gamecat said:
From my impression of it, CoC requires that the players take the DM seriously, (Which they dont), but what do you guys think?
Compare running CoC to running D&D.
A good question to ask is why don't your players take you seriously?
Roleplaying isn't just for the players. The DM, GM, Keeper etc... has their role(s) to play also.
If you take your job seriously then your players are more likely to take you seriously. I don't mean stern-faced-sourpuss-killjoy -type serious, but somewhat professional demeanor.
Few ideas:
1. Know your stuff. Know the rules backwards and forwards. As your players rely on your judgement calls to keep the game going they must have faith in your ability to make informed decisions within any systems mechanics.
2. Know your stuff ad nauseum. Know what the basic motivations and capabilites of your Npcs/baddies are. What do they want, what they will do to get it, and what happens when someone gets in their way. Imagine the layout of each scenario, not necessarily how it should go down, but the actual environment. How will you describe ambient sensual data. Touch, smell, sight, taste, sound.
3. Encourage your players to know their stuff about their characters. Ask players to describe their characters backgrounds, fears, hopes and desires. All this is fuel for their imagination and provides an interesting pattern to the carpet their character is standing on until you rip it out from underneath them.
4. Control your environment as much as possible. Is the T.V. or stero on? Turn it off. Bright and sunny? Make it dimmer. Ask players to mute cell phones or leave table if they get a call.
5. Be aware of your own body language and language in general. Are you slumped back in your chair or leaning forward engaged in what you are doing? Discourage meta talk. I love Monty Python, but it really isn't necessary to quote it at the table often.
6. Show don't tell.
Keeper-"You see a Shoggoth." Lame. "You hear a high pitched keening, like the sound a Dolphin makes, coming closer. What do you do?"
Player(s)- "I unholster my Glock and chamber a round. I turn my mag light on and point it down the hallway."
Keeper- "The beam illuminates down the hallway approximately 50 feet and stops at what seems to be a boiling wall of greyish pink flesh. You are now getting a whiff of what seems to be a mixture of ammonia and boiled cabbage. Everone make san checks."
Here is a link to my friend Jeff Ibach's site. He has compiled a few great snippets on running games of all kinds. Also the Unknown Armies and Spaceship Zero games have awsome sections on how to run different genre's successfully.
http://www.dmshaven.freeservers.com/advice.html
Also this book specifically and this author in general has a bunch of great tips on running kick butt games in any genre.
GM Mastery: NPC Essentials {d20} by Johnn Four
Hope this helps