Hello Paizo posters! I've placed this post in an existing recruitment thread, but maybe it will be more visible in its own request.
I'd like to see if there are any more people interested in jumping into our Trail of Cthulhu campaign. Things have slowed a bit and I'm hoping a few new, active posters can perhaps dive in and help push things forward.
Where things stand:
The campaign is called Eternal LIes- after a showdown between investigators in 1924 and a debased cult in Los Angeles that traded in a drug called Nectar, the heiress Janet Winston-Rogers has enlisted our heroes in the year 1937 to follow her father's footsteps and see what's been left undone and what haunted him in his final days.
After visiting the last survivor of the original group, Douglas Henslowe, and one of the cultists that survived the summoning ritual, Edgar Job, the investigators dug up Mr. Henslowe's materials from his days thwarting the supernatural and traveled to Los Angeles to collect further evidence against the cult of the Thing With A Thousand Mouths. From there, the investigators have looked into what happened to the remaining inner circle of the cult and are closing in on the former real estate developer Samson Trammel as possibly reviving the cult's work in LA after the 1924 death of its prophet, Ramon Echavarria.
Eternal Lies is built as a globe-trotting campaign in the spirit of Masks of Nyarlathotep; currently we are closing in on the end of the first Act of the campaign and it will soon take off more into the wider world.
What's Trail of Cthulhu?
Trail is a game put out by Pelgrane Press using its Gumshoe system designed for mystery games. Investigators have two sets of skills- Investigative skills used to find clues and General skills used to fight, sneak, apply first aid and do other dynamic actions. The principal difference between Trail and Call of Cthulhu is that investigative skills are never rolled for. If a clue is available in a scene and a character has a relevant ability, they simply get the clue and the plot moves forward. Extra points can be spent for further information or to make your character look cool, but they are never necessary for finding a clue. General abilities are rolled on a d6 with points spent for a bonus- these are for actions where failure won't derail the game and random chance will provide excitement. Your character's mental condition is measured in Stability- how calm you are now and Sanity- how close you are to realizing the truth about the universe and humanity's fragile, insignificant place within it.
What am I looking for?
I'm looking for ideally two more players that can compliment the core group remaining from the start of the campaign. Posting frequency, role playing and decisive planning are more important to me than rules familiarity, though that certainly helps. If you're willing to read through the campaign or at least the synopsis we have thus far in the campaign info tab, that would also be very appreciated. It's a long term mystery/horror game, so keeping the trail of clues fresh in your mind is important to keeping things moving.
We currently have- Anatoly Dudko, an archaeologist from Brown University
Freddy Elliot, a private detective picked up from Savannah, Georgia
Amadeus Ra, the occult expert and medium/con man
Ralph "Bottles" Capone, brother of Al Capone recently released from prison in Chicago and added to Janet's payroll as a fixer for the team.
Ideally, a new player would compliment the existing characters well. We lost our Alienist and Doctor over the course of the game, so those skills are in demand. But your occupation is up to you and all possibilities will be entertained; I also have pre-generated investigators to choose from as well.
I'm going to leave recruitment open until we have at least one definite player, ideally two.
Bump!
I don't have the rulebook, but the downloads section of the website has a link to a condensed rules file Would I be able to use this? I've already played a bit of Call of Cthulhu, but would like try this system. Thanks! :)
Yes, you can absolutely use the condensed rules. I'm not about to ask anyone to fork over money just to play.
I do also have pre-generated investigators to choose from if you want to peruse those as well.
Thanks!
Pre-generated characters for play or inspiration to follow! All skills with an * are occupational abilities, everything in brackets is for a party with only three players.
Occupation: Antiquarian
Occupational Benefits: Once per adventure and subject to the Keeper’s approval, you may have a text or relic that pertains to your current needs back at your shop. See Trail of Cthulhu, page 10, for more information and restrictions.
Pillars of Sanity:
• The aesthetic beauty of a well-crafted
object
• The amazing capacity of the intellect
to create order out of chaos
Sources of Stability:
• Simon Haas, your father
• Rebecca Haas, your mother
Background: As an autodidact, you came into this business sideways. Your
contemporaries all have PhDs, and you never bothered to graduate from elementary school. But their interests in relics and documents, as intense as they might be, are no match for your innate need to collect and understand as much as you can. It started, mundanely enough, with toy cars when you were an adolescent. You filled your parents’ spare room with them. When you had a complete set, the pursuit lost your interest, and you sold them for a fair profit. Then you did the same with pulp novels and soon after with rare erotica. Several lucrative hobbies later, you now contend with greedy aristocrats, historians, and museum curators to get your hands on every religious relic, cultural artifact, and timeworn document you can. And you’re better at it than any educated collector you’ve met.
