Call of Cthulhu: The Derelict - RPG Review
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- čas přidán 29. 05. 2017
- Review and Game Master tips for the Call of Cthulhu adventure "The Derelict". Originally offered for Free RPG Day 2016, the module is a fun one-shot adventure set during the Modern Era.
You can buy The Derelict here: www.lulu.com/shop/sandy-peters...
The free Call of Cthulhu Quickstart rules are here: www.chaosium.com/free-quick-st...
If you want to support my ability to keep making reviews, you can find my books here: amzn.to/2rSAm6e
I'm one of Seth's players, and I've got to say that one of the highlights of the game was just after several players went insane. One of the players suffered "Echolalia". She, the player, then started echoing everything another player was saying, to the point that he started laughing, then she started laughing to mimick and then they both started laughing for real. Then we all started laughing, uncontrollably. Tears in the eyes, snot dripping out laughing. I would argue we actually suffered a bout of madness during this game.
Good times.
Wow, it must be incredible to play with such a knowledgeable GM :)
Thanks for the anecdote. I am very envious of the sheer atmosphere it seems like Seth must be able to inject into a game. Great to hear directly ftom one of his players!
I definitely wish I had a DM of Seth’s caliber and charisma to play with... actually I’d like to have a group period lol, none of my friends are the type who would be into this sort of thing. I suppose I could look online but oh well idk...
echolalia can be fun, but I never do it on purpose, happens often enough. and its more like repeating one word or phrase several times for me.
I blame Mike for not numbering the rooms in the text.
Another example of Seth's clout in the industry...
Dammit Mike.
Our GM named the First Mate on our ship "Skipper", consequently our Captain's name ended up being Firstmate.
Colouroutofspace4 that’s appropriate
The Ghost ship movie was a fun flick!
It was. I rewatched it before running the adventure and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it.
@@SSkorkowsky And you're not the only fan. I own the DVD of the movie, too.
@@SSkorkowsky It was a fantastic setup that I felt went off the rails with the Ferryman angle. Have you read the earlier draft of the script that's floating around (hah, pun) on the internet? I prefer that version myself.
@@cnkclark What did they change?
@@LibraGamesUnlimited First and foremost, no Ferryman character setting everything up if I recall correctly. A Google search for 'ghost ship movie script' finds plenty of results, but I am linking the top search result here. By all means, read it for yourself and let me know your thoughts. I should reread it myself.
www.dailyscript.com/scripts/ghost_ship.html
On the note of the room numbers being confusing, for the Petersen's Abominations collection this scenario was reprinted in, they added the room number next to the room descriptions.
I know you found an invisibility rule thanks to Mr Dorward, but I just wanted to let you know that similar rules are given on p.293 for the Flying Polyp, and p.309 for the Star Vampire, both of which can turn invisible.
Thanks.
that predator noise scared the shit out of me, holy fuck. Awesome review as always, thumb up
Thanks. I hadn't planned on it being scary, but yeah, it does sorta jump out at you. Sorry about that :-)
The bit where Seth is looking through the module for the room descriptions had me laughing out loud, really good acting.
Having been in the Navy I have a little experience with ships. It's entirely reasonable to assume a ship has multiple vertical accesses. About a minute to a minute and a half to walk between them is about right.
For sure, Navy ships tend to have lots of vertical access because you do want sailors to be able to get almost anywhere quickly, especially in combat situations, as well as to bypass damage, or even allow controlled flooding to balance lists or such. More holes you can close or open is actually useful in a warship because their hulls are reinforced by default.
In my experience, merchant ships are less generous, as every hole you cut to make a portal in the hull costs money and compromises hull integrity, which is not very high because you want merchant hulls to be as weak as you can get away with to keep down cost. They also theoretically serve no essential purpose as merchant-mariners aren't supposed to need to rush anywhere inside a ship during normal operations. That the ships can become death traps if they sink is just a calculated risk the owners seem quite willing to take.
1:55 "It won't happen again, I promise." Why?! I want more of the NPC Jack singing!
I had the first encounter on the yacht and everyone had to run onto the derelict. During that first brush with the monster, I had the NPC captain thrown over the water. At the end, I had an extra epilogue scene where he climbs onto the flat part of the ice berg, frost bitten and dying, still clenching onto the silver pocket watch he was checking the time with when the monster showed up. One player is randomly chosen to play as him. He stumbles into a body near some eggs with unlit dynamite in its hand, and the growling and clicking of the monster coming to defend it.
