Stars Are Right | Call of Cthulhu TTRPG actual-play podcast

Actual-play of the Call of Cthulhu table-top RPG, 7th edition. Join our talented cast of role-players as they investigate horrors and mysteries humankind was never meant to comprehend. Featuring a mix of Chaosium-published campaigns and our own original scenarios. You don’t need to know the rules of the Call of Cthulhu table-top RPG to enjoy the stories, just an appreciation of the other-worldly and creepy, and a sense of humour!

25 - Berlin - Dances of Vice - Das Ende

This thrilling showdown marks the end of our campaign through Berlin: The Wicked City, and indeed the final episode of the Stars Are Right podcast. Thanks so much for listening! We hope our doomed investigations of the eerie and ineffable have entertained you. Don't forget to drop by the discord server to chat with us and fellow listeners. Oh, and just a final reminder in case you're interested in merch while it's still available (we particularly recommend the custom dice bags by Berverly in Stitches!). If you haven't already, we'd also love it if you checked out our publications, where you can bring some of the scenarios you've heard played on the show to your own gaming table. Farewell, and may the omens be every in your favour...     Here's a link to buy the Berlin: The Wicked City sourcebook published by Chaosium.   Cast: Phaedra as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Brita Lantz Howl as Luise Engel Jayson as Helene Krauss Braydon as Alastair Arthur   Audio Editors for this episode: Howl & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

09-18
01:00:42

24 - Berlin - Dances of Vice - The Mother of Abominations

Berlin grows stranger: headlines report streets filled with crime, nudity, drugs and hissing cockroaches. After their unhelpful encounter with Henri, the investigators prepare for the ominous lecture given by the Fraternitas Saturni at the occult bookshop…   Here's a link to buy the Berlin: The Wicked City sourcebook published by Chaosium.   Cast: Phaedra as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Brita Lantz Howl as Luise Engel Jayson as Helene Krauss   Audio Editors for this episode: Howl & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

09-04
01:00:49

23 - Berlin - Dances of Vice - Bye Bye Berber

Who are Pacitius and the man with piercing eyes, who forced Belshazzar to make those strange figurines? Following the trail of the ritualists leads to an occult bookshop, where a surprising identity is uncovered.  A visit to the hospital to see Anita Berber brings sad news and a new mystery.   Here's a link to buy the Berlin: The Wicked City sourcebook published by Chaosium.   Cast: Phaedra as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Brita Lantz Tyler as Dr. Ester Rosenbaum Howl as Luise Engel Jayson as Helene Krauss   Audio Editors for this episode: Lydia & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

08-21
01:08:22

22 - Berlin - Dances of Vice - The Dollhouse

A thorough search of the dollmaker’s premise turns up far more than the investigators bargained for. Some questions are answered, but others merely take their place. Allyship comes into question.   Here's a link to buy the Berlin: The Wicked City sourcebook published by Chaosium.   Cast: Phaedra as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Brita Lantz Tyler as Dr. Ester Rosenbaum Howl as Luise Engel Jayson as Helene Krauss   Audio Editors for this episode: Howl & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.    

08-07
01:09:49

3 - Love You To Death - Friends Reunited

There's been a slight delay in editing episode 22, so our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign will resume next week - apologies! In the meantime, please enjoy a little side adventure: Lydia and Tyler recorded a play-through of the 1-on-1 scenario Love You To Death from Chaosium’s book Does Love Forgive?. It'll be released over the course of this week in 3 parts for your listening pleasure.   ---   The detective and his new canine partner continue in their search for Hattie. One spot of bribery and a newly-helpful doorman later, Walt and Highball ascend to the roof, where a long-awaited reunion takes place. So, does love forgive? And can it ever forget?      Here's a link to buy the Does Love Forgive? book published by Chaosium.   Cast: Tyler as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Walt Minghella   Audio Editors for this episode: Lydia & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

