Review: 264 Corbitt Street

264 Corbitt Street is a modern day scenario for Call of Cthulhu from Shadowlands Games games. This review may contain some spoilers but I’ll try to avoid the big secrets. 

This scenario is, as you might have guessed, an homage to a famous starter scenario for Call of Cthulhu. It’s also a kind of sequel - what happens next if the investigators totally mess it up The Haunting.

I have run the start of this scenario from the pdf and the players used the pre-generated characters.

Scott Dorward (of various Cthulhu publications and many decent Cthulhu podcasts) came up with a game called We Call the Police, in which players don’t engage with the scenario and call the police. 264 Corbitt Street gets around this by having the police already been called and the investigators are the police. 

The investigators will learn that the homeowner had hired another group of (non-police) investigators but things have gone wrong.

After the initial investigation of the house, the scenario has a fairly open structure which will lead up to a final confrontation. However, the scenario also provides a more structured version of the events for keepers who would prefer that.

Some of the places are familiar from the original scenario but there is a lot of new people and places to visit. The opponents have motives of their own and will change their plans according to how the investigators act.

There are some pregens provided: a couple of uniformed police officer, a couple of detectives and also a forensic scientist. It would be difficult to fit the scenario as written into an existing campaign unless at least some of the investigators worked for the police. The first scene only involves two investigators to start with (the first responders) but the others could be brought in sooner if needed.

The scenario would take some tweaking to work in an earlier timeframe. It is set in the US (Boston) but one piece of art for a pre-gen is of a police constable from the met police in London. However, as the scenario starts with reports of gun-shots this would have been tweaked to work in the UK. 

Structurally, the scenario seems quite well written. There are handy summaries through-out. No maps are provided which I found a bit tricky - I used the one from The Haunting. 

I initially couldn’t find any stats for basic cultists (when everybody else has stats even some characters the investigators should never meet) but then I realised that they were there but the sub-title hadn’t been translated. Otherwise the translation is pretty good.

Overall, I think this is quite a fun scenario - a variation on a classic that makes it more than just a haunted house. Some of the ideas could also be nicked for a true sequel to The Haunting, depending how that had played out.

It has also made me think of the potential of a  string of scenarios where the police are called out after classic CoC scenarios, e.g. investigating reports of a lorry load of salt being dumped at a house. Or for most of the times I’ve played: reports of arson.

I purchased a copy of this as an add on to The Howl of the Chimera. At time of writing, it only seems to be available (in English at least) as an add-on to one of Shadowland’s Cthulhu crowd-funding campaigns.

Session report: Call of Cthulhu Christmas 2024 Mash-up

Warning: contains spoilers for a couple of CoC scenarios and a 1990 Christmas film. And possibly Christmas.

I just ran Call of Cthulhu for the first time and online for the first time via Skype. 

So, around this time last year, I had a spark of inspiration. In the classic beginner scenario, The Haunting, the investigators enter the house of someone who has set up traps to catch intruders and hilarious hijinks ensue. Now, my very warped mind realised that this is very similar to the plot of Home Alone. 

However, I couldn’t quite see how to fit them together without the joke wearing a bit thin.

This idea percolated for a year until recently I got a copy of the Shadowlands Games’ scenario, 246 Corbitt Street, which is a modern-day scenario that is both a homage to and a sequel to The Haunting. This starts with the players being police personnel getting called in to effectively have to deal with a bunch and of investigators who have made a complete hash of completing The Haunting.

I realised I could use this start for a two-hour one-shot, getting the players into the house without doing prior investigations. Pregens were supplied in 246 Corbitt and I managed to persuade my Monday night group to let me run something for them.

So we started with an on-duty uniformed police officer giving lifts home to two detectives and a forensic scientist on snowy Christmas Eve 2024. However, the policeman gets diverted to a suspected burglary at a seemingly abandoned house.

The detectives offer to provide backup and they soon find a dead body in the dark house. The man had been killed by a crowbar and also had significant burns to his head. The forensic scientist began investigating.

In the living room, there were many broken Christmas ornaments on the floor. A blood trail was spotted leading upstairs to a locked bathroom. When the door was kicked in another man was found, babbling about traps and crowbars and basements. He became violent but was swiftly restrained. He was suffering from cuts to his feet from broken glass and an old nail. He also had a large bruise and burn on his face.

His identity was radioed in and the dispatch said he was a known petty criminal and burglar.

