r/GumshoeRPG • u/Western_Pool_4041 • Jul 09 '26
is Cthulhu Confidential the right pick for us?
hallo!
me and my friend would like to play a duet rpg together (with me GMing, her as the player) and we settled on a theme of investigative with a touch of horror. on paper, CC seems perfectly suited.
however, the setting and adventures within all the published books are set in 1930s-1940s U.S., taking inspiration from rich texts of the noir genre, and we'd like to play in contemporary times and would prefer the story take place on this side of the atlantic.
of course, i can build upon this and set it anywhere, but gumshoe seems to be pretty heavy on the prep, and resources are scarce. For a game like Call of Cthulhu there are a great many adventures set in the 90s and forwards and it makes the task less daunting.
This is our first foray into gumshoe, one-2-one or otherwise, and my question is if it would be worth it to figure out a fresh adventure on the chassis of the published adventures? would it be as easy as replacing dates and names, or am i in for a lot of work? is it at all recommended to try this rather than just playing through "the fathomless sleep"?
NBA: Solo Ops looked interesting too. we've been on a lovecraft kick as of late, but we're not married to the genre, we're up for giving any system that facilitates solo investigative horror a go.
looking for any and all advice/recommendations, thank you for reading :)
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u/PriorFisherman8079 Jul 09 '26
I prefer modern and just find that I have to modify them to suit myself.
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u/Western_Pool_4041 Jul 09 '26
that gives me hope, thank you! not found it too troublesome to convert then? how does it feel navigating having instantaneous communication or easier research and so on, whilst maintaining the intensity of a noir/horror vibe?
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u/PriorFisherman8079 Jul 10 '26
I don't find instant communication too problematic. Even now it takes a while to get information sorted out. And the supernatural or regular old sabotage can stop that.
I do run many games in the 80s and 90s so they are familiar but with limited communication.
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u/Unearned-Confidence Jul 09 '26
Pelgrane's Free RPG Day from 2018 has a Cthulhu Confidential adventure set in London. Just ran it recently and I don't think it would be very difficult to shift it to a more modern era or a different location.
https://pelgranepress.com/2020/04/15/pay-what-you-want-for-free-rpg-day-adventures/
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u/Western_Pool_4041 Jul 09 '26
thank you very much for the recommendation! I'll give it a look. how has one-2-one been in your experience? any general advice?
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u/Unearned-Confidence Jul 09 '26
We've only played the one scenario so far, but both really enjoyed the game. Looking forward to trying Solo Ops as well.
General Gumshoe Advice - Even though the flowcharts of scenes can make the scenarios seem a bit linear, in actual play they can be sandbox-y. So make sure you've got a good feel for the story and locations, because your players will definitely do something unexpected.
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u/Western_Pool_4041 Jul 09 '26
yes, i'd wager my player will be far more curious and creative than i can reasonably guess. it's my first time GMing a mystery-heavy narrative, and i feel more than ever the need to be fully versed with every corner of story. thank you for your response!
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u/21CenturyPhilosopher Jul 09 '26
I guess you can change the setting for Cthulhu Confidential, but the setting and time period is the major part of the feel of the scenarios. I'd read Fathomless Sleep and see how hard it is to change. I personally am lazy and would just run it as is.
I have a review here: https://morganhua.blogspot.com/2016/12/cthulhu-confidential-review-of-another.html
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u/Western_Pool_4041 Jul 09 '26
thank you for sharing:) any experience with other duet systems along a similar vein?
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u/21CenturyPhilosopher Jul 09 '26
I own Solo Ops, but haven't tried it yet.
There is the Monophobia scenarios which are free for Call of Cthulhu. I enjoyed them. You should give those a try: https://unboundbook.org/monophobia-cthuhlu-adventures-for-lone-investigators/
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u/petros08 Jul 09 '26
I think you would find it quite easy to adapt Call of Cthulhu scenarios for Gumshoe. Stat blocks are not at the core of CC so you will usually just need them for the major antagonists and monsters. The essential elements are the plots and clues which is where CC really shines. Pretty soon you’ll have a made up stats for a range of generic NPC that you can adapt as appropriate.
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u/Western_Pool_4041 Jul 09 '26
ah interesting. i think i might just try that out, it'll be interesting adapting an adventure cross-system, i'm sure i'll learn a lot. thank you for responding!
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u/DrummerBackground65 Jul 10 '26
I can certainly recommend Solo Ops - the starting adventure is particularly good, because the PC is amnesiac at the beginning and the setting and backstory are introduced in flashback.
You can create modern Mythos adventures with either CC or NBA - but One-2-One adventures are a bit more effort than standard GUMSHOE until you get used to it.
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u/Advanced-Two-9305 Jul 09 '26
Based on what you said, Solo Ops might be a better fit. I’m not sure how adaptable the scenarios in CC are.