Just found this series of reviews! Enjoying them greatly as Gaslight one of my favourite Cthulhu settings!
@retep7232Ай бұрын
This helped a lot, thank you!
@rpgswithpaddy9 күн бұрын
Glad it helped! The newest edition of Trail of Cthulhu should be coming to kickstarter at some point this year, so keep an eye out for that if you like it :)
@onimartinez8646Ай бұрын
Is this an entry level, and beginner/average friendly, for someone who's newbie(0 exp) in both ttrpg and Cthulhu?
@rpgswithpaddyАй бұрын
Yes! It's meant for people with 0 experience in the game at all. Did you ever play any choose your own adventure books (gamebooks)? It's like that, but also eases you into the rules of Call of Cthulhu. You start playing this game with absolutely no idea of the rules, and you don't even need to fill out a character sheet. They walk you through that as you play :) I think this is hands-down the BEST introduction to an RPG out there :) I hope you have fun!
@crapphone77442 ай бұрын
Played this and Blacck Annie trashed us, had a couple of player characters killed and we barely got out of the woods with Jacob. And we wasted a lot of time at Merlin's caves. Perfect red herring. At least that's how I remember it.
@rpgswithpaddyАй бұрын
Beautiful! That's how the game should be!! That's where the memories really stick with you :) Yes red herrings can be great, as long as your group are into it. Some players really want to find a reason to tie everything together and if there's one clue missing, they can't continue! But when your group is into it - amazing misdirection from the Keeper :)
@Nan0guy2 ай бұрын
Hi Paddy. Very helpful video. I’m interested in running a Gaslight scenario as a new Keeper for some players new to Cthulhu. About how long, or many sessions, do you estimate the scenarios from Sacraments to Evil to take? Currently looking at this scenario (the titular one) or Plant Y Daer but have made no decisions.
@rpgswithpaddyАй бұрын
I'm very sorry for the delay in responding! Life has been incredibly hectic. Glad to hear you're considering Cthulhu by Gaslight. Just a quick aside if you're trying to get hold of this book it's relatively rare and expensive. Stygian Fox released a new source book with 2 scenarios in it, made for 7th edition. That (pdf) would be easier to get and cheaper www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/229175/hudson-brand-inquiry-agents-of-the-obscure-a-call-of-cthulhu-setting-for-cthulhu-by-gaslight But now to your question. Of course the obligatory disclaimer - it really depends on your group and how they play.... But assuming relatively sticking to the story, doing an appropriate amount of research and reaching a conclusion at an appropriate time, I would say average times would be about: 1. The Eyes of a stranger - 2 sessions 2. The Masterwork of Nicholas Forby - 1/2 sessions 3. Plant Y Daear - 2 sessions 4. Sacraments of Evil - 3/4 sessions 5. The Scuttling - 1/2 sessions 6. Signs Writ in Scarlet - 3 sessions I consider a session to be about 4 hours of actual playing time. Keep in mind, if your players are coming from something like D&D, they might need a reminder that research is an important aspect and that trying to outmuscle the opponents rarely works well :p
@Nan0guyАй бұрын
@@rpgswithpaddy Thanks for the reply, Paddy. I'm actually using one of Stygian Fox's short scenarios "The Strange Case of the Shadow Traveller" as the first scenario of our campaign. It has less "research" but overall seems a good introduction to Call of Cthulhu for us to get our feet wet. But after that, I am considering using Sacraments of Evil or Plant Y Daear as the second or third scenario.
@rpgswithpaddyАй бұрын
That sounds great :) I've got that scenario myself and have flicked through it, but haven't read it in detail yet. Let me know how it goes!
@Nan0guyАй бұрын
@@rpgswithpaddy Well, one session in an only half way through but that was to be expected with a new system and new characters. Also, I did have to improv a “ritual room”, “a cemetery keeper”, a detour to the insane man’s apartment, and a cockney green grocer. And next the housekeeper who cleaned the room after the ritual. They really went into investigating all possible angles. Overall, it was a good time so far and I can see this scenario being a good introduction to CoC and the Gaslight setting for newcomers.
@matthewconstantine50153 ай бұрын
I've heard folks talk about this one before (not in a positive light), but this breakdown really does set up some of its major problems. I'm sure there's material in this that could be raided to build a better campaign, but I can't imagine trying to bring it to the table as is. No way players would make all the needed leaps and choices.
@rpgswithpaddyАй бұрын
Wow, sorry for the huge delay in responding to you! Yes there are some interesting aspects to it for sure, and if you've got a campaign already going in Greyhawk, it could be cool to add certain aspects in..... but overall I just don't see it working as written, unless you're going to force your players to take the "correct" choice every time, which is antithetical to role-playing!
@Forsaken.Wanderer3 ай бұрын
Did you ever play the Numenera video game?
@rpgswithpaddy3 ай бұрын
No! I wasn't even aware of it. But after checking out the trailer it looks really good. I'm a sucker for good isometric rpgs! Have you played it?
@Forsaken.Wanderer3 ай бұрын
@@rpgswithpaddy It's been on my list of games to play but I have never managed to get around to it. It's meant to be similar to Planescape Torment in design so I suspect most situations are resolved through dialog options. It does look quite good though.
@Forsaken.Wanderer3 ай бұрын
I know it isn't the old lore but if they really felt compelled to change the great stuff that is already there perhaps The Eye and The Hand could be a tag team that always works together, one sees all for both of them and the other is super strong and does all the dirty work.
@rpgswithpaddy3 ай бұрын
That would definitely work well because while the eye is formidable, its place isn't really to fight. The hand is just an abomination of mixed creatures that only knows anger. In a longer campaign, like Eve of Ruin, it would be great to have some an early encounter with the hand but not let it play out completely. In other, more horrific games, players often know when to cut their loses and escape, but in 5e there's almost an expectation that you'll win every battle, so that could be hard to balance. The other option would be to have the Hand called away, but that's always a bit of a cop out. Given the limited information we have about the campaign, there will definitely be travel to different planes. I would have a battle with the hand where the hand is clearly stronger than the players, but there's some confusion and they are sent to separate planes. It could also seem like the hand was killed. And they can breathe a sigh of relief. But then towards the end, in Vecna's tower, the hand reappears. Similarly you could have earlier interactions with the eye, so they both confront the party together towards the end. That's a great way to use up some party resources before they get to vecna, to make it a really tense battle!
@Forsaken.Wanderer3 ай бұрын
@@rpgswithpaddy Apologies I've been away - That is a great idea, it is really difficult having dangerous enemies the party most likely can't beat and conveying that to the players in 5E with it being designed around the balance being tipped against the monsters. Perhaps the eye and the hand don't normally kill their prey but take them to some kind of Vecna controlled pocket dimension, either to toy with or to imprison people for later interrogation. I'm almost envisioning these two creatures as the Pyramid Head monsters in Silent Hill 2, being a threat but their actions and goals being very alien.
@johnedgar79563 ай бұрын
Thank you for the breakdown. I more or less remember these from "Vecna Lives" but that was so long ago that I'd forgotten much of it. This new "Eve of Ruin" release should be interesting.
@rpgswithpaddy3 ай бұрын
No problem :) I had seen some confusion on different forums about the hand and the eye, with many people not knowing about the creatures. I think it's good to know the structure of the cult before going through Vecna Lives.
@josephshriner28503 ай бұрын
Hot damn, I like this channel.
@rpgswithpaddy3 ай бұрын
I'm glad to hear it! Want to know something else that's awesome? For the month of April 2024, Zgrozy's first two scenarios (Shepherd of Moths and Future Echoes) are pay what you want :) So get them for a good price now, then get hooked to Zgrozy's excellent quality and buy everything else from them :p tinyurl.com/ZgrShepherd tinyurl.com/ZgrEchoes
@Forsaken.Wanderer3 ай бұрын
Hope your family is doing well and your work isn't too draining. I just came across your channel a week ago and i've been watching through all the videos. I like your style and that you are mostly covering the classic material. I'm not a fan of the modern COC stuff because they censor things and put trigger warnings everywhere and appear to dislike Lovecraft, I assume the modern Runequest is much the same (and D&D has been turned into grey ooze of course). It sounds like you are the keeper/GM most of the time, how long has it been since you got to be on the other side of the table?
@rpgswithpaddy3 ай бұрын
Thanks for the concern! I'm actually incredibly lucky with my job and family! I even get to play games as part of my job, and they think I'm being innovative! I haven't personally found the 7th edition of CoC to be too bad in that regard. There are some publications out there that really seem to HATE Lovecraft with a passion. I think Fate of Cthulhu has a pretty scathing review of him for example. Trail of Cthulhu handled it best (in my opinion). I've heard a lot of RPG reviewers getting hate comments and death threats for even covering Cthulhu based games because of Lovecraft's racism. Ah yes, it's been a long time! I think maybe 2 years ago I played a one-shot of Paranoia run by a friend. Oh actually I got to be a player in a playtest of Inversion! That was a lot of fun! I enjoy being a keeper/GM, and I know that if I don't do it, a lot of the time games won't get played. So I'd rather bite the bullet.
@Forsaken.Wanderer3 ай бұрын
@rpgswithpaddy GMing during your work shift, now that is the sort of creative thinking that makes the building blocks of a kino keeper. It must be such an incredibly strange world to exist in where you obtain the license to something you feel the need to criticize and publish your grievances to the very people you hope will buy your product. It's sad that covering Lovecraft's work can get you in the crosshairs of an angry mob. I hope you get to be a player again soon so that you can be surprised by something in an adventure, but since you enjoy running the game it certainly helps a lot of people get to play.
@rpgswithpaddy3 ай бұрын
Yeah I think it's a strange position to take alright. There was a huge argument over it between evil hat productions (Fate of cthulhu) and the public response. Let's just all get along and play fun games! I had one student last year who really loved the games, I'm going to see if I can convince him to try running a game or two. That would be a lot of fun. I am incredibly lucky. As most people get a bit older and have more work and family responsibilities, gaming time often goes down. To be able to carve out weekly gaming time as part of my job? I don't know how I lucked into this!