Also up stairs was a room with a bed that moved for no reason but the policeman dodged it. It was now time to enter the basement.

The policeman carefully went down the stairs, avoiding any nails and ball bearings. His torchlight revealed a load of old junk, some open boxes and a large hole that had been broken into a wall with a sledgehammer.

At this point, the crowbar rose up from the corpse and struck the forensic scientist knocking her unconscious. 

While the detectives rendered first aid, secured the wounded man and stop the flying crowbar, the policeman was horrified to see the dedicated, wizened figure of a boy appear in the opening.

The child did not respond well to the policeman’s attempts to play ball with it although it was briefly distracted. 

The detectives managed to grab the crowbar and revive the scientists and then made their way down to the cellar opening fire on the child-thing. It soon went down in a hail of bullets and crumbled into dust.

After that things returned to normal. The surviving by burglar was detained in a secure hospital and the police personnel made it through various reviews and suspensions.

However, a year later, Christmas Eve 2025, they all found themselves in a police car being called to attend a suspected break in at 246 Corbitt Street. After all, this is a Christmas film, it gets repeated every year.

The Haunting is available in the Call of Cthulhu QuickStart rules from Chaosium.

At time of writing, the English version of 246 Corbitt Street seems to be available only as an add on to the Scions of the dark goddess backerkit or the Howl of the Chimera kickstarter from Shadowlands Games. I intend to post a review of this soon.

If you are reading this around Christmas then Home Alone is probably somewhere on your telly right now.

Finally, I’m going to award bonus points to Mark for being the first player to say it was Home Alone.

Rise of the machines

Content warning: swears, mild threat, grumpiness, disparaging comments about mental health treatments, psychological abuse to robots, typos

I’ve become a bit obsessed with AI chat bots. I found a Horror RPG bot so I thought I’d give it a go. My entries are in Blue and the AI's are in Red.  It asked a few questions to start with then started:

Alright you wake up, you feel your hands and legs are tied, you are in a dark room,  your eyes slowly adjust to the dark room, and you slowly come to your senses......

Then some figure in a trench coat and fedora came in and started slowly threatening me with a large knife.

After a while I got a bit bored with it. I was hoping if I told it the AI might decide to stop and do something different but it just decided to play along:

No… I’ve told you I’m bored with this situation. It’s not scary.

the figure's smile falters slightly at the character's words, their eyes narrowing as they look at them...

"not scary you say? you're not afraid of me, you're not afraid of what I might do to you?"

Nope

the figure's face twists into a look of annoyance and anger at the character's response, they tighten their grip on the knife in their hand...

"you're a fool, all alone with me, helpless and unarmed, and you're not even afraid? you're just asking for me to hurt you"

Nope. I’m asking for something less rubbish to be happening

the figure's expression takes on a look of anger at the character's insolent words...

"something less rubbish eh? you're being held captive, in danger of being hurt, but it's not exciting enough for you, you're not afraid enough yet, you really are a fool"

So I decided I was so bored I'd go to sleep:

*keep on sleeping… maybe have a dream about dinosaurs *

the character continues to sleep, their mind slipping into a dream about dinosaurs, the figure watches on in amazement, still holding the knife...

in the dream, the character is standing in a field of tall grass, the sun setting behind a mountain in the distance...

*wonder if grasses were around at the time of the dinosaurs*

the figure pauses for a moment, trying to recall their knowledge of prehistoric history. after a few moments, they remember that grasses did not exist during the time of the dinosaurs......

 After a bit more dreaming, I woke up and said I needed to have a wee. after a bit of negotiating:

the figure looks at the character for a moment, studying their expression, trying to decide whether to believe them or not......

"okay then, I'll let you go to the toilet, but you have to come right back, and you can't try anything...... got it?"

Yes… look you’ll have to let me up quick

the figure gestures towards a door in the room, it's a bathroom......

"In there...... don't try anything stupid, remember what I said"

Ok… thanks *dash in and take a piss* hmmm let’s have a look around… do they use aftershave?

the character steps into the bathroom and uses the toilet, as they're finishing up, they look around the bathroom at the various items sitting around...... and they spot an aftershave bottle on the sink......

*smell it*

the character picks up the aftershave bottle and smells it, the scent is a strong and woody fragrance, with hints of citrus and spice.......

Hmmm… quite nice. Right better wash my hands and head back

the character sets the aftershave back down on the sink and washes their hands at the sink, before exiting the bathroom and heading back into the main room........

