The Haunting Dark

[gusty84]

So earlier this year, after not being able to add combat to Cthulhu Dark in a way I found satisfying, I put together a set of rules light rules for supernatural investigator. Nothing too fancy, but I've successfully run a couple of games with it and thought I would share, given the time of year. 

The Rules: drive.google.com/file/d/1gcJeD6j8FAMVGoQSIFe_pEw7i-TJTZSt/view?usp=sharing

A Scenario: drive.google.com/file/d/1NeTZ6RykpyXi0SdlubscGatkS6d_3y6v/view?usp=sharing

[Starbeard]

Good looking work. I'm not a huge fan of super light rules—except maybe for impromptu one-shots and as tack-ons to wargame campaigning—so I'm not the target audience, but I like what I see and I could envision using something like this for those scenarios.

I do like the bit about investigation and research, advising the referee to just give the relevant information if the players figure out to look for it.

[gusty84]

Thanks for the kind words. And rules-light certainly isn't for everyone, but they can be nice for one-shots, or genres of games I only play periodically. 

[Mushgnome]

This is right up my alley! Very nice work.

[hamurai]

Thanks for sharing! I'll take a good look at it and will recommend it to a friend who's into really light rule systems.

[Starbeard]

I like the organization of the scenario, too. That's more or less how I've come to jot down my own notes for investigative scenarios too: one page covering what's going on and what can be done about it, followed by descriptions of each relevant place and and what information can be gathered from each place/person. It's much easier to work with than writing it in a suggested order of events or locations, or burying investigative information inside the narrative descriptions.

[gusty84]

Thanks. I find it a lot easier to use when thing are organized that way as well. Too many scenarios for Call of Cthulhu, for example, seem to be written like a story, rather than something useful to run. I have other scenarios that I've written, but wasn't sure if they would be too useful, as I tend to make up a lot of details as I run them, only giving descriptions to important areas.

The legacy is the actually the first one I wrote, and is a good example of what I usually prepare before a game: drive.google.com/file/d/1KJ1sEpiWiVQH8jDki45SRss7zzd342gT/view?usp=sharing

[Starbeard]

Oct 12, 2022 11:40:34 GMT -6 gusty84 said:

Thanks. I find it a lot easier to use when thing are organized that way as well. Too many scenarios for Call of Cthulhu, for example, seem to be written like a story, rather than something useful to run. I have other scenarios that I've written, but wasn't sure if they would be too useful, as I tend to make up a lot of details as I run them, only giving descriptions to important areas.

The legacy is the actually the first one I wrote, and is a good example of what I usually prepare before a game: drive.google.com/file/d/1KJ1sEpiWiVQH8jDki45SRss7zzd342gT/view?usp=sharing

My thoughts as well. It's refreshing to see someone trying to prepare CoC style adventures according to the way they actually get played.

[hamurai]

Yeah, good presentation! Thanks for sharing the scenarios. My buddy is really excited about THD, by the way, and prepares to run a one-shot for us soon!

[waysoftheearth]

Nice work
My first thought was it could possibly be adapted for use as a spell research sub-system for OD&D

[gusty84]

Oct 14, 2022 0:52:24 GMT -6 hamurai said:

Yeah, good presentation! Thanks for sharing the scenarios. My buddy is really excited about THD, by the way, and prepares to run a one-shot for us soon!

Sounds good. You'll have to let me know how it goes. I've only run it about four times so far.

[gusty84]

Oct 14, 2022 2:03:19 GMT -6 waysoftheearth said:

Nice work
My first thought was it could possibly be adapted for use as a spell research sub-system for OD&D

Thanks! And Possibly, though I would need to hear what you're thinking.

[hamurai]

Oct 14, 2022 15:12:43 GMT -6 gusty84 said:

Oct 14, 2022 0:52:24 GMT -6 hamurai said:

Yeah, good presentation! Thanks for sharing the scenarios. My buddy is really excited about THD, by the way, and prepares to run a one-shot for us soon!

Sounds good. You'll have to let me know how it goes. I've only run it about four times so far.

Will do

[rredmond]

Definitely tell us in this thread!
With some modification this could be a good D&D scenario too, no?
I only ask because I see some usernames in here that I have a lot of respect for, and could answer the question pretty easily.

Enjoying the stuff you put out Aaron, thank you!!

[Mushgnome]

For those unfamiliar with Cthulhu Dark, here is its combat system in its entirety, to give context to gusty84's project:

"If you fight any creature you meet, you will die."

[jeffb]

Oct 11, 2022 11:52:45 GMT -6 gusty84 said:

Thanks for the kind words. And rules-light certainly isn't for everyone, but they can be nice for one-shots, or genres of games I only play periodically. 

Thanks so much for posting your game here. I agree with you 100%, this is the type of thing I may be able to actually convince my Wife and Daughter to play. The vast majority of RPG systems keep them from playing.

As they both love Halloween, I'm going to press them to try this out. I will update the thread if I am able to get them to sit down and play next weekend.

[gusty84]

Thanks everyone. I'm glad so many people like it, and will be sure to post future scenarios here. I've got a couple more, but haven't had a chance to do any play testing yet.

[hamurai]

You could always tap into the Hivemind of this forum and have other people playtest them

[rredmond]

Oct 16, 2022 23:06:46 GMT -6 hamurai said:

You could always tap into the Hivemind of this forum and have other people playtest them

QFT!
There's PbP games here, there's a (somewhat used) Discord, and there's definitely folks who'll give it a whirl in their home games!

[gusty84]

Here is another investigation, though a short one.

drive.google.com/file/d/1Y2b6s4k1ZA6m9D9ZoegHYcuY0-5KcuH2/view?usp=share_link