new keeper needing advice

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kaensada
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new keeper needing advice

Post by kaensada » Thu Feb 27, 2014 11:24 pm

I'm a new keeper to CoC, running 6ed. Have been learning the mythos mainly from A.P. sessions as well as a collection of stories I have on my kindle. My players and I all come from DnD backgrounds and so I've made our Cthulhu game pulpy. The one investigator has learned the spell Elder Sign. He has asked me (thankfully out of game) about putting it on stickers that he can empower and place anywhere. His other idea is to etch them onto the back of bullets. He is aware of how long this could take given magic point costs and such. Any advice on how to work with this, mechanically or otherwise would be greatly appreciated.

Kaensada

MikeM
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Re: new keeper needing advice

Post by MikeM » Thu Feb 27, 2014 11:40 pm

Hi

Welcome to Call of Cthulhu!

In terms of the Elder Sign - the ad hoc advice would be - if a person got it tattooed on their body, then when a Mythos creature turned up, the skin with the Elder Sign would be left undamaged (the rest of him may be a messy heap of gore however!).

The Elder Sign acts as a ward against Mythos monsters, if one was put at the entrance to cave, the monster could not pass through (but could in theory bypass it by blasting a hole into the cave by a different wall).

That's the rule. In your game, if you wanted the Sign to do other things, that's fine (its your game after all). So, in your game, a bullet with the Elder Sign could in theory do extra damage to the monster it hits (lets say an extra 1D6 or 1D10 damage - depending on how pulpy your game is). Putting it onto stickers could work - acting in the same way as the rule (a sticker on a bag might stop a monster from accessing what's inside the bag etc.)

The idea of the Elder Sign is as a protection symbol - it is abhorrent to the sight of Mythos monsters, and they are repelled by it. However it's not a get out of jail free card - Mythos monsters are usually as smart (if not smarter) than the normal human, so they would try to work around a Sign if able - they could Dominate a human to go into the cave, go through the bag etc, and retrieve what they want - for example.

Hope it helps

Regards

Mike
Mike D Mason
Call of Cthulhu Line Editor, Chaosium Inc.

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KeeperMurph
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Re: new keeper needing advice

Post by KeeperMurph » Fri Feb 28, 2014 5:02 pm

I agree with Mike on this.

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kaensada
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Re: new keeper needing advice

Post by kaensada » Sat Mar 01, 2014 12:46 am

Thanks Mike, that was great advice. I'll make good use of it.

monkey prime
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Re: new keeper needing advice

Post by monkey prime » Sat Mar 01, 2014 8:34 pm

It won't do much if a cultist blasts him with a shotgun!

There's a good chance mythos monsters will be scared but look at other threats. Cultists, booby traps, human error and even something that obscures or changes the sign e.g the tattooed individual is climbing through caves and fails a climb roll as they drop he grazes himself. When it heals there's gaps in the symbol. Or look at the process of getting tattoos, there can be gaps or it's not properly filled in or it scabs weird. All this could disrupt the symbol.

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fox01313
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Re: new keeper needing advice

Post by fox01313 » Sun Mar 02, 2014 2:52 pm

With ritual things like the elder sign, just putting it on a sticker just wouldn't do much unless you want it around to use as a template (i.e. having a template to then spray paint it on to make it easier to work with). And as someone with an elder sign tattoo on my shoulder, it is a ward but it's not as good at dispelling things at a distance. The bullet idea is nice but I'd imagine it's not as good as finding bullets full of what something is vulnerable to (ex. silver, cold iron, salt, platinum, etc.)

Granted it's your game so if your player has a convincing argument on why it works & it's entertaining (until they get a resistance to it), then go with it.
"That's funny, usually the blood gets off on the second floor." -Mr. Burns in The Shinning episode (Treehouse of horror V)

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Re: new keeper needing advice

Post by Keeper Jon » Mon Mar 03, 2014 1:28 am

You can also play their own game against them. Have the cultists wield The Yellow Sign or The Red Sign is a similar manner as the investigators are attempting to use The Elder Sign. Let them be on the receiving end. The burned hand teaches best.

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SeaOfTrouble
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Re: new keeper needing advice

Post by SeaOfTrouble » Mon Mar 03, 2014 3:04 am

The way I read elder sign is it works against Grate Old Ones, Outer Gods, and their minions. Not every Mythos creature is a minion especially when it comes to the independent races. Think of all the independent race non aligned surprises that could take place.

Investigator: “We made it back into the chamber and I threw an elder sign sticker on the entrance. We should be safe now” :D

Keeper: “A hulking four armed being with a head that vaguely resembles the maw of a huge venous fly trap (Gug) appears at the entrance, and to your surprise was not remotely hindered by the elder signs” :twisted:

Investigator: " :o "

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