I was running an AD&D game for almost 4 years, with the occasional Star Trek Adventures thrown in just to mix things up a bit. Then the pandemic hit. We chose to continue our gaming over zoom but I didn't want to run D&D or STA that way.
I thought about it and figured Call of Cthulhu (3E) would be a good fit: simple, rules-lite and mostly narrative play.
The plan was to run a short campaign and I figured (or hoped) they'd end up dying horribly by a huge clawed monster or go insane and have to be locked away from society, permanently. I made a handful of pre-made characters for my players to pick from: I wanted some cohesion in why they would be working together and better skills than a new, starting character. Everyone picked their guy and were allowed to make a few changes here and there if they didn't like something I had allotted.
So, after a bit of tweaking, here are the stars of our show (portraits and background chosen/ written by players):
Clyde Arizona James is a renowned Professor of Archaeology at Miskatonic University with a strong interest in the occult. Arizonia spends much of his time travelling abroad searching for relics from ancient cults and forgotten civilizations. He is also looking for his supervisor, Jim Idaho, who vanished while on an expedition in Central America, five years ago. Arizonia is a skilled mechanic and pilot. He loves animals (especially snakes).
Born August 29th, 1878, in Providence, Rhode Island, second of two sounds to Clive and Michelle Dockery. Became involved in writing about, and publishing, articles in local and state papers regarding civil corruptions and working class causes during high school. Graduated from Browns University, writing both journalism and fiction during and after graduation. Married Isabelle Chastain, 1903, Served as a lieutenant in WWI from 1917-18: got “Dear John” letter in Oct. 1918. Continues to write journalism and fiction from social justice causes.
Born in the United States of America (Innsmouth Massachusetts). Parents were German immigrants. Served with the American Expeditionary Forces during WWI, within the Tank Corps. Earned the nickname “Gunner,” for his natural aptitude for violence and track record for blowing s#@* up on the battlefield. Since retiring from the army, he has been taking contracts that require his special “skill set."
Born July 20th, 1885 Auckland. New Zealand Mountaineer and Antarctic explorer who was the first to reach the summit of Mount Logan (5,595 meters) and was also one of the first of four teams to explore and ascend Everest in 1924.
He never anticipated his mountain climbs or explorations to the Antarctic would claim the attention and following that would soon come. He was knighted in 1925, shortly after his expedition returned to London from Everest. From 1923-1925 he served as New Zealand’s high commissioner to India, Nepal. The Hillary family fortune enabled him to high levels of education and several homes abroad. This spawned his love for language, mountain climbing, race cars and flying. After his climb of Mt. Everest, one of his main interests was the welfare of the Himalayan peoples of Nepal, especially the Sherpas.
Edmund’s first expedition in 1902 was the first attempt to scale K2. It was led by English mountaineer Oscar Eckenstein and English occultist Aleister Crowley.
I wanted to do something different this time for Call of Cthulhu. I wanted to have these players confront the worst horrors imaginable in the entire mythos, to come face to face with the monstrosities we only joked about meeting, and let their choices and the dice determine the outcomes.
Death and insanity are usually inevitable in Call of Cthulhu. Going out as a hero is not.
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