For a long time I have wanted to play or lead an adventure in the style and atmosphere of the Supernatural series. I imagined it as a scenario in which players take on the role of American Hunters, hunting for all kinds of ugly things. Unfortunately, the official Supernatural RPG system is … as it is. So the opportunity for this came only after the translation and publication of the Pulp Cthulhu textbook (in my country that is). The mechanics of which, after very delicate modifications, are suitable for this concept. That is why I decided to describe my efforts and this description will be divided into two parts. In the first of them (below) I describe the preparation and changes to Pulp Cthulhu – in the second the adventure itself called “The Eagles Peak”.

Character Creation

The basic thing to modify is, of course, character creation. There are several different factors involved. For example, I chose the ’90s in the United States to conduct the session because of the quite friendly environment and some facilities resulting from the period. And some compatibility with the series. Another example is that in the world of Supernatural there are many entities, monsters and creatures, and swapping them under the “Myths of Cthuhu” destroys the concept.

Basically, the heroes are newbie Hunters. Before that, they worked like any other human being and led a normal life. But that was until they encountered something that they couldn’t explain. This meeting made them decide to start hunting – although their motivations for this may of course be different.

CHOOSING AN ARCHETYPE AND GENERATING ATRIBUTES

I left these elements completely according to the manual. There is no need to make any changes here. And I would even say that archetypes perfectly complement potential new Hunters.

CHOOSING THE PULP TALENTS

Here, I would recommend a slight modification, but I leave it to the Keeper of Secrets to decide. My heroes could only choose one Pulp Talent as they are just starting out on the dangerous path of the Hunter. Plus, it couldn’t be the “Psychic Power” talent. However, this choice is my concept and everyone can have a different one.

More importantly, certain Pulp Talens must be removed from the list or modified:

• Arcane Knowledge only applies to skills listed below – added to the list
• The Cthulhu Myths talent is changed to the Enochian Myths Talent (reasons below)

CHOOSING A PROFESSION

As I mentioned, the heroes started their adventure as normal people. For that reason, any of the proffesions listed in the manuals can be chosen by the player and it does not require any modifications.

SKILLS

The list of modifications is undoubtedly the longest of changes due to the uniqueness of the Supernatural universe. At the same time, I note that additional optional skills may appear on the list. For example, creating silver bullets would require the Craft: Gunsmith skill. Building your own EMF, or creating a password cracker program, would be Craft: Electronics and so on.

• Remove Cthulhu Mythos from character sheet
• Remove Occultism from character sheet
• Remove Computers from character sheet

Players can spend an additional 40 points on the following skills when creating a character (this does not apply to ‘normally purchased’ technology).

• Add the Knowledge: Monsters skill 378b0a
  This skill defines the knowledge of monsters, how they behave, how to fight them and where to find them. 0 points initially
  
• Add the Knowledge: Paganism skill
  This skill defines knowledge of extinct religions, ancient deities, and ancient religious rituals. 0 points initially
  
• Add the Knowledge: Religion skill
  This skill determines the knowledge about religions typically practiced in the session era (’90s, more on that later). So Christianity, Protestantism, Islam etc. etc. 0 points initially
  
• Add the Knowledge: Occult skill
  This skill determines the knowledge of magic in general, how it works, how to counteract it, how to recognize it. 0 points initially
  
• Add the Reputation skill
  Reputation is not a skill as such. Initially, you receive 5 points and its distribution is decided solely by the Secret Keeper. And what is it useful for? Well, for example, if the heroes walk into a bar for other Hunters, someone can buy them a beer or give them interesting information. A higher reputation means that players start answering phone calls asking them to take care of some cases. When the reputation is very high, players begin to be recognized by supernatural beings such as demons.
  
• Add the Enochian Myths skill
  Points in this skill replace the Cthulhu Mythos, and raising them decreases Sanity. They can only be awarded by the Game Master in certain circumstances. The Enochian Myths are the higher tier supernatural mysteries of this world, that the heroes may learn over time. If players accidentally learn about the existence of angels, satan and god, or who rules Hell, they can score a point for this skill. Initially, players start out with knowledge of religion just like any other person. They have never seen a demon or an angel and have no evidence of their existence. They do not know that there is Purgatory and what it is for. Any contact with a higher secret should require a Sanity roll and increasement of this skill.
  
