Mark: 0:00

Welcome to rpg blokes this is the first session of our call of cthulhu live play in fact we're making our characters up today, and i'll not be dm in this one i'll not be the keeper as it's called in call of cthulhu now that will be down to steven so i'd like to pass over to steven for our call of cthulhu live play podcast.

Stephen: 0:22

Yes, welcome to rgb blokes yeah people want to say rgb blokes it's rpg blokes isn't it i just got that out there i'm done i'm finished i don't need to say anything more rpg blokes.

Mark: 0:47

Channel your law by night Aye.

Stephen: 0:50

This is Call of Cthulhu Session Zero, a game of eldritch horror, where people play normal investigators, rather than the superhero Dungeons and Dragons characters that they may be more used to. This is more down-to-earth, more visceral. far more in touch with the dark side of the role-playing game. But yeah, today we're going to be making up some investigators to play through the prelude to Marsworth Narathratep, which is...

Mark: 1:23

Just out of interest, are there any trigger warnings for a game like this?

Stephen: 1:26

Yes, everything is a trigger warning.

Jon: 1:29

The game's about insanity, which you're not allowed to talk about, and you really should.

Stephen: 1:34

Yes, yes. Hit points are nothing in this game. It's all about your sanity and whether you can keep it. and most likely you cannot. But yeah, it's an important resource in Coral Cthulhu. So yeah, before we make up the characters, remember that the higher the sanity you have, the more chance you have of getting through to the end. But as I say, the scenario will be the prelude to Master Nerathrotep. It is the prologue. It's a standalone scenario, so it's all cool to just play that and not carry on, but...

Mark: 2:01

And where is it based?

Stephen: 2:03

It is based in Peru.

Barry: 2:06

And when is it based?

Stephen: 2:07

In 1921 so at the start of the roaring 20s flappers yes the uh the world is the first thing that came to mind i don't know what that says about me peruvian.

Jon: 2:17

Flappers nothing we didn't know.

Stephen: 2:19

Flappers oh yes the roaring 20s yes the start of the uh the the decade of the opulence recovering from world war one loving.

Jon: 2:28

The music as well yeah.

Mark: 2:30

So peru i don't know anything about Yeah, Peru. There's rainforest there, right?

Stephen: 2:35

Peru is in South America, on the southwest coast of South America, to be precise. It's quite a varied climate. It has the Andes Mountains and the Amazon Basin. So, yes, a bit of both, I would say.

Barry: 2:46

Can I learn to play the panpipes, please?

Stephen: 2:48

Almost essentially.

Mark: 2:50

And so if we were from Peru, would it be what colonists would be?

Stephen: 2:54

The idea is you've answered an advert for an exposition to find a lost Incan pyramid lost in the mountains.

Mark: 3:04

Who's financing that?

Stephen: 3:06

Well, there's a handout to it. I could give you the handout.

Mark: 3:10

I think it'd be useful, wouldn't it, to know what job we're answering before we make our characters up because then I can sort of think who would go for that job.

Stephen: 3:16

Hold on then.

Jon: 3:17

Is it lost or just hidden? Well, I'm from the British Museum.

Barry: 3:22

This is the first time that I've ever actually seen the investigator's handbook. And I'm just looking through the list of applications and my eyes just happened to land on bootlegger.

Jon: 3:34

Not short as an easy one.

Stephen: 3:36

So this is the article. I'm showing them a handout, number one, that you would have responded to, and it gives you the general gist of the... You're going to read it.

Mark: 3:45

John?

Stephen: 3:45

If you want to read it, someone wants to read it? In their best announcer voice.

Jon: 3:49

I haven't got my teeth in, but we'll give it a go. Search for ancient pyramid in Peru. Explorer plans expedition to discover the site of a lost civilization. This is in Lima, January 12th, and apparently 1920-something.

Stephen: 4:04

1921.

Jon: 4:05

21. Explorer Augustus Larkin is planning an expedition to the southern highlands of Peru, where he hopes to identify the site of a pyramid long forgotten by history. Following the discovery of a number of gold artifacts in that region, Larkin believes that he's found evidence that will lead him to their source. He's currently in Lima. Lima?

Stephen: 4:27

Lima, yes. The capital of Peru.

Jon: 4:29

Planning the expedition and is recruiting companions and possible backers.

Stephen: 4:36

This is the article that you would have taken interest in for some reason.

Barry: 4:40

I'm really looking forward to seeing how inferior our geographical knowledge is. I already feel exposed.

Stephen: 4:48

It's in South America and it's sort of vaguely hot.

Mark: 4:51

I need a character that knows nothing about geography whatsoever.

Stephen: 4:54

I suppose the idea of the characters, I guess you could either come for it from an academic standpoint or you might want the treasure, the riches, or you may be more on the security side of things. So I think anything goes really on the couch, just as long as you're interested, in finding what's in that pyramid for some reason or another. That would be the general gist. And traveling to Peru, if you're not already in Peru, obviously you can be from anywhere in the world.

Mark: 5:19

What is the pay? Are we going to be paid by a proportion of the treasure that we find? Because it doesn't say how much we're getting paid.

Stephen: 5:25

You would meet him. There was no initial salaries.

Jon: 5:29

You know we're not going to survive this, don't you?

Mark: 5:32

I still want my motivation intact.

Stephen: 5:34

All expenses will be covered by Augustus Larkin.

Mark: 5:37

Okay.

Jon: 5:38

Oh, I thought this was 1920s crowdfunding. He's looking for backers.

Stephen: 5:42

But it is the treasure at the end of it that is going to be the main source of the income. But he has money. He is a son of a rich industrialist from Nairobi in Kenya. His parents built railways for the British Empire, and he's taken that money. and he's not a famous explorer, but he is an explorer nonetheless. You can find him out before you went and that would be his background. And he's travelled around, but this seems to be the biggest find and he's now trying to employ people.

Mark: 6:17

He's got credibility.

Stephen: 6:19

Yeah, he would have credibility to that respect. He's not the most famous explorer, but he is certainly, he has featured in several papers of some of his finds, but this seems to be the largest to date. a lost Incan temple in Peru.

Mark: 6:33

Where was he born?

Stephen: 6:34

Yeah, Nairobi.

Mark: 6:36

Okay.

Stephen: 6:37

But he's...

Mark: 6:38

He's white. He's a British.

Stephen: 6:39

He's white British-worned. Yeah, as we know, at that time, Britain, ruled Nairobi, colonized Nairobi.

Mark: 6:47

Trigger warning already for Barry.

Stephen: 6:49

Yeah, well, this is the 1920s. In fact, Master of Afrotep will be a lot of trigger warnings already. There's a lot of colonialism.

Jon: 6:55

In fact, I was already thinking it. It was just... It's funny when white folks say they built the railroad. Duff. Fuck, they did.

Stephen: 7:03

Okay. They paid for the role.

Mark: 7:04

They invented it.

Stephen: 7:05

And invented it.

Barry: 7:07

When I heard, you know, Explorer, in my head, I was like, no, surely that should have been Exploiter. Oh, yeah. Surely.

Jon: 7:13

Spelling error.

Stephen: 7:15

Yeah. All the tropes from the 1920s are featured here. So it is.

Jon: 7:19

Yeah. Reading King Solomon's minds with the modern mindset is just a freaking nightmare. But, you know.

Mark: 7:25

Just don't have the modern mindset. It does help me get through life quite nicely.

Stephen: 7:29

Well, we are in the 1920s. So, I'm not quite sure the modern mindset works.

Mark: 7:35

All right. Okay. I've got an idea.

Jon: 7:37

Well, anyway, the first thing you do before you- I'm already worried about Barry because literally we're going to get to this treasure.

Mark: 7:43

I mean, I'm an optimist and he's going to steal it.

Barry: 7:46

When have I ever stolen treasure from you ever?

Mark: 7:48

It says criminal in brackets after your choice. Look.

Stephen: 7:51

Yeah.

Mark: 7:52

It says bootleg a C criminal.

Barry: 7:55

You do understand there are other kind of criminality and petty thefts.

Mark: 8:00

Well, like Augustus Larkin, you mean?

Stephen: 8:03

Fleecing him.

Barry: 8:04

Yeah. You know, I'm not saying, I'm just saying that my eyes landed on bootlegger. He hasn't always wanted to be a bootlegger.

Stephen: 8:12

Is that just me? Explain why a bootlegger would go on a pyramid trip and what sort of cover you'd be using. It's all good. All things to think about.

Jon: 8:19

He didn't say was successful. Maybe he's on the run. I've got this vision already of him running away with the idol.

Barry: 8:26

And I presume, obviously, literal sense bootlegger would be like alcohol. but it has come to mean, you know, basically transporting anything of...

Stephen: 8:33

A smuggler.

Barry: 8:34

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you could...

Jon: 8:36

Are you going to hand-solo your way through Call of Cthulhu? Is that what you're doing?

Barry: 8:39

I fucking hand-soloed my way through life, bruv. Would you?

Mark: 8:43

Smuggler is a different career.

Jon: 8:45

By the way. Oh, Smuggler is a different career.

Barry: 8:46

Oh, no, but there's a lot of really good ones as well. I mean, I think...

Stephen: 8:49

There's a lot there. You can always make up your own, really.

Barry: 8:52

John would make an amazing street punk.

Stephen: 8:55

Again, I'm not sure street punk would be employed for this, But if you could come up with some sort of cover while you're there.

Mark: 9:01

If we could take best, John's going to have a librarian. I'll put my money on it.

Jon: 9:05

No, no, I'm absolutely not. Whatever it is, it's not going to be an academic.

Stephen: 9:10

Well, I know, yeah, of course, Bithulu isn't Dungeons & Dragons, but a variety of skills. It never goes amiss when these sort of games.

Mark: 9:36

It's a lovely list of careers, though, occupations, isn't it? The seventh edition.

Stephen: 9:40

Yeah. The first thing we do, though, in character generation is generate characteristics.

Barry: 9:45

Can I be a gentleman slash lady?

Jon: 9:46

How he says how it's worded in there how very very modern is that is that the gentleman that slashes ladies or the slasheries or in this case.

Stephen: 9:58

I'm sure it existed even in.

Jon: 9:59

1921 of course it fucking did Cthulhu.

Mark: 10:02

Won't know what's happened to it if you manage to get that one.

