The Black Sun Also Rises (A Cthulhu Campaign 1920-1945)

Creating your character

Characters will be created during the first session with each player creating 2-3 characters (Cthulhu characters typically have short lifespans or suffer maladies which will keep them unavailable for months or years of game time). If the campaign begins and players join in later, character creation in those instances will NOT take place during a gaming session but will be handled separately. It is suggested that the group be varied in their interests and professions, but if a group decides everyone wants to be university students--that's fine, too. Attributes will be rolled with no fudging (low attributes can be fun to roleplay) and the play won't harm the enjoyment and will actually enhance the role-playing.

Preparing for the session

Players will need minimal preparation. They will need to have a set of role-playing dice (d4-6-8-10-12-20-%), paper and pencil. It IS important that players understand the genre and that characters die often and sometimes arbitrarily.

What Jim brings to the table

In college, 20th century US and European history were fields of study that were then fleshed out during years as a high school and college instructor--so that wherever possible, the history will be accurate (but only as long as it doesn't interfere with the fun) As a GM, I believe rules are guidelines not rigid and there are always times where the rules do not address a situation. Sometimes that means a GM decision, sometimes the consensus of the players. But once there's combat, once dice are rolled--that's the way the Mythos goes. When real history intertwines with the campaign, I'll make sure to find ways that gamers can explore those events on their own time--it's always great to have a new rabbit-hole to follow. From time to time as appropriate, art will be provided of the Old Ones and their minions--all with artist permission/rights ownership, of course!

Homebrew rules

I have a different system for skill advancement that I feel works 'better', given the quick deaths of CoC characters. This doesn't change the game's play.

How Jim creates a safe table

The character-making session will cover topics that are uncomfortable. I'm happy to discuss things between sessions whether by email or other methods if a player is concerning. I also think the GM should be the last to log off afterwards--so to be able to do a review of the session--or if a player wants to talk privately afterwards. And of note--the 'content warnings' here have quite a few; it's hard to avoid the possibility of most of those during a Cthulhu campaign and since the campaign extends into the 1940s, there will be WW2 and the death of millions.