Sanity Loss Guaranteed

When reading Lovecraft I am constantly reminded of how fearful and reluctant to act the protagonists in his stories are. They tend to spend months writing letters and sending telegrams before doing anything more practical. This would be perfect for a play-by-email scenario, but in general players tend to want to act on things that they find. They don't share that same fearful and inactive disposition found in most of Lovecraft's characters. It also seems to me that they scare very easily. They hear a rumour and it's so terrifying that they hardly are able to put it into words. They receive a letter and they dare not reproduce it because of the nature of it's contents being so horrific. And I can't help think to myself "It's just a letter!". It is clear that HP Lovecraft believe in the power of the written word with books that drive you mad and letters that scare you beyond your senses. But how do I make this into a good roleplaying experience? It

Being slightly bored of the stereotypical cultist with empty, crazed eyes, 0 SAN and ready to kill or die at any instant, I decided to give my take on how a modern (for the 1920s) cult could look like. Hence, the Church of The Others... I am definitely not saying that crazed tribal members with large knives can't make for an exciting adversary, but I do think there is room for other ideas as well. Hope you enjoy it! Find the pdf here

When starting my first playtest I realized that I needed a couple of maps, or more like sketches, to explain the layout to my players. And whatever I create I share. Even this image I drew, supposedly of a Ghoul. I've intentionally hidden the maps behind links so that if anyone who plays The Monolith currently (you know who you are...) or anyone who wants to play it reads this post won't have their game ruined. Overview Player Map Overview GM Map Detail Player Map Detail GM Map Hopefully it's useful. I find that maps normally help players to visualize their surroundings and they make sure that their image is more similar to the one you have as a GM. In addition to this I've also made some small tweaks and changes to the scenario itself such that it makes a bit more sense as well as filling in some gaps that became quite glaring while running it. PDF is here

What happens after the player characters return from the adventures in The Monolith scenario? Do they get some well-deserved downtime or are they instantly forced into something more sinister? This PDF gives some ideas for what could happen and how they can find out more. In the future I am sure to expand of some of these ideas as well. Hope you enjoy it!

This, to me, is key to any successful horror story. The players need to be able to identify with their player characters and they need to be able to relate to their reality within the game. This is where a horror story differs from a Fantasy or Sci-Fi story. Even though the character in those stories may be rooted in the reality of the game, that reality may be so far from ours that it doesn't feel real on a personal level. Those stories can also be great and fun, but I think the approach should be slightly different. Character Creation This is the first time you get a chance to paint a picture of who the player character is when he is living his day to day life. The overall idea is great, but sometimes a number of small details will bring the characters to life much more.  In the rules for the Cthulhu PBTA Hack I list a number of questions you should ask your players during character creation  Where do you live? What kind of car do you drive, if any? Do you own a we

Seeing that the scenario The Monolith , and likely others that I will post here in the future, has it's starting point at an exclusive private club in Arkham, by the name of The Reform House I thought it suitable that I should write a little bit more about the club itself. It is currently only an embryo, but will likely be expanded to become a more complete description of this organisation which should give GMs a wealth of scenario hooks and ideas for downtime fun. The PDF can be found here