How to Run CoC in 2021

 (taken from an exchange on the I'm Begging You To Play Another RPG Facebook page)

Question: "If there’s one thing I’ve learned from D&D, it’s that all RPGs have three core books. What are the core books for your game?"

Tedankhamen: CoC rulebook, Dreamlands of Unknown Kadath, my fevered brain

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• Mr X "my fevered brain" is my favorite rpg sourcebook 

  

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    Tedankhamen

    Yeah, it is why this game has gone 10 sessions with no signs of stopping, we've left Earth for the Dreamlands, and PCs are picking up skills like The Cat Dance and spells like Summon Cats. Epic, off the rails.

    

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  • Mr X summoning cats is definitely the most important spell

    

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    Tedankhamen I'm also realizing that CoC is dated and clunky, but also great fun when hacked this way.

    

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    Tedankhamen It will probably save their lives and end the campaign...

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  • Mr X I've yet to play CoC, but I imagine the weirder you go the better it gets

    

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    Tedankhamen Oh definitely! The rules themselves give an old school, clunky 'this is mundane reality' vibe, THEN you throw Dreamlands or non=Euclidean physics at them. It is the upending of the sane mesh of rules from whence the cosmic horror emanates bwahahahahaha

    

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  • Mr X I love that! I like challenging my players assumptions about how the world works (within reason) to keep them on their toes, or in this case, reinforce the themes of the game

    

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    Tedankhamen  It is unintended consequence of outdated game design and Beggar psychology / gaming methodology

Re-animating Lovecraft

 In a very real way, Lovecraft is dead.

From a Ghostbusters cartoon episode to plush toys to anime, Lovecraftean has almost become a pastiche of itself. The Cthulhu Mythos has jumped the pop cultural shark. Sandy Peterson is making supplements for D&D, a heroic system that is the antithesis of the helplessness at the heart of cosmic horror.

In this context, it is easy to see why Call of Cthulhu (CoC) games seem largely relegated to Haloween one shots and abortive campaigns.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

I just ran my 11th session, with no end in sight. Players seem excited to see what happens next, and keep asking about the next session.

How did I reanimate Lovecraft? Here are a few tips:

1 Explore more than the mythos.

Players have mostly read some Lovecraft stories, or thumbed through the rulebook. This takes lots of suspense out of the game. Add some mystery by including factions not described in mythos fiction or game material.

For example, our PCs discovered the ruins of a moon base put there by antediluvian humans with an eye in their foreheads. Who were these ancient 3 eyed hominids? I'm not sure I know myself, but listening to the players muse about their origins (and generate ideas for me) is a hoot,

2 Roll with their punches

Our game began with an old professor friend who had made an 'exciting discovery' in the desert getting kidnapped by a Latino gang in El Paso. After a rescue of the professor, the PCs planned an executed a daring raid on the gang HQ to retake the MacGuffin.

At first I balked at their D&D-style heroic plans, but I let them have their way and they carried it off. By rolling with the punches, a Keeper lets the Players know they have freedom to act in the world. Speaking of freedom...

3 See the sights

Just like D&D is dull and demotivating if PCs never see dungeons or dragons, Call of Cthulhu gets boring if it is just a haunted house, monster-of-the-week exercise. In our game, PCs have visited the Tennger tribe in Indonsia, and spirit walked inside the deadly Nepalese peak Annapurna. Just before we went on hiatus for the summer, the PCs had arrived in the Dreamlands, and were busy interacting with the cat people of Bast's city. They also learned about our next point...

4 Allow some light to creep in

CoC is known for magic powers that come at a great price, spells that degrade your Sanity so much they are not worth the trouble.

I've introduced other powers with less drawback to the game. One PC learned a simple Psionic power from indigenous people, as well as how to summon cats in the Dreamlands. Another has a magic weapon found on the aforementioned moon base, and is studying 'the Cat Dance' (a form of auto-dodge with limitations) from catfolk. This adds a whole new dynamic to the game, which is strangely in keeping with the Dreamlands.

These are just a few things that I feel are contributing to the longevity of our game.

