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Lord Loss
2009-06-30, 04:34 PM
Right, I'm goanna start a COC campaign. I'll be DMing, and have no idea what to do. Any help?

mikeejimbo
2009-06-30, 04:45 PM
Read some Lovecraft!

Actually, I say that for all occasions but it actually fits here.

kc0bbq
2009-06-30, 04:59 PM
Unless you want your characters dead or in an asylum before the finale, use monsters really sparingly. Craft environments instead of encounters.

There's a reason gothic horror stories occur in the stereotypical locations they do. New England towns prone to mists or fogs work far better than Los Angeles because it's easier to tweak reality in a scary (rather than an LA) way. If the players don't have experience with the setting or with horror novels they won't know to be scared, so it's tougher with new players.

The game is played to lose. You learn what's going on, realize how meaningless humanity really is, and end up dead - if you're lucky.

If your players haven't encountered a lot of the tropes, go with the basics. Small New England fishing town somewhat isolated from neighboring cities with a secret cult (either functioning or long dead and gone) who woke something up, or some locals are unknowingly completing their work. Go with things people may have unconscious wariness about, like have an old cult temple, but it's the local masonic temple now. People don't generally like creepy-crawlies so use snakes, spiders, and centipedes. Cheap tricks, but they work. Use a few red herrings, nothing's worse than thinking you've solved a problem, wake up to a sunny morning the next day, then bring on a minor monster of some type.

That's generally the easiest setup. Just keep the pace slow. Have the characters there for some reason, like a family reunion for a long weekend. By the last day they're there for family obligations start ramping things up so they can't escape, then start exposing them to SAN dropping things, or gibbering nutcases who are already insane. Keep them there with weather or have Grandma kidnapped to be sacrificed.

GreatWyrmGold
2009-06-30, 05:41 PM
Agreed. Also, CoC is a game where insanity is just means to an end (look at spells), so consider going insane.Kidding. Seriously, mostly stick to normal critters until the characters have gotten their feet wet, so to speak. Save any 1d10/1d100 sanity things for super-special things like the end of the campaign.

TheDarkOne
2009-06-30, 07:15 PM
I say just get a module. I had lots of fun playing "Masks of Nyarlathotep" as a PC.

Edit:Oh and make sure the players read the "Expectations and Play" section in the rule book.

AngelOmnipotent
2009-06-30, 08:48 PM
Edit:Oh and make sure the players read the "Expectations and Play" section in the rule book.

I second this fully. In fact I've just finished a quick run through of the "Corbett House" to lead a friend into his first session of the game, and I ended up on -2 from failing 2 climb rolls and gained a quirk of saying "I fell on muh head" in a very strange voice each time I was confused in a conversation.

Seriously though, if your players don't go insane and/or die, then it's not a proper Cthulhu game. Tell your players not take their characters seriously - they're normal people trying to do abnormal, alien things outside of their own capacity, of course something is going to go wrong :smallbiggrin:

If someone dies, make it amusing. If someone goes insane, make it hilarious. If it's a total TPK from falling down some rickety stairs all the better! Never fudge your rolls in favour of the PCs, you're meant to make them scared so it's best to give them something to be scared about.

If someone runs straight into somewhere without investigating it first and there's a huge monster in there, don't by shy of dealing that 4d6 damage to the face and cleaving their head from their shoulders - it'll make the rest of the party scared to just rush in and make them think things over first. You'll be amazed at how many different things panicked players will do to avoid going face to face with a monster. Usually it involves a lot of illegally acquired explosives..... :smallcool:

Winterwind
2009-06-30, 08:51 PM
Read some Lovecraft!

Actually, I say that for all occasions but it actually fits here.In this context, you might find this site (http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/index.html) particularly useful. :smallwink:

(also, I fully agree with mikeejimbo :smallcool:)

mikeejimbo
2009-06-30, 08:52 PM
If someone dies, make it amusing. If someone goes insane, make it hilarious.

I think that the horror atmosphere would be better served by making deaths horrifying and insanity even worse.


In this context, you might find this site (http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/index.html) particularly useful. :smallwink:

(also, I fully agree with mikeejimbo :smallcool:)

Oh yeah, Dagonbytes! How could I have forgotten about that site? It's a good reference and I second that motion.

On a similar note, if you don't mind spending a bit of money, The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia (http://www.amazon.com/Cthulhu-Mythos-Encyclopedia-Daniel-Harms/dp/1934501050/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246413433&sr=8-1) is a lovely book.

Lord Loss
2009-07-01, 05:58 AM
One of my players got mad in D&D (and almost left) because my Trapped Hall
had too many traps... This Is Gunna be FUNN

Kantur
2009-07-01, 06:09 AM
I say just get a module. I had lots of fun playing "Masks of Nyarlathotep" as a PC.

Edit:Oh and make sure the players read the "Expectations and Play" section in the rule book.

