Grimmshade

I really like the 7e Cthulhu rules, but if there is one thing that seems weird to me it's that attributes don't affect your ability with a skill at all. I wonder what the reason for that design decision was? Seems like if you have a high STR and DEX you should be naturally better at athletic stuff. I mean, I guess with the way skill points are calculated in character creation some attributes do matter when it comes to skills.

I think that's how I'll rule it also.

Good question, which brings up another question for me. I'm not at home right now, but does Dual Wielding add a penalty die to each shot? If so, I'd say that it adds 2 penalty die when combined with muli-shot, and now I'm wondering if there would still be a single penalty die on each shot if combined with Rapid Fire due to dual wield. (In which case I'd definitely allow the combo)

Without an official ruling, I'd probably allow it as it simulates characters like The Shadow and The Spider well. I do worry a little that it overpowers the Talent.

Yeah, that's the thing I'm noticing. I see all kinds of cool stuff, but the names don't stand out. Another reason I wish sources were listed for each write-up. Great books though. And ooooh, those were the monsters from the movie "Lifeforce" and the book by Colin Wilson that inspired the movie! Nice find!

Any hidden gems in here I should check out? I had heard that John Carpenter's "The Thing" was in the book, but now I'm thinking that it's not, as I haven't been able to find it.

Ordered from Chaosium! Hopefully comes sooner than the other store would have. Spent more, but nice to have supported Chaosium, and less stress about books being packaged well (from what I have heard.) Looking at the PDF, it's great stuff so far. One minor complaint... I really wish the creatures and their quotes listed a source like most previous Cthulhu editions. If I don't know a particular being in the books I like to look up the story and read it. Those source notes went a long way towards this.

Of all the pulp avengers, The Spider is definitely my favorite. If you ever want to read some of his exploits, I highly suggest The Spider vs The Empire State. I'll probably revisit the write-up, as I already see things I don't like. He served in WWI, so his rifle skill should be higher. He probably doesn't need listen skill. He should probably have some crime scene skills. I'm assuming Spot Hidden is the main "detective" skill.

I'm in IL. As long as they are shipping new orders when they get them currently, I may change my order. Looks like the place I have a preorder in at won't be shipping until Feb. (But it is considerably cheaper there.)

How is US shipping on these books currently? I was thinking of ordering direct and cancelling my pre-order from another store to better support Chaosium (and possibly get the books sooner.)

In Pulp Cthulhu, does the Rapid Fire Talent apply to the Dual-Wielding rules for handguns?

The Spider (Richard Wentworth) Archetype: Adventurer Profession: Dilettante Characteristics STR 65 CON 75 SIZ 60 DEX 85 INT 80 APP 75 POW 75 EDU 80 Move 9 Damage Modifier 1d4 Build 1 Hit Points 27 Luck 70 Talents Quick Healer, Strong Willed, Rapid Fire, Master of Disguise Skills Art/Craft (Acting) 75%, Climb 75%, Credit Rating 90%, Disguise 80%, Dodge 65%, Fighting (Brawl) 65%, Firearms (Handgun) 85%, Firearms (Rifle,Shotgun) 35%, Intimidate 80%, Language Other (Hindustani) 50%, Language Own (English) 80%, Listen 50%, Psychology 50%, Sleight of Hand 70%, Spot Hidden 65%, Stealth 70%, Equipment 2 x .45 automatic Cigarette Lighter with concealed spider stamp Thin silken line with tensile strength of several hundred pounds Backstory Traits: Won't shoot law enforcement. Ideology: Death to the bringers of death! Vigilante justice. Significant People: Fiancee Nita van Sloan Scars: Scar on head that flares up at times of great stress Notes: Mostly due to Credit Rating and Language skills, had to use more points than allowed in character creation.

What sort of rules does Invictus add? It's one of the few settings I haven't bought yet.

Yeah, I've owned 1st edition and 5th edition, and this 7th edition is definitely the best looking (and IMO also the best overall rules.) Can't wait to get a look at Malleus Monstrorum.

