Cthulhu 7th Edition Card Decks

Around two years ago, I had the notion of putting together a series of card deck for Call of Cthulhu. Each deck would focus on a key thing, like a collection of everyday non-player characters, a collection of villains (cultists, thugs, criminals), a deck of monsters and so on. The idea being that a harassed Keeper could simply hand out or use any number of these cards to help them during a game.

Picture this… the players have decided to go ‘off reservation’ into an area of scenario that you didn’t plan? No problem, pull out a card from the NPC deck – they have met ‘Frank the Handyman’. Now the players have decided to start a fight in bar – fine, pull a ‘Thug’ card from the villains deck. One of your player character’s just died/went insane about 30 minutes before the end of the session? Need a character they can play to keep them interested in the final 30 minutes? Pick an NPC card from the deck – perhaps they like the character so much they develop it fully next time into their investigator. And so on…

Anyway, I played with the idea of having a series of decks – characters, monsters, weapons, spells – having these would then allow you to create ‘scenario’ decks, where each card gave you a recipe for a scenario. For example:

Scenario Card A

Randomly draw or pick the following:

4 x villain cards

1 x monster card

5 x spell cards

5 x NPC cards 

Decide which villain is the leader (give all the spells to them).

The other villains work for the leader.

Decide which NPC has been ‘eaten / killed / captured’ (decide which)

by the monster (known as NPC 1).

The monster has been unleashed by the leader (decide a cult name) and will

eat / kill / capture the another 4 NPCs over the next 4 days.

The investigators have been approached by one of the NPCs to

find out what’s happened to  NPC 1.

Well, you get the idea – not sure this kind of scenario card would actually work, but the idea interested me.

I never really did anything with the deck of cards concept until we began to plan the Call of Cthulhu 7th edition kickstarter with Chaosium. The card deck idea reached out of the dark recesses of my mind and I proposed the idea to Chaosium as a possible stretch goal. The Chaosium gang liked the idea, so we discussed exactly what decks we could do and which would be most useful for Keepers. Interestingly, a couple of different playtest groups had proposed card ideas – so the notion had obviously crossed a few people’s minds.

In the end we decided on:

A deck of Curious Characters – these would essentially be fully stated NPCs (inc. skills and weapons, backstories) that the Keeper could draw upon whenever he or she needed a character in the game – the cards would serve a double purpose in this respect: the Keeper could use the character card ‘as is’ with the stats and character portrait, or simply just use the portrait as a visual player aid (assuming the Keeper was using an NPC already stated in the scenario). Additionally, if a player needed an investigator at the drop of a hat, then one of the character cards could do the trick.

An early prototype (with errors!)

A Weapons & Artefacts deck – a selection of common and unusual weapons, each fully detailed on a card, as well as a few Mythos artefacts that could fall into the investigator’s hands. Each card would tell the player all the weapon stats (range, damage, etc.) and also any special rules or information. If an investigator picks up a weapon in mid game, the Keeper can toss the appropriate card to them and get on with the game – rather than have a) find the weapon stats in the rulebook,  and then b) read the stats to the player while they write them onto the investigator sheet – all of which stops the game. Giving a player a prepared card saves time and allows everyone to keep their focus on the game in hand.

A deck of Phobia cards – each card details the effects of a phobia, mania or bout of madness. Again the aim is keeping the pace of the game foremost in mind and avoiding unnecessary pauses in the game whilst the Keeper takes a player aside to explain their insanity to them. Passing the selected card to the player, allows the Keeper to keep the game moving whilst also ensuring the player has enough information to ‘enact’ their investigator’s insanity or bout of madness. The card is designed to provide guidance as well as provoke questions for the player to answer – allowing them to tailor the insanity to their investigator appropriate to the situation and conditions of the insanity’s cause. The information on the card provides enough to get them started but also assists them and the Keeper in further developing the game’s story beyond what’s written on the card.

Finally we have the Unfortunate Events deck – here are all manner of ‘Keeper Notes‘ that could be passed to a player during the game. Each card describes something that has just happened and its immediate effect upon the investigator. Sometimes the information will be clear and unambiguous (“whilst searching the room, you have found a small golden pendant inscribed with a strange symbol“), or more obscure (“you think you saw someone  watching you – are you being followed?“) The cards have to be generic enough to be of use in multiple situations, yet specific enough to be worth using. I see them as useful little Keeper aids to help keep the player’s guessing and to build tension (i.e. I hope that getting one of these cards becomes something to be feared by the players!)

So far, both the Phobia and Weapon decks are complete and with Chaosium for design and art. The character deck is halfway through being written – it’s the longest of all of the decks to write (imagine stating up 40+ NPCs, with full skills and backstory details!) Once the character deck is complete I’ll move on to the event deck. I think the event deck will be challenging – making sure I have a broad enough range of ‘events’.

