Petersen's Abominations

[Kyle]

Which Petersen's Abominations scenario is the best to start with for new players? I've GM'ed fewer than 20 sessions and they haven't played CoC. I think one of them has played other RPG's.

[CastingsofCthulhu]

I've run The Derelict a few times for new players as one session games. It's a nice haunted house style story, which keeps the group fixed in one area and doesn't have too much complexity in terms of things going on in the background. My only tweaks are that I run it with an alternative crew of a salvage vessel, I have the skipper and first mate as NPC's which can be used to guide the players and die at dramatic moments.

Hotel Hell would be my second choice, simply as again, its a fairly simple setup. The group are there to open up an old hotel, which gives some good opportunities for them to go exploring around the area. The downside is that the end of the scenario gets messy very easily.

The others in the book need a bit more prep and setup from my experience, but are worth it if the group gets into them.

[Kyle]

1 minute ago, CastingsofCthulhu said:

I've run The Derelict a few times for new players as one session games. It's a nice haunted house style story, which keeps the group fixed in one area and doesn't have too much complexity in terms of things going on in the background. My only tweaks are that I run it with an alternative crew of a salvage vessel, I have the skipper and first mate as NPC's which can be used to guide the players and die at dramatic moments.

Hotel Hell would be my second choice, simply as again, its a fairly simple setup. The group are there to open up an old hotel, which gives some good opportunities for them to go exploring around the area. The downside is that the end of the scenario gets messy very easily.

The others in the book need a bit more prep and setup from my experience, but are worth it if the group gets into them.

Thanks! The Derelict was one of my favourites skimming through anyway.

[CastingsofCthulhu]

I really enjoy it for its simple 'monster of the week' format. Theres a bit of a sandbox feel to it but its only a small sandbox compared to others. If you want to see my notes on how I've run it, theres something on my blog about it. https://www.kirkd.co.uk/blog/index.php/call-of-cthulhu-the-derelict/

[Epicyon]

16 hours ago, CastingsofCthulhu said:

I've run The Derelict a few times for new players as one session games. It's a nice haunted house style story, which keeps the group fixed in one area and doesn't have too much complexity in terms of things going on in the background. My only tweaks are that I run it with an alternative crew of a salvage vessel, I have the skipper and first mate as NPC's which can be used to guide the players and die at dramatic moments.

Hotel Hell would be my second choice, simply as again, its a fairly simple setup. The group are there to open up an old hotel, which gives some good opportunities for them to go exploring around the area. The downside is that the end of the scenario gets messy very easily.

The others in the book need a bit more prep and setup from my experience, but are worth it if the group gets into them.

I completely agree! I've run The Derelict three times as a one-shot scenario and it ran smoothly every time. Hotel Hell is great as well, but I would go for The Derelict first!