Recently I looked into CoC and heard a lot of praise about Masks of Nyarlathotep.
While I would love to run this "path", my players will likely be hesitant to dig into a whole new system (we're quite experienced Pathfinders all-around).
So I'm wondering if and how it might be done while introducing as little new rules as possible.
Could I for example rename a few PFRPG skills, add the Insanity system, and convert checks on-the-fly?
Or would the Quickstart pdf by Chaosium be enough to get started?
Or would I get in over my head and there is no way around the rulebook and I will have to accept that?
I'd appreciate your input!
The incarnation of CoC I played a decade ago was pretty easy to learn, but I don't know about the newer editions. The quickstart PDF would probably answer that though. Back then, the skills were a little clunky and character creation was very random, as in the dice pretty much decided what you got to play.
If you wanted to go more hero than horror, you could just keep it fantasy using Pathfinder and the d20 Call of Cthuluhu game from a few years ago.
My best advice is to learn what you can, follow your instincts, and see what your players want to do.
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Dude, it would be far less work just to learn the system. BRP is nowhere near as pointlessly complex as most d20 variants (to include Pathfinder). Hell, I'm pretty sure you could get by on just the free CoC Quick-Start Rules, which is only 22 pages.
As noted by Kthulhu, there really isn't much to the Call of Cthulhu rules; you roll a d100 against your skill and you either succeed or fail, and if something isn't covered by a skill, make it up.
HOWEVER...in my experience, the Call of Cthulhu/BRP rules are a bit too lethal to make for a good, long campaign. So I think switching the rules to something more Pathfinder-like (but with a level cap, like in E6) might actually improve it.
And playing with Pathfinder is going to feel a *lot* different than playing with BRP. The Pathfinder/D20 power curve is off the charts.
That said, if you can find a copy of WotC's D20 Cthulhu rulebook you could use that. The rules will be familiar enough for a Pathfinder player and the power level will be a bit more Cthulhu like...just slightly more surviveable.
M
And playing with Pathfinder is going to feel a *lot* different than playing with BRP. The Pathfinder/D20 power curve is off the charts.
Certainly spellcasting classes wouldn't be appropriate. But using NPC classes (commoner, expert, aristocrat) and restricting the levels from 1-6 would probably work fine. You might have to come up with a substitute for armor, though.
Thank you all very much for your advice, I have bought the book (MoN, not the rulebook) and I guess I will try to make it work with the Quickstart pdf.
This is a great campaign and the CoC rules or Chaosium BRP are some of the simplest and best designed mechanics out there. Plus the mechanics do mesh well with the world of CoC. If you're running the whole thing I think its a good investment in picking up the main book (you shouldn't need anything else). Hope you enjoy MoN. It is a great ride!
Quadruple plusses - get the 6th edition CoC rulebook, photocopy a stack of character sheets from Chaosium's free character sheet PDF and throw down. Even neophyte's shouldn't take overlong to make replacement meat snacks / investigators mid-session.
~squiggle~
Don't forget, survivability is not really a trait in CoC. The normal end to a game is either dying or going insane. I had a friend,whose character went insane, killed the rest of the party, and stopped a gate from being opened by blowing up the mansion being used for the summoning. The game was considered a good and successful game for the players. Like in Cyberpunk, If you get into a fight, you've already lost. I think you lose that in any version of d20. I was in a game where the only reason most of us survived, was that we literally ran out of town. You cannot think like a D&D player and play the game right. The treasure in the game is finding out more about the mythos, there by lowering your max sanity, or learning spells, which causes the loss of sanity, or casting of said spell which causes loss of sanity. It is a game where knowledge is dangerous, but must be gained.
There was a d20 CoC conversion for Masks. Finding that on the Internet and comparing it to both PF and the standard Masks stats may help understand how tough to make some or the opposition. Getting ahold of d20 Call of Crhulhu, even better.
Hi Nullpunkt,
First up, I would advise using Call of Cthulhu. Everything you really need to know to play mask is in there, if memory serves.(honestly, not including character creation, everything you need to know to play call off cthulhu and get the core experience could be written on two pages of a4.)
It is a very simple system, that is well suited to the style of play found in Call of Cthulhu scenarios, and deadly enough that the atmosphere of a campaign like Masks is preserved.
My advice to you is this.
Within the quick start you will find an adventure called the haunting. Get the group whom you intend to run masks for. Run the haunting for them(you can get advice on running it over at YSDC). If they enjoy it, try a couple of other short scenarios on them to refine your keeper skills(running call of cthulhu is nothing like running pathfinder as a general rule) then once you feel confident, run masks.