@Forsaken.Wanderer3 ай бұрын
@@rpgswithpaddy It certainly feels like there is no escaping from the current political movements and drama. We use pen and paper games as an escape from the stresses of our lives and very often we both find ourselves under fire for enjoying such things and that these fantastical worlds are full of the current day ideas we are trying to get a break from. Good luck getting the students to run the games, I hope he finds it to be his cup of tea and can form a new group. It is hard finding time to do much as we get older, I can't even seem to get any time to play video games, traditional games are completely out the window currently for me. Getting paid to play as part of your job must be great, perhaps you can convince management to make it an extra-curricular sport.
@rpgswithpaddy3 ай бұрын
I'm sorry you don't have enough time to play. Yeah, I recently bought a few video games that have been on the list, but where to fit them in is a big problem. I think there might be a possibility of making it a "circle" - (a university social club), which could get funding, storage, and a dedicated room. But that's still a bit of a pipe dream for now. I've got to establish it more over the next few years. Libraries sometimes are a good source of board games and rpgs, sometimes holding game sessions. I hope you find some time to play soon!
@KyleMaxwell3 ай бұрын
Thanks for the update, hope the baby is happy and healthy!
@rpgswithpaddy3 ай бұрын
Thanks for asking :) She's doing great. She is indeed very happy and healthy! We're very lucky (TOUCH WOOD!!) that she doesn't cry much and sleeps well through the night!
@matthewconstantine50153 ай бұрын
I've never been a D&D guy. Wasn't the game I started with, and I've bounced off it whenever I've tried playing it. However, a few years back, I discovered Dungeon Crawl Classics, which is definitely the closest thing to D&D that I've enjoyed (I really don't go in for level/class games, as a rule). I've been picking up a bunch of old D&D modules to "convert" over to DCC. The Rod of Seven Parts is one I'm giving thought to picking up.
@rpgswithpaddy3 ай бұрын
I remember, and still have I think, the 3 (or 3.5) starter set that I first picked up with a group of friends. It was very confusing at first! But we had some good fun! I think the marketplace is so amazing these days that you can find exactly the game you're looking for! The internet has been great at spreading these too. The level/class system is interesting. I LOVED in in baldur's gate 2, but it makes more sense as a computer game. Sometimes it makes sense in the TTRPG space too, for a limited time - giving players who are just starting the game basic abilities so they don't get overwhelmed is a good way to introduce systems with a lot of rules. That's one thing I don't love about D&D 5e is that there's a rule for everything which (I think) reduces player creativity. I really do need to give DCC a look. I've got a lot of the pdfs from a few bundle of holdings/humble bundles, but just haven't got into them yet
@johnedgar79563 ай бұрын
Hello Paddy. Vecna was a creation of Gary Gygax and his contemporaries going back to the original old D&D (or "OD&D" as it's sometimes called) and was a fixture of the granddaddy of all RPG game world settings--and my personal favorite--The World of Greyhawk. I worry what kind of mockery that Wizards of the Coast will make of Vecna's origins in their "re-interpretation" of him.
@rpgswithpaddy3 ай бұрын
Yeah Vecna really is a classic part of D&D history. And Die Vecna Die was used to wrap up the end of 2nd edition and explain the changes in the world heading into 3rd edition. I think that was a great idea. But just repeating it again for 5e into ... 5.5? It's not a bad idea, it's just already been done. I HOPE that they can make it new and interesting, but I'm also worried it will be a letdown. We see it with a lot of media these days, rehashing things/characters/stories that have already been done because it's a safer bet than something completely original and it pulls on nostalgia. BUT (again) I hope that in their underwhelming release of Vecna in the Vecna dossier, they'll get some good feedback and develop a Vecna worthy of his origins
@767wattsy3 ай бұрын
The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe is a great read - as is The Anubis Gates!
@rpgswithpaddy3 ай бұрын
Yes I'm really enjoying The Anubis Gates - very different from what I first expected. And The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe has been on my to-read list for a long time now. I keep hearing great recommendations for it
@matthewconstantine50154 ай бұрын
Creepy. Cool video. I remember "tracking" on the VCR. I don't actually know what it did, but it was like tuning in a channel. Maybe it adjusted the magnetic readers? I never really understood how VCRs worked, to be honest. I think it was something I had to deal with more in the latter days of VHS, because tape quality was so much worse. Man, I hated VHS. That was a technology that stayed around too long.
@rpgswithpaddy3 ай бұрын
Thanks for that! I had no idea about it. I looked it up after, but the explanation didn't ring any bells with me. I don't think I ever used tracking... Ha ha ha i still remember getting our first VHS as a Christmas present. We were all so excited for it! But yeah, comparing it to what we have now, it really was very basic!
@johnyrodgers4 ай бұрын
Great review. I’m impressed that you graphed out the options.
@rpgswithpaddy4 ай бұрын
Ha ha about halfway through I regretted my decision, but I was too far gone to stop!
@matthewconstantine50154 ай бұрын
I love the solo scenarios in the starter box for Call of Cthulhu and RuneQuest. I think it's a great way to learn the system. I have a few others for Call of Cthulhu, but not all of them. I tend not to be into the more contemporary scenarios, so I'm not sure I'll grab this one. The lack of replay potential certainly doesn't help.
@rpgswithpaddy4 ай бұрын
I 100% agree - I think CoC lends itself really well to that because it's quite a simple system in general. With RQ, it's definitely a more complicated system, but the starter set does a decent job of simplifying it a bit. Yeah, I wish there were more endings and routes to get there... But maybe it was just a coincidence that my two playthroughs converged so much.
@LaserCat0064 ай бұрын
This sounds very interesting! I just got into CoC recently, and I've been having a blast with it. Your video really got me interested in trying this scenario. How would you handle the player using the mask to win the singers heart? How would it go bad for them you think. Like they win the singers heart, but something bad happens?
@rpgswithpaddy4 ай бұрын
I'm really glad you're enjoying CoC. It's a really great system - I wish everyone would try it once! For your question: I think there are some interesting negative outcomes that can come out of it - Lucas becomes enraged, feeling betrayed and maybe wants to attack you immediately, or starts working behind the scenes to destroy your life. - Anna becomes obsessed with you, to the point where she won't let other women talk to you, and won't let you go out alone - At the same time, you could have some of Anna's contemporaries also attracted to you, which could very negatively affect Anna's career More indirectly - the change in your appearance/personality or Anna's obsession with you, definitely draws attention from those hunting the mask. They're very willing to kill for it, or rip it off your face, causing serious damage (maybe Lucas tips them off, or Anna keeps telling people how much you've changed). - Taking it off in the first place is hard, but it gets harder and harder to take it off. Equally, each day you're not wearing it, it calls to you. - If you take it off, Anna is horrified by your change and feels so betrayed and it ruins your relationship and friendship So you're kind of torn between keeping it on to maintain the relationship, but it will keep drawing the wrong type of attention. Or you can take it off, and ruin your relationship and friendship and possibly your relationship around town. It could be that both of them play out - if you don't take it off, and the final confrontation is at home with Anna, who has given up on her career to stay with you, and the Japanese special police barge in (being led here by Lucas) and rip the mask off your face, destroying your face permanently, and then Anna being revolted by you. That would be VERY depressing with friendships and relationships of all 3 destroyed, Anna's career ruined, Lucas possibly imprisoned for international espionage, your face destroyed with no friends. I hope that gives you some ideas :)
@matthewconstantine50154 ай бұрын
Awesome breakdown of the scenario. It sounds like there's a lot to build on here. Another example of how adventure design has changed over the years. All of your "why" and "how" questions echo my own when reading a bunch of Call of Cthulhu scenarios from those days. Good lord, Shadows of Yog-Sothoth... A "campaign" where there's almost no connection between most scenarios, pretty much no natural path from one to the next, and little reason for the PCs to get involved most of the time. Still, there's always lots of good stuff that, if you're willing to put in the work, you can make a good scenario out of it.
@rpgswithpaddy4 ай бұрын
That's a really great point. Adventure design has really come so far. And old-school players are very used to (and probably welcome) a lot less hand-holding and trying lots of different things to solve the mystery. I think more modern players get frustrated when it seems that everything they try leads to a dead end. Ha ha ha Shadows of Yog-Sothoth.... Like a great campaign, especially for the trail it blazed, leading to absolute gold like Masks of Nyarlathotep, but also really influenced campaigns in other RPG systems. But yeah, talk about forcing your characters into the various disconnected plots with all the subtlety of a bulldozer :p You're also dead right! All of these scenarios and campaigns have great stuff to take from them. If you end up playing them slightly altered, or just taking plot points, characters or scenes from them, they're well worth it. I don't think I've read just a terrible scenario where nothing could be at least mined from it
@matthewconstantine50154 ай бұрын
@@rpgswithpaddy, on the Gaslight & Shadows of Yog-Sothoth subject, I've become more and more convinced that the first scenario, where the investigators are supposed to get mixed up with the Silver Twilight, might actually be better if it were expanded to be essentially a mini-campaign of its own, and moved back in time to the Gaslight era. Something I often forget is that the difference in time between Gaslight & the Roaring 20s, is only about 30 years, which is like the 1990s to now...not all that long in the scale of a life. So, it wouldn't be unthinkable for surviving investigators from that era to still be around, maybe functioning as the mentors for some younger folks getting mixed up in things. There's nothing in the scenario that I remember that really connects it to the 1920s, and the whole arcane gentlemen's club thing feels a bit old-timey even for the 20s. Since the Silver Twilight is clearly supposed to be the Golden Dawn, again, I can't help but think the 1890s would be more fitting. Not that anyone's asking me, but if I ran the zoo, I think my 7th Ed Shadows would be broken into two halves. The first the above time-swapped & expanded Silver Twilight arc. Then take, I think it's the last two scenarios that that are actually connected to each other and to the Silver Twilight, expand them, and make them the second half. Frankly, I'd drop the middle scenarios, re-writing a couple of them as stand-alone, as the pretty much already "stand alone" in the campaign. The second scenario (I don't have my book with me, and can't remember any of their names), which if I remember right, feels like the opening of a totally different campaign, and might make a good "beginner's" scenario. The edition I have already has two totally unconnected scenarios tossed in the back, so maybe a little collection of cast-offs would be nice. Also, the yacht scenario...is it The Worm who Walks?... that scenario can burn in hell. I got so angry reading it. It felt like the most pointlessly mean-spirited thing. Like a tournament scenario for D&D, written by an angry teenager in 1978. If I were a player in that campaign, and someone ran that scenario as-written, I'd leave the table and not come back. Anyway. Just some thoughts.
