Call of Cthulhu: Rigid Air - RPG Review 

Hey Seth, thanks for a terrific and very insightful review of something I co-wrote with Marion so many years ago! It was pretty fun to write as I recall; our primary constraint was the word count, which meant that some elements were perhaps more abbreviated than they could have been in a longer piece. It's a delight to know that these old adventures are still entertaining investigators in 2020... even if they have difficulty remembering their old friend Robert... uhhh... Douglas? ;-)

If you want the players to remember Seattle, create a brief dialogue around it. Npc: oh this letter is from Seattle. Have you folks ever been to Seattle? (Wait for response) I was inside Seattle once, great seafood and beautiful city, but boy did it rain. Seattle's got to be the rainiest city in America. Then drop it. If the players are specifically asked if they've been to Seattle and then given some images to hang on to like rain and Seafood, after the city's been mentioned a couple times. I will guarantee you that they will remember it

Wow. The thumbnail popped up with the time covering up part of the “R”. It looked like it said “Rigid AF” I was wondering what you were reviewing for me Seth. Lol 😂

Woah! I've been following you for about 10 months and you inspired me to shift from playing D&D to Keeping CoC. I finally tracked this collection down! Just read this last night and wondered what you might think about this one!

Mysterious goggles that let yoy see the truth? This sounds like a job for Rowdy Roddy Piper!

I do believe the Calgary AB is closer to Nelson than Vancouver BC. It certainly cuts travel time if coming from the east. (Why go a 650 km to the west, only to to travel 650 km to the east again.)

Technically Calgary Alberta would be closer to Nelson, BC than Vancouver is. They'd just have to take the highway through the Rockies to get there. Honestly, by air, that would probably be more impressive of a view.

Why do you always want the players to UNDERSTAND the adventure?! Sometimes I think you might be one of those insane cultists...

Please review The Lover in the Ice by Caleb Stokes for Delta Green

WHERE YOU GET THAT SHIRT?????..other than that awesome vid as always!!

Great video as usual. Just one question, where did you find this wonderful t-shirt ?

God speed.... Robert Douglas, you were one of my closest friends, I think?

Ah, yes, good old _*ROBETT DOUGLAS*_. Those were good times we had

"However, instead of it being a horrible monster, the cultists instead ended up summoning an egg." Cultists: *THE EGG! THE EGG! THE EGG!*

Those of y'all wondering about the Dho-Spawn's origins: it is loosely drawn from the "Dho Formula" from Dunwich Horror, which is tied to Yog Sothoth. Nice touch, if you ask me

Can we all just take some time to appreciate that Planes trains and automobiles photoshop for a moment?

I must remember for any CoC character I make to include something in the background like "met and befriended TONS of people who might want to write him into their Will".

Seth I’ve been absorbing your books!!! I’ve been watching you videos for a few months. Found out you wrote books. Got them on audible and let me say. They are soooo well written. As I read damoren I can often see little glimpses of other movies or books. But man the way you tie everything together in the end in a very unique way was just soooo gratifying. I immediately downloaded hounacier. Keep up the amazing work. On RU-vid and in print!!!

In the Cthulhu RPG, it seems like your friends are always getting you in trouble.

The part with the goggles, kind of reminds me of the movie They Live! I hope your players gave the I have come here to kick ass, and chew bubble gum...line.

I'm resigned to the fact that Seth just does these videos as a justification for his crippling dress up addiction.

Alternate Scenario hook: you could also have one of your players be walking around whatever city they live in, and they spot a man standing on top of a building looking dazed and dead-eyed. Then as the Terra Nova flies overhead they see the mans head get ripped off as the airship passes over (you could obscure the airship as it passes over with fog or clouds).

"Robert. Douglas." Hahahahaha!

Just a heads up, Seth - Nelson's airport opened up in the 40s, so while I'm not sure if they offered flights to/from the States then, if your investigators find themselves around, say, Portland, Oregon or some similarly close US city, you could have them fly in to Nelson from there rather than having them fly from Vancouver. I don't know what practical purpose this would have on a game, I just wanted to suggest that in case you were looking for options for this scenario.

LOL!!!! "my old friend ....(looks at paper) Robert Douglas!"

I watched this with auto-generated subtitles on and... "full potty wipe"

WARNING: CONTENTS MAY REQUIRE 1D10 SAN CHECK, Side Effects may include: SleeplessnightsParanoiaHysteriaPosttraumaticStressDisorderandDiarrhea

"Your friend/mentor/distant relative has died." The most terrifying words ever heard in all of role-playing.

Jack sure has a lot of old college buddies who tend to die under mysterious circumstances. Can't blame him for forgetting about....uh, Robert Douglas.

"Fearfull passages" was outstandingly uneven. It used to be one of really few CoC sourcebooks I had in the day, so I still remember some sections in verbatim. My highlight was the "automobile" scenario, which has no mythos and no supernatural at all - one of too few Chaosium publications to do so - whilst having a basis for a solid noir story (with a gothic twist). It was also the book to contain absolute travesty of diving suit scenario, which you reviewed previously. Really weird book.

