Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Blackmoore Global, Pulp Cthulhu & Voodoo Virus

Blackmoore Global Laboratories

The last few weeks have seen quite a bit of news releases flying about - distributors updating catalogs, retailers listing products. These are the things that get rumors started. And normally they are the fun type of rumors. In a recent post, Rob, had asked me about an upcoming Chaosium RPG setting titled Blackmoore Global Laboratories. While this project was announced by Chaosium yesterday, it still has a SECLEV 10 clearance (meaning super secret) - sorta). But there is information on the Internet about it. Probably more than most people realize. So I'll probably turn it into a contest. See below for the Blackmoore Global Corporation (BGC) rules.

Pulp Cthulhu

Is it coming out? Will it not come out? I've had many emails quoting the Indiana Jones films regarding Pulp Cthulhu ("You make hurry fast...," etc.). I'm presently doing the art direction, and I'm working with several fantastic artists. It would be nice to see the book at GenCon, and I think every effort will be made to make this happen. The project has changed hands several times. It moved from a d20 system to a BRP system, to the system I developed for Pulp - a Pulp BRP system. Those who have played it at GenCon will certainly know the differences from the Call of Cthulhu system (CoC) and Pulp Cthulhu. Still, all CoC books can work with Pulp Cthulhu - so there is a vast amount of resources out there already.


Voodoo Virus


Here is one that has popped up a few times. This is a "zombie" novel (or survival novel) that I'm writing for Chaosium. In Chaosium's history, they have published several non-cthulhu related books. This is another one of those. It is not under the "Call of Cthulhu" fiction line; rather, it is under a new series line, "Voodoo Virus Chronicles." And Jeff recently made remarks in a post comment about this book as well. The common email I've received on this is: Will there be an RPG setting. Let's hope so. :) But right now, it is a novel.


BGC Contest Rules


There are no rules. So, like the former Frontier Cthulhu, people are free to post what information they can, and any thing they decode. The three people who post or email me the most information about Blackmoore Global Laboratories (or corporation) will win a free copy of the book when it is published. It must be valid information.

This contest will run until July 1st (the book is slated to appear later this year - maybe August). Please share information with each other. Once your name is identified with the data, you will get credit for it - and remember the folks at Blackmoore Global Corporation are watching you as well. :) And that information you provide might help others. Of course, the point is to have fun.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

William, I will let others have the fun on this contest, but I will tell everyone that you are misleading them already about the SEC-LEV 10 clearance: SEC-LEV 4s and up have access to BGC project information.

-Jeff

Charles Gramlich said...

The novel sounds interesting. I've always kind of wanted to write a zombie novel, and I had some zombie types in "Witch of Talera," but I've never dedicated a whole book to them.

Anonymous said...

I found a website and some blogs talking about playing Blackmoore. The website is www.blackmoore-global.com

Are people already playing? Or are the blogs talking about another game.

The website must be related because it mentions the SEC-LEV stuff.

Anonymous said...

http://www.fantasiapelit.com/
This place has it listed also. It sounds like it is already known in Europe.

Anonymous said...

This Blackmoore thing is cool, I love this sort of stuff. I started searching and found this Blackmoor Foundation, though I can find very little about it, is it related? Is it even real?

http://alarian.org/hsh/hshwiki/index.php?title=Corporations_in_HSH

William Jones said...

Jeff - Not "misleading," simply "information management." :)

Charles - Zombie novels can be fun. I had a few undead in The Strange Cases of Rudolph Pearson (including the odd "ghoul" here and there). I also have a tale titled "Corpse Priest" (fantasy) that deals with something like zombies. But a modern setting does make things different.

Rob - Good find on the website! Only playtesters have played it. And I suspect some of them have made posts about it on blogs. I certainly can find any, so you're good at searching.

I regret I can speak about the SEC-LEV because it requires a certain Security Level Clearance to be cleared for the information. :) But it seems like Jeff has already found that out.

Eric - The book isn't coming from Europe; rather, it is going to Europe. But you did find one of Chaosium's distribution routes.

Cairo - A clever find. It seems that link has something to do with High School Heroes (version 3). That Foundation does sound a bit suspicious, though. And these things have a way of generating a life of their own. So it might be worth watching.

Anonymous said...

I see in your New section that it is on a news black out and the code is xgse-1770-sl8

Brook said...

Let's start some idol speculation: In 1770 the Lexell comet was found to have a near Earth pass about every 5.6 years. That would put it's next near pass about 2010. XG... Xenogenesis? Xgse, a reference to the Earth's Mangetosphere. Or a shipping company in the 'East' named XGSE or XinGang Ship Engineering?

-Brook (Acquaintance of Jason's... although he always disavows knowing me.)

Anonymous said...

