CoC Published Scenarios

[Bosaxon]

During the upcoming semester, I want to run a Call of Cthulhu game for my group, but I really won't have enough time to prep something. Does anyone have any suggestions for good published scenarios, preferably set in the 1920's era?

[ken-do-nim]

The Masks of Nyarlathotep is supposed to be the best. I own it, but haven't run it.

Edit: I've also heard high praise for the Mountains of Madness one. Both are not short, however; they are full campaigns.

[GolemsVoice]

I've heard much praise for Tatterns of the King, but again, can't confirm it.

[KurtKatze]

Horror on the orient Express is also a very good one. Very lethal though ^^

I personally felt that masks of nyarlathothep is a little repetitive and your players will see through who the bad guys are (cultist wise) etc. if they pay attention.
Yet it is still not a bad campaign and comes with a really nice handout-book, as well as a sourcebook on history for the places your characters will visit.

"Gale" is a great adventure if your players like to play it like Sherlock Holmes ;)

[Project_Mayhem]

Second 'Tatters of the King'. Its very good - actual intellectual horror rather than a cthulhu dungeoncrawl.

[Matthew]

Goodman Games have been releasing some new ones as well.

[Lycan 01]

I've home-brewed several 1920's scenarios, each lasting 1-3 sessions, and they never failed to entertain the players. I can give you the info, if you'd like...

I wrote a 1920's campaign that had the players chasing a Cthulhu cult across the globe, having to sneak into abandoned British abbeys and outrun a supernatural sandstorm in Saudi Arabia. It was supposed to culminate with the Cultists hijacking an ocean liner and using the passengers as the sacrifice to open the gates of Rlyeh. It was supposed to take about a year... One player broke it on the 3rd session when he decided it would be funny to let the leaders of the Cthulhu cult know they were there. :smallfrown:

I've also got an 1890's campaign I wrote up as a special Friday the 13th suprise, which involved a haunted mansion. I used everything I'd learned from Call of Cthulhu, horror movies, suspense games, and theatre class to create a game that was extremely dangerous to both health and sanity. Perhaps a bit too much, since it ended with a TPK on session 2, in fact... :smallredface: But I am proud of the fact that one player had nightmares and another developed a temporary fear of the dark. :smallbiggrin:


I've actually got no experience with published scenarios, except for the ones in the rulebook. :smalltongue:

[Bosaxon]

I'll look over all these suggestions. I might go with Tatters if only because I have a thing for Hastur and the group needs to learn to think; a Dread game we ran taught me that.

Lycan: I'll pm you with my email address. I'm definitely in what you have.

[Lycan 01]

Teaching players to think is hard to do. I had to do it by force. :smallamused:


On a related note, if you use the scenarios in the CoC rulebook, don't do Dead Man Stomp until the players learn to think. Mine did it when they still had the "run and gun" mentallity. One zombie outbreak and 30 dead civilians later, I had to try and fix the mess they made. :smallannoyed:

[Bosaxon]

yes, but I have something precious called a teaching stick. It's like a clue bat, but smaller and quicker so it hurts more. :smallwink:

So I decided to pick up one of the MULA monographs, run that as a one-shot, and see how it goes. If they like it, I'll probably go with the Tatters of the King, and if not, oh well.