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Cyenobite

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  • RPG Biography
    Cthulhu, D&D 5e
  • Current games
    Cthulhu, D&D 5e
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    Near Philly
  • Blurb
    Been playing RPG's for abt a year now.

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  1. I'm a fairly new fan of Chaosium (3-4 years now) and just wanted to express my condolences also. Chaosium and it's products/games have brought me hours of enjoyment and I'm grateful for that. Thanks Greg. My condolences.
  2. This was an awkward moment in my game too. I had one player who was very insistent about going with Blaine (they are paranoid). But I pretty much had to say that Blaine used his "authority" of running the expedition to say, "no, you can't go with me". But as a Keeper, I wasn't too happy with telling my players they couldn't do something. Of course, once I told them that Blaine never returned, they wanted to go look for him. So they asked which way the nearest farmhouse was. They wanted to go talk to the owner, and I basically said (as the owner), yes, he was here, he made a phone call then left about 2-3 hours ago. When they finally met back up with him at the farmhouse, Blaine just said he got lost in the storm and made a left turn instead of a right turn. It was a lame excuse, but that lameness also added more fuel for them to NOT trust Blaine anymore.
  3. pg. 7, Col 1, 2nd para, line 10 (typo): "Thus, she is willing to anything..." Should be: she is willing to do anything...
  4. Update for my Second Session (5-14-16) that I just now got home from... Overall a very good game this time around. (I for one had a really fun time anyway, but I know some of my players did as well). It was good to have all 7 of my initial players return, I was afraid I was going to lose at least one. I was unable to hold everyone's attention for the full 3 hours, (and it frustrates me that some of them are still breaking out their phones to play games on - but I'm not ready to crack the whip on them yet and ban phones at the table). But for the most part, everyone had a fun time as well. This session went better than the first, because there was more action happening. I ran them through the bridge collapse, and that went well. I had some fall i the river, and take a few minor points of damage. The floating "Mi-go" went over well. most of them are now calling them "crab-people". They got mad at Blaine for leaving the geologists on the dig scene during the rain, and honestly, I was originally planning on blaine not even going with the geologists, but I forgot, and then it too late for me to rewind the scene. So I had him leave to make the phone call. One player was insistent on going with him though. I eventually had to pull out the GM hammer and say, "no, you can't go." I told him it was Blaine just flexing his "I'm in charge" muscles. Once they all were back from rescuing the truck, Blaine continued to act weird. That one player would still not let blaine out of his sight. He failed every Spot Hidden roll to find the Mi-go tracks (I gave him like 3 attempts!) the Bones part went well. It was a little flat though, in that no one was really surprised though. At first they thought the bones were Daphne, but I put the seed out there from the Sheriff, that it might have been Sarah. The bones looked older. The real fun happened when they finally (after some pushing on my part) decided to explore the woods. I had a series of about 5-7 Zoogs attack them. They fought them off nicely, but one player took about 4pts damage. But... at this point the game took a turn for the worse - from my point of view... because my one player (who initially saw the first zoog) was only concerned about one thing... to PROVE to everyone that he wasn't crazy. So once he killed one of the zoogs, he grabbed the dead body and RAN back to the house and called the Sheriff and the news-paper reporter. I didn't know how to respond. (I'm still fairly new to running games). Finally, I told them up front, that I wasn't prepared for this, but that I had thought of a solution, but that he wasn't going to like it... I had the Zoog just evaporate. At this point too, all the players were scared of the woods and Zoog, and no-one wanted to go back. (I REALLY wanted them to find John Jeffries, because that was an awesome scene.) So again, I sort of nudged them into it, and had to suggest that maybe if they all were better armed, it might go better. They finally agreed, and headed back out to find Jeffries. That scene went really well. One of my players agreed to put him out of his misery, so I asked how... he said he buried his hatchet into the pulsing brain. I said, ok, but made him roll for SAN 1d6+2. He got a 6. I made him roll for a Mania and he got first: wants to write Verse (which I thought was lame for his character, so I asked him to roll again) This time it fit perfectly... He got Paramania - unusual pleasure in complaining. My player immediately fell into it with the roll playing and it was great. And that's where we ended things. So they still have one more day, for the final scene. I'm hoping that with the release of the next Episode, I'll be able to read up more, and hopefully just smoothly transition from the first episode, right into the 2nd. Overall a big success. PS> The one character who got the mania... I think he's down to 39 SAN! I didn't realize I was whittling away so many of his SAN points. Lastly... Most of my players are coming from a D&D background, and they really like the "hack-n-slash" style. They have very little desire to talk to any of the towns folk. I keep asking them, if there's anyone they want to speak with and they keep saying no. Frustrating because there's so much more backstory they're missing out on, but (I think) nothing really critical yet on what I think they NEED to know. I just wish they were willing to "investigate" more.
