Are You My Mummy? [Monday Meeting Notes]

Tomorrow, Tuesday the 5th, at 2pm EST, we start the Kickstarter campaign for Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition! This is significant, at least to me, because Mummy: The Curse was the first Chronicles of Darkness (still New World of Darkness, then) new line we Kickstarted. We had a blast doing that back in the wild and woolly days that seem pretty long ago, and it is so amazing to be able to now present to everyone the 2nd Edition.

In fact, Mummy: The Curse was already being worked on before Onyx Path was formed, during the time that Eddy and I were creating more TTRPG projects for CCP after the success of Vampire 20th. So we’ve got a long association with the line and the concepts presented within it.

Certainly, a lot has changed with Onyx Path, the way we do Kickstarters, and with how the 2nd Editions have tightened up all of the CofD game lines. Both the systems and the setting have benefited from the years of play and thought that came after their initial releases.

M20 Book of the Fallen art by Sam Denmark

So, is this your Mummy? A fair question if your a fan of 1st Edition, and also if you weren’t sold on Mummy: The Curse the first time around. Here are a whole collection of answers to that very question by Impish Ian Watson and Matthew “The Gentleman Gamer” Dawkins, the game’s developer:

– There was a pre-Egyptian culture that spanned a large part of the world (just how big isn’t mentioned, but I think of it like Alexander the Great’s territory, or perhaps the Roman Empire). It was the first such empire in human history. It had no name, and thus is called the Nameless Empire. The center of the Empire, its Rome, was the City of Irem.

– Irem was run by a collection of sorcerer-priests who wanted to turn themselves into gods of the underworld, and so they chose a number of servants to convert into Arisen in order to serve them. The gods need Sekhem, their particular flavour of spiritual juice, and they need you to provide it — mostly by retrieving Iremite artifacts and bringing them back to the underworld.

– Mummies could have come from anywhere in the Empire, and their cults may have moved them from place-to-place for security or to follow an Iremite artifact. The Arisen quickly adapt to new cultures and languages when they wake up, so it’s possible to be “from” practically anywhere, even if the origin of their undead state is Irem.

– Mummies are sort of anti-vampires: where vampires spend most of their time awake with shorter periods of torpor, mummies spend most of their time dead with brief periods of wakefulness. Where vampires start off weak and get stronger over time, mummies wake up at the peak of their power and slowly dwindle as their period of activity comes to an end.

– If you’ve seen the Brendan Frasier Mummy movies, it’s something like that: you wake up, practically a corpse, running on instinct, but immensely powerful. As time goes on, your memory returns, life returns to your body until you appear human, and your power dwindles.

– You typically wake up for one of three reasons: your cult wakes you up for a specific purpose (say, to choose a new leader from a list of candidates), because you sense the Sekhem in a nearby artifact, or because a Sothic Turn has passed since your creation. A Sothic Turn is a 1,461-year period of the star Sothis (Sirius). In the former two cases, you typically “die” again as soon as your task is finished. In the latter case, you may be up and active for years at a time.

– Interestingly, you experience your periods of activity non-linearly. You might wake up in 2012, and then later wake up in 910 BCE, lamenting the lack of effective modern transport or communications.

– If you enjoyed the immortals from World of Darkness: Immortals, you’ll be happy to find yourself reunited with Blood Bathers, Body Thieves, Eternals, and more, in Mummy 2e, as they act both as antagonists and as potential allies and cultists.

– There are essentially three tiers to your character’s creation, allowing for a lot of character variety: your guild, your decree, and your Judge (being like an alien deific entity).

– In this edition, we provide tools for your journey and trials through Duat, the Land of the Dead, so the game doesn’t end when you sleep. You can even bring others with you on your journey.

– Sekhem Sorcerers are presented in this book, expanding on how they appeared in Dark Eras Companion. Again, they might act as antagonists or followers, depending on the group of sorcerers.

– Mummies are not bound to a set appearance or body, and are able to plant their “pillars” in cultists, only to take over their body as their own one receives harm. Therefore, your mummy can theoretically demonstrate any ethnic, cultural, and biological background.

