Clues and Red Herrings in Call of Cthulhu (and Other Role Playing Games)

Not all clues should point to the right direction.

There have been red herrings in printed Call of Cthulhu (CoC) scenarios, but usually in scenarios all clues in handouts or otherwise point to the right direction to advance the investigation in question. This makes it fairly straightforward for the Investigators to follow them in order to solve the mystery or whatever case they are working on.

What in my opinion should be used more, are actually developed red herrings: not just clues pointing to fruitless, wrong directions, but sub-plots that require the Investigators to follow lines of inquiry that do not advance the main investigation. These lines of inquiry should probably be relatively short, and used only in big scenarios or full campaigns, obviously not in short stories that need to be concise. 

But as part of large story, especially a big campaign (consisting of several connected scenarios), these wrong paths can be used to allow the players to experience and the story's creator and Keeper (GM, game master) to develop parts of the game world otherwise neglected or unimportant. Such stories can be used to introduce new characters to the Investigators. These could be characters from other scenarios, or they could be historical figures. They can also be player characters (PCs) already created by the players, or they can be otherwise interesting characters that can be turned into new Investigators (PCs) if new PCs are needed.

Sometimes a sub-plot that is essentially a red herring from the point of view of the main story/investigation can still be an interesting investigation in its own right. For example, in an investigation into a suspicious cult's activity can lead to an investigation on a murder (or several murders) in the area. Although the Investigators manage to solve the murder, they find no connection to the cult. They may even become convinced (correctly) that there is no connection. This may seem like a failure, but then again they did solve the murder.

One very good type of red herring for an investigation into paranormal phenomena is obviously an alleged paranormal phenomenon that is actually completely natural. The magazine Skeptical Inquirer and the many writings of the famous investigator Joe Nickell provide many good examples of such investigations that can be used in RPGs. Using such stories would probably also educate young players who might otherwise not know about real investigations into paranormal claims.

It would be possible to publish red herrings separately so that Keepers can include them in their campaigns as they see fit.

It is also possible for the Keeper to combine two or even three scenarios, so that the players do not know it. It takes some work, but may be rewarding. The Investigators can begin their investigation normally, perhaps being hired by an NPC. As they gather more and more clues, they will probably be confused a bit, but eventually they should realize they are dealing with two separate mysteries (or whatever).

Maxing out skills in CoC

In Call of Cthulhu (CoC) horror role playing game (RPG) there is a cap for skills. I don't like such things, but I just thought of a way that might make them better. I would set the cap at 100%. Using my experience check rule, you have to roll the check above the skill to increase the skill, which will then be increased by exactly one point. The difference to the rules as written (RAW) is the amount by which the skill is increased. IIRC, RAW sets the cap for skills at 99%, which makes the cap arbitrary. In my house rule, at least there is the point that one cannot roll over 100% using d100. 

Now, here's the new idea I just had (which I hope would justify using a cap on skills, which I have never done): 

(1) Once a skill has been raised to 100%, gaining further experience checks to the skill would be pointless as the skill can no longer be increased and so, as per RAW, the checks would be lost. So, the new (and untested) idea is that every two checks on the skill can be exchanged to one check on a related skill.

(2) During character creation, the skill(s?) about Own Language start at EDUx5%. For very high EDU characters this obviously means that some skill points will be "lost". According to my rule suggestion here, instead of just limiting the skill at 100%, the character gains a new language skill at half the points that would go over 100% in Own Language. So, an Investigator with EDU 22 would start Own Language at 100%, but gain a new language at 5%. 

OR: This may actually be too harsh, so instead of losing half the exp checks and language skills during creation, it might be better to just give full points. So, the Investigator would start a new language at 10%, and all exp checks in a skill that already is at 100% could be translated to related skills.

What is a related skill would depend on the Keeper's (GM's) discretion, of course. In my experience, it is very rare for skills to get this high in CoC, so this house rule is pretty redundant anyway.

If you do try my house rules, please let me know how it went. 

I have posted about my experience check rule a long time ago here: https://rpgandboardgaming.blogspot.com/2011/05/modified-experience-checks-for-call-of.html

Stress Reactions in RPGs

I don't think a single Role Playing Game treats fear and the stress reactions one has when placed in a dangerous or threatening situation; the Sanity system of Call of Cthulhu certainly fails to do this. This is a shame, but I suppose it is very difficult to design a game mechanic that would succesfully simulate those effects.

I have recently began experimenting with Minimalistic Call of Cthulhu, a House Rule variant of CoC that uses only the rules regarding Sanity, simply discarding all other rules. Not replacing them with others, but simply doing without rules for the most part. It is especially with this sort of Minimalistic CoC that I write about Stress Reactions, but I suppose players of all sorts of RPGs can make use of the following. And indeed it is Players, rather than Keepers, that I write this for, because without rules for stress reactions, it falls on the Players to roleplay their characters as they go through the kind of stress discussed here.

Characters in RPGs tend to find themselves in extremely stressful situations, where their health or lives (or perhaps even worse) are being threatened. At least in horror RPGs the players characters are also usually unaccustomed to such situations to begin with, and thus lack the benefit of training to help them through the ordeal. Even professional soldiers are not immune to stress. Player Characters tend to be unusual people, but I'm afraid this is mainly due merely to the failure of the game mechanic rather than the anyone's specific intent. It takes a good roleplayer to get into character and have his character act realistically, rather than in the heroic fashion that a typical power gamer or rule lawyer is likely to have him act.

To get in character better, spend some time alone, imagining (honestly!) how you would feel in various situations. For example, imagine landing in an unfamiliar, seemingly empty subway station at 2 a.m., possibly in an unknown city. Walking towards the exit you hear crude chatter coming from ahead. Perhaps a group of aggressive looking young men are approaching. This should make you feel uncomfortable. What if they see you, surround you, and start acting aggressively toward you? Unless you are extremely stupid, you would be scared. That means, you would be under stress, and you would almost certainly react to that stress in some ways, whether you can imagine those reactions or not. I am writing this precisely so that you would have a better idea of how you might actually react to significant stress.

Below I list some typical or likely reactions caused by experiencing a truly stressful situation. I leave it up to you to choose what to do with the knowledge of them -- the reactions a character will have in various situations are likely to vary by situation (and prior events) and by the individual to great extent. Also note that stress is not experienced only by the victim of an attack, but also by the attacker. The following list is based in great part on my martial arts training, limited as it may be. Wikipedia has been useful as well.

Typical stress reactions:
- tunnel vision: loss of peripheral vision, focused foveal vision
- tunnel hearing: it may even be difficult to hear one's own name being shouted nearby when one's focus is on the threat
- panting, difficulty breathing normally
- feeling of weakness, powerlessness
- impaired fine motor skills, reduced dexterity
- inability to think clearly and logically, mind focused on the immediate threat
- possibly inability to comprehend stimuli, and disorientation
- pain threshold significantly raised (you may fail to notice even serious injuries)
- sweating and flushing
- "freezing", being unable to make decisions or even to move
- trembling
- nervous laughter

The symptoms appear fairly quickly, although probably not within seconds. They probably disappear in a couple of hours. It is possible or even likely that there will be difficulties accurately recalling details of the event. Even describing the attacker correctly can prove impossible.