Jon: 10:04

Played women wearing trousers exactly but I'm sure there was a few clubs in New York I don't know much about it but there is it wasn't a particularly nice guy was he who.

Mark: 10:16

It was a man of his time.

Stephen: 10:17

He didn't write this.

Barry: 10:18

No, no, but it's based on his works, correct?

Stephen: 10:21

Some of it is based on some of his books, yeah. But it's based on other people's books also.

Mark: 10:25

If you read his work... Yeah, like I say.

Barry: 10:26

I don't... And listen, separate the art from the artist is a thing, and particularly for people who are dead, and you can't have the conversations with them anymore. That's fucking reasonable. They can't argue back. But yeah, I know there's some stuff around him not being...

Jon: 10:39

Oh, yeah.

Stephen: 10:40

Well, anyone born before 1930.

Mark: 10:43

I suppose you can say that. Yeah, he's just a man of his time, wasn't he?

Jon: 10:46

The main thing about it, it was non-Christianised horror. So everything at the time was Dennis Wakeley and St. Martin.

Barry: 10:53

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jon: 10:55

This, he had a whole new mythos, and it crossed over with sci-fi. Yeah, yeah. No, no, no.

Barry: 10:59

I'm not distributing the qualities of his work in any way, shape, or form. And like I said, I'm no expert. But I've read a couple of bits and pieces here and there that suggested he wasn't...

Stephen: 11:07

But it isn't solely based on his stuff, even though he has the main core of it. But there are things like The Yellow King and stuff, which his other authors have used. And Ed Gallen Poe, people like that, are certainly inspired by that sort of thing as well.

Mark: 11:18

And he had all his work published in periodicals, didn't he? It wasn't actually, I don't think, until What Mountains of Madness that a book was released that it came out in book form.

Jon: 11:28

Was it Fantastic Tales or something?

Mark: 11:30

Yeah. And he just was a jobbing author, wasn't he? He just made ends meet and then created this incredible, like you say, mythology and universe. And it's just crazy to read. It's weird stuff. but it does it's attitude toward, certain cultures does pervade the text at times but again you know i don't think that the role playing game doesn't really play heavy into that kind of side of things anyway does it.

Stephen: 11:55

No no it would counterbalance that really if it's a modern reinterpretation of the game especially the mask has been rewritten with that in mind as well.

Jon: 12:02

As always it would depend on the group you're playing with i guess but.

Stephen: 12:05

Exactly all right first things we want to do is roll statistics that's what it tells me to do first generate characteristics before even or even considering what occupation you are.

Barry: 12:16

Paper character.

Jon: 12:17

So ladies, am I the only one without dice?

Stephen: 12:19

You've got to grab yourself 3D6.

Jon: 12:20

I haven't got any dice, so I didn't know what dice to roll.

Stephen: 12:23

I didn't have roast beef.

Mark: 12:25

John's dice hit the table, everybody is now okay.

Jon: 12:28

3D6.

Stephen: 12:30

3D6 is what you require.

Mark: 12:31

I'll have the Roman Numerals one, I'll have a bit of that.

Stephen: 12:33

And probably a calculator as well.

Jon: 12:34

Oh, it's a D3, so calculator. Yeah, this is one of you think.

Stephen: 12:37

With a few games, probably I would say a calculator might be one, not go amiss.

Jon: 12:41

Really?

Stephen: 12:42

Yeah, because you're having to, well, unless you're good at multiplying by five, i'm just going to give you a trigger warning just in case oh yeah.

Jon: 12:51

Just leave leave the.

Stephen: 12:52

Fence i'm more likely to need trigger warnings because of the admin and the content yeah for some reason your old stats then times them by five yeah so, okay so what we're going to do is we're going to go around the table and roll each stat in turn is that fair the first is strength and we go around the table then we just do that in turn i think right so who's going to start, is strength i think that's quite self-explanatory but okay so what did you get 11 and then multiply that by five and that's what you have 55 okay let me just say the statistics for strength all statistics 50 is the average human so you're slightly above average human for that strength.

Jon: 13:30

You say the sweetest things perfect for a librarian.

Stephen: 13:34

If you had 90 you would be one of the strongest people in the world or 99 you'd certainly be and if you was 15 you'd be puny and weak so it's kind of 50 is good 16 is good so mark Barry, sorry. Your strength.

Jon: 13:49

That's 10.

Barry: 13:49

No, it's not. It's 8.

Stephen: 13:51

Well, at least 10 is quite easy to multiply by 5.

Barry: 13:52

It is not.

Jon: 13:53

Sorry.

Barry: 13:54

It's an 8.

Jon: 13:55

And we multiply by 5.

Stephen: 13:57

40. 40 strength. So you have a low average strength.

Mark: 14:00

Not 4d6 take away the lowest one?

Stephen: 14:01

No, I know. Well, the thing is about Korgathuri's stats.

Jon: 14:04

We're going to die.

Stephen: 14:05

I'm already 40.

Mark: 14:07

No? I hope not. John, your dice is shit. Yep.

Stephen: 14:12

That's the same. You got 8 as well, so it's 40.

Jon: 14:17

Strength in this game is...

Barry: 14:20

No, but did you notice the two different outlooks on life there? I just got on with it, and he tried to blame someone else's dice.

Jon: 14:26

We've already done that episode.

Mark: 14:29

I've got a character in mind that now no longer works with a strength.

Stephen: 14:32

Okay, it's Constitution, which represents your health, your vigour, and vitality. It's not like to fend off diseases.

Jon: 14:40

Cough, cough, hit points, cough, cough. Again, that is 3d6.

Stephen: 14:42

And multiplied by 5.

Jon: 14:46

10.

Stephen: 14:46

That's a good one. 50 so you are at mr average at the moment uh no you want to put them in there those are the fifths oh we've done those two boxes next to it are half and fifth yeah oh we've done that well john's way ahead of me, i'm just gonna wait i think it's.

Barry: 15:01

Steven i'll wait until you tell me.

Stephen: 15:02

Thanks thanks barry i appreciate i'm not just.

Barry: 15:04

Gonna steam ahead on.

Stephen: 15:05

My own i know i know ruined the flow ruined it start again right now go on uh.

Jon: 15:12

Is this me.

Stephen: 15:12

Yeah 3d6 for your constitution information.

Jon: 15:15

10.

Stephen: 15:16

And 50. So that's bang on average. Come on, someone's going to have to roll, slightly above average. Oh, yes, above average.

Mark: 15:22

12. Happy with that.

Stephen: 15:23

Yeah. 60. Nice.

Jon: 15:27

So that's your constitution.

Stephen: 15:28

So you have an above average constitution.

Mark: 15:30

I'm right. The character idea still works.

Jon: 15:32

Okay, what's next on the list there?

Stephen: 15:34

Is it size?

Jon: 15:35

Yes. Size. Size is done slightly differently.

Stephen: 15:38

Size averages both your height and weight. So it will matter when it comes to hit points and stuff. So this is 2d6 plus 6 times 5.

Jon: 15:50

14.

Stephen: 15:51

Times 5.

Jon: 15:52

Yeah.

Barry: 15:53

36.

Jon: 15:54

Wait. 2d6 times 5.

Stephen: 15:56

2d6 plus 6.

Jon: 15:57

Plus 6.

Stephen: 15:58

So 12 you got in total.

Jon: 15:59

12 in total times 5.

Barry: 16:01

60.

Stephen: 16:02

Yeah. Don't look at me on maths either.

Mark: 16:04

That's 14 times 5. What was it, John?

Jon: 16:08

70.

Stephen: 16:09

Wow. Okay. So people are quite sizable.

Jon: 16:14

Oh, he's a chunky monkey. Puny, weak, and chunky. Yeah, yeah. We're looking around the table.

Barry: 16:20

It's going to be a stretch from a performance point of view, isn't it?

Jon: 16:22

I know. I don't know. We'll pass all of this.

Stephen: 16:25

We've got some live role-playing going on here.

Jon: 16:28

Right? Everyone to the skulls.

Stephen: 16:31

Next is dexterity. Obviously, how nimble and quick you are and how flexible you are. So that is one batch of 3D6s multiplied by five.

Barry: 16:40

So can I clarify, just for no reason at all, sizes calculated differently.

Stephen: 16:44

It is, yeah, because they don't want people just being diminutive, I'm guessing, as adults.

Mark: 16:50

If you rolled three ones, you would be, well, how small.

Stephen: 16:54

I don't think they want children.

Mark: 16:55

On the chart of sizes.

Jon: 16:56

There is an archetype for kid sidekick, isn't there? Like a short round.

Stephen: 17:00

There is for Pulp Cthulhu, you can play sidekick, yeah. Okay, so what are we on?

Jon: 17:06

Dex, yes. Are you done, John?

Stephen: 17:08

So 3d6 multiplied by 5.

Jon: 17:11

Oh, nice. So 6, 12. Oh, 12. Not actually that nice.

Stephen: 17:16

It looked good.

Jon: 17:17

It did.

Stephen: 17:18

You lot just don't have... Oh, whoa. Barry. It looked good.

Mark: 17:22

Yeah, that does look good. Two 60s.

Stephen: 17:24

Yeah, it looked good. 14, which ended up being 70, didn't it?

Barry: 17:28

70.

Mark: 17:30

It's the right decks to swipe the idol.

Stephen: 17:32

Yeah. Only if you pass in the whip.

Jon: 17:35

And putting a bag of sand on the end of it.

Stephen: 17:38

Perfect. Yeah. Fuck. That's bad.

Jon: 17:40

Gee.

Barry: 17:41

Oh, mate, no one likes to see that.

Stephen: 17:43

That's seven, folks. Six. Oh, dear.

Mark: 17:46

Don't you re-roll sixes in this game?

Stephen: 17:48

No.

Mark: 17:51

Okay.

Stephen: 17:51

It's character building. Literally.

Jon: 17:54

Literally.

Mark: 17:56

I'd be disabled by that one now.

Stephen: 17:57

Well, okay. Next is appearance, I believe, which is a measure of physical attractiveness and personality. If you've got high appearance, you are charming and likeable. My parents, you're not. Five, nine, eleven, you got there.

Jon: 18:13

John?

Barry: 18:13

Sorry, I just want to interrupt for a second, Mark.

Stephen: 18:16

Fifty-five.

Barry: 18:16

Did you just change dice because those ones were giving you bad energy? Is that what happened? And did you do it quietly in the hope that no one would notice? Is that what happened?

