Call of Cthulhu First Time GM

Alright, so I am going to try to GM for my first time on CoC.
It's going to be experimental, with just me and a friend, following this:
unboundbook.org/content/Monophobia - Version 1.1 - September 2010.pdf

What advice would you give?
How much should I follow the story-book?

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Be descriptive. Try reading some original Lovecraft to get an idea. Like, 1/2 of Mountains of Madness is him describing alien architecture. Except when it comes to monsters. Don't say much or anything about them.

So when I read along segments from the story book, should I improv a lot of it?

Or should I get a word document and write some stuff down to follow along with the story.

Every good CoC GM I've ever had has been a good narrator, so get good at describing stuff.

The story in most published CoC scenarios are set up pretty meticulously so try to stick to as closely as you can. This isn't to say railroad the players but if/when you need to improv make sure you keep the flow of the mystery in mind so you don't mess up any reveals.

Lovecraft's descriptions might be long, occassionally, but they're never anything but vague. When he talks about alien architecture it's mostly stuff like
>A series of chthonic structures stood before us, framed by the moss-clad cyclopean walls, each of impossible size and from each of the non-eucledian sides strected a platform so massive that the structures shouldn't have been able to hold them up.
The only thing we've really learned here is that we're underground and that there are massive structures whose shape the author is incapable of explaining. Apart from there being platforms nothing of their shape is actually told, and even then the focus is on that the laws of physics, as we understand them, shouldn't allow them to be there.

The same with creatures. He ususally spends quite some time describing them, but it's usually more about what they don't look like than anything concrete.
>"The creatures feasting on the corpses had the shapes of horribly deformed apes, unlike any species recorded by man, and moved like disturbing cariactures of wolves or spiders."
I believe in The Colour Out Of Space he describes it simply as
>"a colour by analogy only"
leaving us to ponder what exactly it is at all. A texture? A smell? A sound?

>How much should I follow the story-book?
Only as much as you want once you feel like you have a solid grasp on what they're trying to do.

You might also want to check out Alone Against the Flames, a free CYOA introduction by Chaosium.

>What advice would you give?
Give the players an experience that raises the following questions in order.

>That's strange! Why is that?

>It keeps getting stranger. And it involves more than originally thought. How deep does it go?

>It might be dangerous. Is it a threat?

>What is it, how did it come to be here, and how can it be ended?

>It definitely is very dangerous! Has it noticed us?

>Who knows about it, how much do they know, and what are their intentions?

>It probably has noticed, is it after us?

>How can we connect the dots and find a way to overcome it before it and the madmen in its thrall come and get us for good?

>What was that noise?!

CoC really comes to life with custom scenarios. I mean the published stuff is really good, but it is hard to prep something as personal as an investigation into psychological terror without knowing the players. To a degree an investigation is always a sandbox. Characters get fleshed out in contact with the PCs. It is good to have ideas ready, but it is hard to carve more than a few central features in stone ahead of time. So custom IS the way to go if you have the time.

However, CoC scenarios shine with contrast, and for contrasting the infinite abyss under our beds with the best humanity has to offer, the scenarios revolve around remarkable human developments, inventions, or discoveries. Just so that the cosmic horror has something to corrupt and utterly shatter.

And to portray these themes without challenging suspension of disbelief it is vital that they are reasonably understood and can be explained to players who have never heard of the concept before as well as hold true for those who have a comprehensive knowledge of the subject themselves. You have to understand the dynamic and public perception of WW2 in its day before you can write Nazi adventures without causing the historian in the group to roll their eyes and keep playing in spite of it all being transparently contrived.

It is therefore wise to select a subject, an era, or a theme that one is more familiar with than the players are. Otherwise it takes A LOT of research. So even if you decide to do this, pick a subject that interests you. RP prep is a great way to discover a subject in the age of YT and Wikipedia.

There's several techniques you can use which are concrete examples how the mechanisms of horror can come together.