This is too cool. I did a massive blog search and found this one. Its got to be related.
http://agsource.blogspot.com

Brook said...

How real would you like this to be treated William?

If this was research into a real company I would be doing research into the server the site is running on (Apache, likely on MS), the domain records (Domain Name: BLACKMOORE-GLOBAL.COM; Registrar: INTERCOSMOS MEDIA GROUP, INC. D/B/A DIRECTNIC.COM), sub-directories & hidden files (http://blackmoore-global.com/images/), hidden source code in the pages (/*Text box marquee by Dave Methvin), stock & company connections, etc. Then you start branching out.

If it was allowed (by some authority or something...) I might also start to try to crack the logins or server. Of course that might get some Blackmoore security agents on my tail. Not that a good security branch wouldn't be seeing red flags just from my previous searches. (Beat the bushes to find the snakes...)

Do you want to stick to information that can be collected only from the ficional pages & other fictional sources? (And yes, this is fun ;)

William Jones said...

Jason - You have the project code. I wonder what it means? :)

Brook - That is very interesting material. It might come in useful in cracking the project. And a clever bit of decoding. As for "how real," it is a RPG system, so behind every website will be someone mundane. But you can certainly treat it as an online role-playing game. Without doing "real hacking," it is possible still to hack the public logins (say if there were one on the BGC site).

Timothy - A wonderful find. It seems like you found a secret source. Wonder what those black boxes are made of?

Overall, there appears to be information around the world. And I hear BGC udpates their website with new information on occasion. I don't know why there is a "new blackout."

Brook said...

Thanks, and don't worry. I'm not going to crack your server. I don't do that. However a 'real' agent researching Blackmoore might. (Look up some of the latest news on what the Airforce is requesting for its strategic cyber capabilities.)

But the question was an honest one, and fairly answered. It sounds like you want us to stick to what is on the page, and written between the lines, but ignore what is "behind the curtain". In other words you are not going to bury clues in real company records.

Just trying to establish the rules and limits of the game (before I spend hours and days on obscure research). So... I hear and obey oh great guru.

Anonymous said...

This is seriously cool! I just went to that source site. There's a video and garbage text. Is that some kind of code?

Brook said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brook said...

i*m#using#ec#6#level#encr|ytion1#
this#message#is#for#members#of#m|#
unit1#

i*ve#gathered#these#videos#from#
the#blackmoore#global#lab*s#
server1

... Because the message seems to have become clipped. (On purpose?)Why EC6 though when he said EC3 earlier? The same person, or a fake message?

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure how this relates. But it seems connected to one of the headlines on the Blackmoore Global site.

The first recorded species of frog that breathes without lungs has been found in a clear, cold-water stream on the island of Borneo in Indonesia.

Is it a clue to follow?

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080407-lungless-frog.html

Anonymous said...

I don't think this is related, but a web search on EC3 brings up an interesting link:

http://www.yankodesign.com/index.php/
2007/04/11/trinity-ec3-regeneration-
project-by-foreign-office-studio/

It's a news item about the Trinity EC3 Regeneration Project by Foreign Office Studio. Look at the photo! Those would be some wonderful office buildings for Blackmoore Global to inhabit!

-Jeff

Anonymous said...

Qlfh#zrun#Eurrn
Nice work Brook

You cracked the code, but forgot to shift the "6" into a "3". So the decoded message does indeed contain "EC3".

Thanks for the help on EC3 encryption!

-Jeff

Brook said...

Aw, you take all the mystery out of it Jeff! And here I was hoping to stir up some paranoia about the 'REAL' source of these messages. :) I mean... the brains are watching...

Anonymous said...

Don't worry, Brook, there's still cause for paranoia. How do we know we can trust "AG" in the first place? He (or it) could just be drawing us in to see who needs to be eliminated!

Wuxvw#qr#rqh1

-Jeff

Brook said...

Now that is truly 'EC3' encryption. Thanks Jeff. Incidentally, for anyone who wants to look EC3 up: www.ecoded.com/products/ec3/faq.htm

Good catch on the frogs Bryan. It probably means that Blackmoore has a lab around there and some specimens ... got away? They do have holdings in the East. Anyone looked up the drug testing in Uganda? I'm seeing several test cases.

And the video on the source site? Looks like something passing overhead at night. Maybe a comet? Lexell had several odd characteristics...

And Remember: (xfiles) ctups51*q3*s81i9w*gf1nl0,l*xvq*r2whwb (sic. The Smoking Man)

Brook said...

So... anyone else notices that the Blackmoore site's images are down? Chinese hack? Corrupted files? A headache?

Unknown said...

Maybe of interest...

http://blackmooreglobal.blogspot.com/

(And just to add to the list of spooky 'coincidence', the random word generated for 'word verification' to post this was "cooculuu"! )