/ysg/- Yog-Sothothery General This thread is meant to inspire Lovecraftian Veeky Forums (like Delta Green and CoC) and discuss Lovecraft's works for inspiration along with anything else that fits into this genre or takes place in the Yog-Sothothery.
First time Keeper, here, designing a "storyline" for a group of new players that will lead into Masks. Not going to assume any of their characters survive to see the whole thing, but it'll be fun for them to follow the story. I'd like any feedback and suggestions you have.
1. The Haunting (but in 1913) Why the Haunting? Well, they're all noobs and I figured it'd work. They have... unfortunately and stubbornly decided to pick a bunch of different occupations that don't mesh well, which is another reason the Haunting is good. Why in 1913, you might ask?
2. The Well of Sacrifice (from Mysteries of Meso-America) in 1914 Well of Sacrifice is set in 1914, during the Mexican revolution (although it has nothing to do with it). It is ALSO set one year before Jackson Elias (of Mask's fame) publishes his 1915 book on Mexican Death Cults. I figure it's a good way to introduce Elias. >Changes -Jackson Elias contacts/hires the investigators to join him as he tags along with a university expedition to the Yucatan -Unlike the archaeologists, Jackson is convinced that the Mayans were death-loving savages like the Aztecs. Intends to include it in his next book. -More than just the Winged Devils, there is a Mayan/Yucatec "modern" death cult to the bat god camazotz. -Well of Sacrifice is notoriously lethal, even though it's meant for early CoC-players. To counter that, I've added more bodies (namely, the university expedition and the Yucatec cult who have bitten off more than they can chew) -Finally, as the main threat is largely unrelated to the Mythos, Jackson Elias won't be impacted... and he can save the investigators' bacon, if need be, to further endear him to the group... so it actually makes sense that he is a "friend."
You might be asking: why not use "God of Mitnal" from the Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion, which is a Mesoamerican adventure in 1914 with Jackson Elias already written? Well, because I can't find the Companion anywhere.
More later.
Caleb Davis
3. Spare the Rod (from More Adventures in Arkham Country) (but in 1919) Spare the Rod is about a JeepersCreepers-esque creature; a revenant who hunts naughty children. But also much more. There's a ghostly witch, a haunted mansion, a night gaunt, packs of ghouls. The investigators are initially sent to Arkham to check out some spook stories for an author who wants some historical color for his supernatural horror novels. >Changes As opposed to being contracted by some random author, the investigators are contacted by Elias (currently in England, researching his 1920 book on English witch covens). His editor/publisher thinks he ought to add a chapter about New England stories. Elias thinks it's silly, but he asks his old friends from the mexico adventure to head out to Arkham and do a little bit of research on old ghost stories... if only to appease his editor.
Elias appears again, but only tangentially.
4. I'd like to do another short scenario, though I haven't decided which. It can involve Elias or not.
After this, I'm not sure if I should add one more adventure or jump right into Masks. By this time, Elias should actually be a friend as opposed to the player just being told "Elias is a close friend."
Andrew Powell
Hey Keeper of five years and soon to be published. Some pointers. 1. The Haunting is fine. But Heart of Darkness is MUCH better. 2. Bring Jackson up more naturally. Have him hinted at in the first scenario so it makes more sense he calls up the investigators. If you use Haunting make him the relative the kids get sent to live with. If you use Heart of Darkness make him a relative of the deceased who can't attend the deathbed. 3. Well of Sacrifice sounds great. Good changes. 4. For Spare the rod cut out all the monsters except the Creeper and maybe the witch if the two are STRONGLY related. Lovecraft stories work infinitely better with just one monster. Each monster added makes all the other monsters look progressively weaker. A monster should be the entire story. Get rid of the Ghouls and Nightgaunts for sure. 5. If you want to add another scenario use one that will give the investigators a Mythos tome that they can study. Make one up so that later on you can use it give them important clues, spells and CM skill points. Mythos books take a lot of research so their good to give earlier rather later.
Joseph Brown
>when your players, at the end of a session, ask eagerly when the next one will be and suggest times they are free
Feels good man. How are you, Handlers/Keepers?
Asher Scott
For a newbie wanting to start a game with my friends, what is the go-to edition? What edition do I avoid? I just looked at 7th and its not the edition I played some years ago because I remember stats having a effect on skills... I think. Anyway, thanks for the help!
Tyler Hughes
I'd go with 7th, though that's the one I've played the most. It uses almost exclusively percentage dice, which is easier; and combat is a bit more streamlined.
Evan Fisher
Is there any sci-fi Call of Cthulhu supplements?
Landon Price
>soon to be published How'd you manage that? I've been running games for about as long and getting published or paid to write CoC stuff has always been an aspiration.
Justin Lopez
You most likely played either 5e or 6e before.
From my experience as someone who has primarily dealt with 6e and skimmed through the 7e book, neither one seemed particularly harder to learn than the other but I have a (probably nostalgic) preference for 6e. 7e has a really good section on advice for roleplaying in the 1920s so that's worth checking out regardless of which edition you're playing if that's the era you're gonna be playing in. 6e also has more published scenarios.
Trail of Cthulhu has a bad reputation around here but it is good if you've never run mystery/horror games before and need to learn the ropes.
