Yeah, the statement about the heroic Invisible College bringing social and technological advancements definitely runs counter to what Mage proposed. That game presupposes that all such advancements were part of an evil conspiracy to control humanity.
Okay, on page 344 it basically provides rules on how to become a D&D lich, complete with a phylactery. I know the trope goes back to Koschei and Dorian Grey, but the use of the term "phylactery" in such a way comes from D&D and not any real magical tradition to my knowledge. This is because in the earliest editions of D&D the phylactery was a literal phylactery (a prayer box used in Hebrew traditions). It makes no sense to call it a phylactery in-universe unless the PCs are D&D players.
EDIT: Actually, the section on false immortals reminds me of the false immortals section in Palladium's Mystic China. Was that an influence here?
The concept of "false immortals" is a real life concept in Alchemy, and yes, especially in Asian Internal-Alchemy.
Okay, heading over to drive thru now, I'm interested.
Lol its 20.21$ that has to be on purpose.
Quote from: RPGPundit on June 14, 2021, 11:37:52 PM
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on June 14, 2021, 08:17:15 PM
Reading it now. Frustrating that it seems to be only scanned images rather than clean electronic text. That explains the file size.
Yeah, the statement about the heroic Invisible College bringing social and technological advancements definitely runs counter to what Mage proposed. That game presupposes that all such advancements were part of an evil conspiracy to control humanity.
Okay, on page 344 it basically provides rules on how to become a D&D lich, complete with a phylactery. I know the trope goes back to Koschei and Dorian Grey, but the use of the term "phylactery" in such a way comes from D&D and not any real magical tradition to my knowledge. This is because in the earliest editions of D&D the phylactery was a literal phylactery (a prayer box used in Hebrew traditions). It makes no sense to call it a phylactery in-universe unless the PCs are D&D players.
EDIT: Actually, the section on false immortals reminds me of the false immortals section in Palladium's Mystic China. Was that an influence here?
The concept of "false immortals" is a real life concept in Alchemy, and yes, especially in Asian Internal-Alchemy.
Well, researching them has proven to be impossible for me. Google keeps giving me completely irrelevant results.
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on June 15, 2021, 10:24:01 AM
Quote from: RPGPundit on June 14, 2021, 11:37:52 PM
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on June 14, 2021, 08:17:15 PM
Reading it now. Frustrating that it seems to be only scanned images rather than clean electronic text. That explains the file size.
Yeah, the statement about the heroic Invisible College bringing social and technological advancements definitely runs counter to what Mage proposed. That game presupposes that all such advancements were part of an evil conspiracy to control humanity.
Okay, on page 344 it basically provides rules on how to become a D&D lich, complete with a phylactery. I know the trope goes back to Koschei and Dorian Grey, but the use of the term "phylactery" in such a way comes from D&D and not any real magical tradition to my knowledge. This is because in the earliest editions of D&D the phylactery was a literal phylactery (a prayer box used in Hebrew traditions). It makes no sense to call it a phylactery in-universe unless the PCs are D&D players.
EDIT: Actually, the section on false immortals reminds me of the false immortals section in Palladium's Mystic China. Was that an influence here?
The concept of "false immortals" is a real life concept in Alchemy, and yes, especially in Asian Internal-Alchemy.
Well, researching them has proven to be impossible for me. Google keeps giving me completely irrelevant results.
It's mainly stuff from very obscure primary-source texts. Wujcik included it in Mystic China and that was a big sign that he had MASSIVE knowledge on the subject of Chinese mysticism.
Quote from: RPGPundit on June 15, 2021, 10:38:47 AM
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on June 15, 2021, 10:24:01 AM
Quote from: RPGPundit on June 14, 2021, 11:37:52 PM
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on June 14, 2021, 08:17:15 PM
Reading it now. Frustrating that it seems to be only scanned images rather than clean electronic text. That explains the file size.
Yeah, the statement about the heroic Invisible College bringing social and technological advancements definitely runs counter to what Mage proposed. That game presupposes that all such advancements were part of an evil conspiracy to control humanity.
Okay, on page 344 it basically provides rules on how to become a D&D lich, complete with a phylactery. I know the trope goes back to Koschei and Dorian Grey, but the use of the term "phylactery" in such a way comes from D&D and not any real magical tradition to my knowledge. This is because in the earliest editions of D&D the phylactery was a literal phylactery (a prayer box used in Hebrew traditions). It makes no sense to call it a phylactery in-universe unless the PCs are D&D players.
EDIT: Actually, the section on false immortals reminds me of the false immortals section in Palladium's Mystic China. Was that an influence here?
