The Role Playing Public Radio Forums
General Category => RPGs => : Richard May 13, 2009, 10:00:30 PM
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Pretty much this- I'm to run a small 1-6 session game of Call of Cthulhu. I'm having the players play Delta Green friendlies who know, well, nothing. The characters are rolled up...
But here is where I'm stuck.
I don't know what to do.
I've ran a one-shot of CoC, using one of the many Haunted House scenarios a long while back.
Ideally- I'd like to run a game where they're sent to a small town to amp up the isolation, and maybe have some sort of body/consciousness-snatching parasitic thing attached to somebody in the town, cannibalizing children, fucking shit up and generally terrorizing everyone.
I was thinking...maybe this *thing* came during a meteor-shower over this small town. Maybe with a cult angle to provide some hints as to what the thing is.
This is where I'm stuck.
Could any of you guys help me maybe bounce some ideas around?
Thanks in advance.
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Pretty much this- I'm to run a small 1-6 session game of Call of Cthulhu. I'm having the players play Delta Green friendlies who know, well, nothing. The characters are rolled up...
But here is where I'm stuck.
I don't know what to do.
I've ran a one-shot of CoC, using one of the many Haunted House scenarios a long while back.
Ideally- I'd like to run a game where they're sent to a small town to amp up the isolation, and maybe have some sort of body/consciousness-snatching parasitic thing attached to somebody in the town, cannibalizing children, fucking shit up and generally terrorizing everyone.
I was thinking...maybe this *thing* came during a meteor-shower over this small town. Maybe with a cult angle to provide some hints as to what the thing is.
This is where I'm stuck.
Could any of you guys help me maybe bounce some ideas around?
Thanks in advance.
Have you looked at Dennis Detwiller's (DG co-author) scenarios? You can get them on his site for free http://web.me.com/drgonzo/Site/Download.html
Mysteria Matris Oblitae in particular is pretty close to what you're describing, although it is set in Mexico during the 20s. It should be easy to modify though. http://web.me.com/drgonzo/Site/Download_files/MysteriaMatrisOblitae_1.pdf
Some other CoC/DG sites to look at http://fairfieldproject.wikidot.com/system:page-tags/tag/shotgun_scenario#pages
and http://fairfieldproject.wikidot.com/system:page-tags/tag/scenario
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The number one thing you're going to have to have for this scenario is a good reason why the town is suddenly isolated. Is it a remote mountain town in a snow storm (or almost uninhabitable like 30 Days of Night)? Is it so remote it takes a couple of days to get anywhere? Do cars suddenly start breaking down for no reason? Why can't DG friendlies get help once the weird shit hits the fan?
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The number one thing you're going to have to have for this scenario is a good reason why the town is suddenly isolated. Is it a remote mountain town in a snow storm (or almost uninhabitable like 30 Days of Night)? Is it so remote it takes a couple of days to get anywhere? Do cars suddenly start breaking down for no reason? Why can't DG friendlies get help once the weird shit hits the fan?
Setherick's absolutely right -- just remember that whatever you choose, the PCs are going to do their absolute best to get around it, so you want to make sure you pick something that keeps them from physically leaving and from calling out for help. The nice thing is that this kind of thing is entirely true to the genre, so it shouldn't be too jarring to the PCs. A major storm works as you can use that to explain them being unable to travel, their cell phones not working, and the land-lines being down as well. The down side of this is that it also keeps you from providing information via internet research, contacting sources, etc. However, if this is the kind of isolation you want to create, no worries.
If your group is comprised of DG friendlies, it's possible that they may only have once contact method to get in touch with DG (one telephone number or email address). If nobody is picking up the phone or answering their emails, this has the effect of severing them from the rest of DG, even if it doesn't isolate them from the rest of the world.
CR
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This is what I'm thinking:
Set in Late November, rural mountain town (or a town near a forest? I'm split. Maybe both.)
The creature will be a Traveler, which is infact a creature that comes to earth under the cover of a meteor shower. Little Worm thing that slowly takes over the mind of a host before growing into a vaguely brain-shaped organ thing with the signature tentacles.
If I remember correctly, it needs necrotic tissue and blood for sustenance, so that will give many opportunities for investigators to come across half-eaten bodies.
There will be a storm shortly after they arrive at the town, which will knock out the power and phones for a few days, and snow-in the road.
Think all my bases are covered?
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This is what I'm thinking:
Set in Late November, rural mountain town (or a town near a forest? I'm split. Maybe both.)
