|
-
The world of H.P. Lovecraft, as epic as it is horrific, lends itself easily to roleplaying games, and as Delta Green and CthulhuTech can attest, it is also an ageless sort of setting. The horrors Lovecraft imagined, is as real today as it was in his time. So what do you get when you combine the greatest all-time horror roleplaying setting with the best investigation roleplaying system? You get Trail of Cthulhu, part Cthulhu mythos and part GUMSHOE.
Trail of Cthulhu uses the original setting of Lovecraft, the twenties and thirties, but still adds to the genre. What makes this game interesting is its use of the GUMSHOE system. For those unfamiliar with it, GUMSHOE is a system that is optimized for running games focused on investigations. It does this what a simple, but genius twist. If something is necessary for play to continue, the characters do or discover this automatically. No vital clue is ever missed do to lack of imagination or a bad die roll. The characters can, in theory, cruise from start to finish simply by listening to the game master. Such an approach would nevertheless not be rewarding, since they would miss “optional” clues that might allow them to go deeper into the mystery, for example finding the real villain or discovering the means to kill the enemy in the final scene.
Every character has an “allowance” of skills he can draw upon during a scenario. No die roll is required, the player just name the skill he wishes to use, how he wants to use it, and the game master tells him if there is any information this will gain him. This works in reverse as well, the player might wish to do something, and the game master informs the party of the skill this would require. The number of points a character has in a skill determines how many times he can use it during a scenario. The book encourages the party to have a diverse portfolio of skills, so all characters can be of use. The game also has more traditional skills that you roll against, for cases such as fighting and fleeing.
Trail of Cthulhu is simple and fun to play. The game is full of theme, and since there aren't many rules to learn, players can quickly get into it. On the flip-side, it is not a simple game for the game master. There is a chapter in the book called Putting it all together. That pretty much sums it up! The ease in which the game is played, and the fun of the investigation as well, all depends on the game masters ability to prepare beforehand. This is not a game were the game master can make stuff up on the spot. The book also advices the game master to custom make the scenarios to the skills the characters have, this is good advice, why put in skill checks if no one has the skill, but it gives the game master a lot to think about when he is preparing for a game.
The game is best summed up as being fun to play, but challenging to prepare. This makes it less than suitable for longer campaigns, but perfect for shorter campaigns or conventions. The book itself is also a masterpiece of creative thinking. The author's take on the Cthulhu mythos is fresh, and not at all formulaic. A substantial part of the book is spent giving different interpretations on the true nature of the Lovecraftian horrors. Some of these “variations” we have seen before, but there are plenty of new idea here to inspire. Cthulhu as the manifestation of gravity and Hastur as the embodiment of the decaying power of the weak nuclear force, are just some of the variations the book presents. Kenneth Hite does a great job in making the mythos, both the original and the different variations, seem both horrible and alien. The author's thoroughness even makes the book an excellent introduction to the Cthulhu genre in general.
There is not much more to ask for from this book. It is a perfect combination of setting and system, and will only fail you if you either don't like the Cthulhu mythos or investigation-themed games.
-
Brian Franzman
United States
Tacoma
Washington
-
Nice review! I've been thinking about picking this one up for some time, but I haven't gotten to the point of needing it yet.
I've been a long-time fan and Keeper for Call of Cthulhu (and player of other mystery/horror games), and I have many instances under my belt of games that screeched to a halt due to a missed vital clue, or the inability to tie various clues together into the whole. This system seems to correct such problems, so that's a pretty big plus in my book. However, I still wonder how tough it would be to convert my decades of CoC material to this new system...
The additional work for the GM would be completely worth it if the flow of the game keeps a steady pace under the GUMSHOE system. It may be time to pull the trigger on this one!
-
-
Bokrug wrote:
The additional work for the GM would be completely worth it if the flow of the game keeps a steady pace under the GUMSHOE system. It may be time to pull the trigger on this one!
My advice is that you do. And load both barrels first!
The essence of the materiel you already have is probably the horror and the storytelling. That is easily transferable to the new system. An important part of Trail of Cthulhu is that the clues are free, but putting them together is harder. So the players might be just following the story for a long while, but if they don't understand it in the end, they are just as doomed. A good way to making this work in the game is by making the result of not putting the clues to getter not being a dead end in the scenario, but rather the wrong track, disadvantage or death.