@rpgswithpaddy4 ай бұрын
I think that could be a really interesting idea. Gaslight era works really well for those kind of fraternity clubs! Like you said the Golden Dawn is a great resource for that. I've also always thought of the Inner Brotherhood of Magicians from The Vanishing Conjurer scenario to be set in the gaslight period - even though it clearly says it's not. There's just something about these secret societies that lends itself so well to Gaslight! As for doing it through time, I think that could also be excellent. If you peppered in other scenarios between the past and present, you could have great character development for the players when they're revisiting themes from decades prior, and how their characters views and actions have changed from then! It requires a good group of players, but the payoff would be amazing. Yeah there are some brutal scenes. For ones in D&D where you KNEW this was a killer encounter and that you were likely to die and the solution to be very unfair (Tomb of Horrors or the 4e playtest where you can't win), it's fine if you have that understanding before going in. With Call of Cthulhu, you already know it's more deadly than D&D (certainly modern D&D), so dying is fine. But basically making it impossible to escape with no warning is pretty brutal. Like you said before, game design has come a LONG way. I'm just watching your ramblings on SoYS videos now :) Links for anyone interested in the discussion: kzread.info/dash/bejne/jISkq8yxeNuxaaQ.html kzread.info/dash/bejne/ppqV1KyuopXSoag.html
@boodhamonk4 ай бұрын
Just a quick heads-up: This video is currently not included in the Cthulhu by Gaslight playlist. Oh, and btw, I'm really enjoying the series; especially the scenario run downs are fantastic.
@rpgswithpaddy4 ай бұрын
Thank you so much! I hadn't noticed that! I'm glad you like it. I found there was a real lack of reviews for the gaslight scenarios (even though they're great and seem to be quite popular!)
@matthewconstantine50154 ай бұрын
The general premise of the scenario is similar to the Dungeon Crawl Classics module Creep Skrag Creep, which I was supposed to run a couple weeks ago, but scheduling collapsed. Fingers crossed I can make it happen soon. The DCC scenario leans a bit heavier on Alien (1979) for its inspiration, but still has similarities to this.
@rpgswithpaddy4 ай бұрын
Oh cool, I never heard of that, but reading a quick synopsis it definitely sounds similar alright! Thanks for pointing it out!
@kirishima23704 ай бұрын
I ran all of the Gaslight scenarios (Golden Dawn, Sacrememnts and Dark Designs), years ago and I've enjoyed going through your reviews as I shortlist scenarios for an upcoming campaign. Thanks for doing this....and if you could get a review of 'Lord of the Dance' out in the next few hours that would be awesome 😉
@rpgswithpaddy4 ай бұрын
Ha ha ha it might take a little longer than that! But it's coming! There's actually a decent amount of gaslight material out there, but it's kind of hard to remember them all! Good luck in your gaslight campaign! I hope it whets your groups appetite for the upcoming curse of seven campaign Oh, by the way, the Stygian Fox material (Hudson & Brand) is really good for more Gaslight material you might have missed in the past. And it's been designed for 7th edition. Might be worth checking out!
@maoumcdugan4 ай бұрын
Thank you SO much for reading handout 6 Out loud.
@rpgswithpaddy4 ай бұрын
Glad it was of some help to you :) Those handwritten notes look great as props, but sometimes they're REALLY hard to read!
@MrTrooper655 ай бұрын
I bought this a while back from humble, it's a very large amount of material for CoC and goes way above value for money for the quality and quantity. Great video thanks Anyone new to CoC try the solo adventure first To get the feel for it. The bundles on offer are incredibly 👍👏
@roll4sanity5 ай бұрын
Great overview! Really looking forward to it's release and it would be great if there were a collection of starter sets - can you imagine a Pulp! Cthulhu starter set?
@rpgswithpaddy5 ай бұрын
That would be great! Pulp has so many different options in it, it might be a bit complicated to create - but it would really be the best way of getting the keeper (and players) used to all the different options. It could also be a great product release for Chaosium. Pulp brings CoC a lot closer to other more popular RPGs, so a starter set in that could really help bring in more players!
@matthewconstantine50155 ай бұрын
Oh, man. I never thought of it, but now I absolutely LOVE the idea of starter sets for Gaslight and Dreamlands. Alas, seems unlikely. But boy, would it be cool.
@rpgswithpaddy5 ай бұрын
It would be so good right?! Sadly I don't think it's coming. Although the Miskatonic repository just celebrated its 150,000th sale today! (Congratulations to everyone involved). So hopefully we'll get some fan made material to fill that gap :)
@RicksPoker5 ай бұрын
I am less keen about a Keeper book for Cthulhu by Gaslight (CbG). It will presumably have all the rules, monsters, gods, spells, etc. Seems like I will be buying the same stuff that is already in 7th Keeper's guide. 20% (maybe) is new? Thanks for the video! Warm regards, Rick.
@rpgswithpaddy5 ай бұрын
Hi Rick. That's a fair point. I think there will be some overlap, and Chaosium does do that at times (there are full chapters from the Investigators Guide and the Keepers Handbook that are identical). And they did say they want new players to be able to play with just this, so there will definitely be some repetition. The adventures for sure will be new for 7th edition, and I guess they're going to put a bit more of the focus on UK-based villains, organizations, and mythos. I wonder if it will take elements from "Ramsey Campbell's Goatswood and Less Pleasant Places." That's currently outrageously expensive! I would hope that it's closer to 60% new material in there, but that's a guess! As soon as the books are released I'll be reviewing them here, so you can find out if it's worth your while getting them or not :)
@RicksPoker5 ай бұрын
@@rpgswithpaddy Hi Paddy, I will definitely be interested in your review. Hopefully they give new monsters, spells, to make it worthwhile for Grognards who have all the old stuff already. In your review, please mention what percentage of material is new. Warm regards, Rick.
@rpgswithpaddy5 ай бұрын
I certainly will! Ill compare it to 7th edition keeper and investigator books and also to previous Gaslight books. Thanks for the tip :)
@johnedgar79565 ай бұрын
I had no idea Chaosium was releasing it as two different books, separately for players and Keepers. This sounds like a separate (yet still 7th ed.) version of the game in and of itself. Hopefully it'll be worth the long wait. Thanks Paddy!
@rpgswithpaddy5 ай бұрын
Yes there were a lot of different rumors floating around about it - whether it would be a boxed set, a slipcase set or what - but Mike Mason confirmed in this video (from about 7:30, specifically at 8:45) that it will be 2 books. The idea is you can give the player book to players to make characters, without telling them "Don't look at the second half..." The allure of forbidden information is impossible to resist :p Anyway, here's the video: kzread.info/dash/bejne/qGafrM97XbSnpLQ.html
@767wattsy5 ай бұрын
I’m assuming the new Gaslight edition’s release date will be shortly before the first Gaslight fiction book drops - no point in having a novel out to tie in with your game line if the game itself is unavailable - but that’s genuinely an educated guess. Also, the latest update I have on the new edition of ‘The Burnt Man’ is that it will be appearing in the follow-up scenario collection down the track rather than the Keeper’s volume of the new Gaslight edition.
@rpgswithpaddy5 ай бұрын
Great news! Thanks for that information! I'm really looking forward to the expansion of The Burnt Man to see what you did with it. I really like it already. Hopefully it will be released not too long after the core books! I really hope that you're right about the release date! That certainly makes good marketing sense! So maybe at Chaosium Con we might get some news?!
@johnedgar79565 ай бұрын
Hello Paddy! Thank you for this review. I am really enjoying your channel, especially after you mentioned in a previous video that Humble Bundle was offering that astounding offer of all the CoC books in PDF for the World Wildlife Federation. I would have missed that entirely if you hadn't mentioned it; I will be eternally grateful to you for that. 🙂 This Gaslight scenario sounds like a good way to immerse one's players into the very strict and unforgiving class system that existed in this time and place, while also presenting an intriguing mystery. Thanks again.
@rpgswithpaddy5 ай бұрын
Hey John! I'm really glad to hear I helped you get the bundle. It was an OUTRAGEOUSLY good deal, and for a good cause :) I hope you enjoy playing CoC now Yes, I really love that class plays a big role in how this scenario develops. I think it's the best one I can think of for that in this setting. It can be a little frustrating for players, but I think that helps with the immersion! I wonder how the 7th edition will handle the class system and if it will be important in the scenarios and campaigns. I hope so!
@RicksPoker5 ай бұрын
I bought this bundle, massive savingings. Thanks for this video.
@rpgswithpaddy5 ай бұрын
I'm glad the video reached you! I hate missing out on good deals, but this one was absurd! All of them for the price of almost any one individual book. Literally all you need to play CoC for years! Have fun with them!
@matthewconstantine50155 ай бұрын
I know I said it before, but I definitely hope a lot of these scenarios are revisited in the new, 7th Ed Gaslight.
@rpgswithpaddy5 ай бұрын
I hope so too! The books are currently too expensive, and I think the scenarios would really benefit from the 7th edition treatment. There's a bit of hope - they're trying to drum up interest with fiction in the Cthulhu by Gaslight world - Aconyte games will be releasing them. But they're doing the same with Regency Cthulhu, which hasn't really been as popular as they hoped. We're definitely getting the gaslight sourcebook, and a campaign - The Curse of Seven. If those are popular I'm sure we'll get more
@matthewconstantine50155 ай бұрын
@@rpgswithpaddy, Regency seems like a bit of a tough sell. Or, maybe a tough sell to folks not from the UK? It's such a hyper-specific time and place that I think in the States anyway just translates to, "you mean Jane Austen?" I know the US isn't the only market for Call of Cthulhu, but it's a big one. Whereas the 1890s, even limited to the 1890s in the UK, certainly has a lot more easy to point at media and general cultural awareness. At least, that's my off the cuff thoughts on it. I would think it would be more popular, though who can say? I'd love to see Chaosium do a really lavish 7th Ed Dreamlands and an accompanying campaign, but I seriously doubt that would be a good seller. They've tried the Dreamlands several times and it never seems to work. Let's hope Gaslight is a success, whatever the case.
