Looking for good modern-day campaign

[Drosophilla]

Hi,

I've finally been able to persuade my long-time role playing group to give Call of cthulhu a try (we've been running fantasy setting till now), and after a solid session of 'The Haunting' I think I have been able to to convert them

They absolutely loved the horror, but were genuinely surprised however that one of the investigators died and that they didn't get to win the game this time. Plus they were a little bit confused by the 1920's setting.

So for the next game I promised them a modern day campaign. But the problem is however that I find very few published campaign scenario's for modern day COC (I'd prefer not to play DG), and even less reviews of them. So I came here to ask for suggestions

What is according to you folks a good campaign for COC newbies?

For information: although we've never played COC before, we have been roleplaying for 15 years now, and in that time have developed a strong dislike for "too much railroading"

[AdamAstonbury]

Sorry, don't have much time to go into detail but your best bet is probably 'A Resection of Time' which is a good modern mini-campaign.

[Karloff]

Modern day doesn't really have a campaign as such; certainly nothing along the lines of Masks of Nyarlathotep. Mini campaigns are the order of the day. I haven't seen Resection so I can't comment. Unseen Masters is supposed to be fun; I've got it, never played it, and suspect that it would take a fair amount of Keeper tinkering to make it work.

You may be better off taking some of the existing scenarios and making a mini campaign out of them.

Even if you don't like Delta Green, it's still worth picking up some of the books, Countdown in particular. Most of the information in that isn't DG-specific, and it's a handy resource for any modern day keeper. I'm thinking of the stuff on King in Yellow Tarot in particular, but also the Hastur information generally, and several of the cults (Tiger Transit, eg). Any of that could be made into a mini-campaign that didn't involve DG at all.

[CAThompson]

A Resection of Time is quite good. Others that come to mind:
Nocturm: I liked some of the episodes but overall the campagin is run by a massive plot train tha will wind up crushing most players spirits before it crushes their investigators.
At Your Door: If everyone wants to go back to the early 80s it might work. A lot of the stuff in it is a little off to right out over the top and goofy.
Uttati Asfet: A more or less "non-mythos" game with most of the action being around some dude gaining powers. No one likes to talk about it and several people want their money back.
Unseen Masters: Not a campagin per se as much as several adventures that can be strung together if you want.

Honestly Id say that he various Delta Green games tend to offer a better pre made game than the others but it's also a vastly undersupported era except for DG. And my friends had the same problem with the 20s.

[Dr_Locrian]

As near as I can tell, Delta Green really is the gold standard for modern day adventures. The linked scenarios in the rulebook (Puppet Shadows, Convergence, The New Age) make for a perfect short campaign, and it's well worth checking out. Really good stuff, fun to run and play, and the X-Files-ish frame gives investigators a model to run with.

There are a few decent modern day adventures here at YSDC that I've used, too (Rest Stops and Cleanup on Aisle 4 worked pretty well with some new NPC's, clues, and switching the critters out for more interesting ones).

The book Secrets has about 3-4 decent short scenarios, good for a Supernatural style, road trip along Route 66 series of one-shots (I ran them exactly this way, and it made for about a month's worth of great gaming).

Resection of Time is good, the only problem is that the ending might seem a little anticlimactic to Call of Cthulhu newcomers.

I own both Unseen Masters and Ramsey Campbell's Goatswood, and both look like they have some potential. I like Goatswood because there's a good excuse to have characters move there (the old "one player inherits spooky mansion" cliche, but it's a good way to set up a home base for the campaign). Haven't run either book, though, so I can't tell you how the adventures work in practice.

Hope this helps!

[rylehNC]

Except for the fact that it is unfinished, Future Perfect might make a good starting campaign, too. On the plus side, it is free.

[synthboy]

At Your Door is an amazing (if slightly tough) modern day campaign. However, I think it may now be out of print. Start trawling ebay.

[Max Schreck]

Unseen Masters is really good. As earlier stated, it isn't really a campaign, but rather three lengthy, unconnected scenarios. They are very unusual, which is a plus in my book, but that can be a bit off-putting for some, and they can be a chore for the Keeper. If that doesn't frighten you, go for it.

The Stars Are Right! is an anthology of short scenarios, and many of them are quite good. Again, it is not campaign material, but I suppose you could string the scenarios together yourself.

Utatti Asfet and At Your Door are both bad. I know taste is a hard thing to quantify, but I didn't like them, and many people feel likewise. At Your Door is downright stupid and nonsensical at times, and Utatti Asfet is just... well, not right. Of the two I'd say Utatti Asfet is the worst, as there are salvageable elements in At Your Door. If you want something more concrete as to why I loathe these two books, I made my feelings clear right around here and here.

Many people don't like Goatswood, but I feel that there is some half-decent material in it, and it features the Severn valley, which some would consider a plus. Mind you, it's not great and the campaign definitely needs some Keeper polishing to make it work, but it is still way better than At Your Door in my opinion.

