Favorite Call of Cthulhu Scenarios?

[kirbsys]

Wondering about everyone's favorite Call of Cthulhu scenarios. I'm trying to start a campaign, and I'm running into a problem. I've ran three unrelated scenarios with my players, one from the core book (The Edge of Darkness), another from Farewell My Sanity, and a third from the Arkham Unveiled setting book (A Little Knowledge). My problem is simply that I'm worried about my players thinking that every adventure will end with simple gun play. Edge of Darkness, they completed a ritual to banish the creature back to where it came, but in Farewell My Sanity, they blasted apart all the creatures that they could until they brought the cult's ritual an end, and A Little Knowledge also ends in a fight. I'm looking for a scenario that will force my players to out wit whatever they are facing, or perhaps just escape with their lives. Any favorite scenarios that you want to recommend are appreciated as well though, even if they require more seasoned investigators.

[hivedragon]

some video games contain some pretty cool lovecraftian scenarios
eternal darkness
call of cthulhu dark corners of the earth
undying

[Kesnit]

I ran a scenario that I made up that ended with a mix of combat and dismissing the Cosmic Evil (an avatar of Nylarothep, but really watered down, and he didn't fight - just summon). Basically, 5 of the party had to do the ritual while the rest kept them from being attacked.

It worked pretty well. Yes, it was combat, but it wasn't just "blast things away." There were a few failed SAN checks, which made the combat harder because the ones who were still fighting had to work that much harder and the ones doing the ritual (who I made immune to SAN checks by allowing them to close their eyes) had to keep making checks to continue chanting. Everyone knew how long they had to keep it going, which kept the drama up. (No one wanted to fail 1 round before dismissal.)

[some guy]

I haven't ran that many scenarios (I'm mainly invested in a campaign). Edge of darkness, but you already did that one. I can't believe you didn't ran The Haunting already (unless your group has already played that, I've ran it now 3 or 4 times), but that one usually ends in guns-a-blazing too.
I've ran Dinner with Susan, that could be basically solved like Edge of Darkness (and is a nice starter). For my group it ended... strange. Several retreats were involved, as many axe-swings and a few failed rituals.* It ended with two survivors, both heavily wounded, one of which disappeared after a few months.

[kirbsys]

I actually have ran the Haunting with my group a long time ago, and it ended... poorly. One took the spell book and left, they got the land lord killed by the enchanted knife, a second one then died to another trap in the house, and the final two found the boss in the basement and were slaughtered. It took me forever to convince them to play Call of Cthulhu again

[rayne_dragon]

You could try running the Derbyshire Monster from chapter 2 of the Masks of Nyarlathotep as it's own scenario. Sure they could fight the monster, but it's not the best course of action and they'll still have to think to harm it at all.

[TheCountAlucard]

Well, wasn't technically a CoC game, nor was it a published adventure, but...

Spoiler

Show

One Halloween game I ran featured the PCs discovering a series of bizzare murders, only to realize very soon after that they were being stalked by a very alien creature. It follows them, stares into their windows from across the streets, and nobody sees it but them...

Not only that, but they see evidence that this creature was stalking these other people before they died, as well. Finally one of the PCs snapped and tried to kill the thing, where it promptly took his shotgun blast standing and hit him with a counterattack that was enough to hospitalize him.

The monster menaces him all throughout his hospital visit, at which point he breaks out and escapes back to the other PCs. They end up talking to a friend who appears to know something about these happenings...

The twist, of course, is that their friend is the horrific killer, and that the "monster" was actually trying to warn them about this, that it appears to people it suspects the killer will target, but due to its inability to properly communicate, inadverdently drives them insane.

Don't know how well that could be adapted over, though.