Achtung! Cthulhu – Operation: Nascent Dawn
The Plan:
For me, roleplaying is all about escape and adventure. And collaboration. And hanging out with your mates (beer optional – snacks obligatory). It’s your chance to be the star of the story (whatever story that may be) alongside friends who also get to be the stars of their story. Roleplaying should be fun. And what could be more fun than punching Nazis?
I’ve been playing and running games for around forty years and Cthulhu has been a part of that journey from almost the start. I’m talking about the original there – you know, the one where your characters have the life expectancy of Sean Bean in anything other than a Sharpe adaptation! Call of Cthulhu is a great game, but when I was introduced to Pulp Cthulhu where PCs are a little bit more robust, I found the setting much more enjoyable. This is probably a lot to do with the fact that my character obtained a rocket pack and got to fight dinosaurs in 30’s New York but I digress!
Despite being a big fan of Modiphius’ Conan and Pulp Cthulhu, I didn’t feel in any hurry to invest in Achtung! Cthulhu when it first landed, as I figured that it wasn’t different enough to warrant the outlay, but having grown up with Indiana Jones, The Rocketeer, and a steady flow of war films there certainly was an itch to play.
So, when Modiphius had the books as part of their Black Friday offer, I just could’t resist . I convinced myself that even if I never got to play or run the game, there’s always pleasure to be had in simply reading the books, and creating characters! (I doubt I’m alone in this!) I was not disappointed. Now, I just had to get the chance to run it.
I’d joined the Denizen’s Conan campaign as a player, and as Nic had been running the game for so long, and I had A!C sitting on my shelf, I offered to give her a wee break and run the quickstart scenario as a bit of a palette cleanser between our adventures in Hyperborea. Luckily, when I made the offer the consensus was positive, so now all I had to do was the prep.
“No plan survives contact with the enemy!”
Every GM ever!
Reflections:
My initial idea was to run “A Quick Trip to France”, the short scenario included with Modiphius’s quickstart rules over a couple of sessions. Reading through the scenario I decided that whilst I appreciate that it is designed to be run in a single session with pre-gens, and is a good introduction to the world and basic rules of Achtung! Cthulu, it felt a little sparse to me, and I wanted to flesh it out a bit; especially if we planned on running the game again at a later date. So, my first decision was easy, ditch the pre-generated characters. I had a couple of reasons for this; firstly, I find character creation to be one of the most enjoyable parts of a game, and was interested to see what types of characters we would end up with, and secondly, I believe that players are much more invested in characters that they have built from scratch. The reaction from the players was positive and it was now a case of setting up the game on Roll20, sending out the invites and helping everyone prepare for the first session.
Obviously, our first task was to create characters. The only caveat being that at least one character should have a military background, and be prepared to lead the team as their officer – and thankfully, Chirps stepped up. Step One of character creation is to choose on of the eight Archetypes (the most common roles within the Secret War’s organisations) The players settled upon a Boffin, an Infiltrator, an Investigator, and a Soldier. I was surprised that no-one opted for Occultist, but the selections represent a good spread.
Next, they each choose their nationality. As the scenario is a Section M mission set in 1940, I insist that Chirps’ character must be British, and that the others should also ideally follow suit, but I was willing to accept characters from Commonwealth countries. Chirps decides that his officer will be Welsh. Craig opts for a simple English Tommy, whilst – to my surprise – Nic and Steve opt for their characters to hail from the Antipodes – New Zealand and Australia respectively.
They now select their backgrounds and Chirps takes Military Officer, Craig chooses Army, Nic selects Journalist and Steve opts for Academic.
The next major choice is the Characteristic that will help make them distinct in some way.
Chirps selects Dilettante – an interesting, but canny choice as it provides a point in any skill with a 0 rank. Craig embraces his inner tank and picks Built Like a Brick Outhouse – though from here on out everybody unconsciously uses the more usual description! Nic decides to be an Experimental Subject, and Steve goes with Raised in the Colonies.
