By Popular Demand: Cthulhu Awakens GM Kit!
over 2 years ago – Wed, Mar 16, 2022 at 10:39:02 AM

This morning we are pleased to announce that we WILL be making a Game Master's Kit for Cthulhu Awakens!

The Cthulhu Awakens Game Master's Kit is a collection of resources that help you smoothly deliver terror and adventure to your players. It provides a sturdy Game Master's screen that displays stunts and other essential Cthulhu Awakens information at a glance--and it keeps players from stealing a look at the dangers you have in store for them, too. 4 quick reference cards provide further assistance with commonly used rules, and a dry-erase friendly combat tracker helps you follow violent moments of triumph, or doom. But the true power of this offering may lie in Unexpurgated Texts, a booklet detailing a dozen fell grimoires and their modern counterparts, each in an expanded, 2-page format listing the eldritch workings and other strange secrets each of them contains.

You can now select the Cthulhu Awakens Game Master's Kit as an additional add-on for the discounted price of $25 by clicking on the "Manage Your Pledge" button in the upper right of the campaign page. It will also be available in the Backerkit pledge manager after the campaign, but adding it now helps us unlock additional stretch goals, and will automatically add it to your rewards when it comes time to pay for shipping.

To update your pledge via iOS or Android mobile app, check out these instructions here!

The Cthulhu Awakens Menagerie
over 2 years ago – Sat, Mar 12, 2022 at 01:41:13 PM

Cthulhu Awakens is a game of fear and weirdness, and that includes the people you meet, from mortal conspirators to otherworldly monsters. I thought folks might like to see all the listings with full game statistics provided in Chapter 9 of the book.

Mundane Creatures: Entries that might exist even in a world without the Mythos

· Assassin

· Burglar

· Clever Crook

· Enforcer

· Guard Dog

· Hooligan

· Police Detective

· Police Officer (Uniformed)

· Security Guard

· Socialite

· Soldier

· Veteran Private Eye

Touched by the Mythos: Individuals who’ve been radically affected by the Cthulhu Mythos, as resisters, victims, or pawns.

· Angry Civilian

· Cult Adept

· Cult High Priest

· Eldritch Scholar

· Minion

· Witch

· Yithian Operative

Mythos Entities: The monsters and aliens of Cthulhu Awakens. These have expanded entries including extended descriptions and story hooks.

· Blended

· Deep One

· Deep One Hybrid

· Dimensional Shambler

· Ghoul

· Ghast

· Gnoph-Keh

· Godspawn, Major

· Godspawn, Minor

· Gregarian

· Gug

· Mi-Go

· Night-Gaunt

· Primordial

· Shoggoth

· Skotomorph

· Tendril From Beyond

In addition, you can use creatures from Modern AGE, especially the Enemies & Allies book, in Cthulhu Awakens with minimal adjustments. Use Gritty Health in default games or convert Cinematic Health to Fortune if you’re using Fortune. Assign combat stunts using the packages in Cthulhu Awakens — something new to how AGE describes creatures we introduced in this game.

Cthulhu Awakens With Modern AGE
over 2 years ago – Wed, Mar 09, 2022 at 05:01:47 PM

This week we've been posting over on our blog, and in past Kickstarter campaigns, about how Cthulhu Awakens can work with other AGE system games like The Expanse RPG, or even Blue Rose: The AGE RPG of Romantic Fantasy. For today's update, we thought we'd bring it back home and talk about how you can use those Modern AGE stretch goals with Cthulhu Awakens.

As part of the AGE System family of games, Cthulhu Awakens is substantially compatible with Modern AGE, our multi-genre modern era RPG. In fact, Cthulhu Awakens was originally designed as a Modern AGE supplement, but eventually merited being broken out into a dedicated game. Nevertheless, the two games are similar enough that we’ve offered Modern AGE books as part of the campaign, because it’s relatively easy to use them together. Here are some notes about doing just that.

Mode: Modern AGE includes special rules for three modes. “Realistic” Gritty Mode, the low-key enhanced reality of Pulpy Mode, and the larger than life Cinematic Mode. Cthulhu Awakens notes that in Modern AGE terms, it is pre-set to Gritty Health (it doesn’t improve with level) but Pulpy Toughness (your character can absorb blows from things like edged weapons as well as fists, but not bullets).

Enemies & Allies: The core Modern AGE book and its supplement Enemies & Allies provide a whole bunch of pre-generated NPCs and strange beings for your use beside Cthulhu Awakens Mythos-based counterparts. Use the Cinematic Mode stats if you use Fortune in Cthulhu Awakens (and covert their Health to Fortune) and Gritty stats otherwise (but Cthulhu Awakens’ rules for Toughness) and the entries are usable as-is. Enemies & Allies in particular includes game statistics for criminals, government agents, renegade scientists, strange psychics, and various mythic and weird creatures.

