GMing Tips

GMing Tips #1 ... written by S. John Ross

The most useful advice I have for GMs running _any_ RPG that's new to them is "relax, and don't overthink it," and that applies many times over for Pokéthulhu.
It's the kind of game where players usually bring a lot of enthusiasm to the table (anytime you let gamers play small children or animals, there's an extra level of energy) so it can be overwhelming if you let yourself feel too unsteady.

STEPS TO ADVENTURES

• Begin with simple set-ups that highlight the game's basic goals:
  • the meeting and acquiring of new and interesting thulhu
  • the sporting battles between cultists
  • the exploration of creepy gambrel-roofed structures
  • the flipping-through of ancient tomes to look for the pictures
  • the occasional summoning of something that makes the universe go pop

The starter adventure provided with the game (2nd and 3rd Editions only) is a solid one, and it's pretty easy to concoct more, either by twisting Lovecraftian bits or twisting Pokémon bits, or both or occasionally neither.

GMing Tips #2 ... written by Hituro

A traditional Call of Cthulhu adventure is usually very investigative, with a prolonged runup for the final terrifying conclusion (what the rule book called "onion skinning"). I don't think that is really the right model for something based on an episodic format, which is why I went for something based on Pokemon instead.

Pokemon episodes tend to

• start with the characters arriving in a new location (usually a wood, mountain or something like that, sometimes a town)
• then meeting a mystery/danger of some sort (usually a pokemon they have not seen before)
• getting into a sticky situation
• then solving it by the end of the episode

Along the way

• the new pokemon gets showcased
• some one-off or recurring characters show up (there are very few episodes without a cameo from Team Rocket)
• and then things are generally back to the status quo

Usually though it is always in the context of a multi-story arc, such a particular tournament, that requires the characters to be travelling somewhere, or preparing for something. I found that a great inspiration for my scenario - "Saving New Sunnich".

Pokemon episodes tend to establish a reason for the party to be going somewhere and then have a self-contained encounter along the way. As with the cartoon I went for them arriving at somewhere new at the start of the episode, and defeating the menace (it has to be a menace in Pokethulhu ) by the end.

If you did it as a mini-campaign the next episode would involve crossing the river, or something like that. In a way it is rather like reading an Usagi Yojimbo arc.

If you've not seen Pokemon at all some of the parody looses its force (like Team Eibon, or Librarian Lumley, who is based on the fact that all Pokemon Nurses and Police Officers look exactly the same, and have the same name, no matter where you go), so I would totally recommend watching some.

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