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Amidst the Ancient Trees - A Short & Beginner Friendly Campaign
A kidnapped boy. Armed fugitives. Ancient woods where even local grizzled hunters fear to tread.
$7.50
/ Session
Details
2 players following this game
Weekly / Tuesday - 11:30 PM UTC
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
Campaign Length / 2–3 Sessions
2 / 4 Seats Filled
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Meet your party members
2/4
About the adventure
Southwest Vermont, 1925. After a deadly shootout, the son of a wealthy industrialist has been dragged into the wilderness by fleeing kidnappers. You are among the volunteers, deputies, and investigators joining the desperate search. But the forest keeps its own secrets. Amidst the Ancient Trees is an introductory scenario into the sanity-breaking action of Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition. Expect tense investigations and the slow realisation that not every horror in the woods is human. This scenario is perfect for players who enjoy slow creeps, frequent action, role-play, or want to try Call of Cthulhu for the first time!
Game style
Combat Lite
Roleplay Heavy
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Rules as Written (RaW)
Hexcrawl / Exploration
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(5)
Less than a year on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Creativity, Inclusive, Sets the Mood
About me
Hi! My name is Marc and I am a Game Master with ~8 years of experience with TTRPGs. I am an addict of stories and have used this to run or play across different systems like Dungeons & Dragons 5e, Pathfinder 2e, Vampire the Masquerade and Call of Cthulhu 7th edition. I like to take inspiration from books for characters and themes, from movies for epic scenes and from music to help grow my imagination. I am a sandbox GM at heart and rules-lawyer in my mind, meaning I allow players to explore and flesh out their characters in the worlds I describe. I don’t punish mistakes that players might make, but I do keep table limits, so players don’t go overboard or hog time, or abuse the rules of the game. I do allow a little bending of the rules, as long as the rest of the players still have fun. I do not enforce themes, but my games tend to adhere to these and I always cooperate with my players to sync on themes and expectations. That starts with character creation and I always try to subscribe to my player’s ideas of their characters. If themes don’t align, I would help with suggestions of adjustment and if I can see player conflict from the beginning, I try to address professionally and help build a better game group. My sessions feature a mix of immersive descriptions and short “here’s where you didn’t check” reminders. Meaning I always let players initiate transitions. I like to describe scenes, play out NPCs and their voices and, sometimes, get lost in the immersion. But I’ve learned to push my players ahead or give them hooks to continue on the story. Combat will be fun and lenient, or high-stakes and high-energy. My strong areas are atmosphere, exciting moments in combat, and creepy or funny moments during play. I’ve made players feel creeped out, scared, excited, curious, happy, laugh-out loud and I always try to entertain their ideas. I've run both published adventures and homebrewed one shots or campaigns for friends or strangers, beginners or veterans and role players or tacticians. See you at my table!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Pre-gen characters are available. Each will have bits of backstory that connects them to the scenario. Players are free to create their own investigator. A helpful character creator can be found here: https://gursavakhjhutty.github.io/cocbeyond/ A simple google search can also aid with the steps involved in creating your character: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=call+of+cthulhu+7th+edition+how+to+create+investigators&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 For a more visual guide, check out Good Time Societies' tutorial from Becca Scott: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPhbti8jZwk My suggestion would be to pick an occupation which will largely influence your character's backstory. Pick a name, how your character looks like and a pick of equipment they might bring. The Keeper (me) will give each of you a plot hook that connects your characters to the story before we stat.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You will need a microphone, a browser, and a discord account. We will use a discord server for our voice channel, and Foundry for play. Investigators made by players should be prepared preferably 1-2 days before the session and sent to the Keeper for a quick review. This will give me enough time to port your character in the VTT. Players should also get a grasp of the basic play of Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition. Here is a playlist that I like to rewatch and remind myself some rules: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJmFJXf3BXjx-HGqco2c1BXUQnRlYmkZQ It could also help to watch a tutorial on how to use Foundry as a player. Here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24mciO_P8FI
What Marc brings to the table
- 8+ years of experience running TTRPGs, including Dungeons & Dragons and Call of Cthulhu - Art to portray the scenes and handouts for immersive investigation and clues searching - Theather of the Mind - Playlists and music to set the mood
Homebrew rules
We will use the optional Luck rule, which allows us to roll and spend luck to nudge situations in the player's favor.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Headphones
Platforms used
Safety
How Marc creates a safe table
We will discuss each content warning listed here and make a round of checks before play to make sure we don't stumble into uncomfortable moments. Call of Cthulhu features a lot of unsettling content, be it visual or in the mind. Because of that, I bring content warnings before each session to make sure everyone is informed and no unexpected surprise affects the players. I keep the adventure unchanged. If anyone wants to speak up or interrupt a situation that makes them uncomfortable or if it's too much, please do! The table is open and people can take a break, step away for a moment or speak up. The main principles of my table are open expectations, common sense, no pressure and an interest to follow the tone and setting of the game. I want to have a controlled environment in which we can experience the themes of the game safely.
Content warnings
Safety tools used