The creature will be a Traveler, which is infact a creature that comes to earth under the cover of a meteor shower. Little Worm thing that slowly takes over the mind of a host before growing into a vaguely brain-shaped organ thing with the signature tentacles.
If I remember correctly, it needs necrotic tissue and blood for sustenance, so that will give many opportunities for investigators to come across half-eaten bodies.
There will be a storm shortly after they arrive at the town, which will knock out the power and phones for a few days, and snow-in the road.
Think all my bases are covered?
Are you talking about the creature from the DG scenario shadow plays and puppet shows? If it is, it also has access to the host's memories and skills so give it a suitable host - like a forest ranger or survivalist with great shooting skills and lots of bear traps.
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This is what I'm thinking:
Set in Late November, rural mountain town (or a town near a forest? I'm split. Maybe both.)
The creature will be a Traveler, which is infact a creature that comes to earth under the cover of a meteor shower. Little Worm thing that slowly takes over the mind of a host before growing into a vaguely brain-shaped organ thing with the signature tentacles.
If I remember correctly, it needs necrotic tissue and blood for sustenance, so that will give many opportunities for investigators to come across half-eaten bodies.
There will be a storm shortly after they arrive at the town, which will knock out the power and phones for a few days, and snow-in the road.
Think all my bases are covered?
Are you talking about the creature from the DG scenario shadow plays and puppet shows? If it is, it also has access to the host's memories and skills so give it a suitable host - like a forest ranger or survivalist with great shooting skills and lots of bear traps.
You and your bear traps.
During CoC in Colonial America Game
Me: Ross - What do you do?
Ross: I build bear traps! Lots of bear traps.
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This is what I'm thinking:
Set in Late November, rural mountain town (or a town near a forest? I'm split. Maybe both.)
The creature will be a Traveler, which is infact a creature that comes to earth under the cover of a meteor shower. Little Worm thing that slowly takes over the mind of a host before growing into a vaguely brain-shaped organ thing with the signature tentacles.
If I remember correctly, it needs necrotic tissue and blood for sustenance, so that will give many opportunities for investigators to come across half-eaten bodies.
There will be a storm shortly after they arrive at the town, which will knock out the power and phones for a few days, and snow-in the road.
Think all my bases are covered?
Are you talking about the creature from the DG scenario shadow plays and puppet shows? If it is, it also has access to the host's memories and skills so give it a suitable host - like a forest ranger or survivalist with great shooting skills and lots of bear traps.
You and your bear traps.
During CoC in Colonial America Game
Me: Ross - What do you do?
Ross: I build bear traps! Lots of bear traps.
I firmly believe you can solve any problem with sufficient dynamite, bear traps and elephant guns.
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This is what I'm thinking:
Set in Late November, rural mountain town (or a town near a forest? I'm split. Maybe both.)
The creature will be a Traveler, which is infact a creature that comes to earth under the cover of a meteor shower. Little Worm thing that slowly takes over the mind of a host before growing into a vaguely brain-shaped organ thing with the signature tentacles.
If I remember correctly, it needs necrotic tissue and blood for sustenance, so that will give many opportunities for investigators to come across half-eaten bodies.
There will be a storm shortly after they arrive at the town, which will knock out the power and phones for a few days, and snow-in the road.
Think all my bases are covered?
Are you talking about the creature from the DG scenario shadow plays and puppet shows? If it is, it also has access to the host's memories and skills so give it a suitable host - like a forest ranger or survivalist with great shooting skills and lots of bear traps.
*checks DG book*
...Hrm. Wow. So it is. I just combed the 'Malleus Monstorum' book.
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I firmly believe you can solve any problem with sufficient dynamite, bear traps and elephant guns.
And on the off chance you ran into a problem not solvable by these methods, you could be assured of at least having a great deal of fun while failing to solve the problem.
CR
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Say, Ross, did you say you've only ran published scenarios for CoC/DG?
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Say, Ross, did you say you've only ran published scenarios for CoC/DG?
So far, yeah. Two reasons
1. Running investigation based games takes more prep work so you can develop a logical scenario
2. There are so many goddamn great DG/CoC scenarios out there, I want to run all of them.
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This is what I have so far:
*2 players (Cory and Carl, respectively.), with 2-3 NPC supporting characters (At least one Doctor and one more FBI), excluding townsfolk.
*Town name ‘Trentvillie’- North Washington, far east of Bellingham is nestled among mountains.(Fictional place)
* A meteor shower over the town happened 2 weeks ago. Under the cover of said shower, a Traveler landed in the forests near Jon Curwin’s cabin.
