mvincent

I previously received the following from Chaosium for convention support: Bookmarks Stickers (both bookmark size and coin size) badge lanyards Books (both novels and CoC supplements) Some things that I've provided myself: Custom printed Ribbon with "Call of Cthulhu Keeper" printed on it (for badges) Fedoras (encircled with above mentioned ribbon) Passport style character sheets for players Passport style stamps (for Keepers to use on above mentioned sheets) scenario handouts (of course) Some ideas for other (inexpensive) things one could obtain for themselves to hand out: Elder sign amulets (very cheap from aliexpress.com) Occult-ish tchotchkies (aliexpress) 1920's coins (including 'gold' ones) (aliexpress) Arrowheads (for Harvest episode 1) (found cheaply in bulk on ebay)

Here's a thread on the subject. I'm partial to using the Chaosium logo (assuming we're allowed)

If desired, some of my favorites sources for CoC miniatures include: Mansions of Madness/Arkham Horror Cthulhu Wars O scale train figurines Civilian Heroclix (rebased onto these) like: John Jones, Bruno Mannheim, Bad Samaritan, Clark Kent, Aldrich Killian, Frank Drake, Norman Osborn

Maybe give the players a shadowy patron initially. No need to provide details. There are many reasons for such an employer (especially one like Delta Green) to want to remain ambiguous and use a clandestine cell system.

There's no reason that their PC's aren't friends, same as in real life. But you are correct: they need a reason to continue investigations. A wealthy patron/organization is often necessary for a long campaign. Such a patron would likely be happy to hire ex-military.

You could contact the organized play director: Todd@Chaosium.com . However, chances are the other CoC referees haven't contacted him, so your best best bet is to contact the convention organizers. Usually conventions publish their schedule ahead of time though (allowing you a chance to revise... not that there are really issues with overlap anyway). But... if you contact the convention organizers and ask for a list of the other CoC referees, you could act as a coordinator yourself, possibly allowing you to request convention support (prizes and swag) from Todd.

If I were to run this in a booked slot, I personally would choose a four hour slot (because that is far more convenient for players)... but then skip a lot, like: Backround roleplaying in Miskatonic University (which can side track a session) Tour of the town (superfluous for this scenario) Splitting the group (at least, after the storm they should stay together) The dream-gate and damsel rescue Otherwise, select two 4-hour slots.

Avoiding violence with that many bad rolls is probably not a reasonable expectation. But even here violence could've still been avoided by most of the PCs... except for the slowest one (i.e. you don't have to be faster than the bear).

fwiw: I am overjoyed with my faux-leather book covers, which are very minimalistic. Also, the "A Time to Harvest" organized-play adventures have un-elaborate art and layout, but have been well received. Same with the D&D organized play adventures. Still, art (and production values) are things. People acknowledge and appreciate effort put into them. I personally appreciate more pragmatic aspects, like the usability of the layout and artwork.

Yup.

This doesn't seem too bad. The meeting on Hangman's Hill was the night before the attack, and the PC's were mostly expected to know about it anyway. I believe you can still run the scenario as written If the main issue is that Block can now relay full details of the plan, maybe: Have the agents change up the plan. Or rather, just have Block tell the PC's an older, different plan, with later dates... then run the scenario as normal. Have Laslow (using invisibility) slip the drug into the PC's food. Have them notice quickly though, so that only one or two PC's are out of commission. Maybe even allow one of those players to play Block instead.

Well... CoC GM's love to write long passages, but they are just ideas/tips. Reading/following all advice isn't required to maintain the scare factor. Just running a published adventure should be enough at first. Later, you'll likely discover other things on your own as you go along.

I think it's good to start having fun immediately (rather than listening to a rules lecture), so for new players my rules explanation is basically just: "This is a percent based system, so a 50% score for instance means you'll usually have a 50% change at succeeding at something. Roll these percentile dice when needed - you'll be trying to roll under some percentile score on your character sheet" I then gradually introduce concepts like spending luck, hard/extreme successes, bonus/penalty dice and pushing rolls as they come up.

That should be fine. Indeed, some GM's believe this is the way CoC is intended to be run. The first season of True Detective (TV show) is an excellent example of this. However, I would still keep the creepiness. The criminals (and even some of the cops) should regularly have some truly disturbing secrets, even if monsters are not involved.

Madness and death need not be inevitable. I've had PC's last for several years (and campaigns), causing my players to be fearful of losing them. Some tips: Keep the threat of death always present, but actual deaths rare (players will surprise you in becoming cautious or finding ways to avoid death) Focus attacks on the newest PC Allow the players to learn the Resurrection spell Select campaigns with generous SAN rewards (like HotOE and aTtH) Allow for long periods of down time (allowing players to increase SAN) Use the 7e rule that halves SAN loss once Mythos knowledge exceeds SAN

CoC adventures in general require more reading. I too was used to conveniently written D&D adventures. Still, HotOE was easier to run than the other campaigns (like MoN and especially BtMoM). Although HotOE is huge, I only needed to read one scenario ahead. The chapter outlines were especially useful to me.

As an ardent miniature lover, I answered 'Miniatures, a grid map, and handouts'. However, even I find grid use is not needed/wanted in CoC.

I skipped all the optional scenarios (and was happy with my decision). Paris does indeed start slow. I thought my players would be bored (as they tend to prefer action) but they seemed to love the slow build up. I also thought they wouldn't like the 'rail-roading' in the adventure (which is pretty linear). But again: they liked it. I did not have any trouble with the adventure stalling out due to missed rolls (maybe I was just lucky).

Ditto. I hardly ever write things down. But I still do a lot of prep, mainly on the computer, like: Obtaining and labeling B&W pictures for each NPC Cut/pasting text from the adventure PDF into handouts Searching online for additional pictures or handouts Printing each handout and taping it into the scenario book (using painter's tape) Scanning and keeping copies of each PC's character sheet Ordering inexpensive prop items from online stores etc. Note though: I do not use electronic devices at the table (as they are a distraction to me).

I love the boxed sets because of the props. I also really like having black and white photos of NPC's (as opposed to illustrations). I'm surprised Chaosium doesn't use B&W photos more, given that: there is so much public domain material from the era there are plenty of fans that would love to have their photos (of themselves or their props) used (for free)

Blackwood Detective Agency?

I recently noticed that: "The Shadow debuted on July 31, 1930, as the mysterious narrator of the Street and Smith radio program Detective Story Hour developed in an effort to boost sales of Detective Story Magazine." Also on that date: the Alfred Hitchcock-directed film Murder! was released. Since the campaign starts in August 1930 (and day 1 likely coincide's with Aug. 1), these might be recent topics of conversation for the PC's.

Unless they reached the final encounter, they shouldn't really have a good reason to ask for reinforcements (i.e. they kinda *are* the reinforcements). So if they really want to cut and run, maybe let them play different characters (i.e. the reinforcements). There's not much that should warrant a large grouping of reinforcements until the final encounter (by which time it's too late). And if they want to cut and run from the final encounter... that's mostly expected. They'll still be chased (and will gain very little SAN).

Here's a thread on the subject. I like this one especially for the townsfolk NPC's, and this one for the students.

For a lot of cheap, pre-painted 1920's figures: try O-scale figures (under 10 cents apiece on aliexpress.com or ebay) hot glued to bingo chip bases. They are the perfect size (I've measured them next to my other miniatures), and their "blank faces" are easily fixed by running a black dry-erase marker over their face, then wiping it off.