The concept of "false immortals" is a real life concept in Alchemy, and yes, especially in Asian Internal-Alchemy.
Well, researching them has proven to be impossible for me. Google keeps giving me completely irrelevant results.
It's mainly stuff from very obscure primary-source texts. Wujcik included it in Mystic China and that was a big sign that he had MASSIVE knowledge on the subject of Chinese mysticism.
I'd like to read those texts. The way both games handle yin-yang qi is pretty different from the way I've seen those concepts described in traditional Chinese medicine.
That doesn't explain why you used D&D-specific jargon like "phylactery" if your intent was to be authentic to real occult traditions. Are there really no terms for soul jars in occultism?
Are there any plans to release the pdf with selectable/searchable text? It looks like a scanned image book, but the store page says its a "original electronic format".
Box you need to realize that Pundit isn't the publisher. Pundit made the book, but he didn't make the pdf. The people who made the pdf are the publisher. Your pdf questions should be directed at them and not at Pundit as he has no power in how the pdf is made.
Though if the PDF is scanned pages that could explain why PoD hasn't been done yet.
Quote from: Snowman0147 on June 15, 2021, 01:55:12 PM
Box you need to realize that Pundit isn't the publisher. Pundit made the book, but he didn't make the pdf. The people who made the pdf are the publisher. Your pdf questions should be directed at them and not at Pundit as he has no power in how the pdf is made.
Though if the PDF is scanned pages that could explain why PoD hasn't been done yet.
Thank you for explaining that.
Will grab this once it has a Colour, Hardcover, print copy with a bundled PDF option on DTRPG.
Looks interesting.
Looks like many references to Enochian Magick, Golden Dawn, Rosicrucians, Illuminati, Freemansons and ceremonial magick in general.
Any mention of Thelemic practices?
Quote from: danskmacabre on June 15, 2021, 07:18:40 PM
Will grab this once it has a Colour, Hardcover, print copy with a bundled PDF option on DTRPG.
Looks interesting.
Looks like many references to Enochian Magick, Golden Dawn, Rosicrucians, Illuminati, Freemansons and ceremonial magick in general.
Any mention of Thelemic practices?
Thelemic magical practices are the same as the Golden Dawn's, plus a couple of extras. Those extras are mostly in there.
A lot of Thelemites think their religious practices are somehow also magical, which is as true as saying the Catholic Mass is magical, but no more than that. So you don't see much there about the Gnostic Mass if that's what you meant by practices (because, let's face it, the 'magical practice' of 90% of self-proclaimed thelemites is MAYBE doing the middle pillar or Resh or the LBRP, going to a gnostic mass if one is close by, and getting stoned while talking about kabbalah).
Quote from: RPGPundit on June 15, 2021, 08:17:19 PM
Thelemic magical practices are the same as the Golden Dawn's, plus a couple of extras. Those extras are mostly in there.
Early Thelema (such as from the Equinox and related material) are more akin to Golden Dawn, AC was in the Golden Dawn for some time and based his work on that.
Later works, such as Book 4 went their own way quite a bit. Still. I guess this isn't a place to debate the fine details of Thelema or whatever..
Quote from: RPGPundit on June 15, 2021, 08:17:19 PM
A lot of Thelemites think their religious practices are somehow also magical, which is as true as saying the Catholic Mass is magical, but no more than that. So you don't see much there about the Gnostic Mass if that's what you meant by practices (because, let's face it, the 'magical practice' of 90% of self-proclaimed thelemites is MAYBE doing the middle pillar or Resh or the LBRP, going to a gnostic mass if one is close by, and getting stoned while talking about kabbalah).
Like many occult groups, cults, religions etc, people bring a lot more to a particular practice than just that.
Thelema, Golden dawn or whatever gets more vague the closer you look at it and when you really want to "do" something, you need to bring a lot of your own knowledge, research, experience and creativity into it, that and whole whole thing is very personalised.
Are most people in any group (whether mysticism or anything really) just "Doing the motions" and there to socialse or just waffle on about whatever? yeah sure, but that's pretty much always the case wherever you go and whatever you're into.
Anyway, thanks for the clarification of the content in your RPG..
Quote from: danskmacabre on June 15, 2021, 09:44:28 PM
Quote from: RPGPundit on June 15, 2021, 08:17:19 PM
Thelemic magical practices are the same as the Golden Dawn's, plus a couple of extras. Those extras are mostly in there.
Early Thelema (such as from the Equinox and related material) are more akin to Golden Dawn, AC was in the Golden Dawn for some time and based his work on that.
Later works, such as Book 4 went their own way quite a bit. Still. I guess this isn't a place to debate the fine details of Thelema or whatever..
