Yeah, "The Horrible Secret of Monhegan Island" is good.  It has two scenarios, the title one (which is heavily based on "The Wicker Man" but has a Lovecraftian slant, and another, shorter adventure about the Mi-Go.  Both were big hits when I ran them for my group.

Quote from: Rift on July 11, 2023, 04:26:58 PM
So far I have managed to locate the following titles which I consider to purchase:

Mansions of Madness
The Complete Masks of Nyarlathothep
In the Shadows
The Great Old Ones

I know some are 5e, and not sure if 5e 100% compatible with 4e or if I need to adjust something on rolls/tables...

Out of curiosity, I went on eBay to check out the prices for some of these and HOLY COW I'm almost sorry I recommended them!  That said, they are expensive but are excellent products and you'll get years of pleasure from them.  In Mansions of Madness there's a scenario called "The Sanitarium" that's my favorite "first adventure" for CoC PCs (even edging out the excellent "Edge of Darkness" ).  I ran that and one of the NPCs in that adventure provided the perfect segue into "The Asylum," another classic that's already been recommended to you in this thread.

Quote from: I on July 11, 2023, 10:45:08 PM

Quote from: Rift on July 11, 2023, 04:26:58 PM
So far I have managed to locate the following titles which I consider to purchase:

Mansions of Madness
The Complete Masks of Nyarlathothep
In the Shadows
The Great Old Ones

I know some are 5e, and not sure if 5e 100% compatible with 4e or if I need to adjust something on rolls/tables...

Out of curiosity, I went on eBay to check out the prices for some of these and HOLY COW I'm almost sorry I recommended them!  That said, they are expensive but are excellent products and you'll get years of pleasure from them.  In Mansions of Madness there's a scenario called "The Sanitarium" that's my favorite "first adventure" for CoC PCs (even edging out the excellent "Edge of Darkness" ).  I ran that and one of the NPCs in that adventure provided the perfect segue into "The Asylum," another classic that's already been recommended to you in this thread.

Yes, they're really pricey.  Monhegan Island even more than the others. I have a gut feeling that the quality of these are better than most of the new Chaosium has come up with though.

Quote from: Rift on July 12, 2023, 02:35:57 AMYes, they're really pricey.  Monhegan Island even more than the others. I have a gut feeling that the quality of these are better than most of the new Chaosium has come up with though.

This is why I wasn't shy about recomming you "younger" stuff. "King in Tatters", for example, a campaign more focused on Mythos elements borrowed from Robert W. Chambers, goes for 35 bucks on Amazon in my country. It's not a "spectacular" read, but it's well-rounded, up to modern standards in its pacing, generally DM-friendly. And, most importantly, it's complete. You can prepare the first two or three adventures in a weekend, and you don't have to write a private dissertation on some historical fringe topic. (Like the Franklin expedition, for example.)

Full disclosure, I'm having a similar "problem", right now - I wanted to do some really "ambitioned" Ctulhu stuff, in connection with "The Rats in the Walls", a minigame by French designer Kobayashi. Turns out, finding a proper oldschool scenario, vetting it for your group, and then getting into it to a degree that you can run it in a way that at least gives a semblance of historical accuracy etc. takes a long-ass time.  So, little by little, one will tend o simplify things, and drift more and more towards more simplistic approaches. - Like, say, a "Cthulhu Gaslight" set in London scenario is exponentially easier to do than, say, an expedition to 1920s Kenya because you have all the detective fiction set in that era that you can draw upon. You can prepare via Netflix, not via "ten hours of Youtube documentaries". 

Quote from: I on July 11, 2023, 10:30:21 PM
Yeah, "The Horrible Secret of Monhegan Island" is good.  It has two scenarios, the title one (which is heavily based on "The Wicker Man" but has a Lovecraftian slant, and another, shorter adventure about the Mi-Go.  Both were big hits when I ran them for my group.

Hehe, yeah. A thousand years old, and with handdrawn maps of the comic book kind - but well-written and atmospheric. "Gettable" for the players, more than anything. Compare that one with, I don't know, the haunted house adventure released by Monte Cook games during the pandemic: Not that the other one would be bad, but "easing" into the scenario is impossible. "Monhegan" does that marvellously, which I think is so important for a CoC scenario with new players.

I usually write my CoC adventures so I'm more interested in backgrounds. Having said that...

The combo Arkham + Miskatonic is a killer. If you add Dunwich, Innsmouth, Kingsport and Lovecraft Country in general you can play for years.

Delta Green is CoC only more depressing. I'm not joking. A friend of mine ran his version of the first season of True Detective with DG - but with Hastur for real - and they had a blast.

