Anyone checked out MADNESS IN LONDONTOWN yet?

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JonHook
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Anyone checked out MADNESS IN LONDONTOWN yet?

Post by JonHook »

Anyone checked out the new Age of Cthulhu adventure? Thoughts?
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Re: Anyone checked out MADNESS IN LONDONTOWN yet?

Post by Garuda »

I bought it last week but have only had chance to take a quick glimpse at it.

The things that stand most out for me at the moment are the Americanisms. Now obviously its written by an American and the investigators are presumed American - but if you set the adventure in Britain it'd be nice if the Americanisms were relaxed a bit so that you can experience the adventure from the point of view of its setting and its protagonists. One example being the handout leaflet that should be written in English but colourful is spelt in American English.

A mistake that some American writers make at times rears its head in this scenerio too. It leaves you with the impression that London is Britain and that everything in England is just five minutes away from the centre of London. The two examples of this that I noted: The investigators arrive at the docks in the late afternoon just prior to attending the gala at the museum in London. The docks at which they arive would be either Southampton or Liverpool - cities that are hours away from London. Once at the gala one attendee needs to leave at 9.30 p.m. because he has an RSC event to attend in Stratford - making it sound like its five minutes away - instead of half way across the country.

Aside from my personal gripes, the outline of the plot looks good so far - but I've only skimmed through it I haven't read it yet.
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Re: Anyone checked out MADNESS IN LONDONTOWN yet?

Post by JonHook »

Interesting. What about the maps and handouts, are they as dark as they were in Death in Luxor?
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Re: Anyone checked out MADNESS IN LONDONTOWN yet?

Post by Garuda »

JonHook wrote:Interesting. What about the maps and handouts, are they as dark as they were in Death in Luxor?
They're much lighter and easier to see/read in MiL.

I've read a bit more and the scenerio looks like it should be fun to run. There are maybe too many instances of SAN loss for my personal taste and the spelling errors of place names - though not detracting from the adventure - are a little annoying. Leister, White Chapel and Debonshire instead of Leicester, Whitechapel and Devon (though the latter would seem to be simply a typo).
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Re: Anyone checked out MADNESS IN LONDONTOWN yet?

Post by Rick Maffei »

Thanks Garuda for the thought-provoking input. (You get extra points for being a Blackadder fan! It's a close call, but Blackadder II was probably my personal favorite of the series.)

I made an effort to insert little "British-isms" into the text, but there's certainly potential for more! Writing an adventure set in another country (especially when the adventure is also set in another time period) is always a challenge, to be sure. As you say, an American writing about another country will no doubt view it through an "American prism" so to speak. My personal design goal when writing an adventure is to write an adventure that's fun to play first and foremost, but I can say with certainty that I spent more time in the "research phase" of this project than anything I've written to date.

This brings to mind an old X-Files episode set in a New Jersey town—Mulder is shown driving his car past tall buildings in a NYC-style area, whereas in reality most of the town in question is actually rather modest suburbs with no skyscrapers to be had. I had a private chuckle over that, but it didn't diminish my enjoyment of the episode. I rather liked the idea of a weird parasitic creature living a mere 30 minutes away!
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Re: Anyone checked out MADNESS IN LONDONTOWN yet?

Post by boneguard »

I just finished reading it yesterday and it is indeed a nice little adventure, and i like the link to Death in Luxor. The Map are indeed lighter so easier to see and read.

Although I noticed a typo/error in Vernons flat. The bedroom (2-3) and the bathroom (2-4) doesn't match up with the map: They've been inverted.

Other then that it's a great module.
Garuda wrote: <Snip>...the spelling errors of place names - though not detracting from the adventure - are a little annoying. Leister, White Chapel and Debonshire instead of Leicester, Whitechapel and Devon (though the latter would seem to be simply a typo).
Yeah I notice, but oddly enough, those spelling mistakes are limited to the description of the wax museum. Elsewhere Leicestershire and Devon(shire) is spelled correctly.
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Re: Anyone checked out MADNESS IN LONDONTOWN yet?

Post by GnomeBoy »

Is it possible that the spelling mistakes were actually pronunciation guides for the unfamiliar?

Probably not, I guess, but it would help if you've never heard Leicester pronounced out loud before....
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boneguard
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Re: Anyone checked out MADNESS IN LONDONTOWN yet?

Post by boneguard »

GnomeBoy wrote:Is it possible that the spelling mistakes were actually pronunciation guides for the unfamiliar?
Doubtful, very Doubtful.

-Leicester was written properly previously in Chapter 4 (IIRC);
-Debonshire, is very likely just a typo since the V and B and next to each other;
-And Whitechapel in one word isn't hard to pronounce, and if you look at the picture it is written properly on the base of the Jack the Ripper mannequin.

Anyway it is nothing seriously major.
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Re: Anyone checked out MADNESS IN LONDONTOWN yet?

Post by GnomeBoy »

Now I'm trying to remember if I ever visited Why-Tech-uh-Pel... :wink:
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Re: Anyone checked out MADNESS IN LONDONTOWN yet?

Post by Rick Maffei »

I owe up to misspelling Leicester—clearly I wrote some sections from the padded cell Harley keeps me locked in much of the time. :oops:

As far a hard pronunciations, try visiting Wales if you want a real challenge!
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Re: Anyone checked out MADNESS IN LONDONTOWN yet?

Post by GnomeBoy »

Rick Maffei wrote:As far a hard pronunciations, try visiting Wales if you want a real challenge!
It helps to remember that W is a vowel...
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Re: Anyone checked out MADNESS IN LONDONTOWN yet?

Post by Ogrepuppy »

GnomeBoy wrote:
Rick Maffei wrote:As far a hard pronunciations, try visiting Wales if you want a real challenge!
It helps to remember that W is a vowel...
Err..whh.....^ that just cost me some sanity. :shock:

(I'd love to learn Welsh.)
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Re: Anyone checked out MADNESS IN LONDONTOWN yet?

Post by GnomeBoy »

Ogrepuppy wrote:
GnomeBoy wrote:It helps to remember that W is a vowel...
Err..whh.....^ that just cost me some sanity. :shock:
It's twue!
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