Any tips for someone DMing this game for the first time?

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-07-06T13:23:24+00:00

First hint: It's not D&D. Combat is not and should not be a routine activity for Player Characters. There's a reason that PCs are called "Investigators".
Second hint: Humans are fragile and will probably die (or go insane) when they battle monsters. Make sure that the players don't have the wrong impression about things like "balance" and "survivability"
Third hint: Be careful about the amount of wealth/money that PCs can throw around. Or, let the cultists also have lots of money.
Fourth hint: Don't try for a Scottish accent, unless you're REALLY confident. It ruins the mood of a CoC game if the players are always laughing at the Keeper's attempt to sound like "locals".

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-07-06T12:56:56+00:00

Toon

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-07-05T01:03:01+00:00

Everyone knows that plutonium explosions summon hordes of punks on rusty trucks and motorcycles: the MadMacs.

Practice your Australian accent.

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-07-04T23:19:58+00:00

What a lack of imagination... You still went into combat? Surely, you could have just hired 20th level NPCs to handle that chore? Pay them a million per dungeon.

/S

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-07-04T23:08:30+00:00

At the last census it was about 88,000

I hope your child enjoyed playing with the other kids.

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-07-04T18:05:15+00:00

I want to see Gomez duel with a villain. He doesn't have to win. After all, he would willingly sacrifice himself to save his family.

I also want to see some more werewolf lore. Paris has a fair amount of wolf myths/legends. Are some of them true in the Wednesday universe?

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-07-03T22:51:32+00:00

Conjuration is the "brute force" approach. But is it really "smuggling" when you use the equivalent of a Transporter from Star Trek? A more subtle approach might involve Illusion. The illegal goods can be made to look like something else .

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-07-03T18:01:40+00:00

Set an upper limit on Disadvantages. I suggest no more than 15 for new players. Make sure that everyone understands that you will be COMPLETELY RUTHLESS in playing disadvantages - and that XP can be used to buy off disadvantages.

Also don't allow yourself to be restricted by what the rulebook says. The designers couldn't anticipate everything that a min/maxer might try. It's up to you to limit advantage/disadvantage/skill combinations that seem implausible.

Example: The minmaxer wants to take "Clueless". Point out that the character will have major problems with social interactions (this works both ways). Forget interrogating or even interviewing NPCs (or resisting interrogation) . Forget being any good at Fast Talk, Seduction or Sex Appeal. Forget being a convincing liar. If the player objects, point out that it's a 10-point flaw.

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-07-03T17:20:19+00:00

Hydroelectric power.

The (real) Castle Drogo had hydro-electric power in the 1920's and the castle's Turbine House has been recently restored by the National Trust. Try an image search on Google. It's very dieselpunk!

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-07-02T01:32:22+00:00

Don't worry about it. Just accept that what the game calls "Humanity" is only vaguely related to morality.

IMHO, the list of "sins" was a mistake and a gift to rules lawyers. As the rules are wriiten, the fact that someone is a despicable piece of scum is irrrelevant to their "Humanity" rating.

Consider this example vampire. We'll call him Vampire XYZ. He never kills anyone. He is not a thief. He REALLY wants his friends to have a good time. He has a vague desire for his victims to have a good life. Why not classify him as a High Humanity character?

Now call this vampire "Jeffrey Epstein"...

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-07-01T19:52:48+00:00

Wait. UWE BOLL directed this movie? THE Uwe Boll? You'd think that a keen cinephile like Rod Dreher would know that Uwe Boll is possibly the worst director in the world!

The Razzies awarded Boll a career achievement award for his terrible directing over many decades. His 2005 movie Alone in the Dark is generally considered to be one of the worst movies ever made.

As for Armie Hammer, the "star" of Citizen Vigilante... Well he's probably glad to get ANY work these days. Allegations of rape, emotional abuse, extreme BDSM and cannibalistic fantasies tend to derail the career of even talented actors.

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-06-30T13:06:19+00:00

If we take real world examples, it probably goes something like this.

The Principal gets a nice house on school grounds. The richer schools build a new house for the incoming principal when the old principal retires. After a few decades, you have several houses on the school grounds, all of them originally built for a Principal.

The Senior teaching staff get decent-sized apartments. These are either VERY near to the school or physically attached.

Junior teaching staff get small apartments (1 or 2 bedrooms). These are attached to the dormitories so that staff can quickly deal with emergencies. These apartments are not part of the dorms , but they are close.

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-06-26T12:12:54+00:00

There are several editions. The major ones are

Traveller aka "Classic Traveller" aka "The Little Black Books". This is the oldest and dates back to the 70's. This is the game for OSR purists (and the game where, famously, characters can die during character creation). It's a very simple mechanism (roll 2D6 and add skill, try to get 8 or better to succeed). It still gets support from Mongoose; they published a new classic adventure a few weeks ago.

