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Luna_Mayflower
2014-01-06, 10:00 AM
On Thursday, I'll be off for the next session of the CoC game I'm keeping. I had an idea of what I wanted to happen, but I could use whatever advice you could give me. Just to let you know, the PCs/investigators have the following careers: A mechanic, a chemist, a hitman, two homeless and a soldier.

My idea was this: While spending time in a town trying to infiltrate a cult, the PCs spend time in a hotel. Trying not to copy Innsmouth too much, I've decided that two or three of the players will end up getting possessed, their minds trapped in some fear-world created by the demons in their heads. The rest of the party find the town itself has become infernal and hellish, warped by dark spirits, and they have to find a way to both escape and free their friends from the spirits inhabiting them.

That's the basic plan. Don't worry if you've never played Call of Cthulhu, it's just ideas I'm wondering about. A few questions:

1. What would be a good way to choose who is possessed and who is not?

2. How could I keep the people possessed occupied? I'm thinking of some horrifying encounter in their minds with their worst fears. It might be fun to make their guns useless in their own warped minds, and instead they either just have to run or find environmental ways to deal with nasties.

3. What would be a good way for the non-possessed players to free their allies? I'd rather not force character death, and most of the group are pretty every-man-for-himself kind of players, so sacrifice would have to be somehow advantageous to them as well.

4. The possessed PCs will become NPCs under my control while they're possessed. How would be best to roleplay them? It'll be pretty clear to the others that they're possessed after I take control of the characters, but is there still a way to keep the exact nature of what's happened to the corrupted characters a secret?


Thanks for any help.

hymer
2014-01-06, 10:22 AM
Some thoughts:
I'd be rather wary of splitting people off like that. Each of the possessed ones would seem to be playing a solo session, except it interrupts and gets interrupted by other sessions getting played at the same time.
I'd try to find a way for the players to have other players with them. Maybe they share their nightmare world with the other possessed ones.
I'd try to let the two worlds affect each other, so it feels like one story. Maybe those outside can use Psychology checks or something to help the ones in trouble, and maybe you can let the ones in the nightmare be able to get to symbollic places where they can shout out to the real world every now and again.
And finally, I'd keep the possession short.

Alternatively, pick some players who would like to roleplay villains, and have them portray their possessed PCs. At least that way they aren't stuck doing nothing, and you don't have to split the group with half the players just sitting around. But this may or may not be acceptable to the group or certain players. But it also takes care of choosing who gets possessed.

Red Fel
2014-01-06, 10:34 AM
That's the basic plan. Don't worry if you've never played Call of Cthulhu, it's just ideas I'm wondering about. A few questions:

1. What would be a good way to choose who is possessed and who is not?

I would set a triggering event, and see who takes the bait. For example, whoever touches a particular object, or sleeps in/near a particular room, or comes into proximity of a particular area. Leave something out to tempt the players. For example, leave a mystery stain in the middle of the carpet and see if anyone approaches. Offer several choices for dinner and see who orders the "fish." Give one or two of the rooms in the hotel a particularly vicious history.


2. How could I keep the people possessed occupied? I'm thinking of some horrifying encounter in their minds with their worst fears. It might be fun to make their guns useless in their own warped minds, and instead they either just have to run or find environmental ways to deal with nasties.

This part would be tricky without a co-DM. It depends on whether you want their characters to be catatonic, facing the demons in their minds, or whether you want them to be awake and alert, but have their perspectives distorted by the beings possessing them. (Or, if you have really good players, let them play the possessors.)

If you don't have a co-DM, but you have very good players, I would suggest swapping notes with the possessed players, who are non-catatonic and actively participating. Either the possessed players will be in control, in which case the notes will tell them that they see distorted or illusory aspects of reality, like walking fish people or strange stars in the daytime sky, or the demons will be in control, in which case the notes tell them things of which they should be aware. In either event, the non-possessed players may eventually become of their allies' erratic behavior. This creates added tension as well - it's entirely possible that at least one possessed player manages to conceal his possession, and that the party might manage to survive without saving his soul.


3. What would be a good way for the non-possessed players to free their allies? I'd rather not force character death, and most of the group are pretty every-man-for-himself kind of players, so sacrifice would have to be somehow advantageous to them as well.