Adventure wise, the seldom mentioned "Beyond the Mountains of Madness" is a masterpiece. I have the French Edition (I paid a kidney for it) and it even comes with an original OST on CD.

A last note: I always wondered why there is almost nothing about Italy in CoC. From forbidden cults in pre-Roman times to Venice in general (not to mention the Vatican) you can throw a stone and get an idea.

Out of curiosity, when Chaosium became woke? I have a lot of published material for 7E and there is no wokeness in it. However, I stopped after "The Cults of Cthulhu" handbook, so I'm missing the most recent developments.

Quote from: Reckall on July 12, 2023, 01:58:43 PM
I usually write my CoC adventures so I'm more interested in backgrounds. Having said that...

The combo Arkham + Miskatonic is a killer. If you add Dunwich, Innsmouth, Kingsport and Lovecraft Country in general you can play for years.

Delta Green is CoC only more depressing. I'm not joking. A friend of mine ran his version of the first season of True Detective with DG - but with Hastur for real - and they had a blast.

Adventure wise, the seldom mentioned "Beyond the Mountains of Madness" is a masterpiece. I have the French Edition (I paid a kidney for it) and it even comes with an original OST on CD.

A last note: I always wondered why there is almost nothing about Italy in CoC. From forbidden cults in pre-Roman times to Venice in general (not to mention the Vatican) you can throw a stone and get an idea.

Out of curiosity, when Chaosium became woke? I have a lot of published material for 7E and there is no wokeness in it. However, I stopped after "The Cults of Cthulhu" handbook, so I'm missing the most recent developments.

Thanks for the good input. I might write a few stories as well, but it takes time. Italy is a great idea for a scenario.

As for woke I can refer to the thread somewhere on this site or simply google woke rpg list and it will show up. I discovered it when I saw Pronouns on the new character sheet, but it's much worse than just that.

Quote from: Rift on July 12, 2023, 02:35:57 AM

Quote from: I on July 11, 2023, 10:45:08 PM

Quote from: Rift on July 11, 2023, 04:26:58 PM
So far I have managed to locate the following titles which I consider to purchase:

Mansions of Madness
The Complete Masks of Nyarlathothep
In the Shadows
The Great Old Ones

I know some are 5e, and not sure if 5e 100% compatible with 4e or if I need to adjust something on rolls/tables...

Out of curiosity, I went on eBay to check out the prices for some of these and HOLY COW I'm almost sorry I recommended them!  That said, they are expensive but are excellent products and you'll get years of pleasure from them.  In Mansions of Madness there's a scenario called "The Sanitarium" that's my favorite "first adventure" for CoC PCs (even edging out the excellent "Edge of Darkness" ).  I ran that and one of the NPCs in that adventure provided the perfect segue into "The Asylum," another classic that's already been recommended to you in this thread.

Yes, they're really pricey.  Monhegan Island even more than the others. I have a gut feeling that the quality of these are better than most of the new Chaosium has come up with though.

I may have a beater copy of this, remind me to root around over the weekend and I'll take a look.

Allan.

Another upvote for the "The Horrible Secret of Monhegan Island".

However, my vote for the "Must-Have" CoC supplement is Kevin Crawford's SILENT LEGIONS book. Easily the best horror RPG GM helper that I've encountered, especially for CoC GMs with groups who've become jaded with the "normal" mythos.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/145769/Silent-Legions

Quote from: Reckall on July 12, 2023, 01:58:43 PM
I usually write my CoC adventures so I'm more interested in backgrounds. Having said that...

The combo Arkham + Miskatonic is a killer. If you add Dunwich, Innsmouth, Kingsport and Lovecraft Country in general you can play for years.

Delta Green is CoC only more depressing. I'm not joking. A friend of mine ran his version of the first season of True Detective with DG - but with Hastur for real - and they had a blast.

Adventure wise, the seldom mentioned "Beyond the Mountains of Madness" is a masterpiece. I have the French Edition (I paid a kidney for it) and it even comes with an original OST on CD.

A last note: I always wondered why there is almost nothing about Italy in CoC. From forbidden cults in pre-Roman times to Venice in general (not to mention the Vatican) you can throw a stone and get an idea.

Out of curiosity, when Chaosium became woke? I have a lot of published material for 7E and there is no wokeness in it. However, I stopped after "The Cults of Cthulhu" handbook, so I'm missing the most recent developments.

How popular is the Cthulhu Mythos in Italy at the moment? You can find Cthulhu in all kinds of media in France, from books and comics to rpgs, but I have no idea about Italy, other than that I remember seeing a collection of Mythos stories by Italian authors, but that was almost 25 years ago. 

