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

[Psion]

• Finding out that something is out there, learning what it is, and learning how to defeat it can be as much fun as (or more fun than) just killing it.
• Not all encounters have to be combat encounters, and the combat encounters don't have to match the party perfectly. In CoC, this can get taken to an extreme (1st-level Investigators vs. Cthulhu), but I suspect it works better (and creates more tension) if the PCs have a chance. Maybe a single Troll is stalking the party (or the party's "red shirt" spear-carriers), eating them one by one.
• Power is fun, but Power at a Price is more interesting. Again, CoC seems to take this to something of an extreme, with Mythos Tomes blasting the Sanity of any who dare to read them, but offering the party power that they're not quite sure they want to use adds drama. For instance, the party might ally themselves with neutral monsters against a terrible foe, but their allies demand something of them.
• Secrets make great "treasure". Learning what the heck is going on can be a reward in itself.
• Normal folk make fun adventurers. It's easy to identify with a guy who isn't Conan -- and if he later evolves into Conan, that transformation can be quite fulfilling.

I consider 1,2, and 4 old hat.

Not too keen on 3 and 5 in D&D, tho. Maybe occasionally.

 

[Corinth]

I learned that ripping off George Romero and Capcom's Resident Evil franchise is ridiculously easy to do when you set a zombie scenario at the University of Minnesota and learn about all sorts of little quirks that make such a scenario feasible.

(FWIW, Umbrella shall be a MJ-12 front controlled through DARPA and they'll be at odds with the Tcho Tcho front based out of St. Paul and other antagonistic groups. Oh, and I'm starting with 1st level PCs.)

 

[mmadsen]

I learned that ripping off George Romero and Capcom's Resident Evil franchise is ridiculously easy to do...

So true. That's of course why I decided on having Zombies grapple (then bite/rend) rather than "slam". I wanted that Night of the Living Dead feel.

...when you set a zombie scenario at the University of Minnesota and learn about all sorts of little quirks that make such a scenario feasible.

What kind of quirks make such a scenario feasible?

 

[mmadsen]

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

Not too keen on 3 and 5 in D&D, tho. Maybe occasionally.

Ever give the party a powerful magic sword -- that doesn't want to go back into its sheath? Armor of Rage? Mace of Blood? Those are all very D&D examples of power at a price.

 

[Psion]

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

Ever give the party a powerful magic sword -- that doesn't want to go back into its sheath? Armor of Rage? Mace of Blood? Those are all very D&D examples of power at a price.

The closest I have done recently was to make a "healing loam" that people with wilderness lore can find. It has an effect similar to a cure light wounds, but any character that uses more than one dose in 24 hours becomed drained due to its effect on their metabolism and take one half of all healing they receive from the loam as strength damage. That's just my way of saying "get a cleric!"

 

[Henrix]

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

any character that uses more than one dose in 24 hours becomed drained due to its effect on their metabolism and take one half of all healing they receive from the loam as strength damage.

The more classic power-at-a-price would of course be the healing loom that, if somebody has used it more than once in 24 hours, drains the character if he does not get any more within 24 hours.

 

[mmadsen]

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

The more classic power-at-a-price would of course be the healing loom that, if somebody has used it more than once in 24 hours, drains the character if he does not get any more within 24 hours.

I've been meaning to use the potions-as-drugs idea. It might be too cruel to have a euphoric drug convince them that they healed Hit Points, increased Strength, etc. without any actual increases.

 

[Mordax_sighs]

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

The more classic power-at-a-price would of course be the healing loom that, if somebody has used it more than once in 24 hours, drains the character if he does not get any more within 24 hours.

Might be fun to have characters who don't use healing magic for a while (like during downtime, or whatever), simply go through withdrawal for Cure and buffing spells.

Just assume their bodies have gotten used to regular boosts of energy, and that the lack leaves them edgy and paranoid.

 

[Corinth]

So true. That's of course why I decided on having Zombies grapple (then bite/rend) rather than "slam". I wanted that Night of the Living Dead feel.

That's what I did tonight with the few zombies encountered. The first one took six shots from two of the PCs before they finally put it down. One PC got bit, but he made his Fortitude save and thus is out of danger. (But he doesn't know that yet.)

What kind of quirks make such a scenario feasible?

Knowing how the underground tunnels correlate to the surface streets. Knowing where the power grid juncture is to the U of MN West Bank (of the Mississippi River), how to fool it into thinking that it's daylight, how long the blackout lasts and what blacks out. Knowing the current political status of the university, and the greater Twin Cities, so to exploit it for scenario purposes. (The PCs, BTW, have successfully exposed the Umbrella corporation's project at the U of MN; they don't know this yet either. Governor Ventura will lay the smack down, hard, on both the Umbrella corporation and the university regeants.) Knowing how medical research projects work, in theory and in practice, as well as much of the rest of the groups in and around the U of MN.

FWIW, I have three PCs right now. All of them are 1st level.

• A journalism undergraduate working for the university paper, the Minnesota Daily. She's a Defense Option character who knew the murder victim-cum-first zombie.
• A rookie Minneapolis cop who's disliked by his boss, the major of Mpls. and his coworkers. Right now, he's working on campus; why is entirely political. He's an Offense Option character who's been on the scene since the first murder.
• A rookie FBI forensics specialist who got called in for reasons that no one quite understands the night of the first murder. He's also an Offense Option character.

They're almost finished with their first adventure. They have to crash a covert meeting with the Umbrella operative working at the U of MN Medical School and the MJ-12 operative working out of DARPA's covert office in St. Paul, chase the Umbrella operative to the company's regional HQ and survive an encounter with the Tyrant.

Yep, this is meant to be a set-up for a full-fledged Delta Green campaign. Before then, the PCs will deal with the Tcho Tcho cult in St. Paul's Hmong & Vietnamese communities. I can't wait to adapt "The End of Paradise" for the local theater that screens HK action films and anime feature films every weekend.

 

[mmadsen]

That's what I did tonight with the few zombies encountered. The first one took six shots from two of the PCs before they finally put it down. One PC got bit, but he made his Fortitude save and thus is out of danger. (But he doesn't know that yet.)

Ooh, that sounds like fun, Corinth. Did the players just roll badly, or are you using some kind of super-zombie that doesn't go down after the first five shots?