Crosby City Massacre

[welsh]

I am playing with an idea for a different kind of gaming experience.

As you know, the CoC system includes a number of notable locations- Innsmouth, Kingsport, Arkham. Chaosium puts out products based on these locations for your gaming fun.

The idea I am toying with is a bit different. Instead of buying a game filled with pre-generated NPCs, perhaps we should create one.

The idea- a town along the frontier, probably with Canada. A small border town populated by decent folks but also with criminals who may have to slip over the border quickly. A town that is a bit out of the way, and therefore, important. A nice, surprisingly large town that has become noted among certain social elements for commerce in alcohol and other goods. The local police are either corrupt or too weak to stop the flow of alcohol, drugs, guns and money that slips over the border to changes hands. However, certain more sordid elements are competing to control commerce and politics. There are lots of ways to make money. Bordellos, bars, casinos, rackets, numbers, and a host of varied criminal enterprises. When the gangs are not at war (and wars are infrequent as violence is bad for business), there are lots of ways to make a buck. Some legit, some not so.

In addition to these more seedy elements we have a population of normal, decent folks, trying to get by. Some of them have been drawn to this border reason because they find living on the fringe gives them more freedom. Others have come from poverty to make a name for themselves. There used to be Indians living nearby, but they are mostly (but not completely gone). Trappers and miners can still be found in the nearby hills. Miners have also slipped in, but none doing so well as the big local mine. Cattlemen and shepherds tend their animals and a few make a living off of the local forests. Money made in town supports schools, doctors, lawyers, accountants, even artists and a small newspaper. Some try to avoid the town, especially when things turn violent. Others are forced to live there, and make a living the best they can.

A town like that makes its own rules, sets its own standards, enforces its own kinds of laws.

What I suggest for this town- we can call it Crosby City- is a group project in creating a virtual cthulhu city, and then we can invite in some rather interesting horrors.

The logistics, whether this is even possible, is unclear to me. Some things we might be able to work out as we go (like a map?)

So are you interested?

[DSIGFUSS]

Sounds like you are describing Dawson City. gold mining town in the yukon, right on the Alaskan border way way northern Canada. I like the idea of making a virtua made up town though.

[welsh]

Hey Dis-

Actually the inspiration of this is a bit of a mix.

HBO's Deadwood figured prominently. I also like the idea that the town could be used, with minor revisions, for use in a Cthulhu Western game.

The other inspiration was Red Harvest which takes place in a town called, by locals, 'Poisonville' which is so bad that the main character thinks that the town breeds murderous impulses. At one point he is even unsure if he's innocent of murdering a dangerous dame. Red Harvest was based on Butte Montana. There is a real Crosby, in North Dakota and along the border.

Ideally players would create the characters, businesses and some of the relationships within the town. One can think of this as a massive bit of character creation.

I have an idea of the horror that will come to the town, but the creation of a virtual city might be its own rewards. What happens with it, would be up to you. A group project, I would think it would be a group resource.

For a discussion of Hammett's Red Harvest, check out- http://dir.salon.com/story/books/featur ... ndex0.html
(apparently I am not the only one who sees the connection between Red Harvest and Deadwood).

[Excior]

For Ideas check out the Nexus over on RPG.NET it sounds like you plan on doing someting like that for this game and this fourm. if thats the case I would love to get in on the ground floor. with like a General store or some such. perhaps even a bar/tavern.

[welsh]

A general store, or even a few, would work.

Hamett's Red Harvest involves a town of some 40K. That seems a bit rich for us. But I would imagine a couple of general stores in town.

But as I recall you are new to the site and to CoC, ya? Do you have the rules of character creation?

[Excior]

No but I have a handy dandy d20 Call of Cthulhu character genarator. dont know if there is any generators for the other systems.

[gamersquest]

Hi Welsh

I would be interested in getting involved - the idea sounds really interesting - how would you like me to progress my offer of help

[welsh]

At this point the game would strickly be in the planning. THe nature of the town, the types of businesses, perhapst the lay out.