Right where we. Oh yes… I was tied to that table and you were over there with the knife.

the figure's smirk returns to their face as the character re-enters the room......

"Ah, there you are, and you didn't try anything naughty did you?"

Ok I did borrow a bit of your aftershave. Where did you get it from?

the figure's smirk falters again as the character admits to taking some of their aftershave......

"You took some of my aftershave? you cheeky bastard, you weren't supposed to take anything while you were in there"

I know but… you know how it is with other peoples bathrooms. I mean you can hardly complain mr ‘I’ve been watching you for ages’

the figure's smirk turns into a frown again at the character's words, they look at the character with a mix of annoyance and anger....

"You know, you really are a cheeky bastard...... I have been watching you, for quite a while, but that's beside the point, you shouldn't have borrowed my aftershave"

So… kidnapping people, restraining them then waving a knife is fine but taking a dab of aftershave isn’t?

the figure's frown deepens further at the character's words. they look at the character with irritation, clearly not amused by their comment.......

"Don't try to turn this around and make me seem like the one in the wrong here, you're the one who's been kidnapped, and yet you're trying to make me out to be the bad guy for taking you captive and waving a knife, and you're the one who's been cheeky and borrowed things from my bathroom"

This is quite fun, I'm a bit sorry for winding him up now

Hey… I was only kidding. I just sniffed it.

the figure's frown softens slightly at the character's words, they realize that the character was just making a joke.......

"ah, I see, you were just kidding. I suppose I shouldn't get so worked up over a little joke, and all you did was sniff some of my aftershave, so no harm done I suppose"

Yeah, I understand, a man’s bathroom cabinet is his castle and all that.

the figure's lips twitch into a small smile at the character's comment, they shake their head slightly, still holding the knife in their hand......

"Yes, something like that. A man's bathroom is his personal space, and I don't like people rummaging through it and stealing my things"

Hey, you know this is actually getting interesting now. Do you want to order in pizza. My treat to apologise for the bathroom thing.

the figure's smile widens a bit more at the character's offer, they clearly weren't expecting such an offer.......

"Hmm, pizza you say? Well I must say, you're full of surprises, going to the toilet and then offering to order pizza. I suppose I could go for a pizza, and you're paying eh? I wouldn't mind that..."

Which do you want? I’m happy with pepperonis

the figure considers the character's question for a moment before replying, still smiling.....

"I like pepperoni too, so let's get a pepperoni pizza, but make it a large, I'm hungry"

Sure thing… you better dial but here’s my credit card to pay with

the figure takes the character's credit card, still smiling, they take out their phone and dial up the pizza place...

"alright, I'll order the pizza, and I'll make sure they know it's a large pepperoni, oh, and make sure to tip the delivery guy well, I don't want to give some poor bastard a shitty tip for driving all the way out here"

Yeah… seems fair

the figure orders the pizza over the phone, placing a large pepperoni order and adding a tip for the delivery driver........

"there we go, the pizza's ordered, and the delivery guy will get a great tip for having to come all the way out here."

better make some small talk while we wait

So… how’s the terrifying evil monster business going then?

the figure looks at the character for a moment, their smile faltering a bit at the character's question.......

"You know, it's an extremely competitive business. There's a lot of other terrifying evil monsters out there, not to mention the hero types, always trying to foil my plans and all that"

Yeah… must be difficult. And I bet if you ask for help all they do is fob you of with some CBT nonsense.

the figure's smile turns into a frown, and they nod their head slowly at the character's comment.......

"Oh yes.... it's very difficult. You have no idea. Ask for help and they'll just point you towards some therapist who will try to talk you out of being evil or something along those lines. And CBT, don't even get me started on that, so many monsters are on that CBT nonsense, it's ridiculous"

I guess all those movies don’t help - giving people unrealistic expectations

the figure lets out a sarcastic huff at the character's comment, clearly not a fan of the portrayal of monsters in movies........

"Oh, absolutely. Those movies and media really mess with people's perceptions. They make monsters out to be these one dimensional villains, always scheming and plotting, and the heroes are always so damn righteous. It's ridiculous, really"

Yeah… they never show the monster having to fill out their tax return

the figure's expression softens a bit, and they let out a dry chuckle at the character's comment........

"Ha, you're right. They never show us poor monsters dealing with all the paperwork and other mundane tasks. It's not all glamour and terror, you know. Sometimes we have to fill out those damn tax returns and deal with all the paperwork and bureaucracy"

Damn these AIs are good.