Petebrown Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 (edited) What are the best skills to have? I think spot hidden and listen and anthropology useful sometimes, what are the more useless skills? Edited June 1, 2019 by MOB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noita Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 Best ones? Characters with a good mix to be honest, they are all useful at some stage but... Depends on the type of pc you play and the type of game. Library use for research Psychology Dodge Other language for texts Credit rating Persuade/fast talk Spot hidden/listen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvincent Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 (edited) I agree: Spot Hidden, Dodge, Persuade or Fast-talk, Library use, Psychology I also want to add: Firearms: Rifle/Shotgun, as most scenarios tend to involve combat (despite some thinking they shouldn't), and 4d6 x2 (or 2d6+4 from a distance) becomes your best defense. Another tip: Spot Hidden tends to be used a lot (you're investigators, after all), so your fellow players might already have it at high levels. Some players might be able to save points (and SAN) by skipping it... Edited June 3, 2019 by mvincent 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 In our last game - Credit Rating, Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Occult, Library Use, and Law. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawrence.whitaker Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 2 hours ago, Jeff said: In our last game - Credit Rating, Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Occult, Library Use, and Law. Yep - I'm running my group through 'Horror on the Orient Express' right now, and exactly this group of skills, plus Spot Hidden, are the ones that are most useful. Languages too, especially if globetrotting. 1 Quote The Design Mechanism: Publishers of Mythras Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atgxtg Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 On 5/19/2019 at 3:22 PM, Petebrown said: What are the best skills to have? I think spot hidden and listen and anthropology useful sometimes, what are the more useless skills? I varies a bit based upon play style. Spot can be vtial if the GM?keeper has the players make lots of rolls to notice things., and not so much if he doesn't. Library Use can be vtial if the adventures often have useful information for the investigators to uncover through research, and again not so useful if there isn't. The most useless skills tend to be most combat skills, especially the heavier weapons. Against most Mythos nasties combat is not a viable solution. Most Mythos nasties are quite resistant to the sort of weaponry that investigators can carry around, and it is highly unlikely that an investigator would have access to the sort of weaponry that might actually injure them. So when a Great Dhole pops up, an investigator who knows how to operate a naval gun isn't any better off than one who doesn't. 1 Quote Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 9 minutes ago, lawrence.whitaker said: Yep - I'm running my group through 'Horror on the Orient Express' right now, and exactly this group of skills, plus Spot Hidden, are the ones that are most useful. Languages too, especially if globetrotting. Absolutely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 10 minutes ago, lawrence.whitaker said: Yep - I'm running my group through 'Horror on the Orient Express' right now, and exactly this group of skills, plus Spot Hidden, are the ones that are most useful. Languages too, especially if globetrotting. Although I have to say, the one ranch hand cowboy in the group proved very useful. Not his Rifle or Pistol skills, but Ride, Track, and Survival! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g33k Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Wait. Why are none of you listing "Run Away!" as a key skill???!? You don't have to be faster than the Ghast that's chasing you, you just have to NOT be the slowest one in the party... 1 2 Quote C'es ne pas un .sig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valyar Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Common sense helps as well in the long run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvincent Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 21 hours ago, Atgxtg said: The most useless skills tend to be most combat skills, especially the heavier weapons. Against most Mythos nasties combat is not a viable solution. Which adventures are you thinking of? I hear this frequently (and have even advanced the notion myself), but after running several hundred sessions (using the most popular adventures), I haven't found this to be the case... there always seems to be some cultists or other killable things that are best dealt with pro-actively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atgxtg Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 3 hours ago, mvincent said: Which adventures are you thinking of? Well Trail of the Loathsome Slime for one, but there are others. 3 hours ago, mvincent said: I hear this frequently (and have even advanced the notion myself), but after running several hundred sessions (using the most popular adventures), I haven't found this to be the case... there always seems to be some cultists or other killable things that are best dealt with pro-actively. Guns work against crazed cultists and minor Mythos nasties like Deep Ones, but generally they are more of a symptom than the real problem. But when the Shoggoths or Spawn of Cthulhu show up weapon skills don't matter much. Quote Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atgxtg Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 5 hours ago, Valyar said: Common sense helps as well in the long run I tired using common sense but it just gets me thinking to play something safer like Stormbringer or RQ. 1 Quote Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atgxtg Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 On 6/3/2019 at 3:55 PM, g33k said: You don't have to be faster than the Ghast that's chasing you, you just have to NOT be the slowest one in the party... Or get them to hold the line for a minute while you go fetch more ammo. I still feel a little guilty about that one. I hope they guy died before the ignition turned over and I sped away. Quote Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvincent Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 34 minutes ago, Atgxtg said: when the Shoggoths or Spawn of Cthulhu show up weapon skills don't matter much. Correct... and to be fair: your character will probably go temporarily insane at that point anyway. I've just not encountered adventures where those were the sole (or even main) opportunities to use combat skills. Thanks for the lead on 'Trail of the Loathsome Slime'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atgxtg Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Just now, mvincent said: Correct... and to be fair: your character will probably go temporarily insane at that point anyway. I've just not encountered adventures where those were the sole (or even main) opportunities to use combat skills. Thanks for the lead on 'Trail of the Loathsome Slime'. Well in depense of the adventure, the Shoggoth is really something of a surprise monster lurking about. It just that once it show up there isn't much the characters can do about it. I've gotten more millage out of the adventure in non-Mthos stories, but then I find that true with most CoC products. The Bermuda Triangle book, for example, makes a great sorucebook for any modern day adventure set in the Carribean, as around 90% of the content is non-Mythos related. Quote Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merudo Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 Someone posted a "tier" list of skills on reddit a while back, you can have a look there: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darius West Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 On 5/20/2019 at 5:22 AM, Petebrown said: What are the best skills to have? I think spot hidden and listen and anthropology useful sometimes, what are the more useless skills? Do not underestimate Stealth skills. If you can sneak up on a monster or and other enemy, so much the better, as you can potentially ambush them or simply sneak away. As the saying goes, "From a position of ambush, a mouse may slay a lion". To use a D&D equivalency, rogues are very effective in CoC. ; Fighters? Not so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike M Posted June 8, 2019 Share Posted June 8, 2019 (edited) I regularly call for: Spot Hidden Listen Stealth Throw Climb Natural World Psychology Charm / Fast Talk / Intimidate / Persuade and... Luck ; ) Edited June 8, 2019 by Mike M 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atgxtg Posted June 8, 2019 Share Posted June 8, 2019 2 hours ago, Mike M said: I regularly call for: Natural World That one is a surprise. Do you use it to provide clues as to when something isn't "natural"? Quote Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdomino Posted June 10, 2019 Share Posted June 10, 2019 The holy trinity- spot hidden, library use and shotgun. M 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike M Posted June 10, 2019 Share Posted June 10, 2019 On 6/8/2019 at 8:14 PM, Atgxtg said: That one is a surprise. Do you use it to provide clues as to when something isn't "natural"? Yes that sort of thing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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