Call of Cthulhu: Intimate Encounters - RPG Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2024
- A serial killer who removes the fat from their victims stalks the city, and the Player Characters are tasked to stop them. Written by Oscar Rios, the adventure appears in 2016's 'The Things We Leave Behind' from Stygian Fox, a collection of 6 scenarios for mature audiences. Here are my tips and criticisms for it.
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Guest starring Jack the NPC
It may not be a perfect scenario, but the actual play Seth did with the Glass Cannon Network sure was close. Not only was it a real treat to see Seth play and interact with the guys, but then to see they really did have good chemistry together was such a bonus.
As always, I love Seth’s reviews. Fair, thorough, and on point. This guy is a treasure to the TTRPG community. Thanks Seth!
Another round of lobsters for the table.
I loved watching the scenario, and I'm very grateful to the introduction to Glass Cannon's content. I've got tons of hours of entertainment from their other stuff on youtube and their patreon. I even decided to start running some Delta Green after watching Get in the Trunk. They produce grade-A content. Voyagers of the Jump, which featured Seth, was amazing. And they have a really diverse lineup of games and players.
@@TheBattlechicken Ill take the pappy van winkle 25 year
The actual play with Glass Cannon is a national treasure and I would die to preserve it
"You sure do look like you were thinking about my good friend!"
My players helped the entity get home. They worked with "Billy" to construct the portal device so that it wouldn't explode. Billy thanked them and promised to keep in touch.
Really didn't expect that 🤣
Nice, I like that. Some would say that it's against horror and dread concept of CotC but I think it's refreshing to see players not want to kill the thing but try to understand it.
@@gothmissstress I think it's plenty horrific to help a serial killer get away with its crimes.
@@Shenaldracit’s just a game man 😅😅😅 the tone seems so intense for such a silly comment hahaha
Two Americas Network Subscribers represent
Also congrats on not dying
When I ran this adventure, I had the monster start hacking stuff in town to try and slow them down as they went to where it was hiding in the industrial park. Stuff like overloading phones to explode and hurt players and/or nearby NPCs, hijacking smartcars and trying to have those hit the PCs, etc. and I also described the air above the industrial park glowing blue due to the air being ionized a’la the Chernobyl disaster (the Chernobyl series was airing at the time and so I used that as inspiration), to hint at the severity of whats going on.
I cannot help but wonder... are there any scenarios where there *isn't* any supernatural going on? Something to spring on the players after a few games to keep them guessing.
That would be Occam's Razor, a collection of CoC scenarios that appear to be supernatural, but are all mundane in origin. Meant to keep your players (and their characters) on their toes. www.drivethrurpg.com/product/362442/Occams-Razor--An-Anthology-of-Modern-Day-Call-of-Cthulhu-Scenarios?affiliate_id=1017650
Also the old CoC scenario the Westchester House
@@SSkorkowsky Is Westchester House the one where youre lead to believe the main occupant is a vampire but they are suffering from some rare medical condition?
@@skyblazeeterno No Westchester House is the one where there's a group of thieves trying to steal stuff out of old lady Westchester's wacky anti ghost manor by pretending that hauntings are going on, it's great
@@sergentharker7182
Ah yes, the Scooby-Doo villain method of crime.
This might be Jack's funniest script yet 🤣
I have watched many of Seth's actual plays, and he is always a great player. I know it is a ton of extra work to add Jack and the other characters Seth, thanks for not dropping them after all this time. I thoroughly enjoy the little extra they bring to your vids. Another great video!
Why...you look like you're thinking about my good friend Scott Parker!
@@TheMightyHoof … from this possibly alien killer
Jack and the others are real, Seth's the only character that's written. 😉
I want to see the 'players' in Seths group do a reaction video to the actual play.
@@kevinsullivan3448 Seth already said they wouldnt which is unfortunate but understandable. Basically they only get together once a month and play for a whole day and dont want the pressure of being recorded for it
It is pretty funny as a physicist seeing all the physics wrong with this, but this is actually a really well written scenario aside from that. If I end up running this for my players (also physicists), I'll have to adapt all the science to make it actually work but I'm actually kind of excited to give this a try!
