Seems like dark heresy gives a good balance of being able to shoot things, and being ripped apart by galaxy harvesting hive mind monsters. But being able to just try to flee has it’s charm as well.
i played a game with a few friends, and we were doing a one off this time since all the players weren't there, and dm whipped something up for us...we wound up going to a bowling alley that was supposed to be shady and weird, but instead of exploring...we just bowled. dm took it in stride and had us roll dice for bowling. he kept track for us since we were drunk, and scored it. good dm.
The weirdest and most interesting collab i saw with the cthulhu mythos was a GURPS module which was infused with cyberpunk. Spoony had a video about this and he said "Its a one and done kind of thing " .
I'm waiting for the supplement where you're a DM for a group of players with various personality disorders. They're already insane. You make a sanity check every round.
CthulhuTech is a totally different RPG that is too based on the lovecraftian Mythos, and it's a pretty good take on the Mythos on a Scifi setting. Really worth checking out.
I used super world with CoC so that the players could run Cap or Rocketeer but since they were powerful and had a chance, they'd get cocky and overconfident and die anyways, which was nice.
the best way to run a cosmic horror game is not to run one. dont tell your players what theyre playing. for the love of god dont hold up a horror rpg book! just start some other, possibly generic feeling rpg and then slowly pull back the veil for the players at the same time as the characters and watch the madness set in.
It depends on the players. If they're expecting MLP or some straight power fantasy D&D and they start seeing people's faces slough off revealing unspeakable nightmare-fuel, that can break up groups and lose some friends.
Charles Goren had a problem with somebody leaning in and talking at that moment and I didn't catch it until post production. And I really didn't feel like mucking around with trying to get the tone and volume perfect for one word
Call of Cthulhu is so adaptable that it isn't that hard to play Star Trek or Doctor Who in it, but you will need to fudge the Sanity rules a bit. Doing Star Wars would be possible, but you'd probably need to *very heavily* rework the Sanity rules if you want your Jedi to not be completely mad by like the third session.
The irony of you spending the most time talking about combat in any of the reviews so far in what is, effectively, the least combat oriented game of them all is really not lost on me... You didn't even go through a combat overview on 7th Sea, for example. Good video otherwise and I can understand it to some extent, since you're just driving the point (ironically) that it isn't a "combat game". I'm half-ashamed to say that, even though I had a copy of some of the classic editions (scanned them page-by-page myself), my best adventure with CoC was with the d20 version, with the adventure that came in the basic rulebook itself - which wasn't even that amazing to be honest, as far as horror modules go... I played it with three friends back in the day: Player #1 literally attacked me during the session because he just panicked when I startled him in one of the more "jumpscare" scenes (he looked into a furnace and a demon came out of it). After he calmed down and stopped hitting me, we resumed play. I met player #2 ten years later (or even more) and he told that was the best RPG session he ever participated in, by far. We weren't even talking about RPGs or gaming at all, he just blurted it out like he had been waiting all these years to tell me so. Player #3 hurt his foot badly that night after everyone left his house after the game. He told us he was so fucking scared that he couldn't sleep and he started playing an album by The Doors to lull him into sleeping. Except, he had forgotten, for some reason that particular album had a bonus track which happened to be Carmina Burana. Well the thing is, that module explicitly asks the GM to have a copy of Carmina Burana to play along the game, and it's used somewhat cleverly too to create atmosphere (basically the players have to find where the music comes from to turn it off and later on it starts playing again by itself, etc etc). The result is: my friend, who is almost falling asleep after one hour listening to The Doors while laying in bed is now fully awake and panicking, alone in his room, having a flashback to the adventure and he literally starts kicking his stereo sound so it will stop playing that dreadful song in the middle of the night in the darkness of his bedroom! Not even kidding about any of this, next day we met and he was almost unable to walk because of how swollen his feet were! I feel that this is what every Call of Cthulhu session should be like xD if you ever review Ravenloft I might share another story too!
This is the first roleplaying game I got into and my collection is quite awesome. I love Call of Cthulhu but it's hard to get modern players to try it. Also I don't like and don't recommend the 7th edition, anything 6th or prior is better in my opinion. Why would you put full color art in the Call of Cthulhu rulebook? Seriously black and white is the right way to do Cthulhu art.
All that stuff about Lovecraft being everything-phobic is a myth. He actually loved to travel (he just couldn't afford it usually) and had a lot of friends through correspondence. He did hate immigrants, but that's just common sense.
You're not supposed to lose, you're supposed to be clever. The game is all about the investigation and how the party will solve the plot. Combat is lethal but not the focus, and a good GM will know this.
