Thread for sharing useful links, pdf files, fanmade scenarios and story telling.
Yesterday I ran a The Haunting campaign, and at a point, one of the players asked themselves "Who is it that awaits in the dark". The party hopelessly rolled an Occultism test to try and find an answer, and they unsurprisingly failed.
I sarcastically suggested one of the players to roll a Cthulhu Mythos test- They had a 4% chance of success, so I thought it wouldn't do any harm.
But it turns out they actually did achieve success, and I was caught off guard- I looked it up and found that the answer is Yog-Sothoth. Is that correct?
>>43578902
I've never played Call of Cuthulu. What's it like? Is it more about the atmosphere?
>>43578978
Basically, at least when i played the combat was merely a ornament.
The keeper role is to transmit the horror to the players.
>>43578902Corbitt is a sorcerer, maybe a lich.The rest is just flavor.
The Haunting is a short adventure, not a campaign. CoC campaigns are legendary for being complex, long, and very deadly.
When you roll skill checks for clues related to the central mystery you should have results prepared for failed, close, passed, and superbly passed rolls. And don't place red herrings or dead ends in those options, just degrees of success or additional flavoring. It's a nub mistake and can stall the tension. Although I don't remember a crucial roll in The Haunting that could yield Yog Sothoth as a result.
>>43578978
Yes. You don't level up a character, you invent a quirky story together, and atmosphere, specifically tension, is crucial.
>>43580485
Do you recommend Masks of Nyarlathotep for beginners?
>>43580683
Not him but not. Masks is really long and demanding on both the players and the keeper. It's quite possible an unexperienced group will run out of steam during the campaign.
Start out smaller.
>>43580683
Absolutely not. It's mean, you need 10+ PCs, and it's deep down the spiral. Start with one shots and fresh PCs each time. Once that feels smooth, try Horror on the Orient Express. Masks and Mountains are expert scenarios for people who don't get frustrated by being in a hopeless situation with an ill prepared character who then dies.
Where the shitting dick nipples is the print edition of 7th Ed?
>>43581328
http://www.chaosium.com/call-of-cthulhu-rulebooks-print/
About sanity, what the best way to deal with it? Should i recover some sanity points of the PC's when they're running too low? Keeping in mind that the players aren't used to the game.
>>43584628
Only if they have time to recover and good things happen, and even then don't give them back too much. Sanity and health in CoC aren't like HP and fear in DnD. They're very real concerns that can mess you up, not a brief reeling back before you crush the monster du jour.
I myself have a houserule based on something Mythos stories almost always get wrong. The Necronomicon and other occult books don't drive you mad - that'd be like a Stephen King novel driving you mad*. What drives you mad is the knowledge that what you read was true. Hell, the heroes of the Dunwich Horror even use the Necronomicon itself as a HELP, not a hindrance.
What I do with occult books is put the sanity roll aside after they've read it, giving whatever bonuses or spells or whatever they sought. However, when they use that information in a practical way, or encounter a creature/event/etc. that was mentioned in the book, they take the normal sanity damage AND the damage they got from reading the book. It hurts more and is more in-keeping with the original stories.
>>43578902
Skill rolls represent the things the characters know that the players might not, you roll to figure out if the character notices or remembers something relevant. You can't get information from a skill roll that the character could not have known.
>>43580683
Oh god no. Masks would be the last thing I'd tell a newbie to run. It's a great scenario, but it's very complicated to run AND very rough on the PCs (in a good way, but not an easy starting out way.)
A good campaign for new players to run that doesn't take much modification to be fun would be Our Ladies of Sorrow from Miskatonic River Press.
>>43584628
Absolutely do not just have your players recover sanity because they are low. They lose too much sanity, they go insane, the end. It's like character death but your character doesn't really die, they just become unplayably crazy. Either way, it's time to roll a new one. You don't give people more HP just because they are running low, you let them die.
New or not, that's way too care-bear.
