You Are What You Eat Session Two

This time, in surround sound! Not really.

Stacy shows the guys how tough she really is.

PULLED PORK IS PEOPLE

You Are What You Eat Session One

Having more or less been kicked out of Gamwell, Burney, Chaz, and Seamus start the long drive back north. Two hours into their trip, hunger pains hit Chaz and Seamus, causing them to browbeat Burney into stopping at the first diner they see.

They stop into Rusty’s Diner, a bit of a dingy joint but the menu proclaimed that it had “the best burgers and pulled pork in the state ten years running”.

They decided to leave their rifles and shotguns in the car and brought only their handguns.

A bell rang when they opened the door, and shortly after, a man in his early twenties appeared and introduced himself. His name was Skip Barter and he told the guys to grab a menu and grab a seat wherever they wanted. Rusty would be along shortly to take their order.

As they went towards the bar, they noticed that the door to the women’s restroom was off one of it’s hinges. This place wasn’t in the best of condition. They perused the menu, and Chaz and Seamus decided to go for burgers, fries, and shakes. Burney wanted some pulled pork and a Coke. For the cocaine.

Eventually Rusty showed up and gave them the whole song and dance about them having the best burgers and pulled pork in the state ten years running. Then he took their order and was off to flip some burgers.

In the meanwhile, Chaz went off to the men’s room to clean up and Burney declared that he was going to check out the ladies’ room.

Keeper: WHAT
Burney: Not the restroom! Just the door!
Keeper: …..sure.

Burney inspected the door and noticed that a scuffle occurred and had knocked the door off a hinge. Rusty came back with their food and Burney promptly forgot about the door.

Nom nom nom

Seamus wolfed down his burger while Chaz and Burney were enjoying the food. Which is why they found the severed fingers in their burgers and sandwiches. Seamus ate whatever was possibly in his burger.

The discovery that the food IS PEOPLE turned their stomachs and they began violently retching around the bar. Skip came in to find out what was going on, and the guys began demanding answers. Skip turned to start running.*

(Note: I ended up playing Skip incorrectly. The book states that he is loyal and would fight to the death and I turned him into a cowering idiot. Oh well.)

Burney and Seamus attempted to knock out Skip, but Skip was able to dodge their blows. Then Chaz brought the THUNDER and Skip dodged directly into the THUNDER’s path. Hurting but still conscious, Skip ran through the kitchen and out the back door.

They followed out the back door and found themselves in a heavily forested area. Looking around, they saw a shed, a church, and a house in the distance. Chaz was trying to determine if he was looking at the Big Dipper. Muffled screams were coming from the shed and Skip was still making a break for it. Seamus pulled out his pistol, took aim, and hit Skip in the leg, causing him to stumble and yelp in pain.

Burney walked up to him and put his gun to Skip’s head, demanding to know why there were fingers in the food. Skip’s only response that it was just a joke, but the guy’s weren’t buying it. As Skip begged and pleaded, Seamus and Chaz noticed that he was pulling out a knife. Burney determined that Chaz was looking at the Big Dipper. Seamus shot and grazed Skip while Chaz decided to bring the THUNDER and crushed Skip’s skull.

Heading over to investigate the shed, Seamus opened the door and peeked inside. The shed was a slaughterhouse where Rusty prepared meat for the customers. Hooks lined the ceiling and a large meat grinder sat on a long table against the opposite wall. Also on the table was the torso of a human female. Her limbs had been cut off and her head was on the end of the table.

Chaz blanched at the sight, while Seamus and Burney were unaffected. Burney’s seen worse.

Chaz decided to head back to their car and grab the guns. Yeah, that won’t end in tears. The other two walked in and found a young lady hanging from one of the hooks.

Burney: Wait, is she hanging from the hook? From the skin on her back?
Keeper: Dunno, you can’t tell.

Burney walked up to her and asked “How’s it hanging?” Seamus kicked him in the shins.

Thus ends the first session.

Notes: I ran YAWYE because it’s a good transitory adventure, and it has a bit more focus on combat than the Crack’d did. I wouldn’t say that I’m running this one underprepared but I would say I’m running it fast and loose. Depending on how the players play this, they may get their first glimpses of magic and might get themselves an NPC ally. As long as they have fun, I’ll have had fun. Of course one thing I wouldn’t mind is if I could get one more player for the group.

Epilogue and Notes

The Crack’d and Crook’d Manse Epilogue

As they stood before the ruins of the Fitzgerald Manse, three cars pulled up behind them. Walter Dodge stepped out of his car, eyes wide with anger about the valuable piece of property that they had destroyed. Sheriff Whitford and some deputies had also arrived to check out the commotion. After a few moments, the sheriff asked the three investigators to join him at the police station. No, they weren’t under arrest, but their cooperation would do wonders.

After several hours in a cell, the sheriff stepped in and asked them what happened. Chaz proceeded to tell him the truth; about Arthur Curwen’s body, about the tentacles, and about the creature in the cellar. As Chaz started talking about the creature, the sheriff interrupted and said “So a gas explosion destroyed the mansion?” There was an awkward silence until Seamus said that it was a gas explosion that caused the damage. The sheriff wrote that down before stepping out of the cell and telling them that he had to make a phone call.

After several minutes of wondering why the sheriff left them in an unlocked jail cell, they stepped out and headed towards the back door. Seamus’s car was parked there with the keys in the ignition. They all climbed in and drove off into the night.

Notes

Being the very first game I had ever run, I decided to look for something that felt like a good introductory adventure for myself and my players. Having never played a game of Cthulhu before, I didn’t want to throw them into a long campaign, just in case they decided that Cthulhu wasn’t the game for them. I choose the Crack’d and Crook’d Manse because it’s a game that could probably be run in a few hours and because once the investigators get to the house, I don’t have to keep track of NPCs.

I spent a week (over)preparing for the game. I had index cards filled out with pertinent information of NPCs and I printed out the map and cut it up to show room placement. The board game Betrayal at House on the Hill was my inspiration for that.

When the game actually began, I was quite nervous. I didn’t know if I could run a fun game and if I’d start making these horrible mistakes that would ruin EVERTHING. I’m sure I made little mistakes but nothing terrible. As the game progressed, I discovered that I was terrible at giving out room descriptions. As of the end of the game, I still haven’t improved in that. My “boardgame-esque” style of exploring the house was a bit of a nuisance too, so I switched over to a whiteboards. And then combat happened and I felt odd about running it with just vague positioning of the investigators and monsters, so I got a battle mat. The short combat that occurred with the battle mat seemed to flow a bit smoother. I think I’m going to keep the whiteboards when I’m just showing rooms and whatnot but combat is strictly battle mat.

I had planned for the reporter Joe Virelli show up while they stayed at the house, but after almost three full sessions of explorations, I thought it was time to get the action going. Virelli was going to be the creature’s first victim, but when Burney decided to go to the master bedroom by himself, I sprung my trap. It also ended the session on a great cliffhanger, with Burney losing a full 6 points of SAN when he confronted the creature’s pseudopods.