08-04
44:09

2 - Love You To Death - Riddle Me This

There's been a slight delay in editing episode 22, so our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign will resume next week - apologies! In the meantime, please enjoy a little side adventure: Lydia and Tyler recorded a play-through of the 1-on-1 scenario Love You To Death from Chaosium’s book Does Love Forgive?. It'll be released over the course of this week in 3 parts for your listening pleasure.   ---   Walt examines Hattie’s apartment and uncovers a puzzling clue that only he was meant to find. It seems his childhood friend is caught up in the occult; the latest social trend among mob wives. The loyal Highball in tow, he sets off across Chicago to hunt for the missing woman.   Here's a link to buy the Does Love Forgive? book published by Chaosium.   Cast: Tyler as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Walt Minghella   Audio Editors for this episode: Lydia & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

08-02
43:22

1 - Love You To Death - Clearly A Very Good Boy

There's been a slight delay in editing episode 22, so our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign will resume next week - apologies! In the meantime, please enjoy a little side adventure: Lydia and Tyler recorded a play-through of the 1-on-1 scenario Love You To Death from Chaosium’s book Does Love Forgive?. It'll be released over the course of this week in 3 parts for your listening pleasure.   ---   Chicago, the morning after St Valentine's Day, 1929. A mob war is escalating, and private investigator Walt Minghella has a new case. A childhood friend and widow of one of Al Capone’s victims tearfully begs him to bring home her dog, who has been seized by police investigating the previous day’s massacre.   Here's a link to buy the Does Love Forgive? book published by Chaosium.   Cast: Tyler as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Walt Minghella   Audio Editors for this episode: Lydia & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

07-31
49:44

The Final Curtain

Dear listeners,    It is with hearts filled with sadness and gratitude that we must announce the end of our journey. After a pretty amazing few years, the Stars Are Right podcast (and publishing) will be winding down over the next month or two.   Don’t worry, we’re still aiming to finish the scenario we’re currently playing, though there might be one or two changes to the cast. The plan is for the last few episodes to continue to broadcast on their current schedule, and to stop going up in September at the conclusion of Dances of Vice, Horror, and Ecstasy.    There was a slight delay in editing episode 22, so our Berlin campaign will resume next week - apologies! In the meantime, please enjoy a little side adventure coming your way this week.   We’re very sad we won’t be able to round off our campaign with the third scenario from Berlin: The Wicked City as we originally intended, but an awful lot has changed in many of our lives over the last few months. Some of it has been great, some not so great, and we've definitely reached the end of our ability to make the show as we have been.   Once the podcast wraps up, it will remain online for the foreseeable future - on all the platforms you’re currently using to listen for as long as we can afford it, and hopefully on Patreon longer than that.   To assist with that, all the bonus Patreon content and Beyond the Madness episodes will, from September, be made available at a single, low-cost tier intended to pay for ongoing podcast and website hosting costs. All proceeds beyond those running costs will be donated to the charity Hope Not Hate. If you were intending to buy merch at some point then you might want to act quickly - we're not sure how long it'll continue to be available, when it's gone it’s gone! You can find links at starsareright.com and in the episode notes.   We’re infinitely grateful for all of your support up to this point. You’ve helped turn what started as a wild pandemic lock-down dream into a project that’s spanned years of games, multiple bestselling publications, and a truly amazing community. We’re honestly amazed at how far we've come, so pleased with what we’ve made, and delighted it's been enjoyed by so many lovely people!   Speaking of community, once things wrap up our discord server will be run by Jayson and Lydia as admins, and we hope will continue to be a lovely, friendly place to chat with fellow listeners and horror RPG fans, and even run your own games. If you're not already on there, do drop by and say hi!   Stars Are Right may be ending, but in order to keep on bringing you the Call of Cthulhu content that we all love, Jayson and Lydia are developing a new podcast together. This will feature some familiar Stars Are Right voices, brand new scenario actual-plays, talk-show panels and much more - including a playthrough of Jayson’s upcoming Miskatonic Repository scenario, The Bride of Pendle. The new podcast’s team will share more details and links as soon as they are able.   We hope you’ve enjoyed the ride, and continue to enjoy the remainder of our adventures. Thanks again from all of us, and may the omens be ever in your favour.   Love from the Stars Are Right Founders, Phaedra, Braydon and Howl   Website | Patreon | Merch | Discord  