– I’d describe Mummy as the Chronicles of Darkness game best-suited to Dark Eras play, due to its non-linear setup. Even if you don’t want to use the characters or splats presented in a given era from Dark Eras, Dark Eras Companion, or Dark Eras 2, each book presents a host of settings and events with which your mummies can interact.

There you have it, from some fellas that know the material!

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Ready Made Characters art by Aaron Riley

A couple more notes about the Mummy: The Curse 2e Kickstarter itself: First, like most of our KSs, this is just a reminder that if you want to see for yourself how 2nd Edition has come together, backers will be getting sneak previews of the completed text all throughout the KS campaign. So you’ll be able to judge if it’s working for you before we hit the end – unlike during the 1st Edition Mummy KS.

Second, another reminder that the Mummy 2nd KS is going to be run on our Onyx Path Kickstarter account, not the RichT account that 1st Edition was run on. So keep an eye out for that, and see you at the Kickstarter!

Now, onto a different topic for a second. Last weekend, a whole bunch of Onyx Path creators descended onto Game Hole Con in Madison, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, their fearless leader, Mighty Matt McElroy was laid low by a bug right before the con – yet Monica Valentinelli, Bill Bodden, Crystal Mazur, Travis Legge, and a bunch of other folks, helped out and pitched in to cover booth time and demo-games.

A huge thank you to all you folks for coming to the aid of Matt and Onyx Path!

They Came From Beneath the Sea! art by Brian LeBlanc

They had six games of Realms of Pugmire games, as well as six Scarred Lands games, scheduled at the con, and also a bunch of pick-up games were also played. In fact, some of the adventures that were played there were actually play-tests of projects that are soon to show up on both game lines’ respective community content sites.

To be fair, non-stealth play-tests were also played. Specifically for Legendlore, our next upcoming 5e fantasy game, and all reports sound like the players had a fantastic time. Sounds like everybody really loved the main idea of playing yourself transported to the world of the Realm, and that’s just what we want to hear!

The Legendlore players also had tons of questions about the world and the rules, which we really appreciated hearing. Not only is that a great sign when folks want to hear more, but just scanning through the questions it seemed to me that most were actually already answered in the full text of the book (which the play-testers didn’t have). Which is a gratifying nod for developer Steffie de Vaan and her team, and how they set up the info in the book.

You never know if you’re not only playing a great game session, but also helping one of our creators, when you sit down to play one of our games at a con. You never know when you’ll be one of the folks giving early feedback so we can create our:

Many Worlds, One Path!


BLURBS!


Kickstarter!

The Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition Kickstarter arises tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov 5th, at 2pm Eastern US time. Be there to witness the majesty and terror of this new version of Mummy: The Curse!


Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features the return of Meghan Fitzgerald in a no-holds-barred, drag-out, steel-cage match interview with one of our busiest writer/developers!

It’s a Mummy: The Curse themed week!

To start, we have an interview with Matthew Dawkins by the Story Told Podcast, where you’re likely to discover lots of revelations relating to Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/website/mummy-2nd-edition-with-matthew-dawkins

Excitingly, we also have the first episode of Red Moon Roleplaying‘s actual play of Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition right here! Please check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJiyP2UzLSc

As ever, we have a ton of excellent content on our Twitch channel, including games of Changeling, Aberrant, Scarred Lands, Vampire, Pugmire, and more! Please give us a look and a follow over on www.twitch.tv/theonyxpath

It really helps us to have subscribers on our Twitch channel, and you can do so for free and catch premieres as they go up if you have an Amazon Prime account. Just type Twitch Amazon Prime into Google and you’ll be shown how to subscribe for free.

Do you follow us on YouTube? Well, if you haven’t subscribed to us on Twitch, do not despair, as a couple of weeks after each episode on Twitch we transfer the videos over to YouTube right here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzN5jRB35OvnC-6gxnRY4gQ
We already have episodes of Aberrant and Changeling up, with more to come!

