I still don't really know what I want to use cohost for. I appreciate long form posts and do want to get back to regularly blogging. I may cross post between here and the LunarShadow Designs blog but I also want to see if I can use this for just some WIP idea dumps.
So here's project number 1 that's languishing in the unfinished folder: Red Roots of the Rose.
This started before the pandemic as a short Cthulhu Hack adventure for my then in person group following the completion of a year long D&D campaign. It was inspired by a review of the movie Little Joe. I've not seen it but the concept, of a plant that alters the mood of people that inhale its pollen. Around that time I was also listening to the first season of the BBC Radio 4 Lovecraft Investigations podcast and merging the two seemed fairly obvious
So Red Roots of the Rose takes the idea of plants that manipulate the emotions of people and adds in Lovecraftian origins and a long-established cult that has spread throughout the aristocracy. Set not long after World War I and the loss of many members of the next generation, the plot follows a group of investigators as they chase a murderous heiress from the US to the UK.
So why is it a work in progress? Well despite a couple of playtests I just can't get it to work. It's... ok, but nothing more than that. The flow feels forced and the ending a little underwhelming. With my focus shifting elsewhere over the last few years I've not returned to it, despite having this rather beautiful cover piece sat in a folder, waiting to be used. I'm hoping that the coming 2nd Edition of the Cthulhu Hack will provide some focus for the adventure as I'd really love to get it finished.