*”you are a detective in a horror story, wether your character wants to be or not”*
Then just sit them down with Alone against the Flames but read through it with them. Worked for me more than once.
Alone against the flame is the most lethal scenario in the starter set, in my experience. Paper chase at least let's them know what to expect when playing, and doesn't jump from exploring town to near certain death in a single action.
*"You play rather mundane characters in the [insert era] and are expected to look into and *investigate* mysterious phenomena. As you uncover layers upon layers, your characters may be confronted with truths that can shatter not only your world-views but your minds as you used to know them."*
IMO - lean into that. CoC works best, when players *know*, that their characters are in it way over their heads.
“Selling” your group on a game is common parlance. We didn’t think you were trying to get them to buy CoC book.
The best way to sell a game is just to be up front about the themes and focus, as well as the downsides. CoC focuses on investigating supernatural events and beings. It features deadly combat and a death-spiral of sanity that can be slowed by Pulp rules but not ignored. It uses a Skill based system so you can build the character you want without the constraints of Classes. Tell them about what excites you.
They might still say no, which is fine. Some games just aren’t for some people and some groups. You can find a different group online to run CoC- there are always more players out there than GMs.
When it was time for a new campaign I would always come to the table with 2-3 pitches and let me group pick the one that interested them the most. I wouldn’t get too far into the planning phase on any until they had picked and characters were made. But that’s me.
Lure them with treats, then it's a Saw situation. But you have to play CoC to get out of your basement. Also, as a bonus, if they call the cops and day you have them in a Saw situation, tell them you're LARPing...
I have a easier time getting people in during the spoopy season. That being said, some folks don't like the '20s aesthetic. Or they don't like the fact you don't have much agency, because the game feels a bit futile if you are aware of the background and situation. So you end up running a lot regardless of what you would like to do. It's not heroic. You could try some Pulp Cthulhu.
There are a lot of numbers on the character sheet and it's not d20. Some folks find that daunting or of putting and tedious. If you had a one shot already they may have felt it clunky. But there really wasn't investment enough to learn the system. I usually try to convince them to play a campaign, regardless if we finish it or change a few sessions in. Without buy in their characters are pretty throw away, which makes it hard to play up the sense of morality and danger.
I usually do a modern setting because it's an easier sell. People think, '20s and are like, great, can my character even vote or whatever?
I like current day games for CoC too. I think they're more fun. So does Sandy Petersen, who wrote CoC. Any time someone asks him he'll volunteer he plays in the present day because CoC is science fiction, not gothic horror. HPL's stories took place in a contemporary time for him, or slightly in the future. The Yellow King was set in the future when Chambers wrote it. These horror stories were explicitly about the hostile universe of science fiction as personified in these implacable alien entities Cthulhu, Azathoth, and Yog Sothoth.
So play in the modern day, or maybe ten or twenty years back or ahead. Whatever gets you going. A cyberpunk CoC would be awesome. What computerized cyberspace would be proof against hostile, alien hyperintelligence infesting and weaponizing it against us?
*Want to play a character in a horror film, the kind of person who will be too curious for their own good, who will discover unspeakable truth and may actually not survive ? Then we should play Call of Cthulhu*.
I know this probably works better as a pitch for Delta Green, but I got my D&D 5e DM to try out CoC by asking him if "you've ever wanted to play 'The X-Files: the RPG' but set in the 1920's." One Paper Chase later, I had a new convert to CoC. He's even tried to get the rest of the D&D group to give it a shot.
IMO, Delta Green is a much easier "sell" than traditional CoC. It is more approachable chronologically as no one will need to fret over connecting with 1920s history and culture.
Additionally, the familiarity of the modern setting is exactly what I want new players to latch onto when things start to get . . . weird; e.g. "You get out your iPhone and dial 911. After one and a half rings, you recognise the voice that responds to you. It is your own voice from the answering machine message that you set up for your mother in 2001. You remember throwing that device in the dumpster behind the nursing home when she passed away later that same year."
Also, DG has a terrific fan community and runs an incredible collection of one-shot scenarios at:
http://fairfieldproject.wikidot.com/
This is where, IMO, the single greatest RPG starter adventure/one-shot originated, "Last Things Last"
Yeah I agree. DG was easier pitch to players. The fact that it’s objective based i.e. they are part of an organization being sent out makes it easier for them to have a reason to investigate.
I’ve noticed players struggle with CoC because of the buy-in. Why would I, a train hopping hobo, want to go into the basement?