Man, I want Jack to read my name with the same deep affection he has for .... .. "Robert Douglas"

I can't believe you didn't work a "No ticket" reference into this video.

I just ran this session today with a group and I wanted to pop by and say thank you for your video - it was a massive help for running this scenario and essential viewing for a new keeper like me. This was well worth running just for the one-liner from a player "Oh the huge manatee" as the airship went up in flames!

These reviews are an addiction. And what a glorious poetic death for that PC, leaping into open air's embrace from atop the descending fireball of the Terra Nova as soaring music plays beneath the tapestry of the night sky... it puts me in mind of Adagio For Strings from the Homeworld soundtrack - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XyyL_TICbrU.html

This adventure sounds like a lot of fun, but I gotta say fighting a Canadian Moose Monster sounds like it woulda been cool too. If I recall correctly from "Day of the Beast" (an adventure featuring the infamous Edward Chandler recently dramatized by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society) the spectacles work both ways: they let you see the otherworldly but also let the otherworldly see you. There can be consequences to that, if a Keeper is feeling nasty.

Robert Douglas: "aww Jack I always knew we were besties forever!"

Hey seth! Always good to get a new video, especially at a time like this. :D

Step 1. Pre-like video. Step 2. Light 2 inch doobie. Step 3. Hit play.

I'm late to the party again...but this sounds AMAZING. I gotta find a copy of this adventure and run it as a Pulp Cthulhu adventure if possible. I just bought myself a copy of the 7th ed. core rulebook to go with the Pulp Cthulhu expansion that a buddy gave me for Christmas and this just sounds like an amazing way to introduce my players to the game. Thank you Seth!

I like the Robert Douglas bit at the start. Really does hammer home the unfortunate situation. "So, uh, heard someone I knew died." "Which one?" "Uh...Robert Doglas." "Jack, how many friends do you have?!" "Hey, when you've known this beat as long as I have, you get to know everybody." "What, are ya Legrasse now?" "Though I was more Randolph Carter myself."

Now we're talking! Nothing quite says 1920's and 30's adventure like Dirigibles and Zeppelins!

One thing I like from your videos is the obvious enjoyment you had with the stories/games/sessions. It permeate to us making them (the videos) much more enjoyables themselves. PS: what you think about using "Tales from the Cryptkeeper" episodes as inspiration for CoC one shots?

I think Jack is still wearing that cursed ring.

The "Call of Cthulhu: Rigid Air - RPG" review or, as I like to refer to it, the "How Many Times Can I Say the Word 'Gasbag' Unironically" review.

Notification squad what's up

If anyone is interested, I've put together a slideshow onto a pdf that has vivid, full-colour images that I made using AI. It includes images for both "Rigid Air" as well as "Fear of Flying", I've made some slight changes for my campaign but I'm pretty proud of it. I'll sent it to anyone who wants it.

Thank you, Seth! I don’t play CoC (I’m actually making the jump from D&D 3.5 to 5e this week), but your insights into fun/useful tweaks in any of your RPG review videos inspires me to make cool, great, and useful plot changes in own my campaigns! Thanks so much for putting more reviews out. They each help make better games for my players!!😎

I think I'll use a double zeppelin and have the creature fused to the top of the connecting spars. So it will be visible from outside of the balloons as well. Will also make it very easy to tell it is the same airship.

After saying all that and ending with a "Beautifully Creepy". I LMAO...

I would add the fact that they would have parachutes or trying to pilot the thing and through some robes as they really had.

Poor Jack. So many of his friends are lost like... (checks paper) Robert Douglas. On the bright side, we get to see him milking the scene when a friend like... (checks paper) Robert Douglas dies like that.

Wow, I don't think I'm used to RPG adventures taking place in places local to me.

God I love all your CoC videos.

I can't see Jack the npc as who Seth. The voice, the hair and lack of glasses just stop my brain from seeing you and Jack as thw same person.

The minute you name dropped "Edward Chandler" I was going "OMG OMG OMG OMG!" because my party had just recently finished our first campaign together wich happened to be 'The Day of the Beast' wich is the Fungi from yuggoth campaign you were talking about.

Finally!

Cool scenario! I like stories where the Evil Thing is bound to a place or object. Classic horror trope but kind of underused in RPGs, where the Evil Thing is usually roaming around doing Evil Stuff.

I just ran this scenario with my group. using your suggestions, we had a blast. Per your suggestion, I created a Capt Moore journal to tie everything together. They found it in the ad-libbed airship hanger office at the Seattle main base. Before they rushed out to attack the airship. Otherwise, it would have been onboard the airship in the pilot control room (or Capt Moore's room).

You and Jack are the best!

Oh wow, my favourite campaign is ‘The Fungi from Yuggoth’! As soon as the name was mentioned for me it was *Insert Leo point at the TV meme here*. Now I really want to grab this scenario.

Another cool t-shirt! Thanks for the content, always look forward to that ping.

