Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I've really been eying the Call of Cthulhu book, but I really am not sure on how it would play or how much fun it would be.

I've also heard of some great super hero pen and papers, but I can't remember any of the names.

Anyone care to give some input?

Call of Cthulhu's a great read, but it is certainly for everyone as a player or GM.

CoC + Delta Green makes it a bit cooler, althoguh Delta Green is starting to show it's age a bit. Delta Green is a licensed add-on for CoC that is a setting kind of like the X-Files, but much, much worse stuff going on. DG agents save the world, but at the cost of their lives, their jobs, and their sanity... Not sure which is worse, really.Oh, and sometimes they get to fight nazis, which are a 'little evil' of the setting.

There's a lot of super hero RPGs. In generally, the big choice is if there's a "plot" or if it's just "J. Random Superhero world." Super Hero RPGs certainly can have issuesL Some have overly complex systems, some have too thin of systems, etc. I ran 'Necessary Evil' and had a lot of fun with it: it's a setting for the Savage Worlds rules where the heroes all got killed by aliens, so the players play reluctant villians forced to be heros. Admittedly, I changed the plot around a lot.

A big problem with super hero games is that a lot of classic heros are somewhat 'binary'... Green Lantern is either nigh-omnipotent, or someone's got yellow and he sucks. Same for Superman, but with Kryptonite.

You need to make sure you and the players know what kind of superhoeros and what power level you expect. Are you looking for low-level types like a lot of the X-Men? Are you looking for ultra-powerful Supermen? Do you want golden-age paladins or grim and angsty modern characters?

Then again, "Set expectations" is true for most RPGs.

I have very fond memories of running and playing CoC...this even way back during the first edition. For long campaigns this may not be the game for you but for atmosphere it is hard to beat (characters tend to have a slightly higher than normal mortality rate and those who don't die often go insane). Plus, I love the writing of H.P. Lovecraft. I would definitely recommend you give this a try.

I've played many, many hero games (starting with the release of first edition Marvel Superheroes). Right now I'm leaning towards Mutants and Masterminds. The system isn't perfect but it's still pretty fun and gives you a wide range of power levels for your campaign.

In comparing the two genres, I would say that if you want something very driven by story and the players wits stick with CoC. If over-the-top action is more your style a hero game would be right up your alley. I realize that both games can have these elements but each tends to lend itself better to certain playstyles.

I decided to go with CoC. And I will be the "Keeper". This is my first time ever running a game. Any helpful tips? I want it to be a fun experience for everyone, myself included. After all, it is the Keeper vs the players right?

Also, what would the recommended number of players be? And thanks for the input, a hero game can wait a little (until classes are out anyway)

CoC is hard to run as the players will always have to meet miserable ends.

I played it in high school years ago, and if you use the book like its a D&D game, the players are just plain screwed the moment you pick up a dice.

My advice is to go freeform with it, focus upon the creepy, the mysterious, the "things-man-was-not-meant-to-know" hints, where information is way more important that experience points or skill percentages.

If you play it like a detective story, start it "normal" and keep adding hints of wierdness as the players delve into whatever enigma it is you have devised. Let them think they have almost figured it out, then make them all go mad, or be eaten by gibbering and repulsive beasts from the nether realms of consciousness.It might be good to start the game advertising it as a "noir fiction" or "espionage" genre game too, so they have no idea to expect the cosmic wierdness as it gradually unfolds. DOn't say "cthulu roleplaying game" (dont say "cthulu at all actually) because then you can't creep them out later as the creepy gak starts to happen.


if you want to run a more adventure rpg style game, take a quick read of "The Dream Quest Of Unknown Kadath" for inspiration. It is seriously SERIOUSLY the best fantastical romp I have ever read. Lovecraft's dreams were beautiful and horrible and boundless and that "novella" really puts it into a first person character quest perspective too. Its maybe a hundred pages long, but within the first dozen pages you will start to get the idea of how he is going with it. The whole thing is like a long long dream sequence of fabulous, epic, and horrible places run together as visited by a traveller in the dream worlds.

Thanks, I'll definitely check it out. My favorite part of Lovecraft is the moment you finally realize what's happening, and then the chills set in.