Kind of convenient and melodramatic, but my players freaked when it happened, since it’s a cool callback to the cap’n and they got to have a mega badass moment right after feeling so scared and on the run most of the time.
I enjoyed running this. My players used the PC playing the actress as "Bait". She was supposed to run under some cargo held up by the crane where another PC was waiting to drop crates on the monster. Unfortunately she decided to wear high heels because of character fashion reasons, so I made her do dex checks while being chased as bait. She failed the one right under the trap and the other PC squashed both her and the monster so, victory? I guess? How did your
players do?
My PCs fought it twice. First time was on the main deck while trying to get a handcart out of the CO2 room. One PC died and the player then took over the last surviving NPC. They managed to hurt it pretty bad, but it fled. Later on, they were holed up on the 4th-level upper deck, but one insane PC heard it moving around (gathering bodies) and hallucinated it was a rescue chopper. They all ran out and had the final battle on the upper deck there. The girl (the only one who could see it) charged up, hosed it with the fire-extinguisher (got and Extreme hit). That let the other PC's see it. Then a 9mm, followed by 2 hits from the .357 (one an Impale) took the monster out before it could run.
If you are ever short a player, I'd be down to play anytime.
@@SSkorkowsky Thrilling!
@@SSkorkowsky Dope.
I couldn't help but notice that the Captain and Mate look an awful lot like Sandy and Mike :)
Hmm? What? Total coincidence, I assure you.
Hey, just wanted to say all the little tips and notes you give in your scenario reviews are always really helpful as a keeper. Nice job
Thanks. I always wonder how useful people might find them or if I'm just making them more confusing.
@@SSkorkowsky They are fantastically valuable. Your superpower seems to be finding ways to elevate the atmosphere with touches of realism that really drive player investment in the game to the next level. I know I feel like in one of your games I would be hanging on every detail, deeply 'in' the experience.
@@SSkorkowsky I always use your tips and they always work out great.
Seth, I know this is an old video and you might not see this comment but you are not the only fan of Ghost Ship. That movie has a killer opening.
The Poseidon Adventure is an awesome movie. Good times. I haven't seen it in years, but it's one that really sticks with you. I remember watching it with my dad as a kid and trying to hold my breath whenever they swam through a flooded series of hallways to see if I would survive.
have you considered running one offs with your regular players on your channel? so we can watch you and your pals play?
The_kron Craft_show yes please
I played this scenario some time ago, and I have to say, it is one of the best games of CoC I ever played. when we played, the monster had in secret got back to the yacht, damaged the engines, and when we returned from the derelict, it cut the boats we used to get back and forth. After a thrilling chase with the survivors rushing back to the derelict via the ship's jetskis, we had our first close encounter with the creature. In the end, we hid in one of the rec rooms with a stocked bar, filled an ice bucket with high proof alcohol, and after dousing the creature with it, shot it with a flare gun. We lost one of the players in the attack, but the monster was destroyed, and thanks to one player sending out a mayday via their satellite phone, a rescue ship came along for the two survivors. Yeah, I died, but it was the last person that creature would ever get. Good times!
Ghost Ship was great! :D :P
You can also put page numbers of locations next to the Legend on the map, so you know where to flip to when following on the map. That'll help you avoid scanning through each page to know which rooms are on it.
I was the lucky one that got to see the monster, I never figured out WHY I could see it....we ended up just trying to run away before it impaled us. Honestly, it wasn't clear that there was just ONE stalking us so we didn't want to risk a confrontation.
If I am ever running a game with non english speakers I might run this adventure, but I feel like telling my players: You can't understand it, it's in Norwegian, in Norwegian, wold be kinda silly
You could just make it Russian or Faroese or something.
change the language to maybe German or something
Wait, so do you know what monsters have against Norwegians? Are monsters huge fan of pre-Viking Northumberland or something?
Make it English ha
I just found your channel and I love all the work you've done in your videos, as for being a fan of ghost ship, you're not the only one and I always thought it'd make a good adventure hook.
Its one of those movies with a lot of flaws, but I just can't stop loving it.
😊 Going through all the call of Cthulhu scenarios again to see what's the next adventure is for my Call of Cthulhu group is going to play next.
Seth im gonna run this game today 23 of June for new players, wish me luck dude! i love you videos
Just so you know.... your not the only fan of Ghost Ship lol great review
Haha. Good to hear I'm not alone.