Thanks for these Seth I love your stuff you help me as a role player and DM

The closest city to Nelson is Spokane. By car, today, it takes 3 hours. So 6? 9? in the 20s. Unless there’s snow…

HOLY CRAP...I just realized that Jack owns more real estate than J.P Morgan....lolol

I wonder what happens if I put on my goggles and HOLLY CRAP! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!!!!!! Best line on this channel

LOL! The idea that Vancouver is the fastest way to Nelson from the EAST COAST is hilarious. Nelson is actually super close to the border and it would be much faster to drive 5-6 hours north from Montana or Washington

Nelson, B.C.!!! That's my hometown. I never thought I would see my little mountain town showcased in an rpg.

My friend.....Robert Douglas.... :p

Hey I'm Canadian. It's kind of cool to see cities/town I've been to. I bought about quarter pound of weed at like 17 for 250CAD. Dad Went to trade school in Nelson. Sister went to a DOA concert there. My great uncle lived in Vancouver. Went to China town, and some hispanic dude offered to sell my 14 or 15 year old sister in front of my parents. Edit- Also I'm a gun enthusiast in Canada. So I know the laws. "Hunting firearms, and assault weapons" are subjective terms. The way licensing works in Canada is there are 2 licenses issued to people for the basic PAL it's a 1 day course if the class isn't large. Though then there is your R/PAL. The R/PAL category requires a second 1 day course. The Restricted firearms are registered, Non Restricted are not. Each obviously require a clean criminal record. To buy the AR-15 or Handguns you need to have the R/PAL. They then may only be shot at ranges in your province without permission to take it there for competition or training outside your province. While Non Restricted guns which may be bought and shot anywhere it legal to shoot a gun, Restricted is basically AR-15s and hands or some short barrel NR guns. Non Restricted guns include the AR-18, ACR, XCR, SKS, Tavor, Type 97, M14, Mini 14, Mini 30, 10/22, ect ect. Many semi autos and the virtually and manual action firearm that isn't a short barrel gun So the subjective part comes in that the bolt actions are no less weapons of war than AR-15 or AKs. Neither of those saw two world wars. They are also very effective for hunting. Like there is no reason an AK or AR-15 can't be used for hunting most animals if not all. Only guns that would possibly be more versatile for hunting is shotguns.

Knowing that you enjoy Call of Cthulhu, I was curious if you or any of your viewers have seen a BBC mini-series called Invasion Earth. Its one of the few modern and good takes on a Cthulhu-esque adventure. Haven't seen in on any streaming sites of late but it is free on RU-vid (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PsH7X_OpKrc.html) and worth checking out. Maybe its something worthy of your time to review (though its not a game per se) on your site. Regardless, I am a fan of your work and appreciate all you do (videos and books). Cheers!

A week to get to Nelson by road even in the 20's even with the Ferry at Nelson and Castlegar seems long. Its an 8 hour drive now. At the time certainly there were two river crossings by ferry which would gum things up but the trail there was an important link across southern BC in the late 1800's early 1900's and was being made car friendly in between the world wars.

Permit for a handgun in Canada after 1920 wasn't that hard to get. Even a 12 year old could get one here. It would only get a little harder in 1934.

There is another way to leave an airship. If you watch the terrible (in a bad way) movie "Madame Satan" you'll see how they evacuated airships mid flight. Seeing that is the only reason to watch that movie.

Is there a channel that does these kinds of videos but for DnD adventures? My group (unfortunately) only wants to play DnD but I love these review type videos for getting ideas on what to run without buying things beforehand.

I added a parasite aircraft. That made it visually distinct and gave them a possible escape route if it took off with some PCs on board.

"The expedition was organized by an evil cult." Is there even such a thing as a good cult?

This sounds like an absolutely awesome adventure to play!

I love your work its your reviews that makes me want to play COC and Travller

Does anybody own this adventure and if so can you tell me if the dho spawn has a stat block page I looked online and couldn’t find anything thanks

Awesome death story from Jack there (extremely well done with storytelling as well as music). Anyone else wondering why the ship with the Dho-Spawn in it (on that one artwork) is labeled "GUSTAF"?

Another awsome review! Thank you!

Fuck yeah, new video! Just then i was missing you a little bit too much Seth.

I guess now I know why Jack drinks after all the shit he's seen

I think i would make it so that it is a hydrogen airship so that the players can kill the monster by blowing it up in the airship.

if this thing is so terrifying then why not just let it go and usually cults get something out of their betrayal of man kind so what's their deal ?

Well done, as always. I've yet to run this one but love the idea of an airship adventure.

The way you smile when you say "beautifully creepy" is beautifully creepy

What was with the book of sonnets? What purpose did that ever serve?

is there going to be a 3rd investigator's weapons guide book?

May we all be touched by his noodlely appendages, ramen

“Moose monster” was my pr0n name back in 2005. 💁

Cool review! I love your descriptions - vivid, atmospheric, haunting.

Hi Seth, could you do a top 5 or top 10 CoC adventure?

One of my favorite parts of the week.

A Rigid Airship in a Call of Cthulhu scenario? Makes me think of that episode of Archer. Now I want a friend to run Call of Cthulhu or Pulp Cthulhu so I can RP an Archer-like character lol

This is very Junji Ito

So...monstrous FSM?

Nice. Love your work, Seth!

So...Does Jack wear pants?

its a hunting machine gun i promise