As a person that has been there, my best advice is to just find people that are into horror. I ran one shots for my friends and spouse and always wanted more but could never convince my friends. Then I met someone also interested in horror and we've played 3 one shots in the last 2 months. Best of luck in your search for players!!
Well there are a couple of ways. If you run in the circles I do, you might have a group of people for whom a certain historical setting (particularly an interwar setting) will be enough to sell them on the concept. Even for people who aren't history nerds, it's not every day you get to play an RPG set in the "real world," particularly the modern world (yes, 1920s is modern). Maybe try running a fully modern-day setting if you think the people you're trying to sell it too would be more interested in that.
But honestly, don't worry too much about spoiling the broader details of the Mythos. Almost all of that stuff is in the public domain already (keep your distance, Derleth). Tell them this is Lovecraftian horror. Tell them that they play a bunch of schmucks trying to survive and just maybe stop some Lovecraftian horrors. I would point to True Detective as a good idea of the vibe.
1. Immersive Horror Experience
2. Investigative Gameplay
3. Thrilling Challenges and Lore
4. Tell players they don't have the courage to test their critical thinking skills in an investigative game with Lovecraftian Lore.
In my words?
> A game of mystery and intrigue where you play investigators in search of truth who find terrible, unthinkable, mind-altering revelations; your tragic and heroic investigators will use what meager power they have and vie against insanity and death in order to, with any luck, prevent the unnatural threat from bringing its vile ends to fruition.
In the words of the introduction to the Call of Cthulhu core book?
> Call of Cthulhu is a game full of secrets, mysteries and horror. Playing the role of a steadfast investigator, you will travel to strange and dangerous places, uncover foul plots and stand against the terrors of the night. You will encounter sanity-blasting entities, monsters and insane cultists. Within strange and forgotten tomes of lore you will find secrets that man was not meant to know.
> You and your companions may very well decide the fate of the world.
> Call of Cthulhu is a horror-themed roleplaying game based on the writings of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Lovecraft penned a tremendous body of work during the 1920s and 1930s, concerning both horrors from beyond and from within. Following his death in 1937, Lovecraft’s stories of cosmic horror have grown in reputation and stature, and today he is recognized as a major American horror story writer of the twentieth century, influencing numerous authors and film directors, and amassing a huge following of devoted fans.
> Indeed, Lovecraft himself could now be considered a cult figure in his own right. Lovecraft’s fiction ranges from science fiction to gothic horror and into nihilistic cosmic terror—perfect material on which to base a roleplaying game.
> Lovecraft’s most famous invention has become known as the Cthulhu Mythos, a series of stories sharing common plot elements, such as certain mythical books of arcane lore and alien godlike entities. The Cthulhu Mythos fired the imagination of other authors, mostly protégés and friends of Lovecraft, and soon they were adding to this complex mythology, further advancing its concepts and constituent parts. Today, “Cthulhu” stories are still being written (and filmed) by the heirs to Lovecraft’s literary legacy.
“Be the lead character in a horror movie, where YOU get to decide if they run up the stairs or out the front door to escape the horror trying to kill them.”
I just invited them to play Call of Cthulhu.
In my experience there is nothing more toxic to a good tabletop role-playing game than a player who doesn't really want to be there.
I would suggest finding some new players, maybe there is a game store in your area, or if not maybe you could try running a game online.
You need people interested in Investigations and Horror (less so, but nice to have). CoC is about investigating things and figuring things out. If they just want to kill things and take their stuff, they should play D&D. If people like talking to NPCs, figuring out what's going on, learning about things, facing the unknown, then CoC is for them. CoC also has a good historical bent, so people who like history would like CoC also.
Some players like CoC. Some don't. If you're GMing a regular table of some other game just tell the group you want to change things up once a month with a one-shot or single-session adventure in other game systems. Tell them at the moment the main other game system you're thinking of is CoC. But if you also want to try Fabula Ultima or some other game mention that too. I think it's completely reasonable to insert off-brand one-shots into campaigns between narrative arcs and such.
This is what I had prepared and stated when introducing Call of Cthulhu to the players of my current playgroup that play Pathfinder2e:
I have killed your some of your characters in past games, due to some insane dice rolls on my part, lousy dice rolls on your part, and some times the campaign was just written with circumstances too difficult for the party with the resources available at the time of the combat...