At each of the three main stages the players also choose talents.
Chirps’ Officer – Christened Richard Wesley – With the Assassination and Exploit Weakness talents proves to be a commander who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty; and Band of Brothers means that at the start of any new scene the group will have at least a few Momentum points in the pot!
Craig selects the fighting talents of Own the Battlefield and They Don’t Like it Up ‘Em for his tommy – now known as, er, Tommy Summers! His third talent is A Stiff Drink, which adds a nice bit of flavour to the man mountain.
Nic opts to call her character Rhys Darby* and her picks of Detailed Analysis and Constantly Watching mean that Private Darby will come to be relied upon as the group’s early warning system! Nic’s third choice of Minor Pact will mean an extra Fortune Point which is a great bonus, and a bit extra work for me as I’ll have to work out some details for just how the pact works.
Steve’s first choice of Prototype is no surprise – fitting nicely with the stereotypical professor, and Deep Expertise is a great way to get extra focusses. His final choice of Fighting Fit surprises me, but adds that element of difference that makes the character stand out. Steve christens his professor Paul Hogan. Sigh!
To see a summary of the characters click here.
EPISODE ONE:
Click HERE to view the session on YouTube
Reflections:
A relatively quick and straight-forward session straight off the back of character creation just to ease us in. From my perspective, it seemed to go okay, but in hindsight I realised that as Steve was the one recording the session the way that I presented some of the information to individual players using Roll20’s whisper mode meant it wouldn’t be seen by the viewer. In this session, this information related to how each player landed after parachuting; the idea being to not have the players know who had made it safely, and potentially have to find each other, rescue each other from trees, etc depending upon rolls. As it happens, nobody failed their rolls, nor got a complication, so it didn’t really cause an issue, but I make a note to be careful how I use this in future sessions.
EPISODE TWO:
The Plan:
Now that I had an idea of the group’s composition, I reread the scenario. I was looking to see if there were any scenes, or plot points, that put any of the characters at a disadvantage, or leaves them feeling redundant. As this is primarily a military mission then I wasn’t worried about Lt Wesley, or Tommy, but I did want to try and add something more in the professor’s and the investigator’s respective wheelhouses! The scenario mentions that the Black Sun troopers unload equipment from their trucks, so maybe there is something I can use there?
Update! Well that was interesting. We are taking on an extra player! Now all I need to do is to find a way to integrate them with the party that makes narrative sense. The obvious choice is to have him be a member of the local resistance, but I don’t want to restrict the player in their character creation. Luckily Steve (AKA Sherpa to avoid confusion) is easy-going and has some good ideas. We settle upon a Grease Monkey who has fled the U.S. and joined the Foreign Legion, only to find himself travelling through the French countryside after the ship his platoon is on is sunk and he is washed ashore. He has since been passed from resistance cell to resistance cell in a bid to reach Dunkirk and the rapidly retreating B.E.F.
The scenario has the players run into a French farmer herding cows. They are supposed to talk with the farmer to gain information on the Black Sun occupation of the village, and the whereabouts of their contact, Aramis. I decide that Jacques Renard (our Legionnaire) will be with the farmer but cautiously watching the interaction from a safe distance. I also prepare a handout in Roll20 for Sherpa, detailing Jacque’s journey, along with what he knows about the village, etc.
I now have the problem of what to do with Sherpa whilst he is waiting for his character to be introduced. Obviously, its not good for him to be sitting around doing nothing until Jacques turns up, but I also don’t want it to feel like he has been crow-barred into the narrative just for the sake of it. Fortunately, fate plays a hand and Craig lets me know that he isn’t available for the next session. Obviously, I’d rather I had all the players in the session, but it did mean that Sherpa could now play Tommy until we get to the point where Jacques shows up. Problem solved.
