System: Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)
Adventure: Paper Chase
Players: Mum & Dad
GM: Me
Session length: 3h
The Starter Set
This was the first time my mum and dad have played Call
of Cthulhu. It isn't their first time playing a pencil and paper roleplaying
game, however. A couple of years ago I ran The
Portal Under the Stars for them one evening and they really enjoyed the
chaos of it.
Back then, I didn't give them full character sheets as I didn't want to overwhelm them with mechanics. This time, though, I gave them some of the pre-gens included in the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set to choose from and made photocopies for them to use.
The 7th Edition Call of Cthulhu Starter Set has some really cool adventures in it. If you want to know more about it, this video review is great. My good friend Capingreen bought me the game as a gift last Christmas. After reading through it and playing the solo adventure, I hadn't got round to playing it with anyone else. Since I have got back in the role-playing swing of things lately, I thought I should get the Starter Set out again and try some of those adventures.
Report
Paper Chase is a short, simple adventure designed for
one investigator and one keeper (one player, one referee), though it can easily
be run for two players. It's a great tone piece, with a simple hook that hints
at a darker mystery and an undercurrent of sadness. It doesn't go too hard on
the more intense content that can be found in other Call of Cthulhu adventures,
so it's suitable for players who aren't sure whether or not they want to play
this type of game.
My parents aren't too keen on the more occult themes in
other adventures (séances are a no-go!) so this one was perfect for them.
I'll not spoil the module here, since it's so short and I think it's a nice one for new referees to try.
The setup is that both investigators are members of Miskatonic University's Society for the Exploration of the Unexplained in the fictional city of Arkham. They receive a letter from a Thomas Kimball, asking them to investigate a simple burgulary. Upon reaching his house, however, Thomas asks them if they can find out any information about the strange disappearance of his uncle a year earlier. After some investigating, the investigators discovered the truth and survived to tell the tale…
Thoughts
When I've played Call of Cthulhu games, the thing I remember and love the most is the atmosphere. The strong sense of setting, the seemingly mundane beginning, using skills such as "Library Use" and "Archaeology", and the slow descent into dark and terrifying situations.
This was my first time actualy running the game, and I wanted to achieve some of that atmosphere and pacing in my game. I think it was a success.
Rules – The rules were easy for everyone to understand. Almost all rolls are d100 roll under your skill or attribute, so there’s no confusion over which die to roll.
Improvising NPC conversations – always difficult for me, I think it's just something that gets better with practice.
Page flipping – I didn't give myself enough time to properly read the scenario beforehand, so when my mum and dad were asking me lots of specific questions, I had to page flip quite a bit to find the info. Not a big deal, though.
Pacing – We played through three or four scenes of initial investigation before I had an NPC suggest something that would push them towards the conclusion. That was about 30 mins of setting and character introduction, an hour and a half of initial investigation, and about an hour of higher intensity conclusion. It worked perfectly.
A very good adventure and game, would play again!
Update 23/05/2024
I did play it again, twice! Once with three players and once with one player
Three Players - There isn't quite enough in here to hold the attention of three players, I don't think. Or maybe my players weren't all that interested to begin with. There was a lot of cross-table talk and mobile phone usage. One player kept asking if they could find any treasure chests.
One Player - This was my third time running the game, and it was by far the smoothest experience. For this time through, I decided to use some face-down cards and a smattering of d4s as a kind of abstract play area. Each card represented a building and the d4s represented characters. It was a nice addition to the game.
Slán,
Harry