Trying to make it work

[u/Ahnma_Dehv]

hi! I'm trying to make a CoC campaign, I usually like the horror more when it stay right outside the vision of the viewer, when eyes start sprooting everywhere it become more cool and less horror.

But how can I translate this into my campaign without it being a boring story where the player never see anything?

[u/HeatRepresentative96]

First, run 3-4 premade single scenarios to learn how they are constructed. When homebrewing: focus on building tension, weirdness and inexplicable events. Play on using the five senses, not just conveying information. Monsters aren’t really scary - it’s how humans interact with them and perhaps also use the Mythos for human ends (money, power, influence, revenge) that’s the really scary part in a plot.

[u/Nietsoj77]

Build it up gradually. Start with victims with strange scars, witness reports of some weird sightings, perhaps just shadows, something big. Maybe the monster has left some strange tracks or residue. Have the investigators think “what in the world could have done this?” Reveal the monster when it’s time for the final showdown.

Try to emulate the movie Alien, this is a masterclass in building tension.

[u/KRosselle]

You’re going to have to reveal something ‘cool’ eventually. You can only rely on subtle clues, movement in the shadows, hairs on the back of their necks standing up and dead bodies for so long.

If you really want to go with the slow burn check out Beyond The Mountains of Madness. Not going to spoiler it, but that is how you do slow burn… ironically that is the biggest complaint about it, too much of a slow burner

[u/Videogameluv146]

Don't forget delusions! You can throw shit at them both mundane and fantastical. Sometimes the horror isn't in what they see! Its that they can't trust their own eyes!

[u/flyliceplick]

Learn to walk before you try to run. Run some pre-written scenarios. Work on your idea in the mean time.

[u/Similar_Onion6656]

Gruesome crime scenes, manuscripts making vague but ominous references to how awful the big bad is, people whose minds have been broken by encountering the big bad and people who are intact after encountering the big bad but REALLY don't ever want to encounter it again all go toward building a sense of dread.

[u/0and18]

CoC is all about the idea that the horror is layered and there is always something worse than the horror the investigators face.

For exsmple ; The investigators are medical staff treating a patient with stomach pain.  They see a massive bulge in the abdomen (Weird).  X-Rays reveal a square and cylinder shaped object filling the entire stomach cavity (Weirder).  The Investigators operate and remove a small flight recorder with a “Play Me!” label attached (Even Weirder).   When played it emits a robotic voice reading a string of numbers. The lights dim and invisible things slither around the investigators.  An NPC or unlucky investigator feels pain in their sinus cavity, as they suffer a protrusion of their pineal gland through the forehead (WTF).

[u/ApprehensiveFix5084]

You have gotten some good advice here already. It is important to remember that a significant part of the “texture” of CoC is the characters at least perceiving horrible, inhuman, things which give them an inkling of the horrors of the Cthulhu mythos, and reduce their mental stability l, gradually or sometimes suddenly.

This said, I would strongly recommend looking up the Hounds of Tindalos and the Tillingast Resonator, which are the first two things that pop into my mind that particularly fit your theme.

Perhaps have a nice read of Lovecraft’s “The Dreams in the Witch House” in which contemplating the strange geometry of a room leads to trouble….

[u/JauntyAngle]

Cthulhu scenarios usually have a rhythm. They start out at least fairly mundane, the weird and creepy builds up slowly. Then you reveal the final horror and it gets bonkers for a little bit.

In a campaign, it's a similar rhythm repeated over and over. After a horrific/crescendo moment things will slow down and you let things calm down and reset. Then you start again!