Azathoth took Toughness?

[firstborne]

OMG! Call of Cthulhu just jumped up from "look through" status to "pre-order NOW" status.

I'll go you one better. The WotC store near my home has copies on the shelf already; I just picked mine up. Perhaps it's time for a run to the mall, eh?

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

There is nothing wrong with having stats for this thing. Having an epic level party survive for two rounds may be an appropriate hurdle in an adventure.

The real problem is actually killing Azathoth would have unpredictable effects on the metaphysics of the multiverse. That may not be a good thing...

 

[kenjib]

I wouldn't complain about Shub-Niggurath or Cthulhu being killable, but I think that Azathoth should be more a primal force than an entity. Having stats for him is fine but I think he should have had another Special Quality something like this:

True Immortality: Azathoth can not be truly killed. If his incarnation on Earth is destroyed he returns to his dwelling beyond the stars. If encountered in his home he can not be killed in any fashion.

I also agree that giving him a treasure rating is really funny.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi Caliban!

I think you forgot the -8 size penalty.

That would reduce the +110 to +102.

Cheers mate! Thought I may have missed something in my haste.

 

[Darkness]

let me get this straight, he's blind ... but he still gets a spot??? guess it pays to be a god.

Yeah, but it's only +2Alertness +1Wis - so he has no ranks in it...

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Cthulhu (et al.) can't be copyrighted (correct?) so I don't think I'll get into trouble if I ever (re)determine the power of some of the heavy hitters!?

Actually, I believe they can be (and still are) copyrighted. Until recently, US Copyright law gave protection for something like 75 years (either 75 years after the death of creator or 75 years after the date of creation). But recently, that was extended to 95 years. Since HPL died in 1937, they're not public domain until 2032--that's 30 years from now. (Maybe a little earlier if it's from date of creation.)

I always heard that the reason TSR had to yank them out of the 1st edition Dieties & Demigods was copyright violation. So whoever holds the copyright probably protects it fairly aggressively.

IANAL, YMMV, etc. Any IP lawyers on the boards to give us real insight?

 

[Akunin]

Most of Lovecraft's works are in the Public Domain. Those written by other authors are most likely NOT in the Public Domain.

http://www.gizmology.net/lovecraft/copyrights.htm for more information.

 

[SonOfLilith]

Is it true that it is out?!?!?!?! I heard someone say it was out. If so, where did you get it?

 

[Swack-Iron]

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?

Actually, I know those stats are in the Chaosium book. Frankly, I don't think they should be there, either. A horror an investigator can face, sure, but a primal force of the universe? Why does that need stats, when by the very definition of the setting humans can't comprehend it?

And there's something viscerally *precise* about a d20 stat block. It's so... exacting. Seeing a critter/god/character/whatever in that ultra-standardized format... to me it just doesn't seem to be a good fit for the Mythos setting.

 

[Swack-Iron]

I'm afraid you'll have to throw out your Chaosium CoC and Delta Green stuff too. If you don't mind, I'd love it if you'd send your books to me. I'll gladly pay shipping. Email me for details.

I'm sorry, friend, but you'll have to pry my Delta Green books from my cold, dessicated hands.