Pulpy Cthulhu adventures in FATE
Dec 6, 2011 18:34:56 GMT -8
Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2011 18:34:56 GMT -8
Working on a FATE campaign at the moment. I'm using the Spirit of the Century version of basic FATE as the system, and several Call of Cthulhu source books to add a horror twist to my world. Essentially it's a pulp style game set in the 1920s with mobsters, vile cults, ancient temples, the proto Nazis of the Thule Society, and a few dark gods thrown in for fun.
I'm adding a Sanity track to the Fate system to go along with Health and Composure, so madness is still an option. The reason for FATE rather than just using Chaosium's own system is because I want to make it a bit more pulpy. I want combat to be dangerous but not quite as deadly as traditional Call of Cthulhu. I'm also going for a better balance between action adventure and investigation. Less of the slow tension of a horror game and more the high octane energy of a cliffhanger adventure. Which hopefully is how each session will end, with lives hanging in the balance and the party hungry for to see what happens next.
I've already run a Pulp one shot in FATE that ended up breaking into two when the party ended the first session in a genre appropriate cliffhanger involving to disabled biplanes gliding towards a heavily armed zeppelin bustling with the enemy. I'm hoping to play this campaign as a very cinematic sort of thing with a relatively open world. The party will be able to go pretty much where ever they want and I have plenty of clues that can be passed out to keep them on the trail of the main story if they feel like following it. I've also got everything ready to roll up plenty of side quests and alternate paths assuming the party does what parties do and wander off the railroad.
I'm adding a Sanity track to the Fate system to go along with Health and Composure, so madness is still an option. The reason for FATE rather than just using Chaosium's own system is because I want to make it a bit more pulpy. I want combat to be dangerous but not quite as deadly as traditional Call of Cthulhu. I'm also going for a better balance between action adventure and investigation. Less of the slow tension of a horror game and more the high octane energy of a cliffhanger adventure. Which hopefully is how each session will end, with lives hanging in the balance and the party hungry for to see what happens next.
I've already run a Pulp one shot in FATE that ended up breaking into two when the party ended the first session in a genre appropriate cliffhanger involving to disabled biplanes gliding towards a heavily armed zeppelin bustling with the enemy. I'm hoping to play this campaign as a very cinematic sort of thing with a relatively open world. The party will be able to go pretty much where ever they want and I have plenty of clues that can be passed out to keep them on the trail of the main story if they feel like following it. I've also got everything ready to roll up plenty of side quests and alternate paths assuming the party does what parties do and wander off the railroad.