Call of cthulhu 1920's playlist
Description
Quickstats
Playlist Length
0 days, 10 hours, 24 minutes
Playlist Followers
491
Source
Playlist Last Updated
January 14, 2023
Mood
Chill
Track Popularity Rating
Deep
Style
Instrumental
Average Release Decade
2010s
Main Genre:
Mixed
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**What should you be aware of, coming from D&D:** First of all, CoC is VERY different from D&D. Combat reeeeeeally isn't the focus in anyway. If the players enter combat, chances are they fucked up. A single gun shot can kill or critically injure your players, not to mention the monsters. This doesn't mean you should avoid combat at all costs, just that you need to be aware of how lethal it is. Having multiple sessions without combat, isn't unusual, and your players will likely do everything they can to avoid combat. That doesn't mean you shouldn't attack them from time to time. Especially if/when they fuck up ;) CoC tends to be much more story and roleplay driven than D&D, with a high focus on investigation. the goal usually is to find clues to solve some kind of mystery. Where D&D is a power fantasy, when compared to CoC, this game is more of a downward spiral, with ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Sure, players get minimally better at their skills, but it is almost inevitable that their sanity will only go down the longer they actually survive. Though there is magic in CoC, players most often shouldn't use it unless absolutely necesarry. There is almost nothing that messes players sanity up, more than using spells, except for seeing some of the monsters. Learning the spells take away sanity, as does casting it, and often seeing the effect of the casted spell does too. Let's just say there is a reason most npc cultist/"wizards" are insane already. Ofcourse, if the players insist, let them do it, and let them learn their lesson. **Where do I start?** There are free quickstart rules on [chaosium.com](https://www.chaosium.com/content/FreePDFs/CoC/CHA23131%20Call%20of%20Cthulhu%207th%20Edition%20Quick-Start%20Rules.pdf) that has a scenario called "The Haunting" in it, that most GM's starts with. It's a good introduction, escpecially for people coming from D&D. I'll also recommend the scenario [lightless beacon](https://www.chaosium.com/content/FreePDFs/WeAreAllUs/2019/The%20Lightless%20Beacon%20-%20Call%20of%20Cthulhu.pdf) (which is also free) and the book [doors to darkness](https://www.chaosium.com/doors-to-darkness-hardcover/) aswell as [mansions of madness](https://www.chaosium.com/mansions-of-madness-pdf/) All you really need, is the keepers rulebook. The investigators handbook is nice to have, but isn't really needed at all. If you've never run CoC before i HIGHLY(!!) recommended starting out with prewritten scenarios. Most of them are very well written. CoC generally has some of the best written scenarios of all RPG's. There are some very good campaigns for CoC too, but I would stay away from them, until you are familiar with the games central themes and mechanics. There is a convertion guide, in the keepers rulebook, to use stuff from older editions and everything dating back to 1st edition, can be used in 7th edition. There honestly hasn't been a lot of changes from 1st to 6th, with the most major updates coming with 7th, but it is still very much the same, easy system. **General advice and sources:** CoC's horror should be more slow-burn than action/"monster in your face", meaning the way you describe the horror works MUCH better than just saying "you see a dimensional shambler" - Tell them how it looks and smells and the feeling of dread the investigators feel from encountering it, instead of telling them what it actually is. Let them come to their own conclusions. Setting the mood of the room is important in CoC and horror in general. I usually play in a dim, candle lit room, with room e nough for me to go around the table (and behind the players) - Another important "trick", especially in these online times is music. Music can realy help pur every one in the right state of mind. I Use [Bohren und der club of gore](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECyfX1OR_nk&list=PLOgR5bMMKdVb4CDKFivkVOzHPNyrsZpzx) use a lot for non-horrific, more investigative moments. I also have a large spotify playlist with ambient horror music and period specific music [Here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6IiHMv8fqlIafzWmSFptLV?si=vOqD-SeLRfegIg0TolMMlA) Now, on the subject of insanity. When my players do go temporary or indefinitely insane, I usually have a short talk to them, about what kind of insanity they suffer, according to the situation, and how they plan to play out their madness. I've heard of keepers just playing them when they are insane, taking away player agency, but I really feel like this is VERY bad GM'ing I often read about keepers who have players who just call the cops, instead of making an investigation themselves, but to stop players from just calling the cops, remember that first of all, people don't believe in monsters and the mythos. If someone called the cops telling them about monsters and magic, chances are the police would come get the players, and put them in an insane asylum. If it's something more mundane, but still illegal (maybe they send the cops into a cult's lair or something) - make the cops either not realize that anything is going on at all or simply have the cult bribe the cops (making second attempts at calling the cops, likely not to work, because someone was already send there, and nothing was found) or have the cultist capture and/or kill the cops. This would make the players lose sanity, as they are the reason why some cops disappered. If the cult is big and influential enough, they could even have cops, or even the chief of police a members. other than that, have a look at this guys blog, especially the [Three Clue Rule](https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1118/roleplaying-games/three-clue-rule) , [Don’t Prep Plots](https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/4147/roleplaying-games/dont-prep-plots) and [5 Node Mysteries](https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/37903/roleplaying-games/5-node-mystery) . [https://thealexandrian.net/gamemastery-101](https://thealexandrian.net/gamemastery-101) [Running Horror](https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/45246/roleplaying-games/random-gm-tip-running-horror) might be worth a read too Another good source is Seth Skorkowsky, as he is pretty much the go to youtuber when it comes to Call of Cthulhu [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQs8-UJ7IHsrzhQ-OQOYBmg](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQs8-UJ7IHsrzhQ-OQOYBmg) **Making up your own scenarios:** If you decide to make you own thing, instead of running premades (which I don't recommend as you start out) You'll need to come up with what the main plot is. Let's say it's a murder mystery. You'll need to find out who got killed, where they got killed, why they got killed, and so on. Basically the more "WH-questions" (who, what, when, where, why) you can answer, the better. NPC's motivations and backgrounds often becomes very important. Let's say some girl got killed by a cult member. Why did the cult want her dead? Was she part of this cult? Why did she join a cult in the first place? Did anyone of her friends and family know of this cult? Maybe they do, but don't want to tell the players..... why not? and so on. This doesn't mean you should plan out the entire plot, as that leaves the risk of railroading your players too much. You should plan a main goal (find the killer for example) and then plan out scenes, and let the players decide how to go from one to the other. Think of where clues leads from one scene to the next, and then plan what clues/npc's is in the next scene(s) (a clue and a npc could be the same thing in this context. Clues is basically "what can they find out in this scene") You need to leave enough clues that your players can figure out most if not all of this stuff. just winging it is really hard in CoC because it tends to be so plot driven. If you don't know what's going on, it'll be hard for your players to figure it out.
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