Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 7:56 am Post subject: Top 10 most imaginative/novel scenarios?
I know there are lots of lists of 'best' scenarios but i was thinking the other day about the few really novel and innovative ones.
There are some fantastic scenarios out there (The Dream Factory in Mortal Coils for instance or Dead Letter in Delta Green Countdown) which in structure are very conventional. Genuinely different pieces of work, whether in structure, atmosphere or plot, are rarer. I have not counted ones that are novel because of setting or era, or things in the Dreamlands.
These are my top 10 for sheer imaginative invention:
Bad Moon Rising - in The Great Old Ones - because the last third is utterly unlike anything else in the canon
12 Hours – free on YSDC by Michael LaBosserie. Completely different structure. One of the first scenarios I read after getting back into CoC after 20 years, I thought “We’re not in Arkham anymore…”
Nightfloors by Dennis Detwiller, Delta Green Countdown. For the story and atmosphere.
Artifact Zero by Dennis Detwiller, Delta Green: Eyes only. For being insanely difficult to survive and having the chance of characters dying in a particularly memorable way
The Burning Stars by David Conyers,Terror from Beyond – for the big reveal at the end…
God of the Mountain, Michael Cisco, Mortail Coils – no monsters, almost no plot, CoC as European art film.
Grace under pressure, unique in structure and great for potential atmosphere
Sufficient unto the day, Worlds of Cthulhu – on the surface not hugely novel but there is an oddly depressing atmosphere that marks it out.
Cold War, Unspeakable Oath – players as cultists
To the dark tower, Beyond the Mountains of Madness – I hesitated to include parts of campaigns but the climatic part is so rich in story.
I could have included No pain, no gain from At Your Door, In media res from Unspeakable Oath, Visiting Hours from Nocturnum……I’d be interested in what other people think
I think you need to establish a working definition of a scenario.
For example: 'MoN' as a whole certainly isn't a scenario, but does the 'London' part of 'MoN' qualify? Does the 'Rites of the Brotherhood' part of 'London' qualify? Does the 'The Derbyshire Monster' (independent red herring within 'London') qualify?
How about those campaigns where the chapters are mostly independent scenarios, like 'SoYS' and 'FfY/DotB'? Does one of those qualify?
Furthermore, do you consider the 'Raid on Innsmouth to be one scenario or 5/6 (depending which edition of 'EfI' you have)? Can 'BtMoM' really be considered one scenario, or should particular chapters be taken seperately?
Can we take Dreamlands scenarios that aren't novel because they're (partially) set in the Dreamlands, but that are novel on their own merits, which just happen to involve the Dreamlands? Same thing goes for Gaslight, Cthulhu Now, Delta Green etc.
What sources should we count; Chaosium only, Call of Cthulhu only, official (i.e. no fan scenarios) only, do scenarios for Trail of Cthulhu, Cthulhupunk, Cthulhutech,d20/true20Cthulhu count?
And finally, do you want to define 'novel' distinctly, or do you prefer everyone decides (and possibly explains) what 'novel' means for themselves? _________________ "The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, they walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen" - H.P. Lovecraft: The Dunwich Horror
I think you need to establish a working definition of a scenario.
For example: 'MoN' as a whole certainly isn't a scenario, but does the 'London' part of 'MoN' qualify? Does the 'Rites of the Brotherhood' part of 'London' qualify? Does the 'The Derbyshire Monster' (independent red herring within 'London') qualify?
How about those campaigns where the chapters are mostly independent scenarios, like 'SoYS' and 'FfY/DotB'? Does one of those qualify?
Furthermore, do you consider the 'Raid on Innsmouth to be one scenario or 5/6 (depending which edition of 'EfI' you have)? Can 'BtMoM' really be considered one scenario, or should particular chapters be taken seperately?
Can we take Dreamlands scenarios that aren't novel because they're (partially) set in the Dreamlands, but that are novel on their own merits, which just happen to involve the Dreamlands? Same thing goes for Gaslight, Cthulhu Now, Delta Green etc.
What sources should we count; Chaosium only, Call of Cthulhu only, official (i.e. no fan scenarios) only, do scenarios for Trail of Cthulhu, Cthulhupunk, Cthulhutech,d20/true20Cthulhu count?
And finally, do you want to define 'novel' distinctly, or do you prefer everyone decides (and possibly explains) what 'novel' means for themselves?
