two fun facts: first, Mark Pettigrew's original scenario WAS set in New England, in a town called Dark Haven or something. By 1983 I was sick of New England scenarios so took the time to massively re-edit it and set it in the Southwest. Sadly Mark did not like my rewrite. Sorry, Mark. I don't regret doing it though. Second: Mark had an evil familiar monster that you had to get rid of. I turned it into Puddock (according to M. R. James, an old name for "toad"). I wanted to have a Brown Jenkin-y familiar which would actually be useful yet creepy, that players could reasonably want to keep around.
Whenever i watch a review of a Sandy Petersen scenario, the first thing i do i looking for you in the comments. And since there isn't a flood of replies under this one, i'll use the opportunity to reply without being drowned out: THANK YOU FOR CREATING ONE OF THE BEST TTRPG SYSTEM I HAVE EVER PLAYED!
I'd feel bad for the guy that got both Puddock from this scenario and Immortality from "Uncle Timothy's Will." Have no idea how brain removal would work on such a person if he got stuck in "Disassociation."
So true. My Masks group did that all the way to Shanghai where their arsenist reputation caught up with them. Terrified his all wooden mansion would fall foul of the investigators, the big bad (not Nyarly) sent assassins. The players had bad rolls and bad tactics and got TPKd. 😬 One player rage quit. Best to curb the burners early on I find.
Seth sir, you have made my day. Now that I am home from work, time to shower, made some dinner, and enjoy a new COC video :D (on topic, since because of you, I am going to start my first ever COC campaign in 3 months :P )
@@erc1971erc1971 man that scenario was literally the VERY FIRST scenario ever devised for Call of Cthulhu, AND the first one ever played. Mea maxima culpa.
As you mention mythos-books and the diary (including subsequent sanity losses and spells you can learn etc) I want to share this: I once made up small mock-books for my campaign. So about post-card sized and foldable. Just take your standard letter-paper fold it twice (as in you get 4 pages) cut it in half and stack a few (you want to have 8 to 16 pages in total). I made book-covers (just printing out some free book-cover stock photos from the internet) and glueing it all together. (A bit of cardboard for the cover gives it a nicer feeling. It's not a book - but a booklet with some space to write in. Here you either can glue in printied out diary pages or put in spells etc. The rules for the book are as such: - You have to read it page by page. You can stop after any page, before flipping the next one. - Atop each page any neccessary skill checks, sanity losses and other game mechanics are noted. If you flip a page you have to execute those game mechanics. - After that you might reap the gains from that page, be it a spell, mythos-knowledge points or other information. This makes reading mythos books more like a mini-game in itself, a investigator can 'play' on his or her own - even up to things like insanity, as other players just see the one player read the lines and throwing dice. But you don't need to tell what happens. So it's a bit of a surprise if the reader get's crazy without a warning :D
This was the final adventure for my first CoC character. I was down to single digit sanity but 65% Mythos. But I had an insanity that prevented me from acknowledging magic so I lost no sanity from that. I was the PC captured by the cult and I failed my resistance to torture roll and I was spewing Mythos knowledge all over the cultist and scaring the Hell out of them that they had angered such a mighty practitioner.
Planning on re-using the cult of Tulzscha later on, and honestly I need to re-read it as one of my players managed to survive it before their first investigation.
@@Tony-dh7mz I don't know, Kermit's a little sketchy sometimes. Been stringing the pig along for years but still hasn't put a ring on her, ah, hoof. Now Fozzie, OTOH, there's a Muppet you can trust.
@@Tony-dh7mz Kermit publicly declared himself to be a follower of Amphibitarianism back in 2005. I also note that when questioned about political leanings, he's generally pro-wetlands conservation and similar green causes but almost invariably mentions that he opposes interspecies marriage between frogs and pigs. Bit specist, that.
