Bringing Uncanny Horror to the Gaming Table [Gumshoe Rules]

[Pelgrane]

We gave Trail of Cthulhu playtesting GMs the chance to either convert an existing adventure, write a new one, or improvise an adventure. You don't have to set in stone what is going to happen in a GUMSHOE game any more than you do in a game where you make rolls to get information. You can improvise scenes just as you can in such games. GUMSHOE does have a strong GM model, so it's not a collaborative mystery creation system. The PCs are specifically investigating something pre-determined. I've no problem with either way of running mysteries, both make for a good, if different game. We do intend to release a version of GUMSHOE called McGuffin which does work in exactly this way - you don't spend points to discover clues, you spend points to create them. This would work very well with the idea that you spend Stability to get additional information.

Second, both Fear Itself and Trail of Cthulhu have specific tools for character development, and for screwing over your own characters to gain a reward (or avoid a punishment). Each character has a Drive, the thing which causes the character to go down into the dark basement or investigate the eldritch horror. You lose Stability if you decline to follow your drive. The Drives in Fear Itself and ToC are different, but genre appropriate.

As Graham mentioned, there are free floating scenes. There are also mechanics for Directed Scenes and Flashbacks. Fear Itself offers a very loose structure, and introduces floating clues, which the GM can introduce in any appropriate scenes. Fear Itself gave me and my group some of the best in character roleplaying we've experienced particularly in flashback, where the main character interacted with NPCs from their past played by the other players.

The Stability rules give the option for the other players to help simulate a character's madness, for example, if a character was paranoid, you could send the player out of the room, and tell the remaining players to whisper and pass notes when she gets back.

[epweissengruber]

I have enjoyed GUMSHOE games in the past and that's why I keep playtesting and buying the products.

I am still working out how to make my own interest in supernatural horror hook up with the rules.

[Pelgrane]

I have enjoyed GUMSHOE games in the past and that's why I keep playtesting and buying the products.

I am still working out how to make my own interest in supernatural horror hook up with the rules.

I'm looking forward to hearing how you incorporate the intriguing material you quoted.

[LostSoul]

Dave here.

I found the session unsatisfying.  I really felt that I had no agency in the game.  I wasn't able to do much but respond to what happened.

My PC was driving into town with an important NPC who was injured with a really nasty bug bite.  I wanted to have my PC, Blake, drive into town to meet up with another PC (who is a doctor).  There was a storm raging and a road crew was trying to reinforce a retaining wall in case of landslide.

The wall gave way and I had to make a Driving roll to avoid hitting some people.  Nice, I made it.  But what I really wanted was to get to town to hook up with my fellow PCs!  I didn't feel like I could do that using the rules.  I didn't think I had the authority to say, "If I win this roll I get into town in time," or the ability to frame a scene myself.

So really I felt like I was sitting back waiting for something to happen.  When that happens to me I get antsy and I try to leap on any opportunity to make something happen.  I do two things: I have my PC take radical actions (usually violence) and I make unsolicited suggestions like "Shoot him in the face."  Both of which I did in the game.

So, yeah.  That was my experience.

[epweissengruber]

Actual Play: Session #1

PHYSICAL SETUP

- Circular table, GM with books piled in front of him, 4 players arrayed on opposite side of circle (we shall call them M., D., B., and S.).
- Esoterrorists rule book, 2 copies of playtest rules, Call of Cthulhu 4th ed. for reference, 10 six-sided dice of various colours
- Visual aids: photos of 1940's flood in England, cholera victims, destruction wrought by 1938 Hurricane in New England, big and small maps of Mass. near Pittsfield and Mt. Graylock [a real place, highest peak in Mass.]
- Play aids: a stack of notecards with 6 uncanny situations written on them, 1 card that says "I'm bored: send something uncanny my way", 1 card that says "Who wants to be hit by something uncanny?"
- Scenario notes: a stack of notecards, divided into part #1, part #2, part #3 but otherwise in no chronological order.  I tried to make it so that the scenes, apart from the terrifying conclusion" could be played in any order.  In each part there were several optional scenes and a few ones that HAD to happen.

