Massachusetts Investigative Branch: Call of Cthulhu Game:

Setting:             I’d like to start us off in May 27^th, 1881 at 9AM within your offices in Boston, Massachusetts.  All of the characters are employed by a new section of the state government known as the Massachusetts Investigative Branch in order to combat the growing number of baffling and nearly unsolvable crimes that have been occurring within the state for the past 5 years.  This is not to say that the various Police Departments of Massachusetts are incapable of doing their respective jobs, nor is it to say that corruption and graft are rampant within their departments, suffice it to say that the very nature of these crimes almost points to an in-human source, just simply due to their scope and nature.  (Also, remember that the FBI won’t be in existence for another 27 years!)  You have been working together on and off for the past four years, seeing that this job definitely pays better than most and does allow for travel within the State of Massachusetts.

Player Characters:             I’m using the Call of Cthulhu game system for D20 with one major change: the no-facing rule.  This is going to be yanked with abandon; there is facing for your miniatures.  This means that being “flanked” will become easier and a little more realistic so you’ll probably want to make sure that you’re watching each other’s backs in a fight. 

You’ll be starting off at First Level with 6 (+/- Constitution Bonus/Negative) hit points and then it becomes an issue of figuring out whether or not you’ll be a Defensive Character or an Offensive Character.  For generating your attributes you’ll be using the Heroic Point Buy System, as we’ve grown accustomed to in both Vic’s and Tim’s games, as seen in Dungeon Master’s Guide on pages 19-20.  Go on and roll 4d6, drop the lowest one and add 32 in order to get a range of 35 to 50 points.

Slight GURPS thing: I’d like everyone to come up with 5 Quirks for your respective characters.  Quirks can be anything from favorite colors to foods you dislike to things your character always does.

            No one is allowed to take on Cthulhu Mythos or Psychic Focus until later on as determined by the game master.

            Characters may be of any of the Profession Templates listed on page 12-13 within the rulebook “Call of Cthulhu.”  I’ll even allow for the “Criminal” if you are reformed within your character history and I would like everyone to write up a little something for your characters, please.

            All characters must take on at least one rank of Knowledge: Law and are all equipped with a Colt Single Action Army Revolver .41, shoulder holster and 12 spare cartridges, besides the 6 within the gun, as listed on page 98 of the “Call of Cthulhu” Rulebook. 

            Ethnic backgrounds for your characters may be: African American, Albanian, Chinese, Cuban, British Isles, French, German, Greek, Haitian, Italian, Jewish, Puerto Rican, Syrian/Lebanese, and I’ll allow one character to be of other parts of the British Empire.  Please remember, women and other than Christian Caucasians are considered second-class citizens (yes, even in this abolitionist city) and this will color your various reactions with the other denizens of this adventure. 

            I recommend that everyone take on different languages and discuss some of your abilities with each other so that there is a bit more cohesion within the party when dealing with different situations from trying to solve a mystery to fighting with the locals.   Combat is not going to be the focus of these adventures, though it may occur frequently depending upon the characters.  My last recommendation is that someone plays a psychologist; this is so your salaries don’t become vaporous rather quickly…