-
Chad Bowser
United States
Kernersville
North Carolina
-
The core selling point of Trail of Cthulhu can easily be ported to almost any game system. I've been doing that with CoC since about 1994. It's well implemented in ToC, but hardly groundbreaking. It keeps the game hopping. However, it won't fix the inability of your players to tie the clues together. It'll give them clues, but won't tell them what to do with them.
On the other hand, the mechanic that works so well for clue gathering, IMO, doesn't carry over as well to dynamic, action oriented General skill resolutions. I find the game slows down a bit there.
What it does do well is bring Ken Hite's view of the Mythos into gaming. You'll see some fresh new ideas there, as well as some ideas that have been bandied around for a while. Azathoth as nuclear energy has been around for a long, long time. I forget who originally posited that.
The big thing to bear in mind is that ToC (really Gumshoe) is a resource management game. You have 5 points in Athletics and really need to jump this ravine. How many do you put into your roll, decided before you roll, to succeed now, but risk not having enough points later on when you need to outrun the nightgaunt?
All that being said, is it worth picking up? If you have the extra cash, definitely. If you're doing fine with BRP and already hand out the core clues without successful rolls, you can hold off on getting it until you feel like it.
From my perspective, I've played the game and enjoyed it. But it claims to fix something I never really saw as broken.
-
Steven Robert
United States
Altadena
California
-
So, for someone who has no experience with any Cthulhu games, would you recommend beginning with this one or CoC? To be honest I'm not likely to get to play either of them in the near future, but which is more inspiring both in terms of "setting" (or is Lovecraft his own genre now?) and mechanics?
-
Brian Franzman
United States
Tacoma
Washington
-
Personally, I recommend the Call of Cthulhu on BRP for anyone who hasn't had any experience GMing, or even playing RPGs for that matter. The rules are simple and easy to pick up, but I certainly wouldn't recommend that a player buy any books for it; that would destroy most of the mystery! However, it's great for a GM who has an interest in telling a tense story, or likes investigation and role-play, or the supernatural, or Lovecraft in general...
I imagine Trail of Cthulhu is more geared toward the experienced GM who already knows how to create a good story, but has trouble keeping players on the path. I'd love to hear what the others have to say about it!
As for setting, there are sourcebooks and variations of CoC that take the Lovecraft genre from ancient Rome, to the Dark Ages, to the Victorian period, to the 1920's-1940's, and up to the modern day. It all depends on what era you prefer!
-
Eric Dodd
New Zealand
Martinborough
Wairarapa
-
I would agree with Chad in the sense that a good Keeper in BRP Cthulhu already uses a variety of techniques to keep the players on track and gives them every opportunity to reach the adventure high spots. However this isn't stated explicitly in the Call of Cthulhu rulebook the way that it is here, so in someways this is an easier way in for new players and (especially) keepers. The key thing often is the relative importance of each clue. Players can have all the clues but still be stuck, or afraid of taking the next step. You still have to motivate or push them if they are going nowhere.
Often in Call of Cthulhu it was the published adventures that seemed inflexible - if no options are given in the text for finding a clue another way then some Keepers might say you have no other chance to get it. Here more work is required from the Keeper in both systems, trying to tie together players' expectations with story logic on the fly, without it seeming like you've made something completely up.
So if you already play Call of Cthulhu and enjoy the way it plays, this book reinforces the importance of story, player involvement and good gamesmastery. You can use the same method for giving out all or most of the clues at each scene. If no one made the "required" rolls the penalty is the lack of experience check roll (so no chance of improving in that skill) and an appropriate story-related penalty.
e.g. You rifle an office trying to find any mythos links to this respectable businessman. You fail both your Spot Hidden and Library Use skills. The keeper gives you the handout containing the cultist's diary, but you fail to notice you've left a book out of place when you leave or leave some incriminating evidence of your presence. You might have the information and know when the summoning will take place, but can you evade the cultists and local police now on your trail?
-
Brian Franzman
United States
Tacoma
Washington
-
Red Wine Pie wrote: e.g. You rifle an office trying to find any mythos links to this respectable businessman. You fail both your Spot Hidden and Library Use skills. The keeper gives you the handout containing the cultist's diary, but you fail to notice you've left a book out of place when you leave or leave some incriminating evidence of your presence. You might have the information and know when the summoning will take place, but can you evade the cultists and local police now on your trail?