I don't plan on tossing monsters at them, it will most likely be the same as our dnd group (which actually only had one combat scenario last time), so a nice story involved game would be nice for everyone. I'm really looking forward to the arrival of this book.

A few more questions:

1. Do I get to choose which old one is doing the unbeknownst things?

2. I read in a review to do the recommended scenarios to start off with. I assume everyone else will agree?

3. The 6th edition book should come with everything I need to get going right? As in I won't need to purchase this games equivalent to the "Dungeon Master's Guide" right away?

powerslave84 wrote:
1. Do I get to choose which old one is doing the unbeknownst things?

Of course. It's your game. As a bit of a trick, your player characters might end up in the 'scooby do' situation and the horrible plot is actually just someone trying to scam someone.

Of course, if you do this, then hit them with a whammy that the scam supernatural event is actually waking something up.

powerslave84 wrote:
2. I read in a review to do the recommended scenarios to start off with. I assume everyone else will agree?

The ones in my edition aren't bad. Generally roleplayers aren't picky as long as they don't feel overly railroaded. I know older CoC editions had some adveturers that weren't really about the Great Old Ones, as GOOs tend to be potentially campaign-ending.

powerslave84 wrote:
3. The 6th edition book should come with everything I need to get going right? As in I won't need to purchase this games equivalent to the "Dungeon Master's Guide" right away?

I believe so. The Keeper's Companions are mostly interesting articles about stuff you might want to have, like notes on historical psychological treatments. There's also optional rules and such, but nothing essential.

As a general rule, make sure you're running something your players want. CoC is a pretty broad game both in theme (some play as gun-happy soldiers against the mythos, some as quieter investigation) and setting (The default books has 1920s and 90s/'modern' as I remember. This makes a big difference.). Make sure your players know what they're in for. If they're into 1920s stuff and thats what you want to run, make sure yo've at least watched some movies on the era and such (Gangster/prohibition era stuff is a good fit). For modern, make sure you expect that players can and will take advantage of modern goodies like cell phones, ,copy machines, etc.

Don't "Pixel Bitch." The term comes form the point and click adventure games. In some, developers would make some required object a tiny hit area on-screen (A couple pixels) and make players hunt for it. This wasn't fun. As applied to RPGs, let players find clues and move the plot along. If I was running CoC today, I'd want key rolls (investigation, understanding, etc.) to have an if/then structure: IF the character makes the roll, they get X, if the don't, they get Y. The important thing is that they don't get hung up on it If players need to canvas a crime scene five times until they make a roll, they probably aren't having fun. On the other hand, if they fail the roll and get the info to proceed, but no bonus, that's OK. If they make the roll and get a additional shot at defeating the enemy, etc... That's cool!

CoC can be played straight as a weird dungeon-crawl, accounting for funds, etc. However it can be much more free-form. For example, the base rules can result in players with random funds that really has a lot of swing to it that can create weird character situations. (I.E. one character is wealthy, well-educated, and physically fit, while the other is a practically moronic sickly homeless person.) Be willing to set guidelines, disregard dice rolls, etc. to make interesting characters.

For example:

I was writing some notes up for a proto-Delta Green scenario and was planning to have the PCs as government agents in the 80s acting in a banana republic to stop drug smugglers that would turn into a fight against Lovecraftian horrors. An idea I had was to do a 'Tarot reading' for each character: three cards representing past, present, and future. Past stuff was mostly appropriate skill bonuses, like military background giving a few points to firearm skills. Present cards were mostly negative, and might give out bad stuff like drug addictions, real/fake rumors of being corrupt, etc. Future generally was one-time 'favors' up to and including knowing a guy who could have an air strike called in.

Also, I was thinking of using the calculated 'wealth' value as a starting point but allowing it to be tweaked b giving up points. It's the player and GMs responsibility to make the yearly salary fit into the idea that all PCs are relatively similar-level agents: One with high wealth might come from a wealthy family and have stocks to draw on, while one with a low roll might have alimony, child support, or other debt they're paying and can't get out of.

Anyway, the point is that CoC is not D&D! The Keeper has a lot more power than a DM, but also a lot more responsibility. Sure, you can kill player characters left and right, but you'll lose players quickly. The Keeper needs to keep things moving and fun for everyone, even if that means overriding a roll occasionally.