Personality: You have a system. When your system works, uninterrupted, you’re in heaven. Life needs structure. Ritual. Psychiatrists, like Doctor Udko, have names for people like you. But that’s their system, not yours. You deal in the real world — with things. Things that can be organized, categorized, and placed with precision. Things can be studied and understood. They’re so much easier to deal with than people. Mind you, you can talk to people if you need them. If they have something you want, you’ve learned how to work their game. The quicker you tell them what they want to hear, the sooner they give up the goods, the sooner you can put those precious objects in their precious places.
Connection: When Janet Winston-Rogers held the estate sale for her late father’s belongings, you were there for every open hour. You scoured through his impressive collection of books — even picking up his Dorothy Astor collection for dirt cheap — and poured through every little trinket and art piece he left to the material world. You asked Janet about every little thing you could no matter how many times she rolled her eyes. But you must have said something that sparked her interest because late Sunday afternoon, she started asking questions about you— questions about your collection and your methods.
Academic Abilities: Accounting 1, Anthropology 1, Archaeology 1, Architecture* 2, Art History* 2, Biology 0, Cthulhu Mythos 0, Cryptography 1, Geology 0 {1}, History* 2, Languages* 2 (Hebrew, Greek), Law* 0, Library Use* 4, Medicine 0, Occult* 4, Physics 1, Theology 0
Interpersonal Abilities: Assess Honesty 0, Bargain* 2, Bureaucracy 0, Cop Talk 0, Credit Rating 2, Flattery 0 {1}, Interrogation 0, Intimidation 0, Oral History 1, Reassurance 0, Streetwise 0
Technical Abilities: Art 0, Astronomy 0, Chemistry 0, Craft 0, Evidence Collection 0, Forensics 0, Locksmith 0, Outdoorsman 0, Pharmacy 0, Photography 1
General Abilities Athletics 2, Conceal 3, Disguise 0, Driving 0, Electrical Repair 0, Explosives 0, Filch 5, Firearms 0, First Aid 3, Fleeing 8, Health 11, Hypnosis 0, Mechanical Repair 0, Piloting 0, Preparedness 4, Psychoanalysis 3, Riding 0, Sanity 8, Scuffling 4, Sense Trouble 8, Shadowing 2, Stability 8, Stealth 5, Weapons 0
Drive: Scholarship
Occupation: Professor
Occupational Benefits:
Using Bureaucracy allows you access to restricted library stacks, private and government archives, and research institutions as long as you can prove your academic credentials (a Credit Rating of 3+).
Pillars of Sanity:
The warm blanket of accumulated and known human history
The satisfaction of a good work ethic
The firm trust you put in the physical laws of nature
Sources of Stability:
Robert Herbenshire, head of the Department of Archaeology at Columbia
James McConnel, your father, a pastor back home in Virginia
Trudy Robins, a former student and now your best friend
Background: To say that it hasn’t been hard work would be a lie. Your meteoric rise — from graduating top of your class at Smith to obtaining your professorship at Columbia in only a few short years — may appear inspired and lucky to some. But they haven’t been there for the grueling hours hunched over the library table. They haven’t seen the meticulous research, the reading, rereading, and tight analysis of every document. They haven’t accompanied you to digs in the hot sands of Syria. That you’re now on track for publication and tenure is simply the trajectory of all that work. Who wouldn’t have something to say after learning everything you’ve learned? Perhaps, someday, a young woman will pour over your books at the library.
Personality: The people of the past have always been better friends than anyone living now. They tease you with little hints of their forgotten lives. They play games and leave clues. It’s easy to get lost in the books and sketches and artifacts. Your ability to cope with the living is primarily geared towards teaching. If you know about it, you can go on for hours about it. It’s all this business of flattery, faculty politics, and idle chatter that leaves you in the dark.
