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General Category => RPGs => : Review Cultist February 20, 2013, 10:18:48 PM
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For the last few months I have been running Call of Cthulhu D20 set in the 1920s of my little fictional universe. Its been going really well, the players are super enthused (literally dressing for the occasion... seriously, suits and fedoras!) there have been 3 full game scenarios that are formatted in cases for 2 investigators that have been relatively dark, with the last being a pretty grim dark/ shit just got real! game based on the Pendelton massacre from Caleb's Preemptive Revenge, so I decided to run a less grimdark game for the next one to give the guys a calm in the storm.
For some reason or another, I was really reminiscing on the classic movies about intelligent animals (the secret of NIMH, Watership Down, etc.) and decided that I wanted to do up a scenario involving intelligent animals. (I have for a while been tinkering with some short stories about groups of small animals gaining sentience and trying to survive in a world ruled by man and populated by non intelligent animals alike).
And now that the back story of that is out of the way...
For the scenario, I decided to get some inspiration for this type of game from Pastoral Manor, obviously tweaking it to fit my stories. and ran the first part a few days ago. Set up clues and a setting akin to that in Pastoral Manor, threw a lumber mill/deforestation spin on it and stated out character animal and human alike accordingly. I had it set up to have the investigators uncover the mystery of this lumber mills strange occurrences/ deterrents to cutting down the woods, red herringed a ghost angle with the animals attempting to scare the lumber jacks off. And then my investigators proceeded to leave the mill and all its lingering clues, go through the woods to check out a murder sight, find the pastoral manor (named Arcadia Farms in my game) and after an investigative section where they talked to the farm kid about the woods and rolled really well, they discovered the intelligent animals in no time flat!
So now I'm going to run the next part after a few days between the first and Ive added/expanded the content to accommodate this quick reveal and well see what happens...
But yeah, that was the time I ran Pastoral Manor in Call of Cthulhu... D20.
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(http://i.imgur.com/nv7u5Vb.jpg)
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That is cool and makes sense that it should work well
Considering Road Trip is just Mask of Nytheralopatep
Well really similar and they give the same vibe
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I cant tell what kind of reaction Ross is suggesting with this image? Good? Bad?
Oh My GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWDDDDDDDDDDDDDD?
lol
I'm thinking the latter. :D
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That is cool and makes sense that it should work well
Considering Road Trip is just Mask of Nytheralopatep
Well really similar and they give the same vibe
It is funny cause the next game I'm writing up for them is inspired by Eternal Glades. I just really like the ideas of Road Trip. And since my friends have no interesting in playing monsters and other childish things, I have to bring those concepts that I dig about it to them through something they will play. XD
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Do what I do.
Go to there homes and when they wake up at where you have sessions.
Tied to chairs with
Monsters & Other Childish Things Sheets in front of them and your dummy body over a pit of spikes you'll convince them....
Maybe that was something else... hmmm should work the same
That or just have them sit down and listen to or play a game or Monster or Little Fears
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So we finished the game last night, went pretty well, the game as said was run in CoCD20 but it would have played easily in MaOCT or even Dirty World the way it turned out XD. Had a hostage situation/standoff in a farmhouse as the two suspects were attempting to forcibly take the land deed from the proper owners and evidence was found to suggest that the mayor of the local town was being bribed by the suspect to relinquish the land over to them. all in all my buddies were tired but enjoyed the game. (we usually play these at 1-5 in the morning). They achieved all the mini plot threads I had come up with and there was a nice resolution. Though now they want an intelligent animal companion of there own.
Next stop: Florida, where some strange ruins have been uncovered after a "devil worshiping" cult bust.still gotta thoroughly plot it out but should be a little more cthulhu-y and less Don Bluth-y.
on a side note, has anyone given legitimate thought to running a "Chip'n'Dales Rescue Ranger" game in a Dirty World? :)
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Does anyone know if there are any Sand Shark myths or lore in the real world? I'm trying to see if there is a legendary monster in real world lore that is a land shark or sand shark? For a game i want to run for my paranormal gaming group.
Closest I got to was an Azi Dahaka and that's more of dragon than anything.
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Can't find anything. And I tried. Looked for an hour. Might be something but it basically looks like people who lived in desert climates didn't invision fish attacking them.
There is this dubious entry, which I rather like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandwalker
And then there's this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petsuchos
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Can't find anything. And I tried. Looked for an hour. Might be something but it basically looks like people who lived in desert climates didn't invision fish attacking them.
