We know so little of Julia Brown. So far from FFG, we meet her. Her plight intensifies. She continues to fight the nightmare that has taken over her life. Her nightmare reaches a fever pitch. For Julia Brown there is no going back. Hideously transformed, the tale of Julia Brown is nearly complete, and her fate is sealed along the path to Y'ha-nthlei.

The Shadow Over Innsmouth must be the story arc. Likely it is often loosely based (I mean it's a card game after all). How many times have stories been written since the 1928 classic wherein the narrator is drawn to her (this time) roots by innocent coincidence. Slowly her visions of being called to sea lead to a not so beautiful Innsmouth Look, and some flappy slithering out to sea. Countless times. But I'm fine with it once again.

My hope is for a mix of unique characters, new and classic. I don't need everybody she ever met. Zadok Allen would be nice, and a nod to classic H.P. Jeremiah Brewster would be a nod to Mythos CCG. Erich Zann would defy the arc but be the awesome surprise I'd want. Something like that. Julia Brown in the Gillman House or the Marsh Refining Company rings nicer than, say, Julia's Weird Half Uncles Shack. Don't get me wrong, Neils Curiosity Shop type stuff is terrific. But there's only 12 or so cards per faction for this expansion. I'd rather some be gugs, dholes, and goody fowler than six of them be the new polar conspiracy mask.

The Summoners of the Deep expansion (AP VII to XIII) is: the Spawn of the Sleeper (Terror struggle), the Horror Beneath the Surface (Investigation struggle), Antediluvian Dreams (Combat struggle), the Terror of the Tides (Arcane struggle), Thing From the Shore (character skill), and the Path to Y’ha-nthlei.

The question is, now that we have the starter released, when can we start to expect the new packs?

I wonder if this story arch will lead to multiple versions (cards) of Julia Brown?

Julia Brown

inheritrix of the bizarre

Julia Brown

of inhuman ancestry

Julia Brown

denizen of Y' ha-nthlei

hybrid, nice titles. are they figments of your imagination? i still assume no rpg or other chaosium-type roots. but someone may know better. i guess i'd rather believe she's a totally new character. unless she's from literature from way back when.

johnny shoes said:

Yes, figments.

I have considerable knowledge of Mythos literature, including rpg sources

and I can say with confidence that I've never heard of a Julia Brown. I wouldn't be surprised

if Miss 'Brown' discovers she was adopted and has blood ties to Innsmouth. She's almost certainly a

totally original character of FFGs. If it's their property they can do anything they want with it. I do hope

they continue to make cards that reference the Lovecraft work. Is FFGs still licensed to do so?

There must be some time limitation? I guess we'll know it's expired when they start spelling

Cthulhu with a 'K' .

Julia Brown is an original character. And ofcourse, Lovecraft will continue to directly referenced. AFAIK it's part of the public domain. I think Chaosium only has a licence on certain aspects/original content within the context of gaming or something. Well, at least, you can't name a game "Call of Cthulhu" without stepping on their toes. For the rest, the LCG is an extension of the Mythos, referencing the old and infusing the new here and there.

Thats one of the issues that seems to confuse me. I've read a couple good biographies of HPL and he refused to copyright any of his work so that others could add and expand upon it. With that in mind, I keep reading that Chaosium seems to have some copyright control somewhere (the old deities & demigods book for 1st ed AD&D being one example that makes no sense) beyond what they themselves have created.

The_Big_Show said:

It probably doesn't come down to copyright (although, CoC uses some spell names from Chaosium) but more like Trade Mark.

Ofcourse, other companies have no problem bringing out Mythos related games; There is Munchkin Cthulhu, Tekeli-li, The Stars Are Right... the list goes on and on...

The Call of Cthulhu brandname, however, is a protected one within games, and it's quite a known name within gaming. If you would name your game Shub-Niggurath and Friends, you'd probably get away with it though.

The_Big_Show said:

the thing with the d&d book was hastur, which isnt a lovecraft creation. but yeah i dont understand how chaosium has any say over any of lovecrafts creations either, since all his stuff is in the public domain. maybe someone can shed light on the matter. i can see chaosium having copyright on their game and mechanics and all that stuff. but the names and places belong to the public.

PearlJamaholic said:

My understanding was that Lovecraft's work was about contemporaneous with that of Disney. As we all know, Mickey Mouse will never be allowed to enter the public domain , so anything that was created at the same time or after can similarly never enter the public domain. That means early work is fair game, but later stuff is not.

Of course, IANAL. But I like my theory: it satisfies that conspiracy theory itch, without anyone having to be physically injured or anything...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Mouse#Legal_issues

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act

in a few years the old mickey mouse cartoons will be made public, so like lovecraft's stories, any company can release them however they want. disney wont be able to keep their classic cartoons 'in the vault.' as for the trademark issue......well i guess we will see what happens when some movie company release a complete collection of mickey cartoons.