Release [Gumshoe] Casting the Runes: Occult Investigation in the World of M. R. James Now Available

[Lawrence Whitaker]

Casting the Runes, Investigative Roleplaying in the World of M. R. James, is the latest release from The Design Mechanism. Using the acclaimed Gumshoe Engine (designed by Robin D. Laws), players take on the roles of Edwardian investigators involving themselves in the supernatural, uncanny, and sinister workings of the occult. From ancient demons to haunted artefacts; biblical monsters to ghosts and vampires; secret societies to lone sorcerers dabbling in the damned; Casting the Runes contains everything you need to recreate the tales of M. R. James and his contemporaries such as Arthur Machen, William Hope Hodgson, Algernon Blackwood and many others. The Edwardian Era is brought to vivid life in the pages of the game, and extensive background information shows how society, class, and economics worked in the period directly before The Great War. Using the Gumshoe system to create and manage clues is given copious attention, and the game includes two introductory scenarios to begin your investigations of the macabre.

The book is 200 pages, black and white, hardcover, and available from The Design Mechanism webstore and DrivethruRPG. The editions available from us directly are full offset; DrivethruRPG provides Print on Demand.

TDM Store: Standard Edition ($37.99, includes free PDF)
Deluxe Edition ($67.99, includes free PDF)
PDF Only ($17.99)
DrivethruRPG (Print on Demand: $34.99, includes free PDF)

 

[PabloM]

Wow!

If it's made by The Design Mechanism then it has to be good.
If it is also a game of mystery and darkness, I am completely in.

PS: I'm going to read something from M. R. James to get in the mood. I honestly don't know the author.

 

[Blue Orange]

It's kind of alluded to in the 1890s setting for Call of Cthulhu.

His characters tend to be introverted gentleman-scholars finding old objects that call up ancient evils. (Sound familiar?)

He was a big influence on Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. So, a precursor to a precursor to D&D.

 

[PabloM]

His characters tend to be introverted gentleman-scholars finding old objects that call up ancient evils. (Sound familiar?)

ha! the comparison is inevitable but I suppose you will have other approaches in his books, right?

 

[John R Davis]

He introduces the "tentacled" thing in one of his stories. Lots of short tales with the bad thing barely seen or fought. My usual holiday reading