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<blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 7447962" data-attributes="member: 6801286"><p>I think the general gameplay idea in CoC is also similar (and not just the Sanity system). Call of Cthulhu will often have choices where character death is highly likely, and the players have to make a difficult choice whether the reward is worth the risks. In Call of Cthulhu, much like Dread, defeat is ultimately pretty much guaranteed. Your character will probably die horribly, or go insane.</p><p></p><p>This reminds me of an entertaining situation that came up during a CoC campaign I ran: </p><p></p><p>The players snuck into a house of a crazy cultist at night, when they heard an odd sound coming from upstairs; the sound of a piece of furniture moving slightly. It was a classic moment where they knew they were about to do something incredibly foolish and dangerous, but it was just too tempting... they had to know what was upstairs.</p><p></p><p>In any ordinary role playing game, they would have shrugged and went in to explore. But in CoC they knew that any confrontation with a monster would most likely be the end of their character, and that raises the suspense immensely. Much like in a horror movie, I described their slow ascend up the stairs, while taking my time to stretch out the suspense of the scene. Then all of a sudden I played the loud sound of a chiming clock to startle them all.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Imaculata, post: 7447962, member: 6801286"] I think the general gameplay idea in CoC is also similar (and not just the Sanity system). Call of Cthulhu will often have choices where character death is highly likely, and the players have to make a difficult choice whether the reward is worth the risks. In Call of Cthulhu, much like Dread, defeat is ultimately pretty much guaranteed. Your character will probably die horribly, or go insane. This reminds me of an entertaining situation that came up during a CoC campaign I ran: The players snuck into a house of a crazy cultist at night, when they heard an odd sound coming from upstairs; the sound of a piece of furniture moving slightly. It was a classic moment where they knew they were about to do something incredibly foolish and dangerous, but it was just too tempting... they had to know what was upstairs. In any ordinary role playing game, they would have shrugged and went in to explore. But in CoC they knew that any confrontation with a monster would most likely be the end of their character, and that raises the suspense immensely. Much like in a horror movie, I described their slow ascend up the stairs, while taking my time to stretch out the suspense of the scene. Then all of a sudden I played the loud sound of a chiming clock to startle them all. [/QUOTE]
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