Cthulhu Lives…in your notebook!

Missed Dues, Part 4: Playtest Conclusions

So the scenario is written and I’ve playtested it with three very different groups to figure out any loop holes, errors and if anything is missing.

Across the three groups were a mix of newish to veteran Call of Cthulhu players, with both genders represented. All three groups went at it in very different ways, however all seemed to end up (by their own volition) in a similar pickle by the end.

It’s always interesting to see how much ‘Mythos meta knowledge’ comes in to play in each group. Some steadfastly rely only on the information provided in game, attempting to keep things within the scope of their character’s rather than the player’s knowledge. Others can’t help themselves. Each is fine with me in a playtest as I get to see how different people’s minds interact with the scenario, which helps to focus on whether I have put anything too obvious in. From this, I decided that one of of player handouts was a bit too obvious, so I redid it, toning down the Mythos references, which had the effect of making it more puzzling for the next playtest group – which worked much better and had them guessing rather than ‘knowing’ what was going on.

By dint of the fact that each session I ran had different time constraints (from 4 hours to 2.5 hours in range), I was able to focus on what where the key drivers in the scenario – what the major hooks were that sent the players chasing down particular avenues. I find this useful as it allows me to know the rough timing of key scenes, thus in a convention game I’ll know when to press on and when to allow the players time to ponder their situation. As the scenario reaches its climax, it seems from experience, that it really begins to gather pace – hurtling the investigators towards a tension-filled and satisfying close.

Nothing to do with Missed Dues, but cool never-the-less!

Of course the playtest did ensure I spotted one major error! I realised mid game that I had forgotten to include the stats for a very important NPC! During the game I winged it, but afterwards spent a good amount of time putting the NPC’s stats in and double checking the stats of the NPCs already written in. One of those situations where you have convinced yourself  that you have done something, when in reality you have not. Thus, always good to double check the important stuff!

Finally, I did a last proof read for typos and whatnot, corrected a handful and it was done. I sent the final ms, handouts and pre-generated investigators to Chaosium for them to layout and print ready to give to the players who had supported that particular pledge level in the kickstarter.

I should give a mention to Dean Engelhardt who was totally marvellous in helping to put together a set of investigator sheets (based on his new design for 7th edition) for the games. Dean’s done a great job with the sheets, making them do all the maths, so the rolling up process is speeded up considerably. The sheets look fantastic. Dean has loads of cool free stuff on his website – go check it out.

Infecting the Airwaves…

Those marvellous gugs at the Miskatonic University Podcast threw caution to the wind and asked me on to their show. Here’s the result…

http://www.mu-podcast.com/mu-podcast-035-7th-ed-postmortem/

Missed Dues – Player Handout

Great news – I needed to create a player handout for the Missed Dues scenario and I’m really pleased that Sam Lamont has offered to create it for me, which means it’ll actually look very cool!

Sam is a wonderful artist – check out his gallery (link below). Recently he designed a new card game called Epic Death (funded via Kickstarter). Having playtested the game I can say it’s great fun and well worth a look when it’s released.

Here’s the links:

http://www.moonskinned.co.uk

http://www.facebook.com/epicdeathgame?fref=ts

MIssed Dues, Part 3: Scenario Construction – Writing and Testing

Writing brings out the surreal…
Source: http://surrealistisch.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/roberto-kusterle.html

The hard part of writing a scenario is writing it.

Having noted facts and names from HP Lovecraft’s Arkham and written down bullet points for key people, locations and events, I now start writing in the blanks.

I start at the top, writing a ‘background’ section for the Keeper. This basically explains the recent events that lead up to the involvement of the player investigators, who the main characters are, what they have done and anything else important (such as the potential consequences if the player investigators do nothing).

As the scenario exists only in my head at this point, as I write many ‘new’ ideas rise to the surface – if it feels good and fits, then I write it in (going back over the preceding text and back-filling or altering as necessary to ensure the new idea fits). If the idea is good but doesn’t fit, then I make note somewhere else and may one day come back to it for a different scenario.

I usually focus on the facts first, people and places. Each one is written up, why are they involved and what might they do – this latter bit breaks in to two parts: a) what the NPC will do during the scenario (i.e. he will do X that will cause Y), and b) what the NPC will do if the player investigators meet him or her, or what he/she will do if the PCs are liable to mess up the NPC’s big plan etc.

At some point, I’ll spend a day or two stating-up the various NPCs (I find doing all these in one go easier and give my brain a break from being ‘creative’).