Click HERE to view the session on YouTube
Reflections:
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that players will never follow the plan! The scenario assumes that the players will interact with the farmer. Not these players! No, these guys spend an age hiding in the bushes! Good job I wrote out that handout for Sherpa. Except, I hadn’t ticked the box that allowed Sherpa to read it which meant that the session’s flow was interrupted. Lesson learned!
As I have already mentioned, the scenario is fairly basic and I had tried to flesh it out – especially in terms of descriptions, but I still feel that I hadn’t quite done a good enough job with that, whether that was in terms of what I added, or the way I described it. Something to consider for next session.
EPISODE THREE:
The Plan:
Now that they have met their contact I want to ratchet up the tension a bit as they will be forced to find a way to get to the secret tunnel entrance whilst avoiding the enemy. I breakdown the potential routes they might take into zone types. For each zone type I then determine what skills (and difficulty level) will be needed to negotiate safely through to the next. I also prepare a number of potential consequences of failed rolls and complications.
Click HERE to view the session on YouTube
Reflections:
This was the first session where I felt things went mostly as planned – from a GM’s perspective. The zoning approach certainly helped keep things ticking along nicely, so is something I will definitely adopt for future sessions involving travel, movement, etc.
Side note: “I’m more ‘roo than panther!” is one of my favourite expressions to come from a player. Don’t know why, it just is!
EPISODE FOUR:
The Plan:
This was to be the group’s first taste of combat, and so I did what I did with my other group and created a map on Roll20, complete with dynamic lighting etc. I spent a good deal of time thinking about how the barn should be set up, where the bad guys would be, and how they might react. I tested the token views from the most likely approaches that the players might take to the barn, and was fairly pleased with the results. I also reread the rules on combat a few times and created a few player handouts relating to the rules in Roll20.
Click HERE to view the session on YouTube
Reflections:
I think the session went okay, but there are definitely things I would change if doing over. First off, I believe that dynamic lighting can be a great tool for gaming but not really suited to sessions that are going to be recorded and shared – especially when the person doing the recording is a player. Doubly so, when the character that player is portraying is one of the last to arrive in a location! So, in future – if running a game that will be recorded – I’ll maybe stick to basic floor plans and descriptions.
I realise now that I should have done a bit more research into the ‘Hit the Dirt!’ reaction rule. As it is, we came to the correct decision, but my dithering broke the flow somewhat and slowed the game. I’m also annoyed that I short-changed Nic with her damage rolls when I didn’t realise that the character sheet on Roll20 had factored in her bonuses. Lesson learned – in future I want to use the Session 0 to test all links, buttons, rolls, etc on character sheets to avoid such surprises mid-game.
Still, all things considered I enjoyed the session as a whole and I’m looking forward to more mayhem with Dickie’s Devils as we are all now a little more familiar with the rules.
EPISODE FIVE:
The Plan:
Once again the scenario didn’t have a great deal to say about this section other than they need to make a roll to reach the chateau and the GM may want to add a few other elements to increase the tension. Challenge accepted! Using what I’d decided worked well with their having to move through the town, I adopted the same approach for the tunnels by creating a couple of rollable tables that would determine the cave structure they would need to pass through and the subsequent rolls they’d need to make to traverse those stretches. I also forearmed myself with a list of potential complications. As the ritual the players are going to have to stop is underway and A!C has rules on how these things progress, I also factored in where any delays in the approach would move the ritual closer to completion. See below if you’re interested in that sort of thing.
Players must make 5 rolls.
Each d6 roll will determine the nature of their journey.