Mark: 18:26

Yeah, the French are calling me out now.

Stephen: 18:28

To be fair, it's the best thing to do. Well done, Mark.

Jon: 18:31

You know that all my dice are nasty. Nine.

Stephen: 18:35

Nine, yeah. We're not having a nine yet. Multiply by five. 5 sounds right, yeah.

Mark: 18:40

This is 3 again.

Barry: 18:41

What does that mean? I'm just below average looking there, just storing my life.

Stephen: 18:46

Oh, I thought you rolled 3 ones there.

Mark: 18:48

10. Okay. 10, so that gives me 50.

Stephen: 18:52

Mr. Average.

Mark: 18:55

Or Miss Average?

Stephen: 18:56

No. Yeah, it's true. Or Mr. and Miss Average. Then it's intelligence. They also give you a boost of this as well, which is 2D6 plus 6. Intelligence represents how well investigators learn. And remember and analyse information and solve complex puzzles. If you've got zero intelligence, you are babbling, drooling, idiot.

Jon: 19:18

Give it time. Oh. Barry.

Stephen: 19:22

Seven plus six is, 13.

Barry: 19:26

Yep.

Jon: 19:27

What did John get?

Mark: 19:29

Did he get?

Jon: 19:31

No.

Stephen: 19:31

What did he get?

Jon: 19:31

12.

Mark: 19:32

65.

Stephen: 19:33

So 26 plus six.

Mark: 19:37

That's intelligence. 14.

Stephen: 19:39

Yep.

Mark: 19:39

So 17. Educate.

Stephen: 19:42

Okay.

Mark: 19:42

Oh, no, just intelligent, isn't it? Because education is a different.

Stephen: 19:44

Yeah, education is different. Power.

Barry: 19:46

And rightly so.

Stephen: 19:47

Intelligence is more how you learn, how you remember, and just your general day-to-day intelligence. Power.

Jon: 19:53

This is the important one.

Stephen: 19:54

This is quite important. Yeah, this is quite a unique stat to Call of Cthulhu. It indicates force of will. The higher the power, the more aptitude for resistance to magic and other things like that. People with zero power will be like a zombie. High power, you'd be more likely to learn a Cthulhu spell. Also, maybe something in between might be your best. Also, your sanity points, your San, equals your power. So it's quite a big one. So 3D6 times 5.

Mark: 20:18

The survival chances boil down to this roll.

Barry: 20:20

You've built the tension there.

Stephen: 20:21

Really. These are technically...

Mark: 20:22

Oh, that's a 6, isn't it?

Barry: 20:24

You've built the tension there really well.

Jon: 20:26

11 and 50.

Stephen: 20:28

So across the board. Yeah, call out your numbers again.

Jon: 20:32

Holy fucking hell.

Mark: 20:34

We have a god amongst us.

Jon: 20:35

Oh my goodness.

Barry: 20:37

So that's... What did you say? What's 16?

Jon: 20:39

17.

Stephen: 20:42

Times 5. So 16.

Jon: 20:42

80, is it? No, it's 16 times 5. I'm on it 80.

Stephen: 20:47

Yeah because I think 18 gives you 90 which is the highest stat.

Jon: 20:51

You're both right it's 80 let's see.

Stephen: 20:55

How you swappy dice do against that shit he's the most sane person in the world.

Mark: 21:00

Very badly.

Barry: 21:03

I'm sorry. I really, really, really shouldn't take pleasure from that. But I am. I understand that I shouldn't, but I am.

Mark: 21:10

The only thing I'm thinking is, damn it, I should have bought my own dice. That's the problem.

Barry: 21:14

We're in your house.

Mark: 21:17

Should have got my own dice, sorry.

Stephen: 21:20

Yeah, I know. What's going on?

Jon: 21:22

But with his low strength, he could not be asked to go upstairs. Oh, excuse the coughing folks. I had a late one.

Stephen: 21:30

That's good to hear is it is that finally is education is that the last stat yes again okay education is 26 plus six but education is a measure of the formal and factual knowledge possessed by the investigator this also, can represent how many skill points you get to spend on skills generally, So it's 2 to 6 plus 6.

Jon: 21:49

Oh, jeez. So 5, 10.

Mark: 21:52

Wow. This is going to be a new character.

Jon: 21:54

11. 11.

Stephen: 21:55

11, so 55.

Barry: 21:57

5, 11.

Stephen: 21:58

That's 11, so 55 for you.

Jon: 22:01

Come on, Poindexter. What did you get? 8.

Stephen: 22:04

8 plus 6.

Mark: 22:05

That's all right, 14, 17. Education.

Stephen: 22:07

Yep.

Barry: 22:07

Stephen.

Stephen: 22:08

Yep.

Barry: 22:08

Is this usual to go through them in order? Because it's like...

Stephen: 22:11

Yes, in this respect, but...

Barry: 22:14

That's interesting, because normally you roll your stats, but then you can.

Stephen: 22:17

Decide where to put them i'm going to be a kind ref i'm going to allow you to swap one of your statistics around but you haven't finished yet luck you need to do luck no creating the luck 3d6.555.

Barry: 22:28

Where's luck then.

Mark: 22:32

Um yes there is a chart but it doesn't stick on your chart when you get to 3d6.55.

Stephen: 22:36

The luck is also in the important thing so you can change dice rolls with luck.

Mark: 22:41

That was a.

Stephen: 22:41

Very unlucky times Times five. That is five, seven.

Jon: 22:44

I rolled seven. Nine, ten, eleven.

Stephen: 22:48

So you have 55 luck.

Jon: 22:50

But where does that go?

Mark: 22:51

Fucking hell. I'm leaving this here.

Stephen: 22:53

I'm gone, gone. Snake eyes. And then one.

Mark: 22:55

Three ones.

Jon: 22:58

It had to happen at some point.

Stephen: 22:59

So three. Times five, Mark. 15 i'm fucked wow that's pretty bad 55.

Barry: 23:06

Where does it go.

Stephen: 23:07

It goes to see the chart in the middle of the character sheet it's got luck.

Jon: 23:10

Oh it says out of.

Stephen: 23:11

Luck so luck well he's got like he's got sort of like a um you circle your number yes circle it yeah okay should we let you re-roll that three but uh or is it more fun to let you keep it.

Mark: 23:23

Oh sure i keep it.

Stephen: 23:24

This this.

Mark: 23:24

Bloke is a loser he's got to be down and down and.

Stephen: 23:27

Out. Yeah, I mean, luck.

Jon: 23:28

Poor old Dill.

Barry: 23:30

So his reason for answering the advert is literally desperation.

Mark: 23:33

Yeah, and would he be employed would be the question I'd ask.

Stephen: 23:36

Well, the thing is about luck, you can increase your luck. And you've got a good chance of increasing luck.

Barry: 23:40

Yeah, it can't get any fucking worse.

Mark: 23:42

Can it?

Stephen: 23:42

To increase luck, you occasionally get to test on a skill. And if you roll over that skill, you can increase it by D10. And luck, generally every session, you get a chance to...

Mark: 23:52

So my lack of luck doesn't get me killed.

Stephen: 23:54

Well, it will initially.

Mark: 23:56

Yeah.

Barry: 23:57

If your lack of luck doesn't get you killed, it will be your poor choices.

Mark: 24:00

Yeah, but bad stats.

Stephen: 24:01

Okay, I will allow you to swap one of your stats around. It doesn't matter which one. You can swap one for another if you wish to.

Mark: 24:06

It literally doesn't matter which one.

Jon: 24:08

They are all pretty much the same in my case.

Mark: 24:10

We can swap one of the ones that's 2d6 plus 6.

Stephen: 24:12

Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Any stats. They're all maximum 90s. So, and then ones are 15.

Jon: 24:19

I'll take all the dice. I'm going to take mine as they felt.

Stephen: 24:22

Absolutely, yeah.

Mark: 24:24

Okay, stick to my initial concept then. I'm going to go with swapping over, I think, strength. I know Dex is only 30.

Barry: 24:34

But that was the observation that I was going to make, right, in terms of character creation. I suppose baseline usually is D&D. When you're, this is literally an observation, not a criticism, when you're prescribed into doing them in a specific order and you've been kind of let swap one, you're then looking at the stats rather to decide what kind of character you're going to play.

Jon: 24:54

Because it's like you can't come in going, oh, I definitely want to be an X if then you don't roll great in that order.

Stephen: 24:59

Is that intended? I would counter that. I'd say stats aren't as important in that respect.

Jon: 25:03

Okay.

Stephen: 25:03

Because you have skills which aren't linked to stats in any way, shape or form. So you can be incredibly skilled at something. You just might be quite weak or ill. You might have an illness. You might have picked up a wound in the war. That means you're not quite as apt able as you used to be, but you might be able to be an excellent marksman still. Yeah, no, no.

Barry: 25:20

And I'm literally just trying to understand the differences. It's not a...

Stephen: 25:23

Stats aren't quite as important as they would be in like a Dungeons and Dragons game. Okay. It's not the general statistics because you have skills that can offset any poor stats.

Jon: 25:32

Gotcha.

Stephen: 25:32

So the exception being luck.

Mark: 25:36

But you can't swap luck though, can you? Yeah, yeah. It's a stat, isn't it?

Stephen: 25:39

It's up to you. If you want to put 15 in one of your stats though, well.

Mark: 25:42

No, I don't.

Stephen: 25:42

Yeah, exactly. So luck is probably the best place to put 15 because you can increase it, but you're at a big disadvantage.

Mark: 25:48

Okay, I'm going to swap my size with my dexterity. so I've got 70 decks now and 30 sides.

Stephen: 25:55

That fits more with the idea that you have well those boxes next to the other stats you can work out the top you've got two sort of split boxes here the first one is your half the value and the one below is a fifth of the value.

Mark: 26:07

Did anyone else swap a stat? no no.

Stephen: 26:10

No right so wait hold on so next to my strength.

Jon: 26:12

I've got two.

Stephen: 26:13

Boxes 20 you'll go in there and whatever a fifth of 40 basically what you're old yeah initially yeah yeah well basically half of it is if you're required to make a hard roll it'll be half your value.

Jon: 26:24

Yeah so i put them down as a percentage.

Stephen: 26:27

They are you know no it's all percentages yeah.

Jon: 26:30

Not not off the.

