CoC Keeper Screen Help

[IDaMan008]

Howdy, folks! This message goes out to all you Call of Cthulhu Keepers out there in Internetland...

First, a little background:

So, after listening to Tom's World War II CoC Actual Play, along with the equally awesome World War I scenario "Dig to Victory!," I decided to go out and buy myself a copy of CoC 6th Ed. At this point, I've read through most of the book and I've started to prepare some notes on a scenario I'd like to run with my friends, something that wraps up neatly, but is still loaded with hooks that could allow it to turn into a chronicle if they enjoy it. I like the game enough that I even considered buying a Keeper's Screen--that is, until I did some research and found out that the 6th Ed. screens are very expensive and very poorly printed. Granted, I could get along without one easily enough, but where would the fun be in that? ;-) My girlfriend suggested that I make my own screen out of affordable materials, which is what I decided to do.

A few years ago, the two of us put together a custom screen for oWoD Mage when a friend of ours who worked at Home Depot at the time came into an extremely large piece of free plywood, enough for each of us to make an eight-panel Storyteller's screen and still have panels left over. For the CoC screen, we decided to use Masonite board (which is dirt cheap) bound together with intertwining gold ribbons. The inner faces of the screen will be Prussian blue edged in gold paint, with the charts and Keeper info printed on sepia paper. The outer faces are going to feature a reproduction / extension of the artwork on the cover of the book done in oils, and the first and last panels will be bound in scaly black leather that we fished out of a Wal-Mart bargain bin for $2.00. She's already embroidered "Call of Cthulhu" in gold thread on the leather piece that will eventually be the front cover, and it looks awesome. When it's completed, hopefully it will look like an old leather-bound tome when it's folded, one that opens to reveal the secrets of the Keeper's Lore within.

Deciding on the content of the Mage screen was easy because I had a copy of the 2nd Ed. Storyteller's screen that I scanned and Photoshopped into something that looked better with the motifs of our custom screen. Being as it is that I've never seen an actual CoC screen, and that I have only a newcomer's grasp of the rules (as I have not yet run a game), I thought it might be prudent to ask those who have run CoC before what information it might be helpful to have on hand during a game. If you were designing your own CoC Keeper's screen, what would you put on it?

Keep in mind, I'm more than happy to take the time to reformat or condense some of the more long-winded stuff (such as the Spot Rules for Combat / Firearms) into charts or shorthand, and I've got plenty of free time to kill on this project. I also have plenty of space, as this is going to end up being a six panel screen.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[ArtfulShrapnel]

Things I always like on my screen/cheat sheet:

Damage for common objects/weapons is always a good one. Basic guns, improvised weapons, (particularly one-use items like grenades or poisons, that the players will likely not have had a chance to memorize through play)

Environmental hazard info, like falling damage, fire rules, drowning rules, etc. so you can use them freely without having to stop play.

Vehicle rules. Just the basic ones since they rarely come up.

Insanity rules, obviously. Basic mechanics, and a chart of insanities. I would hesitate to assign characters a permanent serious insanity off a random chart roll, but it's nice to have it there for ideas.

I also recommend putting a plastic sleeve on one panel, so you can swap out game-specific info as needed. It might hurt the look a bit, but it's a great resource. Either that or some sort of clip to hold the sheet of paper.

[Shallazar]

The Resistance Table!

The spot rules for vehicle chases, and prices of items.

[JonHook]

Resistance Table and Insanity Tables are a must.

[IDaMan008]

Thanks, folks, for all the helpful feedback! I've been trying to distill the vast amounts of information in the book into something that'll be useful during a game session, and your suggestions helped a great deal. Here's what I hope to be able to fit on the screen, in some version or another:

-The Resistance Table
-Resistance Formula (for whatever isn't covered on the Table itself)
-Spot Rules for Combat
-Spot Rules for Firearms
-Weapons Tables
-Environmental Damage (Falling/Fire/Drowning, etc.)
-Poisons (although this'll probably go if I need room, since I don't imagine it'd come up much)
-Damage Bonus Table
-Injury + Healing Spot Rules
-Combat Order Summary
-Insanity Summary
-Sanity Point Costs
-Temporary Insanity Chart
-Pronunciations of Mythos Names
-Vehicle Tables

I still have quite a way to go before I've got all of this in a form that'll be usable, but I'm pretty sure the list will only get shorter from there.

Here are some pictures of what we've got so far:



We're making the screen out of a couple of pieces of masonite board that we had cut to 7.5"x12", which is just a tad thinner than ordinary paper in order to save table space during use. Here are two pieces before painting.



My girlfriend Ally gave each board a coat of gesso and then a coat of Prussian Blue mixed with galkyd, which she tells me gives the smooth sides that awesome glossy textured look. The rough side of the masonite looks a little more muted in comparison, but that's the side that will be facing the Keeper, and it'll mostly be blocked by the charts.



Here is the (unfinished) painting that covers the four central panels of the screen. It still needs a few more non-Euclidean structures and some fog rising up from the sea, but I think it looks awesome as is. I may also have her write Lovecraft's couplet ("that is not dead which can eternal lie," etc) in gold paint just to set it off a bit more.



Here's the piece of leather with the gold threaded embroidery that will eventually be the front cover. We accomplished this by scanning the title page of the 6th Ed. book, reversing it, and taping it to the back of the leather so that Ally could trace it with the thread without the paper showing through.

As you can see, it's still a work in progress, but I think it's coming out pretty awesome thus far.

Any other suggestions that people have regarding the content of the Keeper's elements would be much appreciated, because as I said, I've never run a CoC game before.

Thanks again for your suggestions!

[JonHook]

Damn! That is going to kick major ass! Build me one!!!

[clockworkjoe]

when you finish, do a full write up with pictures, email them to rpprpodcast@gmail.com and I'll put it on the main page.