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Re: Call of Cthulhu in Sharn

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Logos

Aug 9, 2006, 10:35 am

Hello All,

Was looking for some help, been recently reading hearing about Call of Cthulhu (long time fan) and decided to import the Cthulhu Sensibilities into my eberron Game for a session.

So far i want the PC's to go on a Crrazy Nightmare Exploration/Investigation threw sharn, Get involved with Psionic Stuff (quuori, kalyshtar, mind flayers , House Dennith mind seeds etc) as well as some lost souls ( a Gnomish Batman/ V Rippoff who disappeared 100 years ago after warning about "Those Damn Riedians" , The 63rd Kalystar Spirit, A recently Deceased Pet who hopefully the party will have the brains to bring back to material and thus reinstate him, A vampiric Coutyl etc)

That said, I know the real art in Cthulhu/Love Craft is not the characters or even the villias so much as the scene and the tone and that's what im ask ing for help with. How do i get my players to

A> Not immediately realize it's a dream/nightmare/SOmething Mindaffectign while still ratcheting up the horror sanity

B> Willing Read a Book of Forbidden Knowledge

C> Help The Lost Souls (who may or may not be hostile)without sacrificing the "Survivor Syndrom" I'm trying to foister

D> Go insane without Sanity Damage (I've Been Using Taint to mimic the effect so far, should i just incorporate Sanity for this adventure without telling anyone or should i just continue Taint

Also Any Suggestions for Locations/Scene's Plots I have the rough work done but i love detail

Thanks for your Help and Intreerst , We are playing sunday And i'd be happy to let people know how it goes

Logos

Valegrim

Aug 9, 2006, 02:02 pm

if you have the old dieties and demigods it has the cuthulu old ones in it and other races you could convert; also, Palladium games book three i think; the one with the old one and the minotaur on the front has some adventures in it called the place of magic and all with seals and creatures of the old ones that would be easy to convert; i have and my group quite enjoyed them.

oh; and in the unearth arcane; in the back; there is a section on taint that I use when encountering the Old Ones though the chart as given is a bit two harsh so I doubled values of taint needed for corruption and insanity for playability.

Evilturnip

Aug 9, 2006, 02:17 pm

Check out the Roach Thralls in Sharn -City of Towers for a really creepy creature to use.

Gavgoyle

Aug 9, 2006, 02:55 pm

I don't have time to address this seriously...only a pithy comment:

Lovecraft is an author.
Love Craft is a kinky, kinky skill involving the construction of velure covered handcuffs.

And see if you can find a copy of the WotC d20 Call of Cthulhu Hardcover. It can really help bridge mechanics side of things as well as giving advice for adapting into a fantasy setting. It's sold out though Paizo right now, but you might be able to find it at another seller. I like it and felt that it was worth the price.

Here's what it looks like...
http://paizo.com/store/games/roleplayingGames/c/callOfCthulhu/wizardsOfTheC oast

Chris Shadowens

Aug 10, 2006, 01:25 pm

Gavgoyle wrote:

And see if you can find a copy of the WotC d20 Call of Cthulhu Hardcover. It can really help bridge mechanics side of things as well as giving advice for adapting into a fantasy setting.

I agree, though it can be rough to find (and pricey, troll eBay and you'll see) and I just checked DriveThruRPG.com and they don't have it in PDF format. You might also want to check out Malhavoc Press' "Chaositech" for mindbending creatures and devices. Also, "Relics & Rituals I & II" from Sword & Sorcery for info on cults and ritual magic.

Also, you might consider looking for monsters outside the mainstream to keep your players guessing at what's facing them. Tome of Horror I-III (Necromancer Games), Creature Collection I-III (Sword & Sorcery), Monsternomicon (Privateer Press) etc.

Plus, if all else fails, you can apply the "Psuedonatural Creature" template (Complete Arcane pgs 160-161) to some critters to alien them up a bit.

Good luck with your campaign, sounds like some serious psyche-melting fun!

