Help! Cthulu needed!

[Arrgh! Mark!]

Hey, peoples!

I need some help.

Tomorrow I'm introducing a new player to the game. Normally I'm quite happy with that (as it's a new Cthulu game and all). But Cthulu and horror in general is kinda hard to introduce to a newbie.

And the campaign is Shadows of Yog-Sothoth! It's deadly!

And killing investigators might be fun but it isn't really part of cthulu as such.

One of my players has also played "The Haunting" or "The Haunted House", so I can't use that either.

Anyone got a quick idea for a good introductory adventure?

 

[berdoingg]

What era are you planning to play in?

 

[Arrgh! Mark!]

1920s, though modern isn't so hard.

 

[Cyri'kazzen the Drow]

If you have the BRP Cthulhu book, I would recommend "Edge of Darkness" or "Dead Man Stomp". In fact "Edge of Darkness" is supposed to be a precursor to "The Haunting". If you have the Mansions of Madness scenario book, I would recommend "The Crook'd and Crack'd Manse".

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

You might be more responses over at a Cthulhu site like yog-sothoth.com. This sort of question has been asked there before, so you could just search for some threads on this topic.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

yog-sothoth.com is to CoC, what Enworld is to d20 (though with less traffic, it can be even more civilzed ).
I inhabit there as well as here. Good place, they'll answer your question.

 

[Desdichado]

Indeed, although I don't post over there at yog-sothoth.com, I've done some extensive searching of their site for ideas, reviews and the like. I also highly recommend them.

I can't recommend a specific "module" for beginners, but I can definitely give you some generic advice. Look for shorter plot arcs; stories that can be wrapped up in a session or two, but which lead into the bigger plot; maybe ending up in your "Shadows of Yog-Sothoth" by the time your done. Keep the supernatural elements to a minimum; have the newbies encounter more mundane threats instead. If you're in the 1920s, maybe some backwater cults, as Lovecraft used to love, coupled with gangsters or whatnot. If you switch to modern, get some conspiracy elements, ala X-files, going as well. Let the PCs deal with people first, and only hint at the mythos, for at least quite a long time.

And then, have a little faith in the players. They may be new to the game, but surely they've seen some horror movies before, and know more or less what's expected and what will happen if they act stupid. In my experience, D&D players have a harder time adjusting to the paradigm of CoC than regular, average non-gamers do.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Here's one thread over there on the topic (at least tangentially):

First time Keeper

And a post in this thread suggests looking at The Unbound Book.

 

[VorpalBunny]

I second (or third, or fourth... you get the idea) yog-sothoth.com. But since you've got Shadows of Yog-Sothoth already, if you've got the latest edition, if you look in the back of the book there are two new adventures. One is called The People of the Monolith, based on a piece of R.E. Howard's mythos fiction. It's fairly innocuous as fair as CoC adventures go, with a very low mortality rate. Should make a good introductory adventure (especially if your players are familiar with the story).

 

[Tom Cashel]

First of all, it's Cthulhu. Not Cthulu. Thanks.

Secondly, if you're playing Shadows of Yog-Sothoth, the "Hermetic Order of the Silver Twilight" is ideal. Simply have your players join the Order, and allow them to move upward through its ranks. This should provide you with a mood of creeping horror and conspiracy, and lots of role-playing, while the investigators are still new on the scene (and thus unlikely to draw the ire of an entire worldwide network of cultists...yet).

The scenario provides lots of opportunities to lose SAN, but no direct encounters with Mythos monsters. It's up to the Keeper whether Investigators must do battle with John Scott alone, or also the custodes, or also Carl Stanford and Max Reed.

If you're willing to cut them a little slack (i.e. not go out of your way to kill them), their first outing should be terrifying, hair-raising, and sanity-blasting, but not lethal.