Azathoth took Toughness?

[JoeGKushner]

I'm sorry. I enjoy d20 Wheel of Time, and d20 Star Wars. But Azathoth's stat block is another prime example to me of why d20 Call of Cthulhu is just wrong, wrong, wrong! The horrors of Lovecraft's mythos are horrors precicely because they are alien and unfathomable, and beyond humanity's ability to comprehend. Reducing a god of the mythos (or even the Great Old Ones in the d20 Annual earlier this year) to a stat block, as if you had a chance of understanding what a Lovecraftian Outer God is capable of, goes totally against the genre.

This is one WotC d20 product I'll be skipping. I'll keep playing my Chaosium CoC and Pagan Publishing's Delta Green.

SCOOP: BTW, someone posted a comment on the Delta Green mailing list this morning that Erik Mona had said that d20 Delta Green was go. Much as I love Delta Green, I think I'll have to skip that one, too.

Uhh... stupid question here, but don't the Chaosium books also have stats for the Mythos? In addition, don't you think that perhaps one of the main appealing factors of this book is for people who just want the stats? I know that's one of the reasons I'm buying it. (Elric and Cthulhu back in D&D. Oh yeah!)

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I have two editions of Call of Cthulhu, and both have detailed stat blocks for Cthulhu and Co. I've seen this complaint before, and I still don't inderstand why it's alright for there to be stat blocks using Chaosium's house system, but not alright for d20 stats to be detailed. Are people just not reading Chaosium's CoC, but defending it anyway?

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Aren't there GURPS stats for these creatures also? I can't locate my copy of GURPS Cthulhupunk.

 

[PenguinKing]

Cthulhupunk? Let me guess... modern-day, "investigators" as heavily-armed FBI agents?

- Sir Bob.

P.S. Nih!

 

[ColonelHardisson]

No, not quite. Think "Cyberpunk meets Cthulhu."

 

[Zarrock God of Evil]

The reason why the stats are included is quite simple: Lots of DnD players will pick up the book to compare the CoC horrors to the traditional DnD monsters (and maybe even using some of them - when the Epic Level Handbook comes out you may even have a chance of fighting them - I'm not saying you should, but it's all about options). Let's face it - the stats are fun! It doesn't mean you have to change the way Gods and Great Old Ones are perceived in the CoC universe (and with those stats CoC characters will be deader than dead facing these creatures).

-Zarrock

 

[Caliban]

Hi Caliban!


Regarding his BAB the noted figure of +102 looks wrong though.

If we assume typical Outsider Continuance it should be +110 (72 + 20 + 1 + 17)

So I don't know how they arrived at +102; I must be missing something!?

I think you forgot the -8 size penalty.

That would reduce the +110 to +102.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Exactly, Zarrock. Well put.

 

[Akunin]

*winces*
Son, your words wound me.

Sorry, dad. I blame August Derleth.

 

[ascendance]

Well, as soon as the ELH comes out, we can start the new munchkin challenge! Make a 50th level character to take on Azathoth the Faceless, one on one! Its the SAN-blasting power that'll really get D&D types, though. Currently, there are no real countermeasures to SAN loss.