Meanwhile, our fans keep creating excellent content, not limited to:

We’re not going to forget the ever-popular Occultists Anonymous Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition series, which continues right here:

Episode 56: Bad To The Bone
Songbird has called Celestial Fire to burn the body of Supay, just as Atratus felt like she was making in-roads with the Judge! Wyrd the Seer has slowed down Supay, but is it enough?
https://youtu.be/inPtPBPaNCA

Episode 57: Now & Again
Atratus takes a dive into dark uncharted waters, metaphorically and metaphysically speaking. Songbird contemplates terrible things, while Wyrd stands guard…
https://youtu.be/RBurUUf1kj4

Drop Matthew a message via the contact button on matthewdawkins.com if you have actual plays, reviews, or game overviews you want us to profile on the blog!

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!


Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)


On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:


Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!:
https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero are available to order!

As always, you can find most of Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!


On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, the W20 Art of Werewolf: The Apocalypse PDF and physical book PoD versions will go live on DTRPG!

In addition, for the first time, we will be activating a PoD version of a Community Content book! In this case, it is Pugmire‘s Canis Minor project: Morty Corgi’s Scroll of Mysteries!


Conventions!

PAX Unplugged: December 6th – 8th, in Philadelphia, PA.

2020: Midwinter: January 9th – 12th, in Milwaukee, WI.


And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

  • Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)
  • Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
  • Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)
  • Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)
  • Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Redlines

  • Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)
  • Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Second Draft

  • Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)
  • Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)
  • Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Development

  • Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
  • Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)
  • Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)
  • One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)
  • Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Manuscript Approval

  • Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
  • Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Approval Development

  • Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)
  • Scion LARP Rules (Scion)
  • Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Editing

  • Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)
  • Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
  • Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)
  • Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
  • Legendlore core book (Legendlore)
  • WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)
  • Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)
  • Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)
  • M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)
  • Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Post-Editing Development

  • Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
  • TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
  • Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)
  • City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)
  • Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)
  • W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)
  • TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
  • Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Indexing


ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

  • Contagion Chronicle – Sent out contracts.
  • Trinity Continuum: Aberrant
  • Hunter: The Vigil 2e
  • Ex3 Lunars – Contracted.
  • TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers
  • Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed
  • Ex3 Monthly Stuff
  • Cults of the Blood God (KS)
  • Chicago Folio – Finals rolling in.
  • Mummy 2 (KS) – Ready to roll.
  • City of the Towered Tombs – Contracted.
  • Let the Streets Run Red – Figuring out probable page count.
  • CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – Awaiting artnotes.
  • Scion Mythical Denizens – Contracted.
  • Deviant
  • Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad
  • Vigil Watch

In Layout

  • They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Knocking through chapters.
  • Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds
  • VtR Spilled Blood
  • Pirates of Pugmire

Proofing

  • Memento Mori
  • Dark Eras 2 – Adding my comments to first dev pass.
  • Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart
  • Trinity RMCs
  • Geist 2e Screen – At WW for final approval.

At Press

  • Trinity: In Media Res – PoD proofs coming.
  • V5: Chicago – Printing.
  • Aeon Aexpansion – PoD proofs ordered.
  • W20 Art Book – On sale Wednesday on DTRPG.com.
  • W20 Auspice Gift Cards deck – PoD proofs ordered.
  • Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – Getting print files ready.
  • DR:E – Getting print files ready.
  • DRE Screen – Getting print files prepped.
  • C20 Cup of Dreams – Proof PoD ordered.
  • DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties – errata gathering.
  • M20 Book of the Fallen – Backer PDF going out this week.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Yesterday was the birthday of Jeremy Brett, born Peter Jeremy William Huggins, and he would have been 86 years old this year. And while I am no expert on the character, like my friend Eddy Webb is, Brett was, in my opinion, the greatest portrayer of Sherlock Holmes ever. From his bio: “Brett was obsessed with bringing more passion to the role of Holmes. He introduced Holmes’ rather eccentric hand gestures and short violent laughter. He would hurl himself on the ground just to look for a footprint, he would leap over the furniture or jump onto the parapet of a bridge with no regard for his personal safety.” I can’t to this day read the stories without hearing his voice as the voice of Holmes.


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42 responses to “Are You My Mummy? [Monday Meeting Notes]”

  1. Atavist Avatar
    Atavist

    Super cool to see Mummy second edition coming around. I’m sure the Kickstarter will do well.

