4CS – Cthulhu Rising Adventure Framework

4CS – Cthulhu Rising Adventure Framework

The End of the World As We Know It. Unless a desperate superhero strike force with one last chance can finish a ritual to banish the big Old Octopus God. Only problem is to do that they need to get to R’lyeh.

SETTING

The near 4CS future. The crazed cultists have won. A successful ritual summoning has brought back an Old One, wreaking havoc. Heroes struggle to shepherd survivors if they are still alive. Nicole Wrath is on the run with superspeedster Emu, attempting to coordinate a global underground secret resistance. Australian Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Djira survives on stimulants and the life energy of a few acolytes trying to buy enough time before dimensional barriers are completely breached. The Band have been beaten down. The Justice Squadron are scattered. Nightblack, warrior of the decades went down fighting in Melbourne, needing an unbreakable shield to go with his sword. Corporate Industrialist Light Knight and her Light Squadron do what those types usually do. Run for a pocket universe fortress to try and come up with an idea, taking the Great Elasto with them. An exhausted Eyebeam and Eric Gale lead mobile mutant strike and rescue teams, fighting Shoggoths and other horrors. Prince Atlantis leads his people in holding off a Deep One invasion.

Barbecue is the woman with the plan. A small, versatile team on a lightning raid to R’lyeh. Then help him finish a ritual to banish the badness. The one problem: it requires a blood sacrifice. One of the heroes must die.

ISSUES

Send the Elder God back
Not Everyone Gets Out Alive
Getting Out Dead Could Be Even Worse

THE PLAYERS – PREGENS

Gulp!

Doctor Benner, melted by radiocative Big MaRS
You Wouldn’t Like Me When I’m Angry
It’s Not Easy Being Green
Gulp! Smash

M: Remarkable (30)
C: Good (10)
B: Unearthly (100)
F: Monstrous (75)
I: Feeble (2)
A: Typical (6)
W: Remarkable (30)

Resources: Feeble (2)
Popularity: Good (-10)

Damage: 215
Fortune: 38

Other Skills

Class 1000 (1000) Invulnerability: Cold, Heat, Fire, Disease
Unearthly (100) Super Movement: Leaping only up to 50 zones a turn
Monstrous (75) Body Armor: Physical, Astral Detection
Amazing (50) Body Armor: Energy

Stunts

Anger Surge: Gulp! gets mad when fighting the same people for multiple turns. Each turn her Fighting and Strength go up (10) to a maximum of (100). When that fight is over she returns to the normal Gulp! state.

Alter Ego Betty Benner

I was a victim of shoddy fast food safety practices
A tv reporter on the scene gave me my angry nickname after seeing the manager’s reaction

M: Poor (4)
C: Typical (6)
B: Typical (6)
F: Typical (6)
I: Remarkable (30)
AI: Good (10)
W: Typical (6)

Damage: 22
Fortune: 46

Other Skills

Incredible (40) PhysiRS

Invisible Man

Father of a Mutant
A Thing For Princess Atlantia

M: Good (10)
C: Good (10)
B: Typical (6)
F: Remarkable (30)
I: Good (10)
I: Excellent (20)
W: Good (10)

Resources: Remarkable (30)
Popularity: Amazing (50)

Other Skills

Monstrous (75) Force Field: one zone
Excellent (20) Invisibility, Martial Arts
Good (10) Academics, Science
Typical (6) Flight

VanDemon

Tasmanian curmudgeon
Having a skeleton implanted at a secret military base was rather traumatic
Berserk killer
Loves a beer and a joint

M: Incredible (40)
C: Remarkable (30)
B: Good (10)
F: Remarkable (30)
I: Typical (6)
I: Monstrous (75)
W: Incredible (40)

Resources: Typical (6)
Popularity: Typical (6)

Damage: 110
Fortune: 121

Other Skills

Class 1000 (1000) Her claws vs non-living will cut through anything up to Class 1000
Unearthly (100) Resistance: Poison, Disease
Monstrous (75) Tracking
Amazing (50) Martial Arts, Sword
Remarkable (30) Regeneration (requires rest).
Excellent (20) Claws vs living, Contacts, Espionage
Good (10) Adamantium Skeleton bonus damage when using body parts as weapons

Redback

I was a teenage expatriate Soviet Super Soldier. It sucked.
The old dancer-turned footy player as spy cover story.

