mvincent

Note: the original poster appears to be asking about WWI U-boats (and yours appears to be WWII). I almost posted a WWII U-boat floorplan myself.

I wouldn't have them lose sanity again for the exact same encounter (as that seems odd, plus it would discourage running away). And even an entirely different floating skull encounter (say, later that night while they are sleeping) would still have limited SAN loss (due to "Getting used to awfulness" p.169).

I think it might be writer's intent for them to be the same (i.e. referring to the same d10 hours). And either way: using one of the rolls would likely make the other roll superfluous.

The spell can be recited forwards (1 round) or backwards (2 rounds): Reciting it forwards takes 1 round and resurrects someone: "A complete corpse is necessary"... "the successfully resurrected need not be all in one piece—as long as the coffin is intact and sufficient care is taken to scrape together all the fragments and dust within, the spell succeeds" "Reciting the spell backward returns the resurrected entity to dust" and "takes two rounds"

No (unless the Keeper wishes it, since it is technically open to interpretation). The spell can be used to resurrect corpses, as indicated by the text: "resurrected need not be all in one piece—as long as the coffin is intact and sufficient care is taken to scrape together all the fragments and dust within, the spell succeeds". If the designer intended that it required two castings (i.e. a highly unintuitive interpretation for the most common use of the spell), that would've been made explicit. That said, I'm surprised the spell's description is still so confusing after so many editions. It seems like errata is in order.

Not Applicable, Not Applicable, For challenging scenarios, No, No, See below I'm not so much a Lovecraft fan myself, nor even a big fan of horror. I like Sandy Peterson, challenging environments, and roleplaying in a historical setting (because learning the history of our own world feels more useful than learning the history of a fantasy world). I still try to convey the scariness of the environment to my players because I believe they enjoy the thrill (adrenalin rush) and/or the novelty (being exposed to something alien and new).

That's what tip #5 is for. Pointing to a player and asking "what do you wish to do now?" focuses them. Move on (clockwise) to the next player if they don't know yet. By the time you reach the last player, any previously undecided players usually have an idea what they want to do (even if that's only joining one of the other PC's on their idea). It's ok (even preferable) for PC's to split up and follow different leads here... conversations are expedited with fewer PC's involved (and they're assumed to relay the information later).

Believe it or not: I've run the previous edition at conventions, with each of the six chapters being a 4 hour session (discussed here). It worked pretty well, but I was also very fast and organized (having just run it for multiple home groups, where each chapter usually took about two 4-hour sessions). Some tips: Use (blue) painter's tape to affix the handouts to the appropriate pages in the book (so they are quickly ready) Prep ahead half a chapter at a time Skip side scenarios if need be Australia can be skipped (it wasn't in the original edition anyway). During play: skip Order-of-Attack. Just go clockwise around the table and ask each player what they want to do. Skip to the next player if they are not ready (while assuring them they will still get to go before the bad-guys next turn anyway, so order doesn't really matter). This method works well outside of combat too, and often gets players to investigate separate leads (which can actually speed things up greatly).

(hmm... that doesn't appear to be "both", and they can indeed complain, but as for "why not"...) Restating: it can (based on my experience) break narration, slow the game, reinforce gamism, increase acrimony, make revelations about the opposition (breaking tension) and make unchangeable commitments to a character's fate. My players know that sudden results are the style of CoC (and their characters are fragile), not a railroad. Indeed, they know that I'd prefer their characters stay alive (as that's much easier on me as GM, campaign continuity-wise). Conversely, I absolutely "roll in the open" in D&D, since that is D&D's style. Still, there's been instances even in D&D that I wish I had summed up the results rather than played it out. Example: when the players were captured by the Slave Lords in order to move on to the module "A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords". Boy, that was a painful railroad that I wish I'd shortened...

Bullets don't really decelerate that much at mid range (plus, some bullets may even start to tumble at mid-range, potentially making them more injurious). Game-mechanics wise, there would be no extra damage from the force.

There are certain instances in CoC where someone will certainly die (i.e. they are hit for 10d6 damage, they are by themselves and have no chance to escape, etc.). I'm actually a simulationist GM, but sometimes rolling it out can break narration, slow down the game, and reinforce the fact that you are playing a game. On some occasions: rolling everything out can even turn the session into an acrimonious downer. CoC is a horror game, and sometimes turning to the rest of the group and say something like "you hear screaming coming from the building that your friend entered... but then the screaming suddenly stops" makes the game better. It's happened to me too, and I've lauded the GM because of it. I mean: ultimately it's a preference thing (and you're certainly entitled to your preference, as am I)... but this is based off of hundreds (thousands) of play sessions, and learning when to do this was a hard lesson. Example: don't play the scene out and reveal everything about the big bad (while the rest of the group sits idly by for the better part of an hour) even though the PC will have no way to communicate this information before dying.

