Little Fears + Call of Cthulhu + Kult + Over the Edge + Conspiracy X + Dark Matter + Proto-Dimensions + Delta Green + Cthulhu Now + Cyberpunk Dark = A modern horror setting where nothing can be trusted, not even your own reflection...
@thespiritcoyote Interesting. I'll admit that I've not heard of Proto-Dimensions or Cyberpunk Dark before. If my players flee in terror from the notion of playing Call of Cthulhu, I can only imagine the ear-shattering shrieks they would let loose if I proposed something like this beast to them!
@Webhead123 XD .. indeed, but if they are running away from the table, you can be sure I will be swimming up-stream to get too it... XD
Proto-Dimensions is a Dark Conspiracy supplement and a magazine... and i was intending to say Cyberpunk - Night's Edge... but heck lets throw in Through The Glass[-Mirrorshades] Darkly... XD
Yeah I can get pretty sick with my Conspiracy/Horror mash-ups.
How about:
Little Fears + Call of Cthulhu > Run in BESM = My Little C'thulu - A Game for Eldrich Ponies?
@thespiritcoyote A game I've not yet played but very much want to is Don't Rest Your Head. The sort of "surrealist-dream world-horror" a la Dark City meets Silent Hill is very appealing. Again, very few of my players would likely stomach such a romp (it possible I'm not giving them enough credit).
@Webhead123 Yes, seen this and it is interesting... I like Silent Hill, and that is a good way to visit that quaint little New England Town in RPG form... beter than other attempts I have made with other systems.
Fatal Frame, Neverwhere, Clock Tower, Condemned, The Phantom Tollbooth, Eternal Darkness, Mark The Monster, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, The Boy Under The Bed, Where the Wild Things Are... yeah I could have fun with this game XD
I'd love to join a game over Skype :/ I just got started on CoC but I've been a huge fan of the Mythos for a long time. I do need some help in figuring out the rules and such. I'm on 6th Edition.
The best Call of Cthulhu game I had was actualy taking place in early Victorian period and very awesome concept of being a band of mercenaries in Africa hired to recapture an archeologist which was kidnapped by natives. I love how flexible it is and the slight suggestion that Cthulhu and mythos can be addapted to all the shamanistic religions around the world. Our GM spend some time making research on African cults and WE were told that and encouraged to make research on our our...
@YuriPRIME ...now, that was really awesome experience, as we banded up in a team one day on skype, and were sooping archeological sites or at least wikipedia on soume cults, cause our GM wanted us to find clues there (it was a bit out of character, but it damn gave us feeling of paranoia going on) in the end he said that what our knowledge(we had from internet) was, was in fact a set of dreams inposed on minds of our characters by those ancient beings that used us as puppets.I love that game
@WinstonBiggleswade To be fair, the only editions of the game that I've read/played are: 5th Ed, 6th Ed, d20, Shadows of Cthulhu (the True20 edition), and Realms of Cthulhu (the Savage Worlds edition).
Of those, my favorite is 5th Ed. (the version and cover pictured in my video). I prefer the BRP system that it uses for Cthulhu because it's simple, combat is fast and lethal and I love the advancement system. I prefer the 5th edition over 6th for the cleaner, easier-to-read layout and font...
cont...If you want a bit more "Pulp" and action-oriented play in your Cthulhu games, I would recommend Realms of Cthulhu. If, like me, you're a bit more of a Mythos purist and really like to play up the "Cosmic Horror" of the setting, I would suggest 5th or 6th Ed.
@jordakai Various Mythos creatures function differently. Many of them live on Earth but stay mostly hidden away from mankind (like the Deep Ones who live on the sea floor, ghouls who live deep underground or Shoggoths who are frozen in Antarctica). Some visit Earth from outer space (like the Mi-go, the Yith or the Color Out of Space) and still others either wander or are summoned to Earth from other dimensions. The circumstances for encountering a creature depend upon the creature in question.
@jordakai As far as killing them, again it depends. Some Mythos beings are not too terribly formidable and can be killed with guns or by crushing/burning them in various ways. The more powerful creatures tend to regard such displays of violence as little more than annoyance. Many of those creatures might be harmed or banished by magic rituals but that often comes with its own risks to the party. Also remember that cultists make great enemies and are still only human (well, most of the time).
Awesome review dude! Have been looking for another rpg to play, me and my mates plays rifts, very cool setting but quite complex rules and charecter creation can be very long winded. Would you recommend this as a simpler alternative? Keep making the vids dude.
