Call of Cthulhu: The Necropolis - RPG Review
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- čas přidán 9. 01. 2022
- Finding themselves trapped in an ancient Egyptian tomb, our heroes discover that they're not alone. This scenario is designed as a simple 1 to 2-hour adventure for introducing new players to Call of Cthulhu. Here are my tips, and criticisms for the module.
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Here's the link to the character sheets I made for my players. I've included both the regular and form-fillable versions. Form-fillable sheets never work in Preview Mode, but you should be able to view them after downloading because Adobe is weird like that. drive.google.com/drive/folder...
Guest starring Jack the NPC. - Hry
Every time Seth says "hello internet" I can't help but say "hey Seth"
I always wave back.
Same
Hello internet I’m dad
I share the sentiment though
Me too! Just so welcoming, even after a hard day.
I loved your alternate version of getting the players in. I would add a momentary extra horror as, just after the lights go out, the photographer's flash goes off in a sort of weak flare up, giving the party a momentary glimpse of his crushed form in the eerie flare light.
I especialy enjoyed that idea, because he mentioned that he choose the adventure because one of the players is 12 years old and it would be "appropriate". :D
I had a different thought. The photog lines the characters up then raises the camera and lights the flash and takes the shot just as the 2 ton stone door drops toward his noggin. Photo taken as he is crushed. Keeper poses the investigators all miming their fright at seeing the photographer's doom and takes the shot, which would be a hilarious keepsake for the adventure.
LJ Miller, I like your style.
@@ljmiller96 love this too
@@ljmiller96 oooh, that would be bad-ass
The laughing outside the cave...had me laughing.
Seth is taking these skits to another level.
For a moment I thought, this laughter was to introduce Ghouls living in the tomb....
That zoom in aside about players attempting to avoid the horror scenario... As a keeper, I felt that.
This scenario seems perfect to a group that used to play D&D but want to try a new thing. It is still dungeon crawling and familiar, but also brings new concepts.
This. It is very much a Call of Cthulhu equivalent of a dungeon crawl.
Great point!
Thanks!
Yes. I think the most important lesson this scenario gives is, that you can't simply kill every monster with brute force. (even if you manage to down it, it re-assembles until you break the curse and so on).
I have the slight feeling the bad reputation CoC had back in the day, was because players with D&D experience tried to run it like D&D with a monster encounter in each other room...
@@robertnett9793 Not just that. You don't get any glory or honor for destroying monsters, but you must keep it a secret. And risk being insane.
Jack's outro idea is an excellent way to continue the narrative from a simple starter adventure.
On the subject of the Players that try to avoid being caught under the slab,
In my experience those are the players who've been burned one too many times by false openings and Deathtraps, or one who's paranoid of being 'caught out' and burned for a first time.
A Player like this who sees a hole in the ground with a big rock nearby is thinking
"No way am I getting crushed- I'm staying outside the tomb! The adventure is probably in a completely different place, it might even be searching for whatever evil cult killed our last characters-"
They very rarely want to avoid the adventure, they just have the mistaken belief that the Adventure is somewhere else and this is just a Trap.
I particularly agree that players sometimes do not know where the adventure lies. I prefer to start this scenario just after the slab has come down rather than giving an early out not to engage. Then there is much less doubt!
@@AdamPreset You can actually do both in a way, start with the event and then go with flashbacks to the camp and backstories there while they try to figure out what the hell just happened after the tomb is sealed on them.
If you're going for a campaign starting point with this, you can have given the players the basics of the situation and have them come up with an encounter with other characters for them to come up with and then have them explain it as ways to introduce the characters there.
It might even work to introduce some bonus equipment a few of them might just happen to have such as a lantern or similar...even with first in, a lantern would be something a lot of people would be carrying to be able to see inside, perhaps a small first aid/medical pack...a translation guide for hieroglyphics that might grant a bonus. some rope, or something else.
@@AzraelThanatos Great idea!
This is exactly why poor GMing is a problem for all the rest of us: it teaches a lack of trust. That is a huge problem for a healthy table environment. People can play how they want to play. But there are ways to play that sow distrust. What you describe is sowing distrust. People claim that "everyone is ok with how I run things," yet it produces what you describe. That is not everyone being ok with it.
