JonHook

3 hours ago, klecser said:

This thread makes me want to pick up The Lost Expedition as my next AoC product...

I hope you do, and I hope you and your players enjoy it, (should you get a chance to run it). 

Name:  Jon

Country: USA

Location: Lenexa, KS

I co-host the Miskatonic University Podcast and I've authored a few Call of Cthulhu adventures. I don't have a current Call of Cthulhu gaming group or campaign, but I gather up folks for play tests of new adventures as often as I can. 

AWESOME!!! 

I'm counting the hours! 

The Elder Things have mastered the ability to navigate a plane of existence that is very similar to what you're describing. They call it The Great White Space. I do not know if it has a source in any literature that you could read. It might be a device/concept designed specifically for the role-playing game. I'm not sure. 

But, with The Great White Space, the player characters can transition from Earth to The Great White Space, and then exit to any other planet or plane of existence. If they can figure out how to navigate The Great White Space, that is.

Maybe there is a device, or spell, or creature that can take them through The Great White Space to the strange destination you have in mind. 

To read up on The Great White Space, check out the Alien Devices section of the Call of Cthulhu Keeper Rulebook. 

I think the intended topic of this thread has been lost.

</swoon> OMG! I'm loving this art. Awesome! 

No. No Luck spends on Luck rolls. 

Definition of quality over quantity. 

Awesome! Look forward to meeting you too, @beardo1976!

I'm the guy in the middle.🤣

For me, if the door itself is a puzzle, or the lock is an obstacle, and the investigators can't just blow through it that does pique their interests as they zoom-in to more closely examine the door. The door could be magically warded, or the lock could be trapped. Puzzling through a mysterious door can be an entertaining encounter. 

As for the hit points... 

Soft wood -- 6 HP

Hard wood -- 10 HP

Metal -- 18 HP 

Thick / Hardy / Reinforced -- 25 HP

These are just numbers that feel right to me. I haven't based them on anything that may already be documented in the core rulebook. This just feels like something I'd adjudicate on the fly at the table. 

Matt and I will be attending Necronomicon, and I bet we can get some time at the Chaosium table to sign copies too. 

This was a fun scenario to write, and my play testers said they had a fantastic time playing it. 

So, the adventure comes with six pre-generated characters. I happened to have only three play testers. During the course of the play test, five of the pre-gens got to be used! Two of the players had their initial characters die about midway through, so they picked up a replacement character, and the third player's character died in the finale. 

To be fair, there were some outstandingly bad dice rolls in that game, and the players took an investigative approach of, "Let's poke the bear to see what'll happen." Spoiler... the "bear" pokes right back at 'cha. 

Besides... if you make a monster exactly like one from your favorite book or story, then anyone whose read the story will know all the secrets. Make your monsters unpredictable! 

I also like the combo of #1 and #2, and I think you should include helpful advice on how Keepers shouldn't feel confined by the tables. Hopefully the tables will help fuel the Keeper's imagination to expand it even more. 

Also, the Keeper's should feel comfortable in using literary sources as the seeds to create new creatures, but then use that literary creature as a template to expand and make something new and monstrous in new and different ways. Especially if the Keeper considers using that monster in a Miskatonic Repository publication. 

17 hours ago, mdomino said:

Not to derail the convo, but if you like 1 GM 1 Player Lovecraft, you might want to check out Macabre Tales from Spectrum games. It is a classic Lovecraft rpg for a GM and 1 player with clever design mechanics that drive the narrative toward a decisive finish. It's on sale at DTRPG right now. I like a few of the Spectrum genre games.

M

Yes! Macabre Tales is a very cool game. I love the design of it. I need to get a play of it in. 

My sincerest apologies. I really thought it was an authentic call-out to a pirated copy of your work. 

Sorry.

Was I the only one who misunderstood? Sarcasm in text is hard to read.

12 minutes ago, Bud's RPG review said:

Yes, completely.  This was a collaborative thing - I narrated the actual text of his review from back in 2016.  I assume he used the word "pirate" due to it being a ship at sea.  He published the text of my review on his blog.  Why would he be promoting it if he thought I had stolen his words?

Cool. Pookie's post was unclear to me. It read less like a promotion, and more like an alert to me. 

The old adage of complementing through duplication. It sounds like Pookie suspects that the review pirates his previous work. Am I reading that wrong? 

Hmmm... is this a case of copying as a form of respect? Nah... I don't think so either.  

Sandbox... writing it... planning a game for my players... I find it to be THE most difficult thing. For me, it's just to much. I have a real hard time getting my head around the nigh-limitless boundaries. 

I've spent so many years now working within the limits of a mystery that needs to be solved, that sandboxing is where I lose my sanity!  

Thanks, Michael, good points. Yes, designing a scenario for a single player is different. The scope of the mystery is different. 

1. I have discovered that a one-player game is best run if the entire mystery is resolved in 3 - 4 hours of play. To that end, the mystery is designed with a limited number of clue paths. By limiting the player's investigation options, a decision on a path of investigation is more easily chosen to be worked. 

2. Design the scenario with little combat, or what combat is included us designed to be non-lethal. But, conversely, it's fun to pump-up the sanity loss. It's easier to continue the investigation crazy than it is dead.  

3. I also find this kind of adventure is best run with pre-generated characters, versus weaving it into an existing campaign. The pre-gens allow the player to take risks that would normally be avoided with a beloved character. 

Hope that helps. 

Thank you, Michael. As an aside, I'd love to hear how your use of Timeless Sands of India and Starfall Over the Plateau of Leng go. 

If you haven't seen it yet, my latest Miskatonic Repository adventure was posted, the Spark of Life. 

One of the stand-out features is that it was designed to be played with the Keeper and one player; which is why I'm calling it "An Isolated Investigator Adventure." It is my belief that a Call of Cthulhu adventure can be more frightening and tension filled if there is only one lonely player/Investigator. 

My question to the group is this... are adventures designed for just a single player something you'd be interested in? Is the mystery more terrifying or just frustratingly more difficult when it's explored alone?

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/278700/Spark-of-Life?src=hottest_filtered