So I wasn't the only one that mentally locked up at "dark matter material disintegrates when it comes into contact with air"?
@@MephiticMiasma Ha, yeah I wasn't sure where that idea even came from. Dark matter only interacts weakly with regular matter. Maybe they meant antimatter? That would annihilate in contact with regular matter though so that's a whole different set of issues.
Yes!!! I've been waiting for this ever since I watched you play it with Glass Cannon!
My good friend Scott Parker?? Love that guy!
Loved the gcp playthrough, you using the drone really stumped Troy!
Lil Bessie was worth every penny.
My drone landed in your backyard could i get it? Its in the trash chute already
It was that damned Papy van Winkle...
Loved getting to see you play this on Glass Cannon. I did it with a Delta Green game. Much different outcome as an FBI investigation. We, um, struck a deal with it. And took the device into the research division. No justice for victims.
I'm going to rewatch that intimate encounters game, yall were THE best news crew ever
How to handle intimate interactions as a GM would be a useful guide.
Having to roleplay being seduced by your buds at the table never gets less awkward.
That Glass Cannon scenario was hilarious. I was dying with laughter watching it.
Aren’t you doing something else with them soon @Seth? Or am I misremembering something ?
I did the Traveller campaign Voyagers of the Jump with them. It was a ton of fun.
@@SSkorkowsky Awesome ! Must have missed it. Was it streamed or is it out to watch ?
It was streamed, but they have all 10 episodes on their TH-cam channel. Here's Ep1 th-cam.com/video/_5ESEkFoOdE/w-d-xo.html
@@SSkorkowsky I know that GCP is looking for sponsors/funding for a potential second season, it was announced during Troy's State of the Naish address. What can those of us who are fans Voyagers it do to help that happen? Do you have any tips or thoughts you'd be willing to share on that?
No idea, outside of encouraging people to watch it. First thing sponsors are going to want is evidence that Season 1 got a lot of views and fans.
I was sold on The things we leave Behind by your coverage of Ladybug which I adapted into a Vampire the Masquerade story. It is a true joy to read.
I ran this last month as my first ever scenario and let's just say that I managed to give my players the heebie-jeebs when I made the guardian show them a Google Streetview of where they were :)
"If you spoil yourself, you will be forced to run the adventure for your keeper so they can get to play for a change"
The forever Player: "NNNOOOOOOOO!!!"
The forever Keeper: [*soft laughter that builds to loud evil laugh*]
I'm a forever Keeper in my group and truthfully I am very happy with it. I enjoy being Keeper more than being player, and that's true for most of the TTRPGs I play/GM. Maybe I'm a freak of nature, but I never got the eternal sorrow about having to be the forever GM
@skeeter5076 Oh same. I do like to be a player, but I take far more enjoyment being a DM/GM and helping players have fun
Loved the live playthrough with the Glass Cannon chaps and glad you have reviewed the scenario
Loved watching you play this one. We just played a similar modern game where our players were part of a shoddy news crew, like you had. We definitely took heavy inspiration.
Your enthusiasm is contagious, dude. I'm going to have to convince one of my GM friends to run some Cthulu soon.
Also, GREAT hook for the actual play video.
i didn't manage to convince any of my group, so i gathered another one and now I'm running CoC 😂😂😂 Tell your GM that Seth's CoC rules guide playlist is a life saviour. The book didn't do well explaining some rules, and Seth helped me clarify those points.
@@gothmissstress I _think_ both of my regular GMs are familiar with coc, but I'm still recommending those videos, as well as watching them myself. Thanks for the suggestion. :)
This was one of my favorite scenarios from The Things We Leave Behind. I really liked the "X-files monster of the week" feel of it.
Absolutely did enjoy watching all of you play this. It really is quite an intriguing story. That was quite the rant by Jack there lol.