I would note that the adventure as written indicates verbatim in the text "Events start with a terrible 'accident' that seals the investigators inside the entrance to a mysterious tomb." One supposes that Keepers may do as they like, starting it there as written, or starting it elsewhere, depending on what works better for their groups. I did it exactly this way twice, and I've watched some live play recordings where it was also done this way, and it was a great time all around. I do sometimes feel an obligation to deliver the classic scenarios as closely as they were envisioned. But sometimes I change quite a bit.
We mostly use CoC rules for Agatha Christie and such like games throughout our characters lives.... but you never know when the mythos of other actors will make an appearance... keeps it special...
BTW we don't lose SAN over a garden rake encounter... we still laugh about that...
That's a fun way to use the system. I'd think CoC would work pretty well for that as long as the players knew not to build Mythos-focused characters.
Don't assume that cos someone's seen all your reviews that they're spoiled on them - I've never played an rpg, but have watched all your videos and can honestly say I'd likely remember the plot hooks of barely a handful were I to encounter them in the wild; therein lies the beauty of an expansive back catalogue of content!
Well thats the difference right? You never played an RPG befor. The spoiler warning is for players
@@heikesiegl2640 Seth did say that the 12 year old kid was only just getting into CoC. Personally I'd say a first time player is just as likely to remember any previous information as someone who's never played.
I don't remember all the plots, either. There are just too many :)
Yeah I've seen them all over the course,of years, and all I can remember is 'a train in one, and a jungle'
"Crushes the Photographer..." That's what I was thinking even before Seth said that. That is definitely the type of game master I am.
One of my players became temporarily insane during this scenario and was inflicted with zoomania, the excessive or abnormal love of animals. It was great fun seeing his fascination with 1) the mummies with animal heads and 2) the Abomination itself!
I love that Seth got me into running Call of Cthulhu, now my favorite RPG, and now he’s covering scenarios that I have already run. I think this super short adventure is great. I’m planning on running it again to introduce some new people to the game, you’ve given me ideas on how to improve it.. Thanks for the great videos Seth.
His videos inspired me to "resurrect" my hobby and begin running CofC again after a near 25 year gap of play. It became a family affair with the wife and four grown children. Thanks Seth!!
6:20 - I'll admit, I have a darn good table for that. Even the faint scent of a story hook, they go charging off to investigate. Their eagerness has actually forced me to improv several adventures. They're a great group.
One of my players takes a 1 foot long church candle most of the time... they last about 3 and a half days... weigh very little.. and once a few hours go by the wick is protected by the wax..
I have a few emergency candles like that at home in real life. Living somewhere that could have major earthquakes they say everyone should have enough supplies to last at least 2 weeks on their own.....
The effort you put in to your videos is outstanding. The NPCs are highly entertaining & everything is masterfully presented. Thanks again for a top quality review.
I ran this recently as only my second ever CoC game and it went really well, but I had to put a lot of effort in to make it work for my players, who were all also new. New, full characters using the ones in the book as a template. Added an NPC reporter interviewing the group at the start to exposition dump and set context for the story and help them get into character by asking each of them directly why they were there and what they hoped to find, which really worked well. The only character that didn’t really work once the adventure was underway was the dilettante as he doesn’t do much or have many skills useful for the scenario compared to the others. The group loved it and were keen to do more so I’m running dead lights next.
The dilettante could be one of those idle rich who has spent a lot of time and money on enjoyable but occasionally useful skills, like fencing.
I randomly find myself fleshing out descriptions of PCs as I'm introduced to them. For no particular reason, I imagined the bodyguard being Berber, and the archaeologist being the daughter of the dead German found in the tomb.
Giving the Dilettante a good Sword skill ("I competed in sabre at Oxford") would be a nice touch when they find the khopesh and all of a sudden the rich dude with no useful skills becomes the badass fighter.
Ah - just suggested the same with the sword. He could also have some skill with hieroglyphs. Not only was Egypt stuff quite the rage for a time in the early 1900s, but if you have to take a language at an expensive school and you're lazy, what better than a dead language with no speaking exercises?
"Wait - you can read that?"
"Indeed."
"How?"
"Well, we all needed to take three language semesters, and I had all the Catullus I could stand already and if you haven't memorized Medieval French poetry, then my good man you haven't the first idea what tedium is. Besides, what a wheeze it is at parties to read the burial curses on your host's latest artifact."
