Azathoth took Toughness?

[hong]

Even if the harm gets through his SR, you or a comrade must hit him immediately after the harm or he regains 200hp the next round

200 HP REGEN

Fast healing, actually.

Pah! One Power Critical hit from a +4 vorpal dagger, and he's toast, just like the rest.

 

[Kvantum]

Yeah. Vorpal dagger. Versus a 40x40 creature. That's also a GOD!

Right.

 

[hong]

Yeah. Vorpal dagger. Versus a 40x40 creature. That's also a GOD!

Right.

Yep.

Actually, no. You can only put the vorpal enchantment on a slashing weapon, and daggers are piercing. My bad.

Make it a vorpal sickle instead. As a bonus, this means even druids can use it.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi guys!

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?

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.

Thanks Barendd and Akunin!

I'll try and make sense of it all!

 

[Epametheus]

A vorpal weapon? How the heck could that work? Azathoth doesn't have a head.

 

[PenguinKing]

I think you people are ignoring something very important in the flavor text: it notes that if Azathoth is doing badly in combat, he'll just use his divine power to instantly destroy all his mortal opponents.

Given this, one presumes the stats are there only for purposes of comparison, should Azathoth have to battle another god.

- Sir Bob.

P.S. Nih!

 

[Kugar]

Sigh

I have CoC d20 and really like it!

The thing about the Cthulhu Mythos critters and gods are they are ultimately powerful in the game context.

In the introduction, the authors talk about the melding of the fantasy genre with the Cthulhuoid horros. They admit that in the fantasy crossover the game was designed so that heroes of legend could ultimately be powerful enough to drive off the Old ones. This is the power level the game was balanced at.

I've skimmed it once and plan on getting a really good read soon, but I already like the book for 2 reasons.
1) The game looks awsome and reads well. I think it will play just as well as the CoC system - if not better
2) It is an awsome DnD Cthulhu sourcebook. I feel really sorry for my players

Kugar

 

[Swack-Iron]

So, Swack-Iron, in other words, you don't like it 'cause its d20.

To be precise, I haven't liked any of the preview material I've seen. I haven't seen the full book. I don't expect to be buying it based on what I've seen so far -- and anyway, I already have all the CoC material I want to own (unless Pagan publishes some more DG).

Of course I *like* d20. I read these boards every day, I'm running a Forgotten Realms game, and I'm playing in 2 other DnD games, and have a couple of d20 Star Wars mini-adventures in mind for a couple of my friends on a rainy day. And I really want to give d20 Wheel of Time a spin at some point.

Your reasoning is flawed, you don't like it because it has stats for the elder gods etc and has been pointed out that all CoC books have had these stats. Maybe you shouldn't comment if you are using such a lame argument (honestly, no offense).

Err, I find it amusing that you use inflamitory language, followed by a placation that you don't mean offense. Be that as it may...

I'm generally an advocate for "right-system/right-game." I'd never apply d20 to, say, Amber. Nor would I apply Hero or Ars Magica to Amber. On the other hand, I'd never force the Storyteller system on a DnD game. Mechanics and presentation, in my ideal gaming universe, need to accurately simulate the setting. Stat blocks for impossibly powerful, sanity-blasting, incomprehensible beings, no matter what the system, quantifies the unquantifiable, and I don't like it. Which, as I stated in another post, means I don't like it when Chaosium does it in their own books.

 

[Wolfspider]

Mechanics and presentation, in my ideal gaming universe, need to accurately simulate the setting. Stat blocks for impossibly powerful, sanity-blasting, incomprehensible beings, no matter what the system, quantifies the unquantifiable, and I don't like it. Which, as I stated in another post, means I don't like it when Chaosium does it in their own books.

This is all and good, but wasn't the Basic Role Playing system that Chaosium uses for CoC used in a completely different game before it was ported over to CoC? By my understanding, it was hardly tailor made for the setting.

How does D20 NOT accurately simulate the setting, besides giving stat blocks to Azathoth and the other big nasties? In other words, what makes BRP (a generic system introduced previously in an unrelaged game) "accurately simulate the setting" of Lovecraft's works better than D20 can?

 

[Swack-Iron]

"Viscerally *precise*" eh? Hmmmm....

I'd much rather see rules presented in a format that is usable and accurate in a game than something vague for the sake of being atmospheric. I reserve atmosphere and uncertainty for my descriptions and the adventures, not for the stat blocks and rules. There I want precision and accuracy.

And if it's precision you want, than it sounds like d20 CoC will be a good book for you. I love the d20 stat block when it's describing stormtoopers, or orcs. I'm even looking forward to seeing it in Deities & Demigods and Faiths & Pantheons, since those are settings where there is a slim chance that one day the characters will actually battle, and perhaps slay, a god.

Personally, I don't like knowing if Cthulhu can beat Nyarthlotep in an arm-wrestling match. I don't plan on having epic level characters duke it out with Azathoth. What's the point? It's not genre.

Standardized formats exist to reduce confusion and facilitate precise communication. These are good things in my book.

Yes, but horror is a rather confusing, subjective medium, isn't it? Gadz, our Delta Green keeper had us scared of an inanimate *rock* in our game last week. Somehow, knowing the Move, Reach, Special Qualities, and INT of that rock somehow would have reduced the effectiveness of the scene.