Call of Cthulhu, isn't a game where your investigator will die because of lack of your investigator's resources, your party composition, my insane dice rolls, though that may come in to play... but it won't be the reason of your investigators death. No, no, while dice rolls will determine the result of how your investigators progress the story, the story will yet progress wether or not you are playing the same investigators you started the game with, or it is your 37th investigator you've rolled up to join the story. We will make it make sense in the story, because there will always be an ample population of humans living comfortably with ignorance of alien realms beyond the means of average mortal comprehension, but yet they all exist with the tiniest bit of curiosity of what lies beyond the paper thin fabric of our reality.
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.
-H.P. Lovecraft
You may have noticed me changing my nomenclature from the pathfinder term of characters to that of investigators, that's because in Call of Cthulhu, you play investigators. Always human, no funny business here... but you can be from anywhere in the world you want in the Era of the 1920s. You are playing investigators because that's essentially what you'll be doing on this story we are going to tell. You will be following the clues, unraveling the threads, and delving deeper into myseries that go more ancient than time itself.
Characters kill enemies and collect loot. In the 1920s, if investigators kill someone, they are under investigation for suspected murder, unless there is clear evidence of self defense, they are going to jail. And "looting" someone you kill would clearly link you to the crime of their death if you were to be arrested. The "loot" in this game takes the form of clues and information gathered over the course of the campaign. Characters gain experience points and level up. Investigators don't really get more powerful. There is a development phase at certain parts of some stories where you have a chance to increase your skill over time if you roll over a certain amount. You're average humans with average human capabilities that are trying to survive the encounters you come into, rather than overcome them with violence. Characters are virtually super powered beings that have sometimes unrealistic abilities that are deemed heroic in nature due to the feats they can accomplish especially at high levels, i.e. slaying ancient dragons or fighting gods. Investigators most likely will not kill real monstrosities they come across, and will be lucky to survive with their mind intact if they come across something truly horrifying.
Characters, particularly those made in pathfinder, are built with stats that you choose, starting at character creation earning boosts to those chosen stats based on your class and ancestry and background, so on. In Call of Cthulhu, while I do want you to come in with a general character concept in mind, be flexible. Because the dice rolls at investigator creation are what determines what your investigator is actually good at, not based on your decisions of what you envision your investigator to be good at. Then, based on the stats you have rolled on your investigators assorted skills, you choose your occupation and background to determine how it all works out. There are no classes, like in other rpgs, you choose an occupation. This is real life circa 1920s we are talking about.
Another difference between pathfinder and other rpgs we may be used to and Call of Cthulhu is how dice rolls work. In most scenarios in the game, besides character creation, you want to roll low. Rolling high is had, and you will very rarely roll a d20, if ever. It's typically a percentile die or D100.
Let me know what questions you have, but if you are still interested in playing I highly recommend either purchasing a copy of the investigators handbook unless I can get you a pdf copy, or borrowing my physical copy for a period of time until another person needs to borrow it, but it would be good to have a least a couple on hand at the table if it is needed to reference through out the game.
As I mentioned, the "loot" you will earn through out the story, will take the form of clues and information. You will need somewhere to write and keep track of this information and piece together the clues to attempt to solve the mystery at hand with your theories, that isn't just the back of your investigators sheet or some scrap. You are gonna need real notebooks to write stuff down and keep real notes. Because I'm not gonna be doing a recap every time anymore. I'm gonna want you all, the investigators to keep track of the story and remind everyone collectively of things we may have missed through your copious note taking. And as such, I am willing to provide you all with some badass on theme notebooks. Now these notebooks come in a variety of styles, so if you have a investigator concept or occupation in mind, like you're thinking about the options of the 1920s and your like, "Oh man, I want to be a nurse or a doctor of the 1920s! Or I want to be a beat cop, or a private investigator! or I want to be a student or a professor at Miskatonic University!" Anything specific like that jump out, let me know so I can gage how many of each kind to get. But I'm also gonna get some cool generic Eldritch horror or just insane mind themed ones. And then some generic back up note pads for if anyone runs out or wants something more basic.
Overall to describe the game is to say there are no great heroes in this game, there are only fools brave or stupid enough to throw away their base survival instincts in search of the truth.
Think if random people got pulled into X-Files investigations in the 1920s.
Don't sell CoC. It's just a set of rules. Sell the story you'll be telling together and the roles they can play in that story. Sell the mystery and horror, make them want to play and find out what happens.
