Interest Check: H.P.Lovecraft Call of Cthulhu game [system]

Started by Lord Drake, January 07, 2010, 05:11:58 AM

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Callie Del Noire

Quote from: Lord Drake on January 09, 2010, 07:04:38 AM
There can be two kind of ideas vthat can explored here...

one, a massive campaign built to last into which the PG would live their lives while working towards a common aim

or a single setting (like arkham) where people would 'live' and cope with the 'things' that from time to time would happen.

Both would be interesting enough to explore...

I'm game for either

Transgirlenstein

Count me in.  I'm a big Call of Cthulhu fan.  I would be fine with either, not sure about my character yet. 
Busy with freelance writing work.  Replies slow.  Feel free to prod me. 

Formally Tripping Satyr, Tripping Snake and QueenTrippingserpent.  Often known as Trip.

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Callie Del Noire

I'd like to do it.. but I can't seem to come up with a character that isn't already 'touched by the mythos'. :D

Lord Drake

Quote from: Transgirlenstein on January 09, 2010, 03:33:33 PM
Count me in.  I'm a big Call of Cthulhu fan.  I would be fine with either, not sure about my character yet.

AND you like snake people!

^^
Hey.. where did you put that Drake?
I've taken the Oath of The Drake for Group RPs!
“Never waste your time trying to explain who you are
to people who are committed to misunderstanding you.”
— Dream Hampton

Drivestort


Transgirlenstein

Busy with freelance writing work.  Replies slow.  Feel free to prod me. 

Formally Tripping Satyr, Tripping Snake and QueenTrippingserpent.  Often known as Trip.

Ons/Offs: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=19217.0

Seeking Games!: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=71239.0

Callie Del Noire


Lord Drake

For now this is and remainst an interest check thread (although I see that I am getting interest!!).

About the time period the roaring twenties are the 'canon' period and a place like Arkham is the 'canon' setting. There are, though, many other places... like Kingsport for example, or Boston itself that can be used.
Hey.. where did you put that Drake?
I've taken the Oath of The Drake for Group RPs!
“Never waste your time trying to explain who you are
to people who are committed to misunderstanding you.”
— Dream Hampton

Drivestort


MzNurse

I'm in, whether you go with 1920s or modern.  I have a nurse I started for a modern game that lasted all of three weeks.  That was my first and only CoC game, and it was done in d20, so you might have to help me out.
Mz's O.O   Mz's Downtimes   Story Ideas  Open for a few new rps. PM me.

Samzilla

I'd love to join in. The Call is a great book and I'd love to explore the setting!

Lord Drake

OK... the system is REALLY easy. Here is a link to a PDF with quickstart rules. Actually the real quickstart rules are the first 10 pages so you see it is really easy to learn.

http://www.chaosium.com/forms/coc_quick_start_color.pdf
Hey.. where did you put that Drake?
I've taken the Oath of The Drake for Group RPs!
“Never waste your time trying to explain who you are
to people who are committed to misunderstanding you.”
— Dream Hampton

Drivestort

Quote from: Lord Drake on January 09, 2010, 07:00:09 PM
OK... the system is REALLY easy. Here is a link to a PDF with quickstart rules. Actually the real quickstart rules are the first 10 pages so you see it is really easy to learn.

http://www.chaosium.com/forms/coc_quick_start_color.pdf


Sa-weet.

Tatterdemalion

Quote from: Drivestort on January 09, 2010, 12:31:18 PMPersonally, I like the latter.
While building a campaign around a particular overarching goal which drives everything forwards would have a momentum of its own (in that the GM always has at least a rough idea of where the events are heading, keeping the game in motion and preventing the action from winding down to an akward halt), on the other hand a more location-based campaign would probably make it easier to replace characters that might fall aside during play or to accommodate possible new players who could join in later. So really, either approach has its benefits. And they can be mixed, too: who's to say that there ultimately isn't a single diabolical mastermind behind all the weirdness in that region, such as an avatar of Nyarlathotep out to wreak chaos in Arkham, even though the PCs can't quite grasp the connection between the incidents before it may be too late?

