För att förtydliga vilken känsla och vilket typ av spel vi siktar på bifogar jag lite text jag brukar använda för att introducera och reintroducera spelare. Det är ett amalgam av andra presentationstexter med tillägg och kraftiga förändringar.
"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 deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.
Theosophists have guessed at the awesome grandeur of the cosmic cycle wherein our world and human race form transient incidents. They have hinted at strange survivals in terms which would freeze the blood if not masked by a bland optimism. But it is not from them that there came the single glimpse of forbidden aeons which chills me when I think of it and maddens mor e when I dream of it. That glimpse, like all dread glimpses of truth, flashed out from an accidental piecing together of separated things—in this case an old newspaper item and the notes of a dead professor. I hope that no one else will accomplish this piecing out; certainly, if I live, I shall never knowingly supply a link in so hideous a chain. I think that the professor, too, intended to keep silent regarding the part he knew, and that he would have destroyed his notes had not sud- den death seized him."
Of such great powers or beings there may be conceivably a survival .. . a survival of a hugely remote period when . . . consciousness was manifested, perhaps, in shapes and forms long since withdrawn before the tide of advancing humanity . . . forms of which poetry and legend alone have caught a flying memory and called them gods, monsters, mythical beings of all sorts and kinds . . . ."
---
Call of Cthulhu differs in feel and motivation from other roleplaying games. In many such games, player characters can directly confront and attempt to destroy obstacles and opponents. This strategy typically leads to disaster in Cthulhu scenarios. In Call of Cthulhu you portray ordinary people cast into extraordinary circumstances. The majority of other-world monstrosities are so terrible and often so invulnerable that choosing open combat almost guarantees a gruesome end.
The horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos threaten the mind as much as the body, probably even more. The psychic shock from just learning the Truth or even the merest glimpse of some of the more macabre horrors can send one into screaming insanity. The alien terror of Mythos knowledge is one of the primary dangers that characters in the game will endure and Investigating mysteries in a Call of Cthulhu game take a dreadful toll on the sanity of the investigators, and eventually lead to madness.
Even worse, regaining lost Sanity is a long, arduous process. You may have to check into an asylum (remember, this is the 1920's, where curative methods are not so "modern"), or seek other forms of psychotherapy to get those precious points back. Generally, at the successful end of each scenario you should get a few points back as a reward. Additionally, when you raise a skill above 90% through experience, you get a few points added to your Sanity as well. Remember, as your SAN score slips lower, your character becomes less and less stable and his ability to function decreases. However, his insight may have increased...
The simplest metaphor for a game of Call of Cthulhu can be likened to the fairy tale of the Little Dutch Boy. The dam had a crack and the Little Dutch Boy had to stand there with his finger in the hole to keep the water from flooding out and destroying the nearby town. However, instead of how the original tale played out, imagine that on the other side of that dam is something bloodthirsty shark, which is gnawing away at the Dutch Boy. He loses one finger, so he must put another one in. Then he loses another finger, and another. The hole is getting bigger, and he must stick his entire arm in, and the shark keeps biting. But if he fails, if he leaves his post, the dam will collapse, and many lives will be lost. And so he stays, resolute in his convictions. He may die, but humanity will live because of him.
Ok, so you have no magic weapons, flashy powers or deity blessings with which to assault the dark things of the world, and you can probably not count on the police, the army or anyone else to come to your aid because they'll probably think you mad and lock you up in a padded cell. You simply have your wits, your courage and that horrible knowledge you pay a such a high price gaining, to fight the horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos. What can you do, then?
ACCUMULATE INFORMATION First, you, the investigator, should determine what you are up against. This may involve going to the library, speaking with local residents, trying to obtain journals and diaries of those involved, and weighing reports of the problem, perhaps with the help of arcane books. To save time, split up the group and look in different places, as long as it seems safe. Often newspapers and diaries have pertinent information. Libraries, newspaper files, state and local records of births and deaths, historical societies, hospitals and schools, individual doctors and lawyers, ministers and priests, and private organizations like chambers of commerce—among others! —may offer information which proves lifesaving in retrospect.
Many times scenarios include quotations, excerpts, statements, or letters which are given to the players to study and interpret. Question local inhabitants carefully and try to befriend the characters whom your investigators meet. Consider what they have to say. Even if they know nothing now, they may be of help in the future. As detectives of the supernatural, investigators should proceed cautiously and try to make allies. Anything could be out there.