Sanity can be regained in small amounts at the end of a scenario if and only if the PCs have demonstrated that humans can prevail against the mythos, at least in some small way. Most prewritten scenarios have sanity rewards at the end: 1d3 if they saved a particular NPC, 1d6 if they solved the problem, etc. Generally you'll regain less sanity than you lost, and that is as it should be. Call of Cthulhu is a long, slow spiral into madness, not a never-ending campaign where you can be playing the same character 5 or 10 years from now.
The sanity restoring train/boat ride rules are fun, but need to be used sparingly.
bump?
I plan on having the odd CoC one-shot to break up my DnD campaign in case someone can't make it or something. I've got the rulebook, any good, self-contained scenarios if I wanted to do something like that?
>>43587059
I like the scenarios in the core rulebook. They are a good introduction to the system
>>43587169
Except "The Madman" which is shit. But yeah, Edge of Darkness is especially good, and the other 2 are good too.
Some Cthulhu one-shots tend to run longer, so you want to think carefully before deciding to run as a one-shot based on how fast or slow your group tends to be.
New Tales of the Miskatonic Valley, More Adventures in Arkham Country, Mansions of Madness, Tales of the Sleepless City/Crescent City are some of the more solid collections of one-shots.
The best way to make sure you have the right amount of material, IF you can handle it, is learning to improv mystery scenarios, but that can be a bit rough if Cthulhu/other mystery structured games are not a common thing for you. But if you want to go that route, "Stealing Cthulhu" is a great book.
>>43581562
>http://www.chaosium.com/call-of-cthulhu-rulebooks-print/
Not even the Core is in print ? WTF Chaosium ?
The Haunting is supposed to be an introductory adventure that teaches new players how Call of Cthulhu generally works, but as far as I can tell, there is no actual reason to research or investigate anything. A team that goes into the house completely blind is not likely to be at much of a disadvantage to a team that has scoured all of the local resources.
Does this strike anyone else as counterproductive? And does anyone have any ideas on how to correct this?
>>43587285
Yeah, I have run the Haunting two times now and I think the Intend was to convince the players that there is something going on. Problem is that it really doesn´t concern them too much. I had to jump through hoops to get them to go back to the house after the bed scare
>>43587268
7th edition isn't out yet officially, but 6th is perfectly fine. Not worth buying, but you can use the quickstart rules or find a pdf lying around somewhere.
>>43587755
I have the 6th core and love it. I was just surprised.
>>43587285
Yeah, I modify The Haunting quite a bit when I run it. It may be intended for new players but it was also one of the first scenarios ever written and is kind of stupid in some ways.
Broadly speaking, changes I make are all along these lines:
The ending has to be made significantly easier by the research, which means inserting a weakness and research to support it. The chapel or the journal are the two obvious places for this research, I usually leave that in both.
The family research has to be relevant, so I like to use it to give hints to the other dangers that they wouldn't otherwise get.
With new players it's helpful to actually outright suggest to them that they should look into other things, so I add this in as part of the landlord's request, then make sure to reward them for thoroughness.
Generally it helps to hit the final encounter/hidden room/what's going on revelations with the three clue rule to make the whole scenario hold together better.
Edge of Darkness need a lot less work.
>>43587766
Yeah, I have 6th too, it's great. I just meant that with 7th being released any day now (they mean it this time I think, given the involuntary management change) that there's no real point buying 6th NOW.
>>43587059
Another thing struck my mind to consider. It's probably going to be an online campaign, so would text do alright? If it was voice, should I try talk naturally or try a horror narrator voice? Would I need a grid?
>>43587268
>Core
Have you ever played CoC?
There never has been a 'core' book. The most important book is the Keeper's. And it was the first to be released of 7. The Investigator's Companion was great, but you don't need it to learn the rules.
>>43587834
No. Just no. A hundred times: No!
>>43587975
Little confused. Some of those were either-or, so I'm guessing you don't think I should run it online, use text, put on a voice, or use a grid.