Burney was able to get away that time, so while two of them were in the den, I kept them stuck upstairs by having the Creature surge forward and engulfing the first floor. Chaz saw it that time, but he passed his SAN check and decided to rejoin the group. At which point Burney ran back into the master bedroom by himself. And yes, he was attacked again.

The players had figured out the connection with salt very early on and were able to dispatch the tentacles without taking too much damage. I was happy someone failed their CON x 5 roll so I could describe how the monster was trying to kill them. Should’ve asked for a SAN check then, but c’est la vie. With the master bedroom sealed and salted, there wasn’t much else left to do but to let them escape. And escape they did. Once they got their feet on the ground, the highlight of the session was when John S. decided to look for windows and glimpsed the Creature. Still shocked that he only lost 1 SAN on the D20 roll. I didn’t think about this until later, but I should have made their escape a bit harder. Have a tentacle grab on to their rear bumper or something.

So they made it back to town, and I reminded them of the truck full of salt that had been ordered. They got the truck and drove it to the house. As they were preparing to throw open the wood cellar doors, I was wrestling with the decision of whether or not to have the Creature there. The book suggests that maybe the Creature had cleared out for a bit, but I decided that that would be a rather anticlimactic way to end their first adventure. So there it was and there it died. The sheriff also held the investigators until night so I could segue directly into their next adventure.

Re: the Creature, I misidentified it several times. I kept referring to it as having a pizza dough like color and consistency but after rereading the book, I saw that it was translucent and really slimy.

The players don’t know this, but with the three tentacles they destroyed brought the Creature’s hit points to 50. With a bit more salt they could have killed it without the dump truck.

I think my first adventure in Cthulhu went very well and I’m looking forward to the next mini-adventure I’m going to run. Now I have to change the name of my blog.

He somehow rolled a 1 on a D20.

Last time we left them, Seamus and Burney were ensnared by the slimy tentacles and Chaz had the brilliant idea to pour salt across the opening of the fireplace. As the two struggled to free themselves, the tentacles were taking damage due to the salt. Seamus broke out of the thing's grasp while the other tentacle, finding Burney momentarily weakened, forced itself down his throat and began expanding inside of him, drowning him and trying to crush his organs from the inside out. Chaz tried to bring the THUNDER, but failed miserably.

Eventually Burney was able to free himself, but he had to take time to retch and to get the thing out of him. Burney's into that kind of thing.

The salt took it's toll on the tentacles and they dropped onto the floor in a puddle of ooze. Having created a safe(r) haven for themselves, Seamus attempted to use his knowledge of firearms and mechanical repair to create shotgun shells full of salt. Unfortunately, he was only able to create two salt-filled shells.

Seeing no other option than escape, they fashioned a long rope from the bedsheets in the room, and were able to climb out and into the backyard. At which point Burney started looking around and wondering if there were windows on the ground floor.

Me, as Keeper: Yes, there are windows. ARE YOU LOOKING AT THE WINDOWS?
John S. aka Burney: .....
Me: ROLL FOR SANITY

He rolled, and he failed his Sanity check spectacularly. I believe it was somewhere in the 90s.

Me: You failed? Ok, roll a D20.
Morgan: What? A D20?
Me: Did you see the picture? That thing is messed up!

As John prepared to roll the D20, pure giddiness ran through my body as the anticipation of wreaking mental havoc was building. And then he rolled a 1. My jaw dropped.

Me: You are one lucky bastard. You lose 1 point in SAN.

Seamus wisely decided to look away from the house. But as Burney saw it, it saw Burney and was preparing to attack. The guys ran all the way to the front gate. Seamus shot the lock off the gate and they all piled into his car and drove straight into town.

Remembering that Cornthwaite had ordered a truck full of salt, they went to the Dodge lawyers to see if they could fulfill that order. Walter Dodge was a bit incredulous, but Seamus was able to persuade him to send the order through. Chaz stopped by the Sheriff's office to let them know about Seb Watkin's horse and to ask if there were any other law enforcement groups and if their uniforms were blue. "Nope," the Sheriff replied, "everyone here wears tan, just like me."

Knowing the salt truck would take a few days, they stopped at the library to find information about soldiers in blue uniforms. The librarian, Mrs. Susan Artwell then told them the story of John Fitzgerald, who fought for the Union and was shot in the head during the war. He survived but came back wrong in the head. He then murdered his family before killing himself. Thus began the Fitzgerald Manse curse.

Within a few days the truck arrived, and the three drove it up to Fitzgerald Manse. Seamus stayed up front, just in case, while Burney drove the truck to the entrance of the cellar. Chaz threw open the doors and was greeted by the monstrosity. Before it could react, Chaz took a blurry photo for proof and then opened up the truck, releasing a deluge of salt onto the thing.

The effects of the salt were almost immediate. The thing's death throes began to shake the house at it's very foundation. The walls began to bulge, causing large cracks to appear as windows shat teed and glass flew everywhere. Chaz had a few scrapes as he jumped into the truck with Burney and they sped away. In the end, the house collapsed onto itself, leaving a plume of salt and dust in the air.

This house is clean.

And tomorrow, the effects of them demolishing the house they were told not to demolish.

Burney needs to stop throwing things.

This session ended up being 95% combat and 5% finding a shotgun. I also learned how difficult it can be trying to run a combat on an ungridded map.

This session started off with Burney facing off against a tentacle thing, losing max SAN but failing his idea roll, so all his mind saw was a giant snake. Faced with another tentacle, Burney gave a yell to his companions and opted to throw his lighter onto a table containing piles of salt and gunpowder. Unfortunately he overthrew and was lucky he didn’t set the rug on fire.

Hearing Burney shriek like a girl, Chaz and Seamus rushed up to the master bedroom and were greeted by a pair of tentacles that oozed from the bricks within the fireplace. As I described them, it was as if someone took some dough and rolled it out into a tentacle like shape and was thrashing it about. Seamus took a shot at it and blew out a chunk, but it just seemed to coalesce and took minimum damage. Chaz ran in and flipped over the table containing the salt and was able to damage the tentacles and cause them to retreat.

Having found themselves a bit of a breather, Burney and Seamus went into the next room, the den, where they found a shotgun and gave it to Seamus. Chaz lingered in the upstairs hallway and decided to chance a look downstairs after hearing some odd gurgling sounds. He was greeted with a horror beyond all horrors, a monstrosity that should not have been. But he passed his SAN check and only lost 2 or 3 SAN points.

"Burney's mom wants to know if the boys want some Sunny D."

Of what Chaz could see, this thing had flowed over the entire first floor, blocking any chance of a downstairs escape. Several pseudopods reached up the stairs, trying to grab any thing that came within grasp. Chaz’s logic bade him to rejoin the group in the den and look out the window for a way out. Something was thrashing about outside, but it was difficult to tell what it was.