    Any word on when the brochure is going to be made available?

    1. Matt-M-McElroy Avatar

      We should have print copies at PAX Unplugged and the PDF will go up on DriveThruRPG during or just after the convention depending on my access to WiFi during the show.

      1. Atavist Avatar
        Atavist

        Thank you so much. I’ll be keeping my eye out for it!

    2. richt Avatar
      richt

      Depends on how fast the printer can print and ship them!

  2. Carl Avatar
    Carl

    Thoughts on this post.

    * Love the fact that we get to see what the book will be like during the kickstarter. Obviously one can’t go back to the past (unlike a mummy) but I wish it was there then, so its cool now. I am definitely going to support it and read it before making a judgement call.

    * The whole non linear thing is AWESOME!!! It being made useful by the material in Dark Eras makes what is already a great project chain even more AWESOME.

    * (Not to harp but I really do wish that Sekhem goes 1 to 10 and not 10 to 1. Its one of the rule decisions I was never a fan of.)

    * I love Mummy and seeing a new edition of Curse makes me wish for the potential of seeing a new edition of Mummy The Resurrection which is what I consider MY Mummy game.

    * While I haven’t used the Onyx Path kickstarter account before once its clicked its as easy to use as the other one so no issue there. That said it does mean I won’t an update email about it so I will have to manually remember to look it up. (Not hard, just sayin, lol)

    *Switching topics a bit the whole idea of Legendlore (which I just learned about a few days, I think, ago) is AWESOME. A person from the modern world finding themselves in a fantasy world sounds AMAZING and EPIC. And basically something I have long wanted.

    * My only ‘issue’ with that is that it uses a class-based system rather than say your own Storypath system. (Not that I am against 5e, its a cool system, I just prefer nowadays classless systems)

    1. Matt-M-McElroy Avatar

      As the Realm/Legendlore comics are very much a love letter to D&D we figured the D&D OGL was the proper system for the RPG.

      1. Carl Avatar
        Carl

        Nod. Nod. That makes a lot of sense. Plus it would aid in the world setting and the rules actually flowing.

        My main rules hope is that you use the having Feats rule, which to me should never have been an option in the first place.

        —-

        Actually, thinking about things, do the characters from our world know the rules. Like to they have access to ‘character sheets’ internally. I ask because I think such a feature would be fun. (It reminds me of the whole LITRPG genre of stories, which I am a fan of.)

        1. Eddy Webb Avatar

          No, they aren’t aware of the rules on a meta level like in LitRPG.

    2. richt Avatar
      richt

      Making sure the text was done, and then releasing that text in pieces during the KS to backers, are two things we learned during the years since Mummy 1’s Kickstarter. If you look back on how things were done with KS back then, it was still the assumption that the KS preceded the work on the project. That thinking came from the original intentions of KS themselves, as a place where creators could get funding to create. KS has evolved since then, and our expectations as creators and backers have as well. Hope you enjoy what you see once you get a chance to read the text- thanks!

  3. Lurking N0S4A2 Avatar
    Lurking N0S4A2

    Extremely excited for MtC2e! Even more excited for the Cults of the Blood Gods KS! Hopefully soon! *fingers crossed*

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      We’re working on Cults so it’ll be good to go when it’s time for it’s Kickstarter…sooooon!

  4. Lurker Avatar
    Lurker

    Have they cut down on the amount of Egyptian words that players need to know in this edition? I really wanted to run the 1st edition but the huge vocabulary (even for a white wolf/onyx path game) of Proper Nouns made it impossible to sell to my players.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Not knowing your tolerance for different words in a game about an ancient, ancient civilization, that’s hard for me to tell. Check out the Kickstarter when it goes live and you can judge for yourself!

  5. Grimmi Avatar
    Grimmi

    Well we be able to make our cults like in the 1st edition(like with the three different types of cults) or has cults creation changed?

    1. Matthew "The Gentleman Gamer" Dawkins Avatar

      You’ll be able to make your cults again 🙂

    2. richt Avatar
      richt

      Check out the Kickstarter and find out!