Then there are some short, modern scenarios in Secrets you could run as filler. They're decent enough, especially "A Love in Need".

Resection of Time has been mentioned by others, and while it is marketed as a "mini-campaign", I would label it a "medium-length scenario", but YMMV and all that. It's a decent scenario, though. There's nothing that makes it especially "modern", though, and could just as well been a Classic era story.

Finally there are some scenarios in Cthulhu Now that you could use. I liked "The Killer Out Of Space" and "The Evil Stars" myself.

In summary, I wholeheartedly recommend Unseen Masters. The Stars Are Right! isn't bad either. Both of these titles could conceivably be turned in to campaigns with a little work.

Max

[maldoror]

"At Your Door" has its good points, but it also has one of my least favorite CoC moments in it.

The Delta Green books should provide you with plenty of great adventures, the problem is, they require some tinkering if you don't want to run a DG campaign. And unless you find it at a store that has no idea what they're sitting on, the "Countdown" book is going to cost you some serious bank on eBay or Amazon.

"The Stars are Right!" has some great scenarios in it. I haven't played the "Nocturnum" series. "Made in Goatswood" and "Unseen Masters" are both full of great moments, and they're also both readily available.

[CAThompson]

I'd forgotten about The Stars are Right. Good stuff. Also, as said Cthulhu Now (though you can't find it) is full of good one-offs. I don't know who it was but someone on Yog had played Uttati Asfet and said that it acturally worked quite well, so it might work better in play than in theory.

[Tigger_MK4]

I think as a general statement , I'm still waiting for someone to publish a decent modern campaign

Utatti Assafet : Very poor
At your door: Mix of half decent and poor episodes.
Unseen Masters: A set of three x one-off adventures

Many people don't like Goatswood,

I'm one of them.
Whilst the scenarios aren't bad per se, they would have ironically fitted classic era rather than modern. In particular, my beef is that they don't represent modern england in what I feel is even a vaguely believable way. However if you wanted to recreate a 1960s/70s Hammer Horror or classic era horror movie feel, several of them might do if you're willing to go with a large pinch of salt - but not a late 1990s/21st century English campaign.

Resection of Time has been mentioned by others...
Finally there are some scenarios in Cthulhu Now that you could use. I liked "The Killer Out Of Space" and "The Evil Stars" myself.

I found all three of these to be good scenarios to run.

One problems I have with many modern campaigns (Nocturnum, At your door) is the tendancy for modern campaigns to end (or drastically change)the world regardless of whether the players succeed or not. At least with classic era its usually a case that if the pcs succeed the recognisable world continues.

[Agent_Bluescale]

I jsut recently bought Secrets of Japan and I am very happy with it. There are some tips in there for running a modern day Japanese COC campagain including two adventures that can easily be made into a campgain.

[StagLord]

I'm running "At Your Door" right now.

Its been sitting in my attic since the early nineties - and I just stumbled on a new group of players, which finally offered me the chance to run it.

i have to agree with Max - the jenny armbruster chapter (No Pain, No Gain) is not only non Lovecraftian - but poorly written and conceived. Besides the Giant talking beagle, you have the old forced mechanic of the party's mandatory capture (or TPK followed by Resurrection - in captivity) building to a preposterous denouement. I am re-writing some of the rules for one of the spells involved to give the investigator's a proactive chance to escape - but I would seriously consider not even running the scenario. The rest of the campaign can play out rather nicely without it.

and make no mistake - teh rest fo teh campaign has soem veyr strong points. "Landscrapes" is considered something of a classic scenario and sees a lot of play at cons as a tournament one shot. plus it turned me on to T.E.D. klein -f or which i'll be forever grateful. "Dawn Biozyme" is a pretty straightforward myhtos investigation with a modern flair and a horrific conclusion. and the last two scenarios "Where a God shall Tread" and "After the Big One" are nice (if a little pulpy) horror fests that offer plenty of opporunities for a clever and creative Keeper to get soem good story telling in.

Plus they feature on of the great all time villains in the RPG's canon.

There is no defense for "No Pain, No Gain". its juvenile and awkward - but if you can tweak it, or better yet, skip it all together - i think the other four chapters provide a pretty good framework for a 90's era campaign.

[trevlix]

Lots of modern day downloads here.

[nickedwards]

"At Your Door" has its good points, but it also has one of my least favorite CoC moments in it.

The Delta Green books should provide you with plenty of great adventures, the problem is, they require some tinkering if you don't want to run a DG campaign. And unless you find it at a store that has no idea what they're sitting on, the "Countdown" book is going to cost you some serious bank on eBay or Amazon.

"The Stars are Right!" has some great scenarios in it. I haven't played the "Nocturnum" series. "Made in Goatswood" and "Unseen Masters" are both full of great moments, and they're also both readily available.

Out of interest what is the least favourite moment (i have At your door)