I’ve been working on a module for Call of Cthulhu for several years now, and I’ve finally found a model I like for organizing my written content.  It’s not fancy, and I’ll have to alter a few things eventually when I get around to posting maps and pictures alongside the text, but it will mean that other people can play the game that I’ve made without me running it for them.  But the module isn’t done yet, and is already far longer than most of our posts.  So with that in mind…

This early sample will give you a taste of what it’s like to play in my scenario.  I’ve constructed a playlist to add to the feel of the adventure, along with a few brief thoughts on when you can best benefit from cueing up the various tracks.  Taken directly from the current work-in-progress:

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Music

The following playlist really helps to heighten the mood.  I strongly recommend listening to it while you’re reading through this.  Some of the later tracks are long, as well as being kind of freaky; it helps to have listened to it a few times so that you’re not as unsettled by it as your players are.  Also, make sure that your music is both audible and easy to talk over.  You’ll want to be careful not to make it too loud, lest you strain your voice or distract your players.  If you can’t strike a happy balance, or you don’t like the feel, don’t struggle with it.

I’ll skip around to other songs every so often if I think they better fit the mood.  For example, Yulunga is a particularly good song for helping the players feel less frightened of everything that is going on.  I also use it to set the initial tone of the investigation, with plenty of mystery and wonder.  I find that, much like turning the lights back up after they’ve been dim for a while (preferably with an in-game explanation like sunrise or leaving a dark place), it makes players more comfortable with making stupid decisions.  You can also use it at the very end of the game to help your players relax after all of the horrible things that have happened.  Go a little further down the playlist to ease up on the pressure without relaxing your players.

Conversely, if you want to unnerve your players, Invocation of Nag-Zhig and Heresy Part I are both good points to skip to in the playlist.  I sometimes jump to one of them if the sun is going down in-game or the PCs are heading into dark and scary places.

All of the following data is exactly as it would appear in any search you do to try and find it, with the exception of one album titles which is too long to easily fit the list.  The second Lustmord album shares its title with its song, The Place Where The Black Stars Hang.

All items are organized as follows:  Song title  /  Artist  /  Album

Yulunga (Spirit Dance)  /  Dead Can Dance  /  Into the Labyrinth

Emmeleia  /  Dead Can Dance  /  Into the Labyrinth

Song of Sophia  /  Dead Can Dance  /  A Passage in Time

The Host of Seraphim  /  Dead Can Dance  /  A Passage in Time

The Feeling Begins  /  Peter Gabriel  /  Passion: Music for the Last Temptation of Christ

Sandstorm  /  Peter Gabriel  /  Passion: Music for the Last Temptation of Christ

Passion  /  Peter Gabriel  /  Passion: Music for the Last Temptation of Christ

Chant De Diem  /  Ekova  /  Heaven’s Dust

Invocation of Nag-Zhig  /  LAShTAL  /  Thoum Aesh Neith

Pope Is Antichrist  /  LAShTAL  /  Thoum Aesh Neith

Heresy Part I  /  Lustmord  /  Heresy

Heresy Part II  /  Lustmord  /  Heresy

Heresy Part III  /  Lustmord  /  Heresy

Heresy Part IV  /  Lustmord  /  Heresy

Heresy Part V  /  Lustmord  /  Heresy

Heresy Part VI  /  Lustmord  /  Heresy

The Place Where The Black Stars Hang  /  Lustmord  /  (same as song title)

Invocation Live  /  LAShTAL  /  Thoum Aesh Neith

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I’ve incorporated youtube links where I could find them, you should at least be able to get a feel for the playlist.  I wasn’t able to find more than the first part of Lustmord’s Heresy album independent of the rest, so I linked to the whole thing.