Campaign Rules Regaining Luck Points In campaigns intended to last longer than 4 to 6 sessions such as published campaigns, players should have a way of regaining Luck Points and should not be discouraged from using them during the length of the campaign. At the end of each session, each character regains 1d4 Luck points. Each character who experienced a Bout of Madness during the session regains an additional 1d4 Luck points. Each character who experienced a Dark Personality Breakdown during the session regains an additional 1d4 Luck points. Each character who has an Indefinite Madness regains an additional 1d4 Luck points. The Keeper rolls the dice in secret without revealing their number, and gives each player the total value. If a player accomplished a spectacular roleplaying feat during their character's Bout of Madness, Indefinite Madness or Dark Trait Breakdown, or they follow up one action suggested by the Keeper into a great scene, they regain 5 Luck points instead rolling on one 1d4 dice roll related to gaining Luck points. Each character's Luck points have a maximum equal to their starting Luck points plus 10. Any Luck points that exceed that maximum are lost. Expanded Sanity Rules These rules are intended to add psychological realism to the Sanity rules in Call of Cthulhu. It is best fit for modern and historical periods or settings, such as Down Darker Trails and Cthulhu Dark Ages, where characters may be hardy and used to man-made horrors. Unlike classic Call of Cthulhu where any horrific display causes loss of Sanity, whether supernatural nature or not, in realistic horror the impending danger and escalating risks do not drive people mad. Instead, such events puts them under heavy stress that reveals their true nature. During an adventure there are can be situations that cause gain of Distress without loss of Sanity - difficult decisions, lack of resources, complications of plans, facing dire consequences, or the implications of a critical mistake. However, unlike Sanity, characters have ways to relieve Distress when given opportunity to unwind. Dark Trait When creating a character, you must choose a Dark Trait. You can roll for one, or with Keeper's permission pick any that fits your character, or even come up with a new one following the format in the table. The chosen Dark Trait should be kept secret from other players until revealed through the character's actions under Distress. Some Dark Traits are more likely to develop among characters who live a physically or mentally demanding lifestyle, and there are separate random ranges for the one that best fits your character. You can also choose more than one trait, but one of them is considered dominant and applies in an event of an Breakdown. When your character is nervous or stressed out their behavior starts to change and they start to exhibit signs under stress related to their Dark Trait. The exhibit are minor, however can be identified with a Psychology roll. When your character has a breakdown and suffers an Breakdown, you must follow the suggested responses related to your Dark Personality trait. If you have a complete breakdown, then the Keeper may take control over your character and dictate their behavior under stress. Distress In addition to Sanity points (SAN), each character has Distress points (DST). Each character starts with DST of 0. Anytime the character makes a SAN roll, whether they make or fail the roll, they roll the failure dice formula and gain DST points equal to the result. Other difficult situations and horrific encounters that are not some unexplainable supernatural phenomenon, cause your character to gain DST points instead of losing SAN points. Use similar damage formula as those presented in the Keeper's Handbook, pg. 155. When the Keeper puts the characters in an encounter such as exploring a dangerous location that induces dread and stress, or runs an action sequence such as a chase or a fight, once the encounter ends the Keeper makes each player roll a dice formula (usually 1d3 to 1d6+1) and each player add the result to their DST total. If your character is used to such encounters, like a soldier used to carnage of war, lower the dice size by one step (1d3 is lowered to 1). Effects of Distress While a character's DST is below half of your character's POW, the character is composed and in full control of their actions, and can choose to ignore their Dark Personality and keep it hidden. When a character's DST is equal or greater than half their POW, the character becomes nervous and their behavior starts to reveal hints of their Dark Trait. Each time they gain 5 or more DST points, make a DST roll. If you roll under your DST total, the character suffers a Breakdown for 1d4 rounds. See your Dark Personality trait for the suggested stress and breakdown behavior. When a character's DST is equal or greater than their POW, the character's is clearly stressed out. Their behavior is dominated by their Dark Trait at all times. Anytime the character gains 5 or more DST at once, the character suffers a Breakdown for 1d10 rounds, and the Keeper may suggest in secret the character's immediate action. If a character's DST is equal or greater than their SAN maximum equal to 99% minus Cthulhu Mythos skill, the character suffers a complete and lasting Breakdown. The Keeper may take full control over the character until the character's DST is reduced below that maximum. 1
