• Call of Cthulhu

    Call of Cthulhu – Dead Men Don’t Cry, They Only Go Insane (6/25)

    Last weekend was the first time in a very, very, very long time we’ve all gotten together for a good and proper p&p rpg, and what’s more it was Call of Cthulhu! We had a lot of fun, drank a lot of sugar, and even had a few special guest stars. Who were they? Well I’m glad you asked! Here was our rogue’s gallery:

    Returning cast:

    Bruce McPherson, Professor of Physics and Canes at Miskatonic U., played by Enoch
    Johnny Ikea, Pilot with a Degree in Gastronomy (also Medicine), played by David
    Harry Gallagher, Unstable Sergent in the U.S. Army, played by Kevin

    New to the party were:

    Micky “the Sticky” O’Houlihan, Former Boxing Champ and Currently Sort-Of Braindead, played by Justin
    Salazzo Grizzlebee, Grizzled Forester with an Axe to Grind, played by Eric*
    John Thompson, Merchant Banker and Dead-Eyed Wunderkind, played by Tony
    Colin O’Shea, “Smooth” Talking Con-Man with a Heart of Bronze, played by Pedro*

    * new failures

    With this ragged group of players, we immediately set to work investi – oh, that’s right. Actually, since we couldn’t find anyone’s characters sheet we went to work recreating the existing characters to the best of our knowledge. Then we rolled the new dudes and everything worked out more or less for the best. I say “more or less” because in the grand scheme of things some damage was probably done but most of our investigators managed to get by with only severe cases of indefinite insanity, the breadth of which has yet to be determined. That’s what seeing a horde of the undead rise from their graves can do to a mind not carefully weaned on pop fiction since birth!

    What we had was essentially an investigation centering around what appeared to be the sudden reanimation of a a man shot dead by a mob hitman. There were police officers, speakeasies, mobsters, more jazz musicians than an episode of The Cosby Show and even THE LIVING DEAD. How very exciting! Now let’s take a look at the catastrophe tally:

    Pedro trying to brute-force negotiate with cop: 1
    Pedro trying to brute-force negotiate with musician: 1
    Two people (don’t remember who!) calling a Mr. Louis Armstrong’s manager and failing to talk their way past him: 2
    Tony shooting an unarmed man: 1
    Eric shooting an unarmed man: 1
    Tony killing an unarmed man: 1
    Kevin taking a ride on the insanity train and checking out early: 1
    Unarmed (dead) man summoning an army of zombies: 100

    Comedy of Errors Score: 107 – HILARIOUS

    And then almost everyone got an indefinite insanity. Overall a good, if crowded, showing. That being the case, we are now finished with the tiny adventures in the core rulebook and will begin Tatters of the King after the next Pathfinder game. For which we will have to clear up some space because everyone seems agreed that seven players is far too many to run smoothly and efficiently. It’s gonna be tough.

    As a bonus treat, we captured rare video footage of some nerd actually roleplaying Louie Armstrong (under great duress) on the phone with the investigators. He’s not worried about money; he just loves to help people!