So a group of friends has convinced me to run carrion crown for them. Not a huge deal I've run the first 4 books before and liked it but this time around id like to make a few changes. The first is that the group would be limited to low magic to emphasize a more Dresden files "those who are in the know" feel and the other is I want to set it in a noticbly more modern era ( early 1900's)
The only major difference I see as far as the time period goes is the prevalence of guns. Namely fully automatic rifles. I know that the reign of winter AP introduced rules for full auto guns but I recall being skeptical about them at a glance. Anyone know how balanced they are?
Anybody whose run the full AP remember anything that may cause issues when it comes time to run this beast?
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Porting the story over to something like Call of Cthulhu or World of Darkness would probably be the easiest route. That being said, utilizing d20 Modern is also an option with less need for conversion.
I think, of all the APs, Carrion Crown would probably work best in a noir style game. I considered picking it up and running it in my now on hiatus WoD game. The core campaign is based around a conversion of Age of Worms and I thought CC would mesh really well.
Truthfully, think you're better to go with CoC or Trail of Cthulhu (for something more pulpy) and take a look at some of their campaigns. CC is great (I'm running it and we're on the last book) but Chaosium has excellent modules and campaigns that make great use of the 20s setting. Masks of Nyarlathotep is a great globe-trotting campaign and I've heard good experiences with Horror on the Orient Express. Also the Unspeakable Oath is a great magazine (especially the older issues from the 90s).
If your players want to run a 1920s horror game, I would strongly second running Masks of Nyarlathotep in Call of Cthulhu.
Converting Carrion Crown to a 1920s setting would be a TON of work, and would require re-writing a good chunk of the game rules. I think you and your players would have more fun running Masks in CoC.
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I know this is a bit off topic, but I am not a fan of Masks of Nyarlathotep. I honestly don't understand why it receives so much praise.
Check out this Amazon.com review I wrote... a very long time ago apparently.
I have converted many a game to different systems and, depending on the adventure, it looses much less than it seems like it would. Converting anything that has more than a little combat over to the Basic Roleplaying System, which is the core of Call of Cthulhu is potentially problematic since the system isn't designed for combat, its designed for exploration and investigation.
Different strokes... Though it sounds like your experience with Masks might be a GM issue. Its been a long time but I only have good memories of the campaign. I certainly remember plenty of danger and adventure (though as with any CoC campaign the investigator body count can get pretty high).
Anyways Masks is one example. Chaosium has a good track record of strong pre-written adventures. Trail of Cthulhu has some excellent tools to gear the campaign to a less deadly and more pulp adventure style.
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The comments that popped up on Amazon were about GM error and so on, but I was the one who ran it. I went on to run it again using Hunter the Reckoning but I needed to rearrange the clues significantly.
I know this is a bit of a thread derailment, but I will conclude by saying Masks has some great potential, really interesting NPCs, and some fantastic scenes. It's just the connective bits that really make it break down as a campaign.
As you say, different strokes and all that. I'm glad that folks like it, and good gods do they like it. To the point that I've been told by CoC fans that I am having worngbadfun and I am a terrible gamer for not liking CoC and Masks. I LOVE horror gaming and own all of Lovecraft's works, I just don't like the BRP game system and Masks.
I agree that there are some great CoC campaigns out there, such as Nocturnum, and Carrion Crown seems to be in that tradition.
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I did have fun with Masks for a few months but what failed as a campaign for us was constant PC replacement. Eventually, it was getting difficult to come up with reasons for our new characters to give a damn. we tend to do better with x-files style Cthulhu were there is a built in reason for new characters to be funneled into the story.
Pathfinder is very high magic indeed
If I hacked carrion crown I'd probably make it properly gothic era, so 1880 or so
I might consider converting the campaign to d20 modern. Although the lack of low-level magic would make cleaning out the haunts and incorporeal types of HoH quite difficult...