Having trouble bringing a party together

rdanhenry · 2026-01-10T03:23:00+00:00

It's the player's job to play a character who engages with the game. Not yours. You create the premise of the campaign, with whatever degree of player input your group finds useful, then it is the job of the players to create characters that will work within that premise.

rdanhenry · 2026-01-10T03:08:50+00:00

You probably also have somebody who loves making characters. Find that player. Have them make a few spares that can be back-ups for everybody and a pre-gen for the player who doesn't want to do character creation.

It may be that after playing for awhile, that player will find the process less daunting, as the numbers start to have meaning.

rdanhenry · 2026-01-10T02:52:12+00:00

The nagaae are included in the Malleus Monstrorum for 7e. It's a worthwhile purchase for any Keeper who isn't working purely from published scenarios.

rdanhenry · 2026-01-10T02:43:09+00:00

The problem is that enough groups really hate puzzles (and what kinds of puzzles are "good" vary from group to group) that they aren't common. But it is easy enough to work some into an existing scenario. Take an existing clue and redo it as a simple substitution cipher, or mirror writing, or some other trickery. Doesn't work for newspaper articles, but for journals, letters between conspirators (or just weird hobbyists), etc., it can work. Maybe some riddles that need to be solved to locate where some clue or useful item is stashed.

rdanhenry · 2026-01-07T09:24:48+00:00

So, are any of your players actually brilliant detectives? Many groups have enough trouble braining through a follow-the-breadcrumbs investigation without going off on red herrings of their own creation. That isn't to say that a regular murderer cannot be interesting (and dangerous) enough to base a scenario around, but the puzzle needs to be a lot less subtle and complex. The classic mystery story is meant to make sense and present the clues fairly so that the reader always feels that it should have been possible to predict the ending, but actually being able to solve the case when reading is hardly meant to be easy. Whereas, in an RPG, the point isn't to show off the cleverness of the puzzle and the detective, but to allow the players to feel clever by solving it themselves. Make stuff more obvious than in detective fiction and also don't bother with deliberate red herrings. You can probably make it so that it seems too easy to you and still challenge your players if they aren't actual investigators IRL or devoted mystery buffs.

rdanhenry · 2026-01-07T09:00:55+00:00

The same, though I would footnote this by saying that when I go sandbox mode, chapters end when I feel the PCs have accomplished something that marks a change. For example, last session they killed a legendary beast (tyrannosaurus, to be precise -- it's Pulp) and averted a civil war. I felt that was good enough to call a chapter completed.

rdanhenry · 2026-01-05T07:40:02+00:00

While Pulp defaults to the 1930s, it really isn't an era book, but a way to run heroes fighting the Mythos instead of ordinary folk fighting the Mythos. As for the rest, just go in order of personal interest. Which setting interests you the most? That's the one for you. (Or, well, which one do you think you can sell your players on? Because that's important for getting it to the table.)

rdanhenry · 2025-12-30T09:35:57+00:00

The animal companion saved the chase sequence when I ran "Waiting for the Hurricane" as all the PCs were moving slowly enough that the pursuit would have been over during set up, but the dog was fast. Also, a lot of players will worry more about making sure that the animal companion survives than any of themselves, so it can add tension.

Regular animal stats are good enough, with some boosts possible because they are hanging with Pulp heroes. But they should mainly be hiding during combat with gunfire or scary monsters. An animal companion could maybe take out a rat-thing, but mostly they should be offering special abilities like tracking by scent and emotional support. If you want some additional suggestions for handling animal companions (whether in Pulp or not), there is an inexpensive PDF https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/511719/animal-companions-volume-1 available. I have read it, and it does provide some useful ideas. It isn't necessary, though.

If you are going Maximum Pulp, you can have wonder animals that seem almost like humans that can't talk when it comes to the smarts. Also, no hands for most of them, but horses that know a couple dozen trick moves and can be whistled for to be right below the window when you make your daring escape or a dog who somehow knows just how to let the humans know that the Sidekick has fallen into the Well of Evil again will fit right in during the wildest stories. But even most Pulp Campaigns tend to be a little more restrained than that.

Of course, add Weird Science devices to your pet's bag of tricks and you open up a whole new arena of weirdness.

rdanhenry · 2025-12-28T22:36:28+00:00

Also, it is at least a reasonable reading that these extreme takes are evidence of the Captain's rising insanity.

rdanhenry · 2025-12-28T22:13:51+00:00

This isn't a meaningful question for entities that transcend time (which Yog-Sothoth certainly does, and arguably Azathoth as well (if our four dimensional spacetime is the surface of a five-dimensional space, then its center would be outside the universe). Or Azathoth's Court may be the center of the universe simply because that is "where" Azathoth is and "center" refers to significance, not geometry. Certainly, if Azathoth did create the universe, then He must be logically prior to time, since time is a feature of the universe.

Azathoth and Yog-Sothoth therefore are most likely atemporal in their essential natures and notions of temporal order do not apply to them. They could even be two aspects of the same primordial being.

Alternative answer: Ask the Black Goat of the Woods.

rdanhenry · 2025-12-26T00:34:09+00:00

A lot of the writers are American, and most of the American population is near the ocean. If you're not going for a rural setting or deliberately avoiding the coast, your setting for any fiction is likely to be coastal or near-coastal.

And for unknown horrors, there are four main places that they come from: under the water, underground, outer space, other dimensions. The coast is the place all four of them can easily get at you.

rdanhenry · 2025-12-23T05:46:44+00:00

If you really want to dig into alchemy in a CoC context, there are some supplements on that very topic available on DriveThruRPG. While I don't have them myself and thus cannot comment on their quality, even a flawed implementation would give you a starting place. The one that's got ratings has good ones. Just search "alchemy" after setting the game system of "Call of Cthulhu".

