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

[Lord Drake]

I am dipping my toe on GM experience with extreme circumspection but... I have always like Call of Cthulhu setting and atmosphere and I think it could do an extremely interesting game experience if done with the right people. Also the fact that the system is extremely easy and has a lot of freeform into it, makes it in my opinion particularly suited for play-by-forum experience.

What I would like to see is if I can find a chore of hardy and possibly (sugh...) considtent players willing to play in a dark 1920 setting where life attempts to go on normally while nameless horrors out of 'other' places seep around to conquer the world.

There is space for action and investigation... and also romance and more hard-boiled situations.

Here follows (shamelessly wiki-stolen) some explanations on the game and setting. I'm willing to explain the system to those who do not know him.

Setting:
The setting of Call of Cthulhu is a darker version of our world, based on H. P. Lovecraft's observation (from his short essay, Supernatural Horror in Literature) that "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." There are three primary eras of the original (BRP) game: the 1920s, the setting of many of Lovecraft's stories; the 1890s Gaslight supplements, a blend of occult and Holmesian mystery and mostly set in England; and modern conspiracy (Cthulhu Now). Recent additions include 1000 AD (Cthulhu: Dark Ages), 23rd Century (Cthulhu Rising) and Roman times (Cthulhu Invictus). The protagonists may also travel to places that are not of this earth, represented in the Dreamlands (which can be accessed through dreams as well as being physically connected to the earth), as well as travel to other planets or the voids of space.

Gameplay experience:
The players take the roles of ordinary people drawn into the realm of the mysterious: detectives, criminals, scholars, artists, war veterans, etc. Often, happenings begin innocently enough, until more and more of the workings behind the scenes are revealed. As the characters learn more of the true horrors of the world and the irrelevance of humanity, their sanity (represented by 'Sanity Points', abbreviated SAN) inevitably withers away. The game includes a mechanism for determining how damaged a character's sanity is at any given point; encountering the horrific beings usually triggers a loss of points of SAN. Also, to gain the tools they need to defeat the horrors – mystic knowledge and magic – the characters must be willing to give up some of their sanity.

Call of Cthulhu has a reputation as a game in which it is quite common for a player character to die in gruesome circumstances or end up in a mental institution.

Rules:
For as long as they stay healthy (or at least functional), characters may be developed. Call of Cthulhu does not use levels, but is completely skill-based, with player characters getting better with their skills by succeeding at them.

I'm looking for descriptive posts and pople looking forward to a challenge. And also I'm looking for consistency over prolificity... better someone who writes two posts a week but KEEPS playing than someone who floods the game with posts and then quits after a month.

Let's see if this interests someone.

^^

[Callie Del Noire]

Which system?
CoC by Choasium or the d20 version..

Or.. CoC: Delta Green? (Glee!)

[Tatterdemalion]

Which system?

Well, the lack of levels rules out CoC d20 and the Roaring Twenties as the setting doesn't fit in with Delta Green, so that leaves Chaosium's BRP... which would interest me, certainly. After all, I even pilfered my handle from the King in Yellow.

[Callie Del Noire]

Well, the lack of levels rules out CoC d20 and the Roaring Twenties as the setting doesn't fit in with Delta Green, so that leaves Chaosium's BRP... which would interest me, certainly. After all, I even pilfered my handle from the King in Yellow.

I had a character in the 20s.. but it was a d20 game.. psychic/forger type.

And the DG setting started around the 20s.. but you're right since mostly DG is 70s on.

[Remiel]

This type of thing always perks my interest, although it's been years since I used the CoC system and don't remember any of it. :(

[Lord Drake]

The basic CoC system is extremely easy to (re)learn (so no problems here Remiel) and I have a distinct preference for it since it has room for large parts of freeform-style game who is better for forum-like RP. The D20 system is good and easy but at times can make thing too dice-dependant.

I do not know the Delta Green system (am I too old)?

At the actual state of things I am also thinking about lovecraft's dreamlands as a possible alternate ambientation.

Actually the CoC setting per se, in my opinion, is especially suited for forum RPs.

[Callie Del Noire]

Basically Delta Green is group of federal agents in conspiracy against the mythos and MJ-12. Basically certain segments of the Federal Government have been aware of the mythos since the raid on Isthmoth (sp?) in the 20s..

Instead of forming a concrete and discrete group to combat the Delta Green group tapped various agency elements for indivigual cases. A lot of stuff went down in the DG purview during WWII. Pretty good ideas for that.

Things for the Delta Green group started going bad around Vietnam when they sent forces into Laos to quash suspected mythos elements and lost the better part of a brigade in a totally unauthorized action.

MJ-12 moved up as a group that could 'handle' things.. (of course by handling, that meant dealing with the Mi-Go inexchange for the daily updates on the soviet's movements and the occassional 'alien abduction' and such as well as a few bits and pieces of tech)

So now the DG group is an underground conspiracy within the Federal Government and the MJ-12 faction is the alpha dog.

[Lord Drake]

This is a setting that could seem crazily funny. Unfortunately I do not know it well enough to GM it...