BTW, the 1920s Investigator book is nice to have if you're playing in that era. It has a bunch of professions that are more interesting than those in the main rules. I.E. if you're a Mob Thug you might get a rule to avoid SAN loss from seeing torture. These rules also help balance the weird swings of character generation, as wealth and bonuses are determined by occupation.

Does it really matter which old one or Elder God or Other God or Outer God or what have you is doing unknowable things?

It matters for consistency in the story, but in an adventure game, the PCs are tiny players on a huge stage, caught up in events beyond their understanding. Just use lots of sylables that are hard to pronounce together

When we played adventures, it wasn't the actual forces from beyond we were in direct contact with, more like foiling the plans of their servants, cultists, madmen, scientists/archaeologists meddling where they shouldn't, creepy fish-looking things, etc. Nobody actually grabs a bazooka and goes at it with Nyarlathotep.

In general, any open confrontation with a GOO is going to end badly. Cthulhu is, to be honest, one of the weaker ones and he gets to eat 1d6 investigators a turn.

Nyarlathotep is even less likely to be engaged in combat. In a lot of his appearances, he's quite happy to 'die' and get revenge later... or even just hint that he'll get revenge alter, and let fear do it for him.

Are we talking the well-dressed egyptian looking Nyarlathotep, or the 30 foot tall tentacle with arms, legs and a mouth? The former might show up mysteriously, say some cryptic things, and leave just as mysteriously. The latter you might need a bazooka, but the D&D equivalent would be to fire a sling stone at a storm giant or something like that. Either way, they're doomed, they're playing CoC.

In the olden times when I used to run CoC I would generally start small...there are many horrors lurking in the dark places, not all of whom are are enacting some great scheme of the Old Gods at all times. I always had an affection for Deep Ones. Even though they are tied to the Gods they also have their own agenda (cross breeding with humans). I liked exposing the investigators to the realization of what exists in the world they once considered the dominion of man and then sprinkling in tidbits of information, leads, and incentives to get them to dig deeper in subsequent play sessions. Throwing them into the grinder early on will likely result in a bunch of dead investigators and players feeling railroaded. The horrific death or mind bending insanity awaiting them is taken better if it feels like the end to an enjoyable story. Not that player mortality is something to strive for or an absolute, it's just that things are rather stacked against them. If they are fans of Lovecraft they will probably even be expecting a bad end anyway.

As for the number of players, that is totally up to how many you feel comfortable leading through an adventure. I like 2 players myself (to which I generally add my own character to help things along). Larger gathering aren't bad but it can be intimidating when you are just learning to run the game and player attention spans seem to decrease when a great many come together.

i haven't ever found a superhero system that i liked. the settings, i think, are generally what ruins it for me, and the systems are generally tied into the setting. for example, aberrant is all about mutants, and so their system gets clunky if you try to take a different route with where / what a hero might be. and the setting is, just not interesting enough to me or my fellow gamers.

so, lately, i have been slowly working up my own superhero setting / system. why do i bother to mention this? because its going to be "superheros" in a Cthulhu Mythos setting. so i just found the question of "which to play" amusing. just finished reading Charles Stross' "Laundry" stories, so i am thinking that it will basically be CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN. the stars are right, and things are waking up. have been waking up. but mabye, just mabye, with new-found ability and powers the heroes might be able to hit the snooze alarm and keep the old ones out of play. of course, with great power comes great insanity...

http://www.cthulhutech.com/

Savage Worlds Thrilling Tales might be an interesting compromise.

Pulp era adventure set in the 20s to late 30s, the heroes are slightly but not unbelievably superhuman. You can include a variety of magic, weird science and horror elements all into the same campaign.

Think The Mummy, Indiana Jones and so on.

And biplanes are cool.

Manchu wrote:http://www.cthulhutech.com/

yeah, i got a couple of those books. just got too much on my plate to be running it. but it was too awesome to pass over. got the main book and the companion.

hmm, savage worlds you say...

I played Call of Cthulhu for about three years, and it was honestly very fun. I enjoyed the sense of mystery behind it all. My luck eventually ran out when my charater sort of destroyed R'leyh with a nuke, but no matter.
My favorite superhero game is Brave New World. The only problem is that you have to download PDF books. Still its an easy game system, with a great plotline. Quick, easy to master, and fun to play. Check it out man.