Stephen: 26:31

Stats yes that half a stat half you say you've got 50 intelligence half of it will be 25 then obviously a fifth.

Mark: 26:37

So the half and then fifth.

Stephen: 26:38

Yeah.

Mark: 26:39

I'm lucky.

Stephen: 26:40

They're all percentages.

Mark: 26:40

Interesting. In fact, all my statistics ended in zero.

Stephen: 26:44

That's perfect. Five or zero. No, it's not zero. okay yeah yeah so some of them nearly started with a zero if you could go zero you would have gone um it just.

Mark: 26:57

Makes the maths easy now.

Stephen: 26:58

Doesn't it the um yes i was saying if you rolled the uh the half the value it's called a hard success and if you've rolled a fifth value when you're rolling the percentile it's a an extreme success, and sometimes you require hard successes sometimes you require extreme successes and when you're shooting say and you get an extreme success you you can impale and do extra damage. But it is the same with skills. Okay, it does the same. Yeah, it would be more relevant with skills.

Mark: 27:22

I'm all good. I just don't know whether I'm going to play a male or female character at this point.

Stephen: 27:27

Yeah, so all the main stats are all percentages. They're all... That's why you times five. It's traditionally been a percentile base game. In fact, after this session, you won't be using anything but a d10.

Jon: 27:37

Damages.

Stephen: 27:38

Oh, that's true. Damages, yeah. Damages d6, you're right, yeah. Oh, yeah, that's true. Ignore me.

Mark: 27:44

Because you can do...

Stephen: 27:44

Different weapons have different dives for damage. D8 and D6, yeah.

Mark: 27:48

I'm glad you're well read up on this, Stephen.

Stephen: 27:49

Yeah, yeah. Well, it's good to remember, isn't it? It's been a while since we've played, to be fair.

Barry: 27:52

So what did you say was to do after we've done that? I might be behind because I'm not.

Stephen: 27:56

No, but I think John's still doing his halves and fifths values.

Barry: 28:01

Okay.

Stephen: 28:01

So let's let John catch up. The next thing to do is consider what age you want to be. Because age does obviously represent yourself and your character, but also you improve your education if you have a certain sort of age, or you can decrease some of your physical stats if you're too old or you can increase some of your physical status if you're younger, but you don't get such a good education.

Mark: 28:20

Okay, okay. I'm going to go with early 20s. Just out of university or education, this would be my first thing in the field.

Stephen: 28:28

So you're...

Barry: 28:29

So you just got out of university, so you're posh.

Mark: 28:32

I guess I would have had a good upbringing. My education is 70. Is that, what kind of education does that allow me?

Stephen: 28:37

I could tell you what that would.

Mark: 28:39

It's probably not as high as I need. Maybe I haven't done a doctorate yet.

Barry: 28:42

But let's have a thought.

Stephen: 28:43

Education 70 is college graduate, bachelor degree.

Mark: 28:46

Okay, that's fine. But I'm out on the bachelor's degree. So I'll be 22.

Stephen: 28:51

Hold on then. With the age of 22, you get to make an improvement check for education.

Mark: 28:57

Okay.

Stephen: 28:57

Which means you get a percentile die and you try and roll over your education.

Mark: 29:02

Not going to be that easy.

Stephen: 29:03

No. So the higher stat, the harder it is to improve.

Mark: 29:07

Call them red.

Stephen: 29:09

No. So your education does not improve. Other than that, your stats remain the same.

Mark: 29:14

When I want to hit something, that will be 96.

Stephen: 29:17

Yes, absolutely. Zero six is a good...

Mark: 29:19

I'm cursed with John's dice for the session.

Jon: 29:22

That's what it's like.

Barry: 29:25

Thank you for the dice, John. They rolled beautifully for me. Age.

Stephen: 29:30

Yes, age, Barry. What do you see yourself as an age?

Barry: 29:33

I was going to be like, ridiculous, young.

Stephen: 29:37

You can be 15 is the youngest you can be.

Barry: 29:40

I think I should be an adult. Let's go with 18.

Stephen: 29:43

Okay, that goes in the same bracket. It's 15 to 19 is a bracket. Just a warning on that. You reduce your strength and size will go down by five, and your education will be reduced by five. But you get to roll again on your luck score and pick the highest.

Barry: 29:59

Roll again? My luck score's already massively high.

Stephen: 30:01

Isn't it? So it's up to you. That might not benefit you for being that young. And if you ticked over to 20, you could do if you want to. Or you could argue that you take none of those disadvantages of advantages. It depends what sort of character you are.

Barry: 30:14

And this is it.

Jon: 30:15

I don't know.

Barry: 30:15

And this is the... Yeah, okay. So, right. Okay.

Jon: 30:17

I mean, obviously, it's quite binary.

Stephen: 30:19

That. I mean, I could...

Barry: 30:20

It's very...

Stephen: 30:21

I could be persuaded that that's not a thing. If you're 19, you're on the cusp. If you want to be 19, I can give you the benefits of being 20.

Barry: 30:28

Well, let's just say I'm 20. It's only a fucking year, isn't it?

Stephen: 30:30

You put yourself 19. I can just give you the benefits of 20.

Barry: 30:32

If you like. Actually, I think he's probably spent his life trying to sort of pretend he's older than he is. The kind of guy.

Stephen: 30:37

So he's 18 and 19, but he's grown up before his years and he's quite mature in his body as well.

Barry: 30:42

Well, he gets away with calling it 20, yeah? Yeah.

Jon: 30:45

Let's do that.

Stephen: 30:46

He looks older than he is.

Jon: 30:47

So age, where's the box?

Stephen: 30:48

So stick whatever age you want in there. 18's fine. And you get an improvement check for education. Improvement check for education. So that is a D100, like I described to Mark. And if you've got to roll over your education statistic.

Jon: 30:59

1D10.

Stephen: 31:00

So it's 100. The D100, you know. did you roll 69 dude is that over your education it's massively okay then you get to add 1d10 to your education.

Barry: 31:14

Oh look at this.

Stephen: 31:16

You've been educated five you're edumacated there so you add five to your education.

Barry: 31:20

Can i have an eraser please.

Stephen: 31:23

I'll be listening to that i did have one i didn't bring it there's the one.

Barry: 31:25

On the end of there perfect so.

Stephen: 31:27

My education goes up by five and that that includes.

Jon: 31:31

The stats next to it i assume.

Stephen: 31:32

Yes everything changes based on that unfortunately yeah or fortunately so john you usually play old blokes.

Jon: 31:40

I know now i thought early mid-twenties.

Stephen: 31:43

Again someone.

Jon: 31:44

Who can actually move.

Stephen: 31:45

Yeah that is just then an improvement check on education that's a d100 for you as well so you're all kind of around about a similar age then yes coincidentally because you probably won't know each other to be good before the scenario and i sort of feel like a fucking off halfway across the world.

Barry: 31:59

With some lunatic to find a.

Stephen: 32:01

Pyramid feels like young man's work yeah yeah absolutely 89 very old academics over my uh then you can improve your education by a d10 so right roddy 10 and tell us what you get sorry, well you have a little bit more education than some of you from your age do people want to know what sort of education standards they're at i've got a little chart here what's what's your education barry 60 that's high school graduate so you didn't go beyond that.

Barry: 32:27

Of course I didn't.

Stephen: 32:28

Cool.

Jon: 32:29

John, what's your education total? Now it's 58.

Stephen: 32:33

The same. You would be just a high school graduate. going down towards the lower levels so you would have slightly more education, okay the next thing to do now then is i suppose we can finish up the other attributes which is your, damage bonus and build this indicates if you get any sort of damage bonus for in melee combat so if you're punching somebody or hitting someone with a melee weapon you could potentially get a damage bonus that's what i remember.

Mark: 32:59

From cthulhu is any bonus on your damage is bloody good.

Stephen: 33:03

Even Even.

Mark: 33:03

Though the dice can be quite low, it has a massive effect, doesn't it?

Stephen: 33:06

Yeah.

Jon: 33:06

Extra dice, isn't it?

Stephen: 33:08

Yeah, and also if your strength and size are too low, then it might get a negative.

Mark: 33:13

Oh, that would be me then.

Stephen: 33:14

Okay, so what do you want to do, Mark, then? What's up with you? What's your strength and size added together?

Mark: 33:19

70.

Stephen: 33:20

Okay, you're okay. Yes, damage bonus at minus one, and your build is minus one.

Mark: 33:24

That's not okay.

Stephen: 33:25

No, that's not okay, is it? So you've got minus one. I believe you'll be getting a minus d4.

Mark: 33:31

Yeah, I'm not going to be eating anything with a...

Stephen: 33:32

Minus one shooting things that might be minus one damage yeah well.

Barry: 33:36

You will you have to rely on colorful language.

Stephen: 33:38

No so it would just be a minus one on the damage but yeah.

Mark: 33:42

Minus one not minus one.

Stephen: 33:44

D4 no because you got plus one d4 is specified here but i can double check but it looks like a minus one on the minus one okay rather than minus one d4 is quite significant.

Barry: 33:52

So that was strength and size.

Stephen: 33:54

Added together yeah 100 wow oh mr 100 okay oh actually That's normal. Zero. Your build is zero and no damage bonus. To get a damage bonus you need 125.

Mark: 34:03

What's my build?

Barry: 34:04

Minus one.

Mark: 34:06

So what's my damage bonus? Minus one. Oh.

Barry: 34:08

So I'm zero and zero.

Jon: 34:10

You're zero and zero. Your build is zero. Literally got 125, baby.

Stephen: 34:14

You have 125. You have 1d4 damage bonus and your build is one. Build comes into it in your grappling or performing something against someone that might be larger. It might come into an advantage where if they're smaller you might have an advantage to get to slip through little gaps and stuff like that. So being small... it might have an advantage for you.

Mark: 34:30

The other box in this combat section down here is dodge. I'm telling you this is going to be one of my best stats.

Stephen: 34:39

Dodge is a master skill.

Barry: 34:41

It doesn't work like that, Mark. Steve's the DM.

Mark: 34:44

Can we move on to dodge quickly?

Stephen: 34:47

We'll get there in a second. But we'll do hit points next.

Barry: 34:49

Do it last, Prof. Do it last. Do it last. Do it last. Do it last. Do it last.

Stephen: 34:51

Do it last.