*Jon Curwin, a ranger turned recluse, residing near the village of 120 people. Comes in to town from time to time to buy supplies and groceries. Lives up on the mountains.
*Traveler subdues a deer for its host, and begins looking for another. It is shot by Curwin, who then (via skinning in preparation for eventually making a meal of the deer) is subdued in kind by the Traveler.
What do you guys think?
(Edit: It will also be held in Late November-Early December, as a freak snowstorm will knock out the power and generally strand the PCs and NPCs alike.)
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That's a good start but how do you get the players involved?
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Send them to survey the new reservoir..?
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I was thinking more along the lines of people rapidly going missing, the latest of which is a police officer or sheriff.
That or Cell A wants them to investigate said disappearance with the meteor shower.
I wonder, since the Traveler's ship crashed far away from Trentvillie, would it have Curwin move the ship closer to the cabin?
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Anybody else want to attempt to contribute anything before I get right down to the nitty-gritty?
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Well that ship moving idea reminds me of The Thing, in a good way. Curwin could move the ship, or be disguising the wreckage with a natural disaster- or possibly he could be cannibalizing the machines around town for repairs or w/e. (I'm not so familiar with the motives of the Traveler)
But (i'm thinking) what clues are the going to find, it looks like you have plenty of room for them to find physical evidence (dead bodies, broken things, people-who-arent-there-anymore, etc).
but what if one or more of the players wants to find archival clues to aid in the way to defeat the traveler? will there be a mythos Sage? or past instances of supernatural goings on in the area?
Hope this helps.
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Well that ship moving idea reminds me of The Thing, in a good way. Curwin could move the ship, or be disguising the wreckage with a natural disaster- or possibly he could be cannibalizing the machines around town for repairs or w/e. (I'm not so familiar with the motives of the Traveler)
But (i'm thinking) what clues are the going to find, it looks like you have plenty of room for them to find physical evidence (dead bodies, broken things, people-who-arent-there-anymore, etc).
but what if one or more of the players wants to find archival clues to aid in the way to defeat the traveler? will there be a mythos Sage? or past instances of supernatural goings on in the area?
Hope this helps.
Cannibalizing electronics for various odds and ends would be something that might tip of DG or be a clue that players could track. The town's electronics store is broken in to, but no high ticket items are stolen for instance, but a lot of copper wire, connectors, transistors, little stuff is. The town cops put it down as a prank. But then someone else reports another petty theft like that. And then another. Now you have someone going around stealing odd or worthless items. Like, why break into a house but only steal the reverse osmosis tank under someone's sink and now the plasma TV?
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As a selfpromotional note, I will inform those who accidentally read this post-
Today I got shanghaied into running my first Call of Cthulhu session and aside from a rouge Boston Red Sox outfielder named Mitch Maloy, things went surprisingly well.
I just stuck with 'The Haunting' from the 6thed book. but I'm trying to figure out which 1920s adventure I should thrust them into next. I was thinking Shadows of Yog-Sothoth, but I'm REALLY open to suggestions/comments/questions/anxieties/fears/paranoias/quandaries/inquiries/ etc.
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As a selfpromotional note, I will inform those who accidentally read this post-
Today I got shanghaied into running my first Call of Cthulhu session and aside from a rouge Boston Red Sox outfielder named Mitch Maloy, things went surprisingly well.
I just stuck with 'The Haunting' from the 6thed book. but I'm trying to figure out which 1920s adventure I should thrust them into next. I was thinking Shadows of Yog-Sothoth, but I'm REALLY open to suggestions/comments/questions/anxieties/fears/paranoias/quandaries/inquiries/ etc.
I'm a broken record on this but this page has great scenarios http://web.me.com/drgonzo/Site/Download.html
for the 20s, try the Mysteria Matra one...good times.
I also recommend getting Mortal Coils and running Dream Factory. Decadent Hollywood celebrities in the roaring 20s. What could possibly go wrong? I haven't played it or run it but I've talked to a guy who playtested it and he had a great time with it.
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OOh Thanks Joe!
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Okay, tweaking the final product:
A meteor shower happens over Trentville, and within 2 months time, 5 people turn up dead, oftentimes half-eaten, and a variety of mechanical things have been stolen. The 5th one was a police officer. Hearing about this, Cell A send 3 friendlies to investigate- A Hacker, an FBI agent and a Doctor of medicine. Their cover story is that they're sent by the government to help investigate who's killing these people (especially the cop, as *that's* the staple- I'm Canadian, and I'm under the impression FBI don't get involved in anything routine, but when a Police officer goes missing then turns up with chunks of flesh torn from him, well...).
