Invasive Procedure

I went through a personal problem that made it impossible for me to buy books as regularly as I would like — especially horror books. I played Call and Trail of Cthulhu using PDFs that I had purchased and kept on my PC — some of which I printed at home. My collection was always modest and practical — I had printed what I would use on the game table, no more, no less. In February 2020, for the first time in many years, I was able to purchase my first original Call of Cthulhu books, directly from Chaosium. A week after the purchase, Brazil started preparing for quarantine and everything became more and more serious. Just before everything happened, I had bought a bound volume of the Cthulhu Mythos from a great friend (thanks for the opportunity Amelia), who had also sold me the book The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe. RPG books began to arrive and the quarantine intensified. Markets and public places were closed. There was a feeling of fear and condemnation everywhere. Even today, dea

There is no one single way to write stories using the Cthulhu Mythos. Many authors, over the years, have created different settings based on Lovecraft's work. Some make pulp stories, mixing science fiction and magic, time travel, and wars between alien races (recently, we had Fate of Cthulhu , with time travelers heavily armed to destroy invincible strange gods and avoid the apocalypse — just like The Terminator). Others are purists and cling to Lovecraft's classic style of writing their short stories and novels — raw and violent to the investigators' bodies and minds. So, the first step is to think about what pleases you within the range of stories from the Cthulhu Mythos. This is the starting point. If you are not familiar with the role-playing game or the works of Lovecraft and inspired authors, you can read a little bit about them or play some pre-made adventures to feel the mood that pleases you and your group. If you don't have the time for this and need to wri

A few weeks ago, a Reddit topic comes up about Matt Mercer and the Critical Role effect and how it might affect the GM and player community, especially for the D&D players and those who are now coming in the hobby. If you do not know it, Critical Role has become a popular YouTube program by showing D&D 5e games played by voice actors and actresses. They focus on acting and dynamic play. They play RPG even with famous Hollywood figures (like Vin Diesel and Terry Crews ). For some, it is brilliant, while for others it is frustrating, as is the case of our friend from Reddit, who created the following topic in the forum: How do I beat the Matt Mercer effect? I'm running a campaign for a lot of first-timers, and I'm dealing with a lot of first-timer problems (the one who never speaks up, the one who needs to be railroaded, the NG character being played CN and the CN character being played CE). Lately, however, there's a new situation I'm dealing wit

There are a few things in an RPG session that can help the group immerse themselves in the game universe: handouts (affect vision and touch), roleplaying (affect emotions), and, of course, ambient sounds (affect hearing). Some pre-made adventures (scenarios) provide handouts or tips on how to help immersion (some Keepers like to create their own handouts). Roleplay and interaction are subjective and vary from group to group; it is something that is within each person. Music and sounds, on the other hand, is a difficult topic to discuss, as many do not use it, perhaps because they do not know cool apps or artists, or just because they don't like it. I did a lot of research to find music and apps that met my needs. When we ask for advice on what to play in the background in our Call of Cthulhu sessions, many say, " there are lots of cool artists and bands from the 1920s ." Well, I love them. But I don't want a chase scene with Ghouls in underground catacombs at the

Call of Cthulhu RPG is different from other roleplaying games in so many ways, but especially when we talk about the frame of its adventures. It not just to get a monster from a creature's list and put some problem on the character's way. It is about mystery, investigation, subtle revelation, cosmic horror, and horrifying confrontation. Some Keepers are used to buy pre-made adventures (that we usually call them Scenarios), while others prefer to create their ideas. In this post, I'll talk about how I prepare a session when I buy a pre-made scenario for Call of Cthulhu. Feel free to comment on how you usually prepare your gaming sessions so I can get some tips from you. Step One: Read the Scenario I start reading the scenario from the beginning, and I usually make my notes while I do that first reading. I typically do this because I don't always have time to read the adventure twice before the game starts. When I have time, I read at least twice and update my notes.

I'm just a guy in love for tabletop games, comics, music, and literature. I live in a small city in Brazil with some cats (in fact, there are many cats). This blog is a place where I will vomit my ideas and anxieties. Here, I find a way to escape my fears and the things that torment me. It's also a place where I can find other people to talk with. See you in the next posts.