CoC Game Rules

[Squashua]

This is the big thread in which I describe what we're going to do and how we're going to do it.

If you have any game rules related questions, this is the place to ask.

We're going to play a game of Call of Cthulhu RPG. This is going to be a beginner's intro to role-playing games, pretty much because Obbi has admitted to being a social retard of some sort.

WHAT IS A ROLE-PLAYING GAME (RPG)

It's a game where you play a role.

Hah!

Man, I wish Uncle Figgy's Website was back up. That site had the best explanations ever. Highly recommend "role-playing for non-role-players".In a nutshell, properly playing a traditional pen-n-paper RPG is akin to being an improvisational theatre troop actor who is assigned a particular character to portray, with other similarly-assigned actors. The director of the play then describes the setting the actors are in, and they have to entertain the audience appropriately. Available actions are governed by pre-determined rules, usually handled through rolling dice or drawing cards, and that's about it.

WHAT IS "THE CALL OF CTHULHU"

The Call of Cthulhu is a story written in the 1920's by author H.P. Lovecraft. I've posted it here if you'd like to read it. The story starts innocently enough, with the execution of an inheritance, then as more and more knowledge is uncovered, derives into arcane and unknowable secrets, generating madness at their sheer scope.

And that's what the game is about.

WHAT IS CALL OF CTHULHU RPG

Let's compare and contrast. Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a traditional RPG. In D&D, you generally take the role of a medieval-style character who lives in a magical realm. Your character roams the countryside performing quests, rescuing princesses, and raiding dungeons. It's generally quite straightforward. In Call of Cthulhu (CoC, lulz), there is less emphasis on combat and much more emphasis on investigation, problem-solving, and expunging unknowable horrors without falling prey to them.

In D&D, after an adventure, you gain experience, "level up" to learn new spells and skills and techniques.

In CoC, you are lucky to survive an adventure without having to be committed to a sanitarium to recover from your experiences. And if you learn a spell, it might not necessarily be helpful.

[Squashua]

AN OBSERVATION ABOUT RPGS

Role-Playing Games have two parts, the setting and the mechanics.

RPG mechanics define how things are done within a game (usually explaining conflict resolution). RPG setting is the flavor of a game (medieval, horror, super-hero, etc.), the genre.

Some game companies, like Steve Jackson Games (who produce GURPS) and HERO Games (who produce Champions using the HERO System), have successfully extrapolated their mechanics from their settings, so much so for SJG that all they produce now are books of their core mechanics, and Settings/Campaign books that allow you to customize those mechanics for a particular setting.

This is what I mean when I refer to Setting (Genre) and Mechanics (Conflict Resolution). The mechanics for D&D are very well tied to playing in the D&D setting. They would not apply as easily to, say, a game set in the (picking out of the air) Transformers game, without some major overhauls.

THE CoC SETTING

As stated earlier, games of D&D traditionally take place in a pseudo magical medieval derivative. In Call of Cthulhu, the setting is a close-to-real-world 1920's. I say "close-to" as there are things not-to-be-named that exist within this universe. Your character does not know of these universal secrets as the game opens, and the more he learns of them, the less of himself is left to combat them.

Other well-known settings of the CoC Horror Genre include Gaslight (1890's England), and Modern (Now, sometimes optionally referred to as Delta Green).

For now, we're going to play Classic, or 1920's, which is where most of H.P. Lovecraft's stories took place.

CHARACTER CREATION PREFACE

Your character is defined differently based on the mechanics of the RPG you are playing. In most games, characters are created by rolling dice and assigning point values to your character attributes.

These different values define your character, making him unique; specialized in some areas, while reliant on others for different areaas.

In CoC your character is created by rolling dice and assigning points to appropriate attributes, like STRength, DEXterity, INTelligence, CONstitution, as well as others not listed here. These attributes exist in different forms for different role-playing games.

"Call of Cthulhu" is a game published by Chaosium Games, and uses a system called Basic Role-Playing (BRP). It is similar to the game system used by D&D, except that it is better derived for use in the Call of Cthulhu setting.

When sitting down to play CoC, we'd normally follow this process:

1 - roll up your character attributes (using 2-4 six-sided dice per attribute)

2 - derive all point totals from those attributes (your Intelligence value determines your Idea rating and standard skill points, your Strength + Constitution determine your Hit Points, etc.)

3 - choose a profession ; this determines which skills you will be more talented with, based on your character's overall past experience using them. For example, a Taxi Driver might have a high Drive Automobile skill, while a Policeman would have a high Law skill.