Powers: Magical Arcana from Modern AGE provide a more traditional version of magic compared to the dangerous eldritch workings of Cthulhu Awakens, while eldritch workings can be used in Modern AGE with no special rules. Modern AGE psychic powers convert to Cthulhu Awakens counterparts easily. The extraordinary items and other options for powers in Modern AGE supplements allow you to add superhumans, cyberpunk augmentations, and other genre variations to Cthulhu Awakens.

Stunts: Cthulhu Awakens and Modern AGE take different approaches to stunts. Cthulhu Awakens uses a small, tightly curated list of streamlined stunts, while Modern AGE takes an expansive approach. You can swap approaches or mix and match for the stunt options you prefer.

Adventures and Settings: Cthulhu Awakens could be just one world in the Modern AGE Threefold setting, and various adventures for Modern AGE would be suitable for Cthulhu Awakens with minimal conversion.

AGE games intended to be hacked and customized! Do what you like, using the common framework of AGE to find your way, and you’ll find immediate support for Cthulhu Awakens through Modern AGE.

Weirdness Overflowing: Cults of the Mythos
over 2 years ago – Mon, Mar 07, 2022 at 11:20:57 PM

As mentioned in our last update on the subject, Weirdness Overflowing is a PDF supplement that grows with the campaign, adding new chapters as we go. The first chapter, which qualified backers will be receiving, since we have unlocked the first Weirdness Overflowing stretch goal, is Cults of the Mythos. This is exactly the kind of thing suited for an expansion because the core books mention the following cults and other groups:

· Carter-West Agency

· Children of R’lyeh

· Church of Starry Wisdom

· Court of the Dead

· Enfants du Prêtre

· Face of the Sphinx

· Esoteric Order of Dagon—and its later manifestation, Thalassology

· Illuminated Fraternity of Azathoth

· Implicit Cartography Group

· LOCK

· Mass Cult

· Pickman’s Shelter

· Red Mask

· Society For a Brighter Tomorrow

· Society of the Silver Key

· Society of the Yellow Sign

· Sons of Arkham

· Temple of the Faceless and Unnamed

· Three-Lobed Burning Eye

· Unnamed Conspiracy of the Reanimated

· Unnumbered Directorate

While each group gets varying degrees of coverage in the core book, Cults of the Mythos will describe these groups, and possibly others (we had to cut some from the core, and this would be a decent time to bring them back!) using a common format for reference. Furthermore, we’ll add systems for running cults and other organizations so you can chronicle how cults and conspiracies rise, prosper, fight, and fall.

And now that we have  funded this? Keep going, because next up is the Demimondes Gazetteer, a guide to alternate universes reachable through the mysterious Corridor. We’ll have more to say when it approaches closer!

Entity Sneak Peek!
over 2 years ago – Sat, Mar 05, 2022 at 01:47:42 AM

Sample Entity: The Gregarian

When insects and worms feast on the remains of certain psychics, sorcerers, and certain strong-willed individuals, they sometimes copy the residue of that individual’s personality, and a Gregarian is born. These flesh-eaters develop a collective will, and even acquire some of the deceased’s knowledge. Here are the Cthulhu Awakens statistics for these entities.

Gregarian

Abilities (Focuses)

Accuracy 1, Communication 3 (Deception, Disguise), Constitution 4 (Tolerance), Dexterity 0 (Forgery, Stealth), Fighting 1, Intelligence 5 (Occultism, Research, Theology), Perception 2, Strength 1 (Climbing, Intimidation), Willpower 3 (Self-Discipline)

Qualities

Combat Stunts: Trickster

Alienating: When it reveals its true nature to an individual or establishes a hive contact (see below), the Gregarian provokes a TN 11 Entities Alienation Test. It usually hides its true nature with a mask, and although this might be discomforting, a masked Gregarian doesn’t provoke Alienation.

Absorbed Occultism: A Gregarian knows one eldritch working, but no praxes, after absorbing this information from whoever it devoured, or from whatever eldritch lore it instinctively hoards.

Hive Contact: By concentrating on an individual within 20 yards, the Gregarian can use the Activate action to contact that person’s mind. The target can resist contact with a TN 15 Willpower (Self-Discipline) test. If they succeed, they shut out contact for the rest of the encounter. If the Gregarian makes contact, they can communicate with the target through projected images and other sensory perceptions, though not words. This exposes the Gregarian’s true nature to the target, activating its alienating quality if the target hasn’t already witnessed its undisguised form.

Living on the Fringe: Gregarians are practiced at covering their tracks. Other characters suffer a penalty of -2 to any tests to find information about Gregarians or their activities.

Swarm: As they comprise of a swarm of insects, worms, and other small vermin, a Gregarian is impervious to bullets taking no damage, and takes half damage, after applying Toughness, from all other forms of damage except for fire, electricity, and attacks or hazards that target an area, such as grenades or sudden flooding. Area-effect hazards and damage sources inflict double damage after applying Toughness.

Equipment: Dagger, Fragments of Occult Lore, Tattered Robes, Wax Tablet and Stylus. Notepad and Pen, or Smartphone.

Threat: Moderate