Mark: 34:52

Ah, so shit.

Stephen: 34:56

I believe your hit points are your con and size divided by 10, I believe.

Mark: 35:04

A con, and size added together divided by 10. So they'll be rounded up or down. I don't have to worry because all my stats begin with a zero.

Stephen: 35:15

Down.

Mark: 35:16

Okay. It's, So I've got nine. Yeah.

Jon: 35:21

Sorry. So what was it? It was con plus your size divided by 10.

Stephen: 35:25

Yeah.

Mark: 35:26

So that's our max hit points and our starting hit points.

Jon: 35:30

I've got 11.

Stephen: 35:32

Yeah. I mean, yeah, hit points as we described is one form you can die.

Barry: 35:36

Was that dodge or was that? Oh.

Mark: 35:40

On to dodge?

Stephen: 35:42

Later.

Barry: 35:43

Sorry, but what did we just do then? I worked something out and I don't know where it goes.

Stephen: 35:46

Hit points. Sorry. Hit points. which are just below your sort of like descriptions.

Jon: 35:50

Oh, it's another circle.

Stephen: 35:52

Yes. There's another little number in the max.

Mark: 35:54

But also you've got the number in the max.

Stephen: 35:56

Yeah. Cause you can get temporary points and stuff like that. If you feel lucky. Spells and stuff. Okay. And then I'm asked to do movement rate because it's there. Okay. An investigator can move a number of yards of meters up to the five times their move value. Okay. You've got to find your move value. If you're old, nobody was old. You start reducing your movement. Okay. So people can do this at the same time. If both dex and strength are each less than size, is that true?

Mark: 36:20

No. Yep.

Stephen: 36:21

Your movement is seven.

Barry: 36:23

So strength and...

Stephen: 36:25

If dex and strength are each less than size, both of them basically.

Mark: 36:29

Nowhere near it.

Jon: 36:30

So my strength is less than my size, but my dex is more than my size.

Stephen: 36:34

Right, so that doesn't apply then.

Jon: 36:35

Right, okay.

Stephen: 36:36

So John, you've got yours, and then we move on. If either strength or dex is equal or greater than size, or all three are equal, you have movement of eight.

Mark: 36:45

Hold on.

Barry: 36:46

So my dex is greater than my size, so I get eight.

Stephen: 36:50

So it's equal or greater. So if your strength and dex are greater than your size... Then your movement is eight.

Barry: 36:58

If either of them are greater.

Stephen: 37:00

Yeah, it's either.

Mark: 37:01

Why is movement suddenly really complicated?

Stephen: 37:03

Yeah, no idea. It's like just Jesus Christ. We probably won't even use it.

Barry: 37:07

So that was eight.

Stephen: 37:08

You have eight. If that wasn't true, Mark, then if both of yours are greater than your size, then you have nine.

Mark: 37:13

Yes.

Stephen: 37:14

Okay. I think that way it boils down to.

Jon: 37:16

So in more habit, you've got flea.

Barry: 37:18

Just to be clear, you can be useless, but quickly.

Mark: 37:22

Yeah, I am. We are going to be using movement in this game.

Stephen: 37:24

I think we might well be now. you've decided well there you go.

Barry: 37:29

The complex.

Stephen: 37:30

Formula benefited you.

Barry: 37:33

I predict that he's going to receive a leg injury within the first hour of gameplay I don't.

Jon: 37:40

Know where it's going to come from are you going to shame Mark's character.

Barry: 37:44

Well and this is it whenever me and Mark play this is even going to go one of two ways right and the tone I feel like might have already been set a little bit.

Mark: 37:51

Well the fact you just threatened to break my leg.

Barry: 37:54

Our characters either fucking adore each other or fucking hate each other. There's never been any kinds where our characters just sort of rub along like normal fucking...

Mark: 38:05

Shall we see how long we can ignore each other for?

Stephen: 38:06

I would look forward to that then.

Jon: 38:07

For context, Barry was drinking last night, so we'll find out with the last...

Stephen: 38:13

Okay, now this is the moment we've all been waiting for. You've got to choose your occupation.

Mark: 38:16

I've done that.

Stephen: 38:18

Yeah, that dodge is a skill.

Jon: 38:21

It starts off with half-dex and then if it turns up in your career you can add points from your education if you, if it's not in your career we get there you add it from your intelligence skill bumps so shut up leave it alone we're not there we're not there yet basically we're not there yet is what you should have said but yeah we get there yeah i've got a feeling.

Stephen: 38:43

Uh you will probably have high touch but okay well i'll get there choose your occupation first.

Mark: 38:48

I know i am going to be an archaeologist.

Stephen: 38:51

Okay, that works in all sorts of levels. Yeah.

Mark: 38:54

I'm just out of university. I'm going to go on a dig to get some experience. It's my year out, and then I'm going to come back and finish off my doctorate.

Stephen: 39:03

Yeah. Where are you from?

Mark: 39:05

I think from America.

Stephen: 39:09

Can you join the American accent? Can we just check whether that's possible?

Mark: 39:11

No, I think I'd be from Britain.

Jon: 39:14

It's not you.

Mark: 39:14

I'll be from the East End London, I think, probably best under those circumstances. What, from Greenwich?

Stephen: 39:19

Greenwich.

Mark: 39:20

Yeah, that'll work.

Stephen: 39:21

No, if you want to be from America, please be. Boston. There is the Cotonic University in Boston.

Mark: 39:28

You know, I'm going to challenge myself to do an American accent.

Stephen: 39:31

Boston. Yeah.

Mark: 39:32

I have no starting base on this, so I can't even pretend I've got one right now.

Barry: 39:36

Can I just say as well, this is the first time in an RPG where I've ever seen union activist as a fucking kid.

Mark: 39:43

And you've resisted that. Oh, right.

Barry: 39:45

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is a bit of me, that is.

Mark: 39:47

You could really piss off our NPC leader, couldn't you, with that one?

Stephen: 39:50

But, yeah, obviously, this guy's going to employ you based on your occupations.

Jon: 39:54

No, I know, I know.

Barry: 39:54

But I'm just trying to give the listeners some of the flavour of the system, all right?

Stephen: 40:00

I don't mind a little bit of fun with the characters.

Barry: 40:02

No, I am. The thing is, as well.

Jon: 40:04

Because of his age and stuff like that as well.

Barry: 40:06

It's kind of I want to pick something that makes sense for him to be going and for sense to him to have achieved at his tender age, if that makes sense. I mean, I like the idea of an animal tracker.

Mark: 40:19

I'm going to come from, I'm going to have a mid-Atlantic accent.

Stephen: 40:22

I don't know what that is.

Mark: 40:23

That's the one they used in old Hollywood films. So it's, they're American, but they put on a British upper-class accent. So it was like a fashionable accent. What was?

Stephen: 40:31

I like to hear it.

Mark: 40:32

Mid-Atlantic it's called. So it's literally somewhere that doesn't exist. But it's, if you watch the old American Hollywood films, black and white stuff particularly, they have this very, very polite accent.

Stephen: 40:43

Yeah.

Mark: 40:44

And it almost sounds upper-class British.

Stephen: 40:46

But it's not quite.

Mark: 40:47

But it was on the American films. and it was the American actors putting it on and it become part of the society.

Stephen: 40:51

All right, so you're playing an American with a British accent?

Mark: 40:53

Yes. It's called Mid-Atlantic. I think it existed in real life, but it was definitely a Hollywood thing. So it's a bit like this. And it's slightly different to upper-class English, but for the purposes of me playing it.

Stephen: 41:06

It doesn't have to be... But your character, you're an American, a North American.

Mark: 41:09

I'm an American, yeah.

Stephen: 41:09

From the USA. Good old USLA.

Mark: 41:12

So birthplace, do we have to just put America or do we choose...

Stephen: 41:14

You could be Pacific, would you? Specific even? where's the typical Cthulhu based Boston.

Mark: 41:20

Okay I'm coming from Boston.

Stephen: 41:21

Or if you want a small town it's kind of things like Glastonbury and Somerset and it's New England is the where it all kind of kicks off for HP Lovecraft country.

Mark: 41:30

Well it's a man of resources.

Stephen: 41:31

So Boston is the biggest in Massachusetts family.

Mark: 41:34

From Boston right okay.

Stephen: 41:37

Yeah, so Vermont, Massachusetts of the States, really.

Mark: 41:40

How do you spell archaeologist?

Stephen: 41:42

Well, there, you've done that now. So you've picked an occupation that's difficult to spell.

Mark: 41:47

I don't think I'll even fit it in the amount of space I've got to write here.

Stephen: 41:49

Yeah, they're in that book. And it might even be in the main Cthulhu book.

Jon: 41:52

ALC8.

Barry: 41:53

I really can't fucking decide. And it's not that I can't decide because there's nothing good. It's that I can't decide because it all looks good.

Mark: 42:03

Yeah.

Jon: 42:04

Yeah, does that make sense?

Mark: 42:05

It's great. I love that. I love it. It's brilliant. list of occupations and it's great that you can just choose from them and all a choice paralysis.

Jon: 42:14

Arch ea oh sorry a i'm reading it out and i'm forgetting them mucking fuddle o the logist l-o-g-i-s-t as you can tell we're a very well edumacated bunch here and.

Mark: 42:32

My character the name is rupert west.

Stephen: 42:36

I'm assuming obviously an archaeologist is perfect that you will respond to the out of academic interest or even, and obviously it's not an official university dig, but this would be your first expedition as such.

Mark: 42:49

I'm not very good archaeologists. I've never found anything. And the chance of me getting a job without actually having like a parent that was able to shoo me in would be non-existent. My 15 luck means I'm the worst archaeologist ever. I'm never going to find anything.

Stephen: 43:03

How you graduated.

Mark: 43:04

I'm not going to be the man who picks up the Roman coin in the field.

Jon: 43:07

But you would be the one that picks up the curse from the mummy's tomb.

Mark: 43:10

I will, yeah. I'll be brilliant at picking up curses. Well, the guy that's employed me has done so on a reference.

Stephen: 43:18

Well, you've not met him yet, but you've responded to his...

Mark: 43:21

Well, no, my father responded to his...

Stephen: 43:23

He said, okay, this is perfect for you. There's no actual, you know, organized proper dig that you can go on. So this guy is advertising for random people.

