Call of Cthulhu House Rules (Harbingers Campaign)

Call of Cthulhu House Rules (Harbingers Campaign)

1. On-time Bonus: one free skill point.

2. XP: 1d10 skill points per session for a non-combat skill or 1d6 for a combat skill. Bonus sanity points depending on ability to bring order to or combat the Mythos. Occasional bonuses for helping the group by taking careful notes, solving mysteries, excellent role-playing, etc.

3. New characters may not start with any skill over 75%

4. Have a back-up character ready for every session, or you may be stuck playing "Pete the Drifter."

5. We'll be using the Fast Talk skill for attempts to deceive and the Persuade skill for sincere attempts to convince someone of something you believe.

6. Some occupations may be over- or under- balanced in the 1920s book so chat with me before making up your characters. Feel free to suggest new occupations or skills.

7. You don't need to declare your actions ahead of time in the initiative order.

8. Each additional attack against you in a round lowers your Dodge or Parry roll by 10%

9. An attack roll of 01 to 05 is a critical hit and 95 to 100 is a critical fumble.

10. Starting funds for a new character is 1/2 of the lowest income category for that occupation.

11. Since this is a global adventure, try to give me a one session heads-up if you plan on traveling to a new city or continent. Otherwise, the PCs may experience mysterious travel delays . . .

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Here are a few optional "extra-credit" ways to flesh out your character and earn some free skill points. Since Cthulhu is a game that's very heavy on role-playing and character development, anything you can do to make your PC come alive (before he or she is mercilessly devoured) is good for the campaign. Here's a few ideas, and I'll try to think of some others as the campaign progresses (and feel free to suggest any I haven't thought of):

1. A Character Background (1d6 to 1d12 skill points, depending on length/quality)

2. A Character Picture/Portrait (1d4 to 1d6 skill points) (could be swiped from the 'Net, drawn, or created through a creepy surreptitious photo of a passerby on the street)

3. A Dark Secret (1d4 to 1d8 skill points) (every character has something to hide!)

4. Psychological Vulnerabilities (1d4 to 1d6 skill points) (what phobias does the character have, or what are some likely insanities the character will suffer from if driven to the edge?)

5. A Contact (1d6 to 1d8 skill points) (pick one of the contacts suggested in your character's occupation and flesh him or her out a little, with a name, location, attitude, etc.)

6. Read an H.P. Lovecraft story to get a sense of the mood/atmosphere I'll be trying to create (1d4 skill points). Don't worry, no oral presentations are required, and they're available for free online at http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Howard_Phillips_Lovecraft