Call of Cthulhu - Ryokan of Hell - Interest Check (Extreme NC Horror)

[Arcanist]

Background Concept
I currently have a craving for Japanese Horror. Not just the normal horror like The Ring or normal Cthulhu horror, but a mixture of both and this being E, plenty of non-concensual, paranormal "hentai" smut. Don't get me wrong, this is going to be story driven and a system game. The investigators are on holiday in Hakone, Japan. The location you ask? Its a beautiful Ryokan near Lake Aishi and Moto Hakone. The Investigators do not have to know one another but it is after all up to you, my players. There is also plenty of opportunity to get to know one another in the Ryokan. It is after all, an adults only accomodation.

This adventure (if you call it that) is set in the modern setting. Investigators come from all walks of life and countries. You could play a Japanese salaryman, a couple on holiday from the US, an Australian author looking for some "alone" time to simulate his creative juices or even dare I say it, a single female foreign exchange student on winter break. Minimum Age of Investigators is 18. Gender and sexual orientation will be up to the investigators. However, as much as I love Futa, this is not the adventure for it.

What would be involved?
First and foremost, there will be horror. There will be instances of non-concensual sex between paranormal entities and investigators. There most likely will be tentacles, encounters of the slimy kind, paranormal entities, possession and possibly even mind control. No, this is not an offshoot of Bible Black. Chances are, Investigators would not be able to cast spells or win in a hand-to-hand fight. It is after all Call of Cthulhu. As investigators, if it is one of your OFFS, I suggest perhaps this game is not for you.

How many investigators?
I am looking for at least 3 to 5 investigators to start. I envisage a Early January Start, but it may happen earlier if everyone is happy to post during space between Christmas and New Years. But, hey, its the holidays!

Will there be other sexual encounters involved between investigators?
It would depend on you, as investigators. But I would suggest taking it to another thread. Unless of course, it is part of the adventure, for example a possession of an investigator or an attack by a particularly sex-starved entity.

Will my Investigator die?
Like all system games, yes, your investigator may be defeated. Your investigator may be taken and forever serve the whims of the Unknown. Your investigator may be rescued and perhaps changed forever. But we shall discuss this yes?

Long-Term or Short Term
Is this a Long-term or Short-term game you might ask? I see Ryokan of Hell itself as a short-term game. BUT, if at the end of this adventure, investigators are happy with the format and content, I have other adventures for the investigators.

Communication and posting
Yes, there will be plenty of communication between myself and the investigators. Miscommunication is the bane of all roleplaying games, online and in real life. Heck, it does not even have to be for a roleplaying game but life in general. I expect investigators to be able to post at least twice a week. I will post once during the weekend and once more in the middle of the week. Unfortunately, I may have to take control of said investigator or take into account what the investigator last did. The reason - Too many times, the game ends when momentum stops. So I apologise straight up. If the investigator is unable to post, please let everyone know in OOC. (An OOC thread will be created).

Also respect others. We are here to have fun. I understand that everyone has Ons/Offs and limits of course. Number 1, we will follow the guidelines of E. But in regards to the Ons/Offs of investigators, please read the above paragraph on "What would be involved". Some may be hesitant about some of the happenings. PM me if you have any concerns. Also, PM me if you have any particular kinks you want to explore relating to this genre.

Interested?
Reply to this thread. If you can, add a character concept. Post any questions you may have or you can always PM me.

If there is enough interest, I will request that everyone posts a character on the thread or email me one. It will be a starting Call of Cthulhu character. Again, bare in mind, the adventure takes place in Japan. Chances are, it will stay in Japan with possible travel to other countries at a later stage. The pre-dominant language in Japan is Japanese.

I will be using Option 4: Point Buy for Characteristics plus Option 6 with the caveat what I will make the rolls.

Linked Threads
Character Thread
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=338713.msg16068052#msg16068052

Ryokan of Hell - OOC
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=338717.0

[Hexed]

even dare I say it, a single female foreign exchange student on winter break.