Notes:
* The physical set up gave us lots of space.  The playtest rules need page numbers printed on them just to make it easy to put them back together after they have been flipped through frantically.  Maps are very useful for an investigative scenario in that build up the shared imaginative space, and they are useful for horror games because they build up the premise that the world with which we are familiar is being corroded by something awful.
* The play aids were inspired by comments on this board and by similar devices in With Great Power, and by some of Robin Laws' suggestions on how to give signals to players.  Sad to say, I did not get to use them.  I did a round of scenes to hook the characters into the scenario, hit them with a number of external challenges, and dealt with repercussions.  I will make sure to use them next time.
* In our first session my "HAD to happen" scenes took precedence over player choices.  This was not, as Callan predicted, my response to player passivity but the consequence of an interior demand to "get the story going in the direction I wanted."

CHARACTERS & CHARACTER CREATION

-I sent this message to my players:
Here are the rules.

"I am looking for investigators from 1 of 7 different backgrounds -- and only one of each.  If you could get back to me about what trips yer various triggers, that'd be nice.

Medicine
Folklore/Anthropology
Occultism
Architecture/Government/Business
A Working-Class Schmoe
Someone with a strong love interest (the genders of lover and beloved don't matter)
Law Enforcement

If you have another strong concept, let me know."

- I had prepped scenes a scene to hook character of these broad types into the mystery.

* 2 players (female) came with completed characters.  They helped the others make theirs.  One player wanted an aviatrix who was married to one of the other characters.  Once players got around the table she "proposed" to them.  One player with a strong character concept accepted the proposal, so I had a wedded couple with a kid.  But, the players agreed, their marriage was on the rocks.  Some of the most effectively creepy scenes involved me improvising the child's bizarre behaviour in a way that only aggravated the problems between the couple.  And the improvisation hooked into the GUMSHOE mechanics in a neat way: the aviatrix used her military background to help bring the child to its senses. 

She used the currency of the game to: a) get more screentime; b) buy extra information that will help her character in later stages, in exactly the way the rules are designed to work.

- Character creation in the GUMSHOE rules is fairly quick.  I tried to make sure that every one of the important investigative abilities was covered by one of the players.  But the momentum of the character creation overwhelmed me.  So now I will have to frame my clues to the abilities that players have selected and not the other way 'round.

- My players are inveterate doodlers and their character sheets are decorated with very evocative little sketches of their characters and the free associations that arose during play. 

* Dr. Henry Milward
Background: From the player's pre-game correspondence:
"An idealistic young graduate of medical science, Beatrice [changed to Henry after the "proposal" from the player with the aviatrix] set out to Europe to become a contract surgeon during WWI in the hopes that she would be recruited as a physician.  It was during her time abroad that she met her future husband, Henry Milward.  While the no-hire policy of the US Military did not change, Beatrice was still witness to many horrors perpetrated by men on men.  Her experiences only strengthened her resolution that human life and modern civilization be protected at all cost."

The character was modified somewhat but the player did so enthusiastically.  If only the GM (a.k.a. "Me") had been as willing to adapt pregame preparation to the players' at-the-table input.

The character's beliefs include: confidence in professional abilities, the inherent importance of human life, the advancements of modern civilization.  (Sounds a little like Burning Empire's Beliefs!)

B. created the following NPCs for her character:
Wife: Marcia Milward [originally "Husband: Prof. Henry Milward)
Son: Terence Milward, age 9
Nurse/Assistant: Rita Brady

* Marcia Brady
Background: Englishwoman who became involved with flying during WWI.  Met Henry Milward and ended up in Mass.  She continues to fly (the Milwards are very well off and have a pretty manse away from the town).

S. created the following NPCs for her character:
Wife: Henry Milward
Son: Terence Milward, age 9
Francois: French-Canadian supplier of all things aviator-y, mechanical, and electrical
Jimmy: local farmboy who wants to learn how to fly.

* Blake Winthorpe
[D. contacted me during the week regarding his character.  He was thinking Hemingway, I was thinking Lovecraft.  Must remember to pay attention to players' wishes!]

Background: A man of action who served in WWI.  He has retired to his family home in the hills near the Housatonic River where he is attempting to write a new kind of weird fiction, and where he can engage in the outdoor pursuits that give me great satisfaction.  He likes guns and punching people and things. 

His personal beliefs include "I am better than everyone else because I don't wallow in denial," and "Honesty."