>>43587996
You won't create atmosphere through voice chat, and definitely not through text. The only way to make that work is by writing a scenario where the characters only meet online.
And the idea to use a grid just shows how you're really playing DnD. The notion is ludicrous for CoC, and to even consider it tells me you never even looked at the game in the first place.
>>43588012
Not everybody runs games where all the players and the GM meets face-to-face.
>>43588027
And those people will never have the satisfying experience of playing Call of Cthulhu in an atmospherically intense way unless they play an adventure where the characters sit in front of the computer and discover a mystery online.
But hey, BRP is very flexible. I'm sure some kind of fun will drop out the bottom. It just won't be what I got to know as Call of Cthulhu. It'll be more along the lines of the WoD games I've experienced.
>>43588012
But lovecraft himself gave atmosphere through text, no? For reference, my favorite of his works I read so far was Rats in the Walls, the bit where the protagonist suddenly narrates in a psychotic manner made me jump!
I've read the rulebook, I just can't quite parse how to spacially represent stuff in a consistent manner. I can be quite absent minded. I get I won't have to put a grid when they're just interviewing someone, but when they're exploring an area I can't trust myself to, say, keep it consistent whether someone's going to be in the path of the moving bed in the haunting, for example. I'd give the game away if I made certain they were in front of the window I feel.
>>43588054
So use a gridless map you nig.
>>43588012
>implying anyone on /tg/ is competent at creating atmosphere
You won't create atmosphere throwing dice in some dude's living room/basement either unless you take extreme steps (see The Mars Campaign).
>>43587789
Thanks, anon. Good ideas.
>>43588054
The question
>Okay, what order are you standing in right now?
should strike the fear of god into the players, and a little curiosity. You can use it much like
>What's your Spot-value? *rollsdice
If you have trouble narrating spatial relations, I suggest reading the related section in the Fate Core rules. They're free and very good, even if you don't 4dF. They explain how to break up locations into 'rooms' and how to handle time, action, and movement so that it makes narrative sense.
>>43588067
Awake's Mars trip was a clusterfuck that nicely demonstrates that you can have excellent tension without much story or any kind of resolution. But I wouldn't take it as anything to aspire to. The players were very forgiving. And being well prepared lets you have more attention for the players and their reactions.
But imagine how easy it would have been to break the tension of the Mars scenario by requiring the players to put a miniature on a map. I'd have them play Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes before I put a grid over my handout art.
>>43588107
The way I keep thinking is if I were to sic the bed on them they'd do something like "Nuh-uh, I was standing slightly to the side." (My players are decently mature, so not exact wording, but you get the idea.) I get the idea, though I prefer to keep a copy of the player's char sheets handy so I don't give away the game by asking them their stats. To add to this I make infrequent "psyche out" rolls.
>fish keeps coming up on captcha, dagon must be on to me.
>>43588107
>put a miniature on a map
This is in no way required, if you read the bit where I suggested using a GRIDLESS map. Something for the players to look at and get an idea of the layout of the place. The Mars scenario was basically miles of endless halls, so there was no need for a map. But in a cluttered dining room (for example), where your players and things are can become very important.
For example, I was in a game just earlier where our ship was sinking and I had to get my stuff from belowdecks. Because my hammock was further from the stairs, I took an extra round to get my things.
>>43588130
>The way I keep thinking is if I were to sic the bed on them they'd do something like "Nuh-uh, I was standing slightly to the side." (My players are decently mature, so not exact wording, but you get the idea.)
That's some playground freeform shit, anon. Kill them all.
>>43588158
I'm not saying they would do that, but I feel without a map there'd be locational disputes or I'd give the game away by confirming exactly where they were.
>>43588130
>"Nuh-uh, I was standing slightly to the side."
NUBDOM!
Seriously, beat it out of them.
>Oh in that case you are caught on the sharp rusty bent bit on the side of the bed.
>Roll dodge
>The bed attacks you specifically
>Roll to not trip and fall flat on the floor
Only reward being smart if it actually is. And never ex post. It is okay to clear up misunderstandings, but lawyering never is.