M: Incredible (40)
C: Remarkable (30)
B: Good (10)
F: Excellent (20)
I: Good (10)
I: Incredible (40)
W: Excellent (20)

Resources: Good (10)
Popularity: Remarkble (30)

Damage: 100
Fortune: 70

Other Skills

Remarkable (30) Wallcrawling: via costume, Explosives: via belt
Amazing (50) Martial Arts, Spider Bite – Damage: Energy (20); Gas (20); 3 zone grappling hook; radio
Excellent (20) Contacts, Detective, Espionage, Military

Atlantia

Atlantean Princess
Slumming in tight shorts

M: Remarkable (30)
C: Remarkable (30)
B: Amazing (50)
F: Remarkable (30)
I: Typical (6)
I: Excellent (20)
W: Excellent (20)

Resources: Good (10)
Popularity: Good (10)

Damage: 140
Fortune: 46

Other Skills

Excellent (20) Ocean Sciences
Good (10) Body Armour: Physical, Science
Poor (4) Flight

Stunts

Atlanteans can breathe underwater and are cold resistant and swim like fish.

Barbecue

Former Soldier
Short a Leg, but I can Kit Bash one
Cooked a few teammates for Blood and Souls

M: Good (10)
C: Good (10)
B: Good (10)
F: Excellent (20)
I: Incredible (40)
I: Good (10)
W: Amazing (50)

Resources: Typical (6)
Popularity: Good (10)

Other Skills

Unearthly (100) Optics
Monstrous (75) Magic: Dimensional opening and sealing ritual only
Amazing (50) Inventing: Jury Rig pretty much anything he thinks of, Cybernetics, Electronics
Incredible (40) Spirit Sight

Stunts

She has a high-tech Headquarters with all sorts of outlandish technology.

Crimson Warlock

I should be so lucky
My mother is a bad, bad woman with an overly magnetic personality
Recovering Insane Genocidal Maniac
No, you really can’t breed with a robot

M: Good (10)
C: Good (10)
B: Typical (6)
F: Excellent (20)
I: Good (10)
I: Excellent (20)
W: Remarkable (30)

Resources: Typical (6)
Popularity: Good (10)

Damage: 46
Fortune: 60

Other Skills

Amazing (50) Probability Alteration: He can cause unlikely things to happen on a roll
Excellent (20) Mysteries, Occult, Magic: General sorcery and Eldritch bolts, Shields are Incredible (40)
Good (10) Telekinesis

Cthulhu Cultist

Fan of gibbering horrors
Worshipper of Elder Gods
Appears in all genders and sizes

M: Typical (5)
C: Typical (5)
B: Typical (5)
F: Typical (5)
I: Poor (3)
I: Poor (3)
W: Good (8)

Resources: Typical (5)
Popularity: Typical (5)

Damage: 20
Fortune: 14

Other Skills

Occult: Good (8)

Or treat as Typical (5) mooks.

Deep One

Amphibious Old One Servants

M: Typical (5)
C: Typical (5)
B: Good (8)
F: Typical (5)
I: Good (8)
A: Typical (5)
W: Typical (5)

Resources: Typical (5)
Popularity: Typical (5)

Other Skills

Good (10) Body Amour, Claws, Spear

Stunts

Water breathing

Or treat as Good (8) mooks.

Shoggoth

5 metre around nasty blob horror
Steadfast guardian

M: Typical (5)
C: Shift 0 (0)
B: Incredible (38)
F: Remarkable (28)
I: Poor (3)
A: Poor (3)
W: Typical (5)

Resources: (0)
Popularity: -Remarkable (-30)

Damage: 71
Fortune: 11

Other Skills

Excellent (18): Body Armour: Energy, Radiation
Good (8) Body Armour: Physical (smooshy and snotty)

Stunts

A Shoggoth can attack multiple targets in its area with no penalty. Tentacles. Many slimy tentacles.