@CrimsonZeoRanger Well, if you like or want to try horror in your RPGs, I would definately give Cthulhu a try. Yes, the rules are generally simpler than Rifts. That said, Rifts and CoC are on pretty opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of playstyle, meaning that while PCs in Rifts are over-blown, powered-up ass-kickers who deal with wacky action/adventure, Cthulhu PCs are normal people who rely upon simple skills to succeed. No mutant powers or BFGs. Magic is possible but very, very dangerous.
@CrimsonZeoRanger I hope that kind of answers your question. Rifts was fun for its unabashed wackiness but I was never a fan of Palladium's game system. Another equally bizarre and unbalanced (yet even more rules-complex) RPG is called "World of Synnibarr". I wouldn't suggest picking it up but I will say that if you thought Rifts was a strange place, one look at Synnibarr's flying bears with laser-beam vision or rocket-propelled clams will leave you in the fetal position!
@Webhead123 yeah thats cool thanks! Will check them both out, although I can see me switching to Synnibarr, rocket-propelled clams u say? Just wipe the foam from my mouth lol!
@xXLibertyPrimeXx Minatures are not at all required but you can use them if you like. Call of Cthulhu doesn't have a highly tactical or structured combat like D&D for example. It's much simpler and encourages more abstraction. Combat in CoC is generally not desirable anyway, as it often ends with someone getting horribly mangled. Cthulhu PCs only have around 10 - 15 hit points ever and a gunshot or two will quickly deplete those. Not to mention the tentacles and claws of nightmarish creatures.
@darklink5678 Very cool and I wish you the best of luck. I started playing RPGs in high school and I have fond memories of entire lunch periods lost in fantastic adventures.
It's not my prefered system to be sure. The "hit point" problem isn't so bad though when you consider that CoC characters will very rarely (if ever) advance beyond about 5th level (which is an average of 20 HP). And you also have to consider that "hit point damage" is one of the least of an investigator's concerns. In CoC, if combat breaks out it usually means that something very bad (typically for the PCs) is about to happen.
Agreed, and I think that COC thematically is a very poor addition to the d20 line. It just doesn't work well with d20. Also, don't like d20 superheroes games, for the same reason. I really like BRP system for the game, your character feels so much more fragile which lends well to Lovecraft's vision. I'm a huge HPL fan. Although with BRP rules I had a character make it all the way through the Masks of N' module, of course I was the only one in the group to do so.
Years ago, I encountered a lot of "stinkers" in terms of d20-based superhero RPGs. But I eventually (completely by chance) discovered Mutants & Masterminds. If you haven't read/played it, I highly recommend you do. It hacks apart the d20 System and retools it considerably. It is the only iteration of the d20 System that I would run to this day and one of the only systems that I would run a supers campaign under (I'm not a big fan of HERO/Champions, GURPS, Heroes Unlimited, SAS or most others).
Have you heard about or played the Savage Worlds necessary evil setting? That seemed like a good Supers game. I looked at the M & M game but it seems like a really complicated system. I hate trying to teach myself a complicated system. Would be interested in hearing more about M&M from you though.
I owned Necessary Evil for a while but was only ever luke-warm about it. The setting is decent enough but I'm not convinced that Savage Worlds scales well for supers. It does "pulpy" action-adventure well but starts to buckle under the pressure of higher power levels. You could probably do X-Men level supers with it but I don't think it would treat Avengers or Justice League power levels very well. Not to mention that it isn't as robust in the "power extras/flaws", which limits customization.
I will do a review of M&M in the future. It looks complex (and feels slightly so the first time you build a character) but actually becomes streamlined, intuitive and plays smoothly. What M&M does excellently is allowing huge potential for customization (extras/flaws/power stunts/linked powers/etc.) without requiring it. You can have invisible, heat-seeking EMP missiles if you want to, or you can just take a "Heat Blast" and call it a day. Even the math for adding such options is simple though.
M&M is the best balance of "options-to-ease-of-play" that I've found for a supers RPG so far. Most other games either have lots of options with lots of niggling rules, or have such simple rules that they don't offer much flexibility. M&M manages the middle ground rather well in my opinion. Lots of options without time-consuming or unintuitive mechanics.
I've always wanted to run "Masks", though my favorite setting/campaign for CoC is by far "Delta Green". Some of the most intelligent and inspirational RPG books I've ever read.
yeah, I"m really interested in getting my hands on a copy of the Delta Green books,. they seem really good from what I've heard. They are real expensive though, even used the best I can find is like $35 for a copy ihcluding shipping which is just more than I want to pay for an rpg. I might just have to find a copy for download.
