Russell Smeaton has revealed a stretch goal I helped out with – a set of handouts to help complete your Innsmouth experience.
The project is ending in a few hours, so check it out if your interested in some cool stuff with the Innsmouth look.
One of the projects I’m working on right now is making props and handouts for my recently purchased copy of Chaosium’s Horror on the Orient Express campaign for Call of Cthulhu.
I started with a simple print out of the route map. Decided to experiment a bit to try and produce some different effects I can use for other handouts and props. The end result – or close to it anyway – is a nicely aged map that has a heavier/coated feel to it. Nicer maps designed to hold up the elements have a coated/leathery feel to them, and I wanted to try and replicate that.
A couple of important things to note:
I printed the map on my new Epson Workforce WF-7820 printer. This uses a pigment-based ink. A big goal of this was to see how well this ink resists bleeding when exposed to water, as a common way of artificially aging paper involves water. It did not disappoint.
I printed the map on a single 11×17 sheet of 67-lb cardstock that has a vellum finish.
Ideally, you would let the print sit overnight to ensure it’s completely dry and minimize any possible bleeding. I intentionally took the printed page directly from the printer to soak and age it.
I placed the printed map on a baking sheet and soaked it in coffee. I looked carefully for any signs of bleeding ink. At worst, there was a very, VERY SLIGHT bleeding around black text. Since the original file includes some faint coloring around a lot of the text, it’s hard to tell if there was actual bleed. If so, it was just a faint bleed of black into the surrounding tissue, but it in no way impacted the crisp edges of the text. Again, I wouldn’t expect this result with any inkjet printer, but it seems this pigment-based ink holds up very well to water.
Then the map goes in the oven for 4-5 minutes at 225°. Flipped the map over for another 4-5 minutes. I placed it directly on the sheet, which evidently had some residual cooking spray on it. This discolored a couple of areas on the back. Simple fix is to always place the paper on a piece of parchment paper.
This is where I was going completely experimental to try and get the coated/leathery feel. Basically, I’m using a wax designed to wax and waterproof fabric. In this case, it’s a product called Otter Wax, and it comes in a bar.
Straight out of the oven, I placed the still warm map on the counter and rubbed the bar back and forth over the surface. Again, this didn’t affect the printed details at all. As it’s applied, it adds a subtle, waxy sheen to the surface that slightly brings out the color. Flipped the map and applied wax to the back.
Supposed to let waxed fabric cure in a warm environment for 24 hours, so I initially left the map out overnight. The next day it still had a tacky, wax-like feel to it. Decided to put it in the oven (after I aged some paper for another project) for another 3 minutes. This finished the wax curing / absorbing into the paper. No more wax feel to the surface, and slightly heavier than the base cardstock. I applied a second coat of wax the same way, and put it in the oven again. You definitely feel the wax when you apply it, but coming out of the oven that slight stickiness is gone.
The aging process always makes the paper wavy and wrinkled, so after waxing the first time (and again after waxing the next day) I pressed the map under weight to flatten it out a bit. Then I folded the map and pressed it again.
The final map is definitely heavier than the regular cardstock, and it has a texture and feel very close to what I was going for. I might try another application of wax or two, just to see if it makes a difference. The waxing also enhances the aged look of the coffee-died paper. It adds a subtly mottled appearance to the paper that is very reminiscent of natural parchment.
I continue to be amazed at the reception my Investigator Passports have received, and now they have been included in Yog-Sothoth’s November newsletter!
If you haven’t ever checked out Yog-Sothoth, you should definitely give it a look. You’ll find a large and active community dedicated to exploring Lovecraftian worlds of all types. The site does require you to register to access most of the site, but doing so is free.
I’ve spent some time over the last day or so making some small updates to the website. Most of this is just maintenance and backend updates to the theme or plugins. However, I’ve also added a couple of things. A separate project page is now dedicated to gaming tools and props – including the Investigator Handouts – and I’ve added a section on the Community page that links to projects that others in the Mythos community are working on or have already published.
I recently posted photos of passports I created for my investigators – which then unfold to reveal their character sheet. The response I received was quite positive, and some people asked if they were available for purchase or via Kickstarter. These are actually very easy to make at home using the template I’ve created.
These passports are very simple and have no impact on gameplay – they’re just props to add a little immersion. Using the form-fillable PDF, you enter the details for the character, then scroll through the pages of the document. Each page shows the information you provided on the passport for a different country. Pick which one you want and print that page on your color printer. Fold the page into quarters, trim off the white edges, and you have your very own investigator passport. If you print it on the back of your character sheet, then simply unfold the passport to reveal the passport for play.
These are based on real-world passports from the 1920s and 1930s. A little artistic license was taken to make things simple, but otherwise I tried to make these look as authentic as possible. The template produces passports from the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, and India.
The PDF is quite large, nearly 48 MB, but that may be unavoidable without compromising the image quality and form fields. I’ve decided to make the template available through DriveThruRPG. (I’ve had a publisher account for years, but never used it for much.) The main reasons for this are to ensure people can access the file without relying on my web admin skills and to get updates if I post new versions in the future. As suggested to me after I posted the photos, the template is posted as a Pay What You Want product. I’m not looking to make money on these, but evidently there are those that would be willing to pay for them. A few extra dollars never hurts, and maybe it will enable me to offer more in the future.
If you have any feedback on how to improve the passports or the PDF, please post it here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/base113Games/comments/duhi8y/feedback_on_investigator_passports/