Big Shoggoth

7 metre around nasty blob horror
Steadfast guardian

M: Typical (5)
C: Shift 0 (0)
B: Amazing (48)
F: Incredible (38)
I: Poor (3)
I: Poor (3)
W: Typical (5)

Damage: 91
Fortune: 11

Other Skills

Remarkable (28): Body Armour: Energy, Radiation
Excellent (18) Body Armour: Physical (smooshy and snotty)

Stunts

A Shoggoth can attack multiple targets in its area with no penalty. Even bigger slimy tentacles.

ADVENTURING

Really designed as a one shot adventure, if they really liked the setting it could be Shoggoth and deep one and crazed cultist fighting time afterwards. Or engineering work, too. Or creepy Call of Cthulhu what did we miss style subplots for afterwards. Then the character that died comes back as an evil horror leader and really, really wants the rest of the heroes to join them.

If the players want to use their own characters and there are several, then suggestions:

A Brick [use a Barbecue kit bashed tech boost if the PC is not strong/hardy enough for the scenario] – Shoggoths are tough
Lethal Killers – for occupying servitors
Sneaky Types – for getting by and/or hiding others
Magic Users – for the ritual and support
Super Genius – for building and ancient languages
Protectors – that can use shields, forcefields, barrier creation, etc.

If only one PC is playing, just add them to the team if they want to use their own character.

Barbecue has kit bashed some gear to let the players survive underwater and Atlantia is along for support, given her natural abilities. The gear could get damaged, particularly in a succeed with cost or taken out and other such combat scenarios. She could get someone that can’t breathe out at least alive. Allow them more standard type weapons that will work underwater if they want to take them. Spear guns, knives, swords, etc. Assume the gear warm will have an underwater knife in a calf sheath.

SCENARIO SEQUENCE

The Underwater City has been located, the players assemble off New England. Have a cultist patrol attack if you fancy a warmup.

The heroes must traverse an ever blackening sea, harassed by Deep Ones. Using lighting is a beacon to draw attacks with higher probability. Which they should quickly discover.

Finding the city might cause Willpower checks to stay the course. Or Fortune if they fail, to preserve their sanity.

Definitely a whole bunch of attackers to get through, or to delay while part of the group searches for the ritual site. Just some perhaps slightly tougher Deep Ones, even led by a Mage if more than one sorcery capable hero. Not enough to need a Brick though.

Traps. Give them at least one Indiana Jones or D&D classic to survive on entering the ritual chamber. Plus a spears from the wall trap. Deep Ones love their spears. Then one from the floor. And one from the ceiling. If you can’t think of one, the classic stone in floor opens so you fall into a pit of slavering eldritch horrors works wonders.

The tough hero came for a reason. Shoggoths. If it is Gulp!, plenty of them and the chamber is big enough. Otherwise, enough to challenge our super strong friend. Shoggoths have tentacles, so even sneaking past gives them at least one chance to attack.

The idea is to get the ritual done, not beat all the Shoggoths. If the Gulp! smashes them too quickly, throw some more at him, pile on with tougher ones even.

If two magic capable characters make it, the ritual can be performed more quickly with an easier difficulty. Having the main person doing the ritual decide to sacrifice themselves during the performance will definitely go badly wrong if they are dumb enough. The assistant could, but will make a really nasty bad guy later when they return from the dead and the depths.

If only one original PC playing, the Redback will volunteer to take the ritual knife in the heart. Vandemon will overrule her, reasoning that there’s a chance he will survive. Or anybody, if no-one is pretty much dead already. Whether having a pseudo immortal in the ritual messes it up slightly is a GM call. If he makes it back, maybe he has a hybrid infection. Hate Brood and Mythos then.

If the characters don’t work out that using Karma etc. on the ritual roll is a good one, then becoming smooshed Shoggoth stains is pretty well deserved. If you are feeling nice, have a massive aquatic monster smash the walls in to give them a clue this is an even more desperate situation.

After an evil magical ritual in a trapped underwater city, of course the city will fall down around their ears. So they have to survive rubble, any opponents in the city, and an extra few on the way back and if feeling mean, an armed cultist welcoming party. Which a rather grumpy hero group is likely to treat very meanly. If they have done a good job and are almost dead, have someone else take them out. Otherwise, let Gulp! smash puny humans.

