How do I get into Cthulhu?

[Christian]

I've been lurking on the outskirts of this part of LAF for a long time... you could say... aeons. Like some strange outcast, with big googly eyes and a ...

Anyway!

I have read a fair bit of Lovecraft, Hellboy is my favourite comic (for the occult content). The setting of the Cthulhu stuff is great and it fits with all my interwar miniatures.

So... what next? I have .45 Adventures which seems to me a great way to play this type of genre: a bit of skirmishing but there's plenty of mystery and clues to find.

I'm sort of running this off the top of my head! What do I need to start playing some Call of Cthulhu?

[Commander Vyper]

I've been lurking on the outskirts of this part of LAF for a long time... you could say... aeons. Like some strange outcast, with big googly eyes and a ...

Anyway!

I have read a fair bit of Lovecraft, Hellboy is my favourite comic (for the occult content). The setting of the Cthulhu stuff is great and it fits with all my interwar miniatures.

So... what next? I have .45 Adventures which seems to me a great way to play this type of genre: a bit of skirmishing but there's plenty of mystery and clues to find.

I'm sort of running this off the top of my head! What do I need to start playing some Call of Cthulhu?

Join your local cult and the rest is easy....

Good figure ranges out there, I'd go for some of the old grenadier stuff through Em4 miniatures, cheap as chips and give you a nice core range to get to grips with. Fenris Games have a great selection of Deep ones and Black Cat Games have just relaunched all their cthulhu stuff and have some really nice new additions spotted at salute.

Strange Aeons, (not played it yet but good reviews) with Uncle Mike here on LAF would be a good investment too.

http://www.fenrisgames.com/ Link to ebay store

http://www.em4miniatures.com/acatalog/Dunwich_Detectives.html

http://blackcatbases.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=437_562 lost and strange, cultists, cthulhu stuff etc..

Enjoy.

The Commander

[jnr]

Depends if you want role playing or want to go the skirmish route.
The skirmish games is easy to play threshold agent you start out with  15 points and  around 3 to 4 agents equiped and you build them up as you win with skills.
The lurkers is given the same amout of points  they can spend on any set up they like one big monster,or two small monsters, or cultists or a mixture of both, but you dont build up a group of lurkers like the agents, you pick or skill up the lurkers to the same point level as the agents.
here is a link to there resources page you can download the try out the sample game kit.
http://strange-aeons.ca/sa/?page_id=23

[Red Orc]

Really what you need is an old professor who became a recluse a dozen years or so ago after something went wrong on an archaeological expedition he was involved with, who then sends you a somewhat cryptic note hinting that he has found something very interesting but potentially dangerous, but you must meet him at once on the old library on the outskirts of town in the dark without a torch.

Then take it from there.

I don't play .45 adventures I'm afraid, so it's difficult to know exactly. But beyond a collection of minis (and like you I'm rather of the opinion that VBCW/Pulp minis are fine for Cthulhu and vice versa), some idea of background (and why not the Occult Wars from Hellboy? Cthulhu was obvioously a big inspiration), and a ruleset (check), some other players and a few storylines are the main requirements I'd have thought.

What Call of Cthulhu, the old RPG (role playing game not rocket propelled grenade... now there's a thought...) anyway what CoC recommends is that adventures should be like onions. You 'solve' a layer and it just leads to another layer. It's a detective game, with villains that drive you irrevocably insane and then eat you.

Not sure how easy that would be to do on the tabletop, but if the idea is to develop a story with the games being the action points - shootout with the cultists at the old graveyard, leading to attacking the barn to rescue the prisoners, leading to exploring the caverns to flush out the ghouls, leading to fleeing through the woods to escape being eaten - then it shouldn't be too hard. If you look at it like a campaign, results of one battle feed into the next while keeping the general plot going - in game one the cultists win, so they get an extra couple of guards in the jailbreak scenario; in game two the investigators win so they get a free move in the cavern exploration before the ghouls are aware of them; in game three neither side fulfills its objectives so in game for it's randomly determined who moves first when the party has to flee, etc.

Anyway; there's some thoughts. Let us know how you get on!

[Argonor]

I almost replied: 'Just invoke him, and you'll get in there fast enough' 

[OSHIROmodels]

How do I get into Cthulhu?

I almost replied: 'Just invoke him, and you'll get in there fast enough'

I would've said that he gets into you 

cheers

James

[Christian]

Hahaha... great responses from everybody. As always Thanks!

[richarDISNEY]

If you are going for the Minis route...  Strange Aeons is the way to go.

For the RPG..  well...  stay FAR away from "Trail of Cthulhu".  It has a wonky game mechanic for bad/uncreative GMs, which, IMO, rips off the players from having a good "Cthulhu" experience.

[dreamingleopard]

If you are looking to find an rpg group to play with, check out sites such as these:

http://cthulhu.meetup.com/
http://www.yog-sothoth.com/forums/28-Meetings-amp-Greetings

or call/visit your local game store and ask for the game club of the area

or go to a convention (where you should find GOOD gamekeepers):
http://www.chaosium.com/article.php?story_id=90&topic_id=59

Don't give up on your first experience playing - it takes imagination, a bit of prep time to run a CoC game, and some gamekeepers are not as experienced with it as they might be.  Give him/her some time, find a new group, or have a go at running one yourself.

You can get the basic rules and a few free scenarios and a bunch of aids simply by creating a quick signup, log in and download:
http://catalog.chaosium.com/product_info.php?products_id=3700 (Quick Start Rules are free)
http://catalog.chaosium.com/fdm_folder_files.php?fPath=3 (lots of scenarios and gamekeeper aids for free)

Call of Cthulhu RPG doesn't actually require miniatures or props, but I find them handy for setting the "stage" so to speak, and battle scenes become much easier to deal with when you've got the minis.

If you haven't got the minis yet, you can always find paper printout standups for free by entering these words into Google: Cthulhu paper miniatures

But trust me... you'll want to set some money aside for the real THINGS... cardstock doesn't take washes too well.  Found that out during my incarceration at the asylum...   

[Christian]

I probably won't be going the full RPG route, rather smaller miniature based games.

I agree with the things, though. I have a nasty one...


(from RAFM website).

[Argonor]

I probably won't be going the full RPG route, rather smaller miniature based games.

I agree with the things, though. I have a nasty one...


(from RAFM website).

Play Strange Aeons. Start with 3-5 models per side.

[Christian]

So... trange Aeons vs. .45 Adventures... how do you differentiate the two?

[Argonor]

Strange Aeons is simpler - and VERY C'thulhu.

.45A is more generic Pulp, and for now you have to make up your Mythos-monsters (and your scenarios) yourself, whereas they are already in SA.

If you're interested in Mythos, go for SA first - but don't restrict yourself to that. .45A is a very nice Pulp ruleset.

Just my 50 øre.

[Christian]

Worth more than 50 øre 

From what I gather there is a strong psychological element to SA that is lacking from .45 Adventures?

[Argonor]

Yes, a lot of the 'Lurker' creatures are Hideous or otherwise cause Resiliance checks when in base with human models (ALL human models, that is, not just the heroes) - or when you want to charge them.

It's been a while since I read the .45A rules, but I think it is possible to work something like that into that game, too - causing GUTS checks, instead...

But if you want that Mythos-feel right from the start, still go for SA - then, if you want to add more faxctions (for multiplayer games, for instance), use the .45A rules which are very good at handling adventure games with more sides.