As promised, I am here to update you on the fate of the Call of Cthulhu scenario I ran on Saturday! It went well – I ran two missions with two groups, the first of three and the second of four – and while it was the same scenario (disappearances near a carnival, caused by the work of an evil society consisting of the employees of the carnival involved with summoning chthonians and Shudde M’ell), the endings were completely different. The first group snuck into the caverns below the park in the dead of night after visiting it extensively during the day, and one of them bought an occult book. The investigator with the occult book summoned a horde of ghouls to him, and they took on all of the “carnies” underground. However, three sacrifices were cast into a pool (including the manager of the carnival), resulting in the summoning of Shudde Me’ll – for a second before the ritual failed. Shudde M’ell then took out most of the remaining carnies, and the rest were rounded up by the police.
The second group (of four), took a different approach, looking for information in different places and then sneaking under the carnival grounds in the middle of the day, through a hidden door on a carnival ride. They then fought the manager, Wilberforce Wyatt, singlehandedly underground, before one of them escaped and brought the might of the Providence police force in on it, and having a massive shootout on carnival grounds. They also ended up summoning Shudde M’ell – except this time, he stayed and destroyed the carnival and much of the surrounding area before vanishing again. They shouldn’t return to Providence anytime soon.
Everyone had fun, though, and I’m looking forward to the next scenario we’ll be running – “The Curse of Chaugnar Faugn” (both of these scenarios are from the Curse of the Chthonians book – my own scenarios will come later).
The day before that scenario, I had the pleasure of seeing Toy Story 3 – and it was fantastic (though Wall-E and Up are still my favorites), and almost had me in tears. It was that good. Go see it if you haven’t already.
Z. M. Wilmot 
Todd S. Tuttle
May 7, 2015 at 1:25 am
I’m currently running Dark Carnival for my CoC group. The four investigators have rescued the boy and young woman from the cage in the caverns beneath the carnival after a gunfight with three of the carnies. While escaping through the caverns, they circled to the south of the lake and found the altar there. Three zombies attacked; two of the investigators were slashed by one with a meat cleaver, and the third caught fire on one of the braziers. Just as the two investigators were about to be killed, I had a voice (Wilberforce Wyatt) call from the darkness and stop the zombies’ attack. Cliffhanger ending until next session.
Any ideas what I should or could do? I don’t want the investigators killed (it’s only their third adventure), although I did give that option to the players in case they want to make up new characters. I thought of having Wyatt agree to patch up the injured PCs in exchange for not killing them outright, but only so he can sacrifice them (maybe turn the injured/dying/dead PC(s) into replacement zombies). One PC (who is on vacation) hung back with the kid and young woman, so Wyatt may not be aware of his presence; he could run and get the cops. The two remaining zombies are pretty resistant to their firearms, but maybe they could dispatch them with fire like the third one. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!
Z. M. Wilmot
May 8, 2015 at 4:29 am
It’s been so long since I played this scenario! Were I you, I would have Wyatt heal the players and prepare them to be sacrificed, but give the players some opportunity to escape their fate (though it shouldn’t be easy). That sounds like the best way to me; good luck with your game! 🙂