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INTRoDUCING NeW PlAyeRS To RPGS

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imagination, and view RPGs with deep suspicion. Traditional role-playing games, and the culture that surrounds them, can unintentionally exclude potential players.

Odds are that these open-minded folk gave roleplaying a try, once or a few times, and that their first exposure to the hobby turned them off to the whole idea. The sheer number of rules, die rolls, modifiers, and special exceptions in many games can be very off-putting. A newcomer can get the impression, possibly correct, that success is a matter of memorizing optimal moves and maximizing statistical choices. True, mastering a ruleset offers its own satisfactions, and traditional RPGs can generate some unique and entertaining stories, but they aren’t for everyone.

Call of Catthulhu was designed to appeal to people who don’t want to play such a complex game—at least, not tonight. There’s one main thing to emphasize to inexperienced players: All you really have to do is act like a cat. Be curious, be quick, be clever, be proud. Poke your nose into everything, and if it gets scary, scamper away fast... then come back for another peek. A couple of Cat Dice and some notes are just there to support the experience of facing a scary world through a cat’s eyes.

To start out, the Cat Herder should give the new players character sheets and let them review the five Roles. It’s key to point out that there are no numbers, just descriptions of five different types of cats, all of which should be familiar to anyone who knows cats in real life. Which Role is most appealing? Pick one and write it down. Then on to the few remaining questions: Do you imagine this cat as a Purebred of some kind, or a regular Mixed Breed? Does she live with people as a House Cat, like most, or is she Feral, or even a fancy Show Cat? What does he or she look like? Write it down or draw a picture; the character sheet has a big frame on it for self-portraits.

Suddenly, the character is good enough to play. For more detail, each player can look at the optional backstory from the Cat’s Tale section (I, p12). Does the player find the story for this type of cat interesting or inspirational? Would the player like to add or change any details, or pick a different story? It doesn’t matter if a Feral Scrapper uses the backstory of a Purebred Pussyfoot, or if the player wants to use no backstory at all for now. All is permissible. Imagination rules.

A quick skim over the Rules of Paw (I, p36) will familiarize the player with the intention of the game, without requiring that any of it be memorized. Finally, dice: When it comes down luck, roll two dice and count the Happy Cats: None, one, or two. That’s all anyone needs to know to start the game.

Running an Introductory Session

Now play can begin. Every player gets a Treat and the CH explains how it’s good for one re-roll. For an introduction, the Cat Herder should put all the cats together in one setting: In a house with a cat door, or maybe a back yard where Feral types can visit more domestic cats. The situation starts with a simple hook: The cats want something and they can’t get it without figuring out a solution. Examples:

• It’s time for dinner and the human is napping hard.

• The catnip mouse is stuck under a chair, or a bit of ribbon is fluttering tauntingly inside a thorn bush.

• It’s starting to rain and everyone is stuck outside.

• There’s a bug crawling way up on a wall, making the most annoying clicking sound, with no obvious way to reach the thing.

As the players suggest solutions, they learn to take turns. The Cat Herder (CH) uses the Rules of Paw, especially the Rule of Two Dice: When a cat tries something, a roll of two Cat Dice informs the result. The CH makes her call and play goes forward. Whenever a player comes up with a clever notion to attempt, the CH should hand out a Treat.

When the little goal is achieved, give out an Experience for everyone to write down on their Character Sheets. Examples:

• Some chairs roll.

• Brick walls are easy to climb. • Humans hate water in the face.

It should be possible to run four or five players through a session like this, including cat character creation and a simple challenge, in less than an hour. And now they know how to play. If the group has more time, the CH can launch them on a more substantial adventure, introducing details like Difficult Challenges as they go.

INTRoDUCING RPG PlAyeRS To CAll OF CAtthulhu

It can actually be harder for an experienced gamer to pick up Catthulhu than for a complete newbie. Everyone knows how to act like a cat, and just about everyone can roll some dice and count the Happy Cats. Those, however, with years of experience in statistical maximizing, rules memorization, and habitual aggression may find it difficult to play without reliance on hard and fast rules every step of the way. The key is to ask the players to trust you, and then earn that trust.

A hardened RPG player wants to know that the game master’s response to his actions is fair and consistent, and that you aren’t just making everything up to suit yourself. Thousands of pages of rules have been written in the doomed but noble attempt to make all play results perfectly consistent and predictable. That’s not how Call of Catthulhu works. So tell the experts to relax and go with the flow, just for one or two sessions, until they see how the game really does give power to the players, and how no preset plotline is going to invalidate the importance of their choices and the flexibility of the story that everyone is finding out about together. See also the Rule of No Cut Scenes (p50).

PlAyING CAll OF CAtthulhu WITh KIDS

Young players may be very drawn to the idea of pretending to be kitties, and a Cat Herder can easily run the game for one or more kids. Obviously, references to cats getting hurt, humans who torture, and evil gods must be elided. Beyond such content filters, adjusting play will depend more on understanding children than on any hard and fast rules changes. Some pointers:

• Challenges can be smaller: just stealing a bite of chicken from the platter or getting a toy down from a high shelf can provide gleeful triumph for youngsters.

• Every cat gets exactly one triumph, guaranteed. With two or more players, after each gets one victory it’s probably time to stop. • Play should last 20 to 45 minutes depending on the ages involved. • Above all, the Cat Herder must arrange for an audience: Humans or other

non-player animals in the game whose sole function is to be amazed by the daring and skill of the Player Cats. Telling a child, “The dogs are just staring at you, like, How did she do that?” can have a surprisingly strong effect. • At the end of the session, all the cats end up somewhere safe and cared

for. Small children do not want to identify with tough loners, out coping with an uncompromising world. Rather, kittens come home in triumph to their mother cat, who chides them gently and provides dinner, or a set of small children suspiciously like the players take in the wandering cats and provide them with a cozy home, from which future adventures can begin.