So this is the Chaosium Con blog — where the Cosmic Outpost materialised to mingle with all those wonderfully crazy people who love Chaosium just as much as we do. It was a great weekend — long, full of late nights, laughter, and a whole lot of mythos-fuelled camaraderie. Honestly, those newer to the world than the Cosmic Outpost fared better but we didn’t come to fail, we pushed that Con roll!
The Journey & First Impressions
I travelled up with the Miskatonic Playhouse, also materialising for a couple of live performances. I was helping with tech, naturally, and the Cosmic Outpost also got to take their place on stage but more of that later!
The venue? The Cranfield Conference Centre — a bit out of the way (you have to dodge a high-speed rail line constrcition), but the building had a futuristic flair and looked fantastic in person. We arrived late Thursday night, checked in, and dived straight into the bar to see familiar faces gathered for the weekend.
Friday: Juice, Games & the Gathering
Friday morning started with breakfast — decent enough, though we all had a bit of a laugh over the definitely-not-fresh orange and apple juice. We suspect powdered concentrate. Next time I think we’ll bring our own!
Most folks dashed off to play games. Traders set up tucked away behind badge registration – and if you caught the Fast Talk show, you’ll have heard about my chat with the good people behind the Innsmouth Literary Festival. Lovely folks.
Later that afternoon came the Chaosium Creators Meetup. It was great to see so many writers – creators who’ve sold thousands of self-written adventures now being played all over the world. Newman (Miskatonic Playhouse host and Chief Shoggoth of the Miskatonic Repository) was very please at the number of folks there and even more pleased that Chaosium bought the creators a drink! And it wasn’t just Miskatonic folk — the Jonstown Compendium (RuneQuest) and contributors to the Companions of Arthur (Pendragon) were there too. Always amazing to meet people whose games I’ve heard of — or even run.
We nearly managed to catch a very brief welcome from the Chaosium team. They had everyone from President Rick Meints to the co-owners in attendance, great to so many folks including the one who flew in from Australia.
The Studio Setup & Rivers of London Actual Play
Most of my focus was on getting the tech set up for the evening’s performances. With two suitcases of gear I had enough gear the stream the entire convention but only needed to cover the Miskatonic Playhouse!
We recorded the Rivers of London show with dynamic mics on the desk, an omni directional mic to catch Keeper and players and a boom mic routed through the vision mixer – which in turn handled four camera angles: one on the GM, one wide shot, and two covering the players. All in all, solid coverage.
Now, I’m not that familiar with Rivers of London and the game leaned into comedy, which suited the audience well and everyone had a great time.
Saturday: New Releases, Writing Workshops & Mason’s Madness
Saturday was busy — and brilliant. Chaosium unveiled some of their upcoming releases:
- Sutra of Pale Leaves trailer (starring the King in Yellow)
- Camp Cthulhu, a new setting for Scouts to become engaged in the mythos
- News on the Gaslight Keeper’s Screen Pack
Kerrie MacDonald, Mike Mason, and Brian Holland (who flew in from Australia!) were all on hand. A brilliant, insightful panel.
Later, I attended Mike Mason’s writing workshop, a fantastic session on how to structure adventures. The Q&A was especially helpful.
The Miskatonic Playhouse plays MikeMares!
Saturday evening brought a highlight: Mike Mason running a live game for the Miskatonic Playhouse. The cast included:
- Myself (Cosmic Outpost)
- Newman (our host)
- Kerris MacDonald (Gaslight line editor)
- Cami from How We Roll
- And Mike Mason as Keeper!
It was a straight-to-the-point haunted house tale. Naturally, a ritual was underway. Naturally, we had to stop it. And naturally, I fumbled my Library Use roll, fell off a ladder, and took a major wound. (Pro tip: don’t fall off a ladder — six HP gone in one go!)
After the game? everything packed down, off to the bar and another very short night’s sleep.
Sunday: Seminars, Socials & Saying Goodbye
Sunday felt like a proper wind-down — chatting, recording interviews for Fast Talk, and attending Kerrie MacDonald’s seminar on Gaslight-era class etiquette. She ran a fantastic roleplay exercise where we had to address each other using period-accurate titles. Thanks to our Mr. Whisper actual play, we nailed it.
The afternoon was about catching up. Sitting in the atrium chatting to folks from The Illusion Con, Lightless Beacon, Mr. Spike’s Bedtime Stories — everyone was there, just relaxing and enjoying the vibe.
Had great chats with Paul Fricker, Kerrie MacDonald, and even Rick Meints, Chaosium’s president. Down-to-earth people who genuinely love their community. That’s the kind of interaction that makes a convention special.
Final Ritual: A Dive into the “Blue” with Matt Sanderson
The final event? Playing Blue, a scenario written and run by the legendary Matt Sanderson. It’s a deep-sea horror tale where we are explorers and rescuers! I thought I think I’d played it before and my sieve-like memory left it feeling brand new.
We dove, we poked the shoggoth, we paid the price — but I think we saved the world. Worth it!
The Shadow Over Conventions: COVID
A quick word of caution: a some of people got hit hard by COVID after the convention, some quite hard. The Cosmic Outpost just about dodged the lurgy which I’ll put down to the immunobooster I had been taking and the vaccination I’d had in the winter. So just a reminder folks mask up during travelling, wash your hands, bring tissues, and respect each other’s space at events. Testing everyone before a con isn’t feasible, but a little care goes a long way.
Stay in Touch!
If I met you at Chaosium Con, drop me a hello – mythos@roll4sanity.com
Postscript: Mike Mason Does Karaoke?
Oh, and if you’re filling out a Chaosium Con feedback form? Put in a request for karaoke. Apparently Mike Mason is a demon on the mic. I’d pay good money to hear it next year!
Thanks for reading! And we’ll roll4sanity again soon!