07-30
03:07

21 - Berlin - Dances of Vice - In Residence at the Residenz

The investigators engage in some light debauchery at the Residenz Casino, but they can’t escape the darkness when it comes calling…   Here's a link to buy the Berlin: The Wicked City sourcebook published by Chaosium.   Cast: Phaedra as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Brita Lantz Tyler as Dr. Ester Rosenbaum Howl as Luise Engel Jayson as Helene Krauss   Audio Editors for this episode: Braydon & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

07-17
01:00:32

20 - Through Many Dangers, Toils and Snares

Over two years since the piano recital, our investigators are haunted by nightmares of that evening with Berber and Châtín-Hofmann. Ess alone believes they simply had a bad trip, while her friends fall apart around her.   Here's a link to buy the Berlin: The Wicked City sourcebook published by Chaosium.   Cast: Phaedra as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Brita Lantz Tyler as Dr. Ester Rosenbaum Howl as Luise Engel Jayson as Helene Krauss   Audio Editors for this episode: Lydia & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

07-03
01:11:20

19 - Berlin - Dances of Vice - Dies Irae, Dies Illa

An unearthly piano piece forces the investigators to confront feelings they have been veiling, and the cruel gaze of mirror magic brings even the best-hidden insecurities into the light. In a grey and dead dreamscape of an unfamiliar Berlin, a terrifying chase ensues.   Here's a link to buy the Berlin: The Wicked City sourcebook published by Chaosium.   Cast: Phaedra as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Brita Lantz Tyler as Dr. Ester Rosenbaum Howl as Luise Engel Jayson as Helene Krauss   Audio Editors for this episode: Tyler, Lydia & Jayson   Excerpt of Totentanz by Franz Liszt is a derivative of Liszt's Totentanz performed by Neil O'Doan available under CC license. Title: "Neil O Doan - Totentanz" Author: Neil O'Doan Music Source: https://musopen.org/music/32872-totentanz-s-1262/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike (BY-SA) 4.0 Unported Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

06-19
01:13:37

18 - Berlin - Dances of Vice - The Morning After

Last night’s events still ring loudly in the investigators’ ears, but Grau is keen to get answers, setting up a meeting with Berber at her hotel. After concealing some mysterious pamphlets on their person, Berber’s husband cordially invites them to a piano recital that evening.   Here's a link to buy the Berlin: The Wicked City sourcebook published by Chaosium.   Cast: Phaedra as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Brita Lantz Tyler as Dr. Ester Rosenbaum Howl as Luise Engel Jayson as Helene Krauss   Audio Editors for this episode: Seb, Howl & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

06-05
01:14:45

17 - Berlin - Dances of Vice - Debauchery and Devilry

Our investigators deal with the aftermath of Paulette’s disappearance and nightmarish work, only to find a new friend in Grau. He remains in their orbit and invites them to the latest Anita Berber performance, which promises to be a night of debauchery!   Here's a link to buy the Berlin: The Wicked City sourcebook published by Chaosium.   Cast: Phaedra as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Brita Lantz Tyler as Dr. Ester Rosenbaum Howl as Luise Engel Jayson as Helene Krauss   Audio Editors for this episode: Braydon & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.  

05-22
01:03:06

16 - Berlin - Side Story - Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Four years after The Devil Eats Flies. Our new investigators receive a letter from the Prussian library announcing  a robbery of their restricted titles. The lost volumes are in French, which makes them think of a certain club patron who hasn’t been seen lately…   Here's a link to buy the Berlin: The Wicked City sourcebook published by Chaosium.   Cast: Phaedra as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Brita Lantz Tyler as Dr. Ester Rosenbaum Howl as Luise Engel Jayson as Helene Krauss Audio Editors: Lydia & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

05-08
01:14:45

4 - Exhibition of Dread - Suffering for Your Art

In the gruesome finale of the scenario, the desperate students descend to the depths of the college, uncovering a burning truth about the former sanatorium and the ghosts who haunt it. In their bid to escape, the investigators meet some very strange gallery patrons who have an equally strange request. Yes it’s madness, but is it art?   You can buy this scenario to run for your friends! Check it out here.   Cast: Phaedra as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Simone the potter. Tyler as Maia the painter. Jayson as Leo the musician. Knoxicles as Bernie the jewellery-maker.   Audio Editors: Tyler & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

