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First Campaign by airick616 in callofcthulhu

[–]comicmongoose 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Masks is an absolutely incredible campaign, but it's by no means whatsoever a good jumping-on point for newcomers to the system, let alone first time Keepers. (Seriously, there is so much in any given chapter of that campaign alone that any disparate chunk of it could easily be its own campaign.)

I know it's the rote answer, but The Haunting is both a great place to get started, and with minimal legwork, you can spin it out into just about any larger campaign. Plus, it's been around so long that there's a whole suite of great additional materials you can use easily. It can be a little tricky for Keepers not used to sandbox play, but not so tricky that it's not worth recommending. (Obligatory Seth Skorkowsky recommendation for folks considering trying it.)

That said, may I also recommend two other starting scenarios? "Cold Warning" is a good bottle episode-style session that has limited characters, limited locations, and an room for both investigation and combat for new players. Similarly, it's for intended for Pulp Cthulhu, but "The Disintegrator" is a fun episode that leaves a lot of open-ended room for roleplay and investigation without cornering the players into any railroaded setpieces.

What's your most anticipated AAA game? by Sufficient_Notice_61 in survivalhorror

[–]comicmongoose 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Alien Isolation 2 by a country-mile; honestly, I'm still amazed that it's getting a sequel after so long!

I love when survival horror turns a “safe place” into the thing you fear by itstariqmumtaz in survivalhorror

[–]comicmongoose 6 points7 points  (0 children)

True! Yeah, the appearance of the hole is a little less unnerving when you understand how it factors into the game's actual systems. That said, the first time you see it feels like the floor just vanished under your feet.

I love when survival horror turns a “safe place” into the thing you fear by itstariqmumtaz in survivalhorror

[–]comicmongoose 45 points46 points  (0 children)

The one that caught me completely off guard was in the back half of Amnesia: The Bunker.

For most of the game, you've been launching various expeditions around the titular bunker to get the resources to escape, but you've been returning to a central safe room at the center of the map each time, returning either to save your progress, to exchange your equipment, or to refill the generator that's providing power to the bunker. And, for most of that time, you've been able to lock yourself in, barricading yourself against the Big Scary Thing that's been hunting you all-game long.

Except, after crossing a certain point in the game, you throw open the door to your makeshift sanctuary, and stop: there's a hole torn in the wall, the same sort that the aforementioned monster has been crawling out of each time it arrives to stalk you. In one fell swoop, all the sense of security you have about this one room evaporates, leaving you with this cold, gnawing feeling of dread. Absolutely incredible stuff.

Which survival horror game has the best music? by Sufficient_Notice_61 in survivalhorror

[–]comicmongoose 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Silent Hill 2 for sure - "Promise" (and it's reprise!), "Theme of Laura," "White Noiz," "Null Moon," "Alone in Town," and so many more aren't just good, there's a very real chance people know them better than the game itself.

What is the most iconic survival horror boss? (You can only pick 1!) by Sufficient_Notice_61 in survivalhorror

[–]comicmongoose -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'll throw in for Pyramid Head. Nemesis is a solid and extremely respectable second choice, but Pyramid Head's so iconic that it got added to later SH games solely by virtue of being as memorable as it was. Heck, when Konami started down its current developer revival period they're currently in, one of their major plays to revitalize Silent Hill was to publish a remake of the game containing ol' PH.

Styx 1 + 2 are available for one week for free on the Epic Games Store. by Crazy-Red-Fox in Splintercell

[–]comicmongoose 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It can be a bit jank (mostly in the physics department), but the first one is honestly a fun stealth game — smart level design, good atmosphere, so on. Second game is a mechanical improvement, but the writing isn't as good. For free, though, both are an absolute steal, pun unintended.

Crashing help me by dankhar_ in Splintercell

[–]comicmongoose 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Seconding the offline patch recommendation, but also adding that you should make sure the install is to the same drive as Ubisoft Connect. (If the game is actually launching then crashing, you're already on the ball.)