- The tunnel widens and heightens making it easy to travel without impediment – Remove 1 from Ritual Stress Track
- The tunnel is wide and high enough to travel along as long as players are careful – Agility + Athletics (difficulty 0)
- The tunnel is a bit more irregular – Agility + Athletics (difficulty 1)
- The tunnel narrows forcing larger characters (Brawn 10+) and those carrying bulky equipment to squeeze through gaps – Agility + Athletics (difficulty 2)
- The tunnel widens but the ceiling lowers considerably forcing characters to crawl Agility + Athletics (difficulty 1)
- The tunnel has partially collapsed leaving only a very small gap to get through – Brawn + Athletics (difficulty 2) means the gap can be widened a bit to Agility + Athletics (difficulty 2) otherwise Agility + Athletics (difficulty 3) NB: Larger characters (Brawn 10+) will have +1 level of difficulty
Complications:
- A swarm of bats are disturbed – All characters lose 1cd of Stress (M) due to shock
- The player slips and takes 1cd of Stress (P)
- An item of the player’s equipment is caught somehow – It takes about ten minutes to get free – Add 1 to the Ritual Stress Track
- Lantern goes out. Sight based test increase 1 level in difficulty or spend time relighting which will add 1 to Ritual Stress Track
I toyed with the idea of having one roll mean that they come to a section where the tunnels split but rejected this as I worried it could force too much of a delay. After all this is all about getting them to the chateau.
Click HERE to view the session on YouTube
Reflections:
Again, a very enjoyable session, and I am so pleased with the way I was able to end it on such a great cliffhanger. The look on Steve’s face and his subsequent expletive outburst were extremely satisfying. With hindsight I think would have had fewer sections to the tunnels. I would also have them experience another wave or two in order to stress the fact that they’re on a clock and time is running out.
EPISODE SIX:
The Plan:
The last session ended on the perfect cliffhanger with the gang discovering the trapdoor into the chambers below the chateau and overhearing the strange chanting, setting things up nicely for the big confrontation with the Black Sun and the Servant of Nyarlathotep as they try and prevent Stöller summoning an avatar of the elder god. The quickstart has the room occupied by Stöller, four of his novices and the Servant, along with half a dozen hostages from the village. This, to me felt a little low key for the finale so I decided to raise the stakes a little by having a couple of regular Black Sun Troopers standing guard at the exit. Also, because I’m such a Raiders of the Lost Ark fan, I couldn’t resist having the Nazis filming the ritual. The layout of the scene as described made the antechamber which contains the trapdoor through which our heroes will emerge the perfect place to have the cameraman set up his tripod, and obviously he’d have a trooper at his side. I liked this idea as it gave the team an opportunity to try some sneaky assassination rolls to dispose of them!
I then find out that Chirps is unavailable for the session. With this being the big scene I was loathe to run the session without him, but after a ton of messages between the group a solution was reached whereby I would do a short one-to-one session with Chirps on the Thursday night which would involve him being first through the trapdoor in order to scout the area, and then coming up with his orders for the team which I could then relay on the Friday. As it happens, this worked really well as the Lt was able to dispatch the cameraman and his Black Sun trooper guard, get a good idea of the room’s layout, and come up with a plan. I had tried to record this session but annoyingly I messed up and managed to record video but no audio. You can find a very brief account of it here under bonus content.
Click HERE to view the session on YouTube
Reflections:
Sometimes the dice just roll that way! I have to hold my hands up and say that I was not 100% prepared for this. I had known that I didn’t want the scenario to end with the ritual – as it does in the published version – and as such had some ideas as to what I wanted to do with it, but I figured that the main showdown would last a lot longer than it did. I’m a ware that I missed a few things during the session; such as I didn’t factor in Stöller being hit by the grenade when he was performing his actions in the next round, and there should have been more of a consequence when the ritual was interrupted. With that marvellous thing called hindsight it’s obvious that I forgot to factor in that the time spent doing the one on one stuff with Chirps would come off the main session. This along with some fortuitous rolls from the players and my wish to use Stöller as a recurring villain, meant that the session came to a bit of a messy end. We did discuss the idea of continuing the session with me totally working on the fly – based on some ideas I had for the closing scene – but ultimately decided that it would be better to call it a night and allow me time to prepare properly.
