Rogue Cthulhu's Origins '02

Among the mountains of crap we hauled to the show, was a sound system with more beef than a Double-Whopper with Cheese*. A 200 watt amplifier, who's capabilities we would later push and even exceed, was fed an arrangement of dark ambient dementia, pre-mixed on the very computer which I am typing on now. The end product being pumped through two towering cabinet speakers with dual 15" woofers that weighed approximately 4.2 metric tons each. Visitors to our room were engulfed in an ethereal accompaniment of auditory evil, adding endless amounts of ambiance and atmosphere to our gaming environment. On dozens of occasions, the background score highlighted the events in the game play action most serendipitously. * MMmmm... Double-Whopper with Cheeeese!

Being the bad boys of gaming, we decided that we needed something to distinguish ourselves from the throngs of avid game players. Heaven knows we never can draw enough attention to ourselves. Matching embroidered polo shirts are great for some groups but nothing says “I’m an evil cultist who intends on sacrificing your sanity to the Elder Gods”, like a flowing black robe! We were all looking pretty swank this year in our trendy new digs. These little black numbers come complete with matching cowl hoods and purple stoles that feature glow in the dark cryptic sigils. Our thanks go out to Jeana Pattison, Josh Langley, and Marx Stead for all their hard work putting together these strikingly hansom and enigmatic costumes.

New for Rogue this year was the Rogue Point system. A first for Origins and, we believe, a ground breaking idea that we expect to see copied by other gaming groups in the years to come, the new Rogue Point system, and the accompanying prize table were a big success. The prize table boasted a huge assortment of Cthulhu and non-Cthulhu related items, like Miskatonic diplomas, t-shirts, sculpey elder signs, game supplements, dice bags, bumper stickers, and much much more. Much to our surprise, someone actually accumulated enough points over the weekend to walk away with this year’s highest valued item, 2000 points for a hand-made eldritch tome prop. Congratulations! It’s a great feeling as a GM to see the players’ eyes light up as you toss them a well deserved point chip; and as a player, it’s great to be able to go home feeling like a winner, even though your character died a horrible and hideous death.

Origins 2002 was a proving ground for a whole host of new things for Rogue Cthulhu; new lighing, new costumes, new scenarios, and even some new Game Masters as well. Long time Rogue fans and now valued colleagues, Rod and Justine Wiesinger came out of the corner swinging with an original three part saga called The Black Pharaoh. This tag team Father-Daughter duo knows how to make an Elder God proud. New comer Dustin Huber stepped up to the plate to take on several slots of Cults Across America and The Hills Rise Wild! (special thanks to Atlas Games and Pagan Publishing for their support). Look for this unstoppable tempest of unbridled energy, and seemingly endless spare time, to take on some major projects and some awesome role playing sessions next year and beyond. He writes, he game masters, he draws, he sings, he dances. This guy can do it all!

We'de like to take a moment and thank GAMA for all their hard work this year, and especially for the support they have shown Rogue Cthulhu. As most of you already know, certain elements of the gaming industry who will remain nameless ( -AAhhhWotChhhOOOOO! Excuse me,.. allergies.) wanted to make sure Rogue 'never played in this town again', as the saying goes. But the wise and good event manager, Anthony Gallela, who was granted sole discretion where as concerns our inclusion, saw past the partisan politics (with the help of a two hour plea for reprieve from the renowned spin doctor, Rev. Marx) and acquiesced. We sold him on an idea that we called "The Really Big Show" (insert Ed Sullivan voice-over, here), and what a really big show it turned out to be. Anthony gave us free reign to create an awesome gaming experience of our own design, and made sure that the staff and volunteers gave us everything we needed to pull it off. We can't thank you guys enough.

PARTY !! PARTY !! PARTY !!      Yet another Origins first for Rogue Cthulhu... Thursday night, the Rogue Room was thumping to the sounds of DJ silent E, as Rogue rocked away the night in an experimental freeform live action dance party edition of the ever popular "And Then There Was One". This event could have been better if all the details that were planned for it would have played out, and if the sound system had been a little less problematic, but the production team ran short on time and had to carry on without some of the finer details that got put on the mythical "back burner" never to be seen again. The dance mix needed a lot of polishing (DJ silent E was only role-playing a DJ. He really has no idea what he's doing), it needed pre-made characters with motivations and sub-plots (they were planned, but never executed for lack of time), and the finale appearance of Hastur was anticlimactic (we should have had a designated sober GM).      As it turned out, everyone who wanted to have a good time, did. And for those who didn't, I don't think any amount of gloss and refinement would have made any difference for them. It was either going to fly as a dance party or it wasn't. It did fly, but perhaps not as high as the team's expectations. Alcohol contributed greatly to both it's success and to some of it's failings. Player turn out was decent (but not stellar), as was the male to female mix. A few technical difficulties with the sound system threatened to put a wet blanket on our budding hedonism (we blew a breaker in the amp 30 minutes in), until one of the players, who had a little experience with ornery stereo equipment, came to the rescue. To the credit of the players, many of them created character personas on their own and began a rampage of outrageous, erotic, hedonistic, violent, anti-social and destructive behavior, all to the delight of the other players and the game masters who's job it was to choose the most exuberant performance to be the event winner. It's hard to say if all the crazy antics were the result of spontaneous role playing or an alcohol induced frenzy, but in the end I'm not sure it really matters. There were so many people getting wild, it was terribly difficult to decide on a winner in the end; and the fact that, by that time, all the GMs were inebriated to the point of being barely functional, didn't help much. We had dancers grinding on one another, we had people toilet papering the room, we had several people sacrificed to the effigy of Cthulhu, and when the smoke cleared, "the restroom killer" was crowned the King in Yellow.      As you may have noticed, the pictures to the right have nothing to do with the Dance Party. That's because we were all too drunk to take pictures at the time. We did manage to get a group shot of the few stragglers who hung out after the party, and of the winner, Jim Doezie.      Since not all of the details that could have made this event really great made it off the drawing board, a few of us here at Rogue think that it deserves to be run again next year, or in the near future, with all of the refinements. The rest of us want to take those few and hang them over a cliff by their toes for even suggesting it. Perhaps you could tell us what you think. Email Rogue Cthulhu and tell us if you want to party next year or not to bother. Special thanks go out to Eric Gerlach, Shawn Pattison, Steve Easterday, Marx Stead and Dustin Huber who contributed significantly to the music used for the dance party.

We would like to thank all of you who came out and made this years come-back performance such a fabulous ride. Special thanks go out to all those staff and support personnel who contributed their blood sweat and tears to this years production. We couldn’t have done it all without you. Extra special thanks go out to Anthony G. and all the guys at GAMA for believing in us and giving us the opportunity to make our triumphant return to Origins, and for giving us the support and facilities we needed to go forward with all our bigger than life plans. See you again next year!