Rogue Cthulhu

[Qstor]

I'm brand new to the forums. I was wondering if anyone had experience with this group. I know CoC isn't a huge rules systems like Pathfinder or Rolemaster. But my friend played in one of their adventures 2 years ago and said it seemed like the Keeper basically made up the rules as she went along. I'm not saying that's good or bad, it's just not what I'm used to in an organized play type environment.

[nclarke]

There's hundreds of people running CoC all over the world and it's been a regularly played game since 1981 with pretty much the same rules. Organised Play for CoC is very different to AL or PFS organised play and although CoC is a lighter set of rules than say D&D or PF no-one runs it with rules made up on the fly.

The CoC Organised Play is so different to WoTC Organised play or Paizo Organised play I'm not surprised that your friend was confused by a non-D20 game system. It's not really designed for drop in play as there is a plot that carries over multiple sessions making it very hard if the players are not consistent from session to session where the Keeper has to recap every time for new players taking up loads of time better spent playing.

[Qstor]

On 8/3/2018 at 10:55 AM, nclarke said:

The CoC Organised Play is so different to WoTC Organised play or Paizo Organised play I'm not surprised that your friend was confused by a non-D20 game system. It's not really designed for drop in play as there is a plot that carries over multiple sessions making it very hard if the players are not consistent from session to session where the Keeper has to recap every time for new players taking up loads of time better spent playing.

The adventure the Keeper was running was a 4 hour convention type scenario. He was "surprised" to the extent that the Keeper seemed to to making stuff up (rules and the plot) as she went along. He's played CoC a number of times and was familiar with the rules.

[nclarke]

So 'a friend' had a bad game experience two years ago and you're posting about it now?

Sounds like a ploy to stir up trouble as I've pointedly told you that 'making things up' isn't the norm for Call of Cthulhu scenarios.

[KeeperXav]

And even if the GM was making up the rules, that's not a problem as long as the rules are

1) consistent

2) impartial

3) fun/satisfying for the group

 

You haven't even made it clear if your friend was unhappy with the session.

[Qstor]

On 8/7/2018 at 3:16 AM, nclarke said:

So 'a friend' had a bad game experience two years ago and you're posting about it now?

Sounds like a ploy to stir up trouble as I've pointedly told you that 'making things up' isn't the norm for Call of Cthulhu scenarios.

I wasn't trying to cause problems I was just asking about RogueCthulhu.

On 8/9/2018 at 2:25 AM, KeeperXav said:

And even if the GM was making up the rules, that's not a problem as long as the rules are

1) consistent

2) impartial

3) fun/satisfying for the group

 

You haven't even made it clear if your friend was unhappy with the session.

He was unhappy. The Keeper seemed to be inconsistent with the rules and "made" up rules to further the plot.

[g33k]

Bit of a necro, sorry for that ... 

As noted, 2 years is kind of a long time after the fact to be inquiring; it's not clear to me that your friend's issue(s) can be meaningfully addressed.  I note that you "just found" BRPCentral, so I guess that explains why you are bringing this up after so long.

A quick google suggests that there isn't a big problem with the Rogue Cthulhu organization, e.g.   http://grogheads.com/featured-posts/15307   who played *SEVEN* of their events at Origins 2017 (one presumes they'd have spent their time doing something else, if the events sucked).  I didn't spot any other people complaining or saying RC Keepers didn't know the rules, or made up rules.

I can only presume your friend got unlucky with a brand-new Keeper who wasn't quite up to speed, one who was having an off day, etc.

 

Edited October 25, 2018 by g33k

[Rick Meints]

The team of GMs at Rogue Cthulhu are volunteers. They have valiantly run Call of Cthulhu games for quite some time. Like most volunteer organizations the specific volunteers will cover a spectrum of experience, professionalism, and quality. In general, the Rogue Cthulhu team does an awesome job. Their games are highly rated. Their events often fill up early with repeat customers who keep coming back for more and more. The feedback we have received about them has been very positive overall. That said, no group of volunteers is perfect. Any one volunteer can have a bad day, a bad session, or not click with every player at their table.

The best piece of advice I can offer is to speak up immediately after the session has concluded. The Rogue Cthulhu volunteers have always (as far as i have seen) been very open to positive and negative feedback. They want every player to enjoy their time at the table. Unfortunately, it is very hard to do much about "two years ago one of my friends had a bad time in a game at a con", other than to say that is a rare occurrence. I'd give the Rogue Cthulhu team another try. The vast majority of their game sessions are awesome.

Edited November 9, 2018 by Rick Meints