Jose Perez
I'll give you a quick bogdown on Spare the Rod:
1. The Creeper was a pitiful 18th century schoolteacher who all the children made fun of. The witch gave him power in return for his undying loyalty. She has him sacrifice some of the naughty children to The Black Man (nyarly)
2. The Creeper eventually gets pissed about listening to the witch and turns on her. Has her lynched. With her dying breath, the witch curses the Creeper for betraying her.
3. When the Creeper dies, the curse makes him return as an undying zombie obsessed with killing the naughty children of Arkham (by whipping them, then skinning them and taking their eyes). The townspeople eventually subdue him and stake him like a vampire, burying him outside town.
4. In "modern" times, construction for the new School Board Building has disturbed the coffin and released the Creeper, who is once again off to hunt naughty children.
5. The witch is still a ghost on the hill on which she was lynched. She wants revenge on the Creeper -- mainly by destroying his soul and taking over his body for herself, so she can once again begin a reign of terror over Arkham and serve her dark master. The ghouls are her instruments -- she sends them out to hunt for the Creeper. The Night Gaunt is her old familiar who still inhabits her cottage.
The Night Gaunt could easily be done away with, but much of the story of Spare the Rod involves the players tracking down the Creeper, trying to stop him from killing all of the children on his naughty list, and contend with the ghouls who are also trying to catch him and spirit him back to the Hanging Hill for the witch.
There's also a Mythos book available in the witch's haunted cottage (protected by the Night Gaunt).
I could remove things, I guess. I'm just so inexperienced I worry about balancing it. Even while I was reading it, I felt like it was throwing a lot of shit at the players. What is Heart of Darkness about?
Luke Wood
I googled "Heart of Darkness: CoC" and it hasn't come back with anything.
Elijah Nguyen
Thanks for the assistance. I'll probably go with 7th then.
Connor Torres
Sorry it's Edge of Darkness one of the 6th ed core scenarios.
Samuel Martinez
Convention Senario Contest. Chaosium had a contest to write convention scenarios and my pitch got chosen for a full write up. 11000 words and playtest as of now. May not get a large or big publishment but Chaosium will likely put their name on it which I hope will get me more chance to publish. Barely any cash but that was never an issue.
Id recommend taking out the Ghouls and just let the Witch's Ghost roam freely. Build up the Nyarly connection if your hoping to run masks.
Christopher Sanchez
Thanks, I'll check it out. I've only ever played CoC once and it was The Haunting, so I figured I'd start with it.
I feel like a ghostly witch wandering around town is more silly than the Ghouls, but then I'm a noob. Why take them out? Just too much at once?
Gavin Wright
Also does anyone have more suggestions of scenarios I should run leading into Masks? I reckon I could fit one or two more into this scheme -- , -- I definitely want to do one more after Spare the Rod, at least.
Hudson Thomas
Yeah. That scenario actually does it pretty well but in general less is more. In most Lovecraft scenarios there's just one monster or kind of monster. Occasionally there are two but usually they have a very specific relationship. Typically you don't want your players saying "This monster isn't as bad as that other monster." Players will naturally look for the easiest or least bad option. In a horror game any options that aren't bad are detrimental to the tension. So it is a little personal opinion but i'd look at ways to trim down to 2 monsters at most. Maybe have the witch send out dreams to influence people to do it's bidding. Or make it a Bloody Mary type where it shows up in mirrors and stuff. IDK just my two cents.
Noah Torres
Personally Masks I think works better with Pulp Cthulhu. So running one of the Pulp Cthulhu Senarios first seems better to me.
Other wise Crack'd and Crook'd Manse is really good on nearly every level and can be tailored well. Put something magic in the attic and it works great. Plot outline follows Its about a house with a Not!Shoggoth hiding in the walls. It moves through crawl spaces and loose areas spooking players and attacking them in some really atmospheric ways.
Julian Gonzalez
I'm planning the voice Jackson Elias as a slightly more fast-talking Zapp Brannigan from Futurama. No non-sense and entirely confident that nothing supernatural has occurred, is occurring, or ever will occur. For example, in the Well of Sacrifice, after the group has been caught by the cult who intends to summon the Winged Devils (a spell in the scenario -- the binding spell has been lost to time).
"By Jove! Would you look at that! It appears the ancient Maya developed a dog whistle for these giant bats! If only we'd brought a biologist on this expedition!"
And if Camazotz is summoned -- maybe Elias mistakes him for some kind of sexual dimorphism (though, preferably, he isn't summoned or the players escape before he finishes materializing)
Major differences between Pulp and Regular?
Jonathan Bennett
Pulp has double heal and healing Pulp lets you spend Luck to do fun stuff like gain health and reduce loss. Pulp gives your character special traits like Psychic Power and lifting stuff REALLY well. Pulp is Indian Jones style two-fisted action, which in a meat grinder globe-trotting campaign seems pretty great. The writers specifical wrote Pulp so that a Pulp character could play through the entirety of Mask of Nyarly without dying.
John Reed
I feel that will be fun. The Zapp Brannigan bit. But make sure to make him likeable so people feel bad when he dies. Make sure he's an idiot with a heart of gold who feeds impoverished children and never leaves a man behind. Make his loss a real tragedy to make the player characters hungry for revenge.