Quote from: RPGPundit on June 15, 2021, 08:17:19 PM
A lot of Thelemites think their religious practices are somehow also magical, which is as true as saying the Catholic Mass is magical, but no more than that. So you don't see much there about the Gnostic Mass if that's what you meant by practices (because, let's face it, the 'magical practice' of 90% of self-proclaimed thelemites is MAYBE doing the middle pillar or Resh or the LBRP, going to a gnostic mass if one is close by, and getting stoned while talking about kabbalah).
Like many occult groups, cults, religions etc, people bring a lot more to a particular practice than just that.
Thelema, Golden dawn or whatever gets more vague the closer you look at it and when you really want to "do" something, you need to bring a lot of your own knowledge, research, experience and creativity into it, that and whole whole thing is very personalised.
Are most people in any group (whether mysticism or anything really) just "Doing the motions" and there to socialse or just waffle on about whatever? yeah sure, but that's pretty much always the case wherever you go and whatever you're into.
Anyway, thanks for the clarification of the content in your RPG..
There's three components to Thelema:
1. The mystical revelation and Holy Books of Thelema. These do not play a big part in the Invisible College RPG, though Aleister Crowley (now one of the Secret Chiefs) is given an entry and reference is made to the Liber AL.
2. The magical system of Thelema; principally the A.'.A.'.
In the Invisible College RPG, the College's curriculum is essentially the curriculum of the A.'.A.'., in terms of the mastering of specific magical theories, practices and techniques at specific degrees.
Many of the particular rituals that Crowley wrote himself were either reimagining of existing rituals (the pentagram and hexagram rituals, the abra melin ritual) or of other cultural practices (bhakti and raja yoga, past life recollection techniques, etc). So in the magic system I don't go into too much detail about the texts of the rituals; for example, I talk about Banishing as a ritual, but that ritual could be the LBRP or the Star Ruby, as either ultimately work the same. Ditto for the cultural practices.
3. The religious and fraternal activities of Thelema: the Gnostic Mass, Ecclesia, and OTO. These are barely mentioned.
And as to the second part of your comment, you're quite right, and that's a part of what I talk about in my introduction to the game. I make it very clear that the world of the Invisible College is one just like ours, in that 90% of occultism is crap and 90% of the people engaging in occultism are either posers or frauds or just too undisciplined to do anything other than treat occultism as a 'community' or a 'lifestyle'. And (I hope) it's pretty evident in the text that it is not one specific 'denomination' or practice that is the one true way but that 90% of everything is garbage, and the other 10% is from people who push themselves to the limit and discover real Truth.
Quote from: RPGPundit on June 15, 2021, 10:03:03 PM
1. The mystical revelation and Holy Books of Thelema. These do not play a big part in the Invisible College RPG, though Aleister Crowley (now one of the Secret Chiefs) is given an entry and reference is made to the Liber AL.
2. The magical system of Thelema; principally the A.'.A.'.
In the Invisible College RPG, the College's curriculum is essentially the curriculum of the A.'.A.'., in terms of the mastering of specific magical theories, practices and techniques at specific degrees.
Many of the particular rituals that Crowley wrote himself were either reimagining of existing rituals (the pentagram and hexagram rituals, the abra melin ritual) or of other cultural practices (bhakti and raja yoga, past life recollection techniques, etc). So in the magic system I don't go into too much detail about the texts of the rituals; for example, I talk about Banishing as a ritual, but that ritual could be the LBRP or the Star Ruby, as either ultimately work the same. Ditto for the cultural practices.
3. The religious and fraternal activities of Thelema: the Gnostic Mass, Ecclesia, and OTO. These are barely mentioned.
I'm not so interested in seeing point 1 or 3 (although I'm aware of the Book of the law and so on) represented in detail in the RPG. It'll be interesting to read what mention it does get though.
I was more curious if you would "Gamify" point 2 (which you have answered). I'm aware of the existence of the A.A. and its function and was curious how much of the Magickal practices (not really religious practices of the OTO, doctrine etc) would be present.
I kept my original comment/question as more generally Thelema, rather than go too much into detail, meaning whether it was relating to O.T.O. or A.A.
Quote from: RPGPundit on June 15, 2021, 10:03:03 PM
And as to the second part of your comment, you're quite right, and that's a part of what I talk about in my introduction to the game. I make it very clear that the world of the Invisible College is one just like ours, in that 90% of occultism is crap and 90% of the people engaging in occultism are either posers or frauds or just too undisciplined to do anything other than treat occultism as a 'community' or a 'lifestyle'. And (I hope) it's pretty evident in the text that it is not one specific 'denomination' or practice that is the one true way but that 90% of everything is garbage, and the other 10% is from people who push themselves to the limit and discover real Truth.