Huh. That option sounds like it would get into so much trouble.

No firm concepts yet although an otaku college student who hit a smaller lottery and decided to use it to tour japan with the stay at the Ryokan being a calm down and rest stop might be interesting.


Edit-
Oh yeah, which edition are you planning on using? And are other add on books permitted to use?

[CaptainErotica]

This seems fun. I’ve actually been to Hakone several times. I’m not very familiar with the Cthulhu rules system though.

[Arcanist]

Basically, Call of Cthulhu uses percentile dice mainly to achieve tasks. You roll stats, pick an occupation and depending on your occupation, it governs the skills and percentage you start off with and of course you can purchase more and other skills to finish your character. The amount of skills you have depends on a mixture of stats with a set formula, depending on your occupation.

Generally, for successes, you roll under a target percent. So, I may ask you to roll under a certain percentile for a success. Your skill percentage would impact on the percentile you need to roll under. Hope this makes sense.

The 7th Ed investigator’s Handbook is all you need to create the character.

[PixelatedPixie]

I'd be interested, first thought for a character that comes to mind is a foreign English teacher who does photography as a hobby.  But I will glance through the rulebook and see what comes to mind. 

Interest withdrawn, have fun.

[Armphid]

I'd like to express my interest as well.  I love Call of Cthulhu and have my own interest in Japan so this could be a lot of fun.

I do have a question, what era of play is this set in?  That could have a pretty profound effect on character concepts for me.

Never mind!  I saw it in the intro.  I just didn't read well enough.  I failed by Language (Own) Check.

This website also has a pretty good character generator for those interested.
https://www.dholeshouse.org/Default

I have two main ideas right now.  A Japanese college student who has decided to spend some time on vacation (or possibly even taken a leave of absence/dropped out of school?  Scandal!) to travel across Japan by bicycle and just kind of explore to find themselves as well as doing to a travel blog/YouTube/TikTok about their journey. 

The other would be to borrow one of the ideas from Arcanist's first post and play one half of a married couple from the US who are in Japan on their dream vacation, only for it to be a nightmare!  If anyone's interested in that idea and wants to play the other person in the marriage, I'm open to collaboration.

[Arcanist]

Thank you everyone for the interest.

Damn 95… no worries. Currently what I have in mind is either pre or post Covid. So 2018 to 2021. Around that time, more than likely pre. Just for some clarification. For some reason, call of Cthulhu sometimes see modern as 1990s.

[Armphid]

I always thought it did that because it limited communication technology, you know?  A lot of RPG problems go away when you have abundant cell phones, let alone smart phones.  You don't have to dig through a library to find a forbidden tome when you just just go to the Forbidden Tome sub-reddit for the English translation put up by YithMomma2000.  When everyone has a camera in their pocket, it's also a lot easier to get evidence of things that you're not supposed to be able to get evidence of, you know? 

There could also be style reasons and the X-Files kind of connection but that's what I think.  Whenever I watch older shows anymore, I'm always thinking about how the plot would completely be undone now because Character A could just text Character B what they found out rather than having to try and physically locate them while danger creeps up.

[Hexed]

True although weeding the truth from the junk online would be even worse than just finding an old book.

And I'm sure cell phones could be scrambled by spooky stuff.

[Arcanist]

A mixture of things I guess.
1. People tend to disbelief the unexplained - the fog of disbelief (quite popular with fiction as well
2. Supernatural and technology don’t mix as well. You might sort of get something on film, but not perhaps the whole story. Besides with the world of green screens…

[Armphid]

Oh, yes, there's lots of ways to handle it.  It's hardly insurmountable.  But if you haven't considered it, if can take the tension out of some scenarios.

"Oh, no, we need to study this book but the cultists could find us any minute" then you just take pictures of all the pages and beat feet.  I'm just saying that's one of the reasons why I think "modern" in Call of Cthulhu is often put in the 1990s. 