@rpgswithpaddy5 ай бұрын
I'm right with you there! I was never a huge fan of that era in literature and haven't really looked at Cthulhu Regency. Maybe they were hoping it would capitalize off the Bridgerton hype and get big? But absolutely 1890s has a much bigger draw internationally - mostly Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes. And Gaslight has a pretty big fanbase that should support the products. There have already been a few releases for Gaslight in the Miskatonic Repository. Dreamlands would be great too. It's a pretty different feeling from standard CoC, and a bit more of a fantasy demographic. Like you said, it never really took off before, but it could be a good way to get people into call of cthulhu. I think they mentioned that a 7th edition is somewhere on their list (but they've got so many great things to put out) Have you seen the trailers for the movie - The Dreamlands by Huan Vu? Some of the videos look pretty great!
@matthewconstantine50155 ай бұрын
@@rpgswithpaddy I actually put some money into that Dreamlands movie, so I've been following its production closely. I think it's in the editing stage now, so might actually be semi-close to being released. I'm definitely looking forward to it.
@johnedgar79565 ай бұрын
@@rpgswithpaddy Hello gents, bit of a newbie here so forgive me for intruding on this conversation. I had no idea there was a Dreamlands movie in the works? I am definitely going to look into that. I'd heard some time ago directly from Chaosium when I emailed them myself that there was a Gaslight 7th edition product in the works; thank you for confirming that one. I also asked them if we'd ever see a 7th edition Dreamlands treatment, especially for those of us who (while I've been playing RPGs since the 1980s) are relatively new to CoC who wanted to know more about it without having to delve into older CoC editions that had different rules. They seemed to indicate that this was on their radar but I didn't hear anything further. Thank you guys for the insights!
@jrkob11565 ай бұрын
Paddy, thank you for the video. I am new to CoC, have received my starter set a few days ago and will start looking at it in a few days. Question: is there any benefit reading book 2 first ? I'm asking because in general people will be invited to first read a rule book before playing a game. But in this particular case, it seems book 1 includes enough elements to start playing right away, like what you show in the video. But just to confirm. Cheers - Jean from Hong-Kong
@rpgswithpaddy5 ай бұрын
Hey Jean - Great question. There is no need to read book 2 first! Book 1 directs you to book 2 whenever a new rule is introduced. For example, the second entry (263) tells you to go to page 7 of book 2 if you want more information on what the numbers mean. If you WANT to read all the rules first, you can do that. But it will mean learning rules that you likely won't see in your playthrough. And reading rules isn't as fun as playing the game! When you play, checking rules quickly doesn't really break the flow of the game (at least it didn't in my opinion!) If you want a quick breakdown of how to play, I just released a video teaching the basic rules in 6 minutes. That should cover most of it Let me know how the game goes! I hope you enjoy it!!!
@jrkob11565 ай бұрын
Paddy thanks a for the response, very clear now ! Cheers Jean
@johnedgar79565 ай бұрын
Thank you Paddy. I ran my first real CoC game this past weekend with some friends thanks to this Humble Bundle and it was a huge success. I ran "Hotel Hell" from "Peterson's Abominations" for them, which is part of the Humble Bundle offer. We got about halfway through it before they had to go home for the evening, so we're looking forward to playing the conclusion. Thank you again, very much, for letting us know about the Humble Bundle!!
@rpgswithpaddy5 ай бұрын
Hey John - Delighted to hear that you're already getting into CoC! That was fast! Hotel Hell is an excellent scenario! I'm sure your players are having a great time with it! I'd love to hear how it went after you finish it :)
@falodetudo37876 ай бұрын
Can i play jt alone?
@rpgswithpaddy6 ай бұрын
Yes! This bundle comes with 4 solo adventures. Alone against the Flames (in the starter set), Alone against the Tide, Alone Against the Frost, and Alone against the dark. These are all Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style games. I recommend going in this order : Flames - Frost - Tide - Dark (Frost and tide can be switched) Are you not sure if you'll like them? Check out Alone Against the Flames for FREE! (and the quickstart rules). You can start playing with 0 understanding of the system :) www.chaosium.com/content/FreePDFs/CoC/Adventures/CHA23145%20-%20Alone%20Against%20the%20Flames.pdf www.chaosium.com/content/FreePDFs/CoC/CHA23131%20Call%20of%20Cthulhu%207th%20Edition%20Quick-Start%20Rules.pdf As for playing the rest of the adventures alone - yes it can be done (but I have not done it) using some kind of oracle system (like Mythic). I have never done this, but others have.
@douglashorton13686 ай бұрын
I’m currently prepping a “gaslight” Trail of Cthulhu campaign and this video series has already been very helpful!!
@rpgswithpaddy6 ай бұрын
That's fantastic! I'd love to hear how that goes! I LOVE both Trail of Cthulhu and Cthulhu by gaslight, so that sounds like a perfect mashup!
@johnedgar79566 ай бұрын
PADDY!! Thank you SO MUCH for this video!! I have never heard of Humble Bundle before and had no idea this existed until I happened across your video. I'm in the midwestern USA and it was just past 5:00 am here when I got up early and saw this minutes after you uploaded it. $25 USD for all this, and to benefit an animal charity (my favorite kind)? I jumped on this like a Deep One on a college cheerleader. 🙂 (Sorry, dumb joke.) Thank you so very much for letting us know!!! Also, I didn't realize you lived in Japan; glad to hear you are safe after the earthquake. Have a good day!
@rpgswithpaddy6 ай бұрын
I'm glad you found the video useful :) If you've never heard of humble bundle, you might be also interested in Bundle of Holding - they specialize in RPG bundles (and taking all of my money!). They're constantly adding great new deals there. Happy gaming!
@matthewconstantine50157 ай бұрын
Happy Holidays!
@KyleMaxwell7 ай бұрын
Happy holidays and congrats on the baby!
@rashardwilliams86677 ай бұрын
Happy Holidays to you and yours, my friend
@Sensorium197 ай бұрын
Thank you. As others have pointed out, finding a concise demonstration of Runequest combat on KZread is very rare.
@rpgswithpaddy7 ай бұрын
I hope it was helpful to you! It's not perfect, as combat can be much more complex and dynamic than this example, but hopefully it helped to understand the core mechanics of it at least :)
@teronaumanen79448 ай бұрын
This video didnt help much. If fighter 1 plan to move say 3 meters in planing face thats strike 1 and say weapon whit strike rating 7, total strike rating 8 and plans to attac troll. And lets say troll moves 6 meters = 2 strike rating and then hit whit weapon 7 striker. Total rating is 9. So do they move same time, where they move? If troll moves further away from fighter 1 say attacking some one else...what fighter 1 will do because then his movement of 3 metres wont take him to close combat whit troll? Can she add more strike ratings to move extra or what? These rules are so confusing.
@rpgswithpaddy8 ай бұрын
I'm sorry you didn't find the video useful. Combat in Runequest is (in my opinion) quite complicated, so I wanted to just give a simple version to explain the actual fighting. You're right, the rules are really confusing! The important thing is - have the statement of intent round first. Explain what the different characters want to do. If there is confusion, the GM can tell you what is required. You do NOT have to state "I move three meters and then attack." Instead "I move toward the troll and attack." The GM says "The troll is heading to the right, so it will take extra movement to meet it" The player "ok, i'll do it" or "ok i'll change my mind". This stage is really important, and it seems like it might break the immersion a bit. But it's reflecting how you would act in the situation. If you see the troll moving in a different direction, you're not just going to keep going in the wrong direction. After discussion, all movement happens at the same time. The GM will rule what kind of movement was required from each party, and thus what modifiers. Then the attacks go in Strike rank order. If the strike rank is the same, whoever has the higher DEX will go first. If that's still the same, then the attacks happen at the same time, so the results (damage etc) of each attack happen at the same time. I hope that answered your question (the rules are really confusing!) 1. the movement required will be determined in the statement of intent round 2. The movements all happen simultaneously before any attacks or spells 3. The actions happen in strike rank order. If it's the same, then in dex order, and if still the same, the actions happen at the same time.
@user-jh1wr2bx8l9 ай бұрын
The first troll's hit points after the axe hit should, I believe, only be -10, not -13, as his abdomen only has 5 hit points (and 5 negative hit points). He's still unconscious from the abdomen damage and is bleeding to death unless someone hits him with Heal 2 or better...
@rpgswithpaddy9 ай бұрын
I *think* my calculations are still correct though. Total damage (2d8+4 + 1d4) = 6+6+4 + 2 = 18 damage total Attack to the abdomen reduces the damage by 5 because of the abdomens armour 13 is applied to both the hit location AND the total hit points. pg. 26-27 of the starter set book 1 rules: "Armor protects its wearer by subtracting its value from that damage. The rest gets through, subtracted from the hit points of the hit location struck, as well as the adventurer's total hit points." Does that make sense? Or am I missing something?
@user-jh1wr2bx8l9 ай бұрын
I can't speak to the starter rules, but I'm fairly certain that you cannot do more total hit point damage than twice the value of a given hit location. (This doesn't matter for a head hit -- your head is destroyed? You're dead.) For example, an elf with 10 total hit points and 3-point arms takes a critical hit to the left arm from a great troll with a greataxe. Suffice it to say that the troll did a *ton* of damage [let's say 25], and the unfortunate elf is a Yelmalio with no armor on that location. The elf's arm is off and will have to be reattached or regenerated (if the elf survives the encounter), but the elf's total hit points are only reduced to 4, not the "instant death" from the other 19 points of damage.
@rpgswithpaddy9 ай бұрын
I just looked this up in the core rules an you are correct. The starter set does not have this restriction for Head, Chest, or Abdomen. But in the core rules on page 148 it does state that it's capped at double. The core rules are actually confusing too, it says that for limbs, you're limited to double damage. It doesn't say that for head, chest and abdomen although the example provided has that limit for the head! This example was just running through the starter set for New GM Month, so the starter rules were what I was using. But thanks for the correction, i'll pin a comment!