Physical d100 Mental d100 Dark Personality Trait Behavior 1-12 1-6 AGGRESSIVE. Physical action and violence is the solution to every problem. Under distress, you are likely to display bouts of verbal aggression and even intimidate allies should they challenge your decisions. If you suffer a Breakdown, you are unlikely to restrain yourself from combat until any perceived enemy is completely destroyed. 13-21 7-9 MARTYR. You are overwhelmed by responsibility for others. Under distress, you become less concerned with your wellbeing and always focus on the needs of your allies. If you suffer a Breakdown, you will accept any course of action that may let you sacrifice for a greater goal or the survival of others. 22-27 10-18 COWARD. Fear overwhelms you. Under distress, you become pessimistic and sarcastic, always expecting the worst of outcomes and sharing it openly with others. When you suffer a Breakdown, you panic and run away - even if this means deserting your friends to a cruel fate! 28-36 19-27 EGOTIST. Your main concern is your wellbeing and your survival! Under distress, your decisions are dictated by your needs, and the wellbeing of others are secondary. If you suffer a Breakdown, you prioritize your safety over everything else, even if it means denying help or even betraying your allies. 37-48 28-33 SADISTIC. You have a deep desire of abusing others in a way that gives you pleasure. Under distress, you are likely to enjoy causing excessive harm or misfortune to others in order to calm down and feel good. If you suffer a Breakdown, you will accept any course of action that causes the maximum harm to the enemy even if it puts in harm your plans and your allies as well. 49-54 34-42 PARANOID. You feel like people are constantly scheming behind you, or everyday life is a front for hidden threats. Under distress, you are likely to consider even coincidences an evidence for such conspiracies. If you suffer a Breakdown, your are completely convinced that the most immediate events are related to a grand conspiracy against you and you must make immediate action to prevent it. 55-60 43-48 PSYCHOPATHIC. When facing a critical decision, you disassociate with the needs and emotions or others. You see the world as a playground, and everyone except you is a tool to achieve your goals. Under distress, you become fully focused on its cause and unable to communicate your intent and emotional state with others, even those closest to you. If you suffer a Breakdown, you lose the ability to cooperate with others, and must only resolve problems by your own means. 61-66 49-57 ANNOYING. You have annoying habits to talk too much, make tasteless jokes, fidget, walk in a circle or others that most likely will irritate others. Under distress, these habits intensify and help you deal with uncertainty and danger. If you suffer a Breakdown, you find it very hard to concentrate on the task at hand, taking more than twice the time and suffering of lack of focus. 67-69 58-63 DEPENDENT. You appear independent only while you maintain composure. Under distress, you cling to others for protection and will follow their advice or commands as long as they are the only certainty for survival. If you suffer a Breakdown, you are incapable of decision making, needing someone else to tell you what you must do. 70-75 64-72 MEGALOMANIAC. You have the unsatisfied need to acquire more wealth, power and control over others. Where others see danger and dread, you often see opportunities to acquire such power. Under distress, anything that makes you feel weak or unable to control events causes you anxiety and aggravation. If you suffer a Breakdown, you will stop at nothing to acquire forbidden knowledge and power, even if it means embracing the madness of the Old Ones. 76-81 73-78 CURIOUS. It killed the cat, but a little bit of knowledge can't possibly harm anyone, right? Under distress, you find it very hard to contain yourself not learning more even if it gets you more involved in mysteries and conspiracies. If you suffer a Breakdown, you are compelled to use any knowledge acquired this way to experiment on you own, often with unpredictable results. 