Knockwood: moved 'How to Run CoC' advice to its own page

2005-11-16T05:48:23Z

moved 'How to Run CoC' advice to its own page

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:48, 16 November 2005
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	~~== [[Category~~:~~How_to_Run\|Game_name]]~~ How to Run: Call of Cthulhu ==		(NOTE: Section on How to Run Call of Cthulhu moved to its own page, linked off the main How to Run page)

	~~Rule The First: Know Your Mythos~~

	~~You don't have~~ to ~~have an exhaustive reading~~, ~~but enough so that you know and understand the flavor of what's being simulated by the game.~~

	~~Rule The Second: Know Your Ruleset and Keep It Transparent~~

	Should go without saying, but can't. Know the rules well enough on the fly so they take as little time as possible away from the plot. If you lose inertia, you lose interest, especially when you switch from narration to combat and back.

	~~Rule the Third: Atmosphere, Atmosphere, Atmosphere~~

	You don't need candlelight or music cued up, but what you do need is a quiet place to play and to keep the mood you create. Think of yourself as not just a referee, but a storyteller. Be descriptive, but not overly so. The more you draw the players in, the more you'll get out of them.

	~~Rule the Fourth: Danger Ready Characters...~~

	It may be in keeping with Lovecraft's protangonists to have a character with the constitution of a fruitfly, and thinks firearms are silly, In the game however, you'll want characters who can actually do something in a crisis situation.

	~~Rule the Fifth: ...who know when to run.~~

	CoC is more about outsmarting the antagonist rather than killing. Head-on conflict tends to produce dead characters and frustrated players. The GM should try to instill the idea that running away to fight another day is better than your friends filling a hole with your remains in the cemetary.

	~~Rule the Sixth: Render Unto PCs Their Victories~~

	Lovecraft believed in an uncaring universe in which the Mythos is to us as an ant is to us, but the players should feel they've accomplished something meaningful at the end of an adventure. The darkness has been thwarted for another day, and humanity is still in blissful ignorance of the cosmic terror just beyond their senses. (Lovecraft never had to maintain a gaming group, you do...and it will be harder if you tell the players that what they didn't doesn't matter 'cause the Great Old Ones are coming back anyway, as the GM. After all why do something if it's futile, right? The players will eventually find some other game where they think they can make a difference.) In at least one way, the characters are very heroic, no superpowers, extremely powerful adversaries, the characters surviving on their cunning and intelligence alone to save the day.

	~~Optional Rule the Seventh: Maim, Fold, Spindle PCs...but don't kill them unless they don't leave you a choice by being stupid.~~

	~~It's easy to kill characters in CoC. Real easy. But character death in story or game should be meaningful, climactic and earned. They are after all~~ the main ~~characters. An arguement for fudging the dice? Well, maybe. I don't think realism for the sake of realism really adds anything~~ to the story, which after all is about having fun and entertaining people. Players get connected to characters and are understandably miffed when a random dice roll may doom hours of good RPGing. On the other hand, anyone who blindly charges in, expecting GM's immunity should have something suitably nasty happen to them, up to and including character death. Let the reasonable consequences of stupidity be their own reward, but have mercy on the unlucky...just don't _let_ them know that. :) ~~After all if you know your Lovecraft, you know the worse thing that can happen to you...is sometimes just staying alive...~~

70.56.250.156: Game_name How to Run: Call of Cthulhu

2005-11-16T04:58:51Z

Game_name How to Run: Call of Cthulhu

New page

== [[Category:How_to_Run|Game_name]] How to Run: Call of Cthulhu ==

Rule The First: Know Your Mythos

You don't have to have an exhaustive reading, but enough so that you know and understand the flavor of what's being simulated by the game.

Rule The Second: Know Your Ruleset and Keep It Transparent

Should go without saying, but can't. Know the rules well enough on the fly so they take as little time as possible away from the plot. If you lose inertia, you lose interest, especially when you switch from narration to combat and back.

Rule the Third: Atmosphere, Atmosphere, Atmosphere

You don't need candlelight or music cued up, but what you do need is a quiet place to play and to keep the mood you create. Think of yourself as not just a referee, but a storyteller. Be descriptive, but not overly so. The more you draw the players in, the more you'll get out of them.

Rule the Fourth: Danger Ready Characters...

It may be in keeping with Lovecraft's protangonists to have a character with the constitution of a fruitfly, and thinks firearms are silly, In the game however, you'll want characters who can actually do something in a crisis situation.

Rule the Fifth: ...who know when to run.

CoC is more about outsmarting the antagonist rather than killing. Head-on conflict tends to produce dead characters and frustrated players. The GM should try to instill the idea that running away to fight another day is better than your friends filling a hole with your remains in the cemetary.

Rule the Sixth: Render Unto PCs Their Victories

Lovecraft believed in an uncaring universe in which the Mythos is to us as an ant is to us, but the players should feel they've accomplished something meaningful at the end of an adventure. The darkness has been thwarted for another day, and humanity is still in blissful ignorance of the cosmic terror just beyond their senses. (Lovecraft never had to maintain a gaming group, you do...and it will be harder if you tell the players that what they didn't doesn't matter 'cause the Great Old Ones are coming back anyway, as the GM. After all why do something if it's futile, right? The players will eventually find some other game where they think they can make a difference.) In at least one way, the characters are very heroic, no superpowers, extremely powerful adversaries, the characters surviving on their cunning and intelligence alone to save the day.

Optional Rule the Seventh: Maim, Fold, Spindle PCs...but don't kill them unless they don't leave you a choice by being stupid.

It's easy to kill characters in CoC. Real easy. But character death in story or game should be meaningful, climactic and earned. They are after all the main characters. An arguement for fudging the dice? Well, maybe. I don't think realism for the sake of realism really adds anything to the story, which after all is about having fun and entertaining people. Players get connected to characters and are understandably miffed when a random dice roll may doom hours of good RPGing. On the other hand, anyone who blindly charges in, expecting GM's immunity should have something suitably nasty happen to them, up to and including character death. Let the reasonable consequences of stupidity be their own reward, but have mercy on the unlucky...just don't _let_ them know that. :) After all if you know your Lovecraft, you know the worse thing that can happen to you...is sometimes just staying alive...

Talk:How to Run:Main Page - Revision history

Knockwood: moved 'How to Run CoC' advice to its own page

70.56.250.156: Game_name How to Run: Call of Cthulhu