The Unspeakable Tide | Call of Cthulu | Horror | Open To All!

Creating your character

Character Creation will be quite open in scope and guided by me before our first session. I will work with player that joins to create an Investigator which fits the setting and also has a reason to be actively involved in the story from the get go. There's no real levelling in Call of Cthulu, more like an adjustment of skills the more you use them, so we'll be starting off like every other CoC Adventure using the basic startup guide. For this game in particular I highly prefer people use Pen&Paper character sheets even while playing online, mostly because I think it really helps create a bigger tie to the story. However, Foundry VTT has all we need to make and hold character sheets as well, so if someone wants a digital form that's very easy too! Keep in mind Call of Cthulu is a harrowing game of nightmares, creeping madness, and murder. It is very possible that your character will not make it through to the end of this adventure. If something happens to your character, we'll work together to make a new one that fits perfectly into the current story as well as the current group. I don't encourage people to have a backup in mind the whole time, but it is worth thinking about multiple characters at the start of the story that may get involved later. You absolutely do not need to do any research before joining this game. I will walk you through everything, and even do my best to inform you of the history of the time and the setting in general. That being said, if you want to do some of your own research I highly encourage you to do so! I will also provide the Call of Cthulu Investigators Handbook, Quick Start Guide, and a few smaller handouts that will help along the way!

Preparing for the session

Easy! Once you join the game you'll just have to join a Discord server. After that there will be a link to Forge where you'll have to make an account. This is a server host for Foundry VTT and will provide us with a Link which you can click and join as the games start. The Discord server will also have a resources tab which will contain a link to everything you'd ever need to play the game.

What Chris Werner brings to the table

For most scenes, I'll provide detailed and overt descriptions just like I would if we were all sitting at a classic table. We'll be using Foundry VTT mostly for Dice Rolls, some character sheets, and ambient music in cool moments, general maps for areas and cities that we visit, and every once in a while a neat leaflet or thematic prop pertaining to the investigation. I'm a players DM at heart, so I lean slightly more into the rule of cool than being a stickler. The Call of Cthulu system is fairly comprehensive in how it uses skills, combat, and everything else. It's a very narrative and atmospheric game, which we'll be taking full advantage of. I do my best to keep up with character voices, but I'm no voice actor! As long as you can tell which NPC is talking, I'm generally happy. I do believe in heavy immersion and roleplay and would love for my players to feel the same. So even if I can't make the voice, I play every character to the best of my ability to help you feel a part of the world.

How Chris Werner creates a safe table

Player Safety and comfort is extremely important to me. The world of Call of Cthulu is inherently more grim than some other TTRPG's, and with that in mind we'll be using several checks and safety tools to ensure everyone remains comfortable throughout the game. To start off with, Certain Lines and Veils will be in place from the beginning. Some decided by me, and then some decided by you the Players as we begin our first session. This will be a running list kept both in Foundry and our Discord Server. I'll also be making it clear these can be DM'd to me at any time to ensure everyone is comfortable. Beyond that, I'm a big believer in debriefing and aftercare. I will always check in with folk and take in any feedback necessary. We're here to have fun, and I want to make sure everyone is having it. Keeping in mind that CoC can get intense, and Roleplay can too, we'll also let people call for 10-15min Breaks in sessions so people can have time to relax a bit or maybe make a few more jokes(or even just use the bathroom). Aside from this, though I've not used them before we'll also be implementing X, N, & O cards through digital messages to me. I think this will help curate content, though in truth with other measures in places my hope is that only the O card will ever be used. Call of Cthulu is a horror game, the world we will play in is not a nice one either. That being said, I strive to make sure everyone is comfortable in the environment we create together as we play the game.