The 5th Element reference alone deserves the like; but, as usual, great review.
That sure took me by surprise! A welcome one, that is!
I once named a character Aziz Lightbringer. My DM and other players never made the connection.
@@Lestant6 Awesome name! Unfortunate response from response from fellow players.
It would make me want to look at them and say, "Are...are you German?"
@@Lestant6 You sure made my day! That's an awesome name!
Jack is getting ready to become a game master there at the end.
Jack has frequently made suggestions about things that might happen after the adventure, this isn't new.
Have a line in the journal in ancient Egyptian written phonetically. When the PC reads it there is a rumble. Then they translate it as "In the name of Anubis, awaken."
This is a good scenario. I suggest the Lightless Beacon as a good simple scenario. I ran it for my sisters (first time CoC players) and they loved it. It can also serve as a jumping off point into adventures around Innsmouth and the Deep Ones.
Lightless Beacon is a good one for sure. There's no avoiding the scenario in that one. Your boat sank! You see the closest island! It's really hard to justify just floating there in the dark.
For anybody that'd like extra lovecraftian mood in that game,or maybe for idea to stretch it, i'd suggest reading the short story 'Imprisoned with the Pharaohs' by Lovecraft, a short novel he 'ghostwritten' for Harry Houdini. It's a personnal favorite and seems to have an extremely similar starting plot to this oneshot.
As usual, thanks on a great review, Seth :D
This is a good recommendation. It's a cool story that goes well alongside.
Your character sheets have saved me hours of prep - thank you so much! Great review with super helpful tips. I’m running this tomorrow night for some noobs. Can’t wait
Seth, I must say, your Jack scenes are great!! I love the subtle addition of the dust and scratches to the "vintage" film.
This sounds so perfect. I haven't gotten the core rule book yet, all I have is the starter set.
Plus this plot hook sounds right up my alley.
Adding this to my wish list
"Aziz, light!" - " Uhhh sir, there are some Jim Henson Alien Robot Muppets here to see you..."
You speak right to my heart. Running one shots for new people and their kids is my bread and butter. I call it: spreading the madness.
Didn't know about this scenario. Thanks for the review and amazing work you gift us every week.
You know, I watch all the traveller videos because I am my groups "forever GM" and I find them handy for know which modules to run next. I watch a the Call of Cthulhu ones as well, even though I never run CoC. I raid CoC module's though to turn them into Trail of Cthulhu adventures because for my money teaching trail is way easier than call and has a vastly superior investigatory system #myopiniondontshoot. But in either case these videos are great, fun to watch and a good resource for getting the DL before I buy. Thanks Mr. Skorkowsky!
I found your channel about a week ago and it's been a major help for my experience as a Keeper, I've taken a bunch of your advice in stride and I'm enjoying running the game more as a result, thanks Seth! I hope you're doing well :)
When I played CoC for the first time the keeper really wanted us to head in one direction but nobody was buying it. I decided to help out saying that my character wouldn't check out the sound but would leave the room because they had to go to the bathroom. Ended up with a memorable actually scary moment with just me in it.
Love all of the mummy references here. That movie, along with temple of doom, are direct inspirations for me being a keeper
Seth, you got a pleasant way about you. I'm glad you enrich us all with your love of gaming and your pleasant demeanor. Keep at it. Love watching your videos. Also, self-publishing my first novel tomorrow. I admire your writing and like your stuff.
Another great video, as always. It's really funny, right when you described the possible conundrum with getting the players into the tomb I thought "Oh, well if there's a photographer there to take pictures of the explorers in the tomb for posterity that would work." Thrn you immediately said the same thing. I swear I'm starting to turn into a mini-Seth like some kind of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" adjacent B-movie. Thanks for all the great content, and I can't wait to see your next video!
I love the fifth element reference there. Bravo.
5:52 - "Aziz!! Light!"
Nice 5th Element Reference, Mister Skorkowsky!
[This is one of the many reasons why I'm a subscriber.]
Man, I love the movie references you sprinkled in. Cracked me up!
Also, Thanks!
