Campus Crusade For Cthulhu

[Blackacre]

Hello everyone! I stumbled upon this site while looking for a place to potentially host a Call of Cthulhu D20 game on the internet. I was originally thinking http://www.roleplayinggames.net, but now that I have found this site it seems like it would be a better forum perhaps. Anyways, here are the details:

The Concept: The year is 1999, and something is very wrong at Miskatonic University. As the faculty and staff prepare themselves for a new academic year, the tranquility at the school is broken by the sudden and unexpected announcement of the firing of several prominent professors in the History department, while another is missing and presumed dead during the excavation of an African ruin. Strange shadows play over the decades-old buildings and the campus is beset by a feeling of unease. There is change on the wind, professors whisper over cups of coffee in the faculty lounge. Something is coming, something like the school has never seen in all its many years of study. Something that may shake its ivy-covered bulwarks to their foundations.

In Campus Crusade, players take the role of ordinary college students at Miskatonic University, drawn by a chance encounter into a the arcane nightmares of the Mythos. All have seen strange sights that cannot be explained to others but which, for better or for ill, will change the course of their lives forever. Players must struggle using the limited resources of college students to save their own skins, their friends, their college, and maybe even the world from being overrun by monsters from beyond the stars. At the same time, they still have to deal with classes, homework, roommates, part-time jobs, relationships, and the other rigors of college life which is no easy feat, even without the interference of the Great Old Ones.

Character Creation: While I haven't come up with formal rules yet, these are some guidelines so you know what I'm looking for. Ordinary college students are the rule here; I am uninterested in characters who are ninja masters, army weapons experts, or anything like that because those people are not likely to be enrolled in college and don't really fit the idiom of this game anyways. Attributes will be determined by a point-buy system that will probably average them at 11 or 12. This is the ivy-league, after all. Every character will have a major, and skill the character has will probably be centered around the major; for instance it's reasonably for a med student to have ranks in the heal skill, but not so much for an english literature major. As the characters progress in their majors, their skills will improve, and elective classes or extra-curriculars offer the opportunity to learn skills and feats outside of these narrow areas. Starting money will be appropriate to a college student, and can be used to buy pretty much anything as long as it is reasonable for your character to have it. However most college students don't own a machine gun or a box of grenades, and MU has a pretty strict policy about weapons on campus. Don't get yourself expelled.

That said, I am looking for characters that come off as real people, and real people routinely break out of stereotypes. If you want your cheerleader to be a rabid NRA member and avid target shooter, I am willing to consider allowing it, especially if the backstory is well-written. Nothing too over-the-top, though. A well-written backstory covers over a multitude of sins, though, so if you have a great idea pitch it to me and we'll see what I think. Also I am allowing every character to ask for one real, tangible advantage. Advantages of this type include being from a rich family and starting with substantially more money, owning your own car, owning and being trained with a weapon of some sort, knowing a simple spell, ranks in the Knowledge: Occult skill (no ranks in Cthulhu Mythos will be allowed at start, though), starting with higher attributes or more skills than normal, connections within the University, etc. Again, if you have a good idea pitch it to me and I'll consider it.

My Style: The main style of this game will be survival-horror. As a keeper, I like to run a highly realistic game, and to that end I will keep close track of little details like how much money characters have and how many bullets are left in every clip. My style of roleplaying tends to be highly dice-based, although I have been known to give advantages for creative or brilliant ideas, they have to be within reason. While I like dice and rules, this is no excuse for bad role-playing on the part of either keeper or players - by no means will good RP be neglected in favor of dice rolls and stats, and players who spend a lot of time writing a really good post have been known to get bonuses to their die rolls. That said, I believe in letting players have the consequences of their actions - if you come up with a brilliant plan and succeed you can reap great rewards, but if you foolishly rush into a bad situation you can easily die. Anyone playing in my games needs to be comfortable with the potential death of a character, as it can happen. I will never be cruel or unfair about it, but guns and knives kill people in the real world all the time, and I think part of the fun of Cthulhu is the struggle to survive against what are often tough odds. Otherworldly abominations are no fun if they've all been de-clawed.

I'd be planning on making 2-3 posts a week and I would expect about that amount from my players. I'm not a nazi about this - if you have a tough week or something and can't post that's okay; let me know and I will be fine with it. Likewise if you have an extended period where posting may be difficult let me know and we will put your character on hiatus. I won't be sitting there counting posts per week or anything but if it becomes apparent that you're not really participating in the game I might have to take action of some sort.

Anyways, right now I'm just trying to gauge interest. I am ideally looking for between 4-8 players. If you like this concept, feel free to reply via post or e-mail, either with a character idea or just to tell me you're interested in playing. I am, as always, open to reasonable suggestions. Thanks for reading!

Edit: Anyone familiar with D20 rules should be fine as player. I'll help you if you're not familiar with Cthulhu D20, but it's very easy to learn so I don't foresee any problems with it.