Yes, they seem rather pricey but they are very hefty books that are packed full of useful information. When you buy Delta Green books, you're not getting books filled with pretty, colorful, full-page spreads like the D&D4E PHB for example. You're getting real meat-and-potatoes kind of stuff. They are high on page-count and are large and heavy which helps convince you that you're getting a lot for your money.
If you like CoC or horror/conspiracy in general, I highly recommend it.
If you're looking to try out Call of Cthulhu, you can check out the Quick Start rules available on Chaosium's website. The Quick Start comes with a good intro adventure called "The Haunting". If you pick up the core book, I recommend either the 5th or 6th edition. Both contain 4 sample adventures: "The Haunting", "The Edge of Darkness", The Madman" and "Dead Man Stomp".
If you want further published adventures, check out "Masks of Nyarlathotep" or "Mansions of Madness". Hope that helps.
You're awesome!
TheZhoukui 2 weeks ago
@TheZhoukui And so are you! Thanks for the compliment (assuming it's genuine)! :-)
Webhead123 2 weeks ago
Little Fears + Call of Cthulhu + Kult + Over the Edge + Conspiracy X + Dark Matter + Proto-Dimensions + Delta Green + Cthulhu Now + Cyberpunk Dark = A modern horror setting where nothing can be trusted, not even your own reflection...
...and ...action!
thespiritcoyote 2 months ago
@thespiritcoyote Interesting. I'll admit that I've not heard of Proto-Dimensions or Cyberpunk Dark before. If my players flee in terror from the notion of playing Call of Cthulhu, I can only imagine the ear-shattering shrieks they would let loose if I proposed something like this beast to them!
Webhead123 2 months ago
@Webhead123 XD .. indeed, but if they are running away from the table, you can be sure I will be swimming up-stream to get too it... XD
Proto-Dimensions is a Dark Conspiracy supplement and a magazine... and i was intending to say Cyberpunk - Night's Edge... but heck lets throw in Through The Glass[-Mirrorshades] Darkly... XD
Yeah I can get pretty sick with my Conspiracy/Horror mash-ups.
How about:
Little Fears + Call of Cthulhu > Run in BESM = My Little C'thulu - A Game for Eldrich Ponies?
thespiritcoyote 2 months ago
@thespiritcoyote A game I've not yet played but very much want to is Don't Rest Your Head. The sort of "surrealist-dream world-horror" a la Dark City meets Silent Hill is very appealing. Again, very few of my players would likely stomach such a romp (it possible I'm not giving them enough credit).
Webhead123 2 months ago
@Webhead123 Yes, seen this and it is interesting... I like Silent Hill, and that is a good way to visit that quaint little New England Town in RPG form... beter than other attempts I have made with other systems.
Fatal Frame, Neverwhere, Clock Tower, Condemned, The Phantom Tollbooth, Eternal Darkness, Mark The Monster, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, The Boy Under The Bed, Where the Wild Things Are... yeah I could have fun with this game XD
Alone in the Dark...
thespiritcoyote 2 months ago
@thespiritcoyote Have you read the Hello Cthulhu webcomic ;) ?
TheShamanSZ 2 months ago
@TheShamanSZ
watch?v=Q0jT48k5ba4
watch?v=FOHJUrcVdJk
watch?v=-DsgZ4JXXB8
watch?v=ZZAoLnn4LF0
or in short, Yes...
thespiritcoyote 2 months ago
I'd love to join a game over Skype :/ I just got started on CoC but I've been a huge fan of the Mythos for a long time. I do need some help in figuring out the rules and such. I'm on 6th Edition.
JackTheManiac69 6 months ago
The best Call of Cthulhu game I had was actualy taking place in early Victorian period and very awesome concept of being a band of mercenaries in Africa hired to recapture an archeologist which was kidnapped by natives. I love how flexible it is and the slight suggestion that Cthulhu and mythos can be addapted to all the shamanistic religions around the world. Our GM spend some time making research on African cults and WE were told that and encouraged to make research on our our...
YuriPRIME 10 months ago
@YuriPRIME ...now, that was really awesome experience, as we banded up in a team one day on skype, and were sooping archeological sites or at least wikipedia on soume cults, cause our GM wanted us to find clues there (it was a bit out of character, but it damn gave us feeling of paranoia going on) in the end he said that what our knowledge(we had from internet) was, was in fact a set of dreams inposed on minds of our characters by those ancient beings that used us as puppets.I love that game
YuriPRIME 10 months ago
Which edition would you personally say is the best?