That's the tricky part. Usually, possessions are a pretty serious deal, and rarely do they end well in the classic Lovecraft. Ending them takes an effort. You could tie them into whatever the mission is in town, meaning that a success frees the allies. In the alternative, if you make the possessed characters active instead of catatonic, it becomes more advantageous to have them present and helpful than hallucinating or evil. That's an incentive.

As for methods, they vary. If the possessing spirits are aligned with whatever is plaguing the town (possible, but not guaranteed) then perhaps, as mentioned, saving the town means saving the friends. If they have their own motivations, perhaps helping them (say, "unfinished business") or finding some means of exorcism might work. A third option is to play one off the other - put the possessing spirits in opposition to the menace to the town, thus requiring the bad guys to exorcise your allies for you.

A further note, the possessing spirits need not be evil per se. Remember, this is CoC - Elder Things aren't all evil, they're just beyond all mortal comprehension. It's possible that a Thing that Should Not Be or two have hijacked the PCs' bodies for the sole purpose of saving the town, not because they care about the PCs or townspeople (they don't), but because they are the sworn foes of whatever is plaguing the town. Their presence in the PCs' minds may cause agony, given their otherworldly nature, but they aren't actively malevolent - they just don't care about who they hurt.

That's Lovecraft for you.


4. The possessed PCs will become NPCs under my control while they're possessed. How would be best to roleplay them? It'll be pretty clear to the others that they're possessed after I take control of the characters, but is there still a way to keep the exact nature of what's happened to the corrupted characters a secret?

I don't think that's the best idea unless you have a co-DM running the dreamscape. Further, once you take control, there's very little way to conceal what's going on - the remaining players will scrutinize you ruthlessly. That said, there are so many possible things that could influence a mind - insanity, demons, Elder Things, ghosts, wizards, cultists, mysterious gnomes, things with stars for faces - that they probably won't nail it down.

But make no mistake, if you take control of the PCs, they will become NPCs, and more importantly, the remaining PCs will feel no compunctions about killing them. CoC is very much a dog-eat-dog game at times, and if the players think an NPC is a threat, it's easier to kill it than to treat it. If you don't want that, I'd suggest leaving your players in control - just change who's in control in-character.

Slipperychicken
2014-01-06, 02:15 PM
You know, if the possessed PCs enter a nightmarish hellscape of their own creation, and the town itself also becomes hellish, I was thinking that maybe the PCs might have been sucked into the possessed one's nightmare-world.

Or perhaps the possessed PC "traded places" with the demon, or perhaps merged with it's power somehow, so that while his body is under the demon's influence, his own nightmares and emotions command the real-world town/hellscape. While possessed, he can attempt to warp the reality to help his allies (things like opening doors, tripping people with loose objects, creating stairs and ladders), but his control is unstable (i.e. he has to roll for it) and highly dependent on his emotions (i.e. being scared makes the town darker and more terrifying, being angry makes the town hotter and redder, being sad makes the place blue and droopy, etc).

tl;dr: Possessed PC somehow gets the power to subtly (or not so subtly) influence the town by rolling to fight the demon, but it's powered by the demon and bleeds sanity, so he can't keep it up for long and the power goes away as soon as the possession ends.

Rhynn
2014-01-06, 02:36 PM
their minds trapped in some fear-world created by the demons in their heads. The rest of the party find the town itself has become infernal and hellish, warped by dark spirits, and they have to find a way to both escape and free their friends from the spirits inhabiting them.

A critical hit! You've impaled the Lovecraft Purist for 22 damage! :smalleek: The Lovecraft Purist is dead and fortunately won't be afflicting the rest of this response.

(It's not the set-up or plot element, it's the details. In the abstract, this is what The Shadow Out of Time is about...)


1. What would be a good way to choose who is possessed and who is not?

Random dice rolls. Choose how many possessing entities there are, then make POWx5 dice rolls for everyone (just go clockwise around the table, or alphabetical, or roll a random order, whatever). Then the remaining entities go over the remaining PCs, and you make POWx4 rolls. Then POWx3, etc., until you run out of PCs or entities. (If someone makes all the rolls and you're left with extra entities, have them possess an NPC.)


2. How could I keep the people possessed occupied? I'm thinking of some horrifying encounter in their minds with their worst fears.

Do you mean while everyone else gets to play the actual game? :smallamused:

Good luck. You're splitting the party and essentially giving part of the players busywork. Everyone's going to be bored at some point, because it's very unlikely that you can run things simultaneously - you'll be switching back and forth.