Remembering how the entrances of the master bedroom were lined with salt, Burney went into the room with the purpose of sealing off the fireplace. Two pseudopods had emerged and were waiting in the room. He jumped in and started throwing salt at the two creatures. Seamus and Chaz soon followed, with Seamus pulling out his pistol and shooting one of the tentacles. Chaz hung back, waiting for an opening to hit an ace. The two things thrashed about with no success.

Burney had a plan. Backing up a few steps, Burney lobbed the container of salt he was holding into the air so Chaz could bring THE THUNDER. Once again, Burney overthrew and hit the wall. Chaz’s THUNDER swished through the air. A tentacle attempted to hit Seamus with no success as the other one stretched itself to reach Chaz and Burney. Another tentacle squirmed out of the fireplace.

With his new-ish double barreled shotgun, Seamus unleashed a barrel onto a tentacle and hit. Burney brandished his axe and put a nice dent into the rug and floor. Chaz threw a handful of salt at the tentacle closest to him, throwing enough at it to make it dissolve into the ground, leaving a trail of slime from Chaz to the fireplace. The two tentacles attacked Burney and Seamus, and both were able to wrap themselves around the investigators.

As they struggled with the tentacles grappling them, they could do nothing but resist the unsavory thing the tentacles were trying to do to them. Seeing his partners in trouble, Chaz ran up to the fireplace and poured salt into the crevices and on to the tentacles, damaging them and effectively sealing the room.

But will his friends break free of the tentacles’ grasp before it kills them?

Never split the party. NEVER

The Crack'd and Crook'd Manse Session 5

This will all be explained to the players after we finish the adventure, but this session had a few red herrings.

Having discovered the message scrawled in the mirror, Burney and Seamus entered the master bedroom to do some more investigating. Burney started poking through Cornthwaite’s bureau but found nothing but clothes. However, upon spotting a gold-plated cigar case, he popped it open and grabbed two cigars for himself and gave one to Seamus. Seamus found an empty salt canister that had fallen under the bed. Salt was becoming a big thing for some reason.

Burney went over to the fireplace and noticed that it was oddly shiny. On a table, nine shotgun shells had been disassembled, and there were piles of shot, gunpowder, and salt. Noticing that the windowsills were lined with salt, Burney took a look out the window.

The raccoon was outside staring at him.

Back in the kitchen, Chaz tried opening one of the doors but found that the knob didn’t turn and would not open. Trying the door next to it, he found himself in the laundry room and poked around. Finding nothing but dirty clothes, Chaz left the room, and as he entered the kitchen, he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. A man in a blue uniform carrying a rifle had walked by the kitchen window, and he seemed to be heading in the direction of the shed. Not wanting to face this thing alone, Chaz ran upstairs to gather his party.

After telling the others what just happened, Chaz and Seamus stayed in the master bedroom and looking outside the windows, to see if they could spot whomever it was. Burney opened up the backdoor to track the intruder. He didn’t find a thing. After a bit of discussion, they decided that whomever it was had headed towards the shed, so it was time to check it out.

As they walked towards the shed, they noticed that the skies were starting to darken and thunder could be heard, and they realized that they would most likely have to spend the night. The shed was dark, ominous, and green. Chaz opted to stand watch outside as Seamus and Burney walked in. Tools and trash littered the floor. Noticing a space for an axe on the tool rack, Burney tried to see if the axe he found went there, but it didn’t. And then a hammer flew off a shelf and hit Seamus, knocking him down. Both freaking out, Burney tried to hoist Seamus to his feet, but failed miserably the first time. Still a bit dazed, Seamus struggled to get up, until Burney, using his superhuman stunt man strength, hoisted Seamus right up and the both barreled through the door, narrowly missing Chaz and almost knocking him down.

After some accusations of drinking and the rain started pouring down, Chaz decided if they were going to spend the night, he was going to get his gun. As he walked down the long driveway and the others went back inside, he smacked his head on a tree branch that he swore was not there before. Now muddied and covered in coal dust, Chaz marched on until he reach the front gate. Twice he tried to climb over, and twice he failed. Defeated, Chaz walked back to the mansion like a sad Charlie Brown. At least he still had Cornthwaite’s .45 revolver.

Back inside, the three decided to do a bit more investigating. Chaz found himself dodging a killer coat rack and the other two were in the library. Studying the shelves, they saw that the majority of the books were about exploration and archeology, but there were many gaps in between the books. Remembering the many instances of salt lining the entrances to rooms, Burney decided to run upstairs and grab the salt from the master bedroom. By himself.

After grabbing the salt, Burney turned to leave but heard this wet, sickening, slap hit the floor next to him. Spinning to see what it was, he was greeted by a doughy tentacle squeezing from the bricks in the fireplace, dripping onto the floor, multiple jaws chomping away at the air. Burney’s eyes went wide from the shock.

How will Burney get out of this?

Addendum: I ended the session on a cliffhanger because I thought we were going to be able to play the next day. We could not. Having lost 6 SAN after seeing the tentacle, I was going to start the next session with the player trying to fail an Idea roll. So for fun I had him roll at our lunch table and he failed it. He did enjoy rolling to see what would happen if he did make the idea roll and what type of insanity he would gain. It was the homicidal or suicidal tendency insanity that he rolled.

The Black Beast with Burning Red Eyes and Human Hands

The Crack’d and Crook’d Manse Session 4

Chaz and Burney were only stuck in the secret room for a small bit of time. Chaz was able to find a small trap door in the ceiling. As they pushed it open…

An Irish bootlegger was driving down the road towards the Fitzgerald Manse. Noticing a car parked outside it’s gates, he pulled up and saw that the gate was closed and locked. After jiggling with the locks for a bit but unable to open them, he climbed over the fence, with his guns, and entered onto the grounds. Seamus O’Hearne had returned and he marched straight up to the house. Not seeing his companions anywhere, he made a stop at the study, where he found an open book entitled The Missing People: The Tribe that the Jungle Swallowed. Not one to pass up a good book, Seamus made himself comfortable and decided to skim the book for an hour or so.

Chaz and Burney emerged into the dust filled attic of the mansion. Chaz opened some of the steamer trunks they had found but they were only being used for storage. Seeing a bit of light from the far corner, Burney headed towards it but found another steamer trunk that appeared to have burst open from the inside. He cautiously poked at the trunk with his newly acquired axe, but nothing jumped out and devoured him. Inside were various jungle clothing, a pith helmet, a compass, a .45 revolver, and a machete. Which Burney picked up. Chaz himself picked up the .45 revolver and as he leaned down to pick it up, he noticed that one of the pants pockets had burst open at the seams.