So we either get the 1920 (or modern time if we like it more) CoC or even the dreamlands... this for now is an interest chech thread so suggestions are always well received.

^^

[Callie Del Noire]

Basically you can take a X files story, add in a mythos angle and you got a delta green ep.

Or an FBI story with a twist..

For example.

Truck Hijacking. Unfortuantaely it wasn't the reagents the meth heads were looking for but a left over from an old nazi cultist's zombie experiments and his grimoire.. (seized by a the DEA or such) and now you've got the leader of a white superiority organization with the means to summon something nasty and a 'bioagent' that creates zombies.

[Tatterdemalion]

I do not know the Delta Green system (am I too old)?

In short, DG's an alternative modern setting for CoC rather than a separate game in itself, and quite acclaimed it is too, mostly because it discards some of the old trope baggage which might be viewed as over-familiar or even "cosy." An example of completely different mechanics for Mythos gaming would be the recently released Trail of Cthulhu which runs on a light system called Gumshoe, but I have no personal experience on that, sorry to say.

Also, "Unknown Kadath" remains my favourite story by HPL, so I for one wouldn't have any objections to the Dreamlands as a setting element, at least as long as we aren't talking about Lumley's take on them.

[Lord Drake]

My idea is giving a good look at the tastes of those interested.

delta Green again, seems interesting but not knowing the setting I could mess things up.

Apart from Arkham itself there are many interesting ambientation opportunities (Dunwich and Innsmouth to say the least) and a lot of possibilities. I have already a main plot in mind but I want to make sure that newbie players get the hang of the system before starting the main dance.

[Callie Del Noire]

The Thing on the Doorstep was one of my all time favorites.

[Schwarzepard]

Lord Drake,

Do you also run tabletop Call of Cthulhu?

[Lord Drake]

Lord Drake,

Do you also run tabletop Call of Cthulhu?

I have ran that for a long while yes.

[Drivestort]

I've never actually played Call of Cthulhu, though I've heard enough stories of it to know my way around some of the major things well enough I hope. If you don't mind helping out a noob, I'd love to play. So very hard.

[Schwarzepard]

I have ran that for a long while yes.

Me too.  Is the game going to be focused on adult content or will it be a Cthulhu game in which adult content can happen?

[Lord Drake]

Me too.  Is the game going to be focused on adult content or will it be a Cthulhu game in which adult content can happen?

It is actually up to the players... my job would be to 'follow' the Cthulhu part and GM the adventure. People will be fee to indulge in extra activities at their leisure.

[Senti]

Well you have my interest.

*sings*
'Its begining to look a lot like Fishmen.'

[Lord Drake]

Knowing good cuddly Senti they would probably be plushie fishmen.

[Senti]

heh each of my children have a great old one to go to bed with :)

Its important ...thank you.

[Tatterdemalion]

It is actually up to the players... my job would be to 'follow' the Cthulhu part and GM the adventure. People will be fee to indulge in extra activities at their leisure.

With specifics like the long history of the Deep Ones breeding with humanity, the worship of Shug-Niggurath in twisted fertility rituals, and the dark reputation of Xura in the Dreamlands as "the Land of Pleasures Unattained", though, it wouldn't exactly prove difficult to base an adult storyline even on purely "canonical" source material... There's already much to be scavenged for such a game in the Old Gentleman's writings. The difference is that he meticulously kept the details out of sight and barely hinted at as unbearable mysteries, and his approach to the slightest trace of eroticism was always touched with a subtle sense of wrongness.

[The Great Triangle]

I'd be interested in playing! 

Delta Green holds more interest for me, but It's a setting you have to be familiar with.  (I larped Delta Green at a convention once; played as the leader of Delta Green in a war room during a Nuclear War; ended up spending 45 minutes in the brig after I shot the secretary of education because she was a worshipper of Azathoth, and ended up being unable to prevent the Karotechia (nazi cultists) from summoning Nyarlathotep right into the war room and getting us all killed in a mexican standoff gone very very bad)

If I played in a 20's setting, I'd be interested in playing a WWI fighter pilot, or simply a mustard gas scarred veteran of the war.  A professor of Classical Studies who got his hands on a Mythos tome might also be interesting. 

[Humble Scribe]

I am always a sucker for Call of Cthulhu, so flag me up for a potential interest.

I've played Delta Green but I don't think that it's as easy to create the same atmosphere in a modern setting. The 20s was a time when some scientific ideas were still up for grabs and parts of the world were genuinely poorly explored or researched and areas could still hold strange cults and so on. The modern world has too many support systems - GPS, mobile phones, computers. It has more conspiracy paranoia, like X-Files with existential horror, but I've always felt that older settings work better. I've played in Renaissance, even Roman settings, and I think that maybe WWII is about as recent as I'd want to go with a Cthulhu game.

@Senti - I loved that 'Fishmen' pastiche of the Shadow over Innsmouth! The HP Lovecraft Historical Society do a lot of good work.

[Lord Drake]

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...

[Drivestort]

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...

Personally, I like the latter.