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Trail of Cthulhu is an excellent game, made even better by later publications that expanded rules and moods in greater detail. The Pulp and Purist modes cover a lot of ground, but they do not represent all typical fiction of the 30’s. So here, we draw clearer boundaries for each genre and add new ones.
Referenced books:
- Shadow over Filmland (SoF)
- Eldritch Tales (ET)
- Bookhounds of London (BoL)
- Apocalypse Machine (AM)
- Night’s Black Agents (NBA)
The Edge – more than just setting, it’s the axis of conflict and the stage around which the story turns.
- Purist haunts the Edge of Reality, where the cosmic horror is right around the corner and seeping in our consensual perception. Where horror is in the perception of lunatics, artists and degenerate lineages, amidst desolate ravines and cities forgotten by the world at large.
- Pulp dares the Edge of Civilization, treading over teeming jungles, forgotten temples, weird science labs, and lost or exotic lands. The contrast between occidental white man’s culture and alien and ancient peoples and civilizations (obviously much more aware of the Mythos than us) is key here.
- Noir threads the Edge of Law in dark, labyrinthine cities. The cosmic element is been used or changing hands in tales of desperate struggle and treason.
- Gothic lurks on the Edge of Time, every reference is to an older, more mystical time. Ruins and monsters from the past abound, and even mad science lingers at the edge of superstition.
NOIR MODE
Everyone’s got an agenda and nothing is what it seems (Noir…), and even reality itself is but a comfortable illusion (… meets Cosmic Horror).
Protagonists
Appropriately to the Edge of Law Investigators are Cops and Private Eyes, but also victims (any respectable background in a tight spot will do) and Criminals. Their Drives will be base, coarse almost: Arrogance, Duty, Revenge, Greed (from BoL), and Hunted (from AM) and Nowhere Else to Go (NBA) for victims. Investigators will struggle those who serve the Mythos as much as against each other.
Emphasize the role of the Great War’s horrors in the make-up of your Investigators’ psyche.
Avoid high Credit Ratings, the best Noir tales happen in the gutters and back alleys of the inner city.
Each Investigator should pick an Interpersonal Skill as a Perk, defining his archetype in the Noir tale. Double its Rating during character creation.
Seduction (Interpersonal)
A New Ability that allows characters to cloud their marks’ judgment through charm, beauty or willies by evoking desire, longing and love. Different from Flattery, it might be passively used, even unconsciously! It depends on the sexual inclination of the mark and tends to cause a lot of suspicion on those who witness its uses, but are themselves immune to it.
Flashback
A new General Ability that allows investigators to add sharp turns and twists to the story, at the cost of their minds. For every point in Flashback the Stability and/or Sanity of the Investigator is capped one below the usual Chronicle limit.
You can reveal that all along:
- You knew something related to the mystery – the secret idol was your intended mark, you were always hunting down this particular cult, you and the villain might have been partners before.
- You were secretly connected to another Investigator – this must be agreed upon between involved characters and everybody must spend the same amount of Flashback for that.
- You were something completely different – perhaps a cultist bent on thwarting the party or use them to your own purposes (nefarious or good intentioned as you wish), or a descendant from the inbreed lineage that infests the city.
The later in the Case you use Flashback the more it costs, one per Session as a rule of thumb. Your Flashbacks can only reveal anything related to the Mythos if you spend permanent Sanity points. Also, you lose all Stability and Sanity for dark acts and truths as normal once they are invoked by Flashback… perhaps you were in fact a deranged madman from the get go!
If you have more than 8 points in Flashback you are considered Amnesiac, a typical trope of the genre. The cost to invoke Flashback is always 1 and you gain 1 Stability point per Flashback point used.
Antagonists
Abuse of Cults! Keep horror human, and humanity horrifying. The Mythos is just a shadow on the background – the coveted power, the reason behind the killing, the belief unifying bad guys.
Conflict should turn around who gets The Drop better. There is no back and forth duel in Noir, but instead you get beatings or drop dead shots in the back; one of the parties always holds the clear upper hand. It falls upon investigation, preparation and timing in which end of the beating the Investigators will be.
If you must use monsters, avoid the slimy zoological nightmare sort – ideally pick one that affects the environment and make the building, block, or city into a twisted (optically and morally) reflection of itself. Betrayals and lies provide horror leverage, made deeper by the fact that not even reality can be trusted.
- Yithian possessed agents can play on the (Red Scared induced) paranoia of the genre.
- A dematerialized Lloigor can serve as a haunting patron for a disturbed family, deeply involved in murder and worse.
- A Color Out of Space or a Space Eater is a great background element, more than a full blown adversary. And in a largely urban area they can have effects different enough to keep it a surprise to players.