D.'s NPCs include:
Housekeeper: Old Widow Miller
Publisher: Sam Goldstein in NYC [a little detail that possibly grew out of our discussion of Lovecraft's prejudices]
Curio Shop Keeper: Mr. Hallorhand
Shell-Shocked School-chum from Miskatonic U: Dirk

* Wesley Robbins
Background: A creative modern architect who keeps a home in a remote, picturesque area (shades of Wright!).  He is also involved in the electoral campaign of local politician Hollis Mulwray.  Mulwray was the first of the grisly occult murders to be uncovered.

Personal Beliefs: Superiority of modern architecture, the power of personal initiative, clarity of rational thought (shades of Roark and Ayn Rand!) (also, HPL would have hated this guy!)

It seems as if M. has created a character that runs counter to the nihilistic ethos of the Mythos  Nice.

NPCs include:
Friend: Hollis Mulwray (dead!)
Belle: Doris Gayle

Plans for the Future:
- Slow down the pace.  Now that I have the setup and the basic clues are out, I can let the investigators do what they want, collaborate more, pursue their own agendas.
- Challenge beliefs.
- Deliver some uncanniness via. the NPCs.
- Work off of a relationship map that ties PC, NPC, and villainous creeps together.

[epweissengruber]

OVERALL PACE:
- I tried to do this like a tightly-packed horror movie.  The railroading that results is not fun.
- Even an HPL story doesn't give much time for character interaction.
- I am thinking of a Ramsay Campbell novel like "The Darkest Part of the Woods."  General spookiness, then crawling corruption, then full blown devil-osity.

HOW AM I DOING IT?

I can address all of the following areas while still addressing the preceding premise and playtest the game without houseruling it.

a) Pursue the 2 Challenges I Have Set Myself
Challenge of Making Powerlessness Interesting
- not doing so well on this one
Making Hidden Menace Interesting Instead of Cliche
- yeah, there has been some original weirdness (the black pyramid appearing in a picture in a well-thumbed children's history book about England)
- will see what originality arises when players attempt to use Mythos knowledge

b) Incorporate Advice I Have Gleaned From the Board
* Reward the player for hosing the character in appropriate ways
- not done anything on this score
* players can initiate the horror via a Stability check.
- again, must leave openings for this to happen
* spice things up with prewrittnen floating scenes (which are random things you put in to increase the tension)
- I find that I can improvise scenes well enough and players can use their investigative abilities to get their gist or spend Ability points to gain more info/add info/make their characters look cool
* leverage the Uncanny Valley
- interesting concept but I am leaving it aside for now
* bring abductive logic to the investigation.
- will use it in later mysteries but now that the characters' agendas are on the table, I won't be thinking about this too much.

[Pelgrane]

Playtest results are supposed to be under an NDA. Could you please remove these posts and submit your results in the approved format.

[epweissengruber]

I am sorry to have broken the NDA

I thought that I could discuss horror gaming making reference to the standard rules of GUMSHOE.

I will have the moderator remove the posts and return to the procedures of the playtest document.

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

I've thought a little bit about this since the posts about the NDA occurred.

My first moderator point is to say that I (the moderator) have no interest or obligation in protecting NDAs. You establish one for playtesters at your peril; playtesters post about such play at their peril. It's between the two of you; it has nothing to do with the Forge as an entity; and therefore I as moderator am disinclined to participate in any negotiation about it. Violate the terms of the NDA here in Actual Play, or support them, it's all the same to the Forge.

My second moderator point is to say that all posts here at the Forge are considered copyrighted by their authors. They are your posts and your words. It's not my job to protect anyone from themselves.

Please don't PM or post to dispute this decision. It is still provisional. I'm going to think about it more, and come to a final conclusion over the next day, in consultation with Vincent.

Best, Ron

[Ron Edwards]

The decision is now jiointly determined, by Vincent and me, to be final: the thread remains unchanged.

1. The "deletion" issue is a red herring. It's reserved for egregious spam and for duplicate posts. The only option available is removal to the Inactive File.

2. I move things to the Inactive File because they violate Forge content standards. Spam gets moved there. So do off-topic comments or threads. Rude or stupid posting might get moved there, but rarely; I prefer to let those stand and be moderated visibly.

I don't see any reason why person X doing something that person Y doesn't want them to fits those criteria. Even if person X is willing to agree.

As I said in the thread, and it still seems reasonable after a night or two of sleep, the Forge does not play nanny to contractual interactions like those of an NDA. It is not a law-enforcement device.

Speaking not as moderator for a moment, I have some advice for all concerned: merely stop posting to this thread and let it slip down the page over time.

Best, Ron