Wow, saw this 11 seconds after posting. My earliest ever. This is the one Seth played at Glass Cannon, which introduced me to GCN (Yup mentioned in first minute)
Always amazed how well Seth fixes these adventures with his ideas 💡.
Seth, I received a hidden invite from you via TH-cam notifications to use another app to message you there. Thought I should notify you, in case you are being spoofed by some bot. The TH-cam notification has your image on it and looks valid-ish. I'm going to ask them some questions to see if they have real "Seth" answers. I asked this other "Seth Skorkowsky" some questions that the real Seth would know. Yep, verified FAKE by me. All other subscribers of Seth, beware of being a "great winner."
The actual play with the Glass Cannon Network was indeed amazing! I really loved both episodes!
That game was so fun to watch! I'm so happy you introduced GCN to us, some amazing GMs and players there. I'm currently hooked on their Masks of Nyarlathotep and Haunted City games.
The triangulation idea reminds me of how people have been able to spot the beginnings of a corona wave by tracking 1-star Amazon reviews of scented candles. Great vid as ever!
Thinking about what might happen if the clock is ticking and the PCs utterly fail to work things out. They're staying far enough from the factory when the device explodes and maybe the last scene has them standing in a backyard looking down over a huge crater that has just formed (it was an 'clean' interdimensional explosion that only destroys matter within an exact radius and leaves a sharp distinction between the two). Finally, a message floods the Internet, saying "sorry but I had to get home."
Seriously, thank you for all your hard work for our community. We all can't thank you enough. Great job. Take care and God bless 😎 🤘 🍻
I've not laughed this loud at one of Jack's quips in a *long* time
A monster removing people's fat will always look like a doctor who episode for me 😂
Thank you soooo much for introducing us to GCN! I never had a reason to get on twitch till now.
I didn't even KNOW that the Darkest of the Hillside Thickets had merch! Excellent shirt selection!
Seth/Jim's final NPC suggestion has some serious Doc Brown energy. "Great Scott!"
Actually, the bullet points *are* different! The regular ones have the leaf-shaped Elder Sign and the 'secret' italicized ones have the spooky star one!
Look closer. I changed that in the video when I suggested it.
This adventure review comes just in time - as always ;)
we're having the habit of doing oneshots between christmas and enw year - as a break from the regular weekly sessions - and this fits pretty much perfectly in what i had already in mind.
(mysterious killer in the middle of somewhere, doing stuff)
tihs helps me a lot to fill in the gaps, and have my shadowrunner team deal with this :D
mad scientist... looks like a job for a corporation to interfere with stuff here
Hey Seth. You responded to a post of mine on Facebook, but the comments were disabled before I had a chance to respond. I just wanted to say thank you for your post. And I'm a long time watcher of your channel and I really appreciate your content.
No problem at all, Amy. It always breaks my heart when I hear how one jerk player can ruin the whole experience for everyone, especially when it causes the GM to consider hanging up their spurs. A lot of the other commenters were focused on what the argument was about (an yes, he was astoundingly wrong), but with players like that it doesn't matter. They'll always find some dumb thing to latch onto, go into nerd rage, and ruin everyone's fun. Ignorance can be cured, but bullying assholes are a different matter. I've learned and re-learned this the hard way. I hope your group can get past that experience and can relegate it to, "You guys remember that misogynistic jerk we had a few years back? What a dick."
@@SSkorkowsky I have decided not to hang up my spurs. But when I stood my ground and booted the problem player from the group, his buddy, also in the group, got Big Mad at me, unfriended and blocked me. The group kind of imploded after that. I guess I have to find better players. You live and you learn ¯\_(ツ)_/
I listened to the actual play episodes (and the Traveler series) and it was a total blast. It made me want run this for my usual D&D group. Thanks again!
Glass cannon and seth are making me buy games i probably will never find players for. But i am ready should it happen.
A scenario based off my favorite Kolchak episode? Oh what a find!