Mark: 43:30

I think I know, you know, I know this guy can get you, you know, obviously i'm not one of the brightest students in class either so i just need a little bit of help yeah in my first opportunity in life.

Stephen: 43:42

Yeah obviously yeah it's good so you're more of a knowledgeable archetype you say or you're a man of action no.

Mark: 43:48

Definitely not a man of action so i i'm a wiry kind of slippery yeah, young academic that uh survives on his wits really he's yeah, he's a guy that would dive behind something if a fight kicks off rather than standing still and frozen or getting stuck in he's a survivor, and but with his luck so bad it would have had an effect on his life i think to this point oh he's born lucky you might have lost.

Stephen: 44:15

Luck down the line you.

Mark: 44:16

Know as this game goes.

Stephen: 44:17

You expend it so maybe.

Mark: 44:18

Oh it's interesting because it's a dynamic statistic it's an up.

Stephen: 44:21

And down it It does deviate. So maybe at one point, you know, he had to expend all his luck. I mean, I think a gambling habit then.

Mark: 44:26

And he's just, he's lost all his money and his father's pissed off with him and sent him to Peru.

Stephen: 44:32

So he's down on his luck. Yeah. Cause this, you know, it's not the most official kind of dig, is there? I mean, a lot of digs are organized at, you know, sort of university level or museums. This guy's just advertised in sort of like the local papers.

Mark: 44:43

Cause he's born lucky, he's born privileged. So I think that side of his luck then can be accounted to his, to a gambling habit.

Stephen: 44:51

And he's just.

Mark: 44:51

He's lucked out recently and he's led to him having to take this year out I think that's where I'll go with him.

Stephen: 44:57

So you've got a more knowledgeable archetype there are any other ones you could potentially think about even, those seeking an escape from if you are a criminal type you could pretend, how do you feel about outdoorsmen yeah I mean you would want to be more of a Sherpa sort of guide sort of person I mean would you be aspiring.

Barry: 45:18

Maybe so here we go you know I never think about characters until they're happening. This is it. It's happening. So he wants to travel. The reason he's answered the thing isn't the money. He wants to travel. He wants to see the world. He's basically a wild camper of his day.

Stephen: 45:32

Rightio. Would you be local or you'd be international?

Barry: 45:35

International, definitely.

Stephen: 45:36

Where do you think you'd be from?

Barry: 45:38

Where did you say it was set?

Stephen: 45:39

It's set in Peru. This is in South America.

Barry: 45:40

That's right. It's in Peru. Oh, God, you could be from... Everyone's been there at some point, haven't they?

Stephen: 45:45

Paddington Bear was from there, so...

Barry: 45:48

Okay, so I'm going to be from London.

Stephen: 45:50

Yeah, that's fine. Easy accent.

Barry: 45:52

Well, I don't do accents.

Jon: 45:53

Fuck that shit.

Stephen: 45:54

Well, you don't. That's perfect.

Jon: 45:55

I know, right.

Barry: 45:56

I know. So, yeah, outdoorsman.

Stephen: 46:00

Okay, he's from London.

Barry: 46:01

Outdoorsman from England. Yeah, from London.

Stephen: 46:04

Okay, but he's been living, what, he's been applying his sort of like, he's moved out into the country, you think, and then he's...

Barry: 46:09

He started off in Kent somewhere and has worked his way, has worked and travelled his way around the UK and he's now looking to go further afield.

Stephen: 46:19

Okay, so he's got a sense of adventure.

Barry: 46:21

Yes, exactly that. This is his motivation for going on the trip. He's like, wait, someone's going to pay me to travel?

Stephen: 46:27

Yeah, yeah. Especially the skills like that are useful in the world. Everyone needs to be told what not to step in and what not to eat.

Barry: 46:34

No, don't slag Mark off.

Jon: 46:38

Don't complain. So outdoorsman, what do I do now?

Stephen: 46:42

Okay, we'll wait for John to select his occupation.

Jon: 46:44

Explorer.

Stephen: 46:46

Okay. So that is literally a similar.

Jon: 46:50

Similar to would have been hired. Yeah.

Stephen: 46:53

So you just say an adventurer as such, where would you be from?

Jon: 46:56

Um, you think. probably from the states probably from the same university as one places that this uh larkin.

Stephen: 47:06

Was larkin was based in narobi in kenya so he's in africa if you're from the states i mean obviously the missus tonic university is quite the the big one.

Jon: 47:16

Went to study in the states maybe he's born there but he he will have spent some time in peru purely so he can pick up the language yeah so he's done other other digs and things but this one sounds like it's got a bit more structure to it and he might actually survive this one.

Stephen: 47:30

I know i'm a card so so you if you've been in peru for a little bit then you would be traveling to lima which is the capital city so you would make that that journey but a lot shorter than the others would have cool okay, next thing you're going to do is you've got calculate your occupational skill points and clay is it ready again so once you've worked those out, you have a list of skills that are in your occupation yeah so those skills can be, those skill points are spent in those skills only.

Mark: 47:57

And And how did you calculate how many points you had.

Stephen: 47:59

There? You look in your occupation.

Mark: 48:01

It'll tell you. It says only occupation.

Stephen: 48:02

Generally, it's got something to do with education, but then it might have another stat on top. Okay, there's a few things you've got to remember. You can have no skill greater than 75.

Barry: 48:10

Okay.

Stephen: 48:11

And you've got to add, a lot of skills come with a base value, and you can add that onto it, basically. So if you've got like 1% already in it, you spend 10, 11, 11.

Jon: 48:21

Okay.

Stephen: 48:22

So those skill points only for those occupational skills.

Jon: 48:26

So the skill points of 260 that I have get allocated amongst the skills that are written here.

Stephen: 48:32

No more than 75 in any one.

Jon: 48:34

No more than 75 in any one. And I don't have to put one in every one.

Stephen: 48:37

You don't have to.

Barry: 48:37

I can omit some.

Stephen: 48:39

You can say I did not like that skill.

Jon: 48:41

Okay, so if I just write these down.

Barry: 48:42

Mark, and then you can have...

Stephen: 48:43

So you want to know which ones are your occupational skills?

Jon: 48:45

Then you can have the... Yeah? I do have it, yeah.

Mark: 48:48

Sorry, go Barry's.

Jon: 48:48

It's coming, it's coming. Architect?

Mark: 48:50

Yes, no.

Jon: 48:51

Archaeologist.

Stephen: 48:52

Okay, so your occupational skills are usually education times four.

Mark: 48:56

Okay? 290.

Stephen: 48:59

Okay.

Mark: 49:00

If you read out the skills, I can just tick them.

Stephen: 49:02

Okay. And also there's something else you've got to know. So you get credit rating. You have to put something in credit rating. You've got a score on your occupation between a certain number. You have to at least put the lowest amount in that score, unless you want to be richer. So like archaeologists has credit rating between 10 and 40. So you'd have to at least put 10 points in credit rating.

Mark: 49:22

So I can't go higher than 40?

Stephen: 49:23

No.

Mark: 49:24

I'm going to put the maximum.

Stephen: 49:25

Where is the maximum for your occupation?

Barry: 49:27

Where's the credit writing on the sheet?

Stephen: 49:30

It's a skill credit, right? So it'd be C in the skills, skill list.

Barry: 49:37

Oh yeah, it's just there's a box missing on mine.

Mark: 49:39

I'll definitely max that out because the background is that I'm privileged.

Stephen: 49:44

Yeah, I thought it would be a moose.

Barry: 49:45

So my credit rating says 5 to 20. I can just choose.

Stephen: 49:48

You can choose. Well, you have to put the points in, but 5 is the minimum you can put in, 20 is the maximum.

Barry: 49:54

So that comes out of my 260 points.

Stephen: 49:55

It does come out of your 260 points.

Jon: 49:57

Right, okay.

Mark: 49:57

So can I ask a question? Why does it say in archaeologist occupation, in brackets afterwards, it says Lovecraftian?

Stephen: 50:04

Lovecraftian?

Jon: 50:05

Not because it's quite different isn't it but everyone's i mean everyone's love crafting aren't they and we're trying.

Mark: 50:10

To love craftian no.

Jon: 50:11

No there's quite a few of them that list.

Mark: 50:14

I put love craft in after.

Jon: 50:15

Yeah yeah antiquitarian love craftian, i don't know if that means you might have an inkling about the the other things or if it's just a setting because they've also got hacker and stuff like that listed which wasn't as if you're hacking a Babbage machine it's with an axe, so I think it might be just to put the I think for the time period yeah yeah okay right there's no advantage to it don't have any esoteric knowledge don't pick computers I don't think we would have that you.

Stephen: 50:47

Don't have esoteric knowledge but I'm going to jump ahead a little bit here and tell you that you have personal interest skills that you can spend on anything but that comes after including Cthulhu Mythos no.

Jon: 50:56

No okay yes all right.

Stephen: 50:58

Cthulhu Mythos can't be bought and it has to be learnt yeah Yeah.

Mark: 51:01

That's the stat that allows you to then...

Jon: 51:03

You lose your sanity the hard way.

Mark: 51:05

Yeah, you lose sanity with it, but you also get a little insight into the mysteries of the universe.

Stephen: 51:09

Yeah, the Eldritch horrors, as it says, the alien horrors.

Jon: 51:12

It's like working for the council. The more you know, the less you want to know.

Mark: 51:17

Less you want to work, I thought you were going to say.

Jon: 51:19

Yeah.

Stephen: 51:22

Okay, so, yeah.

Jon: 51:23

You got yours, John? Live. Explorer.

Barry: 51:28

Is it mad? Can I just double check? I've just shown how lazy I am here. I've just picked five of these skills. Is it mad if I just put an equal amount in every one? There's nothing meant to.

Stephen: 51:38

Let's do what you like.

Jon: 51:39

Some of them have got a minimum that you get as a freebie.

Stephen: 51:42

Yeah, so remember the thing you get in there originally.

Barry: 51:45

What thing do you get in there originally?

Jon: 51:46

Sorry, it's written next to it.

Stephen: 51:48

Yeah, there's a little number.

Mark: 51:49

So I get another language.

Jon: 51:51

Can I choose Peruvian oh right they speak Spanish.

Mark: 51:55

That's what I meant.

Jon: 51:56

Yeah. Ah, yeah, they do.

Stephen: 51:58

But not just Spanish.

Jon: 51:58

But once you're out of the city.

