Weapons

There may come a time when your character wants to do some damage. Below is a list of possible weapons. Only choose a weapon which is common in your era (1920). Keep in mind that concealed weapons are illegal, though carrying a rifle in your trunk would not be. Firefights and violence can draw attention, this is not a medieval frontier.

You also have to think of where you will put it. If you don't own a car or have a home, a personal arsenal is going to be out of the question.

However, I will not begrudge your choice of weapon. There are concealed weapon permits for Gumshoes and other registered lawmen. It is also entirely possible that your character, after having some experience under his belt will decide to carry protection in the future.

http://members.toast.net/jschultz/weapons.jpg

For those who want to play around with character concepts or track their own characters on their local computers... here is a program called Byahkee.

You will need to download the core program, the 5.5 ruleset, and the investigator handbook if you want all the up-to-date rules that we will use. You may also want the Sheet Back for the character sheet. This isn't intrinsic, but gives you a place to put additional RP information.

Rupert Merriweather

The hook for this campaign will be a telegram you receive from a man named Rupert Merriweather - a copy of which can be found here: http://members.toast.net/jschultz/rp_telegram.pdf

It is up to you to decide how you are acquainted with Rupert - however, he is a man you have only seen sporadically at best in the last 5 years due to his failing health. It is possible it has been much longer since the time you last spoke with him.

Rupert M is an elderly man, over 70 by your estimate. Educated and refined, he is a graduate of Miskatonic University and a successful accountant. In fact, he was one of the 31 accountants to form the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in 1887. A decade later, they created a standardized test, creating the title 'CPA' for the first time.

For a period of time he was a guest professor at Miskatonic University and is a partner in a prestigious New England accounting firm.

You have always found Rupert to be a kindly man, well liked, and a good husband and father. His home is stately and filled with curios of a man with fairly peculiar interests. African Masks, Mummy Hands, Monkey Paws, and books on all sorts of esoteric subjects fill his library. Despite this he seems reticent to discus such things as though afraid of inviting criticism of his hobby -- even among those who make it plain their genuine interest. Those who have ever pressed him have been told sternly that 'some things should remain unknown to human minds' and that his collection is from a more foolish period in his life.

Despite his library the man seems to hold no secrets or any reason for you to suspect him of anything out of the ordinary. You knew he was in poor health but have no idea what the telegram may be referring to.

Character Portraits

You can use a character portrait to stand for your character while in the game. Here are two very different ends of the spectrum. Feel free to use them, get ideas from them, or use your own portrait:

Silent Film Stars
and
Police Photos from 1920

Portraits should be square and no wider than 200px.

Character Backstory

Start thinking about a character idea. You don't need to know any rules at this point, just figure it out from a story standpoint. Here is a list of possible occupations: http://members.toast.net/jschultz/occupations.jpg

Here's a few hints - CoC depends on investigating strange occurrences like DnD depends on 'dungeon exploration'. So, just like you can create a fluffy bard or a non-combat character in DnD - you can make a non-investigator type for CoC - but it does make it a bit harder to play. Be sure to give yourself a little bit of a hook for why you would go gallivanting in haunted houses or investigate the strange murder of a friend, etc. For instance, you could be a Zoo Keeper... but it'd be a lot easier if you were a Zoo Keeper who wanted to find proof of Big Foot.

Obviously I like an RP heavy game, so you don't have to bend over backwards to make him/her Cthulhu friendly -- I'm more excited about interesting than I am about traditional.

Second - come up with 1 or 2 contacts. They don't have to be anything detailed or concrete. These are basically fall back characters. CoC can be deadly, and with its insanity rules, some characters may have to sit out for a few months game time or become non-adventuring support characters. When this happens we will roll up the fallback character who will be set to pick up where your last character ended. These contacts also may come in to play giving you leads in your investigations. For instance, if you were a photographer for the Daily Bugle, your editor and an investigative reporter on the paper may be good contacts.

Third. (Whew... I get long winded.) This is 1920. So no computer hackers or air conditioner salesmen. Prohibition and Gangsters. Flappers and Silent Movies. Communist Scares and pre-Great Depression excess. Let me know if you have any questions.