Need help with Call of Cthulhu

[Cookiegerard]

First of all, I wasn't completely sure where to post this, being a roleplaying game, but not a video game or a role play happening on this site, so I thought it best to just put it here.

A group of friends, myself included are interested in playing the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game. We have played Dnd, Pathfinder, and Deathwatch. I am going to be the keeper, game master, dungeon master, whatever you prefer to call it, so I have to look over the stuff first. I am making a character, just to see how easy it is, and now we get to the problem.

What the hell do the numbers mean?

From my reading of the rulebook, there is no context, what so ever. for what the numbers mean. I was able to do the stat part of the character making, STR, CON, POW, etc, though I just have to guess that an Appearance of 9 is good, again, no context given.

I am at the occupation part now, and am rolling a Hacker, mostly because it the closest thing to what I actually do (A full time Computing student), I have 280 points to spend on a number of skills and have no idea how many points in a skill would be considered good, how many average, and so forth. I know the maximum points in any skill can be 99, but still, I have no idea what I am meant to do.

Beside each skill is a number, for example ComputerUse(01%). I assume, and I mean assume that this is the skill number you start off with for that skill. So that, even if you don't have points in that skill, you can still make a roll for it. It would explain why Electronics is (01%) and why LibraryUse is (25%), because most people at least have an idea on how to use a library.

If someone could explain the number system for this game, it would be incredibly helpful for me. As I said, from what I could find in the rulebook, there is no context given for the numbers except for the stats, if you are reduced to 0 with most of them, you usually die or become so weak you can't do anything.

Thanks for reading this.

TLR Can someone explain to me the numbers system for the game Call of Cthulhu?

Also, just in case it helps, we are using sixth edition purely because we can get the book for that.

 

[DoPo]

Hmm, dunno how much help you'll get - Advice doesn't get a lot of traffic. The chances of getting somebody familiar with CoC are lower, you might actually have more of a chance in Gaming Discussion...well, if your thread doesn't get burred under Xbox ones.

I myself haven't played CoC nor have I read the core rulebook (been meaning to for a while), still, from what I know it's 100 based and somewhat close to Dark Heresy - a system I do know. If so, then your target is to roll under the skill number, say - if you have "Not getting eaten by extraterrestrial monstrosities" as a skill at 23, you need to roll 1-23 on a d100 to...well, avoid being eaten by them. But if you roll a 90, well, prepare your tartar sauce. But it's not all raw skill - you can apply modifiers to that, so, say, if you have the Necronomicon rolled up and you're whacking the bugs over the head with it, you'll probably have an easier time and you can get, say, +15 to the skill check, bumping your number to roll under from 23 to 38. But you could be at a disadvantage, for example, if you're on their own planet, getting a -10, thus lowering your target number to 13.

That's what I generally know of the system, somewhat based on my knowledge of DH.

 

[Cookiegerard]

Hmm, dunno how much help you'll get - Advice doesn't get a lot of traffic. The chances of getting somebody familiar with CoC are lower, you might actually have more of a chance in Gaming Discussion...well, if your thread doesn't get burred under Xbox ones.

I myself haven't played CoC nor have I read the core rulebook (been meaning to for a while), still, from what I know it's 100 based and somewhat close to Dark Heresy - a system I do know. If so, then your target is to roll under the skill number, say - if you have "Not getting eaten by extraterrestrial monstrosities" as a skill at 23, you need to roll 1-23 on a d100 to...well, avoid being eaten by them. But if you roll a 90, well, prepare your tartar sauce. But it's not all raw skill - you can apply modifiers to that, so, say, if you have the Necronomicon rolled up and you're whacking the bugs over the head with it, you'll probably have an easier time and you can get, say, +15 to the skill check, bumping your number to roll under from 23 to 38. But you could be at a disadvantage, for example, if you're on their own planet, getting a -10, thus lowering your target number to 13.

That's what I generally know of the system, somewhat based on my knowledge of DH.

It does seem to use some of the D100 system, I managed to find in a tiny note in the references section that for sanity rolls, you have to roll under your sanity, kind of like in Death Watch or Dark Heresy for any check. Basing it on that, I can assume that is how the rest of the system works, and the (01%), whatever is just there to give you a tiny chance to pass the test.

Yeah, I thought about putting the post in the Gaming section, but because it isn't a video game and the forum description seems to suggest it is purely video games, I decided to just put it here, just in case.

