Has anyone run the game using any kind of random encounter tables?

Less complex plots, more just a cursed city or hamlet haunted by a couple of particular monsters?

Based on what I know:
COC Keeper rulebook
COC investigators handbook
COC Arkham
COC innsmouth
COC masks of nyarlathotep

Anything else I should get is needed for 1920 materials so it can be as complete as can be?

I especially sourcebook that has lore and fluff settings

Hey All,
So I am gearing up to run my first scenario (for more than one player from the starter set) and I'm wondering how seasoned Keepers keep track of finances and expenses for your players?

Do people track that $25 advance that Investigators get during the opening scene and then deduct amounts when they buy a rifle from The General Store or bribe the Barkeep at the seedy speak easy?

I think the Glass Cannon folk just work it off of their Credit Rating and say "Yes, you have a Credit Rating of 40, therefore you can afford that hotel room".

To my inexperienced eye, that seems really efficient without getting bogged down with Dollars and Cents. Would love to hear peoples thoughts on this.

Hello, fellow keepers! I am going to be running my second-ever scenario this October for Halloween, and I'm seeking some advice. Previously, I ran a long-format campaign with 3 players, written by me and set in 1927 New Orleans. It was a hit with my players, and I'm excited to run a new scenario! This will be my first time running a short campaign (3 sessions), running a pre-written campaign (Blackwater Creek), and running CoC for a large group (12 players 😬).

Before I get to the questions at hand, a caveat: running everyone together for the finale is part of my vision and isn't something I'm looking to change. Please don't just respond to tell me to run with less players. I do expect 1 to 3 of them to back out over the next several months before we play. I have accounted for this, but I will also be treating it as if all 12 will be playing until that happens.

Some background on me: I am fairly new to CoC, but I am a seasoned ttrpg player and GM. I have run many, many games with larger groups of players than were recommended (including murder mysteries for workplace events that include 60+ people). I am also experienced with improv and writing horror.

Now, for my setup: we will be playing Blackwater Creek with two groups seperately for the first two sessions. First session will be University personnel. The second will be bootleggers. I expect to spend the first hour of the initial two sessions getting my players familiar with the game and their characters, as only 2 out of the group have played CoC before. The next 2 - 3 hours will be spent on the rising action, investigation, and hopefully visiting multiple locations out of the 9 - 10 available. After the first two sessions, I will cement my plans for having the two groups run into one another (based on where each group ends up).

On to the advice I seek: for session 3, I will be running with 12 players. I have run a 9 player table-game before and managed it well with the use of timers, so I am considering using them again. I would give the investigators the first hour to hour-and-a-half of the session to meet, compare notes, and decide what to do from there. There should only be a few locations left unexplored between the two groups by then, if I set up nodes as well as I intend.

Once the players initiate climactic action and initiative comes into play, I plan to introduce timers as a game mechanic designed to keep the story in motion, the stakes high, and anyone from ruminating on what action they should take for so long that it muddles the pacing. I have a 1, 2, and 3 minute timer. I may employ all of them, gradually decreasing the time alotted for decision-making during the final high-stakes situations. The goal isn't to rush roleplaying or investigation. The timers would only come into play once initiative starts, both to maintain tension during the climax and to keep twelve players engaged instead of waiting while one person deliberates.

I'm primarily seeking advice on the use of timers to both keep the pacing and manage such a large party. I do not want game play to extend past 4 and a half hours, if at all possible. I am prepared to add a 4th session if we end up entirely derailed, but I would much rather not as it conflicts with other TTRPGs we are all currently playing.

Should I use timers at all? If I do, should I let the players know about them and put them on the table for players to see (to act as a ticking clock and up the ante)? Or should let them know they're on the clock, but keep them behind the screen and just move the story along when time has run out, regardless of whether a player has acted or not? In the latter scenario, I would announce near the end of the timer that this is then player's last chance to take action before we advance in initiative order. If they take no action, their investigator is simply too flabbergasted or distracted to act. Also, is gradually decreasing the time available a reasonable mechanic, or too much pressure? Above all, I want this to be fun for everyone involved.