4 - allocate the derived skill points across dozens of skills.

5 - fill in additional background.

6 - purchase equipment.

Since this is a beginner game and our resources are somewhat limited, we're going to do things a little differently and you'll have to trust me to be fair and just.

[Squashua]

Game Mechanics

At best, we'll be using Basic Role-Playing (BRP). If you've ever played traditional Call of Cthulhu, this is the system you likely used.

I will handle all mechanics on my end. There are no books needed, but I will provide you with links to documents, should you want them. You will not need to do anything but answer basic questions and I will let you know whether or not you succeeded in your actions.

Other game systems adapted for use with Call of Cthulhu include D20 System and GUMSHOE. I have heard good things GUMSHOE, but I already own way too many gaming books @ home.

[Squashua]

Character Creation

Go to the Character Background Thread and post a Character Background using the template provided there.

I will be creating a Character Attributes Thread tomorrow where we will define your character's abilities with numbers.

[Squashua]

The Character Attributes Thread has a step pending completion.

This will be the first step in creating your characters.

[Squashua]

Combat

Combat Reference Sheet for BRP rt. click and save. PDF.

[Squashua]

Strength (STR) measures the raw physical power your investigator can bring to bear. It influences the amount of damage he can deliver with a punch or kick, as well as his grip, or ability to lift heavy items.

Constitution (CON) is a measure of the hardiness of your investigator. It influences the amount of damage you can take before going unconscious or dying as well as how resistant you are to diseases and poison.

Dexterity (DEX) is a measure of your investigator's agility and speed.

Size (SIZ) is a measure of your investigator's physical mass. It influences how much damage you can take, as well as how much you can deliver. Also, as a measure of your Investigator's weight, it influences the ability of horrible monsters to pick him up and toss him around the room.

Intelligence (INT) is a rough guide to your investigator's cunning and ability to make leaps of
logic and intuition.

Power (POW) is a combination of personal magnetism, spirit, and mental stability. It influences your character's ability to cast magical spells, as well as his resistance to the sanity-blasting horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Appearance (APP) measures the charm and physical appeal of your character.

Education (EDU) is a measure of the knowledge which your investigator has accumulated through formal education, or the venerated "School of Hard Knocks."

Idea is simply your INT score multiplied by 5. This score is used as a percentile roll to give your
investigator information, or to make leaps of deduction in certain situations.

Knowledge is your EDU score multiplied by 5. This score is used as a percentile roll to show how
your investigator's education and training gives insight certain situations.

Luck is your POW score multiplied by 5. This score is used as a percentile roll to give your character gleans of insight in certain situations. The Luck roll is often used to give your character a last chance in a crisis situation, or to cause bad things to happen to the only investigator in the group to fail the roll.

Damage Bonus is how much extra damage your investigator does with a successful close-combat attack. Add your STR and SIZ and consult the Damage Bonus Table to find your damage bonus.

Magic Points are equal to your POW. MPs fluctuate up and down as you cast spells or activate
arcane alien devices. If your investigator's MPs ever fall below 0, he goes unconscious until he can recover them.

Hit Points are figured by adding SIZ and CON together, then dividing the total by two and rounding up. As your investigator takes damage from combat or other events, your HPs will drop. If you drop to only 2 HPs, your investigator goes unconscious. If he hits -2 or lower, he is dead.

Sanity (SAN) begins at a level equal to your POW score multiplied by 5. Circle the value that
corresponds to this number on the character sheet. This score is used as a percentile roll that presents your investigator's ability to remain stoic in the face of horrors. As you face the horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos your SAN score fluctuates. It can raise above it's starting level, but can never be higher than 99 minus the value of your Cthulhu Mythos skill.

[Squashua]

Research

The following are known, somewhat optional, but generally accepted guidelines from the CoC manual.

Researching comes with the territory in Call of Cthulhu. Before you go anywhere, an intelligent investigator checks out the history of the place he's going to, the town in general, any families or names, or even on the topics he's going to investigate. Certainly this comes with the territory for some jobs (such as a reporter), but is not necessary apparent when dealing with novice investigators or even situations where it's likely not to be a concern.

Another instance comes when greeted with an ancient tome (or volume / book) of lore, which could conceivably take weeks of study, especially if it is in a language different from the reader's, or written in an older tongue, with nuances unfamiliar to such an investigator.

Therefore, there is usually a study time associated with any tome when presented to the Keeper before the reader can acquire any relevant clues, consider himself read of the volume, or even study (or recognize) such inconceivable things as spells. The study time is generated arbitrarily based on the length of the book, the writing style of the book (the more incomprehensible, the longer it takes), the overall quality of the book, and the secrets inherent in the book.

