Going to church? Don't forget your sawed-off shotgun!

[BaldHero]

There's no amount of justification you can bring to this situation that makes any sense at all, whatsoever. Unless Mr Archeologist has had a previous history of dealing with the Mythos and was a little unbalanced to begin with, there's no reason to assume he even owns a firearm, much less packs it around with him.

I dont agree. This is not correct. There are discretionary points to be spent when creating a CoC character. The archeologist may very well be a sporting hunter, who has access to and knowledge of fire arms. That does not mean that the character would saw down the barrel, or carry it around, but having the skill and interest is easily and plausibly justifiable.

The notion that archeologists dont have access to fire arms is silly. Next you will be saying that they re completely incapable of learing to use a whip, or a revolver.

The 'world of CoC' some people mention above is our world and nothing much is different about it save for the existance of such things.

Except that the Mythos is real in that world, and people do vanish into the shadows, cults do sometimes get discovered in modern New York, and things that an archeologist may have seen or experienced in his backstory, while spending time among primitive and spiritual people may have driven him to a degree of paranoia and fear. This does not mean that he has percentiles in the Mythos skill, but it is again entirely plausible that the character is willing to be proactive in his preparations.

Of course if the player did not put any such thought into the character, and there exists no such backstory to explain his choices, especially walking around heavily armed in NYC, then there is ample reason to question the validity of his tactics.

 

[Sound of Azure]

In 2nd Edition I had a Dwarven Fighter/Cleric that slept in +5 Studded Leather Armor (The Heaviest Armor the DM would let me sleep in).

When the DM Objected I pointed out.

"When did that Fire Mage & his Minions attack?"

"Dead of night while you were sleeping."

"When did that Thief Sneak into my room & set off the Glyph of Warding-Fire?"

"Dead of night you were Sleeping. Didn't that burn down the whole inn?"

"Yep. As my character was running out of town with nothing but a Battle-Ax, Night Shirt & a Stolen Mule, didn't a bunch of trolls attack us?"

"Oh Yeah. I forgot about that. You fought them with a Produce Flame Spell & the mage had to center a Fireball on you to finish them all off."

"Did my Night-shirt survive that 8d6 Fireball?"

"Ummm. No."

"Now, do you wany my dwarf running around buck-bottom naked the NEXT TIME you pull a 3 AM Ambush or would prefer not to see his 'Hammer & Anvils'?"

"+5 Studded Leather it is!"


I also payed in a game where Kobolds/Goblins & other small Creatures would attack via coming out of the sewers.

Via the Outhouses.

They always were armed with Javelins of Lightning.

Always happend when 1 PC was on the pot.

After FOUR consecutive Characters got a Lightning Bolt Enema, the DM actually wondered why we wouldn't make Offering to the Otyugh Lords without a Resist Energy Lightning Spell.

I think that paranoia was justifiable enough.

As for the Kobolds in the outhouse... that's just mean.... :\

 

[VirgilCaine]

Heavily armed?
Well, I guess it's more powerful compared to what most everyone else will be packing--.32 ACP or S&W Long and .38 Special revolverss, maybe a .44 Special revover or .45 ACP automatic. Personally I'd go for two .455 Webleys. Not at once, just one as backup.

But a sawed off shotgun like that is for elevators, apartments, alleys, sidewalks, subway cars...all the small places cities have. I'd certainly want a backup piece and, if possible, a partner in case I miss. Not for open country.

I'd certainly expect some kind of explanation, unless that was the only weapon available and he was being hunted by cultists and/or was a veteran investigator.

 

[Walken]

For example, another guy (who always plays a thief) playing a criminal snuck up to a window and saw the priest zombie eating the other priest. His first reaction? "So...uh...is there any loot in the room?" Again, many groans...

1. I had no reason to assume, after playing with the DM in another game, that this game was to be taken in anyway seriously.

2. Yes, I played a Criminal named Vinny Barbarino.

3. Yes, I robbed everyone (including 2 grand off the lumber jack.) My character was stealing hub caps in the parking lot and heard scream from within the church. Theft was fresh on his mind when he saw the zombie and he couldn't justify shoting a priest just because he was eating another priest. I'm a nice guy, I'm honest, I don't stab people in the back.......but I like to act that out in game.

4. Two other players walked into the church with guns. Our P.I., who was very upset about the shotgun was one of them. He's a seriouse gamer, I like to play with him. To him, the shotgun came out of left field, the rest of us have played with Indy often and were ready for it. I've played with Indy enough I don't see anything wrong with what he did. Like when the psion wants to play a duskblade but then finds out he doesn't get WraithStrike and the DuskBlade is no longer broken so he won't stop talking about and posting about it and cliping posts about it and emailing them to you then emailing wizards and then emailing them back because they didn't answer the question and they email him back and say he didn't ask it right and he keeps forwarding the emails to you and then he decides the spell is broken and wants to start a campaign to ban it or fix it and emails you ideas to do so until you just want to grab your DM and scream "JUST GIVE HIM THE ****ING SPELL! JUST LET HIM HAVE IT SO I CAN ROLL SNEAK ATTACK DICE IN PEACE!"


















What was I saying?

