Call of Cthulhu sanity

[Michael]

How would you handle CoC sanity with Heroquest II rules?

Michael

[Peter Metcalfe]

I would play Cthulhu Mythos (HQ style) as an ability which confers special insight and what not. It is necessary to cast mythos spells.

In times of mythos crisis (ie being attacked by a mythos creature), the hero makes a simple contest using the appropriate non-mythos score (ie bravery, man of science etc). If the hero fails, then he acquires the Cthulhu Mythos Score in addition to attendant mental health issues. And that’s before the real combat begins.

In the case of subsequent mythos crises, the presence of Cthulhu Mythos ability gives a penalty to defending against any mythos attack. If the hero receives a complete defeat, he loses his sanity and becomes a mythos puppet.

One could further divide the Cthulhu Mythos ability into separate mythos beings (Yog-Shoggoth, Nyalathotep etc) such that knowing Cthulhoid spells will not help in understanding Hastur.

[Robin Mitra]

I agree with Peter, although I may add that I used it both as an ability and a flaw. They always have the same rating, so if the player raises the ability, the flaw goes up as well.

[Jeff Richard]

I increasingly use HQ2 for our occasional CoC games (less paperwork, more character driven, etc). When a character encounters a sanity-destroying Mythos event (reading an occult tome, seeing a Deep One, seeing the Dreamer awaken, etc), I have them chose whatever ability “grounds” them in the mortal world (frex, abilities used have included a relationship with a loved one, a belief in God, unshakeable optimism, and even oblivious to surroundings) against an appropriate difficulty level (determined either by GM fiat or by pass/fail). If they have nothing to ground themselves (which a surprising number of Cthulhu investigators lack), then they get a default of 6.
If they fail, their sanity is shaken and then get a lingering penalty imposed on all things where being sane is required (for example, persuading the authorities you are not a nut case or not fleeing from danger). A Major Defeat causes temporary insanity (GM fiat just like in CoC), a Complete Defeat is permanent insanity.

[Phil Nicholls]

Hi Michael,

As HeroQuest 2 is such a flexible system, there are several ways that you could run Call of Cthulhu-style sanity. I would choose to run Sanity in a method similar to the one Jeff outlined.

Thus, it would be a Simple Contest. The Cthulhu entity would attack the Investigator with a Fear-based rating, scaled according to the creature. Thus, a Zombie would have, say, a Medium Fear Aura, scaling up to Nearly Impossible for the dark gods themselves.

I would require the Investigators to resist this Fear Aura with some sort of mental ability, but you could also accept relationships as Jeff outlined. Of course, the Player would be risking a consequence linked to their chosen ability, so may want to consider carefully.

The results of the Simple Contest may impose a Lingering Bonus or Penalty. I would apply a Lingering Bonus to the Investigator’s struggle with the current creature, some sort of determination to rid the world of this evil. Once an Investigator had overcome a Zombie’s Fear Aura, then I would not require a further roll should more Zombies turn up. However, if a Hound of Tindalos appears, then a fresh roll is needed and any Zombie Bonus will not help.

Conversely, if the Investigator fails the Fear contest, then I would apply a Lingering Penalty, initially to mental abilities. At higher levels, then a penalty applies to All abilities as the fear really takes hold. For a Major Defeat, then either a temporary insanity, or perhaps a permanent character quirk, along the lines of a minor geas. You could tailor this quirk to the ability chosen to resist the Fear Aura. This would gradually make the Investigator weirder over time, which might fit your style of game.

Of course, the Complete Defeat is the full-blown insantiy, or perhaps even temporarily mindlessness and out of action.

You can tweak with these results to create the style of game that you want, or perhaps vary the effects over time as the accumulation of weird sights takes its toll on the hapless Investigators. Much of the detail depends upon the style of game you wish to play, or the subtleties of the source material you are seeking to emulate. Whichever approach you take, the HeroQuest 2 rules are flexible enough to cope.

I hope that this helps
Phil

[Michael]

Quote:

Quote from Peter Metcalfe on January 13, 2014, 03:14
I would play Cthulhu Mythos (HQ style) as an ability which confers special insight and what not. It is necessary to cast mythos spells.

In times of mythos crisis (ie being attacked by a mythos creature), the hero makes a simple contest using the appropriate non-mythos score (ie bravery, man of science etc). If the hero fails, then he acquires the Cthulhu Mythos Score in addition to attendant mental health issues. And that’s before the real combat begins.

In the case of subsequent mythos crises, the presence of Cthulhu Mythos ability gives a penalty to defending against any mythos attack. If the hero receives a complete defeat, he loses his sanity and becomes a mythos puppet.

One could further divide the Cthulhu Mythos ability into separate mythos beings (Yog-Shoggoth, Nyalathotep etc) such that knowing Cthulhoid spells will not help in understanding Hastur.

So would this would be like Power, which is used to power spells?

[Peter Metcalfe]

I don’t see Cthulhu Mythos as a power source for spells but rather a cosmic awareness that allows the victim to cast spells.

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