Microthulhu

[Richard S.]

So... I made this a while ago and shared it with the exceedingly nice folks over on the Chaosium Discord, and they seemed to like it, so I figured I might as well share it here. I actually don't know where exactly I should post this so I'm guessing it's fine here, but please correct me if I'm wrong mods.

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MicroThulhu

Characteristics:

Strength (STR), dexterity (DEX), mind (MIND), and power (POW).

Roll (3d6)x5 to determine each of your character’s characteristics.

 

Other Stats:

Hit Points (HP)= STR/5

Magic Points (MP)= POW/5

Sanity (SAN)= POW

 

Skills:

Athletics, communication, charm, fighting, firearms, investigation, knowledge, mythos, subterfuge, & wealth.

Assign 70% to one, 60% to two, 50% to three, and 40% to the rest. The only exception to this rule is the mythos skill, which always begins at 0%.

Any points gained in the mythos skill permanently lower the character’s SAN by an equal amount. Points in this skill can be gained by encountering a mythos entity for the first time or reading a mythos tome.

 

Skill Checks:

Roll 1d% equal to or less than the % value of the skill being used. A roll of 1 is always a success and 00 is always a failure.

At the GM’s discretion, you may also perform a “characteristic check”, in which you roll against a characteristic’s value.

 

Combat:

A combat rounds goes in order of DEX (or DEX+50 if attacking with a firearm), from highest to lowest. Each combatant can move and attack once per round.

To perform an attack, make a skill check with the fighting skill if in close combat, or the firearms skill, if in ranged combat. If fighting in close combat the target may attempt to counterattack against your attack, also rolling against their fighting skill. Whoever succeeds at the check and rolls lower than the other deals their weapon’s damage to the opponent. Combatants may also attempt to dodge incoming attacks from any range with an athletics skill check, taking no damage if they both succeed and roll lower than their attacker.

You may also perform other types of skill checks in place of your character’s attack at the GM’s discretion.

 

Sanity:

    When confronted by something very shocking, disturbing, or a thing of the mythos you must perform a skill check against your character's SAN. Failure results in your character permanently losing a number of SAN points that the GM deems appropriate relative to how disturbing the experience is and the GM gaining control over your character momentarily.

Losing more than 5 SAN at once and failing a MIND characteristic check will result in your character gaining a permanent minor phobia or mania and going insane for the next 1d10 hours. If your character loses 1/5 or more of their SAN over the course of one hour they will become indefinitely insanity for 1d6 months and acquire a serious mental disorder. If your character reaches 0 Sanity then they are considered permanently insane.

 

Magic:

    To cast a spell your character must know it, possess any required physical components, make a successful mythos skill check and POW characteristic check, and subtract the number of points from their MP listed in the spell’s description. Failing either the POW check or mythos check results in the spell working but having dire consequences for the caster. MP regenerates at a rate of 1pt. every hour.

    To learn a spell, your character must learn it from a mythos tome. This takes 1d6 days, a successful MIND characteristic test, an increase in the mythos skill, and potential SAN loss. Alternatively if the character can contact a great old one or outer god they can attempt to learn spells directly from them. Though this second process is extremely dangerous and difficult, with the risk of retribution from the being and massive SAN loss, the spell is learned instantly and automatically.

 

Advancement:

At the end of a scenario where you successfully used a skill, you may attempt to roll 1d% over the % value of the skill. If you successfully do, you may add 1d6% to it. The mythos skill cannot be increased this way.