I've been playing Call of Cthulhu for years, so I get surprised when someone asks about character generation. My go to is https://www.dholeshouse.org; it's a free website. I use the random die roll method and yeah, if the stats are horribly low, I just hit the reroll button. The application also rolls your Luck, but doesn't set it on the character sheet, so you just need to take of note of it and set it when you save the character sheet as a PDF. Dholeshouse also doesn't roll the random backstory entries (p.39-45, Keeper Rulebook).
The main thing when buying skills is to put skills that you think you will use and be an expert in at or above 50% and have one or two key skills near the max of 75%. I enforce a 75% cap on starting skills (p.49 Keeper Rulebook, A Cap on Starting Skill Values - optional rule). It is better to have 5 skills at 50% to 75% than to have 20 skills at 20% -- and complain that they can't succeed in anything. You should rely on your party composition to cover any knowledge / skill gaps.
Where do you put skills? It depends on what your game focus is. My games are mostly investigative though eventually there will be combat. So, I recommend Spot Hidden, Library Use, at least one social skill (Charm, Fast Talk, Intimidate, Persuade) and one combat skill (Fighting Brawl, Firearms Handgun, Firearms Rifle/Shotgun). Secondary skills would be Dodge, Locksmith (to pick locks and for breaking and entering), Psychology, and Stealth. Once you get a hang of a game, you switch things around for variety, I sometimes deliberately skip combat skills, just to be different.
I had referenced two great articles on being a better player, but now they're gone (and back again).
- http://lookrobot.co.uk/2013/06/20/11-ways-to-be-a-better-roleplayer/
- http://lookrobot.co.uk/2013/06/23/stanislavski-vs-brecht-in-tabletop-roleplaying/
Basically, don't be a dick. Play well with others and remember you control the PC, not the other way around. If you claim you're playing the PC and he/she "won't do that (investigate)" that's bullshit and you're just making an excuse to not participate. You (with help from others or the GM) can always come up with a reasonable excuse. Otherwise, that PC can go home and you'll need to roll up another one that will investigate. So, why go through that exercise in futility?
Just once, I'd love to have a whole party decide they won't investigate. And I'll pull a near future montage of the PCs and their families dying horribly as the world ends. Then have them wake up in a cold sweat. Make them do a SAN check. And I'll ask them, "What is your PC going to do?"
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| Dholeshouse.org - Random Die Roll Method |
For samples of play:
Q (JK): One of my Players wanted to create a Student whose Occupation states that the Credit Rating (CR) is 5-10. The Player must spend 5-10 Occupation Points to set their CR. Can that Player spend Personal Interest points to raise the CR past the max of 10?
A: The short answer is yes.
There's the rules and there's the exceptions. In my world, the PCs are the exceptions. I'd let them buy whatever CR they want because it comes out of the same skill point pool.
In real life, one of my college classmates was Steve Wozniak. This was after Apple was already a successful company. The Woz wanted to have a Computer Science degree. His CR was 90+.
Q (SB): How do you make a Player in my RPG a better team player and less of an ass?
A (MH): You need to privately talk to the problem Player. There maybe various reasons.
1. Game expectation mismatch. Player wants one thing, GM/Other Players want another thing. There's no solution to this other than, sorry game isn't for you, and you're disrupting the game and making it not fun for everyone else. We like you, but sorry, you're out of this particular game.
2. PC is lone wolf and "won't do that." This is a Player problem. You can see if you can make up some motivation/hook that would motivate the PC to work with the other PCs. This should be a conversation between you and Player to come up with a common solution. Do NOT let the Player put the burden on you to come up with a reason. You need Player buy-in for this, so best if you both agree on motivation/hook.
3. PC is being a dick and just throwing wrenches into your game for fun. Maybe ask the Player if he wants to play a secret villain. If he does, score. The other Players would love to kill his PC after a long campaign. Sometime, it should be revealed that the PC is a villain and now the job of the other PCs is to have revenge. Finale of campaign should be the extreme termination of villain PC.
SB: We’ve been in the same campaign for 10 months, maybe more, and it’s like something “clicked” in him and the last 4-5 sessions haven't been fun due to him. It's not just me. It’s the whole party, we’ve been texting about it.
MH: Sounds like your Player got bored or has a personal problem going on. You'll need to talk to Player privately and ask if he still wants to play. If the answer is yes, then bring up the disruptive behavior and talk about solutions.
If he's bored, which happens with a long campaign, then you can have a group discussion on how to make the game different enough to satisfy the whole group. If an agreement can't be reached, then it would be best for everyone if he left the campaign until the next one starts up. And when you start a new one, then a session 0 should be done where all can agree on what the new campaign is and how it can satisfy everyone. Or if you are all good friends and rather all meet, you can just declare the current campaign dead and do a session 0 for a new campaign.
If it's a personal problem, then tell him that maybe he isn't aware, but his behavior is disrupting the game and making it not fun for everyone. Can he tone down his behavior or does he need time off from the game to take care of his personal issues? Sometimes this is difficult because the social aspect of the game is an emotional crutch during a personal crisis. But the Player is unaware that he's acting out and ruining it for the others. That said, it's not your duty to be his therapist. He may need professional help instead.
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