Once I have written out all the NPCs and locations, I then write up the key events – potential major events (Y happens if X happens) and so on. Once this is done, I fill anything required, which might include extended Keeper notes, an introduction, a conclusion (including player rewards, possible outcomes – ways to solve the scenario), and player handouts.

So it’s written. I’ll then read it through, correcting and aligning contents – deciding if events should be placed after locations or whether they should be combined – this amounts to presenting the information in a logical play order – making sure the information is accessible to the Keeper in the middle of the game.

It’s at this point that you might realise that your clue quota is insufficient, i.e. you have inadvertently made a ‘clue bottleneck’, where an essential clue can only be found in one situation or place. If discovered, then I’ll look for ways to place the clue (or variations on it) in multiple locations. Some clues, however, are ok to be left as is; if the PCs don’f find the clue it will not derail the scenario.

Next step – playtesting.

Testing, testing…
Source: http://www.doctormacro.com

I’ll gather my group together and run them through the scenario, having first prepared a set of pre-generated investigators.

This is the chance to make sure the scenario works. Do the players do what you expected them to do? Did they visit all of the locations you prepared? Did they meet all of the NPCs?

More importantly, where did they go and who did they seek out that you hadn’t prepared? I found that when I ran Missed Dues the first thing the players all decided to do was speak to someone I hadn’t even considered writing in to the scenario. I couldn’t believe I had missed so obvious a person!

Whilst playing, I make notes in the scenario – new names, places, events, that will act to remind me when I come to revise the scenario after the playtest.

Often the most difficult bit is determining what to add in and what to leave out after the playtest. You have to take the middle road, adding in stuff that you feel the majority of groups will need, leaving out the less likely bits (otherwise your scenario will begin to look like a novel). Wherever possible I will try to include as much as possible without over doing the write-up, perhaps using bullet points to list some of the possibilities, allowing the Keeper to embellish these as they need or ignore them. For example, in the scenario the PCs will visit a certain building at the climax, however they really only need to go into one room (and will be directed to do so). So I’ll write up a full description of that room and what happens when the PCs go in there, whilst only listing a few ideas for the other rooms in the building in case the PCs decide to be more cautious in their approach. The Keeper then has enough ideas to rift from without me giving them an additional 5 pages of text, which for most groups will be ignored anyway. This is particularly relevant because the scenario is intended for convention play, i.e. within a four hour time slot.

Ideally, I’ll try and playtest the scenario will at least two different groups of people to ensure I’ve got it right. If possible, I might have another Keeper read and run the scenario too – this is very useful when you intend to publish the scenario.

Thus, having playtested and revised the scenario accordingly, it’s pretty much done.

Fezzes are cool…

Here’s the fez I designed for the Call of Cthulhu 7E kick-starter. It’s based on a certain Order that can be encountered in the Shadows of Yog-Sothoth campaign.

Missed Dues, Part 2: Scenario Construction – Themes and Plotting

My next steps in developing the Missed Dues scenario…

Having decided upon a group of criminal investigators, I favoured using the 1920s setting for two reasons: i) criminals are more easy to put together in that period, and ii) as the scenario was going to be a convention one-shot game, I wanted to reduce any unnecessary complications (mobile telephones, internet, etc).

Criminals in the modern day may work together, however everyone recognises the gangs of 1920s – large organised crime bodies. Whereas in modern times, criminals tend to be recognised as working in smaller groups or working solo. I wanted the player characters (PCs) to be aspiring criminals, eager to please their boss and work their way up the ‘food chain’.

As I was to run the scenario at GenCon, I needed to ensure common understanding with the players. So I resisted using a UK setting, instead opting for 1920s Arkham – which can act as a semi-familiar base for all players. Even if they have no knowledge of Arkham, it should be more even ground that say me setting the scenario in London.

Without the luxuries of cell phones, internet and other modern day contrivances, there was less chance of unexpected side-tracks from the players. Given the limited time slot, I wanted to ensure the game time was focused, making the players work through the plot in order to reach a satisfactory climax (for them). For a normal game, where multiple sessions could be played, these factors need not be considerations of course.

Having decided the PC make-up, setting and place I turned to themes and plotting.

Of course, given that I’m writing this before GenCon, I’m going to be careful not to say too much about the scenario’s content so as not to spoil any of the player’s fun (in case they are reading this in advance!)

Themes – I wanted to ensure a scale of control to loss of control for the PCs. At the start of the game they are in familiar surroundings, know what to do and who to speak to. By the end of the game I wanted a total reverse, putting the PCs in a position where nothing can be counted on or taken for granted.

I also wanted to explore themes of power. Each of the PCs wants more power (be it wealth, control of others or simply the power to reach freedom), the NPCs seek power or wish to hold on to what they have already got.