If you go for Masks, you can download a pdf from Chaosium's site much cheaper than you're likely to find it on eBay ( http://catalog.chaosium.com/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=1291 )

And from a player's perspective, it's well worth every cent.

Avilan the Grey
2009-07-01, 06:19 AM
I have only played two shorter campaigns; the best one was set in the other main location, 1890ies London. We apparently screwed the GM pretty good by going after the clues in the wrong order (not to mention entering the final "dungeon" (the half-constructed Underground) at the very opposite end than he intended.
Luckily he is a very good GM, and we enjoyed it very much.
It says a lot about crafting a good atmosphere when I actually felt uncomfortable (IRL) when my character had to run down a long totally dark tunnel to fetch 3 lanterns (since we came in in the wrong end, the little "aid" the he had intended for us was in the wrong place, but it only added to the whole thing). Nothing happened, of course, but it was genuinely freaky.

Jürgen Hubert
2009-07-01, 06:59 AM
Do you want to play it in the "Classic Era" of the 1920s, the Victorian Age, Modern Day, or some other time period? The flavor can change significantly depending on which era you choose.

If you decide to set a game in the Modern Day, get Delta Green by Pagan Publishing, which gives you a brilliant framework for your campaign. I also recommend checking out the Fairfield Project (http://fairfieldproject.wikidot.com/), which has quite a lot of good stuff from the Delta Green Mailing List.

Lord Loss
2009-07-01, 07:25 AM
Delta Green... I've heard lots about it... I might get it. And I'll use a prebuilt module. Thanks!

Avilan the Grey
2009-07-01, 07:59 AM
(Snipped long general advice)


I disagree completely. Eventually, your PCs might end up insane. More likely, they will be dead. But to go all "Paranoia" on them like suggested above is, I feel, completely wrong. Build slowly. This means that monsters are actually few and far between. Human cultists, madmen, weird incidents and freaky occurrences are plenty though.
A bloody handprint there. A babbling madman here. Signs of something BIG having just left before the PCs arrived...

Played right, most of the PCs will have gone through most of a long campaign relatively unharmed, but spooked out of their minds.

WalkingTarget
2009-07-01, 02:14 PM
If you go for Masks, you can download a pdf from Chaosium's site much cheaper than you're likely to find it on eBay ( http://catalog.chaosium.com/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=1291 )

And from a player's perspective, it's well worth every cent.

Ran this one back in college (after a few shorter scenarios to warm up). It's the classic CoC campaign, so while it's really well done, it's probably not what I'd start with if it's you and your group's first CoC game. Do a few shorter ones to get your feet wet.

One thing my group appreciated, I think, was all of the props that are available in the game. Most scenarios will have newspaper articles, letters, or other things for the PCs to find that you can make copies of to hand out to the group. This can be especially handy in a longer campaign as it gives a tangible thing to remind them of some clue or other (plus, actually making your own mock-up of the prop instead of just photocopying them can be fun in and of itself).

Remind your players before you start just how lethal CoC is. Look at their hit point totals and make sure that they know that these numbers don't increase easily and then compare that number to the damage ratings of some of the firearms (I'm assuming you're using Chaosium's BRP version, I don't know about the others). I also generally tell them that the name for a PC in CoC is "investigator", even if that's not their profession. If this was a game with merits/flaws then they should all have the one for "curious", they just have to know what's making that sound in the attic, etc.

If you can help it, try not to let people look through the Keeper's sections of the rulebook. In D&D everybody has looked through the Monster Manual and knows what everything is, at least out of character. It's easier to roleplay dread of the unknown if you don't know what to expect when out of character too.

Practice your scheming GM grin. See if you can condition your players to fear the sight of it. :smallbiggrin:

Edit - oh, and I agree that Delta Green is an excellent modern CoC supplement. It's got a bit of a different vibe than the base game, but I like their interpretation of a lot of stuff. The original fiction Pagan has put out using the setting is generally good as well if you can find it.

Frederyck
2009-07-03, 05:49 AM
Delta Green... I've heard lots about it... I might get it. And I'll use a prebuilt module. Thanks!

Some of the Delta Green stuff is hard to get and/or expensive, but are you planning on doing d20 Cthulhu or the classic Basic Roleplay Cthulhu? There are Delta Green versions to both variants, but I believe that the d20 one was reprinted not too long ago and might still be available.

I would recommend you getting the main Delta Green book regardless of version as it is (IMO) one of the best supplements for any game ever produced. Do note that it was published pre-9/11, though, which means that some of the stuff on US Intelligence is really outdated - no Homeland Security for instance. This will hopefully be somewhat updated later this year when Pagan Publishing will release Delta Green: Targets of Opportunity, which is a collection of new adventures set in a post 9/11, post Katrina, post WMD-hunt North America.

Good luck in frightening your players!