AT THE SCENE At the scene of an investigation or disturbance, you should comb the area for clues, looking in desks and dressers, inspecting the clothing and belongings of victims, and attempting to arrive at a realistic picture of what happened. Take precautions and stay together where danger has been: something as bad or worse might return. If that Something does return, and there is no easy way to handle It, do not hesitate to run. Your feet are your friends. You may be able to return later. Possibly with backup.
MAKE A PLAN When you understand the situation, make a plan to deal with the problem. Novice players should not assume that the danger is too much to face, nor should they assume it isn't. The lesson is, try to know what you are dealing with... If disaster occurs and Eldritch Horrors overwhelm the party, those who can might want to flee and come back later, or even leave the scenario as "a story better left untold!"
USE YOUR HEAD The cheapest and safest way to emerge "victorious" is to use brain power. Usually, there is a way to solve (or perhaps dispel?) the problem with little or no physical combat, though Sanity may need serious risking. As a rule of thumb, pursue physical combat against cultists and creatures who have already made physical attacks. Otherwise rely on repeating the words from the manuscript, breaking the mirror that the tracks lead through, melting down the dire statuette, and so on. If you find out that some form of "grisly demon" inhabits that old rickety mine shaft, you MIGHT not need to climb down it again (and again) and get eaten or struck permanently insane. You could set fire to the mine supports, dynamite the shaft and pour concrete into the opening, thus burying the threat, perhaps forever. Unless of course, there is something or someone down there you are really interested in. Maybe a rare tome, your wife or a few of your friends. Although we all have to make sacrifices sometime.
YOUR INVESTIGATOR Investigator characters may range quite a bit, but generally more well-to-do and at least a little academically inclined with a certain perverse curiosity is needed to become a Mythos Investigator.
Classic useful abilities mostly deal with information gathering of some sort, either in action or already knowledge based. Piece together the mystery and the Mythos through old and dead languages such as arabic, sumerian, egyptian heiroglyphs, coptic, high german, greek, hebrew, mandarin, sanskrit etc. and skills such as archaeology, astronomy, anthropology, folk lore, history, natural history, linguistics, occult and more as well as the most dreaded skill of all; Cthulhu Mythos...
Must-have practical skills in the investigative line of work is Library Use, Locksmith, Fast Talk, Persuade, Psychology, Sneak, Spot Hidden, Listen etc. While skills such as Biology, Climb, First Aid, Forensics, Law, Medicine, Photography, Mathematics, Physics, Surveillance, Psychoanalysis, Survival, Track, Zoology, Demolitions, Pistols, Rifles and Shotguns and more might come in handy.
Dilettantes, Professors, Students, Investigative Journalists, Private Detectives, Medical Doctors, Antique Dealers, Artists, Priests, Parapsychologists and other reasonably smart people with enough time and money make excellent characters.
However, Academic types may be of little use if a regular fight develops, and generally end up with low Sanity points, due to intensive study of the Mythos.
A complementary alternative is the more practically inclined " tough operator", who is physical and able to fight well with fists or guns. He might leave the eldritch aspects of the Mythos to others and remain a bodyguard and scout. Possibly be helpful with police and/or gangsters, and perhaps easier-going with the common people. However, remember that in a campaign in which the investigators devote most of their time to studying the grislier mysteries of the Cthulhu Mythos, the best use for a gun may well be to shoot oneself if in danger of permanent madness.
Investigators who can do things may be useful. He or she drives very well, maybe pilots an airplane, has good mechanical and electrical repair skills, and might be a wizard with locks or adept in tracking game or wilderness survival.
Many types could be proposed, combined and intermixed. However, no one investigator can learn to do everything or be prepared for all eventualities. But they can act in balanced groups and approach adventures in ways that compensate for individual deficiencies.
By all means have firearms. But do not rely on firearms, and remember their drawbacks, legal and otherwise. Powerful eldritch beings may not be harmed by gunfire, explosions, and such. Some are genuinely alien creatures from vaults of space-time very different from ours. If the plan is to shoot 'em until they die, that plan will probably not work. Try another plan first.
Remember that volleys of gunfire tend to no only attracting more cultists and nastier horrors, but the police, the state militia, FBI, the national guard and everyone else with a stake in law and order might be interested. If you "happen" to assassinate the local cultist priest of Yog-Sothoth without first convincing the police of the necessity, you will most certainly be questioned and arrested, almost certainly be convicted,and probably end up on death row.
Further, the observant keeper will notice that if the investigators' response to difficulties is always to shoot their way out, he may react accordingly. Three or fourty zealous gun-slinging cultists or perhaps a bulletproof horror could well prove more than the investigators can handle. In Call of Cthulhu, just as in the real world, guns are lethal. Avoid them if you can.
Happy Investigating!
.