Yes agreed on this point.
Anyway, thanks again for the clarification of the content. Looking forward to getting a Hardback print of this book.
Are there any plans for supporting The Invisible College via RPGPundit Presents?
Quote from: MyrddinWyllt on June 16, 2021, 01:29:28 AM
Are there any plans for supporting The Invisible College via RPGPundit Presents?
Given that RPGPundit Presents and The Invisible College are done by two different publishers, that's potentially not very likely. There's a chance of course that I could do products similar to RPGPundit Presents for The Invisible College through the new publisher.
I've really enjoyed Dark Albion and Lords of Olympus, so I think it's a safe bet.
A few questions:
- how is the paper: matte or glossy?
- are you planning adventure modules?
- the setting is hard-coded or can it be hacked easily, coming up with different organisations, enemies ecc?
Quote from: Murphy78 on June 16, 2021, 03:30:45 PM
I've really enjoyed Dark Albion and Lords of Olympus, so I think it's a safe bet.
A few questions:
- how is the paper: matte or glossy?
- are you planning adventure modules?
- the setting is hard-coded or can it be hacked easily, coming up with different organisations, enemies ecc?
Having not yet got an author copy (what else is new?) I probably wouldn't be the right person to answer the first question. Maybe someone here who's already had it delivered could tell you.
I have some possible ideas for adventure modules, but nothing definite yet. At 432 pages, the book is very much complete.
The setting can, I think, be hacked quite easily. You could take the core concepts of the mechanics and use them for all kinds of things. Obviously, you could run a campaign where your PCs were from a different or new faction of the occult war. Or where the PCs were agents of one of the Intelligence Agencies of the major nations that know of the occult war. But you could also get rid of the "secret societies" angle altogether if you wanted to, and have just some occult realism game in the modern world. I'm sure you could do other stuff with it too.
How much of those 432 pages is rules & character mechanics (including magic system)?
If you include character creation, magick and gamemaster procedures, probably somewhere over 300 pages. With the bulk of that being magick stuff.
If you got the print edition from Amazon, please let me know if you found any problems of printing or condition.
Or, if on the contrary your product was fine.
I got my softback book from Amazon today. It was in an overly-large bubble envelope which is not enough to protect a 430 page softback. I got lucky, though, no damage at all.
First impressions:
WTF. Brown type on brown paper! Granted, the paper looks like old vellum or parchment, which is cool. But the type is only marginally darker brown. Black would have been better. Page 28-29 has blue or black type which is much easier to read.
The font is nice and large. That helps a lot. Any smaller and I would be unable to read this. (Did I mention brown on brown?)
The layout is simple, clear, and uncluttered. Yay!
Art is very subjective, but I think this is perfect for the topic. It's mostly brown-on-brown of course, but nothing looked out of place. It includes both modern line drawings and old wood cuts, yet it all fits together. The color prints look great too, even on brown.
A glued binding in a book this size will obviously be a concern if it gets a lot of use. There was some excess glue between a couple of the pages, but it pulled apart ok.
I've given it nothing but a cursory flip-through, but I look forward to reading it. I see tarot stuff in the back. I'm a sucker for anything tarot-related.
Over on DTRPG, you can now buy Softcover Black & White and Softcover Color print editions of The Invisible College, including the PDF bundle!
The Hardcover Color edition should still be forthcoming...
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/359585/The-Invisible-College (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/359585/The-Invisible-College)
I am waiting on the premium paper color hardcover. I want to sink money on a high quality book.
Makes sense. It should be forthcoming.
Quote from: HappyDaze on June 14, 2021, 02:58:46 PM
Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on June 14, 2021, 02:30:22 PM
Quote from: PencilBoy99 on June 14, 2021, 02:22:01 PM
Just got the PDF seems very cool. My only recommendation so far would be a version of the PDF where the background is a layer you can turn off.
I was just looking through it too.
Looks great... But I'd agree, the background it a little distracting and it would be cool if you could turn it off or there was a black and white version without the underlay.
I wonder how that background will look on the printed version (where there obviously can't be an option to turn off that layer). Is it Secret of Ziran level of distracting?
Not that bad but that's because the font is so big so it's clearly readable.
I got the softcover color from Amazon. It'd get 5 Stars for Information, loses 1 Star for lack of Index and the not so great ToC, loses another star for the saturation of background color with the similar colored font. This is one of those rare color books I'd really prefer in black and white. If the text was the same color as the page numbers, it'd be rocking. But as a reference book, finding information on the fly during play would be a pain if you don't know the book well.