 

[TheNecromancer]

So as suggested, you want to roll low in CoC. Skill checks are on a d100 and you want under whatever you put your points in. Generally when my friends and I play, if the gm wants us to roll a particular characteristics, str, con, pow, we roll a d20 and try to roll under. If we take SIZ for example, you roll 2d6+6 so an investigator would have anywhere between 8 and 18 siz, you could then accept 13 as the size of an average person. or maybe 10, if you assume you are only rolling for an adult. The characteristics are not used as much in game as the skills, they are more about the framework of your character. All of the characteristics effect the game in ways other than rolling against or with them. For example, damage bonus is based on str and siz. App can be tricky to use, generally we just accept those as fixed. If an investigator has an app of 15 or something similar, members of the opposite sex will automatically be more willing to talk with them, but then the player would have to roll fast talk or persuasion to keep the conversation going. I have played CoC a few times and a friend of mine used to gm regularly so if you still need something cleared up I can ask him.

Good Luck.

 

[Cookiegerard]

So as suggested, you want to roll low in CoC. Skill checks are on a d100 and you want under whatever you put your points in. Generally when my friends and I play, if the gm wants us to roll a particular characteristics, str, con, pow, we roll a d20 and try to roll under. If we take SIZ for example, you roll 2d6+6 so an investigator would have anywhere between 8 and 18 siz, you could then accept 13 as the size of an average person. or maybe 10, if you assume you are only rolling for an adult. The characteristics are not used as much in game as the skills, they are more about the framework of your character. All of the characteristics effect the game in ways other than rolling against or with them. For example, damage bonus is based on str and siz. App can be tricky to use, generally we just accept those as fixed. If an investigator has an app of 15 or something similar, members of the opposite sex will automatically be more willing to talk with them, but then the player would have to roll fast talk or persuasion to keep the conversation going. I have played CoC a few times and a friend of mine used to gm regularly so if you still need something cleared up I can ask him.

Good Luck.

Thank you for the explanation, I have an idea of how to use the numbers, it is just what do they mean is what I have an issue with. For example, the character I rolled has an APP of 9. I have no idea if that means my character is attractive, ugly, somewhere in-between because the book gives no context for it. In the book, it says that if your SIZ reaches 0, you become so small you vanish, but it doesn't tell you what 1 is. Are you a dwarf, and if you get an 18, does that mean you are a giant? I have my character made, I understand the skills, it is just the context of the numbers for characteristics that make no sense.

 

[Donnovan Sunrider]

I'm an old hand at Call of Cthulhu. Here are the basics.
For the attributes (Str, Con, App, etc), the average human is around 10. That comes from the math associated with rolling 3D6. The average ends up being around 10. You do not have the option of just picking whatever number you want. The dice will determine that.
For Size, there is a chart on page 151 in the monster section that gives you the weight range for the stat. Size of 1 is 1-2 pounds, size 18 would be around 280-ish. When you look at Size, Constitution and Strength together, you can imagine the complete physiology of a person. Low strength, average Con and high Size is an overweight person. High Str and Con with a low Size is a well muscled, very fit person who is smaller in stature.

Size, Int and Edu use a different dice combination to get a higher average. Those are all in the book on pages 36 & 37 in the 6th edition, which is also the most current.

For skills, you roll your d100 under the skill level. So if you have a skill at 53%, then you have to roll under 53 on your dice. It's as simple as that.
For visualizing the levels, I'd say that someone with a 70% skill is able to make a good living doing that skill. A hobby level of astronomy for instance may be around 30 to 50. You have knowledge, but not an expert.
The way you advance your character is that when you pass a skill roll, you put a check in the box next to the skill. Then when that adventure is over, you roll d100 against the checked skills. If you roll OVER the current number, then you can add a d10 to that skill. So the skills you're not so high in raise easy, while it's slower advancing in the skills you're already expert in.
It also has an organic method of raising the skills you actually use. It doesn't have the artificial D&D style of skills appearing out of nowhere when you hit a level.

Call of Cthulhu is a game about normal people fighting against things that are way over their weight class for the sake of staving back the darkness for one more day. This is not a power fantasy like most other RPGs. Your characters will not gain power and become able to destroy everything as they progress. Their sanity will become more fragile, and they'll keep going because it's the right thing to do. Not just because there's another monster to loot from.
In my mind, that makes this among the most heroic of games.


Any additional questions you may have can be answered on the forum for the site I run all about the Call of Cthulhu RPG.
http://www.mu-podcast.com/campus/
The site and forum supports my podcast which is all about the game, specifically meant to help new players.

Dan
Miskatonic University Podcast
mu-podcast.com

 

[Cookiegerard]

snip

Thank you for clearing that up. Through trial and error, I was able to make a character that I could understand, and after trying a few more times, I can make them fairly quickly. I really love the system for, for want of a better word, levelling up skills, as in, only if you actually use them.

Having played a few games, D100 systems are so much easier, for myself and the other people I have played with, than the D20.

Also, thank you for the link to the website, I will look at it, and the podcast, when I can.

Thank you again.