- Chris Shadowens

The White Toymaker

Aug 10, 2006, 06:00 pm

Chris Shadowens wrote:

Plus, if all else fails, you can apply the "Psuedonatural Creature" template (Complete Arcane pgs 160-161) to some critters to alien them up a bit.

Pseudonatural from Complete Arcane would work well, as would including Kaorti (Manual of the Planes? I forget which book they were printed in) or, if the game gets to high enough levels, Pseudonatural as presented in the Epic Level Handbook. Other useful tools include, Alienists (Complete Arcane), Obyriths (Demons predating the Tanar'ri, whose appearance can drive mortals to insanity... They're in the Fiendish Codex), and a good read through K's Tome of Fiends would all be helpful in making for a good horror campaign.

Also, obviously, Heroes of Horror, which expands significantly on the taint mechanic presented in Unearthed Arcana and has a lot of advice regarding the flavor of a horror campaign, and what it takes to make a good horror game work.

Logos

Aug 11, 2006, 06:03 am

Thanks for the suggestion guys a little over 2 days to game time,

so far the situation is thus , the entire game is going to be a played out nightmare(Permanet) spell Cast by the Quori on the Hero's to keep them out of the way for a while ( The Hero's wont know this until i killed everyone)

THe Fiendish Codex is kewl and thanks for that suggestion, So far the Horror Aspect is being Driven by a Tscura Quori known as snake, with the alternate form as a Swarm of Snakes. He's had run in's with the party before(way back when) and he's the reason that the nightmare spell is going to last until they (wake up/Die) having litterally grabbed them from their nightmares and tossed thtem into a Pit of Nightmares literally on the plane of Dreams. ( He's Also Known as Mr. Buttlebe when Possessing a Inspired)

The Hero's aren't the only one's in this pit of nightmares, THeir is Rhip, a Gnome Druid/Bard/Greensinger, CN Batman Rip Off (Riding around on a Clawfoot that recently died in the real world)

A Coatyl Vampire (Something from a Nightmare of outsiders/Fiends that managed to pull itself into here rather than disappate with the nightmare that spawn it and thus why an outsider can have the vampire template (Very Nnasty Btw Vampire + Constrict + Poison+ Improved Grab)

THe lost 63 Spirit, a Quori Fleeing for the material plane and when it realized it wasn't going to make it, choose to be sucked into a black hole of nightmare rather than be caught

etc

But the Real Story is going to be about how , when the giant's Smashed Dol Quor Out of the Planar Ballpark, they essentially gave them exactly what they wanted. The 13 planes that make up the world are literally floating ontop of the Black Abyss, where evil literally concentrates into Black Hole of Evil. The Entire World begining with thte Progenitor Dragons wherer an aberation from this "Darkness" (Think Tordat from The Black Tower). The Evil Gods realized this and wanting to learn more of this went to where the "Elder Things" Lives and haven't been seen since except for the travellor thus is going to be summed up in the Liber Null, A forbidden Tome (and thus im going to sick Ranks in Forbidden Knowledge and Taint on the poor Chaps who Read it)

Dol Quor Now being in this Abyss of Darkness is essentially , perverted as was the Plane of Madness . but Back to the Nightmare

I plan on their being a set of Creepy Clues (Culminating in the Liber Null) as well as other "Artifacts" (Like Crysteel Mirrors and Dreamcatchers) To help the Party Along, if They All Die, it's simple enough to let them in on the fact it's a nightmare do a day's stuuff and continue On, the next night with a nightmare spell again.

Hopefully the Party win's by learning enought about the true nature of the world (Forbidden Knowledge) To create a Gateway out themselves, Convincing the Coatyl Vampire to take them out (with Planeshift and one of the PC's providing a location the thing the creature doesn't have as it has never been to the material) or by helping 63 spirit, thus trapping the Mr.Buttlebe in his own nightmare for a while until he realizes the parties not there

That said It's Still up in the air for the actual Clues/Artifacts/ and Locations as well as more importantly the inbetween story

More Updates coming in a few days