Love your work seth
Rumor has it the company is still paying off that exotic seafood delivery.
It was so cool being able to see you play this module and then review it!!
6:50 I thought you said the FBI wasn't involved in the adventure, this thing's taking right out of their playbook.
It was really fun to see you do a crossover with Glass Cannon. I thought you guys were hilarious! I really enjoyed the Traveller campaign you guys did too.
Thanks again for this Seth. I'm running the adventure this weekend, and the free notes and maps from The Mark of Evil are going to be really useful. My players have taken the option of being a Weird World Weekly News team and are taking on the case in hopes that it will gather enough interest to save their studio!
And now I've successfully run Intimate Encounters as an 8-hour one-shot! My players thought it was a fantastic mystery and a lot of fun! I encourage the team to go with the Weird News angle - it was a TON of fun!
Really enjoyed watching your play of this. I loved all the characters, and just everything was fantastic.
The Glass Cannon Intimate Encounters game play was pretty funny but I felt like Seth was the only guy who actually knew how to play a sci-fi cosmic horror investigation game
Thanks, Seth! Have been waiting for the new video. Absolutely love your content
I’d watch anything, ANYTHING, starring Seth in EVERY role.
It would be awesome if you gave a scenario review of another Things We Leave Behind scenario "The Night Season". I find its concept fascinating and would love to hear your take on it.
There was also a similar episode in Season 1 of Angel. A demonic parasite was meeting new hosts at hook up bars looking to finally find a compatible body and as soon as it leaves the old body it starts decaying almost immediately.
Oh nice, new vid. Been commenting on a lot of past stuff - just wanted to mention I'm a TWU alum and live in North Dallas. Glad to know you're local. Hope the rain missed you today.
Just here to give a hat tip for that monster single take for Jack at the end there - well done boss!
Hey Seth! I saw when you played this with the guys from Glass Cannon Network and it was great! I was driving at the time and more than once had to pull over to stop laughing so hard! I hope you guys get to do more collaborations.
He did a 10 episode Traveller series with them called Voyagers of the Jump. th-cam.com/video/_5ESEkFoOdE/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=TheGlassCannonNetwork
Had a great time listening to you guys. Thanks for the crossover.
Pet peeve time - the ‘M’ in ATM stands for machine. So there’s no need to say ‘ATM machine.’ 😅
I used to work at a bank. One industry secret is the reason people call it an ATM Machine, versus AT Machine or simply ATM, is to give joy to those unfortunate people who can only feel pleasure by saying how the M in ATM stands for Machine.
So, you're welcome.
@@SSkorkowsky This answer makes me love you even more. Well played, sir.
Actually, with a little bit of extra work on the GM's part, it sounds like the scenario could be adopted to a scifi setting like Traveller. It would be off beat for the setting but potentially a lot of fun. The party would have access to more resources and could puzzle some things out better, but on some advanced planets that are even more dependent on computers, the entity could also wreak all kinds of havoc. Especially if one or more chatracters have cybernetics. One second Charlie or whoever would be researching the thing on the net, and the next the party sees Charlie repeatedly punching himself with his own bionic arm...
Sounds also that old episode of Angel involving a body taking Demon looking for a home.
I'm happy to see that seth had his new elder sign installed in the background.
Incredible!
Now I finally remember what I was supposed to do a while ago, you play intimate encounters.
Good work Seth.
This was some of your best NPC work to date. Very funny! Thx!!
"It committed murder to save its own skin."
Thanks for the video, seth! I enjoyed watching you play chuck when you guys did this scenario!
"Here lies a sex worker...uhh... probably."
The podcast was awesome Seth!
Another way to point to industrial part is the industrial side. Some sort of side health problem common to bodies reflective of exposure to some of chemicals which would be in this industrial area. Asking around find out about some place abandoned while driving around. Plus the internet tracking you say once in area.
loved watching Seth play with Glass Cannon Need to see more of these types on games
I loved watching you play in this scenario.