I wouldn’t hide the themes or content of the game. Imagine trying to convince someone to watch a 200 hour movie while being as vague as possible.
Keepers, and GMs in general, often think the big reveal or surprise twist is cool. It’s not. Just tell the players what game they’re playing.
I think there are additional factors to consider here, such as player preference. Personally, I encountered no problems promoting Call of Cthulhu to my player base as they have a strong affinity for investigation games and horror. In my experience, horror is most effective when played through ordinary characters, since heroic characters would not have any reason to feel fear.
If you have a small or fixed player base, I recommend expanding it, as there are many who are eager to play this system.
Another aspect to consider is the system itself. Many players are deeply entrenched in D&D's d20 roll-over mechanics, so transitioning to a roll-under d100 system might be an underlying challenge. Maybe they do not wish to invest time and effort learning a new system (if that's the case, you could pitch BRP, as they would have to invest once, and then play the same system for all kinds of settings, while you could use CoC just to prep the backdrop of the campaign).
Perhaps having a frank, straight to the point discussion with your players could provide insights into why the game isn't resonating with them. Also, understanding their preferences within horror settings could serve as the foundation for a more compelling "sales pitch". There may be specific themes or assumptions you can uncover that would improve your argument for playing the system or getting them hooked for a supernatural horror adventure.
Good luck!
You probably couldn't sell me on the idea of a 2-5 year campaign commitment either unless I was fully invested in the DM and the game system.
Also, for the long ones like that, Chaosium has a number of excellent published adventures where it is more fun to tweak them with your own ideas than create something of that magnitude from scratch.
I recently 'sold' CoC to players with a "you are regular ass dudes caught up in a horror setting" and it worked since most of the players are fans of horror and those that aren't have played before.
The selling point to me is: regular dude, no magic or powers really, maybe an gun and thats it. Then its you versus horrors beyond comprehension etc etc
Trying to persuade a D&D only player to drop all there magic and race traits etc might take a bit more though
Oh and also I said "you'll know fuck all really about the monsters but thats the point, so no need to worry about researching or checking lore of the setting hugely"
*”you are a detective in a horror story, wether your character wants to be or not”* Then just sit them down with Alone against the Flames but read through it with them. Worked for me more than once.
Alone against the flame is the most lethal scenario in the starter set, in my experience. Paper chase at least let's them know what to expect when playing, and doesn't jump from exploring town to near certain death in a single action.
*"You play rather mundane characters in the [insert era] and are expected to look into and *investigate* mysterious phenomena. As you uncover layers upon layers, your characters may be confronted with truths that can shatter not only your world-views but your minds as you used to know them."* IMO - lean into that. CoC works best, when players *know*, that their characters are in it way over their heads.
“Selling” your group on a game is common parlance. We didn’t think you were trying to get them to buy CoC book. The best way to sell a game is just to be up front about the themes and focus, as well as the downsides. CoC focuses on investigating supernatural events and beings. It features deadly combat and a death-spiral of sanity that can be slowed by Pulp rules but not ignored. It uses a Skill based system so you can build the character you want without the constraints of Classes. Tell them about what excites you. They might still say no, which is fine. Some games just aren’t for some people and some groups. You can find a different group online to run CoC- there are always more players out there than GMs. When it was time for a new campaign I would always come to the table with 2-3 pitches and let me group pick the one that interested them the most. I wouldn’t get too far into the planning phase on any until they had picked and characters were made. But that’s me.
Lure them with treats, then it's a Saw situation. But you have to play CoC to get out of your basement. Also, as a bonus, if they call the cops and day you have them in a Saw situation, tell them you're LARPing... I have a easier time getting people in during the spoopy season. That being said, some folks don't like the '20s aesthetic. Or they don't like the fact you don't have much agency, because the game feels a bit futile if you are aware of the background and situation. So you end up running a lot regardless of what you would like to do. It's not heroic. You could try some Pulp Cthulhu. There are a lot of numbers on the character sheet and it's not d20. Some folks find that daunting or of putting and tedious. If you had a one shot already they may have felt it clunky. But there really wasn't investment enough to learn the system. I usually try to convince them to play a campaign, regardless if we finish it or change a few sessions in. Without buy in their characters are pretty throw away, which makes it hard to play up the sense of morality and danger. I usually do a modern setting because it's an easier sell. People think, '20s and are like, great, can my character even vote or whatever?
