Mike M

Yes, that's right - old Jethro doesn't really enter until Episode 3.

The campaign is designed so that each episode is more or less self-contained. You might see references to people and things in the campaign background that aren't mentioned in Episode 1  - they will come up - just later on in other Episodes. Don't feel like you have to shoehorn all these into the first Episode - they are intentionally spaced out. All will be revealed as you progress through the campaign.

This is the one time, as a Keeper, that you get to be a bit of 'player' too - learning the secrets as they unfold, rather than all upfront ; )

I believe Episode 2 is 30th April.

Great stuff!

I guess, post updates to this thread.

Yes - on the Chaosium website for free download - there are two writable PDF versions (basic and full). You will also find one for copying in the Quick-Start and in the Rulebook and the Investigator Handbook.

http://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu-character-sheets/

As stated, there is Luck recovery roll detailed in the Rulebook.  There is nothing stopping a Keeper from giving an additional Luck reward during the investigator development phase if she or he chooses to do so (this could be in addition to Luck recovery rolls and a reward for good play).

Folklore students - researching the folklore of the area via interviews with local people.

Geology students - doing soil surveys of the area. They are not specifically looking for Pasqualium - although, the sponsoring company will be interested to know if any deposits are found. 

2 hours ago, Baniak said:

I've sent my list of mistakes to Dustin Wright via email. I pointed all that I could find (37) in the pdf file. That way they will be much easier to spot and to correct on the go.
If Dustin reads these posts - check your mail. I hope they will come in handy.

Thanks Baniak - we got them.

13 hours ago, TK_Nyarlathotep said:

Started the game on April 14th using PDFs and my personal group. Reception is good. Here are idle musings.

--The music of The Residents, all three Binding of Isaac soundtracks, Aphex Twin (as performed by Alarm Will Sound), and, of course, Chaosium's own Sense Impacts really sealed the deal, tonally.

--For mood, decided to go Twin Peaks as directed by the John Carpenter who did The Thing, Prince of Darkness, and In the Mouth of Madness.

 

Nice music choices!

That's correct. It's a subplot.

Hi Salafax

Not as such. If you look over the guidance - see forum thread link below - we've asked for a little feedback once an episode has been completed. It's not obligatory though. 

Our friend Ben Wilson, has created a range of pre-generated investigators for a variety of occupations. You can download these from the Chaosium site in a zip file. Guidance notes are included for tailoring the characters. 

Link: http://www.chaosium.com/gm-resources/

In addition, Ben has created a range of Student occupation investigator (primarily for use with A Time To Harvest, but can of course be used for other Call of Cthulhu games too). These are available in a separate zip file here:

Link:  http://www.chaosium.com/a-time-for-harvest/

Hi

Thanks to our friend Ben Wilson, here are a range of Student pre-generated investigators for A Time To Harvest. You can download these from the Chaosium site in a zip file. Guidance notes are included for tailoring the characters.

Link:  http://www.chaosium.com/a-time-for-harvest/

Thanks for the corrections.

Format is good.

The moon-beast is purposefully a smaller version and not an error in this representation.

Cheers

On 3 April 2016 at 9:48 PM, Corsario said:

I have just started a recruitment in the Paizo Forums, to try and play it as Play by Post.

Paizo Forums Link

Wish me luck!

One question: How much information can I share on the internet with my players?

Hi

Good luck! 

Do you mean - what can I tell potential players about the campaign? If so, we'd like to avoid spoilers for players on the Internet - as the campaign is being run around the world, posting secrets about the campaign could spoil things for many players. What I'd advise is to simply use the description we provided in promoting the campaign. This went something like this:

A Time To Harvest is a Call of Cthulhu campaign set in 1930 for a group of students from Miskatonic University. What starts as a university field trip to Vermont leads the intrepid investigators into a dark web of terror and intrigue. Otherworldly plans have been set in motion, which if brought to fruition, spell doom for humanity.

29 minutes ago, morganhua said:

Ah, thanks for the clarification, then I would recommend that skills shouldn't be listed in the colleges and schools, that's confusing.

Sure, it's something I will look at when undertaking any text revisions for the trade book version. Your insights have been useful - thanks.

The listed subjects are not called 'skills' for that reason - they are subjects of study. They are shown to give the Keeper and players some ideas on what sort of student they might want to play. The list in the scenario is not intended to relate to the skills list in the Rulebook in the way that you mention. 

Some subjects equate to game skills, others do not (i.e. they have no value in the game - players can create those skills and put points into them, but they will not benefit from it). This only affects three subjects mentioned: Classics, Philosophy and Religion. 