  6. Joshua D Browning Avatar
    Joshua D Browning

    Interesting, interesting…

    But what about Cult of the Blood Gods? Any words on it? We long for its secrets

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      We’re getting it ready for it’s own Kickstarter campaign. Don’t worry, we’ll let ya’ll know when that’s going to start!

  7. Maxime Lemaire Avatar
    Maxime Lemaire

    Those Mummy Q&A were perfect. A nice way to sell the game.

    And as someone who got into Mummy after second edition had started rolling, I’ve been eagerly waiting for this KS, as the systems were interesting but really needed an update. Looking forward to instantly backing it when it goes online!

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Thanks! Great to hear and see you in a few hours at the KS!

  8. Alex M. Avatar
    Alex M.

    Mummy looks even more interesting this time around, especially with the new concept of non-linear awakenings. Cool to see that happening.

    It’s a bit unfortunate that Let the Streets Run Red and Cult of the Blood Gods haven’t advanced in the timetable, but I suppose it’s best not to rush them if they’re not ready. Looking forward to them nonetheless

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      It’s the time it takes for these things to be ready, after all, but we’ll be thrilled to have them out for everyone as much as you folks!

  9. Jonathan Lang Avatar
    Jonathan Lang

    And the Backer version of Book of the Fallen is apparently going to drop Wednesday! I’m going to have to juggle my evaluation of Mummy the Curse 2e and my evaluation of Book of the Fallen. Oh, the pain, the pain! 😛

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Could be anytime this week, actually. Backer links aren’t limited to Weds Sales Day!

  10. Eddy Webb Avatar

    *deep breath*

    While the concept of “best Sherlock Holmes actor” is highly subjective, it’s hard to argue against Brett being one of the most iconic, and certainly the most iconic of the past few decades.

    You see, prior to that the most iconic actor was Basil Rathbone (and before him William Gillette, the actor that Conan Doyle himself thought of as a good Holmes, BUT I DIGRESS). Until then, Holmes was almost universally being portrayed as a superhero: flawless, intelligent, and suave.

    Then, the 1970s prompted a strong reconsideration of Holmes and Watson as characters, which came to a head with Nicholas Meyer and his novel (and later film) “The Seven Per-Cent Solution,” which was essentially “Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of Getting Off Cocaine.” Meyer, being an avid Sherlockian, actually had Watson flat-out call certain stories “forgeries” and doubled-down on the original presentation of Holmes as a flawed, but still massively intelligent man. His drug use, only casually referenced in the canon, took center stage and really shaped our modern perception of “Holmes as an addict” (perhaps to an inaccurately disproportionate degree, but then again his own ability to take cocaine and not get addicted to it could also be marked as a superpower so perhaps it’s more accurate to say ANYWAY DIGRESSED AGAIN)

    So ITV in the 80s was having an ongoing ratings war with the BBC. The BBC was really good at period drama, and ITV wanted to deal with them on that front. And the one thing ITV had that the BBC didn’t was money. So they invest in a Sherlock Holmes series which is lavish even by modern standards. And they hire someone who is a Holmes expert to adapt the original stories. And if you’re a Holmes fan at this time, you’re shaped by Meyer in one way or another.

    So, Brett brings a humanity and flawed eccentricity that previous adaptations of the character lacked. And, as Rich says, Brett was himself obsessed with Holmes. Brett did the (at that time) unusual thing of ACTUALLY READING THE ORIGINAL STORIES, and saw that a lot of what people THOUGHT Holmes was isn’t what’s written on the page. And Brett was a strong advocate of bringing Holmes’ drug abuse to the screen.

    Of course, ITV freaked out and the whole subplot was quickly written out after season one, but the concept of Holmes being eccentric and struggling with his addiction may not have started with Brett, but it’s defined by him. If you loved Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal in “Sherlock,” he’s clearly inspired by Brett.

    So, yes. Brett is probably the most important actor to portray Sherlock Holmes in recent memory. And he’s certainly a favorite of mine.

    1. Ryan Spinney Avatar
      Ryan Spinney

      My iconic Sherlock Holmes is Robert Downey Jr. or the Sort of Sherlock Holmes in Murdock Mysteries (the character is a mental patient who thinks he is Sherlock Holmes and Sir Conan Doyle even tries to convince him he is not, but fails).

