Can I Create a Fully Sandbox Call of Cthulhu Campaign?
The Sandbox
I love horror and I love TTRPGs. If you wander around this site you will see a bunch of interesting posts about those topics.
From world building and D&D saved my life type posts, to a bunch of other gaming posts. HERE is the whole series of TORG Eternity posts. A game that went on pause and then Covid happened. And HERE is the beginning of my Curse of Strahd in-character journal.
Recently, I started outlining an idea for a CoC (Call of Cthulhu) campaign. And I realized that I think a LOT differently than the normal COC Player/Keeper (Game Master).
I want to create an ultimate Sandbox.
And I want to share with all of you how I plan and think though all the steps involved in getting started. This series of articles should appeal to gamers and writers equally.
What is the Sandbox?
For those not in the know, a Sandbox game is one where you can play in anyway you like. There is an open world and you are free to follow whatever direction you want to take.
In the video game world, a good example is the GTA series. Now I specifically choose this game because it’s a series I’ve played a lot, and also because it’s a limited sandbox. You can travel anywhere and do what you want, but the story only progresses along certain lines.
There are times where you’ll have to lock your character into some rails (short for rail roading, where a character is forced along a guided path to the Keeper’s whims).
CoC is not Sandbox?
Now, everything I’m about to talk about is based solely on my experiences with the game and with the people I know. You might be playing sandbox CoC all the time.
My experience is that most people tend to play CoC at a convention or as a one-shot between other games. And that when they do decide to play a longer “campaign” they either link together several modules, or run a classic era campaign book, such as Masks of Nyarlathotep.
I have never been one to run modules, in any type of game.
So, when I sit down to write a game, I tend to think of a whole world and number of stories all happening at the same time. Which brings back to Sandbox.
Style and Substance
I want to make a pause before I get into the game and outlining in particular.
There are many styles of play in gaming, and not every style appeals to everyone. So, I fully expect that some people might find my approach to open world, and perhaps very unfun for the Keeper. That’s cool.
Just to be upfront, I like having investigators that DO stand a chance of fighting back and surviving the Mythos. There are a lot of people out there who run games to see how fast they can drive their PCs either insane or dead. I’m not one of those guys.
I recently had someone I admire in one of my online communities tell me I was “Doing it wrong.” When I talked about playing a character who managed to gain a fair insight into the Mythos (over 20% Cthulhu Mythos Skill), could cast several spells, and had survived fighting a Star Spawn thanks to a ritual, a rocket launcher, an enchanted dagger, and an elder sign.
If your idea of fun is to torment and drive your PCs insane (and you keep a stopwatch going to try and beat your previous time), that’s cool as long as the players are also into that.
But telling me I’m “playing wrong” because as both a player and a Keeper I want the story to progress and the characters to develop… yeah not cool.
Tone
I’m not saying that my games are super serious and everyone is dour. There are still dick and fart jokes at my tables, and the occasional Monty Python reference. But at the same time, we want to tell a story and we want to keep the same characters going for a while.
Now, this is a horror game, and I fundamentally believe that there has to be a level of humor to relieve the tension and keep the game moving. The tone and content will be dark, but some of the execution will still have some funny.
Even the modules have the odd funny moment, even if it is black humor. I don’t want to name the module just incase someone reading this ends up playing it for the first time. But there is a classic adventure where the PCs enter a house. It’s the classic, rundown horror show. Every step of the way into the yard and toward the front door is filled with menace and decaying wood. Lots of imagery of a building rotting and dying.
When the PCs enter the house, the front room is filled with occult symbols and maybe old blood on the floor and strange odors. When they move into the back of the house, they get attacked!
By a hobo who has been sleeping in the kitchen. This encounter doesn’t sound funny, but I’ve heard podcasts where the Keeper usually has the hobo screaming obscenities or making drunken shrieks that ARE quite funny.
The Game
Wow, I went on a little longer than intended. I was going to originally run through the newest edition of the rules and give you all a review of the 7th Edition rules and the Pulp Cthulhu books.
[Aside: I have linked to a bunch of the books in case anyone is interested in looking them over and purchasing. These are not affiliate links and I receive nothing from you clicking on them. They are there only to direct you to more information on the books themselves]
I could spend the next few pages, or even a whole second post on the newest edition of the game, but I think instead I will direct you toward my Third Favorite Texas writer and First favorite RPG Review YouTuber for the run down on the 7th edition Rules and on the Pulp version of the game.
Please go and say hi to Seth Skorkowsky.
My History with the Game:
So, I first started playing (and running) CoC with the 3rd edition of the rules, then the 5th, 6th, and 6.5 rules. I have two shelves filled with classic modules, and books going all the way back to the 80’s and my childhood.
The 7th edition rules are in my opinion, the BEST version of BRP rules (Basic Role Play). Though I am disappointed they didn’t bring these changes over to the new edition of Runequest. That’s a completely different side issue.
When you add in the Pulp Rules, (chef’s kiss).
Pulp Cthulhu
I LOVE the pulp rules.
They move the game up into the 30’s and 40’s and embody an era of globetrotting grand adventure. Things like the Rocketeer, the Phantom, Mandrake the Magician, Indiana Jones, and even some of the low-level Justice Society of America (JSA) super heroes can fit into this niche.
The game actually has a variable level of pulp that you can dial up or down to your tastes.
Yes. I love the idea of characters with gadgets and action hero abilities fighting against serpent cults, wendigo, ghouls, and maybe even awakening elder gods.
Oh man. I’ve gone on a bit longer than intended and I didn’t even hit all of the topics for this one.
What’s Ahead?
OK, so here’s what’s happening. Going forward for the next few months I’ll have a post going live every other Thursday. The next post is on April 15th and will be the first in-character Journal for Strahd.
The next post for this series will be at the end of the month, and pretty much around the third or last Thursday of each month.
On the 29th you’ll get the set-up and basic idea for the campaign.
Then in May I will talk about how I go about outlining, trying to anticipate the actions of players. A near impossible task that only works when you have limited rails and necessary scenes to advance the storyline. This is doubly hard when I have no players, I’m just writing a game in the void as I dream about in-person gaming.
This is going to be slow going and it will have a lot of story-telling elements. Plotting, character design, arcs, outlining, mapping, and various other writing elements will be explored as we work out way through the process.
The Basic Premise
The story is called the Four Kings, and involves four veterans who have returned after a horrible mission during WW2. A number of things happened in that final mission, and our heroes spent the end of the war in a Sanitarium, first in Switzerland and then later in Boston.
It’s now just short of two years later and the kings are gathering to have a reunion in Boston, 1947. One of them doesn’t show up, and the story starts from there.
I’ll see you all again in about 4 weeks with the next installment (I might speed it up a little depending).
