The Laundry is a tabletop role-playing game published by Cubicle 7 in 2010.[1] The game is based on novelist Charles Stross's The Laundry Files series.

The Laundry
A roleplaying game based on the "Laundry Files" novels by Charles Stross
Cover by Malcolm McClinton
Designers
PublishersCubicle 7
Publication2010;
14 years ago
 (2010)
GenresHorror
SystemsBasic Role-Playing
ISBN978-1907204937

Description

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The Laundry is a game where agents have to deal with Lovecraftian outer gods and British bureaucracy at the same time.[2]: 432 

Publication history

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Cubicle 7 used their Basic Role-Playing license to create The Laundry (2010), based on The Laundry Files series of novels by Charles Stross.[2]: 432  The game was published in July 2010.[3]

Cubicle 7 subsequently published a number of supplements:[4]

  • Black Bag Jobs, a compilation of scenarios.
  • The Agent's Handbook which develops the agents' characters and the internal procedures of the organization.
  • The Mythos Dossiers, a compilation of in-game documents to use as play-aids and scenario seeds.
  • License To Summon, which give more details on the various forms of sorcery in the game universe.
  • God Game Black, which provides more information on the Sleeper's Plateau and how to introduce an eschaton menace in the game.
  • Cultists Under The Bed gives more information on the working of various forms of sects and cultists, with several examples of organizations.
  • Unconventional Diplomacy, a compilation of scenarios.
  • Targets Of Acquisition, which provides dossiers of several occult artefacts.
  • As Above, So Below, introduces rules for using special forces in the game and adding a political dimension to games. It also includes two new scenarios.

A GM screen was announced but was never released. Cubicle 7's licensing agreement with Chaosium expired by mutual agreement at the end of 2017.[5] In 2019 Cubicle 7 stated that the licensing issue would need to be resolved, or a new system introduced, before a revised edition could be published.[6] In July 2023, Charles Stross announced that a second edition was in the works.[7]

Reception

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Awards

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  • 2011 ENnie for Best New Game - Silver Winner[8]

References

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  1. ^ Ryder-Hanrahan, Gareth; Durall, Jason; Snead, John (2010). The Laundry. Oxford, UK: Cubicle 7. ISBN 978-1907204937.
  2. ^ a b Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  3. ^ Stross, Charlie (10 March 2010). "For sale; first edition of the Necronomicon (used once)". Charlie's Diary. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  4. ^ "Laundry Supplements list on Cubicle 7 website". Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  5. ^ "Call of Cthulhu and Cubicle 7".
  6. ^ "Geek Native discuss Cubicle 7".
  7. ^ Stross, Charlie (2023-07-14). "Announcement: 2nd edition Laundry Files RPG is coming". Charlie's Diary. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  8. ^ "The Laundry RPG". rpggeek.com. BoardGameGeek LLC.
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