@767wattsy10 ай бұрын
Congratulations to you and your wife on the baby!
@rpgswithpaddy9 ай бұрын
Thank you so much 😀
@KyleMaxwell10 ай бұрын
Congratulations on the baby! I picked these up and still figuring out what I want to run.
@rpgswithpaddy9 ай бұрын
They're all great! Once I get through some of the promised Cthulhu by Gaslight scenarios I'm going to start going through the Trail of Cthulhu catalogue too. There's not enough information on those great supplements!
@johnedgar795610 ай бұрын
Hello Paddy, greetings from Missouri in the US. 🙂 Recently discovered your channel and I appreciate the review. I just recently got into Call of Cthulhu after years and years of playing D&D (and always struggling to find players who can commit to a regular gaming schedule). It did not take long for CoC 7th Edition to become my favorite RPG, so these videos are useful. Congrats to you & your wife on the birth of your child! 🙂
@rpgswithpaddy10 ай бұрын
Thanks so much John! I'm glad you're getting some use out of the videos. Yeah scheduling is the absolute bane of RPGs! Especially if you're trying to get a regular game/campaign going. CoC actually works great for that with there being a lot of one-shots, and you can play with smaller numbers. Glad to hear CoC is becoming your favourite! It's so good!
@danacoleman400710 ай бұрын
Nice job on the video!!!
@rpgswithpaddy10 ай бұрын
Thank you! I hope you liked it. I wanted to get some information out about Cthulhu by Gaslight before the 7th edition comes out....eventually :p
@skyblazeeterno10 ай бұрын
Interesting. I dont think Ive ever seen a 1 to 1 playthrough done on KZread
@rpgswithpaddy10 ай бұрын
That's a great point actually, I never thought of that. You might want to check out Cthulhu Confidential. I've got some reviews of it on this channel, but these guys did an actual play of it: kzread.info/dash/bejne/hWmD2Nx_ocWTlqQ.html
@keithparker134610 ай бұрын
I wonder if a scenario has been written for a married couple as characters/players. I know Scritch Scratch has a married couple within the 4 or 5 playable characters but a scenario written purely for a couple
@rpgswithpaddy10 ай бұрын
Good question! None comes to mind immediately I have to say. Usually those decisions are left to the players. I've seen some actual plays where the players are married. It can really lead to much more horrifying situations. In Delta Green you're encouraged to have a normal family/friends outside of delta green, and the post-scenario scenes are really brutal where you have to explain to them why you're always so distant and missing important events (although those friends/family members are NPCs)
Пікірлер
Just found this series of reviews! Enjoying them greatly as Gaslight one of my favourite Cthulhu settings!
This helped a lot, thank you!
Glad it helped! The newest edition of Trail of Cthulhu should be coming to kickstarter at some point this year, so keep an eye out for that if you like it :)
Is this an entry level, and beginner/average friendly, for someone who's newbie(0 exp) in both ttrpg and Cthulhu?
Yes! It's meant for people with 0 experience in the game at all. Did you ever play any choose your own adventure books (gamebooks)? It's like that, but also eases you into the rules of Call of Cthulhu. You start playing this game with absolutely no idea of the rules, and you don't even need to fill out a character sheet. They walk you through that as you play :) I think this is hands-down the BEST introduction to an RPG out there :) I hope you have fun!
Played this and Blacck Annie trashed us, had a couple of player characters killed and we barely got out of the woods with Jacob. And we wasted a lot of time at Merlin's caves. Perfect red herring. At least that's how I remember it.
Beautiful! That's how the game should be!! That's where the memories really stick with you :) Yes red herrings can be great, as long as your group are into it. Some players really want to find a reason to tie everything together and if there's one clue missing, they can't continue! But when your group is into it - amazing misdirection from the Keeper :)
Hi Paddy. Very helpful video. I’m interested in running a Gaslight scenario as a new Keeper for some players new to Cthulhu. About how long, or many sessions, do you estimate the scenarios from Sacraments to Evil to take? Currently looking at this scenario (the titular one) or Plant Y Daer but have made no decisions.
I'm very sorry for the delay in responding! Life has been incredibly hectic. Glad to hear you're considering Cthulhu by Gaslight. Just a quick aside if you're trying to get hold of this book it's relatively rare and expensive. Stygian Fox released a new source book with 2 scenarios in it, made for 7th edition. That (pdf) would be easier to get and cheaper www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/229175/hudson-brand-inquiry-agents-of-the-obscure-a-call-of-cthulhu-setting-for-cthulhu-by-gaslight But now to your question. Of course the obligatory disclaimer - it really depends on your group and how they play.... But assuming relatively sticking to the story, doing an appropriate amount of research and reaching a conclusion at an appropriate time, I would say average times would be about: 1. The Eyes of a stranger - 2 sessions 2. The Masterwork of Nicholas Forby - 1/2 sessions 3. Plant Y Daear - 2 sessions 4. Sacraments of Evil - 3/4 sessions 5. The Scuttling - 1/2 sessions 6. Signs Writ in Scarlet - 3 sessions I consider a session to be about 4 hours of actual playing time. Keep in mind, if your players are coming from something like D&D, they might need a reminder that research is an important aspect and that trying to outmuscle the opponents rarely works well :p
@@rpgswithpaddy Thanks for the reply, Paddy. I'm actually using one of Stygian Fox's short scenarios "The Strange Case of the Shadow Traveller" as the first scenario of our campaign. It has less "research" but overall seems a good introduction to Call of Cthulhu for us to get our feet wet. But after that, I am considering using Sacraments of Evil or Plant Y Daear as the second or third scenario.
That sounds great :) I've got that scenario myself and have flicked through it, but haven't read it in detail yet. Let me know how it goes!
@@rpgswithpaddy Well, one session in an only half way through but that was to be expected with a new system and new characters. Also, I did have to improv a “ritual room”, “a cemetery keeper”, a detour to the insane man’s apartment, and a cockney green grocer. And next the housekeeper who cleaned the room after the ritual. They really went into investigating all possible angles. Overall, it was a good time so far and I can see this scenario being a good introduction to CoC and the Gaslight setting for newcomers.
I've heard folks talk about this one before (not in a positive light), but this breakdown really does set up some of its major problems. I'm sure there's material in this that could be raided to build a better campaign, but I can't imagine trying to bring it to the table as is. No way players would make all the needed leaps and choices.
Wow, sorry for the huge delay in responding to you! Yes there are some interesting aspects to it for sure, and if you've got a campaign already going in Greyhawk, it could be cool to add certain aspects in..... but overall I just don't see it working as written, unless you're going to force your players to take the "correct" choice every time, which is antithetical to role-playing!
Did you ever play the Numenera video game?
No! I wasn't even aware of it. But after checking out the trailer it looks really good. I'm a sucker for good isometric rpgs! Have you played it?
@@rpgswithpaddy It's been on my list of games to play but I have never managed to get around to it. It's meant to be similar to Planescape Torment in design so I suspect most situations are resolved through dialog options. It does look quite good though.
I know it isn't the old lore but if they really felt compelled to change the great stuff that is already there perhaps The Eye and The Hand could be a tag team that always works together, one sees all for both of them and the other is super strong and does all the dirty work.
That would definitely work well because while the eye is formidable, its place isn't really to fight. The hand is just an abomination of mixed creatures that only knows anger. In a longer campaign, like Eve of Ruin, it would be great to have some an early encounter with the hand but not let it play out completely. In other, more horrific games, players often know when to cut their loses and escape, but in 5e there's almost an expectation that you'll win every battle, so that could be hard to balance. The other option would be to have the Hand called away, but that's always a bit of a cop out. Given the limited information we have about the campaign, there will definitely be travel to different planes. I would have a battle with the hand where the hand is clearly stronger than the players, but there's some confusion and they are sent to separate planes. It could also seem like the hand was killed. And they can breathe a sigh of relief. But then towards the end, in Vecna's tower, the hand reappears. Similarly you could have earlier interactions with the eye, so they both confront the party together towards the end. That's a great way to use up some party resources before they get to vecna, to make it a really tense battle!
@@rpgswithpaddy Apologies I've been away - That is a great idea, it is really difficult having dangerous enemies the party most likely can't beat and conveying that to the players in 5E with it being designed around the balance being tipped against the monsters. Perhaps the eye and the hand don't normally kill their prey but take them to some kind of Vecna controlled pocket dimension, either to toy with or to imprison people for later interrogation. I'm almost envisioning these two creatures as the Pyramid Head monsters in Silent Hill 2, being a threat but their actions and goals being very alien.
Thank you for the breakdown. I more or less remember these from "Vecna Lives" but that was so long ago that I'd forgotten much of it. This new "Eve of Ruin" release should be interesting.
No problem :) I had seen some confusion on different forums about the hand and the eye, with many people not knowing about the creatures. I think it's good to know the structure of the cult before going through Vecna Lives.
Hot damn, I like this channel.
I'm glad to hear it! Want to know something else that's awesome? For the month of April 2024, Zgrozy's first two scenarios (Shepherd of Moths and Future Echoes) are pay what you want :) So get them for a good price now, then get hooked to Zgrozy's excellent quality and buy everything else from them :p tinyurl.com/ZgrShepherd tinyurl.com/ZgrEchoes
Hope your family is doing well and your work isn't too draining. I just came across your channel a week ago and i've been watching through all the videos. I like your style and that you are mostly covering the classic material. I'm not a fan of the modern COC stuff because they censor things and put trigger warnings everywhere and appear to dislike Lovecraft, I assume the modern Runequest is much the same (and D&D has been turned into grey ooze of course). It sounds like you are the keeper/GM most of the time, how long has it been since you got to be on the other side of the table?
Thanks for the concern! I'm actually incredibly lucky with my job and family! I even get to play games as part of my job, and they think I'm being innovative! I haven't personally found the 7th edition of CoC to be too bad in that regard. There are some publications out there that really seem to HATE Lovecraft with a passion. I think Fate of Cthulhu has a pretty scathing review of him for example. Trail of Cthulhu handled it best (in my opinion). I've heard a lot of RPG reviewers getting hate comments and death threats for even covering Cthulhu based games because of Lovecraft's racism. Ah yes, it's been a long time! I think maybe 2 years ago I played a one-shot of Paranoia run by a friend. Oh actually I got to be a player in a playtest of Inversion! That was a lot of fun! I enjoy being a keeper/GM, and I know that if I don't do it, a lot of the time games won't get played. So I'd rather bite the bullet.