There was a couple glitches in the Amazon printing as well. There are a couple of pages where the text was printed in dark blue ink, which was super readable. Seeing the blue text next to the papyrus text was like... errr, why couldn't the whole book be blue text...?
None of that stops me from wanting to play the heck out of this game though. A hardcover black and white would be awesome.
The publisher is talking about it with Amazon. We'll see if anything can be done; part of it is to do with the paper quality, apparently.
In any case, I'm glad that the actual content of the game is still appealing to you.
Reading The Invisible College at the moment.
I do have a few questions.
There is a whole chapter about famous IC members.Why is there no equivalent for the Black Lodge? Or any of the other factions?
Also if any of these factions succeed in heavily influencing the government of say a mid-sized country, what would that look like on the ground?
What is the difference between the UK falling under the influence of the Invisible College, the Black Lodge, the Cult of Typhon, or the Gormogons?
Quote from: igor on July 07, 2021, 03:05:26 AM
Reading The Invisible College at the moment.
I do have a few questions.
There is a whole chapter about famous IC members.Why is there no equivalent for the Black Lodge? Or any of the other factions?
Also if any of these factions succeed in heavily influencing the government of say a mid-sized country, what would that look like on the ground?
What is the difference between the UK falling under the influence of the Invisible College, the Black Lodge, the Cult of Typhon, or the Gormogons?
I didn't want to strictly define the famous membership of enemy groups, for a few reasons. Obviously in some cases I named the leadership.
A country under the influence of the Invisible College would be highly dedicated to personal liberty and freedom, individual growth (particularly spiritual and philosophical, but also in the sciences), and a general sort of optimism.
A country under the control of the Black Lodge would be authoritarian, with a very powerful ruling establishment elite, denial of personal liberties, social repression, and an emphasis on things like vapid entertainment and consumerism for the masses to keep them from worrying either about who controls them or thinking about higher ideals.
A country under the control of the Gormogons, depending on which faction of that group it was, would either be a Communist government or a Theocracy. In the former case, it would have a powerful emphasis on the Cult of the State, and spirituality would be discouraged strongly. In the latter case, it would naturally have a strong emphasis on religion, but only collective and approved religion with a heavy emphasis on (often violently) enforcing orthodoxy. In either case, individualism would be very strongly discouraged.
A country under the control of the Cult of Typhon, assuming that control was still through proxies, would be some kind of terror state, with people disappearing in the night, or mass killings of various forms (possibly under the guise of ethnic cleansings or purges), terrifying repression, and open torture. If it was more open than that I guess it might even have some kind of Death Cult religion with human sacrifice.
Thanks for the info. :)
Quote from: RPGPundit on July 07, 2021, 08:18:57 AM
A country under the influence of the Invisible College would be highly dedicated to personal liberty and freedom, individual growth (particularly spiritual and philosophical, but also in the sciences), and a general sort of optimism.
So basically Finland?
Quote from: RPGPundit on July 07, 2021, 08:18:57 AM
A country under the control of the Black Lodge would be authoritarian, with a very powerful ruling establishment elite, denial of personal liberties, social repression, and an emphasis on things like vapid entertainment and consumerism for the masses to keep them from worrying either about who controls them or thinking about higher ideals.
A collision of Spain under Franco, Hungary under Orban and Italy under Berlusconi?
Quote from: RPGPundit on July 07, 2021, 08:18:57 AM
A country under the control of the Gormogons, depending on which faction of that group it was, would either be a Communist government or a Theocracy. In the former case, it would have a powerful emphasis on the Cult of the State, and spirituality would be discouraged strongly. In the latter case, it would naturally have a strong emphasis on religion, but only collective and approved religion with a heavy emphasis on (often violently) enforcing orthodoxy. In either case, individualism would be very strongly discouraged.
Basically North Korea, or Iran?
Quote from: RPGPundit on July 07, 2021, 08:18:57 AM
A country under the control of the Cult of Typhon, assuming that control was still through proxies, would be some kind of terror state, with people disappearing in the night, or mass killings of various forms (possibly under the guise of ethnic cleansings or purges), terrifying repression, and open torture. If it was more open than that I guess it might even have some kind of Death Cult religion with human sacrifice.
So the best case scenario is Argentina under the junta, worst case is the Aztecs crossed with the Khmer Rouge?