Academic Abilities: Accounting 1, Anthropology* 2, Archaeology* 4, Architecture 1, Art History 1, Biology 0, Cthulhu Mythos 0, Cryptography 1, Geology 0, History* 2, Languages* 2 (Greek, Latin), Law 0, Library Use* 2, Medicine 0, Occult 1, Physics 0 {1}, Theology 1
Interpersonal Abilities: Assess Honesty 0 {1}, Bargain 0, Bureaucracy* 2, Cop Talk 0, Credit Rating 3, Flattery 0, Interrogation 0, Intimidation 0, Oral History* 2, Reassurance 0, Streetwise 0
Technical Abilities: Art 0, Astronomy 1, Chemistry 0, Craft 0, Evidence Collection 1, Forensics 0, Locksmith 0, Outdoorsman 0, Pharmacy 0, Photography 0
General Abilities: Athletics 2, Conceal 0, Disguise 0, Driving 3, Electrical Repair 0, Explosives 0, Filch 0, Firearms 0, First Aid 4, Fleeing 8, Health 11, Hypnosis 0, Mechanical Repair 3, Piloting 0, Preparedness 3, Psychoanalysis 0, Riding 0, Sanity 10, Scuffling 4, Sense Trouble 8, Shadowing 0, Stability 11, Stealth 4, Weapons 3
Drive: Ennui
Occupation: Dilettante
Occupational Benefits:
By using your Credit Rating pool, you can call on experts from any field as personal contacts. These are relatives, old schoolmates, or other aristocrats with whom you are familiar.
Pillars of Sanity:
The honor of the Westmore name
The satisfaction of living life to its fullest
Sources of Stability:
James, your older brother
Janet Winston-Rogers, the remaining heir of the Winston legacy
Beatrice Westmore, your doting mother
Background: To say that you had a privileged upbringing would be selling yourself short: boarding school, summers in Europe, prep school, a year being social at your uncle’s manor in England, Yale. Your life leisurely meanders now from yacht clubs to fancy-dress parties to slumming it at five-star hotels. The most effort you exude is during fencing practice. But traveling first class isn’t an adventure. You’re not keen to give up the champagne, necessarily, but the damsels on luxury liners rarely need saving. So you follow the advice your mother always repeated: dress for the life you want. You’ve traded in the pressed slacks and polished shoes for khakis and leather boots. Time to see the world from its streets and back alleys. Of course, you always have that safety net when you need it.
Personality: For all your education, you’re the first to admit you’re a bit naïve about the world. You don’t blame yourself, of course. Yale is not the school of hard knocks, and your parents can be more than protective. You’ve always figured there’s something thrilling lying in wait around the corner for you, and you will eagerly seek it out. That said, you’re not shy about your ignorance. You’re perfectly willing to say what you think, or whatever comes to mind, and if you’re wrong, someone is sure to correct you.
Connection: The Westmores were always family friends with the Winstons. Your older brother went to school with Janet, their only daughter. You often visited for supper and often admired Walter’s library when you grew bored of billiards. At the point you started to reimagine your lifestyle, you realized that Walter Winston was the man you wished to emulate. He never sat long on the throne of his pharmaceutical empire; he traveled, met with shady contacts, and got involved in things. There were terrible rumors of the kinds of dealings he was up to, and you were terribly excited about all this. It’s too bad he wouldn’t talk about his adventures when he came back. It’s too bad he’s gone now. But that won’t stop you from admiring his tenacity and courage.
Academic Abilities: Accounting 0, Anthropology 0, Archaeology 0, Architecture* 2, Art History* 2, Biology 0, Cthulhu Mythos 0, Cryptography 0, Geology 1, History 0 {1}, Languages* 2 (French, Spanish), Law 0, Library Use 0, Medicine 0, Occult 0 {1}, Physics 0, Theology 0
Interpersonal Abilities: Assess Honesty 0, Bargain 1, Bureaucracy 1, Cop Talk 0, Credit Rating* 8, Flattery* 4, Interrogation 0, Intimidation 1, Oral History 0, Reassurance* 2, Streetwise 0
Technical Abilities: Art 1, Astronomy 1, Chemistry 0, Craft 1, Evidence Collection 0, Forensics 0, Locksmith 0, Outdoorsman 0, Pharmacy 0, Photography 1
General Abilities: Athletics 6, Conceal 2, Disguise 0, Driving 2, Electrical Repair 0, Explosives 0, Filch 0, Firearms 6, First Aid 4, Fleeing 0, Health 10, Hypnosis 0, Mechanical Repair 0, Piloting 4, Preparedness 3, Psychoanalysis 0, Riding* 4, Sanity 8, Scuffling 3, Sense Trouble 5, Shadowing 0, Stability 10, Stealth 2, Weapons* 8
Drive: Adventure
Occupation: Criminal
Occupational Benefits:
When making a Conceal or Shadowing test, you may spend points after rolling the die. For every 2 points you spend after rolling, increase the die result by 1. However, you may only do this if you are undistracted and not being directly observed, and never during a contest. Describe what almost went wrong and how you barely caught it in time.