As they exited the attic, they heard some cursing going on downstairs. Figuring it was Seamus, they visited the study, where Seamus gave them the gist of the book he had read. Finding nothing else here, they went next door to the storeroom. Finding it filled with junk, Chaz noticed that the floor in the middle of the room was covered in mold and wet to the touch. Checking the ceiling to see if there was a drip coming from the room above, Chaz barely had any time before he heard the floor begin to crack and crumble beneath him. Plumes of black dust flew into the air as he fell into the coal cellar, blocking out all light from the room. As he sat there in the black, he heard something crawling towards him, it's jaws chomping as it searched for food. Chaz fired blindly into the room, and as the dust cleared and light re-entered the room, he saw that there was nothing in with him. Just a door that wouldn't open.

Burney and Seamus threw a rope down for Chaz to climb out, and then they hightailed it out of there. Jerks. They went into one of the upstairs bedrooms and found tracks in the dusty floor. As they tried to find where the tracks led, they began hearing scratching sounds coming from inside the room. Specifically, under the bed. Seamus drew his rifle as Burney inched over to the bed to give it a quick kick. As he did, a horrific black beast with burning red eyes and hands like a human emerged from under it and backed itself into a corner. Though slightly startled, the two realized that it was a raccoon and Burney opened up a window to shoo it out.

Having climbed out of the coal cellar, Chaz proceeded into the dining room and found that the table had been set for one. On the floor was some broken glass and little black specks. On closer inspection, he saw that it was ground pepper. Through another door, he headed straight into the kitchen. There he found several canisters of dry goods; sugar, coffee, tea, and flour. The salt canister appeared to be missing. As he walked into the pantry, Chaz was hit with a horrific smell of rot. Looking around the kitchen for a broom stick or a mop, he then used it to pop open the ice box. The smell became infinitely worse as he peered into the ice box and saw rotting food and flies and maggots. He quickly shut the box and the pantry door.

Finding nothing but a raccoon in the bedroom, the two upstairs opened a door and found themselves in a luxurious bathroom, complete with a granite counter top, a ivory claw-foot tub, and clean towels. That wouldn't have been all they had seen if they hadn't glanced at the mirror and saw "NaCL" scrawled in the dust. "What's nacl?" Burney said. Seamus gave me a quick bop on the head and told him that NaCL is the chemical formula for salt.

Things are starting to heat up as night is beginning to fall for the three investigators.

DAMMIT CHAZ

The pair decided it was time to bring the investigation to the Fitzgerald Manse, but not before stopping to see Mr. Cornthwaite’s neightbor, Seb Watkins. Seb’s prize horse had gone missing during the evening, and with the home bordering to the Fitzgerald Manse, they thought this was a good place to start.

As they walked up to the house, the man’s dogs started barking and out came Seb Watkins. When asked about Mr. Cornthwaite, Seb said Cornthwaite was a nice enough fellow. They weren’t the best of friends but whenever they ran into each other in town they would say hello. Regarding the missing horse, neither Seb or his dogs heard anything. Last evening the horse was there, the following morning it was gone. When Seb and the police searched for the horse, tey all noticed a heavy dew that last until just before noon.

Chaz went off to search the fields for the horse while Burney stayed behind to ask Seb some follow-ups questions. Nothing new was really learned except that Cornthwaite had moved in about six years ago. After an hour search of the field, Chaz came across large group of crushed bones. With a little bit of fudging, Chaz was able to determine that these bones belong to a horse. But if it was Seb Watkin’s horse, what could have stripped all the meat off of it? It wasn’t natural decomposition because the horse only went missing the night before.

They opted not to tell Mr. Watkins and proceeded to the Fitzgerald Manse.

They hopped back into Burney’s car and approached the house but saw that the gate was closed and locked. Rather than drive back to town or attempt to lockpick it, Burney grabbed his gun and climbed over the fence. Chaz grabbed his tennis racket, the Thunder, and did the same. Since they left the car outside of the grounds, Chaz made sure Burney had his car keys on him.

The garden was overgrown. It was hard to spot, due to the trees blocking much of the sunlight, but they saw a tiny green shed some ways away. The house stood before them. It was in a state of disrepair and did not extend an aura of welcome to any. Many of the windows had been shuttered and there were cobwebs and vines covering the home. Chaz tested the oak door to see if it was locked, and when satisfied that it was, he inserted the key and opened the door.

The inside of the house was in worse condition. Large cracks had appeared in the walls and water damage was visible on each wall. Burney yelled out to see if Mr. Cornthwaite was home, but no one answered. So they split up.

Chaz visited the downstairs study, where he found the book The Missing People: The Tribe that the Jungle Swallowed. It was in poor condition, but still very legible. Chaz opted to leave the book where it was for the moment…

Burney walked upstairs and found himself in the guest bedroom. Nothing really stood out in this room except for the fireplace in the corner. As he fiddled with the fireplace, he triggered some thing and caused the fireplace to swing him into a dark, cramped room. And a dead body fell onto him.

The dead body was nothing but a skeleton with tiny bits of flesh still stuck on. It was missing it’s toes and the fingers from the left hand. Of course, Burney had seen worse and just shrugged it off. Literally. And then he picked up the axe he found in the corner.

Eventually Burney started yelling for Chaz again, but this time he heard the yells. Racing up the stairs and into the bedroom, Chaz listened to Burney’s instructions about the fireplace, causing Chaz to trigger the fireplace and get pushed into the secret room.

And then they realized they were trapped. The dead body did nothing to help Chaz’s mental state, but the sight of the axe Burney was holding did jog a memory about some axe murders that had been committed in the home.

Now the boys are stuck in a cramped secret room with a dead body and no visible means to get out.

Is there an app for that?

I'm currently looking into apps to help me run games. This post-it note one seems rather neat.

A tennis pro, a stunt man, and a bootlegger walk into a bar...

The Crack'd and Crook'd Manse Sessions 1 & 2

The Players:
Chaz Whitherspoon, tennis pro
Burney Johnson, burn victim/stunt man
Seamus O'Hearne, former IRA/current bootlegger

Plans are set into motion when Chaz receives a letter from the Dodge Bros, Attornies at Law from Gamwell. The lawyers are hoping Chaz can help them locate their client, Mr. Arthur Cornthwaite. Somewhat perplexed as to why he received the letter, Chaz gathers his friends Seamus and Burney and they set out for Gamwell.

The trio arrive at Gamwell just before noon and head straight for the Dodge Bros' offices. There they are greeted by one of the brothers, Walter Dodge, a timid mouse of a man. Walter tells them about Mr. Cornthwaite and his disappearance from society. Having been missing for about a month and without telling anyone of his plans, the lawyers want to know that their client is safe. However, if something should to have befallen Mr. Cornthwaite, they would like proof so they can execute Mr. Cornthwaite's final wishes.

Chaz agrees to help out but not before he gets some answers. He wants to know how the lawyers got his name and why they think Arthur Cornthwaite knew him. Walter tells him that while they were trying to find information on Mr. Cornthwaite's whereabouts, they ran across Chaz Whitherspoon's name and Cornthwaite had described him as a man of great honor and discretion.

