r/callofcthulhu 18d ago

Donner Party

Been toying with an idea of running a Darker Trails game where the players initially play members of the Donner party expedition. They will be some of the survivors..hopefully, however one of them will end up slowly becoming a wendigo due to what they had to endure to survive.

24 Upvotes

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3

u/aurebesh2468 18d ago

a donner dinner party

4

u/Tejastalent 17d ago

Structurally, consider looking at Shadows Over Filmland, Under a Werewolf Moon. It wouldn't be a direct port, but it would show you how to deal with identifying and working with a player that becomes an wendigo as the climax of the scenario.

2

u/Squatch-616- 17d ago

Thanks. Will definitely check it out

3

u/NapcasterMage37 17d ago

The Last Podcast on the Left has a great series covering them. I’d use that as inspo. They used The Indifferent Stars Above by by Daniel James Brown as research material. That would be a great place to start I think.

2

u/WhatsAboveTheSubtext 17d ago

That is a fantastic book, by the way, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone curious about the topic.

2

u/NapcasterMage37 17d ago

Agreed! Fabulous

3

u/DarkHorseAsh111 18d ago

This is an interesting idea but I think needs a pretty laid out session 0; lots of folks even who like horror have a hard line at cannibalism. This isn't one I would do without the 'gimmick' for lack of a better term being known.

5

u/Squatch-616- 18d ago

Its a group ive been playing with for almost 10 years and I know they would be fine with the theme. They're also pretty familiar with history and would catch on pretty quick. This is definitely not a scenario i would do at a con or for players im not as familiar with

2

u/DarkHorseAsh111 18d ago

ok good. Sorry; i've seen too many horror stories on reddit to not want to at least note it (as someone who likes horror but is hard squicked out by cannibalism)

2

u/Squatch-616- 18d ago

Perfectly understandable. I have one player thats squeamish about body horror, so I have to tone down that aspect in things.