REFERENCES

4RS
http://hazardstudio.net/id18.html
http://www.lulu.com/shop/public-domain/4c-system/ebook/product-17558944.html
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?filters=0_0_31808_0_0
http://dorkland.blogspot.com.au/p/the-4c-rules.html

Cthulhu: Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulhu

DC Adventures RPG: Universe – More characters than you would think

This has more than you would expect in it, having rather good Character Cost and solid enough character density…much more description spent on the various areas of the universe as opposed to characters, too.

Over 1/3 are of the villainous variety.

$20.00 – http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/113903/DC-ADVENTURES-U…

Arion, Amazon Warrior, Atomic Knight, Accomplished Perfect Physician, August General In Iron, Amon Hakk, Alley-Kat-Abra, Amethyst, — Whisper A’Daire, Kyle Abott, Artemiz,

Black Pirate, Bat Lash, Harvey Bullock, Director Bones, Brainiac II, Bounder, Brainiac III, Broot, Batman Beyond, Bruce Wayne, Blok, — Blackrock, Bernadeth, Black Beetle,

C.A.P., Checkmate Knight, Cameron Chase, Celestial Archer, Commander Ciji, Captain Carrot, Coluan Technician, — Jim Corrigan, Controller, Crystal Creature, Catwoman, Cyberpak,

Dan Turpin, D.E.O. Agent, Doc II, Doctor Occult, Doctor Thirteen, Daxamite, Durlan Spy, — Darkstar Envoy, Doctor Diehard, Dreamslayer, Dominator Soldier, Dark Circle Clone Soldier,

Enemy Ace, Elu, Earth-Man, — Epoch,

Fastback, — Faceless Hunter,

James Gordon, G. I. Robot, Gorilla City Guardsman, Ghost Fox Killer, Ghosts of the Wicked, Garv, Gates, — Gorgon,

Hawk Wingman, Highfather,

Imperial Guardian Lion, Immortal-Man-In-Darkness, — Intergang thug, Infinite Man,

Knight, Kilowog, Kamandi, Khund Cyber-Soldier, — Koolar Warrior,

Liberty Belle [Jesse Chammbers, Libby Lawrence Chambers,], Lady Quark, — Lord Havok, Lashina,

Josie Mac, Mother of Champions, Maxima, Mister E, Metron, — Bruno Mannheim, Manhunter Agent, Manhunter Android, Mercury Monster, Monguls, Mantis, Mad Harriet,

Naltorian Seer,

Pig-Iron, — Psion Researcher,

Quislet,

Rocket Red, Ryan D’R, Rubberduck, — Religion of Crime cultist,

Johnny Thunder, Thunderbolt, Jakeem Thunder, Tellus, — Time Commander, Time Trapper,

Scalphunter, Sgt Rock, Sasha Bordeaux, Special Crimes Unit, Maggie Sawyer,
Unknown Soldier, Solovar, Squire, Seven Deadly Brothers, Shaolin Robot, Socialist Red Guardian, StrataLady Quark, Starman, Shade the Changing Man, Science Police Officer, — Sonar, Lady Styx, Superboy-Prime, Stompa, Steppenwolf, Shadow Demons,

Thundermind, Tribulus, Tigorr, Titanian Refugee, — Tracer, Thunderers of Qward,

Ultra,

Vartox, — Virman Vundabarr,

Xylon,

Yankee Poodle,

Wildstar, Waverider, — White Martin, Wood King,

0.14 Character Cost
0.63 Character Density

The Bad Guys – Varied Power Levels in tiny type

M&M

Varied Power Levels from 4 to 19…tiny type

$7.95 http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/18281/The-Bad-Guys-an-…

Azeraphel, Ace of Wounds,
Big John, Broken Arrow, Black Thunder, Blitzenhammer, Boy Howdy, Bones,
Captain Valiant, Cimarron Starr,
Doctor Shock, Death Angel, Doctor Moloch PhD, Doctor Destructor, Double Deuce, Diamond Deuce,
Executive Solution D, Executive Solution M, Executive Solution Z, Executive Solution X, Executive Solution R, Executive Solution Q, Executive Solution F, Executive Solution Y, Executive Solution D,
Jim Flint [Mr Flint’s Bodyguards], Executive Solution D,
God, Grim Diddle, Grease Monkey,
Helen Damnation, Hammer of Doom,
Johnny Black, Jim Dandy,
Lone Star Lady, Lady Deuce,
Mano del Muerte, Moebius Man, Mother Moebius, Mr Fist,
Ratcatcher,
Sicko the Clown, Snow Queen, Der Shreik, Steel Deuce, Mr Smith,
Der Totenkopf, Texas Twister,
U-Go-Grrrl, Unicorn,
Vampire Girl,
Wolf-Dog, Woodchuck Man,
Zyclon B, Zelma Zimmer,

0.14 Character Cost
0.35 Character Density

Runequest 6 Essential Edition

Artwork?  Pretty reminiscent of the RQ2 style in this.