But that doesn't matter for us!

[CaptainErotica]

East Texas University has the same problems. It works much better when the characters can’t just pull up a Google search or have cell phones.

[queenkam234]

Interested!

[Ashia]

I'm interested in this potentially!

I love the setup and premise, in general. And I love Call of Cthulu!

I'd love to play a linguist who stumbled upon some code work for a secret group, found that the languages and code itself were otherworldly (she hasn't accepted this), and is now on vacation to get away from the stress of it all!

[Arcanist]

Looks like it’s going to be a go.
I’ll start a character thread and OOC thread early next week.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. I will leave this thread open to more interest.

[snowdrop]

I'm very much interested! I've played a couple of Call of Cthulhu one-shots in the past (no idea which edition though), and whild I wasn't a huge fan of the whole percentile system for how... one-dimensional it felt to me, the straight-forwardness might actually be a good thing for a forum game. And the setting itself is of course absolutely wonderful!

My gut reaction for a character for this setting would be some kind of a high school idol type. Perhaps an idol in an AKB48-style group, sent to the ryokan for a gravure photoshoot, when she gets tied up in whatever's going on...!

[CaptainErotica]

  I am trying to decide between a few ideas.

- I am thinking of trying to rebuild a character I made for a game of Cthulhu that never got off the ground. He was a high level Mob Boss with maxed out wealth. Think it was literally 100. I could keep him as an American/Italian American or make him Yakuza.

- I think it would be fun to play an older woman, someone like a fictionalized version of Namie Amuro, who is visiting the Ryokan enjoying her recent retirement from the music industry, but still working on her fashion design company.

- An investigative reporter for an underground paranormal magazine. He or she has heard of some possible strangeness going on at the ryokan and has booked a room hoping to find a big scoop.

[Arcanist]

HI CaptainErotica - The concepts are good.

Idea 1 - He would have to be Yakuza. Foreign criminals are not well received. Unless you have a good reason :) You would also need to look at the Credit Rating Skill range for the occupation

Idea 2 - Could be interesting. But may be difficult to play given the genre. But not impossible.

Idea 3 - Investigative Reporter - Also good. Lots of opportunities there.

[Arcanist]

Skill Cap - I am placing a Skill Cap of 75% for all skills. Unless its Credit Rating specific to your occupation.

Each occupation will have a credit rating skill range.

[Arcanist]

The Character Thread for Ryokan of Hell has been added to the front post.

[Beorning]

Hello! :)

Two questions:

1. Is this RP going to have a set plot, or is it more about scary encounters with creatures etc.?

2. Is "Ryokan" a town name or some kind of Japanese establishment?

[Arcanist]

Hello! :)

Two questions:

1. Is this RP going to have a set plot, or is it more about scary encounters with creatures etc.?

2. Is "Ryokan" a town name or some kind of Japanese establishment?

Yes, this RP is going to have a set plot, so no its not going to be all about scary encounters with creatures. I would say 60/40 in the story vs smut paradigm

A ryokan (旅館) is a type of traditional Japanese inn that typically features tatami-matted rooms, communal baths, and other public areas where visitors may wear yukata and talk with the owner. In the case of this game, the ryokan also has an onsen - normally an outdoor natural hot spring.

[Arcanist]

Interested parties
Please post your characters either on this thread or PM me with them first.
Once approved, I will ask you to post it on the Character Thread. If you have any questions, please ask.

Follow the below format
I aim to start on the week starting the 3rd of January.