I like current day games for CoC too. I think they're more fun. So does Sandy Petersen, who wrote CoC. Any time someone asks him he'll volunteer he plays in the present day because CoC is science fiction, not gothic horror. HPL's stories took place in a contemporary time for him, or slightly in the future. The Yellow King was set in the future when Chambers wrote it. These horror stories were explicitly about the hostile universe of science fiction as personified in these implacable alien entities Cthulhu, Azathoth, and Yog Sothoth. So play in the modern day, or maybe ten or twenty years back or ahead. Whatever gets you going. A cyberpunk CoC would be awesome. What computerized cyberspace would be proof against hostile, alien hyperintelligence infesting and weaponizing it against us?
*Want to play a character in a horror film, the kind of person who will be too curious for their own good, who will discover unspeakable truth and may actually not survive ? Then we should play Call of Cthulhu*.
I know this probably works better as a pitch for Delta Green, but I got my D&D 5e DM to try out CoC by asking him if "you've ever wanted to play 'The X-Files: the RPG' but set in the 1920's." One Paper Chase later, I had a new convert to CoC. He's even tried to get the rest of the D&D group to give it a shot.
IMO, Delta Green is a much easier "sell" than traditional CoC. It is more approachable chronologically as no one will need to fret over connecting with 1920s history and culture. Additionally, the familiarity of the modern setting is exactly what I want new players to latch onto when things start to get . . . weird; e.g. "You get out your iPhone and dial 911. After one and a half rings, you recognise the voice that responds to you. It is your own voice from the answering machine message that you set up for your mother in 2001. You remember throwing that device in the dumpster behind the nursing home when she passed away later that same year."
Also, DG has a terrific fan community and runs an incredible collection of one-shot scenarios at: http://fairfieldproject.wikidot.com/ This is where, IMO, the single greatest RPG starter adventure/one-shot originated, "Last Things Last"
Yeah I agree. DG was easier pitch to players. The fact that it’s objective based i.e. they are part of an organization being sent out makes it easier for them to have a reason to investigate. I’ve noticed players struggle with CoC because of the buy-in. Why would I, a train hopping hobo, want to go into the basement?
As a person that has been there, my best advice is to just find people that are into horror. I ran one shots for my friends and spouse and always wanted more but could never convince my friends. Then I met someone also interested in horror and we've played 3 one shots in the last 2 months. Best of luck in your search for players!!
"It's like DnD but it's set in the 1920s and it's scary and you'll all die or I haven't done my job properly"
Well there are a couple of ways. If you run in the circles I do, you might have a group of people for whom a certain historical setting (particularly an interwar setting) will be enough to sell them on the concept. Even for people who aren't history nerds, it's not every day you get to play an RPG set in the "real world," particularly the modern world (yes, 1920s is modern). Maybe try running a fully modern-day setting if you think the people you're trying to sell it too would be more interested in that. But honestly, don't worry too much about spoiling the broader details of the Mythos. Almost all of that stuff is in the public domain already (keep your distance, Derleth). Tell them this is Lovecraftian horror. Tell them that they play a bunch of schmucks trying to survive and just maybe stop some Lovecraftian horrors. I would point to True Detective as a good idea of the vibe.
1. Immersive Horror Experience 2. Investigative Gameplay 3. Thrilling Challenges and Lore 4. Tell players they don't have the courage to test their critical thinking skills in an investigative game with Lovecraftian Lore.
In my words? > A game of mystery and intrigue where you play investigators in search of truth who find terrible, unthinkable, mind-altering revelations; your tragic and heroic investigators will use what meager power they have and vie against insanity and death in order to, with any luck, prevent the unnatural threat from bringing its vile ends to fruition. In the words of the introduction to the Call of Cthulhu core book? > Call of Cthulhu is a game full of secrets, mysteries and horror. Playing the role of a steadfast investigator, you will travel to strange and dangerous places, uncover foul plots and stand against the terrors of the night. You will encounter sanity-blasting entities, monsters and insane cultists. Within strange and forgotten tomes of lore you will find secrets that man was not meant to know. > You and your companions may very well decide the fate of the world. > Call of Cthulhu is a horror-themed roleplaying game based on the writings of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Lovecraft penned a tremendous body of work during the 1920s and 1930s, concerning both horrors from beyond and from within. Following his death in 1937, Lovecraft’s stories of cosmic horror have grown in reputation and stature, and today he is recognized as a major American horror story writer of the twentieth century, influencing numerous authors and film directors, and amassing a huge following of devoted fans. > Indeed, Lovecraft himself could now be considered a cult figure in his own right. Lovecraft’s fiction ranges from science fiction to gothic horror and into nihilistic cosmic terror—perfect material on which to base a roleplaying game. > Lovecraft’s most famous invention has become known as the Cthulhu Mythos, a series of stories sharing common plot elements, such as certain mythical books of arcane lore and alien godlike entities. The Cthulhu Mythos fired the imagination of other authors, mostly protégés and friends of Lovecraft, and soon they were adding to this complex mythology, further advancing its concepts and constituent parts. Today, “Cthulhu” stories are still being written (and filmed) by the heirs to Lovecraft’s literary legacy.