Lord Drake

The problem with a location-based setting is the sheer number of threads that the plot risks to split into.

Take Arkham for example...

places the likes of the Miskatonic University and the Asylum will need threads of their own and also any other signature place of the nearby zone and also there would be needed a thread for the investigator's HQ. In alternance we could do a single thread with the rule of specify the place where the investigator actually is... this would anyway imply not too much group splitting to avoid confusion over too many different places/settings.
Hey.. where did you put that Drake?
I've taken the Oath of The Drake for Group RPs!
“Never waste your time trying to explain who you are
to people who are committed to misunderstanding you.”
— Dream Hampton

Tatterdemalion

Quote from: Lord Drake on January 10, 2010, 07:28:13 AMIn alternance we could do a single thread with the rule of specify the place where the investigator actually is... this would anyway imply not too much group splitting to avoid confusion over too many different places/settings.
That's true enough. If the group mostly remains together during all the "on-screen" activities, then representing major locations with topics of their own could just lead to everyone hopping from one active thread to another while the rest of them are left to gather dust.  With one combined thread for all the PCs, even if a few of the investigators wander off to pursue some remote clue while the others stay behind to keep an eye on a suspected villain, it's easy to start the appropriate messages with "Meanwhile in Cairo..."

Lord Drake

This also needs to be coped with the possible drop out of someone and different post rythm.

Again I am putting out these topics because I have had a bit of experience with threads and multi-player games and I know how slow posting (or too prolific posting) can at times cause a bit of confusion and dropping-out players can freeze a game.

^^

That's why (by the way) I was thinking about a Dreamlands setting... one can rule that drop-out players have 'awakened'.
Hey.. where did you put that Drake?
I've taken the Oath of The Drake for Group RPs!
“Never waste your time trying to explain who you are
to people who are committed to misunderstanding you.”
— Dream Hampton

Tatterdemalion

Quote from: Lord Drake on January 10, 2010, 12:36:04 PMThat's why (by the way) I was thinking about a Dreamlands setting... one can rule that drop-out players have 'awakened'.
Oh, that's a nice bit of in-game rationalization. In the same vein, any absent player could open up the possibility of their characters vanishing mysteriously too ("Wait, Jack was stepping 'round the corner just now... but where's he gone?"), leaving the remaining group to investigate the disappearance as yet another sign of eldritch goings-on.

The Great Triangle

One solution I've found effective, at least in the one case where I've tried it, is to establish a post cap of say 10-15 posts a week, so that players try and have higher quality posts.  Then, if you establish side threads for things like sex scenes that don't count against these limits, you can have a fairly robust game without a 1/day poster logging in after a 1 day absence and seeing they've missed 35 posts.   

(If necessary, you may also need a social OOC thread and a game OOC thread, depending on the direction of people's conversations) 

A masks of Nyarlathotep style campaign (where the PCs chase down different avatars of the Outer God, possibly throughout the world) might be a pretty fun, as might one about thwarting the Esoteric Order of Dagon's preparations for the stars soon being right. 

(A fun Delta Green equivalent of the last one is a plot where a private aerospace contractor has been doing hundreds of quiet launches over the past decade, which all prove to be a network of satellites which will make the stars right by reflecting light and awaken Cthulu.  Gets a bit of a James Bond flavor into the game)
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Tatterdemalion

Quote from: The Great Triangle on January 10, 2010, 02:21:31 PMA masks of Nyarlathotep style campaign (where the PCs chase down different avatars of the Outer God, possibly throughout the world) might be a pretty fun, as might one about thwarting the Esoteric Order of Dagon's preparations for the stars soon being right.
Riffing off Horror on the Orient Express might prevent the players from wandering too far away from where the action is supposed to take place, as well. Talk about railroading...