I didn’t do a lot with these themes, just note them down and let them jiggle about in my head whilst I began plotting the scenario. I would come back to them once I had written the first draft, allowing me to review and write-in or build on these themes during my second draft.

Plotting. This is very difficult to write with any examples (remember, I don’t want to give away any spoilers). So in a nutshell, I sketched out the plot as follows:

1. What events have happened before the PCs become involved.

2. What would be a good climax to the scenario and point to end on.

3. How can the PCs become involved. What needs to happen to allow this, and who or what is the instrument that actually hooks the PCs in.

4. What is the path the players are likely to take to get from point A (introduction) to point X (climax).

5. Make a list of all of the obvious locations (then rethink and add locations not so obvious that awkward players might come up with).

6. Make list of NPCs at those locations, plus add other NPCs who will feature in the scenario.

7. Think about the Mythos – what is the Mythos angle in all of this, and which of the NPCs (if any) have Cthulhu Mythos knowledge and why. Also, what will they do with this knowledge during the game (and make a note about it).

8. List possible handouts/props – add to this as the scenario gets written.

So with that done (I just jot down bullet points) I looked on the bookshelf for HP Lovecraft’s Arkham by Chaosium, figuring that this would work as my location bible for the scenario; ensuring that the game fits with the published knowledge of Arkham and its inhabitants.

From Chaosium Inc.

Thus, my next step was to read over the relevant bits in the Arkham book, noting down names and locations that met my scenario needs.

With this all done I could then begin to actually write the scenario…

Missed Dues, Part 1: Scenario Construction – The Initial Spark

Thought I’d muse about how I tend to put Call of Cthulhu scenarios together.

Initially I have a basic idea, this could be a scene, a climatic event, a theme or setting – really it’s the spark that sets the creative process off. Often I think about the player characters as a starting point – the types of people they are, their spheres of knowledge and probably most importantly their usual day. The reason being that I tend to write one-shots as I find the ‘all bets are off’ mindset a useful one for Cthulhu games. I think of one-shots like a horror movie, where essentially every character is potentially expendable and the horror can be freed to run its course – with campaigns there is the requirement of continuation; you can’t necessarily end the world at the end of the scenario, yet with a one-shot you can. The story is focused down to just the events of the player characters concerned and there’s no need to worry about what is happening elsewhere – the scenario’d narrow focus thus helps to accentuate the horror and escalates to a natural climax.

With Missed Dues Id been thinking of a scenario where all the player characters were from criminal backgrounds. I liked the notion that this group of people who have to be self reliant and that they would be extremely unlikely to call the police or anyone else to get them out of trouble. In fact ‘trouble’ was what they could be all about, which for me sounded like a good recipe ingredient for a scenario.

I imagined that such player character’s are likely to mistrust others (even the other player characters in the group), which could add to the tension and creative opportunities for the players to have fun getting in to character whilst they sparked-off one another.

I really hadn’t thought much beyond that initial premise and I let the idea permeate for a few weeks, allowing me to begin to think through what would make these characters ‘work together’ and what could be a hard and horrific situation for them – what would make them scared. After all these guys would be criminals, perhaps familiar to violence, be acquainted with  the harsh realities of their profession. Thus what would scare them.

These were the basic, initial ideas that I was thinking about before I put finger to keyboard and started writing anything.

All you need is a spark and then give it some air to ignite.

The Colour of Cthulhu

It’s been announced that Call of Cthulhu 7E rulebook and investigator’s handbook will be produce in full colour (if the stretch goal is met on Kickstarter) – it seems highly likely given the daily rate of increase for pledges.

Talking things through with Charlie at Chaosium, we’ve both picked up on many people asking that the books be as cool (if not cooler) than the French and Spanish editions and that they are easy to read without messy and distracting background images (something I think the French version may suffer from).

The French version looks pretty, but personally I find it overdone and I don’t think it would necessarily be easy to use in the middle of a game – there’s too much going on per page. As something on the shelf it’s great, but less so on the gaming table. But as I said, this is just a personal preference. Whereas the Spanish version is just about perfect in my eyes – although the square book format less so – it’s clean with subtle use of colours, well thought through layout and great use of imagery.

La llamada de Cthulhu
Source: http://www.susurrosdesdelaoscuridad.com/2011/12/la-llamada-de-cthulhu-edicion_19.html

Sample pages from the Spanish edition
Source: http://www.susurrosdesdelaoscuridad.com/2011/12/la-llamada-de-cthulhu-edicion_19.html

I know Charlie and Badger have a lot of ideas regarding the layout so I’m confident it will look great.