• Add the Technology skill
  In the 90s the technology was a bit more developed. In this case, I decided that Computers is unfortunately a bit of a limiting skill. All players start with Technology on 1 point. This means that they can use a mobile phone, make calls and write text messages. Players will also handle the computer at the most basic level. Browser, paint, sapper and others.
  At the same time, to find a file hidden in the computer, turn on GPS on your or someone else’s mobile phone, hack into an e-mail, find archival websites, write an algorithm to track monster migrations … well, they need to know a little more.
  Important note here – Technology is one thing and information retrieval is another. Anyone can run a browser, but not everyone will find on the Internet a register from a monastery in Switzerland, where there is, for example, a secret book. Information retrieval tests on the web should always be performed based on the Use of Libraries – because it is de facto the same activity.
  
  EXAMPLE 1 – simple variant:
  A player by the grateful name Hopper wants to find information on the Internet about secret CIA research carried out in Hawkings:
  – Hopper has 20 points in the Technology skill (minimum 1), so he can use the browser without any problems
  – Hopper must roll Use Libraries to determine if he can find anything on the Internet on this topic.
  
  EXAMPLE 2 – difficult variant:
  Hopper broke into a secret research facility in Hawkings and found a room with a computer containing the results of the research he is looking for:
  – Hopper has 20 points in the Technology skill (minimum 1), so he can easily handle the computer
  – The files that Hopper is looking for are encrypted on the government security level, so Hopper must make an extremely difficult Technology roll to hack the files
  – If the previous action is successful, Hopper will see that there are hundreds of files on the computer with information about various research projects, and must make a Library Use roll to determine if he finds the information he is looking for.

CHARACTERS BACKSTORY

Hunters – even beginners – must have a story. In principle, each of them has already met one creature or experienced an event that opened his / hers eyes to what is really lurking in the dark. The story should not be long, but it should include information about what happened. These can be valuable tips for the keeper who may wish to weave the character’s story into current events.

ENCOUNTERS WITH STRANGE BEINGS

This section on the character sheet can be safely renamed the Hunter’s Journal. And Every Supernatural fan should know what the Hunter’s Journal is. It’s a collection of information about all the evil creatures that roam the earth, and it should have an entry for every creature the Hunters have dealt with. As long as they remembered to write about it.

What does this mean mechanically? Well, if there is a creature in the diary, the Hunter will know how to kill it. This does not mean, however, that knowledge of a creature precludes all Knowledge: Monsters rolls if the Hunter comes into contact with it again.

EXAMPLE:

• The hunter has fought a ghost before and knows that in order to kill a ghost one should sprinkle its mortal remains with salt and burn it
• But the Hunter found that the remains of this ghost had already been burned.
• The hunter can cast on the Knowledge: Monsters to find out how to get rid of the ghost, maybe he remembered something from the stories he has heard form other hunters

CONTACTS

Each player initially has at least one contact on their phone or in their Hunter’s Journal. It is a person who is aware of monsters and is able to help the Hunter if he/she can. To start with, it should be one person with quite limited abilities. The more Reputation players have, the greater the chance that the Secret Keeper will reward them with new contacts with broader possibilities.

EXAMPLES:
Jared Gray
He lives in Washington, is 55 years old, and owns a couple of restaurants… where he launches dirty money. Jared has a positive attitude towards the Hunter, and if the Hunter is in DC Jared will launch any amount of money – for example, casino winnings…
Diana Brenner
She is 36 years old and lives in St. Louis. Diana is a quiet and very gentle vet rescued from a werewolf. So if the Hunter gets hurt in the vicinity of St. Louis will Diana fix fim for free and with no questions asked.

And that’s basically the essence of the Pulp mods. These are the modifications that should basically work. This doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t recommend creating additional ones. For example, Mad Pulp Talents are could have some Supernatural modifications added. For example talent that is making player a Prophet – because they always live to a good old age, hehehe.

When creating characters for Supernatural, it’s also worth asking the players about how their Hunters are going to get money. Perhaps they are the heirs of a fortune, or maybe they are just great at playing poker. In addition, at the beginning, it is also worth giving each player one false ID, with a specific alias. The fake “FBI” is a Supernatural theme, and the Hunters can do little without it. It should be mentioned, however, that the counterfeit ID should be of really good quality to have an impact on the result of the Persuasion roll. As you know, you won’t find a good forger in the phone book.

In the follow-up to this article, there will be another one with a ready-made adventure tailored to Pulp Cthulhu in the world of Supernatural.