      To be fair I’m not a hardcore Sherlock Holmes fan and untilnI saw Robert Downey Jr. play him my whole experience of the character was Brent Spiner playing Data who was playing Sherlock Holmes.

      1. Eddy Webb Avatar

        RDJ is an underrated Holmes, in my opinion.

      2. richt Avatar
        richt

        RDJ was excellent, I really enjoyed him and most of the first film. It was a portrayal of Holmes that emphasized certain parts of the character, legitimately, and eased back on other parts. I feel pretty much the same way about Cumberbatch. And I loved Rathbone, I grew up watching the b&w movies on late night TV.

        Brett though, embodied Holmes. Particularly in terms of accurately and dynamically playing the Holmes in the stories. Check him out some time, if you get a chance, especially as Eddy points out, the earlier seasons.

    2. richt Avatar
      richt

      Great historical run-down, Eddy!

  11. Phil H Avatar
    Phil H

    It feels like yesterday, yet a also a lifetime ago that I backed the first edition of Mummy on Kickstarter. Weirdly that seems perfectly in keeping with some of the themes of the game.

    I’m very much looking forward to backing the new edition and love that it’s being used to provide a home for a lot of the “lesser” immortals as well as the Arisen. As a UK resident I’ll be in on the PDF only, and I know you’re as frustrated as me about prohibitive shipping fees, and I’m already chomping at the bit for it.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Yep, and we’re glad you can support the effort in whatever way you can! Hopefully, you can get the book from a retailer in the UK once we get through the KS and KS fulfilLment.

  12. Ryan Spinney Avatar
    Ryan Spinney

    The funny thing is I’m as interest in MtC 2e as much for the Immortal Rules, aa for the Mummies themselves. I also like the idea of rules for visiting the Underworld.

  13. Ryan Spinney Avatar
    Ryan Spinney

    Also just let me say that Immortals had the best cover art of any NWOD/CoD book IMHO.

    1. Dixie Cochran Avatar
      Dixie Cochran

      I’ll fight you for New Wave Requiem being the best. This is a hill on which I am prepared to die. 😉

  14. Phaolan Avatar
    Phaolan

    I was there for Mummy’s first Kickstarter, and I’ll be here for the second one! It looks like a great addition – and like the other Second Editions, a great revision – to the CofD.

    …And no, I’m not a shill for anyone. I’m just legit happy about the great work RichT and everyone at Onyx Path does.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      And we’re really glad you’re on board again with Mummy2e! Funny how often we get members of our community apologizing for being nice, but so rarely for being mean. 😉

  15. Discobutcher Avatar
    Discobutcher

    Hi !
    For me an important question is: how much is C.A. Suleiman involved in Mummy 2nd.
    I love the concept of the game – the snippets I got of 2nd Ed. hype me even more. But I’m just not a big fan of the writing style of Mr. Suleiman, that’s why I ask.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      We haven’t worked with C.A. for years, he’s not on the book.

  16. Michael E Avatar
    Michael E

    I enjoyed MtC 1st edition quite a bit. For whatever reason it felt very different from other CoD books to me (in a good way!). That being said, some of the new ideas introduced in the new edition seem to broaden gameplay possibilities significantly, and that’s brilliant. Looking forward to it.

    1. Discobutcher Avatar
      Discobutcher

      Thats I statement I can totally agree on! Mummy is the only line where I bought every existing book as a deluxe PoD. The ideas are just so fascinating. And including Immortals now – plus a reason for “time jump” (so to say) adventures with confused Arisen through the ages (having an excuse to use more dar eras) … This new edition will be even more awesome then the last !

  17. Matt Barker Avatar
    Matt Barker

    Hi Guys,

    I just got my copies of Trinity and it looks gorgeous. I absolutely love it.

    One of my books has some pretty heavy damage though. Do I just suck it up as part of international shipping or is there a process I can go through to get a replacement? Sorry if this is covered by an FAQ somewhere.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Use either the KS page Contact link or the contact info on BackerKit to us, which will get you through to James and he’ll sort things out with you. No worries!