@rpgswithpaddy GMing during your work shift, now that is the sort of creative thinking that makes the building blocks of a kino keeper. It must be such an incredibly strange world to exist in where you obtain the license to something you feel the need to criticize and publish your grievances to the very people you hope will buy your product. It's sad that covering Lovecraft's work can get you in the crosshairs of an angry mob. I hope you get to be a player again soon so that you can be surprised by something in an adventure, but since you enjoy running the game it certainly helps a lot of people get to play.
Yeah I think it's a strange position to take alright. There was a huge argument over it between evil hat productions (Fate of cthulhu) and the public response. Let's just all get along and play fun games! I had one student last year who really loved the games, I'm going to see if I can convince him to try running a game or two. That would be a lot of fun. I am incredibly lucky. As most people get a bit older and have more work and family responsibilities, gaming time often goes down. To be able to carve out weekly gaming time as part of my job? I don't know how I lucked into this!
@@rpgswithpaddy It certainly feels like there is no escaping from the current political movements and drama. We use pen and paper games as an escape from the stresses of our lives and very often we both find ourselves under fire for enjoying such things and that these fantastical worlds are full of the current day ideas we are trying to get a break from. Good luck getting the students to run the games, I hope he finds it to be his cup of tea and can form a new group. It is hard finding time to do much as we get older, I can't even seem to get any time to play video games, traditional games are completely out the window currently for me. Getting paid to play as part of your job must be great, perhaps you can convince management to make it an extra-curricular sport.
I'm sorry you don't have enough time to play. Yeah, I recently bought a few video games that have been on the list, but where to fit them in is a big problem. I think there might be a possibility of making it a "circle" - (a university social club), which could get funding, storage, and a dedicated room. But that's still a bit of a pipe dream for now. I've got to establish it more over the next few years. Libraries sometimes are a good source of board games and rpgs, sometimes holding game sessions. I hope you find some time to play soon!
Thanks for the update, hope the baby is happy and healthy!
Thanks for asking :) She's doing great. She is indeed very happy and healthy! We're very lucky (TOUCH WOOD!!) that she doesn't cry much and sleeps well through the night!
I've never been a D&D guy. Wasn't the game I started with, and I've bounced off it whenever I've tried playing it. However, a few years back, I discovered Dungeon Crawl Classics, which is definitely the closest thing to D&D that I've enjoyed (I really don't go in for level/class games, as a rule). I've been picking up a bunch of old D&D modules to "convert" over to DCC. The Rod of Seven Parts is one I'm giving thought to picking up.
I remember, and still have I think, the 3 (or 3.5) starter set that I first picked up with a group of friends. It was very confusing at first! But we had some good fun! I think the marketplace is so amazing these days that you can find exactly the game you're looking for! The internet has been great at spreading these too. The level/class system is interesting. I LOVED in in baldur's gate 2, but it makes more sense as a computer game. Sometimes it makes sense in the TTRPG space too, for a limited time - giving players who are just starting the game basic abilities so they don't get overwhelmed is a good way to introduce systems with a lot of rules. That's one thing I don't love about D&D 5e is that there's a rule for everything which (I think) reduces player creativity. I really do need to give DCC a look. I've got a lot of the pdfs from a few bundle of holdings/humble bundles, but just haven't got into them yet
Hello Paddy. Vecna was a creation of Gary Gygax and his contemporaries going back to the original old D&D (or "OD&D" as it's sometimes called) and was a fixture of the granddaddy of all RPG game world settings--and my personal favorite--The World of Greyhawk. I worry what kind of mockery that Wizards of the Coast will make of Vecna's origins in their "re-interpretation" of him.
Yeah Vecna really is a classic part of D&D history. And Die Vecna Die was used to wrap up the end of 2nd edition and explain the changes in the world heading into 3rd edition. I think that was a great idea. But just repeating it again for 5e into ... 5.5? It's not a bad idea, it's just already been done. I HOPE that they can make it new and interesting, but I'm also worried it will be a letdown. We see it with a lot of media these days, rehashing things/characters/stories that have already been done because it's a safer bet than something completely original and it pulls on nostalgia. BUT (again) I hope that in their underwhelming release of Vecna in the Vecna dossier, they'll get some good feedback and develop a Vecna worthy of his origins
The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe is a great read - as is The Anubis Gates!
Yes I'm really enjoying The Anubis Gates - very different from what I first expected. And The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe has been on my to-read list for a long time now. I keep hearing great recommendations for it
Creepy. Cool video. I remember "tracking" on the VCR. I don't actually know what it did, but it was like tuning in a channel. Maybe it adjusted the magnetic readers? I never really understood how VCRs worked, to be honest. I think it was something I had to deal with more in the latter days of VHS, because tape quality was so much worse. Man, I hated VHS. That was a technology that stayed around too long.
Thanks for that! I had no idea about it. I looked it up after, but the explanation didn't ring any bells with me. I don't think I ever used tracking... Ha ha ha i still remember getting our first VHS as a Christmas present. We were all so excited for it! But yeah, comparing it to what we have now, it really was very basic!
Great review. I’m impressed that you graphed out the options.
Ha ha about halfway through I regretted my decision, but I was too far gone to stop!
I love the solo scenarios in the starter box for Call of Cthulhu and RuneQuest. I think it's a great way to learn the system. I have a few others for Call of Cthulhu, but not all of them. I tend not to be into the more contemporary scenarios, so I'm not sure I'll grab this one. The lack of replay potential certainly doesn't help.
I 100% agree - I think CoC lends itself really well to that because it's quite a simple system in general. With RQ, it's definitely a more complicated system, but the starter set does a decent job of simplifying it a bit. Yeah, I wish there were more endings and routes to get there... But maybe it was just a coincidence that my two playthroughs converged so much.
This sounds very interesting! I just got into CoC recently, and I've been having a blast with it. Your video really got me interested in trying this scenario. How would you handle the player using the mask to win the singers heart? How would it go bad for them you think. Like they win the singers heart, but something bad happens?
I'm really glad you're enjoying CoC. It's a really great system - I wish everyone would try it once! For your question: I think there are some interesting negative outcomes that can come out of it - Lucas becomes enraged, feeling betrayed and maybe wants to attack you immediately, or starts working behind the scenes to destroy your life. - Anna becomes obsessed with you, to the point where she won't let other women talk to you, and won't let you go out alone - At the same time, you could have some of Anna's contemporaries also attracted to you, which could very negatively affect Anna's career More indirectly - the change in your appearance/personality or Anna's obsession with you, definitely draws attention from those hunting the mask. They're very willing to kill for it, or rip it off your face, causing serious damage (maybe Lucas tips them off, or Anna keeps telling people how much you've changed). - Taking it off in the first place is hard, but it gets harder and harder to take it off. Equally, each day you're not wearing it, it calls to you. - If you take it off, Anna is horrified by your change and feels so betrayed and it ruins your relationship and friendship So you're kind of torn between keeping it on to maintain the relationship, but it will keep drawing the wrong type of attention. Or you can take it off, and ruin your relationship and friendship and possibly your relationship around town. It could be that both of them play out - if you don't take it off, and the final confrontation is at home with Anna, who has given up on her career to stay with you, and the Japanese special police barge in (being led here by Lucas) and rip the mask off your face, destroying your face permanently, and then Anna being revolted by you. That would be VERY depressing with friendships and relationships of all 3 destroyed, Anna's career ruined, Lucas possibly imprisoned for international espionage, your face destroyed with no friends. I hope that gives you some ideas :)
Awesome breakdown of the scenario. It sounds like there's a lot to build on here. Another example of how adventure design has changed over the years. All of your "why" and "how" questions echo my own when reading a bunch of Call of Cthulhu scenarios from those days. Good lord, Shadows of Yog-Sothoth... A "campaign" where there's almost no connection between most scenarios, pretty much no natural path from one to the next, and little reason for the PCs to get involved most of the time. Still, there's always lots of good stuff that, if you're willing to put in the work, you can make a good scenario out of it.
That's a really great point. Adventure design has really come so far. And old-school players are very used to (and probably welcome) a lot less hand-holding and trying lots of different things to solve the mystery. I think more modern players get frustrated when it seems that everything they try leads to a dead end. Ha ha ha Shadows of Yog-Sothoth.... Like a great campaign, especially for the trail it blazed, leading to absolute gold like Masks of Nyarlathotep, but also really influenced campaigns in other RPG systems. But yeah, talk about forcing your characters into the various disconnected plots with all the subtlety of a bulldozer :p You're also dead right! All of these scenarios and campaigns have great stuff to take from them. If you end up playing them slightly altered, or just taking plot points, characters or scenes from them, they're well worth it. I don't think I've read just a terrible scenario where nothing could be at least mined from it
@@rpgswithpaddy, on the Gaslight & Shadows of Yog-Sothoth subject, I've become more and more convinced that the first scenario, where the investigators are supposed to get mixed up with the Silver Twilight, might actually be better if it were expanded to be essentially a mini-campaign of its own, and moved back in time to the Gaslight era. Something I often forget is that the difference in time between Gaslight & the Roaring 20s, is only about 30 years, which is like the 1990s to now...not all that long in the scale of a life. So, it wouldn't be unthinkable for surviving investigators from that era to still be around, maybe functioning as the mentors for some younger folks getting mixed up in things. There's nothing in the scenario that I remember that really connects it to the 1920s, and the whole arcane gentlemen's club thing feels a bit old-timey even for the 20s. Since the Silver Twilight is clearly supposed to be the Golden Dawn, again, I can't help but think the 1890s would be more fitting. Not that anyone's asking me, but if I ran the zoo, I think my 7th Ed Shadows would be broken into two halves. The first the above time-swapped & expanded Silver Twilight arc. Then take, I think it's the last two scenarios that that are actually connected to each other and to the Silver Twilight, expand them, and make them the second half. Frankly, I'd drop the middle scenarios, re-writing a couple of them as stand-alone, as the pretty much already "stand alone" in the campaign. The second scenario (I don't have my book with me, and can't remember any of their names), which if I remember right, feels like the opening of a totally different campaign, and might make a good "beginner's" scenario. The edition I have already has two totally unconnected scenarios tossed in the back, so maybe a little collection of cast-offs would be nice. Also, the yacht scenario...is it The Worm who Walks?... that scenario can burn in hell. I got so angry reading it. It felt like the most pointlessly mean-spirited thing. Like a tournament scenario for D&D, written by an angry teenager in 1978. If I were a player in that campaign, and someone ran that scenario as-written, I'd leave the table and not come back. Anyway. Just some thoughts.