Great review Seth! I'm a new keeper & recently ran my regular dnd group through Darkness Under the Hill which had a few too many moving parts for me. This sounds like a similar but fun adventure to help me get some more experience before jumping in to deeper waters
There is a scenario I've been running some of my players through lately. lt's called The Lost Jewels of Eire. It advertises itself as a one-shot Pulp Call of Cthulhu game, but--although it requires a bit of work to get set up and it definitely on the long-end of one shot length--has a lot of smaller adventures that could definitely be sliced out and run individually as a Necropolis-length game.
Strange how the best place to preserve ancient Egyptian artefacts always seems to be the sales room at Sotheby’s…..
glad to see you are back to playing some call of cthulhu :) I have plans to introduce my grp to CoC after our dnd campaign wraps up (we have so far had a session 0)
I love using senses other than sight in games but if I may suggest...instead of making the monster smelly, make it smell of perfumes and essential oils since it is mummified. Maybe the cloying, sickly sweet scent of the preservative liquids precedes it, giving players a chnace to run...or be misled when the air in the tomb blows a different way
I finally ran this for some friends over the holiday break as an extra one-shot / side quest. We had some regular players and newbies. I gave them a couple NPC sidekicks to manage who had skills they were lacking, such as the languages, and let the players handle those rolls. Even though I had the scenario in print, I bought the Roll20 module to save me some prep time. One keeper’s opinion, but they did a great job with giving me two map layers, one with the secret room and one without, as well as all the dynamic lighting barriers already set up. (I’m sure other VTTs have fine ways to do that also.)
Sounds interesting.
Good thing I got that Keeper's Handbook for Christmas.
gotta love a reference to Mummy and fifth element right after one another, both some of my favorite pulp cthulhu inspirations.
Nicely done, as always. I love the idea of taking your time to reveal the monster. That feels lovecraftian. Your solution to their killing it but not yet destroying the heart is also genius. Glad they enjoyed it and are interested in more. Might I suggest a couple I sent to you? The Haunted Place is kind of an homage to The Haunting, except it takes place in Providence, R.I., and the setup is slightly differerent though there is plenty of investigation. Nightmare in the Moonlight has an entire Providence sourcebook and the scenario is an adaptation of Miske's "The Thing in the Moonlight" complete with trip to a dreamlands demiplane.
In any case, I look forward to seeing what you run for them and how it turns out.
Fun bit of trivia: there was a pharoh who worshipped a god from his visions instead of the Egyptian pantheon in real life too. His name was Akhenaten. His successors intentionally tried to erase his name and achievements from history (this happened to a few pharohs). Also his religion might be the earliest known instance of monotheism in history (the specifics of this religion aren’t well understood due to the deliberate attempts to erase Akhenaten from history).
Great content as always :) I've recently had my first experience with CoC (as the keeper) and I also decided to run a scenario from the "Gateways to terror". I decided on "What is in the cellar?", while it doesn't have much investigation I felt like there was a bit more with multiple clues the players can discover looking through the shelves and digging into the floor (I told them I would like them to be specific where they are looking and I also asked them to show me on the map where their flashlights are pointed at). The keepers map detailing which object is where on the shelve was great, for any regular success I know exactly what they would find around where they are searching with spot hidden rolls, except the box with clues was provided at the very first regular success regardless of where they searched (though I did "move" the cavalry saber to the location a player got their first extreme success to make it more exciting (the module already states to give the saber for extreme successes, but I would have given it if a player got a regular success on its location as well)).
Both players rolled pretty high on luck, so many initial tries of the monster to screw with them via telekinesis failed (dropping jars onto their heads etc.), but it did manage to scare them with sounds and movement quite bit (during a failed pushed roll - the relative wanted to listen if they are alone in the cabin, since the hatch suddenly shut close, and after failing they decided to push it by closing their eyes focusing even more on their hearing - a tentacle grabbed them by the neck for 1 damage, but since their eyes were closed I described only the feeling and smell - some sanity was lost ;) ). The players soon started to investigate the floor (they did looked around the scene where the blood should have been; and found the tiny blood splatters; and found the box with papers before they started to focus on the floor) and one investigator got the skull and identified it has female and also noted the "animal" bite marks, while the other immediately hit the ring (and it was even the blood relative, who can banish the monster with putting it on)...
I decide that the monster will try to sneak onto them to surprise the relative and wrap its tentacles around their wrists and keep them from putting on the ring, but the player did succeed on their listen check prompting normal combat.