Combat effects include Bleed and Impale as well as Bash and Stun  (ah, Crush sounds nastier!)

Fumbles….a fumble gains you a free increase of 1% in a skill later on.  That is a nice tweak.

Experience Rolls…GMs award these it seems rather that getting one for the successful use of a skill.  You then improve if you roll d100 > current skill and add INT as a bonus.  Then you go up 1d4+1%…fail the roll, go up 1%.

Then there is the paying for training version, as well.

The Disease and Poison Conditions table has 18!  Death is one. 🙂

Fatigue – rules for this, speaking of more conditions.  ‘Tracking Fatigue and its effects makes for additional book-keeping’

Permanent Injury Table….character loses 1/3, 2/3 or all but one Hit Points in a location.  Ouch!

Inanimate Object ratings – expanding on the swords/armour idea in RQ2 with tables, so a chair has 2 Armour and 6 Hit Points.  Solidly useful stuff games that have tables of that sort of thing.  Although of course can use the standard BRP opposition table for that sort of thing, fast version.

Page 77 – Combat can be a very deadly business:

This we knew, game of Impales (and Slashes and Crushes in the past, always used those too…so carnage and mayhem from all weapon types)

Initiative?  Ok, now they have gone MSH or V&V…1d10 and add to Strike Rank.  Which is reversed, so higher is better!

Proactive Actions you can do with action points, another list of options

including:

Dither – A character can decide to simply waste his turn doing nothing useful

Special Effects – difference in combat success levels gets you them it seems…Impales etc also on here.

Ok, so Sunder is wreck their armour.

Magic Points to go with your Action Points.

The Fire table has Volcanic Lava.

Folk Magic – Dishevel…for when you needed a magical way to make your place look not cleaned?

Theism – “Not every being who receives worship is necessarily a god per se.”  Got that, Ray?

Cult of the Lord Dark Maggot might not be too pleasant.

Divine Intervention now Miracles by the looks.

Earthquake table, to go with the volcanos. Intensity 11+ ‘even colossal stone monuments like pyramids suffer partial collapse’

Chapter 15 has 35 pages of monsters, including a few flavourful ones like Chaos Hybrids, Panthotaurs, Baboons and Winged Apes.  And a big long Chaos Features table.

Character sheets, Combat Tracking Sheet and Index at the end.

USA-50: Book of the West – One a state, one side only good and bad

Got this in a bundle a while back. The premise is that each USA state should have a hero and people have collaborated to make them up. I don’t know if East exists.

Anyway it has multi-page hero and villain writeups with some campaign setting, hooks, hero interviews etc.

$3.42 – http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/86910/USA-50-West

Azure, Armored Waste Disposal Unit [Hector, Cassandra,],
Big Sky,
Captain California, Centennial,
— Doctor Mojave,
Estrella, Eco-Ranger,
— Fire-Bomb, Frost-Bite Baines,
Gem Stone, — Green-Tech, Grey-Snare,
Honey-Bee, — Hanford FX,
Miss Bison, — Kyle Millenion,
Orka Mortale,
— Purple Ox, Prairie Fire,
Silver Line, — Stone-Devil, Serpentyna, Sonora-X, Sorcera Madre,
Wild-Catter, Wind-Talker,

0.12 Character Cost
0.24 Character Density

Freedom City Archetypes & Legacies – Expensive versatility for Freedom Fans

These :-

$4.95 has http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/20192/Freedom-City-Arc…

1 page of OGL in this case

Champion of Light
DNAscendant
Freedom Eagle II
Lor Star-Captain
Rogue Grue
Scarab Reborn
Shambala Master
Star Knight
Ultiman Exile
Utopian Envoy