Stephen: 52:00

Yeah. There are dialects. Yeah. Okay. I can find those for you.

Mark: 52:05

No, it's okay. Spanish makes more sense.

Stephen: 52:07

Spanish is the general. Because with Peru, it was conquered by Spain, the conquistadors in about the 14th century, and obviously become Spanish.

Barry: 52:15

So, for example, here it says firearms, handgun, 20%. So I'm starting with 20%.

Jon: 52:23

Yeah. No matter what. So every percentage I add to that comes off my value. If you spend one on it, it'd be 21. Do you have firearms and as you're one of your occupational skills?

Barry: 52:30

I do.

Stephen: 52:31

Wow. There you go. That's good.

Jon: 52:33

Well, no, but I haven't chosen it because it seemed... You can still put points in that from your intelligence rating after that.

Stephen: 52:40

There are personal interest skills that will be next, so you can spend on anything. So you'll get a small selection, a smaller selection of skill points to spend.

Jon: 52:46

Hang on, no. Are you prohibited from... I can't remember.

Stephen: 52:49

Let me just you're not prohibited.

Jon: 52:51

From spending points on your professional skills with your intelligence i.

Stephen: 52:56

Don't know or not you can do this max was 75 anyway so you can if you like you could spend his spare time genning up and becoming good.

Mark: 53:03

I love these skills they're brilliant it's so well-rounded so i can appraise got archaeology of course also got one here's mechanical repair so having some knowledge of cars i assume or any yeah anything with an engine.

Stephen: 53:17

Or anything with mechanics you would have a chance at getting going or.

Mark: 53:21

Navigate or science i could choose a science but no this is it's good nicely well-rounded selection of skills here.

Stephen: 53:30

What, for the archaeologist?

Mark: 53:31

Yeah, I like it, yeah.

Barry: 53:32

He's going to have to go rifle though, isn't he? I can't see any justification for an outdoorsman being a bit, I can't see any justification for an outdoorsman being competent with handguns.

Mark: 53:42

And he should be able to carry a rifle in the environment we're going into. It's not like we're walking around the city.

Barry: 53:47

And did you say that the maximum was 70?

Stephen: 53:50

75. 75, yeah, is the maximum, including what you start with.

Barry: 53:54

So rifle, shotgun, so I put a tick in there. I'm going to allocate.

Stephen: 53:59

Yeah that includes the actual that puts me.

Jon: 54:01

On the maximum.

Stephen: 54:02

75 obviously that can increase through competency in the game oh you tease so it won't increase so if you hit with it.

Barry: 54:16

I'll explain that so that's done.

Stephen: 54:17

There is an interesting fact as well if you've got a skill that's under 50 and you try and use it and if you roll a 96 to 100 you can botch if you've got any skills under 50 that means you're not quite there. So there's a chance. But anything over 50, I think it's only 100 that you botch on.

Mark: 54:32

So I think archaeology, for me, I was going to put something above 50, but I like the idea that he could botch. This guy's not infallible, I think.

Stephen: 54:39

So you could botch on a nice side with your archaeology.

Mark: 54:40

Yeah, so I might put it, start at about 45. You could botch anyway.

Stephen: 54:43

But 96 to 100 if it's below 50 or 100 if it's above 50.

Mark: 54:47

So with 45, innit?

Stephen: 54:49

So you kind of, you have some knowledge to make your doing dangerous.

Mark: 54:52

He should be able to make mistakes because he's not going into the field.

Barry: 54:54

It is quite an involved character. creation isn't it yeah.

Stephen: 54:59

Yeah I've never had a calculator before and I'm pretty dim yeah I thought I used a calculator when I generated Cthulhu characters I like Spoke 1x5 but I'm rubbish in my house track is done, What I do is I turn it by 10 and a half it, which is kind of weird. Yeah. I mean, this is, I wouldn't describe this as a lightweight character gen, which is, but the system itself, when you play, is quite lightweight, if that makes sense.

Barry: 55:24

If you've got a complicated character creation, then it means that the system moving forward has been given a lot of thought as to how that kind of works.

Stephen: 55:31

I mean, this is the seventh edition of this, so it's kind of gone through a lot of iterations and it's kind of ended up on this. It's always been fairly complex, I suppose. But there's no leveling in the cathedral. You just get better at what you have there potentially, or you don't. It's kind of, once your character's there, it's fairly static compared to other games. You don't suddenly get better in everything. It's just a small incremental increase now and again. So once the character's done, it's pretty much done forever. One, two, three, four.

Barry: 56:01

Five. That is boom shakalaka.

Jon: 56:03

I believe, that I have done up to that point.

Stephen: 56:08

Okay, so your occupational skills... are in the bag, So what sort of thing are you good at, Barry? You're good at shooting a hunting rifle?

Barry: 56:17

Long, yeah. Yeah.

Jon: 56:19

Yeah.

Barry: 56:20

Yeah, me and, I'm going to think of a name for my rifle, obviously. I haven't yet, but at some point I will. I want to avoid doing like.

Stephen: 56:27

Not Smith or Weston.

Barry: 56:27

No, I don't want to avoid doing like the Lucille fucking cliches and stuff like that.

Stephen: 56:32

Yeah.

Jon: 56:33

Maybe I'll try and think of something error-appropriate.

Stephen: 56:36

Yeah. Dorothy.

Jon: 56:38

Exactly. Me and Dottie. Did you mean to say error-appropriate?

Stephen: 56:43

So i loved it era era i prefer the first one was also well the next thing you're going to do if people have done your occupational spools is your personal interest skills you draw upon experience and skills and knowledges gained from hobbies and other non-professional activities including personal, interests multiply the character's intelligence by two and allot the points in any skills which can include further points in occupational skills except cthulhu mythos, Unless otherwise agreed with the Keeper.

Jon: 57:12

Wow, that's me.

Mark: 57:13

Oh, I see. No, I don't think so.

Jon: 57:16

This is where you put your points in dodge, if you want to.

Barry: 57:19

Yes.

Jon: 57:19

Remember, you have a dodge skill.

Mark: 57:21

So dodge isn't based upon decks or nothing, is it? It is, if you don't have half decks. So that's the starting score. Yeah, that's the score. Okay.

Jon: 57:29

Then obviously 75 is still the greatest.

Mark: 57:31

Also, I don't have a weapon yet, and I really don't want to be punching.

Stephen: 57:34

Don't you necessarily have to have one? You want a gun. I need a gun.

Mark: 57:36

Don't I?

Stephen: 57:37

Firearms is something you'll need.

Jon: 57:38

Then.

Mark: 57:38

So I think, what sort of gun with an upper class American be trained at just as a social thing? Would it be a shotgun or...

Stephen: 57:47

Shotgun's a little bit more... Yeah, I suppose so. Or hunt and rifle. Or you could, I mean, your American handgun, if it's for personal protection.

Jon: 57:57

If you have military service. Was he an officer? In which case it'd be a pistol.

Mark: 58:02

He's a bit young for military service.

Stephen: 58:04

Yeah, a military service wasn't around, but the war finished about three years ago now. So, yeah.

Mark: 58:08

Yeah, I would have been at university. I would have dodged the draft as far as that was concerned.

Stephen: 58:12

Yeah, there was a draft, wasn't there, for the First World War, so in America.

Mark: 58:15

Yeah. And so, I don't know. A revolver would make a lot of sense, I suppose. But I like the idea that he was taught to use it, like hunting, like you say. Hunting would be a fairly regular activity.

Stephen: 58:27

It'd be a rifle then, wouldn't it?

Mark: 58:28

Yeah, but then I don't want to clash with Barry. Barry's having the... You're having the rifle, are you?

Jon: 58:31

You can never have too many guns.

Stephen: 58:32

He's got a rifle.

Barry: 58:34

Listen, you worry about what you're doing, don't worry about what I'm doing. It's going to be rifle jealousy.

Mark: 58:40

I'm never going to be as good at a rifle as Barry's character. So I just don't want to go there. It just, literally, I just...

Jon: 58:46

I'm going to better at me.

Mark: 58:46

I think. I'll just look at his character, see what his rifle's got.

Stephen: 58:50

75, let me tell you.

Mark: 58:51

Yeah, fuck that, I'm not on a rifle.

Stephen: 58:53

Yeah. Okay, so handgun might be up your route then.

Barry: 58:56

What am I doing now?

Stephen: 58:57

Personal interest skills, sorry. Yeah, so your intelligence multiplied by two, and you can put them in any skill that you want.

Barry: 59:03

Intelligence multiplied by two.

Stephen: 59:05

Again, with the same rule, 75 being the maximum. You could even put them in your occupational skills.

Barry: 59:09

So that would be 100.

Mark: 59:10

So what's the skill for a revolver?

Stephen: 59:12

That's for... What's the skill? Firearms, isn't it?

Mark: 59:16

Firearms, is it? Okay. Oh, handgun.

Stephen: 59:18

Handgun, yeah, that's it.

Mark: 59:19

It's also 20, okay. So we've got two times intelligence.

Stephen: 59:22

Yeah.

Mark: 59:23

That gives me 140. That's the reason why.

Stephen: 59:26

Good.

Mark: 59:26

Stick.

Stephen: 59:27

Remember your dodge?

Mark: 59:28

Yeah.

Stephen: 59:29

Everyone can remember their dodge.

Barry: 59:30

Wait, what have I got to do with dodge?

Stephen: 59:31

Well, dodge is a method because when fighting, you can either fight with your hand-to-hand. If you're in hand-to-hand, basically, this is the situation. Or even getting shot at, you can use dodge. So it is quite useful. I meant how do I calculate it? It's half-dex, unless you put stuff into it. You can put points into dodge if you wish. So half dex, basically. It would be a basic of half dex, yeah. And when you're opposing roles, people shooting you, people trying to punch you, you can use dodge or you can use punching people. It's up to you. Fight back.

Barry: 1:00:01

So you can add, but I can add to dodge from that 130 that we have to allocate.

Stephen: 1:00:05

75 being the max one, yeah.

Barry: 1:00:07

So mud dodge is going to be 65.

Mark: 1:00:09

He's a guy that likes to think he can survive most things. I suppose swimming might be useful for me too, just. He would have been taught to swim.

Barry: 1:00:17

Have we got all the half and fifths for all of these as well?

Stephen: 1:00:22

Just for the ones you have. Or work them out at the time. It turns out where you want to do the work.

