First impressions of D20 Call of Cthulu

[scadgrad]

steering us back on course...

Hey Gang,

Well we gave CoCd20 a trial run on Sat night (in spite of the fact that no one had completely read the book). For the most part it was the same old CoC, just a bit easier to run since we've been spending so much time w/ D&D as of late. As a GM I must admit that I miss the Luck Roll that I used so liberally to establish certain things in the old game.

Other than that I see no problem with the game. I don't think the HP issue will be all that big of a deal since PCs are still soooo outclassed by the Mythos critters. It's not likely that anyone in my mini campaigns would survive w/ their Sanity intact to actually make it to 10th level or anything.

Two big thumbs up or should that be tentacles

 

[saduff]

I beleive that the new d20 CoC is more geared toward thier Pulp Horror line they are planning on bringing out. A more action oriented genre. Alas this is just my opinion.

 

[ruleslawyer]

I'm afraid I don't agree with several of the above posters regarding hp.

Hit points, according to the D&D design team, represent a number of factors: Sheer hardiness (ergo Con modifier to hp), martial training (ergo higher HD types for fighters than for wizards), and the "gray areas" of skill, combat experience, and sheer luck, all of which enable a character to avoid potentially deadly blows entirely, or at the very least to turn a deadly blow into a nick, graze, or clobbering but not killing attack.

The hp system is, IOW, very abstract. For games in which a more realistic combat style is desired, the WP/VP system therefore may be a better fit.

Call of Cthulhu, however, is not necessarily such a system. The game is not combat-centered; rather, it focuses on mood, problem-solving, and storyline... and of course on scaring the players senseless. Thus, a more realistic combat system, which may in fact CENTER emphasis on combat rather than de-emphasizing combat, isn't the greatest idea. Giving Investigators d6 hp per level shouldn't make them combat powerhouses in a properly-run CoC game; shoggoths will still suck their heads off, and pretty much any high-CR monster will drive them all insane. Moreover, guns in CoC are deadly. The generic CoC rifle does 2d10 damage with a x3 crit multiplier, which essentially means a Fort save or die with every hit and enough potential damage to take out a 10th-level Investigator with one shot. Throw in the fact that Investigators are likely to be very easy to hit, and you can see how deadly the game will be.

Of course, if you have 20th-level Investigators, you will have characters who are likely to survive one shot from pretty much anything. However, I find it hard to imagine any Investigator surviving to 10th level, much less 20th, in a stereotypical CoC game, and if you did have such a high-level Investigator, I'd see him more as an Indiana Jones type than a Professor Armitage. Just as 20th-level D&D games approach the realm of the superhero genre, 20th-level CoC games are likely to approach the realm of the pulp hero genre. IMHO, nothing wrong with that.

 

[Eben]

originally posted by ColonelHardisson

Maybe, but for Lovecraft himself, the 1920s/30s were contemporary modern day. There is an immediacy about his work that makes it feel like he is writing about things as they happen. The
scary part was that all these long-dead "gods" had been gone millions of years, but were coming back - right now. If he was alive today, he'd set his stories in the 21st century. So, that's why I like modern CoC.

Yep, and thats dealt with in the Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign. The premise of that campaign is the instability in the mythos, i.e. Lovecrafts accounts. That instability led to the rise of fascist regimes, economic instability, intolerance, holocausts, nuclear bombs,... and a general feeling of uncertainty (post-Lovecraftian.)
Sounds familiar?

 

[qstor]

I picked it up yesterday. Looks fantastic. Its a complete book, settings, combat rules, monsters, sanity rules and two adventures. I give it an A+. THe art work and layout is good too. I love Wayne Reynolds pictures in it.
Our FLGS here in the Maryland suburbs of Wash. DC said it was selling really well. They had to order more books since the ones they had sold out on Friday.

Mike

 

[kengar]

scadgrad writes:

As a GM I must admit that I miss the Luck Roll that I used so liberally

I don't have my Chaosium copy with me and I can't recall the exact rules off the top of my head, but it seems to me a d20 Luck Roll shouldn't be too hard to "House Rule" if you wanted. Maybe something like:

CHA-based. CHA modifier = Luck Points (CHA 12 = +1 = 1 LP, etc.)
If a player misses a roll, 1/in-game day, they can roll a straight d20, trying to roll UNDER their total Luck Points. Success means Luck kicks in and they can reroll. One Luck Point is permanently lost in the process. You must have at least a +1 CHA Mod. to get LP's. No negatives, Zero = min LP.

Just a thought.

 

[Evil Josef]

I just got the book and I must say that it is meaty. Very meaty. Though it cost forty dollars, I think it's worth the price. Even if I don't use everything from it, I'll definitely use a lot from it.

I must admit I never played the original CoC or any of Chaosium's incarnations, but as I'm rather something of a sissy, I'm glad to see a good horror game ported over to the simple (by comparison) d20.

 

[cybernetic]

Just use the Action point rules for Spycraft as Luck Points...