I need to do a bit more research on my region. It might be better to move the story to Montana instead of North Dakota, not sure. At this point the game is mostly just in discussion until we make some suggestions about what the town will look like.

I would image that the town would be in a valley, one or two rivers run through, a few bridges, several main streets, a poor neighborhood. But there is a lot of discuss about who actually lives there.

So we can start it simple- imagine a border town in the 1920s. Who do you want to see living there and what kind of town would it be?

[SuAside]

i think i can chip in

[Excior]

I like the Idea of a northern border town. perhaps even an Alaskan town. It could be built on some sort of Nexus between worlds or have one of the old Gods imprisoned beneath it some where. with perhaps a nataive american tribe or eskamo tribe that lives near it who either appease the god or are around to see to it that the thing is never freeded. and since its in the 20's the town could resemble an old west town some what.

[The Fur]

I would be interested in that d20 character gen Ex. Let me know how I can get a copy if you don't mind.

[Excior]

here ya go MR. FUR.http://www.pathguy.com/cthulhu.htm

[Excior]

Singin Macdorment moved to the area to start life fresh and new, being an Irish imagrant he was met with raciesim in New York, his wife and childred died of Influinisa so he sold his business and took all his life saveings and moved to (insert town name here) Once there he bought a old building and with the last of his savings turned it into the towns general store.

[welsh]

Hey Ex-

In response to your prior post-

I think indians would be a part of this story, as are other fringe groups around the town. Mostly this is a place of outcasts and criminals, a place tainted with corruption in which characters either embrace the corruption or try to deal with it.

The idea of a monster living under the city is interesting- very much a play on Stephen King's It with the monster Pennywise coming up to eat the children and doing something awful every 20 years or so.

A good idea, but at this point I am less interested about the monsters that inhabit the town than the people.

Goal 1- create the town and the environs
Goal 2- introduce the monsters that live there.

But of course to introduce monsters publically would ruin the fun.

What I'd like is to create a template town, a model that you could use in any campaign. Crosby could serve as an "off the shelf" locality for some Mythos fun. You can use the entire town or parts.

For instance, the town drugstore and soda shop where old Mr. Whittle gives a free icecream to the local kids and, on occassion, distributes poison to the locals. His competitor is Mr. Fry, who studied pharmacology in Boston and whose family were worlocks from Scotland. Mr. W is a bolshevik raising union awareness among the local miners of the Crosby Mine, while the boss at the mine doesn't like Black folks and, surprise, there is a rather high fatality rate among the local black miners. Rev Thorpe has been acting strangely. He's digging a hole in the basement of his church to prove that there is a Hell down below. Maybe, he's digging because he hears what's digging its way up.

We could borrow elements from other towns. Mr. W runs the local Chinese community and feeds those he doesn't like to his pigs. Mr. M is a retired mobster who lives in a big house on the hill. His friend runs an antique shop with useful goods.

There's an old Carny who brings a show to town every year of so that features a vampire and, oh, sometimes visitors go missing. Better to avoid the bridges at night for something lives down there, and its not quite human. etc.

[Excior]

cool ideas what would you need from me or some of the others that have expressed interest?

[welsh]

Not sure. I am curious about what each person would want to create. Essentially I'd like this to be a community project- people creating characters, businesses, relationships.

So at this point I am open to suggestions.

[Excior]

Like I said my guy would be an Irish Imigrant that has relocated here with his family savings trying to make a fresh start with the general store. the PC would be I guess an Avrage Joe with the defence option. perhaps he might have a liking for the Occult. I belive that sort of thing was a popular past time back in the 20's

[DSIGFUSS]

I FREAKING LOVE DEADWOOD.

I'll come in later in the game, once the town is already established. I'll play a Hurst type character or one of that type characters minions, comiong into to town and stirring the pot.

[welsh]

Dsig-

At this point its really about character creation and places of business. Right now, that is the game.

So if you want to roll a pregen and create a business- great.

[Excior]

is there some sort of business rules we need to follow as far as creating our business. what level should the characters be?