new CoC player/DM here

[Nemesis Destiny]

As a GM whose groups have primarily played D&D and Shadowrun, the times I've run CoC, the one big stumbling block I had (besides introducing and getting characters working together), was the investigation element. The players just didn't seem to "get" that aspect of CoC (most of them hadn't read any Lovecraft or other Mythos fiction).

My suggestion would be that if your players are also not used to that style of play, that you go easy on those elements and focus on a more "pulp adventure" style as others have suggested.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

As a GM whose groups have primarily played D&D and Shadowrun, the times I've run CoC, the one big stumbling block I had (besides introducing and getting characters working together), was the investigation element. The players just didn't seem to "get" that aspect of CoC (most of them hadn't read any Lovecraft or other Mythos fiction).

My suggestion would be that if your players are also not used to that style of play, that you go easy on those elements and focus on a more "pulp adventure" style as others have suggested.

in the past we have had issues with genra change (super hero games dont work, and when we tried D20 modern it bombed) but last year and into the begiing of this year I ran a 4e D&D game set in modern times mostly useing the Dresden Setting... It worked just fine even with investigating...I am not sure what was diffrent.


I want to give CoC a chance, but I realize I need a fight every once in a while, and it has to be one the PCs can win...

 

[DragonLancer]

As a GM whose groups have primarily played D&D and Shadowrun, the times I've run CoC, the one big stumbling block I had (besides introducing and getting characters working together), was the investigation element. The players just didn't seem to "get" that aspect of CoC (most of them hadn't read any Lovecraft or other Mythos fiction).

Investigating and patience do seem to be lacking in CoC players I often find, even experienced roleplayers. In CoC games, whether one off's or campaign stories, I've had players scupper themselves because they decided to burn down/blow up the cultists HQ, or jump right in and kill them. Then later when they find themselves stumped, I just point out that they jumped in without thinking and destroyed the evidence or killed the people they should have interrogated.

 

[Matchstick]

As a DM in CoC, be open to players using all sorts of skills. I've played in CoC campaigns where 99% of the rolls were Library Use and the combat skills (I can't remember if those are the skill names, it's been a while). Give your players opportunities to use skills outside some of the core combat and research skills and be flexible enough to let them use those secondary skills in fun ways.

Have fun!

 

[Janx]

It seems the common CoC pattern is that the PCs are required to be connected to each other and motivated to start the adventure together.

That seems a reasonable pre-requisite to get the game going and bypass the "you all meet in a bar" drivel that D&D uses as a stereotype.

Thus, "you've all recieved an invitation to meet with Dr. Secretus Friendus whom you know from professional dealings, boarding school, college, exchanging letters as he has something important to tell you...." is an acceptable intro.

This basically establishes that the PCs are the type who would go to such an invitation, and they know this Secretus guy, and possibly a few of his other friends (the PCs).

 

[talien]

Hi!

SO I open it up to you guys, has anyone run any really great CoC stories? If so what did you do, and how did it go? Any Suggestions for someone trying to run it?

I have a long running Delta Green campaign here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/story-...reen-beginning-end-updated-daily-sep-8-a.html

And my RPG.net column on action horror gaming provides plenty of advice: The Horror Column Listing - RPGnet

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[Bedrockgames]

Lovecraft gets easier with time. Most of his short stories are pretty lean so i would suggest trying to get through a few more before giving up. I first encountered lovecraft in highschool and i found his style jarring because i was used to a more modern approach. However i ended up liking him a great deal. A lot of this stuff is worth the investment. Spent my second year of highschool reading all the horror classics i could ( frankenstein, dracula, phantom of tge opera, lovecraft, poe , etc ) . To this day they inspire my writing and gaming.

 

[Zelda Themelin]

I like classic stuff. Best adventures IMO are the ones that take forever to play.

If you have problem getting characters together to adventure make up something never mind that adventure says. Like they are work partners. Or extended family doing some hunting/fishing stuff together besides usual family meetups. Or they have some same hobby like they are antique collectors, or book-collectors or somesuch. Members of same Gentleman's Club, shared military brotherhood history. Tell them create characters who know each others and like to do things together.

CoC plays like investigation game. Actually running into baddies or dead people causes sanity loss, which is another way besides death to remove character from play. There are ways to regain sanity too.