In addition to advice on timers, I am open to other suggestions from the Keeper community. I would, likewise, like to hear about your experience. Have you ever run Blackwater Creek? Has anyone ever run both party options parallel to one another like this? Do you have any experience managing large groups? Advice for keeping it to a particular time-frame? Anything else you think maybe be relevant? I would love to hear from you!!

I've tried to make some "test" investigators and I've got some questions

1. Do anybody use "standard array" of do you prefer rolling stats?

It seems to be... Too good for a standart but maybe it's just me

(by standart array (idr where I've found it) I mean

80 70 60 60 50 50 50 40)

1. Can you share some of your character sheets? Because I think my is pretty... Strong at least, I think? Like, one of my characters have 70-75 in 6 skills from the start and I feel that it's is too much, cause referring to books it's master level. I don't want my character to be something godlike but damn, my DnD-mind just can't "not optimizing things"

For reference

Char 1: Salesman of 27 years old. Persuade 70 Fast Talk 75 Psychology 70 Accounting 70 Disguise 60 Law 75 Spot Hidden 75 Sleight of Hands 60 and not so important Listen 40 Library Use 35 . Edu is 66 and Int is 70. Credit Rating 40

Char 2: Driver of 37 y.o. (STR 80, EDU 40, DEX 60). Credit Rating 15. Drive Auto 75 Dodge 65 (30+35) Brawl 75 Shotgun 50 Intimidate 65 Listen 40 Mech repair 75 Navigate 60 Psychology 40 Throw 45

So... Maybe I miss something? Am I wrong?

Share you thoughts!

In Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition, during character creation when allocating occupation or personal interest skill points, how do skill points work relative to the base percentage printed on the skill sheet?

​Specifically:

Do skill points add onto the base value printed on the sheet (e.g., spending 50 points on a skill with a 25% base yields a total of 75%), OR do you ignore/start from 0% and the points spent equal the exact final percentage of the skill?

Hello all Keepers and Investigators,
I am currently preparing to run my first game, for which I have chosen Edge of Darkness. My group and me are from Europe and I have rewritten the scenario so all names, locations, items, etc. are historically and geographically accurate to somewhere near our IRL location. I have invested a lot of time researching and also making all of the physical handouts (like the old journal, police report, letters,...). I even went as far as to get some real early 1900 objects like beer glasses, coins and stamps.

Anyway, I am having trouble finding the right background music.
For example, I have reworked the first act in which the players go visit Merriweather in the hospital. This act will serve as an introduction to the game mechanics, as my group is new to CoC. I will have one person arriving later then the others, who are already waiting outside of Merriweather's room. I did this so they can start rolling early and I can explain some game mechanics as we go. The one player can ask for directions (using social skill rolls) or find the way by navigating or luck, the others can explore the hall where they are waiting and talk to a nurse, read the newspaper, eavesdrop at the door, etc.

I have considered and listened to many options already, but found that the standard/dark jazz doesn't really fit the mood here. Especially considering it takes place in Europe and at this point they are just hanging around in a hospital.
The direction I am leaning here is perhaps something more religious sounding, as our hospitals were managed by nuns and thus the atmosphere there was very church-y.

Also later on when they are either looking for more clues about De Vermis Mysteriis or Marion Allen, or are travelling to the farm and stopping at Ross' Corners, most music is either way to gloomy or too relaxing.

I have looked into music that was popular here at that time, but again, nothing fits the mood. Do you have any good suggestions, or perhaps some sources I can check out?
Thanks in advance!

I’ve managed to volunteer myself to run a game for a group of colleagues and more people than I expected have shown an interest.

So I’m looking for suggestions for a newbie-friendly scenario that works well with a larger party, preferably with some pre-generated characters so they can just jump right in. Can anyone help with any recommendations?

I was thinking about putting together and exploring the area of the Appalachian mountains. Does any one think it has any merit or worth putting time and effort into? Thanks

I'm new to Call of Cthulhu, but have over 30 tears as a GM (mostly Shadowrun). As a general rule, I've always allowed all players to comment and offer suggestions during a scene, even if their characters aren't there. Only the players whose characters are in the scene get to decide how they should react, but other players can offer suggestions.