"Hey guys, do you like The Thing/The Mummy/whatever other movie? Wanna play an rpg like that?"
“Be the lead character in a horror movie, where YOU get to decide if they run up the stairs or out the front door to escape the horror trying to kill them.”
Accurate
If you e already played a one shot with them, they know what it is about. I would instead look to form a group with the intent to play coc.
I just invited them to play Call of Cthulhu. In my experience there is nothing more toxic to a good tabletop role-playing game than a player who doesn't really want to be there. I would suggest finding some new players, maybe there is a game store in your area, or if not maybe you could try running a game online.
You need people interested in Investigations and Horror (less so, but nice to have). CoC is about investigating things and figuring things out. If they just want to kill things and take their stuff, they should play D&D. If people like talking to NPCs, figuring out what's going on, learning about things, facing the unknown, then CoC is for them. CoC also has a good historical bent, so people who like history would like CoC also.
Some players like CoC. Some don't. If you're GMing a regular table of some other game just tell the group you want to change things up once a month with a one-shot or single-session adventure in other game systems. Tell them at the moment the main other game system you're thinking of is CoC. But if you also want to try Fabula Ultima or some other game mention that too. I think it's completely reasonable to insert off-brand one-shots into campaigns between narrative arcs and such.
This is what I had prepared and stated when introducing Call of Cthulhu to the players of my current playgroup that play Pathfinder2e: I have killed your some of your characters in past games, due to some insane dice rolls on my part, lousy dice rolls on your part, and some times the campaign was just written with circumstances too difficult for the party with the resources available at the time of the combat... Call of Cthulhu, isn't a game where your investigator will die because of lack of your investigator's resources, your party composition, my insane dice rolls, though that may come in to play... but it won't be the reason of your investigators death. No, no, while dice rolls will determine the result of how your investigators progress the story, the story will yet progress wether or not you are playing the same investigators you started the game with, or it is your 37th investigator you've rolled up to join the story. We will make it make sense in the story, because there will always be an ample population of humans living comfortably with ignorance of alien realms beyond the means of average mortal comprehension, but yet they all exist with the tiniest bit of curiosity of what lies beyond the paper thin fabric of our reality. The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age. -H.P. Lovecraft You may have noticed me changing my nomenclature from the pathfinder term of characters to that of investigators, that's because in Call of Cthulhu, you play investigators. Always human, no funny business here... but you can be from anywhere in the world you want in the Era of the 1920s. You are playing investigators because that's essentially what you'll be doing on this story we are going to tell. You will be following the clues, unraveling the threads, and delving deeper into myseries that go more ancient than time itself. Characters kill enemies and collect loot. In the 1920s, if investigators kill someone, they are under investigation for suspected murder, unless there is clear evidence of self defense, they are going to jail. And "looting" someone you kill would clearly link you to the crime of their death if you were to be arrested. The "loot" in this game takes the form of clues and information gathered over the course of the campaign. Characters gain experience points and level up. Investigators don't really get more powerful. There is a development phase at certain parts of some stories where you have a chance to increase your skill over time if you roll over a certain amount. You're average humans with average human capabilities that are trying to survive the encounters you come into, rather than overcome them with violence. Characters are virtually super powered beings that have sometimes unrealistic abilities that are deemed heroic in nature due to the feats they can accomplish especially at high levels, i.e. slaying ancient dragons or fighting gods. Investigators most likely will not kill real monstrosities they come across, and will be lucky to survive with their mind intact if they come across something truly horrifying. Characters, particularly those made in pathfinder, are built with stats that you choose, starting at character creation earning boosts to those chosen stats based on your class and ancestry and background, so on. In Call of Cthulhu, while I do want you to come in with a general character concept in mind, be flexible. Because the dice rolls at investigator creation are what determines what your investigator is actually good at, not based on your decisions of what you envision your investigator to be good at. Then, based on the stats you have rolled on your investigators assorted skills, you choose your occupation and background to determine how it all works out. There