EPISODE SEVEN:
The Plan:
So, the players have completed the adventure as written, but I wanted to wrap up the adventure properly with the characters making it back to their extraction point and being picked up by the RAF. I knew that I wanted to include a chase scene – because who doesn’t want to include a chase scene a la Raiders of the Lost Ark? – and having Stöller get away in possession of his book helped set up the perfect excuse for this. My main concern was how to have all this work narratively. I needed to find a way to give the players an opportunity to retrieve the book/kill Stöller and still make their escape, without making it feel overly manipulative. I decided that as their contact had directed them to the barn then it was reasonable for Aramis to have made his own way there (with help from Jean-Paul – the farmer the players avoided back in episode 2) as this would be where he kept a spare radio. This meant that they could report back to HQ and arrange their extraction. The fact that there was also a convenient vehicle in the barn – albeit a bit shot up – also helped. I made a list of “Truths” that now applied to the truck, e.g. flat tyre, cut brake line, etc which the players would have to spot, and deal with to get on the road, and now just needed to decide how they would know where Stöller was, or was going to be.
At the end of the last session I had left the group arriving back at the barn, so I liked the idea of opening with whoever opens the trapdoor staring down the barrel of a shotgun – only to reveal that it belongs to Jean-Paul. I also had the idea that I would have one of the rescued villagers would be a relation of the farmer, to show the players that their character’s actions had consequence. I knew that they would need to be tipped off and it made sense to me that the messenger should be a child, and that they should have a means of catching up with their quarry. Both easily done. Another concern was that all the players would feel involved. The fact that they would only have the one vehicle meant that their was the risk of some player’s feeling left out. Obviously, Sherpa would be okay – as I assumed that he would be doing the driving – but I was confident that if I had Stöller escorted by a number of other vehicles then there would be ample opportunity for the players to commandeer them in suitably reckless and heroic fashion. After that it was a case of reminding myself of the vehicle rules and adding related handouts to Roll20 for the players. I also decided to create a rollable table to determine the road, and potential obstacles they would be contending with each round. (see below for Roll20 Macro and Rollable Tables) I felt this made it feel a little less prescriptive in terms of play. I knew that I wanted the chase to end at, or on, a bridge. In my head I had a vision of the group’s and the Nazi’s cars side by side with Stöller and one of the characters wrestling for possession of the book as they approach the bridge. I figured I could always fudge the rolls so the players just manage to win as I liked the idea of Stöller’s staff car somehow plummeting into the river, leaving things open for him to return as a recurring villain in true Pulp style. Whether, or not they got the book, would be up to the players and the luck of the dice!
Random Country Road Macro for Roll20
Rollable Tables
Driving Rolls
- Sharp turn (either direction) – Difficulty 2
- Wet Road = +1 difficulty to next roll
- Potholes = 1d stress
Complications
- Jostled – Make a Brawn + Athletics roll (difficulty 1) to stay upright – Failure take 1d Stress
- Drop Weapon or held object
- Side mirror clipped and lost
- Major pothole – 1d Stress
Click HERE to view the session on YouTube
Reflections:
All in all, I am quite pleased with how it went. I didn’t quite get the finish I had in my head – but, let’s be honest that was always fairly unlikely – and with hindsight, I could maybe have increased the stakes a bit with having more of my Black Sun Troopers attempting to leap onto the milk truck, but the way it played out was exciting enough, I think. I am disappointed that nobody attempted to leap onto one of the Nazi vehicles, though! I also think that it might have been better if the players had a second vehicle so that it would have been easier for all the characters to feel more involved in the action. That said, the players did manage to find inventive ways to take part, which was great. Ultimately, I believe that and the players enjoyed it, and, ultimately, that’s what counts.
So, will there be more missions for Dickie’s Devils in the future? Well there are a lot of other worlds for the Denizens to explore and time is always the enemy of the gaming group, but nobody saw Stöller’s body, meaning technically he’s still out there, and no doubt has an axe to grind when it comes to a certain group of characters, so who knows?
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