My siblings and I still love Ghost Ship
Tried this module out coming from d&d 5e thinking I would show my players that the battles in call of Cthulhu are deadly. They ended up killing it in a gun fight because I couldn't roll under a 70.
In the german version of the adventure in "Petersens Abschäulichkeiten" from 2020, a lot of the suggestions presented here are implemented :-) The Captain and his Maat now have names, the rooms have numbers and the skills of the pre-gens are updated :-) Guess this should also be ture for english reprints of the scenario, but I can not look that up.
Next sunday i will be the keeper for this scenario! Thanks for the suggestions!
First scenario I played for call of Cthulhu at a convention, really enjoyed it and find it funny to stumble across a great review of it all these years later. Always thought it was a elder thing 😅
I love Ghost Ship. You are not alone.
After watching the terror season 1 I kinda want to run this as a 1920s adventure with Vendigos/Yetis as the monster/s instead.
True Review, Great tips.
You ever play the video game Enemy 0? It was interesting in that you had to deal with invisible enemies that you could only track via sound. It's only tangentally related to this, but thought I'd mention it.
Nicely done, as always. I was also a little disappointed the npcs were not even named. Otherwise, excellent scenario.
Seth, I also LOVE ghost ship
Ghost Ship? I loved that movie! For such a bad movie, it had some great moments of mind screw.
Hey Seth! I really appreciate your review of this module! I wouldn't have heard about it otherwise! I just finished running it for some friends using the Dread rules. I found that it adapted perfectly to that rules system and everyone had a really great time. You're 100% correct about the rooms needing to be numbered in advance. That saved me a lot of headache.
My players ended up using a defibrillator on the monster to stun it and then stabbed it with knives and threw a molotov cocktail at it. I was hoping for something a little more Scooby-Doo in terms of plans, but it worked well for the situation!
Happy to have been of service. It's a great scenario once you iron out a couple little wrinkles. Glad you and your players had fun.
I’m somewhat interested in how you used Dread to run the module?
Hey! Sorry I didn't see this, youtube isn't great about telling you people reply to your messages.
Basically I was using pulls from the jenga tower instead of rolls for observations or actions. So if the players want to go aboard the ship by throwing a rope up, they pull from the tower. Or if they see something in the distance but can't quite make it out, they can pull from the tower to see it. I was also allowing players to pull from the jenga tower if they wanted to add something to their character. For example, one player found the journal written in Finnish and I allowed them to know how to speak Finnish by pulling from the tower.
Once the monster actually shows up, there's maybe 7-10 pulls left before the tower is in danger of collapsing. The lead up to the monster ends up being slower, but once the monster comes out, the tension can be cut with a knife because every action now is SUPER dangerous. Plus some people can't even see the monster, so they might have to pull two blocks to interact!
I think that this adventure in particular works because the players are trapped and forced to deal with the threat. Dread, I find, works best if the players have no ability to run away.
I have been watching all of your reviews the past few days, and just wanted yoi to know that i also like Ghost Ship.
I just ran this one tonight and the players enjoyed it. I would have loved a copy of your map Seth. I marked one up, made notes and still got stuck trying to work out where the hell places were. A player map would have been nice too!
Very interesting free module
Thanks
I loved Ghost Ship too!
Isn't this one of five short scenarios from "Petersens Abominations"?
It is.
*Seth Skorkowsky* Any chance of reviewing another modern scenario from there in the near future?
Not in the near future. I plan on running a modern scenario from The Things We Leave Behind in the next month or two, but I haven't even picked up Petersen's Abominations yet.
I liked ghost ship as well :D. Hype
Hey my brother LOVES Ghost Ship, you arent alone in loving that movie!
After playing Monstrum (original not the sequel), I've been interested in running a campaign on a derelict cargo vessel. Thanks for the review!
The Mythos has nothing against Norwegians, it is just that they are so, so tasty. At least, that is what I would guess, from how often they are consumed by such creatures. I wouldn't know PERSONALLY how they taste. Not at all. Have never eaten one, or even part of one. Just a guess.
very helpful thankyou!
There was a fun sci-fi channel show called Sanctuary that did a pretty good job of this plot. The episode was called Icebreaker, great episode. It had a species who had a limited telepath and the ability to make you see things, very similar horror to Who goes there?/The Thing.
Seth is NOT the only person who loved Ghost Ship! I thought it was awesome!
