Call of Cthulhu + The Haunting

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From earlier:
>More erosion needed for Sanity, Luck, and Health

If the investigators explore the Chapel of Contemplation and its history there is ample opportunity to roll sanity for clues of the things that happened there and for implication that connect it to the place at hand. And don't forget to have the investigators roll if they resort to morally ambiguous deeds.

Skill checks give them opportunity to spend luck. But skill checks should always matter to the story and never build walls. They are opportunities for the players to discover more about the inevitable conclusion and build an arsenal of knowledge, contacts, and artifacts to face it. So a failed skill check should mean they proceed to the finish none the wiser while the degrees of success deliver better levels of preparedness. In The Haunting skills are all research and social, that's perfect. But there aren't enough to really tax luck, especially with a large party. So make more.

Damage can be more incidental. It is wise to set a time limit, with real estate as the apparent goal that is easy. Otherwise investigators could just take the time to heal each little wound and avoid health decay. Then there are only 2 real health threats in the scenario, both are surprising and easily fatal. I'd foreshadow this with smaller damage, turning it into more of a creeping decay. Corbitt controls everything in the house. Moving stuff costs him magic points, but I'd just not count those until the players face the basement for good. Then have everything in the house be haunted and set to inflict damage as soon as Corbitt will no longer let them leave the house. Books falling off shelves, nails sticking out of wood, floor boards tripping the intruders, everything just causes a damage point or two. But they add up quickly. Make it more intense towards the extra bedroom to lead the players on.

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>>49383785
I know it's burned into the brains of old CoC grognards, but The Haunting is a terrible introductory adventure for players new to Call of Cthulhu. It's fickle, arbitrary, uninstructive and devoid of the Lovecraftian Mythos one would expect from the game.

It was originally designed as an intro when CoC was still called American Gothic and had no Lovecraftian elements at all (hence the vampire villain). It teaches players to never investigate and never read anything they find, which may be rational but makes for poor gaming.

Use something better.

File: CoC7 The Haunting - Corbitt House map.gif (709KB, 1188x2040px) Image search: [Google]

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Everything comes back to the Chapel of Contemplation.

It is left unclear how the cult ranks against Corbitt himself in power or influence. He could be the founder and leader, one of several supporters, or a core member among equals. In turn the cult could be anything from dabbling amateurs to a Lich order secretly running the town.

What's more, it can be both, depending on whose testimony is discovered. A cultist goon will have a different perspective to report than a high priest. And we can maintain this ambiguity, the investigators are in no position to know about or categorize these things.

What we need are clues: remnants of past tragedy that provide a little information helpful for the showdown and that challenge the investigators' sanity in the process.

And since the events at the chapel took place years ago it means the testimony must be written down. What we need are reasons for details to be written down so they can be discovered by the investigators.

>Letters to loved ones or co conspirators
>Reports by police, workers, neighbors, ...
>Last words scratched into structures
>Dossiers hidden for insurance
>Secret messages never recovered by the receiver
>Idle doodles in the margin of a book
...

>>49383885
I disagree.

But what would improve it in your opinion?

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My main criticism of The Haunting is that it provides too few opportunities to roll. That means the mechanics cannot be used to apply pressure slowly. Instead there's 3 sudden surprises that can cost enough health to kill instantly.

What it needs is extra clues that aid in overcoming the conclusion and which require overcoming skill challenges to be discovered.

>>49383885
>It teaches players to never investigate and never read anything they find
The only incidence of this I can think of is the rattling window that lures investigators for the bed attack. It's tough, but it doesn't teach not to investigate, it just demands caution.

The entire investigation is discovering documents and reading about the events surrounding the house in order to have some clue what's waiting there.

I want to do a CoC campaign set in a Soviet Russia during NEP. Any advise?

>>49384711
>NEP
?

>>49384711
Read Cold Dead Hand for DG.

Was thinking I might run a CoC one shot for Halloween to acquaint myself with the system, what are some one shot sized modules people would recommend?

>>49384827
This one.

>>49384742
New Economic Policy.

>>49385030
o

>>49383885
I've been ripping off published Cthulhu adventures for Dark Heresy. That game seems a bit more suited for the style of Chaosium's horror than more purist Lovecraftian style.

>>49384711
There was neat scenario in scenario book about travels (Terrible/Thrilling Travels I think). But sadly there is no scenarios/material that truly shows the true terror of Soviet Union, especially the complex parts like revolution and Novaja Ekonomicheskaya Polityka. But comperhension of that stuff in the West is like, none. Even most scholars keep to bulshit they were fed in '60.

If any are avalieble read acounts from RCW (especially emigres and foreginers, people who survived imprisonment, repatried Poles). There are many, very complex and vivid. Yet I don't know how many you will find in English.