Call of Cthulhu, Greyhound style

[kipling]

Another possibility

Forgive me if I use this thread in part to store ideas and to let others contribute while I'm still building the structure of this.

Had this idea, though....

Knowledge of the true nature of the universe in CoC causes insanity. Nyarlathotep seems to go around with a particular interested in spreading madness and insanity in mankind.

Which means that a possible cult interpretation is that Nyarlathotep is a kind of Prometheus figure; he spreads madness because it is knowledge, or the gateway to knowledge. They might even call themselves the Prometheans or something like that.

And you accept the madness gratefully because it is his offering. Hmmm. I can see I'm going to have a cult subtheme running here.

 

[Wraith Form]

Forgive me if I use this thread in part to store ideas and to let others contribute while I'm still building the structure of this.

No, no--I'm really enjoying it. Kinda like a brainstorming session that we can contribute to, but then use bits 'n' pieces of the results in our own independant, indiviual games!

I like, I like! Keep it up!

 

[La Bete]

Which means that a possible cult interpretation is that Nyarlathotep is a kind of Prometheus figure; he spreads madness because it is knowledge, or the gateway to knowledge. They might even call themselves the Prometheans or something like that.

Which means, if you pitch it right, the prometheans could be initally cast as "the good guys", helping the PC's out with some critical knowledge, until at the last moment, the mask slips.......

I'm not sure if you are able to do so, but have you thought about doing a bait-and-switch? Have the players create characters for a "low-power modern" game, and get them on the bus? You could do something like have them as armed forces personnel having to get a (long) bus ride back to the post?

(as for the BRP vs. D20, having played both, Im happy to go with either - both are cfufu-y goodness.)

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Sounds like fun

Using a Bus trip as the anchor for the campaign sounds like as good an idea as any, since it si guaranteed to keep the locale fresh. But I strongly suggest using the "Following a Cultist" angle or some other focus to keep your investigators on this "Road Trip To Hell".

Here are a few other suggestions for you to consider.

NPC's:

Not all people on the same bus are going to the same place. It would be a good idea to have a few recurring NPC's end up on the same bus as the PC's to forshadow things to come. Each time they meet the NPC, either the NPC has encountered what they will encounter '2 sessions from now', or has been screwed over by what the players did a session or two ago.

Ever notice that your sense of time on a long road trip tends to change? Just because the players are on the bus at the same time as other passengers does not mean that they are on the same trip. People could leave the bus, but get on two stops later to start their trip. The best way to use this would be to have an NPC try to tell them something important, but get killed before he can finish. Then, he gets on the bus, and the PC's have to get him to tell them what it was he was going to say. Except he does not know the PC's and there is no guarantee he even knows what it is he will eventually tell them.

Modes of Travel:
Keeping things confined to the bus may become troublesome. Where possible, you will want to provide other modes of travel. Such as a really crappy car, hitch hiking, and the like.

Thts all I have for now.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[kipling]

I'm not sure if you are able to do so, but have you thought about doing a bait-and-switch? Have the players create characters for a "low-power modern" game, and get them on the bus? You could do something like have them as armed forces personnel having to get a (long) bus ride back to the post?

I might be able to do a bait-and-switch if I don't use zombies. (I did an extended high weirdness thing involving the Frankenstein monster, the lost alchemical notebooks of Isaac Newton, the Philosopher's Stone, and a lot of flesh-eating zombies, so now they go, "Oh, no, more zombies!")

I probably wouldn't bait and switch with my usual group, though I might for a tournament adventure or something; my players are gamist enough that if I tell them it's CoC, they'll stick with the campaign, and we'll work out reasons for them to stay on the bus together.

The catch, as someone else suggested, is keeping them on the bus.

Although, at some point about a third of the way in, it might be interesting to have them get off, quit, and then be dogged by weirdness anyway, and the same bus seems to be traveling by no matter what, until they realize it is their Destiny. (tm)

(Actually, that would make a great two- or three-part tournament session: Part 1, some kind of weirdness on the bus; Part 2, leaving the bus and still being pursued by weirdness and the bus itself is following you; Part 3, resolving the problem with the thing on the bus. And in that context, you can have everyone be low-income or freshly-divorced and out of money or even told to rid this bus by a dream.)

