GrogHeads Forum

Tabletop Gaming, Models, and Minis => Role-Playing & Adventure Gaming => Topic started by: airboy on May 14, 2018, 10:08:42 AM

Title: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: airboy on May 14, 2018, 10:08:42 AM
I've written a very detailed Call of Cthulhu (pulp Cthulhu variant) adventure.  I think it could be run as a forum game.

I would need six people to play characters.  There is a pretty intensive initial combat scene which starts out.  Then investigation.  Then probably more combat.

I think it could be run with two threads - one with what everyone in the party knows and then a second thread which lets the general reader know what is going on overall if you knew what every player knows.

So if there is interest by at least 6 people I'm willing to give this a try.

This is what all 6 of the characters know at the start of the game:
1] It is April 2, 1915

2] In Europe, World War 1 rages.  The two sides are the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary) and the Entente (France, United Kingdom and Russia).  The German Army swept through Belgium and almost knocked France out of the war inflicting huge casualties.  The Russians had success in their initial offensives.  But the Germans counter-attacked the Russians and destroyed the Russian 2nd Army at Tannenberg.  In less than a year of war, there are more than 2.5 million dead in Europe not counting the wounded, missing or prisoners.  Everyone expects the wholesale killing to resume in Spring, 1915.

3] President Woodrow Wilson has declared the USA to be neutral in the conflict.  Military equipment will not be sold to either side.  Non-military items are sold freely to everyone.  The USA wants freedom of the seas and freedom of trade.

3] Baltimore is the 6th largest city in the USA.  Business is booming because of exports to the Great War combatants.  Anyone willing to work can get a job.  Wages are rising. 

4] Baltimore is the oldest Archdiocese of the Catholic Church and James Gibbons was appointed Bishop at the young age of 34 in 1877 and is still serving. 

5] Crime is rising.  The Nicosa crime family supposedly controls most of the drugs, prostitution, gambling, and other crimes.  Most crime and vice is located in the dock area.  The docks and surrounding housing is racially mixed.  This year a new negro crime organization – The Yellow King Gang gained a foothold in Baltimore.  Killings of lowlife criminals and their cohorts is on the rise.

6] Last week a medium sized warehouse caught fire, exploded and was destroyed.  Surrounding buildings were heavily damaged.  Newspapers claimed the warehouse had illegal munitions for smuggled export.  German agents destroyed a British Warehouse, or vice-versa.  Like most big cities in the 1910s, Baltimore has many newspapers and different newspapers blame different groups for the warehouse fire.

7] A new addictive drug appeared last year (1914) called "Yellow Smooth."  Some users become violent.  Sometimes the offenders strip their clothes and attack others.  This has alarmed law-abiding citizens and the police.

8] The sixteen year old daughter of a prominent Methodist Minister (Dorothy Sawyer) was kidnapped last month.  The papers reported she was recovered after being ransomed.  Dorothy is reportedly in a Pennsylvania care facility recovering.  Her parents, the Reverend John and Mrs. Amelia Sawyer thanked God for answering their prayers.
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: bbmike on May 14, 2018, 10:18:12 AM
Never played Cthulhu. Would we need the rules or anything. Count me in as interested.
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: airboy on May 14, 2018, 10:44:59 AM
Quote from: bbmike on May 14, 2018, 10:18:12 AM
Never played Cthulhu. Would we need the rules or anything. Count me in as interested.

Rules are very simple.  You want to "roll low" on a percentile die.  There is a lot of investigation.  This is more combat based than most Cthulhu scenarios.  If you have ever played any RPG you should be able to play this.
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: bbmike on May 14, 2018, 11:48:56 AM
Ok. I have the 7th edition Quick Start rules. I'll take a look at it.
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: Nefaro on May 14, 2018, 02:10:10 PM
Aw, man.  Hopefully I can get in on a future one, or start a later play-by-post myself.

Getting down to crunch time for selling house & moving so I'll probably be intermittent for awhile.  Have fun guys!
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: Dammit Carl! on May 14, 2018, 07:34:53 PM
Sounds interesting; what kind of schedule are you thinking of in terms of posting and replying?
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: airboy on May 15, 2018, 09:03:04 AM
Quote from: Dammit Carl! on May 14, 2018, 07:34:53 PM
Sounds interesting; what kind of schedule are you thinking of in terms of posting and replying?

There will be consultation with the players, but my initial idea is a seven day turn-around after information is posted on investigation.
Combat - it would run faster if I did all of the rolls based on specific guidelines from the players - but this would be after combat is actually engaged.  Otherwise, we would need to have everyone either online or with a proxy to another player to run all of the combat rolls.  The combat part is the only segment that I think could bog down badly if everyone had to roll and we had a long time lag.


Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: BanzaiCat on May 15, 2018, 09:12:49 AM
I hate to commit to any forum games as my schedule's been really wonky for the last year or so. I wouldn't mind giving it a try though.
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: Dammit Carl! on May 15, 2018, 10:56:17 AM
I'm certainly game; so 7th edition Pulp Cthulhu then?  Pregens or we make our characters?

(primes DriveThru account accordingly as I flipping love "pulp," stuff)
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: airboy on May 15, 2018, 11:31:33 AM
Quote from: Dammit Carl! on May 15, 2018, 10:56:17 AM
I'm certainly game; so 7th edition Pulp Cthulhu then?  Pregens or we make our characters?

(primes DriveThru account accordingly as I flipping love "pulp," stuff)

Pregens.  Some have personal "backgrounds" that others don't know.  Some are open books.  Some are known to their friends but not others.  If I get 6 interested I'll give a description of the pregens and let people choose.
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: Dammit Carl! on May 15, 2018, 11:47:41 AM
Sweet.  Random character pick for me, then, as I'm wacky like that.
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: bbmike on May 15, 2018, 12:06:51 PM
Nice! I hope this works. If so I just might start a Post Apocalyptic or Star Trek forum game. Or a combination of both. Don't laugh, I already have that campaign outlined.  8)
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: Dammit Carl! on May 15, 2018, 12:29:41 PM
Or Post-Apocalyptic Star Trek?  That'd be wicked.

Their tattered, red shirts flapped in the wind as, in a frenzy, the humanoid figures gripped the sides of the speeding groundcar while they chased after their victims' similar groundcar over the blasted, dusty plain.

Quickly closing the distance with their target, the groundcar carrying the red clothed berserkers erupted in greater noise as the passengers began screaming in a mindless bloodlust - their prey was within reach at long last!

Pulling alongside the first groundcar, the berserkers made themselves ready to jump on board the doomed machine. "Captain," the largest of the red clothed madmen cried as he shook his crude spear skyward, "Witness me!"
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: besilarius on May 16, 2018, 06:28:01 AM
Schedule is so iffy, afraid I'd be a drag on the game.
It looks like you've done a log of research on Baltimore?  If you haven't read it, Mencken's autobiography "Newspaper Days" is really immersive.
Also, the German agents in Baltimore worked out of the Charles Street Kinkos in downtown.  *Well Fedex Office now.)
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: airboy on May 16, 2018, 02:39:42 PM
This is not looking so good.  We need 6 participants.  I've PMed a couple of people.  Most responses are: I don't want to do this, but I really want to read the AAR."
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: bbmike on May 16, 2018, 02:49:39 PM
Dang. I was hoping there would be more interest in this and RPG forum games here. Do you really need 6 people?
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: airboy on May 16, 2018, 07:49:36 PM
I could run one of the six as an NPC.  But Mike and Carl are the only two hard confirms.  We have two others who have life conflicts who have expressed interest.

I could try to run it with two hard commits, 2 others who will participate as they can, and one NPC - but it will not do as well.

Can either of you scrounge up two more people?  This is not a rules heavy game.  It is more investigation and the combat is not complicated. 
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: Nefaro on May 16, 2018, 08:02:17 PM
Quote from: airboy on May 16, 2018, 07:49:36 PM
I could run one of the six as an NPC.  But Mike and Carl are the only two hard confirms.  We have two others who have life conflicts who have expressed interest.

I could try to run it with two hard commits, 2 others who will participate as they can, and one NPC - but it will not do as well.

Can either of you scrounge up two more people?  This is not a rules heavy game.  It is more investigation and the combat is not complicated.

Sorry, airboy.  Terrible timing for me, I'm gonna be in a distracting time crunch soon. 

Hopefully you'll find a few steadies.  Probably better to have fewer players, but ones who stick with it, than many with a high dropout rate.   Plan for the worst, hope for the best!  :peace:
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: bayonetbrant on May 16, 2018, 09:50:58 PM
I think you're just running into the tyranny of the calendar as the summer time is when you got lots of folks on vacation with the kids out of school, and of course game conventions to attend :)
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: airboy on May 16, 2018, 10:22:39 PM
I'm not teaching in the Summer - so I have the time to do it now.  The rest of the year I work.  We are also about to wrap up College Baseball and Softball.  College Basketball is a huge time sink for me.
Title: Re: Interested in a Grogheads Cthulhu Forum Game?
Post by: Dammit Carl! on May 17, 2018, 02:31:16 PM
Can't help much on my end as all my gaming buddies have gone away (from games and such in general to be precise).