Personally i would include individual scenarios within campaigns if they are novel in themselves, hence the end of BTMoM which is a very imaginative climax. That seemed fair. I wanted to avoid 'rewarding' scenarios which owed too much to the campaign as a whole. A few campaigns like Innesmouth are essentially one big scenario (arguably that applies to BtMoM too but I'll let that go!).
I would include any source - free and paid for.
I picked out Dreamlands as an example of scenarios where things would be very unusual but not necessarily using a lot of imagination by the author. In other words its quite easy being odd/different - its more difficult in a more realistic setting. That said, there may be Dreamlands scenarios where are genuinely novel, i just couldnt think of any. May be thats my prejudice...
In terms of what constitutes novelty, it came out of my sense that about 90% of scenarios, good or bad, follow quite closely the same kind of structure. Mysterious death, research, red herrings, library use, summonings, mad villians etc etc. They also tend to fall back on films/books/whatever for inspiration.
A few try and do something very different, either by trying to create a different kind of atmosphere, setting new challenges for players or genuinely creating something new in plot. A test for the latter might be "if i wrote this up as a story would it seem pretty derivative of lovecraft/king/the exorcist/indiana jones etc ec".
The ones I chose, I think, achieve one or more of the above. As I say there may well be 'better' scenarios, I was trying to think of those that were ambitiously different.
So being unusual is not enough. I wouldnt class Blood Brothers as novel because they are pastiches. Delta Green scenarios (which i love) are familiar in structure. Most of the Chaosium ones are variations on a few standard themes, applied in different settings or eras. Strange Eons are familiar stories in unfamiliar places. And so on.
Joined: Jul 20, 2003 Posts: 663 Location: Lancashire, England
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 10:36 am Post subject: unusual
The most unusual scenarios are usually one-shots where the character set-up can be dramatically different.
In Media Res where the PCs are (escaped) prisoners does this. So, in different ways, do Method to Madness and The Burning Stars in Terrors from Beyond.
I've run a scenario where the characters are gangsters which always plays very different to a conventional game. Something like Digging for a Dead God where the PCs are Nazis might also fall into this category.
Bad Moon Rising is exceptional because it begins conventionally but ups the ante hugely twice.
Joined: Aug 18, 2005 Posts: 1069 Location: Plateau of Leng
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 2:43 pm Post subject:
'My little sister will make you suffer' from Cthulhu Britannica is ....quite different.
I had immense fun when played in that one at Concrete Cow a few years ago (and while myself and one other player twigged the twist we attributed it to the wrong agency....) _________________ We blow up the wall beyond all hope of repair.
OK, now with the 'rules' cleared up a bit, here's my list, in no particular order:
1: The Raid on Innsmouth (EfI); for the interwovenness of different parts.
2: With Malice Aforethought (AiAC); for the trial.
3: Return to Dunwich (RtD); for the 'sandbox'-qualities.
4: Land of Lost Dreams (HPL's D); for the personal involvement.
5: Fear of Flying (FP); for it's use 'on the move'.
6: Black Hills, Blackest Secrets (DotB); for the 'bug in my head' option.
7: The hills rise wild (AU); for the 'bait and switch'.
8: Beyond the Mountains of Madness (BtMoM); for it's exhaustiveness. (I'm ignoring the rules here, but I want to put this one in somehow).
9: The Haunting (CoC); for it's novelty compared to other games' scenarios (Keep on the borderlands etc.) at the time.
10: Old Fellow that Bunyip (TA); for it's unique way of solving it.
Also, some I considered, but didn't put in:
1: The Truth shall set you free (UM); for it's messing with the players' heads. Got left out because I haven't actually read it.
2: Bad Moon Rising (TGOO); for it's ending. Got left out because it sucks too bad.
3: The Worm that walks (SoYS); for it's goals. Got left out because the players will rightfully hate any Keeper who runs it for them. _________________ "The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, they walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen" - H.P. Lovecraft: The Dunwich Horror
Joined: Feb 27, 2004 Posts: 1526 Location: Deep One colony next to Alameda, CA
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 11:30 pm Post subject:
GreveMagnus wrote:
Gatsby and the Great Race surely merits a mention.
Yes it does. And i'll also second the notion that In Media Res should be included in the top ten.
-=b _________________ The only way to escape terror is to bury yourself in it.
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