Pillars of Sanity:
The fundamental value of a human life
Your personal code of decent living: Assume the best, prepare for the worst, and never shoot someone in the back
Sources of Stability:
Charlie, your on-and-off mentor and boyfriend
George Sullivan, a former cop who’s now your parole officer
Background: You were 16 when the Crash happened. With your father’s suicide, you were an orphan. No home, no family, there was only the street. Rummaging through trash bins and picking pockets was a welcome alternative to prostitution, and you took to it with everything you had. A year later, you met Charlie and started running simple cons, beginning to pull in the kind of money you could live off of. On the day you turned 21, you held up a bank… all by yourself. And when you told people about it afterwards, they wouldn’t believe you. Even that son-of-a-b%&*! Charlie wouldn’t believe you.
Personality: You feel alive when you’re doing things. Real things, things that matter, things that make a difference. Most people wouldn’t know something that matters from the hole in their… well, you know. You don’t dislike people; you just wish that the so-called “civilized” ones could get a glimpse of how all the stuff that they think is so important — their fancy silverware and their black shoe polish and their precious daily routine — just doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, everyone’s just got their life and what they do with it. You aren’t going to waste yours, that’s for sure.
Academic Abilities: Accounting 0, Anthropology 0, Archaeology 0, Architecture 0, Art History 0 {1}, Biology 0, Cthulhu Mythos 0, Cryptography 0, Geology 1, History 0, Languages 0, Law 0, Library Use 0, Medicine 0, Occult 0, Physics 0, Theology 0
Interpersonal Abilities: Assess Honesty 1, Bargain* 2, Bureaucracy 0, Cop Talk 1, Credit Rating 2, Flattery 2, Interrogation 0, Intimidation* 2, Oral History 0, Reassurance 1, Streetwise* 3
Technical Abilities: Art 0, Astronomy 0, Chemistry 0 {1}, Craft 2 (specialties unspecified), Evidence Collection 0, Forensics 0, Locksmith* 3, Outdoorsman* 2, Pharmacy 0, Photography 0
General Abilities: Athletics 8, Conceal 2, Disguise 0, Driving 2, Electrical Repair 0, Explosives 3, Filch 0, Firearms 8, First Aid 4, Fleeing 0, Health 12, Hypnosis 0, Mechanical Repair 0, Piloting 2, Preparedness 3, Psychoanalysis 0, Riding 0, Sanity 8, Scuffling* 6, Sense Trouble* 8, Shadowing* 4, Stability 8, Stealth* 4, Weapons 0
Drive: Curiosity
Occupation: Author
Occupational Benefits:
During adventure downtime for your character, you can refresh one Academic pool point up to four times per game session by reading, checking your notes and files, and the like, as long as you have time and access to reasonable and relevant resources.
Pillars of Sanity:
Anything that can be written down can be understood
The social fabric provides shelter from the storms of life
God’s physical landscape of beauty and goodness
Sources of Stability:
Travis, your opportunistic publisher.
Micah, your brother.
Cromwell, your aging mentor, an author of popular fiction.
Background: It started as a joke, really. Books about the supernatural and the occult — readers would just eat them up. Mix a few folk tales, your mom’s superstitions, and the tiniest bit of research, and you were writing one best seller after the next. You never claimed they were to be taken seriously. And then the correspondence started happening. Readers began writing letters to you by the truckload, so convinced that you held a kernel of truth about the afterlife or South American curses. They believed you. They corroborated your stories with anecdotes of their own. Of course you always took them at face value; you didn’t want to insult them. And they weren’t all children or particularly simple. Graduate students — even professors — started quoting you in their papers. You started to believe you were on to something. What’s more: you couldn’t really prove you were wrong. Someone in a newspaper called you the leading authority on mysticism the other day. There’s no going back now.
Personality: Although you have an unfettered and romantic imagination, you are uncomfortable in most social situations, with increasing discomfort arising from increasing formality. You take your social cues from those you admire intellectually, which does not always advance your best interests and probably explains your spinsterhood. Even so, you spend little time worrying about your social status, because time spent away from your writing and correspondence is all too often time wasted.