Yikes! As Keeper, I might normally reserve such a result for a house-ruled "critical failure" (rolling a 99 or 00 on the skill checks). With other failing rolls, I could just pass out the necessary clue (the cultist diary), but withhold the other supporting clues that might have gone with it: the note that indicates the businessman received the diary from an anonymous source... or have the investigators watch as the bookmark (holding the page for an all-important passage or spell) flutters to the ground.
-
-
vestige wrote: So, for someone who has no experience with any Cthulhu games, would you recommend beginning with this one or CoC? To be honest I'm not likely to get to play either of them in the near future, but which is more inspiring both in terms of "setting" (or is Lovecraft his own genre now?) and mechanics?
I have little to no experience with CoC, so I wouldn't be a good judge of the matter. Brian's observations seems to be pretty good.
That being said. If you are an experienced GM (with other games), the Trail book is a very good introduction to the mythos. It is setting and theme heavy, and light on the rules. The CoC book, the little I have seen in it, seems OK, but not as good (taken with a pinch of salt).
-
Brian Franzman
United States
Tacoma
Washington
-
The 6th edition CoC core rulebook may not be as focused on evoking the theme, but it is quite heavy on the STUFF it includes. Character creation and combat is covered, and the book also includes scores of pages listing out the plethora of creatures, gods, spells, and tomes that have been collected from the three decades' worth of supplements & adventures printed for the game thus far. It also has interesting sections on sanity, several short scenarios, timelines of notable and weird events, and various thematic and "crunchy" bits throughout.
Well worth the price of admission! 
-
Chad Bowser
United States
Kernersville
North Carolina
-
Red Wine Pie wrote:
e.g. You rifle an office trying to find any mythos links to this respectable businessman. You fail both your Spot Hidden and Library Use skills. The keeper gives you the handout containing the cultist's diary, but you fail to notice you've left a book out of place when you leave or leave some incriminating evidence of your presence. You might have the information and know when the summoning will take place, but can you evade the cultists and local police now on your trail?
This is the same way I handle this type of scenario. They get the clue, but there are repercussions. 
-
-
Bokrug wrote: The 6th edition CoC core rulebook may not be as focused on evoking the theme, but it is quite heavy on the STUFF it includes. Character creation and combat is covered, and the book also includes scores of pages listing out the plethora of creatures, gods, spells, and tomes that have been collected from the three decades' worth of supplements & adventures printed for the game thus far. It also has interesting sections on sanity, several short scenarios, timelines of notable and weird events, and various thematic and "crunchy" bits throughout. Well worth the price of admission!
I like Trail of Cthulhu. BUT:
The two highest ranked books on RPGG are supplements for Call of Cthulhu. The third ranked is the 6th edition, and the 6th ranked is the fifth edition.
One can't argue with success.
-
Chad Bowser
United States
Kernersville
North Carolina
-
karlkrlarsson wrote:
That being said. If you are an experienced GM (with other games), the Trail book is a very good introduction to the mythos. It is setting and theme heavy, and light on the rules. The CoC book, the little I have seen in it, seems OK, but not as good (taken with a pinch of salt).
Just like Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game (d20), even if you never use the system, there's some good Mythos information in Trail of Cthulhu. Reading through the Mythos section as well as the scenario construction advice will definitely get you thinking about your game in new and different ways.
One reason I stick with Call of Cthulhu (2nd - 6th Edition) is not because BRP's an inherently better system, but it's because I know it like the back of my hand and can twist and contort it without even thinking about it to get the results I need.
-
The Harnish
Germany
Duisburg
NRW
Cult of The Harnish Leader
-
For those interested in TOC, I can highly recommend the various adventures, especially the ones by Graham Walmsley if you like 'traditional' style games. I haven't gotten around to reviewing them yet, but own them all and all are very well done.
-
Christopher Dunn
United Kingdom
Gateshead
Tyne and Wear
-
I think the clue aspect of Gumshoe and ToC is somewhat emphasised over the other great mechanics of the system.
The resource management of the general skills (which a prevous poster mentioned)as well as the use of Drives are in my opinion equally important. Drives are a way to push investigators towards the story if some are getting cold feet. In CoC you always get some players (quite sane ones) saying things like I don't want to spend the night in that haunted house I just inherited. In ToC as the keeper you get to push the investigators drives to encourage them to play along with the story. I have only ran one game so far but it's a system I really like and has a few advantages over CoC not just the clue system.
-
|
|
|