WinstonBiggleswade 10 months ago
@WinstonBiggleswade To be fair, the only editions of the game that I've read/played are: 5th Ed, 6th Ed, d20, Shadows of Cthulhu (the True20 edition), and Realms of Cthulhu (the Savage Worlds edition).
Of those, my favorite is 5th Ed. (the version and cover pictured in my video). I prefer the BRP system that it uses for Cthulhu because it's simple, combat is fast and lethal and I love the advancement system. I prefer the 5th edition over 6th for the cleaner, easier-to-read layout and font...
Webhead123 10 months ago
cont...If you want a bit more "Pulp" and action-oriented play in your Cthulhu games, I would recommend Realms of Cthulhu. If, like me, you're a bit more of a Mythos purist and really like to play up the "Cosmic Horror" of the setting, I would suggest 5th or 6th Ed.
Webhead123 10 months ago
I bought the 6th edition of Call of Cthulhu and I have some questions to ask..
how do you use mythos, do they just appear, or are they summoned?
and how do you kill them?
jordakai 1 year ago
@jordakai Various Mythos creatures function differently. Many of them live on Earth but stay mostly hidden away from mankind (like the Deep Ones who live on the sea floor, ghouls who live deep underground or Shoggoths who are frozen in Antarctica). Some visit Earth from outer space (like the Mi-go, the Yith or the Color Out of Space) and still others either wander or are summoned to Earth from other dimensions. The circumstances for encountering a creature depend upon the creature in question.
Webhead123 1 year ago
@jordakai As far as killing them, again it depends. Some Mythos beings are not too terribly formidable and can be killed with guns or by crushing/burning them in various ways. The more powerful creatures tend to regard such displays of violence as little more than annoyance. Many of those creatures might be harmed or banished by magic rituals but that often comes with its own risks to the party. Also remember that cultists make great enemies and are still only human (well, most of the time).
Webhead123 1 year ago
Awesome review dude! Have been looking for another rpg to play, me and my mates plays rifts, very cool setting but quite complex rules and charecter creation can be very long winded. Would you recommend this as a simpler alternative? Keep making the vids dude.
Cheers
CrimsonZeoRanger 1 year ago
@CrimsonZeoRanger Well, if you like or want to try horror in your RPGs, I would definately give Cthulhu a try. Yes, the rules are generally simpler than Rifts. That said, Rifts and CoC are on pretty opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of playstyle, meaning that while PCs in Rifts are over-blown, powered-up ass-kickers who deal with wacky action/adventure, Cthulhu PCs are normal people who rely upon simple skills to succeed. No mutant powers or BFGs. Magic is possible but very, very dangerous.
Webhead123 1 year ago
@CrimsonZeoRanger I hope that kind of answers your question. Rifts was fun for its unabashed wackiness but I was never a fan of Palladium's game system. Another equally bizarre and unbalanced (yet even more rules-complex) RPG is called "World of Synnibarr". I wouldn't suggest picking it up but I will say that if you thought Rifts was a strange place, one look at Synnibarr's flying bears with laser-beam vision or rocket-propelled clams will leave you in the fetal position!
Webhead123 1 year ago
@Webhead123 yeah thats cool thanks! Will check them both out, although I can see me switching to Synnibarr, rocket-propelled clams u say? Just wipe the foam from my mouth lol!
Cheers dude
CrimsonZeoRanger 1 year ago
Do you use miniatures in this game?
xXLibertyPrimeXx 1 year ago
@xXLibertyPrimeXx Minatures are not at all required but you can use them if you like. Call of Cthulhu doesn't have a highly tactical or structured combat like D&D for example. It's much simpler and encourages more abstraction. Combat in CoC is generally not desirable anyway, as it often ends with someone getting horribly mangled. Cthulhu PCs only have around 10 - 15 hit points ever and a gunshot or two will quickly deplete those. Not to mention the tentacles and claws of nightmarish creatures.
Webhead123 1 year ago
Im starting a role playing culb at my school, and this sounds like something we could do!
darklink5678 1 year ago
@darklink5678 Very cool and I wish you the best of luck. I started playing RPGs in high school and I have fond memories of entire lunch periods lost in fantastic adventures.
Webhead123 1 year ago
awsome! i think ill buy the core rule book!
Fellcaster 1 year ago
I think d20 is a bad system for COC, you end up with too many hp & less horror factor.
woodwwad 2 years ago
It's not my prefered system to be sure. The "hit point" problem isn't so bad though when you consider that CoC characters will very rarely (if ever) advance beyond about 5th level (which is an average of 20 HP). And you also have to consider that "hit point damage" is one of the least of an investigator's concerns. In CoC, if combat breaks out it usually means that something very bad (typically for the PCs) is about to happen.