Not really losing but this rpg isnt about having character journeys that go module to module. Its fun to create characters and solve the mysteries while having such tension that everything could happen anywhere. And because your character is a weak mortal the horror goes through the roof . Its a situational RPG but man a RPG that hits hard and is immersive like no other RPG. Try it if you can . Either its up your alley or not .
Lovecraft was racist, xenophobic and classist. That is Who he was as much as one of the most creative souls this world has had on it (The man had issues with math .....MATH!) The game fits perfectly with that deep fear. Itis very nice in how it works to keep player agency even as it makes it easy for the keeper to generate excellent levels of anxiety and dramatic scenes. I recommend the system (unless you are in 2021 China as the government seem to have a thing against mysticism)
@Leodous Kyron Thanks for calling like it is. Lovecraft WAS a racist. No amount of phobia or mental illness can excuse that. Same way that you can’t give the founding fathers a pass for owning slaves. It was wrong then it’s wrong now. Strangely, mental disorders and creativity seem to go hand in hand for a lot of artists. Guess that’s the price for genius sometimes. 🤷♂️
The man who wrote a horror story inspired by the invention of air conditioning... and actually made it pretty chilling.
These puns
So it turns out the whole party dies to yogg sothoth as soon as the DM realizes your playing shaggy
Minor correction; Robert W. Chambers' "The King in Yellow" predates Lovecraft's career. It was published in 1895.
Seems like dark heresy gives a good balance of being able to shoot things, and being ripped apart by galaxy harvesting hive mind monsters.
But being able to just try to flee has it’s charm as well.
i played a game with a few friends, and we were doing a one off this time since all the players weren't there, and dm whipped something up for us...we wound up going to a bowling alley that was supposed to be shady and weird, but instead of exploring...we just bowled. dm took it in stride and had us roll dice for bowling. he kept track for us since we were drunk, and scored it. good dm.
12:10 what if your Old Man Henderson? The oldest old one of them all.
The 'Let's Summon Ithaqua' part of the song is so good that I'm surprised no comedy musical has used it.
The weirdest and most interesting collab i saw with the cthulhu mythos was a GURPS module which was infused with cyberpunk. Spoony had a video about this and he said "Its a one and done kind of thing " .
6:20... Oh no run woman! TENTACLES!
Believe it or not unless you are a crackshot a pistol doesn't one hit kill.
I had a wonderful nerd moment where I paused the video and sang the Lovecraft song out loud. Thank you for posting the lyrics.
I'm waiting for the supplement where you're a DM for a group of players with various personality disorders. They're already insane. You make a sanity check every round.
I played this since the 90's. The board games Arkham Horror and Eldritch Horror allow players to kill monsters. Oh what they don't know...
CthulhuTech is a totally different RPG that is too based on the lovecraftian Mythos, and it's a pretty good take on the Mythos on a Scifi setting.
Really worth checking out.
I used to play a lovecraft mud, but I could never get past the gym short related fetch quest and the local street thug would always kill me.
I know there's overlap,but I'd love a Delta Green video.
Love me some Shadow over Insmouth and The Shunned House.
I used super world with CoC so that the players could run Cap or Rocketeer but since they were powerful and had a chance, they'd get cocky and overconfident and die anyways, which was nice.
I will definitely have to check out the Masks of Nyarlathotep!
the best way to run a cosmic horror game is not to run one. dont tell your players what theyre playing. for the love of god dont hold up a horror rpg book! just start some other, possibly generic feeling rpg and then slowly pull back the veil for the players at the same time as the characters and watch the madness set in.
It depends on the players. If they're expecting MLP or some straight power fantasy D&D and they start seeing people's faces slough off revealing unspeakable nightmare-fuel, that can break up groups and lose some friends.
Fifth ed CoC is def. the best ed. of the game.
That audio overlay at 7:15ish is the greatest thing I've heard all week. Grats!
Charles Goren had a problem with somebody leaning in and talking at that moment and I didn't catch it until post production. And I really didn't feel like mucking around with trying to get the tone and volume perfect for one word
Maybe it seemed like I was being sarcastic, but I truly was not. I love the low-fi tone of this channel, and thought that voice over was hilarious.
Charles Goren no I was just a bit embarrassed by the patch job
No, it's charming.
That was real good Mr.Welch
If you want to mid max a Lovecraft inspired setting. I recommend Bloodbourne and Cthulhu punk.
Seems like anyone who really makes content for this genre dies early.
