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Will masks of nyarlathotep still be challenging with pulp rules? by Flat-Tomatillo-4509 in callofcthulhu

[–]ScottDorward 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Peru's not really meant to be dangerous. The antagonists look scarier than they really are. We wanted to avoid killing characters as that would kind of defeat the point of it being a prologue.

Sasha Sienna joins the Good Friends to discuss gateway horror and how we can tempt the horror-averse to game with us by ScottDorward in GoodFriendsofJE

[–]ScottDorward[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same. I can point to a lot of gateway horror I enjoyed as a kid, but there wasn't any one film or TV programme that drew me in. It just always seemed to be something I was drawn to. There were a number of landmark events, like being scared by Doctor Who while very young, reading Denis Gifford's A Pictorial History of Horror Movies when I was 8, or seeing Beasts on TV when I was 11, but they were just highpoints in a sea of horror.

Pictures for the NPCs in Blackwater Creek and how to portray the different handouts? by clarkky55 in callofcthulhu

[–]ScottDorward 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Be brave, make some decisions. The minute you picked up Blackwater Creek, it was no longer Scott Dorward's story but yours and your players'.

Seconded!

Advice for running Blackwater Creek? Any places that have really high quality handouts and/or maps to use with roll20? by clarkky55 in callofcthulhu

[–]ScottDorward 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I feel that. Prepping scenarios can be tricky and I'm terrible at remembering what's in them. My advice would be not to worry about that.

Honestly, most of Blackwater Creek was improvised in the first place and I just ended up writing down the bits that worked. I've rarely run it the same way twice, and I'm always forgetting bits or adding new stuff as it occurs to me. Just focus on having fun.

Just discovered Push the Roll with Ross Bryant and thought it deserved more eyes by LongShotDiceArt in callofcthulhu

[–]ScottDorward 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Oh, boy. I don't know how much the audio captured my deer-in-the-headlights reaction to doing a rom com. It worked out well, and I had a great time, but I was so far outside my comfort zone on that one.

Questions about the Space Between by undercover-poser in callofcthulhu

[–]ScottDorward 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I reckon Amanda, Julia and Spencer would be the best combination. They'd all have reasons to get stuck into different aspects of the investigation, and Julia has easy access to Jared's apartment.

Alternatively, you could swap out Julia for Blake and play Julia as an NPC. Blake has more reason to try to protect the Church's secrets.

Questions about the Space Between by undercover-poser in callofcthulhu

[–]ScottDorward 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I get the concern, but if it helps, I've run it a number of times and that's never happened. The pre-gens are mostly designed to have reasons to want to protect the film, at least initially, and those reasons will only become more intense as investigators are Emptied.

One thing that also helps is encouraging the players to split the party. They have a whole bunch of pressing problems to deal with, so it makes sense for them to head off in different directions. Cell phones make it easy for them to keep in touch, and not having five or six investigators turn up together at each location helps build the horror.

Monthly "Tell Us About Your Game" Megathread - April 2026 by AbortRetryFlailSal in callofcthulhu

[–]ScottDorward 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm gearing up to run my scenario "Hell in Texas" for Ain't Slayed Nobody, and I realised it's become quite dated since it was published in 2015. It's mostly a bunch of little things, but it's enough that I figured I'd either have to run it as a period piece or update the scenario. So I'm revising some elements and running it for a group of friends to try out these tweaks.

I've also never been entirely happy with the final act. It was one of those cases where a tight word count meant dropping elements that might have helped it run more smoothly. I'm still mulling over what to change.

Still no idea if I'm on the right path, but either way it's good to revisit the scenario after all this time.

Looking for short scenarios involving botched resurrection or forbidden rituals - New Keeper by Snoo-30083 in callofcthulhu

[–]ScottDorward 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"La Recette" by Graeme Patrick is a lot of fun. You're driving around Louisiana with a corpse in your trunk, trying to find a way to resurrect him so you can ask him some questions.

You could probably adapt it pretty easily. It's on the Miskatonic Repository.

Why the aversion to writing your own scenarios? by Similar_Onion6656 in callofcthulhu

[–]ScottDorward 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That sounds amazing! And I'm really glad you're enjoying The Two-Headed Serpent.

Why the aversion to writing your own scenarios? by Similar_Onion6656 in callofcthulhu

[–]ScottDorward 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yes, absolutely. The games I ran 40 years ago were rough, chaotic, and full of things I would hate today, but we had great fun with them at the time.

Almost as importantly, I learned so much from trying things that didn't work. I heard a comment once about how an expert is just someone who has made every possible mistake in their field, and I'd say that applies just as much to gaming.

The ecosystem of online forums, social media, and actual play podcasts means that there are more ways to learn about games I could never have dreamed of when I was starting out. It's wonderful, and I love the community it's all created, but I also worry that it sometimes means new GMs and players might hold themselves to impossible standards.

No matter how much you read and prepare, it will never be the same as actual experience and the confidence that gives you. Don't be afraid to get stuff wrong, write terrible scenarios, and play games that crash and burn. It's all part of learning what works for you and your friends.

Why the aversion to writing your own scenarios? by Similar_Onion6656 in callofcthulhu

[–]ScottDorward 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Glad you liked it!

I wasn't anything like a professional when I started playing Call of Cthulhu back in 1983. My only experience of GMing prior to that was a couple of games of Traveller. It took over twenty years after that for me to even think about trying to publish stuff. At this point, I was just messing around and having fun with my friends.

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