Quote from: grodog on July 12, 2023, 09:44:18 PM

Quote from: Rift on July 12, 2023, 02:35:57 AM

Quote from: I on July 11, 2023, 10:45:08 PM

Quote from: Rift on July 11, 2023, 04:26:58 PM
So far I have managed to locate the following titles which I consider to purchase:

Mansions of Madness
The Complete Masks of Nyarlathothep
In the Shadows
The Great Old Ones

I know some are 5e, and not sure if 5e 100% compatible with 4e or if I need to adjust something on rolls/tables...

Out of curiosity, I went on eBay to check out the prices for some of these and HOLY COW I'm almost sorry I recommended them!  That said, they are expensive but are excellent products and you'll get years of pleasure from them.  In Mansions of Madness there's a scenario called "The Sanitarium" that's my favorite "first adventure" for CoC PCs (even edging out the excellent "Edge of Darkness" ).  I ran that and one of the NPCs in that adventure provided the perfect segue into "The Asylum," another classic that's already been recommended to you in this thread.

Yes, they're really pricey.  Monhegan Island even more than the others. I have a gut feeling that the quality of these are better than most of the new Chaosium has come up with though.

I may have a beater copy of this, remind me to root around over the weekend and I'll take a look.

Allan.

Sounds great of you have a copy, it looks like a good scenario book.

Quote from: Rhymer88 on July 13, 2023, 08:47:46 AM
How popular is the Cthulhu Mythos in Italy at the moment? You can find Cthulhu in all kinds of media in France, from books and comics to rpgs, but I have no idea about Italy, other than that I remember seeing a collection of Mythos stories by Italian authors, but that was almost 25 years ago.

They are very popular. It started in the '70s, when some enlightened minds started translating HPL, R.E. Howard and friends. CoC was (and still is) the second most popular RPG after D&D - beating even V:tM. The first Italian edition came out, IIRC, in 1993 and the younger me wrote several adventures for it for its publishing house's magazine. However, we never produced original manuals like the French did.

Today, 7E and supplements are fully translated. We play the English version but I bought the basic books in Italian too, to "support the cause".

For an adventure idea in "mysterious Italy", check the story of the "Dies Irae" by Tommaso da Celano, (the most famous medieval text about Judgement Day). Imagine that the original text is lost, maybe destroyed by the Church due to "demonic contents" (not to mention this guy named "Celano") and you will find yourself down a medieval rabbit hole.

Quote from: Reckall on July 13, 2023, 10:21:58 AM

Quote from: Rhymer88 on July 13, 2023, 08:47:46 AM
How popular is the Cthulhu Mythos in Italy at the moment? You can find Cthulhu in all kinds of media in France, from books and comics to rpgs, but I have no idea about Italy, other than that I remember seeing a collection of Mythos stories by Italian authors, but that was almost 25 years ago.

They are very popular. It started in the '70s, when some enlightened minds started translating HPL, R.E. Howard and friends. CoC was (and still is) the second most popular RPG after D&D - beating even V:tM. The first Italian edition came out, IIRC, in 1993 and the younger me wrote several adventures for it for its publishing house's magazine. However, we never produced original manuals like the French did.

Today, 7E and supplements are fully translated. We play the English version but I bought the basic books in Italian too, to "support the cause".

For an adventure idea in "mysterious Italy", check the story of the "Dies Irae" by Tommaso da Celano, (the most famous medieval text about Judgement Day). Imagine that the original text is lost, maybe destroyed by the Church due to "demonic contents" (not to mention this guy named "Celano") and you will find yourself down a medieval rabbit hole.

Have you checked out Horror on the Orient Express? Part of volume 2 seems to be devoted to Milan, Venice, and Trieste.

Quote from: Reckall on July 12, 2023, 01:58:43 PMThe combo Arkham + Miskatonic is a killer. If you add Dunwich, Innsmouth, Kingsport and Lovecraft Country in general you can play for years.

THIS. It's very traditional "Yoth-Soggot"-ing, but as long as your players are Lovecraft enthusiasts, and not Lovecraft nerds, this setup is the recipe for a pretty great time at the gaming table.

Quote from: Reckall on July 12, 2023, 01:58:43 PMI usually write my CoC adventures so I'm more interested in backgrounds. Having said that...

My question would be, how much time do you spend writing/preparing?  Like, I'm reasonably solid with knowledge management and with historical sciences, but I'd classify my my learning curve from I-Know-Nothing to I-Can-Portray-This-Era-Faithfully as a 100-hours-exercise. That's a lot of time when compared to the "Fuck it, we'll set this in Ravenloft" strategy that takes only about an evening to prepare. 

The short horror story "The Tower" by Marghaniti Laski would be excellent inspiration for a CoC adventure set in Italy.  The story itself is not related to the Mythos, but easily could be linked to that.  You may be able to find it online.  It's not that long of a story.