I think some of your examples are right on, some I wouldn't be so in agreement, but rather than argue about it what I will point out is that with very few exceptions (I could see a scenario of North Korea or Iran's governments being fully in control of the Gormogons, for example), almost all areas of our modern world are currently battle grounds between the factions. That is, no single faction has total control, and in most cases of the biggest institutions (governments, for example) has even got majority control.
So as the conspiracy mechanics in the appendix to the game try to convey, different factions' power will rise and wane, and groups will use their power to try to fight it out, while controlling smaller institutions and movements and moving them as playing pieces in the occult war.
So I could totally see, for example, the Peronista party in Argentina being totally controlled by the Typhonians, while other groups would still be trying to stop their total takeover of Argentina as a whole. So the Invisible College would be trying to control the pro-democracy pro-liberty movements in Argentina (like Javier Milei's movement), the Black Lodge the far-right Argentinian parties and the military that still has pro-Junta sentiments, the Gormogons control most (but not all) of the Catholic Church and powerful Catholic Lobby, the Rationalist Gormogons the Communists, the Choronzon club controls most of the drug trade and human trafficking, and of course the Order of Thule still has secret nazi bases in the border regions of the country. The Nemites might control the powerful Psychiatric profession in Argentina (Argentines go to therapy per capita more than anyone else on earth, and yet they only seem to get crazier and crazier, so that might be because the Nemites are running it as part of a plan to eventually turn everyone into bug-people).
I wonder if you could use some combination of Fronts / Sine Nomine (e.g., Stars Without Number) Factions / Unknown Armies Faction turns to really supercharge this. This is the kind stuff I want for a Sandbox game, where the bad guys are constantly doing stuff and gaining/losing power.
It also has some similarities to Nephilim. Except the nephilim are more interested in reaching Agartha/Nirvana than influencing the course of civilization and taking over the world.
Quote from: PencilBoy99 on July 07, 2021, 05:45:19 PM
I wonder if you could use some combination of Fronts / Sine Nomine (e.g., Stars Without Number) Factions / Unknown Armies Faction turns to really supercharge this. This is the kind stuff I want for a Sandbox game, where the bad guys are constantly doing stuff and gaining/losing power.
You totally could.
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on July 08, 2021, 12:43:34 PM
It also has some similarities to Nephilim. Except the nephilim are more interested in reaching Agartha/Nirvana than influencing the course of civilization and taking over the world.
Yes, Nephilim took a lot of inspiration from real-world occultism, though their system is not an occult authentic system by any means. Also, they're french, so of course they're only in it for themselves.
Quote from: RPGPundit on July 08, 2021, 05:37:32 PM
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on July 08, 2021, 12:43:34 PM
It also has some similarities to Nephilim. Except the nephilim are more interested in reaching Agartha/Nirvana than influencing the course of civilization and taking over the world.
Yes, Nephilim took a lot of inspiration from real-world occultism, though their system is not an occult authentic system by any means. Also, they're french, so of course they're only in it for themselves.
You might be interested in the revised Chaosium magic rules reprinted in
Enlightened Magic. The alchemy rules in particular are very flavorful and compromise between completely authentic and easily playable.
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on July 09, 2021, 02:12:38 PM
Quote from: RPGPundit on July 08, 2021, 05:37:32 PM
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on July 08, 2021, 12:43:34 PM
It also has some similarities to Nephilim. Except the nephilim are more interested in reaching Agartha/Nirvana than influencing the course of civilization and taking over the world.
Yes, Nephilim took a lot of inspiration from real-world occultism, though their system is not an occult authentic system by any means. Also, they're french, so of course they're only in it for themselves.
You might be interested in the revised Chaosium magic rules reprinted in Enlightened Magic. The alchemy rules in particular are very flavorful and compromise between completely authentic and easily playable.
Hmm, I haven't seen that product.
Quote from: Snowman0147 on June 22, 2021, 10:16:59 PM
I am waiting on the premium paper color hardcover. I want to sink money on a high quality book.
Same here, the Hardcover is an instant sell.
I also had no idea Pundit's audience was so eclectic...
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/216064168_991588908277105_5884184756049511639_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_rgb565=1&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=UUcauIP7aNoAX9cgq0r&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=47d8f1523584be46c17a03bc198d9b44&oe=60EF0CD0)
Who knew??
One Bookshelf has always fucked with RPGPundit. He has a good one to tell you that would raise your blood pressure.
Quote from: Jaeger on July 10, 2021, 12:37:11 AM
Quote from: Snowman0147 on June 22, 2021, 10:16:59 PM
I am waiting on the premium paper color hardcover. I want to sink money on a high quality book.
Same here, the Hardcover is an instant sell.
I also had no idea Pundit's audience was so eclectic...
