I wanted to share a revelation I've had with you. No, not while trying to classify your species (good guess though), while writing a CoC scenario. D20 is super easy to write for. With the huge wealth of material there is in existance already, when you are conceptualizing a monster and think, "Hmmm... I'd like something horrific for this scence that does X. Oh yeah, this would be like that other monster that is from this suppliment." and you've already got the stats.
It's pretty nifty.
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That's one school of thought.
You have to be careful about overloading the investigators with monsters though, otherwise it becomes at best Ghostbusters and at worst a dungeon bash with SAN replacing hit points. In CoC, most creatures are up to something, some devious and alien scheme.
The Armitage Files, now with added Ennie Award.
I have to agree with YOU and Steve. What originally drew me to d20 was the idea of 'one system fits all', as well as the concept you describe. Not being a "hard core" D&D player -- and certainly NOT a D&D DM -- I purchased systems such as Weird War 2 (Pinnacle) and Star Wars (WoTC), both of which I've GMed, as well as a number of ... Monster Manual (type) books from a variety of publishers.Originally Posted by Prestonp
D&D and Star Wars are great for the genres they represent, but CoC, for me, remains forever true to the original Call of Cthulhu, and that is monsters-of-the-mythos only, all with their evil machinations.
Still, if you want to mix 'n' match, go for it. It's always your game.
Robbie
However, monsters from D&D and the likes can be adapted to better fit CofC - they can be given agendas, machinations, etc. What I did recently was alter the stats for a Mindflayer slightly and use it as a Brainchild of Cthulhu - basically, Wilbur Whateley with Cthulhu as a father instead of Yog-Sothoth. Intelligent, devious, and the head of a cult. It acted as a middleman of sorts between the cultists and Cthulhu, interpreting Cthulhu's instructions, planning thefts, assassinations, etc.
What I did was give it Cthulhu Mythos +5, replaced its psionic abilities with the closest equivalents from the list of psychic feats, and added +1 to its armor class for a layer of thick blubber.
People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world. -- Calvin
I myself don't really like using the traditional monsters of CoC all that much because, IMHO, they no longer do what they originally intended- to present the PCs with a horrific unknown entity. Now, most PCs already know most of the stats for everything and what they do and who they serve, etc. I think importing monster nicely brings back a sense of newness of the whole thing.
Personally, I prefer the traditional monsters. However, I don't necessarily use them in the same old way. You never know if that shopkeeper who just provided you with valuable information was actually a cultist, a Mi-go in disguise, or a Yithian seeking to be rid of a powerful enemy. Worse yet for my players is the fact that sometimes they have to team up with creatures they would normally kill in order to take out a bigger threat, such as joining forces with a shoggoth to take out a Cthulhu cult that just figured out how to free their god without the stars being right.
If this were a CoC game, Dubya's last name would be Jermyne (intentional misspelling).
[quoteelrio]You know English is a great language for precise communication, in much the same way that a fish makes a great hammer.[/quote]
Last week I was shopping for travel books at our local uber-chain bookstore when I spied a copy of D20 Call of Cthulhu. I had a few hours to kill, so I decided to read, and I read, and read, and read.
I came away with a very favorable impression of the game. Albeit, it definitely has the D20 pedigree of levels and more tables than I cared to look at, but the writing, editing, and art were superb, and if it weren't a translation of BRP rules, I would say it stands very nicely on it's own. It apparently doesn't need the Players Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide, though I'm sure they would be utility, and it seems to rely on a stripped down, heavily down-ratcheted version of current 3rd version of the rules.
My only question is, why the license was for only one year. What exactly was WOTC trying to show? One year seems hardly long enough to grow a system, but it's in Chaosium/Pagan Publishing's claws now.
As far as writing scenarios, the library for Call of Cthulhu is relatively deep, but not always easy to come across (eBay is the way).
Maybe, but that happens in regular CoC as well. In the Arkham sourcebook, the exploration of the caves under Arkham is nothing more or less than a D&D style Dungeon Crawl. Heck, save could be said for the supposedly classic CoC scenario the Haunted House (I think the name has changed from time to time), in which the PCs simply search a house room by room, then beat up the shriveled up baddie in the basement.
FunGuy- Unless they've changed it since I bought it, it was based on the previous set of 3E DnD rules. DnD is currently in version 3.5, a version which has generated trouble for the company and which I refuse to use beyond the few useful improvements. They still can't get necromancy correct.
In any case, I have yet to have a problem with it beyond the fact that I have found d20 to be a harder system to teach than BRP. With DnD, you at least have certain standbies that are not present in CoC.
Still, it is easier to adapt succubi and vampires to CoC now...
If this were a CoC game, Dubya's last name would be Jermyne (intentional misspelling).
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Not being a D20 player, the nuances between a 3.x are lost on me, so I'll profess my ignorance on that account. Also I'm told that D20 isn't D&D, though it's clear without a DNA test who the father really is.Overall, it seems very pared down from D&D, not unlike the Hellboy game, which is a simplified version of GURPS, but there's nothing wrong with being rules lite, just as long as the rules have a consistent internal logic that a smart Keeper/GM can engineer.
