uthoroc

Here's my collection of handouts I've accumulated for the Cthulhu in Weimar campaign so far (and my notebook on the lower left). Some of the letters were actually sent out by post, to the confusion of some relatives.

Many photos are from (semi-)famous Germans who've shown up in the campaign. Do you recognize any?



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And the next session... slowly catching up.

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On we go with session 11 of the Cthulhu in Weimar campaign ... still in German I'm afraid.

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Well, there's a long hard road ahead of me to get this game journal uptodate. I don't know whether I'll go it all the way, but here I start...

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Here's the third session translation, which concludes the first chapter in the "Cthulhu in Weimar" campaign.

( Cthulhu in Weimar - Session 3 )

I'm still working on the backlog of campaign notes. Here's the next one.

For this new scenario I was woefully unprepared. I had only the slightest idea what could be happening and as a result the session was rather short. Still it all worked out for the best in the end. At least for me... :P

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Oh my, the backlog has grown enormously on my campaign notes. But I'm not giving up yet! Here's the log for session 8 (in May).

( Session Log )

It's been a while since I managed to translate one of the logs, but I've not given up. Here's the second session log in English. The first session can be found here. Enjoy!

Note: There's some pretty gory scenes (well, one actually) in this log. If you are offended by blood and gore, don't read it.

( Cthulhu in Weimar - Session 2 )

It looked for a while like we would be complete this time ... but then Christoph didn't show up for the session. He'd been without internet and phone for a couple of days and missed my reminders. Too bad...

( Session Log )

Continuing our tradition of missing one player each session, Uwe wasn't there this time. This entry is rather late, and trying to get all the things together that were done is a bit hard. Let's see what my memory reveals...

( Session Log )

Last session's log - again minus one player, as will be the next. It's a pity, but it's getting harder and harder to get all players together for a night.

Since I'm in a bit of a hurry, there are no links today. I'll add those later. EDIT: Links added.

( Session Log )

We were a bit short-handed last Friday, because two players were missing, but we still managed to play a fair bit. Unfortunately Mert, for whom I had planned a special role, was ill and couldn't make it. The dangers of plannign personal involvement for player characters - but the alternative is no special roles at all, and that's boring.

( Session Log )

Here's the English version of the first session's log:
http://www.mapsandmoreshop.de/cthulhu/cthulhu_weimar_01.html

Phew... that was close. Next session is tomorrow already and I finished this log just in time. I hate it when a backlog builds up. :P Now I only need an inspiration for tomorrow...

( Cthulhu in Weimar - Session 3 )

Friday saw our second Cthulhu session in the current campaign. Again a player had to miss it, due to snow on the roads, but at least Uwe who missed the first session was there.

The session log has one rather gory description in it, so if you don't like that, skip the film scene.

Use Babelfish for translation: http://babelfish.altavista.digital.com/

( Cthulhu in Weimar - Session 2 )

Yay, my new campaign is finally underway! Saturday saw the first session and we got off to a very good start, although one player unfortunately had to miss it.

Here's the session log with a lot of links to background information. Unfortunately for all English-speaking readers it's all in German so far, but I'll try to provide a translation this week.

As a side-note, I'm using vanilla CoC rules so far, but after having playtested Esoterrorists and the GUMSHOE system, I now painfully realize the deficiencies of the system concerning investigative story-telling.

( Cthulhu in Weimar - Session 1 )

The player character cast for my upcoming Call of Cthulhu campaign is finalized. A Prussian minor noble's (Junker) daughter, a free-thinking, communist author, a brilliant young physicist studying under Max Planck, a cameraman eager to make his mark in the German movie industry, and a hard-boiled ex-soldier/private eye will have to be brought together.

The setting is Berlin, the first days of November 1918. News from the front are dire, navy seamen are mutineering in Kiel, rumors are flying around that the Kaiser will abdicate. The word "revolution" is on everybody's lips. People are afraid.

In a hotel room a young and haggard army captain is feverishly pinning letters to a few trusted relatives, friends and comrades...

Recently I have ended my latest Jhendor campaign, and while it was a rousing success ("Chinese Ghost Story" style far-eastern fantasy), I need a little break from the fantasy genre. I've decided on something I've wanted to do for a long time: Run a classical Call of Cthulhu campaign.

I've played in several and ran the odd stand-alone scenario, but never got around to running a full campaign. 1920/30 Germany makes a horrific (literally) setting for the game, and not surprisingly there is a vibrant German CoC community with its publications centered on this period.

Not that I really need the published material. I've never been a good GM for other people's scenarios, and as a history M.A. with a focus in modern history - and more importantly a friend in the local university library, I can find the background material easily enough.

I want this campaign to really live on the historical background of the Weimar Republic, and therefore I will try to spread half a dozen scenarios over the time from 1918 to 1933, each linked to one of the major themes/events of the time. The first will take place in the early November days of 1918 in Berlin, with the navy mutinying in Kiel and the Kaiser about to abdicate.

But I don't want to fall into the trap of explaining the major historical events with mythos activity. I always thought that was cheapening history. Instead the actual happenings of the campaign will be intensely personal for the protagonists (the PCs of course), with the events of history serving as background and theme.

I'll also try to apply a few lessons I learned (or think I learned) from Pelgrane's Book of Unremitting Horror about horror role-playing. Whether that will work out, time will tell.

I can't discuss my ideas for the storyline, since some of my players might be reading this, but I'll try to follow the development of the campaign here. It will be useful as a place ot focus my thoughts at least.