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/216064168_991588908277105_5884184756049511639_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_rgb565=1&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=UUcauIP7aNoAX9cgq0r&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=47d8f1523584be46c17a03bc198d9b44&oe=60EF0CD0)
Who knew??
It does seem odd, doesn't it? But of course there's always plausible deniability.
Quote from: Jaeger on July 10, 2021, 12:37:11 AM
I also had no idea Pundit's audience was so eclectic...
Who knew??
They arguably intersect in the fields of "RPGs and societal engineering"--although TIC seems more inclined to simply describe it on the game level, while TSL seems to be trying to
do it on some level. ;)
I might just be a cheapskate, but 20 bucks for a pdf is a bit steep when compared to Lion and Dragon or Arrows of Indra. Though it does have twice the page count. I usually pillage these for ideas, since im still trying to get my players to warm up to osr.
I got the phone-booky (is that a thing anymore? Do newsprint phone books still exist and do people know what one feels like in the hands? Am I old or ye olde with a thorn pretending to be a y ? Anyway the impression I am trying to convey is that the book is thin-papered and thick and not very rigid so it "wibbles" when you shake it.) soft cover edition from Amazon and it is a fat book. Has color pages that simulate a paper type.
I ordered a "premium color" hard back from OBS/DTRPG to keep on the shelf for later and I'll beat the hell out of the softer one Amazon sent.
Quote from: Ocule on July 29, 2021, 09:57:16 AM
I might just be a cheapskate, but 20 bucks for a pdf is a bit steep when compared to Lion and Dragon or Arrows of Indra. Though it does have twice the page count. I usually pillage these for ideas, since im still trying to get my players to warm up to osr.
Apparently, DTRPG charges by pagecount for PDFs? Anyways, I would have liked it being cheaper, but the publisher told me that's the price it had to be. That said, you can also buy the print+PDF combo...
Quote from: palaeomerus on July 29, 2021, 07:58:06 PM
I got the phone-booky (is that a thing anymore? Do newsprint phone books still exist and do people know what one feels like in the hands? Am I old or ye olde with a thorn pretending to be a y ? Anyway the impression I am trying to convey is that the book is thin-papered and thick and not very rigid so it "wibbles" when you shake it.) soft cover edition from Amazon and it is a fat book. Has color pages that simulate a paper type.
I ordered a "premium color" hard back from OBS/DTRPG to keep on the shelf for later and I'll beat the hell out of the softer one Amazon sent.
Awesome, thank you very much! And enjoy.
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on July 09, 2021, 02:12:38 PM
You might be interested in the revised Chaosium magic rules reprinted in Enlightened Magic. The alchemy rules in particular are very flavorful and compromise between completely authentic and easily playable.
Yep, good one. The magic rules are ritualistic, so I like using that book for occult magic in BRP.
Quote from: jan paparazzi on August 01, 2021, 07:09:55 PM
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on July 09, 2021, 02:12:38 PM
You might be interested in the revised Chaosium magic rules reprinted in Enlightened Magic. The alchemy rules in particular are very flavorful and compromise between completely authentic and easily playable.
Yep, good one. The magic rules are ritualistic, so I like using that book for occult magic in BRP.
So, do you mean ritualistic in exactly the same way the magic in The Invisible College are?
Is there any chance of getting a ctrl+f searchable version of the PDF?
I know there are tools that can create searchable PDFs out of non-searchable ones, but they are finnicky, success rate depends on fonts used, background colors, readability, etc.
It's a bit of a crap shot in my experience. And I don't really want to spend the money just to check if it would succeed or not.
Anyway, I think that searchability is the primary function of PDFs and the reason I generally prefer them over physical rule books in terms of usability. It's just a matter of finding what you are looking for in a matter of seconds vs a matter of minutes.
Especially if there is no index!
Quote from: TheSHEEEP on August 12, 2021, 02:04:47 AM
Is there any chance of getting a ctrl+f searchable version of the PDF?
I know there are tools that can create searchable PDFs out of non-searchable ones, but they are finnicky, success rate depends on fonts used, background colors, readability, etc.
It's a bit of a crap shot in my experience. And I don't really want to spend the money just to check if it would succeed or not.
Anyway, I think that searchability is the primary function of PDFs and the reason I generally prefer them over physical rule books in terms of usability. It's just a matter of finding what you are looking for in a matter of seconds vs a matter of minutes.
Especially if there is no index!
I would like to see that happen, but ultimately that is outside my control and up to the publisher. I'll keep suggesting it.
Is it just me or does the print in my hardcover seem a bit washed out...
