There's a good thread on EnWorld.org right now about Call of Cthulhu. A GM who will be running the game for some players is trying to wrap his head around Lovecraftian fiction and the best way to run the game. Lots of great thought on their part, as well as the other posters.
I added my two cents - nothing groundbreaking, but rules I try to live by when running the game for new players, which I often do around Halloween every year. (ooo spooky)
Chime in on the thread over there and add your thoughts.
(my thoughts cross-posted, here)
Yeah, there are such a wide variety of authors of the mythos - even
Stephen King, if you find some of his early stuff in his collections of
short stories - that there's something for everyone. Chaosium has
released tons of collections over the years that are worth browsing
through in their online catalog, to see if something resonates more with
you. A lot of folks like the August Derleth/Clark Ashton Smith stuff
more, as it takes the stories and weaves together the mythos around
them.
As to the game, I've been running it for about 20 years, and many of the
published adventures have been handy for getting players who aren't
terribly familiar with the Mythos into the game. The adventures in
Mansions of Madness come from earlier collections and editions of the
game, and many are good one-nighters to get folks used to the rules and
feel. Secrets of New York and the New Orleans sourcebook are good for a
sandbox game. If you get players into the idea of a long campaign, I
still like Shadows of Yogsothoth a lot (although some veterans will say
it's rather contrived - it works well for folks who don't necessarily
eat sleep drink). Spawn of Azathoth, Return to Dunwich, Return to the
Mountains of Madness - these campaigns work better with seasoned players
who eat, sleep and drink Lovecraftian fiction.
For running the game, my biggest rules have been:
1) Make sure that the characters have appropriate skills to solve the
tasks at hand - not to the level of it being a cakewalk, but if the only
way to get off the glacier is the ability to pilot a plane, don't leave
it to chance that no one took the character with the right skill to do
that.
2) Make sure that players - going in - understand that they don't use their guns like swords in d&d.
3) Make sure they understand that years ago, when you needed info, you went to a library, not Google.
4) Role play. It sounds obvious, but CoC sets up some of the best
opportunities for roleplaying I've ever seen. Take advantage of them!
5) Continuity - it's ok if the universe implodes on itself and ends in a
game. You can play another another time and continuity doesn't matter -
that last catastrophe didn't have to have happened. (There is a short
story collection somewhere about what the world is like after the
Cthupocalypse...)
Enjoy. It's a great Halloween game, if nothing else, for the party that would rather slay goblins and orcs.
-Tyler
You Are What You Eat: A Non-TTRPG Reading List
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You cannot create without consuming. In particular, if you’re gonna make a
good story, you need to experience good stories in return.
1 week ago