Edit: Great review Seth, excellent suggestions for alterations otherwise. I always look forward to your posts sir, keep up the top quality work! Just thinking out loud here, but rather than cut the cattle mutilations entirely, you could make it part of the local culture. The locals know about "The ghost of (name here)" or simply "The Beast" and it's been around since any of them can remember. They leave an animal out every so often as an offering to appease the creature because if they hide the cattle away the creature will hunt humans instead (or so the story goes). If you say that the fully mutated only need to eat once or twice a year and hibernate the rest of the time, unless their den is invaded, then if you have the drunk or someone else tells them that "The Feed is only a few days away" it becomes a viable piece of information they could theoretically use to track back to the mansion or something.
This is a really good idea. It helps turn what was formerly just a hanging thread meant to draw the PCs to the adventure into a viable element for progressing the story. If nothing else, you want a redundancy of clues that can guide players toward the meat of the adventure.
Alamogordo was founded by Oliver Lee, a gangster who murdered the founders of Alamogordo for their water rights. What you're describing is plain old Alamogordo.
Everytime I watch one of your COC reviews, always find myself enjoying every moment of it. Inspires me to run COC. About to start running the two headed serpent and your videos have really helped me prep myself for such an amazing adventure. Thank you for all the wonderful videos and wish me luck!
@@SSkorkowsky My game sadly fell apart due to scheduling conflicts, but they were having fun up until they almost blew up the town in Oklahoma. I've basically switched to running one-shots for a revolving door of players, which everyone does seem to enjoy though.
I'd give the newspaper with cow mutilations to the investigators after they return, especially if they burned the house down without looking in the under-lab.
@@smilemore7431 yes after they escaped from the Laboratory. The Doctor was feeding them, but after his death... Then how long till cows will no longer be sufficient...and then man will be on the menu.
Great video as always. And...does Jack have pocket flask with Cthulhu on it now? Extra marks for effort on details! :D EDIT: To learn a language in order to be able to read a book of occult secrets that will drive the reader insane? True dedication. Also nerds (with maybe a bit of a weird set of priorities). This ring also gave me some real Von Carstein vibes (not counting the familiar part), curious which of those is actually older.
Hey Seth! Thanks for the video! Could you do a video on how you would have Puddock corrupt the investigator? Or a more generic version of how you would have villainous characters corrupt a player character?
I hope Paduck (spelling?) the ring familiar becomes a recurring character on the show. He and Jack seem like they'll make a great team. At least until Paduck convinces Jack to embrace the majesty of the Great Ones. EDIT: As for in-game, I think a way Paduck can be made to slowly corrupt the characters is by "helping" them, but in an eldritch way. He might suggest solutions to problems - solutions that are totally viable - but which edge the character closer to madness or evil. Like suggesting the PC perform a certain ritual to solve a problem - which would cause Sanity loss even when successful. Or if an NPC is possessed by a mythos being, that the Investigators just kill them. Or Paduck might teach the PC a ritual for warding an area against monsters, but have it do so by consecrating the area to one or more Great Old Ones, increasing that being's hold over the world. Basically, if there are multiple viable ways to solve a problem, Paduck will advocate for the one that is the most ruthless or eldritch. Not through forceful means or goading, but by framing the decisions like a series of reasonable compromises or dabbling in occult activity, that slowly escalates.
I nearly died when I saw Jack's expression!! Initially I thought it was goofy but Seth nailed the creepy overly friendly voice! Glad I wasn't the only one in stitches!! :-D
Just came back from a camping trip and got my hands on an electronic for the first time in a few days. This is such a treat, even if it’s #2 behind a fresh shower.
They said he would come. They said, one day a man would rise up and provide viewers with game ideas and adventure reviews that would put all others to shame. Now we know they spoke true. Look ye no further, for this is the time and this is the place. Behold the master of RPGs and be not afraid.
@@Tony-dh7mz Damn successful one, too. Easier to make a profit when half your film is re-used footage from earlier movies in the series. Next question: Why is Gomorrah?
From memory this was the most adult-orientated scenario I encountered as a young player - the sexual torture devices and references to De Sade in particular.
This seems like a very interesting module, but I wish there were more focus on Silver City. It's an actual town in New Mexico, and I grew up there. It does seem like the perfect place to have a Call of Cthulhu adventure. Even in modern times it's a small, sleepy town of about 10,000 people. It's small enough you'll see a lot of the same people around town all the time, with just enough points of interest to be the perfect size for an RPG.