I was surprised at the low contrast and when watching Pundits latest video the print in his soft cover seems much darker:
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/233098834_1013845869384742_7521782715962152956_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=Z7-rURWTKCcAX9Cusys&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=ad76e6dbc844e47b27734655ed9ba017&oe=613CD3EB)
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/227175261_1013845966051399_2358028390150311804_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=EvUXSAnbvMcAX9ix7P9&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=844dc9fa8c209cb9869e116742403add&oe=613D557D)
I Think I ought to send the pics to Drivethru customer service and get another copy sent, or do I need to get my eyes checked?
The top image does seem rather light to me.
Is that premium, or just color?
Quote from: Snowman0147 on August 14, 2021, 01:06:07 AM
Is that premium, or just color?
Allegedly premium.
So looks like I'm gonna Hit up drive thru...
Quote from: Jaeger on August 14, 2021, 04:06:50 PM
Quote from: Snowman0147 on August 14, 2021, 01:06:07 AM
Is that premium, or just color?
Allegedly premium.
So looks like I'm gonna Hit up drive thru...
Holy shit! Yeah you better check on them. That book is 100+ on premium.
I got Premium HC and yeah the ink looks grey instead of black. It's legible but not very contrast-y and I have 49 year old eyes so it's bit unfortunate. $88 + shipping.
If I remember to charge my phone I'll take a picture of it in a couple of hours. I admit I was hoping for darker ink.
Quote from: Jaeger on August 13, 2021, 03:18:41 PM
Is it just me or does the print in my hardcover seem a bit washed out...
I was surprised at the low contrast and when watching Pundits latest video the print in his soft cover seems much darker:
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/233098834_1013845869384742_7521782715962152956_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=Z7-rURWTKCcAX9Cusys&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=ad76e6dbc844e47b27734655ed9ba017&oe=613CD3EB)
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/227175261_1013845966051399_2358028390150311804_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=EvUXSAnbvMcAX9ix7P9&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=844dc9fa8c209cb9869e116742403add&oe=613D557D)
I Think I ought to send the pics to Drivethru customer service and get another copy sent, or do I need to get my eyes checked?
Unfortunately, from what the Publisher tells me, Drivethru (or Lightning Source, which I guess does Dtrpg's printing) change printers recently and the result is not very good, particularly at color. Compared to the Amazon edition, the DTRPG printing of Invisible College has much more subdued color, much to my publisher's annoyance.
So I don't think that its your copy. Looking at my DTRPG copy, the same pages look about the same. It's hugely frustrating, because of course while the book is still legible it's far from the ideal we wanted.
I don't think DTRPG will be able to do much about it, but if anyone wants to contact my publisher (not that they'll be likely to be able to do anything about it anytime soon) they can contact Well of Urd press at wellofurd@comteck.com
The publisher has withdrawn the Premium HC from Drivethru, as they're completely unsatisfied with the printing.
The hope is that we'll be able to get a Color HC from Amazon, but they currently don't have that available to createspace publishers, though it's apparently being currently done as a pilot project and should hopefully eventually be available.
I'm very sorry to anyone who got the Premium Color HC from DTRPG and wasn't satisfied with it. I'm not sure what the publisher can do about it, though.
At least, though I'd find it small comfort myself, you have a collector's item now!
Just a #shorts, just got it less than 1/2 hour ago.
Thanks! Very appreciated!
No problem. More detailed review incoming, just need to have a read.
Quote from: Blink_Dog on October 26, 2021, 08:27:49 PM
No problem. More detailed review incoming, just need to have a read.
I look forward to it.
As am I! Please let us know here when you've done it.
So invisible colleges are a real thing, referring to basically independent circles of scholars who share materials. Is the concept of heroic invisible colleges who fight monsters and wicked sorcerers and try to cultivate knowledge for humanity a pre-existing thing in occultism or is that an invention of this game?
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on October 27, 2021, 11:16:41 AM
So invisible colleges are a real thing, referring to basically independent circles of scholars who share materials. Is the concept of heroic invisible colleges who fight monsters and wicked sorcerers and try to cultivate knowledge for humanity a pre-existing thing in occultism or is that an invention of this game?
It's based on the first, original Invisible College. This was an independent non-centralized movement of writers (mostly in Britain) who were re-examining the works of the Rosicrucians a generation earlier, and trying to advocate for a more free society, "tolerance" (free speech, not the modern version of the word), religious universalism, and the promotion of knowledge and learning. The writers of the original Invisible College were among the founding members of the Royal Society, and the first Speculative (ie. Modern) Freemasons.
Anyone who uses the term "invisible college" today, got it from those original guys, including luminaries like Robert Moray and Elias Ashmole.