Questions tagged [trail-of-cthulhu]
The Trail of Cthulhu is an investigative horror role-playing game designed by Kenneth Hite and published by Pelgrane Press. It uses the GUMSHOE system designed by Robin Laws.
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Combat lethality
Thematically, and with the game's focus, combat in Trail of Cthulhu is supposed to be bad news for players. But if I look at the actual mechanics, I can't see the supposed lethality.
As a crude ...
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Can spending stability lead to a Mythos shock?
Bob faces a Mythos entity and has to make a Stability test or lose 7 Stability. It's been a long day and Bob is already at -2 Stability. Bob's player chooses to spend 4 Stability points in order to (...
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What is a believable in-game explanation of GUMSHOE's spending point system?
I am studying the GUMSHOE system as it is implemented in Trail of Cthulhu and, while I can grasp the logic behind its mechanics, I have a hard time of translating the rules of allocating points to ...
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Playing a cultist [closed]
Is there any commercial setting or scenario to play a cultist in a Cthulhu related game, like Call of Cthulhu or Trail of Cthulhu? Playing the bad guys is a theme that usually come up sometime in most ...
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How to record Trail of Cthulhu spent pool points? [closed]
I couldn't find any suggestion on the core rules, I was thinking on using tick marks, but it seems pretty inefficient.
Is there a better way that I'm missing?
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What are the official GUMSHOE changes to Trail of Cthulhu?
In the Condensed Rules and the Enchiridion of Elucidation they mention rule changes made after the First Edition from Trail of Cthulhu.
Is there a resource that list all the changes? I could find ...
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Character immersion in Trail of Cthulhu
I am part way through running Eternal Lies, a large campaign that uses the Trail of Cthulhu system. I have three players in the group, and we are generally running into an issue with the flow of the ...
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Destroying pillars of sanity
In Trail of Cthulhu characters have three Pillars of Sanity. As their Sanity drops, these can 'crumble from within' and are lost. Is there a mechanic for pillars to be destroyed without the dropping ...
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How can I keep players occupied so they stay motivated, interested & on topic when I'm reading published materials during a session?
I'll be running a new system in my next session; Trail of Cthulhu.
I expect I'll be needing a few minutes between scenes to read up on what happens next... I'm not going to memorize the published ...
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When do you make consciousness rolls?
I'm finding it tricky to understand how often you make consciousness rolls in Trail of Cthulhu. I understand that you have to make them the first time you drop below 1 and become hurt, and again when ...
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What is the minimum number of players you can run Eternal Lies for with little/no adapation?
I am considering running the Eternal Lies campaign for Trail of Cthulhu. However, I might only have three players and am concerned that this might be an issue. Having looked at the campaign I cannot ...
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When taking a non-combat action, do you move to the end of rank order first, or only after acting?
Sorry if it seems like a stupid question but I'm genuinely confused.
On Page 62 of the core rule book it says:
Once the fight has begun, if a
combatant wishes to do something
else besides ...
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What should I expect from "Trail of Cthulhu" as a player?
I'll start soon a Trail of Cthulhu game, and I know next to nothing about Lovecraft or even Cthulhu itself.
What I know is that this game is based more on investigation and discovery (my GM told me ...
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What RPG systems are Designed for a "Traditional" Call of Cthulhu Scenario [closed]
What RPG systems are there for a traditional Call of Cthulhu adventure (e.g. a basic premise of being investigators in 20th century/modern timeframe within the Lovecraft Mythos)? I know that there is ...
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Metafictional Lovecraft in a Call of Cthulhu campaign
Is there an official stance - expressed in the publications of Chaosium and/or its licensees - on how Lovecraft and his works are incorporated metafictionally into the universe of Call of Cthulhu, if ...
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Narrative options in an antique shop, old bookstore or library [closed]
I'm currently storytelling a Delta Green chronicle and, while studying various resources and scenarios, I was extremely intrigued by a scenario called "The Bookstore". That is a great opportunity to ...
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Which technologies/commodities were available during the 30s in the USA? [closed]
I'm going to GM Trail of Cthulhu and would like to know if there is any site that aggregates this kind of information. I've already found this site http://www.paper-dragon.com/1939/; any other ...
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What do I need to change about Call of Cthulhu to set it in the 60s?
I am in the process of planning a CoC game (or Trail of... I've not picked up a copy but it looks interesting) set a long time after the events of the Whisperer in the Darkness. To do so, I wanted to ...
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What are the main differences between Call of Cthulhu and Trail of Cthulhu?
I know that Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu is essentially the official Cthulhu RPG, but I've also heard a lot of good things about Trail of Cthulhu (using the GUMSHOE system). They both seem to be well-...
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Adventuring within Cthulhu Mythos without realizing it?
I intend to start a "Trail of Cthulhu" adventure or campaign, but I would like for the players not to initially know what they are going to be up against. So I would like to present it as a normal ...
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How can I reward Cthulhu characters for going mad?
I like it when, in Cthulhu games, Investigators go mad. With that in mind, I'd like to give some reward for the first Investigator to go mad.
For example, perhaps, at the beginning of the next game, ...
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How can I adapt Gumshoe for a charity game?
At IndieCon, a local convention, we're going to run games for charity.
I'd like to adapt GUMSHOE as a charity game. That is, I'd like people to be able to pay money for specific game-mechanical ...
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Making Sanity/Stability rules for gods more interesting
In Trail of Cthulhu, the rules for seeing a Great Old One or Outer God work as follows. Make a Stability roll, then take additional Stability and Sanity loss, using the table on p.86.
This is ...
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Which published scenarios use Cthulhu himself?
Cthulhu seems difficult to use in scenarios: not least because, according to Lovecraft's story, it takes a ship to kill him.
Which published scenarios feature Cthulhu prominently? I'm mainly ...
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What Investigative Skills for Trail of Cthulhu at time of Sun King?
For a Trail of Cthulhu scenario set during the reign of the Sun King in France (1643 to 1715) what Investigative skills would I keep, remove and add?
anon186
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How can I make a Mi-Go city seem dangerous?
Last week, in our Trail of Cthulhu campaign, the Investigators found a Mi-Go city. They needed to go in, to rescue someone trapped inside.
However, my description of the city fell rather flat. ...
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What should I read/watch for information about the 1930s United States? [closed]
I'm currently writing a Trail of Cthulhu campaign, in which Investigators travel across the United States in the 1930s. To get inspiration for the scenarios, I read books and watch movies about ...
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How should I handle hallucinogens in Trail of Cthulhu?
I have an adventure that involves consuming native entheogens in order to see and combat the Evil Badness From Beyond Time. The Investigators who do will be tripping balls, and I'm not sure how to ...
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