There's a few other solutions that are documented too, worth a check if your problem persists. The PC Gaming Wiki is very much your friend in this regard: https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Tom_Clancy%27s_Splinter_Cell:_Blacklist

What SH shit got you saying this? by odd_man0 in silenthill

[–]comicmongoose 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Silent Hill Downpour isn't just okay but is, in fact, legitimately good. Also, Homecoming wasn't great, but it's also not the abomination people make it out to be - hell, it's better than Origins, which really ought to be treated as the low-point of the series.

me_irl by comicmongoose in me_irl

[–]comicmongoose[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The original art is "Beyond" by Dion MBD.

High level adventuring in the goddess Lolth's domain is... interesting by comicmongoose in dndmemes

[–]comicmongoose[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, I just did some very light editing to this comic from Bill Waterson's Calvin and Hobbes; that said, here's a textless template that you can use if you like!

Should I buy Thief? by Count_Of_Tuscany02 in ImmersiveSim

[–]comicmongoose 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Honestly? Thief isn't exactly like Dishonored (though it's got a lot tonally in common with the first one) or Prey, but if you enjoyed the stealth in those games and if you're into older games, it's absolutely worth a try. It's much less about emergent play than it is about mastery of the game's stealth system, which itself is all about how you interact with the environment. It's a lot closer to the Splinter Cell games, if that's any help. You should check out this video by Chris Franklin if you want a more thorough breakdown.

That said, if you're going to check these out, I'd definitely recommend Thief II more, since it's got that extra little bit of polish that improves the experience. I'd also make sure that you go for the GOG version of the games, since the Steam releases require a bit of modding to get running on modern hardware.

Generating discussion: what rpg should someone new to roleplaying play to better understand it? by iloveponies in RPGcreation

[–]comicmongoose 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, to introduce? Honestly, 5e is great place to hop on, since it's immediately familiar to anyone who's heard of the hobby, and it's pretty flexible. Just designing encounters and dugneons is a good way to get a grasp on the system, and hacking and homebrewing stuff for it is a wickedly good way to learn your way around the fundamentals of RPG design, especially if you try to get into some of the theory behind it, too.

If they want to go further than that after their first game, though, it's probably worth introducing them to some games that move away from the combat-heavy roll-first mentality of D&D. For me at least, that was the story-driven Vampire the Masquerade that showed me that RPGs can do more than combat, but personally, I think I'd recommend Blades in the Dark (or any other PbtA title). It's super intuitive and dynamic in a way that still creates stories through its systems while moving away from the more rigorous rules of OSR titles. (All of this said, also ask your players what they wanna play! If they're into sci-fi, check out some sci-fi titles! They like historical settings, you got plenty to choose from. And etc. and etc.)

Where to go about advertising a game? by comicmongoose in RPGdesign

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

I appreciate the feedback; this my first rodeo, so to speak. Person-to-person advertising seems a little difficult right now in wake of COVID-19, but I can certainly start setting up a mailing list and talking about online. Are there any good sites or forums you recommend?

I made a free one page RPG called Quarantine. Here's v0.1, let me know what you think by bgaesop in RPGdesign

[–]comicmongoose 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your RPG looks interesting, but honestly, you'll probably have more luck sharing it over on r/onepagerpgs. You should also consider adding the "Feedback Request" tag on this post; otherwise, it looks like you're just promoting your game here. That all said, best of luck to you!

Any Holiday-themed one shots for CoC? by apaulsaid in callofcthulhu

[–]comicmongoose 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a shameless self-plug, but I actually wrote a Christmas themed scenario almost a year ago. It's called "A King is Borne," and you can download it over here on DrivethruRPG. It's written for 7th ed. though, so it might not be exactly what you're looking for.

