The Laundry RPG

[ReHerakhte]

Has anyone read any of Charles Stross' novels known collectively as "The Laundry Files" perchance? I haven't read them but on the recommendation of a friend I'm trying to find them now.

To quote Wiki, they are "A series of science fiction spy thrillers about Bob Howard, a one-time I.T. consultant, now field agent working for British government agency 'the Laundry', which deals with occult threats. Influenced by Lovecraft's visions of the future, and set in a world where a computer and the right mathmatical equations is just as useful a toolset for calling up horrors from other dimensions as a spellbook and a pentragram on the floor."

Anyway, the same friend who recommended the books told me they've been given the RPG treatment by Cubicle 7 using an adapted version of the CoC rules.
The PDFs can be found on DriveThruRPG here
I haven't purchased it yet but I'm thinking it could be an interesting source for anyone playing DC or CoC particularly as an extra/alternate method for employing "magic" in the games.

[Morthrai]

I have to admit I have not read any of the books, nor have I played the RPG yet, but I have heard nothing but positive reports from my friends who have. I think that in itself is a good sign

[Linden]

Has anyone read any of Charles Stross' novels known collectively as "The Laundry Files" perchance? I haven't read them but on the recommendation of a friend I'm trying to find them now.

I’ve read The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue. I wasn’t over enamoured with them. I like the basic conceit but the books themselves are full of huge screeds of technobabble which make for pretty heavy going while serving to render the occult into something utterly banal and everyday instead of mysterious and frightening. There are some good bits e.g. the Nazi dimension in the Atrocity Archives is a genuinely unsettling place, but the interesting ideas get swamped by the author’s stylistic excesses. I found “Declare” by Tim Powers to be a far superior exposition of occult/espionage themes.

Despite the above I wouldn’t be averse to playing the RPG. Always up for a bit of Cthulhoid fun regardless of the brand label.

[ReHerakhte]

Thanks to both of you
I'm buying the PDFs of the game but I think I'll hold off on buying the novels. I'll try the first one and see how I go because I'm in agreement with you Linden, the occult is by definition hidden and thus should be unknown, unusual and mysterious.
Even if the occult has become mundane to the characters in the novel, I personally prefer that it should still come across as mysterious to the reader.

[Linden]

Thanks to both of you
I'm buying the PDFs of the game but I think I'll hold off on buying the novels.

Might be worth checking your local library - mine had "The Jennifer Morgue". It's also where I found "Declare".

[ReHerakhte]

Might be worth checking your local library - mine had "The Jennifer Morgue". It's also where I found "Declare".

Damned fine idea... I'll just have to sort out the little issue of library membership... I've been lazy in that regard

[Linden]

I have to admit to being intrigued by the title of the latest Laundry novel, The Fuller Memorandum. I'm guessing it's something to do with JFC Fuller - one of the godfathers of armoured warfare, student of the occult, friend of Aleister Crowley and acquaintance of Adolf Hitler. I'll keep an eye out when I'm in the local library and/or second hand bookshops and report back if and when I get to read it.

[Eynowd]

Let's see...

* Read all three Laundry Files novels, as well as a couple of short stories.
* Bought the RPG.
* Attempted to run a Laundry Files game, but it died after a single session when one of the players stopped coming because of work commitments.
* Wrote a 11K work Laundry RPG supplement for Cubicle 7 that has yet to be formally announced, let alone released (although I have already been paid for it!)

Personally, I quite like the stuff .

Stross has a quite dry sense of humour, and the books are quite tongue in cheek. The RPG continues that tone quite well. Be warned though, it's best to read all three novels before the RPG, as the RPG has some spoilers from "The Fuller Memorandum".

The player who didn't drop out of my game occasionally makes hints that I should try running it again. I may do that, but it would involve finding reliable players, which is something I find myself completely unable to do.

[ReHerakhte]

Hey welcome to the forum Eynowd and thanks for the additional comments regarding the books and rpg.
Damned shame about your game, had any luck so far getting other Players?

[Morthrai]

G'day Geoff! Nice to see you here as well as on Ye Booke of Faces

I still haven't played or run the Laundry yet, but that may change very soon as I am still planning on introducing some of my younger friends to games they don't know yet. It will be fun all round

[Linden]

Just finished The Fuller Memorandum. Mixture very much as before. Didn’t do a lot for me, found it pretty dull. I'll admit there are some interesting imaginative conceits (e.g. the extra-dimensional plateau with the pyramid) but they're invariably swamped by dense and prissy prose that resembles the automatic writing of a techno-geek who's seen too much Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Wibbling on at length about class 3 abominations, Jesus Phones and level 5 wards isn’t very interesting. As for the humour, I just don’t see it. There’s none of the Chandleresque wit that Len Deighton brings to his “Harry Palmer “ novels. I still think Tim Powers’ “Declare” knocks the spots off any of the Laundry books.

[Zvezda]

The Michael Caine Harry Palmer? Damn, I did not know that there are novels I only knew the movies.

[Linden]

It's worth mentioning that he's not called Harry Palmer in the books, in fact he doesn't have a name at all.

[Zvezda]

That make's sense because in my dimension Michael Caine came up with the name Harry Palmer because it was the most boring name he could think of.

[Linden]

That make's sense because in my dimension Michael Caine came up with the name Harry Palmer because it was the most boring name he could think of.

He excelled himself with Harry Brown then.