Phaia


The Great Triangle

#46
Quote from: Tatterdemalion on January 13, 2010, 01:08:02 PM
Riffing off Horror on the Orient Express might prevent the players from wandering too far away from where the action is supposed to take place, as well. Talk about railroading...

In the 1920s, running away from the action is pretty hard, and given that it's the mythos, it likely means that the great old one or elder abomination or what have you will be killing you (and shortly the world) at full strength, rather than the weakened state you could have faced it at if you had continued the investigation.

It's also important to make sure all of the characters actively in play have a motivation to continue the investigation.  If a character has the motivation and means to run away from the mythos, that character is no longer a valid PC in a Call of Cthulhu campaign.  (this really is a major part of the game's high PC turnover as well.  A lot of characters will die, but many more will simply stop having reason to continue the investigation or be driven insane and be unfit to help thwart the mythos)


Some good strategies to make sure you have someone to continue the investigation when (not if) you end up suffering a horrible fate:

-Keep a journal of all your mythos activities; make copies and place them in safe deposit boxes with instructions to deliver them to detectives or next of kin in the event you don't check in.
-Send stories about your investigation to local and national newspapers; you might get some extra spending money, and even if they don't publish what you're doing, the letters still might get saved in a back room somewhere where they can be found.
-If it looks like you REALLY aren't going to make it, sell your mythos tomes to a used bookshop.  Try to include papers or letters inside explaining how dangerous they are, and burn them if you have old editions that contain real magic spells.  (you could also vandalize out the particularly dangerous spells)  In the unlikely event you survive, you can buy your mythos tomes back for a small fee.
-Make sure to correspond with friends, family, and professional contacts.  Try to make sure they know about every new area you enter, and warn them that you're afraid of dying if the threat is particularly dire. 
-If you have sufficient assets, try and keep your will updated constantly, making sure to make it clear who your mythos tomes, evidence, and mythos artifacts go to.  A few gambits you can try if you have a lot of money include having a capable relative or acquaintance continue the investigation in exchange for a large sum, or if you're a particular sort of jerk, buy the deed to a mythos location and leave it to your survivors, possibly requiring them to perform an action that will neutralize the threat of the location to inherit the property.
-If you get hauled in by the police for a serious crime with evidence, don't hold back anything about the mythos.  Tell the police, any journalists present, and anyone who will listen about the mythos and what is going on.  This will get you into a sanitarium rather than in jail, and your statement is likely to be recorded, providing useful clues for future investigators. 
-Tip well; it can make waiters, busboys, taxi drivers, and other service professionals remember you, and start investigating if you're found cut into 54 peices in an alley.
-Nothing gets people's attention like a flashy suicide, especially with a note explaining exactly how you were going to turn into a horrible scaly demon if you didn't.
-If you can enter the Dreamlands, preparing contingiencies in the realm of sleep are a good way to spread knowledge of your plight to people who already beleive in the mythos, although they might not be in a geographically convenient location.
-Never underestimate the value of discreetly scrawling grafitti with vital clues to future investigators everywhere you go.  Such activities are doubly useful if they indicate the location of the next clue.
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Lady Kitsune

I am working on it, I swear!

The Great Triangle

If the proposed GM of the game isn't up to running it, I may be up to running the game, but only if I could use the Unknown Armies system.  (it's a fairly simple system, quite similar to call of cthulhu and I can explain most of the rules in about 500 words)  The main reason I'd want to use the alternate system is for simpler character generation and even deadlier combat.  (if you're fighting with a weapon in Unknown Armies, there's a serious possibility someone will die, even in one hit; if you're fighting with a gun, that possibility becomes a virtual certainty.  It does make killing mythos creatures slightly easier though)

I'll have to get my other system game in order before I can go run Cthulhu though.  :-)
Meow!  I'm a kitty; made of fire.

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