I think that could be a really interesting idea. Gaslight era works really well for those kind of fraternity clubs! Like you said the Golden Dawn is a great resource for that. I've also always thought of the Inner Brotherhood of Magicians from The Vanishing Conjurer scenario to be set in the gaslight period - even though it clearly says it's not. There's just something about these secret societies that lends itself so well to Gaslight! As for doing it through time, I think that could also be excellent. If you peppered in other scenarios between the past and present, you could have great character development for the players when they're revisiting themes from decades prior, and how their characters views and actions have changed from then! It requires a good group of players, but the payoff would be amazing. Yeah there are some brutal scenes. For ones in D&D where you KNEW this was a killer encounter and that you were likely to die and the solution to be very unfair (Tomb of Horrors or the 4e playtest where you can't win), it's fine if you have that understanding before going in. With Call of Cthulhu, you already know it's more deadly than D&D (certainly modern D&D), so dying is fine. But basically making it impossible to escape with no warning is pretty brutal. Like you said before, game design has come a LONG way. I'm just watching your ramblings on SoYS videos now :) Links for anyone interested in the discussion: kzread.info/dash/bejne/jISkq8yxeNuxaaQ.html kzread.info/dash/bejne/ppqV1KyuopXSoag.html
Just a quick heads-up: This video is currently not included in the Cthulhu by Gaslight playlist. Oh, and btw, I'm really enjoying the series; especially the scenario run downs are fantastic.
Thank you so much! I hadn't noticed that! I'm glad you like it. I found there was a real lack of reviews for the gaslight scenarios (even though they're great and seem to be quite popular!)
The general premise of the scenario is similar to the Dungeon Crawl Classics module Creep Skrag Creep, which I was supposed to run a couple weeks ago, but scheduling collapsed. Fingers crossed I can make it happen soon. The DCC scenario leans a bit heavier on Alien (1979) for its inspiration, but still has similarities to this.
Oh cool, I never heard of that, but reading a quick synopsis it definitely sounds similar alright! Thanks for pointing it out!
I ran all of the Gaslight scenarios (Golden Dawn, Sacrememnts and Dark Designs), years ago and I've enjoyed going through your reviews as I shortlist scenarios for an upcoming campaign. Thanks for doing this....and if you could get a review of 'Lord of the Dance' out in the next few hours that would be awesome 😉
Ha ha ha it might take a little longer than that! But it's coming! There's actually a decent amount of gaslight material out there, but it's kind of hard to remember them all! Good luck in your gaslight campaign! I hope it whets your groups appetite for the upcoming curse of seven campaign Oh, by the way, the Stygian Fox material (Hudson & Brand) is really good for more Gaslight material you might have missed in the past. And it's been designed for 7th edition. Might be worth checking out!
Thank you SO much for reading handout 6 Out loud.
Glad it was of some help to you :) Those handwritten notes look great as props, but sometimes they're REALLY hard to read!
I bought this a while back from humble, it's a very large amount of material for CoC and goes way above value for money for the quality and quantity. Great video thanks Anyone new to CoC try the solo adventure first To get the feel for it. The bundles on offer are incredibly 👍👏
Great overview! Really looking forward to it's release and it would be great if there were a collection of starter sets - can you imagine a Pulp! Cthulhu starter set?
That would be great! Pulp has so many different options in it, it might be a bit complicated to create - but it would really be the best way of getting the keeper (and players) used to all the different options. It could also be a great product release for Chaosium. Pulp brings CoC a lot closer to other more popular RPGs, so a starter set in that could really help bring in more players!
Oh, man. I never thought of it, but now I absolutely LOVE the idea of starter sets for Gaslight and Dreamlands. Alas, seems unlikely. But boy, would it be cool.
It would be so good right?! Sadly I don't think it's coming. Although the Miskatonic repository just celebrated its 150,000th sale today! (Congratulations to everyone involved). So hopefully we'll get some fan made material to fill that gap :)
I am less keen about a Keeper book for Cthulhu by Gaslight (CbG). It will presumably have all the rules, monsters, gods, spells, etc. Seems like I will be buying the same stuff that is already in 7th Keeper's guide. 20% (maybe) is new? Thanks for the video! Warm regards, Rick.
Hi Rick. That's a fair point. I think there will be some overlap, and Chaosium does do that at times (there are full chapters from the Investigators Guide and the Keepers Handbook that are identical). And they did say they want new players to be able to play with just this, so there will definitely be some repetition. The adventures for sure will be new for 7th edition, and I guess they're going to put a bit more of the focus on UK-based villains, organizations, and mythos. I wonder if it will take elements from "Ramsey Campbell's Goatswood and Less Pleasant Places." That's currently outrageously expensive! I would hope that it's closer to 60% new material in there, but that's a guess! As soon as the books are released I'll be reviewing them here, so you can find out if it's worth your while getting them or not :)
@@rpgswithpaddy Hi Paddy, I will definitely be interested in your review. Hopefully they give new monsters, spells, to make it worthwhile for Grognards who have all the old stuff already. In your review, please mention what percentage of material is new. Warm regards, Rick.
I certainly will! Ill compare it to 7th edition keeper and investigator books and also to previous Gaslight books. Thanks for the tip :)
I had no idea Chaosium was releasing it as two different books, separately for players and Keepers. This sounds like a separate (yet still 7th ed.) version of the game in and of itself. Hopefully it'll be worth the long wait. Thanks Paddy!
Yes there were a lot of different rumors floating around about it - whether it would be a boxed set, a slipcase set or what - but Mike Mason confirmed in this video (from about 7:30, specifically at 8:45) that it will be 2 books. The idea is you can give the player book to players to make characters, without telling them "Don't look at the second half..." The allure of forbidden information is impossible to resist :p Anyway, here's the video: kzread.info/dash/bejne/qGafrM97XbSnpLQ.html
I’m assuming the new Gaslight edition’s release date will be shortly before the first Gaslight fiction book drops - no point in having a novel out to tie in with your game line if the game itself is unavailable - but that’s genuinely an educated guess. Also, the latest update I have on the new edition of ‘The Burnt Man’ is that it will be appearing in the follow-up scenario collection down the track rather than the Keeper’s volume of the new Gaslight edition.
Great news! Thanks for that information! I'm really looking forward to the expansion of The Burnt Man to see what you did with it. I really like it already. Hopefully it will be released not too long after the core books! I really hope that you're right about the release date! That certainly makes good marketing sense! So maybe at Chaosium Con we might get some news?!
Hello Paddy! Thank you for this review. I am really enjoying your channel, especially after you mentioned in a previous video that Humble Bundle was offering that astounding offer of all the CoC books in PDF for the World Wildlife Federation. I would have missed that entirely if you hadn't mentioned it; I will be eternally grateful to you for that. 🙂 This Gaslight scenario sounds like a good way to immerse one's players into the very strict and unforgiving class system that existed in this time and place, while also presenting an intriguing mystery. Thanks again.
Hey John! I'm really glad to hear I helped you get the bundle. It was an OUTRAGEOUSLY good deal, and for a good cause :) I hope you enjoy playing CoC now Yes, I really love that class plays a big role in how this scenario develops. I think it's the best one I can think of for that in this setting. It can be a little frustrating for players, but I think that helps with the immersion! I wonder how the 7th edition will handle the class system and if it will be important in the scenarios and campaigns. I hope so!
I bought this bundle, massive savingings. Thanks for this video.
I'm glad the video reached you! I hate missing out on good deals, but this one was absurd! All of them for the price of almost any one individual book. Literally all you need to play CoC for years! Have fun with them!
I know I said it before, but I definitely hope a lot of these scenarios are revisited in the new, 7th Ed Gaslight.
I hope so too! The books are currently too expensive, and I think the scenarios would really benefit from the 7th edition treatment. There's a bit of hope - they're trying to drum up interest with fiction in the Cthulhu by Gaslight world - Aconyte games will be releasing them. But they're doing the same with Regency Cthulhu, which hasn't really been as popular as they hoped. We're definitely getting the gaslight sourcebook, and a campaign - The Curse of Seven. If those are popular I'm sure we'll get more
@@rpgswithpaddy, Regency seems like a bit of a tough sell. Or, maybe a tough sell to folks not from the UK? It's such a hyper-specific time and place that I think in the States anyway just translates to, "you mean Jane Austen?" I know the US isn't the only market for Call of Cthulhu, but it's a big one. Whereas the 1890s, even limited to the 1890s in the UK, certainly has a lot more easy to point at media and general cultural awareness. At least, that's my off the cuff thoughts on it. I would think it would be more popular, though who can say? I'd love to see Chaosium do a really lavish 7th Ed Dreamlands and an accompanying campaign, but I seriously doubt that would be a good seller. They've tried the Dreamlands several times and it never seems to work. Let's hope Gaslight is a success, whatever the case.
I'm right with you there! I was never a huge fan of that era in literature and haven't really looked at Cthulhu Regency. Maybe they were hoping it would capitalize off the Bridgerton hype and get big? But absolutely 1890s has a much bigger draw internationally - mostly Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes. And Gaslight has a pretty big fanbase that should support the products. There have already been a few releases for Gaslight in the Miskatonic Repository. Dreamlands would be great too. It's a pretty different feeling from standard CoC, and a bit more of a fantasy demographic. Like you said, it never really took off before, but it could be a good way to get people into call of cthulhu. I think they mentioned that a 7th edition is somewhere on their list (but they've got so many great things to put out) Have you seen the trailers for the movie - The Dreamlands by Huan Vu? Some of the videos look pretty great!