Mark: 1:00:26

And because I did choose mechanical repair, it's part of being an archaeologist is keeping the vehicle on the road. I'm going to get drive auto as well. So I'll be the de facto driver.

Barry: 1:00:36

I was just about to get drive auto.

Mark: 1:00:38

No, I'll look at your score and make sure I've got more. What are you going to put in it?

Barry: 1:00:41

Say again?

Mark: 1:00:43

No, there you go. No, no, no, no.

Jon: 1:00:44

I'm going to leave it to last now. That will put me on 45%. No, 50% on drive auto.

Stephen: 1:00:53

Okay.

Mark: 1:00:54

If I'm not driving, I'm sitting in the place and just saying.

Barry: 1:00:55

You can't.

Jon: 1:00:56

I mean, I suppose maybe I hitch everywhere. Maybe I don't. Yeah, no, I don't drive. Okay, I'm not driving.

Mark: 1:01:01

Don't waste it.

Barry: 1:01:03

His traveling is very basic.

Stephen: 1:01:06

Let everyone else drive. Yeah.

Barry: 1:01:07

Yeah. Back of trucks.

Jon: 1:01:09

He has a really, really big thumb.

Stephen: 1:01:11

He's very trusted.

Barry: 1:01:14

That still leaves me a hundred points to spend.

Mark: 1:01:18

I'm tending to put all these into the survivor ones like swimming climbing dodge, those kind of things movement.

Stephen: 1:01:25

Things that just get thrown at you.

Mark: 1:01:26

Occasionally yeah because education i'm fine i'm well-rounded.

Stephen: 1:01:30

What's ride usually animals horses, I say animals, but generally horses.

Jon: 1:01:37

Come on, have some in that, just for fun.

Stephen: 1:01:40

Yeah. I mean, obviously horses is a mode of transport in the 20s, especially in Peru. And there's no real built roads.

Mark: 1:01:50

Forget the stealth skill. That's a useful one, isn't it?

Stephen: 1:01:52

75 to stay. It is, if you want to stay unseen. Yeah, there's lots of useful skills, but so few points.

Mark: 1:02:01

Suddenly it doesn't feel like a lot, 140.

Stephen: 1:02:04

It can go. If you want to be good at something, I suppose it can go quite quickly. I guess you want to choose whether you want to be quite okay at a lot of things or very good at a few things.

Mark: 1:02:12

First aid, I don't suppose anybody is really going to be going in that direction. It is one of my skills.

Jon: 1:02:17

But I didn't pick it.

Stephen: 1:02:18

Medicine and stuff.

Barry: 1:02:19

I could put stuff in, I can use these points.

Stephen: 1:02:21

Yeah, you can, yeah. Yeah, you could have studied at St John's Ambulance or something in your spare time.

Jon: 1:02:26

Well, you start off with 30 in first aid.

Mark: 1:02:28

Yeah, it's not bad.

Jon: 1:02:28

Without anything.

Stephen: 1:02:29

You do, yeah.

Jon: 1:02:30

It's medicine.

Stephen: 1:02:30

Medicine is the other thing, yeah, which is more advanced. so if someone gets shot.

Jon: 1:02:35

That's also a lot local herbal cures and things like that so yeah.

Stephen: 1:02:40

Medicine is that step up from I could.

Barry: 1:02:42

Have 10 to that.

Stephen: 1:02:43

Couldn't I obviously you could study that on your own spare time medicine if.

Mark: 1:02:46

You wanted I'm going to be very stealthy 70 and stealth oh I've.

Stephen: 1:02:52

Got to use.

Mark: 1:02:53

These things to keep this character alive dodge and stealth.

Stephen: 1:02:56

I see you've gone to survivability what's your sanity.

Mark: 1:03:00

Well, it would be on my power near 50.

Stephen: 1:03:02

Okay, so just don't look at anything.

Mark: 1:03:05

I remember now, don't ever look up.

Stephen: 1:03:08

Don't be the first one to look in.

Mark: 1:03:09

Don't look at things. Go into every encounter with your eyes closed and tell everybody figured out what's going on.

Jon: 1:03:14

Pearl sensitive sunglasses are a must.

Mark: 1:03:18

Yeah, that's Hitchhiker's Guide, right? That's it, got it.

Stephen: 1:03:22

Any excuse to make a sun roll for me to get you to do is a thing. Mark's quite slippery again. how is.

Barry: 1:03:29

Our sanity calculated.

Stephen: 1:03:30

It's equal to your power obviously is an investigative kind of scenario occasionally and some sort of skills or that sort of thing never goes amiss, spot hidden is always a good one yeah just a bit just a bit bring that up spot hidden skill checks are always one of the more asked for.

Jon: 1:03:52

So my guys mostly a couple of physical ones jump navigate we don't want to get lost in the jungle.

Stephen: 1:04:02

No um survival swim he's intelligent.

Jon: 1:04:08

Those are the the sort of biggish ones 50s.

Stephen: 1:04:12

Indiana yeah i'm more survival.

Mark: 1:04:15

By my wits in a more of a.

Stephen: 1:04:16

Urban area i think so i'll be i won't.

Mark: 1:04:19

Be as proficient as you in those environments out outside have you got climb jump.

Jon: 1:04:24

Yes that's one of his good ones 50 Dich, 50 more.

Mark: 1:04:29

Yeah, I think I might put something in client.

Jon: 1:04:31

I chose Explorer. I was looking at Mountaineer, but I think that's a bit too specific. But I did put points in the local language, the tribal, not Spanish. Yeah, I can tell you what that is.

Stephen: 1:04:44

I can give you a specific tribe name because I think it's been crawled through there and they would describe them.

Jon: 1:04:50

Let me get for it. Not well.

Stephen: 1:04:53

No, they will give me a name. At least I'll go, yeah, fair enough. Oh, nice. I'll give you a proper name to put in.

Jon: 1:04:59

So i use the random name generator in the book so i've ended up with a hudson hudson stenberg.

Mark: 1:05:07

Sounds good yeah i love it.

Jon: 1:05:10

Yeah i'm no good at coming up with names okay.

Mark: 1:05:12

So there's no other points to add on.

Stephen: 1:05:14

No that's all your points done.

Mark: 1:05:17

Fill in all the boxes there's like a million boxes to fill in now.

Stephen: 1:05:20

Yeah it's up to you if you want to do.

Mark: 1:05:22

That yeah i will do i put the base scores in the main box and then by 10 and by five for each skill.

Jon: 1:05:27

Yeah so in keeping with my stat spread i i just went for sort of averages so it's mostly 50 50 on the ones he wants and 25 or thereabouts for the others, the others round out i saw just tapped a few i suppose wasted a few points, in a little broad smattering of things it might have picked up so you know really useful things like a rating six, for anthropology and stuff like that it's not.

Mark: 1:05:58

Not brilliant but no it won't get you far but if you make that first role you can get the skill up and running can't you because i remember in cthulhu you don't have levels do you have experience when you use a skill you've got a chance of then putting it up if you've used it successfully.

Jon: 1:06:12

And the worse the skill the more chance of getting.

Mark: 1:06:14

Out yeah or the worst chance of making the role in the first place so yeah there's a sweet spot there isn't there having sort of between 30 and 40 gives it a good chance of get it off and running as a skill.

Stephen: 1:06:25

There are your two options. You've, you've pronounced that and a mother, the two native speaking languages. Oh, I think majority of people speak Spanish, but the two ones outside you're, yeah.

Mark: 1:06:42

Could you just not tell him which one would be most useful for the scenarios? Cause it'd be bad luck when he chooses the one that, that isn't in it.

Stephen: 1:06:48

Yeah.

Jon: 1:06:49

Yeah just say one of them.

Stephen: 1:06:51

Yeah we'll go for the first one in kichar yeah because he would.

Mark: 1:06:54

Have been he's local to where we are i assume so he would have been spoken speaking to local guides and.

Stephen: 1:07:00

Yes you would go up into the mountains and have seen some of these tribes up there the old traditional yeah speakers like you know they will speak both languages and possibly yeah but it's rude.

Jon: 1:07:09

It's rude to not.

Stephen: 1:07:11

Do so spanish so you're the only one who actually speaks spanish i do but not great.

Mark: 1:07:15

Well i've got 20 in it that gives me.

Stephen: 1:07:17

What the rudimentary level.

Mark: 1:07:18

Yeah please stop hitting me.

Stephen: 1:07:23

Si senor.

Mark: 1:07:24

Una cerveza por.

Stephen: 1:07:25

Favor si senor is that how, we're going to play it out that's what I've noticed a lot of people just have a deeper voice and just mumble and I think what are you getting away with that.

Mark: 1:07:36

You do need to speak in a lower tone.

Stephen: 1:07:37

Dos cervezas por favor dos cervezas queswaddle.

Barry: 1:07:45

Bohita no, I went to see the Far Show, an evening with the Far Show live.

Jon: 1:07:51

It was fucking brilliant.

Barry: 1:07:53

Absolutely brilliant.

Jon: 1:07:53

They're still running.

Barry: 1:07:56

Well, every now and then they seem to get together. So the last time they got together, they did like a proper tour. But this time it was more of like an evening with. And they did bits and pieces. But it was also talking about how they came up with the characters. It was good fun.

Jon: 1:08:07

Oh, jeez. I've loved that.

Mark: 1:08:10

Okay. And so we'll bring the first half of the session to a close here. Stephen, I think, if you want to see it out.

Stephen: 1:08:16

Yes, well, thanks for doing the first session. I hope it wasn't too much of a headache for you, but it's all worth it in the long run, these characters.

Barry: 1:08:23

So many some.

Stephen: 1:08:25

These characters are going to see you through for at least 15 minutes and you have to go on the way.

Mark: 1:08:30

It does make dying an even more painful, doesn't it?

Jon: 1:08:33

Having a spare in the back of your mind or a backup character.

Barry: 1:08:36

I haven't even got a name yet.

Stephen: 1:08:38

No, next time we'll be making up names, backgrounds, and random charts if you want to roll them, and we'd flesh out the characters in preparation to begin.

Mark: 1:08:46

Brilliant. Okay. Nice one. Well done, Shane. Thanks.

Jon: 1:08:49

Cheers.

Mark: 1:08:49

See you.

Barry: 1:08:49

Perfect.

Stephen: 1:08:50

Bye.