Connection: Walter Winston was one of your most dedicated readers. He began corresponding with you after your second book. An anecdote of his, concerning some sex cult, ended up in your third book. Come to think of it, much of your research for your first series was really just things you picked out of his letters, changed some names, and embellished on. That Walter himself never really picked up on this was a surprise to you; he probably just thought they were similar tales that worked to confirm his own. The letters stopped coming back in 1924, but you still sent him a gratis copy of every volume of the next two series you wrote.
Academic Abilities: Accounting 0, Anthropology 1, Archaeology 1, Architecture* 2, Art History 1, Biology 0, Cthulhu Mythos 0, Cryptography 1, Geology 0, History* 2, Languages* 2 (French, Spanish), Law 0, Library Use* 4, Medicine 0, Occult* 2, Physics 0, Theology 0 {1}
Interpersonal Abilities: Assess Honesty* 2, Bargain 0, Bureaucracy 0, Cop Talk 0, Credit Rating 1, Flattery* 2, Interrogation 0, Intimidation 0, Oral History* 2, Reassurance 1, Streetwise 0
Technical Abilities: Art* 2 (writing, drawing), Astronomy 0 {1}, Chemistry 0, Craft 0, Evidence Collection 0, Forensics 0, Locksmith 0, Outdoorsman 0, Pharmacy 0, Photography* 2
General Abilities: Athletics 2, Conceal 3, Disguise 0, Driving 0, Electrical Repair 2, Explosives 0, Filch 4, Firearms 1, First Aid 0, Fleeing 6, Health 8, Hypnosis 0, Mechanical Repair 4, Piloting 0, Preparedness 0, Psychoanalysis 4, Riding 4, Sanity 10, Scuffling 1, Sense Trouble 6, Shadowing 0, Stability 10, Stealth 4, Weapons 4
Drive: Duty
Occupation: Clergy
Occupational Benefits:
You have access to church records that the rest of the public doesn’t by using Theology or Reassurance. This does not include access to secret archives, such as the “Z” Collection in the Vatican Library, but a Keeper may allow it with a sufficiently large spend.
If you are dressed as a priest or otherwise identify yourself as such, once per game session you may refresh any Interpersonal ability pool by talking to a member of your faith (but not a fellow Investigator).
Pillars of Sanity:
Unwavering belief in God, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit
The intrinsic good of humanity
For everything there is reason and purpose
Sources of Stability:
Mrs. Sloane, a trusted confidante in your former parish with whom you most certainly did not have a romance
The Archbishop of Boston
Fr. Simon, who leads your former parish
Jessica Meinardus, your spinster sister
Background: When life as a parish priest didn’t work out, the Archdiocese of Boston had another plan for you. Your new vocation is to travel to various towns in New England and investigate claims of miracles, ghosts, and demon possession. Where they got the idea you’d be good at this, you’re not quite sure. Perhaps you showed some aptitude at seminary when you performed that emergency exorcism in the neighboring dorm room. Perhaps they’re just trying to get you out of the small town where the parishioners have begun to spread unjustified rumors about you.
Personality: You had planned for a life behind the altar and in the confessional, not one on the road. You’re always calm, patient, and courteous. You are serious about your new mission and have given it careful study, but you often find that the claims you investigate have more to do with the people making them than any suspected paranormal causes. It’s always been your ability to listen paired with careful contemplation that has led to any success you’ve had.
Academic Abilities: Accounting 0, Anthropology 1, Archaeology 1, Architecture 1, Art History 1, Biology 0, Cthulhu Mythos 0, Cryptography 1, Geology 0, History* 2, Languages 2 (Aramaic*, Latin*), Law 0, Library Use* 2, Medicine 0, Occult 2, Physics 0, Theology* 2
Interpersonal Abilities: Assess Honesty* 2, Bargain 0, Bureaucracy 0 {1}, Cop Talk 0, Credit Rating 2, Flattery 1, Interrogation 0, Intimidation 0, Oral History* 2, Reassurance* 2, Streetwise 0
Technical Abilities: Art 0, Astronomy 0 {1}, Chemistry 0, Craft 0, Evidence Collection 1, Forensics 0, Locksmith 0, Outdoorsman 0, Pharmacy 0, Photography 0
General Abilities: Athletics 2, Conceal 2, Disguise 0, Driving 0, Electrical Repair 0, Explosives 0, Filch 0, Firearms 0, First Aid 5, Fleeing 6, Health 12, Hypnosis 0, Mechanical Repair 0, Piloting 0, Preparedness 4, Psychoanalysis 4, Riding 0, Sanity 10, Scuffling 4, Sense Trouble 7, Shadowing 0, Stability 12, Stealth 5, Weapons 0
Come on all you Cthulhu lovers (If that's possible without insanity). Join us in our madcap dash to madness...