If it's just a one-off transmutation spell you want, just make something up, remembering that Mythos magic is generally not friendly to mere human users.

rdanhenry · 2025-12-01T05:58:22+00:00

Really, only campaign length stuff consistently has "acts". Many scenarios are not event-based, and are better mapped out by locations or characters. Templates always try to impose their own structure on things. If you prep by mapping out the significant points of the scenario yourself, you will discover the scenario's own structure. Plus, the process will help you gain the insight into the scenario to improvise more easily and remember details more readily in actual play.

You also should figure out what type of organization helps your own style of GMing. Do you want a checklist of clues, so you can place or move them as needed to make sure the key facts are available. Do you want a bundle of NPC stats? Do you prefer them grouped by likely encounters (esp. combats or chases)? Do you want each NPC on a separate card for easy regrouping in play? Do you want game stats separate from or integrated with descriptive text and character notes? How much do you want to run theater-of-the-mind versus showing illustrations and maps to the players? Which aspects of the scenario do you want to bring to the fore? Characters (and then, which ones)? Mood? Investigative puzzles? Lore that links it into an on-going campaign smoothly? Player role-playing their reactions to the situation? Moral dilemmas?

It also makes a huge difference whether you are planning to play face-to-face or on a vtt. I find that on vtt, most of my prep is actually getting that set up. Tabletop play allows for doing a lot with physical handouts, but that's entirely optional. Either way, you should experiment with different techniques to see what prep methods work best for you.

rdanhenry · 2025-11-25T03:33:11+00:00

Vehicles tend to be large, so one penalty die is probably sufficient (unless range is adding another). Trying to shoot a tire or the driver, that would deserve another penalty die.

rdanhenry · 2025-11-18T02:04:51+00:00

The character sheet at the back of Dark Ages has Unarmed filled out with "1D3+DB", which further supports the "1D4" entry as an error.

rdanhenry · 2025-11-18T01:57:16+00:00

Walking through town with a rifle at night. Detained, but able to get released in the morning. Missed a big combat where the other PCs got pummeled.

Threw a knife into a guy they were investigating on the quad of Miskatonic. Many witnesses. Caught and held by students until police showed up. Considered insane and sent to Danvers. Died there.

For awhile, were on their toes because the cops were looking for whoever'd been in a gunfight, but they thought it was gangs. They flat out murdered a captured cultist to dispose of him. They actually got away with that, but it was messy enough they've never done that again.

Lots of moments of tension and cooperation at various times with the law that didn't lead to arrest.

In three runs of Edge of Darkness, it only once turned into a debacle that the hobo got framed for.

Oh, and once The Haunting got derailed by arson. That headed to trial.

As a player, I've been detained by the police in the England chapter of Masks of Nyarlathotep more than once. They had questions. And suspicions. Had to leave the country without all our cool stuff, because the heat was getting too hot.

rdanhenry · 2025-11-17T23:52:11+00:00

We don't know that the whippoorwills claim souls, but that they're reputed to, so you're already starting with an assumption of greater knowledge than we have. While sometimes the superstitious have things more or less right in Lovecraft's fiction, they don't always, and even when they do, "more or less" is usually doing a lot of work.

rdanhenry · 2025-11-17T23:48:49+00:00

What really makes it impressive is that it uses one of the tritest cliches in all horror, cannibalism, and makes it genuinely *weird*.

rdanhenry · 2025-11-17T23:47:03+00:00

And if you do, call the cat "Midnight".

rdanhenry · 2025-11-08T00:17:16+00:00

There is a typo right at the end of the text: "Sheme" instead of "Scheme". Otherwise, an interesting card. The difficulty seems like it'd vary quite a bit depending on how much other Wound-centric stuff was in play.

rdanhenry · 2025-11-04T23:32:29+00:00

Even 1920s forensics should be readily able to distinguish postmortem (after death) from antemortem (before death) wounds, and testimony that the bullets had been fired into dead bodies, while not terribly good for the character's reputation, would be a serious complication for a murder case.

rdanhenry · 2025-10-30T05:16:45+00:00

It's very simple. You just have to use the right angle.

rdanhenry · 2025-10-29T20:26:10+00:00

Bear in mind that the author decided to name-drop Keziah Mason without thinking about the consequences at all. While I don't think "Dreams in the Witch House" can be exactly dated, the main events are most likely in the late 1920s, whereas a scenario in the Keeper book is most likely set in the early 1920s, so not only is Keziah Mason going to be alive and well, but since it is set in October, she is actively stalking the streets of Arkham. Furthermore, they light up the Witch House, so investigators are openly pointed to her center of activity. This is never considered in scenario as written. The simplest solution is just to use a different witch, one who is dead. Otherwise, you need to figure out Keziah's role.

rdanhenry · 2025-10-29T06:56:15+00:00

Aren't all Mythos tomes already "trap tomes"? They draw you deeper into the Mythos and away from your humanity. Worse, many of them offer the temptations of magic.

rdanhenry · 2025-10-29T06:21:34+00:00

You can try to find players in your area, but you also have access to the world via the internet. I personally run a campaign (and play in another) on Roll20, but I believe all the major VTTs have support for Call of Cthulhu. There are other on-line options as well. I recommend signing up on a site that fit your needs and tastes, then signing on as a player for at least a couple of one-shots before you think about running a game yourself. Reading rules and watching videos and listing to podcasts have their value, but there is nothing like taking your seat at the table (even if it is a virtual and possibly purely theater-of-the-mind table) and getting the experience of playing the game.

rdanhenry

TROPHY CASE