Trail of Cthulhu

[Shallazar]

Yeah when i was asked by my group about CoC i kind of..misled them. I didn't explain that guns are useless, or that things will drive you crazy, or that in the 1920s there were no white mages with resurrection spells.

So they recklessly accumulate mythos skill, make promises to every cult member they find, and ALWAYS run around with their revolvers fully loaded. While i have a great time describing their deaths!

[clockworkjoe]

Tom ran a game of CoC last night. I died.

My advice: If you go into a Nazi nuclear Azathoth powered reactor, make sure the guy outside the reactor chamber didn't just go insane and turn against you, so he can't lock you inside the reactor gates back to Azathoth's realm.

That's bad.

[Tissue]

Tom ran a game of CoC last night. I died.

My advice: If you go into a Nazi nuclear Azathoth powered reactor, make sure the guy outside the reactor chamber didn't just go insane and turn against you, so he can't lock you inside the reactor gates back to Azathoth's realm.

That's bad.

Is it bad?  Or is it an amazingly hilarious and inovative way to have a character killed?

I vote for the latter

[JonHook]

Tom ran a game of CoC last night. I died.

My advice: If you go into a Nazi nuclear Azathoth powered reactor, make sure the guy outside the reactor chamber didn't just go insane and turn against you, so he can't lock you inside the reactor gates back to Azathoth's realm.

That's bad.

Is it bad?  Or is it an amazingly hilarious and inovative way to have a character killed?

I vote for the latter

I second that. The motion carries, "dying in a nuclear reactor" is now officially hilarious and inovative.

Congratulations Ross; you must be so proud.

[Phineas_Rage]

That's horribly unrealistic. If he was a good DM and staying true to life, you would've come out of that nuclear reactor with super powers.

[Maze]

That's horribly unrealistic. If he was a good DM and staying true to life, you would've come out of that nuclear reactor with super powers.

Yeah... epilepsy.

[clockworkjoe]

That's horribly unrealistic. If he was a good DM and staying true to life, you would've come out of that nuclear reactor with super powers.

An Azathoth powered nuclear reactor. I don't want to imagine what kind of 'super' powers I would get from that.

[JonHook]

That's horribly unrealistic. If he was a good DM and staying true to life, you would've come out of that nuclear reactor with super powers.

An Azathoth powered nuclear reactor. I don't want to imagine what kind of 'super' powers I would get from that.

After surviving the nuclear event, you gain the ability to speak aloud a magic word and spew forth giant writhing maggots from your arse!

[Shallazar]

I used the search button...

I'm taking the dive and I'm going to run the Australia and Shanghai chapters of Masks using the Trail of Cthulhu rules.
Any advice as far as combat in GUMSHOE or other mechanical considerations? Also I'd be interested in conversion tips if anyone has any (between Trail and Call), otherwise I've got my hamfists ready.



Edit: I have the conversion guide thingy but I was wondering if there is anything I should keep an eye out for or simplify for Trail.

[clockworkjoe]

listen to our fear itself games to get an idea of what combat is like in GUMSHOE - it's pretty quick and brutal usually

[Tadanori Oyama]

Combat in gumshoe is easy. Roll a single die, you hit or you don't. Roll another single die for damage, subtract monster's armor. Then the monsters kills the PCs. Easy!

[Shallazar]

Ross- Yes I've listened many times to those games but sure I'll give them a refresher. Thank you for introducing me to the GUMSHOE system.

Tad- Alright, that is what I'm looking forward to, increased brutality.

Any 1930s considerations for an exciting Australia or Shanghai that I should be aware of?

[Tadanori Oyama]

Australia is a deadly fucking place without any supernatural stuff. Difficult terrain, dangerous animals (kangaroos will fuck you up beyond repair!), hot days and cold nights, plus completely bizarre weather patterns. Surprise your players, especially if they go out unprepared. If they go prepared, make sure to reward them for their preparedness by making them use each and every piece of equipment they brought "just in case". They'll feel like geniuses of countering of all our "elaberate traps" and as a result be in a better mood when your sanity ripping horrors attack them.

Shanghai in the 1930s was awesome! Tons of money, people for freakin' everywhere, and everybody (by which I mean China, the UK, Japan, and the USA) wanted it. Throw weird things at your players, stuff from all over the world. Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghailander#Republic_of_China

By the way, combat is only brutal if you can get the players to fight the monster. The last two games of gumshoe I've run the players where too afraid to fight the monster.

[Fizban]

Australia is a deadly fucking place without any supernatural stuff.

Don't forget dropbears, upstones, and hoop snakes.  They hadn't all been hunted to rarity back in the 1930s, so people died a lot more regularly from attacks, instead of the odd tourist who gets taken out on a bushwalk.

[Moondog]

Australia is a deadly fucking place without any supernatural stuff.

Don't forget dropbears, upstones, and hoop snakes.  They hadn't all been hunted to rarity back in the 1930s, so people died a lot more regularly from attacks, instead of the odd tourist who gets taken out on a bushwalk.

Never underestimate the dropbear menace.