Ideally, a new player would compliment the existing characters well. We lost our Alienist and Doctor over the course of the game, so those skills are in demand. But your occupation is up to you and all possibilities will be entertained; I also have pre-generated investigators to choose from as well.
Dotting. I need to read up on the rules a bit, but I'm pretty interested in throwing in for the Doc role.
Great! Let me know if you have any rules questions and I'll be happy to help out.
I'm interested if there's room
I'm interested if there's room
There certainly is. If I end up with four new players, that would be great.
For an overview of Trail, there's the condensed rules PDF and a helpful Gumshoe 101 for players and GMs.
Essentially, you have two separate groups of abilities- Investigative abilities that help you get clues and keep the story moving and General abilities which you roll on a d6 and spend points on to improve. You never roll for Investigative abilities, though you can spend points either for supplementary clues that aren't critical but are helpful or for a special benefit going forward. General abilities are rolled on a d6 vs. a threshold for success (typically 4) in order to determine success or failure. You spend points from your General ability pool to influence the dice: 1 point spent = +1 on the die roll. At certain points you can refresh your ability pools either by resting or by following your Drive (the reason you go into haunted houses and oppose Mythos cults) into dangerous situations.
Sounds good. I think I'd like to play as Mr. Haas, the collector of rare goods. I'll transfer him to an alias and then review what's already happened in the game. I've read the condensed rules. It's a big shift from PbtA games I've been playing lately but I think I can hack it.
Still need to peruse the rules, but dotting for interest!
Wouldn't mind trying the system if you don't mind a newbie. Seems like it's not too rules heavy. I'd like to play Cora King if possible. Is it better if I read through the campaign or just jump in as Cora obviously won't know any of it.
I'd like to play as the Joseph Westmore pregen for now... I might make my own character, if I can do so.
I'm quite pleased to see as much interest as we've gotten!
Meetch is already prepared with his alias and Ultrageek, followed by Yorick were the first to dot for interest so they get first chance at a slot.
Mahorfeus, Azih- if anyone can't do it on further consideration or doesn't like the rules or the campaign, I'd be glad if you guys were willing to be alternates. And if it turns out our occult expert isn't coming back to the thread, one of you guys will be in.
Ultrageek- you're completely free to make your own character, I just wanted to put the pregens up for anyone that wants examples, inspiration or a quicker entry. You can also switch around Westmore's stats if you want to tailor him more to what you see for the character.
I'll also put in my interest. If - for some strange reason - four of the five posters above don't work out, please contact me and I'll join in!
Sounds good to me. :)
At the very least, I have some interesting material to read. I'll stick around in case a spot opens up.
Just working on my background - I should be posted tonight or in the morning at the latest.
Alright being an alternate sounds fine. Have a fun game guys. Player drop outs are always not fun.
Ultrageek, Yorick- how are the characters coming along? Any questions?
Sorry about that. Don't have enough time to create a character, so I'll take the Joseph Westmore pregen, but can I change a pillar of sanity from "Janet Winston-Rogers, the remaining heir of the Winston legacy" to "Aflred Moore, a childhood friend and partner-in-crime, now a psychologist"
You certainly can- it may be easier to introduce you if you've been friends with her for a long time but you don't have to take her as a pillar of sanity.
Yorick, how are you doing on your PC? Would it be helpful if I put up the pregenerated doctors, even though we've already used them?
Yorick, Ultrageek- can you be ready with aliases by Monday or Tuesday? I'd like to get rolling again soon.
Sure
Some questions:
What is my health rating and hit thresh hold, and how can I find out?
How about stability rating and stability points? How can I find those out?
Also, what is my sanity rating?
Thanks!
Health, Sanity and Stability are listed as general abilities: he has 10 Health, 8 Sanity, 10 Stability
Hit threshold is 3 unless you have 8 points in athletics, at which point it becomes 4. You can push it up to 4 by taking cover or dropping on the ground in a firefight.
Great! Feel free to say hello in the discussion thread and I'll get you introduced to the group tomorrow.
Yorick: last day to get your character together before I offer your spot to the next person that applied.