Chaz still has no idea how Cornthwaite knows him. And he never will. (That's more due to my failing as a first time keeper.)

Walter gives Chaz and Seamus access to Cornthwaite's ledgers and accounts, where they discover that Cornthwaite's finances have lots of zeroes in them. Burney is currently doing donuts in the town square while flipping off all of the townies. Jerk.

As they pored over the books, they discovered that Cornthwaite had planned a large scale expedition to South America in 1923, but oddly enough, Cornthwaite was the only one that had booked passage back home. In the month before his disappearance, Cornthwaite had ordered a large dump truck filled with salt to be delivered to his home. The lawyers were never able to ask their client about this order so it was never filled. Rich people can be eccentric was Walter's explanation.

Walter offered to let the guys stay at the Fitzgerald Manse during their investigation but they were very adamant about not staying there. "Well, if you change your mind, the offer's still standing. I'll call our local boarding house and get you fine gents set up."

With that, they headed out onto a fact-finding mission. First stop was the sheriff's office.

Sheriff Walt Whitby had no time for these jokers, never looking up from the typewriter as he spoke to them. They came in asking all these questions about the "missing" Arthur Cornthwaite. The man's got money and he doesn't need anyone permission to drop everything and go traipsing through some jungle. The whole thing was ridiculous. The team could tell that the sheriff did not like them so they decided to go on their way but not before the sheriff asked them about their whereabouts for the night before. Despite not even being in town, the sheriff insisted that they provide witnesses until Chaz was able to persuade him of their innocence.

The sheriff opened up a bit more after that. He still thought that Cornthwaite was out having fun somewhere. He confessed to stopping by the house and having a little look around, but with no signs of foul play, the sheriff left it at that. Whitby's revulsion towards the Fitzgerald Manse was evident to all present, and when pr eased, he admitted that he thought the Fitzgerald Manse was a blight upon Gamwell and that the whole thing should be torn down. He had some history with the place. With regards to where they were the night before, the sheriff told them that Seb Watkin's prize horse had gone missing during the evening. Neither Seb or his dogs heard anything during the night. The horse just seemed to vanish.

He also told them that some Gamwell citizens thought the Fitzgerald Manse was cursed. Just because a couple of murders happen at a home doesn't mean the place is cursed.

As they exited the sheriff's office, Seamus had to bid his comrades farewell, as a bootlegging emergency had come up and he had to take the nearest train back to New York. At least he left the car.

The trio now turned duo visited the library when they learned that Cornthwaite had donated a sizable amount of books on the subjects of archeology and anthropology to the library and that most of them were in storage. Burney also attempted to woo the attractive librarian, Mrs. Susan Artwell, but not even his fat wallet could sway her from her husband. Burney's face was also a problem.

Done with the library, Burney proposed that they split up. Burney would investigate the missing horse while Chaz talked to the local news rag, the Gamwell Gazette. Did Burney know where Seb Watkins lives? No he didn't, so he popped back into the sheriff's office to ask. Still annoyed, Sheriff Whitby told him that the Watkins household is next to the Fitzgerald Manse, about 40 minutes outside of town. Well shit. A defeated Burney went to rejoin his companion.

The editor of the Gamwell Gazette, Stan Artemis, greeted them as they entered the small and cluttered office. After the two told them why they were in town, Stan tried pumping them for information about the missing millionaire. If Chaz or Burney noticed, they didn't let on. They didn't find out too much information about Cornthwaite, only that he was big into charity events and donating this and that. "You're welcome to talk to the reporter that wrote the article but he's out walked the beat. Deadlines are coming up!" Stan said. When asked if they could find old articles about the Fitzgerald Manse, Stan happily obliged them. Unfortunately neither one of them were making any progress until Burney convinced Stan to help them out a bit.

This led them to an article about the Curwen family murders in May of 1895. Mrs. Gloria Curwen and her three children were found brutally murdered and the father, Arthur Curwen, was missing. It was heavily insinuated that Arthur Curwen was the murderer, but he was never found. After rereading the article, Chaz noticed the name of the deputy that had found the bodies: Deputy Whitby, now the town sheriff.

Now they're wondering if they should ask the sheriff about the Curwens or if they should just press on to the Fitzgerald Manse.

We shall see.

First Game session!

Well, just finished the first session of a Call of Cthulhu game. It was only about 30 minutes long but it was…interesting. I’m fairly certain I made some mistakes, but that’s too be expected.

I’m not sure if it’s exactly what my players expected. Call of Cthulhu has always been about investigation and then fisticuffs, but fisticuffs isn’t always a good thing.

Intro to The Murderer of Thomas Fell

It has been seventeen days since anyone has heard from Thomas Fell. Numerous calls have gone unanswered and his mail continues to pile up. No lights are seen inside after dark.

Another unanswered phone call. Jan Joyce-Cleveland begins to fear the worst. Has he been hurt? Has he run off? What happened to the men hired for the expedition? Worried for Thomas Fell, she places a call to Professor Knox Makepeace.

Thomas wanted Makepeace on the expedition. As they met for lunch to discuss Thomas’s plans, Makepeace was disturbed by Thomas’s behavior. He was overly paranoid. Any slight against him was magnified by ten. He cared for nothing but the expedition. In the end, Thomas stormed off, leaving Makepeace wondering what could have changed him. When Joyce-Cleveland called asking if he had heard from Thomas, he became concerned and contacted a friend of Thomas, Detective Norman Wright.

Years ago, Thomas Fell had helped Detective Wright solve a case involving antique theft. Ever since then, the two have kept in touch, sharing a lunch together now and then and swapping stories. When Professor Makepeace called him and said that Thomas Fell was missing, Detective Wright would use all his resources to make sure his friend was all right. During his inquiries, he somehow drew the attention of Thomas Fell’s sons, Roger and Kenneth Fell.

Roger Fell. The successful doctor. Kenneth Fell. The struggling artist. When they heard that their father was missing, they both volunteered to help search for him. They did not volunteer out of some familial duty; no, they agreed out of guilt. It’s been months since either had spoken to their father. Embarrassment sets in when they are not the first to notice that Thomas Fell is missing.

Calls are placed and plans are made. Now, the five stand outside the house. The five want answers. They want to know what happened to Thomas Fell.

MAKE IT FUN

So next Wednesday, I will be running a Call of Cthulhu game for my co-workers during lunch. The adventure is The Crack’d and Crock’d Manse and it seems to be a fairly good intro adventure for beginners.

I hope I don’t drop the ball, being a first time keeper and all.

My players are:

Morgan as Chas Whitherspoon, tennis pro
John S as Burney Johnson/Jackson, stunt man
John R as Seamus O’Hearne, former IRA solder, current bootlegger

I need to keep my lack of self-esteem towards this sorta thing in check, and go with the flow.

Make it fun!

