First impressions of D20 Call of Cthulu

[shadoe]

Character creation is fairly standard d6 hit points per level/max at first, pick 12 class skills, rogue skill points, no extra skill points for humans, 2 feats at first level. etc

One of the things that I was concered with is the d6 hit points per level, but they brought over the massive damage rule from D&D except instead of 50 hp they droped it to 10 hp for humans. Also it is pretty hard to miss an attack on a PC unless you use the defense option.

 

[Pielorinho]

One thing puzzles me:

Under the "recovering sanity" rules, when you enter a private sanitarium, you regain 1d3 san points each month on a roll of 1-95 on percentile dice, and no san points on a roll of 96-00.

This is exactly how it worked in the old rules, I believe - my housemate and I compared text, and it was the same word for word. Thing is, that's not very true to D20 mechanics.

In D20, you roll a d20 for nearly anything in which skill matters. And surely curing a mental patient depends on skill.

If I run a CoC game, I may give individual hospitals psychoanalysis skills, and require some sort of roll to heal the patient. This will allow different hospitals (and even different doctors) to have different success rates.

Have other folks encountered situations like this, where they didn't convert the rules well enough? Do folks agree this isn't a good D20 mechanic as written?

Daniel

 

[UD]

Its cos the insanity rules have been ported over directly to d20 CoC. Cos there good.

 

[Morpheus]

Fortunately, the math involved is fairly simple to convert if you don't like % dice for the d20 CoC (and I agree, it does seem a little out of place). 95% is 1-19 on a d20, so you could have the player roll a d20 and say that only a roll of 1 is a failure. Then, maybe you could have the doctor's psychoanalysis skill effect how much SAN the Investigator recovers.
I also will be giving sanitariums different cure ratings. 95% is just to, well, effective for my tastes. There have to be some quacks out there somewhere, right?

 

[Cthulhu]

Have other folks encountered situations like this, where they didn't convert the rules well enough? Do folks agree this isn't a good D20 mechanic as written?

I think it's a fine mechanic when you want to give a flat percentage chance of something occuring instead of involving individual skill levels in the process. The D&D 3E rules have a couple instances of using percentage instead of D20. Giving sanitariums a 95% cure rate is just an easy way of dealing with this issue. Of course, if you want to make this aspect of the adventure more detailed (instead of just passing over it by saying "A few months later you're relased"), then you could involve the doctor's skill and make it a D20 roll (with a variable DC depending on the severity of the psychosis).

 

[Pielorinho]

I've only started looking through it, so I only have an inkling of how to manage this, but here's what I was thinking:

Keep track of how much SAN a PC lost on the occasion that she went nutso. Each month, the doctor makes a psychoanalysis check, DC=the remaining SAN damage+the patient's Cthulhu mythos skill ranks. If the doctor succeeds on the skill check, the patient gains back one point of SAN; for each five points by which he exceeds the DC, the patient gains back another point of SAN. The patient and other doctors may aid on the psychoanalysis check; the quality of the hospital may impose a modifier to the check from -4 to +4.

EX: Toby sees a little girl drinking a Pepsi; suddenly, she splits open, revealing a beautiful model inside. He takes 10 points of SAN damage and develops a severe phobia of zippers, in addition to gaining a rank of Cthulhu mythos ("that girl is EVIL!") He now has seven ranks in Cthulhu mythos. His friends cart him off to the Betty Fnord Clinic.

It's a great clinic, providing a +3 modifier to psychoanalysis checks. But his Dr., Dr. Lucky, is an absent-minded old fool constantly distracted by attempts on his life. The Dr. has a total modifier of only +2 to his psychoanalysis skill.

During his first month of treatment, Dr. Lucky makes a psychoanalysis check to cure Toby. The DC of the check is 17 (10 San points + 7 Cthulhu mythos). The clinic gives him a +3 to his check, and Toby wants to get better (and aids the doctor), so he gets another +2 to his check, giving him a total of +7. He rolls an 11 on his check -- barely enough to succeed. Toby gains back a point of SAN.

Next month, the DC drops to 16, and this time the doctor rolls a 19, getting a total of 26 on his check. Toby gains back 2 points of SAN.

Next month, the DC drops to 14. And so on.

It's a little more complicated, but not terribly so, and it's entirely in keeping with D20 rules, I think. How does that sound?

Daniel

 

[Wicht]

Of course, if you want to make this aspect of the adventure more detailed (instead of just passing over it by saying "A few months later you're relased"), then you could involve the doctor's skill and make it a D20 roll (with a variable DC depending on the severity of the psychosis).

Is it just me or does anybody else find it strange to be reading Cthulhu giving advise on how to regain sanity.

 

[Henry@home]

It's a little more complicated, but not terribly so, and it's entirely in keeping with D20 rules, I think. How does that sound?

Daniel

It sounds DAMNED funny, Daniel.

And the rules are pretty sound, too. Good Job!

 

[Cthulhu]

Is it just me or does anybody else find it strange to be reading Cthulhu giving advise on how to regain sanity.

I'm only doing it because driving people wacko is more fun the second time around....

 

[Ace]

I've only started looking through it, so I only have an inkling of how to manage this, but here's what I was thinking:

Keep track of how much SAN a PC lost on the occasion that she went nutso. Each month, the doctor makes a psychoanalysis check, DC=the remaining SAN damage+the patient's Cthulhu mythos skill ranks. If the doctor succeeds on the skill check, the patient gains back one point of SAN; for each five points by which he exceeds the DC, the patient gains back another point of SAN. The patient and other doctors may aid on the psychoanalysis check; the quality of the hospital may impose a modifier to the check from -4 to +4.

EX: Toby sees a little girl drinking a Pepsi; suddenly, she splits open, revealing a beautiful model inside. He takes 10 points of SAN damage and develops a severe phobia of zippers, in addition to gaining a rank of Cthulhu mythos ("that girl is EVIL!") He now has seven ranks in Cthulhu mythos. His friends cart him off to the Betty Fnord Clinic.

It's a great clinic, providing a +3 modifier to psychoanalysis checks. But his Dr., Dr. Lucky, is an absent-minded old fool constantly distracted by attempts on his life. The Dr. has a total modifier of only +2 to his psychoanalysis skill.

During his first month of treatment, Dr. Lucky makes a psychoanalysis check to cure Toby. The DC of the check is 17 (10 San points + 7 Cthulhu mythos). The clinic gives him a +3 to his check, and Toby wants to get better (and aids the doctor), so he gets another +2 to his check, giving him a total of +7. He rolls an 11 on his check -- barely enough to succeed. Toby gains back a point of SAN.

Next month, the DC drops to 16, and this time the doctor rolls a 19, getting a total of 26 on his check. Toby gains back 2 points of SAN.

Next month, the DC drops to 14. And so on.

It's a little more complicated, but not terribly so, and it's entirely in keeping with D20 rules, I think. How does that sound?

Daniel

LOL. Thats was funny, Pepsi Mythos indeed. Please don't tell me about the Pepsi generation, well maybe when the stars are right.

IA IA SODA FATGN....