A reader can decrease a book's reading / study time by a percentage based on certain factors as follows:

+1% for every point of INT above 14

+1% for every point of EDU above 14

+1% for every 5 points of Skill in Read Language for the language of the book.

+1% for every 10 points of Skill in all relevant Skills associated with the book topic, round down.

+X% based on the Library Rating. Each library gets a rating of 1-20. The Boston Library is an 18. Dubois Public Library of Exeter is a 2.

These % values are added together, and the time to study is reduced by this percentage. Next post will have an example.

[Squashua]

Daniel Nicholas Thompson, the Naval Officer (Mr. Embarkation)
INT (16) : 2%
EDU (16) : 2%

English (80) : 16%
Russian (20) : 4%

Reading materials in English is reduced by 20% time.
Reading materials in Russian is reduced by 8% time.

Roger Brooks Hildebrand, the Taxi Driver (Obbi)
INT (14) : 0%
EDU (14) : 0%

English (60) : 12%

Reading materials in English is reduced by 12% time.

David Rinold Black, the Farmboy (durax)
INT (17) : 3%
EDU (12) : 0%

English (60) : 12%

Reading materials in English is reduced by 15% time.

Sir Henry Christian Slater, the Actor! (B:L)
INT (17) : 3%
EDU (15) : 1%

English (75) : 15%
Spanish (30) : 6%
French (30) : 6%
Latin (20) : 4%

Reading materials in English is reduced by 19% time.
Reading materials in Spanish is reduced by 10% time.
Reading materials in French is reduced by 10% time.
Reading materials in Latin is reduced by 8% time.

Charles Russel O'tway, the English Professor (Oatway)
INT (18) : 4%
EDU (21) : 7%

English (95) : 19%
French (30) : 6%

Reading materials in English is reduced by 30% time.
Reading materials in French is reduced by 17% time.

Benjamin Miller the Journalist (Wildcat)
INT (16) : 2%
EDU (16) : 2%

English (85) : 17%

Reading materials in English is reduced by 19% time.

Next I'll show a few in-game examples using appropriate skills.

[Squashua]

So, Slater / B:L already has a good 19% time reduction against documents written in English.

Let's pretend he's reading a book that normally takes 10 hours to read.

It should take Slater 8 hours, 6 minutes to read, but if the topic is something he knew, then we reduce by a skill.

The book Slater is currently reading is a likely embellished, poorly written, autobiographical novel.

Slater has:
Actor: 80
This skill gives him an advantage reading poorly written material, such as scripts, plays, and otherwise stilted, half-written dialogue needed to change on the fly.

Literature: 30
This skill is helpful when comprehending semi-fantastic texts and the work of artists.

Both are helpful in this case. The skill is divided by 10, rounded down, and the percentages are added in.

Artist (80) gives a +8% bonus.
Literature (30) gives a +3% bonus.
Total: +11%, or 30% altogether.

Having the study library for possible reference is also feasible, providing a 1%.

Time to read for B:L is reduced by 31%.

[Squashua]

Sanity & Insanity:

Central to the game, sanity will and its loss will be mostly expanded upon during the game proper.

When investigators encounter a sanity-threatening situation, the keeper may ask for a Sanity roll. The players roll a D100 for each of their characters. A success is a roll equal to or less than the investigator’s current sanity points. A success may result in little to no sanity loss (relative to the situation), while a failure will result in a more serious loss to sanity. For example, finding a mangled human corpse will usually require a Sanity check, failing which will mean losing 1D4+1 current Sanity points. In contrast, only 1 point is lost if the check succeeds.

Within a reasonable interval (the keeper decides) no sanity is lost above the maximum possible for a specific type of horrific event or being. For example, should an investigator lose a total of 5 Sanity points for finding mangled corpses, this event will not affect him further for a duration that may range from days to weeks. Once that period passes though, the horror of them will rise up freshly in any character.

Sanity points can be increased by keeper award, increasing a skill to 90%, defeating unnatural entities, or by psychotherapy. Psychiatric medications may also prove useful, and will may also help avoid the symptoms of insanity (at the cost of possible side-effects).

Should an investigator lose enough Sanity points, insanity may ensue. General types of insanity are temporary insanity, indefinite insanity, and permanent insanity.