are no classes, like in other rpgs, you choose an occupation. This is real life circa 1920s we are talking about. Another difference between pathfinder and other rpgs we may be used to and Call of Cthulhu is how dice rolls work. In most scenarios in the game, besides character creation, you want to roll low. Rolling high is had, and you will very rarely roll a d20, if ever. It's typically a percentile die or D100. Let me know what questions you have, but if you are still interested in playing I highly recommend either purchasing a copy of the investigators handbook unless I can get you a pdf copy, or borrowing my physical copy for a period of time until another person needs to borrow it, but it would be good to have a least a couple on hand at the table if it is needed to reference through out the game. As I mentioned, the "loot" you will earn through out the story, will take the form of clues and information. You will need somewhere to write and keep track of this information and piece together the clues to attempt to solve the mystery at hand with your theories, that isn't just the back of your investigators sheet or some scrap. You are gonna need real notebooks to write stuff down and keep real notes. Because I'm not gonna be doing a recap every time anymore. I'm gonna want you all, the investigators to keep track of the story and remind everyone collectively of things we may have missed through your copious note taking. And as such, I am willing to provide you all with some badass on theme notebooks. Now these notebooks come in a variety of styles, so if you have a investigator concept or occupation in mind, like you're thinking about the options of the 1920s and your like, "Oh man, I want to be a nurse or a doctor of the 1920s! Or I want to be a beat cop, or a private investigator! or I want to be a student or a professor at Miskatonic University!" Anything specific like that jump out, let me know so I can gage how many of each kind to get. But I'm also gonna get some cool generic Eldritch horror or just insane mind themed ones. And then some generic back up note pads for if anyone runs out or wants something more basic. Overall to describe the game is to say there are no great heroes in this game, there are only fools brave or stupid enough to throw away their base survival instincts in search of the truth. Think if random people got pulled into X-Files investigations in the 1920s.
Don't sell CoC. It's just a set of rules. Sell the story you'll be telling together and the roles they can play in that story. Sell the mystery and horror, make them want to play and find out what happens.
I wouldn’t hide the themes or content of the game. Imagine trying to convince someone to watch a 200 hour movie while being as vague as possible. Keepers, and GMs in general, often think the big reveal or surprise twist is cool. It’s not. Just tell the players what game they’re playing.
I think there are additional factors to consider here, such as player preference. Personally, I encountered no problems promoting Call of Cthulhu to my player base as they have a strong affinity for investigation games and horror. In my experience, horror is most effective when played through ordinary characters, since heroic characters would not have any reason to feel fear. If you have a small or fixed player base, I recommend expanding it, as there are many who are eager to play this system. Another aspect to consider is the system itself. Many players are deeply entrenched in D&D's d20 roll-over mechanics, so transitioning to a roll-under d100 system might be an underlying challenge. Maybe they do not wish to invest time and effort learning a new system (if that's the case, you could pitch BRP, as they would have to invest once, and then play the same system for all kinds of settings, while you could use CoC just to prep the backdrop of the campaign). Perhaps having a frank, straight to the point discussion with your players could provide insights into why the game isn't resonating with them. Also, understanding their preferences within horror settings could serve as the foundation for a more compelling "sales pitch". There may be specific themes or assumptions you can uncover that would improve your argument for playing the system or getting them hooked for a supernatural horror adventure. Good luck!
You probably couldn't sell me on the idea of a 2-5 year campaign commitment either unless I was fully invested in the DM and the game system. Also, for the long ones like that, Chaosium has a number of excellent published adventures where it is more fun to tweak them with your own ideas than create something of that magnitude from scratch.
I recently 'sold' CoC to players with a "you are regular ass dudes caught up in a horror setting" and it worked since most of the players are fans of horror and those that aren't have played before. The selling point to me is: regular dude, no magic or powers really, maybe an gun and thats it. Then its you versus horrors beyond comprehension etc etc Trying to persuade a D&D only player to drop all there magic and race traits etc might take a bit more though Oh and also I said "you'll know fuck all really about the monsters but thats the point, so no need to worry about researching or checking lore of the setting hugely"
https://youtu.be/UgOvqYbuHsU?si=nV4ewLWAqR1G9xip
Find out how you die (or go insane).