Call of Cthulhu is one of my favourite rpgs, a game of mild-mannered academics investigating Things Man Was Not Meant To Know and trying to turn back a cosmic apocalypse for just one more day, thus proving themselves infinitely more heroic than any superpowered type or sword-wielding warrior. It's a great game to play, run and write for.
• "Dinner With Susan": This scenario is designed to be run in two four hour sessions, although on its first outing, the group rushed through it in just one sitting. It is loosely based on Clive Barker's short story The Madonna; very loosely based, in fact, as I've never read said story, only a synopsis of it in Clive Barker's A to Z of Horror. I'd be interested to know how close my version is to the original. Download (PDF/297k)
I'm quite fond of Dragonlance: The Fifth Age, a role-playing game that's fairly unusual in that it uses cards as a task resolution system, as opposed to the usual funny-shaped dice. For the game, I've put together a number of resources:
• SAGA alternate rules: A short compendium of house rules and tweaks, including notes on using a normal deck of playing cards instead of the SAGA Fate Deck, a chapter of official spells from various published sources, and a compilation of weapon and task tables. Download (PDF/148k)
• SAGA character sheet: A cheap and cheerful character sheet (or rather two sheets) for when there's no photocopier handy. Download (PDF/23k)
• SAGA mass combat rules: Based on the mass combat mechanics from the original Legend of the Five Rings rpg, because the existing system in Heroes of Steel was crunchy and complicated and not at all in keeping with the sleek simplicity of the SAGA ruleset. Download (PDF/39k)
• "Death and Taxes": An adventure that should last one or two sessions of about three hours each. The setting is vaguely analogous to England about ten years after the Civil War, but it can be easily fit into an existing campaign. I wrote this to test the system, and found that the NPCs were rather weak in comparison to the players, so be warned. Download (PDF/69k)
I'm also rather smitten with Redbox Hack, a game that mixes an old-school 1970's gaming sensibility with more modern game design elements. It's so inspiring I've found myself unable to resist coming up with some resources for this game:
• "The Delivery": A short adventure designed to be run in one three-to-four hour session. My goal with this scenario was to turn out a full and satisfying adventure that could be played in one evening and that would also fit on a single sheet of paper for ease of use. Download (PDF/51k)
• "Hopping Mad": A short adventure designed to be run in one three-to-four hour session. My goal with this scenario was to turn out a full and satisfying adventure that could be played in one evening and that would also fit on a single sheet of paper for ease of use. Download (PDF/55k)
And it's surely a very bad idea, but I've also attempted to convert classic Dungeons and Dragons beastie, the Beholder, over to cyberpunk/fantasy hybrid Shadowrun. See the results here.
Call of Cthulhu is © Chaosium, the SAGA system is probably © Wizards Of The Coast, and Legend of the Five Rings is © Alderac Entertainment Group. Redbox Hack is © Eric Provost. Beholders are probably © Wizards Of The Coast or Hasbro or someone, and Shadowrun is © FanPro (I think). Unless otherwise specified, all content is © Kelvin Green 1993-present.
Please contact me if you wish to use anything from this site.