04-24
01:11:24

3 - Exhibition of Dread - Artistic Hacks Amongst the Stacks

The students find themselves hating the rich kids who got them into this mess. Maia has torn off much of her face, Bernie has been hassled by a ghost, and no one is having a good time. Will the answers await them in the library, or should some truths be left alone?   You can buy this scenario to run for your friends! Check it out here.   Cast: Phaedra as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Simone the potter. Tyler as Maia the painter. Jayson as Leo the musician. Knoxicles as Bernie the jewellery-maker.   Audio Editors: Howl & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

04-10
57:01

2 - Exhibition of Dread - Revisiting Old Haunts

Our group of students continue exploring the so-called “haunted” college building. Choosing to let sleeping security guards lie and indulge their artistic curiosity, they sneak past and poke around in the back of the gallery. They soon come across some pieces that affect them more than art usually does…   You can buy this scenario to run for your friends! Check it out here.   Cast: Phaedra as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Simone the potter. Tyler as Maia the painter. Jayson as Leo the musician. Knoxicles as Bernie the jewellery-maker.   Audio Editors: Seb & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

03-27
01:11:21

1 - Exhibition of Dread - Who You Gonna Call? Ghost Hipsters!

Chapter one of our playthrough of a new, and super spooky, Stars Are Right scenario: The Exhibition of Dread by Jared Tallis. Join a ragtag bunch of art students as they tour the college buildings after dark in search of artistic inspiration, but get more than they bargained for.   You can buy this scenario to run for your friends! Check it out here.   Cast: Phaedra as the Keeper of Arcane Lore Lydia as Simone the potter. Tyler as Maia the painter. Jayson as Leo the musician. Knoxicles as Bernie the jewellery-maker.   Audio Editors: Braydon & Jayson   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

03-13
01:01:40

Announcement: the state of the stars

Wonderful cultists, The earliest part of 2024 has been a series of failed rolls that we’ve been continuing to try to Push, but unfortunately we’ve not always succeeded. There have been some critical successes as well as fumbles, though. First of all, the inimitable Braydon has, through fel magicks, brought his own new  spawn into the universe. Join us in welcoming Reya (and admire her either on Discord or on our Patreon!) Gilly’s also had her own life changes, in the form of having to travel extensively for work this year! She’s consequently not able to join us on the regular for the next part of our Berlin campaign, but we’re sure you’ll join us in wishing her well on her adventures and hoping she can come back soon to play with us! Thus, we have had to make some changes in how we are doing things on our end, at least for the time being. Here’s the breakdown: We’ll be reducing our release frequency to every two weeks, rather than every week, in order to rebuild a buffer, and rush less with recording and editing. We’ll be tweaking our patreon offerings to make our bonus content more accessible.  Beyond The Madness, our post-recording chit-chat show, will soon also be available at the Cult Initiate tier! The Cult Elder and Avatar tiers will continue to have exclusive access to our bonus game-play. This will soon include a second play-through of Alone Against the Static (for any completionists) and The Necropolis (run by Gilly, to help you not miss her too much!). The next adventure released will be The Exhibition of Dread, a spectral one-shot written by Jared Tallis and published by Stars Are Right. Berlin the Wicked City part 2 is currently being recorded and will be released after that, everything progressing smoothly, so get hyped! The idea behind this slowing down is for us to serve you the finest Deep One Steaks instead of mere soggy fishburgers, and to ensure that we can keep putting out the podcasts that you’ve all been loving. None of this would have been possible without you, and we appreciate the ongoing support that we have had over the years. Onwards and upwards, with many hopeful things on the horizon. Until the Stars are Right again…

02-29
02:16

2 - Alone Against the Static - A Walk in the Woods

The second and final part of Chaosium's newest Alone Against... adventure. Can Seb make the right choices to reunite Alex with his lost love and escape, or is it already too late? Stick around for some Beyond-the-Madness style chit chat afterwards!   Website | Review us | Support us on Patreon | Buy merch! Discord | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit For the duration of our Berlin: The Wicked City campaign, 10% of our Patreon profits go to Hope Not Hate.

02-28
01:10:30

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