>Withhold the horror
Never show your creature or whatever in full effect until the showdown, maybe not even then. Instead tease with small details deduced from its trail of destruction. These are usually clues in an investigation, but they don't have to be. They do have to be ominous and revealed in careful increments as they build the tension curve. This is especially effective if the characters are privy to information that NPCs don't get, like impossible paw prints washed away by rain, or prior information that puts the new events in a different context. A horror that is revealed becomes a challenge to roll dice against and nothing to fear. Eerie silence is always better than sustained panicked screaming.

>Break fears up into symbols
Take arachnophobia, just flooding the game with spiders will have little effect. The players will understand the reference but won't feel any impact. Fear of spiders does not call for a spider attack, instead: too many eyes on a statue, too many legs on a shadow, hairy carapaces, a poison weapon, a webbed chandelier, a thing on the wall, sticky strings, a pulsating egg, a dark and dirty hole to venture into, an enemy who surprise attacks from above, being mummified or bound and helpless, being killed slowly over days, a crawling wave of probably ants, or unseen bites from the undergrowth...

>Establish a baseline first
Contrast is essential. Nothing is spooky if it wasn't normal first, there's just nothing to undermine. Stakes have to be established before they can matter to the players. So a horror scenario should take special care to introduce NPCs at a slice of life level, underline their hopes and fears however trivial to the party, and charge them emotionally with sacrifices they are ready to bring or hardships that they must suffer while remaining friendly and helpful to the PCs. That way it has an impact when they are later found mauled to a pulp, hung lifeless from branches, or burnt to cinders. Bonus points if the players promised to protect them. Meta points if they also used to provide some utility to the PCs.

>Immerse players with sensory descriptions
Presenting conclusions like "There's a corpse" in narration takes away immersion and invites meta play. Instead describing impressions like "The unmoving person looks pale and smells rotten" works better for horror. More than that. senses connect to memory and imagination. So a good preparation is to ready lists of how the 5 primary senses can be affected by locations, NPCs, or events. Describe how the suspect smells, what the victim's body sounds like when it is removed, how touching the old book feels in the hands, or how the air tastes.

>Strange and coming closer
Take a mundane or low level threat and have it show up out of context, watching from beyond reach. The effect can be increased by having only the character see it. Don't have this be the main threat, more of a lingering worry that keeps coming back - maybe the result of a san fail. Then wait for the character to be alone and relaxed or vulnerable, and have it appear right behind them. Ideally this doesn't prompt combat but the character watching helplessly as the thing stares at them intently, looking ready to strike, but then it disappears again. It could come back any time.

>How do I build tension and paranoia?
First, tension is about not knowing. You need a threat that becomes ever more immediate and incalculable, but that remains unseen, intangible, or somehow beyond reach. This is not about prowess.

Then you need to manage rising waves of this tension. You need contrast, without contrast an extreme has no baseline. So play slice of life, play up charismatic NPCs, cater to the players' expectations. You need to establish stakes that matter before undercutting their security. Raise the tension with a threat, then lower it with an ally, raise it higher with the threat returning bigger and more angry, and relieve it again with a dramatic moment. As soon as you fully reveal your creature/conspiracy/threat the tension ends. You should never fully explain or defeat it, all PC efforts can just lower the doubt, but a sliver always remains.

For paranoia, immersion is key. The most crucial thing the GM has to do is describe sensory impressions instead of foregone conclusions. Not
>You open the door and find a body
but
>You force open the blocked door with your shoulder and immediately see someone lying on the floor. It's a young sailor in uniform. His glazed eyes stare at the ceiling unmoving.
try and cover the senses with impressions
>The warm stale air rushes in your face as you force the door against shrilly protesting rusted hinges.
>A loud impact reverberates through the entire hull, stirring your diaphragms uncomfortably under your lungs. Vertigo overcomes your inner ear for a moment as the vibrations cascade away, tingling the skin on your palms and the soles of your feet.
This is not just flowery language, but specifically designed to draw the players in and make their brains imagine the situation more vividly, thus raising the meta stakes.