Running this in 2 weeks. Wish me luck
Dude. Ghost Ship was awesome. I've been afraid of errant metal wires since I watched it lol
I liked the adventure but the rich person option which is the one the book pushes is plain daft (The whole Mother angle, the weirdly handy possessions, the odd backgrounds etc.) if you are thinking of playing this please, please go with the salvage option or any other one that you can think of as opposed to the rich guy and his friends one as it will make a lot more sense narrative wise.
The mother angle was weird, especially the part telling the PC to check the safe which is never explained. There were too many handguns that PC's had, but I personally enjoyed the backgrounds because they caused some good misdirection.
Hi, I'm looking to run a CoC campaign centered around Cthulhu. Wondering if you could recommend modules that deal with Innsmouth, the esoteric order of Dagon and the return of Cthulhu himself. Thanks
I liked "Ghostship". I used to have the DVD and just rewatched the ending on TV just the other day.
It's cool man. I'm with you. Ghost Ship is a classic!!!
I wish I had that old issue of Inquest Gamer Magazine that had CoC stats for the Yautja/Predator.
It's okay seth, the ghost ship was one of my childhood favorites!
Does the Sciapod require oxygen? If so you could use the halon system on ship against it. Assuming it has a early gen Halon Fire Suppression System.
That's a good question. Probably. Swimming in water I assume it can hold its breath for a good length of time, but no reason to think Oxygen isn't its breath of choice. If the PCs thought to ask and use the Halon system, I'd probably let that flush the monster out from inside the ship, maybe stun it or impose penalty dice on it for a few rounds as it gasps to catch its breath.
I like your movie taste ;-) ghost ship was super fun
Hello Seth, have you run the sanitorium, from mansions of madness?
I haven't yet. It's been on my shortlist of adventures to run, but keeps getting moved back in order for other things.
Hey Seth, would you ever review some of the modules from the Blood Brothers?
I enjoy your content a lot! .... Also, Ghost Ship... fine fun movie :-)
04:33 Reminds me of what the Government Spooks tried to do on Predator 2. Speaking of which, could this be converted to Delta Green or some other Government Op Game (such as The Laundry)? Have the Team not be regular civilians, but Government Spooks sent to investigate the ship? BTW, will you review any of the games from "The Laundry" Series for Call of Cthulhu?
Is the surfer dude player based on wayne from wayne's world or am I imagining things
Ghost ship is a very vivid memory of my childhood
I'm considering adapting this for a Dieselpunk sky pirates game... is there anything that leaps out at anyone they'd tweak about this module for such shenanigans?
I rented ghost ship on VHS just because drowning pool had a song in it, but not on the VHS version I had...
Never watched Ghost Ship but, I do remember being really scared by the DVD box-cover at my local Blockbuster back in the day.
Just wanted to say you aren’t the only fan of Ghost Ship. I love it :)
Hello Seth. Hope you can review Hotel Hell from Petersen's Abomination.
I liked ghost ship. I think if the characters survived they could find a mythos or other item that could lead them to another adventure in the safe. Also with the safe it could be set up to be a false reward so the characters could be a sacrifice to the monster. This could lead to another adventure if the characters survive.
Just a quick clarification; I might have missed this, if it's written somewhere in the scenario, and I apologize if this is the case. Are the bow, quiver and arrows also invisible? If so, how come the investigators see those crystal arrows that are stubbed in the walls etc...
I'd just assumed the became visible in flight after they left the bow. But no, it never specifies anywhere.
That's what I assumed too; pretty much like the predator's deadly spinners
Thank you..
I personally love Ghost Ship.
How would you recommend determining if player made characters have silver on them without tipping them off the silver is important?
Player-made PCs are tricky for this. I'd first look over their character sheets. If something is noted as being silver, mark it in your notes. When the game begins, ask them how they're dressed, what are they wearing, etc. If they mention jewelry, ask what kind, maybe lead with "What kind of jewels? Does the watch have a leather band? Etc." Don't use the word silver when asking all this. If they say silver, keep your best poker face and move on. Maybe then focus on their shoes. Don't spend too much time on this (you already looked at their sheets). If after the game someone says "well I had a silver ring," you can say that the metal wasn't noted and that you also asked them to describe their dress. They must have left that silver ring at home.
Seth Skorkowsky thanks man. I’ve been thinking of GMing games at some point and this adventure seems fun.
No Jack he's the third fan of that movie...Me and my husband love that movie...Sue me okay it's a fun movie...Poor Murphy.