The only news network I trust is the Two America's
Chuck for the win!
Lucky for the entity that it knew how to build a device. What would happen if an ordinary joe citizen entity ended up stranded and had no idea what to do besides "I saw it on dark world TV once? IDK I wasn't paying attention in class."
Maybe have the creature order parts for the device to a particular location. Maybe someone saw multiple people that all happen to match the descriptions of the victims collecting the packages. The PCs might be able to use that as a sting setup or follow the creature to the industrial park.
I watched the video series of you playing this game with Glass Cannon. I loved the sleazy crew y’all played. Good times.
Yo! I remember watching this game of yours! Such a good time! Thanks for the backhand side of things
Great shirt! Love the Thickets!
i just had the strangest idea
a CoC game but the party is scooby doo.
Haha! Jack's username joke punchline got me.😝
~ Adam
The basic setup for the scenario is drawn almost directly from "Buckaroo Banzai, across the 8th dimension".
I'm thinking of adapting this scenario for 90s Delta Green! Wish me luck
helium-3 could work for the chemical noted in the suggestion at 21:46
Another good touchstone is the 1st season Angel episode "Lonely Hearts".
Another great review!
Great review!
Not the only time Seth has been the camera man either.
Thank you for the content that you make I enjoy watching your channel. I'm going to be running Horror on the Orient Express after the first of the year but my group is 6 - 7 players, do you have any tips for handling larger groups in Call of Cthulhu?
A good red herring is a weird copycat, or wannabe vigilantes trying to set up "dates" with the killer, which can create more havoc & cover for the alien.
"The shadows and the borders are all flawless, there's no sign of manipulation at all..but then there's something about the faces, there's some asymmetry, something about the eyes, that has some uncanny valley quality because it was made by a creature that doesn't exactly understand what makes a human look human."
...so in other words it looks like an AI generated image. *snicker*
Jack's motto: walking on the seedy side of life. 😆
The story told from the other perspective is Quantum Leap
Depending on the size of the userbase of said website - people also could be rationalizing that it couldn't POSSIBLY happen to them.
Can Kolchak, Mulder, and Scully show up in this module as NPCs since they've dealt with a similar monster?
A proposal re: The Engineering skill.
I wouldn't want to tell the players to bring the skill if I could help it. Too much of a spoiler for me, so here's my thought:
Have an NPC engineer be included... a brilliant but, clumsy, four-eyed annoyance of a bureaucrat who belittles and drags the party along at first. He's also (just by coincidence) very impressed with his own textbook and notebooks, etc (which he, of course, forces the party to drag around in multiple stuffed briefcases)
Then, he inevitably dies (or becomes the host of the entity somehow) during the second act of the adventure--late enough to show the entity having a counter to advanced tech--the group would be left with a handful of annotated textbooks, notebooks and heaps of paper diagrams.
These are detailed enough to allow them to attempt some fairly specific, story-relevant engineering tasks with a more common skill (probably Library Use) which will *also* help make up for the restriction on internet searches that would naturally be part of the adventure's scenario, since I wouldn't want a heavily-invested character in Library Use to feel shut down.
The tradeoff here would be that it would obviously take some extra time, but there's this could encourage a PC to improve their Engineering skill as well, possibly being a neat turning point for a PC's skills.
A Kolchak: The Night Stalker shout out. Very nice
Can you review “Never Going Home”? It’s a strange occult WW1 game, 20 bucks a book, by wet ink spot games or something. The artstyle is cool but wow the writing is pretty poor in the preview considering how much the game seems to hinge on it ig
not sure if i should buy it
Oscar writes good stuff, used to seeing his work at Golden Goblin these days.
Really hope you get a chance to try your hand at escape from innsmouth some time. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it at the very least!
Yeah, It would be intrresting if the pc could actually talk things out with the maybe help it leave without nuking the town. Maybe when youre able to catfish it, it could have a apologetic confession what and why its gonna kill you etc.