Mahorfeus, if you're around the third spot is yours if you still want it.
A bit of catch up that I'd have to do, but I'm still interested. Any particular roles left that could use filling in? Considering using a pregen since I'm new to the system.
We have an archaeologist, a parapsychologist, a private detective, an antiquarian and a dilettante. A medical doctor or alienist would be a good role to fill: Dr. Udko and Dr. Malley were both pregens but with a little work you could change them up a little (or take on the role yourself). I'll copy and paste them when I have a chance. Or any of the remaining pregens that weren't taken could work, though I would say the Professor might be redundant at this point.
Drive: Sudden Shock
Occupation: Doctor
Occupational Benefits:
You have access to medical records and hospital wards that the rest of the public doesn’t by using Medicine or Reassurance. At Lenox Hill Hospital, you can use Reassurance to talk your way into any part of the facility. You restore 3 Health points rather than 2 for each point of First Aid you spend to heal others. You get 2 Health points rather than 1 for each point of First Aid you spend to heal yourself. You can spend 1 First Aid point rather than 2 to stabilize a seriously wounded victim.
Pillars of Sanity:
• The unflagging advance of scientific
understanding
• Your belief in the ability of the mind
to expand its understanding to
encompass anything it can perceive
Sources of Stability:
• Jeffery Malley, your ex-husband
• Dr. Hastings, a fellow specialist at
Lenox Hill
• Dr. Peter Trubino, your father, now
retired in Rochester, New York
Background: It was never your plan to get married. It was never your plan to get pregnant. You always wanted to focus on your career. Medical school had such a cost in time, money, and social investment that you weren’t going to give that up easily. But then you met — and married — Jeffery. And then you had Matthew. And you thought life had thrown your plans aside — had something else in store for you. But something was wrong with Matthew’s body. He had a growth on his lung. He couldn’t breathe like other newborns. He died after three weeks. So you went back to Lenox Hill Hospital — this time as a specialist rather than as a general practitioner. Your desire to understand what happened to Matthew drove your research into birth defects, disfigurements, and other physical oddities. Somewhere along the way you lost your connection to Jeffery, too, and he filed for divorce. Maybe it’s for the best. There’s more to life, to the physical structure of the living, than a husband and kids and the normal things. There is the odd, the strange, and your work.
Personality: There used to be a lot more to your life: dancing on weekends, handcrafting jewelry, seaside vacations. You used to balance your career with hobbies and relaxation. But it’s hard to think those are important anymore. It’s hard to engage in those things without a rush of memories about the family you had. Without your work, you get sad and depressed. When you’re focusing on the research or examining a new patient, that’s when you feel alive and exhilarated. That’s when you feel like your life has purpose. So why not embrace it? Why not just fall into the work and let it carry you through?
Academic Abilities:
Accounting* 0
Anthropology 1
Archaeology 0
Architecture 1
Art History 0
Biology* 2
Cthulhu Mythos 0
Cryptography 0
Geology 0
History 0
Languages 2 (Italian, Latin*)
Law 1
Library Use 1
Medicine* 4
Occult 0
Physics 0
Theology 0
Interpersonal Abilities:
Assess Honesty* 2
Bargain 0
Bureaucracy 1
Cop Talk 0
Credit Rating 4
Flattery 0
Interrogation 1
Intimidation 0
Oral History 0
Reassurance* 4
Streetwise 0
Technical Abilities:
Art 0
Astronomy 0
Chemistry 1
Craft 0
Evidence Collection 0
Forensics* 2
Locksmith 0
Outdoorsman 0
Pharmacy* 2
Photography 0
General Abilities:
Athletics 2
Conceal 1
Disguise 0
Driving 4
Electrical Repair 0
Explosives 0
Filch 2
Firearms 2
First Aid* 12
Fleeing 8
Health 12
Hypnosis 0
Mechanical Repair 2
Piloting 0
Preparedness 0
Psychoanalysis 6
Riding 0
Sanity 8
Scuffling 4
Sense Trouble 6
Shadowing 0
Stability 10
Stealth 1
Weapons 0
Dr. Paul Udko
Drive: Curiosity
Occupation: Alienist
Pillars of Sanity: The unflagging advancement of scientific understanding, Your belief in the ability of the human mind to expand its understanding to encompass anything it can perceive.
Sources of Stability: Jonas, one of your early patients, whom you treated at Dixmont.
Dr. Masterson, a close friend on the Providence licensing board.