Lasers & Feelings Play Report

Message from Mission Command to USS Indefatigable

You've been tasked to survey an anamolous planet near the Neutrality Zone

Sensors have been unable to penetrate its elector-magnetic field

It was passed over in a survey of the sector 100 years ago, but now the Confederation wants you to knock on the door

SHIP

The Indefatigable (The Indie)

PROS: Fuscia interior, Good shields, Sensors

CON: Grim reputation

CREW: Command 6 + 15 support below decks

 

CHAIN OF COMMAND

 

Chain of command: 

Captain - Dr. C (dangerous scientist, solve space mysteries, L&F 5)

1st officer - 88-8135 (engineer droid, wants to be captain, L&F 2)

2nd  - Solly (emergency doc, wants to heal xeno diseases, L&F 5)

 

 

Bridge: Dr. C , 88-8135, Nokia (hot shot pilot, L&F 2, wants to prove his worth)

 

Away team: Flempf (hotshot explorer, wants to stay awesome, L&F 2), Cass (hotshot soldier, wants to shoot em up, L&F 4), Solly (doc 5), red shirt Mc Gee

Mission Log: USS Indefatigable

Stardate XYZ123.6 Mission casualties: 1 Collateral damage: 2 shuttle craft, 2 discount androids, a small amount of trilexium fuel, ALL OF OUR TINFOIL

We sent a shuttlecraft into the magnetic field and lost contact immediately upon entry. Reports from crewmen Starchild and Cassiopeia, as well as Dr. Solly describe the situation as follows: an ancient race of beings has determined this planet to be a prison for a race of beings they called Dextromethazoids or Democraticons. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that these creatures were determined to be too agressively evolved for the universe at large, and thus have been confined to this planet by means of a strong electromagnetic field that disables all electronic devices that come in contact with it. 

Our first shuttle craft crashed on the surface, and the survivors attempted to disable the field from there. Meanwhile, aboard the ship, our scans detected the location of field emitters at the north and south poles, but before we could deal with them, a Cromulan Warbird approached and claimed this area of space as Cromulan territory. I told them that no such official claim had been made of their behalf. They did not agree, and we were at a stalemate.

When the Cromulans were not looking, we constructed a makeshift explosive device with the intention of dropping it and a large amount of heavy matter from orbit onto the north emitter. Unfortunately, the shuttle craft carrying the device was piloted by our two worst androids, and got too close to the field and was lost.  

Soon after, our away team successfully disrupted the field long enough for us to teleport them away, at which time they gave their report. It is the opinion of this captain that the planet is of no use to the Confederation, but that the Cromulan Empiracy may seek to use methods similar to our own to dismantle the planet’s defenses and bring the Dexterwhatsits under their control. A Confederate patrol is thus recommended for the area.

Transmission ends

Advice on Running Social Interactions With NPCs

 Hi everyone!

This is advice I sent my CoC players and thought I'd share. Please enjoy.

 

I just thought I’d clear things up about social interactions with NPCs.

 

Mostly, I just roleplay the NPC as if they were a real person. In the first session when Lady Jane offered her sword to a policeman in a shootout, he boggled at her and shouted, “Just get some backup lass!” Ditto for when Shirly Bath walked into a hospital brandishing a shotgun and people freaked out. Act nice & they’re nice, act not and they’ll respond in kind.

 

When you need to get an NPC to do something special, here is basically my procedure:

 

Here is some advice about running NPCs that I shared with my players.

SOCIAL INTERACTIONS WITH NPCS

Tedankhamen will explain the NPC’s motivations

You can add or point out things that may be off

If we agree on these particulars, we move to the resolution.

 

There are then 3 skills you can choose from

 

Fast Talk – For when you need to flim flam in a rush.

 

Persuade – For when you need to appeal to reason or their better nature.

 

Credit Rating – For when you want to make a deal.

 

After choosing which route is possible and best for the situation, you enter into the roleplay & roll.

 

First, you act out what your character says.

If it makes sense or sounds good, you get a flat roll or even a bonus if done well.

If it doesn’t make sense or sounds off, you might get a penalty or automatic refusal.

Then you roll the bones.

A critical success might mean you get extra information or help.

Straight failure means they might still point you in the direction of someone who can help.

A fumble just means refusal, unless there is a good story reason for them to turn on you (ie secretly a nazi).

 

I am just trying to balance out the roleplaying and roll playing in a fun and fair way.

Hope that helps!