0.50 Character Cost
0.71 Character Density

The FATE: of Rogue of the X-Men

Talking about MSH Rogue with Mike Lindsey on Google+ the other day so here’s my take at various stages of her career as far as a generic Fate Core game goes

Rogue – New to the X-Men

Reformed Evil Mutant power stealer
I can’t control mah power!
Not sure old baldy can really help me
My mother is a bad example
Mentally Unstable Dual Personality Immune to Takeover

+3 Deceive
+2 Athletics, Burglary, Physique
+1 Fight, Notice, Provoke, Stealth
-1 Lore, Will
3 Refresh

3 Physical Stress
1 Mental Stress
2 4 6 Consequences

Stunts

*Ms Marvel Array – Flight (+1), Body Armour (+3), Super Strength (+3)
Power Absorption (+5)
Catch : Cannot absorb artificial abilities like power armour or extra body parts

Rogue must touch a victim with her bare skin and make a successful Power Absorption roll to take all their Stunts/Skills/Powers giving the victim a one scene unconscious Consequence. If there are powers or abilities equal to or higher than her level she must make a Physique roll or similarly take a one scene unconscious Consequence. If hers are higher already she keeps her own. Mental Skills or powers are not able to be copied. The effects last for a scene unless she deliberately or is forced to keep contact longer. If this happens she must make a Will roll to prevent permanent power theft. Being Mentally Unstable and adding a third personality would lower her Will another rank and increase her Mind Control immunity. If a scene is long it is fictionally appropriate for the powers to wear off, perhaps with a compel.

Approaches

+0 Careful
+1 Clever
+1 Flashy
+3 Forceful
+2 Quick
+2 Sneaky

———-

Rogue – Experienced Adventurer

X-Men’s Southern charmer
I can’t control mah power!
Boy, I am really frustrated
Not talking to my mum
Mentally Unstable Dual Personality Completely Psychically Immune

+4 Stealth
+3 Investigate, Deceive, Lore
+2 Athletics, Burglary, Fight, Physique, Provoke,
+1 Contacts, Drive, Notice, Rapport, Empathy
-1 Will

3 Refresh
3 Physical Stress
1 Mental Stress
2 4 6 Consequences

Stunts

*Ms Marvel Array – Flight (+2), Body Armour (+3), Super Strength (+3), Super Notice (+3)

Power Absorption (+7)

Catch : Cannot absorb artificial abilities like power armour or affect energy beings. Those with +7 or better resistances to mental powers get a defense roll.

Rogue must touch a victim with her bare skin and make a successful Power Absorption roll to take all their Stunts/Skills/Powers giving the victim a one scene unconscious Consequence. If hers are higher already she keeps her own. If there are powers or abilities equal to or higher than her level she must make a Physique roll or similarly take a one scene unconscious Consequence. The effects last for a scene unless she deliberately or is forced to keep contact longer. If this happens she must make a Will roll to prevent permanent power theft. Being Mentally Unstable and adding a third personality would lower her Will another rank.

Approaches

+0 Careful
+3 Clever
+2 Flashy
+3 Forceful
+1 Quick
+3 Sneaky

———-

Rogue – Veteran Modern X-Man

Capable Team Leader Southern Belle
Finally I can control my power
Not talking to my mum
It is great to just be me again!
My thing for the bad boys is getting worse

+4 Stealth, Rapport, Empathy
+3 Athletics, Deceive, Fight, Investigate, Lore, Resources
+2 Burglary, Physique, Notice, Provoke, Contacts
+1 Drive, Shoot, Will

7 Refresh
3 Physical Stress
3 Mental Stress
2 4 6 Consequences

Stunts

Power Absorption (+9)

Catch : Cannot absorb artificial abilities like power armour. Those with +9 or better resistances to mental powers get a defense roll.

Rogue must touch a victim with her bare skin and make a successful Power Absorption roll to take all their Stunts/Skills/Powers giving the victim a one scene unconscious Consequence. If there are powers or abilities equal to or higher than her level she must make a Physique roll or similarly take a one scene unconscious Consequence. If hers are higher already she keeps her own. The effects last for a scene.

Approaches

+2 Careful
+3 Clever
+2 Flashy
+2 Forceful
+2 Quick
+3 Sneaky

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