The private investigator decided to charge the monster to try to keep it away from the blood relative, pretty sure the ring will be able to handle the monster and spend a huge amount of luck to get a success with their combat maneuver.
Sadly the monsters dexterity is abyssmal, so it was last in the round... So both players went before it and the relative was second in initiative. Here I decided to spice things up a little bit since the investigators were doing so incredible well with their rolls. I ruled that the foreign power of the ring can't easily be controlled immediately and that a successful POW roll is required to banish the creature, which succeeded as well. But since the other investigator was wrestling with the being, I described it as lashing out wildly with its tentacles, as it was pulled towards the point on the floor, where the hidden sigils were. And I asked for a luck roll form the investigator, to see if any flaying tentacles wrap around his body here. After a failed roll I gave the monster its rip and tear ability (with reduced damage since I described only two tentacles grabbing both arms of the investigator). And they actually survived it even without a major wound (barely, but it was a pretty lucky damage roll that I told the player to roll themself, which resulted in much excitement when they saw the roll - 2d6+1d4 certainly had the potential for injury or even death).
Overall my two players had a ton of fun, but I think I would want to run that scenario for only exactly 2 players - 3 or 4 seems crowded in the tiny cellar, 1 I don't like, since protecting the ring by taking it; and maybe cutting somebody loose from a tentacle wrapped around them seem like fun options for a second investigator who is being currently left alone by the monster. Also with 1 player they have to be a blood relative and the scenario is guaranteed over when they put on the ring, but with 2 there is the chance that the non blood relative gets the ring and it doesn't work - so the 3rd handout becomes more important, since it contains the clue that a blackwood blood relative has to use the ring, otherwise the clues about the ring aren't that important, since it is mentioned even in the introduction in the voice recorded message.
Anyway what I wanted to ask you: did you maybe run the other two adventures as well and I would loooooove a video comparing them (AKA which one ended up working the best for its intended purpose, or if they are all good for what they are)
omg this is PERFECT ive been wanted to transition to call of cthulhu in my ttrpg club, where sessions are only 90 minutes and everyone's only familiar with dnd, so this short play time and dungeon crawler style is just the right fit :]
Thanks AGAIN Seth, for an excellent review/synopsis of a scenario that has great potential for actually extending into a larger, more expansive (and therefore more horrifying) "dungeon crawl".
I'm not familiar with this adventure but see wonderful potential for turning it into a full 1 or possibly 2 session scare fest of about 6 hours each, should of course, a GM elect to put in the work for doing so.
One of the wonderful aspects of CofC is of course, the opportunity to take a great idea, expand upon it and make it as memorable as possible. I think this short adventure has all the criteria for providing the structure for an expansive and noteworthy game. Thanks very much for bringing it to the forefront my friend!
Reminds me a lot of an old D&D module where the entrance caves in after the players enter the Egypt style dungeon. Honestly I can't see a situation where players would fall for it. It's such a cliche. My group would immediately twig as soon as the photographer was like "yeah you guys go in and I'll take your photo". They'd do everything to make sure their escape route didn't shut behind them.
Fantastic video and thanks for playing.
Ooo I played this with Lynne Hardy as the keeper a few years ago! I was the dishonourably discharged solider character, and after being driven into an insane rage by the sight of the creature my character managed to land a critical single hit kill on it. It was the first time any of us saw it and it was dead before it got a chance to do anything. I think we were all just as surprised as each other!
I think the Abomination has a strength of 200! Good job!
@@AdamPreset beware the wrath if a gentle man
Sometimes, a straightforward adventure is the *best* adventure! This looks wicked fun!
I'd like to hear how the game went from the Twelve Year Old's perspective. Maybe do an interview, with his face in heavy prop disguise for privacy. Or do the interview, and make a new NPC to read the lines.
I just got this book for Christmas! So excited to run it now!
