Hey folks. Going to be running a Call of Cthulhu game with HEAVY inspiration from SAW and Silent Hill. I know none of my players reads this forum, so thought this would be a safe place to post for feedback. Working on the script for the first tape and here is what I came up with.

Cult leader captures the investigators, locking them in a room where they are gassed. They wake up in a round, dimly lit room with a concrete floor and walls and a single door. All but one is strapped to a dentists chair arranged in a circle around the lone investigator on the floor. This person has a mini tape recorder in one hand and a gun in the other. A string is tied around their neck with a key on it. The key fits the locks holding the leather restraints holding the party to their chairs.

If the investigator listens to the tape they hear this message. "Hello <character name>. Despite all your good fortune, you often say your life was ruined the day that your partner died. You dwell on a single event while the world passes you by. I give you the chance for vengeance...or redemption. You will find several other people in the room with you strapped to chairs. One of them killed your partner. Only you and they know which. Now you must make a choice. The door out of this room is opened in one of two ways. The first option is to leave the killer to die. As soon as all but one chair is empty, the door will open. The other choice requires sacrifice. Their is a hole in the door. Your finger should fit in it just fine. At the back of this hole is a button. Push it and the door opens. Be careful, though, as seeing is not always believing. Vengeance or redemption. Make your choice."

The door will open in one of two ways as detailed in the message: a member of the party must press a button inside a round hole in the door (the lock mechanism must cut through whatever is used to disengage, if it does not cut through, a gun at the peephole goes off and the door remains locked) or someone must remain shackled (a pressure plate in each chair will only deactivate the lock when a single one is engaged). If option one is taken but a hard object is used, the door will remain locked until the second condition is met. Once unlocked through either method, the locking mechanism clicks and will not re-lock once the door is opened. If they attempt to force the door open before being unlocked, the gun will go off.

ANY feedback welcome. Also, any ides for not-necessarily-fatal traps. I want this to be more about self-sacrifice than death. A mad man who wants to purge the world of humanity but needs more followers to do it.

how about a room with an induction field (so that, to get through it without being electrocuted, one has to discard any conductive (metal) item?

...or with the Cthulhu angle, how about a cultist who will trade you key information for a key memory? (i.e. character loses a skill)

...maybe a trap involving that doesn't-stick-to-skin superglue? This would make anyone caught in it discard the outermost items of clothing/armor, boots, hats, whatever gets touched by the trap.

Or heck, just regular old superglue, if you're doing the saw thing. make 'em leave their noses behind

Thanks, uncre8d1. Anybody else? Criticism more than welcome! I want this to be a good game.