There is this dubious entry, which I rather like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandwalker
And then there's this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petsuchos
Every little bit helps, and I'm intrigued by the Sandwalker, I can definitely incorporate that for my game along with the Petsuchos for another aspect. Thanks for taking the time.
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So I've been mulling over what I have found on the Azi Dahaka, and reeling in what I found out about the Sandwalker (Thanks again Tad) and mixing it with my own fictional Mythos. I have created an entity that has been locked beneath the Middle East for countless centuries. And because of a conflict in the 70's involving some artillery fire, a chance impact in the right location unlocked the Vault that housed this abomination and it terrorized the Middle East for nearly 5 years before a paramilitary group of the Israeli government was able to track it down and managed to subdue the beast. It's been in containment aboard a disused oil rig in the Gulf since then, dormant... waiting. It's flesh is some kind inky viscous substance, unclassified by modern science which seems absorb light and manipulate EM fields in varying ways. The scientist on the project believe that with the right application it could be a fantastic new energy source. How ever the entity codenamed Vector: SANDWALKER, while contained is highly volatile and hazardous to human health in close proximity and many lives were lost in both it capture and the facilities maintenance.
And thats the "rough" backdrop for the Azi Dahaka entity that I will be dropping (literally) on my players at some point in the Future. Had a design that was relatively "flashy" but decided to tweak my concept and draw from the less is more functionality of the Cthulhu Mythos.
(http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/093/9/a/vector__sandwalker___aka__the_azi_dahaka_by_crazon-d60bjf6.jpg)
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That's pretty sweet; you'd get some great "what the fuck?!"-ery from having that pop up out of the dark.
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I certainly hope so. XD
Cant actually throw this at my group until one of my players character's kick the bucket, and he switches to an Israeli Ex-paramilitary operative he's planned out. I want to tie it to that character.
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(http://th09.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2013/098/2/c/the_tall_grey_by_crazon-d60wofe.jpg)
This is the entity my players faced in a scenario loosely based on a portion from Caleb's "Preemptive Revenge" game.
It started as a street-level Call of Cthulhu game (simple set of murder investigations with strange influences) and then evolved into a mid-high-level Call of Cthulhu game (Coming face to face with the mythos/monster or god).
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That is a pretty boss picture dude. I'd love to hear that game someday.
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So I'm doing a 1920's game that is one part to kill a mockingbird, one part Ghoul cult busting, and the rest is Slenderman interaction. We started the game, but due to exhaustion and what not it wasn't really a full session so we still have a lot to play-through. I realized today that when old Slendy showed up I was using anachronistic methods based on the youtube ARG's.
My question is, how do you think Slenderman would interact with (i.e. screw with) folks in a small 1920's town? This is more to the effect of... well what effects would show in a world where video cameras aren't around to cause distortions? would it be regular poltergeist fair? Like in the "EverymanHybrid" videos? or are there any other really interesting ways to interpret Slenderman if he appeared in 1920's that anyone would be willing to share?
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"Hey, what's that weird shadow in all our family pictures?"
"Wait, wasn't Grandma in this portrait?"
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So I'm doing a 1920's game that is one part to kill a mockingbird, one part Ghoul cult busting, and the rest is Slenderman interaction. We started the game, but due to exhaustion and what not it wasn't really a full session so we still have a lot to play-through. I realized today that when old Slendy showed up I was using anachronistic methods based on the youtube ARG's.
My question is, how do you think Slenderman would interact with (i.e. screw with) folks in a small 1920's town? This is more to the effect of... well what effects would show in a world where video cameras aren't around to cause distortions? would it be regular poltergeist fair? Like in the "EverymanHybrid" videos? or are there any other really interesting ways to interpret Slenderman if he appeared in 1920's that anyone would be willing to share?
Any electronics in the area flicker, slendy advances over time and his distortions are his presence and he's not adapted to cameras... yet.
But back in the 1920's? That street light oh those are finally starting to sink in.
Also if you see him in the corner of your eye/reflection, your dizzy, memory gaps, blurred vision. Make a PC be working at the pond and then cut to the others and cut back say he's now at the barn. Tell him it looks like he finished what he was out there too do but he has no memory and it took longer.
Birds avoid Slendy, his electrode-magnetic pattern makes them blind, same with other animals sensitive to the magnetic system
Also Slendy has connections to fire. So make flames draw in random directions against the wind were he last was. Or were his tentacles are and make them snuff out if he draws too far or close. Getting close popping like a fire cracker.