82-84 79-84 FIXATED. You tend to fixate on simple repetitive activities that let you forget about everything else. Under distress, pick one simple activity that you are doing and you are compelled to continue doing it for as long as you can without harm for yourself. If you suffer a Breakdown, the Keeper chooses one activity that is the only beacon of comfort and safety in a world of chaos and uncertainty, and stopping doing it is a test for your will or requires others to talk you out of it. 85-93 85-90 LOUD. To deal with boiling emotions, you need to let it out loud. Under distress, you find it very hard to keep your voice down, and are likely to speak out your mind rather than share it privately or contain yourself. If you suffer a Breakdown, you are compelled to make a scene, yelling loudly a tirade or a barrage of expletives, even if this wastes precious time. 94-99 91-99 ZEALOUS. You hold a strong belief or moral code that is the main anchor of stability in your life. Define your belief with the Keeper: it can be religious, political or personal one. Under distress, you tend to obsess with your belief and become anxious and irritated should it be wronged or questioned. If you suffer a Breakdown, your belief and everything it stands for is endangered and you must take every action, including violence, to defend it. 2
Physical d100 Mental d100 Dark Personality Trait Behavior 100 100 CATATONIC. To deal with boiling emotions, you retreat to the quiet of your deepest inner mind. Under distress, you find it very hard to speak, and are likely to shut down rather than contribute. If you suffer a Breakdown, you are compelled to halt any actions, move your body to a neutral posture, and go nearly mute. You passively resist attempts to force movement or speech. At the Keeper's discretion, you may be able to privately whisper signal or move with other individuals. 100 100 BURDENED. You have a deeper and more troubled nature than most. Pick any one of the options above, then roll again for another Dark Trait. If you roll the same one twice, you only get that one Dark Trait. Pacing Stress Gain Rather than making players roll for DST gain on every part of a scene, risking that your players dislike the mechanic as it breaks play too often with rolls, sum together several rolls planned throughout the scene and instead make players roll them at the end. This represents the total stress accumulated during an investigation of a location. For example, rather than roll 1d4, then 1d4+1, then 1d6+1 during a scene, have them roll 2d4+1d6+2 at the end of the scene. The accumulated stress during a scene does not trigger a Breakdown. Since this approach makes it impossible to trigger Breakdown during the scene, you can still require immediate rolls when facing sudden dangers, jump scares, gruesome sights and other scenes that require immediate response. It is suggested that you keep these up to two per location, the rest of distress accumulation summed for the end of the scene, as suggested above. Distress and Madness If the character has a Phobia, when in contact with the subject of their phobia any DST loss dice and any bonus value are doubled. For example, if a normal DST gain in a vat of snakes is 1d4+1, a character suffering of Ophidiophobia would instead suffer 2d4+2 points of DST. If the contact is particularly extreme, as being subjected to snakes crawling under your clothes and into a body orifice for an extended period of time while completely immobilized and helpless, triple the dice and any bonus values instead, then take the maximum value of the roll. Stress Relief When your character rests for at least an hour outside of perceived danger and in comfortable conditions, lower their DST total by 1d10. If the period is extended to a full day of rest, use 10 instead of rolling. At any moment a character under stress can attempt to make a POW roll to compose themselves. If the DST value is higher than the POW value, the roll is a Hard difficulty. Alternatively, an ally can make a Psychology roll to calm down the character. A success recovers 1d4 DST points if done during a dangerous situation or immediately after one, or 1d6+1 if done outside of perceived danger. If the character has a Mania, they can revel in one of their manias for 1d10 rounds in order to calm themselves and relieve Distress. Doing so lowers the DST total by 1d6+1. There is no requirement for being outside of danger, however they must make a Sanity roll and on a failure they lose 1 SAN. Once DST points were recovered, an additional attempt cannot be made until the character gains DST points in some way, or a full day has passed. Abstract Length of Effects Rounds in Call of Cthulhu are important only during combat and chases, and have no strict time duration. Use the following abstract suggestion for resolving effects once their length in rounds is rolled. Any effect lasting 1 to 3 rounds is less than a minute long, considered short and fleeting, enough to notice but not long enough to get involved with it or examine it. Any effect lasting 4 to 7 rounds is longer than a minute, enough to be observed in detail, and allows to study it and make a single involved interaction with it. Any effect lasting 8 rounds or longer is about two to three minutes in length, and allows to get involved make several different successive involved interactions with it.