Call of Cthulhu d20 Preservation Society

[DMH]

I just have to say that if your CoC characters are blithely rising in level, well, you don't play it like I play. Over third level and still possessing any shred of sanity is profoundly unlikely in the games I've run. Usually everyone is stark raving mad by the end of the first session and it's roll up new characters for the next session.

This is why I really don't see the point of campaigns like Masks. By the time the players are done, they have used dozens (or more) of investigators and the whole planet is insane or dead.

I like the system a lot more than D20 Modern and, if I were to run a modern or horror game, CoC is the rule set for me. I do want to run a few of the senarios in Blood Brothers I&II, Nocturnum (not the whole thing) and Beyond the Mountains of Madness.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

My name is Charles Wenzler and I play Cthulhu D20. I'm waiting to get my Grim Tales book and enough money to buy the Dreamlands book to work on my Cthulhu variant D20 game.

 

[Turanil]

My name is Charles Wenzler and I play Cthulhu D20. I'm waiting to get my Grim Tales book and enough money to buy the Dreamlands book to work on my Cthulhu variant D20 game.

LOL! You failed your sanity check it seems! Well, I will have to remember to send you the document I am currently writing for this GT/d20 CoC/Dreamland campaign I am preparing. I failed my own sanity check (buying the Dreamland book while I am short on money lately) because of YOU!!

 

[Angel Tarragon]

LMAO! Yeah, yeah.

 

[Turanil]

This is why I really don't see the point of campaigns like Masks. By the time the players are done, they have used dozens (or more) of investigators and the whole planet is insane or dead.

Nobody is obliged to play that way. Not all players are masochists who like to see their characters destroyed in less than three sessions. If I run a CoC d20 campaign, chances are the investigators will have suffered and be humilated, and will end up with a mental illness of some sort; but at the same time they will be alive, 10th level, and with some spells and other stuff.

Lovecraft wrote stories in which the protagonists would most of the time die and become irrevocably mad. But others wrote stories in which the protagonists would succeed. I do particularly like The Trail of Cthulhu by August Derleth, in which the Dr. Shrewsbury is a scientist with knowledge of magic, and has got some powers (prescience and supernatural vision) despite having had some "little problems" (he has lost his eyes, and now has empty eyesockets).

 

[MrFilthyIke]

What... that Runequest feel?

Yes, actually. I first played CoC under that system, and it ALWAYS will be the original CoC system.

Nothing wrong with d20 version, just prefer to alter it till its not d20 anymore.

 

[Desdichado]

Nothing wrong with d20 version, just prefer to alter it till its not d20 anymore.

There's a few takes on it out there I actually like better. I like the Darkness & Dread version of horror checks and madness better than the "d20" Sanity rules that were bolted on pretty much unchanged from BRP. I also like the GrimNGritty (also in Darkness & Dread take on health/hit points better than CoC, which didn't bother to change them. That actually allows leveling up to be a concept that makes some sense in a Cthulhu-esque game, because you're still just as fragile even with new levels.

But I really like the CoC classless (well, I guess technically there are two very open and flexible classes) approach, and with just the few bolt-ons I mentioned above, I think it's the best thing going in horror rpg systems.

Then again, I'm a bit of a d20 whore anymore. I've essentially dropped all my games from other systems these days.

 

[trancejeremy]

Nobody is obliged to play that way. Not all players are masochists who like to see their characters destroyed in less than three sessions. If I run a CoC d20 campaign, chances are the investigators will have suffered and be humilated, and will end up with a mental illness of some sort; but at the same time they will be alive, 10th level, and with some spells and other stuff.

Lovecraft wrote stories in which the protagonists would most of the time die and become irrevocably mad. But others wrote stories in which the protagonists would succeed. I do particularly like The Trail of Cthulhu by August Derleth, in which the Dr. Shrewsbury is a scientist with knowledge of magic, and has got some powers (prescience and supernatural vision) despite having had some "little problems" (he has lost his eyes, and now has empty eyesockets).

That's funny - I was just going to post over on Yog Sothoth a question about where Dr. Laban Shrewsbury originally came from. Now I know - thanks. I never read any of Derleth's Mythos stuff. (I have read his Solar Pons stuff).

Still, I think that's overstated a bit. A lot of HPL stories involved a protagonist that was crazy to begin with, or in some cases, an actual monster. Usually when there are actual investigators, like in The Dunwich Horror, they come out okay. Or the Case of Charles Dexter Ward.


Plus, not to beat an old argument to death, but for the most part, CoC d20 is arguably more deadly than the original. I remember there was a statistical analysis that proved it. Basically, because characters in d20 cannot "dodge" attacks (or bullets) like in BRP (where the attack makes an attack roll to hit, then the defender makes a dodge or parry roll to see if it actually missed), while they might have more hit points, they get "hit" more often. And at low levels, CoC d20 characters have fewer hit points. And of course, the massive damage rules means characters can die from any hit that is strong enough (and given the firearm damages, it means most hits by guns).

 

[Turanil]

That's funny - I was just going to post over on Yog Sothoth a question about where Dr. Laban Shrewsbury originally came from.

This arouse my curiosity: where else Dr. Laban Shrewsbury is mentioned. I mean, where did you see it if not in August Derleth's The Trail of Cthulhu?

Plus, not to beat an old argument to death, but for the most part, CoC d20 is arguably more deadly than the original. I remember there was a statistical analysis that proved it.

I agree with you. It's the reason why I intend to use Grim Tales for my d20 CoC campaign (GT for PCs, insanity, and magic use) while d20 CoC sourcebook will be use for the setting, monsters, etc. With GT, and layers probably beginning at 5th level, I think the game should be less lethal. (I want to begin 5th level because I will adapt "Ancient Kingdoms Mesopotamia" for an archeological + Dreamland adventure, and this module is for 5th to 10th level PCs).

 

[arwink]

I tend to prefer to the BRP for one-off cthulhu sessions, but the d20 version is the first cthulhu supplement that's ever made me feel like I could run a relatively long-term campaign in the setting.