Also shadows
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Thanks for the suggestions, this will be the next session I run, so it will b interesting to be sure.
Also re-listened to my first session in this (Campaign?) and man I forgot how fun my player characters are to listen to, it's been some time since we ran a 1920's game with these characters. gonna try and post these somewhere in the next week, maybe post them on the community site if Ross allows. This would included a Cthulhu take on Pastoral Manor inspired scenario, though that session is the 4th one.
3rd session was heavily inspired by the the first half hour of Caleb's "Preemptive Revenge" (I think I've mention this before, but whatev's) Essentially it was what happened to the town and kids after events very much like the beginning of that game (like immediate aftermath and if the horror continued) and then I run my own ideas through it. Death indeed comes to Edenvale.
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Hurray, I've been motivate to do something! XD
The GrumbleHammer Eldritch Investigations 1920:
http://grumblehammer.tumblr.com/
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I'm planning on running "The Wives of March" for my players, I'm incorporating it and several other "No Security" scenarios into my 1920's campaign. Any one know what I should adjust to accommodate the 20's rather than the 30's? This is more to the state of the town, the crops plight and what not. Just looking for a little advice.
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Well, ran "Wives of March" last night for my players. I tweaked the beginning and end to incorporate it better with my campaign and for the 20's setting. We got through the entire scenario... after about 7 hours of play. The guys enjoyed it greatly, thanks Caleb. I like how I've now listened to three variations of this scenario and each has gone different routes to discover the mystery and conspiracy.
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what did your group decide to do at the end?
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Burn it down. The entire property of the March family ended up a smoldering crater.
But it wasn't so much the ending that was different, they just did a bunch of stuff on the Saturday before Sunday that triggered some minor shit to hit the fan. They learned about what Caiden Garrod had been up to first because they chose to go to the Hotel de Soto. They also went searching for the Wambles character the same day and that triggered some troubles for them. They new something was up pretty early, even before really going to Sunday congressional. Hell they left a hostage bound gagged and sedated in their hotel room with their faithful hound guarding before going out to the sermon. I see that my Gm and player Pulp-esque style leaks into everything. we still got some real unsettling parts horror wise, though it got sort of awkward when the one player invited to dinner followed Wilhelmina upstairs... yeah that was creepy. but I mean the gang all had fun playing. I kept most of the content accurate to the scenario but altered parts that would fit better with the campaigns stories and background content.
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I plan on running an "aftermath" game set 90 years after the events of my 1920's run of "Wives of March". As with all my modern sessions done with my live group I did up a dossier for the team.
(http://th04.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2014/009/b/e/gprdf_dossier_barefoot_crossing_case_page_1_by_crazon-d71idsp.jpg)
(http://th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2014/009/7/e/gprdf_dossier_barefoot_crossing_case_page_2_by_crazon-d71ieel.jpg)
Hope it's alright to post this here, just wanted to get some extra input. This is what the team will know going into the scenario.
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Dude! That is awesome! Could I repost this on my blog?
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Sure!
Also for the thing within the vault, since I know my players will likely want to open it and will not run from it when released. Was thinking of using the stats from the D20 Call of Cthulhu book for "Servitor of the Outer Gods". It seems the closest representation for stats I've found for the Not-God's Companion Spawn. Though if anyone has ideas for a more custom D20 Modern variant, I'm open to suggestions.
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Next game to be run with the GrumbleHammer crew: Revelations! And despite the fact the characters have survived to Spring 1921, I've got an interesting workaround to have these 1920's investigators arrive to Toil in its 1930's timeline. I'm kind of playing with the idea of Toil being in a perpetual groundhog day rift. A place that hardly anyone but the most occult inclined know of and only for another reason other than the fact it's out of time with reality (The reason the 20's characters are going to this backwater town you probably never heard of, is to pick up some packages from a occult botanist who grows vegetation and ingredients to certain formulas that can only grow in the particular soils of the Vermilian Creek area). Now of course, for better or worst by the end of this scenario, their troubles will only increase for wading in the streams of time. My players want time travel and I am happy to oblige, but as I have mentioned to them on occasion when this comes up... There's a reason there aren't many mortal time travelers. The hounds are rather hungry.
Now aside from my weird and fantastical workarounds and own fiction integration to the scenario the main body and breath of the game is going to be the scenario as written from "No Security". I just wanted to tie it to this weird campaign I'm running.
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Awesome! Too bad the TImewatch RPG isn't out or you could totally steal ideas from it