What I learned from Call of Cthulhu (for D&D)

[Mordax_sighs]

I actually like the way they work in the opposite direction. I have Zombies grapple -- I really don't like the whole "slam" attack thing -- so the heroes get to hack them down with Attacks of Opportunity...and still get overwhelmed.

Also a good point.

 

[mmadsen]

What has always struck me about HPL's work is that it's all about mood - very little of his work depends on plot. Mood is tough to evoke with game mechanics, so that's why it's always been surprising to me how artistically successful Call of Cthulhu, the RPG, has been. HPL's work is, most of the time, focused on one lone person caught up in events beyond his control, a mere spectator of cosmic terror. Even the original RPG had to come up with a way to accomodate more characters than HPL's stories, and characters who are uniformly more active and proactive than any of HPL's character's ever were. So it's an amazing success, when you think about it, for any version of the RPG to still be able to conjure a mood so similar to HPL's writing.

Well said, ColonelHardisson! I agree with every point you made there. It's amazing that the Call of Cthulhu game was able to become such a resounding success -- and now the d20 version too!

Regarding Chaosium's adventures - I know it's tangential, but most Pendragon adventures are top-notch.

Pendragon has some great game material. (Anyone interested in checking it out should swing by Green Knight Publishing.

 

[barsoomcore]

Has anyone implemented any of these ideas in their own campaign (whether or not CoC was your influence)?

My whole campaign works on these lines, and has done for the past year and a half. I've never played CoC though I'm a long-time fan of HPL's writing. Well, the good stuff. Heh.

Have you run a campaign with Commoner PCs?

I have three players using NPC classes -- two Experts and a Commoner. On Barsoom, it's much more important to know who that is over there than it is to be able to do huge amounts of damage to them. Because IF they're a threat to you, you'll probably just irritate them.

Have you put the PCs up against a monster that should destroy them in a straight fight, but had a "puzzle" solution to the encounter?

Yes and no. My PCs are constantly being accosted by beings they have NO chance of defeating -- full-on gods and uber-sorcerers and other immortal types fill my world.

But I cordially hate the "Puzzle Solution" kind of encounter, so painfully typified by Piers Anthony in one Xanth novel after another. On Barsoom, when the Demon Goddess shows up and wants to tear a strip off your hide, you better talk fast and think faster, because there's just no "secret" that's going to allow a 7th-level Expert to defeat a 40th-level Intermediate Deity. Sorry, you fight, you lose.

I don't create solutions. I create problems. And believe me, a pissed-off Demon Goddess is a real problem. The solutions, however, are up to my players.

Have you made a mystery work in your D&D campaign?

Mystery is ESSENTIAL to any campaign that aspires to be more than hack-and-slash running about. Secrets that the players have to weasel out are the prime ingredient in getting them interested in what's going on -- it makes them curious when they don't understand something, and often finding out the truth can become an obssession the DM isn't prepared for.

I'm very interested in CoC and will probably pick it up. In many ways I'm running a CoC campaign in a (sort of) D&D world.

(sorry, format fixes)

 

[mmadsen]

Yes and no. My PCs are constantly being accosted by beings they have NO chance of defeating -- full-on gods and uber-sorcerers and other immortal types fill my world.

So do they run away?

But I cordially hate the "Puzzle Solution" kind of encounter, so painfully typified by Piers Anthony in one Xanth novel after another.

I actually haven't read any Xanth novels (let alone too many), so I don't have the same painful associations, I guess. Are the puzzles just too contrived?

I'm very interested in CoC and will probably pick it up. In many ways I'm running a CoC campaign in a (sort of) D&D world.

From what I've read of your campaign, I think CoC's magic system might fit in nicely.

 

[Rune]

Has anyone implemented any of these ideas in their own campaign (whether or not CoC was your influence)?

Allow me to answer you by directing you to this story hour:

The Runic Cthulhu Hour: Something wrong in a small town college

Have you run a campaign with Commoner PCs?

Allow me to answer this by directing you to my response in this thread:

Commoners as Adventurers: Possible?

Have you put the PCs up against a monster that should destroy them in a straight fight, but had a "puzzle" solution to the encounter? Have you made a mystery work in your D&D campaign?

Allow me to answer you by directing you to the story hour linked in my sig (which I know you've read, anyway!)

 

[The Crimster]

Well hey. Never let it be said I don't toot my own horn. Just like Mr. Nyarlothotep. Get it?

I'm currently running a d20 CoC game on the In Character board. Stop by the OOC thread and say hi!

Foes the PC's have encountered thus far:

* Cockroaches
* Bees From Another Dimension
* Cultists - one of them dressed in a McDonalds uniform

Insanity ensues!

 

[mmadsen]

Re: Here's what I learnt

It is WAY easier to get people to play a d20 game than the BRP game!

Hehehe.

It's NICE having other systems ported to d20....Genre-crossing is fun!

I feel compelled to mention (again) my favorite idea that I haven't tried yet: Conan as d20 CoC in a fantasy setting.

 

[barsoomcore]

So do they run away?

Nah, they usually find themselves either talking themselves out of or into more trouble. Obviously all these super-powers aren't trying to destroy the party -- otherwise they'd be dead. The party just have to be smart and keep their heads down and every now and then they find a long enough lever with a perfectly-positioned fulcrum and...

I actually haven't read any Xanth novels (let alone too many), so I don't have the same painful associations, I guess. Are the puzzles just too contrived?

I just protest against the notion that for every problem there has to be one very clever solution pre-mixed for your enjoyment. I see my job as DM simply to throw big ugly problems at my players and let them come up with solutions. It's a fundamentally different idea than presenting them with puzzles that have solutions embedded within them.

 

[mmadsen]

I just protest against the notion that for every problem there has to be one very clever solution pre-mixed for your enjoyment. I see my job as DM simply to throw big ugly problems at my players and let them come up with solutions. It's a fundamentally different idea than presenting them with puzzles that have solutions embedded within them.

Understood. I don't enjoy contrived puzzles either, but I do like monsters with distinct weaknesses or with ancient enemies the heroes can call upon, etc. I like fights the heroes won't win without being clever, but that they can win, even without great casualties, with a good plan.

 

[mmadsen]

I could be missing something sublime, and I hope so because the alternative is depressing, but here's what I've learned.

I haven't played CoC yet, but having read tons of HPL, I can honestly say that despite my ambitious attempts to be a killer DM, I do not have what it must take to be a mediocre CoC GM.

Man! You've got to be HPL reincarnated to come up with a good adventure, then figure out how to GM it well. Way out of my league!

We're discussing this in the Ryan Dancey: D20 Call of Cthulhu (and What do I do with all this?) thread right now. Lots of games are hard to gamemaster until you learn what their "dungeon" is.