Also this video was a lot of help, as I am learning to run Call of Cthulhu. Thank you so much Seth for making this videos I know I am a few years late to comment.
Water balloons filled with paint. Straight outta Johnny Quest.
Would it be possible to connect this adventure with Transatlantic Terror for a longer running campaign?
Just about any scenario could be connected with the right amount of work. One is Modern Era, the other is 1920's. So you'd have to fist decide which era you want to use and then link the PCs which begin on a yacht or one and on a cruise ship for another.
For example.... you could make it Modern Era, begin with the Derelict. The PC's are traveling to England to sell a yacht (Derelict) and then take a 7-day cruise up north for glaciers and Northern Lights (Transatlantic Terror).
Seth Skorkowsky interesting. I was thinking 1920s, they had been invited to the museum in London after recovering The Idol Of Thoth for the Egyptian collection after it had been lent out to Arkham’s museum, so as honored guests, they got first class travel. After encountering the serpent people aboard the cruise liner, they’d be diverted to the derelict via emergency flares, and the PCs, because of their reputation for daring exploits by now, would be asked to check it out. Then, once the derelict is finished, Madness in London Town.
I like Ghost Ship too :-)
with christmas coming up i am anticipating starting to GM games of Call of Cthulhu, which i havnt played before but am really interested in GMing due to what i know of the system it uses and the settings. any tips for a first time GM and/or what scenario i should start with?
First time, I'd go with The Haunting. It's free in the 7th Edition Quickstart rules. Other option would be Edge of Darkness. That one is a bit harder to find because it's out of print. It used to be one of the starter scenarios in the 5th and 6th edition rulebooks.
thanks man. youre the best
Oooh, and Dead Light. That's also a good one. Doors to Darkness is a collection of novice GM scenarios. I've only run the first one, The Darkness Beneath the Hill, and enjoyed it. But that's another option. But I'd still look at beginning with The Haunting.
thanks a whole lot. youre the best. you are actually the guy who got me interested in CoC.
i remember that one of the modules you reviewed is a kind of run off from the haunting, but i cant remember which....
You know a good idea would be to included a home made motion sensor (kinda like in Aliens) so you raise the tentions as they can't see the monster but the motion sensor is going off the chart
Last time I used an invisible monster (in a low-fantasy version of Predator 2) the players started making dye-bombs to make it easier to see.
I’d give Ghost Ship a watch since I am into that short of stuff lols. :D
Is one of the figures on the table during the skit just an anime maid with an assault rifle?
I'm not complaining, I'm just... curious.
Yeah. I want to say it's from Hasslefree Miniatures, but I'm not finding it on their site. Could also be a RAFM USX mini.
Is this compatible with Beyond The Mountains of Madness?
Never read Beyond Mountains, but moving the ship to the Antarctic shouldn't be too difficult. It would also need to be converted from a modern ship.
I'm the other fan of _Ghost Ship._ I thought it was a very good "head-messer-upper." In fact, around 2005 I ran a DG one-shot based on GS and one other whose name I can't remember. The team were US Customs agents.
Its ok man. I also enjoy Ghost Ship xD
It is okay Seth, I also like the movie " Ghost Ship."
Ghost Ship is a great ghost movie and didn't get the attention it deserved.
I love ghost ship!
Hey Ghost Ship may be weak, but it does have an awesome intro scene. It's not horrible.
Here I am, at 1 AM, headphones on, lights off, and then 3:30 happens... I almost shit my bed live and in stereo...
I liked Ghost ship too......lol
1:00 Not so, there's at least two of us that liked that movie.
I liked Ghost ship as well.
3:28 "well don't know what to make of this unless... no get that out of your head, Predator only hunts in tropical jungles, I think, and desperately hope." 7:33 I had a similar problem running King Maker for the first time.
Hey, is it possible to turn this into a 1920's era scenario.
It wouldn't be too difficult to do. The module even mentions it in the opening as a possibility. Just make the ship and old steamer cargo ship and the yacht can be an old-fashioned sailing yacht.
Oh really, I thought that it would be hard to think of a replacement for the yacht, but I guess not.
@@brennenmilovich4623 they even had powered yatch's (similar to ours today) back then, but they were a lot less common and often substantially smaller.
www.pinterest.com.au/pin/400609329323910479/?lp=true
I'm a fan of the movie ghost ship
I like Ghost Ship!
Ghost ship is a classic!!