I wonder, how Necromancy fared in the Warcraft supplement? I seem to remember a D&D supplement called Spell Law that went into the specifics of schools of magic that were only hinted at in AD&D (yes, I am old enough to have played with Cone-shaped players, but they prefer to be called "The Great Race" so let's humor them). Is I.C.E. still around to support and nip at the heels of WOTC?
3.5 is almost 4.0 with the changes they made. You're talking about more changes between 3.0 and 3.5 than there was between 1E and 2E. =Not being a D20 player, the nuances between a 3.x are lost on me, so I'll profess my ignorance on that account. Also I'm told that D20 isn't D&D, though it's clear without a DNA test who the father really is.
In any case, the only problems I have with the d20 version of CoC is the same problem inherent with all d20: It's harder to teach than BRP and the tables tend to confuse some people. Other than that, I've had little in the way of trouble with it, but I still plan to get CoC 6E when it comes out.
I have no idea about the Warcraft supplement. I stopped playing DnD before it came out.I wonder, how Necromancy fared in the Warcraft supplement? I seem to remember a D&D supplement called Spell Law that went into the specifics of schools of magic that were only hinted at in AD&D (yes, I am old enough to have played with Cone-shaped players, but they prefer to be called "The Great Race" so let's humor them). Is I.C.E. still around to support and nip at the heels of WOTC?
I don't know if I.C.E. is still around, but I do know that WotC has been alienating the customers more and more. That's probably why Chaosium didn't start talking with them about extending the contract. Well, that and the somewhat suicidal d20 license change.
If this were a CoC game, Dubya's last name would be Jermyne (intentional misspelling).
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I myself have not found it difficult to teach D20 to anyone. I can't talk about how it compares to teaching BRP, because I haven't done that in over a decade. As for D&D 3.5, that has nothing to do with anything except D&D, so a CoC D20 player should not concern themselves with it. Also, D20 CoC is a completly stand along game as some of you have noticed, so other D20 material is a bonus but not necessary.
Sorry for hijacking your topic for DnD discussion. I'm still a bit bitter with WotC over some of the crap they have pulled with DnD.
The main difficulty I am having is with teaching d20 is the fact that some of the people I am teaching it to can't seem to figure out the job system. You have no idea how many times I have had to tell people that a professor is not likely to have knowledge about how to field-strip an AK-47 while blindfolded while living in modern America. Or, for that matter, why a taxi driver is not likely to be an uber-genius at nuclear physics. They have a bad tendency of choosing a job for high money (such as a doctor) and then choosing skills for that job that amount to knowledge of weaponry, physics, and how to fix and drive any vehicle they happen to come across. Add in the frequency of people choosing Arabic as a language in hopes of finding the Al Azif...
What really makes it sad is the fact that I can't simply drop them until I find intelligent ones, as I don't live in that large of a town.
If this were a CoC game, Dubya's last name would be Jermyne (intentional misspelling).
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It sounds like you have power gamers and your style may be more suited to story-telling or roleplaying. This is not always reconcilable, given that Call of Cthulhu is horror-oriented. How has their response been to your even-handed, firm response of, "No, your Professor can't do that here. And I think your cab driver would probably start a reactor melt-down by randomly pounding on the keyboard"?
I think the group is always a playable group as long as everyone likes everyone else and their is a mutual agreement that the game is suitable for their style of play. D20 Modern does a different approach to modern fantasy roleplaying. There is also another horror game with great reviews (that I'm dying to try) called Unknown Armies. It's also by John Tynes, who helped create Delta Green in the late-1990s. Come to think of it, you could wait for Delta Green to be reprinted? Consider also Call of Cthulhu in Robert E. Howard territory, which is possible in the Dark Ages supplement of Call of Cthulhu.
Other than snickering knowingly and asking if they are in New York City, they go back to the drawing board. They are ex-DnD players and, because I tend to be murderous on the good days, have learned to min-max for survival traits. Of course, keep in mind that the DM who taught me how to play DnD was throwing level-50 Demilichs against my level-22 mage/warrior combo. I tend to be much more lenient but am still willing to utterly devastate entire worlds if they screw up at the wrong time.It sounds like you have power gamers and your style may be more suited to story-telling or roleplaying. This is not always reconcilable, given that Call of Cthulhu is horror-oriented. How has their response been to your even-handed, firm response of, "No, your Professor can't do that here. And I think your cab driver would probably start a reactor melt-down by randomly pounding on the keyboard"?
I'm always harsh when it comes to the people I am teaching, as it teaches them to view me distantly and to be more self-reliant. I'm willing to show them the answers, but I also want them to be capable of finding it for themselves for times when I'm not around. In the case of this group, their confusion is baffling to me.I think the group is always a playable group as long as everyone likes everyone else and their is a mutual agreement that the game is suitable for their style of play. D20 Modern does a different approach to modern fantasy roleplaying. There is also another horror game with great reviews (that I'm dying to try) called Unknown Armies. It's also by John Tynes, who helped create Delta Green in the late-1990s. Come to think of it, you could wait for Delta Green to be reprinted? Consider also Call of Cthulhu in Robert E. Howard territory, which is possible in the Dark Ages supplement of Call of Cthulhu.
If this were a CoC game, Dubya's last name would be Jermyne (intentional misspelling).
[quote
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