Temporary Insanity
If an investigator loses 5 or more Sanity point at the consequence of one Sanity roll, he or she has suffered enough emotional trauma that the keeper must test the character’s Sanity. The keeper asks for an Idea roll. If the Idea roll fails, then the investigator has repressed the memory, a trick that the mind uses to protect itself. Perversely, if the Idea roll succeeds, then the investigator recognizes the full significance of what has been seen or experienced, and goes temporarily insane. The effects of temporary insanity begin immediately.

When the temporary insanity is over, a mild phobia might remain as a reminder of the experience, but the most likely souvenir will be some degree of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Indefinite Insanity
If an investigator loses a fifth (round up fractions) or more of current Sanity points in one game hour, he or she goes indefinitely insane. Indefinite insanity may remove a character from play for some time. The average duration for indefinite insanity is 1D6 game months.

The symptoms of some indefinite insanities are continuous (amnesia, depression, and obsession, for example). Other indefinite insanities are transient and only manifest themselves at particular moments (multiple personality or dissociative identity disorder, conversion disorder, intermittent explosive personality, etc.). Both sorts of symptoms offer good opportunities for roleplaying.

For such situations and stresses that investigators come to know, some sort of anxiety disorder can often be the most appropriate.
For instance, after a life-threatening event, a person persistently re-experiences the trauma in some way, perhaps through images, dreams, flashbacks, or mental associations. There are marked symptoms of increasing anxiety. Dissociative symptoms may also follow.

Permanent Insanity
Investigators who reach zero Sanity points go permanently insane. “Permanently” may mean a game year or a lifetime. In real life, an asylum patient stays in an institution an average of four years and some months. In the game, the duration of permanent insanity is entirely at the keeper’s discretion.
No difference between indefinite insanity and permanent insanity exists, except as prognosis made by an attending psychiatrist and confirmed by a judge. In the real world, all insanity is indefinite insanity, since no one in real life can hope to predict the future as accurately as a Call of Cthulhu keeper.
Many disorders, especially congenital conditions, offer little hope of recovery. Lovecraft concludes more than one story with the intimation that a lifetime of madness for the narrator will follow. Now and then a quiet release might be made from a local asylum. Some thin, unnaturally pallid person, almost unrecognizable after soul-wracking terrors, can walk shyly into downtown Arkham or elsewhere, cast keen eyes about, and attempt to plumb the surrounding darkness, but no player should count on such privilege as a right.

Playing Insanity

The threat of insanity in the Call of Cthulhu rules characterizes the Mythos in a way which allows no compromise. Exposed to it, few sane humans freely choose the Mythos, for the Mythos is intrinsically loathsome and foul. The connection of sanity points and Cthulhu Mythos points emphasizes the power of the Mythos, which corrupts and ruins by proximity and association. The sanity rules prove to us our own fragility. All that which we thought so strong becomes delusory and false, while madness sometimes becomes a necessary condition for truth.

If an investigator has even one point of Sanity remaining, the player has firm control. The aesthetics of how the player chooses to present a nearly-mad investigator represents the essence of roleplaying. As the investigator weakens, evidence of the weakening should become apparent. Thus near-insanity calls for stronger roleplaying, not for less player control.
Such an investigator should speak about his mental condition, so that the others understand the situation, and can act with due regard and sympathy. It is not good roleplaying to murmur “My guy’s Sanity points are low.” Such a statement is dull and makes nothing happen. But a player who can vividly describe his investigator’s anxiety or terror, and relate how that affects the game, deserves applause.
If an investigator has ten or fewer Sanity points, he or she certainly knows the situation is serious. In such straits in real life, most people would pull back from the action and perhaps put themselves in sanitariums. So should investigators.

Investigator insanity characterizes the power of the Mythos by causing the investigator to adopt behavior which is limited in what it can achieve, yet expressive and interesting to roleplay. Even an indefinitely-insane investigator does not always have to be parked in a sanitarium, if a good alternative can be negotiated with the keeper. The choice can be serious, or conceivably eccentric and twisted, or even ridiculous, but it should not upset the tenor of the game.
As a minor example, suppose that an investigator shows insanity by obsessively insisting on wearing two hats day and night. He argues that were he not to do so, his head would be unprotected if he tipped his hat to a lady while the sky was falling. Since the hats can be seen, keeper characters freely notice and comment or criticize the foible. No restaurant will seat them, since their behavior is so uncouth. That two-hatted madman never left the game – the game widened to accommodate him.
A player may try to act out too many elements of his investigator’s insanity. If that gets in the way of the game, the keeper must quash the interruption. Not to do so would be unfair to the other players.