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Mike M

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    Malleus Monstrorum - Corrections Thread

    in Call of Cthulhu

    Posted

    P42 - defaults the standard/lowest value for ease. As detailed in the ability, the damage may vary (3D6) - the stat line directs to the full write up above.

    P54 - this again is the default value per spells, as the book suggests, you can adjust this to suit your preference/plot.

    Attacks - is the province of the Keeper to decide whether a monster uses one of its multiple attacks to fight or instead cast a spell. Again, plot and circumstance may determine - each monster with human and above INT is not necessarily a fighting machine, and will act in accordance to their own agenda. Humans can act once per combat round - some will attack or maneuver, some with use a skill, some will cast a spell - one size doesn't fit all, and so on. 

    Thanks

     

    A couple of basic rules questions

    in Call of Cthulhu

    Posted

    Each character in combat is rolling against their own skill (there is no difficulty level other than their Regular skill value) - if they succeed in the roll, their result (whether a Regular, Hard, Extreme success) is then compared to their opponent's roll - to see who achieved the best* success (and thereby won that combat turn).

    Thus:

    Sam attacks Bill. Sam has Brawl 80%. Sam has Brawl 60%. Sam has a higher DEX than Bill.

    Round 1

    Sam's turn - he acts first due to his higher DEX - rolls 65%, a Regular success. Bill reacts by fighting back, rolling 70%, a fail.  Sam wins and inflicts damage on Bill. 

    Bill's turn (he has a lower DEX) now happens, and he attacks Sam. Sam elects to dodge (his Dodge is also 80% for simplicity's sake). Both roll. Bill gets 20% (a Hard Success). Sam gets 35% (also a Hard Success). As Sam is dodging, he only need to equal Bill's level of success to 'win' the combat - he does so, and dodges Bill's attack.

    Each participant has taken a turn, so round 1 ends. 

    Round 2

    Sam's higher DEX means he continues to act before Bill. 

    Sam attacks, Bill chooses to dodge this time (his Dodge is 60% for simplicity's sake). 

    Sam gets 87% (failure). Bill gets 10% (an Extreme success). Bill clearly won the opposed roll, but Sam failed anyway, so nothing happens (we could describe Sam trying to land a blow on Bill, but Bill's ducking and weaving means he evades Sam's attempts).

    Bill's turn - he attacks, getting 04% (Extreme success) versus Sam's fighting back result of 36% (Hard success). Extreme beats Hard, so Bill inflicts damage. 

     

    - As you can see, the opponents' roll results are compared, with the level of success determining who won (depending on whether the defender is fighting back or dodging). If either fails their roll, their result can never beat their opponent (if both fail, then no clear outcome/winner is seen that turn, i.e. they both struggle to get the upper hand in that moment of combat and the fight continues). 

    An NPC's skill - DOES NOT affect or modify the PC's skill or roll in combat situations. The NPC's roll result is compared to the PC's roll result (as in example above) as combat is an opposed roll situation.

    *In Combat, the best success is fluid depending on whether the defender is fighting back (getting a better level of success than their attacker means the person fighting back wins) or dodging (equalling their attacker's level success means the dodging character wins)

    A couple of basic rules questions

    in Call of Cthulhu

    Posted

    Hi 

    Combat is an opposed skill test - see page 90 of the Rulebook. Difficulty of the roll is set by each opponent (i.e their roll outcome).  As noted in the text, opposed rolls work differently to normal skill rolls (where an opponent's skill, such as Listen, can be used to set the difficulty of the roll). 

    See page 103 for opposed rolls in combat for melee. 

    Firearms do not use an opposed roll - see page 112 - where difficulty is set by range, and where other modifiers might apply (page 113). 

    Spell casting (page 177) - first requires a casting roll (if this is failed, the spell does not work). SAN loss from casting spell - the spell is cast and the caster suffers SAN loss from the cost of the spell -  the spell takes effect and the caster deals with the resulting SAN loss from casting - this may trigger Temporary Insanity (if 5+ points, req. INT roll) or if 1/5 of SAN, then it automatically triggers Indefinite Insanity. The spell works either way, while the caster must deal with its cost. 

     

    • Like 1
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    Sacrifice Magic Points

    in Call of Cthulhu

    Posted

    Sacrifice, spend, burn, delete, remove, invest - all mean the same thing with magic points. Magic cannot be permanently used up - unless it specifically says "permanently lost" in the text (which it 99.9% never does, as magic points always come back). 

    You will note that where POW is lost, the text should say whether it is a permanent loss (usually is) or if the POW can be restored and at what rate. With POW, if the text does not say you can regain it, the default is permanent loss. 

     

     

    • Like 2
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    Reprints of the Original Cthulhu scenarios ??

    in Call of Cthulhu

    Posted

    There were of their time certainly, and very good (when I put my rose-tinted spectacles on 😀). There was definitely something about their construction, the paper and card covers, the brown text handouts, and so on. 

    But enough of that - Helliwell, please keep monitoring the Chaosium radio frequency (mailing list), as there may be something you might like to hear in the coming months.

    • Like 6
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    Out now in PDF: The Children of Fear

    in Call of Cthulhu

    Posted

    5 hours ago, klecser said:

    I am also enjoying the "What Your Investigator Knows" handouts as an expeditious way to give context. I'm sad to say that many Western players may not know a lot about the Far East. Sad, yes, but true. And I think these handouts are particularly important for that context. One thing that I have always appreciated about Dr. Hardy's work is that she has a very clear forward-thinking vision as to how games play out, and what the practical needs are of Keepers and players.

    Yes, the "what your investigator knows" handouts flowed from our play test (Lynne running, with me and some friends playing) - rather than have the keeper have to give long winded descriptions (as well as everything else they have to say), the notion of simple handouts to convey the details came up in our game. I think these strike a good balance, allowing player to consume the info as they see fit, while the Keeper can focus on the plot and narrating the scenes etc. 

    • Like 8
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