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Freelance Police
United States
Palo Alto
California
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Introduction: As a old Call of Cthulhu RPG Keeper, I had problems with a percentile dice system. While players could easily determine if they were successful, *how* successful they were often broke the momentum of the game (especially if a player swiped up his dice before I asked!). Dice modifiers were arbitrary (do you divide or have a straight penalty?), as were automatic successes (make sure two players had a 20% to drive a car!)
Here's a quick-and-dirty way of using the Steve Jackson Games Cthulhu Dice die for a storytelling RPG, with variable degrees of success and failure. Note that the rules lean towards the characters succeeding in their skill rolls, necessary in CoC games where missing a clue often stalls the game. The Keeper is also given leeway to advance the plot.
* Cthulhu: Terrible Failure
* Tentacle: Skilled Success / Non-Skilled Failure
* Yellow Sign: Dubious Success
* Elder Sign: Fantastic Success
* Eye: Move the Plot Forward
Character Generation
Each player starts with three Story Tokens, and selects a Profession and Hobby. A Profession is a broadly-defined collection of skills related to the profession. A Hobby is a narrowly-defined skill. In general, the Keeper should rule for the player if he wishes to use a skill related to a Profession, and rule against for a Hobby.
Example: Elmer has the Hunter Profession, while Walter has the Hunting Hobby. Elmer and Walter find themselves in the backwoods, stalking deer. The Keeper rules that both have the skill necessary to stalk deer. However, Cultists suddenly appear from a hidden grove and attack! The Keeper allows Elmer to use his gun as a skill, since hunters use guns. However, he does not allow Walter to use a gun as a skill, since hunting does not involve shooting cultists.
Skill Checks
The die is used to make a skill check. If the check is for a skill that *could* be related to the character's Profession or *directly* related to the Hobby, the character has the skill. Roll the die and consult the above results table. A Tentacle result will be a success if the player has the skill, and failure if he does not. For the character, Cthulhu is the worst result, and Elder Sign is the best. The Yellow Sign's Dubious Success means that the character succeeded in the task, but may have plot complications that can affect the character. A character may spend a Story Token to improve his result. The Eye result allows the Keeper to advance the plot as he wishes. If a character attempts a skill check which requires abilities he could not possibly have, the player may first explain how the character could even attempt the skill check; since the character does not have the skill, a Tentacle is still a Non-Skilled Failure.
Example: Elmer cannot read ancient Latin, but his player explains that he knows an eccentric scholar in these backwoods who does. The Keeper sighs a bit, but since the tome Elmer possesses has important flavor text, he says Elmer's player can deciper the tome if he tracks down the scholar. Elmer does, and the Keeper allows Elmer's player to make a skill check to translate the tome. Elmer's player rolls a Yellow Sign, for a Dubious Success. Elmer can have the tome deciphered -- except the scholar turns out to be the head cultist.
For a contested skill check, the character rolling the better result wins. In combat, the character with the worst result loses one Story Point. (Combat should be short and brutal.) NPCs, and groups of NPCs, typically have one or two Story Points and various skills. Note that a player character with one Story Point left can sacrifice himself in a heroic manner by spending his last Story Point! A player character with no story points goes unconscious or insane, and can be used to advance the plot as the Keeper sees fit.
Example: Walter finds himself against a hoard of cultists. Even though the cultists are many, the Keeper gives them only two Story Points. Unfortunately, Walter fares poorly, and, after a combat then more combat (Walter's player is stubborn), Walter is down to one Story Point. Elmer, meanwhile, needs to flee with the strange tome to Miskatonic University to convince an NPC professor that they need help. Walter's player decides to spend Walter's last Story Point to bravely fend off and delay the cultists. Elmer successfully evades the cultists, and arrives at Miskatonic. The Keeper decides to advance the plot. A week later, Elmer receives a letter supposedly from Walter, saying he is in good health, and please send the book to the enclosed address.
For sanity checks:
* Cthulhu: The character loses a Story Token and goes temporarily or even permanently insane.
* Tentacle: The character goes temporarily insane, failing whatever action he was taking.
* Yellow Sign: The character comprehends the horror, but retains his faculties.
* Elder Sign: The character stalwartly confronts the menace.
* Eye: Move the Plot Forward.
Example: The Miskatonic University professor (now a player character run by Walter's player) reads the tome. He first makes a skill check in the language that he speaks, and succeeds, deciphering the strange spell. However, he also makes a sanity check, and goes temporarily insane, failing his current action. After a bout of gibbering, he reads the tome again. Elmer's player wonders what the assistant professor's Hobby will be.
After the adventure, the Keeper may award each player character one or two Story Points. The Keeper may also award new skills, NPC contacts, etc. which will allow a player character to have a success when obtaining a Tentacle result.
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Posted Sun Jun 13, 2010 11:16 am