 

[Tom Cashel]

Any DC Metro folks in here? Check the link below...

 

[kipling]

More bus fun

Today's adventure premise.

Blue-collar guy and his wife and child get on the bus. Maybe someone with sharp eyes notices the really large crate they have for luggage, along with a small carry on bag consisting mostly of sandwiches. They're going to Grampa's funeral, gonna make sure he's laid to rest in his native soil. He won't rest easy otherwise.

Each stop, they buy huge quantities of ice and store it in their crate. When the bus breaks down somewhere between towns, they're frantic, looking for ice.

Why? Well, grampa wasn't a nice old man, and once he warms up he's going to start moving again....

Now, in background, you find out that they moved from their farm to make money ('cause there wasn't any jobs there in Cooter's Holler) and he got a nice job with a factory making bathroom fittings and they brought grampa out, but he never held with the city. Sinful, he said. Wouldn't be caught dead there.

Heh-heh-heh.

And night falls, and someone hears something and in the morning the fellow and his family are gone, and the crate is smashed to pieces, as if it were burst open from the outside.

They can investigate, but they don't find anything except some red stains down the road.

(This would be early in the bus trip, so I don't want to have a fight with a huge undead beast at this point; I want them to start thinking creepy things.)

That and bugs with human eyes. Little blue eyes. Looking at them. Blinking. Most bugs don't blink.

 

[kipling]

Today's adventure premise.

Yet another one. Ambulance driver who either causes accidents or problems or foresees them somehow.

Ken Hite just posted on his blog a lovely analysis of Call of Cthulhu in which he basically says it runs off the same basic conflict as the Western

Only knowledge of the Mythos can keep humanity safe from the Mythos.
Those with knowledge of the Mythos lose their humanity to the Mythos.

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

HAve you got a link to the article?

The catch, as someone else suggested, is keeping them on the bus.

Just thought of this: Reality Show, as in Road Rules or whatever. They have to stay on the trip to collect the prize. And of course, the amount of monsters/cult weirdness on the way gives "Survivor" a whole new meaning. Maybe they even have to worry about concealing the events from the cameras.

Or not- maybe this is all the plan of a whacked-out TV exec (it would explain where all these new show ideas come from!). Who knows why he'd be making it- maybe he wants to market it to Deep Ones or something. Or, for more sinister, subtle weirdness, interject the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign. This'd be right up their alley- a slow trip into madness across the wasteland of the American Nightmare. Anyone else familiar with some of Jim Morrison's more tripped-out songs?

 

[kipling]

HAve you got a link to the article?

Yup, but you might have to be a LiveJournal subscriber to read it.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/princeofcairo/6418.html

Just thought of this: Reality Show, as in Road Rules or whatever. They have to stay on the trip to collect the prize. And of course, the amount of monsters/cult weirdness on the way gives "Survivor" a whole new meaning. Maybe they even have to worry about concealing the events from the cameras.

Oh, I like this. The only thing it lacks is a way to confront the TV exec at the end, which is what you want to do to close the circle. On the other hand, if he's using this as a kind of Amazing Race--travel on the bus! Beat the other team! Oh, yeah, collect these occult artifacts that I'm going to use at the end!--then he's going to be at the final summoning, where Geraldo Rivera is sacrificed to Hastur.

("Shame about Rivera. Best ratings he'll ever get, and video and rerun rights are going to make us a killing.")

Or not- maybe this is all the plan of a whacked-out TV exec (it would explain where all these new show ideas come from!). Who knows why he'd be making it- maybe he wants to market it to Deep Ones or something. Or, for more sinister, subtle weirdness, interject the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign. This'd be right up their alley- a slow trip into madness across the wasteland of the American Nightmare. Anyone else familiar with some of Jim Morrison's more tripped-out songs?

I think it's all Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign. I already have in mind this variant cult that looks Christian but is actually one of the Yellow Sign. A nice picture of what ought to be Jesus but in yellow robes and face obscured by a yellow sunburst with eight wiggly lines coming out, kind of like rays of light but also kind of like octopoid tentacles...