What to know what's stupid?

Trying to prep for two games that are to be run at the same time.

Roll SAN

My online game of The Murderer of Thomas Fell is currently in a holding pattern. I'm waiting for one of the players to come back to us, post-nuptials. I'd rather not start without him.

At my place of work, I have lunch with 3 other guys that are well-versed in the ways of role-playing games, and I'm mulling over the idea of running a Call of Cthulhu game with them. I just need to see if the idea would work and what scenario to run.

I've narrowed down my selections to two: The Crook'd and Crack'd Manse or Love's Lonely Children. I just finished reading Love's and I've got to say that that scenario is all sorts of fucked up.

Now I'm going to write up some stuff for both and see which one captures me more. I may lean more towards Crook'd because Love's may sour stomachs and turn the guys off of Call of Cthulhu.

I think I'm ready to run a game.

OH GOD NO I'M NOT

WAIT MAYBE

I DON'T KNOWWWWWW

Pull Yourself Together!

Stability is your mind's immune system. The higher the rating, the stronger it is and the less likely you are to snapping. Sanity is how much of your mind is left after having been exposed to the Cthulhu Mythos. Since Stability is the one dealt with more often, let's start with it.

STABILITY

There are just some times when you witness something that just messes with your brain. And that's when you make a Stability check!

The DN for a Stability check is 4, unless it's something you've seen before or something so horrifying it just blows your mind. Then it's a 3 or a 5, respectively. And like other skill checks, you can send Stability points to help pass the check. Just know that if you fail the check, you lose those points plus whatever the price of failing the check was.

Like Health, things happen if your Stability drops below 0.

Stability at 0 to -5 is SHAKEN: All DN's for checks increase by one and you can't spend investigative points.

Stability at -6 to -11 is BLASTED: You gain a mental illness! And it's permanent! You also lose 1 points from your Stability rating. You can always buy it back.

Stability at -12 and under is INSANE: You are officially cuckoo for cuckoo puffs. You got one chance to go out in a blaze of glory or you can consign yourself to a mental ward.

There are several ways to regain Stability. Stability points refresh after a adventure/session or the player can have the investigator follow their Drive.

And that's Stability.

SANITY

There's only two ways to lose Sanity. And the best way to say it is straight from the book!

• A Mythos shock drops your Stability pool to 0 or below.
• You use the Cthulhu Mythos.

If you lose Sanity, you lose Sanity. You can't roll to avoid Sanity loss.

What's a Mythos Shock? It's when the investigator witnesses a Mythos-related event and it drops the Stability score.

If the character is SHAKEN by the mythos, the Sanity raiting drops by 1 point.

If the character is BLASTED, the Sanity raiting drops by 2.

If both happen, you'll only suffer one of those losses during any given adventure. Yes, the more severe loss.

Now there are some ways to keep your Sanity and they're pretty awesome for roleplaying.

Denial - If no evidence exists at the end of the adventure, then it must have been all in your mind. At the Keeper's discretion, the player may be required to take on a mental illness or make up a story about what you think happened to what really happened. If the player ever uses info that he shouldn't remember, the Keeper can take a Sanity point from the player.

Fainting - Yup! If something so terrifying occurs and the investigator stands to lose more than 1 Sanity point, the player can declare that the investigator faints dead away and will only lose 1 Sanity point. They keep their Sanity but they're not allowed to participate for the rest of that particular scene.

But keep in mind that if the investigator faints and the team ends up running away, someone may be left behind...

And I believe that ends my Trail of Cthulhu blogs. I think it's time I start setting up for my online game!

Getting Hurt Sucks (Don't Do It)

As long as your Health is in the positives, there are no special rules. It’s when you drop into the negatives that you have to start worrying. And once you hit -12, you’re dead. Fo’ realsies.

Starting at -1, the player has to start making Consciousness rolls to stay awake. The DN to stay conscious will always be the absolute value of your current health. So if you’re at -1, you have to beat DN 1. -4, DN is 4. Of course, you can spend points from your Health pool to stay conscious but the DN will be the number before you chose to spend points.

Example

Keeper: Stingray’s just been shot! His health has dropped to -3. Make a consciousness roll.


Stingray: Ok, I don’t want to chance it, so I’m going to spend 2 Health points. I rolled a 2 for a total of 4, so I stay conscious but my Health is now at -5.



You can NEVER spend Health points if it will drop you Health to below -11.

Other Health rules

Health is between 0 to -5: You can’t spend Investigative points and the DN for all tests increases by 1.

Health is between -6 to -11: You lose 1 Health point every half hour until you receive aid. And even if you succeed on your Consciousness roll, you can’t fight or take any actions.

Health is -12 and below: DEAD

Fist vs Tentacle

There comes a time when book smarts aren’t enough and you just got to plant a fist into something’s squishy face. And that brings us to combat.

The Basics

The Hit Threshold is the number to beat to connect with your target. For Investigators, their HT is 3, but if their Athletics skill is 8 or higher, the HT increases to 4.
Just because a character doesn’t have a particular skill doesn’t mean they can’t use it. No rating in Firearms? No problem. You can still shoot a gun. You just won’t do as much damage. In fact, you do -2 to all damage rolls and that’s on top of the bonus/penalty for whatever you’re using. This rule applies to Firearms, Scuffling, and Weapons.
Firearms goes to firearms.
Scuffling goes to fists, feet, and things like knuckle dusters.
Weapons are for things like swords, knives, maces, etc.

Mano-a-Mano

Whoever picks the fight, start the fight. Doesn't matter if you're shooting, stabbing, punching; the person that starts the fight gets to go first.

Ex. 1

Keeper: Tony "The Rat" Wilkins is standing directly in your path. There's no way he's going to let you through the door.

Stingray: I punch him in the face.

Keeper: Roll to see if you hit.

Ex. 2

Keeper: Tony "The Rat" Wilkins is standing directly in your path. There's no way he's going to let you through the door.

Stingray: I shoot him in the face.

Keeper: ...roll to see if you hit.

Ex. 3

Keeper: Tony "The Rat" Wilkins is standing directly in your path. There's no way he's going to let you through the door.

Stingray: I stab him in the face.

Keeper: ...roll to see if you hit.

Battle Royale

When you have 3 or more combatants, things change a bit. The fighters declare their actions and turn order for the entire fight is determined by the skill rating associated with the action.

Example

Detective Almonds is going to shoot (Firearms 12)
Junior Detective Robinson is going to punch some biscuits (Scuffling 5)
Cultist Pete is going to stab the Junior Detective (Weapons 7)

So the turn order is

1. Detective Almonds
2. Cultist Pete
3. Junior Detective Robinson

After the first turn, the players are free to choose a different combat action but the turn order won't change. Even if Almonds decides to sword fight the cultist (Weapons 0) on the next turn, he would still go first. Turn order is determined on the first round and won't change for the rest of the fight.