When you brought up the cow mutilations at the beginning of the scenario, and then mention the bad news Servitor of the Outer Gods, that's where my mind put the connection. Like, the Castronegro people were mutilating neighboring area cows in order to feed the Servitor. Just my thoughts. 🤷🏻♀️
This is actually great, this will make a great midpoint investigation for my "Calzone Saga", a campaign I made out of differant investigations starting with missing dues and ending with a section from Two Headed Serpent. Gives an excellent way for one of the investigators to be the "last survivor from the future".
Great video, as usual. It's a little disappointing that whenever you go to investigate cattle deaths in New Mexico, it never actually turns out to be chupacabra. Also, what the heck is that puppet? He's damn creepy!
Nicely done, as always. Love the puppet. For some reason it made me think of the evil Ash puppet from Ash vs. Evil Dead. Question: Do you do these games as one-shots or do you players run consistent characters?
@@SSkorkowsky Was wondering about that when you described this as an uncommonly deadly adventure, which it very much is not compared to some of the other ones you've reviewed. Big diff between the usual group of veterans with established gear and spells and skills and a one-shot with some new blood in the mix, yeah?
Hey Seth, running my session 0 for CoC this Saturday and your videos have helped me alot. Instead of using the npc you suggested in your haunting video, I'm going to be using Jack, but called Nicolas Percible Casanova (or NPC for short lol) great stuff man, don't quit making these videos.
So is Podduck now your official Shoulder Demon character? Shoulder Demon is a particular role we got in our group that the GM has someone not in the game to bounce ideas off of, and in general make the player's life far more miserable. Don't know if it's more common in other groups, but we find them indispensable.
Please consider reviewing the Pagan Publishing scenario "The Whitewood Horror" from "Coming Full Circle" As mentioned, it's based on the film The City of the Dead. The overall campaign is of interest as well, I think.
This has me thinking for my own game I'm prepping for. Are there any good adventures that end up having no relation to the paranormal? I really like the balance "the X Files " struck.
Westchester House. It's set in the Winchester Mansion (name changed). It's like a Scooby Doo mystery where all the supernatural stuff is really a bunch of thieves.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised how many COC scenarios take place in my home state of New Mexico. There’s a lot in First Nation’s mythology that rally lend themselves well to Cosmic Horror.
Hey Seth, would that PC be playable after they got the ring? Seems that invulnerability would make that character severely OP. Did you take that character on further adventures?
From watching your videos I don’t think Dungeon Crawl Classics is really your thing but I’d still like to hear your review of the game. It’s interesting to see how your viewpoints sometimes come from a very different angle to other channels.
I really want to turn the familiar into a talking cat that looks eldritch and talks to the ring-wearing investigator, but to everyone else it's a regular cat.
Hey Seth I'm from Albuquerque New Mexico. Let Jack know there is still weird stuff going on down here and noone has done anything about it still haha. Love all your reviews keep it up. Btw any thoughts on a review or something like that for COC secrets of New York?
Please review the Call of Cthulhu Scenario "The Whitewood Horror" in the supplement "Coming Full Circle." It's based on the 1960 Horror Film, "The City of The Dead"/"Horror Hotel." Oh, and "Blood Brothers" which is also based on old horror films for Call of Cthulhu.
In the 80's I've run this scenario 3 times and got 3 TPK despite my changes, that were almost all that you suggest. 2 TPK in the barn, and one in a gunfight with the sheriff and a posse of citizens after they tortured and kill the local priest (my players thinks deservedly he was a cultist concealing informations). You give me the urge to run it again.
I can understand the posse TPK (people with guns are dangerous) but twice in the barn? Isn't that just a lone Servitor in the cavern below with zero reason to actually fight it face to face? The one time I ran this the party sent one stealthy high-SAN PC to scout what was making the music, decided they were pretty sure what it was she'd seen, then backed off and dynamited the cave themselves. Only damage they took were a few scratches when the barn collapsed from the shock wave and some of them were standing a little too close. Admittedly, that could lead to a "fight the posse" situation too, but that group was smart enough not to linger around the area and they never quite got caught for what they did.
