Role-playing Games Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for gamemasters and players of tabletop, paper-and-pencil role-playing games. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
This weekend, I'm running my first game (and a demo) of Esoterrorists.
What resources do I need in order to prepare?
Potential resources include:
Running advice is also welcome.
The only book you need is The Esoterrorists.
If you read another, I'd suggest The Book of Unremitting Horror. It has some superb monsters in it: you can choose almost any one and have a ready-made scenario. It's worth reading the Book of Unremitting Horror just for the tone of it: it'll add a particularly nasty undercurrent to your game.
You could also read The Esoterror Fact Book, which has some extra background. For me, the most useful stuff is the crunchier combat stuff. You can do sniper shots to the head, for example. It works well.
Pregens: The advantage to pregens is that Esoterrorists characters can be fairly sparse. By doing pregens, you can give them some backstory. On the other hand, character generation is so quick that you might as well let the players make their own characters. You can do it within twenty minutes.
Advice while running: Don't forget the Veil Out. Whatever the PCs do, they should cover up as they go along. For example, after a gunfight, they might start rumours that someone let off fireworks. This adds another layer to the play.
Prewritten scenarios: I hear Six Packed and Profane Miracles are good, but I don't really know. However, if you get the Book of Unremitting Horror, you'll find that a scenario readily constructs itself around any monster.
If you happen to be running the example session in the Esoterrorists book then you will want to scour the notes towards the end of the second act for the information about the actual identities of the perpetrators of the crime in Act I. I played in a "dress rehearsal" of that session to help out someone who was running that game at this year's GenCon and he couldn't find those details.
Nothing lets down an investigative game more that not being able to find out whodunnit at the end. I have a copy of the book and read the notes after the session and found it does tell you, just not till the very end of the notes.
Aside from that, no, you don't need the GUMSHOE book. Three investigators is probably a good number. If you are running the scenario I mention prepare them to not get too attached to their characters. But that goes without saying...