And the rest is done like a standard contest. Spend points from skill to hit, roll, if hit roll for damage, add/subtract modifiers.

This could be the penultimate Trail post! It depends on whether or not I need to explain hit points. Which I probably do so this isn't the penultimate post.

C'est la vie.

Dance Off for Sanity

There are times when a PC goes up against a PC/NPC and the only way to solve things is a dance off, or as it’s called in the book, a contest. Each character does a skill check, spending points and rolling dice, and the first one to fail their check loses the contest.

EXAMPLE
DANCE OFF w/ Detective Almonds (Athletics 10) vs Cultist (Athletics 8)

Keeper: Detective Almonds, you’ve run onto the dance floor, hoping to get lost in the crowd. Unfortunately, a kicking song just started playing, and the dance crowd has formed a circle around you as the cultist bursts through. OH DANG, THE CROWD WANTS A DANCE BATTLE! What’s your first move, Stingray?

Stingray: I’m going to spend 1 Athletics point and do the Worm.

Keeper: Ok, the Worm’s DN is 3. Go for it.

Stingray: Rolled a 2! Success!

Keeper: You worm your way across the dance floor, but the crowd and the cultist aren’t impressed. “So this is Chicago dancing?” the cultist says. He’s going to spend 2 Athletics to do a windmill, DN 5. The cultist rolled a 4 for a total of 6! The crowd is going wild over the speed of the windmill!

Stingray: I need to step up my game before I get served. The Superman.

Keeper: Ok, DN 6. Roll for it.

Stingray: DN 6?! Ok, I’m gonna spend 3 points first. And I rolled a …3. Thank god I spent those 3 points!

Keeper: Ok, ok, you did the Superman fairly well, but not enough to sway the crowd. The cultist, thinking he has it in the bag, is going to spend 1 point and do an Armchair Freeze, DN 3. He got a 1! He failed his roll and fell straight onto his face!

Stingray: I’m booking it.

Now I can’t promise that there won’t ever be a dance-off in my games (yeah, I can), but that’s how it goes.

Next up is COMBAT!

Contests! (or Skill Checks!)

There are just some times when the only way to solve a problem is with a good die roll and the only die you’ll need is a D6. Yup, the plain ones. The only abilities that need dice rolls are the ones listed under General. The Keeper will tell the player that he needs to roll a skill check, and he then needs to roll higher or equal to the Difficulty Number, which the Keeper may or may not tell you.

Difficulty Numbers (DN) range from 2 to 8. Whoa, whoa, WHOA. Hold on now. How do you get an 8 on a six-sided die? By Point Spends. For every point you spend, that’s +1 to your die roll. The players just need to remember that they have to declare how many points they’re spending BEFORE they roll the die.

Example

Keeper: As Detective Almonds drives up the narrow mountain road, the skies darken and unleash torrents of rain down up him. The road becomes slick with mud and visibility is reduced to almost nil. I’d like a skill check for Driving and let’s say the DN is 4.

Stingray: Let’s see…Almonds has a Driving rating of 6, so I have 6 points to spend. I’m going to spend 2 points for this roll. I rolled a 3, so my total is 5. I passed!

Keeper: Despite the treacherous weather, you’re able to keep your car on the road and drive safely to the top of the mountain.

It’s a very easy system. The only hard part is having players remember that they have to declare the point spend BEFORE THEY ROLL.

Y’know, I can’t really go any more in-depth when it comes to spending points for clues. There will be times when the Keeper asks a player if they want to spend some points towards a clue. If the player agrees, then the player gets a clue that has an added benefit.

“Free” clues move the story along; clues that cost points give you a little something extra to go with it.

Simple Searches

I had forgotten to mention “simple searches”. Just because you don’t have the necessary skills for a scene doesn’t mean you can’t look around. The player just needs to be specific when doing a simple search.

Ex 1: A player with Forensics

Player: I’d like to use my Forensics skill to search the room.
Keeper: As you search the room, you notice a slight impression in the carpet by the bed. Upon closer examination, you realize that it’s a footprint. Not a shoe print, however, because this print has the distinct outline of three webbed toes!

Ex 2: A player without Forensics and doing a simple search

Player: Doctor Van Wiffle is going to search the nightstand.
Keeper: You find several matchbooks all coming from the Goose and Maverick Tavern.
When it comes to simple searches, the players need to be specific.

Points and Benefits: Episode 1

This next part had me scratching my head for a bit. During the game, players can sometimes get additional clues by spending points from their pool. Their pool? Their pool of what? Investigative points? What in the hell are those?
It took me a few days of lurking in a forum dedicated to Call of Cthulhu games before I could find the answer.

Detective Almonds has a rating of 4 for Cop Talk, ergo he has four points to spend when it comes to Cop Talk.

GM: If you'd like, you can spend a point in Cop Talk to get a little bit of extra info from the snitch.
Almonds: Sure, I'll spend that point from Cop Talk.
GM: With that point spent, you're able to convince Wally the Weasel to give you the name of his employer and purchase some extra firepower, if you so choose.

Detective Almonds still has a rating of 4 in Cop Talk, but now only has 3 points to spend towards Cop Talk.

The example given was fairly bland, but it's just a stop gap until I get more in depth into point spends and benefits.

Don't make my mistake

Detective Almonds's skill allocation is really crappy. I should have had more skills in the Academic category.

Invetigation in Process!

The crux of the GUMSHOE system for Trail of Cthulhu is the gathering of clues and piecing all the bits together. And how do you gather clues? By using your Investigative Abilities (and some General Abilities)! There's no need to roll a die because as long as you have the ability, you WILL get the clue. If you're an accountant and have the Accounting ability, you will be able to decipher the ledgers with all the numbers and whatnot. You can't blow a dice roll and somehow read the numbers backwards.

Using Detective Almonds as an example...

GM: You step into a dingy motel room; the smell of burnt flesh stinging your nostrils. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the partially burnt corpse hanging from the ceiling fan.

P1: Did they burn him while hanging him? That's a bit overkill. Detective Almonds is going to use his skills in Forensics to see if any accelerants were used to burn the poor guy or if anything sticks out.

GM: As you begin examining the body, you notice a slight odor of gasoline beneath the smell of burnt flesh. Not only was gasoline used to burn the victim, it seems that three of the fingers from his right hand were severed shortly before death.

That's a crappy example, but you get the idea. To get the clue, the player only needs to say that they're going to use that skill. You could say "I'm going to use Intimidation to get some info out of the snitch" or you could throw a little bit of flavor in there and say "I take all but one bullet out of my gun and point it at the snitch. I'm getting the murderer's hideout one way or another."

Or the Keeper could ask if any players has a specific skill. I'm hoping to take this route less.

Core clues that continue the story have no cost. Clues that give you a little bit of extra info or benefits may require a point spend. WHAT

Next time, Spends and Benefits!

(Slowly) Creating a ToC Character FIN

Let's Go Shopping!