This video was awesome This! It would've helped me alot when I ran this game! I made the mistake of starting just moments earlier and because of that the intro dragged awhile until all PCs finally went in.
for a stalking werewolf mummy thing this dungeons seems a bit too small...
maybe i'd add in some more tunnels, (a minimaze, with some trapdoors with spears at the bottom etc. as extra obstacles) and of course to have it chase the players through the maze.
but that's just my 2 cents on this :)
I had the impression that the area was much too small for a stalking creature that can see in the dark as mentioned in the module description vs players that must rely on candles to see. They do mention that the anti chamber has lots of artifacts to hide behind but it does seem likely that even with a few good stealth rolls, the monster would locate them very quickly especially with a lit candle needed to search the final treasure room to find the creatures heart
The Gateways to Terror adventures are fantastic introductory module all-in-all. Having equal measures of investigation, exploration, and a little combat to cover the breadth of CoC's rules. I like 'em.
Another great review. Super cool. Also, THAT SHIRT! I am a HUGE fan of the CYOA series. Would love to know where you got that shirt from!!
Great review! I haven't managed to find enough players interested in Call of Cthulhu but someday!
Love the picture of a new party of investigators instead of fleeing at the sight of this undead horror just bum rushing it. Fight or Flight kicked in and they chose fight.
Just started working on getting this ready for a group. Second time running a module, second time taking your advice, 1st time working Call of Cthulhu, should be interesting.
I‘ m reading a book about ancien egypt. Fun fact: the outline of the tomb of Tutenchamun is quit similar to the outline in the adventure.
Seth GMing: "My group finished in about 2 hours."
Me GMing: "My group finished in about 8 hours."
Some people are just better at herding cats.
Nice to hear about folks getting youngsters into the game.
The mummified dogs but reminded me I must get around to the attack of the cat mummies story idea for Demon Hunters.
Getting my table ready to run this for the first time in about 20 minutes. Your review helped me decide on what props to make ahead of time and gave an expectation of some things the players may attempt. Appreciate your efforts for the CoC community. Hopefully my first time Investigators fair as well as yours did!
Best of luck.
@@SSkorkowsky Appreciate it. Worked like a charm!
you should play one of the other pulp Cthulhu scenarios since you've only done one of those and most of them are action packed and will likely hold a 12 year old's attention plus i would like to see you review one of the other ones, specifically the disintegrator since it looks really interesting.
I got inspired by this review and ran this game for my first game for a new group and a intro to M of N
Good way to start the year off. Cheers!
"Aziz, LIGHT!"
Nice reference, Seth😊
This module would be a great lead-in to The Shadow over Providence, which is set in an Egyptian exhibit a few years later. I used this one to test out running Call of Cthulhu over Google Meet with my group when the quarantine first started and you're right, it's short, fun, and checks most of the boxes.
I agree with you, I can’t not run a game for a convention like some can. That is a true skill
I love a good 5th element reference
Ditto.
When I first saw 'The Plucky Kid' written on screen I totally read it as 'The Picky Kid'. I was confused.
How could a kid who wouldn't eat broccoli help the party?
Lol, thanks for the Mummy and Fifth Element references at the beginning :)
Something else that a small location like this setting can bring out is that it would work to have a full terrain setup, something that is difficult and costly to do for normal adventuring.
Hirst Arts has a few molds that would work well to construct the tomb setup, and even if you skip using it for exact movement and just use generalities, a small location like this is a great one where that sort of thing can really make players feel a part of the adventure rather than playing it. Especially for a convention game it would make it far more memorable.
One of my favorite tricks to play on players in tombs like this to help set atmosphere when something is moving around? Establish that the air is still on entering. Then notice that after sound is more dust in the air. If near by? "A foul draft" reflecting the air movement because of this big thing scurrying about. Using dust as another medium of "Not alone" and helps to establish an ambiguous size"
I recently acquired the slipcase set of Masks of Nyarlothep. Being new to Call of Ctulhu I was wondering what you think about it.
I love watching your videos.
Thanks Seth. Any chance of doing a video on the thorny topic of Insanity and Player agency? It's a potentially big issue at our table. 🤞
The after-video musing is the best part!
Man, I wish I lived near you and could take part in what you offer! The few times I tried playing on roll20 and discord things didn't go well at all with player dynamics.
For a group that wants more action -such as one with a 12 year old- this would run well under Pulp rules, too.
It would be cool if you did a video compiling the best C'thulhu modules since you've reviewed so many.
Perhaps in categories... best one off. Best intro to CoC. That kind of thing.
