Miskatonic University Campus

Hey Guys and Gals,

I'm about to start the Masks of Nyarlathotep and, to be honest, I am a little overwhelmed. I could really use some tips on the best way to consolidate and keep track of all the characters, clues, cultists, financials and all that. General keeper stuff as well as tips specific to MoN would be greatly appreciated. I think my mind may explode otherwise.

Thanks a bunch.

I've never ran (or played) Masks, so I can't help on that, but make sure you download the free Masks of Nyarlathotep companion.

Hello Russacky,

I think the "Companion" might make you feel even more overwhelmed. Have a look at the "Clue Sheets" by G.Roby on the YSDC forum; http://www.yog-sothoth.com/index.php?/t ... +%2Bsheets. I never used them myself, but wish I had found them when I started to play MoN with my gaming group.

MoN is a long campaign. I read through the entire campaign, but intentionally skipped all the extra "red herring" scenarios. I also listened through YSDC's recordings and the Gaming Grunts to get a feel of the plot. There are more Actual Play recordings out there (including ours, but that's in Swedish, so I don't think it will help you much) that might be well worth a listen.

We have been playing the campaign for about a year (and are about to finish next week or so) and I only did in-depth preparations chapter by chapter. Each chapter should be at least a couple of (long) sessions, so you have time between sessions to read the next chapters more thoroughly.

Each chapter also have a breakdown of the connections to the chapter. Look through those, possibly cross-referencing with the Clue Sheets, and you should get a good idea of everything.

@Trevlix
Jesus! This thing is, like, twice the length of the actual book. I think I might give that a skip. Thanks though trevlix

@Jabdah
This is more along the lines of what I wanted. Something to break it down so my mind doesn't implode. Thanks a bunch, Jabdah.


p.s. Please tell me if I use this too often. I JUST LOVE IT SO DAMN MUCH!

The Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion should definitely be read in small pieces. Download a copy and read the "Keeper's Utilities" chapter, or at least the article about Keeping the campaign, then come back to it later once you've had a chance to think about things.

What Winston said.
Reading through the whole thing is just for those of us who are well versed in the Masks campaign. For someone new to it. just use the pieces you need. It's like the skim/read rules for tomes. Too much all at once will, you know...

Glad to be of assistance!

And yes, I agree wholeheartedly that the Companion is great. Use it as inspiration and guidance when your players go to places or do things not mentioned in MoN. For instance some clues in the campaign lead to Hong Kong, but there are no details about that location. You'll find a whole chapter about Hong Kong in the Compaion, that can help you if the investigators decide to go there.

One more thing, I highly recommend, and I think everyone agrees, to play one or two short scenarios before you kick off with MoN, introducing Jackson Elias as a NPC. Why not have the players create two sets of characters, and have them play the other set in the second introduction scenario? Then each player will have two characters that already know Elias. There's a good reason for this, since there are a lot of potential TPK moments in the campaign. Don't be surprised if you end up with all investigators dead or totally insane in mid-campaign.

Good Luck and most of all, Have Fun!

Also remember that even though Masks is epic, you should break it into parts. These are essentially a number of separate adventures strung together. Focus on each separately and it won't be so overwhelming.

Sent from my Rezound on TRON using Tapatalk 4

Abandon all hope...

or expectation of tracking everything from the start. All the NPCs are given a general of what they're doing throughout 1925, so stay the course unless the investigators affect their plans or need to be contacted by another NPC due to the investigators.

I hear that Masks was just about the best adventure ever written....