Ideas for a d20 CoC Dreamland campaign

[Byrons_Ghost]

I voted for WW2. I just see this setting as lending itself more to an extended quest type of campaign, whereas most Cthulhu campaigns go from one scenario to the next. If you're looking for ruin and suffering, the final days of the war in Europe (and even the postwar in many areas) should give you plenty to work with.

A quick question- you mentioned that you didn't really want to do New York because it was an excuse to put the PCs in an poor environment. Was the problem that you didn't want them in this sort of environment, or that you did want this sort of environment, but didn't know what else to do in New York? If the latter is the case, you don't have to restrict your self to NYC, as the Depression hit pretty much all over the country.

Now my problem is: I want a stark contrast between the Dreamland and the normal world. (Note that I see the Dreamland more like an exotic orientalist place rather than heroic fantasy.)

The Dreamlands is quite different from the real world- it doesn't mirror RW geography in any way at all, for example, but has it's own maps and locations. So when the PC's suddenly wander out of a tunnel and find themselves in the city of Dylath-Leen, that's going to be pretty stark. Between the location shift, the rules and the atmosphere of the Dreamlands, you should be all set as far as highlighting the differences goes.

Tracking down some of the literary source material- such as Lovecraft's stories and the works of Lord Dunsany (who was his inspiration for Dreamlands material) will also be helpful.

And, finally: this is my 666th post! Woot!

 

[Turanil]

Congratulation for the 666th post!!

Well, I was unclear in my writing. What I wanted to say is that I like the idea of NY during the depression, and that in setting the adventure during WWII it wouldn't be the depression anymore so I was losing something I saw as interesting.

But anyway, I now know what I will be doing: Paris during Occupation (the nazis in Paris). For one thing I know Paris (I live in it) far much better than New york, so I would have an easier time with running the adventure there. Here is how it would begin:

The nazis are in Paris. It's now a matter of time before they find some secret archeological artifacts from the dawn of times that nobody ever saw in the museum of the Louvre, because they are too much dangerous. The PCs must go there in Paris occupied by the Germans and recover these relics. If they fall in the hands of the Nazis, all hope is lost for the world... Before finding these ancient relics, they have to delve into Egyptian relics, as ancient texts, magic, etc. were translated into Egyptian, Arab, etc. This is how the characters will come to know about the Dreamland.

I have various ideas. Grim Tales magic for example. All CoC d20 spells will be considered Arcane (black) magic; at the end of the CoC d20 book is a table giving the level equivalent for the spells. Arcane Mythos black magic is normally the only magic available. However, a player could play a Jew scholar with knowledge of Quaballah and related things; this would be the only character to have access to white magic of non-mythos origin (divine spells). So one could have magic-use, but on the other hand his life would be in greater danger (due to the nazis) than other people.

I hope to find time and players for a tabletop game; but I may consider also doing a PBP on Enworld.

 

[Turanil]

By the way: using Grim Tales for PCs (and NPCs) in this game, which for instance has a different horror/insanity system, I have thought about houseruling the Cthulhu Mythos skill. For those interested, it's treated in this thread.