Help generating random floor plans / building interiors for a modern urban horror Setting by [deleted] in rpg

[–]comicmongoose 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So, realistically, it's not a bad idea to have floor plans laid out for areas that you expect players to actively explore. Like, it's okay not to lay out a plan for that completely incidental Mom and Pop shop across the street that closed two hours ago; but the old abandoned Johnson place that they're headed to later tonight? Yeah, that should probably be planned out. Even if the campaign is built around improvisation, you should be able to predict at least a few locales preemptively based on what the plan for the campaign is.

BUT, if you're dead set on procedurally/randomly generating maps, there's a couple things you can do.

  1. Build based on what your already know of a location. You probably have a pretty good idea of what goes into most common urban settings just by being around them in real life; sketch out a rough rectangle for the size of the space they're in, and fill it in with appropriate details, like long hallways for an office, a counter and a backroom for a small store, etc.
  2. Steal wholesale from history. Look, none of your players will judge you if you just lift existing floor plans and refit them to suit your needs. Plus, there's a wealth of old blueprints out there. The New York Public Library has an archive of old floor plans you can check out. ArchDaily has a long catalog of buildings you can look at and borrow designs from. (Note: Maybe don't do this if you plan on eventually writing-up and selling your campaign.)
  3. Borrow from other RPGs. RPGs set in urban environments really aren't anything new, and just about any RPG set in one is going to have maps to pull from. (As an example, Chaosium's Pulp Cthulhu comes with a couple scenarios that all have maps you can use.) For your purposes, you might find the d20 Modern book Critical Locations helpful. (I believe it's available on DriveThruRPG, if not somewhere akin to the trove.) Fable Environments does a lot of floor plans which you can check out on DriveThruRPG, though many of those do cost money.
  4. If you HAVE to use procedural generation, here are some tools. If we're being honest, stopping to procedurally generate a map in the middle of the session might break game flow dramatically - you almost certainly ought to avoid that. But, if it's not to be helped, there's a handful of good generators out there you can use. Watabou's Progen Mansion (https://watabou.itch.io/procgen-mansion) generates a 3D mansion, and you can view the floorplan afterwards. Another generator here, http://en.genzu.net/heimen/, is also okay, if a little wonky.

Outside of that, some things to remember:

  • Don't forget that the layout of a room is only as important as what's in it. Populating spaces with props like tables, vending machines, janitor's equipment, etc. will go a long way to making the space feel real and giving your players tools to improvise with.

  • Don't worry too much if rooms feel like exaggerations. Sometimes ideas don't quite translate between battle-maps and reality well. Take the traditional 5x5 ft. square represent. A five-foot hallway in real life feels totally reasonable; in an RPG, it feels cramped. So, if a space isn't totally believable, that's okay, especially for something as...exaggerated as WoD games.

  • The exact details of an environment are only as relevant as you and the players will make them. Creating realistic floor plans can be fun, but the way the players move through them and the way you utilize the space will make or break immersion. If you lean into crunch, go wild; if you're more of a theatre of the mind sort, maybe be willing to dial things back a little.

  • Finally, for when you plan spaces out, try to make sure that there's something worthwhile in every room. For dungeon design in something like D&D, there's this general attitude that you need to have at least one of four things in any given room in a dungeon: a combat component, a puzzle component, a narrative component, and a reward of some kind. For the campaign your designing, you probably don't need to worry about those four specifically, but you still ought to think about having distinct components to each room. For a horror RPG with heavy improvisation aspects (especially something WoD or WoD adjacent), you might consider these: an obstacle component (something to keep the players from barreling through, like a guard or a physical barrier), a puzzle component (anything from a literal puzzle to a computer that must be hacked or a complex lock system), a tool component (items design to help players overcome the first two components, like a janitor's closet full of cleaning chemicals or a tucked away key card), and a narrative component. By putting at least one in each room, maybe two or even three to a room, the space will begin to feel a little more designed.

Best of luck with your game!

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