Classics and Philosophy would normally be covered by EDU - a Know roll. Or, if you prefer, they can have Classics as skill but the players will never really need to make a roll on this skill. The skills on the sheet and in the book are the game skills, anything else is essentially color.

Religion is covered by Occult (in this respect).

In all of the subject areas - e.g. I am studying Revealed Religion - there is a relatable game skill (in this case Occult). For Antiquities it would be Archaeology. And so on. The free skill slots can be filled by the player with any skill of their choosing (per the Student Occupation) - common sense applies, but if the player wants to take Archaeology, History, and Fighting (Brawl) they can - we'd assume the student is on the wrestling or boxing or some other sports team, etc.

It doesn't need to be more complex than that. 

Okay - your skills are fine, but you could be using skills already in place:

Art/Craft (Fine Art) / (Music)   5%

Science (Geography) / (Geology) / (Engineering)  1%

Religion can be covered by Occult  5%

Language (Other)    1%

Classics, Philosophy  - these are not going be useful in the game, players spending points on such skills are effectively wasting their limited points - such areas of study could be replicated by a KNOW roll (perhaps Hard Know roll, given they are students learning the stuff - but as these skills are highly unlikley to come up in play, its somewhat academic).

34 minutes ago, Falconer said:

Which would be better suited to a game inspired by Indiana Jones (esp. Raiders and Last Crusade)? I want to incorporate supernatural religious elements (artifacts, etc.) not necessarily related to Yog-Sothothery,

 

Well, I'd say get both and combine the bits you like into the game you want. Pulp Cthulhu will cover it, but of course, it is designed for Call of Cthulhu. Astounding Adventures is not so focused on horror and is aimed for a more general setting. Pulp Cthulhu was written after AA and basically builds on or addresses some things differently to suit the Call of Cthlhu style of game, you could easily run a non-Mythos Indian Jones style game with it.

Call of Cthulhu is quite a different game technically, in terms of scenario format, from other systems. It is not based on encounters which can be trimmed into episodic formats, instead, it follows an investigative path. 

I think you are doing the right thing for your circumstances, trimming the episodes to fit. 

I would approach it like I do convention games - driving the pace forward, trimming the fat, and aim to fit the entire thing into one session. Which I think can be done with the scenarios in A Time To Harvest. My initial timings were under the assumption that you had more than one session per month. 

Each group runs at different paces - if I was running Episode 1 it would take me 2 to 3 sessions of approx 3-4 hours each session. Others might take 4 to 6 sessions. If you play all day on a Saturday, then maybe one or two sessions. 

Doors to Darkness is on its way - it's currently having its new index finalised in layout, and then once proofed it'll be on its way to print.

As per the guidance document (see thread on this forum) - each group plays differently so there is no hard and fast timescale, although we assume roughly a month's play for EP 1 (which depends on your frequency of gaming sessions).

1 hour ago, Sid Vicarious said:

So, just to be clear...are the books in the shipping containers purely for kickstarter backers, or are some of them destined for retailers? And in regards to Melbourne (MOB, this means you), if retail copies are included, where might they  be available from?

 

The books in the containers include both backer and trade copies for retailers. It's down to individual game stores to stock the books (we have no control on that) - I would suggest contacting your local store to enquire.

12 hours ago, mmaenza said:

Quick questions.

Does a Investigator Development Phase trigger upon completion of each episode?

Should investigator characters created for playing A Time to Harvest only be used for A Time to Harvest episodes? That is to say, while waiting for the next episode to come out, should Keepers refrain from running any side track mysteries for the said student investigators.

Referring a question from a potential player; What benefit do I get playing if I buy the Call of Cthulhu rules or Investigators Handbook, versus just using the Quick Start Rules?

Referring another question from a confirmed players; It has been understood that investigator PCs will be students. Can a player create a professor character for the campaign? Can a player create a medical student investigator? Can a player create his investigator using the optional rules for Experienced Investigators?

Thanks in advance.

Hi

Yes, I would advise triggering a IDP (Investigator Development Phase) between episodes - the choice is down to the Keeper (who can call one whenever they think appropriate).

Sidetracks - the decision is yours, but I would try to avoid too much of this as it has the potential to foul up the overall campaign.

The campaign uses the full rules. The Quick-Start Rules only provide the basic rules. Of course, the player need not buy anything if they so wish - as long as the Keeper has the full rules. A player having the Investigator Handbook has access to a great amount of supporting information, character options, plus a wider range of occupation choices (for replacement, or even starting characters).

The answer to your last question is covered on page 9 - Campaign Considerations. I would advise players to take student characters, although a couple of alternative options are suggested.

Cheers