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Umpherous Vermillion

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Everything posted by Umpherous Vermillion

  1. I have a deck plan for just a few cabins I made for Masks of Nyarlathotep (MoN). I needed a place for the characters to stroll along the deck whilst they planned strategy. I made with Dungeon Draft. Easy to use and royalty free on whatever you craft. The Dungeon Draft app makes that pretty easy (not a lot of 1920 assets, but enough to make general locations). I also attached a version of the map in Roll20 where I added assets from R20's image search that were not in the Dungeon Draft app (e.g., life boats). I started a new kind of game for my group: Arkham Fragments. The idea is to create a sandbox of Arkham. I made a bunch of common places (library, warehouse, house, speakeasy, etc...). Then when the players want to go somewhere new that I am not prepared for, I try to put them off until the next gaming session so I can whip up a new map for them. For example, one player is a young mechanic at his mom-and-pop auto repair shop (Rosco's Garage). So, I made that map on a hunch something wicked was coming his way (attaching that too). Lovemaps on DriveThruRPG has a lot of quality maps for a reasonable price though they are specifically for MoN. Anyway, hope my map works for you (though it's just part of one deck). If you need a generic place, I'd be happy to send them your way.
  2. Sent you a message. Let me know if anything about map setup is a problem. Enjoy!
  3. My group is three chapters in to Masks--we start Cairo tomorrow night. I hadn't thought about how much time it would ultimately take until reading @Gman's calculations. Yikes, what have I signed up for?! We're playing on Roll20. That adds a complication and a benefit. The complication is I have to convert all the maps and handouts to digital (copy and past from screen grabs). That was real chore in Roll20, but then I made a Google drive folder for the players that the screen grabs from the PDF go straight into. Thus, I can now "hand them out" them on the fly. I also started out converting all the NPCs to the online sheets--now I just use the printed information and roll like I would if were playing together. Because combat isn't as tactical as D&D, I really don't need the stat blocks, etc. I also try to ditch the side adventures, but some are really interesting while others more of a red herring. Generally, I give them the option but hint it might be a distraction. Otherwise, my prep sounds similar to most--I write out notes as well as NPC and clue webs (the one's in the book are maddening to follow). My home-made diagrams and concept maps have been very helpful keeping everything straight. While this is more work, I often will write a short 'story' from a player's or NPCs perspective (or perhaps a new papers article) that summarizes the past week's action and try to link up the clues. I post those in the Roll20 game blog. A big problem is the players often forget something important in between games. They love the clues, but it does create a bit of homework for them. Nevertheless, they love the detail.
  4. If you know how to use Photoshop, GIMP will be a snap. If you want, I have a map I made for Lightless Beacon. That's a good one; my players enjoyed it! The maps provided were fine, but I wanted the building and the island on the same map. This was especially helpful when the players split the party (GASP!). I made it on the fly--so not my best work--but you are welcome to look at it. Let me know and I'll send via message to avoid any spoilers here. Or if you're good with the provided maps, no problem--they work too.
  5. Hi again @Defile959. I tend to go a bit overboard on adding extra elements to my Roll20 games: maps, handouts, sounds... Some of my favorite games as a player have been 'theater of the mind', but I like the challenge of creating digital environments that create a mood. In fact, I often use Roll20's dynamic lighting for effect. I've posted elsewhere on the forums where I show the view of the token with limited lighting. Add the API script for torch effects and it creates a very eerie feeling, especially with sound effects or subtle music in the background. Perfect for CoC. In a recent game, the players were camping and I had them set up their camp with tents and the campfire on the Roll20 desktop map. Then I added the dynamic lighting with the API and they players really enjoyed the flickering effect as something was moving in the shadows just beyond what they could see. Just by luck, the background music reached a crescendo at the perfect place in the action. But to answer your question, I make maps in GIMP (the free, open source version of Photoshop). I try to mimic the style in the new Masks books so my home brew maps look the same as the ones I cut and paste in. That is, I use the same color scheme, simple walls, doors, and windows, and try to make it look like it's printed on old paper. GIMP, like other visual editing software, has a bit of a learning curve, but if you look around Cartographer's Guild, you can find some excellent tutorials for making dungeon maps. If you think in layers and work one element at a time, it is not that hard to do. Just remember that Roll20's unit is 70 pixels. So if you want a 20x20 room that would be a 1,400 W x 1,400 H pixel image size--then it's easy to upload and scale in Roll20. If you want more tips, I can try to explain it better. For Masks, I have been using the PDF maps, cut and paste into Roll20, and then try to get the scale about right. Luckily CoC is not about precision in combat so if it's not perfect, it's not a problem. Unfortunately some of the locations for Masks are not included, so I have to make my own maps. For example, we're on the Cairo chapter and I need a map for a very large chamber (you'll know what I mean if you've GM'd that chapter). The included map is too small to use so I had to create my own based on the dimensions on original map. I can send you a copy if you want to see what I've been up to. For this particular map, I want the players to experience the part of the map slowly as the explore the chamber with their limited light. It's a giant map 75 units by 96. Finally, as for portraits, I have a GIMP file with the background in place so I just copy and paste in portraits from the module or I find labeled for free use, often movie stars from the 30s and 40s. Or I might use icons to represent a profession. For example: Alister Crowley, Orsen Welles, a Biologist, and a College Student. Good luck with finding elements; I'm happy to help if you need something specific.