  5. Sharing a new handout I just made up to give out to my players at the start of the next session... Backstory> I introduced the "zoog" to one of the players. It was bothering his character and he was trying to rationalize what he had seen. When they went into town, my player said he wanted to talk to Wendell the reporter, to see if anyone else in town had also reported seeing these strange creatures. Now this was after I had given them plenty or rumors to NOT trust Wendell, and that he's a tabloid reporter etc... so when my player stopped in, and started to tell the story, I told him Wendell immediately picked up his little notebook and started writing things down. My player thought he 'outsmarted" me because he said, someone (un-named) in the group saw this... not him. Well, Wendell doesn't care! He'll just make up a name or a source. So one of my other players "Phineas" was deliberately avoiding Wendell, because he doesn't want his name or picture in the newspaper. He's afraid his family back home will find him. Anyway... I wrote up this "report" and plan on hitting them with it right at the start of our next session. I'm looking forward to seeing how Phineas will react to seeing his name in the morning edition. ha.
  6. Just got home a little while ago and thought I'd write up how my game went tonight, while it was all fresh in my mind. Overall - things went well. Details - I had 7 people, 4 who have played before, and 3 brand new cthulhu players. All of them were coming from a strong D&D background, but I described the game to them and the differences and so I think I prepared them with what to expect. The scenario went well for the most part. Most everyone was engaged but towards the end I was losing player's interest (around the 3 hour mark). Part of that might be my own fault as I'm a new keeper, and I'm not experienced enough yet with how to keep things moving. But one of the biggest issues I think tonight, was that on day 2, the geologists didn't really have anything to do, and yet the folklorists were out investigating the town and talking with the locals. So I can't say as I blame them for not staying attentive. That said, I did have most of the group fully engaged for most of the time, so that felt good for me. One of the new guys (who I was worried would be trying to "break the game" - he tends to suggest some crazy ideas sometimes), but he seemed to be enjoying himself. He got into the roleplaying part too, when I handed out some of the folklore stories. I wasn't exactly sure if I was handling the folklore group correctly, for when it came to day two, when they went into town. Were they supposed to go around town and talk to all the NPC's or where they just supposed to wander around looking to strike up the conversations with random towns-folk to get those stories. I chose the later (Had them meet a couple of old-timers sitting at the war memorial and that worked well.) My group is suspicious of EVERYTHING. There's enough red-herrings going on that I'm not sure any of them really have a clue as to what's happening. I think they keep thinking that if they were able to talk to just the right person, that then they would get answers. The first zoog sighting went well. The player saw the zoog, and ran into to get "little Rod", but when they came back outside, the zoog and rabbit were gone. So he's trying to rationalize the story to himself that he saw a young bear cub. He went to the reporter, to see if anyone else had seen these strange creatures, and I immediately had the reporter taking notes (like this is going in the next issue of the gazette for sure!) (I might try to write up an article tonight, and tell them it appeared in the following morning's newspaper. Not sure yet, if that will throw too much of a monkey wrench into things or not. We ended the session (approx 4 hours) at the end of Day 2. I tried to have Blaine sneak out of the house to communicate with the Mi-go, but two of my PC's are paranoid about the house, and are sleeping in tents in the back yard. I had Blaine go out the front door, and the PC got a *04* on a listen roll, so I told him he heard the frond door open/close. He panic'd and ran around to the front of the house with his knife drawn. I had Blaine just be startled and afraid, and basically had him lie and say, he couldn't sleep in the heat, and came outside to get a breath of fresh air. ( I wanted them to hear the Mi-go buzzing, but that was sort of foiled). I think there was so much information to present in the first session and not a lot of "action" for them. I mean, most Cthulhu players would probably like that (I would), but I could tell some of my players were getting fidgety, and pulled out their phones (a sure sign you've lost them). But even as they were looking at their phones, I know they were still listening. From the sounds of it, everyone will be returning in about 2 weeks time for possibly the conclusion, but it might possibly go another session. I'll see if I can maybe get them through it all in one more session. The shared dreams have not gotten any real reactions. I think they're confused by them, but so far, no one is talking about them at all. I think they like keeping the secrets from the other players. - cyen PS> I threw in a cipher too. Using the "Baphomet/Atbash" Cipher, and thought, 'NO WAY are they going to get this." But sure enough the new guy figured it out in about 12 minutes. I was duly impressed. I kept it vague though... I basically told them that "things are not what they seem. Trust No One." That said, I think they trust the Deputy 100% - the shared whiskey went over great. But I think they all suspect something is up with Blaine. I have another cipher prepared (Bacon) and I don't think there's ANY way possible they'll get this one. My thinking is that Daphne had left these little clues in the Maclearan house.