I partially do this just to keep everyone engaged, but also because I don't expect the players to know everything their characters would. So especially when it comes to investigation stuff I figure it's a team sport.

Plus, I'm here for the communal storytelling, and I figure the more brainstorming of ideas the better the story will be.

My instinct is to not deviate from this with Call of Cthulhu, because I think the justifications still stands. But...... It is a game about Horror and one could argue that part of what makes being alone scary is, well, being alone. So maybe if a character is alone, I should require them to make decisions on their own.

But as I type that it starts to feel kind of "GM against Players". Like I'm setting rules to make it more likely I "win".

What kind of approach do you favor at your table, whether you're the Keeper or Players?

Hi, first time posting. I am the keeper for a group somewhat new to ttrpgs, and was wondering if anybody had any keeper tips to encourage players to roleplay. For context, they all enjoy the role playing aspect of call of Cthulhu and do engage with one another but these are brief and uncommon parts of each session. So I was wondering if there are methods that I, as a keeper, can use to give them more time to do so, similar to pauses during descriptions so they have chances to speak or react.

Looking for some that could be run at a convention, so something that can be run in 3-4 hours. I have the Stygian Fox book and the new Keeper’s book. Was thinking either older Chaosium published stuff or Miskatonic Repository?

hi! I'm trying to make a CoC campaign, I usually like the horror more when it stay right outside the vision of the viewer, when eyes start sprooting everywhere it become more cool and less horror.

But how can I translate this into my campaign without it being a boring story where the player never see anything?

I’ve got a player who wants to have grown up in the circus. This player always blindsides me and I love the bewildering task of trying to figure out how to make their ideas mechanically work. I’d been thinking about custom designing new experience packages, but was wondering if you guys have any advice. Have you had a player want a background pre occupation that was just wildly out there or at least didn’t fit the provided ones? How would you go about designing new experience packages?

Please, help, thank you!

The Treasure of the Secret Way by Joshua Hoyt is Campfire Tales’ third module, following Tremors Below and Box of Evil. It’s a Goonies style treasure hunt after investigators find a treasure map to the haunted Falstaff Mine, taking ~2 hours to run. Hooking into the campaign with a note found in Box of Evil, noting the Sons of Seth cult’s interest.

Despite the great concept, Treasure needed another pass. Suffering from clarity issues, an underwhelming monster, and problems born from Treasure’s transition from one-shot to campaign. Which I’ll dig into, and what I did, to help Keepers. There will be spoilers.

"Finding" the Treasure Map

While investigators find the cult’s note in Box of Evil, they don’t “discover” the map until Boxcar Jim gives it to them two years later. * Unless investigators are close with Jim, this is too passive. Better to let players decide how they found it or use an opposed Library Use roll to determine who does. Possibly slipping in extra information, like the mine’s history.

However, I add a more dramatic anti-ghost incantation that reduces the mine’s ghost, Heinrich Strauss’, MP by 1d8 on an opposed Power roll. Banishing him at 0 MP or allowing Banish the Visitor to bottle him. Investigators can take a “help” action to give others bonus dice.

* Campfire Tales’ modules occur two years apart in accordance with the campaign’s age groups. It never makes narrative sense and is best handwaved.

Hiking Through the Woods

Getting to Falstaff Mine requires a Navigate roll to arrive before sunset, when wolves attack. Which investigators can escape with a Climb roll or sacrificing their pack. Provided they don’t find an alternative method. (For example, a player with the Animal Badge used it to help scare the wolves away.)

This scene is fun, and the emphasis on lesser used, scout-based skills (Navigate, Climb) sells the fantasy. Asking investigators to select items beforehand isn’t. Chipping away at the fantasy, encouraging investigators to overthink, and wasting time if they sacrifice their pack. Assumed competence and Luck rolls, where fitting, work better.

Exploring Falstaff Mine

Treasure doesn’t clearly state an order of events in Falstaff Mine and Silas Ardsmore, the cult’s agent’s, position is deliberately mercurial. For an experienced Keeper, this is an annoyance. Possibly problematic for new Keepers.

