cthulhu how

7/26/2019 Cthulhu How

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thulhu H

ow

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o you want to play a Horror

RPG with Cthulhu. . .

Maybe there is a movie you can watchinstead.

You can simply Download the Quick StartRules for CoC 7 and play the adventure inthe back.

http://catalo.chaosium.com/product!info.php"products!id#$%&&

Y

ou're still here" (m. )aybe this will work... t tp ://www.miskatonic-univers i ty .org/

t tp ://www.esoter icarc ives .com/

ttp : //www .scp-wiki . net/

t tp ://www.pal inola .com/projects/ lab/greenbox/

t tp ://paranormaldatabase .com/

t tp :// t efearmyt os .wik ia .com/wik i/T e_ear_!

yt os_"ik i

t tp ://www.creepypasta .com/dear-abby/

t tp ://www.ct u l u l ives .org/ toybox/#$%#&%'(/r

ee#rops . tml

Last chance"

t tp ://suptg . t is isnotatrueending .com/arc ive/)* )

+,+/

Perhaps my *uestionable *ualifications candiscourae you. + have been playin Call ofCthulhu and some other (orror enre R,-sfor barely & years have been the -) oflousy convention ames played 01R, andonline (orror rounds with morons and idiotsand have been an occasional 2, on /t/for over 3 years now. 4eyond that + havebeen workin with movie props on set andoff 5nothin you have seen6 and + dabble iname desin but am not ettin shit done.

ritten in 8&9

A lriht let's see. 2nce upon a ferociouslythunderous niht...

H . P . L ovec ra f t

I t all oes back to the life's work of this

Rhode +sland racist who wrote a lot ofweird stories and letters up to %97 when hedied from cancer without literary success:(oward ,hillips 0ovecraft.

H is pen pal 1uust Derleth founded 1rkham(ouse and published what 0ovecraft hadnot been able to sell as well as otherworks by different authors in the samevein includin his own.

The stories are mostly short episodes aboutdisturbin unnatural events in some cornerof our world beyond human perception orunderstandin full of old and mihty beinswhose very eistence is so far removedfrom our reality and scale that merely alimpse of that lore drives a lot ofcharacters to insanity or a pitiful demise.;he entirety of 0ovecraft's works and thoseof many others payin homae to his ideasform the Cthulhu )ythos. +t is not aconsistent continuity but a collection offre*uently mutually eclusive framents.(ave a look it works in interestin ways.

t tp :// p lovecraf t .com/ complete works

Lovecraft's intention was to unsettle hisaudience. (e did not


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More t han j u t L ovec ra f t

vecraft:;he universe is older bierand weirder than anyone could everimaine. )ankind is insinificant. ;here is noood or evil or any other orderinstructure man can rasp ecept miht. 1nd

people who limpse a shadow of these oldpowers are like a snowflake in a furnace.

Derleth:

)an and his morale can prevail.;here are malicious thins lurkin in everydark crevice as there always have been.4ut humans carry a spark in them that canat times overcome the deepest darknessand shine into every corner withcompassion and safety in numbers. 2r itcan fail and be infested by the evil it waschared to dispel.

P e: 1t niht the most mundanecircumstances can construct demons in ourminds and those demons kill. ;his createsan overlap an ambiuity and anyonecauht in this parado will either fashionhis own demise out of fear and mistrust oreplain away the perceived threat only tothen be overcome by it.

Shelley:;here is infinite beauty and truthto be found in the most unlikely andrevoltin places. 4ut unable to overcomefear and revulsion man cannot rasp thatwisdom and himself becomes the monsterin his efforts to protect aainst them.

Ec : 5sneaked him in there6 >very mindconstructs the world from individualeperience and althouh seeminlycoherent at the surface epectations andcontet differ wildly from individual toindividual. +n this chasm madness is bornand carried into the world as lies crueltyand murder. 2ver enerations this becomesan orderin principle to the pitiful demise

of the innocent the inspired and the honest.!se what you think is best. 0ovecraft)ythos roleplayin is not limited toChaosium's Call of Cthulhu and Call ofCthulhu is not limited to the 0ovecraft)ythos. ?ust be aware of where it all camefrom. 1s lon as you do not start mappinduneons on raph paper with encountersto be fouht and loot to be taken youshould be fine. 1nd even if you do + amsure it could work somehow.

Chao i u" # Ca l l o f C t h u l h u

ince %@ Chaosium has released 7 editionsof Call of Cthulhu 5CoC6 usin the 4asicRoleplayin System 54R,6. ;he editions do notdiffer much in crunch and are fullycompatible as far as + have seen.

P layers roll standard attributes and selectskills from a list that is on every charactersheet. 1ny skills includin weapon skills andeven sanity are epressed in numbers from& to &&A 5masters of their field cansometimes eceed &&6. 1ny task includincombat is resolved with a d&& roll that isinterpreted to be as ood a result as theamount the roll is below the skill value. +t isvery simple and *uick to play.

T

he -) can have a character roll directlyaainst an attribute value when no skill fitsthe task. ;here are also secondaryattributes derived from the primary ones.;hins like ,ower 5maic6 or 0uck can betested with dice. 4ut these details are ofminor relevance and only involve a tiny bitof math at character eneration.

I t is a system very fleible in enre fromcave men to astronauts


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y t e"a t i c I n t i" i%a t i o n

You can of course use any system you likeand play anythin you want with it. 4utsome make it easier or put the focus oncertain thins that miht matter to yourroup. So let's have a look at the field andmake sure to pick the riht crunch for you.