When it comes to shopping, it's the GM's way or well, there's only the GM's way. After having a bit of a chat with the GM (me), it's been decided that the player (also me), will be able to spend up to half of the lower number of the player's Credit Rating. The range of Credit Rating 3 is between $1,250 to $1,500, so I can buy $625 worth in gear. The GM is also letting me have a gun and a car for free, because those things come with my job. Getting a free gun also allows me to slam it on the desk when the captain accuses me of being a loose cannon and asks for my badge and gun. That gun was issued to me so I don't feel too bad about giving it up. I have a spare.

Police Issued
Colt Police Postive .32 Revolver
1927 Ford Model A

Personal Items
Colt Police Positive .32 Revolver - $15
100 rounds - $.60
Remington M32 20-gauge shotgun - $35
50 shells - $1.40
Trench coat - $11
Fedora - $15
Wrist Watch - $10
Flashlight - $1
2 Batteries - $.15
Two packs of Cigarettes - $.30
Zippo lighter - $1

That leaves me with $536.55. So maybe half of $1,250 was a little much. I might go with a 15% next time.

And that is character creation. Detective Stingray Almonds is now complete and can be used in any campaign I so choose. I will most likely change the name. I'll be sure to upload my completed character sheet when I get home tonight.

Next post is still Trail of Cthulhu related but I'm not quite sure in what way.

(Slowly) Creating a ToC Character Part 3

Partially Optional!

For every 3 full points in Sanity, you must designate a Pillar of Sanity for your character. A Pillar of Sanity is an idea or code that your character believes in ex. justice will prevail, God watches out for us all, for King and country. For every 3 full points in Stability, you have the option of naming a Source of Stability for your character. A Source of Stability is a person that keeps you grounded and helps you wash away the troubles of the world ex. Police Chief Rowlings (Det. Almonds boss) or Steph (waitress at the Detective’s favorite eatery). Sources of Stability can be used for some dramatic tension like when Steph gets kidnapped by a cult of lizard men.

Losing a Source of Stability or having a Pillar of Sanity crumble can be very devastating, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Next post, we go shopping!

(Slowly) Creating a Character Part 2

I just realized that what I said about Build Points last time is wrong. WRONG.

ABILITIES!

Abilities are meat and potatoes of the investigator. These skills reveal what clues can be found in a particular scene and help push the story along.

The number of players determines the amount of Investigative Build Points the players get, and everyone gets 65 points to go towards General Abilities. For Stingray, we'll say that there are only two players, so I get 24 Investigative Build Points.

Abilities that are related to your job are bought at a cheaper rate, so for every 1 point I pay, I get 2 points in that ability. You don't keep half points, so spend everything!

INVESTIGATIVE ABILITIES

With my 24 Investigative points, I outfit Detective Almonds with:

Cop Talk 6
Evidence Collection 4
Interrogation 2
Law 4
Assess Honesty 4
Intimidation 3
Flattery 3
Forensics 4
Streetwise 2
Reassurance 2
Credit Rating 3

It might look like I overspent on the Investigative Abilities, but Credit Rating has a special rule associated with it. Each job has a Credit Rating range associated with it. Police Detective has a CR range of 3-5. Each character gets the lowest CR rating for free, but can increase the CR rating with a 1 to 1 point buy. I decided to keep him on the low end of the pay scale.

GENERAL ABILITIES

I have 65 points to play with, and the occupational ability 2-for-1 point buy counts for these too! I'll start with the abilities with the special rules.

Athletics 10: Normally, a player's Hit Number is 3, but if the Athletics skills is 8 or higher, the HN increases to 4.
Firearms 12: A player with a Firearm rating of 5+ can spend a point to fire two guns at once. Yes, I am John Wooing it.
Health 13: You start with 1 free Health. Yup.
Sanity 9: You start with 4 free Sanity points. I don't feel as if a high Sanity rating is as important anymore, due to the Stability rating.
Stability 7: 1 free Stability point. Stability is the immune system to Sanity's mental health.

And the rest:
Driving 6
First Aid 3
Fleeing 6
Scuffling 8
Sense Trouble 10
Shadowing 5

When it comes to general abilities, the second-highest ability must be at least half of the high ability.

And here is the ability portion of my character sheet!



Next time, Pillars of Sanity and Sources of Stability!

(Slowly) Creating a Character Part 1

This is the character sheet for Trail of Cthulhu. Don't strain your eyes just yet. I'll be focusing on different parts of the character sheet. Mostly because I haven't figure it all out yet. If you do wish to get a better view of it, just download a copy from Pelgrane Press. Then you could play along with me.

I wish I remember my HTML coding, because then I'd just hyperlink to the sheet. C'est la vie.

http://www.pelgranepress.com/trail/files/twosheet.pdf





And here's the starting point.


Investigator Name: Easy enough. I'm still not sure how I ended up with that moniker.

Drive: Your Drive is the reason you do things. It's the "why" you decide to venture down an dark alleyway (Curiostiy) or the "why" you won't stop hunting the man in black (Revenge). For Detective Almonds, I decided his Drive was Duty. Not to justice. His duty is to please that booty.

When you follow your Drive, you can regain Stability points. If you don't follow it, you can lose stability points.

The Keeper: The mysterious blonde in the rain-beaten trench coat leaned over your desk and slowly loosened your tie. "I've got a proposition for you," she purred, "in the next room."

PC: I let her lead me by the tie into the next room. It's my duty to please that booty and by God that booty will be pleased!

The Keeper: Well ok, you're following your drive, so you regain 2 Stability points as you follow her.

Not following your Drive could lose you half of your Stability points! But that's if your Keeper is a jerk. I'll get into that later.

It's worth mentioning that the duty to please that booty is not a good drive to have. You never know when that booty will be attached to an inter-dimensional creature whose very design burns your synapses and drive you to insanity, leaving you a catatonic husk that is eventually impregnated with inter-dimensional spider eggs.


Occupation: It's your job. Different jobs come with different skills. The point cost to buy job-related skills is lower than ones not job-related. FYI, a Police Detective gets to choose from Athletics, Cop Talk, Driving, Evidence Collection, Firearms, Interrogation, Law, Assess Honesty, and Sense Trouble. Those skills come at a lower cost than say Art History or Accounting.

Occupational Benefits: These are special abilities that go along with your job. As a Police Detective, I can use Cop Talk to get access to crime labs, morgues, and other police related hi-jinx.

Description: In a short sentence or very tiny print, describe your character. I had the hardest time with this part.

Build Points: Build Points are what's used to buy your skills. The amount of points a character gets depends on the number of PCs in the game. If I'm in a game with one other PC, I'd get 16 points. Three players total would net each of us 14 points. For simplicity's sake, we'll just say that I have 16 points.

So here we have it. A starting point for an investigator. Next time I'll be buying me some abilities!

The Rundown for Trail of Cthulhu

is starting shortly. Please hold.