Pulp Cthulhu -- Reckless Adventures in the 1930s

For those who have been following Pulp Cthulhu, the manuscript is resting with Chaosium -- no publication dates have been set yet. However, the kind folks at Chaosium did give me the okay to post some snippets. So leading up to Gen Con, I'll occasionally post various bits about the project. One of the things I thought it best to start with was the basic template for a "Two-Fisted Adventurer" (given the subject of Pulp Cthulhu). Those familar with Call of Cthulhu will recongize some of the material; however, there are a few additions.

Not included are numbers or the various additions from hobbies or education. This is simply the basic template, which can be customized by players.

ADVENTURER (TWO-FISTED)

Natural Skills: Block, Catch, Dodge, First Aid, Hide, Listen, Mechanical Repair, Revolver, Sneak, Throw, any one other skill as a personal or specialty.

Traits: Ambidexterity, Blind Luck, Just Won’t Die.

(c)Content copyrighted by Chaosium and William Jones

So what has changed? The rules for "Block" have been altered quite a bit. Investigators can use most anything from a table to a book to absorb damage from an attack. Also, the "Catch/Throw" cominbation works well with the altered combat system rules, allowing a character to catch an object (such as a knife) and throw it in the same round of action -- or perform other melee actions.

Also, Traits are something new. The number of Traits is determined by the level of "pulp" the players want in a game. This allows for settings with mild elements of pulp action or high levels of pulp thrills, depending upon the final number of Traits. Likewise, there are a Supernatural Skills, but those are more likely to be used by other investigator types.