Delta Green is specific modern CoC add-on. I have played it. It gives organization that knows about bad things (though often not the truth) and they send sort of special ops investigators to investigate and take care of/hide probrems. Works well for grouip who doesn't mind better tech level. Some players think real CoC only happens at 1930 and anything else feels like different game. But if your players don't want to handle historical professions and manners and investigation methods you might want to check out Delta Green.

I myself like Dreamlands very much. But Dreamlands is very different.

You can also besides short stories and game material look for movies and comic books for inspiration. Many CoC themed movies are quite b-rate, but few work. I like Dagon and from Beyond best myself.

Boom! comics has made few CoC themed comics. Some stories from Cthulhu tales might make fun adventures. I like Fall of Cthulhu myself but it's a bit more campaign-like and not everyone's style. Jenny Finn (sp?) is also mythos themed comic.

No need to be stuck just with classic stuff. Well, not unless your players are very obsessed with that, but then they should be ones to DM. Pick inspiration where you get it best. IMO CoC makes great modern game, or scifi or cyberpunk or fantasy for the matter. Pathfinder is using CoC mythos with Golarion in small doses.

 

[tylerthehobo]

Yeah, there are such a wide variety of authors of the mythos - even Stephen King, if you find some of his early stuff in his collections of short stories - that there's something for everyone. Chaosium has released tons of collections over the years that are worth browsing through in their online catalog, to see if something resonates more with you. A lot of folks like the August Derleth/Clark Ashton Smith stuff more, as it takes the stories and weaves together the mythos around them.

As to the game, I've been running it for about 20 years, and many of the published adventures have been handy for getting players who aren't terribly familiar with the Mythos into the game. The adventures in Mansions of Madness come from earlier collections and editions of the game, and many are good one-nighters to get folks used to the rules and feel. Secrets of New York and the New Orleans sourcebook are good for a sandbox game. If you get players into the idea of a long campaign, I still like Shadows of Yogsothoth a lot (although some veterans will say it's rather contrived - it works well for folks who don't necessarily eat sleep drink). Spawn of Azathoth, Return to Dunwich, Return to the Mountains of Madness - these campaigns work better with seasoned players who eat, sleep and drink Lovecraftian fiction.

For running the game, my biggest rules have been:
1) Make sure that the characters have appropriate skills to solve the tasks at hand - not to the level of it being a cakewalk, but if the only way to get off the glacier is the ability to pilot a plane, don't leave it to chance that no one took the character with the right skill to do that.
2) Make sure that players - going in - understand that they don't use their guns like swords in d&d.
3) Make sure they understand that years ago, when you needed info, you went to a library, not Google.
4) Role play. It sounds obvious, but CoC sets up some of the best opportunities for roleplaying I've ever seen. Take advantage of them!
5) Continuity - it's ok if the universe implodes on itself and ends in a game. You can play another another time and continuity doesn't matter - that last catastrophe didn't have to have happened. (There is a short story collection somewhere about what the world is like after the Cthupocalypse...)

Enjoy. It's a great Halloween game, if nothing else, for the party that would rather slay goblins and orcs.

-Tyler

 

[ShadowDenizen]

have the chaosium 5th and 5.6 edtion (and d20 but that wont be used), I have Maze of madness, delta green, and Dream lands 2e, before the fall, King of chicago, and vanishing conjurer (and some from the site lised above)

Actually, I looked through all my CoC stuff after rr-reading this thread.
And there’s A LOT of awesome scenarios that push the boundadries.

BUT, for a new group, I’d recommend something tried, true and simple.
Assuming you’ll use the roaring 20’s time-period, I’d recommend starting with either “The Haunting” (right from the core book), or maybe one of the houses in “Mansions of Madness” [which was reprinted fairly recently].

Alternately, if you want to leap right into a campaign, you really can’t go wrong with “Masks of Nyarlathotep” [also recently reprinted.].

[AS an aside, I’ll agree with Tylerthehobo that, while most of the longer campaigns are stellar, (Beyond the Mountains of Madness, Tatters of the King, Realm of Shadows, Walker in the Wasters, etc.) they require A LOT of commitment from keepers and players alike, as well as presume familiarity with HPL and the Mythos. If I had to pick one scenario I didn’t care for, it would have to be “Shadows of Yog-Sothoth”, however.