@@rpgswithpaddy I actually put some money into that Dreamlands movie, so I've been following its production closely. I think it's in the editing stage now, so might actually be semi-close to being released. I'm definitely looking forward to it.
@@rpgswithpaddy Hello gents, bit of a newbie here so forgive me for intruding on this conversation. I had no idea there was a Dreamlands movie in the works? I am definitely going to look into that. I'd heard some time ago directly from Chaosium when I emailed them myself that there was a Gaslight 7th edition product in the works; thank you for confirming that one. I also asked them if we'd ever see a 7th edition Dreamlands treatment, especially for those of us who (while I've been playing RPGs since the 1980s) are relatively new to CoC who wanted to know more about it without having to delve into older CoC editions that had different rules. They seemed to indicate that this was on their radar but I didn't hear anything further. Thank you guys for the insights!
Paddy, thank you for the video. I am new to CoC, have received my starter set a few days ago and will start looking at it in a few days. Question: is there any benefit reading book 2 first ? I'm asking because in general people will be invited to first read a rule book before playing a game. But in this particular case, it seems book 1 includes enough elements to start playing right away, like what you show in the video. But just to confirm. Cheers - Jean from Hong-Kong
Hey Jean - Great question. There is no need to read book 2 first! Book 1 directs you to book 2 whenever a new rule is introduced. For example, the second entry (263) tells you to go to page 7 of book 2 if you want more information on what the numbers mean. If you WANT to read all the rules first, you can do that. But it will mean learning rules that you likely won't see in your playthrough. And reading rules isn't as fun as playing the game! When you play, checking rules quickly doesn't really break the flow of the game (at least it didn't in my opinion!) If you want a quick breakdown of how to play, I just released a video teaching the basic rules in 6 minutes. That should cover most of it Let me know how the game goes! I hope you enjoy it!!!
Paddy thanks a for the response, very clear now ! Cheers Jean
Thank you Paddy. I ran my first real CoC game this past weekend with some friends thanks to this Humble Bundle and it was a huge success. I ran "Hotel Hell" from "Peterson's Abominations" for them, which is part of the Humble Bundle offer. We got about halfway through it before they had to go home for the evening, so we're looking forward to playing the conclusion. Thank you again, very much, for letting us know about the Humble Bundle!!
Hey John - Delighted to hear that you're already getting into CoC! That was fast! Hotel Hell is an excellent scenario! I'm sure your players are having a great time with it! I'd love to hear how it went after you finish it :)
Can i play jt alone?
Yes! This bundle comes with 4 solo adventures. Alone against the Flames (in the starter set), Alone against the Tide, Alone Against the Frost, and Alone against the dark. These are all Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style games. I recommend going in this order : Flames - Frost - Tide - Dark (Frost and tide can be switched) Are you not sure if you'll like them? Check out Alone Against the Flames for FREE! (and the quickstart rules). You can start playing with 0 understanding of the system :) www.chaosium.com/content/FreePDFs/CoC/Adventures/CHA23145%20-%20Alone%20Against%20the%20Flames.pdf www.chaosium.com/content/FreePDFs/CoC/CHA23131%20Call%20of%20Cthulhu%207th%20Edition%20Quick-Start%20Rules.pdf As for playing the rest of the adventures alone - yes it can be done (but I have not done it) using some kind of oracle system (like Mythic). I have never done this, but others have.
I’m currently prepping a “gaslight” Trail of Cthulhu campaign and this video series has already been very helpful!!
That's fantastic! I'd love to hear how that goes! I LOVE both Trail of Cthulhu and Cthulhu by gaslight, so that sounds like a perfect mashup!
PADDY!! Thank you SO MUCH for this video!! I have never heard of Humble Bundle before and had no idea this existed until I happened across your video. I'm in the midwestern USA and it was just past 5:00 am here when I got up early and saw this minutes after you uploaded it. $25 USD for all this, and to benefit an animal charity (my favorite kind)? I jumped on this like a Deep One on a college cheerleader. 🙂 (Sorry, dumb joke.) Thank you so very much for letting us know!!! Also, I didn't realize you lived in Japan; glad to hear you are safe after the earthquake. Have a good day!
I'm glad you found the video useful :) If you've never heard of humble bundle, you might be also interested in Bundle of Holding - they specialize in RPG bundles (and taking all of my money!). They're constantly adding great new deals there. Happy gaming!
Happy Holidays!
Happy holidays and congrats on the baby!
Happy Holidays to you and yours, my friend
Thank you. As others have pointed out, finding a concise demonstration of Runequest combat on KZread is very rare.
I hope it was helpful to you! It's not perfect, as combat can be much more complex and dynamic than this example, but hopefully it helped to understand the core mechanics of it at least :)
This video didnt help much. If fighter 1 plan to move say 3 meters in planing face thats strike 1 and say weapon whit strike rating 7, total strike rating 8 and plans to attac troll. And lets say troll moves 6 meters = 2 strike rating and then hit whit weapon 7 striker. Total rating is 9. So do they move same time, where they move? If troll moves further away from fighter 1 say attacking some one else...what fighter 1 will do because then his movement of 3 metres wont take him to close combat whit troll? Can she add more strike ratings to move extra or what? These rules are so confusing.
I'm sorry you didn't find the video useful. Combat in Runequest is (in my opinion) quite complicated, so I wanted to just give a simple version to explain the actual fighting. You're right, the rules are really confusing! The important thing is - have the statement of intent round first. Explain what the different characters want to do. If there is confusion, the GM can tell you what is required. You do NOT have to state "I move three meters and then attack." Instead "I move toward the troll and attack." The GM says "The troll is heading to the right, so it will take extra movement to meet it" The player "ok, i'll do it" or "ok i'll change my mind". This stage is really important, and it seems like it might break the immersion a bit. But it's reflecting how you would act in the situation. If you see the troll moving in a different direction, you're not just going to keep going in the wrong direction. After discussion, all movement happens at the same time. The GM will rule what kind of movement was required from each party, and thus what modifiers. Then the attacks go in Strike rank order. If the strike rank is the same, whoever has the higher DEX will go first. If that's still the same, then the attacks happen at the same time, so the results (damage etc) of each attack happen at the same time. I hope that answered your question (the rules are really confusing!) 1. the movement required will be determined in the statement of intent round 2. The movements all happen simultaneously before any attacks or spells 3. The actions happen in strike rank order. If it's the same, then in dex order, and if still the same, the actions happen at the same time.
The first troll's hit points after the axe hit should, I believe, only be -10, not -13, as his abdomen only has 5 hit points (and 5 negative hit points). He's still unconscious from the abdomen damage and is bleeding to death unless someone hits him with Heal 2 or better...
I *think* my calculations are still correct though. Total damage (2d8+4 + 1d4) = 6+6+4 + 2 = 18 damage total Attack to the abdomen reduces the damage by 5 because of the abdomens armour 13 is applied to both the hit location AND the total hit points. pg. 26-27 of the starter set book 1 rules: "Armor protects its wearer by subtracting its value from that damage. The rest gets through, subtracted from the hit points of the hit location struck, as well as the adventurer's total hit points." Does that make sense? Or am I missing something?
I can't speak to the starter rules, but I'm fairly certain that you cannot do more total hit point damage than twice the value of a given hit location. (This doesn't matter for a head hit -- your head is destroyed? You're dead.) For example, an elf with 10 total hit points and 3-point arms takes a critical hit to the left arm from a great troll with a greataxe. Suffice it to say that the troll did a *ton* of damage [let's say 25], and the unfortunate elf is a Yelmalio with no armor on that location. The elf's arm is off and will have to be reattached or regenerated (if the elf survives the encounter), but the elf's total hit points are only reduced to 4, not the "instant death" from the other 19 points of damage.
I just looked this up in the core rules an you are correct. The starter set does not have this restriction for Head, Chest, or Abdomen. But in the core rules on page 148 it does state that it's capped at double. The core rules are actually confusing too, it says that for limbs, you're limited to double damage. It doesn't say that for head, chest and abdomen although the example provided has that limit for the head! This example was just running through the starter set for New GM Month, so the starter rules were what I was using. But thanks for the correction, i'll pin a comment!
Congratulations to you and your wife on the baby!
Thank you so much 😀
Congratulations on the baby! I picked these up and still figuring out what I want to run.
They're all great! Once I get through some of the promised Cthulhu by Gaslight scenarios I'm going to start going through the Trail of Cthulhu catalogue too. There's not enough information on those great supplements!
Hello Paddy, greetings from Missouri in the US. 🙂 Recently discovered your channel and I appreciate the review. I just recently got into Call of Cthulhu after years and years of playing D&D (and always struggling to find players who can commit to a regular gaming schedule). It did not take long for CoC 7th Edition to become my favorite RPG, so these videos are useful. Congrats to you & your wife on the birth of your child! 🙂
Thanks so much John! I'm glad you're getting some use out of the videos. Yeah scheduling is the absolute bane of RPGs! Especially if you're trying to get a regular game/campaign going. CoC actually works great for that with there being a lot of one-shots, and you can play with smaller numbers. Glad to hear CoC is becoming your favourite! It's so good!
Nice job on the video!!!
Thank you! I hope you liked it. I wanted to get some information out about Cthulhu by Gaslight before the 7th edition comes out....eventually :p
Interesting. I dont think Ive ever seen a 1 to 1 playthrough done on KZread
That's a great point actually, I never thought of that. You might want to check out Cthulhu Confidential. I've got some reviews of it on this channel, but these guys did an actual play of it: kzread.info/dash/bejne/hWmD2Nx_ocWTlqQ.html
I wonder if a scenario has been written for a married couple as characters/players. I know Scritch Scratch has a married couple within the 4 or 5 playable characters but a scenario written purely for a couple
Good question! None comes to mind immediately I have to say. Usually those decisions are left to the players. I've seen some actual plays where the players are married. It can really lead to much more horrifying situations. In Delta Green you're encouraged to have a normal family/friends outside of delta green, and the post-scenario scenes are really brutal where you have to explain to them why you're always so distant and missing important events (although those friends/family members are NPCs)