Crimson Letters - A Lovecraftian Murder Mystery Case
A dead professor. Missing occult papers. A web of lies in Arkham where everyone has a motive—and the dark truth won't stay buried for long.
$10.00
/ Session
Details
3 players following this game
Weekly / Sunday - 6:00 PM UTC
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
Campaign Length / 3–4 Sessions
1 / 5 Seats Filled
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Meet your party members
1/5
About the adventure
Arkham, Massachusetts, 1920. You must be someone of interest, since you received a confidential and expensive looking letter: "I hope this finds you in good health. There's been a tragedy. A fellow reputable professor has perished, locked inside his office and with no signs of break in. I will say it was declared as heart failure by the coroner, but such papers cannot fool what the eyes see in that corpse. I require your help with investigating sensitive matters following this death. Something of very high value to the university has been stolen. If you are willing to help, please, the university will reward you. I've scheduled your arrival for October 8th. You will not help in this endeavour alone, I have inquired other dependable people like you. I hope you understand. Signed Bryce Fallon, Dean of Miskatonic University. October 1st, 1920" Crimson Letters is a classic Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition mystery packed with paranoia and dark occult intrigue. As you untangle a web of suspects, you'll quickly discover that the motive behind the tragedy is far stranger—and infinitely more dreadful—than standard academic rivalries. This scenario is perfect for players who love deep mystery, character-driven roleplay, tense investigations, and classic 1920s Lovecraftian noir! Beginners are welcome, as pre-made characters are available to easily jump in and play!
Game style
Roleplay Heavy
Combat Lite
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Rules as Written (RaW)
Theater of the Mind
Puzzle / Mystery Focused
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(5)
Less than a year on StartPlaying
1 game hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Inclusive, Sets the Mood
Average response time: 3 hours
Response rate: 100%
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. 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.
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. - Voiced characters (to the best of my ability). - An open athmosphere that allows people to choose when to role-play and when to crack jokes. - Art to portray the scenes and handouts for immersive investigation and clues searching. - A mix of Theather of the Mind & Grid Maps for when scenes get more action. - 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