The small town is gripped in fear, lacking the proper resources to cope with such events, which gives me a reason for each PC to be there- A Doctor of Medicine to examine bodies, a Hacker to document the findings and keep in touch with Cell A, and an FBI agent to gain access to the various information needed (crime scene photos, bodies, grilling people for information).
From there, I plan to start feeding them clues, however, as an attempt to add another layer to the investigation, there are rumours that the surrounding forests and mountains are haunted, but reports are conflicting as to *what* exactly, as everyone has their own version of why the surrounding area is haunted. (I might even just flat out MAKE it haunted, have maybe a few of the spectres of the victims floating around to guide the PCs back on track.)
However, Curwin is watching them, and the ranger, under the thrall of the Traveler, may have a variety of nasty surprises for them if they come too close- up to and including the possession of a new host...
How does that sound, everybody? The game is going to be this week, so I hope everyone can reply to this thread soon.
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I would rule against the ghosts - especially if you want to maintain the cthulhu mythos flavor. Red herrings are a staple of DG and CoC though, so the stories are good. Instead of having several different versions of legends, I would present a single myth to make it more concrete - wendigo, bigfoot, etc. Pick one, grab some info about it on the net and use it as handouts. The handouts may mislead the players with horrific results...which is a plus.
The FBI's jurisdiction is *federal* crimes. The murder of a cop would typically be a state matter. State authorities typically resent the feds stealing cases and taking the credit. However, Cell A could easily pull the strings to give the FBI a potential avenue of investigation - under the idea that this may be the work of a known serial killer who has killed in other states. Interstate killings make it a federal case usually. So the players go in with this cover story but start out with no official jurisdiction. They must either convince the local cops to give it to them (who want to avenge the death of their own and mistrust outsiders) or work outside the law.
Make sure the hacker has standard criminal investigation abilities - a crime scene tech.
What do the PCs know about the supernatural already?
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I like the direction this seems headed. Let us know how the game turned out and what the players was most bewildered/scared by.
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I would rule against the ghosts - especially if you want to maintain the cthulhu mythos flavor. Red herrings are a staple of DG and CoC though, so the stories are good. Instead of having several different versions of legends, I would present a single myth to make it more concrete - wendigo, bigfoot, etc. Pick one, grab some info about it on the net and use it as handouts. The handouts may mislead the players with horrific results...which is a plus.
The FBI's jurisdiction is *federal* crimes. The murder of a cop would typically be a state matter. State authorities typically resent the feds stealing cases and taking the credit. However, Cell A could easily pull the strings to give the FBI a potential avenue of investigation - under the idea that this may be the work of a known serial killer who has killed in other states. Interstate killings make it a federal case usually. So the players go in with this cover story but start out with no official jurisdiction. They must either convince the local cops to give it to them (who want to avenge the death of their own and mistrust outsiders) or work outside the law.
Make sure the hacker has standard criminal investigation abilities - a crime scene tech.
What do the PCs know about the supernatural already?
I believe the hacker has 04 in Cthulhu Myhtos, and the FBI Agent has 01.
I like the serial killer idea, will use that.
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This is what I'm thinking:
Set in Late November, rural mountain town (or a town near a forest? I'm split. Maybe both.)
The creature will be a Traveler, which is infact a creature that comes to earth under the cover of a meteor shower. Little Worm thing that slowly takes over the mind of a host before growing into a vaguely brain-shaped organ thing with the signature tentacles.
If I remember correctly, it needs necrotic tissue and blood for sustenance, so that will give many opportunities for investigators to come across half-eaten bodies.
There will be a storm shortly after they arrive at the town, which will knock out the power and phones for a few days, and snow-in the road.
Think all my bases are covered?
Are you talking about the creature from the DG scenario shadow plays and puppet shows? If it is, it also has access to the host's memories and skills so give it a suitable host - like a forest ranger or survivalist with great shooting skills and lots of bear traps.
You and your bear traps.
During CoC in Colonial America Game
Me: Ross - What do you do?
Ross: I build bear traps! Lots of bear traps.
I firmly believe you can solve any problem with sufficient dynamite, bear traps and elephant guns.
Especially if that elephant gun has a special hidden trigger, right Ross? Oh yeah!
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I am pleased to announce it went well. Creeped out my players. I even used two props- one email from Cell A and a 'Blood Splattered' note with "LEavE toWn" written on it :D