  7. Yep, tonight is the night for my attempt at running this at my FLGS. I have read the material over and over, and made up all sorts of things to try and help me get through this, but at this point I feel like my brain is saturated, and now it's time to just sit back and let the chips fall where they may... and to have fun! My overall goal tonight is to have my players leave, having so many thoughts whirling around and not trusting anyone (including other players). I'll post a recap as soon as I can when things are done.
  8. Nice! 3 out of 6! Yikes! I like how you handled that. I'm imagining that old psychology test they did where an animal kept in captivity is faced with an open door and they just stay in their cage. I laughed too, that they felt the need to burn the house down - typical PC reaction to most Cthulhu scenarios. Should we ever play a game together Morg, I will remember to just RUN!
  9. Thanks @morganhua Top of page 49, it says. "nearby residents hear the bridge collapse..." - I think I just assumed this meant the towns people of Cobb's corner, but I guess it doesn't have to be. It could just be another nearby farmhouse. And I like how you handled the part about Blaine gone missing for that period of time.
  10. My day of running this is quickly approaching (This Saturday). I still have more to read (well re-read actually) - mostly regarding the dreamgate and part with the shack, but I'm fairly confident I have an overall grasp on the scenario at this point. I have two points that seem minor, but have been nagging at me in regards to storyline... 1) I'm not sure about the bridge getting washed out - There is the one showing on the map, but it seems too close to town. I can't quite put my finger on why this is bugging me... Maclearan house is outside of town by about 3 mile (if I recall). I guess that means the students would have to travel through town to get to the dig site. I might just have a second bridge that doesn't show on the map, so as to be vague about it. Apologies for not making my point clearly. I think it also has to do with my 2nd point... 2) I'm having a hard time finding the reasoning or motivation on why Blaine would want to leave the geology students during a horrible rain storm, just to make a phone call back to the house. I know my players, and I think this is going to raise a big red flag for them that *something* is going on. This kinda relates to my previous point about the Bridge... if the dig site is through town, over the bridge and several miles out, it doesn't seem likely that Blaine would walk back in the downpour all by himself. Assuming he already has brokered the deal with the Mi-go, then it really shouldn't matter if he were present or not. The Mi-go would presumably leave him alone, so as to get the other students. It just feels sort of "forced". Thanks!
  11. Made up some more character profile images that can be cut out. Nothing fancy, but hopefully useful. incase it's not obvious, cut the outside edge, then fold so it's like a tent that will stand up. (screenshot image is a duplicate to show picts before downloading pdfs.) Character profiles 1 e1.pdf Character profiles 2 e1.pdf Character profiles 3 e1.pdf
  12. Ep 1, page 36, Col 1, 3rd para, line 10: "...it go ahead when Robert Blaine volunteered to taken on the..." "take" not "taken"
  13. I was thinking I might let one of the geologists find a piece of the Pasquallium, but that they can't identify it. It will be a good reason for them to want to go back to the University.
  14. Thanks @morganhua I didn't think ahead that Jethro might make another appearance in a future episode. Best not I involve him then (or kill him off) in this first episode. Thanks for the tip on the Pasquallium as well. I agree, there is a LOT going on (in a good way).
  15. On page 5, we learn that Daphne got a lot of her information from a local named "Jethro Cratchett" - and yet, he's never mentioned again or listed as an NPC. I'm torn about if I should mention this part to my players, because I think they'll want to talk with him directly. Although, I could also say that he too has gone missing - which would help add to the mystery. I wonder too, if maybe instead of Jethro, I could change the name to Jimmy Maclearan... I'm curious what others are thinking too in regards to how much about the Pasquallium should be revealed to the investigators during this first episode. Does this seem like just a straight forward piece of information that should not really be worried about, or dose this provide a more strange or nefarious motive for the FOC involvement?
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