@@thecaveofthedead
Exactly yeah
Jack the NPC definitely deserves his own spin-off web series; I love that character in all his guises:)
I remember the first time my players found out that Cthulhu ghouls are _not_ D&D ghouls. It was delicious.
MMM... Manflesh
I must give you credit for working in jokes based on The Mummy, The Fifth Element, and (I believe) Stargate and making them all feel natural, which since all involve archeology in Egypt is just my kind of meta fun.
It's like the reason I loved Michael Shanks playing Hawkman on Smallville, as both Hawkman and Daniel Jackson are archeologists who figured out how to use alien technology found in Egypt, and lost their wives to a "dark god".
My personal GM motto is lets play it out.
For the players who dont enter when the bad thing happens like this in gaames I literally just play it out.
I tell them
"You are outside the dig and no one is trying to get them back out. What do you do?"
Or maybe they are trying to extract them. It depends on the mood I am in. If they thought they were going to have a "Got Ya" moment and be all smug that they aoivded the trap I would have all the hands pull guns on him as they were all cultists or a secret order who are trying to keep the secret buried. I then leave them for the scarabs and give them a new character sheet of a helper who just so happened to be a regular guy and got trapped same as everyone else. Or they can take the other option and be left out of the adventure.
Its just that characters story. Sure I may give them a small solo adventure but they soon realize that they are alone with no backup. Big a mistake in COC. If they don't die they learn.
Point is, in my games be it by boardom or death, they learn not to do that again. The real "got ya" moment is when they are forced to sit out of a game because they did not want to give in the narrative licence and play the game.
If you do it to yourself you have only yourself to blame.
Yes, I have heard something like “You can engage with the scenario, or you can sit and watch others engage with the scenario.”
Dropped in venomous snakes just to make the kid happy. How nice. 🐍 😁
This would be a great way to set up the Idol of Thoth. The archeologists from this adventure could be the ones that found the idol's puzzle box and collected it for Arthur Ormond.
Was never much into Call of Cthulu, then I walked past a Copy in a rpg store the other day and read the name Sandy Petersen on the cover. Thought, how odd, same name as one of my favorite Doom level designers. Then the penny dropped, This is the same guy!!!!!!
Guess I have to read the rules now.
Seth has absolutely sold me on COC and Traveller, just from these reviews.
i needed this thanks man
I'm planing to have a group play that scenario as the prilogue to a homebrew campaign that would be inspired by Atlantis the lost empire. So essencially they'd start in america at their base occupations and they would be contacted by a dilletante that would want to explore the tomb and those that would survive would be recruted for an expedition to potentially discover atlantis, the initial tomb wouldn't even need to be specifically egyptian, as it could contain a map to atlantis
I ran this with my friends who hadn’t played Call of Cthulhu but had a basic understanding of the rules from times prior I’d talked about it, and one of them decided during his bout of madness and panic he threw dynamite at the monster. It led to them destabilizing the tomb and causing a cave in. Even though it ended in a TPK everyone had a great time and this was the scenario that really turned them on to playing things other than D&D
Thanks for the upload
Luv ya Seth. Gosh I wish I lived near East Texas...
What Jack suggests at the end is quite literally what ended up happening; my players already wanted such a society and I suggested their premades they played had a hand in setting things up.
Another Seth video full of excellent advice.
Story time.
Was playing a CoC scenario with an Asian keeper who was a massive "anime" fan.
About three quarters of the way through the scenario it swiftly devolved into what I have now dubbed "The Booty Call of Cthulhu" as instead of trying to kill our characters, the eldritch horrors decided they wanted to impregnate us. Yes, not even the male characters were safe.
The scenario ended up concluding with both female characters and a male character being impregnated with eggs. Sadly, my character and an NPC had to shoot them and destroy the eggs, which left my character on the verge of complete insanity.
Here's the kicker though, three of our players were under the age of eighteen, and the Keeper was nineteen. At the time I was thirty, and ended up having a long and thorough discussion with the Keeper about keeping certain story elements less grapey and violent considering the audience. Again, sadly, I heard he ran another scenario in Innsmouth in which there was a lot of graphic Deep One on Human struggle cuddling. In this particular instance, four of the players were teenage girls.
Having dealt with the aforementioned scenario, I can definitely say that Keepers need to know their players and need to have the proper judgement skills to gauge how far they should and should not go with certain subject matter.