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"Illusionism" and "GM force" in RPGing
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<blockquote data-quote="Doug McCrae" data-source="post: 7922734" data-attributes="member: 21169"><p>Some thoughts about the different ways in which Call of Cthulhu (1981) and James Bond 007 (1983) handle investigation.</p><p></p><p>Both games feature more than the average amount of investigation, particularly Call of Cthulhu. Why, given it’s the less investigation-oriented of the two does James Bond advise GMs to use Illusionism to help the PCs find clues, while Call of Cthulhu does not?</p><p></p><p>This is from James Bond 007 (also quoted upthread as part of a longer section in post #30):</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">If you were planning on putting the blueprints in the Major Villain’s safe, consider that the players may decide to go to his house instead and, not finding anything of interest, leave the area without finding the vital plans. Be prepared to put the plans in several places where the characters can find them – an office or home safe, the Major Villain’s briefcase, microfilm in the pipe stem, or just about anywhere.</p><p></p><p>If this technique is not used in Call of Cthulhu what prevents its adventures coming to a juddering halt if the PCs fail to find a vital clue? The answer I think is that there are no vital clues in Call of Cthulhu because it uses non-linear adventures together with a sandbox campaign structure. There is more than one pathway to an important antagonist, location, or revelation, and the world is fairly high weirdness (a bit like D&D, though not as extreme) so there are many Mythos entities, cults and other strange and terrifying happenings to be investigated.</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Each scenario in Call of Cthulhu should be organised like the layers of an onion. As the characters uncover one layer, they should discover another. These layers should go on and on until the players themselves decide that they are getting too deep and stop their investigations…</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Each layer of a scenario should present two or three choices as to where to proceed. The players should never be certain that they have delved into the bottom of a mystery…</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Two or more scenarios could also lead to the same dark secret… For example, the old Starry Wisdom cult chapel in Boston may lead the investigator to Innsmouth and the Esoteric Order of Dagon. Again, the investigator of swamp cults in Louisiana may find that they have connections to a similar cult in New England, centred in Innsmouth and titled the Esoteric Order of Dagon.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Doug McCrae, post: 7922734, member: 21169"] Some thoughts about the different ways in which Call of Cthulhu (1981) and James Bond 007 (1983) handle investigation. Both games feature more than the average amount of investigation, particularly Call of Cthulhu. Why, given it’s the less investigation-oriented of the two does James Bond advise GMs to use Illusionism to help the PCs find clues, while Call of Cthulhu does not? This is from James Bond 007 (also quoted upthread as part of a longer section in post #30): [INDENT]If you were planning on putting the blueprints in the Major Villain’s safe, consider that the players may decide to go to his house instead and, not finding anything of interest, leave the area without finding the vital plans. Be prepared to put the plans in several places where the characters can find them – an office or home safe, the Major Villain’s briefcase, microfilm in the pipe stem, or just about anywhere.[/INDENT] If this technique is not used in Call of Cthulhu what prevents its adventures coming to a juddering halt if the PCs fail to find a vital clue? The answer I think is that there are no vital clues in Call of Cthulhu because it uses non-linear adventures together with a sandbox campaign structure. There is more than one pathway to an important antagonist, location, or revelation, and the world is fairly high weirdness (a bit like D&D, though not as extreme) so there are many Mythos entities, cults and other strange and terrifying happenings to be investigated. [INDENT]Each scenario in Call of Cthulhu should be organised like the layers of an onion. As the characters uncover one layer, they should discover another. These layers should go on and on until the players themselves decide that they are getting too deep and stop their investigations…[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]Each layer of a scenario should present two or three choices as to where to proceed. The players should never be certain that they have delved into the bottom of a mystery…[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]Two or more scenarios could also lead to the same dark secret… For example, the old Starry Wisdom cult chapel in Boston may lead the investigator to Innsmouth and the Esoteric Order of Dagon. Again, the investigator of swamp cults in Louisiana may find that they have connections to a similar cult in New England, centred in Innsmouth and titled the Esoteric Order of Dagon.[/INDENT] [/QUOTE]
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