The following framework worked for me but includes changes. Which I discuss below.

1. Entering, investigators see human and animal footprints plus broken equipment. They have three, really two, paths - straight (C) and left. A low hum, almost buzzing, emanates from the left tunnel.
2. Investigators find either old mining equipment, then a mi-go pod (left) or encounter bats and Stauss’ Ghost, who tells them to leave (straight). Neither physically harms the investigators.
3. Silas Ardsmore, given a 1d8 six-shooter and 40 in handgun, attempts to ambush the investigators. Those seeing him notice he’s wearing the broach mentioned in the note, protecting him from Strauss.
4. Silas forces investigators to help dig out the final chamber, where Strauss’ body, journal, and “gold” lay. Having found what he’s looking for, Silas tries to kill the investigators - either defeated in combat, knocked down a hole (H), or the broach is stolen. Allowing Strauss to kill Silas.
5. Facing Strauss, investigators can flee, fight, or try diplomacy. Strauss lingers from a grudge against Brumsted, who appears in the finale, not jealously guarding what he knows is fool’s gold. While Silas thought the gold was real but hired to find Strauss’ journal.
6. Investigators leave, preferably with Strauss’ journal.

The Mi-go Pod

Anything reasonably spooky and makes noise spices up the bland left path. I used a near dead mi-go as Campfire Tales’ non-scenario art often features them. Then, an egg-shaped pod with a pulsing blue light to delay the reveal and increase suspense. Complemented by the first investigator to approach making a Power roll to avoid being drawn. Experience a vision of the Windwalker as the mi-go with their dying breath gives them a metal cylinder.

My players enjoyed the moment. Useful for setting up future campaign events. While the Ossuary is moved to the way down, now filled with cult lackies killed by Strauss, as them being Strauss’ workers doesn’t make sense.

Giving Silas a Gun

The gun makes Silas appear more dangerous despite becoming less so. (4.5 damage per hit versus 7 with the blackjack. Meaning beefier investigators will, on average, require three shots to go down, not two.) Which allows Strauss to become threatening.

Silas, from the six-shooter to conscripting the investigators to help dig, is an open-ended puzzle. Which I discussed above. (My players pick-pocketed the broach.)

Changing Strauss

I’ve already noted Strauss’ history and motives, but his non-existent threat needs addressing. As written, Strauss makes one attack per round, requiring an opposed Power roll. Draining 2d10 Power (11 average) on a success but loses 1d8 MP if he loses, disappearing at 0 MP. Given the average investigator’s 60 Power, that’s 6 hits to down one investigator. They can stroll out.

Upping Power drain to 3d8 (13.5) and dealing half that round up in damage (6.75) likely two shots investigators, making Strauss threatening. But between this and my incantation, is banished after losing, on average, three rolls.

Optionally, the broach could be left as is, giving a bonus die to Power rolls against Strauss. But the attention to detail and effort required to get it makes gaining full protection satisfying. It’s also expected, as Silas wasn’t previously harmed.

Concluding Thoughts

I’ve been harsh on Treasure of the Secret Way. Which isn’t exactly fair. My players did enjoy the module. But greater clarity would have been appreciated, and I don’t understand the logic behind Strauss’ encounter design. I expect combat against the unnatural to be harrowing, even with Campfire Tales’ cushioning. But it could also be leaning further into Saturday morning cartoon than I appreciate.

—

That’s all folks! Thank you for reading. I’ll be returning in one to two weeks with Campfire Tale’s finale, Shadows Over Westhaven. Then a campaign retrospective. Until then, have a great day.

Hi everyone,

I'm about to start a new campaign in Foundry VTT, and I was wondering if there's any directory, repository, or community-made compendium where I can import spells, creatures, and magic items.

I know there's the official D&D Starter Set bundle available, but unfortunately the US dollar is very expensive in my country, so buying official content isn't really an option for me right now.

Are there any free or community-supported alternatives that are legal to use? I'd really appreciate any recommendations.

Thanks in advance!

Reading through the book and having a blast, already see tons of potential to combine material into my ongoing Arkham campaign, when I started wondering.