For Character Generation, you would need to Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed Investigator's Rulebook. We would be using a variation of character generator options.
Character Generation - Please follow the following instructions for character generation
1. Roll 3d6 six times and multiply by 5 - That would give you 6 scores for your Strength (STR), Constitution (CON), Dexterity (DEX),  Appearance (APP), Luck (LUCK) and Power (POW) So for my character, I got 75, 80, 65, 55, 70 & 50.
2. Roll 2d6+6 three times and multiply by 5 for your Intelligence (INT), Education (EDU) and Size (SIZ)
3. If you roll double 1s in any of the arrays, either 3d6 or 2d6, reroll again. PM me your dice rolls and linked attribute, I will roll an additional 1d10 to add to the attribute.
4. 50 is an average human attribute (I got lucky with character creation)
5. Age: Choose a Age - Refer to Investigator's book for modifiers
6. Damage Bones and Build - STR + SIZ and check table 1
7. Hit Point - CON + SIZE divide by 10 and round down
8. SAN is equal to POW
9. Movement Rate (MOV) - Check Investigator's Handbook
10. Determine Occupation - Determine your occupation - this will also impact on your skills and skills allocation (Check Investigator's Handbook)
11: Personal Interest - INT x 2 in any skills
12. Half and Fifth Values - Refer to Investigator's Handbook
13. Skill Cap - There is a Skill Cap of 75%. So the max starting skill in your investigator can have is 75%. The only exception is your Credit Rating which can be bought up to the max range given as per your investigator's occupation - i.e. Keiko's occupation of Actor (Film Star) gives her a credit range she can buy from 20 - 90
14. Create a backstory, Determine Finances (Based on Credit Rating), Gear & Equipment


Matsuda, Keiko - Retired AV Actress turned Ryokan Proprietor
Attributes
STR: 57 | 28 | 11
CON: 60 | 30 | 12
DEX: 81 | 40 | 16
APP: 85 | 42 | 17
INT: 87 | 43 | 17
SIZ: 77 | 38 | 15
POW:76 | 38 | 15
EDU: 94 | 47 | 19
LUCK:73 | 36 | 14
Age:26
Damage Bonus and Build - 1d4
Hit Points: 13
Movement (MOV): 8
Sanity: 76
Skills: (Occupation Skills (Entertainer)*: EDU x 2 + APP x2 - 358 | Personal Skills: 174 (87 x 4))
Art/Craft*(Acting): 75 | 37 | 15
Disguise*: 48 | 24 | 9
Charm*: 75 | 37 | 15
Credit Rating*: 50 | 25 | 10
Fast Talk*: 30 | 15 | 6
Persuade*: 65 | 32 | 13
Listen*: 40 | 20 | 8
Psychology*: 50 | 25 | 10
Appraise:19 | 9 | 3
Computer Use: 25 | 12 | 5
Accounting: 15 | 7 | 3
Dodge: 50 | 25 | 10
Drive Auto: 30 | 15 | 6
First Aid: 40 | 20 | 8
Language (English): 50 | 25 | 10
Language (Japanese): 94
Spot Hidden: 35 | 17 | 6
Stealth: 20 | 10 | 4
Throw: 20 | 10 | 4

Weapon and Firearm Skills:
Fighting (Brawling): 40 | 20 | 8
Firearns (Bow): 30 | 15 | 6
Backstory: Retired AV Actress turned Ryokan Proprietor (NPC - Feel free to elaborate the backstory of your character - Read Investigator's Handbook)
Personal Description: NPC
Ideology/ Beliefs: NPC
Significant People: NPC
Meaningful Location:
Treasure Possessions
Traits
Key Backstory Connection:
Character Ons/Offs: Your character may have specific ons/off for this campaign. Please list them here. I would also prefer it if you could communicate them to me via PM, especially if you particular kinks you want your character to get involved in. Also tell me if you would mind helping me collaborate in parts of the storyline. i.e. using your character as a means to communicate information to characters.

Cash and Assets:
Cash: Table II
Assets: Table II
Equipment: Table II

[Hexed]

Well these are going to be interesting. Do the rolls go into attribute by order or by choice? I didn't think about it and just flat out did roll 1, roll 2, etc to get all the rolls needed.

[Arcanist]

Roll the dice as per handbook with the modifier, than allocate to the stat. Please note differences in dice and modifiers for the different Stat lines