It might be fun to make their guns useless in their own warped minds, and instead they either just have to run or find environmental ways to deal with nasties.

Wait, I thought this was CoC? How is that not already the case? Do you only use Ghouls and Deep Ones or something? :smalleek:


3. What would be a good way for the non-possessed players to free their allies?

Well, since these are dark spirits, exorcism.


4. The possessed PCs will become NPCs under my control while they're possessed. How would be best to roleplay them? It'll be pretty clear to the others that they're possessed after I take control of the characters, but is there still a way to keep the exact nature of what's happened to the corrupted characters a secret?

Well, presumably the entities will take pains not to be exposed. Multiple Lovecraft novels deal with this, particularly The Thing at the Doorstep, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and The Shadow Out of Time. Each is worth reading anyway (especially TCoCDW).

BeerMug Paladin
2014-01-06, 02:48 PM
Instead of possession, give the players a temporary, overwhelming obsession with doing a particular thing while they're in a town. Scrawling a particular shape when they see a chalkboard or have a pen in their hands, or uttering a few nonsensical words. Have that shape or word mean something that the 'possessing' thing wants to do. To either banish a competitor 'thing' or accomplish some other objective.

Make the triggering event seeing a symbol (or one like it) or hearing a phrase that is gibberish, but sounds remarkably similar to the one they speak. Have them roll against the POW of a sorcerer or something in order to 'save' against the spell.

veti
2014-01-06, 11:16 PM
Sounds like a complicated way to split your party to me.

To the question "how to make the non-possessed care enough to rescue their fellows" - pretty much the only way to do this, if they're a bunch of selfish ******s, is to make the possessed essential to their own wellbeing. E.g.:

The guy with the money, whom they're relying on to pay the bills.
The one with the car keys
The one with the local contacts, without whom they have no friends and no leads

Bulhakov
2014-01-07, 06:56 AM
As an experienced GM I'd say this is a bad idea, as you're basically splitting the party.
My suggestions would be to either:
- just posses NPCs not to split the party
- get "possessed" players to actually roleplay their possessors - explain to them the limits of their powers and knowledge, and the motivation and goals of the possessing entity (e.g. "you're a demon in possession of this body for the next 24 hours, you have access to the character's basic memories and speech skills, but have a very hazy grasp of technology and culture, as you've last been to this plane over 100 years ago. Your mission is to bring artifact A and characters B and C to spot X by midnight. You also really crave earth food, especially sugar. Your actual character observes all your actions, but feels trapped inside his body. He might have a chance to communicate with the party for a brief time or through some supernatural means")
- play a partial possession / play around with the players perception - hand out notes to all players frequently (especially during scene descriptions) and give the possessed / influenced players different notes than the rest (e.g. two players see blood running down walls, the rest don't - enjoy watching them figuring out who's possessed and who's not ;) )

AMFV
2014-01-07, 07:37 AM
Partial possession is a good suggestion, I would have them have multiple sheets, it is a CoC game after all, and then just count possession as tantamount to character death, make it a terminal condition, that's very CoC like.

Luna_Mayflower
2014-01-07, 09:54 AM
A critical hit! You've impaled the Lovecraft Purist for 22 damage! :smalleek: The Lovecraft Purist is dead and fortunately won't be afflicting the rest of this response.

http://lparchive.org/Limbo-of-the-Lost/Update%2015/36-detective57.jpg


http://lparchive.org/Limbo-of-the-Lost/Update%2015/37-detective58.jpg

You know, if the possessed PCs enter a nightmarish hellscape of their own creation, and the town itself also becomes hellish, I was thinking that maybe the PCs might have been sucked into the possessed one's nightmare-world.

Or perhaps the possessed PC "traded places" with the demon, or perhaps merged with it's power somehow, so that while his body is under the demon's influence, his own nightmares and emotions command the real-world town/hellscape. While possessed, he can attempt to warp the reality to help his allies (things like opening doors, tripping people with loose objects, creating stairs and ladders), but his control is unstable (i.e. he has to roll for it) and highly dependent on his emotions (i.e. being scared makes the town darker and more terrifying, being angry makes the town hotter and redder, being sad makes the place blue and droopy, etc).



Thanks for the help, everyone, you've given me some great ideas. I can see me going for this one, but I'll probably use all of your advice. Thanks again.

Any more ideas are more than welcome.