Dr. Johns, a professor of behavioral science at your alma mater.
Background: At medical school, your interest in the intricacies of the mind far surpassed any draw the menial functions of the rest of the body held. Your professional career began at Dixmont Hospital for the Insane, where your curiosity continued to thrive. While your contemporaries were primarily driven to cure their patients of their psychological afflictions, you’d rather prolong them if only to study them better. As the Great Depression set in and the hospital lost a majority of its funding, you decided to go into private practice rather than
suffer a reduced salary. But the inane complaints of the clients who could afford your services soon bored you, and you began to seek out stranger and more disturbed customers - whether they had the cash or not.
Personality: You are driven by a need to discover that which is unknown and to understand that which is elusive. From time to time this compulsion has seen you neglect good hygiene, offend the overly sensitive, and propose the unthinkable for the sake of argument. It probably explains your continued bachelorhood. Even for the social drawbacks it brings, though, you are never more alive than when debating and dissecting wild theories with the potential to explain even wilder peculiarities. You would not change the fundamental makeup of your psyche if you could.
Connection: You were hired to consult a pharmaceutical magnate named Walter Winston. Having just left Dixmont, you welcomed the stable source of income. The man had suffered some ordeal in 1924 and, according to his family, had never been the same since. At the time, you were less interested in what happened to him than the psychological barriers he had constructed to block it out. When his wife passed away in 1932, you were let go. Then when you heard that Walter died earlier this year, you suddenly became intrigued by the incident that haunted this man’s life. When his daughter Janet Winston-Rogers telephoned, you thought you might have your chance to find out the truth — or something close to it.
Academic Abilities: Accounting 0, Anthropology 1, Archaeology 0, Architecture 1, Art History 0, Biology* 2, Cthulhu Mythos 1, Cryptography 0, Geology 0, History 0, Languages 2 (German*, Latin*), Law 1, Library Use* 2, Medicine* 2, Occult 0, Physics 0, Theology 0
Interpersonal Abilities: Assess Honesty* 4, Bargain 0, Bureaucracy 1, Cop Talk 0, Credit Rating 3, Flattery 1, Interrogation* 2, Intimidation 0, Oral History 0, Reassurance* 4, Streetwise 0
Technical Abilities: Art 0, Astronomy 0, Chemistry 0, Craft 0, Evidence Collection 0, Forensics 1, Locksmith 0, Outdoorsman 0, Pharmacy* 2, Photography 0
General Abilities: Athletics 2, Conceal 0, Disguise 0, Driving 4, Electrical Repair 2, Explosives 0, Filch 0, Firearms 4, First Aid 8, Fleeing 6, Health 10, Hypnosis 0, Mechanical Repair 2, Piloting 0, Preparedness 0, Psychoanalysis* 10, Riding 0, Sanity 8, Scuffling 4, Sense Trouble 7, Shadowing 2, Stability 10, Stealth 2, Weapons 0
Dr. Udko has 1 point in Cthulhu Mythos since he's read Douglas Henslowe's journal about the investigation in 1924- if you wanted to use these stats for a new psychologist, simply lower Cthulhu Mythos to 0 and add one to Sanity to make it a 9.
The occupational benefits for the alienist are:
As a licensed medical doctor, you can use Medicine as an Interpersonal ability to gain access to medical records, sanitarium wards, mental records and hospital wards.
You make Psychoanalysis tests for Psychological Triage at Difficulty 3 (instead of 4). It costs you 1 Psychoanalysis point (instead of 2) to stabilize an erratic character. You can recover 1 Stability for yourself per Psychoanalysis point you spend.
You can use Assess Honesty as forensic psychology. From the details of a crime, you can assemble a profile detailing the perpetrator's likely personal history, age, habits and attitudes.
Hm. I am definitely leaning toward Dr. Malley; her former player did not get the chance to post as much as her, so she seems to be a bit more of a blank slate. Also makes it easier to be consistent. It looks like she got put on a bus plane - I suppose she can have third thoughts about quitting the case?
I'll try to finish reading through the thread once I have the chance.
That sounds great, go for it!
Okay, sorry about the delay, all caught up on the game thread.
I'll have an alias up and running as soon as possible.
So it was just a matter of copying and pasting. :P
Ready to pop in whenever you need me to. Rules confused me a bit, but I figure I'll learn them better in practice.
By all means, jump into the thread. The players are hatching a plan for moving forward. And feel free to ask me any rules questions in the discussion thread.