>>43588142
I believe a map can be a good aid when trying to visualize a chat game. And I know Roll20 has a tool with tokens and all. I think it works against establishing an atmosphere to move tokens on a map, but I get that online games can be complex and this definitely helps with that. But I's take care to use a map that does not look like what the PCs are seeing, but like a map they might find in the setting. In 1920s CoC that'd be an architectural drawing before blueprints, or a hastily hand drawn sketch from a witness, possibly in ink and nib. In a modern game I have used screenshots from google maps, or just allowed the players to look up the actual place on their phone.
>>43588179
And as long as the game works along those lines it will be a compromise. But I don't want to call wrongbadfun either. I can't fix it. Just see how it goes and improve upon that.
>>43588192
I like the idea of using blueprints anon. Thanks.
>captcha be consistent with patios. It feels like you're trying to fuck me over with non-euclidean geometry.
>>43588192
>I's take care to use a map that does not look like what the PCs are seeing
If it doesn't look like the location, why even have the map.?
Give the players a quick sketch showing where all the major features are, and keep the accurate one for yourself.
>>43588214
Blueprints came in the 50s though. 20s plans are inked pencil drawings copied by hand.
>>43588226
What I meant was don't use SKG terrain tiles or some art that was made on a computer. Instead use black and white photographs or material as could be fashioned in the era.
>>43588235
>SKG terrain tiles
I don't know what these are.
My players get scribbly maps that show the general layout, the accurate maps are for me.
>>43588228
Blueprints were replaced by whiteprints in the 40s mate.
>>43588228
>>43588305
Isn't this just semantics? I get the point to use a minimalist architectural map.
>>43588321
The point is whether or not blueprints would be period-accurate, which they would.
>>43588305
You are correct. My technical drawing teacher was full of shit. Damn!
>>43588335
>technical drawing
Haven't Visio and CAD replaced that?
>>43588335
"Blueprints" is still a commonly accepted term for "them drawings what show the layout of that thurr building", so don't fret.
>>43587965
I meant the Keeper´s. I was just wondering why there is no print version of the 7th edition
Has there ever been an CoC material that incorperated Pulp Heroes or something along the lines. Not for a purist game but how about my 1920s investigator is a huge pulp fan ?
>>43588813
Not to my knowledge, though I suppose you could reskin some of the more noir-y ones?
>>43588813
CoC has a natural tendency to run into Pulp. On a character level that's fine as long as the PC isn't a one trick pony but features some inner conflict. On a story level it can be tricky. Nothing in the rules or setting keeps you from playing League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. But you give up the Horror genre in the process and end up with Horror flavored supers or action. And it remains compelling, but the system starts getting clunky and you'd be better served just using Spirit of the Century.
Noir works well, but as soon as you allow supernatural or unrealistic stuff to creep into the PC arsenal you change an overwhelmingly scary situation into a heroic challenge. That doesn't mean they can never use magic, but it always comes at a price that is too great to pay unless the world hinges on it. If they can run around armed with just as mysterious and powerful things as what they are hunting then SAN checks become disputable.
So Horror is when you roll SAN every time you cast a spell, and suffer from the result even if it helps short term. Pulp is when that limitation falls, and there's better systems for it.
>>43588832
>>43588891
Ok, thanks. I suppose there is no way to make dual pistols work ala The Shadow or the Spider then. Well maybe it´s for the best
>>43590444
It will work in BRP. It will not work in the context of Horror tension, because it deflects the tension and turns it into a task. The only way it could work is as a bad joke that creates more problems than it solves.
>>43588012
You absolutely can create atmosphere through voice, with maybe a touch of background music. But that's not really the important thing, the words coming out of your mouth are.
I wouldn't try a "horror accent" though, that just sounds cheesy. Accents for NPCs, on the other hand, are great if you can pull them off.
>>43588046
Your definition of good CoC is WAY too narrow, friend.