Anyway, I'm hardly waiting to hear what the PI has to say about this now that's he's calmed down.

 

[Kidarcane]

Heated about "Heaters" in a Church

Hello, I'm the player that took exception to bringing a sawed off shotgun to church. Perhaps I overreacted at the game but here are my arguments. To preface, the Archeologist is sort of new to Role Play and I was trying to illustrate that in 20's New York as a scholar, even in the Dr. Jones mold, that he at least consider not packing every second of the day.

We are playing pre-generated characters just starting our journey into madness. (Yes, we were all pre-equipped with weapons.) It is our first session, most of us/characters had NO experience with the Mythos, the only exception our pastor, and we’re in the middle of New York City at a Presbyterian styled church, with all our sanity points. The Archeologist was meeting the PI hoping to make a connection to help with some research into a new dig site. There was no talk of zombies, strangeness, or even the naughty cultists.

I understand the assumption that is an ongoing CoC game where the character has cause to be crazy. However at no time was there a reasonable expectation of danger for the Archeologist, the PI, the Agent, the street Mafioso, or the Lumberjack. We were just at or around the church.

However our Archaeologist insisted that he has a Sawed Off SHOTGUN under his assumed Trench coat, cause we did not get into his mode of dress. I really had difficulty accepting this behavior. I also would not accept that he did not have a car to leave it in; for that would mean that he strolled down the street, rode the subway, and took a street car to the church brandishing his, even in the 20's, illegal weapon.

I understand that the DM is willing to give us rope with which to hang ourselves. But we as players ought to be reasonable to begin with to play our alter egos with some sanity. OOC we know this is a CoC game and there is danger all about, but at the start, we're just normal Joes until we witness our first fiend. CoC game or not there is no call for us to be that Paranoid when we're in the church with no knowledge that all is not serine.

Now I’m not completely innocent, I was a PI, I had was packing my 1911, however I did wrestled in my mind as to the question would my character have his gun with him at the church? If I were militant about my beliefs should I not have the gun on me, thinking it better to leave my heater in the safe back at my office, perhaps my car? My defense is that a gun is a tool of the PI job so it is not unreasonable to have it on his person as he’s a tad slovenly, lazy, and "on the job", taking it off seemed like too much trouble. My sport coat handily concealing its deadly might from the innocents within the church. Also I determined my character would rather settle any disputes with, wit, harsh language, or fists if at all possible. Better to take a few lumps than get 10 years for gunning down some hot shot that mouthed off to me.

Had I played the Doctor, instead of the PI, guess who would not be packing his 38 revolver to the church? Me.

 

[Kidarcane]

None of the Characters knew anything about zombies. nothing. See my Post "Heated about Heaters" on page two or above.

 

[Kidarcane]

The most important...

Everyone's overlooking the most important element here- shouldn't his proficiency cover all shotguns, and not just a sawed-off one?

We do not dispute that he can use any Shotgun.
He started out equipped with only a normal Shotgun. The GM asked if anyone wanted to purchase a back up weapon. As he is ONLY proficient with shotguns he wanted one that he could carry about easier.

Again, would you have your normal professional PC carry the sawed off like Mad Max in 20's NYC, to a church.

 

[IceFractal]

Actually, the fact that he is only proficient with shotguns makes this somewhat more logical. Train of thought:

1) I'm paranoid - so I want to be armed whenever possible.
2) I guess I'll carry a small, concealable weapon like a pistol.
3) Oh wait - I never learned how to use a pistol. No good to carry one then.
4) So what do I know how to use? Shotguns.
5) Well, I guess I'll carry as small a shotgun as I can find then.

Yes, this only makes sense if the character's quite paranoid. But maybe he is. And even if he isn't, he will be after any more Mythos exposure. So the problem, if there is one, should be self-solving.

 

[Janx]

so is the OP's beef that the guy carried a GUN into a church, or specifically a saw-off shot gun.

A shotgun is a bit impractical and hard to conceal. A pistol would be practical.

As some folks stated, they HAVE gone to church with a gun, therefore, the presumption that nobody is armed, and nobody knows anything about weapons is false.

The OP said the armed PC was meeting somebody at the chuch. Depending on the nature of that meeting, I'd go armed, regardless of the venue.

As for 1925, the era of gats and gangsters, in NYC, I'd go armed if I could.

As for wanting to shoot zombies, well dude, that's whatchu do. Preferably 1 round to the head. CoC always plays on the fragility of the human psyche. I think that's a mixed bag. Some folks see a murder and ain't right for the rest of their lives, others spend time at VC prison camp and later become senators, on second thought, running for public office might be a sign...

 

[takasi]

so is the OP's beef that the guy carried a GUN into a church, or specifically a saw-off shot gun.

The OP has no beef.

The reason I posted wasn't to see if others believe it's realistic or not for a character in this situation to have a weapon. Or for everyone to dictate reasonable behavior for a 1920's mobster when he sees zombies for the first time. ("Eh...let's see if we can sneak past him and raid the pastor's liquor cabinet".)

I posted this hoping to hear more amusing stories about differences in player expectations regarding campaign "realism". (And thanks to those who replied, I'd love to hear more.)