Webhead123 2 years ago
Agreed, and I think that COC thematically is a very poor addition to the d20 line. It just doesn't work well with d20. Also, don't like d20 superheroes games, for the same reason. I really like BRP system for the game, your character feels so much more fragile which lends well to Lovecraft's vision. I'm a huge HPL fan. Although with BRP rules I had a character make it all the way through the Masks of N' module, of course I was the only one in the group to do so.
woodwwad 2 years ago
Years ago, I encountered a lot of "stinkers" in terms of d20-based superhero RPGs. But I eventually (completely by chance) discovered Mutants & Masterminds. If you haven't read/played it, I highly recommend you do. It hacks apart the d20 System and retools it considerably. It is the only iteration of the d20 System that I would run to this day and one of the only systems that I would run a supers campaign under (I'm not a big fan of HERO/Champions, GURPS, Heroes Unlimited, SAS or most others).
Webhead123 2 years ago
Have you heard about or played the Savage Worlds necessary evil setting? That seemed like a good Supers game. I looked at the M & M game but it seems like a really complicated system. I hate trying to teach myself a complicated system. Would be interested in hearing more about M&M from you though.
woodwwad 2 years ago
I owned Necessary Evil for a while but was only ever luke-warm about it. The setting is decent enough but I'm not convinced that Savage Worlds scales well for supers. It does "pulpy" action-adventure well but starts to buckle under the pressure of higher power levels. You could probably do X-Men level supers with it but I don't think it would treat Avengers or Justice League power levels very well. Not to mention that it isn't as robust in the "power extras/flaws", which limits customization.
Webhead123 2 years ago
Necessary Evil doesn't have flaws? Or are you just saying it doesn't have that many of them?
woodwwad 2 years ago
It has some degree of ads/disads that you can apply to powers as I recall, but they were pretty limited in number.
Webhead123 2 years ago
I will do a review of M&M in the future. It looks complex (and feels slightly so the first time you build a character) but actually becomes streamlined, intuitive and plays smoothly. What M&M does excellently is allowing huge potential for customization (extras/flaws/power stunts/linked powers/etc.) without requiring it. You can have invisible, heat-seeking EMP missiles if you want to, or you can just take a "Heat Blast" and call it a day. Even the math for adding such options is simple though.
Webhead123 2 years ago
M&M is the best balance of "options-to-ease-of-play" that I've found for a supers RPG so far. Most other games either have lots of options with lots of niggling rules, or have such simple rules that they don't offer much flexibility. M&M manages the middle ground rather well in my opinion. Lots of options without time-consuming or unintuitive mechanics.
Webhead123 2 years ago
I've always wanted to run "Masks", though my favorite setting/campaign for CoC is by far "Delta Green". Some of the most intelligent and inspirational RPG books I've ever read.
Webhead123 2 years ago
yeah, I"m really interested in getting my hands on a copy of the Delta Green books,. they seem really good from what I've heard. They are real expensive though, even used the best I can find is like $35 for a copy ihcluding shipping which is just more than I want to pay for an rpg. I might just have to find a copy for download.
woodwwad 2 years ago
Yes, they seem rather pricey but they are very hefty books that are packed full of useful information. When you buy Delta Green books, you're not getting books filled with pretty, colorful, full-page spreads like the D&D4E PHB for example. You're getting real meat-and-potatoes kind of stuff. They are high on page-count and are large and heavy which helps convince you that you're getting a lot for your money.
If you like CoC or horror/conspiracy in general, I highly recommend it.
Webhead123 2 years ago
Thanks a lot. Looking at the quick start now.
PagrZero 2 years ago
Great review. Just out of curiosity if I wanted to start getting into this RPG is there a good module to start with that you would recommend?
PagrZero 2 years ago
If you're looking to try out Call of Cthulhu, you can check out the Quick Start rules available on Chaosium's website. The Quick Start comes with a good intro adventure called "The Haunting". If you pick up the core book, I recommend either the 5th or 6th edition. Both contain 4 sample adventures: "The Haunting", "The Edge of Darkness", The Madman" and "Dead Man Stomp".
If you want further published adventures, check out "Masks of Nyarlathotep" or "Mansions of Madness". Hope that helps.
Webhead123 2 years ago
Miskatonic River Press' "New Tales of the Miskatonic Valley" is another a nice collection of short-ish scenarios.
VoraxTranstellaris 2 years ago