Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Call of Cthulhu => Topic started by: Mr. Peabody on April 16, 2014, 07:09:46 PM
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So I bought the .pdf and started running 'Three Kings', Call of Cthulhu version, with our regular RPG group. This is something that has been tempting me fiercely and I jumped at the chance to run it when the opportunity came along. Our first session was just last night... We had a lot of fun, and I am impressed with 'Three Kings', but I'm going to be a little bit critical of this adventure module.
Great artwork, but a busy layout, this has been said elsewhere and I agree. The document looks good, but important information is hard to scan because of page clutter. I do appreciate the .pdf being well annotated and bookmarked for use on a tablet. While some of this is clunky, requiring multiple 'stabs' to navigate to a topic, all the important information is easy to find!
Other reviews mention the repetition of information, that it amounts to 'padding' to increase the page-count. But I don't mind having useful information at my fingertips, even to the point of redundancy, providing it helps the gaming session maintain momentum or if information is repeated as part of reference or 'player only' sections to be printed out or otherwise distributed.
The plot line is fun and clearly geared towards action. The GM and players are given direction without too much detail so it's easy to tailor the story to suit your group. The adventure is presented in a scene-by-scene format, but it isn't stuck rigidly on a rail. Draw inspiration from your favourite films and linking the different elements of the Three Kings plot-lines together will be exciting and fun.
A few things jump out and are worth spending some time on before gathering your buddies at the table...
All the characters sporting MP38 smg's have a wicked good, 70% skill. Every one of them. Regardless of faction, or role. It looks a lot like a straight up cut-and-paste error. By contrast the average weapon skill for player and non-player characters alike, is around 30-40%. Consider tweaking this.
None of the otherwise excellent pre-generated characters have any additional sneak or hide skill, just the basic 10%. Could be bad news for a team of operatives parachuting behind enemy lines.
None of the basic German adversaries (troops & officers) have a Spot Hidden skill, but the best aspects of the random encounters with the German patrols call for them to make Spot Hidden rolls.
Now these aren't game breakers; it's easy enough to come up with some suitable numbers before going into your game. But they could be real stumbling blocks for a GM eager to dive right in. Be prepared and fun will follow.
Recommended. For Call of Cthulhu GM's with moderate experience. Expect mucho gun-play and daring-do.
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Excellent Points all :D!
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Good review and some excellent points. Now the main Achtung! Cthulhu books (both fantastic reads) are out, they are talking about revising the pdf versions of their original 3 adventures to bring them into alignment and correct some of these oversights.
I'm looking to use Savage Worlds instead of CoC when I finally get around to running this as I felt it fitted the more action oriented slant of the adventure.
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Yup, having run 'Tour of Darkness', I would agree that Savage Worlds could handle Achtung! Cthulhu very well indeed... Especially when it comes to encounters with entire squads of military types.
Hope that Modiphius makes the updated .pdf's available when they make the necessary changes and corrections. :?
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Certainly the last I heard they would be updating the pdfs on DriveThruRPG.com, so if you bought it through there, you should get access to the updated version for free. No idea when the update is coming though.
There's quite a spectacular healing smg in the Keeper's guide. It's damage is printed as 1-3D6 ;)
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Ohhh maaannn! Wish I could play!!
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Bro, I wish you were at the table... This game was made for you.
We'll host a mega-Achtung! Cthulhu session for you asap. Also, I think Three Kings will make for some very memorable Vlad's Army 7TV episodes. 8) :o 8)
May want to explore this in 20mm, especially now that I have about 60 Heer, Luftwaffe and other zombies on order with Elhiem Figures (http://www.elhiemfigures.com/ourshop/prod_3041388-ZOM05-P30-Nazi-Zombies-SS.html).
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We'll host a mega-Achtung! Cthulhu session for you asap. Also, I think Three Kings will make for some very memorable Vlad's Army 7TV episodes. 8) :o 8)
I agree with the 7TV episodes thing, or SA black dossiers. I've been thinking about doing the same for some of the other campaign books
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Hey there the revised Three Kings should be out this week for all those who've purchased it, or thinking about purchasing it
EndTransmission - where did you see that SMG in the Keeper's Guide?
If you're interested in the minis we've just released them as 3 figure blisters in our store and they're now heading in to retail 4 blisters every month.
http://www.modiphius.com/shop.html#!/~/category/id=9099174&offset=0&sort=addedTimeDesc (http://www.modiphius.com/shop.html#!/~/category/id=9099174&offset=0&sort=addedTimeDesc)
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The Three Kings adventure was a big hit with our group. Lots of cat-&-mouse action all through the countryside around the castle culminating in an epic showdown that left everyone -even the dead- satisfied.
As a die-hard fan of the classic 1920's setting, this was one of the most unusual Call of Cthulhu adventures I had ever run... Now I'm eager to see the Eastern Front Source Book!
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Got my Revised Three Kings. Very impressed with the changes. Reviewed it for DriveThru RPG (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_reviews.php?products_id=131395).
Makes me want to run the adventure all over again! ;D :-*
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Great review Peabs! Can I play?!:)
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You know it!