Call of Cthulhu is so adaptable that it isn't that hard to play Star Trek or Doctor Who in it, but you will need to fudge the Sanity rules a bit. Doing Star Wars would be possible, but you'd probably need to *very heavily* rework the Sanity rules if you want your Jedi to not be completely mad by like the third session.
The irony of you spending the most time talking about combat in any of the reviews so far in what is, effectively, the least combat oriented game of them all is really not lost on me... You didn't even go through a combat overview on 7th Sea, for example. Good video otherwise and I can understand it to some extent, since you're just driving the point (ironically) that it isn't a "combat game".
I'm half-ashamed to say that, even though I had a copy of some of the classic editions (scanned them page-by-page myself), my best adventure with CoC was with the d20 version, with the adventure that came in the basic rulebook itself - which wasn't even that amazing to be honest, as far as horror modules go... I played it with three friends back in the day:
Player #1 literally attacked me during the session because he just panicked when I startled him in one of the more "jumpscare" scenes (he looked into a furnace and a demon came out of it). After he calmed down and stopped hitting me, we resumed play.
I met player #2 ten years later (or even more) and he told that was the best RPG session he ever participated in, by far. We weren't even talking about RPGs or gaming at all, he just blurted it out like he had been waiting all these years to tell me so.
Player #3 hurt his foot badly that night after everyone left his house after the game. He told us he was so fucking scared that he couldn't sleep and he started playing an album by The Doors to lull him into sleeping. Except, he had forgotten, for some reason that particular album had a bonus track which happened to be Carmina Burana.
Well the thing is, that module explicitly asks the GM to have a copy of Carmina Burana to play along the game, and it's used somewhat cleverly too to create atmosphere (basically the players have to find where the music comes from to turn it off and later on it starts playing again by itself, etc etc). The result is: my friend, who is almost falling asleep after one hour listening to The Doors while laying in bed is now fully awake and panicking, alone in his room, having a flashback to the adventure and he literally starts kicking his stereo sound so it will stop playing that dreadful song in the middle of the night in the darkness of his bedroom!
Not even kidding about any of this, next day we met and he was almost unable to walk because of how swollen his feet were!
I feel that this is what every Call of Cthulhu session should be like xD if you ever review Ravenloft I might share another story too!
If you haven't already, post this story on multiple sites. Best one ever, because the game affected someone outside the game.
You should post it here!:
[Caution NSFW ending]
ua-cam.com/video/fAilMpgViVg/v-deo.html
6:34 where does that image come from, 13:01 percent hat one too
Don't quote me because it's been awhile, but the first is art from Cthulhu Rising. Second was from a Dreamlands supplement. Both staff art.
Not to be that guy but chambers came before lovecraft
This is the first roleplaying game I got into and my collection is quite awesome. I love Call of Cthulhu but it's hard to get modern players to try it.
Also I don't like and don't recommend the 7th edition, anything 6th or prior is better in my opinion. Why would you put full color art in the Call of Cthulhu rulebook? Seriously black and white is the right way to do Cthulhu art.
All that stuff about Lovecraft being everything-phobic is a myth. He actually loved to travel (he just couldn't afford it usually) and had a lot of friends through correspondence. He did hate immigrants, but that's just common sense.
Watching this video is depressing. It tells me so much, but also tells me not to play Call of Cthulu. a Game where you supposed to lose?
You're not supposed to lose, you're supposed to be clever. The game is all about the investigation and how the party will solve the plot. Combat is lethal but not the focus, and a good GM will know this.
Not really losing but this rpg isnt about having character journeys that go module to module. Its fun to create characters and solve the mysteries while having such tension that everything could happen anywhere. And because your character is a weak mortal the horror goes through the roof . Its a situational RPG but man a RPG that hits hard and is immersive like no other RPG.
Try it if you can . Either its up your alley or not .
Lovecraft was racist, xenophobic and classist. That is Who he was as much as one of the most creative souls this world has had on it (The man had issues with math .....MATH!)
The game fits perfectly with that deep fear. Itis very nice in how it works to keep player agency even as it makes it easy for the keeper to generate excellent levels of anxiety and dramatic scenes. I recommend the system (unless you are in 2021 China as the government seem to have a thing against mysticism)
@Leodous Kyron Thanks for calling like it is. Lovecraft WAS a racist. No amount of phobia or mental illness can excuse that. Same way that you can’t give the founding fathers a pass for owning slaves. It was wrong then it’s wrong now. Strangely, mental disorders and creativity seem to go hand in hand for a lot of artists. Guess that’s the price for genius sometimes. 🤷♂️