&elta Green ( t tp : //www.de l ta-green .com/)

Imaine CoC in a modern world with aliens.Delta -reen is a 4R, system by 1rcDreamand ,aan to run aents of a vast andconfusin conspiracy alon the lines of themysterious 4lue ,lanet ,rosoterrorists onthe same website6. +t attempts to model aninvestiation so that the players cannotmiss vital clues because of bad luck with

the dice. -enerally it seems to come outless scary and more pulpy. ;his is where2ld )an (enderson is still lookin for hiswee men. 5http://dchan.or/wiki/2ld!)an!(enderson6.

(e"ei ( t tp : //www.arcdream.com/pdf/5emesis .pdf)

The 2ne Roll >nine 52R>6 does


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&un*eonc raw l + e l ow &unw i ch ,

How does it all come toether" (ow tocreate an atmosphere of titillatin despairwith a table of dice virins or worseeperienced ,aladins and ;roubleshooters"

I

t is a different kind of R,- and althouhthere are stats and attack rolls you reallyhave to look beyond a simple encounterame and cultivate an atmosphere.

ettin is central. )uch of CoC is about wellportrayed locations and their culturalhistorical or scientific relevance. +t buildson these backdrops and contrasts theirradiance with the abyss of infinity andmadness. ;his reduces humanity as a wholeto a fluke and all its lory to

inconse*uential happenstance in the face ofolder powers.

L imit the scope. +t is always normality B littleweird B imminent end of the world I deathor madness. +f you allow steps in betweenor beyond you et ,ulp not (orror.Characters will et savvy and the )ythoswill creep into their arsenal. ,layercharacter parties tend to act aloof andpurely utilitarian. Do not allow it. +nvolvethem in the story and focus on individualstrule with reason and emotion. Roll S1G

checks.

Prep scenes not battles. +n DFD an G,Cname and some combat stats is enouh tostart playin. +n CoC you usually deal with aconspiracy or secret ritual of some kindthis needs foreshadowin. Gever portrayG,Cs as 'the bad uys' always maintainsome ambivalence and doubt. ;rust is moreimportant than damae per round. ,lay upinnuendo and shifty looks. ,osition yourG,Cs instead of burnin them off in combat.

Combat in eneral should be a last resortand never a way for the ,Cs to dominate.Combat creates problems it does not solvethem. >ven a victory always comes with aserious drawback because of escalation.4ut ettin the chief of police to believewhat your characters have witnessed andact upon it without oin insane that is areal battle in CoC terms.

(o name droppin. Jeep it vaue. ou donot start with the identification of a )ythos(orror your characters never see it and thecultists call it ;he -reat +nscrutable )aster.

-ne shots onlyE Go fluff holds up to epicheroes and remains (orror. ;ease withfluffy details use era as plot device but donot eplain everythin. >stablish mystery.

&escribe sensory impressions neverforeone conclusions. + will et into thisfurther below. 1s a basic rule this isprobably the most important part of ettinplayers involved. Do not think for them


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P l o t t r u c t u re o f &e p a i r

The basic setup is usually that somethinold is discovered by somebody else out ofchance or curiosity. ;hat person is thencorrupted by its implications effects orpowers and we now call him a cultist. ;hiscultist has a detrimental influence onsociety 5people disappear rave robbinhypnotiKed or scared victims unworldlyweather poisonous dreams livestock diesrunnin for president portal that swallowsreality whatever6. ;races of this is whatputs the players on the map. Gow theyhave to naviate this mind shatterinevidence and its trail and possibly recoversomebody's brother or old collee friend.

They never actually have to find the thin

that caused it all but they can. ;he story isin all the damae it has caused and howthat hints at more to come. ;his is slowlyrevealed to the players as they dive downthe rabbit hole.

Isolate the roup. 1ll CoC adventures dothis. ;he most obvious way is to cut themoff eoraphically. ;hey are on a polarresearch station and the net supply ship isnot due until net week. ;hey are in aremote estate and do not know the paththrouh the surroundin treacherouswoodlands. ;hey are on a vessel at sea ona movin train or on a sailin airship. ;hisdoes of course not work everywhere. oucannot be isolated eoraphically in0ondon Casablanca 4udapest or arsaw.

o you use social isolation. Simply by whatthey have seen the player characters arebound toether because they know andnobody else believes. ;ry to eplain andG,Cs lauh at your


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M i n% f u c '

. . . $ re t h e w an in * a n% fa nta t ica ll y

* i ++ o u " o o n h a % r i e n f a r a + o v e t h e

e a te r n p l ai n/ I w a aw a 'e i n a c ol %

p e r p i ra t i on / % e te r" i ne % t o le e p n o

"o r e . . .

Lovecraft intentionally used unsettlin orunfamiliar lanuae in his descriptions toinfluence the reader's state of mind. ;hisdoes not translate directly into narration.4ut lanuae can create subtle dissonancesthat lead to subconscious epectation. +fused with care it can ive your playersperceptions and eperiences they did notanticipate and they usually appreciate that.ou can use malapropisms or foreshadowwith outriht misplaced adveryone has different phobias or anieties.)any are hard to recreate in narration.;here are neuroBlinuistic prorammintricks you can use but it is always a lonshot.

$very player has a primary mnemonicsense. Smell is the first candidate it is veryclose to the liKard brain core and

fiht/fliht. ou often reconiKe himbecause he draws deep breaths throuhthe nose or smells his finers whennervous he inspects food by smell beforetastin it. (is displacement actions tend toinclude his nose. ou et him immersed bybecomin his sommelier you learn todescribe the world to his nose. Check winereviews and pick up ad

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