01:52 This sounds like a job for Miskatonic University! Or Delta Green... 02:22 Except the first Chupacabra reports were in 1990s Puerto Rico and believed to be connected to a nearby government research facility. 04:56 Not the Chinese Shop Owner from Gremlins? :( 20:00 Oh jeez, can you imagine being immortal and...(Spoilers) watching after this familiar AND taking care of the "baby" from Mister Corbitt? LOL. Nothing like being an immortal babysitter for an eldritch baby abomination! XD (End Spoilers).
Excellent video Seth, loved ❤ it. My players killed Greedyguts, Bernardo Diaz’s familiar. However Bernardo has Enthralled spelled all 4 PC’s. The scenario clearly states that the investigators will be kept as prisoners for a few days, then they will be sacrificed. 1 player has her husband back in Boston, the other 3 have no really bonds/ties or relationships, so I’m thinking & would make my campaign interesting, Rescue at Castronegro.
Good review and good suggestions, even if you did miss what's found in the pantry. It's a good early (D & D influenced scenario.) and the last time I'd read through it I'd missed the note about how the books in the library are likely to be in languages the PCs are unlikely to read, it shows someone back then was thinking. The strange thing is that there is a tenuous link between this scenario and another New Mexico set scenario, 'The Spawn' in The Great Old Ones. But if a Keeper is going to go that route, best to run 'The Spawn' before 'The Secret of Castonegro'.
I caught the beef tongues in the pantry. But it still never answers why the sudden rise in cattle killings, how Diaz did it, or why only the tongues. It's just a slapped-on reference to one of the original hooks pretending to be an explanation. That might work for a J.J, Abrams movie, but not for me.
@@SSkorkowsky You could always add additional newspaper stories implying the rises in cattle killings are periodic events with the last one being say 60 years previously...
I'd played in a variation of the scenario a few months back, a lot of the issues we had were from the DM, probably, not really thinking it through for the specifics of that party of investigators. Being, essentially, what amounts to a cross between marshals and a version of the X-Files mixed with a few players who want to go full X-Com gave a lot of other issues there. Bernardo did end up surviving it...though, he's probably regretting his immortality at the moment considering some of the people we'd recruited. Subject 57 will, hopefully...eventually, get used to his cell and the various experiments that will aid in "dealing" with future immortals. Unfortunately, the party being feds was kind of my fault...or at least the keepers permission to have my player be a marshal when I got involved in the group, and things getting very interesting...
Great ideas for improving the scenario. One point I differ on: having a hapless redshirt NPC kidnapped adds no tension, and reduces credibility. I really hate it when it "just happens" that it's the NPC who gets it. I also don't like the idea of a PC being sacrificed for a plot point, for all the reasons that you gave. Basically it's the kind of unnecessary dilemma that comes up when you're on a railroad. Kind of like the trolley problem heh. I would much rather that things just go forwards spontaneously. Then if the swirl of combat means that a PC becomes captured, through their own dumb fault and a bit of bad luck, then that's fair. The player can then smoothly take over the redshirt character, whether or not the captured PC is alive or dead. - Might be worth the redshirt having a couple of interesting secrets too, discoverable by the player who takes it over - If the PC is a long-running character who in fact ends up being rescued, it can be restored to the player at the end of the run
As a Texan i'm sure you're familiar with some king of the hill.. so do you ever feel that Puppet Envy for Jack? Hehe all love dude, you're my favorite entertainer on youtube by far, you and Jack equally ;)
Just finished this. Low point, the fact the party refused point blank to engage with any of the townsfolk because they were certain they were all in the cult. High point, the party's spirit medium, already crippled by beartrap and a mutant claw, shoving her hand through the hole in Diaz' head after he took 24 damage in an attempt to stop it healing.
For whatever reason youtube never told me about this video. And I only found out about it cause of the recommendations. Why is youtube always so weird and dumb?