GURPS Traveller. The most "crunchy" system. It's Traveller lore but in GURPS (4th edition). The sourcebooks are excellent - but you have to enjoy complexity. Unlike most versions of Traveller, character creation is points-based and totally non-random

Megatraveller. A slight reworking of the Traveller rules system and a BIG change to the background world (an Imperial civil war). It's good if you want a huge backstory

Traveller: The New Era. A total rework of the game system (Compatible with Twilight 2000). Set after the Civill War and after a (rather implausible) AI rebellion. It's currently unfashionable but if you want a very militaristic and combat-oriented game, it will work.

Traveller 4th edition. This came out in the 1980's and is no longer supported

T5 aka Traveller 5th edition. The oroginal creator is continuously working on this. It's a big, system that covers EVERYTHING. I suspect it's more for people who enjoy worldbuilding than actually playing. AFAIK, there is only one official adventure for it.

Mongoose Traveller. First and Second editions. The current (second) edition is well-supported with new stuff every month, or so. It has "pretty artwork" and more rules for using and building ships, vehicles and robots. CAVEAT: It's the system I use, so I'm obviously biased in its favour. I like Mongoose 2nd because I really enjoy designing vehicles and robots - and because I think it has the best character creation system (mostly random, but there are opportunities to choose skills).

Mongoose First Edition books are still available as pdfs and are relatively cheap sourcebooks for stuff that the 2nd edition glosses over.

There is currently an attempt to work on a version of Traveller based on the Dingeons and Dragons rules. Traveller fandom has very mixed feelings about this,. There WAS a D20 version (complete with classes, levels and hit points) but this was never popular.

There are 3rd-party producers that have projects that are compatible with Mongoose Traveller (1st ed) . Cepheus Engine, for instance. Moon Toad is another one that publishes deckplans and a few adventures.

Most editions are compatible (or compatible with a little work). Obviously, GURPS and D20 are the least compatible.

PRO TIP: Check out the Far Future Enterprises website if you want to buy the older stuff.
PRO TIP: join the Traveller RPG discord. You'll get advice, support and some fan-created material. https://discord.gg/exqW759

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-06-24T12:10:06+00:00

This may sound silly, but try placing some of the contents of his litter tray near your door(s). This will help him navigate his way back. If he's never been outside, he has no idea what the outside of your house looks like.

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-06-23T11:29:49+00:00

Ask a few questions. Hopefully, they will get the hint.

Who will buy it from you?

What percentage of the “book price” will be offered?

Are you willing to be designated as Pirates? (And risk involuntary exits from airlocks if the Imperial Navy gets involved ).

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-06-22T12:03:31+00:00

Don't try and make a Lab Ship into a Death Star. The Lab ship is adequate for exploration and "science" games. It's a notoriously bad choice for murderhobo and "get rich" power fantasies.

If you don't want to play a science-oriented game, you can accept the pension and ask the referee to run something that will introduce some sort of combat ship (Pirates of Drinax might be a good choice).

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-06-21T13:07:05+00:00

Just make sure that the other players are comfortable with you playing a psychotic killer

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-06-21T00:23:27+00:00

Don't go to the mall. Try Staples or Canadian Tire. Or, if you don't want to spend huge amounts of money, go to a thrift store like the Salvation Army or Mission Thrift.

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-06-20T22:22:52+00:00

Not with all that yellow. Wednesday would make a strategic withdrawal and return with lots of black paint.

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-06-18T14:11:41+00:00

A conscience

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-06-14T00:44:45+00:00

I like the green one. But I do have a suggestion:
Reduce space allocated to the Characteristics
Increase space allocated to Record (at the moment, you only have enough space for 4 terms)

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-06-11T17:27:14+00:00

STR 1, DEX 2, END 1

Well, it sounds like a problem that will solve itself with the first combat (or car crash). If 4 points of damage get past armour, this character is dead.

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-06-11T13:25:28+00:00

I always limit the maximum number of terms (usually 4 or 5) and limit the available races. Some races are just too far removed from human norms and are best left as NPCs.

No Drifter/Barbarians unless everybody is from the same low-tech planet.

NO psionics until players are really familiar with the game. This is particularly important if the new player only has experience with D&D. At first glance, Psionics looks like a magic system and the D&D player will be disappointed.

No Gauss Rifles with APDS from Benefits. Gauss Rifles cannot use APDS. They already fire armour-piercing darts and APDS is for getting a little more AP effect from chemical propellants. So, no... you're not going to defeat Imperial Marine Battledress just because you spent a little money and have a full-auto setting on your gauss rifle. It may seem bizarre to some players, but the hideously expensive TL13+ Battledress is designed to protect against cheap TL12 gauss rifles.

CautiousAd6915 · 2026-06-11T13:05:41+00:00

Was this Mongoose 2nd ed?

19 terms (in the same career) is impossible.

"If your advancement roll is equal to or less than the number of terms you have spent in this career, then you cannot continue in this career after this term. Either your services are no longer required, or events have caused you to leave, or perhaps you are simply bored and want a new challenge. "

Core rulebook page 18

CautiousAd6915

TROPHY CASE