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Masks: How important is that PCs are Mythos-green at NY, or should I have a prequel adventure to introduce EJ


Nakraal

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I made one attempt to run Masks before a couple of years, but it didn't go past New York; Now I am to start Masks, online, with 3 players, all seasoned roleplayers but with limited experience with CoC.

Reading around for tips running Masks the one that pops up most of the time is the "run prequel adventures solely to introduce Jackson Elias and have the party bond with him"

What worries me is that should I have a prequel adventure, just to introduce and have the PCs bond with Elias, this would mean that the PCs will start the NY chapter kind of seasoned with the occult and the Mythos. My feeling is that its best that the characters are green as far as Mythos is concerned when they start in New York.

On the other hand the prequel adventure could be non-Mythos related. It could have to do with some random non-Mythos cult-conspiracy. It could even be totally irrelevant with the occult (I gave some thought on the PCs and Elias being war buddies and the prequel being simply set in the butchery of Verdun). But in that case such an adventure will be totally  out of the Call of Cthulhu sphere. Is it so much worth it to spent a couple of sessions in that manner?

In my last two (non-CoC) campaigns instead of having the players write up their backgrounds I ask them a general outline of what they want to play and then I create a questionnaire with 15-20 multiple choice questions about their past (eg "You decide to go to a voyage to a far away land, you decide to go to a) place 1 b) place 2" etc), with each decision they make granting them something and at the same time forming their past. My initial thought is to use something and have Elias being a part the most crucial decisions in the questionnaire.

TL;DR Is it worth it to have an entire adventure just for introducing Elias Jackson? Won't it be a problem if the PCs start the NY chapter as seasoned investigators vaguely aware of the Mythos?

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5 hours ago, Nakraal said:

What worries me is that should I have a prequel adventure, just to introduce and have the PCs bond with Elias, this would mean that the PCs will start the NY chapter kind of seasoned with the occult and the Mythos. My feeling is that its best that the characters are green as far as Mythos is concerned when they start in New York.

TL;DR Is it worth it to have an entire adventure just for introducing Elias Jackson? Won't it be a problem if the PCs start the NY chapter as seasoned investigators vaguely aware of the Mythos?

In my mind, "kind of seasoned" and "vaguely aware" are not synonyms.  One scenario doesn't season anyone to the Mythos if the release of information is carefully controlled by The Keeper.  The Peru Chapter for Masks 5th Edition  can be run as low or high Mythos with some thoughtful decisions, for example. A group of characters could have lots of familiarity with some aspects of the Mythos that give them absolutely no advantages in tangling with The Crawling Chaos.

I think the bigger question is: What is Jackson Elias' purpose in the narrative?  To die?  Well, why should him dying matter?  Somebody you don't care about or know dying doesn't carry much weight in role-playing games.  The purpose of Jackson Elias is to anchor and invest the players in the story so that they have a reason to drop everything and tour the world on short notice.  If your players are experienced role-players, perhaps they will just "play along." And if that is the case, no problem.  Some role-players not only enjoy, but expect a narrative that gives their characters a reason to investigate.

So, what are your players like?  Do they need a reason, or will they just "play along?"  Personally, I feel like I owe it to my players to give them a reason, whether they expect it or not.

Edited by klecser
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18 hours ago, TrippyHippy said:

Isn't this why they included a new prelude chapter in Peru?

I do not own the new 7th edition version of Masks so I don't have access to this adventure nor do I know how Mythos-heavy it is. I can use some one shots I created in the past or write something new.

 

On 12/2/2018 at 10:30 PM, klecser said:

In my mind, "kind of seasoned" and "vaguely aware" are not synonyms.  One scenario doesn't season anyone to the Mythos if the release of information is carefully controlled by The Keeper.  The Peru Chapter for Masks 5th Edition  can be run as low or high Mythos with some thoughtful decisions, for example. A group of characters could have lots of familiarity with some aspects of the Mythos that give them absolutely no advantages in tangling with The Crawling Chaos.

I think the bigger question is: What is Jackson Elias' purpose in the narrative?  To die?  Well, why should him dying matter?  Somebody you don't care about or know dying doesn't carry much weight in role-playing games.  The purpose of Jackson Elias is to anchor and invest the players in the story so that they have a reason to drop everything and tour the world on short notice.  If your players are experienced role-players, perhaps they will just "play along." And if that is the case, no problem.  Some role-players not only enjoy, but expect a narrative that gives their characters a reason to investigate.

So, what are your players like?  Do they need a reason, or will they just "play along?"  Personally, I feel like I owe it to my players to give them a reason, whether they expect it or not.

I must note that this isn't my regular group. 

One of the players is very experienced, in the hobby for 25+ years. I only had the opportunity to play with him in a ravenloft campaign where we both were players, and he is one of the finest roleplayers I have encountered so far. The second player is new to RPGs, I had him as a player in a short campaign, he is very active and dedicated. The third one is a buddy of mine, never played CoC before, but he is infatuated with the work of HP Lovecraft. He was the one that started the whole thing asking me to start a Call of Cthulhu campaign. Despite that, and that I specifically pointed out that the game is investigation based he was fixed to create a non investigative char (an underground brawler/boxer).

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