As it will help my own understanding, I'll give this a go. I'll use 7e Keeper's Rulebook and Cthulhu Dark Ages (for shields). The rules for Shields in Dark Ages seem to contradict themselves a bit, but I'm just going with what makes the most sense. I'm going to use the vikings from one of the Dark Ages adventures vs AEsa from the town in Dark Ages (also the only character in the entire book that I could find with a shield.) AEsa has a Dex 70, and the viking has a 60, so AEsa goes first. Round 1 AEsa attacks with her spear, the viking dodges. AEsa has Spear 65% and rolls 51, viking has Dodge 30 and rolls 28. Both are a regular success and the viking Dodges the spear thrust. Viking attacks with sword of 60%, and AEsa Fights back with shield (65%). Viking rolls 63%, AEsa rolls 33%. Viking misses and AEsa gets a normal success, meaning she succeeds at fighting back and does (1d3+1d4) shield damage of 4 points. Viking has Chainmail and Helm armor (1d8) and rolls 8, totally soaking the hit. Round 2 AEsa attacks again with her spear, and viking fights back with sword. AEsa rolls 08 (out of 65%) and viking rolls 05 (out of 60%). Extreme success vs Extreme success! A tie vs a "Fighting Back" means the attacker still wins though, and an Extreme success is an impale. AEsa will do (6+4+1d6) 12 points of damage. Viking rolls 5 for armor, and takes 7 HP damage. He has 16, so 7 isn't a Major Wound (1/2 total HP). Viking attacks with sword, and AEsa fights back with shield. Viking rolls 33, and AEsa gets 70. Viking hits with a normal success, and AEsa fails her fighting back, but does get to add her Shield to her armor since she used that skill to defend. Viking does sword damage (1d8+1d4) and rolls 7 total. AEsa armor (chainmail + helm 1d8 and shield 1d3) blocks 4 points, so she takes 3 HP damage (out of 13 total). Round 3 AEsa stabs with her spear again, and viking fights back with sword. AEsa rolls an 18, viking rolls an 03. Viking wins with an Extreme success vs AEsa's hard success! He can't impale because he wasn't the attacker, so does normal damage (1d8+1d4) for 4 points, and AEsa's armor (without shield) blocks it with a roll of 6. Viking attacks with sword and AEsa dodges with shield. Viking rolls 74, a miss, and AEsa rolls 21. Viking misses. Round 4 AEsa stabs again, viking fights back with a fighting maneuver to knock AEsa's shield away with his sword. AEsa rolls a 30, viking rolls a 61. AEsa hits with a hard success. She rolls 5 damage, but the viking rolls 7 for armor and soaks it. Viking using Brawl (55%) to try to tear the shield away from AEsa. AEsa dodges with her shield. Viking rolls 20, and AEsa rolls a 56. The viking wins with a Hard success vs Normal success, and tears the shield out of her grasp, tossing it on the ground. Round 5 AEsa stabs again with her spear, and viking fights back with sword. AEsa rolls 29, viking rolls 19. Both hard success, so AEsa wins and does 5 damage, which the viking's armor soak 2 of, leaving him with 6 HP. Viking stabs at AEsa who fights back with spear. Viking rolls 40, she rolls 52. A tie on normal successes goes to the viking who hits for 5 and AEsa's armor soaks 4 leaving her with 9 HP. Round 6 AEsa once again stabs at the viking, who fights back with sword. She gets a 13, and he gets a 53. She has an Extreme success vs his normal. Extreme impales because its her attack. She does 15 points of damage, and he soaks 2 with his armor. He takes 13, which is a Major Wound and also knocks him past 0, so he is dying. Combat goes a lot longer with armor! If I have made mistakes here, please let me know! (Note: Shield Knock Backs are an optional rule in Dark Ages that knock back on an Extreme success. You would use that rule if you wanted shield knockback, although I would also allow it with a Fighting Maneuver.)

Agreed about more cross referencing. I was unsure about Create amulet being the same thing, because Amulets are specifically called out as different than Talismans on p.18. An Enchant spell might be what I'm looking for though.

There is mention of Talismans in The Grand Grimoire, but (unless I'm missing it) no spell or mention of how to create them. Am I missing it? They are used in some spells I have seen (Like summon Deep One), but those spells don't say how to make them.

Man, I might have to buy Cold Fire Within now... I was just thinking that The Phantom's strength should maybe be lower. I can't remember how strong he was supposed to be, but room has to be left for people like Conan (assuming 100 is the highest human value.) In my build for Conan it looks like he would probably have a 90 or 95 Strength. He's one of the strongest men on earth in his time. Baal-Pteor, one of the two strongest men Conan faces in the Howard stories probably rates 90 Strength (but a larger size than Conan, probably 90 or 95 to Conan's 85) Still working on Conan, The Spider, Solomon Kane, and El Borak! (Maybe Bran Mak Morn too)

That's a good Talent! When I finally work on it I'll post whatever I could up with here. Most of the stuff off the top of my head would be based on Howard's Bran Mak Morn, Cormac Mac Art, and viking stories (some of which would be more fitting for Cthulhu Invictus probably.)

I think this is what I'll do. Use Pulp Cthulhu with Dark Ages occupations, and then make up new Talents as/if required. Dark Ages is awesome, but Down Darker Trails does a better job of incorporating Pulp.

I've bought Pulp Cthulhu, and Cthulhu Dark Ages which says it's compatible with Pulp Cthulhu. Dark Ages is awesome, but I was a bit disappointed that there is no real support for Pulp Cthulhu in the book. No Talents or hints at how to change the setting or PC's to Pulp. Anyone have any suggestions? Basically just create a Pulp character and use the Occupations from Dark Ages?

The store I ordered from is now saying Feb. 26th. A disappointing wait, but also $30 cheaper.

Strong Willed. I can't think of a situation where he specifically out-POW'd someone, and he was controlled by Mola Ram's Kali blood cocktail.

Heavy Hitter would be perfect for Indy.

I was looking for something like this a few weeks ago! I love stuff like this. I was disappointed in the psychic abilities in Pulp Cthulhu when I first looked it over. I really wanted more things like The Shadow's abilities, etc. It wouldn't be too hard to make them up I suppose. I would give Indy a bit more Strength. His punches really pack a wallop. Otherwise this looks pretty god. I'll do The Spider (and maybe Conan the Barbarian, Solomon Kane, and El Borak) this week if I get the time.