Yes. The p.99 luck rules say "After each session of play, each player may make an improvement check for their luck". They do not stipulate that luck must've been spent. Otherwise it would be pretty hard (albeit not impossible) for the "starting value can be exceeded in play" rule to apply.

I too have seen plenty of head-shots bounce off the skull. That said: CoC is deadly enough that I routinely handwave such things as successful instant-kills. This works both for and against the players: I've frequently declared a PC dead without ever rolling damage.

Here are some Mythos Languages

Ah, I didn't notice your name until now. Yes, my group has thoroughly enjoyed (and highly recommend) your adventures! Thank you for your work!

It's one of my favorite AoC's. Some notes: it's pulpy: many combat opportunities if desired. This (and the fact that it mostly took place in a jungle with mutated dinosaurs) made it a useful transition for my D&D/Chult group. it provides high SAN rewards, which can be useful for the first adventure in a long campaign (i.e. PC's have more longevity, since the initial boost makes them less likely to snowball from failing future SAN rolls) The default starting date for the adventure is Feb-1924, which is the earliest date of any the AoC's. Their Great White Space has a lot of similarities to D&D's Astral plane: weightless environment, using your mind to move, etc.

The adventure "Age of Cthulhu 9: The Lost Expedition" would be a good source of inspiration for more details about The Great White Space (as part of the adventure takes place there). I'm unsure of the literary origins though.

I like to use Foreshadowing. That is: slowly build anticipation by giving minor clues that something bad is going to happen (a burnt spot, a smell, a noise outside, a knock at the door but no one is there, etc.) but is not immediately explained. Players tend to either over react (and nothing bad happens... yet), or they ignore it (and kick themselves when something eventually happens). For immersion, I have used things like: Turning off lights (and bringing out candles and period flashlights) Ouija board "Fed" a disguised magnet to black ferrous goo Used Gallium as magical metal (melts via body heat) Provided actual liquid when the party (inevitably) drinks with the villain (or uses space mead or Dream potion)

The rules say no (and I like to follow the rules), but it kinda seems like a needless rule exception. I just explain it as "sure you can use luck to modify the roll, but it won't do any good... since your target is now lower"

Oddly, I kinda dislike the 'feel" of random tables too. Still, a neatly organized list of ideas, by category, seems useful. I mean, if there were say, ten ideas per category, and they used numbered bulleting, that might give some Keepers ideas too...

NWI was featured prominently in "At Your Door" (90's modern scenario). Easter-Egg: it features a special child that seems to be born in the year that the next Brotherhood-child was foretold in "Day of the Beast'".

But I was referencing your quote. The section alludes to non-zero HP monsters being reduced to unconsciousness, which would make one wonder how to do that without the major-wound unconsciousness rule? Also note: use of the term "Character" does not necessarily denote a semantic intent to treat PC's differently from foes, especially since NPC's (like Nyarlathotep, Mr. Shiney, etc.) are semantically Characters too.

CoC 7e p.125 reads: "The standard rules already allow for a target to be knocked unconscious: when an attack inflicts a Major Wound (an amount of damage equal to or greater than half the target’s hit points), the target must make a CON roll to remain conscious. Also a target that is reduced to zero hit points will fall unconscious automatically." The p.282 section your quoted seems to corroborate that monsters use these unconsciousness rules: "Some monsters (when reduced to unconsciousness or zero hit points) may appear to be dead, only to rise again moments or hours later"

Certainly: monsters should be able to take Major wounds. Anything with a 100+ CON won't be falling unconscious though. fwiw: I recommend the (p.126) rule that applies armor to each die of shotgun damage.

I'm partial to #1, but I'd be concerned about balance. Maybe generic templates (including stats, damage, armor etc.) for each monster category (minor/medium/major?), with random tables for flavor items (like form of attack, appearance, goals, special abilities, etc.). The point being: static crunch would allow me to run a monster quickly/easily, while random fluff would make me feel freer with selections and flavor (without worrying about balance).Ideally, the table should be quick to use (if I had plenty of time to make up a monster, I probably wouldn't even need the table).