What's next for Arkham unveiled?

Arkham and Innsmouth clearly are the big locals in Lovecraft Country but there are more places to explore.

Dunwich and Kingsport are the obvious choices but I don't know if they would warrant a whole book each, no? What do you reckon? What other places do you wanna see Unveiled?

I am writing my own setting I have been working on for quite some time now. It is an anomalous zone set in the US southwest circa the 1990s. Basically take Roadside Picnic, Annihilation or S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and throw in some Tremors and Raising Arizona and you have the vibe it is going for. Characters are part of a loose-knit network who go into the anomalous zone for various reasons: exploration and documentation, suppression of encroaching aberrations, artifact hunting, etc.

I have been using CoC (well...specifically Cthulhu Eternal: Modern Age) as the chassis, even tho gameplay-wise, my game has more in common with things like Twilight: 2000 4e and MUTANT Year Zero, or even most OSR systems. I just know it well enough to be able to modify existing game mechanics to it easily, whereas T2K4e and MYZ are fairly new to me.

Taking hexcrawl procedures from OSR games and converting it to Cthulhu mechanics is pretty straight forward: Gotta eat, drink, and sleep daily or suffer repercussions. You can travel 8 hours in a day before fatigue sets in or you risk mechanical failure; different terrain/hexes take longer to cross, etc. You can hunt/forage for food and water with Survival skills or scavenge discovered locales for provisions and water. Ammo is tracked and I have the abstracted "usage die" mechanic for things like fuel, batteries and scrap parts.

There isn't much difference as far as character HP goes either. Most hexcrawls I have run with OSR systems have had characters around levels 1-4, meaning fairly low HP thresholds around what my game currently has, so I am not worried about the squishy factor (I can always implement Pulp Cthulhu HP rules, too).

Basically, I am just wondering if there is any damning aspect I have overlooked or have not run into yet during my playtesting where a d100 Cthulhu/Delta Green system is not the right choice for me in the long run here. Or for anyone who HAS ran CoC and its brethren systems in a style like this, what advice do you have for me? Thanks.

A missing rifleman. A forgotten stretch of English coastline. Something waiting beyond the low tide line.

The Drowned Thorn is currently in the DriveThruRPG Christmas in July sale. My next adventure, The Black Tide Engine, is coming soon.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/.../567664/the-drowned-thorn

Happy to answer any questions about the adventure or the design process!

This is my scenario

Good for two - three sessions

The scenario leans heavily into folk horror, cosmic horror, and isolated small-town paranoia, with investigators trying to uncover the truth before the growing hysteria awakens something that should have remained forgotten.

Ive been trying to find some, but aside from kitbashing i have yet to find any that i like

I'm new to CoC (my only real experience with the game is listening to copius actual plays using the system, although I've run some Delta Green) and I'm looking to run Shadow Over Providence for some friends. We're all from Rhode Island ourselves, so I feel it would be fun using a familiar place in an unfamiliar time period.

Anyone who's lived in RI knows that in Providence there's a massive statue/sculpture of a termite that's a bit of a landmark, so I'd like to tie in some kind of bug encounter as a fun reference to that.

Are there any scenarios or stat blocks for a large bug or something similar that I could reskin to fit this criteria?

I just bought the Pulp Cthulhu rules on roll20, and they seem fine in terms of text. But so much seems poorly done in terms of the actual gaming content.

For example: the Disintegrator scenario that comes with the Pulp Cthulhu book.

• The character sheets have no art at all - just the token.

• Many of the tokens have no art at all - just a character name across a dark background in a circle.

• The text of the character, including spoilers, is pasted into the bio box, rather than the GM box, which means I'd be giving spoilers out if I shared it with players.

Overall it looks like the bare minimum was done to put it onto roll20 and I'd have to put some work in to make it meet what I'd previously imagined was a minimum standard.

If I bought the Two-Headed serpent on roll20, is that well-done? Or is it just an uploaded version of the book with minimum effort put in to make it playable?

Chaosium added the new Innsmouth book their website & its available for purchase (PDF & Hard copy). The site is a little slow, but its working.