HP Lovecraft's American War of Independence
This is an idea I have kicked around for about 2 years now. I never mentioned it because I had heard some grumbling about horror related stuff from the group previously, yet Saturday when Ben, Dieter and I were chatting in the wee small hours it seemed like there might be some interest. Even if I never actually do this with the group, Ill probably write the scenario just because it interests me.
Contents
What is it?
This is not a campaign, or at least its not planned as one. Who knows what may happen, especially in a horror themed game. Generally in Cthulhu games there are a couple of sessions of investigation, then a moment of decision where the players either jump headlong into the meat grinder, with about half of them mentally or physically ravaged permanently, or a group choice to ignore what they have discovered. After that, the game can continue or disband. Projection to moment of decision: 1-5 sessions.
Campaign Idea
What if the game had a supernatural bent, but was not a 'horror' game? I previously had this idea about superheroes during the Revolution, but could never get the ideas to coalesce in my head. I think now I might have it, partially inspired by this new board game we just got: A Touch Of Evil[1]. Its a decent, but not great game. The pieces are awesome, and its almost a really good game.
The players would be supra-normal in some way, and all on the same side. They would work to combat supernatural elements which terrorize the countryside, cities, or whatever. They could also be opposed by agents from the other side of the conflict who are working to spread fear, paranoia and other psychological warfare and therefore undermine the war effort.
Character Generation
The game would be played in the Hero system. Players would have the option of choosing one of three levels of character. The first would be 200 points. These characters could have minor powers (anything that isnt particularly overt) and would not have normal characteristic maxima. The next level is 225 points. These characters would have normal characteristic maxima, but could have minor powers as the previous level. The final level is 250 points. These characters must have NCM and cannot buy powers of any kind (except things Hero classifies as powers, but arent, like +1 PER). All powers and origins must have some kind of supernatural explanation.
There are two possible ways to play this game. The first is listed above, the supernatural low horror game. Players as supra-normal, supernatural creatures or investigators working against similar enemies. The other is true to the Lovecraft inspiration of the game. That would be normals working against beings they cannot fathom or hope to defeat. They can, however, thwart their plans by thwarting their minions and somehow delay the oncoming horror. This is inherently quite different.
If this second game were played, there are two possible ways. One is with Hero, characters would be normals 50/50. The other is with a new game I recently downloaded, Trail of Cthulhu [2].
Preparation
No H. I want to be prepared for this game so we can actually play it with a last minute cancellation. This means anyone who is interested should submit a character as soon as they can. Then I can be ready for a minuteman game.
Where would it take place?
Given the nature of the pre-USA colonies, a setting in New England would be very different from a mid or southern colonies game, yet any could be quite interesting. New York or Massachusetts would probably be the most Lovecraftian of any setting, but this is not necessary to the mood.
Setting Notes
Originally I had planned this as a New York game. That would have been great for normal people overmatched by Cthulhu and his minions, but for monster hunters/busters, I think something more rural is good, but still near a major urban setting. Somewhere just west of Philadelphia, in southern Pennsylvania would be a good choice. I dont know the environs well, but I can learn it.
Does anyone have an opinion?
Also, some notes on weapons: muskets take 3 full phases to use. I am trying to figure out exactly how to simulate this. Pistols will probably take 2 full phases. Rifles are probably about the same as muskets (except that they cant affix a bayonet).
Something I am going to try implementing in all of my games which use weapons: RMod bonuses will only come into effect if the Brace maneuver is used. In other words, you cant use a scope if you dont actually take time to use it. Just pointing a gun in a general direction doesnt really utilize its accuracy.
How about when?
I think the best time would be when the war outlook is most bleak, sometime before the battle of Saratoga (9-10 1777).
And the protagonists?
If done well, having conflicting political beliefs between the characters might be extremely interesting. Of course, this would necessitate excellent GMing, quite possibly more than I can provide. An easier solution is a small group of patriots or Tories, united in ideology and geography, but still quite independent of each other. This could allow a great diversity of archetypes and professions.
A link to call their own
I think the best way to link the players, which works just as well with Tories and revolutionaries, is if all of them have seen something no one else believes, except the other players. Every player has witnessed the supernatural, and no one believes them. Its such a stigma that they tell no one, for fear of being ostracised. Somehow, the players become aware that others have borne witness, which can link them at least in this endeavor.
Instead of just being witness, each of the PCs will have been subjected to terrible nightmares for a period of time previous to the game. It will be up to the players if they have told anyone of this. The game will begin with all of the players at a location they saw in a recent dream. They all came individually, and no one else knows they are there.
Comments
are on the discussion page
I have considered using Deadlands or a hybrid of such for this. The system might make for something interesting. The CoC system is easy, and seems to fit the genre well enough, but I have this intuition that Deadlands might work better for this.
I have backtracked on this and am 80% firm on using the standard CoC rules set. I may use an earlier version than the current 6th edition, but the changes should be minimal. There might be a slight tweak here and there.
System Stuff
For the knuckleheads among you who are like me and are interested in monkeying around with stuff, here is a link to a character generator and some rules packs: [3]
Never read HP Lovecraft?
here is an excerpt from The Rats in the Walls
--Matts 17:28, 29 May 2007 (MST)Look, just buy one of the books and read it already if you haven't read HP Lovecraft. Any other course of action would be doing yourself a disservice.
