Session Prep for The Haunting (Call of Cthulhu)

[@rebeccagrawl7653]

It turned in to a really fun one-shot!

[@nataliehodgins5577]

Thank you so much for sharing this! I love how you've organised it all. Going to take some of this and use it on my next game.

[@kryss187]

Im about to do this in a couple of weeks, this helped me out a lot. thank you from a first time keeper!

[@matthewconstantine5015]

I don't think I ever went back and did a post-game video. I probably should have. I recommend being ready to move clues between sites that make sense. There are, I think, about six sites they might be inclined to check out, but I found the players getting antsy to get to the finale by about the third site. The finale is more of a classic "dungeon," but man, my players didn't follow any kind of expected path there. I don't think they even got to the basement. And of course, the frequent end of a Call of Cthulhu scenario, they fled the building as it burned down. I highly recommend checking out Seth Skorkowsky's review & keeper advice video if you haven't seen it. He has some great info and some great suggestions.

[@kryss187]

@@matthewconstantine5015 Thanks for the advice!

[@tabletopgamingwithwolfphototec]

In my own opinion. Paper Chase , is the best starter scenario. The Haunting , is the best runner up / follow up to it.

[@matthewconstantine5015]

I've never run Paper Chase. If I remember right, it's written to be a one-on-one session, which I like quite a bit. I've been thinking more and more about how Call of Cthulhu might actually work better, at least if you're trying to "stay true" to the source material, in one-on-one games.

[@tabletopgamingwithwolfphototec]

@matthewconstantine5015 Yep. The best part of paper chase is that the ending can be done without violence ( just talking ) if the players. So it helps establish that not all scenarios can be completed without use of violence.

[@bloodyswordsvids4463]

I'm running this game next week. It is my first time running Call of Cthulhu. Any suggestions?

[@matthewconstantine5015]

My big suggestion is to be free with clues. Sometimes the scenario has clues hidden. I normally leave them out in the open. I also tried to have back-up locations for clues. Like, if a bunch of info is at the police department, I can move it to the courthouse if they go there. Also, if you're trying to run it in a single session, you might try to condense places they go to find clues down to three, with the fourth location being the final confrontation. Maybe even less, as you'll probably want the titular haunted house to be the second half of the scenario (although my players knocked it out in like 40 minutes, as they saw a few bad things, set a fire and ran). I also watched Seth Skorkowsky's video on this scenario and found it very helpful. I didn't use all his recommendations, but they're good. Good luck and have fun!

[@bloodyswordsvids4463]

@@matthewconstantine5015 good advice. Thank you.