  6. Yes, thanks @Rick Meints for the update! Looking forward to it.
  7. I just finished GMing three games for Chaosium for GENCON using Roll20 (Keepers could use any platform they wished (Roll20, Discord, Fantasy Grounds, VTT, etc.). They had a tremendous response and thus I suspect they see the value in supporting the online RPG community. But keep asking @Defile959!
  8. I've been GMing Masks (we're on chapter 3: Cairo). I've had success carving up the maps from the PDF version and pasting them into Roll20. The trick is to get the scale right, but unless you run a tactical game, an approximate scale works just fine. I also cut and paste the handouts, but I put them into a Google drive for the players and that is easier on me than creating them in Roll20. It does take a bit of work to input the NPCs into the character sheets. So, it's doable, but I agree having it ready to go would save a lot of effort on my part. I've played a few of the one shots on Roll20. The scenarios are great; but, the implementation in Roll20 leaves a lot to be desired. I hope Chaosium takes the time to leverage the power of Roll20 in converting their scenarios. Dynamic lighting can be a great resource for setting the mood. For example, from my set up for the one-shot the Necropolis:
  9. The debrief is one of my favorite parts of the game. It is a chance for the players to ask 'what if?' Sometimes, they realize they made the best possible choice; other times, they realize they made a serious miscalculations. And it affords me the opportunity to realize I made an error or failed to explain some aspect of the game in enough detail for them to understand what had happened. In short, I get much benefit as the players. Often players will ask about NPC's motivations that were hard to discern during the game.
  10. Ah, my mistake--thanks for the clarification @Defile959
  11. Glad you liked them @MandilarasM. Trent Reznor (of NIN) has been making soundtracks for a while: Se7en, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, HBO Watchmen, etc. Not all tracks would fit Call of Cthulhu, but some do. Worth checking out. The soundtrack to the video game Quake was particularly disturbing while playing.
  12. If anyone is interested, Nine Inch Nails has two free albums on its official website (GHOSTS V: TOGETHER and GHOSTS VI: LOCUSTS). Very atmospheric. I was trying to track down their soundtrack to the video game Quake and came across these two free albums.
  13. Those are spot-on for CoC, davewire! I like using the Hero Forge site to create tokens for Roll20. Rotate to a top-down view and they work well as tokens (save the cutout and scale to a 70 x 70 png, which is one unit in Roll20). The examples below are from the current gray scale version of Hero Forge so I added some black highlights in Gimp for the Professor so you can see the detail. The second token is a generic cultist token that I "painted" in Gimp--added layers over the png and then added color then dropped the transparency down so the original shows through. If players get attached to their character, they can order a customized miniature from Hero Forge! Professor character made from Hero Forge Cultist made form Hero Forge and colored in GIMP.
  14. Cartographer's Guild has lots of good ideas, tips, and tutorials for creating maps in various programs: Inkscape, Gimp, Photoshop, etc... I use Gimp for basic maps and building floor plans. Add weathered paper background and some different brush effects and you can create maps similar to the ones in Masks that look pretty good in Roll20.
  15. If you want to create something historical-fictional, then set it in Betham's Panopticon (planned but not made in England): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon It's a creepy idea but made with Utilitarian intentions. Would fit with Victorian theme nicely. Bentham's work helped inspire Robert Peel's first police force (Robert=Bob=Bobbies). And has an Orwellian vibe, ala the sociologist Michel Foucault https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticism:
  16. How to make scary and intrigue players? 1. Handouts. You cannot underestimate the effect of hand-made handouts. Even playing online, a well-crafted image can really create atmosphere. Like so: 2. Slow reveals. I learned this from a friend. If you slow down the action and describe the horror in detail, then you increase the verisimilitude. For example: "You open the bedroom door and see two sleeping figures under the covers in the sliver of light from the opened door. One male; one female. You step in closer, careful not to make noise. You pause to check if either is breathing... the male figure's torso rises and falls rhythmically. You detect a faint rasp of breath. But the female shape is stone still. Taking one step closer, you note a circular discoloration around the female form. Blood?
  17. Funny, I had the same thought. I had a Norwegian professor transporting a stone tablet with Norse pictographs and a crystal embedded in the center. The crystal later becomes the creature and kills the professor who had opened the crate with the tablet in it. In addition to the tablet, I had a file of correspondence between the professor and an American lab. As the investigators came upon the 'crime scene' in the hold, I had biohazard stickers on the door of the hold as well as the crate. My goal was to add a layer of uncertainty to the 'hunt'. It didn't really help the investigators but I thought it added to the mystery and I think they enjoyed a bit more back story. They certainly studied the clues to look for anything that could help.
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